Related
There's been similar App requests before but mine is a little different.
I want my phone to seemlessly with one app (ideally):
- Tether my phone's 3g with my tablet
- Allow me to browse my phones files with my tablet:
- See photos in the gallery off my phone- Listen to music files on my phone's SD card on my tablet- Be able to make phone calls off my tablet through my phone including contacts integration- Have documents written on my phone or tablet be saved on both, so if I only have my phone on me I still have all my important documents/homework with me.
I could go on and on, but I think this tight integration with smartphone and tablet is the future, especially with the Transformer since its more of workhorse and the phone is more of a personal organizer.
I want my phone to seemlessly with one app (ideally):
- Tether my phone's 3g with my tablet
Enable Wifi Tethering on your phone. Easy.
- See photos in the gallery off my phone
Easy, make sure you sync/upload all your camera pictures to Picasa Web Albums (All Google account come with it) And it'll show up on the Transformer in the stock Gallery app. You can use a program like Pixelpipe to auto upload every picture you take on your phone to upload to Picasa. Or you can do it yourself, check mark all your photos, share, select Picasa.
- Listen to music files on my phone's SD card on my tablet
Why store music to your sd card? Get Amazon Cloud Drive (Free 2 gigs, buy an album and you get 20gigs free), upload your music to Cloud Drive, and use the Amazon MP3 app to listen to your music! Or, run AudioGalaxy on your computer, point it to your mp3 folder, and use AudioGalaxy to listen to your computer's music on your tablet/phone.
- Be able to make phone calls off my tablet through my phone including contacts integration
Contacts integration is already done with Google Contacts, auto syncs as long as your Google account is logged in. Making phone calls on your tablet? Seriously? Just grab your phone. This is sorry, but a stupid request
- Have documents written on my phone or tablet be saved on both, so if I only have my phone on me I still have all my important documents/homework with me.
Keep your documents on Google Docs. Download the Google Docs app on your phone/tablet and you can have it on both.
Or better yet, Get DropBox also free. works on phone/tablet/pc/mac/everything. Modify one, and it comes across EVERYWHERE.
I could go on and on, but I think this tight integration with smartphone and tablet is the future, especially with the Transformer since its more of workhorse and the phone is more of a personal organizer.
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All the stuff you want to do is already doable and easy to do. Most important thing is moving away from local storage to cloud storage, that's the future and we're seeing already with Amazon/Google/DropBox.
What I'd like is to be able to control the tablet with my phone. Especially now that I have Plex, as being able to link my tablet to the tv and stream video with plex but sit on the sofa with my phone as a remote would be awesome.
AFK_Matrix said:
What I'd like is to be able to control the tablet with my phone. Especially now that I have Pled, as being able to link my tablet to the tv and stream video with plex but sit on the sofa with my phone as a remote would be awesome.
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This would be a very useful function...
What I'd like is an application to send/receive SMS/MMS from my tablet through my phone.
YES, I have Google Voice, but using that sends from your GV number. I'd actually like the sending and receiving to be done by my Droid X, but have a client application on the tablet that can interface with the SMS client on my phone.
FrayAdjacent said:
What I'd like is an application to send/receive SMS/MMS from my tablet through my phone.
YES, I have Google Voice, but using that sends from your GV number. I'd actually like the sending and receiving to be done by my Droid X, but have a client application on the tablet that can interface with the SMS client on my phone.
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Port your number to Google Voice. I did, love it. Also no contract line with T-Mobile.
I suggest that you might have more luck posting this request in the general Android apps forum here.
You might also give an indication of how much you'd be prepared to pay for such an application!
Regards,
Dave
nxt said:
Port your number to Google Voice. I did, love it. Also no contract line with T-Mobile.
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Those of us not in the US have issues with that though :-(
It should be easy for Google to do though, as they could route all SMS as data to a phone on your Google account, then send it as SMS from there using the phone's regular contract.
An SMS app for the tablet that meant I could recieve texts on it and reply whilst keeping the phone in sync with what's being sent and received would easily be worth a fiver. And that's Stirling, too
nxt said:
All the stuff you want to do is already doable and easy to do. Most important thing is moving away from local storage to cloud storage, that's the future and we're seeing already with Amazon/Google/DropBox.
