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Hi all,
I am starting a series of videos that will look at every aspect of the Surface RT tablet. I do reviews on different aspects of the device, basic tutorials to learn how to use the device and app reviews on the best, most useful and free apps.
I have previously done very successful videos on the Asus Transformer Prime (150 videos) and the Nexus 7 (100 videos) but I see this as being my biggest project to date since Windows 8 is such a radical departure from previous version that I'll be posting many videos as I learn new and interesting things. Here are a few videos just to give you a flavour of my work.
I am literally scratching the surface (every pun intended) of this device and will be kicking out a couple of videos everyday for a good few weeks. I'll be updating this thread regularly. I hope you find them useful, entertaining and informative.
Thanks in advance,
vgjfelix
Cool - Couple of comments.
On the Tile Screen, if you drag one app way to the bottom, it will also shrink the size of the start screen overall, making it easier to drag long distances accross many groups. I am finding this crucial, since my start screen is getting really long - over 70 apps. Which brings me to my next comment - Hopefully MS or a 3rd party developer will come up with an option to group tiles into folders as you can do on Ipads and Android, as app management is going to be an issue with the current layout and no ability to group into folders
Regarding the charging cable - I am surprised you made no comment how tough it is sometimes to get the magnetic connection to seat properly and start charging even though it appears to be connected - I think MS failed on the design. Apparent in your video when you are using 2 hands to get it seated correctly. I had heard this can be fixed by filing the sharp edges of the connector but have not been brave enough to do it yet.
Other than that - Good job - Keep them coming . .
guitar1969 said:
Cool - Couple of comments.
On the Tile Screen, if you drag one app way to the bottom, it will also shrink the size of the start screen overall, making it easier to drag long distances accross many groups. I am finding this crucial, since my start screen is getting really long - over 70 apps. Which brings me to my next comment - Hopefully MS or a 3rd party developer will come up with an option to group tiles into folders as you can do on Ipads and Android, as app management is going to be an issue with the current layout and no ability to group into folders
Regarding the charging cable - I am surprised you made no comment how tough it is sometimes to get the magnetic connection to seat properly and start charging even though it appears to be connected - I think MS failed on the design. Apparent in your video when you are using 2 hands to get it seated correctly. I had heard this can be fixed by filing the sharp edges of the connector but have not been brave enough to do it yet.
Other than that - Good job - Keep them coming . .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the comment. Thanks for the app drag tip. I am learning just like everyone else at the moment so whenever someone tells me something like this I think 'this needs a video' so I'll probably do one about it.
I have noticed since doing the plug review that is it a little tricky to connect up the charger. I might bring this up in a later video.
vgjfelix
Two more videos here.
First of all I know this review is completely out of number sequence, I just wanted to put this one up as soon as I did because this topic is important to me.
Font sizes. Once again another tablet fails to deliver when it comes to giving us the freedom to set font sizes how we would like. That's what we do a lot of the time with tablets, and you can always resize fonts in books readers. So why doesn't this extend to apps and the tablet (and I'm talking about tablets in general here) eco system as a whole. Well one app in this video proves it is possible with a brilliant feature.
And the second one: here begins my App-Snack videos. First one is a simple live clock and date tile:
vgjfelix
A quick look on my experiences (so far) of how the tablet lock and unlocks
If you use the legacy (non-Metro) control panel, you can adjust the DPI to enlarge text and everything in the screen. However, this may push the display below the minimum resolution to use metro-style apps.
This video is a quick test about using the tablet in a confined space:
Today is a quick look at an odd problem with the youtube reply button on the browser.
Just in case you didn't know. You don't have to get an official HDMI cable:
This is a video about some of my first impressions tile arrangement on the start screen:
This one is a quick look at the lack of uniformity when changing settings. Why is the same option accessed by different methods.
Another quick look, this time at frustrating experiences of the App store search function (am I really doing something wrong?):
As I start to get a grip on this operating system, more and more Basics tutorial videos will start to come out. In this one I look at the offscreen swipe gestures (on the startscreen).
Another quick look, this time at my shrinking storage:
Another quick look in this one regarding High Contrast Mode:
A look at an excellent Tech news app that's arrived early on Surface RT
A guide and impressions of the app store in this one:
In this video I show you how to quickly move tiles around your startscreen,
So the Surface RT is seriously telling me that it won't support the resolution of my television so I can't watch movies on it? Very disgruntled! Help someone!
A quick basic video about lock screen passwords.
