Viper / Sense / Apps. - AT&T, Rogers HTC One X, Telstra One XL

I flashed Viper XL and ticked the option to completely remove sense.
As well as remove a lot of the HTC apps I don’t find useful.
I have chosen apex for my default launcher.
1. Is the ‘recent apps’ page part of sense and has been removed? The recent apps key now shows the apex menu.
2. When I pull down the notification bar, the background is transparent, I find it a little annoying, and no settings to change it. Am I not looking hard enough?
3. I find the built in Viper options for status bar customization a little lacking.
I have tried a few apps, Super Status Bar has been the best ive come across so far, but im still not overly happy with it.
Any suggestions on one I might have missed with full customization to add / remove / reposition elements?
4. Lock screen, same as above. Viper & apex have nothing standard.
Ive searched the market and the only one i like is Widget Locker.
However its not overly smooth in its unlock animation, and there arent many add ons.
I want something with different styles of lock screen and the ability to add widgets.
5. Im using my data manager to keep on top of data usage because of high data issues I hope will be rectified now that sense wont be pull 1mb per hour for “o/s services”
But I would like an app with a widget to show active data transfer, not just overall usage.
EG; a back ground process starts pulling data, my home screen widget shows me data is in use.
Any suggestions?
6. I have had a world of pain with mp3 players.
I don’t like stock, or google play.
Ive tried zing, n7, player pro, winamp, zeno amp, power amp, and others.
I have issues ranging from cover art not displaying, music playing randomly even if another player is playing, music stopping when I open another app or even the app drawer / recents.
I would really love suggestions on a nice clean mp3 player that plays music when its told to & displays what is should without errors.
If anyone knows Ultimate Faves Pro, i really like the carousel.
I saw it in a video tutorial and it looked like a widget sitting on the home screen.
For some reason when i launch it, the background goes to filled colour, even though i have it set to transparent.
Ive tried everything in the background options, no avail.
Anyone know this app, or a similar one?
Thanks for taking the time to read my essay.
:silly:

Related

[Q] Lockscreen Music Controls? And a couple of other questions...

1. Maybe I'm just missing an easy setting but I cannot seem to get music controls (using Google Play Music app...but also tried default Music [Samsung] app) on the lockscreen. Anytime I want to pause / change the song I have to unlock the device and then perform the action. Suggestions?
2. Also, I came from an Acer Iconia A100 tablet and with that device, I could select the open apps icon on the toolbar (right of the home icon) and this would display open apps...I could swipe the app to the left and the app would close. This doesn't seem to happen on the Tab Plus, is this just a feature in ICS that is not supported in 3.2?
3. Quicklaunch ^ button in the center of the toolbar...any way to get rid of this or at least change the icons that display when I select it?
4. Any way to get rid of the extra button right of the open apps button on the toolbar? They offer you different options (camera, app launcher, screen shot) in settings but I would prefer the button really not be there period.
Overall, I love the hardware...I just wish Samsung would offer a generic ICS rom as their proprietary stuff either looks bad or just gets in the way. The one proprietary thing I've found I do like is the ability to enable mono audio (if you listen to music with one earphone)...first time I've encountered that (be it from a company or just something hacked together by an individual) and I'll be sad to part with that option should we ever get a generic ICS rom.
1.) Im not sure, as I dont use said APP
2.) ICS Feature
3.) cant' get rid of it. you can use honeybar to hide entire status bar, or make the icon for the ^ invisible/blank. You cant edit/change any apps, but you could delete the mini.apks individually and they will no longer show up. ( you could remove it if you are proficient in google's assembler language .smali)
4.) no chance in removing the button. Its hard coded in. (unless your fluent in .smali, etc.)
Overall, I'd agree I think most of us would like a "Vanilla" Ice cream Sandwich, but instead we will likely get this TouchWiz junk. they should at least make options to turn most of it off.
My best advice: donate/support to the guys porting CM9. Right now I think its only @aorth for the GT-P6200/
Lets hope for the best.
