Related
I've been spending a while searching for a good Twitter app for WinMo in order to find something that fits me. Unfortunately, I didn't have much luck searching for others' advice, so I began combing the Internet basically trying out every app that caught my eye. I noticed a bunch of people on the XDA forum asking questions about the best Twitter app and I made this topic in hopes of helping others out.
Anyway, below are my assessment of all the Twitter apps I tried. I'll give a summary first for anyone who doesn't want to read through, but after that, read on.
Summary: If anybody is looking for my opinion on the best Twitter based on various attributes, here it is:
Best Appearance - moTweets
Best Speed - TouchTwit
Best Lightweight - Twobile
Best Compromise - Twikini
As for me, I prefer just using the HTC Twitter in TF3D, but when using a ROM without Sense 2.5, I do prefer MoTweets. For everyone else who don't want any of the ones I mentioned, read on, and I hope you find what you're looking for.
1) moTweets - This is probably one of the best WinMo Twitter apps around. The visuals is great (probably the best looking Twitter app I've seen) and the usability is fantastic. Doing anything simply requires you to double tap on a tweet (or tap an icon to tweet yourself). Unfortunately, the disadvantage to moTweet is that there is a noticeable bit of lag, but nothing bad. The free version of the app also comes with ads.
2) PockeTwit - This is a fairly good app. The appearance is a bit unappealing, but the speed appears to be good. I do not like the usability very much, though. In order to do things like favorite, reply, or just tweet, you have to drag the screen to the left or to the right, which can be a bit troublesome. The program does come with a QuickPost icon, but it would have been better if it was integrated into the app itself, in my opinion.
3) Tiny Twitter - Based on the name alone, one might surmise that the program was designed as a lightweight app. Something for speed and simplicity. At least, that was what I had presumed.
Well, the app certainly is simple. There are no visual frills and tweets are listed in small boxes allowing for many, many tweets to be displayed on the screen at a time. All commands are set in the 'Menu' button and there doesn't appear to be a context menu or double tap menu. On the other hand, Tiny Twitter just isn't very fast. Drag-scrolling has noticeable lag and trying to do a long drag-scroll makes it even more obvious. It isn't so slow as to be a deal breaker, though, so if simplicity is necessary for you, then Tiny Twitter isn't a bad deal.
P.S. On quirk I noticed about Tiny Twitter. When it had updated with new tweets, my phone had a small sound go off (not very distinctive), and my phone began vibrating like crazy with nothing to indicate why. For a moment, I had thought it was about to brick itself for some reason.
Then the vibrating stopped and a message popped up saying I had new tweets.
4) TouchTwit - A very slick looking Twitter app and very speedy. I do mean very speedy too as going through tweets or moving from screen to screen was just lightning fast. Performing commands requires you to drag the screen to the right, but doing it here is easy and quick, so I don't mind too much.
5) Twikini - Twikini is not the best looking nor does it have the best usability. Sad to say, it doesn't have the best speed either. However, I can compliment it as probably the best compromise between all three. It is fairly fast, the visuals works well, and the usability is pretty nice. Tweeting is as simple as hitting the 'Tweet' button, replying is done by tapping on a tweet then hitting 'Reply'. Every other available command can be done through the 'Menu' button.
Only disadvantage to this is that it costs $4.95.
6) Twaddle - This is a very awkward app.
Unlike the other Twitter apps on the list, signing in to Twitter requires you to launch a web browser to enter your Twitter account info in order to grant access to Twaddle, and get a pin which you must then input into Twaddle in order to complete authorization.
This awkwardness continues into the program. For example, to drag the screen down to look at more replies, you have to drag the screen, and then let go before the app will actually move. Alternative, you can use the scroll bar to move, but it's not very finger friendly. Furthermore, commands are split between the 'Menu' button, and holding down on a tweet until the context menu pops up, but curiously, there appears to be no obvious way to favorite. Even more strangely, double tapping on a tweet causes the programs to slowly scroll up.
The appearance is fairly nice and the speed is good, but personally, I feel that the app is just too awkward.
7) Quakk - In all honesty, I can not recommend this Twitter app.
The appearance is poor (with oversized tweets) and there appears to be a distinct lack of commands. In fact, the only commands I could find at all was Reply, Direct Message, Open Link, and Tweet. Furthermore, the app seems to be very buggy.
Hitting the 'Update' button occasionally causes the app to crash and trying to Tweet/Reply will result in this small window (that overlaps text; this may be a result of my Fuze's resolution, but I found nothing about system requirements on Quakk's website). Fortunately, the 'Direct Msg' command doesn't seem to have the same problem. Unfortunately, that's because the 'Direct Msg' command doesn't seem to work at all.
Overall, I would rate Quakk very poorly at the moment, but it is listed as an 'open source' app, so it may get better later on.
8) Twitula - Twitula is an app with nice visuals (including interesting transition effects) and it seems to be feature-rich. Performing commands on a tweet is as simple as tapping on the Tweeter's profile pic while there is also a 'Tweet' and 'Menu' button for other necessary commands.
The only issue I noticed with this is speed. Drag-scrolling is very slow and you notice lag in other parts of the app too. Furthermore, the app seems to open all links in PIE despite me having Opera Mobile as my default.
9) mTweets - One of the more simple Twitter apps on the list. In fact, it seem to match Tiny Twitter in simplicity, and the speed is certain better.
Furthermore, it has one of the most unique interfaces of any Twitter app I tried. Tapping on a tweet doesn't highlight it or bring up a context menu, but it displays a new window showing a series of icons which indicates commands, such as reply or direct msg. The tweets are also contained in small windows that looks almost like frames, which is a bit disorientating.
However, the app is missing some common commands (favorite, for example), and it appears to have stability issues. Frequently, I would find that it would take indefinitely when I try to update or switch to another view, and just updating it would take a very long time. Lastly, scrolling in this app is not easy. You can't drag-scroll and scrolling by scrollbar doesn't move the screen until you let go, which is annoying.
10) Twobile - Another 'simplicity app'.
Twobile has an interface similar to that of Tiny Twitter. Tweets are presented in a 'Excel' manner with the left side naming the Tweeter and the right side containing their status; all of this comes in small lines allowing for many tweets to be displayed.
Unlike Tiny Twitter, the speed of Twobile is much, much better, and it comes with a bit more functionality. In Twobile, you can double tap on a tweet, and it'll bring up a screen containing more information about the tweet, and allow you to perform various commands (including, interestingly enough, a 'Translate' command). This detailed screen also allows you to switch to a newer or older tweet, albeit the transition effect is a bit ugly.
The program also has a context menu containing common commands and an 'Action' button listing all of the available commands. Switching between views (public, friends, etc) is also as simple hitting one of the visible tabs at the bottom.
I can't believe no-one's replied to this thread yet!
I'd just like to thank you for your diligent efforts in trying and testing all those apps - It certainly saved a lot of time.
My only suggestion is perhaps to move this out of the Fuze section and re-post to the General Software section for more visibility.
Keep up the good work
Thank you very much, Phrak. Just trying to help those who may have faced the same frustrations I did.
Anyway, at the time I created this topic, I was thinking largely of my fellow Raphael users, and I may have been a bit shortsighted to not place this in the General section instead to help all WM users. I will try to get this topic flagged and moved by a moderator, though.
