Related
This is a great Today app, but has annoying habit of moving down the screen by a bar - see attached pic. Anyone know solution or not have this problem?
I liked it too... for the first 5-10 minutes or so. Gave it my best shot, tried many settings and options, installed and re-installed it a few times, but it's buggier than an entomology museum and eventually screws itself and your device up.
yep, i agree, funny and eye candy interface but heavy and buggy... i did it a chance but uninstalled soon.
Anyway, i got the same bug... there should be an option in the first tab of TouchFlo settings panel for the plugin heignt, you have to reduce a bit from full and manually find tne correct height, i can't remember the exact number now, sorry
for me is this great app:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=414342
WAD2
For me the best is WAD2, even if still in RC12 and a little buggy.
However I've 9 virtual pages, a dozen of docks (used practically as other pages), full of graphical candy, everything at 2 taps, quite all the functionality many previous programs had, and the best it's very easy to do the interface YOU want!
All this never going under 16-18 Mb free on a 64 Mb Universal using Tomal 7.7 ROM. The counterpart to having all this RAM is page switching isn't the fastest. But if I had 128 RAM (can't find anybody in Italy!) I could get off the "low-memory" management and have the speed in change of more RAM.
Hey,
I just ordered my Nexus One and will be selling my HTC Magic for this. I have a GPS app (Papago X5 for HK- Android) which I bought for my Magic. The developer's website states that the screen resolution for which the app was designed is 320x480.
Does anyone know what happens to 'HVGA-only' applications on the Nexus/Droid? Does the app stretch to fit the screen making it pixelated, stay in a corner of the screen (not fullscreen) or does it simply not launch?
Thanks!
EDIT: I contacted the manufacturer and they said it works on the Motorola Milestone (WVGA, Android 2.0) but were unsure of whether it worked on Android 2.1. Is it possible that 2.1 breaks some applications?
It depends a bit on how the developer has set up the app. Depending on how it's been built, it may not show up as available in the Market for devices with higher res screens. Or, even if it's been designed to look its best under 320x480, the app can indicate support for higher res screens either explicitly or by allowing for default scaling and re-sizing. Letting Android take care of re-sizing may not make optimal use of the screen, but it should be usable. From what I've seen, default re-sizing ususally means screen elements get spread out over the larger screen, rather than preserving the original layout in a 320x480 section of the 480x8xx screen.
I have an app that I designed for my G1 and thus makes best use of a 320x480 screen, but I've provisioned it to scale up to larger screens and down to smaller screens in a fairly nice way--though it needs work to really use the extra space to best advantage. Google hasn't put out a 2.1 SDK yet, though I believe an app that works with 2.0.1 should work fine with 2.1 on the N1.
Thanks. The GPS program is sold at stores (DVD) and not on the Android Market so it showing up isn't a problem.
I also contacted the manufacturer and they said it works on the Motorola Milestone (WVGA, Android 2.0) but were unsure of whether it worked on Android 2.1. Is it possible that 2.1 breaks some applications?
Thanks.
Anyone?
(minimum length req)
I've had no problems with any apps on my nexus one. Usually if the app was designed for a smaller screen then it will either be pixelated a bit or only use up the part of the screen it needs. I've never heard of 2.1 breaking apps.
Hello, all.
I've got a confession to make: I like apps. A lot. To an unhealthy degree. I've got a huge stash of apps on my phone, and an even larger collection of .apk backups waiting to be reloaded whenever I feel like it. I love finding new apps to try out, and deciding which ones are worthy to be added to my collection. A lot of the apps that I find and want to try out are paid apps; without finding many thorough reviews on them, I don't know whether they are worth my money - but I can't stand the thought of missing out on the Next Big Thing. And so I buy them, download them, install them, and test them out anyway. If it's an awesome app and well-worth the money, I tell my friends. If it is money that could be better spent on another app that I've tried before, I tell my friends that, too.
Unfortunately, not all of my friends are interested in my opinion on apps. They only listen to me because of my rugged good looks (my theory). This makes me sad, because I spend a lot of time (and money, in some cases) trying apps out - someone else needs to benefit from that time (and money) as well. Until someone decides to pay/reimburse me for all the apps that I evaluate, the next-best thing I can do is offer up reviews to the community of any apps that I have found particularly useful. This is the driving force behind my desire to make this thread.
