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Android and why I want WiMo back

For almost 2 years I used a Touch Diamond. While WiMo is far from perfect in todays world with a bit of tweaking and some extra software I had a device that did what I wanted it to do. Sure, WiMo isnt what you´d call fast but as said, it did what it had to do.
For the past few days I´ve been using android with my new htc legend. I heard a lot of good things about android and that is why I decided to switch. But even after a few days I´m already having a feeling of regret. While android is very fast and finger friendly the OS/apps itself just don't cut it compared to WiMo. About 75% of the things I did on a daily basis with my phone just don't work (properly) on android.
Syncing mail with hotmail is a *****. It for example does not sync read messages so everytime I login with my pc I still have to click all new messages while I already read them on my phone. This worked perfectly with WiMo.
No automatic 3g disconnect. Now this isnt default on WiMo either but there are apps that just disconnect a idle data connection. Now android has a whole bunch of apps like juicedefender but they just dont work properly and are overcomplicated. Just disconnect if I don't use it. Thats all I want. Let apps and whatever connect when they want to and kill the connection when they are done. Simple you'd think but impossible on android it seems.
Youtube is a epic fail. In the exact same place, with the exact same simcard I just can't load a movie. They all stop after 3 seconds and don't load further. Also there is no option for always having HQ. The WiMo app had this and I could always load HQ movies without trouble.
But it gets even worse when it comes to much more practical things. The browser won't save exchange webmail login info. So now I'm expected to loging like 5 times a day to my uni mail by typing my info every time? Not nice.
And what about displaying agenda items? can't do that on the lockscreen. There are apps to do this but not on the htc sense one as far as I've seen. So I have to manually check my agenda which is just a ***** because I'm just to seeing things come up on the homescreen.
Also I can't login to the uni website. You should get a login popup but the android browser doesnt seem to be capable of this. Ofcourse this was no problem at all with a 2 year old browser... So now I can't check schedules and all.
Also there is no way to stream my favorite internet radio station.
Basically I pay 10 euro's a month for internet on my phone but all apps I regulairy use with internet don't work or only work a bit on android.
Don't get me wrong, I love the speed and all but what good is speed to me if I can't use most of the functions that are important to me? What is even more disturbing is that non of the things I want to do are very special. This should all just work but it seems to be far above what android is capable of.
Basically to me android is a disfunctional OS. If the above things would work, I'd love it but now all I got is speed, but no way of doing the things I want.
Nice try, but not quite it.