MOD EDIT - Moved thread to General discussion, Q&A forum by request of OP
WOW thank you for your recommendations 8525Smart, what an awesome post. I'm testing out MoTweets and loving it at the Mo
ty :thumbsup
Where was this two weeks ago?
Sure wish I'd seen this a couple of weeks ago when I was updating my phone after flashing a new ROM. Currently use Tiny Twitter, but also have PockeTwit installed. Of the two, I prefer Tiny Twitter. However, after reading your reviews am going to give Twobile a try.
Thanks again!!
Robert
Thanks for this very useful review of apps.
I've used motweets and pocketwit, and i personally prefer pocketwit for the simple fact that it allows you to using several accounts at the same time.
I have 2 accounts, and at the same time i can see the timeline of both of them, and replying, retweeting, etc. also from both in just a single click.
Motweets is almost perfect, but it's a little laggy and switching from accounts is not that simple as in Pocketwit.
Cheers and sorry for my english
here are the twitter aplicattions that I use:
ceTwit -a simple and fast app.
GPS Twit - an app that post your location over google maps. download WM vervion here
I'm the developer of Twaddle - just wanted to say thanks for having a look at Twaddle and sharing your thoughts. I know this is a bit old, but thought I'd share a couple of responses:
8525Smart said:
6) Twaddle - This is a very awkward app.
Unlike the other Twitter apps on the list, signing in to Twitter requires you to launch a web browser to enter your Twitter account info in order to grant access to Twaddle, and get a pin which you must then input into Twaddle in order to complete authorization.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At the time you wrote this I believe Twaddle was the only Twitter application (on WinMo) that used OAuth which negates the requirement for the application to know your username and password. I fully realise how awkward the authorisation process is (and so does Twitter themselves) but I stuck with it as it was well known that Basic Authorisation (ie. Using a username / password) was going to go away. And it did on August 30th which caused many applications to cease to work.
Twitter has rectified the awkwardness of OAuth by introducing xAuth, which the next version of Twaddle supports (see my post on this). With xAuth the username / password are sent only once (ever) over a secure channel. Twitter than grants Twaddle a token that is used for all subsequent communication.
8525Smart said:
This awkwardness continues into the program. For example, to drag the screen down to look at more replies, you have to drag the screen, and then let go before the app will actually move. Alternative, you can use the scroll bar to move, but it's not very finger friendly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting - I've not had this complaint before, but can certainly see where you're coming from. I'm pretty flat out finishing up version 0.3 but will look into this for 0.4. I presume you're after something where by the screen "moves" as you drag? That shouldn't be too difficult.
Another alternative is that if your phone has a physical up/down key those can be used to scroll one whole tweet at a time.
8525Smart said:
Furthermore, commands are split between the 'Menu' button, and holding down on a tweet until the context menu pops up, but curiously,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The logic used here is that the right soft key menu is for common options that apply to all tweets (ie. Reply, Send Message, etc) and these also tend to be the more frequently used options (in my usage, anyhow). The context menu is used for options that vary (ie. Opening an URL can only be done on a tweet with a URL in it). This difference is further emphasised in 0.3 where other developers can write different plugins and one of the types of plugins create the context menu items. If you're a developer you may be interested in the post I just wrote on the new plugin system on my blog.
8525Smart said:
... there appears to be no obvious way to favorite.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right, there isn't a favourite option at this stage. Given the multitude of things to implement, I'd always presumed that favouriting tweets was fairly low on the list, but apparently not. There's no way this would make it into 0.3, but we'll see for 0.4.
8525Smart said:
Even more strangely, double tapping on a tweet causes the programs to slowly scroll up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for reporting that, I'll throw it on my todo list for the 0.3 release.
8525Smart said:
The appearance is fairly nice and the speed is good, but personally, I feel that the app is just too awkward.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the review, hopefully you'll check out 0.3 when it's released and see if that fixes your criticisms / you like it more. I'm always open to suggestions, requests and bug reports.
I only occasionally haunt XDA Dev's so a better option might be twitter (@TwaddleWM), email ([email protected]addle.mobi) or commenting on a post over at the Twaddle site
MrMDavidson said:
I'm the developer of Twaddle - just wanted to say thanks for having a look at Twaddle and sharing your thoughts. I know this is a bit old, but thought I'd share a couple of responses:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, thank you for responding! It's always a pleasure to see the developer of applications respond to its users.
I very much appreciate the explanation of why some things work as they do and the info about the upcoming changes. Unfortunately, I don't think I will be able to try out newer versions of your Twaddle software. The thing is that I no longer use Windows Mobile or even own a WinMo phone anymore, so using your software is pretty much impossible for me.
Nonetheless, it sounds like the program has since improved greatly, and the WinMo community has a well supported app on its hands. Thanks again for responding.
This project was started (read below for more details) as a Google Reader client app for Android. After the shutdown of Google Reader on 1st of July, the app was enhanced to support Feedly cloud and The Old Reader services. This list will grow and more services will be supported in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want to introduce my android application to the XDA community in the hope that it will be useful for like minded people and to get constructive feedback to improve the app.
D7 Reader
I have been using the web based Google Reader on my Android phone for long and I have tried several native applications in the market, which sync with Google reader, including the official one. However, I was not satisfied with any of them because of the below reasons.
All the apps want to sync in the background and store all articles offline (who wants to download those 1000 articles which were published a month ago, wasting the precious bandwidth)
The sync has always been an issue - I read article in the app and half an hour later I check the web based reader, that article wasn't marked as read
I couldn't do all the actions which I do in the web based Google reader (e.g.: add/remove subscription, label/tag management, article search, view shared articles, etc)
No app is instantly usable - initial sync may take up to an hour and this happens on a regular (scheduled sync) basis
Most of the apps are slow on my Galaxy S
So, I wanted to make a Google Reader app for my own needs and the result is "D7 Google Reader".
Below are details of the app.
D7 Reader: the fastest RSS Reader app for Android
rss | atom | news | podcast | video
A simple, fast and powerful Google Reader client for Android, enables you to access your reading list and manage your subscriptions with ease from a native application. The app keeps all the stuff in sync with Google Reader, always, without the need for a scheduled sync. It supports listening to podcasts or downloading them for later use and watching embedded video using the youtube app.
D7 Reader is an online app and it does support offline reading when the articles are explicitly saved (locally) by the user.
kw: rss atom podcast google reader news feed subscription share newspaper search
Main features
Much faster than official Google Reader app
No Lags (specially on Galaxy S devices)
Google username/password NOT required
Multiple account support; switch between accounts on the fly
Utilizes low network traffic
Podcast support (download/play)
View mobilized articles
Add new subscription directly from the browser
Search for articles (powered by Google) within your subscriptions
Feed discovery and subscription (search for feeds using keywords)
Recommended articles from Google
Theme support (dark/light)
Support for multiple sharing options: Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Email, SMS and Pocket (Reader It Later) and Readability.
