Looking for few app suggestions. - Samsung Galaxy SL i9003

Hi,
I am looking for two apps to replace my current options.
1) Any player, that can create a playlist and play songs over wifi from a Windows 8 shared drive. All my media resides on my laptop shared over wifi, using homegroup and libraries. So, any kind of sharing will work, as long as I don't have to select 1 song at a time (vlc does that).
2) A widget of 4* 1 size, that displays clock, weather and can be clicked to open alarms app. Right now, I use accuweather, but it suck at weather updates (why not use hourly weather data if internet access is disabled instead of showing 10hours old data), and is too big to use.
So, looking for suggestions.

Related

is there an rss program that works more like itunes???????

i'm new to the rss world, but i was wondering if there was a program that worked like itunes, where it would manage the rss on the pc and then just transfer the rss(or media file?) into the wizard. kind of how an ipod works????
rather than the wizard downloading from the wifi or gprs directly.
sorry if i sound retarted...........
hmm this works on the psp
http://pspupdates.qj.net/MyTunesRSS-v2-1-Out-Now/pg/49/aid/58898
try that
if it works post
From wikipedia (sorry about long paragraph)
"A podcatcher is usually an always-on program which starts when the computer is started and runs in the background. It manages a set of feed URIs added by the user and downloads each at a specified interval, such as every two hours. If the feed data has substantively changed from when it was previously checked (or if the feed was just added to the podcatcher's list), the program determines the location of the most recent item and automatically downloads it to the user's computer. Some podcatchers, such as iTunes, also automatically make the newly downloaded episodes available to a user's portable media player."
i want a program that can do something like described here
If you have WM5 you can sync media through Windows Media Player, and there is a piece of software that will download and create playlists for new RSS downloaded media files called iPodder, that can be auto synchronised then through ActiveSync.
http://ipodder.sourceforge.net/download/index.php
For things like news, and text based RSS feeds, you could either use something like AvantGo or ano other RSS news reader you find on Google.
I use iTunes for downloading podcasts then I have a batch file which transfers them over to my Charmer.
The podcasts aren't DRM protected so they play with no problems.

APP that supports WMP ratings?

