Related
Hey everyone, I'm posting this to gather information about Android Multitasking.
I have used android since i had my G1, I am now on a g2, otherwise known as the HTC HERO.
In my opinion android multitasks beautifully when we talk about speed! It doesn't however manage it's open applications well at all. I mean switching to a application which is open in the background is tough. Pressing and holding the home button gives you a menu to RECENTLY open applications which doesn't conform to what IS open at that very moment. And the task bar notifications dont really give you a full list of all applications open..only apps that support it.
With the iphone really gathering it's bearings, and beginning to multitask [kinda better multitasking management then android imo] Im beginning to waver in my support for android.
I can imagine if holding the home button brought up a card view like webOS, giving you a preview of all the open applications in the background. Or something similar. I mean if HTC sense has a pinch gesture to view home screen in a hard view environment, i don't see what's stopping android from having a more polished and robust multitasking experience.
What are your thoughts on this?
the iphone 4 implementation looks to be exactly what you are complaining about with android. it offers a list of recently used apps. with iphone none of the apps stay running, they have background services that an app can start but the app will close. Android is similar. the ui for an app isnt necessarily running. it will be killed by the os and started again when you ask to see it.
WebOS does actually show you exactly what is running. I havent used a webos device for an extended period of time, but it dies seem their card metaphor is the easiest to understand for users. if your phone is slow just look at the cards you have open and flick some out.
I agree with your point though, i find the android app switcher inadequate. Far too often the app i want to get back to is no longer in the list. i think the iphone will have the same issue unless their list can grow very long.
It'd solve a lot if the android switcher had a button to pull up the app drawer.
Sent from my Nexus One using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
hexix said:
the iphone 4 implementation looks to be exactly what you are complaining about with android. it offers a list of recently used apps. with iphone none of the apps stay running, they have background services that an app can start but the app will close. Android is similar. the ui for an app isnt necessarily running. it will be killed by the os and started again when you ask to see it.
WebOS does actually show you exactly what is running. I havent used a webos device for an extended period of time, but it dies seem their card metaphor is the easiest to understand for users. if your phone is slow just look at the cards you have open and flick some out.
I agree with your point though, i find the android app switcher inadequate. Far too often the app i want to get back to is no longer in the list. i think the iphone will have the same issue unless their list can grow very long.
It'd solve a lot if the android switcher had a button to pull up the app drawer.
Sent from my Nexus One using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I suppose you're right, but i cant help but think the iphone will just be better at it then android.
Other then that. Yes Android really needs to polish it's multi tasking system.
EDIT: Also, I have used WebOS and honestly it's a superior mobile platform to android [imo]. It's community however is not as enriched as the android one and there aren't as many apps available for the palm pre. Palm really screwed themselves over limiting it to one phone...it would have been a strategic move to stop manufacturing phones and start working on EXPENSIVE palm software like webOS
Or maybe you can try AppSwipe!
There's also a nice app (imo) from a user on here, he tried to mimic the webOS cards system, and is doing pretty well until now. No previews yet but its still a nice powerful task manager that views icon in a nice view and has launch on search / camera button press too!
It's called TaskOS!
I've tried both task os and app swipe and still...they are both very unpolished multitasking management systems =/
I hope eventually something will come along.
I came from the Palm Pre before I got my HTC Hero, and multitasking was wayyyy better than Android. In fact, if the Pre wasn't so slow, I would have kept it over the HTC Hero. It took me over a minute to open Google Maps... with nothing else running! (and the keyboard sucked)
hexix said:
It'd solve a lot if the android switcher had a button to pull up the app drawer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dxtop has a second App Drawer that does just that. It works great.
tdusen said:
Dxtop has a second App Drawer that does just that. It works great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Eh, that shows background services like home and what not..
Personally I'd like to disable the drawer from showing apps on my ignore list
what would be nice is if you held home then cards poped up like in webos and showed your running apps with a preview pic of the app
blaboy51 said:
what would be nice is if you held home then cards poped up like in webos and showed your running apps with a preview pic of the app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YEah thats something to look forward too.
XxsydenxX said:
YEah thats something to look forward too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but for that to happen google probley would have to add that in there rom in a update hopefuly it'll happen
nice idea. I wish i knew how to make it happen.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=668232
Wow i was just thinking the same thing today, (i used to own a pre) But check out TaskOS in the market guys!!! It's legit, almost exactly the same as cardview on webos except it just shows icons instead of real time view.
If you want a nice way to switch apps without the stupid home key crap just install advanced task killer and switch the default click option to switch too instead of select/unselect. Its one swipe down for the notifications, one click on atk, and one more click on the app you want. Its not as good as webOS but its the best method I can find for now. I also leave a shortcut to atk on my home screen.
there is also MultiTask Manager. Once again not as good as WebOS card view but its more like an Iphone multitask thing. I think I like TaskOS the best. Well I'm not allowed to post links because of new member thing so just look it up.