Support for embedded video playback
Features
A dashboard with quick access links to your reader
- Reading list/Subscriptions/Starred/Read articles
- Recommended articles
- Feed search
- Saved articles
- Preferences
Clean and friendly subscriptions management
- Tree structure for labels/tags and subscriptions
- Add new subscription (by feed search or direct add)
- Remove subscription
- Add/Remove labels to/from subscriptions
- Rename label
- Delete a label
- Search for articles within labels/tags and subscriptions
Articles list view with the ability to choose between show all or new items (configurable in preferences)
- Add/remove star
- Keep-unread/Undo Keep-unread
- Mark all as read
- Search for articles
- Swipe (left/right) to mark/unmark as read (or configure a custom action)
- Add to Read It Later/ Readability
Recommended articles list
- Personalized by Google
- Subscribe to the feeds from the recommended items
Article view with support for sharing and social web
- Better mobile readability and user experience (horizontal scrolling is not necessary for most articles)
- Volume key navigation (set in preferences) or using on screen buttons
- Add/remove star
- Keep-unread/Undo Keep-unread
- Share via Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Email or SMS
- Add to Pocket (Read It Later) and Readability
- Swipe (left/right) to navigate between articles (when enabled in preferences)
- View original article in browser
- Save article offline to read later
- listen to podcasts or download for later use
- Mobilize original article (Mobilizers: Instapaper/Readability/Google)
- Support for embedded video in articles
Offline items
- a list of saved (sd card) articles
- listen to downloaded podcasts
Home screen Widget with unread count display
- Refresh interval can be configured
- Does not update when the phone is in stand by (save battery power)
Configurable cache clear on exit (preferences)
And many more
Screen shots
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
The app has been published in the Android market as an ad-supported free version. A paid version with additional features is also made available. Below are the QR codes for you to download app direct from the market.
D7 Reader (free version)
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.droidlab7.reader
D7 Reader (paid version)
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.droidlab7.reader.pro
D7 Reader 2.2.5 APK: View attachment D7GoogleReader.apk
Update change logs
Version 2.0
Version 2.1.0
Version 2.2.0
Version 2.2.1
Version 2.2.3
Version 2.2.3.1
Version 2.2.4
Version 2.2.4.1
Version 2.2.5
Version 2.2.7
looks nice on first test, but one major issue: to open an article in browser i first have to open that menu and then click the browser button. should be a single click on the headline, way too annoying this way.
and also that check for ad blocking hosts file is quite annoying. If i like the app i'll buy it but please let me test the free version in advance without changing my system config. Show red annoying boxes instead of the ads when ads are blocked, that's ok, but please don't force me to disable my ad blocker which will in turn enable ads on all websites
XlAfbk said:
looks nice on first test, but one major issue: to open an article in browser i first have to open that menu and then click the browser button. should be a single click on the headline, way too annoying this way.
and also that check for ad blocking hosts file is quite annoying. If i like the app i'll buy it but please let me test the free version in advance without changing my system config. Show red annoying boxes instead of the ads when ads are blocked, that's ok, but please don't force me to disable my ad blocker which will in turn enable ads on all websites
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the feedback XlAfbk.
Next version will have the browser button fix; I will consider finding an alternate solution for ad-blocked devices.
Very promising. Finally an *online* reader similar to Google native. I feel however that article list view space could be better used to fit more articles on the page, the last line is wasted with two icons. Also, how about showing article time in addition to date?
crimper said:
Very promising. Finally an *online* reader similar to Google native. I feel however that article list view space could be better used to fit more articles on the page, the last line is wasted with two icons. Also, how about showing article time in addition to date?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback crimper.
Do you think you can live without those icons? Even if I remove the left 2 icons, podcast icon needs to ne shown to indicate the user there is an attacjed podcast. I will think of a better way of arranging the information to utilise the space.
For the date/time display, do you think showing the time for todays articles and date for the older articles is a better option? Displaying both time and date will take up more space in my opinion. Please let me know your comments.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
i like it anyway u could implement swipe to mark as read
jtkes693 said:
i like it anyway u could implement swipe to mark as read
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks jtkes693. I have added this request to my to-do features; You can expect this included in future releases.
swipe... good that you mention it. swiping right/left to go to the next/previous item would be nice (instead of having to click the arrow buttons)
droidlab7 said:
Thanks for the feedback crimper.
Do you think you can live without those icons? Even if I remove the left 2 icons, podcast icon needs to ne shown to indicate the user there is an attacjed podcast. I will think of a better way of arranging the information to utilise the space.
For the date/time display, do you think showing the time for todays articles and date for the older articles is a better option? Displaying both time and date will take up more space in my opinion. Please let me know your comments.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Maybe show icons on the same line as subject or preview? I really like the way Reader mobile page is formatted, clean and much better than the Google's reader app - article preview, smaller fonts.
2. I agree that time is relevant for today only.
XlAfbk said:
swipe... good that you mention it. swiping right/left to go to the next/previous item would be nice (instead of having to click the arrow buttons)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good one XlAfbk.
I will try to include this feature in the next update. Thanks.
thought of another idea....besides the widget newsrob has an unread count if use a shortcut instead i like this idea because its easier to change the icons to fit a theme...would this be possible for this app
jtkes693 said:
thought of another idea....besides the widget newsrob has an unread count if use a shortcut instead i like this idea because its easier to change the icons to fit a theme...would this be possible for this app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I didn't get you quite correct. Can you please elaborate on this?
crimper said:
1. Maybe show icons on the same line as subject or preview? I really like the way Reader mobile page is formatted, clean and much better than the Google's reader app - article preview, smaller fonts.
2. I agree that time is relevant for today only.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks crimper. I will do something about the icons.
droidlab7 said:
I think I didn't get you quite correct. Can you please elaborate on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok ill try....for example if i long press the home screen news has an unread count widget. but newsrob also has it so that instead of using the widget i can place a shortcut on the home screen that shows the unread count ill post a screen later if its still doesnt make sense
I like the in-app mobilize article screen. However, the font is quite small for my phone.
Can you add option to change font size in mobilize article screen?
Is it possible to add option to go straight to "Reading List" when I open the app?
[add] Could you also add option to go straight to mobilize article screen when I tap the article?
Thanks
thanks for the app! i like it so much!!!
jtkes693 said:
ok ill try....for example if i long press the home screen news has an unread count widget. but newsrob also has it so that instead of using the widget i can place a shortcut on the home screen that shows the unread count ill post a screen later if its still doesnt make sense
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got you; thanks for the detailed explanation.
I will consider this, but this will be of lower priority compared to the other features in the list. So, please don't expect this in the next release.
MiCo7285 said:
thanks for the app! i like it so much!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are welcome and thanks for your support!
Can you please show your appreciation by giving a good rating in the android market?
no problem love the app especially the mobilize feature this app has replaced most of my other news readers
I presume most of us have Mango now officially or unofficially so as the title states, what is your favourite feature?
Unrelated note; if anyone wants an invite to Google+ PM me
There are lots of little things I'm really enjoying, but I'll at least narrow the list down to two:
a) The ability to only require a lockscreen password after a set time interval. Surprisingly useful!
b) Improved ListBox behaviour. Makes AlphaJax ad many other apps a joy to use instead of a jerky mess!
Sent from my HD7 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
err.. the ability to search contact by company name ahahahah...
and office skydrive ...
Even though the mult-tasking isn't actually working yet, I am enjoying having a way to switch between different tasks/apps quickly, instead of hitting the back button a bunch of times. It will be really nice once the actual multi-tasking portion is working.
1. The timed interval for password from the locked screen,
2. Unified inbox.
3. Pretty good bar code reader in Bing. Wish it would bring up a few more/better shopping results.
The new Bing utilities are great.