[APP][GAMES][4.0+] Space Shooter, Number Game & Weight Tracker all made with Tasker
The past month I got a little into Tasker and all the possiblities. And it escalated quickly - going from proof of concept to working/nice looking Apps.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.malte.ninegame - Nine - a number game (Play Store link with short video teaser making it look a little more fun than it might actually be.)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.malte.space101 - A simple Space Shooter (Play Store link with short video demo - showing the gameplay.)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.malte.watchyourweight - Weight Tracker (I really like this one as it shows you graphs and a little statistic and I use it every day. Also you can make all entries using only the Notification bar. Also import/export functionality. Short demo at Play Store site.)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.malte.cliffheighttimer - Height Measure Stopwatch
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.malte.ldt - Lightning/Thunderstorm Distance Measure Stopwatch
But after all those fun little project there are questions I keep coming back to:
Wouldn't I learn way more making these things with Java in Android Studio?
How much harder is it to make those things with Java (I once had a intro class in Java and know some C#, PHP, Javascript). I once made one of the tutorial note taking apps from the developer site - but although the logic might be quite simple the programming didn't feel too intuitive - might be a lack of understanding on my site though.
Each of the apps above took me about 1-2 days from start to finish (graphics, videos, programming). Does it take longer to make them with Android Studio?
Although they look good - I don't think of them as real Android Apps. Especially as they don't feel too responsive.
Would love some feedback a) on the Apps or b) what should be my next move if I wanted to make a real Java App? (Can you recommend an immersive progamming school - just finished university and am willing to pay for something I really enjoy? I would love to have some people around with the same passion. Or maybe a single developer that would want to maybe mentor me?)
Hi everyone, and welcome to this discussion/announcements/support/whatever thread for VR Theater for Cardboard!
A few words about my app (which you can find it on Google Play), first.
I started this small app about a year ago, with the intent to create a virtual theater that would allow people to watch both 2D and 3D movies with the Google Cardboard, and despite not being that original as a project (it wasn't the first back then, and there are even more now), I'm very glad to say, that it's having its small group of followers.
People seem to like how configurable the app is, the number of 3D formats it can play (it does panoramic and half panoramic movies too, did I mention that?) and, I hope, my dedication to support it.
Mind you, it's not all gold: the project is still work in progress and has some rough edges (mostly because it's just a hobby and while I'm having some great help on the graphics recently, I work on the code alone). The interface is hybrid (2D/VR), the virtual scene is bare to the bone, and the video compatibility is very limited, but it's only a matter of time before I iron those issues out as well!
Enough for the presentations, anyway!
If you are looking forward to provide feedback, suggestions, or just to say "Hi!", you have found the right place.
Me?! I will post to this thread new releases and announcements, answer questions and partake in discussions, popping out at the very least every couple of days, with a frequency that will depend from how life (and active development) will be be treating me at the time.
New version out!
A new minor release of VR Theater for Cardboard is out!
New in this version:
there is a new option in town: it's called "Direct video rendering", and turning it on should increase the performances while reduce overheating
fixed a bug where standing still while watching a movie would trigger the device suspend
replaced the warning header in the options with a snack-bar that shows only once for app execution
Thanks to Giuseppe Guarneri for testing the rendering option for me, Mehdi Benchaaban for reporting the suspend bug and for his precious feedback, and Marcin Kowalski who just didn't got nearly enough "thank you"s for all he did!
The long journey to a software decoding implementation (part 1/many)
For those interested, I managed to open a movie with the ffmpeg library and read it's streams information in Android.
Another good new is that the libraries contribute to about 8Mb, so it might be possible to include them in the apk directly, without expansion files (which is where they will land eventually, but doing so now, would be just another speed bumper).
It's a long path, that to a working software decoding implementation, but at least I'm moving along it.
Hello everybody,
I just wanted to present my new app "Robioactive", I have programmed in the last month. First I go to the story and following the app itself, then I'll talk about the development.
At the end, I present you a few general questions about your apps, applying your development and feedback
First the link to the app:
play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brandy_games.robioactive
If you want, you can skip the story:
<--App-History-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
- The small and sweet robot named "Robi", was sentenced to arrange objects from a conveyor belt properly completely alone and without any help in the factory Robioactive.
- Unfortunately, the small Robi is not very fast, as it has so short and tiny ants-legs.
- Our robot is totally overworked, stressed and need your help.
- Can you help the sweet Robi to assign the Robioactive products off the conveyor belt to the product boxes?
<- End: App-History-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
App, Robioactive:
In this app you must prevent that the objects on the conveyor belt achieve the left end of the tape. This can you do by pressing the product boxes, which are arranged on the top and bottom. For each product correctly assigned a point is awarded. There is at the beginning a small intro with 4 images which explain the game. After that we go directly to the game. There are in total 4 levels. Only the first level is unlocked in the beginning. To unlock the next level you have to reach a certain number of points in the active level. Alternatively you can buy levels with coins, which you get in the game when you're playing, or get Coins in the "MAKE COINS"-part by clicking on the advertisement (I'll tell you more about that later in the chapter app development / advertising). So far I have built "only" 4 Level, however next there will be more available.