It wouldn't be hard if you can get live preview's of the application windows.
I've been searching google for "android sdk live preview" and the like for a while though and its not looking good
can the current state of multi-tasking allows, for example, one uses the phone with the speaker while trying to look up some info/or do something with another application(eg, look up notes that you have written down from an application)?
cheers
hi friends. i know, i know this discussion is premature, but lets talk about what we want from android 2.3 ....to be a good source of inspiration for those who make it
God bless you to have the best inspiration!
Not a bad idea...
They should root it out of the box
Love. World peace.
since 2.2 had a 400-500% performance boost, 2.3 should have a 4000-5000% boostv
They've got the performance down. I think 2.3 will focus more on the user - ease of use and greater stability to compete with the iPhone. This will be shortly followed (3.0 maybe) with a whole new user interface design. They didn't hire the WebOS designer for nothing...
More than anything, I want the application's interface to look better and more unified. Like on an iOS, no matter how bad the app is, it still looks just as good as anything else. On Android, having a good looking UI is rare.
'Settings' in Froyo looks great, black background, white text, easy to navigate. But then you go to settings in Beautiful Widgets, and the text size is different, check boxes are on the left instead of right, and it's just not unified. They need a stricter standard.
I would love to see pinch-zoom on Email/gmail.
Maybe an option to display google voice SMS in the standard MMS app. A more customizable phone app, as in choosing which screen to default to and have a T9 search option... ( Like Dialer One)
Launcher Pro as standard launcher
Hold down volume to switch tracks on default music player
trillonometry said:
I would love to see pinch-zoom on Email/gmail.
Maybe an option to display google voice SMS in the standard MMS app. A more customizable phone app, as in choosing which screen to default to and have a T9 search option... ( Like Dialer One)
Launcher Pro as standard launcher
Hold down volume to switch tracks on default music player
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I approve of this message.
TREYisRAD said:
More than anything, I want the application's interface to look better and more unified. Like on an iOS, no matter how bad the app is, it still looks just as good as anything else. On Android, having a good looking UI is rare.
'Settings' in Froyo looks great, black background, white text, easy to navigate. But then you go to settings in Beautiful Widgets, and the text size is different, check boxes are on the left instead of right, and it's just not unified. They need a stricter standard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, this is a big deal. froyo has most of the basics that people were begging for: voice dialing, apps2sd, latest opengl, etc but they really need to blow everyone away on the UI. The reason why there's so much fragmentation is because of all these custom UI's and the reason why we have those UI's is because there is a perception that Android needs them to look good.
But once you get past the first few screens and into actual apps, there's nothing to hide. There has to be a general system for UI controls for all the apps so that they can look good without much effort.
Also, in many OS's, even the controls are themable and if Google can do that, an OEM could have an Android that looks completely different all the way down but runs all the apps and they would operate the same way.
from what i've heard, there's no 2.3. Gingerbread is a major release.. Android 3.
Here a To-Do list for the android developers :
- add the possibility to hide some apps from the drawer
- add a theme manager to change theme and restore the original one more easily
- enable root automaticaly
- add a feature like "Android Guard" to lock and locate your phone with your google account
- add a backup manager, linked with your Google account which could backup all your apps and data (like Titanium Backup) to switch easily from a ROM to another or to change your android phone.
I've no more idea for the moment but here are some nice features
arctu said:
from what i've heard, there's no 2.3. Gingerbread is a major release.. Android 3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2.3 or 3, real flash support, that works well, not just "sort of works well"
Thread moved since it isn't development.
USB TV-Out
I would love the magnifying glass thing the iPhone has when selecting text.
arctu said:
from what i've heard, there's no 2.3. Gingerbread is a major release.. Android 3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that is what i thought as well...
Brian_Fr said:
Here a To-Do list for the android developers :
- add the possibility to hide some apps from the drawer
- add a theme manager to change theme and restore the original one more easily
- enable root automaticaly
- add a feature like "Android Guard" to lock and locate your phone with your google account
- add a backup manager, linked with your Google account which could backup all your apps and data (like Titanium Backup) to switch easily from a ROM to another or to change your android phone.
I've no more idea for the moment but here are some nice features
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great ideas!!
[IO]ERROR said:
I would love the magnifying glass thing the iPhone has when selecting text.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sense UI has something similar... and its pretty nice (at least on my evo.
As far as suggestions for the next release...
FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY AND GOOD... GIVE US A TRUE UNIFIED INBOX FOR ALL ACCOUNTS WITH PUSH ENABLED!!! (or at least the option to have a unified inbox.. this is android after all)
frettfreak said:
FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY AND GOOD... GIVE US A TRUE UNIFIED INBOX FOR ALL ACCOUNTS WITH PUSH ENABLED!!! (or at least the option to have a unified inbox.. this is android after all)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The latest update to K-9 (which I prefer over the stock email app) has this. I was quite surprised when I saw it. Though, it does exclude GMail, but I think that's because GMail inaccessible to third-parties right now.
Android wishes
I would like a task manager that links to calender. Schedule the task to when I know when I want to do it, without writing it all out again. Please.
Unified graphics would be a good look.
mr.trader said:
Not a bad idea...
They should root it out of the box
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was randomly thinging of that earlier thtd b good
Better looking widgets / viewports in sdk so apps become better looking/ more user friendly.
Sent from my GT-I5700 using Tapatalk
Hi all,
New to Android here. Just got a AT&T Galaxy S II Skyrocket after 4 frustrating years with iPhones.
So far I really like Android, especially that it lets you change what you don't like. I do feel that both devices are unacceptably tethered to their respective corporate landlords - and google is not necessarily better than apple in that respect - but Android lets you change that more readily. For instance myphoneexplorer lets you sync with outlook pretty flawlessly if you don't care to upload your info to google's "cloud", etc.
OK, I'm done ranting now but I do have 2 specific questions:
1. My particular SIISR does not display a visual reminder nor sounds a loud enough alarm when (a) I get a text, or (b) a calendar event comes due. It just makes a ridiculously soft noise that I miss every time I'm not standing in an empty recording studio, and even worse when I pull the phone the screen is dark so I have no idea what the feeble alarm was about. I expect the same level of alert as when I get a call, i.e. the lock screen lights up and I can read / snooze / dismiss as the case may be. This is really pretty amazing that such dirt-basic functionality is not included in the software, at the very least easily enabled in Settings. Am I really expected to turn on the phone and pull down the Notifications curtain to find out what is going on? If there is no workaround this will be a showstopper for me and I'll have no choice but to return the phone.
2. I like the idea of upgrading to a rom like cyanogen when it becomes available for the SIISR, but I am concerned about how at&t cottons up to having rooted and OS-reflashed devices on its network and what they might do about it, and more specifically what happens when updates are pushed down the pipe. What is you guys' real world experience with that?
Thank you for your feedback! I'd really like to stick with my new Android phone!
you go into setting and the sound option. click on volume and make sure it maxed out, then click notification ringtone and you can change the sound.
As for visual reminder its at the top left of the screen. Text shows an envelope and calender alert a different icon.. I use handcent for sms and it works way better than stock program.
Not sure if BLN works on the this model but try it. it will leave your softkeys lit when you have a text.
you can try different lock screens via golocker so that you dont have to unlock your phone to see what the alert was but to actually read the alert or know more than if it was a message or email or phone call you have to unlock it for security reasons as perhaps you get confidential material that not just ANYONE should see.
as for rooted and custom firmware its safe, and prevents stock updates from your provider. as android is opensource you are allowed to customize it.
As to #1, you can change the notification sound both in your email settings and in the phones settings/sounds area. As to it being a dark screen when you go to check it.. thats one of the downsides to this particular model, no notification LED.. there is an app on the android market called NoLED that will put a little picture on the black screen to make up for it. BUT I cannot vouch for whether or not it drains battery (my chief concern), just have to try it out.
#2 I've been on AT&T with a rooted/flashed phone of various models since 2008 and I've never had them notice/say anything. It does void your warranty flashing, but there are ways of getting it back to stock if you do end up needing that. At the moment on this phone I believe you can't get it *perfectly* back to stock, but just have to give the devs here time and it will be available eventually.
*NoLED is on my list of apps to check battery usage, I'll get on it and post again tomorrow
while the forums are a great resource for things, you will get answers faster if you just google (or youtube) things like 'how to change android sms sound'
jacobharasimo said:
Not sure if BLN works on the this model but try it. it will leave your softkeys lit when you have a text.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds even better than NoLED.. givin that a try too
sulpher said:
Sounds even better than NoLED.. givin that a try too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BLN requires a kernel that supports BLN, its only a matter of time when one of these great devs on here creates one.
Handcent SMS (free in the market) has the option to have your message pop up and remain on your screen until you cancel it. Almost like the iPhone.