Thank you for the reply.
1. Do you use another music app that does offer lockscreen controls?
i do not personally, but I believe there are a few.
I also am fairly sure there are sne lockscreen replacements with his and additional options.

Launcher with Pull Down Notification Bar???

So... Watching all of the review videos of the Nexus7 and Jelly Bean, I have realized that I'd really like to have a pull down notification bar on my GT7+. Honey Comb is cool, and despite it not being ICS or JB, I still like it (although I can't wait for the latter), but I'd like to get rid of the bottom bar and have it at the top like all the phone versions of Android. Also, I need to have folders...
Currently, I am using Go Launcher EX (also have Go HD installed, but today found I like EX better on my tablet, go figure), and I love the features. The folders, adjustable columns and rows, widgets, etc, I love it all, GREAT launcher. However, the is no option to kill the bottom notification bar and add it to the top like on a phone.
Any ideas?
EXAMPLE VIDEO: This is what I am talking about, in case it isn't clear. I know the extended functions will not be there as they are JB specific, I just mean in placement alone: (skip to 1:10)
Quick and Dirty Solution
If you're using Go Launcher HD and have a rooted device, change ro.sf.lcd_density from 160 to 170 (\System\Build.Prop). this will automatically enable phone mode. However, you WILL LOSE the on-screen soft buttons (back, home, menu) so i suggest that you remap the physical buttons beforehand. (Apps available in Google Play)
DO NOT go Higher than 170 dpi since this is the hardware limit and will cause bootloops if you do.
Good Luck

Help modifying home screen w/ Tribuchet

Hi guys!
I just installed Pac rom KK, which works great. I'm almost fully done playing with it
Unfortunately I get stuck at the very end with something that to me (as a user, not a dev) seems quite trivial.
Seeing how I've tried to find different solutions for many hours without making any progress, I turn to you in desperation.
What I want to achieve is a clean home screen (like a painting, and nothing else, not even navigation bar) along with no use of physical buttons.
I've set everything up with full screen, gestures, pie control, and all the good stuff which makes the phone easy to navigate.
What I have left to do, and where I am stuck is:
- adding app drawer to something other than the icon, and physical buttons (basically meaning quick settings, pie control or gestures)
- removing app drawer logo from the home screen, along with the home screen dot (the one showing which home screen, and if more also how many there are)
- also locking home screen (meaning that it won't bounce)
For you who have taken the energy to read this far (which I very much thank you for), I'm sure you realize that these are easy fixes.
Thing is...I don't want to use a launcher such as nova or AWD.
...I don't want do download another pie control for the sake of having one where you simply (being the keyword) can add app drawer.
....I have removed navigation bar (which I want removed), so can't use navigation actions.
I'm sorry for being so extremely picky, but I've spent to many hours trying to get this juuuust right. I hate basically dumping this on you guys, but I'm really at loss here.
The "easiest" workaround I could come up with was to write a small app, which only function would be to open the app drawer, and then hook it up to Pie Control. Only problem is, I can't code for sh#t. I do have Xposed, so a nice and slim Xposed solution would suit me just fine. The only thing I want to keep away from is apps doubling in function (one gesture app doing this and that) and/or apps that might have a problem interacting.
If anyone would care to help me with this, I would be so grateful.
Thank you so much on beforehand!
Summary of specs: Xperia Z2 (d6503), Pac-man Rom KK (RC-3) (4.4.4), Xposed
munte89 said:
Hi guys!
I just installed Pac rom KK, which works great. I'm almost fully done playing with it
Unfortunately I get stuck at the very end with something that to me (as a user, not a dev) seems quite trivial.
Seeing how I've tried to find different solutions for many hours without making any progress, I turn to you in desperation.
What I want to achieve is a clean home screen (like a painting, and nothing else, not even navigation bar) along with no use of physical buttons.
I've set everything up with full screen, gestures, pie control, and all the good stuff which makes the phone easy to navigate.
