Database Info

A GUI issue? (Driver - other?)

Hello All,
I accidentally came across the following behaviour on my HTC Cruise, and I found it quite interesting. Personally, I am quite happy with my HTC Cruise, despite the famous display driver missing...
Of course, I am upset like most people, since HTC seemed to be so keen in advertising the device's multimedia abilities. HTC have lost a couple of credibility points for me...
Anyway, on with the question now...
When I select Programs from the start menu and move my finger up and down on the scroll bar, the display seems to demonstrate quite a lag; icons are slow to redraw and the display seems to "flicker". I understand this is quite subjective, it depends on the number of programs one might have installed, etc.
However..... When I select Programs from the HTC Today plug in, (2nd icon on top row of third tab), the same action (moving up and down the scrollbar), is so much faster!
It's not a big deal, but the difference on my HTC is quite striking. How about yours? I am a software developer and find this quite interesting as it seems to be the same function, but performace seems to be different. Can it be a setting somewhere, can it be that HTC developers did not pay the attention they should? (and admitted the fact that extra performance can be achieved by stating they will provide a "patch" for it).
Do you get the same behaviour?
Thanks for reading

You are correct.
Even when removing the "big menu" option as advised on TC tweaking, program list accessed from home plugin tab scrolls much much faster than program list accessed from "Start" menu.
This is quite interesting

................

yes same for me! - very strange, why would this be?

Yep, same here. Verrrryy interrresting.

When I actually got this device and scrolled the icons in programs, I was immediately puzzled as it did not seem to be very promising. The settings window has a much smoother scroll (yes, I know, it has less icons as well)...
I am sure there must be a difference somehow from an implementation point of view, or at least a different setting somewhere. Maybe a different startup setting, or something.
I have read about the tweaks and the different settings you can change, for example Cache font size, etc.
However, the mere fact that the same functionality has such a dramatic difference depending on how you invoke it, to me is a case of not so efficient programming.
If HTC comes out with a new display "patch" which actually manages to make a difference, then it would be almost certain that their "first" version was not so efficient, a mere indication they could have done better straight from the beginning.

They are implemented differently too. If you open Programs from the Start Menu and close it then go to Settings -> Memory -> Running Programs you won't see anything. Now if you launch Programs from the HTC plugin and then close it and then go look at running programs you will see it running. (This is assuming you don't have the HTC Task Manager configured to close applications when hitting X). Must be implemented differently in the back end.

I agree there is a difference. Scrolling of icons f.e. under programs is much quicker, not sure are executebale files running quicker too?

That really weird! scrolling is really smooth, I have noticed the icon on my top right I have a .net configurator icon, when opening programs via the plug in the name under the icon is missing but opening programs normally the name under the icon is there realated some how?

It seems indeed a different program. I have WkTask installed and when I get the Programs appearing via the HTC, I can see that this actually starts a window (as hambola says).
When I select Programs via the Start menu, no window title appears.
Another difference is that when I start Programs via HTC home, I can see the scrollbar getting "smaller" as the icons seem to be added in that window "on the fly"; then the icons always appear "top-aligned". When I close that window and reopen it via HTC, it is the same.
On the other hand, when selecting Programs via the Start menu the icons are already there, plus the scrollbar remembers its last position after the window has closed.
There are small differences really, it is just interesting how these affect the quality of scrolling...

is this in anyway linked to the driver issues?

Not sure, sometimes I'm not even sure what things are linked to driver issues and what things aren't. For example I used to have an 8525 which is apparently not affected by this driver issue. But rotating the display on that device was no faster than what I get with my TC. In fact maybe it was even slower, I don't have it with me to compare. So I don't know if drivers will even fix something like that. Maybe it will, maybe it won't.
What about the dialer skin coming up on the TC. That's really slow. I see the different sections being painted on the screen. The Comm Manager will only load up fast if it's not in the "Running Programs". So first time I run it, it loads up in one shot, if i close it and try opening it again I will see it paint the different blocks. If I actually stop it in Running Programs and then try it again, then it loads in one shot. Driver issues? Who the hell knows. I doubt it though.
If driver issues fix video playback and they also fix the camera lag, i'll be content. if overall smoothness is fixed and extensive graphics (like games) is fixed, then i'll be happy.