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The thing with your suggestions is that its a ton of different apps and lots of hoops to jump through.
I want one. single. app.
nxt said:
Port your number to Google Voice. I did, love it. Also no contract line with T-Mobile.
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That only circumvents the problem partially... then if I want everyone who has my (current) cell number to txt me directly to my phone (I can't hear the notifications I set in GV on my DX worth a crap!), I'd need to give them another number.
I think a client/server type thing that would let me interact remotely with the SMS app on my phone would be ideal.
FrayAdjacent said:
I think a client/server type thing that would let me interact remotely with the SMS app on my phone would be ideal.
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Try this out.
I think what the OP wants is definitely coming. But, read all of the posts by the OP on the thread I posted for the Sync SMS app and you will see some of the difficulties placed on the devs for such a project. Add in the large number of device manufacturers(custom software implementation b/c they refuse to use vanilla android)/different hardware (DroidX for example doesn't support infrastructure Wifi - only ad hoc) and types of connectivity (BT/WiFi/Cellular/USB) and it will become a very complicated project. I'm not saying it won't be done... I think it will be done. But, it is just a little ways farther off from happening. It'll take awhile for the software devs to work out the kinks and with Android/Honeycomb constantly evolving/constant hardware changes.... It makes this a daunting project for a single dev/small group.
Also, when it does come battery drain (constant polling for change in data) and data usage (carriers moving to tiered data plans) issues will have to be addressed. Many of the push API's are being figured out by devs so that will decrease the polling - but, data usage is only going to go up. I only had my TF for one day and I was having to watch my data over 3G because I knew if I continued to use it without worrying about getting onto Wifi I would go over my 2GB cap.....
The Sync SMS app dev has some good ideas and has been hard at work. I suggest reading his posts to better understand the difficulties.
@OP - it'll come with a little patience. In the meanwhile you can do what the second post suggested and use multiple solutions.
All you have to do is purchase on phone and sideload it, it will let you download data directly from tablet, at 1mb per second, it took about 7 mins for the whole process, 400mb download and data install. Go buy now, best 5 bucks ever spent.
Ps. I bought using my evo 3d, which also runs the game perfectly.
Edit: before you start asking, how to sideload it:
Dropbox, gmail, titanium backup, blue-tooth, etc. It also verifys market, so make sure you buy it.
excellent news, I did download the app, but got error parsing package message. Also says incompatible with my p6200, lets hope for the best for us 3g guys.
chrisrotolo said:
excellent news, I did download the app, but got error parsing package message. Also says incompatible with my p6200, lets hope for the best for us 3g guys.
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Try downloading with phone, then sideload it. It should work since it works for dell streak, even though it is android 2.3, it is a 7 inch tablet. It worked on my SGT7+ wifi, it should work on Tmobile. Just make sure you purchase it.
Downloaded but seeing quite a bit of lagg. Replacing user data files with GSII files now hoping that they will fix it
Which version do you have? Wifi or 3g? Also did you just sideload apk, and download data from tab, or copy both. Mine has no lag whatsoever with the data download directly to tab. I also have no lag with the data downloaded from my evo 3d. They both work perfectly. I also recommend using the analog steering and driving controls.
I sideloaded the .apk and let it download, had lag, so I replaced the data files with ones for the GSII from a site I found. No lagg now, just had to reset the controls as it aligned them for the S2's resolution. I don't have another Android device so I had to go the less legal route to get the APK, but I have bought the game on the iPad so I don't feel bad about it. Thumbs down to Rockstar for not having the compatibility in order
Cptnodegard said:
I sideloaded the .apk and let it download, had lag, so I replaced the data files with ones for the GSII from a site I found. No lagg now, just had to reset the controls as it aligned them for the S2's resolution. I don't have another Android device so I had to go the less legal route to get the APK, but I have bought the game on the iPad so I don't feel bad about it. Thumbs down to Rockstar for not having the compatibility in order
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Come one bro, dont include those details, as it can get you booted.