Multitasking & all the API's released to developers in general. Will allow for many things I've wanted.
Updated email & calendar - linked inboxes, threaded emails, birthday/holiday/facebook calendars all important to me.
New voice commands & dictation
Ability to add groups, and group features (group email ect)
Save settings in Camera
Full skydrive sync
Those are the big ones, but the whole thing seems amazing so far.
tiny17 said:
Even though the mult-tasking isn't actually working yet, I am enjoying having a way to switch between different tasks/apps quickly, instead of hitting the back button a bunch of times. It will be really nice once the actual multi-tasking portion is working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What else are they going to do with it?
I was under the impression this was how its going to be? I hope your right but I'm curious as what's going to be added?
Id like to see an x on each window to close or swipe up or down to close...
Sent from my Windows Phone Mango Focus using Board Express
Ie9 is my favorite upgrade. I like that the OS performance is better in most areas. I like the new Bing features and more informative tiles.
I like the new phone layouts for placing and taking calls.
Like that I can switch and app, but no 3rd party aps take advantage from it yet as they all have to resume... and looking for a way to close apps in the task manager....
There are more but I'm tired of typing
Sent from my Windows Phone Mango Focus using Board Express
hi
large buttons!
1. Xbox live screen
2. merged inboxes
1. new xbox live
2. custom friggin ringtones! ( still trying to figure out how to get the custom alert sounds working)
3.IE is way better!
EDIT: for some reason, the podcast downloading from the phone doesnt work. says i need to check my data connection.
So is IE9 faster for everyone? Because it is straight up balls for me >.<
Not only is it faster but it also loads the pages correctly (Finally) my favourite feature has to be threads, it is so damn useful
1.Multitasking (Adding X button will be Perfect)
2.Groups
3.Chatting in Facebook and Hotmail
4.Save Camera Options
5.Linked emails
6.Software speed
7.New way to shutdown the device by sliding the lock screen down after pressing shutdown button.
8.New Layout
9.Grouping app Alphabetically
10.Battery Saver
On the other hand, Some languages still not supported
Search result doesn't find anything
Noway to backup SMS
Still some errors as it is a beta version.
Audio Confirmations
Audio Confirmations! Especially when the locksreen is on and the voice asks you, "would you like to read, reply, or ignore the text".
This is a feature you have to enable in "Speech Settings". It is very useful. You can set it to always on, Bluetooth and Headsets, Bluetooth Only, or wired headset. Give it a try....
IMO the most impressives are :
1. The Unified Message system...
Now all messages (and i mean all SMS-MMS-Facebook-Win Live) are in one place and have the same way of working.
If you try to text a contact the system tells you if he is online (FB or Messanger) and offers to send the message via them.
2. Contacts and Groups. Make a group (family or friends) and put some ppl in the group.
Then pin the group to start page. Fisrt it will give you a fast dialing option for them, and the most impressive
is that any message or FB event/notification or fotos that comes from one of those ppl on the group
will be there live with nice rotating animation.
You must try this ...its Fantastic
I like the new Zune player with Smart DJ.
Social Notifications and Groupings...
This is my favorite. If I have a family group it lists the updates from Facebook or Live which is nice to see. No longer is it necessary to go through a useless FB list in search of specific components about people I want to know about (impossibly difficult to do with any lengthy FB contact list.)
General Social notifications - if someone makes a comment on your picture in FB or in Live I like how the ME tile becomes useful by flipping over and giving you the notification. This is extremely useful to stay on top of the things you care about.
Pictures
I like the dynamic change of the tile - it's a nice eye candy feature
Turning a online gallary picture into a wallpaper is easy without copying to the phone
The people hub is pretty nice to see all your top contacted friend's picture quickly and easily
IE9 - much improved - EXTREMELY better
Local Scout - cool as hell
MOST USED TOOL - Voice to Text for SMS - absolutely killer feature with almost a 90% accuracy rating on short phrases.
Too many to list..
Here are my favorites in no particular order -
1. Shortcut to "Now Playing" on the volume drop down for music
2. unified messaging via Threads
3. Bing Vision
4. Updated zune player w/ "Related" artists and smart DJ, clearly marked downloadable songs for zune pass
5. Faster application and game installs
6. Improved Xbox live interface
RSS reader offline fulltext articles with images, optimized for traffic economy
This is a separate branch of the Flym RSS reader application
Main functions:
- RSS feeds of articles
- search for by keyword when adding feed
- download offline full-text versions of articles with images
- import / export of the channel list from OPML
- filter articles by keywords or regular expressions
- full screen reading mode
From the modified:
- loading articles from site without rss (all site links will be loaded as articles)
- keyword to mark articles as favourite when loading new ones (with notification)
- collapsing (folding) the groups of feeds
- swype article left|right to mark read|favourite
- the ability to hide read articles per channel
- bold type of reading articles
- view shared link from other app (e.x. browser) in app mobilized
- limit the number of downloadable images of the article
- the ability to download individual images of the article
- a detailed description of the process of downloading articles to understand what the application is doing at the moment
- the counter of the consumed traffic
- setting up automatic marking of articles as read while scrolling the list
- setting the display of the text of articles in the article list (these two items are useful for reading forums)
- tap area to go to the next / previous page while reading the article
- quick transition to full screen mode and back, as well as showing / hiding the action bar
- much more ...
apk View attachment ru.yanus171.feedexfork_0.7.9_107.apk
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Google play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.yanus171.feedexfork
Github: https://github.com/yanus171/Flym\
This app does NOT synchronize with online news feed readers (i.e. Feedly)
This application is free, without ads, open source
Feedback and suggestions are welcome
Amazing! The best of its kind!
Flym Fork is everything I wanted a RSS reader to be. It's interface is very similar to Flym which I was already using when I discovered Flym Fork. I prefer Flym Fork because it is updated regularly (basic Flym hasn't been updated since march 2017).
I can easily filter RSS feeds with keywords. I can customize the RSS lists like I've never been able to before (I can see a picture preview, the title AND a preview of the content).
I'll subscribe to this thread with hopes that this app will grow with even more options!
---------- Post added at 12:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:08 PM ----------
Hey there, I noticed a strange issue but I'm pretty sure I am doing something wrong. It would be nice if someone can explain what is my issue.
I'll show it with a simple example :
https://www.kijiji.ca/rss-srp-meuble-de-jardin/saint-hyacinthe/jardin-de-ville/k0c686l1700151r20.0
It returned nothing within Flym Fork BUT I can see one entry from it's original http URL :
https://www.kijiji.ca/b-meuble-de-jardin/saint-hyacinthe/jardin-de-ville/k0c686l1700151r20.0
Today, I deleted the feed and entered it again. Now it shows the entry.
I wonder if a "restart" feature would be useful for this sort of scenario. I see many advantages for it :
if I accidentaly deleted entries and I wanted them back, I could hit the restart button on this specific feed and everything would be trashed and loaded back again. Right?
Talking about deleted entries, maybe a trash bin with a custom cache time (like 24 hours) would be useful?
I'm just throwing ideas in. If there is already an option that allows to do what I want, I would be glad to hear how to do it.
Thank you!
Hello !