What I have left to do, and where I am stuck is:
- adding app drawer to something other than the icon, and physical buttons (basically meaning quick settings, pie control or gestures)
- removing app drawer logo from the home screen, along with the home screen dot (the one showing which home screen, and if more also how many there are)
- also locking home screen (meaning that it won't bounce)
For you who have taken the energy to read this far (which I very much thank you for), I'm sure you realize that these are easy fixes.
Thing is...I don't want to use a launcher such as nova or AWD.
...I don't want do download another pie control for the sake of having one where you simply (being the keyword) can add app drawer.
....I have removed navigation bar (which I want removed), so can't use navigation actions.
I'm sorry for being so extremely picky, but I've spent to many hours trying to get this juuuust right. I hate basically dumping this on you guys, but I'm really at loss here.
The "easiest" workaround I could come up with was to write a small app, which only function would be to open the app drawer, and then hook it up to Pie Control. Only problem is, I can't code for sh#t. I do have Xposed, so a nice and slim Xposed solution would suit me just fine. The only thing I want to keep away from is apps doubling in function (one gesture app doing this and that) and/or apps that might have a problem interacting.
If anyone would care to help me with this, I would be so grateful.
Thank you so much on beforehand!
Summary of specs: Xperia Z2 (d6503), Pac-man Rom KK (RC-3) (4.4.4), Xposed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well tasker can do most of this, like mapping the action of opening the app draw on certain events on the pie controllers or hardware button press. the only thing it cannot do is hide the app draw button. as far as I'm aware, this cannot be archived without changing the launcher. although perhaps changing its icon to a transparent one may help in this matter.
angelus0w said:
Well tasker can do most of this, like mapping the action of opening the app draw on certain events on the pie controllers or hardware button press. the only thing it cannot do is hide the app draw button. as far as I'm aware, this cannot be archived without changing the launcher. although perhaps changing its icon to a transparent one may help in this matter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for your help!
I will look into it, and I'll repost my fix

[Guide] Making AirPlay/DLNA & other streaming audio as painless as on IOS [Root]

Being a subscriber to Google Play Music and someone with several different DLNA renders and even a few AirPlay receivers in my home and car I am deeply disappointed with the lack of integration for either of these services into both GPM app and even just Android in general. Especially since my wife has an iPhone and audio streaming is as simple as a swipe and a click for her. Now AirPlay I can at least give a pass to since it is a direct competitors protocol, but the lack of DLNA support is confusing to me honestly.
Now I am already aware of several solutions out there that allow you to capture system audio and stream via DLNA; my first attempt was with BubbleUPNP's audio cast feature, and although it did what I was looking for I was less than happy with the time it takes to get music playing each and EVERY time I want to use it to stream.
So basically I have found a way to alleviate this with a combination of two applications. Essentially by the end of it I am now able to simply swipe down from the right side of my status bar and simply toggle all the different receivers in my home and car on and off. So if your someone like me, with a lot of audio receivers everywhere, this could be VERY useful, simply by alleviating the hassle of having to mess through so many menu's just to get a song playing. The only downside for some might be that both of these apps are PAID applications and so you might have to shell out some cash to get this up and running. But honestly I am more than willing to support these awesome developers.
So without further ado lets get to the good stuff.
1. Firstly you will need root as one of these apps require it.
2. The two apps you'll need for this are AirAudio and Snap Swipe Drawer
*I know there are other apps that can do it but AirAudio has a few advantages and a critical feature we will need. One it works with a ton of different streaming protocols including AirPlay, DLNA, AllPlay, Fire TV, Google Cast, etc. The critical piece of this software though is that it comes with togglable widgets which we will need to accomplish our goal of simplicity!!*
3. So now that you have both apps up and running open AirAudio first and make sure you locate and connect to all of the receivers your wanting to set up for quick access and least once. It has to connect at least once in order to be able to make a widget out of it. Also run through its settings and make sure everything is set to your liking. You might want to name each of your receivers something unique and simple as well.