I get ~500 new tracks per month and I heavily rely on Windows Media Player's 5-star rating system to keep track of the ones I liked/disliked. I'm looking for an app that has the ability to read AND add/edit the rating, aka ID3's "RATING WMP" tag, of mp3's that I will manually load onto sdcard. I've tried many different music apps but none fit the requirements... any suggestions?
Thanks!
I guess nobody knows and I'll have to figure this out myself... as always
ok, made some progress... found a way to seamlessly "sync" music libraries:
set up samba (windows) share on pc
used Mount Manager to mount that share on Evo as /sdcard/share/audio
reload media, all mp3s now show up in HTC Music as if they were physically on sdcard
ps: if i'm not on WiFi, just VPN into my home linux box and everything shows up as "local"
now all that's left is to find something that would write the ratings back into mp3s... i found this iSyncr app that does it but there are some quirks that needs to be worked out before its usable. will report back once that is done
wifi sync was a hassle and iSyncr froze my phone for 5 mins each time i remounted sdcard, and also wifi sync is much slower than traditional usb sync anyways so here's what i worked out instead:
set Songbird to monitor my "New songs" for mp3's
set Songbird to auto-sync music as soon sdcard is mounted to pc
unmount/eject and use PlayerPro to listed & rate music
once done, in PlayerPro, export song stats to xml (Settings > Media library >Export music stats > Songbird)
use Songbird's "RatingFile" addon to import ratings from that xml
since in Songbird i set 'songbird.metadata.ratings.enableWriting" to "true", it writes the new ratings to mp3's ID3 tag "RATING" field
use Mp3Tag macro to batch-move RATING field value to RATING WMP
viola... my new ratings now show up in WMP
long and tedious process but so far that's the only one where i managed to successfully sync new ratings back to WMP
PS: doubleTwist can do two-way ratings syncing WAAAAY easier with their AirSync addong but i haven't found a way to move the new ratings from doubleTwist to WMP... any ideas?
Did you ever come up with a clean solution to this problem? I have so much new incoming music all the time that it is a real pain to have to sit in front of my primary PC rating music all the time; it would be so nice if I could sync it to my phone or tablet, rate music as I drive, and then sync the ratings back to my computer...
get PlayerPro... that dev implemented the ability to read/write ratings to actual mp3 files. both WMP and MediaMonkey id3 rating system. then, to make sure the ratings are same on both your phone and your computer, install microsoft's SyncToy and set up a two-way folder sync.
frifox said:
get PlayerPro... that dev implemented the ability to read/write ratings to actual mp3 files. both WMP and MediaMonkey id3 rating system. then, to make sure the ratings are same on both your phone and your computer, install microsoft's SyncToy and set up a two-way folder sync.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks; I actually came across PlayerPro in the same search that returned your thread. The only problem I see is that I use WMP's autoplaylists to only sync 4 or 5 star rated items to my device. If I am using SyncToy to synchronize folders, that makes the whole dynamic rating thing kind of useless, doesn't it?
hmm, in my case i didn't have a need for dynamic playlists and PlayerPro fit the bill perfectly, so yeah, i'm not sure how you'd deal with syncing back the ratings from cell to pc... i manage my library using files and folders so i guess i lucked out here
I guess so. I have WMP setup to auto sort music into a folder structure that maps to Artist > Album > [Track Number] [Song Title], and then I only synchronize the songs I've rated 4 stars or higher. That way when it syncs to my car (using my phone as a storage drive), I can browse the file system by Artist, Album, etc., and I only have the songs I like synced up.
Great
Sick bro, love it.
SolusCado said:
I guess so. I have WMP setup to auto sort music into a folder structure that maps to Artist > Album > [Track Number] [Song Title], and then I only synchronize the songs I've rated 4 stars or higher. That way when it syncs to my car (using my phone as a storage drive), I can browse the file system by Artist, Album, etc., and I only have the songs I like synced up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for asking the question, I was looking for the same thing. Maybe I can help you out too. I don't know about the sync tool you use but MediaMonkey can sync songs based on dynamic playlists too. So you can create a playlist based on ratings (or more) and MM will sync it automatically. However you have to have the paid version but IMO it's worth the price.
octavia said:
Thanks for asking the question, I was looking for the same thing. Maybe I can help you out too. I don't know about the sync tool you use but MediaMonkey can sync songs based on dynamic playlists too. So you can create a playlist based on ratings (or more) and MM will sync it automatically. However you have to have the paid version but IMO it's worth the price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does MediaMonkey add anything I don't already get with WMP?
many things... with folder-sync being one of them
EDIT: Tl;DR
PlayerPro can modify and read the Windows Media Player star rating.
I've verified that tracks with less than 4 stars are removed from my device. However, I expected to see more removals. I'll continue to update here
I had an issue with PlayerPro, the 'stars' (rating) disappeared from the top of the screen. I solved this by tapping the track picture in the center of the screen. The star rating on top of the screen reappears after that.
---
Awesome threat.. Just got a Nokia 9, first Android phone
Same issue.
I manage my music with auto playlist and star rating since I had a HTC Wizard and Windows XP, I think
Anyway, PlayerPro seem the way to go.
The problem I now have is that I can't seem to change the star rating anymore, in PlayerPro.
This: https://www.aplayerpro.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3305
.. seem to be hopeful but alas. I'll continue the quest on a later day and update here.

[Q] The features you miss in the TF101 (compared to a notebook)