As what Jacob said, when you are running a rooted device, you are most likely running a custom Recovery like CWM. Its actually the custom recovery that prevents you from getting the updates Over The Air. HOWEVER, the way the devs work... those new updates will generally be available for you way before your carrier sends it to your device. So rooted or not, you're gonna wanna root it anyway cause you'll end up being one of the few who wont have ICS, or whatever.
cue_32 said:
BLN requires a kernel that supports BLN, its only a matter of time when one of these great devs on here creates one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Da_G supports it - look in the dev forum.
fedupey1 said:
2. I like the idea of upgrading to a rom like cyanogen when it becomes available for the SIISR, but I am concerned about how at&t cottons up to having rooted and OS-reflashed devices on its network and what they might do about it, and more specifically what happens when updates are pushed down the pipe. What is you guys' real world experience with that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like it was said, you won't get updates from AT&T, but why would you want AT&T updates to overwrite your Cyanogen ROM?? When you flash Cyanogen (or any ROM), you follow that ROM and reflash when updates are available. So instead of relying on AT&T for updates, you'll rely on the developer of the ROM for updates. Also, as long as you're not trying to exchange the phone or anything like that, AT&T has no right to tell you how to use your phone. Root it, flash it...throw it against the wall...it's yours. Do what you want. Now, when you try to warranty your wall smashed phone, you better hope you have a stock AT&T ROM on there if it powers up. Every time I've warrantied a phone, it's been dead, so it didn't matter. If it won't turn on, they can't tell what ROM you have, and really, most of those "techs" just want to give you a new phone and get you on your way. Personally, I've never had a problem getting a new phone.
#1 go into sms press settings in there change your SMS ringtone. If you want an iPhone SMS type of visual reminder (bubble alert) download SMS popup from the market tinker the settings to your liking.
I'll suggest every new iPhone to android user to read the phones manual or Google your questions before jumping to conclusion that android doesn't have this and that. Most likely it does. You can customize android how ever You want.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
Has anyone had experience with the Chinese GO Launcher and the widgets that come with it? They look pretty cool, and it seems they have the functionality I'm missing.
btw I can understand the "read the manual first" comments; I did read the manual and, not unpredictably, it said nothing about functionality that doesn't exit.
Thanks for all the input so far everyone!
I recently upgraded from the iphone to the Skyrocket, and am loving it. I wasn't sure whether I was going to like it the first few days, but now when I pick up my husband's iphone it seems like a toy compared to the Skyrocket.
I just started using Go Launcher Ex two days ago. It has a lot of slick and useful features. I haven't finished exploring all of the options available, but so far I'm enjoying the themes, locker options, and SMS pro. It's easy to try Go, and you always can uninstall it if you don't like it. I did have to redo my widgets after installing it, but that was actually kind of fun with the new theme I installed.
Not a huge deal but something to keep in mind with GO launcher.. recently noticed with system panel that GO launcher drains battery excessively when the phone is idle (device on but screen off), so i switched to launcher pro which drains FAR less with the screen off. The app is nearly the same as far as functionality, with one or two exceptions that can be added by purchasing the the pro version if you really need them (resizing widgets). I decided it was worth it to use less battery.
*note, im a battery stickler.. I can't stand any extra drain
more then happy to help you out.
fedupey1 said:
Has anyone had experience with the Chinese GO Launcher and the widgets that come with it? They look pretty cool, and it seems they have the functionality I'm missing.
btw I can understand the "read the manual first" comments; I did read the manual and, not unpredictably, it said nothing about functionality that doesn't exit.
Thanks for all the input so far everyone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know switching from the Iphone to Android is a big change. I was so confused for about a week. Anyways, if you want I would be happy to answer any questions you may have about your phone. I use the Go Launcher and Go SMS , I know a lot about them. Anyway just PM me if you'd like.
it has been my experience, because all returned/exchanged phones are sent out for reconditioning, att nor does the manufacturer care what OS modification has been performed on the phone. I returned my cappy at the atrix launch and asked specifically about the issue of "stock" or not, then I handed my serendipity cappy right over. Never heard back from att since and I'm still upgrading phones today without any heat. no worries.
sulpher said:
Not a huge deal but something to keep in mind with GO launcher.. recently noticed with system panel that GO launcher drains battery excessively when the phone is idle (device on but screen off), so i switched to launcher pro which drains FAR less with the screen off. The app is nearly the same as far as functionality, with one or two exceptions that can be added by purchasing the the pro version if you really need them (resizing widgets). I decided it was worth it to use less battery.
*note, im a battery stickler.. I can't stand any extra drain
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know, thanks for the info. I'm really happy with Go launcher, and in fact have noticed much better battery performance than I had previously with a live wallpaper. But I'll look into launcher pro if the battery performance is a problem in the future.
i can confirm that Go Launcher DRAINS battery very much.....but i still use it i like to functions.
just letting you know
I installed GO Launcher EX, it looks very cool; polished and very usable UI is a massive improvement. I recommend it. Ditto GO Dialer / contacts, a huge improvement over stock. GO calendar widget is OK but not fabulous; it looks good though with the Transparency theme. GO locker was pretty but rather useless, I uninstalled it.