I agree with hambola. I am not sure it's a driver issue. To me it simply shows that it could have been done better.
An even more annoying issue is the dialler skin as habola also suggests. The camera thing is also important.
To me the video playback is not much of an issue; I always encode in QVGA mode without any problem or quality loss. Quality loss is relative, I think it looks fine on the phone, obviously it's not a good idea to play that QVGA video on my PC. An additional advantage when encoding QVGA is saving space. My files in QVGA are usually less than 400MB, whereas my full screen versions are usually less than 1GB. To be honest, I do not see the use of it. Last time I was waiting in an airport, I had around 10 movies in my phone, all perfectly watchable (with perfectly watchable subtitles), a couple of GBs of music and I had additional free space in my storage card. Noway, I could fit 10 movies on it, if the quality was DVD-like. So basically, I do not mind... I think Coreplayer copes ok.
The little things such as lag in scrolling, the dialler skin coming up in pieces in a device that is a PHONE, the camera; these things annoy me.
-And how do you make phone calls, if there is no keyboard?
-Well, you press this button and the dialpad comes up...
-Ah! I see it takes some time to draw that dialpad...
-yes.......
See my point?

quickly thinking about this, it sounds like the HTC plugin is launching it in it's own shell, therefore it isn't monitoring everything else that is going on if it were launched from the main program list, ie. when launched from program list, the priority of running tasks is set to all, whilst from HTC, the program becomes the main focus. Maybe to do with threading, HTC was compiled with hyper threading, and the normal today screen wasn't. This is a very loose and fast analogy by me so feel free to shoot it down!!

also, you have to consider what memory is being freed up by which launcher, for what app etc. etc. etc. Memory plays a big part in performance, if there isn't enough of it, then the CPU has to start working shifting sh#t around, lots of cycles wasted etc. Gotta remember this is a M$ OS, they aint the brightest sparks sometimes

This same thing happens on my Athena after I launch the programs folder a second time (using standard start menu). This is most likely caused by the bitmap icons being loaded in the device's cache. Wouldn't get my hopes up.

[App][14-07-09] Stop PushInternet for real - save 9.5 MB memory

Stop PushInternet for real - throw Opera out of memory and save 9.5 MB memory
Push-Internet – sounds like a pretty good idea: The user can set certain webpages to be automatically downloaded to their devices in time intervals that can be set. This way it will take much less time to open a webpage, since it's cached locally on the device.
On second thought this isn't such a great thing though:
1.The smallest time interval that can be set is 1 hour. For people that are in need of realtime information from websites, this certainly won't work. And even if you're just browsing to a website that is updated pretty often, you wouldn't want to miss the last hour and would refresh it anyway.
2.Another big downside of push internet: for it to work HTC forces Opera to stay in memory all the time. Even if you quit Opera from within, it will be restarted within the blink of an eye, at the costs of an extra 9.5 MB that are taken from RAM.
3.Opera staying in memory all the time makes it hard to save changes via opera:config , like the number of open tabs.
Now, there is of course the possibility to deactivate push internet some will say, but the available option does not actually stop the underlying pushinternet-service nor does it stop Opera from staying in memory (for no reason).
By downloading and installing the attached NoPushInternet_v2.CAB you will force the underlying PushInternetEngine service to „start manual“ instead of automatic and you will get rid of Opera staying in and eating up your memory after a softreset.
BUT BEWARE: Once you have installed NoPushInternet_v2.CAB, push internet will not work anymore, the respective setting under Touchflo will have NO EFFECT, no matter if turned off or on.
You will have to uninstall NoPushInternet_v2.CAB to actually be able to turn push internet back on. To uninstall got to uninstall programs and click on „Manila NoPushInternet“, all changes will be reverted.
Visit my Blog if you like: http://mytd2.blogspot.com , it's in german however.
This description is included in the CAB file and will be installed to \My Documents folder.
[UPDATE July 14]
Fixed a bug: Opera would not switch to landscape mode on the first loaded page.
Download and install NoPushInternet_v2.CAB or only NoPiFix.CAB if you had v1.0 installed.
.