I will be running down my list of currently-installed useful applications and entertaining games. I will include screen shots, AppBrain links, and as much detail as I can muster up. My hope is that the rest of the community may find some benefit from these reviews - and who knows, maybe you'll find a kick-ass app you'd never heard of.
I'm open to questions, ideas, requests, suggestions, and pretty much any other type of communication or input that could be provided. I only ask that you be respectful - both of me, and of the app developers. And if this list helps you find a neat paid app to try out, please do support the developer(s). Piracy is bad, mmmmkay?
Enjoy!
-codesplice
Credit where credit is due: All screenshots are made using the free ShootMe app.
NOTE: Now that the Android Market has a shnazzy new web interface, I'm going to change the primary links for apps to reflect this. I will add the AppBrain links as a secondary, and hope to add direct market links at some point once I find a site to reliably provide this information. Stay tuned!
Reviews:
Minimalistic Text (Widget)
Clutch Pad(Multitasking App) UPDATED 2/24/11
CircleLauncher (Widget)
Swipe Pad (Multitasking App)
Keyboard Manager (App) UPDATED 2/23/11
Shift Puzzle Game (Game)
ElecroDroid (App)
Hella Umbrella (Game)
Digital Wall (LWP)
Shortyz Crosswords (App)
Elixir (System Info App)
Google Authenticator (App)
Zeam (Launcher)
Lookout / WaveSecure (Mobile Security App double-feature)
If you don't want to subscribe to this thread, you can follow me on that twitting thing, as I will post updates about new reviews there.
Minimalistic Text (widget)
App Name: Minimalistic Text (v.2.1.3, @AppBrain)
Developer: Devmil
Price: FREE
There is quite a handful of text-based widgets available on the Market, and a lot of them are very nice. There are widgets for displaying the time as text, the weather as text, the battery level as text.... but this is one widget that does it all. Just about every aspect of the widget is configurable, from the text alignment and rotation to the font size and colors to even the format for different types of data. You've got several options for the display type, whether you want to use digits or words or even a bar (for days of the week or percentage of battery charge). There is also an optional "blur" text effect which works wonderfully for making accented text appear to be illuminated. To top things off, this widget also functions as a plugin for Locale or Tasker and can be used to display variables from either of those applications. For instance, if you want a small text-widget to display what Locale/Tasker profiles are currently active, this is your answer for a very configurable solution.
For each widget you are also able to define an action to perform when tapped - whether it is launching another activity (my clock widget launches my alarm clock), opening the widget preferences page, or even reading out the text currently displayed on the widget. You are also able to save and restore your widget settings, so don't be afraid to experiment.
Given the sheer amount of customizations available to you with this widget app, the configuration menu may be a little bit overwhelming and complex when you first get into it. Play around for a few minutes, and you're bound to get the hang of it.
This is a fabulous widget, and one that I highly recommend to anyone who will take the time to tinker with it.
Verdict: A highly-configurable text-based widget to display pretty much anything you want, especially with Tasker integration.
Screenshots:
1) Widget(s) in action. I should note there are three separate widgets displayed: Time / weather up top, day / date on the bottom, and a battery level bar on the right-hand side.
2) Preferences Manager for all widgets
3) Text Style menu
4-5) Custom Layout configurator
(tested on NexusOne / Kang-o-rama 1.2 T1 (CM7.n13 / GRH78C / Android 2.3.2))
Clutch Pad[APP]
App Name: Clutch Pad (v.1.3v.1.4.2, @AppBrain)
Developer: stevealbright
Price: $0.99 $1.99
Clutch is an application that seeks to optimize and streamline the way you multitask on Android. It is currently in beta status, but is very functional in its current state. It is a powerful supplement to the built-in Recent Apps feature.
Clutch manifests itself as a small semi-transparent "trigger" area, which functions similar to "hot corners" on a Mac (I think. I'm a Linux/PC guy). This small region rides at the very top layer of the Android interface (in a user-configurable position) and is accessible no matter what application you may be working in. You can tap this region to instantly bring up a small grid displaying your recently-accessed applications. You can customize how many apps you want to be visible, configure the application to ignore your Home (Launcher) app in its list, and to visually distinguish currently-running applications from terminated apps. This makes it very easy to quickly determine if that app you just exited is still running or if it has been shut down as it should, as well as providing a quick (and lightweight) task switcher.