Installed SMS popup, works excellent. I'm happy with it. Who knew I'd get excited over functionality that used to be standard 6 years ago.
Then for my calendar I looked for an iPhone type of visual reminder (bubble alert) that wakes up the phone and displays even when the screen is locked. I only found two:
- Calendar Snooze, of which I am currently running the free version. It does the job, but it's sort of aesthetically challenged.
- The pathetic Nudnik, which I uninstalled immediately. It looks like it was designed by a pre-schooler.
Now I need to resolve my lock screen issue, then I'll be content (it locks up immediately whenever I press Power although I set the delay to 10 mins in Settings).
I think I'll give Cyanogen a whirl if it becomes available for Skyrocket.
Try iPhone Notification.
Went from a G2 to this One S yesterday. I'm not too impressed.
No dedicated menu button
There is enough room for one on the bottom but they only put 3.
What happens now is that Android (or Sense or something) detects when there are menu options and puts a button on the screen for it taking away real estate from the application.
No trackball
I used this a lot on my G2 especially on web pages with small links that I didn't want to missclick. I already miss it. I also used the trackball wake feature in CM on my G2. Now there is only one way to turn the screen on and its a little hard to do one handed. The trackball was in a very natural position to turn on with your thumb. Now without it, it is very awkward to power on with your thumb, you have to hold it very high and I'm affraid of dropping it. Alternatively I could turn it on with my index finger but it spreads my hand way out and still feels weird.
No folders
I'm not sure if this is an ICS thing or a Sense thing (because this phone is an unholy bastardization), but I can't figure out a way to create folders on my home screens. I'm not talking about the Sense folders for applications either. In normal Android builds you can add shortcuts, widgets, folders. The Pandora application shipped with a folder called "My Stations" or something like that. I used this because it only took up 1x1 on a homescreen and let me choose which station was opened. Without it, you need to open the application and it immediately starts playing the last radio station. This is annoying.
Resolution
The DPI isn't any better than my G2, its just a bigger screen. This is pretty disappointing. I would like a crisper display in a flagship device.
Bloat
Its pretty bad. I know most users want Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, etc... but how about you let us select what we want during the phone setup.
Misc
This is my first Sense device and my first ICS device so again, not sure where this crap is coming from.... When you install an application it creates a shortcut for it on one of your home screens. Putting a shortcut is the simplist thing you can do in Android, why not leave it for the use to do if they want to do it.
On my way to work I was listening to I Heart Radio and while the live streams were okay when I went to the "pandora"-like functionality it would only play one song and then stop. This never happened on my G2. Don't know whats going on here.
I don't care for the browser (which they stupidly call "internet").
I don't care for all of the account options. I went to share a page in the browser, I wanted to email it to myself. So when I went to share page it let me select how to share it. I got "Facebook for HTC Sense", "Mail", "Twitter for HTC Sense", and "Dropbox". I did set up Facebook, but I did not set up mail, twitter, or dropbox. What I wanted was GMail which I had to select "See all..." Then I saw a plethora of garbage bloat that they bundle with the phone and had to scroll down to get to GMail. After I went though this experience I went to share another page to see if GMail showed up at the top... it didn't.
I'm sure I'll have more complaints the more I use it. I used my fiance's upgrade for this one but I get an upgrade in 3 months. If CM9 isn't out by then she'll be using this phone and I'll upgrade to a SGSIII or that yet to be named quad-core LG phone.
Summary
CM9 can't come fast enough.
EDIT
I'll add some good things here.
Good things
Again, this is coming from a G2 so in 2 years things should be better anyways....
It is very thin, and very light.
It has a front facing camera which my G2 did not.
The flashlight, though not as bright as the "High Brightness" Cyanogenmod setting on the G2, is still pretty bright.
The speaker seems to put out a lot of sound. Can't attest to the quality yet but the volume is there.
EDIT #2
Some more good and bad....
Skype Useless
... probably related to Wifi crackling. One of the things I was looking forward to with this phone was the ability to make video calls via Skype. My fiance has an iPad2, my in-laws each have a G2X, and my brother has a SGSII. Skype is useless on this device. There is echoing / cracking and video lag even when on Wifi. I called my brother with this One S and it was useless. I then called him on an iPad2 and it was great. I'm wondering if the problem has to do with Beats Audio. We'll have to wait for an AOSP ROM without Beats to find out.
So I unlocked/rooted/ROM'd ...
I am now running Black Dragon 4.0. I LOVE the menu hack to get rid of the stupid 3 dot menu on all the screens. I like that they kept the ability to longpress home to get the default behavior as well. The launcher seems nice though I haven't played with it too much (which is a good thing, means they have good defaults).