TinTin said:
Stop PushInternet for real - throw Opera out of memory and save 9.5 MB memory
Push-Internet – sounds like a pretty good idea: The user can set certain webpages to be automatically downloaded to their devices in time intervals that can be set. This way it will take much less time to open a webpage, since it's cached locally on the device.
On second thought this isn't such a great thing though:
1.The smallest time interval that can be set is 1 hour. For people that are in need of realtime information from websites, this certainly won't work. And even if you're just browsing to a website that is updated pretty often, you wouldn't want to miss the last hour and would refresh it anyway.
2.Another big downside of push internet: for it to work HTC forces Opera to stay in memory all the time. Even if you quit Opera from within, it will be restarted within the blink of an eye, at the costs of an extra 9.5 MB that are taken from RAM.
3.Opera staying in memory all the time makes it hard to save changes via opera:config , like the number of open tabs.
Now, there is of course the possibility to deactivate push internet some will say, but the available option does not actually stop the underlying pushinternet-service nor does it stop Opera from staying in memory (for no reason).
By downloading and installing the attached cab you will force the underlying PushInternetEngine service to „start manual“ instead of automatic and you will get rid of Opera staying in and eating up your memory after a softreset.
BUT BEWARE: Once you have installed NoPushInternet.CAB, push internet will not work anymore, the respective setting under Touchflo will have NO EFFECT, no matter if turned off or on.
You will have to uninstall NoPushInternet.CAB to actually be able to turn push internet back on. To uninstall got to uninstall programs and click on „Manila NoPushInternet“, all changes will be reverted.
Visit my Blog if you like: http://mytd2.blogspot.com , it's in german however.
This description is included in the CAB file and will be installed to \My Documents folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanx for the app
i'm looking for this a wile push internet is really not good dont like it at al
again thanx man really good work
GRTZ Roosen

It can also be done in the registry.
HKLM\Software\HTC\PushInternet\Enable => change to 0

@roosen
Thank you! Glad you find it useful.
@elmalote
Thats' not all of it.

very nice!!
thanks a lot.

Nice work dude

+10% free RAM : That's a TRICK! Thank you!

thanks friend. have no use for push internet. plus get back some ram!! good.

This is a very nice tweak, thanks. However, it does have one side-effect I am not sure I like. Because Opera doesn't run in the background, everytime you press 'Open Internetbrowser' Opera needs to be loaded and this takes a few seconds. Not sure if the extra free RAM outweighs the wait for the browser to start.

Thanks for the nice comments!
BettyWeter said:
This is a very nice tweak, thanks. However, it does have one side-effect I am not sure I like. Because Opera doesn't run in the background, everytime you press 'Open Internetbrowser' Opera needs to be loaded and this takes a few seconds. Not sure if the extra free RAM outweighs the wait for the browser to start.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's true, of course and for everyone to decide for themselves. It will only take longer on first start, if you set Opera not to close on X or switch via Taskmanager (WksTask is great for that btw.) it will stay in memory. I for one like to decide myself if and when Opera stays in memory. Also this "downside" is an "upside" for some: Your device will start quicker, as Opera isn't loaded automatically.
You may however load Opera via autostart and have both: Opera ready in memory, but you can throw it out of memory if/when you like. Probably the best for your specific liking, Betty.

BettyWeter said:
Opera needs to be loaded and this takes a few seconds. Not sure if the extra free RAM outweighs the wait for the browser to start.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is a personal choice depending also on what use you are making of your device, but as you said, it takes a really short time to load Opera. Be also aware that having a more charged RAM can:
slow down your device
drain battery more quickly (this is the problem I'm trying to fight by all means!)
I think that HTC decided to load Opera at startup "just for the show", to impress people when they discover their newly bought device for the first time. But with passing of time the surprise effect vanishes and users may want to have a more efficient device for every day use. Anyway..it's all up to you guys!!

To TinTin:
I don't like using to much cab files on my diamond 2.
I want to manually insert the changes into the registry.
If I do this:
"HKLM\Software\HTC\Manila\InternetPush\EnablePushInternet" value="0"
"HKLM\Software\HTC\PushInternetEngine\Enable" value="0"
"HKLM\Services\PushInternetEngine\Flags" value="4"
Is this then the same as your cab file?
Thank you very much for your tweak
Greetz from belgium,
Jeppe

be careful with this tweak because tomtom backlight will change and turn off everytime device goes to stand-by mode!! I don't know why...

@diego
must have been caused by something else, definitely not related

jeppe188 said:
To TinTin:
I don't like using to much cab files on my diamond 2.
I want to manually insert the changes into the registry.
If I do this:
"HKLM\Software\HTC\Manila\InternetPush\EnablePushInternet" value="0"
"HKLM\Software\HTC\PushInternetEngine\Enable" value="0"
"HKLM\Services\PushInternetEngine\Flags" value="4"
Is this then the same as your cab file?
Thank you very much for your tweak
Greetz from belgium,
Jeppe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could TinTin be kind enough to confirm this..?