Also what type of lag were you referring to?
FPS issues in the entire game, basically. Driving around was very laggy and basically unplayable
The game is great and works better on 7 inches than the 10 inch iPad imho... just hope rockstar gets a grip and fixes compatibility settings. As a new Android user I can't even begin to express how utterly idiotic this issue with erroneous compatibility blocks is
Cptnodegard said:
FPS issues in the entire game, basically. Driving around was very laggy and basically unplayable
The game is great and works better on 7 inches than the 10 inch iPad imho... just hope rockstar gets a grip and fixes compatibility settings. As a new Android user I can't even begin to express how utterly idiotic this issue with erroneous compatibility blocks is
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Oh ok, mine still seems very responsive, Ill try other data file from other phones i have. Ill post results later. Yup, thats the problem with android fragmentation, but either way any android phone beats an iphone.
No...it doesn't. Believing that is just pure bias as there is no, and probably never will be, an OS that beats the other on everything. That's why I have one of each.
Youre still very new to this community, give it some time, to the infite modifications and freedom android gives you.
Customizing something all the way to Mars is nice, but still doesn't make up for lack of apps. I've been using the iPad in ways that physically aren't possible on Android because of the lack of certain apps and types of apps
give me an example and Ill try to tell which apps are available. I have over 400 apps installed. I go thru the apple catalog and I only see nonsense apps, or social apps, how many of those do you need. But its true there are more apps, but almost all are already in android. Maybe not the market but getjar, amazon market, appbrain and more.
Ok, here's a challenge for you, and if you do manage to find an app, you will be my hero:
One of my most used apps on the iPad is a certain type of note taking app. I say a certain type rather than a specific app as there are quite literally dozens of these available on iOS now. This type of app will let me import documents - minimum requirement is PDF, but more types is better - and write on top of them. So far Android has alternative. Then you get to the most important feature, magnification mode. The way this works in all of said dozen apps is that you have a window at the bottom of the screen that shows a small portion of the screen magnified. This allows you to write big letters and have it be shrunk down. These boxes are resizable and can be set for various zoom levels. They also have auto-advance, meaning that when you get to the end of the box it automatically moves it so you just write from the beginning again. This way you can write sentence upon sentence just as you would on paper, and just as accurately, even with a normal capacitive stylus. Other features that are often in these apps include the ability to insert images, machine text, web clips, audio recordings etc. You will also need to have the ability to export PDF. There are apps on android that can annotate PDF, but not at that level. All semester I've been using the iPad and nothing but the iPad both in lectures and outside, scanning paper documents using Scanner Pro and an external camera, annotating them (this is why just text editing is useless - I need to be able to have 100% control over size, placement, angle etc of the text on a page, underline and make arrows and drawings all over the place, not just write some text down) and storing them for reading. Just had an exam with 900 pages worth of curriculum and notes, all read on the iPad, and created on the iPad to begin with in the case of notes.
That kind of app in particular is crucial, and it has to be able to do exactly what I mention here, no "almost" with missing the magnification mode etc. They even provided all the lecturers with iPads this fall, and they've been using the same types of apps connected to projectors via VGA (try finding a VGA adapter for the galaxy tab, btw ).
This is just the ultimate example though, as it's not only the type of app I've used the most, but it's an app that is 100% productivity. No widgets, games or anything like that - it's a productivity issue, and an issue for Android's usability in settings outside of people who like to watch videos and play with ADWlauncher (which also includes me in my spare time, hence why I have an Android tablet).
Other examples off the top of my head: Splashtop's secondary product, xDisplay. It doesnt exist on Android (yet), and it's an example of an app where I don't care if there are "similar products" - it's the system I'm invested in and missing apps from major services like that is an issue. I could also bring up apps that have some sort of equivalent, but far from anything that works as good. Goodreader on the iPad -> ezPDF on Android, much less powerful app. Scanner Pro -> CamScanner, same thing, and they even broke 7.0 plus compatibility in the last update. There's no direct access app for the educational system my school uses, Classfronter, which isn't really an issue due to browser access but still an issue as it's slower. No good alternative to Reeder either, not that I've found anyways.