Nice, but nothing terribly fantastic. Yet. Clutch also has configurable swipe gestures - the most useful (to me) of which is a Last Task functionality. For instance, if I Swipe Up from the Clutch region, I instantly switch to whatever my previous app was. If I swipe again, I am moved back to the app I just switched from. This functions similarly to just pressing ALT+TAB quickly, and is very useful for quickly jumping between two apps.
This little utility is quick and lightweight, and I have found it to be extremely useful. It is still in development, and has many more features planned (and a price increase to accompany them - so get it quickly!) including support for additional gestures (open/close notifications, for example), on-click task control (press-and-hold to kill, for example), and configurable transition animations.
If you've got a dollar to spend, you would do well to add this application to your device in its current state, and I can only imagine the app's versatility and usefulness will increase with the further planned updates.
Update (2/24/11): Clutch Pad has recently been updated to version 1.4. With this update, the application has dropped the "Beta" tag, gained an additional "Pad" in its name, and has added additional features and configurable options. At the same time, the price has also been increased to $1.99. New features include additional swipe gestures, configurable transition animations (that are quite pretty), the option to toggle the trigger button via a press-and-hold on the Search hardware key, and a Favorites option to quickly launch your favorite apps. Options have also been added for additional visual tweaks and adjustments of both the trigger icon and the popup lists, and all known bugs have been fixed. With each incremental update, this app gets more and more useful and I find myself relying upon it more all the time. Even at the increased price, this is still one of my must-have applications.
Verdict: An innovative way to access recent apps, and the Last App gesture functionality is every bit as useful as Alt-Tabbing between apps on your desktop.
Screenshots:
1) Trigger icon
2) Recent apps list
3-5) Settings pages
(tested on NexusOne / Kang-o-rama 1.2 T1 (CM7.n13 / GRH78C / Android 2.3.2))
CircleLauncher (widget)
App Name: CircleLauncher (v.1.5.2, @AppBrain)
Developer: db-ware
Price: ~$1.37 (free, limited version here or @AppBrain)
As mentioned previously, I have a lot of apps. One of the problem with having a lot of apps is running out of room on your homescreens for app shortcuts. There are various widgets out there that propose a variety of solutions to this problem, but they often leave you with tiny, almost unusable icons. This would have been fine in the days where the trackball reigned supreme, but this is the oh-tens. It has to be finger-friendly.
One true solution that I stumbled across the other day is called CircleLauncher. What it does is really very simple, but it does it very well. It allows you to create a single widget to group similar applications together (I've used location-themed apps and clock-based apps in my example). Tape the 1x1 widget, and a lightweight menu appears to launch your apps. Pretty standard, but this menu is laid out (by default - you can change this in the settings) in a ring around the icon. As you slide your finger or thumb around the ring, the currently selected application icon grows to make selection a bit easier.
Note that CircleLauncher includes other layout types (configurable from the widget's config menu, which you access by selecting the widget and then press-and-holding the center) including horizontal and vertical lines. I was also very pleased with the way that the widget's application menu adapts to its position on the screen - stick it in a corner, and your full selection of apps will be displayed within a 90-degree pie slice.
Obviously, a menu such as this is a bit limited to a relatively low number of apps (more than 9 or 10 and the ring will be just too cluttered to be functional), but if you need to have quick access to just a few more apps from your homescreen, this should do the trick. Since there is a free version available, why not give it a shot and see if this widget can help you to organize your home screen a bit?
Verdict: An easy way to combine several app shortcuts into one.
Screenshots:
1) Plain widgets (labeled GPS and Time) - you can dress them up a bit more if you are artistically inclined.
2) One widget opened showing the full selection ring.
3) The corner widget open showing the adaptation to the position.
4) One icon expanded while my finger hovers over it.
5) Settings menu
(tested on NexusOne / Kang-o-rama 1.2 T1 (CM7.n13 / GRH78C / Android 2.3.2))
Keep going mate
gruzman said:
Keep going mate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I surely intend to! Just have to figure out which app to post next
Thanks for the encouragement though. It is appreciated to know at least someone is reading over all this mess!