Sorry, not sure how I missed that post.. seems I'm not always getting notifications here either
It's correct, all DWORD values, last one has to be created, it's not there by default.
hth
Tin

TinTin said:
Sorry, not sure how I missed that post.. seems I'm not always getting notifications here either
It's correct, all DWORD values, last one has to be created, it's not there by default.
hth
Tin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can I use the cab-file for my HTC Touch Diamond 1?
I tried jeppe188's tweak, but I can't find those 3 InternetPush-files in my registor. Are they placed in another map on the TD1?
Regards, R.G.

GommansR said:
Can I use the cab-file for my HTC Touch Diamond 1?
Regards, R.G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't own a TD1, but afaik it does not come with push internet, hence this tweak is useless for you.

ok thank you

Thanks dude. Got 10MB+ back.
This is the 3rd day I have my D2. Maybe this is the initial stage so I do soft reset more often (install new software). Hope so coz I cannot imagine if the back cover can survive multiple opening per day for each soft reset. hahaha

[Q] Draw Performance + others

Preface: I'm new to Android and I hope these questions don't fall in to the "bloat crap" category.
XDA Thread Search engine is off line, and google couldn't find specific issues.
Thanks in advance for any insights provided.
I picked up a Transformer over the weekend, and I'm not impressed with the performance.
Issues/Question:
1.- I've tried every PDF reader (EZ, etc) and I get a loading or blurry screen with every page turn for around ~3 seconds. I've put the files on internal and external memory.
Is there anyway to improve the page load?
2.- When viewing any web page it loads square by square ~100x100px.
Is there anyway to improve the page load?
3.- When using the up/down arrows on the keyboard, pages are very jerky, but using the onsceen scroller it's OK... can I do anything to improve the up/down arrow keys?
4.- Is there anyway/app that allows you to select text easily? Click/move cursor?
5.- Is there anyway of opening a link in a new Tab using the kb? Eg Ctrl + click?
6.- Is there anyway to view the link URL (mouse over) before clicking it?
7.- Is there anyway to edit the hosts file without rooting the device?
8.- How do I open a console window?
Thanks

7) nope
8) i don't know if the terminal emulator comes stock, or it came with my custom rom...but basically, you just need a some sort of terminal app (either terminal emulator, or my preference, connectbot)
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

rayone said:
Preface: I'm new to Android and I hope these questions don't fall in to the "bloat crap" category.
XDA Thread Search engine is off line, and google couldn't find specific issues.
Thanks in advance for any insights provided.
I picked up a Transformer over the weekend, and I'm not impressed with the performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Return your TF and get an ipad2. It is infinitely better at everything. And you get to be an ass like that guy on the train who told me to my face I had an immitation.
Issues/Question:
1.- I've tried every PDF reader (EZ, etc) and I get a loading or blurry screen with every page turn for around ~3 seconds. I've put the files on internal and external memory.
Is there anyway to improve the page load?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Repligo is the best one at the moment as far as handling very large pdf files. I use both repligo and ezpdf.
2.- When viewing any web page it loads square by square ~100x100px.
Is there anyway to improve the page load?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use opera mobile.
3.- When using the up/down arrows on the keyboard, pages are very jerky, but using the onsceen scroller it's OK... can I do anything to improve the up/down arrow keys?
4.- Is there anyway/app that allows you to select text easily? Click/move cursor?
5.- Is there anyway of opening a link in a new Tab using the kb? Eg Ctrl + click?
6.- Is there anyway to view the link URL (mouse over) before clicking it?
7.- Is there anyway to edit the hosts file without rooting the device?
8.- How do I open a console window?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why didn't you just get a laptop? From your questions, I can tell that you tried to use the TF like a laptop. This is the #1 reason why people are disappointed at the tablet platform when they first got it.
Repeat after me. Tablets ain't no laptops.
Tablets ain't no phones either.
The tablet platform is a completely new niche. It is up to YOU to figure out ways to use it more easily and incorporate it into your life.
Imagine if everybody tried to use a motorcycle like a car or a canoe like a ship. Each thing is completely capable of standing on its own in its own niche.
I dare you to go into a motorcycle bar and tell people you can't treat it like a car and see what happens.
I have not touched my laptop for 4 months. I use the TF everyday. As engineers, we have to have astm and aci references everywhere we go for design and analysis purposes. We also have to type out a lot of reports.
All the other guys at work would carry around their books for references (these books are thousands of pages thick), their ipad 2 for entertainment, and their clunky laptops for work. I just carry my TF+dock. Think about that for a moment. Apple users can't imagine using the ipad 2 for anything other than fun and games. And on the opposite end, you can't imagine using the tablet like anything other than a PC.
Isn't it time you step back and reconsider why you got the TF in the first place?