Can't wait for the kernel sources to be released so we can make some more CM9 progress. I really miss the buttons in the dropdown for wifi, brightness, bluetooth, etc. Now I have to dropdown, click settings, scroll down and find brighness.
How's the battery life? My G2 has some HORRENDOUS battery... like it can drain 20% an hour... I go to school for like 6/7 hours and I can leave with like a <20% battery life. Currently using MIUI because that seems to be the best battery life.
Edit: As for a menu button, Google is trying to get rid of that. I read a post about it a couple of months ago. They say it was useless. I completely disagree because I use it quite a lot. I use it way more than the search button which I have literally probably used less than 30 times and I've been on an Android device since the G1 came out.
For everything you just said mostly there are workarounds.
The deidcated menu button now exists through roms...the three button thing on screen is removed. Change of dpi works fine on no sense roms I'm set on 195 on sense not as good. Play market you can stop adding apps onto screens
Bloat just remove yourself root explorer..
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA Premium App
Battery lifes good also...
As I said workarounds exist
Also get a different launcher and ditch sense or just get Nova or apex
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA Premium App
Love this. G2 FOORRREEEVVVAAAAHHHH
.ili.music.ili. said:
How's the battery life? My G2 has some HORRENDOUS battery... like it can drain 20% an hour... I go to school for like 6/7 hours and I can leave with like a <20% battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm the wrong person to ask about battery life (at least during the week). I work in one of these new fancy energy efficient "Green" buildings. We have coating on our windows that block UV with the side effect of also blocking cellular signals. Everyone that works here puts their phones on airplane mode to save battery because we have 0 signal and the phone search all day.
I'll know better this weekend about battery life.
arknailed7754 said:
For everything you just said mostly there are workarounds.
The deidcated menu button now exists through roms...the three button thing on screen is removed. Change of dpi works fine on no sense roms I'm set on 195 on sense not as good. Play market you can stop adding apps onto screens
Bloat just remove yourself root explorer..
Battery lifes good also...
As I said workarounds exist
Also get a different launcher and ditch sense or just get Nova or apex
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did they implement the dedicated menu button?
How do I ditch Sense?... what is Nova / apex?
Do I need root to install another launcher?
--
FunkyELF said:
How did they implement the dedicated menu button?
How do I ditch Sense?... what is Nova / apex?
Do I need root to install another launcher?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no you can install launchers without root..from market just look for them
to ditch sense though you will need root..and to change dpi you will need root..my advice root lol
by ditching sense i mean install a non sense rom like black dragon or untouchables that strip sense away so the majority is ice cream sandwich without the bloatfest. some apps will be kept in but just use root explorer to rid the rom of it.
the dedicated menu button and ridding the screen of the three dots at the bottom is also because its been taken away and remapped by devs..so again..you need root
most of all..development will kick in soon..so better to root..or if not just use a different launcher but you dont really accomplish what your setting out to do
leedroid should be here soon with a rom,and will do away with most of the bloat anyway...so youll keep sense and most things you complained about will be sorted..
the main thing here is..root..worth it..yes..without..pointless and youll be stuck with htcs crap stock rom..pretty poor for me..but coming from another phone with loads of development..probably biased of how it should be
No Folders?
Just long-tap on the icon and drag it to another icon. THe folder will creat automaticly.
FunkyELF said:
Went from a G2 to this One S yesterday. I'm not too impressed.
No dedicated menu button
Root and ROM it. People are remapping the multitask key as the menu button, and hold-home now does the multitask. You're on XDA, so I assume you're enthused enough to root and ROM it.
No trackball
Seriously. Please find me an Android device with a trackball nowadays. It's gone...you're just gonna have to deal with it.
Resolution
This display seems pretty crisp. We're working with phones with relatively small displays. There's only so many pixels you can pack into until it doesn't even matter. 720p is about as far as we need to go on phone screens. The qHD screen on this phone has vivid colors and all the qualities of Super AMOLED. The resolution seems plenty high to me. Are you starting 1inch away from the phone and observing pixels?
Bloat
Welcome to flagship carrier devices. Again, you're on XDA, and fully capable of rooting it and removing all that crap. The G2 was a 1-off device that had pretty much stock Android. Consider it a Nexus device, more or less. With a flagship phone, you're going to get bloatware.
Misc
This is my first Sense device and my first ICS device so again, not sure where this crap is coming from.... When you install an application it creates a shortcut for it on one of your home screens. Putting a shortcut is the simplist thing you can do in Android, why not leave it for the use to do if they want to do it.
Sense has nothing to do with this. The new Google Play Store now by default places new apps' icons on the homescreen. It's as easy as going to the prefs in Play Store and disabling. Blame Google if you're going to blame someone.