sjaak1234 said:
Syncing mail with hotmail is a *****. It for example does not sync read messages so everytime I login with my pc I still have to click all new messages while I already read them on my phone. This worked perfectly with WiMo.
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Click to collapse
That's hardly Android error - it just seems to be a bug in the mail client app. Maybe yry another one?
No automatic 3g disconnect. Now this isnt default on WiMo either but there are apps that just disconnect a idle data connection. Now android has a whole bunch of apps like juicedefender but they just dont work properly and are overcomplicated. Just disconnect if I don't use it. Thats all I want. Let apps and whatever connect when they want to and kill the connection when they are done. Simple you'd think but impossible on android it seems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not as simple as it sounds - android has to have an active data connection to enable IM messages as well as gmail imap notifications. Unlike POP3 e-mail accounts where you have to querry the server for new e-mails once in a while, gmail actually sends information to your phone when you get an email. And this wouldn't be possible if the connection was turned off.
And if you don't want to use gmail or gtalk, just disable background data in android's data sync settings and the 3g module won't eat your battery when unneeded. Don't worry, android is much smarter with power management than winMo and the fact that you didn't disable something by hand doesn't mean that it's eating your battery.
It's like GPS - even if it;s turned on in options/on power control wigdet the module isn't physically powered up until an app requests to use it. And when it's done the module powers down again. But still you see people disabling gps support in options after exiting maps believing that it will save some battery, or even requesting an app that would disable the switch on power control wigdet.
So just remember - it's a different OS, it has different rules and the fact that you did something by hand in winMo doesn't mean you have to do it here.
Youtube is a epic fail. In the exact same place, with the exact same simcard I just can't load a movie. They all stop after 3 seconds and don't load further. Also there is no option for always having HQ. The WiMo app had this and I could always load HQ movies without trouble.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, this seems to be a problem with your rom/app version. I (and many other people) don't have any trouble with YT on android.
As for the HQ, it's turned on automatically when you're on wifi, on a gsm connection it defaults to standard quality. Personally i like this behavior but i agree that there should be an option to change that for people with huge/unlimited data plans.
But it gets even worse when it comes to much more practical things. The browser won't save exchange webmail login info. So now I'm expected to loging like 5 times a day to my uni mail by typing my info every time? Not nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Weird, but also not android bug, just the browser. You might want to try some alternatives (like dolphin, skyfire, opera mini)
And what about displaying agenda items? can't do that on the lockscreen. There are apps to do this but not on the htc sense one as far as I've seen. So I have to manually check my agenda which is just a ***** because I'm just to seeing things come up on the homescreen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, and since when does WinMo display the agenda without any additional software? But i agree, htc really should make some "upcomming events" widget, and default android could use one as well. For now i use "CalWidget" and i know of "pure calendar widget" (paid). I don't know it they're compatible with sense but it may be worth a try
Also I can't login to the uni website. You should get a login popup but the android browser doesnt seem to be capable of this. Ofcourse this was no problem at all with a 2 year old browser... So now I can't check schedules and all.
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Click to collapse
Again, hard to blame android for that. Some alternative browser might help (maybe opera mini?).
Also there is no way to stream my favorite internet radio station.
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Click to collapse
There is no way to do that or maybe you just don't know a way to do it? Try DroidLive (it might even have this station in its database) or StreamFurious. Both have usable free versions.
Don't get me wrong, I love the speed and all but what good is speed to me if I can't use most of the functions that are important to me? What is even more disturbing is that non of the things I want to do are very special. This should all just work but it seems to be far above what android is capable of.
Basically to me android is a disfunctional OS. If the above things would work, I'd love it but now all I got is speed, but no way of doing the things I want.
Nice try, but not quite it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, seems to me that you don't really have a problem with android but you just got screwed by HTC and their customized version of android
If i were you, i'd just look for an unofficial rom. It might actually fix all your problems.
Also, part of your woes seems to be the fact that you knew winMo, knew the tweaks and apps you needed to make the device do what you want. Going over to android is a fresh start where you have to find out everything again. I know, i had similar feelings on a stock rom on my G1 after being a hardcore winMo user But after some research and grabbing a new rom and few extra apps android is way more functional than winMo for me and i don't feel like ever going back.
Just give it a chance and do some research.

Android platform has to mature a lot.
WM without xda is a hell.

You really need to find a new ROM. I've never had one single issue you're talking about.
Edit: And I'm using a myTouch running 1.6.

