Having some spare time in Christmas holidays and after having used and experimented with my GNote 10.1 for about 3 months I thought about making some clean up and streamlining with all the apps I've tried and tested till now.
I've found that I've about 160 apps (of which about 50 apps can be considered as default apps already present in the pristine tablet).
Many are duplicate or alternatives for some "ideal" (but yet "non-fully satisfactory") apps...
I mean... I've 6 different file manager apps, 4 drawing apps, 12 note taking apps, 6 office apps and so on.
I think I'll keep many of them (even if duplicates of each other) for some time until I can judge what is better and what's not, to choose the best ones for my needs and also to see if the developers are making progresses (or if the app's development has practically stopped).
To understand better what I have and what I might choose or discard for each activity (note taking, office etc.) I've made a categorization in Excel (in my PC).
But I thought also there could be some (meta) app to organize and categorize apps inside the tablet itself.
After some search I think that Auto App Organizer could be the one.
It allows to categorize all apps and to navigate to them by browsing the categories. I think this could be much better and more convenient than creating category folders through the launcher.
Does anyone use it? Is there any other advisable alternative?
Related
I have recently purchased a Samsung Galaxy S2. I have the phone set up the way i like it but i wish to try different OS versions which will require rooting and wiping my phone so a few questions regarding backups:
1) Currently i have my gmail contacts and facebook contacts "linked" together. I believe this is only stored locally on my phone. Is there a way i can save all this contact info so when i log back in to my profile in the future it will all be seamlessly placed as it was.
2) Currently i have a whole batch of homescreens with icons and widgets and my applications screen with every app in a "folder" can i back these up exactly as they are?
3) Within various different applications there are different options or save games and various things like that, are these easily accessible and able to be backed up
4) Finally can i just do an "image" of my phone and if i wipe it and mess about then simply restore that image back to exactly how it was?
Cheers for any help
boxrick,
Can't answer specifically for the Galaxy S2 as I don't have it, and because Android is "pimped" in various ways by different device makers some of the homescreens/layouts are custom implemented, and best backed up by the methods appropriate for--or offered by--that device.
Having said that, if you are using Google market, a lot of stuff (like the apps obviously) is automatically saved with them. Or the apps themselves can be backed up with any good file manager, like Astro, to an SD card or via USB.
I can't answer you about the Gmail & Facebook contacts being "linked together", but from experience most items are stored in the Google Contacts data-fields and stored remotely in your Google account (and therefore restored from there straightaway)
I have multiple Android devices, and to tell you the truth I pretty much just copy everything "en-masse" to a hard drive. If you're rooted, it's fairly easy to pull down almost everything this way. You're just dealing with files and folders, just like on your regular computer (which is why I'm pretty much done with anything "black-box" like formerly iphone/ipad, btw )
If you're looking for a "set-it-and-forget-it" type app, I don't currently use any, but on my travels I've seen a few "names" tossed around with good reviews. You can research
MyBackup Pro
Sprite Backup
Those two are pretty well known full-blown-backup type apps. They're paid apps, but cheap.
I've heard of The Missing Sync which takes a different approach by syncing all your data to a Windows or Mac desktop for backup and also for re-distribution to other devices. Sort of like a "data-centralizer" type approach, which might be up your alley. I think the app runs about $40 though.
Finally, I do use the free LifeSaver 2 app for important SMS messages and call logs-- picked it up over at F-droid.org. It's for pretty specific data types, but it's this stuff that usually is the hardest to save (since I don't actually know where it is when I backup the entire root directory + subs & files).
Hope the above gives you some ideas. My general advice would be to research, read the boards, with special attention to the threads dedicated to the Galaxy S2, because the other users have gone before you
And btw, if you find something really cool (including if one of the apps above turn out to help you), make sure you come back and post your findings. I'm always on the lookout for a "gem" app that makes my life easier.
Good luck!
Apps: Titanium.
Data: MyBackup.
MyBackup does a much better job at saving your contacts than Google does. MyBackup restores them exactly as they were, Google often loses custom fields and messes up your contact names. Just look at the mess when you sync a contact called "Al's Pizza (open 'till midnight)" back from Google. It also gets the timestamps on SMSs right, which most competitors don't.
You could forget about Tit and backup your apps with MyB too, but then you miss out on all the different batch jobs that come with Tit.
There's one thing that all backup apps choke on: widgets. I always have to set 'em up again after a wipe/restore job.
Can't titanium backup both apps & data?
Titanium can backup user data, sort of.
Restoring user data with Tit is not as straightforward as with MyB. They should add a user data screen so you don't have to hunt for your data in a long list of apps.
One final question, if I was to change from Android Phone A to Android Phone B. Will these "apps" and backups be able to restored to a totally different phone?
rogier666 said:
There's one thing that all backup apps choke on: widgets. I always have to set 'em up again after a wipe/restore job.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rogier, what widget app do you use? I use Elixir, and in it there's an option to export widget data. Search for the "edit widgets" button, click it and you'll be taken to a pane where all the widgets are replaceable. Below it, you'll see a "More" button--that's where the import/export widgets button is. After you export widgets settings (you have to type in a name for it), Elixir then saves that exact config. After flashing a ROM and restoring via Ti, you can then choose to add back your widgets via the "Import" button. Remember though: if you want to bring back a 5x5 widget, you have to choose "5x5" widget after long pressing on a blank space, otherwise the widget won't restore properly. With this, you can have as many widgets you want and not worry about the tedious process of reconstructing them after a restore.
do you have to use the paid for version of titanium?
boxrick said:
One final question, if I was to change from Android Phone A to Android Phone B. Will these "apps" and backups be able to restored to a totally different phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can with Google . Go to Settings --> Privacy --> Back up my data.
When you buy your new phone, select restore my data. At first you won't see any difference, but after a few hours your apps will be restored
Borat38 said:
rogier, what widget app do you use? I use Elixir...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right now I've got Widgetsoid, DroidStats, Smooth Calendar, PlayerPro, DroidWall, Make Your Own Clock, and seNotes on my home screens.
Some widget apps have a backup option, some only come in one flavor (like DroidWall) so they don't really need a backup option. But others (like most notes widgets) don't have any backup option at all.
This is really annoying for the sticky notes widgets, because it's often impossible to remember what info you'd have to put back in them (which is why you wrote it in a note to begin with).
So I'd really like a one click option to back up and restore all my widgets.
thetinybus said:
do you have to use the paid for version of titanium?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, you don't. The free version backs up everything too. It just takes more clicks to restore your stuff.
The free version of MyBackup only restores to the same phone that it backed up, so if you want to use MyBackup to transfer your data to a new phone you'll need the paid version.
I have purchased MybackupPro. The problem is I am fairly confident it will not back up my linked contacts. Therefore I need to root my phone and use TI backup...
Id like to post here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1125414&page=12 and find out about after unrooting, flashing back to the default kernel ( for warranty purposes ). Need 10 posts
Now it seems I am getting restrictions on the amount of times I am posting. This also doesn't help me much!
So, I thought we could make a thread for what apps you find most useful, that let you accomplish the most throughout your day..
Apps which help you with your workflow from Work to Home
Apps that would make you feel hindered, slowed-down, or less productive if you didnt have them
Apps without which you'd feel you'd have alot more work to do, or have less hours in your day to get things done
Whether you're a Traditional Artist, a Digital Artist, a Graphic Artist, a Fashion Designer, an Interior Designer, an Architect, a DB Engineer, an IT administrator, a Program Developer, if you're in Marketing or Advertising, if you're a Business Owner, a Company Manager, Office Staff, a Landscaper, a Florist, or whatever job you have.. Please share the apps you find most helpful
It could include anything from your favorite Graphics or Sketch program, a Calendar or Contacts Manager, a Daily Planner, a Financial Management Program, a Employee Scheduling program, a useful Programmer's notepad, or anything else you'd like to contribute
This also includes apps which you feel make your Android itself a more effective & Efficient device, such as task managers, button manager, switchers, or you own app workflows, or anything else..
This is an attempt to compile a list of the most useful Android Apps out there, Free or Paid, that other people could try out, or that you think might help other people increase their own productivity throughout the day or week, using their Android Device
I think we could all use better time management and a bit more free time in our lives
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Seems nice, but, why didn't you start?
hotpokets said:
Seems nice, but, why didn't you start?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heh.. I'm still looking for some
I currently use ES File Explorer for all my cross-platform File Browsing & File Transferring needs
& I use ES Task Manager for my Task Management.. u know, I've rooted my device, and I've tried alot of task & memory managers, but have yet to find something to tell me whats talking up memory when I get some malicious program that zeros out my memory until restart.. or suddenly occupies hundreds of MB which mystically goes unaccounted for.. I just feel there is still so much going on in my phone I have no control of and i havent found any solid program to give me that control
I use Adblock Plus, but it only works through a proxy, which stops me from seeing things through my Firefox browser... I still havent found a reliable way to block all ads. lets be honest, alot of those freeware apps wouldnt ever be bought even if they only had no ad paid versions.. it seems everything has ads now... and this isnt going to fix it
I use Floating Stickies for cross-app data transfer
I use Screen Off & Lock to conserve battery power & buttons
I use Swapps for fast app switching...Its great, but I'm still searching for something a bit better
I use Hackers Keyboard from Swapps just to switch between one of about 10 inputs I use
Touchpal X is currently my keyboard of choice.. but I dont like how it doesnt suggest most frequently used words.. and I.m not getting a full 26key keyboard for Pinyin either.. I'm currently talking to the devs about that.
I currently use Screenshot Ultimate, but still would like something with area capture, and expandable multi-line textboxes
I use Image Search for finding quick Photos to throw onto my social networking apps, mainly WeChat
and I use Floating Soft Keys for quick navigation, but I wish it would have an option to swipe to disappear off screen
but I'm still looking for a program which displays available memory, includes a list of running apps, end app & minimize app functions (i dont want android managing which apps to leave open or end).. with options to delete Cache of programs on end... also can free RAM, even from malicious programs that suddenly swallow over 200mb... and can let me add my favorite app buttons..
and I'm thinking of purchasing Softmaker for an Office suite, though it lacks Macro functionality and Wildcards in Find & Replace
I currently dont have many other programs, like calendar, time managment, etc.. I sorta recently moved from WinMo to Android. and I'm missing alot of my old WinMo apps to be honest.
-- Maybe a good question for me might be, what apps make you feel you have as much power & control as you had on WinMo, for the oldtimers here
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There are existing threads for this sort of discussion:
[Discussion] Discuss your favorite app, tweak, widget, etc. (Least favorite OK too!)
[23.apr.2013] *COLLECTION OF THE BEST APP/GAMES FOR ANDROID* 165 apps - 200 games!!!
Apologies if this is in the wrong section.
It's great having the ability on Android to organize App shortcuts into different folders on the home screens. However, when you want to do this with many Apps, it becomes quite time consuming, especially if you own multiple devices, or wipe devices to start fresh.
Does anyone know of an app that will allow app folder organization that syncs to different devices, or have a similar functionality? So for example if I have a few home screen folders that contain various apps, I would love to be able to 'push' that type of home screen folder organization to different devices. As is, with owning 3+ android devices, wiping some once a year, getting new devices, etc, the task of organizing dozens of apps into folders becomes quite a chore!
I have played around with android since Eclair, and I am disappointed with the weight (and general sluggishness, but that's not the point of this topic) that everything has gotten to take. (ie: Facebook went from ~10Mb to 242Mb, Kindle weighs 150mb etc).
I understand that some of it is because of new features, but I gather that aside from the general ****ty idea that 'phones are getting faster and have more space therefore let's use that up', a lot of the weight comes from multiple drawables, libs, and entire portions of apps are written in order to adress the humongous variety of android devices with one small .apk . Maybe some of the weight is used to store additional hidden cache content so that stuff loads faster [I'm talking about 'app' size, not user data and cache] , but it's hard for me to believe that a simple bookstore would weigh double as full scale apps like MS office, photo editing apps or other very complex apps.
Which brings me to my point:
Is there a way to clean up app content (and system, while we're at it) so as to free up some space?
Obviously it would be a root app , but the old Cydia app called 'iCleaner' which did exactly what I'm suggesting worked miracles. It removed drawables and incompatible libraries meant for other resolutions/devices (say, non-retina iPhones, iPad, 4" iPhone 5, if you had an iPhone 4) when an app had the right ones, and only kept the closest when there wasn't. Then it would remove most useless junk (no one needs 42 languages!), and the adequate translations in every app, and some other iPhone-only junk which I can easily linken to 8 F**** GB /SYSTEM ON SAMSUNG PHONES.
Apps were instantly faster because it would free up part of the RAM, and weighed around 25% less (even more after iPad Retina got out). I know that on high-end phones it does not matter a lot, but on general principle it seems to make more sense.
And people can always update back to stock apps when they like because hey, it looks as though no one ever implemented that sweet Jelly Bean feature of incremental updates to decrease download data!
Slightly getting off-topic, but if such an app did exist (or one of you angels at xda wanted to make one) it would be great that it also allowed to choose which bloatware to kill off on stock ROMs, aroma-style.
Thank you a lot for the attention, and keep me updated!
erclalle said:
I have played around with android since Eclair, and I am disappointed with the weight (and general sluggishness, but that's not the point of this topic) that everything has gotten to take. (ie: Facebook went from ~10Mb to 242Mb, Kindle weighs 150mb etc).
I understand that some of it is because of new features, but I gather that aside from the general ****ty idea that 'phones are getting faster and have more space therefore let's use that up', a lot of the weight comes from multiple drawables, libs, and entire portions of apps are written in order to adress the humongous variety of android devices with one small .apk . Maybe some of the weight is used to store additional hidden cache content so that stuff loads faster [I'm talking about 'app' size, not user data and cache] , but it's hard for me to believe that a simple bookstore would weigh double as full scale apps like MS office, photo editing apps or other very complex apps.
Which brings me to my point:
Is there a way to clean up app content (and system, while we're at it) so as to free up some space?
Obviously it would be a root app , but the old Cydia app called 'iCleaner' which did exactly what I'm suggesting worked miracles. It removed drawables and incompatible libraries meant for other resolutions/devices (say, non-retina iPhones, iPad, 4" iPhone 5, if you had an iPhone 4) when an app had the right ones, and only kept the closest when there wasn't. Then it would remove most useless junk (no one needs 42 languages!), and the adequate translations in every app, and some other iPhone-only junk which I can easily linken to 8 F**** GB /SYSTEM ON SAMSUNG PHONES.
Apps were instantly faster because it would free up part of the RAM, and weighed around 25% less (even more after iPad Retina got out). I know that on high-end phones it does not matter a lot, but on general principle it seems to make more sense.
And people can always update back to stock apps when they like because hey, it looks as though no one ever implemented that sweet Jelly Bean feature of incremental updates to decrease download data!
Slightly getting off-topic, but if such an app did exist (or one of you angels at xda wanted to make one) it would be great that it also allowed to choose which bloatware to kill off on stock ROMs, aroma-style.
Thank you a lot for the attention, and keep me updated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
I don't think there's any such app which could clean the bloatware but there are scripts over the forums (some of them device specific)flashable via custom recovery.
-Vatsal
Google Software Engineers have made improvements to the operating system over time to the point I believe the necessity and usefulness of these utilities is questionable especially if you are on Android 7 or later. Many people post their experiences with these apps without acknowledging their operating system version which could be significantly different than many other users.
This article "Android Apps You Should Remove Immediately" on Adroid Pit (you can Google it) recommends you get rid of these types of apps.
But there are lots of other articles, forum posts, article comments (mostly older) that swear by these apps.
Maybe out of the dozens of functions in these apps there's one or two useful ones on Android 7 (although my LG G6 already comes with a Smart Cleaner app)
Are the majority of Android 7 users using these apps basically blindly using them because they feel good to use and aren't actually getting the significant benefit they think they are getting? Could many of them, especially the ones that may "try to do too much" actually be hampering your Android 7+ phone more than helping it?
The only app I would recommend is ccleaner
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.piriform.ccleaner&hl=en_GB
It does the following
clears all apps caches which could save alot of storage space - especially good if you have apps that store alot of cache files like twitter for loading images faster but since in most cases you only look at the image once you really dont need it cache it to load up quicker
It can also do the following if you ask it to
Deletes downloaded files/apks in one click
Deletes call logs
Deletes empty folders
Deletes browser history, clipboard content
And can also
Check the usage of your CPU
Keep track of your RAM and internal storage space
Check out your battery levels and temperature
Any other app which claims to "optimize" the phone probably does nothing unless it does the same job as ccleaner but in my opinion this is the easiest most trusted app to use