Database Info

Apps Anybody?

What apps, root or non root, would you guys use?
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA

Button Savior > My phone has hard buttons
Proxy Droid > to set up proxy

Apps for what? Any apps? I'm a big fan of Read it later (even if they changed the name).

moutansos said:
What apps, root or non root, would you guys use?
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA
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Click to collapse
So basically this post is due to you being too lazy to access your own needs ?!?!?!?
WTF is anyone else going to know about what apps you need ....... its kimnd of highly dependent on your needs and desires and no one one here has any clue about that.
Best NOT to just pile apps onto your phone because assholes on a forum said so (Unless you one of those types who has to try anything suggested by another person like its a pavlovian reaction) , much better to just add new apps as you feel you need them.
Aim being to support what you want and need to do rather than just installing tons of crap for no reason.

I prefer apps like Locale and Tasker as they help me put the Smart in Smartphone.

A collection of Free Apps
Here are some of my recommendations
QuickPic: For images, better than default Gallery. Plus options to hide folders.
MX Player: Video play is smooth and there are multiple apps based on your processor type
Winamp: Select audio by artist/genre etc.
Any.Do: Super cool UI. Does a great job in reminding you of things to do
Mobile Backup II: I flash my device a lot, this helps me keep track of my SMS & Call logs.
By far, GoLauncher is the best Launcher I have seen. If you install GoLauncher, also go for some of the GoWidgets such as GoSwitch & GoWeather.

I agree with QuickPic and GO Launcher, both very good apps. I want to use GoWeather but I've read that it isn't very accurate.

boid for twitter and gnotes

Temple run Is amazing
Sent from my Desire S using XDA

What I do expect from Apollo (or a CM9 integrated music app)

Hi all,
I'm writing this because I really don't understand what's is the point with Apollo.
It seems that the developer was copying things from Play Music and trying to make an app from scratch.
But, it totally lacks features and doesn't address any previous shorcomings:
No Various Artists grouping
No Replay Gain
No settings at all
No album arts stored in the files/folders
Albums downloaded are bad resolution and not able to change them
Not so smooth interface
No folder selection to play music from
Unstable (Sometimes it just stopped playing)
Seems somewhat heavier that Play Music
And on top of this.. it is integrated in CM9 and with version 1.00. Then, voodoo sound doesn't get integrated. Not only that, but there is a plan to charge for "premium" features, like what? Change the album art or pick it from the files itself??
I'm happy with CM9 as they are adding features and addressing issues, but this Apollo is annoying.
Really.. Am I missing something?
I don't know, I think that Play Music is so much better than this one.

damianmb said:
Hi all
...
Really.. Am I missing something?
I don't know, I think that Play Music is so much better than this one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're missing the fact that Apollo is still a work in progress.
I'm using Apollo over PowerAmp Pro because the DSPManager from CM9 is incompatible with the latter (in my case, at least).
Trimis de pe Defy CM9

I think the biggest problem with Apollo (and all other 3rd party music apps) is that it isn't able to integrate with my Play Music library. This is of course a failure on Google's part for not providing an official API.
I've been moving toward uploading more and more of my library to Play Music so that I don't have to carry so much around on my external SD card, opening up more space for storing videos, pictures, etc. Eventually Apollo isn't going to have much to work with...

Well, not everyone has unlimited data plans and not all areas have good coverage. Also, I like to keep my data locally (at least important or large stuff).
Trimis de pe Defy CM9

vap_66 said:
Well, not everyone has unlimited data plans and not all areas have good coverage. Also, I like to keep my data locally (at least important or large stuff).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand that. I certainly don't have an unlimited plan or the greatest coverage 24/7 either. But you can sync stuff from your Play Music library to your phone while on WiFi for offline playing, so you can kind of have it both ways.
And I guess that means you could potentially sync your Google music and then play it through Apollo. (Assuming Google syncs them as normal mp3 files and not some weird encrypted DRM format.) But it's still annoying to need multiple apps installed.

4. No album arts stored in the files/folders
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Click to collapse
Yep, that's retarded. I love the artist photo dowload, but why not use the album art that is already there (either inside the MP3 or in the folder) instead of downloading a craptastic low res image? I hope that's not supposed to be a future premium feature (I can only think it will, since using a local picture seems easier to implement than downloading it).
Also, no AlbumArtist/Band support, it seems. I have compilations and OSTs and they appear spread in the Artist tab, instead of appearing once under "Various" or "<Name of the film>"
I was removing Music.apk and replacing it with PlayMusic.apk before flashing. Will do the same with Apollo.apk for now.
(edit) Reading the author's google+ comments:
Settings are supposed to be that way. You don't need as many as you did in previous versions, but I will be including more in the Play Store version. One of which is a different way to set album art and such
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it seems local album art will be reserved for paying users, although most people there are asking for this feature. Goodbye Apollo, then; going back to Google player.

