[Q] Why aren't there more floating apps? - Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

So, there have always been a couple of "floating" apps in the market. For example,
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gpc.myweb.hinet.net.PopupVideo&hl=en
Anyway, my question is why don't other apps use the same framework code that these floating apps use? Or is it just completely different than what I think it is. I've tried asking this on Reddit before but people didn't understand what I was asking and just kept downvoting/ignoring the posts.. Aren't floating apps just basically the Samsung floating ones without having to launch them via the multiwindow launcher?
EDIT:
What I was asking about are floating apps, not associated with touchwiz. Please stop referring to the ones associated with JB.. I have seen the threads that concern customizing your apps such that they can be launched with the multiwindow launcher, but that is not what I am asking about. Again, look at the playstore link, it works with non-touchwiz android strains, right? That's what I am talking about. Please READ this before posting a comment about touchwiz AGAIN.
I think this is resolved in that we've decided that it is because developers think that people don't care about multitasking for tablets, not necessarily because it is hard to implement.

check this thread out:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=33965979
Sent from my GT-N8013 using XDA Premium HD app

Right, so you've misunderstood my question..
I mean, the floating calculator apps and whatever from before the Galaxy Note Line came out, these all work on other devices. Why is it that apps can't incorporate the framework within them to be used whenever, without using the multiwindow launcher?

Let me tell you why your posts were ignored.
It seems you're not so much asking a question as pushing an agenda.
You seem to want someone to say "wow that's a great idea let's do that!"
In which case your question is moot.
Either that or you're just assuming for some reason that app developers aren't
making everything multiwindow because it's difficult to implement. More likely
devs could give a *%#$ about multiwindow when coding an app i.e. it's not a
priority.

blud7 said:
Let me tell you why your posts were ignored.
It seems you're not so much asking a question as pushing an agenda.
You seem to want someone to say "wow that's a great idea let's do that!"
In which case your question is moot.
Either that or you're just assuming for some reason that app developers aren't
making everything multiwindow because it's difficult to implement. More likely
devs could give a *%#$ about multiwindow when coding an app i.e. it's not a
priority.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.. basically. I don't know how to code Android apps (my experience with programming is in analytical things) so I don't exactly know how much work is involved in getting that framework into an existing code. I assumed that multiwindow is an attractive option because of the hype regarding Cornerstone and now Samsung's multitasking abilities, but I guess that isn't really the case. Is it actually hard? I'm still not sure I have an answer for that because it just sounds like you're telling me no one gives a ****, which is an answer to one of my questions, but not all of them..

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1998133
Here ya go, make ANY app multi screen. Enjoy.

This option still requires the Multiwindow launcher, correct?
Or does it not actually require the multiwindow launcher, but there's no way to distinguish between wanting to launch it as a window and launch as a whole screen except through the multiwindow launcher?
Otherwise.. you just didn't read the rest of the thread or my posts.

No, it seems he didn't read any of the posts above.
And again yeah, I think multiwindow is not a priority for most app devs.
With enough people clamouring for it, well who knows?
The truth is, every addition requires more effort as well as implementing features
that the dev may not have thought of. What if the target audience is phones only?
What if the target is multiple devices? I myself have no experience coding for android,
but an educated guess would tell me that's where the problem lies. I'm sure you've
read that one problem with android is the multiple devices it runs on...

Ah.. You're probably right. I was just thinking that it'd be the most excellent way to differentiate Android tablet apps (because all the review articles love to say that iPads have tablet optimized apps but Android tablets don't). I guess I'll look into it as a side project after qual's...

Aren't floating apps integrated to touchwiz?

Not what I was asking.. but yes.