4. Now that AirAudio is setup we can go into "Settings > Apps > AirAudio" and completely block all notifications for this app. Technically this is optional but it goes a long way to make this implementation clean and it keeps your notifications drawer free of clutter when its connected. Won't be a loss really since you can control the receivers volume with your hardware buttons anyway and your music app of choice most likely already has a notification.
5. Now we are going to make this truly powerful and convenient! AirAudio comes with some nice widgets that make toggling a receiver as simple as a single click. Only downside is that you can normally only have them on your home screen and they take up screen real estate, while also looking kinda out of place. Thanks tough to our second app: Snap Swipe Drawer, we can create a dropdown of widgets of our choosing that we can access from any screen, any time!
- Open Snap Swipe Drawer and open "preferences" from the top right menu. In here you can set it up to your liking. Most importantly do you want your drop down to come from the right, left or center when you swipe down from the status bar. You may also wish to enable the accessibility service to make the transitions and behavior smoother.
- Now go back to the front page and click the FAB button with the "+" in the bottom right corner. Choose AirAudio widget and choose your first receiver! Once its in the list click it and configure it so that Columns=4 and Rows=1. This is the most pleasant for my taste at least but feel free to configure to yours if you like. Thats it, Now swipe down from whichever side you chose in "preferences" just as if your trying to open your notifications and a new menu will drop down containing your new widget!!
6. Profit!! Repeat for every receiver you need and there you go! You can now toggle audio streaming just as quickly, and painlessly as IOS users can, from any screen! And we have the added benefit of having more than just AirPlay available to us, compared to IOS, thanks to the power of Android!!!
I really hope this guide helps somebody else as much as it helped me. Not everybody uses streaming audio on the daily but for those that do this will be a game changer!!!
---Just a small tip to make it even better. I am an xposed user with GravityBox and in GB under "Satusbar tweaks > Quicksettings Management" I have "quick pulldown" set up from the left and also I have Snap Swipe Drawer setup to open from the right. I also have "auto switch quicksettings" in GB set to "When there are no notifications". Basically what this accomplishes is that if I want to see notifications I swipe down from the center. If I want to get right to my quick toggles I swipe down from the left, and if I want to toggle a DLNA/AirPlay receiver I swipe down from the right.
---Also use your imagination, you can use any widget available SSD app so you can make your experience even more customized and useful by playing around with it some more and getting your moneys worth.
Hi,
I have sound on phone and sonos in same time...
Is it possible to have sound only on Sonos ? Root + Module OK...
Thanks
Hey there,
AirAudio has been kicked by Google because they didn't like a link to a rooting-website inside the description anymore, written 7 years ago.
Its successor is called AirMusic and allows to stream some apps (eg. YouTube, YT Music, Deezer, PodcastAddict , radio.de, Plex and more, you have to try it out) without root on Android 10+.
On rooted devices, all audio can be transmitted.
No Thanks
I have no idea about these but I will try to my best.

Ticwris Max SmartWatch

does anyone have any experience with the Ticwris Max Android SmartWatch? mine is freezing at least twice a day, and fails when trying to do firmware updates.
Mine failed too, how did you recover?
I own one and 6 months ago the screen went blank and staticky. I have been looking for someone to repair it and have emailed ticwris and kospet at least 4 times each but no one even bothers to answer. Any suggestions?
au.ant0ni said:
does anyone have any experience with the Ticwris Max Android SmartWatch? mine is freezing at least twice a day, and fails when trying to do firmware updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recently got the Ticwris Max S and so far it's been great. The connection to the phone drops every now and then though. I haven't done the firmware update yet. Mine says it's on V1.9_20201221_20201221-2014.
I'm looking to customize it to get Nova Launcher working and for it to hopefully work to get notification from my phone like my TicWatch Pro 3 GPS is a phone companion.