Yes, I was using apk replacement a while ago. I really wanted to download flash but I guess I will have to use PC, edit and then flash.
What I would really like to know is how difficult is to implement Replay Gain that is around for a while.

I can't stand how Apollo won't use the album art that comes with the songs. If it already has album art it'll still show the "Apollo - Illuminate Your Music" art since it can't find it online...even though I already have it.
It's stressing. And the art it does find is so grainy and low quality.

My biggest gripe is that Apollo doesn't use the equalizer. I just flash the old original cm9 music whenever a new build comes out. Even though it's kind of cpu heavy.

I simply can't understand why such an app can make it's way to cyanogenmod...
It has no settings at all, you aren't asked if you want to download covers or use those in the music files, the app simply starts downloading.
This is not the way a cyanogenmod app should be or behave!
I tried the January version of Apollo... well there are the missing settings but the rest of the old version is really slow and often not responding.
So I switched back to the old cm9 music app.. it is a nice feature of ICS that you can deactivate system apps ;-)

i expected it to be on the market by now

I guess one can freeze the app and use something else but I liked it for what it offers. It still seems there is much work to do. It works with DSP. That is nice. Downloads artist pics, but when you click on them, you get a FB's timeline type, rectangular frame where you can't really see the pic. Add some settings, and include a dark theme, don't let us download it.

keksberg said:
I simply can't understand why such an app can make it's way to cyanogenmod...
It has no settings at all, you aren't asked if you want to download covers or use those in the music files, the app simply starts downloading.
This is not the way a cyanogenmod app should be or behave!
I tried the January version of Apollo... well there are the missing settings but the rest of the old version is really slow and often not responding.
So I switched back to the old cm9 music app.. it is a nice feature of ICS that you can deactivate system apps ;-)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same feeling here, rest of CM is working really nice. Also battery is nice, I can get 1 day with normal usage.

It's in the market from today, 5.31. Description is lacking imo. Cost: 4.64. No free version listed in developer's other app section. Weird thing:i downloaded app from web and market showed as the app already installed. If true that it's the exact same app as the 5.21 release, it's definitely not worth the price at this point. Imo. Also, imo, based on developer's track record, I'm not sure how quick updates will be.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

rnrstar said:
It's in the market from today, 5.31. Description is lacking imo. Cost: 4.64. No free version listed in developer's other app section. Weird thing:i downloaded app from web and market showed as the app already installed. If true that it's the exact same app as the 5.21 release, it's definitely not worth the price at this point. Imo. Also, imo, based on developer's track record, I'm not sure how quick updates will be.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
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Click to collapse
The dev said it would be 2.3+ compatible. Could you send me the link to the app on Play Store? I can't find it
Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk 2

Hi,i think someone might've been trying to steal the dev's work. Was wondering this after my first post as there was no communication from Dev's site today. i can't find the app in the market now either. maybe Google took it down.someone did link to it on dev's g+ page in the comments section today. But someone there also suggested the app was probably not official. Sorry for the confusion. I'm just as curious as the next person to see what the official app looks like, hence my 1st post.
Edit: just checked link on Dev's g+ page and link still is live. The app in the mkt is listed under the developer name: living water. another issue is the mkt icon is not the Dev's official icon which should've been a red flag for me. sorry again.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

I cant seem to find it in the market

Anyone have news about the Market version? He said almost 2 weeks ago that it would be on Play Store in a couple of days, and nothing until now...
Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk 2

i don't know how long the play store upload process takes but for some reason this taking so long doesn't surprise me; might be awhile longer (but i hope not). If u catch comments in Dev's g+ page, he has been absent since like the day he posted on 5.21. Some communication might be good from him
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

Change
Where can I submit a request for the app?
One feature that I would really love is being able to listen to music by folder. It seems to have everything else but this. EG Artist, album, genre, etc.
I store my workout music in a workout folder and I would like to be able to just select that.
I know I could create a playlist for each folder but then I need to update it all the time.
PLEASE ADD FOLDER PLAY OPTION.

Help me get going with my SGH-I727?