There are apps that "float" without using touchwiz, such as a browser and a video player, but nothing to organize them the way samsung did. That said, multiwindow is coded into the OS rather than apps running workarounds to make it float. I can't say all apps should be floating, like games or whatnot, but the ones that you use on a daily basis would be more worth floating. There could be 1, 000 reasons why devs don't float all their apps, but if they don't then they don't. But if they do, it wouldn't be a bad idea to make an app that organizes floating windows into a multiwindow setting. The only problem is making the app. It might be worth looking into samsung's source code to see what they do to make it work.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using XDA Premium HD app

Related

Android Market is Horrible

As a new Asus Transformer owner and first time Android Market customer I have to say that I am utterly disappointed with the current state of the Android Market. The android market ap is a joke. The website is a little better, but desperately needs a better way to filer aps by tablet/non-tablet or hd/sd aps.
There is no legitimate reason that the market couldn't have a specific section dedicated solely to tablets. Or at least better filter/sort functions that allow you to filter in a more effective way. I was going to post a list of what is bad about the marketplace, but there is just too much. I'm sure that everyone who owns a honeycomb tablet is well familiar with the problem(s) by now. Anyway, just wanted to vent. /rant
Use appbrain (google it), it's much nicer and lets you filter your search.
see here for compatible tablet apps: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1032381
el_brio said:
As a new Asus Transformer owner and first time Android Market customer I have to say that I am utterly disappointed with the current state of the Android Market. The android market ap is a joke. The website is a little better, but desperately needs a better way to filer aps by tablet/non-tablet or hd/sd aps.
There is no legitimate reason that the market couldn't have a specific section dedicated solely to tablets. Or at least better filter/sort functions that allow you to filter in a more effective way. I was going to post a list of what is bad about the marketplace, but there is just too much. I'm sure that everyone who owns a honeycomb tablet is well familiar with the problem(s) by now. Anyway, just wanted to vent. /rant
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There actually sholdnt be a tabletsection at all. If a dev programs oroperly their app will work fine on any size screen. Thats the benefit of the way the xml layout in the sdk work. Locations all become relative. You say x is next to y andbelow z. Then let the device sort it out.
crater said:
There actually sholdnt be a tabletsection at all. If a dev programs oroperly their app will work fine on any size screen. Thats the benefit of the way the xml layout in the sdk work. Locations all become relative. You say x is next to y andbelow z. Then let the device sort it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not necessarily true, especially as Honeycomb introduces new layout elements that many app developers want to and should take advantage of to make their apps more tablet friendly. It might still all end up in the same APK in the end, but the developer still should do some tablet specific work to make it more user friendly. It would still be nice to know which APKs have been "tablet-optimized".
They do have a "Featured Tablet Apps" section, which as far as I can tell is just a list of all/most of the APKs that have been optimized for tablets.
I thought some of these issues were fixed with 3.1 according to xoom owners.
I think it's because they don't want people to see how few apps there are optimised for tablets.
case0 said:
I think it's because they don't want people to see how few apps there are optimised for tablets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 internets
I agree
There should be a tablet filter. Even amazon apps suck at it. I download some apps and it FC on me.
You say all apps should work on tablet? Well that's not the case for many apps so there should be some kind of distinction. But, I hear some problems will be fixed in 3.1.
The pop down add won't be popping down anymore, it will just be there when you open it up, more catagories, and when you view an app and go back, it suppose to remember your location.
Be nice to be able to add reviews, but I didn't hear anything about that.
as a poor uesr from china pr
i need an app like market access lol
No no no... there is nothing about an Android app that says "I'm a tablet app" unless it just happens to be written for _only_ the Gingerbread API level (and that will be false the second the next version of Android comes out) which is pretty bad practice.
Using 3.0 classes is possible via reflection while remaining compatible back to 1.6, given that you can have a specific layout for x-large screens you can use 3.0 layout elements there even if your app targets a lower API level. Fragments are available all the way back to 1.6 now.
There is no "Tablet version" switch to detect, nor should there be.
It is up to the devs themselves to support the use cases they want to target, not specific devices, with freedom comes responsibility.
there should't be a tablet filter..android is different from iOS in terms of the layout design and ideally all apps should just run just fine on hc.
I remember reading that Google were going to put extra layers/levels into the current market to provide better touch browse/navigation - which might be nice.
But I don't really have any problems with the current one and the other sites do a good job at simplifying searches anyway.
It will never please everybody, but will continue to get better I am sure.
magicpork said:
there should't be a tablet filter..android is different from iOS in terms of the layout design and ideally all apps should just run just fine on hc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not whether or not they run fine, it's whether or not they are optimized for a tablet, like the CNN app. So I agree, a filter for apps that are tablet-optimized is a must. Until then, I just rely on the Featured Tablet Apps to see if anything new has been added.
magicpork said:
there should't be a tablet filter..android is different from iOS in terms of the layout design and ideally all apps should just run just fine on hc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes ideally they should, but theyre phone apps. When they do work correctly, they just stretch. Everybody makes of the ipad saying its a giant ipod touch, but the apps that are optimized for it look amazing. So yes there should be a tablet filter.