I just bought a DM101 Max S (unbranded) running on Android 7.1.1 and so far I havent found any custom ROM for it.
These watches go by the name LEMFO, LEM 4, LEM T, TICWRIS, DM98, DM99, DM100 MAX, DM101 MAX S, etc..
Does anyone know about these watches? Theyre high quality little smartphones basically. If only the ROM was customized a bit more for app font scaling and size of font on apps. It runs apps but the font is so small on some and so are nav buttons (on most apps).
The best thing is I installed Blockchain app on my watch and now I can access my bitcoin wallet on this thing! insane!!
I also installed Chime, Cashapp, Facebook Messenger and they all run fine, but some have such micro sized fonts as I said.
Maybe someone can develop a magnify app that expands areas for this watch.
So Im requesting anyone whos interested to start tweaking this cool watch! Ill be trying a few things like trying to root my DM101 Max S, creating a magnify tool for expanding app interfaces.
PLEASE SOMEONE HELP DEVELOP THE FIRST ROM EVER FOR THIS AWESOME WATCH!
IM GOING TO TRY TO COPY MY ROM FROM MY WATCH AND UPLOAD IT HERE. ITS ANDROID 7.1.1
GeoffM said:
Mine failed too, how did you recover?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know these watches can be flashed. Ive read that the ROM on it can go bad (largely due to premature ROM development). The trick is to not go overboard with apps. install only a few apps. the ROM isnt stable from the get go. There is a flash tool I saw somewhere with the ROM to reflash it. There is also a way to boot into recovery on the Max and Max S. Ill try to find it all and upload it here.
missionman said:
Does anyone know about these watches? Theyre high quality little smartphones basically. If only the ROM was customized a bit more for app font scaling and size of font on apps. It runs apps but the font is so small on some and so are nav buttons (on most apps).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here are 2 things that may help.
1. Go to settings, scroll to the bottom and click more, scroll down to third-party apps adapter and turn it off (this causes apps to "fit" the screen better by reducing the size to the elements in the app, you don't want this).
2. download and install an app called Hidden Settings on the play store. In the app hit the search bar and type accessibility, the setting you are looking for should be the 1st of three results. Within that setting scroll down to font size and set according to your liking. There may be some text that is small but this should help.
I've had my Ticwris Max for a few days now and the more I discover the more I'm enjoying this watch.
knowledge5106 said:
I recently got the Ticwris Max S and so far it's been great. The connection to the phone drops every now and then though. I haven't done the firmware update yet. Mine says it's on V1.9_20201221_20201221-2014.
I'm looking to customize it to get Nova Launcher working and for it to hopefully work to get notification from my phone like my TicWatch Pro 3 GPS is a phone companion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just got my Max S yesterday. I have it running through Nova Launcher (pro) and so far it's been a lot smoother compared to the default launcher. I'm also using a "sync notificator app" to forward my notifications from my main phone.
I'n my opinion the watch has a lot of potential. Just need to figure out a few minor issues.. like lack an always on display volume controls and/or Navigation overlays disappear (and the apps premission settings get reset to once the screen is locked.
ninpo said:
Here are 2 things that may help.
1. Go to settings, scroll to the bottom and click more, scroll down to third-party apps adapter and turn it off (this causes apps to "fit" the screen better by reducing the size to the elements in the app, you don't want this).
2. download and install an app called Hidden Settings on the play store. In the app hit the search bar and type accessibility, the setting you are looking for should be the 1st of three results. Within that setting scroll down to font size and set according to your liking. There may be some text that is small but this should help.
I've had my Ticwris Max for a few days now and the more I discover the more I'm enjoying this watch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you ninpo! I really appreciate this. Ill try it out. Im working on a dark mode next. If its not in hidden settings Im going to try to modify the firmware image and other various tweaks with Android SDK and other tools.
Theres not much more to be displeased about. This watch is awesome.