A RSS-reader is one of the main - and the key apps I use on a daily basis. What I mean by "the key app" is that I highly value being up-to-date with all of things I find interesting and important.
Over the years I've been using several RSS-clients. At some point I've met one particular app which seemed promising - but over the time ads were added and using the app wasn't convenient any more. To make matters worse splash-screen has been introduced - which also slowed the app (in the long run I find very important to be able just to instantly open an app).
So I needed the research again - to find another RSS-reader which could be right for Me. During the research one thing I found strange: several apps looked pretty similar to the one I've described before. Soon I've discovered Flym and its various forks, i.a. FlymFork by Yanus171. I picked a few which seemed most promising and contacted their developers (including the original app), equipped with some insights and key-requests which I've found crucial (like - for example - being able to enlarge text-size or switching articles by volume buttons). Only one person answered - that way I've discovered an app which I use to this day. Moreover, the app is more and more convincing and appealing - because new features are introduced, which also make a big difference in terms of both usability and user-experience as such. This is also why I am interested in this app's development: I'd love to see it growing, being more user-friendly (especially regarding average users, which requires a proper attitude) and a little bit more elegant and flexible. All of that is My dream which I'm brave to have because of how promising the app is now - and its Developer seems to be open-minded, generally responsive to various requests, ideas and loose thoughts.
What I find most useful so far:
User-friendly text size:
You can enlarge both article's - and articles list' text size - separately (which is important). It is crucial for Me because of limited vision/eyesight, I highly need big text and only in FlymFork I've found sufficient level of text size in articles and articles' lists. I guess there are not many users with limited eyesight out there - but that "trivial" tiny thing like enlarging text-size to pretty big may be crucial and final factor allowing some users to just using the app, let alone using it conveniently.
Convenient reading:
switching articles by volume buttons, "tap areas" and remembering the position of reading per article. All those features are fundamental in terms of usability, how easily and fluently You can use the app. I use volume buttons to switch next/prev articles - and combine it with tapping on top or bottom of the screen to scroll it up/downward. This way You can browse/read articles very easily and quickly - especially given that displayed articles are automatically marked as read. I find especially amazing that by tapping the top or bottom area - it scrolls exactly the whole content of the single screen - no matter where I've scrolled it before. Besides it's very convenient to have that ability to scroll the text exactly one page down/up - in case if You use volume buttons not to scroll, but to switch articles. On top of that FlymFork remembers where You've stopped reading all the articles - which is also very helpful.
Killer feature: Important Articles (so far it is known as a filter "mark as starred"). I subscribe several RSS channels and browse them when I have some "spare time" between other - main activities I'm highly into. As I've mentioned before, it's important for Me to be up-to-date with all I find interesting (several matters represented by favorite RSS channels). As far as subscribed channels are concerned, among these You may find information which You consider high-priority (maybe it requires an urgent action/checking out/etc.). One example could be posts on time-limited offers: if You check RSS news only from time to time (like Me, during "spare-time-windows" ) - it's easy to miss any urgent info. But if You'd be notified right after that kind of high-priority info shows up - it could be a game-changer. In other words: regardless of how often You are able to check the (RSS) news - You no longer miss anything important.
Read It Later (so far it is called "starred items"). My approach to RSS is that sometimes I have the time to read something - or just to quickly browse articles to pick up potentially interesting ones to read later. A wonderful thing is that I can put interesting articles "on the buck burner" with the certainty that they won't dissapear - regardless of time span I chose in the app's settings. This is another feature I find crucial in terms of how much this app is really helpful and useful in everyday life, fitting in various lifestyles (more or less time to read).
Kind requests - what I think would be a good idea to implement and make the app growing:
I. Nomenclature - be more user-friendly.
I think there is a lot of room for improvement in terms of how the app communicates with users - especially keeping in mind average users who just want to be up-to-date with all they like/they are interested in. No need to be a computer geek, power user, etc. I'm sure there are many users who don't know what RSS is - but would be definitely interested in being in touch with all which is important to them (via RSS channels). It would be sufficient to supply an app which will communicate with them using non-technical language, this way being more comprehensive, avoiding various potential confusions derived out of "non-technicality". I think this is a good idea to care about average people - not only users with the knowledge, however basic or advanced. I'd like to see the app which I could use without knowing all the technical details - FlymFork would be excellent being that way - and in the same time maintaining more "geeky" features somewhere "under the hood" (like - for example - handling websites with no RSS feed!). As a result both user-bases would be content: power users with their needs - and average users with almost no technical knowledge and nomenclature in mind.
Moreover, by implementing various "touch-ups" within the nomenclature itself the app would become more human = more friendly. And this would be one of key-factor to choose FlymFork instead of any other app.
I would suggests several touch-ups:
Rename "Favorites" as "Read It Later".
I think it would be definitely more precise and understandable than "favorite". Imagine You are an average - non-technical user. Then imagine You see "Read It Later" option in the app: it's very easy to know what that feature is for. But why I (or an average user) could "mark something as favorite"...? I think it would be much more convincing to put it as "Read It Later".
"Articles" instead of "entries" or "posts".
This one is a request of similar mold as previous one. Although there are many users (programmers? ) who are accustomed to name things as "entries"/"items" - there are even more users for whose it would be much more friendly to name things simply as "articles": more human, more understandable, without need to think "Do I really know for sure what does 'the entry' mean?". So I highly suggest to change "entries" into "articles" app-wide, everywhere where a word "entry" (or "entries") is used - to change it into "article/articles". For example, instead of notification message "XX new entries" I would suggest "XX new articles". Moreover, for FlymFork to be more friendly I would love to see it put as "You have XX new articles to browse." . It would be so exciting to use an app which is so friendly - on a daily basis ! Small change, but big impact - I'm sure the angel (not the devil) is in the details .
"Updating (which could take some time), please wait..." instead of "updating" - and "You have XX new articles to browse." instead of "XX new entries".
While updating, FlymFork displays two notifications: one is displayed only temporarily and contained originally only the time of the update - the other informs how many new articles has arrived. Since the temporary one is often displayed even a few minutes - it could be a little bit confusing. Fortunately now it has been changed into "updating" - now I know what is happening and why I'm still seeing this notification on the bar. To make it accordingly more friendly (as I've pointed out earlier) I would suggest to change sole "updating" into "Updating (which could take some time), please wait...". This way there is no place for any confusion or uncertainty on what is happening - moreover, users are now prepared that updating can take some time, and it's not complete yet (and this is important information). When updating is complete, FlymFork displays a notification "XX new entries" - I would suggest to change it into "You have XX new articles to browse." - again, to make it more human/more friendly/more understandable. I think many users would appreciate it.
"Important Articles" instead of "Mark(ed) as starred".
I refer to the 'Important Articles' concept I've mentioned before. Many people would benefit from this feature if it would be clear what is it for. I think what would help is to rename it from "Mark as starred" (in the filter configuration) / "Marked as starred" (in the notification) - to "Notify on Important Articles" (in the filter config.) and "New Important Article" (as notification).
"Full articles instead of excerpts" instead of "retrieve full text" - again: more understandable for average users.
If I will notice another instances where we could have the app communicating with the user in a more friendly way - I'll let You know, but those above are essential because they are most often seen by users while using the app.