Unlike the previous guy, I'll try not to be a complete sarcastic ass about some of the answers.
1) Repligo is a good one, although I simply use Adobe out of laziness. Personally, I don't have a problem with the 3 second lag. But that's because I also remember when a web page took 3 seconds to load a page of text and graphics.
2) I use a combination of the OS browser, Skyfire, Opera, and Firefox fox everything I do. Each provides a specific not-so-niche role in my daily use. Opera and Firefox have the fastest and smoothest loads.
3) If it's just in Browser that you're experiencing that, try one of the other browsers I suggested. If it's otherwise, then unfortunately, you'll just have to live with it. Maybe one of the roms out there have smoother operations, I don't know as I'm still running rooted stock.
4) Press-hold until word is highlighted or menu for "Select/Scroll" comes up. Proceed. Touch screen only.
5) Unknown. Touch screen works well enough for such a simple thing.
6) Press-hold until menu pops up. Address will be listed there.
7) That's part of the advantage of root.
8) You'll need to install a terminal program proceed.
I would advise that you run the full gamut of tests during your exchange/return period to figure out exactly what you're wanting the TF to do. If it's just because it's android, fair enough. If it's because you were told/had the idea that this is an ipad killer, fair enough. If it's to be used as a replacement to your desktop/laptop, fair enough. But it's up to you to determine what you want to use it for.
I got this a month ago, to the day and haven't had a reason to go back to Windows for more than transferring files to the cloud. Reason for that is that I don't own the dock. BT keyboard works perfectly well for me. For me, this is my be-all end-all. It's my desktop, my laptop, my media player, my video viewer, everything. Mind, I'm also very adaptable and fluid, so having one device with multiple programs to do the same/similar thing is nothing new to me.
Though truth be told, what do I know? I'm merely a student, a writer, an amateur artist, and an over-obsessive reader. I'm not doing anything major, like construction, law, or IT.

Thank you all for your comments/answers.
My EEE pad, isn't playing nice with NVFlash... I try and get it rooted some how.
1.- I tried RepliGo, still slow... same as EzPDF.
2.- I'll try anther browser... always been a fan of Chrome though.
5.- I would have thought implementing a double tap, press one area then tap link for a new tab would be fairly easy.
@goodintentions: I guess when you bought your EEE you felt like a down syndrome kid in a candy store.
I kind of took it for granted I would be able to load a PDF page < 1 second... waiting ~3 per page on a 120 page magazine adds 6 minutes... now think about the number of magazines/books you might read.
I bought the EEE for reading PDF's and web pages... they don't make laptops with decent screens... NFI why, but that's just the prevailing logic in Taiwan/Japan/USA.
Thanks again.

Am using mantano reader for pdf so far still the best reader for me and dolphin for pad beside firefox as browser.
Please cmiiw.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium App

Mantano reader 1.2.4 is better. But if you fit vertically ~3-4 seconds, horizontally ~1-3 seconds... and zoom to fill screen doesn't do anything but blur the page
Browsers, page load http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1191141:
Opera 11.10.11.....: 22 seconds, minimal draw lag
FireFox 7.0.1: 21 seconds, substantial draw lag... half page with checker background,fills in quick.
Android Browser 3.2.1: 14 seconds, substantial draw lag... half page with checker background, fills in slow.
Laptop with Core Solo 1.4Ghz + Chrome 14: 3 seconds. No draw lag.

[Q] Doubts before jumping from Android to WP7: Have this issues been taken care of?