Education in itself is an interesting field. There are so many apps that make the iPad a powerful tool for both teachers and students on iOS. How about the ability to annotate documents wirelessly using Syncpad, an app that streams the image on screen to any HTML5 browser that's connected to the internet (not just local wifi)? Used that one a lot. Replaynote, letting you do notes and commentary and have it automatically turned into a video that you can send off to help people. Dictionary apps; when you study ENglish like I do, "a dictionary" isn't enough. You need as many as possible. That's iOS, not android.
Enough productivity. Fun apps. BBE's app has brought a music enhancement technology, that so far has only been licensed to Cowon for portable use, to iOS. There's no comparison to EQs in apps like Poweramp. Flipboard, awesome RSS reader that I use instead of Reeder when I want to relax, not read feeds for work. Tried Pulse, not the same, or even close. Neither is Currents. Zinio is luckily on both OSes though there are several magazines that are only available through Newsstand. Connecting the iPad to a synthesizer via USB and playing around with it on an amateur level is always fun.
Enough examples.
I love my 7.0 Plus. I love how personal the homescreen is after tweaking it, Google Talk on it is awesome, it's the device I reach for to check email in the morning, I love using a Wiimote for games, i use it as a mouse and keyboard for my PC in bed, remote control utorrent, browse the web, as a flashlight at night (LOVE that), video support makes me weep tears of joy, read books that aren't scanned A4 documents (and hence possible to reformat for 7 inches) etc. It's a great device, which is why I have it. However it isn't perfect. There's plenty of room for both OSes in my life, for the exact reason that neither is perfect.
Repligo reader for first, lets you write on top of pdf files (shapes, text,highlight, selections,w/e), I use it in class alot, but also lean to quick office since I just use camera to copy what i dont feel like typing.
Currents instead of pulse, much better. Also with repligo everything should be capable to be done, what ios app are you refering to which can do all that.
splashtop is on android also.
I think I answered what you needed, to long to read over again, while trying to study for nueuro final.
How did you get the GTA apk to your Tab? I tried AppInstaller, but I get an "access denied" error when I try to export it?
*edit* Nevermind. I was able to get the apk using Root Explorer. Can't wait to fire it up!
theundeadelvis said:
How did you get the GTA apk to your Tab? I tried AppInstaller, but I get an "access denied" error when I try to export it?
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you need root, and you can use root explorer to copy, to sd card. Make sure you click on r/w to be able to write and copy.
Hey all,
I'm looking into the possibility of using my Xoom as my daily computer and making a current PC more of a home theater setup in the living room. I don't do anything heavy on the computer (besides occasionally gaming but no big deal) it's all mostly web browsing, IMing, Facebook, etc, so I don't see too much of a reason why I couldn't do this.
My question is this: Have any of you done it? Made the switch from the PC (or mac) being your primary computer to the Xoom? If so, thoughts? Anything to pay attention to? If I do go through with this, I will end up getting a bluetooth keyboard and mouse, I'm sure... but I'd rather not waste 100 bucks on something I end up not using often.
i use my laptop just to root my xoom =)
Anything I should pay attention to, or an accessory that will make a huge difference or anything? Besides the bluetooth keyboard/mouse, obviously.
thank you for the reply, but I already have a xoom... just trying to decide if it is feasible to use as an everyday computer.
Advise Only
This thread and the linked thread reminds me of the discussions an older man like myself would have with so called computer sales persons. If I'd listened to all their talk about specs and hardware I'd owned a missile launcher capable of high end mathematical computations !
What I'm saying is my advise is to list your requirements and expectations first. Look at the specs and hardware and decide what you'll need.
I am a retired engineer and I spend most of my time on my Xoom. A properly installed version of ICS, personally like EOS, I have NO problems surfing, emailing, playing some games and yes I even break out a spreadsheet once in a while.
Yes there are netbooks and laptops that can offer more...just be sure to aim those missiles correctly!!
TheRandom1 said:
thank you for the reply, but I already have a xoom... just trying to decide if it is feasible to use as an everyday computer.