II. Multiple fonts.
I think the more flexible an app is - the wider user-base it can reach (because it can meet more individual tastes). Ability to change the article font (as well as the font of articles' list - it may be one setting for all) could make more users smile . For example, I would especially recommend the font "Lato Light" for it resembles widely known "Roboto Light" propagated by Google, but in My opinion is more "fluid" and elegant - or less "edgy", to put it differently. Wherever I can, I use Lato Light - it could be great to have it here ! More information on Lato font You can find here (I recommend to read the 'about' section for those who are interested in typography - You will find interesting information there!): fonts.google.com/specimen/Lato.
III. Progress bar.
With limited sight I could barely notice its existence - but it looks like great idea, to have that subtle progress bar accompanying reading and indicating how much we are engrossed in the content . I think this bar would be, however, a little bit visible - and still subtle (I'd love to be able to set My own color to it!). Now the hour displayed next to it is so tiny... The progress bar being so small has no use for Me - but it does would be useful if a little bit bigger and placed on the background (of the color according to app's theme). BTW, not everybody is interested in being always informed what time is it - so it would be definitely great to be able to turn off displaying the time alongside progress bar somewhere in the options.
IV. FTP synchronization.
Although this is not crucial - I think it would be something making FlymFork considerably standing out, especially if You consider that FlymFork "does NOT synchronize with online news feed readers (i.e. Feedly)". I think it would be much better to be able to synchronize several things over the FTP. I saw that feature in Anki - an Android app to memorizing. On one side it has its own cloud with the synchronization service - but on the other it offers its users an ability to synchronize via their own FTP server (!). I find this feature amazing and - although I'm not a developer - I guess it would be done: to implement synchronization via user-defined FTP server. It should synchronize everything needed for fluent, transparent usage of FlymFork on multiple devices. An ideal effect should be not to feel that anything changed when You grab another device. So we need synchronization:
[*]List of subscribed RSS feeds/channels.
Status of reading (which articles are read, which not yet - and which are marked as starred/Read It Later - plus notification on Important Articles).
Position of reading per article.
Last viewed article (if enabled in settings).
Also FlymFork should notify if any problems with accesing an FTP server occurs - as well as on successful synchronization. Besides, it would be good to be able to choose the synchronization's interval somewhere in settings.
I'm not sure if would it be possible but maybe You could add a Google Drive as another place to synchronize?
V. Localization.
Although I'm all right with using the app communicating in English - I know there are many users who don't know the language, using their own native one. In My case it is Polish - and I would be interested in translating the app into Polish in order for FlymFork to communicate in this language when Polish Android instance is detected. What do You think about it?
Bugs:
Multiple "External link" items on the sidebar.
Using the app over the time there are many "External link" items on the bar - which contain an error message ("Error: attempt to invoke...") and seem to be useless. If I suppose correctly that they are not necessary - it would be definitely great to hide them in order to the sidebar not being littered.
"Setting up automatic marking of articles as read while scrolling the list".
I can't find or observe this option in action - where is exactly located? Is it possible to turn it on/off? If no, would it be (I think it would be a good idea)?
I wanted to cover all topics but I think it would be better to publish it now and add any further remarks at some later point - this way You could make FlymFork better earlier . So I hope You find the ideas described above useful.
Kind regards,
Thomas Leigh
First of all thank you for app reviews. They will infulence the app development.
volt26 said:
I wonder if a "restart" feature would be useful for this sort of scenario. I see many advantages for it :
if I accidentaly deleted entries and I wanted them back, I could hit the restart button on this specific feed and everything would be trashed and loaded back again. Right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After you have refreshed the feed the last update time is remembered, and the subsequent refresh will only load the articles after that date|time. There is a Delete all option in artcile list menu which also resets the last feed date time. After that operation, subsequent refresh will load all articles that exist in the feed. But there may be loaded articles in FlymFork, which do not exist in feeds (feed contains only last several articles). Such artciles would NOT be loaded after Delete all operation
TJMulder said:
"Setting up automatic marking of articles as read while scrolling the list"
I can't find or observe this option in action - where is exactly located? Is it possible to turn it on/off? If no, would it be (I think it would be a good idea)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Long tap on feed and check Show article text in list. In this mode atricles are makred as read automatically while scrolling (It was a bit hard to realized that feature). This mode is very usefull to with short text articles, like forum post which have RSS. (But now it is possible even without RSS)
Buy the way in the next app release View attachment ru.yanus171.feedexfork_0.7.2_100.apk there will be a new feed setting Load type that allows to load the url not as RSS, but as webpage. So we can load the articles from webpages which do not have RSS In such a case all web page links are loaded as articles, and the url is also loaded as article too (It isritythe first). To reduce the amount of links the filter should be applyed to feed. You'd better temporaly turn on Show articles url setting for that.
It is very handy to filter using regular expressions checkbox. But I realize that requires advanced knowledge. But you can mail me and I will give you required regexp filter for your page.
yanus171 said:
Long tap on feed and check Show article text in list. In this mode atricles are makred as read automatically while scrolling (It was a bit hard to realized that feature). This mode is very usefull to with short text articles, like forum post which have RSS. (But now it is possible even without RSS)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank You for pointing out. Indeed it works - and it works in a gently way: not marking articles as read just after they disappear from the screen, but a little bit later (scrolling-wise).
It is amazing feature and it would be excellent to have it working in the "Unread" list, would it be possible? I mean article text displayed also in the "Unread" list, alongside marking them as read while scrolling.
I am getting an error with this link archstrike.org/rss/news
Code:
At line 45, column 264: undefined entity null
github.com/ArchStrike/ArchStrike-Website/issues/6
Zragon said:
I am getting an error with this link archstrike.org/rss/news...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this version https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dDzBRh9zDe1DT_Gu-00SE-hla2i8A1sb/view?usp=sharing
TJMulder said:
Thank You for pointing out. Indeed it works - and it works in a gently way: not marking articles as read just after they disappear from the screen, but a little bit later (scrolling-wise).
It is amazing feature and it would be excellent to have it working in the "Unread" list, would it be possible? I mean article text displayed also in the "Unread" list, alongside marking them as read while scrolling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, i have about 90 feed sources and receive 1K news to read.
I need something to sort out what i need to read and save what i will read (read later feature will be really useful too)
I'm currently using Aggregator RSS (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tughi.aggregator)
I recently noticed flym fork. I's really good.
Take a look at Aggregator, maybe you'll find something to implement in flym fork.
I use RSS everyday.
Thanks for your app.
4Freedom said:
Yeah, i have about 90 feed sources and receive 1K news to read.
I need something to sort out what i need to read and save what i will read (read later feature will be really useful too)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about set as favourite button?
4Freedom said:
Take a look at Aggregator, maybe you'll find something to implement in flym fork.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe YOU will point me to features usefull fo YOU?
By the way here is new version View attachment ru.yanus171.feedexfork_0.7.9_107.apk
- min auto update battery level
- setting to not display read article count
- language select setting
- font size sttings were enlarged
- Android 8 compability
- bug fixes
yanus171 said:
Try this version drive.google.com/file/d/1dDzBRh9zDe1DT_Gu-00SE-hla2i8A1sb/view?usp=sharing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tested and working.
yanus171 said:
What about set as favourite button?
Maybe YOU will point me to features usefull fo YOU?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, of course.
Here is a list of point about why I am using Aggregator right now.