Hi there!
I'm a long-time Android user (since December 2009) and have watched some videos / read about Windows Phone 7 and found it pretty interesting at first glance. More than anything else, it's UI speed and smoothness right out of the box, it's minimalism and integration. The thing is, after I dug deeper, found some information in some sites/threads of XDA that kept me thinking if the OS is right for me.
I have had a Motorola Milestone and after it, a Samsung Galaxy S which is the one that I'm using right now (with an Android 2.3.5 custom rom).
I was decided to sell my SGS and buy a Motorola Atrix, most of all because of it's dual-core processor (and apparent nice smoothness right out of the box), resolution and HDMI-out with the bundled cable. Now I wanted to try the Samsung Focus, which is almost the same as my SGS hardware wise, but the apparently more optimized OS would make it's use a nicer experience.
The thing is, I've read quite a lot and made a list of some things and doubts about WP7 and Mango, and would like to know if after getting some answers I could finally decide what to do with my money. The Atrix is almost 200usd over the Focus, at least from what I have seen (have to buy it unlocked to use it in Argentina).
That was a WAY TOO LONG introduction, so now, the questions:
1) Is it true that there's no mass-storage mode when you plug it into a PC? You depend exclusively on the Zune app?
2) And linked to the previous one: I use linux (more precisely Ubuntu) on my main computer. Is that going to be a problem with file transfer and other stuff? I am forced to use a Windows PC?
3) Is there a way to stop the data transfer from my carrier? I don't want it to connect to internet other than by Wi-Fi when I don't ask for it.
4) Can the OS be set in a language and the keyboard prediction in a different one? Does the keyboard vibrate on keypress?
5) Can the contacts be synchronized with the GMail contacts as you do it on Android?
6) Can you make visible in contacts only the ones with a phone number added?
7) Since there's no notification light and the screen is a Super Amoled as the one in the SGS, is there an application like NoLED in Android, which allows you to use the screen as notification light?
8) Is there a free GPS app that uses offline maps? (I would prefer the ones of Garmin or Tomtom, but I'm open to alternatives)
9) Is it true that when you change the SD Card you have to format everything/hard reset the phone? Or just the memory? And if you happen to know, why is that requiered?
10) Are you forced to reduce quality of the videos you transfer to the phone because it doesn't support many formats? It's because of the "tie-ness" to Zune/lack of mass storage? Is there something similar happening with music?
11) Vibrate and ring at the same time, is it possible? (Read somewhere it wasn't). And what about adding custom ringtones?
12) I come from Android and know how easy it is to root the phone and expand your possibilities. Is there something similar in WP7? Is it worth the effort or it's still not widely used? I read something about lock/relock, has it something to do with this matter? Or with the use of downloaded paid apps?
I guess that's it for now. The thing is, the first 3 or 4 questions are deal-breakers to me if the answer is negative. I have read some stuff but I got confused between the release info, the post-NoDo and the post-Mango info, so I really don't get where are things at the moment. I really appreciate the time you spent reading all this and thank you for just doing it (and I'm sorry if some things aren't clear enough since english is not my native language). If you can help me by answering at least one of the questions, I'm already grateful
Thanks in advance.
Cheers!

jmtast said:
1) Is it true that there's no mass-storage mode when you plug it into a PC? You depend exclusively on the Zune app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More or less: There are some tricks how you can use your phone as mass stroage but not offically. So Zune is nearly a must-have
jmtast said:
2) And linked to the previous one: I use linux (more precisely Ubuntu) on my main computer. Is that going to be a problem with file transfer and other stuff? I am forced to use a Windows PC?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess so.
But you will maybe able to get a VM running that bridges the usb port...
jmtast said:
3) Is there a way to stop the data transfer from my carrier? I don't want it to connect to internet other than by Wi-Fi when I don't ask for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, easy to stop it. It's a option in the settings.
jmtast said:
4) Can the OS be set in a language and the keyboard prediction in a different one? Does the keyboard vibrate on keypress?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can switch between selected languages every time! Without going to the settings... It doesn't vibrate on mine, Dunno if you can enable it...
jmtast said:
5) Can the contacts be synchronized with the GMail contacts as you do it on Android?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it's possible cuz there's a special option for adding a gmail account (but don't be angry if it's not possible cuz I nver tried it)
jmtast said:
6) Can you make visible in contacts only the ones with a phone number added?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can filter them by account (so hide all facebook accounts would maybe do the trick or so) but I think it's not possible the other way round
jmtast said:
7) Since there's no notification light and the screen is a Super Amoled as the one in the SGS, is there an application like NoLED in Android, which allows you to use the screen as notification light?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never seen anything like that...
jmtast said:
8) Is there a free GPS app that uses offline maps? (I would prefer the ones of Garmin or Tomtom, but I'm open to alternatives)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are some... Most of them use OSM/Google/Bing...
jmtast said:
9) Is it true that when you change the SD Card you have to format everything/hard reset the phone? Or just the memory? And if you happen to know, why is that requiered?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it's true cuz wp7 has a raid 0 with the internal memory and the sd...
jmtast said:
10) Are you forced to reduce quality of the videos you transfer to the phone because it doesn't support many formats? It's because of the "tie-ness" to Zune/lack of mass storage? Is there something similar happening with music?
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You can set the music quality (kbit/s). And I never noticed any loss when I transfer a video via zune...
jmtast said:
11) Vibrate and ring at the same time, is it possible? (Read somewhere it wasn't). And what about adding custom ringtones?
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Yes, that's all possible...
jmtast said:
12) I come from Android and know how easy it is to root the phone and expand your possibilities. Is there something similar in WP7? Is it worth the effort or it's still not widely used? I read something about lock/relock, has it something to do with this matter? Or with the use of downloaded paid apps?
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Yes, you need a dev unlock to send apps from your pc to your phone for example... And there various other possibilities like Registry Editor, Apps with Interop etc. So it's quite useful to "root" your device...
Hope that helps you....
Just for info: I'm using an HD2 with Mango... So all the info is for mango only