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Wow, there was no need for AngryBulleteyeTruth to be so negative. I makes me wonder why he is even lurking the xoom forum if it is no use to him. Anyway.
I use my xoom more than I use my laptop and desktop. It Is wonderful for Im/text, typing documents to later be altered on a laptop/desktop, some games and media. I use my xoom everyday. The battery life is also great. Yes the document editing isn't on par with desktop suites but is an android tablet, not a laptop. The simplicity comes with its drawbacks but the portability, battery and ease of use is unmatched.
Also if you really need to run desktop quality apps you can just use an app like pocketcloud or splashtop hd to vnc into your laptop/desktop and do what you must. The internal 32gb + a 16gb micro sD card is more than enough room for me. You also have cloud storage available. There is even a app called pocketcloud explorer that will allow you to download and upload files remotely from your machines, with the addition of their companion software. AngryBulleteyeTruth just lacks creativity and the will to find a solution. Don't let his negativity drag you down. Also take a look at when he joined. Feb 2012 means he is fairly new to the community and possibly butt hurt by his unrealistic dream of his xoom transforming into a tiny robot and being his sidekick didn't work out as planned.
I love my xoom! With Team EOS nightlys + undervolting + some simple but useful apps to automate certain task at certain locations = WIN for me. I have a 4g xoom so I can pop my sim card from my HTC thunderbolt in there and use all of that unlimited data. Or tether via Bluetooth if I am on the go.
My uses also include: gps, scanning/PDFing documents on the fly, video chat, voip, portable netflix/media play w/ my micro hdmi cable, getting my fix on reddit, sexytime material and more. People are working hard and doing great things with this device. There will also be more to come. The device is an awesome tool but but you can't expect Apple like commercials that spoon feed what you can use it for.
Tips: checkout androidpolice.com and droid-life.com for explanations, news, reviews, tips and tweaks. Lifehacker also has some good android stuff from time to time. I use justreader to subscribe to the rss feeds.
Search YouTube for useful tablet apps.
Check out the Themes and Apps forum sections for other popular android tablets on XDA. I use tapatalk to subscribe to the Samsung galaxy tab 10.1, Asus prime, Asus transformer and nook color Themes and Apps sections.
Finally share your discoveries and leave constructive comments on XDA. This keeps the community going, makes you feel involved and spread the knowledge to others in your situation.
May you and your xoom find happiness.
AngryBulleteyeTruth said:
Did you write it on a xoom or on a netbook?
Just imagine my 50+ tabs on opera working on any xoom browser, and making my 5+ pages documents on it
...not ignoring the embeded video browsing other than you tube
runhopskipjump - I'm not ashamed of being disappointed. That's the point.
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I wrote on a xoom with swiftkeys while eating some carrot cake if you must know. I currently have 23 tabs open in opera from looking at reddit links that I would get back to later. And a couple more in chrome because I am downloading some music from beemp3 and prefer that the native download manager handles it. Yes I have typed 5+ pages with and without a Bluetooth keyboard on Docs to Go. My grammar isn't that shyty that I would require a stronger office suite to highlight the crap out of my paragraphs. You can always embed media at a later point or vnc into a desktop to complete the task as desired.
I hated netbooks. But that is not the point. The OP asked if it was viable to use the Xoom as his main device, not his only device. Yet you saw it fit to run your mouth, blabbering about your opinion, disappointment and flawed understanding of what the device is meant to achieve. I hope this exchange between us will be our last because I am not hear to convince you. You have made it clear that you aren't ashamed by your crys for attention using BOLD red font, linking to your own poorly placed Microsoft Dic-Riding thoughts on another thread and your clear inability to find a solution.
On Ice Cream Sandwich, this machine is a powerhouse. If you can't hang, Get Out. Good day sir/madam.
I feel dirty... like I am standing in the middle of a p***in match.
For what it is worth, I ordered a keyboard today and turned off my monitor to my computer to test this. I installed an rdc app on the xoom, and have done everything on it since I got home. So far, so good. I have a desktop at work I can work with if needed, however, I really do only use my computer for email, web browsing chatting, Facebook and other similar very light duty things. I honestly don't care if i can keep 30 tabs open...because I dont do it anyways. Same for documents. With a keyboard, it should be pretty easy, but I am not in school and do not type long essays, so it doesn't matter. If I have something super long to post, I have other options.