SwipePad Beta [APP]
App Name: SwipePad Beta (v.0.7.5, @AppBrain)
Developer: Conduction.mobi
Price: FREE
Keeping on the theme of "apps to help you access your apps", we come to SwipePad Beta. Similar in some regard to Clutch, this app also gives you "hot corner" functionality. Use the settings menu to establish what corners (or regions) you want to be active, and then slide your finger from a specified region to the center of the screen. Hold it for just a moment, and a 3x4 grid of application shortcuts magically appears. You can, of course, fully customize what applications should appear on this grid by simply pressing your finger on an empty square or by holding your finger over an existing icon until it is highlighted. The hot corners/region and swipe gesture should work pretty much any time that the screen is unlocked, and is a great way of quickly launching a new app without returning to your home screen.
The application offers to integrate task managing application by the same developer (which is a paid app) that I haven't tried out yet. Personally, I've got plenty of other ways of killing apps at this point - particularly once the function gets built into Clutch.
SwipePad is very nicely polished and quite responsive. It does what it does quite well. My only issue with it is that I just don't use it very frequently. I almost forget that it is there; I must be thoroughly conditioned to launching apps from the home screen. It's free, though, so give it a whirl and see if it can further help to optimize the way you launch apps from within other apps
Verdict: Clever use of hot-corners to gain quick access to up to 12 user-defined apps; non-intrusive to the point that you might forget to use it.
Screenshots:
1) SwipePad in action. Note that putting a link to SwipePad on your SwipePad gives you a quick way to access the settings screens.
2) SwipePad settings, with the hot corners highlighted in red at the bottom.
(tested on NexusOne / Kang-o-rama 1.2 T1 (CM7.n13 / GRH78C / Android 2.3.2))
is there a video demonstrating the use of Clutch? I want to watch it before paying for it.
Deff fav'ing this. Am looking forward to all reviews
(*is thinking about getting clutch)
Epic is as Epic does
Nice! Thanks bro!
waichung said:
is there a video demonstrating the use of Clutch? I want to watch it before paying for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I imagine there should be a video somewhere on the youtubes. Let me know if you find one and I will add it to the post. I'm about to go into work so it will be another 12 hours before I have access to the full internet, but I will look then if you haven't found anything.
Very good! Thanks
Keyboard Manager [APP]
App Name: Keyboard Manager (v.1.1) Keyboard Manager (v.1.4)
Developer: ne0fhyk
Price: FREE $1.99
NOTE: This app requires root!!
It took me quite a while, but I finally weened myself away from requiring a physical keyboard on a mobile device when I got my NexusOne. With the multitude and variety of available software keyboards available for Android, I haven't really missed the physical keys. The only annoyance at this point is that I find keyboards that work great for one-handed operation in portrait orientation, like Swype or 8pen (if you're in the mood for adventure and don't really care how long it takes to get a message completed ), but are next-to-worthless for dual-thumb landscape input. With a physical keyboard, you'd just slide that bad boy out and away you go. For those of us with only a touchscreen and maybe a few additional buttons, it can be a bit of a chore to manually change the selected input method each time we rotate the device. If only there was a way for the device to read my mind and select the appropriate keyboard.....
As luck would have it, XDA member ne0fhyk has provided us with a solution to this difficulty, in the form of his Keyboard Manager application. Simply select what keyboard you want to use in each orientation (I use Swype for portrait and SwiftKey for landscape), and the app will handle the tedious business of choosing the appropriate input method. It's that easy, and it works.
Mostly. The app is a bit of a hacked solution, and requires root permissions to be able to get around the Android security feature which prevents applications from changing the input method. Installation is not always straight-forward (instructions are available in the first post of the application thread, and it may cause a few software keyboards to force-close if you change orientation while the keyboard is displayed. The current version (1.1) has come a long way from the previous releases in terms of usability, stability, and reliability, and I haven't had any major issues with it. I highly recommend that you give this application a shot and see if it will help you out with your input needs.
Update (2/23/11): Keyboard Manager is no longer available for free, but is now installable from the Android Market. The now-current 1.4 version has fixed most of the install issues and should be a very easy set-up for you. If you run into any issues with the purchased version, please contact the developer - he helped me solve issues specific to my device, and the application works like a charm now.
Verdict: A functional hack to auto-select the appropriate software keyboard based on device orientation.
Screenshots:
1) The optional persistent notification icon. Activating the notification will give you quick access to the Keyboard Manager settings page, and I recommend you leave it enabled until you get things set up the way you want. After that, disable the persistent notification at your own risk (the persistent notification keeps the process in the foreground and prevents Android from terminating it).