App Development:
I am a computer science student at TUM and can do programming (C, C++, Java, Haskell), but I have never dealt me ??with the app development. My goal was that I program an app with some flow to come in Android Studio, Admob, PlayStore etc. within 4 days. The background of this method is that I have noticed from some other app developers that they need 2-3 months for a mature app and then after further 3 months in which the app is to find in the App Store, the Play Store, only 100 Downloads will be reached. This raises the question, it is still worth at all to program Apps, or we, "small" programmer, are powerless against the great app development companies? There are a few more questions in the latter part. The idea for this app is not fallen from the sky, I wanted to build a game that is easy to program, but maximises fun factor at play. However, everyone must decide for themselves.
Design:
I had difficulties to design this app. Unfortunately I have two left hands, regards drawing. However, the app had to be appealing. I didn't want to pay a designer because I didn't know anyway, if there will be a product or not. Therefore, I have worked a little with my Photoshop and made some ugly sketches, but with these I have created a framework with colors and forms. Further problem, I did not know how to fill the backbone. The solution was Creative Commons. I was searching for a relatively long time. Yet I could find a few "nice" images and icons, which were freely available. Given question below for you. Netvertheless I had to paint a few strokes and bars. The same problem arrived with the product video, which I generated with Adobe Animate.
I would pleased if you can give me feedback on the design.
Advertising:
I really do not like advertisment in apps, but I would somehow be rewarded for my work, even if it reaches the end on a Club-Mate or dinner. So I had to make a compromise. I give the user the possibility to click my ads to make them disappear throughout the app for a week. After that, the app is probably uninstalled. But a click per user would be the optimum for me. So I am quite satisfied with less. On top of that you you can generate 200 coins in the "MAKE COINS"-part, to unlock levels. I think that's fair. What do you think about the idea to make the user an app gift by clicking ads?
Programming:
I wrote the entire app in Java, XML is used only for the splash screen. Overall, about 2200 lines of code. I have built the app on the basis of a jump and run game in which was shown on Youtube. However, I had to stop after the chapter 3 of the video series, because I had to develop in a different direction. As a base I used a thread which calls the draw method of Game Panel (Surface View) every x milliseconds, thus changing the surface. The update method will change the position of the objects. So I achieve liquid movements. That works reasonably well. The entire app has only one Activity + one activity for the splash screen. In my Main Activity, Bitmap Images will be visible or not. This works fairly smoothly. One problem is that there are many events that can occur, which I have found after testing the app for one week. Is that too long? If you have any questions about my way of programming, then write me an email to the address below.
Timing:
I had scheduled 4 days for the app, without preprocessing. At the end, it takes 2 weeks + 1 week for testing . On one hand, I had to write my final paper, on the other hand I underestimated some parts of the app development. The designing part has own cost 3 days, seek out the Creative Commons was really tiring. The programming itself has drawn 6 days, adding 1 week for testing and repair. The promo video has cost 1 day, I had to "learn" Adobe Animate (I can recommend the Youtube-Channel "Draw with Jazza"). It was 5-6 years ago that I have looked at Flash, however it has been changed "a little bit". The inclusion of Admob was quite rubbish. This has again engulfed two days. In short, it is a surfaceview and no pure Activity layout so adding an advertisment was not easy and at the end it worked for a reason I do not understand to this day. But that important thing is, it works. Optimizing code lasts 2 days. I had to do that, because it was sometimes a bit too slow. I did not want to program Multithreading, because that would have certainly tooks again one week. So scheduling-conclusion : from 4 days planned to 21 days in the end, anyway I'm happy with the result. I present you below a question about scheduling.
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Questions about the app:
- Have you any guesses to improve the app?
- What do you think about the design of the app?
- What do you think about the app idea?
Questions about your app development:
- How long does it for you to develop an app? (Give an approximate number of lines of code, then I can better classify my project using Cocomo)
- Do you have designers in your team?
- Or rather, do you have a team? (I have my brother, who takes care about website and the legal stuff. I do programming and design)
- do you spend money for your app development? (Design, development, advertising)
- Do you do any advertisment for you app?
- Why do you programm any apps? (Fun, Money, ...)
- Do you use Creative Commons? If so, to what extent?
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I am happy about every opinion that is written down here. Any rewiev would be pleasent. You can write me personally, I will reply to each of the emails you send me and dedicate every question that you have, because the community is very important to me. A feedback from you is 1000 times more informative than a rating in the Play Store. I'd appreciate a download, or share the app with your friends.
I write the same text in several forums, in order to obtain a wide range of possible feedback.
My motto: The design brings the user to download the app, programming to utilize the app.
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Homepage: brandy-games.com
Again the link to the App-Download: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brandy_games.robioactive
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I thank you in advance. Thank you for your feedback.
P.S. the forums entry has also cost me a day, so 21 + 1 = 22 days
Best, Daniel
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