I used the official update to get 4.0.4 ICS, my phone was a little bit slower, so I started cleaning it up, and I think this would be a good time to make a few small changes to make my SGH-I727R really the phone I love.
I didn't like Touchwiz, so I used GO Launcher EX Pro until I got ICS but since uninstalled it. What are the best launchers available?
I use GO SMS Pro and I love it, but the only thing is that I only use GO Chat with one friend, and we both decided that it's really annoying, logging us back in when we don't want it to, and making conversations difficult switching from GO Chat and normal SMS. How can I permanently log out of GO Chat or are there other fixes for this?
I used DoubleTwist for my music, but I don't really like the syncing. I use iTunes on my computer and would love to have a music player that can sync directly with iTunes or at least a way to have the exact same music library on my SGS2 as I do on my iTunes.
Finally, what are other ways I can keep my phone lag-free now that I have ICS?

I can use any of that go launcher crap. It seems so unpolished to me. Too make your phone any better you need to root definitely. Its so easy to root too.
Oh and amazon MP3 will automatically take your iTunes library and let you upload those to your amazon library where you can stream music from or download them to any device. The best part is you don't need to use the amazon app to play the music you can use your stock Samsung music app. Basically its very simple and your not getting tied into any commitments.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium

ian1 said:
I can use any of that go launcher crap. It seems so unpolished to me. Too make your phone any better you need to root definitely. Its so easy to root too.
Oh and amazon MP3 will automatically take your iTunes library and let you upload those to your amazon library where you can stream music from or download them to any device. The best part is you don't need to use the amazon app to play the music you can use your stock Samsung music app. Basically its very simple and your not getting tied into any commitments.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I've never even rooted my phone before. I got it in January of this year and I just haven't really gotten to into customizing it beyond what I can find on the Play Store. I just found this forum and it looks very promising. What would be the best way to root my phone and what would I be able to do once I do root it?
Amazon MP3 seems really good but I have to upload my iTunes library? I have like 40 GB of music though, not trying to upload all that

koalakev said:
Yeah I've never even rooted my phone before. I got it in January of this year and I just haven't really gotten to into customizing it beyond what I can find on the Play Store. I just found this forum and it looks very promising. What would be the best way to root my phone and what would I be able to do once I do root it?
Amazon MP3 seems really good but I have to upload my iTunes library? I have like 40 GB of music though, not trying to upload all that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read the stickies
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

koalakev said:
Yeah I've never even rooted my phone before. I got it in January of this year and I just haven't really gotten to into customizing it beyond what I can find on the Play Store. I just found this forum and it looks very promising. What would be the best way to root my phone and what would I be able to do once I do root it?
Amazon MP3 seems really good but I have to upload my iTunes library? I have like 40 GB of music though, not trying to upload all that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to read into rooting then Vincoms Everything Root thread in my sig is where u want to go. It has everything you need including links and thorough instructions.
As for what you can do after rooting...you can install a custom rom, over/underclock, remove carrier bloatware, mobile tether, install non market apps, Get The Latest And Greatest Android Has To Offer, and sooo much more.
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Sent from my Skyrocket i727 running Sky ICS
For a one stop shop are Vincom's threads
Everything Root: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1773659
Returning to Stock: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1652398

koalakev said:
I used the official update to get 4.0.4 ICS, my phone was a little bit slower, so I started cleaning it up, and I think this would be a good time to make a few small changes to make my SGH-I727R really the phone I love.
I didn't like Touchwiz, so I used GO Launcher EX Pro until I got ICS but since uninstalled it. What are the best launchers available?
I use GO SMS Pro and I love it, but the only thing is that I only use GO Chat with one friend, and we both decided that it's really annoying, logging us back in when we don't want it to, and making conversations difficult switching from GO Chat and normal SMS. How can I permanently log out of GO Chat or are there other fixes for this?
I used DoubleTwist for my music, but I don't really like the syncing. I use iTunes on my computer and would love to have a music player that can sync directly with iTunes or at least a way to have the exact same music library on my SGS2 as I do on my iTunes.
Finally, what are other ways I can keep my phone lag-free now that I have ICS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recommend Apex launcher. It is smoother than Go Launcher IMO and works excellently. I love it!
If you want to sync with iTunes then perform the following steps. I believe u can do this with or without an external SD card. 1) Make a general playlist on iTunes with all the music u wish to sync. 2) Now on your SD card make a folder titled music (or whatever u prefer). 3) On the general playlist made in iTunes click on a song and then go to file select all. 4) Copy the contents over to SD card. That was merely getting the music on your phone...now is where syncing playlists takes place. 5) Go to a playlist you have in iTunes and right click on the name of the playlist. 6) Click export and save as a .m3u file on your SD card (note: default format is text file so u need to change it to .m3u). 7) Repeat steps 5 & 6 for each additional playlist and voila! Upon disconnecting your phone from PC you will see the playlists show up in your music player (it takes a min after the initial disconnect for them to show up).
Enjoy!
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Sent from my Skyrocket i727 running Sky ICS
For a one stop shop are Vincom's threads
Everything Root: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1773659
Returning to Stock: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1652398

How to block a Samsung app inner update pop-up, please ?