2) Settings screen
3) Selecting which keyboard to use
4) Demonstrating that the app has automatically selected Swype for portrait...
5) .... and SwiftKey for landscape.
(tested on NexusOne / Kang-o-rama 1.2 T1 (CM7.n13 / GRH78C / Android 2.3.2))
Shift Puzzle Game [GAME]
App Name: Shift Puzzle Game (v.1.2, @AppBrain)
Developer: Handmark
Price: $1.99 (Free ad-supported version here or @AppBrain let's you try out 15 levels; full version features 40 additional levels and no ads)
The Shift Puzzle Game is a tasty Android port of the ever-popular SHIFT game by Armor Games, which you can play free in your Flash-enabled browser at the Armor Games website. If you're not familiar with the original (as I wasn't until I found this app just an hour ago), then let me fill you in on the skinny.
Shift is a new take on the classic adventure-puzzle platformer game. Your mission is to get from point A to point B, dodging whatever nasty traps and obstacles may be in your path. The twist is the ability for you to literally shift the game universe upside down. White becomes black, up becomes down, and you find yourself walking on the flip side of the surface you were just standing on. You can (and will) use this clever maneuver repeatedly in order to successfully navigate each challenging level. Not quite tracking? It can be rather tough to explain... Hopefully the screenshots below will help clear it up (or go play the flash version for free here).
This implementation for a touchscreen device is phenomenal. The controls are large and appear on either side of the landscape display - and you don't even need multitouch. Just tap the left arrow to move left, the left-up diagonal to jump left, and the SHIFT button at the top to do that groovy shift thing. The gameplay is engaging, and the levels can be quite challenging (and quite addictive). The game is worth trying out (the free version) solely for experiencing the joy that is puzzle-solving by twisting the fabric of the universe, and you might just get hooked enough to purchase the full version. It would be two bucks well spent.
Verdict: Quickly becoming my latest Android gaming addiction.
Screenshots:
1) Main menu
2) First level
3) First level - SHIFTED!
4) It gets twisted!
(tested on NexusOne / Kang-o-rama 1.2 T1 (CM7.n13 / GRH78C / Android 2.3.2))
This is a little off topic but is anyone attempting a Tor app?
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
jinsfch said:
This is a little off topic but is anyone attempting a Tor app?
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just slightly off topic, but no worries.
A quick search on AppBrain found Orbot: Tor On Android. Impressive, since Android still doesn't have proper proxy support on its own...
Can't find clutch video on youtube...
Btw,i think swipepad is better than it as swyping from the bottom is easier than from the right
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
waichung said:
Can't find clutch video on youtube...
Btw,i think swipepad is better than it as swyping from the bottom is easier than from the right
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I looked for Clutch videos as well and was disappointed to see that there aren't any. I may try to shoot a video once I get home from the desert in a few weeks (hopefully).
You can change the position of the Clutch region to really any spot on the screen. And I don't really see the two as competing anyway as they have entirely different purposes: Clutch gives you quick access to your recently-executed apps, while SwipePad offers a fixed menu of apps for you to launch.
codesplice said:
I looked for Clutch videos as well and was disappointed to see that there aren't any. I may try to shoot a video once I get home from the desert in a few weeks (hopefully).
You can change the position of the Clutch region to really any spot on the screen. And I don't really see the two as competing anyway as they have entirely different purposes: Clutch gives you quick access to your recently-executed apps, while SwipePad offers a fixed menu of apps for you to launch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The likely alt-tab function of clutch is really fantastic but does it show the recently-executed apps or the running apps? I use swipepad together with the virtual task switcher which allows switching among the running tasks. These 2 apps are completely free and no need to paid $1 for the "swipepad: tasks". But I prefer quick accessing recent tasks to showing those apps running at the background.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
waichung said:
The likely alt-tab function of clutch is really fantastic but does it show the recently-executed apps or the running apps? I use swipepad together with the virtual task switcher which allows switching among the running tasks. These 2 apps are completely free and no need to paid $1 for the "swipepad: tasks". But I prefer quick accessing recent tasks to showing those apps running at the background.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The set {recently-executed} apps includes the subset {running apps}. The default behavior of Android is to show all recently-executed apps under the Recent Apps functionality, regardless of whether those apps are still running or have been terminated. I thought that Visual Task Switcher behaved the same way, but based on the application page it does appear to only display currently-running apps. Personally, I prefer to see recent apps (with a visual distinction between those that are still running and those that have been terminated), as I often end up re-launching the same app over and over; of course, you could also just pin a shortcut to those frequent apps to SwipePad. We all operate our devices in different ways, so either option is of course valid.