How difficult would it be to mod the CarCradle app? Specifically for froyo.

So, I decided that the $5 for the car cradle from verizon was too tempting. I've recieved it and have been using it for a day or so and it serves it's purpose. A good charging station that keeps it from sliding around my center console. I'd like to utilize the CarCradle app, but with the removal of bing (I'm not disappointed by this) the app dead-ends when selecting Maps, Voice Search & Navigator. Would it be possible to re-establish links to Google Maps, Goodle Voice Search & Google Navigator instead? I know that there are many other car apps on the market but this one isn't terrible, providing that the links work.
I've unpacked the .apk file but it's like trying to read Swahili. I wouldn't know the first place to begin. I'd like to eventually try my hand at app building but I'm a long way off.
Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.
Peace,
Ray
sure, wouldn't be hard at all actually! I'll work on this sometime this week/weekend
wouldnt this be considered as warez if it was modded for foryo.
Thanks Trailblazer, I look forward to seeing your result. The desk cradle app is suffering from the same de-binged issue if you're interested. I still don't understand why Samsung didn't allow for any customization with these two apps. Oh well, it is what it is.
Bierce22, I don't know. If that were the case you could say the same about 75% of the apps that make their way out to the public. Transparent widgets and apps and such would be similar, I would think. For that matter the froyo rom we now have could be considered the same. But I don't know the ins and outs of all this stuff. I'm just a simple end user looking the get the most out of a pretty good phone with lots of potential.
this is just my opinion i dont wont to start a big debate or flaming contest but i remember when theimpailer got in trouble for modding andgry birds to get it to run on lower devices he took out the adds in order to make it work. i just dont want to see someone get into trouble. if u fix it then keep it to yourself and problem soloved lol.
It's all good, I didn't see it as the beginning of a flame anything. The way I see that situation, and I only know what you have posted here, is that Angry Birds is a paid app in the market. Modding that and reposting could be considered copyright infringement, much like reposting an mp3 of a song on the old Napster. These Apps are included as part of the Samsung android os. I guess to eliminate the possibility of being infringement the "proper" thing to do would be to mod the app and only include it in an updated ROM. That way only current Continuum owners could aquire the Apps. But the nature of the open source OS is the ability to freely share modification and development. At least that's the way I see it, for whatever that's worth. Thanks for keeping us honest though. Simply because you can doesn't always mean that you ought. I don't see any issue with this situation... Then again, I'm a little biased as I'm the one interested in the mod. ;-)
Sent from my SCH-I400 using XDA App
Cradle Apps
Hi All,
I started the same musings on the accessory thread, then I started downloading alternatives. I haven't tried any of them because my car cradle was working with Google Maps and Search. I wonder if the de-Bing rom works the same way. I haven't tried that either. I get the same errors you speak of with the original 2.2 rom. I think to use these alternatives you just need to use something like Root Explorer to rename the stock app and name the new one the original stock app name. Search and you shall see the results of the different apps. I can post what I found if needed.

Android Should Let Users Choose Notification Privileges.