And yes... I typed this post on the xoom. It is on its dock in front of me, and I am using the hunt and peck method of typing on the on screen keyboard.
TheRandom1 said:
I feel dirty... like I am standing in the middle of a p***in match.
For what it is worth, I ordered a keyboard today and turned off my monitor to my computer to test this. I installed an rdc app on the xoom, and have done everything on it since I got home. So far, so good. I have a desktop at work I can work with if needed, however, I really do only use my computer for email, web browsing chatting, Facebook and other similar very light duty things. I honestly don't care if i can keep 30 tabs open...because I dont do it anyways. Same for documents. With a keyboard, it should be pretty easy, but I am not in school and do not type long essays, so it doesn't matter. If I have something super long to post, I have other options.
And yes... I typed this post on the xoom. It is on its dock in front of me, and I am using the hunt and peck method of typing on the on screen keyboard.
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Avert your eyes my child from the darkness and bickering that may arise on these public forums. Lol.
May I suggest that you invest some coin in Swiftkeys Tablet X, Thumb Keyboard and Swype to have a more pleasant on screen experience. You won't regret it.
Also I use Keyboard Manager (only like $1) to automatically change keyboard when you switch from landscape to portrait and back. Swiftkeys Tablet X has a pretty good prediction/auto-correct function but I don't like the way it is displayed in portrait mode. Thumb Keyboard has a better layout (i use it in portrait mode) but the prediction/auto-correct isn't even close to Swiftkeys Tablet X. And Swype is free so why not try it. My experience with the stock keyboard is a dreadful one. All three are worth getting and are a wonderful investment.
Cheers.
I use my Xoom probably 90% of the time when I'm at home. Occasionally I will sit down and use my desktop for other stuff - BUT I already had a desktop at the time I bought my Xoom. If something must to happen to my desktop, I seriously doubt I would replace it. There is an app out there for practically everything now with a little time spent setting the Xoom up like I wanted it, it has almost replaced my desktop (and at some point it will probably replace it). I work in IT on a daily basis and I'm a power user and I'm very impressed with Android and what it can do.
OK then... time to ignore the obvious troll.
Anybody else have an opinion on this?
What Troll?
Looks like I owe you some thanks Andy!
That's what were here for.
Every device forum has them. We just need to keep an eye on them.
sold my netbook and kindle and ipod when i got the Xoom!
Well, I got the keyboard in today and it is awesome... when it works. For some reason keys keep randomly not working, specifically the r, l, g' z and backspace keys. Anybody else ever have this issue?
TheRandom1 said:
Well, I got the keyboard in today and it is awesome... when it works. For some reason keys keep randomly not working, specifically the r, l, g' z and backspace keys. Anybody else ever have this issue?
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What ROM are you running? I had this issue in the stock honeycomb ROM with an apple keyboard. I no longer have such issues on team EOS ICS nightlys.
Tip: swiftkeys Tablet X work great with an external keyboard. I say this because when an external keyboard is present, swiftkeys Tablet X only displays the predictions and auto corrections. Hitting the space bar selects the highlighted word. Is is very convenient and not something people speak of.
I haven't rooted yet, still on stock honeycomb
TheRandom1 said:
I haven't rooted yet, still on stock honeycomb
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Take some time to root it. Trust me, it is worth it. It opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Backing up apps, settings and game saves with titanium backup is so awesome. Android police has a wonderful set of articles about rooting, why you should do it and essential apps for rooted devices. Droid-life and lifehacker have some articles and pieces on the topic as well. Team EOS ICS nightlys are also one of the most up to date roms I have ever encountered. Rooting is even easier with tools like xoot and cornea, which will take you through the steps with a couple of clicks. I personally haven't tried those methods since I was rooted before they came out but others have been successful with them.
I will probably do that today just to see if the keyboard works better, it's so incredibly frustrating to only be able to type half a word! Hm... maybe I should root my Revo...again...