It does not want to be a criticism for its own sake, but a list from which to take inspiration.:good:
LONG PRESS on feed list allow me to "mark as read", "create exclusion rule" and "share".
WEBSITE ICON option to view website icon instead on letters/images (Main page) .
SPEED It took about 7 minutes to fetch all feeds, vs 1 minute by Aggregator.
NETWORK USAGE 90MB used vs 3MB used by Aggregator. EDIT: Probably related to images.
GUI I think Aggregator has a better implementation of the material design guidelines (Layout/Icon/Menu/Sidebar) .
Custom refresh interval per feed?
Hello, I still use Flym Fork and I love it! It's that great!
I do have a feature suggestion that would totally change the game for me (and probably other users) : can we set a custom refresh interval per feed? I have some feeds that must be refreshed every 5 minutes while some of my other feeds can be refreshed once a day.
Right now, EVERYTHING is refreshed on the same timer.. It generates a lot of useless refreshes on some of my RSS feeds. It generates data and battery usage that I can avoid.
Thank you!
Flym Fork+TTS
Flym Fork is amazing app. I promised to write something how I use it. So:
I have some RSS sources with interesting articles, but no time to read. But when I travel or do something boring housework, I have time to listen.
So I often use menu option "share all text" and send them to @voice app. (Resp. option @voice add to list".)
I collect list of interesting stories and when I have time I listen it.
If you want use @voice, you need good TTS system with good natural voices. For me is the best option "Vocalizer", where I bought some good voices. (For English I like UK English Serena, for Czech language Iveta.)
I also use it for reading books in FBreader and "Cool reader" apps.
That is all Flym Fork is one of my most useful app.
Best regards
Pavel
I have two issues.
#1 soompi.com/feed
I set it to retrieve full text but I'm getting an error 404 instead.
#2 feeds.feedburner.com/TheHackersNews (from thehackernews.com)
Full text works but this content extract rule does not work:
Code:
thehackernews.com:id=articlebody
Hi guys.
First thanks dev, this app is awesome.
I just experience some trouble with the widget which is not updating. Any idea?
I'm on EMUI Oreo with Lawnchair launcher.
Tried to disable all battery oriented settings for both the launcher and this app without success.
Is there something I'm missing?
Thanks for your help.
Miaou
Did you tick the option to let the app always run in background aside from disabling battery optimization? I had trouble wirh some messengers if that wasn't enabled.
x2k13 said:
Did you tick the option to let the app always run in background aside from disabling battery optimization? I had trouble wirh some messengers if that wasn't enabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the app updates well, it's just the widget which is not updating
Hello @yanus171,
at first thank you for Flym Fork (Handy News Reader). I did a pull request for the german translation update. Would you send me a beta please to check if all strings are right?
Thank you and happy christmas
Blade Runner Diaries OR The (less exciting) Story of XenoAmp 2
WARSAW,
FEBRUARY 2019
So - I was surprised that some of the guys who commented my initial post about XenoAmp on XDA back in 2012 still lurk here (thanks cauch_y, Freak07, 39FarmallM)
When I wrote that post I had zero knowledge of Android coding and just very faint memories of Java (although back in 1995 when it was released I started learning it straight away). So really I had neither Java nor Android skills back then... What I did have was a vision of UI that I wanted to implement, and since XenoAmp is in Play for some years now, you may wonder how close the final effect was to that vision. The answer is: HARDLY AT ALL.
You see - I quickly learned (the hard way) that coding on Android isn't CODING WHAT YOU WANT, but rather HOW ANDROID ALLOWS YOU TO. But still I tried and I don't even remember how many times I fought Android and Android won, before I finally gave up trying to do things my way. But if it was the only Android annoyance I'd be a happy coder anyway, believe me. Unfortunately there are worse showstoppers: some of the things that you can find in Android documentation work only THEORETICALLY. Yes, guys! BUGS! Lots of them and surprisingly Google rarely cares about fixing them, probably being too occupied with releasing groundbreaking new features (sarcasm) and adding 1 to Android version every month. So imagine your app behaves badly and, after hours of scratching your head and thinking why your code doesn't work, you stumble across Android bug report filed in 2010 with countless comments like this:
Hey guys! Will it be fixed in 2011?
I wonder the same thing...
...
Hello, the bug still exists in Android n in 2012!
Me too!!!
Me too!!!
Me too!!!
...
Who's first in 2013?
...
It's 2014 and it is still not fixed?!
...
Shame on you Google in 2015!
Shame!
Shame!
...
C'mon it's 2016, why does this bug exist?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And so on...
But that's not all! After you rewrite broken Android classes with 1000s lines of your code, your app stops working or crashes because of WONDERFUL (sarcasm) NEW FEATURE INTRODUCED IN NEWEST ANDROID. Your app literally keeps breaking by itself!
But coming back to my vision of UI, after so many years it's obvious it wasn't worth it! People just prefer to do things the way they are used to, which I of course knew from the very beginning, but hoped most of them are at least as adventurous as I am and try new things nevertheless. Well - very few do (and most of them liked XenoAmp UI), but the rest had a hard time using Xeno, because it just didn't work as they expected.
So, after seven years of Android coding and becoming a Kotlin expert (Java's not fun anymore) I'm giving you this very conservative, dull and following-all-Android-UI-conventions XenoAmp2.
So let's take a tour!
XDA:DevDB Information
XenoAmp², App for all devices (see above for details)
Contributors
ssuukk
Version Information
Status: Alpha
Current Beta Version: https://www.androidf
Created 2019-02-14
Last Updated 2019-03-18
Application Tour
1. Home tab
View attachment 4705988
Shows recently played tracks (including streaming radio stations!) and playlists.
2. Favorites
View attachment 4705989 View attachment 4705990
As you remember from previous XenoAmp, any container can be added as a favorite. Be it your network neighborhood, 8Track feed, album on Spotify, playlist on Subsonic, directory on SMB server, Trip-Hop tracks, tracks by Thin Lizzy and so on. You can switch tile view to row view if you prefer it that way.
3. The Music
View attachment 4706009
Good old music sheet is still there. If you don't know it from previous XenoAmp - it's a configurable matrix view that allows you to display your collection by selecting what is visible in rows and columns. This particular screenshot shows album artist in rows and albums in columns. But you can configure it to show i.e. year and genre.
4. The new context menu
View attachment 4706010
Long touch track or tile anywhere in XenoAmp and this thingy pops up. Colorful chips allow you to jump to separate pages showing only tracks from particular genres (green), album (purple), artist (blue), similar artist (yellow) - see example in 6. There are more chip types, depending on entry (i.e. users in 8Tracks or Spotify).
5. Playlist view
View attachment 4705993
Allows track reordering and expanding your knowledge! If you clicked a tile in sheet view you can pull this list left and right to see other tiles in the row
6. Category view
View attachment 4705994
This usually shows up if you click any of the colorful chips. Of course clicking any of the bands will bring you to yet another category view.
7. The browser
View attachment 4705995
The good old browser, nothing changed there. For new users: everything XenoAmp can play is part of one, large filesystem. So here you can find and list your Android device, UPnP, SMB servers, Subsonic, 8Tracks and other music services.