On my way to work I was listening to I Heart Radio and while the live streams were okay when I went to the "pandora"-like functionality it would only play one song and then stop. This never happened on my G2. Don't know whats going on here.
Don't know what to tell you, but it's obvious that you're describing some sort of software issue, not a hardware issue. If it worked fine on the live streams, then your data connection worked. Talk to iHeartRadio.
I don't care for the browser (which they stupidly call "internet").
So install a new one! ICS Browser+ is exactly like the stock browser. There's also Chrome and Opera. Cmon...
I don't care for all of the account options. I went to share a page in the browser, I wanted to email it to myself. So when I went to share page it let me select how to share it. I got "Facebook for HTC Sense", "Mail", "Twitter for HTC Sense", and "Dropbox". I did set up Facebook, but I did not set up mail, twitter, or dropbox. What I wanted was GMail which I had to select "See all..." Then I saw a plethora of garbage bloat that they bundle with the phone and had to scroll down to get to GMail. After I went though this experience I went to share another page to see if GMail showed up at the top... it didn't.
This is the one thing I disliked and will agree with you on, although once again, rooting and ROMing can take care of it. That or removing bloatware.
I'm sure I'll have more complaints the more I use it. I used my fiance's upgrade for this one but I get an upgrade in 3 months. If CM9 isn't out by then she'll be using this phone and I'll upgrade to a SGSIII or that yet to be named quad-core LG phone.
Suit yourself. 4.7 inches is just too big, and at these speeds, you're at the mercy of your data connection, not the processor.
Summary
CM9 can't come fast enough.
AMEN
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think nearly all of your points are moot. A lot of your review seems to be based on your lack of willingness to change some preferences and MANAGE your device. If you were on a G2, then you never had to manage stuff like this. Consider it a new experience. If you wanted stock Android, you should've gotten a Galaxy Nexus. I just upgraded from a Nexus S and while I screamed at first at all the Sense crap, I quickly had it rooted, debloated, de-Sensed, and up and running with a nice, fast ROM (Black Magic 4.0).
Give it time. The phone JUST came out.
nickmv said:
I think nearly all of your points are moot. A lot of your review seems to be based on your lack of willingness to change some preferences and MANAGE your device. If you were on a G2, then you never had to manage stuff like this. Consider it a new experience. If you wanted stock Android, you should've gotten a Galaxy Nexus. I just upgraded from a Nexus S and while I screamed at first at all the Sense crap, I quickly had it rooted, debloated, de-Sensed, and up and running with a nice, fast ROM (Black Magic 4.0).
Give it time. The phone JUST came out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i agree with you there,its all about learning curves..no sense roms are fairly close to stock..its just the settings that are different now..he_stheone has already added certain elements of stock android..so its fairly close..just the settings..that are the main difference now.
jacakowal said:
No Folders?
Just long-tap on the icon and drag it to another icon. THe folder will creat automaticly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those aren't the folders I'm talking about. I think what I'm talking about are called live folders. In AOSP builds of Android when you long press on an empty space on one of your screens you can choose widgets, folders, shortcuts, contacts, and other things I can't remember.
With Sense you only get widgets and shortcuts.... no folders, no contacts, etc... just widgets and shortcuts.
Isn't that minor thing?
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA Premium App
nickmv said:
I just upgraded from a Nexus S and while I screamed at first at all the Sense crap, I quickly had it rooted, debloated, de-Sensed, and up and running with a nice, fast ROM (Black Magic 4.0).
Give it time. The phone JUST came out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't see this one listed in the ALL ROMS post here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1584163
Where is the info on that ROM?
Dude its in development section
Black dragon 4.0
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA Premium App
nickmv said:
I think nearly all of your points are moot. A lot of your review seems to be based on your lack of willingness to change some preferences and MANAGE your device. If you were on a G2, then you never had to manage stuff like this. Consider it a new experience. If you wanted stock Android, you should've gotten a Galaxy Nexus. I just upgraded from a Nexus S and while I screamed at first at all the Sense crap, I quickly had it rooted, debloated, de-Sensed, and up and running with a nice, fast ROM (Black Magic 4.0).
Give it time. The phone JUST came out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Going to have to side with you on this one. This phone is definitly a great device, give it some time, dig in a little bit. Much better than my Tmo-SGS2.
most of things you mentioned isnt a "bad thing" just you dont know how to operate the phone, or its just different (opinion at that point).
Also you didnt like things which are for all devices, not just one S
FunkyELF said:
Those aren't the folders I'm talking about. I think what I'm talking about are called live folders. In AOSP builds of Android when you long press on an empty space on one of your screens you can choose widgets, folders, shortcuts, contacts, and other things I can't remember.