mr_deimos said:
That's hardly Android error - it just seems to be a bug in the mail client app. Maybe yry another one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could be, though I doubt that. But I might try a different one.
It's not as simple as it sounds
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Click to collapse
I know all that. But for me it does not seem to work perfectly. If I disable data connection always on (I never actually completely disable it), it still leaves it open. I checked overnight compared with just totally disabling it and it made a clear difference in the battery charge left. Its not like GPS where the icon actally dissapears when you don't use it but this doesnt happen with 3g so far as I can see it, it still uses more power than when disabling it.
I understand all the google stuff needs it, but I don't use any of it so for me its rather useless.
Again, this seems to be a problem with your rom/app version. I (and many other people) don't have any trouble with YT on android.
As for the HQ, it's turned on automatically when you're on wifi, on a gsm connection it defaults to standard quality. Personally i like this behavior but i agree that there should be an option to change that for people with huge/unlimited data plans.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did some more reachers on this and the problems seems to exist on a lot of different models/rom versions. I got the latest 2.1 rom for legend so I should have the latest (v1.5 I believe).
Weird, but also not android bug, just the browser. You might want to try some alternatives (like dolphin, skyfire, opera mini)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I reacherd a bit more and it seems to be a IIS and android problem. Wm and Iphone have the same problem but they just ignore the IIS message and continue. I tried Opera and it has the same problem. Btw, I think Opera on android is a long way off from Opera on WM. Still missing lots of functions I think.
IIS problem for the website login btw. Not sure why the exchange site doesnt save credentials but that seems to be misconfiguration. For example it wont even work on most desktop browsers either.
Okay, and since when does WinMo display the agenda without any additional software? But i agree, htc really should make some "upcomming events" widget, and default android could use one as well. For now i use "CalWidget" and i know of "pure calendar widget" (paid). I don't know it they're compatible with sense but it may be worth a try
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes ofcourse with extra software I will try the apps you posted. Thanks.
There is no way to do that or maybe you just don't know a way to do it? Try DroidLive (it might even have this station in its database) or StreamFurious. Both have usable free versions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats the problem. They work with their own databases. I just want to load a .pls or m3u file in a player and have it connect.
Well, seems to me that you don't really have a problem with android but you just got screwed by HTC and their customized version of android
If i were you, i'd just look for an unofficial rom. It might actually fix all your problems.
Also, part of your woes seems to be the fact that you knew winMo, knew the tweaks and apps you needed to make the device do what you want. Going over to android is a fresh start where you have to find out everything again. I know, i had similar feelings on a stock rom on my G1 after being a hardcore winMo user But after some research and grabbing a new rom and few extra apps android is way more functional than winMo for me and i don't feel like ever going back.
Just give it a chance and do some research.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you are right. I know everything about WM and for me android still has a lot of things beneath its skin I don't know. If the apps I want exist I could fix some of my problems.
But some problems are just android related. The whole website thing is a combination of android and IIS configuration that don't play nice. Nothing HTC can do about this, nor can any custom rom. Its something google needs to fix. Ofcourse, if my uni would change their IIS settings it could also fix the problem but I don't think I can get them to change settings just for me.
For me that really needs to work because its a daily function for me.
Also I wonder if some things can be done. For example in WM you can just select to only use your provider. I still havn't found a way to completely disable roaming on android. Fortunatly its easy to prevent data roaming.

[Q] "Buy" button missing from Zune

I don't know if I'm the only one experiencing this.
But, the "buy" button seems to be missing from the app marketplace within Zune software
I can still purchase videos and musics from it. But not apps.
I can still buy apps from the phone directly, but not being able to use Zune software to browse through the market is rather annoying.
Any solutions?
Am I the only person with this problem right now?
Are they just doing some maintenance and will it come back soon?
[Solved]
It just came back.

I saw this as well and I think it's just a maintenance thing. Because the phone marketplace is acting wonky too.

magicsgram said:
I don't know if I'm the only one experiencing this.
But, the "buy" button seems to be missing from the app marketplace within Zune software
I can still purchase videos and musics from it. But not apps.
I can still buy apps from the phone directly, but not being able to use Zune software to browse through the market is rather annoying.
Any solutions?
Am I the only person with this problem right now?
Are they just doing some maintenance and will it come back soon?
[Solved]
It just came back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been having this issue for months. It's a pain because I want to get my apps from Zune so I can quickly reinstall if need be. Don't know a cause.

did you resize the screen? if its in a small size window , the buy button wont be showing , try resizing to a larger screen and it will re appear!