8. While Playing Screen
View attachment 4705996View attachment 4705997View attachment 4705998View attachment 4706000
A whole bunch of them! Long touch the cover to switch between four layouts:
a) small with thumbnail-like image (nice choice of colors for MOS 6581, XenoAmp, btw!) and boring standard controls
b) middle with whole cover visible and boring standard controls
c) big with cover filling whole screen and boring standard controls
d) big with standard XenoAmp wheel menu that some of you enjoyed
9. Lyrics
View attachment 4706001
I guess it needs no explanation
10. Equalizer
Nothing fancy here, besides the usual room correction for loudspeakers and audiogram-like test for headphones.
The technology
So this time I'm not fighting Android, during these years I learned to live with it peacefully. XenoAmp2 uses Google ExoPlayer 2 and all the goodies (and limitations) that come with it (one of them is probably there will be no Spotify support this time!). All used components and libraries are bleeding edge.
I'm planning on adding different skins that will not only change colors, but in some cases look of the whole views shown above. XenoAmp2 was written in a very skin-friendly way from the very beginning.
Unfortunately many of cool features (like i.e. nice transition animations) are supported only since Lollipop and on older Androids your XenoAmp2 experience may be different.
Misc info
It's far from being finished!
It's sure full of new bugs, as it is practically written from scratch!
Xeno Radio Station directory server is down for everyone. I'm looking for a new home for it.
Currently it asks on start for read access to your files as this is required to read ALL the tags from files, even those not supported by Android normally. For very paranoid - I might change it in the future to stick just to tags available in Android, but it's not a high priority right now.
A few first releases here will probably crash a lot due to ProGuard messing with classes it shouldn't mess with. We'll fix that as we go.
test
@ssuukk very interesting little writeup
I don’t develop any apps so I can’t really comment on how it feels to design the app around androids limitations.
But when I started kernel developing I experienced the same. You have to find your way around how android is working and try to just get the best out of it!
thanks for all the continued effort, for never abandoning this project , for all the teasing regarding XenoAmp² and for the wonderful app you provided us all to use! It’s been a long and rewarding journey! You can be really proud!
Now if you’d just post a little alpha build to test after all that teasing :angel:
Where is the alpha download? The one in the playstore is from January.
I tried using this several years ago, but could only get it to work sometimes. It was mostly because I used Google play music (but don't anymore - my music is dl'd into my phone now). Good luck with it. :good:
I can't wait to see it
Sent from my Nexus 6P using XDA Labs
Glad to see that you are still in the game ssuukk!
All - sorry for delay, but as with everything Android - there are dragons ahead.
Currently I can't run the app in release mode
And that is after I spent a day wondering why it doesn't install at all in release mode
So there's still some wait I guess...
OK, guys. Take it for a ride (or instant crash maybe?)
https://www.androidfilehost.com/?w=files&flid=20714
SOME INFO:
it's not optimized, I wonder how slow it will be on older phones...
DON'T go to sheet while XenoAmp is syncing for the first time, since the view is live (and unoptimized...) it will be non responsive when it is trying to update several times a second...
When browsing SMB filesystem you won't get prompted for password, so go into prefs (on home tab) and enter your passwords first if your network doesn't use anonymous (guest) accounts
PROBABLY will not install with XenoAmp (the original one ) installed
Is it called ap-debug.apk? Interesting title.
ssuukk said:
OK, guys. Take it for a ride (or instant crash maybe?)
https://www.androidfilehost.com/?w=files&flid=20714
SOME INFO:
it's not optimized, I wonder how slow it will be on older phones...
DON'T go to sheet while XenoAmp is syncing for the first time, since the view is live (and unoptimized...) it will be non responsive when it is trying to update several times a second...
When browsing SMB filesystem you won't get prompted for password, so go into prefs (on home tab) and enter your passwords first if your network doesn't use anonymous (guest) accounts
PROBABLY will not install with XenoAmp (the original one ) installed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@ssuukk crashes when opening on pixel 3 xl. Log attached.
https://del.dog/qipopixipu
edit:
Logcat can be found here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1notS0emLs6MAMD6SI7c5nZKPvjmSc69S/view?usp=drivesdk
Freak07 said:
@ssuukk crashes when opening on pixel 3 xl. Log attached.
https://del.dog/qipopixipu
edit:
Logcat can be found here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1notS0emLs6MAMD6SI7c5nZKPvjmSc69S/view?usp=drivesdk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heee, heee, that's what I was talking about. Fresh AndroidX bug:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/54708366/addfontweightstyle-nosuchmethodexception-on-textview
Sorry. They will probably fix it ni 2049...
ssuukk said:
Heee, heee, that's what I was talking about. Fresh AndroidX bug:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/54708366/addfontweightstyle-nosuchmethodexception-on-textview
Sorry. They will probably fix it ni 2049...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh no
Though there are a few fixes proposed on that site? :angel:
Edit:
it works on my htc U12+ which is still on android 8.0.
I’m digging the scrolling animation when browsing my music folder
Album art isn’t displayed correctly though!
But overall it’s very nice for a preview! I like the concept!
Freak07 said:
Oh no
Though there are a few fixes proposed on that site? :angel:
Edit:
it works on my htc U12+ which is still on android 8.0.
I’m digging the scrolling animation when browsing my music folder
Album art isn’t displayed correctly though!
But overall it’s very nice for a preview! I like the concept!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you elaborate about album art? Normally album art is downloaded in the background so it should pop eventually. Lots of albums = lots of searching, downloading etc.
ssuukk said:
Could you elaborate about album art? Normally album art is downloaded in the background so it should pop eventually. Lots of albums = lots of searching, downloading etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It resolved itself it seems. I think I had a included album art in the folder of the album. Seems like it downloaded the album art now that I opened the app again to check.
previously when playing the album the “now playing” screen showed a black tile where the album art should have been. Although the “list” where I could view all songs of the album had the correct mini “tile” on the left of the song’s title.
Do you understand what I try to describe?
Freak07 said:
It resolved itself it seems. I think I had a included album art in the folder of the album. Seems like it downloaded the album art now that I opened the app again to check.
previously when playing the album the “now playing” screen showed a black tile where the album art should have been. Although the “list” where I could view all songs of the album had the correct mini “tile” on the left of the song’s title.
Do you understand what I try to describe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. That's because someone some time ago wanted album covers to be sepatate from track covers...
ssuukk said:
Yeah. That's because someone some time ago wanted album covers to be sepatate from track covers...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aaaah, I see a lot of new chrashes. I'm fixing them right now.
ssuukk said:
Aaaah, I see a lot of new chrashes. I'm fixing them right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I uninstalled Xeno1 and installed Xeno2. It wouldn't open. I tried a few times. I didn't have time to relearn how to generate a log. I'm on a OnePlus 6.
39FarmallM said:
I uninstalled Xeno1 and installed Xeno2. It wouldn't open. I tried a few times. I didn't have time to relearn how to generate a log. I'm on a OnePlus 6.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use logcat extreme to get a logcat.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=scd.lcex
Go to logcat section.
Choose clear logcat, then reproduce the issue with xeno amp, go back to logcat app and save the logcat.
Then upload it anywhere and post it here
Pretty easy! Takes 2 minutes
Did it work?
There should be a logcat file attached to this post.
It didn't...
---------- Post added at 06:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:21 PM ----------
Still not getting it...
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ecto8yhqkpc9t8p/2019-02-26_12-19-27.log?dl=0