For those who need the info, here is the USB wiring diagram and useful photos for the DM100 Max and DM101 Max S for whatever reason you might need them for. I found it useful for buying DM98 and DM99 chargers which are way better than the box shaped charger the DM101 comes with. The thing is so loose and doesnt stay in place. Thats where mods or other chargers come in. HOWEVER, you must place the charger of the DM98 or DM99 in the PROPER ORIENTATION with respect to the contact diagram.
Reverse this and you can burn out your watch. Heres a diagram of DM98, 99 charger as well. They line up fine. Only thing that may/may not line up is the magnets but mods are up to you. Ill post about it as soon as I get my DM98 charger.
ninpo said:
Here are 2 things that may help.
1. Go to settings, scroll to the bottom and click more, scroll down to third-party apps adapter and turn it off (this causes apps to "fit" the screen better by reducing the size to the elements in the app, you don't want this).
2. download and install an app called Hidden Settings on the play store. In the app hit the search bar and type accessibility, the setting you are looking for should be the 1st of three results. Within that setting scroll down to font size and set according to your liking. There may be some text that is small but this should help.
I've had my Ticwris Max for a few days now and the more I discover the more I'm enjoying this watch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So i turned off 3rd party app adapter like you said.
Next, which app of hidden settings do i pick for this watch? There seems to be some bad ones. I cant tell which one to install..
missionman said:
So i turned off 3rd party app adapter like you said.
Next, which app of hidden settings do i pick for this watch? There seems to be some bad ones. I cant tell which one to install..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The one that I'm using is called "Hidden settings for Android" by developer, Common Tools.
I've seen " Settings Search" heavily recommended here but like you, I've found many with that name and wasn't sure which to use.
For those that are interested, I've uploaded a screen recording of my Ticwrist Max home screen setup on YouTube. Take a look if you're so inclined.
Ticwris Max home screen setup
ninpo said:
For those that are interested, I've uploaded a screen recording of my Ticwrist Max home screen setup on YouTube. Take a look if you're so inclined.
Ticwris Max home screen setup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I posted this on another forum but thought it might be a good fit here it describes my setup in greater detail.
Launcher:
The launcher that I'm using is called Lightning launcher. Lightning launcher is a highly customizable launcher that allows you to have an unlimited workspace. The launcher gives you complete control over all desk top items such as widgets, shortcuts, icons, and text. These items can be resized, rotated, placed on a grid, or placed freely within the desktop space. The launcher also allows for unlimited horizontal and vertical scrolling. Items placed on the desktop can have up to six assignable actions using gestures such as swipe left, right, up, down, tap, and long press. Assignable actions can include launching apps, shortcuts, and system actions. You can even have multiple desktop setups and easily switch between them. That is just a small sample of what this launcher is capable of. My current setup has a center page with an additional page to the left, right, top, and bottom of the center page.
Home page widgets:
I have two widgets on my home screen, BobclockD3, and Battery Reborn 2020. I've added seconds above the clock widget using lightning launchers dynamic texts feature. I have assigned gesture actions to the widgets in my setup.
Long pressing the clock widget opens the native clock app.
Tapping the battery reborn 2020 widget will give you comprehensive data and stats about your battery.
Long pressing the battery widget will launch an app called flashlight. This app simply turns your screen bright white which you can use to softly illuminate your surroundings in the dark. I like it because it does not kill your night vision but provides just enough illumination to see your immediate surroundings.
Swiping left on the battery widget opens a lightning launcher folder which slides down from the top right of the screen. This folder is a three-page vertical scrolling folder with each page holding three apps. The apps in the folder include Gmail, Google Voice, Google Duo, YouTube vanced, calculator, hi-q voice recorder, watch Droid assistant, Google translate, and wyze (home video surveillance monitoring app).
Swiping up on the battery widget opens the app drawer. The app that I am using for the app drawer is called JINA drawer. I like this drawer app because it is highly customizable and it gives you a great deal of information about your apps as well as the ability to manipulate the apps such as uninstalling, hiding, etc.