Missing 'Buy' button is a programming error...
... as far as I am concerned. There are far too many folks using netbooks and sub-notebooks that do not use a 'something' by 640 or 'something' by 800 as a minimum display size. The Toshiba NB series computers use for their own display a 1024 x 600. Odd size, but very functional for those folks that prefer something smaller and lighter in their briefcases. It is handy that most can attach an external display of more common size to get around this issue.
I and my crew are just such people. I do not limit my folks from modifying their equipment or adding what they like. In fact, all of our sub-notebooks have been upgraded to the 500Gb hybrid drives and W7 Ultimate with Enterprise Office. They work GREAT!! (a little Tony The Tiger imitation there)
So, any time we find a program that fails to function on our screens, it's obviously a failure on the part of the programmers to consider the true variety of users they are serving. Saddly, most 'commercial' programmers today think of only larger drives, more power, and more speed. 'Elegant' code is a thing of the past I fear.
My only hope is that whoever it was that wrote the 'buy' button has the wherewithall to realize the error of their way and either unlock its position so it can float as needed, or go ahead and let the screen overflow and give us a slider so we can make the choice to look further down the page if need be. You don't really have to jam everything into one screen, even though from time to time that can be nice. Figure it out, programmer. It's your job.

[Q] 2 finger hold screen shot

I am wondering if anyone can make a two finger hold screenshot that can work for any type of unlock? What this means is when you are in any application all you do to get a screen shot is hold down two fingers till the screen flashes. Is this possible I want a two finger hold screen to come alive thanks.

Typically, the only app that receives touch input is the active (foreground) one. You caould implement this feature in any given app, but to do it across the whole OS... I don't think anybody knows how to do that yet without a custom ROM.
What's wrong with the current screen capture method? It works well, and uses a command not currently used for anything else (unless you're in the camera app). Some apps do track multiple fingers on the screen already...

GoodDayToDie said:
Typically, the only app that receives touch input is the active (foreground) one. You caould implement this feature in any given app, but to do it across the whole OS... I don't think anybody knows how to do that yet without a custom ROM.
What's wrong with the current screen capture method? It works well, and uses a command not currently used for anything else (unless you're in the camera app). Some apps do track multiple fingers on the screen already...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the current one doesnt have the proper resolution as the phone but it does the job for now.

Where did you get that idea? Screen Capture.jpg - 480x800. That's that native resolution of WP7. It actually looks bigger than the phone when looked at on most PCs, because the phone has a very high DPI.
Now, it might be nice to use a lossless compression method, but that's a different problem.

GoodDayToDie said:
Where did you get that idea? Screen Capture.jpg - 480x800. That's that native resolution of WP7. It actually looks bigger than the phone when looked at on most PCs, because the phone has a very high DPI.
Now, it might be nice to use a lossless compression method, but that's a different problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I heard that when you screenshot take a picture in the 320/480 or something similar to that resolution

Not sure where you heard that - I've followed the screenshotting tool with some interest, and it's not that hard to read the whole thread on it or even dig up the old threads - but it's not true. You might want to actually give the current tool a try, instead of asking for a new one on baseless assumptions. It works really well.

No Movie Studio Vid Editor on my GT6210 (US version)??

Hello,
Has anyone found a good alternative to Movie Studio? I've been using it on my Iconia A500 (10in. screen) and find it worth having. So other than the smaller screen, is there an oficial reason why we 7.0Plus owners didn't get this "standard" app.... or did everyone but me get it?
I've just downloaded a couple .apk's posted here to try to side load the app, but I guess I'm wondering if my GT6210 should have come with it in the first place.
Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

tazm0n said:
Hello,
Has anyone found a good alternative to Movie Studio? I've been using it on my Iconia A500 (10in. screen) and find it worth having. So other than the smaller screen, is there an oficial reason why we 7.0Plus owners didn't get this "standard" app.... or did everyone but me get it?
I've just downloaded a couple .apk's posted here to try to side load the app, but I guess I'm wondering if my GT6210 should have come with it in the first place.
Any help is appreciated! Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't worry I'm on the same boat as you...have original tab my 7.0 Plus is on the way as we speak. Movie Studio is a huge improvement that I loved in the other Honeycomb tabs. I'll be sure to update you on if mine came with it. In the meantime, were you able to install a Movie Studio apk you've gotten your hands on?