Visual Task Switcher (at least the last time that I used it) tended to make my phone lag significantly for whatever reason; I did use it for quite some time though, and was pleased with its functionality as a complete Recent Apps replacement (after configuring the long-press home trigger to launch it via CyanogenMod settings). Also note that the free version includes ads (which may contribute to the lag I was experiencing?) while the full version will set you back $1.99.
Hello everybody, and before all, sory for my english
The main objetive of this thread is to provide a guide to increase performance on high density screen GPU bound devices, for example, the nexus 10.
The last year android devices start shiping with very high definition screens, but without the necesary GPU muscle to make them work good.
Since I was a PC gamer, I know the terrible impact of high definition on the gaming performance, and, on this screen size, this is a useless impact, since the extra resolution are practicaly unperceptible.
The past week I spend a lot of time trying to change my device's resolution (a nexus 7) and with kernel modding, it is posible, but don't are great since I only play 1/3 of the devices usage, and the 1280x800 resolution are great for chat, browsing (or posting on the forum ).
Finally I find a great program that allow me to temporary change the display resolution of my device, and with the free version I was allowed to change resolution to 720x450, and on gaming performance, that was a GREAT performance updrade, even, with the wuality sacrifice (and on a 7 inch display, this wasn't a great lose.
In order to do that, I need to disable soft keys, since they bug A LOT with the resolution change, and to use a custom launcher because the default launcher bug too (go launcher ex is my favourite and the only one I test).
So, I leave a guide on how to prepare your device to use this mod to increase gaming performance, and to provide help to everyone who want it.
First of all, you NEED to be rooted.
Now, start with the device preparing.
Wee need a soft keys replacement, I recomend this one, work great and are really simple to customize.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jun.ace.piecontrol
Now, you need to remove the soft keys in order to gain extra screen space and to protect yourself from potential bugs on the user interface.
To do that, you need to edit your build.prop with an editor or manually with a text editor and add this line.
qemu.hw.mainkeys=1
Now, on the next boot your device have the soft keys disabled.
To protect the status bar from being bugged, we need to change the lcd density of our display in order to allow a phone status bar (the phablet one bug on low resolution displays, and on tablets without sofkeys, we need a status bar.
To do that, we need to edit from the build.prop editor the "ro.sf.lcd_density" parameter and set it to something above 214 (nexus 7 have 213 and it enable the phablet interface, and on 214 it enable a full phone interface, but with small icons and more work space, you need to test and find the most usefull dpi for your device)
Now, we need to install the "magic app", and start testing resolutions and trying to find the most confortable for us, I have the paid version and use on the nexus 7 (16:10 or 8:5) 480x768 since it allow GREAT performance improvement and a good image quality for my screen size.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nomone.resolution_changer
One example of a game that work GREAT with this trick is N.O.V.A. 3, on the tegra 3 plataform it is almost inplayable, and with the trick, on my nexus 7, it looks like this.
So, start testing this, and post your results, configs and devices.
Help us resolving the screen resolution fragmentation on devices!
And mods, please, help the post with a good language correction XD
Edit: Changed the APK link, to a new one, the new app have onscreen buttons to fix the navbar problems, so, pie controls are no longer needed, I leave the link here onlfy for people to know another alternative, thx for NoMone Devs!
i am planning to buy a 7 or 8" android with high resolution and was a bit worried about gaming performance because of the high resolution.. can you post a video of the performance gain plz?
Whoa! I might give this a go when I get home. Good Job.
i am interested for feedbacks in other heavy games like modern combat 4
this!
what android device and other mobile devices lacks.
there's no setting to set the resolution!
people out there always suggest me to change the dpi, but hell no!
"dpi" is not physical resolution, it just changing icon and other ui element to small or big.
this terms confuse many people.
they think DPI is the screen resolution.
and.... i just cannot understand the hype,
many vendors put high res 1080p on 5" device?
what the heck!? is it necessary?
what's next? ultra 4K res on 4" screen?
come on.. it's unnecesary and waste of battery.
gpu works hard to get the job done in that resolution. especially gaming.
thank you for sharing this trick for us.
google should consider to put resolution changer on the next android.
and android vendor should realize put hi-res on small screen is just plain dumb.