Top page:
The top page contains a lightning launcher panel that holds a calendar widget and an agenda widget. These widgets populate the entire screen and can be scrolled horizontally. The app that I use to get the widgets is called Digical, I am using the pro version.
Bottom page:
The bottom page contains a widget called weather & clock widget for Android.
Left page:
They left page contains a widget from an app called YMusic. This app is similar to YouTube music and allows for background play, audio and video downloads but is free. I like the widget because it fills the entire page with the album art of the song that I am listening to.
Right page:
The right page contains a widget from an app called accupedo. I prefer this app over the stock step counter because it gives you a lot more information in the app as well as within the widget. The widget is long but not very tall so I added static text from lightning launcher saying "Step Count" to help fill the screen out a bit.
Navigation:
For navigating the phone I use an app called fluid navigation. The way I have it configured, a short swipe from the bottom center is for home, a long swipe from the bottom center launches Google voice assistant. A short swipe from the bottom left would open a volume app called ultra volume this allows you to have many different volume panel setups, the one that I'm using is a horizontal bar that populates the entire bottom width of the screen. A long swipe from the bottom left would launch the native volume control panel. Swiping long or short from the bottom right would launch my app drawer. A short left swipe from the right bottom half will execute the back command, and a long swipe left will open the recents menu. A short swipe downwards from anywhere along the top will launch the bottom navigation bar app, and a long swipe will drop the navigation panel. I customized my navigation panel with an app called power shade, I have the paid version.
Apps:
I have quite a few apps loaded on the watch too many to mention here as this post is already very lengthy. Feel free to check out the video that I posted in this thread and you can pause while I'm scrolling through the app drawer to get an idea of some of the apps loaded on the watch. I have added a few more since the posting of that video, if there is enough interest I will compile a list of the apps and games that I have installed.
Conclusion:
I love this watch. I love that I can make it my own using the customization options that Android provides. The watch does have some quirks. I have to monitor it when charging because it tends to get pretty hot, sometimes. Also when running memory intensive apps the watch would heat up as well. There are times when the watch becomes unresponsive and I would need to do a soft reset, but thankfully that doesn't happen too often. The battery life is very impressive however, I cannot give an accurate estimate as to how long the battery would last during normal use because I am constantly tinkering with the watch. My main gripe is that although the watch is constantly connected to my home Wi-Fi or tethered to my phone, it would not always pick up notifications from apps that are connected to the web. I find myself periodically turning Wi-Fi off and then back on only to have a flood of notifications come through. Perhaps this is user error, or maybe it is a flaw in the watch software. Although these issues can be annoying it is by no mean a deal-breaker and has not tainted my enthusiasm or enjoyment of this watch. I hope this helps those who own this watch or similar watches to enjoy theirs as much as I enjoy mine. Feel free to engage me with questions or conversation as I really enjoy talking about this device.
ninpo said:
I posted this on another forum but thought it might be a good fit here it describes my setup in greater detail.
Launcher:
The launcher that I'm using is called Lightning launcher. Lightning launcher is a highly customizable launcher that allows you to have an unlimited workspace. The launcher gives you complete control over all desk top items such as widgets, shortcuts, icons, and text. These items can be resized, rotated, placed on a grid, or placed freely within the desktop space. The launcher also allows for unlimited horizontal and vertical scrolling. Items placed on the desktop can have up to six assignable actions using gestures such as swipe left, right, up, down, tap, and long press. Assignable actions can include launching apps, shortcuts, and system actions. You can even have multiple desktop setups and easily switch between them. That is just a small sample of what this launcher is capable of. My current setup has a center page with an additional page to the left, right, top, and bottom of the center page.
Home page widgets:
I have two widgets on my home screen, BobclockD3, and Battery Reborn 2020. I've added seconds above the clock widget using lightning launchers dynamic texts feature. I have assigned gesture actions to the widgets in my setup.
Long pressing the clock widget opens the native clock app.
Tapping the battery reborn 2020 widget will give you comprehensive data and stats about your battery.