jkwright8520 said:
Don't worry I'm on the same boat as you...have original tab my 7.0 Plus is on the way as we speak. Movie Studio is a huge improvement that I loved in the other Honeycomb tabs. I'll be sure to update you on if mine came with it. In the meantime, were you able to install a Movie Studio apk you've gotten your hands on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes , I was able to install the "deodex" version from this thread http:// forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=990465&page=2 - look for the file in post #12. But it didn't quite work for me. The UI doesn't adjust for the smaller screen (though the lower screen resolution is most likely the issue), so the video playback window blocks the top timeline and half of each control on either side. This made it basically unusable for me- the only good news is the app is otherwise working --clips imported, drag and scrubbing worked, imported clips played in that oversized preview window- without crashing. So if the UI could be tuned with a little hack-fu......
Anyway, hope this helps ya in some way. Please let me know if you find a solution. Thanks!

I just installed this app -AndroMedia https://market.android.com/details?id=com.techcatmobile.andromedia&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS50ZWNoY2F0bW9iaWxlLmFuZHJvbWVkaWEiXQ.. and so far I like what I see! It's free and looks like it can do the job. I've only done a quick test, but this may even be better than Movie Studio - though it has a small add at the bottom of the screen and the UI lacks Movie Studios modern look, but in some ways this one is more intuitive.
Worth checking out for sure!

tazm0n said:
Yes , I was able to install the "deodex" version from this thread http:// forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=990465&page=2 - look for the file in post #12. But it didn't quite work for me. The UI doesn't adjust for the smaller screen (though the lower screen resolution is most likely the issue), so the video playback window blocks the top timeline and half of each control on either side. This made it basically unusable for me- the only good news is the app is otherwise working --clips imported, drag and scrubbing worked, imported clips played in that oversized preview window- without crashing. So if the UI could be tuned with a little hack-fu......
Anyway, hope this helps ya in some way. Please let me know if you find a solution. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I'm not sure if you want to install another app to do this, but there are multiple apps which allow you to "adjust" the resolution of your screen which should allow you to view the complete app. I know I saw a nice looking app for this purpose but unfortunately cannot remember it off the top of my head....I've also tried AndroMedia on my original tab which I have until my new tab comes tomorrow but it just FCs but am happy to try it again with the new dual-core! Hopefully we can get this figured out...just one of those apps I reallllly want!!

jkwright8520 said:
Well I'm not sure if you want to install another app to do this, but there are multiple apps which allow you to "adjust" the resolution of your screen which should allow you to view the complete app. I know I saw a nice looking app for this purpose but unfortunately cannot remember it off the top of my head....I've also tried AndroMedia on my original tab which I have until my new tab comes tomorrow but it just FCs but am happy to try it again with the new dual-core! Hopefully we can get this figured out...just one of those apps I reallllly want!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are apps that will adjust my screen rez? I'm guessing they must simulate the different resolution, or are they tweaks/hacks? I've heard of the tweaks that change the dpi or pixel density, but none that change screen rez. I'd be most appreciative if you can recommend any reliable ones.
AndroMedia works fine on my GTab 7.0+- no FC's ... yet. Maybe by the time we get this video editor app figured out, Samsung will release a version that works with the smaller tabs, lol. I'm amazed at the lack of any real alternatives to Movie Studio.... isn't anyone using Android devices to shoot video? Or are they not doing anything more complex than 1 take shots...? Not to rub anyones nose in it, but check out what Avid just released for the iPad- http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/avid-studio/id491113378?mt=8 better than iMovie and will export working projects to Avid express! I just started working with it (I need to use iOS and Android for work) and have to say it's pretty amazing. Come on 'droid!
Anyway, thanks again for your input on this issue!