-----
Sent from Android device
i will try this thank you. . .:good:
It's hard to take a video without a camera, but to give youman example, on 500x800 asphalt 7 give me 60fps on the shangai track, with my 800x1280 default resolution, I have 20fps aprox with a lot of fluctutations, it's a great app, and with GMD hide buttons, is almost perfect.
Antara33 said:
It's hard to take a video without a camera, but to give youman example, on 500x800 asphalt 7 give me 60fps on the shangai track, with my 800x1280 default resolution, I have 20fps aprox with a lot of fluctutations, it's a great app, and with GMD hide buttons, is almost perfect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ah that indeed seems to be very nice! i have tried it on my htc desire not it does not work nothing changed
yeahman45 said:
ah that indeed seems to be very nice! i have tried it on my htc desire not it does not work nothing changed
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Yes, on the HTC Desire 480x800 display, you need to set it to something lower that it, for example, 360x600, it increase the gaming performance, this trick work great on high res display like the nexus 7 or nexus 10 displays for example, try to reduce the resoution to something that retain the original aspect ratio and be lower that 480x800, 360x600 or 240x400 make a grat change, but im not sure about image quality on this device...
Antara33 said:
Yes, on the HTC Desire 480x800 display, you need to set it to something lower that it, for example, 360x600, it increase the gaming performance, this trick work great on high res display like the nexus 7 or nexus 10 displays for example, try to reduce the resoution to something that retain the original aspect ratio and be lower that 480x800, 360x600 or 240x400 make a grat change, but im not sure about image quality on this device...
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ok thx i have tried to set it to 360x640 on the free version.. but nothing happens.. it just say "Display scaler free has been granted root superuser permissions" and nothing happens
Mh, maybe this is a device specific issue, have you posted a review or sended the autor an feedback email about it?
Antara33 said:
Hello everybody, and before all, sory for my english
The main objetive of this thread is to provide a guide to increase performance on high density screen GPU bound devices, for example, the nexus 10.
The last year android devices start shiping with very high definition screens, but without the necesary GPU muscle to make them work good.
Since I was a PC gamer, I know the terrible impact of high definition on the gaming performance, and, on this screen size, this is a useless impact, since the extra resolution are practicaly unperceptible.
The past week I spend a lot of time trying to change my device's resolution (a nexus 7) and with kernel modding, it is posible, but don't are great since I only play 1/3 of the devices usage, and the 1280x800 resolution are great for chat, browsing (or posting on the forum ).
Finally I find a great program that allow me to temporary change the display resolution of my device, and with the free version I was allowed to change resolution to 720x450, and on gaming performance, that was a GREAT performance updrade, even, with the wuality sacrifice (and on a 7 inch display, this wasn't a great lose.
In order to do that, I need to disable soft keys, since they bug A LOT with the resolution change, and to use a custom launcher because the default launcher bug too (go launcher ex is my favourite and the only one I test).
So, I leave a guide on how to prepare your device to use this mod to increase gaming performance, and to provide help to everyone who want it.
First of all, you NEED to be rooted.
Now, start with the device preparing.
Wee need a soft keys replacement, I recomend this one, work great and are really simple to customize.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jun.ace.piecontrol
Now, you need to remove the soft keys in order to gain extra screen space and to protect yourself from potential bugs on the user interface.
To do that, you need to edit your build.prop with an editor or manually with a text editor and add this line.
qemu.hw.mainkeys=1
Now, on the next boot your device have the soft keys disabled.
To protect the status bar from being bugged, we need to change the lcd density of our display in order to allow a phone status bar (the phablet one bug on low resolution displays, and on tablets without sofkeys, we need a status bar.
To do that, we need to edit from the build.prop editor the "ro.sf.lcd_density" parameter and set it to something above 214 (nexus 7 have 213 and it enable the phablet interface, and on 214 it enable a full phone interface, but with small icons and more work space, you need to test and find the most usefull dpi for your device)
Now, we need to install the "magic app", and start testing resolutions and trying to find the most confortable for us, I have the paid version and use on the nexus 7 (16:10 or 8:5) 480x768 since it allow GREAT performance improvement and a good image quality for my screen size.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nexter.miniscalerfree
One example of a game that work GREAT with this trick is N.O.V.A. 3, on the tegra 3 plataform it is almost inplayable, and with the trick, on my nexus 7, it looks like this.