based on your first 2 questions, I really suggest you stick with android.
WP7 is relying on the Zune Software and there's no Linux sollution. There's a mac sollution by MS, but not sure if it'll work in linux.
If your main PC is running Linux, you'd either have to always reboot into windows or try finding a VM sollution, which could easily introduce new problems.

Localhorst86 said:
based on your first 2 questions, I really suggest you stick with android.
WP7 is relying on the Zune Software and there's no Linux sollution. There's a mac sollution by MS, but not sure if it'll work in linux.
If your main PC is running Linux, you'd either have to always reboot into windows or try finding a VM sollution, which could easily introduce new problems.
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Click to collapse
Agree with this. Windows Phone is great but not for a linux guy like you and the extent of customization available on Android is NOT available on wp7.

chabun said:
Yes, it's true cuz wp7 has a raid 0 with the internal memory and the sd...
99% sure this is incorrect? Yes you cant just hot-swap cards like you can in Andriod, but this being due to WP7 doing RAID 0 (or any RAID for that matter) must be incorrect???....
I use RAID 0, 1 and 5 on various computers but I cant see ANY phone having RAID capabilities?...Someone correct me if I am wrong as this would be big news to me. Not that I can see it being usefull on any mobile device.
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Thanks a lot for the fast, kind and useful answers guys.
I guess that, as Localhorst86 said, the OS has some limitations that I simply cannot avoid. It's a pity because I was really interested in trying this UI's approach, but gonna have to wait a bit more to see if they support Linux and evolve in some other areas.
Will start looking for the Atrix as I originally planned then.
Best regards.

Jdixon85 said:
I use RAID 0, 1 and 5 on various computers but I cant see ANY phone having RAID capabilities?...Someone correct me if I am wrong as this would be big news to me. Not that I can see it being usefull on any mobile device.
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I think it's actually more akin to an NTFS spanned volume than a hardware-based RAID 0, but practically speaking, yes, it does create a single logical volume that spans the internal + SD card memory, which is why it needs to be reformatted if you swap a card in/out.

bkaul said:
I think it's actually more akin to an NTFS spanned volume than a hardware-based RAID 0, but practically speaking, yes, it does create a single logical volume that spans the internal + SD card memory, which is why it needs to be reformatted if you swap a card in/out.
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more of a JBOD than a RAID, then.

Anway, I don't know how ms achieved the link between the sd card and the nand memory. And I do know that's not hardware raid 'cause the hd2 has no such controller on board
And yes it's JBOD but I can't tell you how the software layer controls them....