First of all, I know if I say something bad about Android, I get negative replies and maybe the thread is closed. That was what I got when I posted some criticism about Android's application uninstall interface. I am not a troll, I have 3 Android devices, it is just I want it to get better. I also use Apple products, and recently I bought a Logitech mouse and couldn't get the back/forward button on my Macbook, so I searched Apple user forum, and I found some user had asked/complained about it. I was shocked at that the other user's response was something like 'why use forward/backward button, how difficult is it to press the back button on the screen'. Apparently for some people, when they are in love with something, they just cannot find anything bad about it.
Anyways, back to the main story, we all admire Android for its freedom. But it seems to me, that the freedom of developer is much larger than that of users. I often receive junk notifications from apps I have installed. One app sent a notification at 2 or 3 AM. You may say, "uninstall it then", but what if I have bought it and I need to use it?
iOS solves this problem by letting users disable notifications per application. I don't know if I can do similar thing by adding custom modification or using a custom ROM, but think about 'normal' people, they don't know how to do such things and they have not much time to spend their weekends doing that kind of things.
Freedom is a good thing, but there should be a mechanism to prevent its misuse, like laws in real life. And I think the user should have an easy access to such mechanisms. I mean 'easy', not installing custom ROM or through rooting.
That's only possible in Android 4.1 Jellybean. If you have a way to update your device, do it
RoberGalarga said:
That's only possible in Android 4.1 Jellybean. If you have a way to update your device, do it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^This
Unfortunately most of us are stuck running something older. Personally I think unwanted notifications from apps is a bad idea, and I will usually uninstall an app that does this just because I don't support devs that do this. Check to see if the app can have the notifications disabled in its settings.

App that controls hardware lit key controls...

Does anyone know of an app that can control our skyrocket lit keys at the bottom? I would assume root is needed to do such a thing. I can't seem to find much on Google Search.
Basically, I'm looking for an app that can setup/remap things like the following:
Menu Press,
Menu Long-Press
Home Press,
Home Long-Press,
Back Press,
Back Long-Press,
Search Press,
Search Long-Press
Some examples of actions with such key presses could be like: screen off, kill app, launch app, recents, etc.
I know a lot of custom roms like CM, SLIM, AOKP, and Beanstalk already include these features however I'm running stock lately and I'm hoping there are solutions like this for people who don't always want to run custom roms. Please don't reply if all your going to say is "use custom roms"... I know how and chose not to for now.
I appreciate any apps anyone can suggest as everything I have found doesn't seem to have these features. There has to be something out there somewhere...
Thanks!
I don't believe u really searched... there are remapping Apps that may do what u want but require root. Do some searching with those keywords.
To be honest however, "custom roms" as u put it are your best bet. If u don't like them, you may have to live without this particular feature
icenight89 said:
I don't believe u really searched... there are remapping Apps that may do what u want but require root. Do some searching with those keywords.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your reply would be excellent if this forum was a fashion forum or kitchen and furniture fans website, it's xda-developers here.... I'm sure OP would like a"mod" that works natively in his device,and "guess" he doesn't want an app filled with "Check out our other apps" or "Hair removal ? No problem" or ads filling the status bar beside waisting the already limited system RAM...
mahanddeem said:
Your reply would be excellent if this forum was a fashion forum or kitchen and furniture fans website, it's xda-developers here.... I'm sure OP would like a"mod" that works natively in his device,and "guess" he doesn't want an app filled with "Check out our other apps" or "Hair removal ? No problem" or ads filling the status bar beside waisting the already limited system RAM...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh?... clearly he doesn't want natively as then he would be using built in features of aosp based roms, instead he's using stock and looking for 3rd party solutions, aka not native.
Never had a problem with limited ram on mu device, you must be running A TON of background apps.
As for ads, a combination of adblocker and android firewall has proven quite effective for me, both by blocking Alps from internet access that shouldn't have them anyway, and by limiting of eliminating ads for the ones that do.
If ur post was meant as an insult, rolls off shoulders bro, this is there internet. If not, then I'm just confused by what u posted...
icenight89 said:
I don't believe u really searched... there are remapping Apps that may do what u want but require root. Do some searching with those keywords.
To be honest however, "custom roms" as u put it are your best bet. If u don't like them, you may have to live without this particular feature
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look, I'm only asking in hopes that someone would already have used one successfully on the skyrocket and would be willing to tell about it. Yes I'm sure there are remapping apps out there but mostly for hardware keys, not the lit keys on the skyrocket. I searched, not for 5 hours, but I searched yes.
Thanks anyways, I CAN live without it sure, but XDA is a place to grow and learn and as far as I can tell, it doesn't hurt to ask and learn from others' experience.... or does it??
crazycage said:
Look, I'm only asking in hopes that someone would already have used one successfully on the skyrocket and would be willing to tell about it. Yes I'm sure there are remapping apps out there but mostly for hardware keys, not the lit keys on the skyrocket. I searched, not for 5 hours, but I searched yes.
Thanks anyways, I CAN live without it sure, but XDA is a place to grow and learn and as far as I can tell, it doesn't hurt to ask and learn from others' experience.... or does it??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The lit keys ARE hardware keys lol, thats why i suggested looking into remap apps. And yes it has been done.
Most of the time you'll find that level of customization in a custom ROM...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app