Hello Guys!
I am planning to get one of the Transformers (probably 32G+dock) and sell my notebook (will still have a desktop computer).
Now, I'm on a performance notebook (with piss-poor battery life), but I do not use it - only for web surfing, chat, watching movies, sending stuff & downloading - and maybe some games (1x a month LOL)
So my question is - what are the features you like or MISS in the Transformer compared to a notebook.
Thank you!
1) Proper browser with adblock.
2) Proper audio player (like Amarok/Clementine/Exaile etc.).
3) USB port for attaching keyboard (I don't have the dock).
Better task swapping(alt+tab) or windowed view.
Text selection. Android NEEDS a better text selection desperately.
Other than that it makes a pretty good laptop replacement for simple things. Using remote desktop to a windows machine, greatly improves #1, and moderately improves #2.
Magnesus said:
1) Proper browser with adblock.
2) Proper audio player (like Amarok/Clementine/Exaile etc.).
3) USB port for attaching keyboard (I don't have the dock).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
firefox is available in android, and you can add the adblock plugin.
also a system-wide adblock via apps.
i have no idea what you would qualify as a "proper" audio player. unless you're refering stictly to that list as "proper", the stock player is also a proper player, as well as plently you'd find in the market.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
gottahavit said:
Better task swapping(alt+tab) or windowed view.
Text selection. Android NEEDS a better text selection desperately.
Other than that it makes a pretty good laptop replacement for simple things. Using remote desktop to a windows machine, greatly improves #1, and moderately improves #2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alt+tab works with the keyboard dock.
Windowed view won't happen until there is a significant increase in system resources available to these devices. Everything currently runs in full screen because 1GB of RAM is just barely sufficient for most of the current apps, and Android devices don't use swap, which means apps get flushed out of memory if the system starts running low on RAM. Windowed apps would crash or degrade under the current Android memory management scheme, which was instated because phones and tablets are so starved for resources when compared to traditional desktops and laptops.
Text selection requires a long press because click and drag on a touchscreen handles panning. I'm not sure what else you're expecting from text selection when many apps allow you to modify the size of the selection to your heart's content. Those that don't integrate nicely with Android's built-in text selection are the fault of the developers.
Thank you for the replies.
Well, Just as finalhit said - firefox has a plugin, and AFAIK Dolphin Browser, too. And by the way, Ad-free is not working on these devices? Like on my rooted Desire?
Proper audio player - I saw the transformer in action and the stock player is great, also have purchased PowerAMP for my phone and the developer says, it'll work on HC 3.2, too. Will see.
Carrying on with Text Input ~
Android needs to be able to support Rich Text in Browser Email Apps (e.g. Yahoo) and also Copy/Paste text into an Email.
Copy/Paste works in Gmail but not in say Yahoo Mail.
What I miss most, is that the TF does not have a digital audio output via USB.
A notebook can simply be connected with a DAC by USB and I can listen to MP3s over my Hifi system ...
FrankRr said:
What I miss most, is that the TF does not have a digital audio output via USB.
A notebook can simply be connected with a DAC by USB and I can listen to MP3s over my Hifi system ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd like that too, I tried plugging my USB SoundBlaster in but nothing happened.
What I miss most is a decent productivity suite, WP & Spreadsheets. I am using the beta of SoftMaker Office & it will do the job when it's released, but at the moment it crashes a lot & isn't mainstream.
Printing isn't that easy either ....
1) Definitely better text selection/manipulation - it works, but it doesn't feel right
2) Right mouse button - yes, it has long press, but it's long press, meaning it's not very fast. Make the right track pad button function the same as long press, and it will feel almost like a notebook.
3) Better file manipulation/transfer speed. Copying and pasting/moving files is a pain and is very very slow. Astro works, but it's nothing compared to the ease of windows/linux.
Android has all the functions I want, a lot of them just don't feel natural, or are cumbersome to use.
I like my TF, but I think it can't replace a notebook, unless we can port windows 7 on it..
mikelt89 said:
I like my TF, but I think it can't replace a notebook, unless we can port windows 7 on it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows 8 might run on it, as it has arm support and the TF meets the minimum requirements that MS has released so far.
cottinghamm said:
What I miss most is a decent productivity suite, WP & Spreadsheets. I am using the beta of SoftMaker Office & it will do the job when it's released, but at the moment it crashes a lot & isn't mainstream.
Printing isn't that easy either ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Documents to Go works well (given the limitations of the input methods, screen size, etc.)
Printign is a major issue. There are paid apps that I hear do printing OK, but they require a server program to run on a computer already connected to the printer. I have yet to find one that works well with a networked printer (either shared through the native Windows functionality or a dedicated print server).
FrankRr said:
What I miss most, is that the TF does not have a digital audio output via USB.
A notebook can simply be connected with a DAC by USB and I can listen to MP3s over my Hifi system ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can indirectly output to a DAC if you use the HDMI port. I have an Asus VH238H monitor that includes a SPDIF out, so I just hook up the Transformer via HDMI and have the monitor output the sound to my DAC.
For printing I use CloudPrint So far it works greatly (home & office) on my Desire - so that won't be a problem.
finalhit said:
firefox is available in android, and you can add the adblock plugin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firefox for Android is very far from a proper browser (in my opinion, proper browser is for example Google Chrome and desktop Firefox) and it's adblock is far from it's desktop counterpart. Maybe the new version will be better. In my opinion actually Firefox is worst browser for Android (the best being Dolphin Pad).
i have no idea what you would qualify as a "proper" audio player. unless you're refering stictly to that list as "proper", the stock player is also a proper player, as well as plently you'd find in the market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try using Amarok, Clementine, Exile or sth similar (or Foobar if you only have Windows, but it's quite bad looking). I tested most the music players in the market and none of them are even comparable. So I resigned from using Tranformer for listening to music and bought USB sound card for my laptop instead (without it the sound quality of my laptop was... well quite horrible ).
Amarok/Clementine/Exile have clear interface with your files or library on the left (you can use both) and a playlist on the right. You can add tracks to the playlist, remove them, shuffle them, star songs, generate playlists based on the stars, select to repeat a track or repeat the whole playlist, filter the library (for example - you type John and you get all John Williams albums listed), the playlist is created by drag and drop etc. Also they play all music formats (flac, mpc included). If you never used a music player like this - try them, they are really good.
Most (all of them?) players in android market are designed for playing one album at a time (no playlist), have interface more suited for phones than tablets and no ability to use folder view (some can but are regenerating the index every time I unmount my samba share - and it takes ages). If I'm wrong - and there is sth like Amarok on the Market - please tell, I'll buy it in a second.
Magnesus said:
Try using Amarok, Clementine, Exile or sth similar (or Foobar if you only have Windows, but it's quite bad looking). I tested most the music players in the market and none of them are even comparable. So I resigned from using Tranformer for listening to music and bought USB sound card for my laptop instead (without it the sound quality of my laptop was... well quite horrible ).
Amarok/Clementine/Exile have clear interface with your files or library on the left (you can use both) and a playlist on the right. You can add tracks to the playlist, remove them, shuffle them, star songs, generate playlists based on the stars, select to repeat a track or repeat the whole playlist, filter the library (for example - you type John and you get all John Williams albums listed), the playlist is created by drag and drop etc. Also they play all music formats (flac, mpc included). If you never used a music player like this - try them, they are really good.
Most (all of them?) players in android market are designed for playing one album at a time (no playlist), have interface more suited for phones than tablets and no ability to use folder view (some can but are regenerating the index every time I unmount my samba share - and it takes ages). If I'm wrong - and there is sth like Amarok on the Market - please tell, I'll buy it in a second.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just because the default Music player doesn't show the now playing and playlist views on the same page together doesn't mean you don't have such functionality. Remember what you're dealing with here; it's just a 10.1 inch screen. It doesn't take much to clutter the UI with a lot of menu options, especially when all the UI elements have to be doubled and tripled in size in order to be legible on the tiny screen.
Now, as far as the features of the default Music app, there's plenty to keep most listeners happy. Upon starting the app, in the upper left hand corner you have the ability to sort your music collection by New and recent, Albums, Artists, Songs, Playlists, and Genres. On the right, you can Search through all of your music, refining your results by the previously mentioned sort categories. Once you choose a specific artist, for instance, you can tap once on the "All songs" option to play all of the artist's selected music, or you can just select one album of theirs to play, either of these options taking you to a list of songs added to the queue. Long press will allow you to add the selected songs to the playlist of your choice. Once in the now playing queue, you can sort the songs by name or by album, or shuffle the whole thing. Then once you finally play a song, the now playing screen allows for toggling shuffle and advanced repeat functions just like what you're used to with other applications. The default player also supports mp3, ogg, and flac, and probably some other formats that I haven't tried yet. The only thing missing is the ability to "star" your music, which is a feature I always saw as pointless.
Seriously, why would you even bother with third party music apps at this point?
And what about the microSD slot on the tablet? I'm planning to get a 32GB A-DATA - will it work normally like with my Desire?
rtadams89 said:
Documents to Go works well (given the limitations of the input methods, screen size, etc.)
Printign is a major issue. There are paid apps that I hear do printing OK, but they require a server program to run on a computer already connected to the printer. I have yet to find one that works well with a networked printer (either shared through the native Windows functionality or a dedicated print server).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
printing works well for me, but yes, requires a server at this point -- free app: https://market.android.com/search?q=printershare&so=1&c=apps
I do use it as a laptop replacement. I find that 95% of the time I do not need to go back to my laptop; however, I do miss the ability to have more than one app on the screen at once (chatting and browsing at the same time is annoying). I also miss a full office program. I have tried DTG and polaris, and both work quite well by comparison to other office apps, but are not a replacement for MS Office or Libreoffice.
I also have a server in the basement for media serving running ESXi 4.1. I have 2 VMs on it: File/media server running ubuntu 11.04 and a windows VM for running various other things like video transcoding. I would not want to do either of those functions on an android tablet either.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