Good afternoon,
With the release of Android Pie for more and more Galaxy phones, Samsung is deploying new versions of their own apps following the One UI scheme. It is the case for Samsung Music, which is now available on the Samsung Store in a new version with an updated interface.
The problem I have is that I don't want to update my A8 from Oreo to Pie as I hate the new One UI interface (general look and layout, icons, multiwindow...), and that the new Samsung Music app theme follow the Pie mode: dark if night mode is enabled, white otherwise. So, when the app is used on a phone under Oreo, one can't switch to a dark theme and has to endure the bright background interface.
I therefore chose to keep the previous version of the app, but since the release of the new one, each time I launch Samsung Music after it was closed (not if only sent to background) and if wi-fi is on, the app shows a pop-up asking for update. I can discard it by clicking on "later", but it is painful to have to do this each time, and I am afraid of clicking on the "update" option, and then having to uninstall the app, reinstall the previous APK, reconfigure it and etc...
So here is my question: is there a way to prevent this pop-up to appear ? Auto-updates have been turned off under the Galaxy Store, but it seems that the check for update is built in the app itself. This pop-up is not considered as a notification by the Android OS as disabling them has no effect on it.
Thank you in advance if someone has got an idea.

I used to use that app and was somewhat happy you could tag with it and it might work. You may not want to switch, but if you give this app, musicolet a try, you might not need the samsung app anymore. No ads or anything and it gives you an eq, but if you want you can switch to system eq in the app. Very easy editting for tagging. If you export the M3U playlist, it'll be pretty much ready for car audio sd cards. Give it a go.
One thing, and i am not sold on pie either, but i've noticed the bluetooth operates consistently with any chosen eq and it's possible the days of "maybe the dolby will turn on this time" are gone.
First try musicolet. Colour it up too.
I think the Samsung app will not allow you to add lyrics, only show by tapping the art (if it's there)
The app i suggested you can add. You can also omit any directory or just allow one folder. No more ringtones or stuff that you can't omit. Sure, .nomedia but that is ridiculous. I am going to see if i still get Over the Horizon in my music collection. Gonna be sweet!

Thank you very much for this suggestion, I am going to give this app a try.
After all, it is what Samsung deserves, people dropping their apps because they behave in such a stubborn way, ignoring all negative feedbacks from users and willing to force them to accept silly changes (the same could be said about the new browser, which lose the video player).

I think you'll be happy with it. It has a lot of settings but you can back it up. It gets updated every so often and always gets better.
As far as Samsung goes i seem to either really like or really dislike what they offer. The email app is perfect for me now and i am as i said very pleased with the audio system functioning, as it should, without errors. It will bring up eq settings the way you set them for each audio source.
You can give it a try, can't recall if you did, and revert. I made a debloated one and posted it as a ROM but it isn't really. Just snips. Unless you're a W anyway...
Set Musicolet to system eq if you use viper and it'll use Samsung tone as well so i flattened the stock tones and let viper colour it.

Can't believe i am promoting pie, but besides the goofy icons and (likely temporary) theming options, it appears that it may be the beginning of major audio improvements. But, until i can plug my guitar into my phone and get zero latency and link with identical pc programs....
Anyway ever gone bald trying to install Viper? See the photos? I installed the apk from the xda labs app, rebooted because why not, played music and ticked that box. Never tried in Oreo. Tell me if it is the same. Huge leap for that app since i spazzed out a couple years ago installing it.

* just noticed it is aided by Magisk module. Not credit to Samsung i think.
Wow i screwed up a screw up. The magisk module was left over from the magisk version. Uninstalled that and after reboot the one i have needed to install the driver, reboot and works the same. Oops. A bit off topic too.