The recent (and multiple) changes in newer official Gapps

Let me say first this- is NOT a tinfoil hat-style thread. I know data gets collected and that is not really the concern I have here. I am more interested in what seems to be an attempt at monopolizing users' devices. What I am trying to start a discussion on is the recent changes in just about every Google-produced apk update and the changes these updates implement into the Android environment. Take GBoard for example....this recent update took an excellent keyboard and added several features to it that are frankly, redundant and unnecessary. Rendering is better in Chrome or Firefox and with "Now on Tap", Google search widget, Google Now, and the browsers themselves this redundancy is borderline meaningless and seems more like bloatware intended to promote people to use google over any other search engine. Android System Webview is almost as meaningless. There is no reason to have an un-configurable web interface coded into every app when it makes more sense to just use a browser with more feature-rich abilities. I could see it maybe useful on slow devices, but anyone with a Qualcomm dual-core or better should not need it.
Then on the other end of the spectrum they have Google Now Launcher, which has not been updated in over a year and is extremely boring in its customizability. NowLauncher has been ignored even though it's the core of the interface. It's as if they are just bored and instead push updates in order to make people feel like things are new, when in fact many of these updates are really downgrades in functionality by causing the operating system to feel schizophrenic.
Now I am certain some will agree and probably more will disagree, but I am finding myself simply disabling or uninstalling more and more of google's totally revamped "upgraded" apps. The level of device synergy they are trying to accomplish appears to be doing the opposite and creating solutions for problems that really didn't exist. These things may pose security issues, but again that is the least of my concern.
It kinda makes me feel like Google's change in direction since the drop of the Nexus line has caused further alienation of those who loved Android for being simple yet customizable. Does anyone out there agree that Google needs to calm down a bit with these changes and maybe consider that add-ons are not improvements? I know one thing for sure- it's beginning to drive me towards AOSP and third party alternatives. I appreciate any and all input. Thanks.
The Now Launcher hasn't been updated because they moved to the Pixel launcher, I guess.
I honestly kinda like the Pixel launcher a lot better than Now launcher, though I don't use either of them. I did try them, but I prefer Nova still.
As for the keyboard, I think what they did was to make stuff more convenient, or at least try it.
The keyboard browser wasn't made to replace an actual browser. It's just for really small searches.
I also find it kinda neat.
I myself don't use Google Now, nor Google Assistant. I don't even have the Google app installed.
So being able to do a quick search right from the keyboard could prove useful in this scenario.
And I'm pretty sure I saw a switch to turn off the search option, so you can still have the old-school keyboard while still having the new features (multilingual predictions).
But I'm not using their keyboard either. It doesn't really have what I need.
Most Google apps don't suit my needs, so I opt not to use them. And that's everybody can do. They aren't forced to use them. Sure, they may come pre-installed on devices, but I'm almost certain that you can disable them if you don't need of use them.

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