[Q] Syncing podcasts and playback location between devices

How do you sync your podcast subscriptions and playback location between Android and Windows/Mac/Linux? I'm open to anything, and gPodder looks nice, but even though its app page on the Play Store says it supports syncing across devices it definitely does not (the Android app doesn't even have an options menu).
I'd love to utilize my personal server somehow as a web player, but that's not a big deal and probably isn't possible without writing a system completely from scratch. Basically, I need a good podcast app that allows me to download OR stream podcasts to/from my phone and that syncs subscriptions AND playback position with either a) server software that I can install/manage, or b) an app that works with Cloud Caster.
(Free apps are greatly preferred but I'm willing to pay a couple bucks for a good app. The web player isn't completely necessary, I'm fine with a client like gPodder offers if necessary, but the web player would be nice.)
Thoughts? Thank you in advance!

[Q] Google Music alternative for home server?

Hello everyone. I have been using Google Music for a while, but I don't like having to depend on the website to sync playlists and update them. On my desktop I have MusicBee, and its home folder is my OneDrive account (so my music is ALWAYS backed up). I also have a home server that's always on. I'm looking to take advantage of the server more often. Is there a software for Android and Windows (the server) that allows me to sync or stream music over LAN and WAN?I have a large music library and I am not always at home when I want to hear a specific song. I'd like to keep the library in sync (playlists and such) with my desktop as well.
Any ideas?
There used to be working plugins for MusicBee that sync with Google Music, but none of them work anymore seeing as Google changes their authentication methods and APIs frequently - it's not a very stable solution.
Thanks

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