So, start testing this, and post your results, configs and devices.
Help us resolving the screen resolution fragmentation on devices!
And mods, please, help the post with a good language correction XD
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Hey I bought the app and it works fine i tried most of the resolutions and even a custom one but it seems that no resolution lower than my physical one will go full screen i always get black borders do you get this too?
thanks a8 soc
I tried tweaking my resolution to a higher one yet nothing happens on my Alcatel OneTouch T10. Any fix on this?
Sory for the lazy responce, I have so much time working and other personal things I read on the store that the apk only make the new resolution use the full screen on 4.2+ so if you are on 4.1-, you have it with black borders, sory, but I cant do anything for this :/
is there any way after change resolution for fix buttom touch key(it doesnt work physical touch key)? or any idea where is touch key config file or something like that related in root?
THUNDERASS said:
is there any way after change resolution for fix buttom touch key(it doesnt work physical touch key)? or any idea where is touch key config file or something like that related in root?
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I don't know, I suppose, android mao this keys as a touchscreen surface or something like that, the most easybway is using gmd hide softkeys and with it, trigger a softkeys quick navbar and play with this, I am using Paranoidandroid right now and with the pie controls I fix all my problems, and on smanager I created 2 scripts to execute the commands to change resolution, one for the 500x800 for gaming and the other to 1280x800, the default resolution of the nexus 7.
Try it and leave me a comment with your experience.
Antara33 said:
I don't know, I suppose, android mao this keys as a touchscreen surface or something like that, the most easybway is using gmd hide softkeys and with it, trigger a softkeys quick navbar and play with this, I am using Paranoidandroid right now and with the pie controls I fix all my problems, and on smanager I created 2 scripts to execute the commands to change resolution, one for the 500x800 for gaming and the other to 1280x800, the default resolution of the nexus 7.
Try it and leave me a comment with your experience.
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Thanls for your reply.i have mtk quad core 6589T 1.5 ghz device with powervr 544MP1 and 1 gb ram . My screen is 1080p. i think gpu cant handle this resolution sometimes occur wierd lag and some highend games cant playable.After change resolution to 720p and 320 dpi everything perfect games performance increase %80-100 even memory consumption decreasing.(100mb).i am using with pie control but i want to using continiusly 720p i think after change resulotion touch key coordinates change over screen size.if i found that responsible cfg file or something maybe i can handle this.i am still searching..
THUNDERASS said:
Thanls for your reply.i have mtk quad core 6589T 1.5 ghz device with powervr 544MP1 and 1 gb ram . My screen is 1080p. i think gpu cant handle this resolution sometimes occur wierd lag and some highend games cant playable.After change resolution to 720p and 320 dpi everything perfect games performance increase %80-100 even memory consumption decreasing.(100mb).i am using with pie control but i want to using continiusly 720p i think after change resulotion touch key coordinates change over screen size.if i found that responsible cfg file or something maybe i can handle this.i am still searching..
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For me, the way to go is sticking with default res for everything except gaming, as I say, I have two scripts on 2 widgets on my main screen, one with the commands
su
wm size 500x800
And the other with the commands
su
wm size reset
on jely bean 4.3 this commands set the override resolution of the screen.
on android 4.2.x the wm have to be replaced with am.
The app launch this terminal commands and override our resolution, but since I cant buy the app because of credit card and legal issues on argentina, I made my own scripts with smanager and swidgets . Quick on the fly change, and "letz rack!"
i am using this fantastic program on my thl w8s to scale resolution from 1080p to 720p during games and the speedup is fantastic...i set tasker to autolaunch the app when i click on the game icon, and once finished the game just click on fixes/reset resolution to bring everything back to 1080p . this program is great and the only one i have found...let's hope the developer doesn't abandon it and keeps making it better....and with a better integration in tasker maybe
I've noticed that many keyboards either:
- take up most of the space on screen
- use up too much space on internal memory
- lag while typing
I use Hacker's Keyboard because it's basic, resizeable and light. Previously, I used TouchPal, but that took up too much storage space. In your opinion, what is the best keyboard for Samsung Galaxy Fit?
Default Samsung Keyboard
smart keyboard pro
use smart keyboard pro.............its just of 2 MB and consumes very less RAM.............i'm using it for more than 2 years...........its the best keyboard till now i have ever used:laugh: