Group Ringtones - General Questions and Answers

I'm still puzzled as to why this is not a standard feature of Android... After trying all there is on the market (even paid ones, for 15 minutes), I chose Grouptone. Some might not like that it sits in memory, but for me, that's a plus as it I don't have to remember to run it every time I assign a contact to a different group. I only wish it could handle (prioritize) multiple group membership. If more people would send this feature request to the author, perhaps he could look into it. He did fix a bug for me relatively quickly, when I found one.

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SMS/MMS App needs to be extended...

First off, let me emphasize that i realize the software for some of these features already exist... but it would be nice if they were all rolled into ONE package (which is the default Messaging Application)
First, a way to backup your messages into an HTML/XML/TXT file. A way to back up by thread, selecting the first and last message in the export so you can generate specific backups (or an option to backup ALL of them), and push it to your SD card.
Second, an options for emoticons in SMS messages. This, while obviously not essential would be a nice edition of it were customizable... e.g., add your own emoticon sets, then specify which text points to which picture, such as a semicolon followed by a closed parenthesis would be a general smiley face.
Third is the Away Message/Auto Forwarding based on specific dates/times/conditions. This is kind of a big addition in itself, but just a simple "I'm at work right now, i'll be off at 5:30 and i will call you back" would be phenomenal.
Fourth, better support for Mass-text messaging. Having to add to a list or use a third party program to do something that should be very simple to begin with is a bit rediculous
Finally, a better way of handling large threads. I like to keep my texts around and frequently have 500+ message counts in multiple threads and it takes a long time to load them, and when it does i'm constantly met with the "Not Responding" message. The iPhone OS had the same issue originally and they solved it by loading the last 50 messages and adding the option to "Load Earlier Messages", if you wanted to read the rest. Why not implement something just like that with the option to specify the message count (e.g., "show only the last 20 messages" where 20 is an adjustable number of your choosing).
I'm not by any means bashing on the work of the developers who have already accomplished a good majority of what i just mentioned, but it would so much better if they could all be rolled into a single application. Anyone else have any thoughts on this? Or additions that they would like to see made to this? Any developers that are more skilled than me feel like they can undertake this challenge?

Google + Discussion (NO INVITE REQUESTS!)

I am starting this thread in the hope we can discuss the Google Plus service. There are some other threads out there, but are slammed full of invite requests, and no discussion is actually occurring, so please, no invite requests of any kind.
I personally love this service so far, I think it will be a [email protected] killer in very short order. I especially like the way Circles is set up.
Since it's a closed beta atm, there's no one that I know personally with an account. This means all the great things I used Facespace for I can't play around with yet. I guess I can set up my profile and keep looking around for the next three weeks.
People that got accounts are already getting bored of it because their friends can't join. It's like being the only person with a cell phone - who are you going to call? You log in and click around for ten minutes, then you log back out. No point in posting anything - nobody can see it. Nothing to read, yet, either.
If Google doesn't open it up soon, it's going to die like Wave did. The early adopters will use it for a few days and move back to Facebook where their friends are. People will gradually get invited in, only to find the ghost town left after the early adopters abandoned it. Time will pass and people will forget that they were waiting to be invited.
This Google-coined idea of the "invite-only" service worked for gmail because you didn't need a community to use email - you could still message hotmail and msn email users. It doesn't work for anything that requires community (like social networking definitely does).
Se7enLC said:
People that got accounts are already getting bored of it because their friends can't join. It's like being the only person with a cell phone - who are you going to call? You log in and click around for ten minutes, then you log back out. No point in posting anything - nobody can see it. Nothing to read, yet, either.
If Google doesn't open it up soon, it's going to die like Wave did. The early adopters will use it for a few days and move back to Facebook where their friends are. People will gradually get invited in, only to find the ghost town left after the early adopters abandoned it. Time will pass and people will forget that they were waiting to be invited.
This Google-coined idea of the "invite-only" service worked for gmail because you didn't need a community to use email - you could still message hotmail and msn email users. It doesn't work for anything that requires community (like social networking definitely does).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 Couldn't agree more. If Google don't get a move on this will die faster than than a Sinclair C5
I like Google+ ... I like the concept of Friend circle .. It has good potential
It's a beta, not open to public. It is this way, for testing purposes, and for bug reporting. It has numerous bugs, and basically, annoying things that it does.
I'm sure when it's polished, it'll be released to the masses. I'm pretty sure those with it are thankful for having a new toy to play with, even if it is limited.
With the above said;
It's fantastic in concept. The ability to have group chats, group voice/video with chosen circles, etc, is a Facebook killer.
A bunch of my friends and I are on g+, and it's all we've been toying around with. Hangout and Huddle are probably the best features.
Since not many people use the service, we've been treating g+ like twitter where we follow complete strangers with interesting posts just to occupy the stream..
Se7enLC said:
People that got accounts are already getting bored of it because their friends can't join. It's like being the only person with a cell phone - who are you going to call? You log in and click around for ten minutes, then you log back out. No point in posting anything - nobody can see it. Nothing to read, yet, either.
If Google doesn't open it up soon, it's going to die like Wave did. The early adopters will use it for a few days and move back to Facebook where their friends are. People will gradually get invited in, only to find the ghost town left after the early adopters abandoned it. Time will pass and people will forget that they were waiting to be invited.
This Google-coined idea of the "invite-only" service worked for gmail because you didn't need a community to use email - you could still message hotmail and msn email users. It doesn't work for anything that requires community (like social networking definitely does).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+2. I've been in for about a week but can't get anyone else in. so I set up my profile. play around with it but without guides or others to interact with I'm already beyond bored with it.
Also since I don't have any friends on it, I disabled the account sync feature in the system setting but whenever I come back in an hour or so, it auto enabled itself? SOB! I deleted the app.
I really want to use group chat on here, but my friends aren't on this service...I hope it grows.
romedundun said:
Since not many people use the service, we've been treating g+ like twitter where we follow complete strangers with interesting posts just to occupy the stream..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how do I even find other peoples posts? The only thing I can find it my failed invite attempts on my stream.
Youll see others ppls posts that are directed to the circle they have you in. If you see nothing, you either have no friends, or they have not shared anything with you.
For instance, I have many circles (groups of ppl), when I post an article/status, I can choose which group(s) to post it to, or indeed, post it publicly. A certain person can be a member of multiple groups, as well.
Perhaps take a look at "sparks" for people/sites to follow.
As said prior though, this IS a closed beta. It has not been released at this stage as a replacement for your favourite social sites. If indeed youve been lucky enough to get an invite, then treat it for what it is. A testbed.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
So far I am liking g+. I think it has a lot of potential, but like others have said it wont show its full capabilities until everyone can join at will. I don't even want to try adding any non-techie friends because I'm worried that the crappy invite system would annoy them and scare them off. The circles are an awesome idea, but my favorite part so far is the ability to have it upload my pics and videos automatically from my phone. Not only does it make it extremely easy to post them anytime you want, it also works like a cloud service to back them up and you can access them from your computer too.
Sent from my GSB Eris
The group chat seems to have a lot of potential.. I been wanting something like bbm but nothing was really all that known to other ppl. Hangout looks good too. I cant wait.. Google needs to hurry up and release this.
Sent from my demonSPEED! Glacier using XDA App
check out socialstatistics.com if you wanna follow people..
This is still a beta test so its a little slow, once Google feels that most of the kinks are hammered out they will make it public.
That's when the flood will open.
I think Google will start packaging G+ as a stock Google-app that will be on all newer android devices. since there are a reported 500,000 android activations daily which means that's 15 million new people in a month. Compared to facebooks 750 million current users its not much, but at that 500k rate could dominate facebook in 4 years.
I have this feeling that G+ may be ready to go public in August
Engadget Article
It turns out that Google will boot all non public profiles after July 31
Facebook just announced group chat, and video chat. http://on.fb.me/pKBugz
Competition is indeed a good thing. No matter who wins the battle of supremacy, we'll all come out winners
Edit: This is a pretty decent review of Google+;
http://bit.ly/qfNrcX
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
I have been using G+ for only 3 days. I think the circle setup is very nice, and the huddle service is a huge jump from facebook. However, I do think that we have to wait until there is a huge increase in the number of user of google+ to see how it compares with facebook. I have only 20 people in my circles. My friends are all reluctant to move over.
I have a feeling that this might become a part of stock android ui as it integrates into your contacts pretty deeply...
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App
Anyone having issues with notifications when Google+ unloads itself from the memory? Notifications won't pop up until you open Google+ again. Not an issue with regular notifications since I get an email notification on those. But with Huddle, it kind of defeats the purpose.

Cry for Google Proprietary Messaging App

I am transition from BB back to android for various reasons, but one thing I will miss is BBM. I think that apple creating their own propreitary messaging platform shows there is definite potential in such a product.
I did some searches and looks like google had something called huddle, then messenger for google+. I am not on google+ so I dont know if thats still around.
Either way I think its time for google to create such an app. I know they have gchat and google voice. But the main draw of BBM (and imessage) I think its focus on messaging: the read and delivered indicators, sending files, seamless integration into the OS. I use both quite often but neither really measure up to BBM's capabilities. With the new OS's JB and ICS (haha new) this might be a sweet add to them.
Honestly even just adding read/delivery indicators to gchat might seem like a great marginal improvement..
Thoughts, or I am just so out of touch that gchat has been improved (in my years absense) to the point thats its way superior to BBM (more than just superior in amount of friends who use it lol).
Thx.
I too went from android to bb then i died and went back to android.
One major drawback of the bb is the apps. App selection is horrible and now that BB is in the hole because of their money issues and the fact that their os is not keeping up with Apple or Google they are probably going to keep declining.
Google+ is great. One major problem is that not everyone uses them. Google+ has Hangout which allows you to video chat with 10 people and txt chat with groups, like Family, My Friends, Coworkers, etc. You dont need a pin, just have them as a friend.
Now, my final Opinion,
BBM is great, you can chat(like AIM back in those days) and stalk with r or unread.
But, keeping a BB as an overall phone is a big negative.
theres a saying like "with great something comes great sacrifices."
It depend on what you choose, yes they all have a chat style thing, but you need to look at the other features that you also need that others dont have.
Thanks for the feedback. I would agree. I do love my bb; its a fantastic phone (ie communications device) unfortunately seems I think I need my phone to be more than a phone (per the culture nowadays). So I look to android. But the bb is superior in email, text, and calling but you are right- no apps really. Plus a bigger screen is oh so tempting.
And as far as the 'r' / 'd' indicators (ie stalking), it would nice to have a messaging app that does at least the delivered indicator. Too many times I wonder if my text has gone through as some people dont get mine sometimes (could be their phone or mine)
I guess my intention with this thread was to see if I am missing anything or raise awareness that goog should make a messaging platform..
GTalk still needs improving.
But only by a few tweaks. It still doesn't allow you to send pictures!
I have to manually upload them to Photobucket, copy the link, go back to GTalk and paste it :what::screwy::sly:
I think theres already a Whatsapp Messenger for Android.
I would love to see a combined Messaging/Google Talk app that allows me to send messages to either phone numbers or email addresses in the same threads. Kind of like Big Fruit's iMessage feature. I want to be able to keep the same conversations going whether I'm on my phone or tablet. I /could/ use Google Voice, but I like keeping my GV number separate from my real number.
Sent from my SGT+7

Seeking app: Check pulse, send message in emergency

I'm looking for a wearable-gizmo plus app system which can accomplish a specific task: when worn, automatically check the wearer's pulse every so often (eg, at least once per hour); and if no pulse is detected, send an alert message (eg, via SMS).
A battery life of at least 24 hours seems another minimal requirement. I'm open to watches that contain Android phones, watches that connect to Android phones, watches imported from China, apps that do even more than what I describe, finding someone willing to write such an app, and more. Funds for hardware are somewhat limited, so if this could be accomplished with a $20 gizmo instead of a $200 one, that would be nice.
Do you know of anything like what I'm looking for?
Thank you for your time.

I got fed up with annoying survey calls and shut them down

Hey folks,
I’ve been dealing with these survey calls from Dynata lately. I got called really often. And blocking caller numbers did nothing. So, I’ve spent a lot of time on searching how to end it, and wanted to share this with you guys.
Apparently it’s possible to opt out by calling Dynata up. Here are their contacts. First call did nothing, but after two more they listened. They won’t tell me where they got my number from. My guess is, from public records or bought it from data brokers. Actually, I found my entire profile on Whitepages. So, it’s available even for a ten year old. And there is nothing much to do to prevent it. Only requesting deletion on these sites one by one.
Getting big companies to do what I wanted was a hassle. No surprise there. They kept on writing back that “they will delete my info soon”. Apparently “soon” can be half a year.
So, here are some tools to save you some time, if you’ll decide to delete your info too:
Whitepages opt out form. Here you have to confirm your email and phone number. Which sounds sketchy as you are confirming and serving your info.
Use services that do official requests on behalf of you, like Incogni or PrivacyBee. It’s paid, but it has recurring scans, which is nice.
This one’s not necessary but I recommend it. Put your Google privacy settings on a higher level. Make it synchronize your data less with websites with Activity controls, clear your cookies and cache once in a while, disable your location when you’re not using navigation.
I’m just a noob in this. But I believe we can give those companies a taste of their own medicine. If you have more experience or tips, drop them in the comments.
How about suing them? I think pretty much every regulator in the world has laws for this.

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