Long pressing the battery widget will launch an app called flashlight. This app simply turns your screen bright white which you can use to softly illuminate your surroundings in the dark. I like it because it does not kill your night vision but provides just enough illumination to see your immediate surroundings.
Swiping left on the battery widget opens a lightning launcher folder which slides down from the top right of the screen. This folder is a three-page vertical scrolling folder with each page holding three apps. The apps in the folder include Gmail, Google Voice, Google Duo, YouTube vanced, calculator, hi-q voice recorder, watch Droid assistant, Google translate, and wyze (home video surveillance monitoring app).
Swiping up on the battery widget opens the app drawer. The app that I am using for the app drawer is called JINA drawer. I like this drawer app because it is highly customizable and it gives you a great deal of information about your apps as well as the ability to manipulate the apps such as uninstalling, hiding, etc.
Top page:
The top page contains a lightning launcher panel that holds a calendar widget and an agenda widget. These widgets populate the entire screen and can be scrolled horizontally. The app that I use to get the widgets is called Digical, I am using the pro version.
Bottom page:
The bottom page contains a widget called weather & clock widget for Android.
Left page:
They left page contains a widget from an app called YMusic. This app is similar to YouTube music and allows for background play, audio and video downloads but is free. I like the widget because it fills the entire page with the album art of the song that I am listening to.
Right page:
The right page contains a widget from an app called accupedo. I prefer this app over the stock step counter because it gives you a lot more information in the app as well as within the widget. The widget is long but not very tall so I added static text from lightning launcher saying "Step Count" to help fill the screen out a bit.
Navigation:
For navigating the phone I use an app called fluid navigation. The way I have it configured, a short swipe from the bottom center is for home, a long swipe from the bottom center launches Google voice assistant. A short swipe from the bottom left would open a volume app called ultra volume this allows you to have many different volume panel setups, the one that I'm using is a horizontal bar that populates the entire bottom width of the screen. A long swipe from the bottom left would launch the native volume control panel. Swiping long or short from the bottom right would launch my app drawer. A short left swipe from the right bottom half will execute the back command, and a long swipe left will open the recents menu. A short swipe downwards from anywhere along the top will launch the bottom navigation bar app, and a long swipe will drop the navigation panel. I customized my navigation panel with an app called power shade, I have the paid version.
Apps:
I have quite a few apps loaded on the watch too many to mention here as this post is already very lengthy. Feel free to check out the video that I posted in this thread and you can pause while I'm scrolling through the app drawer to get an idea of some of the apps loaded on the watch. I have added a few more since the posting of that video, if there is enough interest I will compile a list of the apps and games that I have installed.
Conclusion:
I love this watch. I love that I can make it my own using the customization options that Android provides. The watch does have some quirks. I have to monitor it when charging because it tends to get pretty hot, sometimes. Also when running memory intensive apps the watch would heat up as well. There are times when the watch becomes unresponsive and I would need to do a soft reset, but thankfully that doesn't happen too often. The battery life is very impressive however, I cannot give an accurate estimate as to how long the battery would last during normal use because I am constantly tinkering with the watch. My main gripe is that although the watch is constantly connected to my home Wi-Fi or tethered to my phone, it would not always pick up notifications from apps that are connected to the web. I find myself periodically turning Wi-Fi off and then back on only to have a flood of notifications come through. Perhaps this is user error, or maybe it is a flaw in the watch software. Although these issues can be annoying it is by no mean a deal-breaker and has not tainted my enthusiasm or enjoyment of this watch. I hope this helps those who own this watch or similar watches to enjoy theirs as much as I enjoy mine. Feel free to engage me with questions or conversation as I really enjoy talking about this device.
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Thank for all the info ninpo.
Could you help with some pre purchase questions?
Can you install WhatsApp and does it work well?
Same question regarding waze and spotify.
Is the device and the interface slow comparing to mobile phones?
Again, thanks a lot

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