Google Now Widget/Homescreen

Ok so I did a lot of searching and have not been able to find anything for this... I found a couple of threads started by people asking if it is possible or if there is one that exists but those did not receive any real responses so I'm hoping that one of the amazing devs here can help please. I'm debating making a thread in the general Android Development forum so that maybe I'll reach a wider audience.
So what I'd like is a homescreen widget, or possibly a Live wallpaper, which shows the live cards from Google Now.
There are countless Google Now themed UCCW skins that people have put out. I don't want that.
I also found a way to create homescreen icons that LOOK like Google Now cards. But all those do is launch apps, they do not update with live information from Google Now.
I'm not sure why Google Now wasn't created with a widget. It just seems to make sense. It's kind of annoying that you have to open the app to get all this information, instead of having it right in front of your face on your homescreen where you can access other apps quickly as well. I mean the point of google now is to present you with information before you need it right? How is that possible if I can't get the info without opening the app.
So I'm hoping there is, if anything, some sort of work around here.
Maybe someone knows of a way to create a widget with desktop visualizer that will show the live Google now cards and update them.
I'm hoping for a scrollable widget that will be almost exactly like Google Now (i.e new cards will pop up as they do in the app, you can scroll up and down to view all of the cards you currently have, you can swipe to remove cards - (come to think of it you probably won't be able to swipe to remove cards, but maybe a double tap or something?))
It would probably be best if this widget did not include the google search bar and simply showed the google now cards.
I remember hearing about an app in the past that could overlay live wallpapers on each other. Is there a way to overlay an app into a live wall paper? so that you could see Google Now as your live wall paper, even if maybe you can't actually interact with it this way?
For now I'm going to try setting up something with tasker, so that google now will automatically open every morning when I turn off my alarm, and possibly at other points (maybe when a new card pops up or something). Something similar to this could probably be done with the smart actions app if people are interested in trying that out. But honestly I feel like this is not the best solution because I'd rather not have tasker running constantly, eating my RAM and therefore my battery.
So I don't know if the reason there is no widget already is because it simply is not possible. And if it's not possible could someone please explain why?
Also, so that I can try to work on this myself - can someone please help me by telling me which files Google now uses for getting and updating cards? (i.e. the file names I would see in Titanium or under Settings>Apps or in a file explorer where they would be located - I'm guessing somewhere in the /system/ folder) If I can access these I can play around with them and try some things out
TIA to all who reply...

Given that Google Now is a bit of a battery drain already, I'd imagine that having it constantly running and updating cards would use even more. The cards ARE available in the pulldown menu, aren't they? I haven't used it in a while... Still on ICS until Moto+Rogers updates the OS sometime in Q1 '13 now. >.<

EdwardN said:
Given that Google Now is a bit of a battery drain already, I'd imagine that having it constantly running and updating cards would use even more. The cards ARE available in the pulldown menu, aren't they? I haven't used it in a while... Still on ICS until Moto+Rogers updates the OS sometime in Q1 '13 now. >.<
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got a Razr Maxx HD because I don't want to worry about battery drain. It's been something holding me back with every other phone I ever owned. I hear that the regular Razr HD gets pretty amazing battery life as well. I'm not looking for reasons why I wouldn't want this. I'm looking for reasons why it would not be possible or a way to make it possible.
Sorry to hear about Rogers...
But if you are rooted you should be able to install Google Now for ICS
This might work http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1983337
And I just found this http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-news/232046-gnow-handlebars-easy-solution-google-now-ics.html

I am looking for the same thing as you but maybe we need to be writing to the Google dev team instead.

dhigby said:
I am looking for the same thing as you but maybe we need to be writing to the Google dev team instead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also discovered that pressing the home button and swiping up brings up Google Now. That is good enough for me, and I can live without the widget.
Sent from my HTC One S

dhigby said:
I also discovered that pressing the home button and swiping up brings up Google Now. That is good enough for me, and I can live without the widget.
Sent from my HTC One S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. It works from any app and it only takes a second to load.