*RANT* bad Android memory management

Guys I have problem with Android smartphones. I am not the youngest anymore and remember the first PCs and first smartphones with 32x less memory then an average handheld device has today. I played with them all and know what they could do. The thing that still continues to surprise me till today on Android is WHY the heck can't an app stay in memory without being quit on the first occasion?? I really think that Android will never be usable for any serious work if things keep closing or reloading just after a few switches between apps!
Some examples: why can't I switch between Chrome browser and Onenote to type something without having that webpage be reloaded again using more data and sucking more battery power? I learned not to risk writing any bigger post into some forum lately because if I would have to switch to another tab to check some info or switch to another app the in progress text would most likely be lost because webpage would reload! Why is it so risky to switch out of some game to write a message or check calendar because it is very likely to be killed and my progress lost? The phones I used recently (Xiaomi Mi2s, Xperia Z3 compact, Xperia Z5 compact) have frikin 2GB of memory, so I wonder if nowadays apps are so much more memory demanding then before that this is simply still not sufficient. I just checked settings and some apps I just tested use few tens of MB, so it is still comparable to the times of Windows 98 or Windows mobile IMHO.
My first smartphone was windows mobile Samsung Omnia II with just around 90MB of usable memory and let me tell you that this problem was not happening on it! I could have several tabs with webpages (even non mobile versions) open and could safely switch on the camera, take pictures, write an sms and go back without having to worry that anything will be closed or reloaded! Why can't I open a camera app on Android and take a photo without having the previously open app be closed?
I can even compare today's android phones to one of my oldest pcs back in year 2000 or so. Imagine that it had just 64MB of RAM. I could have open many webpages in Internet Explorer (yeah it was far the best at that time , a few editors for web and text editing and I could even play some game and alt+tab back and forth without any problem! That was Windows 98 guys. Of course you will tell me that today's web pages for example are much bigger then in 2000. OK but what about mobile versions huh? I don't think they are that big so a phone with 2GB of RAM would choke.
I always thought that apps are supposed to be paused/frozen when I switch out of them but left in memory. Unfortunately it seems apps are being killed surprisingly often even when settings / memory shows hundreds of RAM free. The thing that is even more weird to me is that apps I had open just a few seconds ago are being closed upon switching to some other one and back, but the ones which I had active hours ago often stay in memory! That does not make much sense. Why doesn't android kill the longest not active apps first instead? OK, so do I have to buy OnePlus 3 or Meizu Pro 6 with 6GB of RAM to be able to keep simple 3 apps open without worrying that they will reload when switching out of them? As I showed this does not happen on much older devices with similar specs, so is this some fundamental flaw/feature of Android architecture or am I missing some simple explanation?
If you have experience with Windows Phones or iOS regarding this please share and compare.

So it seems everybody agrees
But I would really like to know some of your experience with other phones from the fruit company for example...

java
---------- Post added at 07:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:11 PM ----------
> Why doesn't android kill the longest not active apps first instead?
There is some heuristic going on that calculate the oom priority and modifies /proc/PID/oom_adj so. For example (foreground) services have lower oom_adj (less likely to be killed by oom-killer). Actually I ended up adding code to my app that overrides /proc/PID/oom_adj to a really low number to keep it running (but that requires root - I also dont understand why *the user* does not have a chance to say "hey android keep running this app in the background!")
> Unfortunately it seems apps are being killed surprisingly often even when settings / memory shows hundreds of RAM free
Yeah that "low memory value" (ie when to kick off the oom-killer) is also set somewhere in /proc (?) It's 200MB on my phone with 2 gigs ram IIRC. To test what's getting killed (and whenl, etc.) this app is superb: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tspoon.androidtoolbelt
it's all even more annoying because starting even basic apps (like dialer or contacts etc. etc.) takes even seconds(!) if they are not in memory already (on any phone!) ... oh, well, java

Thanks for a reply! Have anybody tried MIUI? There is an option to lock an application and supposedly prevent it from being killed when multitasking. Just swipe up in tasks view and it marks it with a lock. I have just read this article and it seems manufacturers set these LMK values. I have a feeling they are really high for Sony phones. Maybe if I root mine I would be able to change those. Unfortunately it seems without root I cannot even view these values. They show as 0 in /sys/module/lowmemorykiller/parameters/ and cannot be opened. I can't open those oom files either.

yeah, defo need root for this

Oh and it gets worse. Because of this behaviour many apps use a nasty trick of setting up an alarm (usually with wake lock) triggered every second to make sure they are running (if a process is not running and there is an alarm for that process set up, the process is started).
So what happens is that the OOM/low-memory killer kills the app it is started by android framework the next second ... and it might get killed by oom-kiler again ...
It's interesting to run "apktool d foobar.apk" and grep the smali for "AlarmManager.set" on apps that want to run in the background ...

CleanMaster app is good and it saved me from exhausted internal capacity issues many times (on Z3Compact) and it also shows apps which frequently restart. Is that because of what you just wrote? I remember it was Pinterest a lot for example.

and it also shows apps which frequently restart. Is that because of what you just wrote? I remember it was Pinterest a lot for example.
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sounds like it could be the case but you it's hard to tell for sure - you would have to have a look at logcat at least

I have logcat. What would you search for there?