With Sense you only get widgets and shortcuts.... no folders, no contacts, etc... just widgets and shortcuts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The long press, dragging and combining of icons together is AOSP folders in Ice Cream Sandwich. The long press on the desktop to add folder is long gone and is not coming back.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
arknailed7754 said:
Dude its in development section
Black dragon 4.0
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry... you said Black Magic, not Black dragon.
I'll give it a try in a couple weeks. I like to use my phone a bit before rooting to make sure I didn't get a lemon.
Does the camera work on this one?
Just got the phone and here are my negatives:
1. With lowest brightness setting the screen is horrible (but if you increase it a bit, its ok)
2. No switches in pulldown menu ? I though Sense always had that.....
3. Bottom plastic is not 100% flush at one corner (maybe will exchange, maybe not)
4. In navigation I just couldnt find "setting" button anywhere.....whats up with that ?
gonna go to Verizon and compare to Nexus....I still need Tmo SIM and stores are in same place anyway....I am not a phone freak not wasting time here
Its also very true that until you have 2 devices in hand you cant really compare screen quality...I though my G2x IPS panel for super great, but compared to One S its very warm colored and whites have red tint. Its also hard to use in lowest brightness even in dark room....but with G2x case its because screen is simply too dark, with One S its bright but disgusting to look at due to some "noise"
Ok, so I have been looking for a while a way to give back to this great XDA community. So I'm deciding to put up some great apps that I have been using for a while, and really make MY Android experience a lot better. They are all GB based and the only reason I am adding them is because I have personally update tweaked them and they are great "hidden gems".Unfortunately it looks like they have lost future updates from their original developers... It would have been awesome to see these updated to a Holo style interface but since that is not the case I have done a small update to change some visuals.
NOTE: My point here is not to take credit for anything or make ANY type of fraud! I am NOT the original developer and I will be posting the original Play Store links, all I have done is make these awesome functionality apps look better for me since I use them every day. Also I NOT changed any type of function to these apps or modified any permissions to make them considered as "malware" every function code comes from the original developer not me. If you already use any of these apps you MUST uninstall them first as they are still the original version and you will get an error upon installing. Here they go:
Invenio Wire:
First up it is my face lifted version of "Invenio Carmen". This app is TRULY the best music downloader for me PERIOD, it has been on the Play Store a couple of times but has been quickly taken down. Most likely because of its ability to download YouTube videos and music from many hosts, (including YouTube). So obviously there is no Play Store link (here is their webiste though www.inveniocarmen.net) for this and if you have used it before you can recognize the difference from this one. I have changed all of the ui icons to Holo and logos!
iOS App Store:
This is my version of the awesome "Apps Explorer". I was really excited when I found this App because it pretty much lets you see all of the top apps from the iOS App store. I have matched up the rankings on an iPhone and they are pretty much spot on. I have changed the "refresh" and app icon and updated to "Play Store" and not "Market" wordings.
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=Apps+explorer
App Terminator:
This is my tweaked version of "Task Manager". Now I know a lot of people say task killers aren't necessary on Android, but I know sometimes when multitasking things can get a little overwhelming. The cool thing about this one is that it "ACTUALLY WORKS". It has very cool features like Auto-Kill on screen off and the ability to take you directly to your "Running" apps just to make sure the tasks have ended. I found it buried in a pile of other "Taks-Killers" and trust me I have not changed to another ever since!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...9tLnRvcG5ldDk5OS5hbmRyb2lkLnRhc2ttYW5hZ2VyIl0.
And last but not least its beastaudioEQ
Now this one is based on the infamous AwesomeBeats which is based on the infamous DSP Manager that can be found here!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1732763
It actually brings out some of the best sound on any phone when used with the right drivers. For some reason though it doesn't seem to work with the Beats audio drivers found on the Play Store. A while back they updated theirs and now it forces this to close every time, so DON'T use the Beats Drivers from there. You are free to use any but I recommend the AC!D Audio from here, trust me when I say it is the best out of any:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1923630
So in this app I have updated the icon and changed some of the wording to say beatsaudioEQ instead of Awesome Beats. It truly looks like a genuine beatsaudioEQ now! As an added bonus I have also included the AC!D mod directly from the OP with my new beats app already integrated, so you can flash away!
Well I hope you enjoy these apps as much as I do, now with a much better look! This is my way of saying thanks to everyone her for making Android the BEST OS in the world!
P.S: Also if you use the Chrome Browser I am posting links to two AWESOME themes made by me! The are an iOS Linen Style & Nexus 4 Jellybean style. Check them out It took me a while to perfect them.
iOS Linen Chrome Theme by Nex Unit:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/...ajafompaok/related?utm_source=chrome-ntp-icon
Nexus 4 Jellybean Chrome theme by Nex Unit:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/...dhgfjjkkbiphblamna?utm_source=chrome-ntp-icon