So, I tried the app you advised me, and I must say it does the job. At the beginning, I was a bit disthraugted in front of the complexity of settings, but once it is done, the UI is rather intuitive (far simpler than PowerAmp for example), and you easily find whatever command you need for a daily use. Editing tags in the app is a useful feature, I have been using MixPlorer Silver tagging plugin for that purpose so far.
I certainly am not as demanding as you are regarding audio quality and other features, as my needs are rather basic: plug earphones, navigate through my music files, play them, and control with the buttons of the earphones.
I could not install Viper, as it needs root. I have this phone only for two months, and I want to make sure it has no defect before voiding the warranty. I also need to read more thoroughly the posts dealing with the process and its consequences, as it seems that rooting the A8 induces some losses of useful features, such as the use of the fingerprint reader.
As for the email client, did you try K9-mail ? I don't know if the app works well under Pie, but it has exclusive options, such as the possibility, in IMAP mode, to delete a mail on either the client or the server, but keep it, on the contrary, on the server or the client.
Thanks again for everything.

I tried the email app and was impressed at how minimal the apk was. I have to get more information to set it up with my a accounts later and if all goes well it's stayin'.
So, in case you don't already know, the music app has a great feature that's a time saver and puts the whole idea of playlists consisting of the same song different in folders to rest.
When you look at it as text it's easy as hell. I think almost everyone here knows that. It's just a location like any computer file. But anyway use the export as M3U in playlists. I have all my songs on ext sd in a folder called music. Musicolet treats the music folder as root, so you'll get an output as i've pictured if you keep everything contained within one folder. All i have to do is stick my playlists outputted to an sd card and paste everything WITHIN
the music folder which is root, so all tunes are now as such and you need only edit.... NOTHING. Now this may be common to xda users, but think how many people have no idea the simplicity or that if they wanted they could type it out. That was me not long ago. If they had called M3U files, "buddy this is just written text of a filing system representing a portion of your music" it would have been..... stupid. But helpful.

So easy it's crazy.

Wirelessly Transferring Files

Is there a way to wirelessly transfer files from the S10e to other Samsung's or Androids very quickly that's baked into Android?
Ideally I don't wanna use a third party app myself and the receiver need to download and install.
This is my new work phone but my main phone is an iPhone 7 which comes with a handy utility called Airdrop built in that allows me to very quickly send files with minimal fuss.
Tried googling it but only found stuff about using wifi direct.
How do other android users do this simple task?
Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk

Doesn't seem like this is possible in Android natively, quite disappointing for a 2019 phone. Will see what apps are available.
Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk

3rd party app
Mixplorer, start a server

Wutang200 said:
Is there a way to wirelessly transfer files from the S10e to other Samsung's or Androids very quickly that's baked into Android?
Ideally I don't wanna use a third party app myself and the receiver need to download and install.
This is my new work phone but my main phone is an iPhone 7 which comes with a handy utility called Airdrop built in that allows me to very quickly send files with minimal fuss.
Tried googling it but only found stuff about using wifi direct.
How do other android users do this simple task?
Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try wifi direct between 2 Android phones. The setting on Samsung phones is usually located in connection settings

Google seem to be stripping back on things like this to put tasks into apps instead. That way they get updated as needed rather than rely on an OS update. We also have OTG for USB media or connect to PC and transfer files. Not sure how extensive that kind of support is with iOS. I frequently just transfer files by cable between my phones and my work PC because it's so quick and hassle free. I also use a file explorer app from Google Play which has much more functionality than the stock file explorer.
I would try wifi direct first.
Use your file explorer, choose share, select the content you want to share and then select wifi direct from the options share brings forth. Go from there.
I'll be honest, when I'm with people who have an iPhone and a task needs to be done, mostly the Android leaves the iPhone in it's dust due to the plethora of options and customisation possible. Even had this last night with a friend playing audio in the car. The iPhone had a weird issue putting out a decent bluetooth volume and kept turning back down whereas my phone just powered, loud and clear.
There will be a few cases where the iPhone has the edge though.

Does Wifi direct still require the sender receiver to enable and configure it?
I'll give it a go when transferring files. The main stuff I'm looking ti transfer are photos.
There's an option on the iPhone that reduces the bluetooth volume under accessibility. I've had that annoying issue before.
Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk

"Files by Google" is the Airdrop alternative on Android, but it is not baked into Android yet. It's still better than using a third party app though.

install telegram app on every phone, then you can send large files. problem solved

jayr5978 said:
"Files by Google" is the Airdrop alternative on Android, but it is not baked into Android yet. It's still better than using a third party app though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks very much! This is exactly what I was looking for, a close to native way to transfer files wirelessly. Will give it a try when I get a chance.
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jayr5978 said:
"Files by Google" is the Airdrop alternative on Android, but it is not baked into Android yet. It's still better than using a third party app though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks very much! This is exactly what I was looking for, a close to native way to transfer files wirelessly. Will give it a try when I get a chance.
Quite surprised that no one else who replied uses it.
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