I'm swapping from Android to Windows Phone, and was hoping if anyone is bored enough to read this they might suggest some Windows Phone Apps that might suit my needs.
In no way do I expect anyone that hops in to respond to each type, or google around for me, but I expect I'm not the first person to make the Android -> Windows phone swap, so maybe some of you will have a quick idea of ones to try out. You don't need to spend a lot of time explaining every app, if you're busy. Every platform is different though, so rather than spend 10 hours looking for something that everyone in the community already knows, I thought I would just toss out some quick questions.
1. RSS feeds. On Android I use gReader Pro. It's a pretty basic app that allows easy setup for RSS feeds and syncs them with your google reader account. Not very exciting, but it's easy to use because my feeds are already set up via google, so a decent app that can do the same would be nice.
2. Google Voice. I'd like to make and receive texts, as well as make calls on wifi (receiving calls isn't a big deal, but would be a plus). I downloaded GoVoice, which seems like it will be pretty decent, but am open to suggsetions.
3. Podcasts. I used Doggcatcher on Android, which allows you to stream, download + save, and sync podcasts. It has a decent search function to help you get started.
4. Tasker. This one is more difficult to explain, but essentially it allows you to program a set of tasks, like a macro function. Essentially I have it set up for "Off" (as in data/wifi/bluetooth/gps/gsm disabled), "Data" (same as off but wifi enabled), "Loud" (same as data but with notifications and media volumes all the way up), and "Car" (same as Loud but wifi off and speakerphone and GPS enabled). Basically I use this to change the state of the GPS, WIFI, and volumes, so that I can quickly switch a number of settings at once. Great app, if you have some patience and have an Android kicking around.
5. Astrid Tasks. A pretty basic reminder app. I'm sure there are plenty of these for Windows Phone, but any suggestion would great. If it can store backups to the computer, or sync with a cloud based system, that would be a plus.
6*. Something to show running applications quickly. I'm not sure if this is actually an issue for Windows Phone, but sometimes apps go "rogue" on Android, so being able to make sure that a particular app isn't a battery drain would be nice. I was using System Panel on Android. If this isn't needed, disregard the question.
7. A good alarm app. I was using Gentle Alarm on Android, which has a widget to show you the next alarm that will go off, and allows easy creation of various alarms, which can be set for audible, vibration, specific days of the week to repeat on, etc. You can also ensure that alarms will always be audible, regardless of if everything else is muted, which is nice for at night when you don't need an email waking you up, but need to make sure the alarm is at maximum volume in the morning.
8. Anything else you can think of that is a must have for daily use. I'm a student and don't really have a lot of time to play with the phone for games, but hey, we all have to pass the time every once in a while.
9. Onenote. I like how this app syncs easily, but I can't view my handwritten notes that I write on my tablet. Is there a workaround that allows you to see these?
------ I'm only using this Lumia 710 on WIFI, essentially as a PDA + GPS, so anything handy that can prevent battery drain is a plus, as I don't require GPS to constantly be on, and I certainly don't need phone/data(non-wifi) to constantly be on.
In short, I appreciate any input you might have, even if it's only for one of the things I have listed. The phone seems great in general, and had most of the important things already installed (the email, calendar, navigation, office, etc., is fantastic as is, which is a great bonus compared to Android, where I had to use 3rd party apps for most of the core aspects).
Regards,
--bb
Weave
Skype
Music and Video with Zune
Not possible
Ask Ziggy
not needed
Default alarm
Board Express Pro
Sent from my HD7 using Board Express
---------- Post added at 06:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:14 PM ----------
Nokia Drive
Crackle
Nokia Creative Studio
Contract Killer
Sent from my HD7 using Board Express
---------- Post added at 06:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:16 PM ----------
Box
SkyDrive
MetroTube
Sent from my HD7 using Board Express
pvt_nemesis said:
Weave
Skype
Music and Video with Zune
Not possible
Ask Ziggy
not needed
Default alarm
Board Express Pro
Sent from my HD7 using Board Express
---------- Post added at 06:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:14 PM ----------
Nokia Drive
Crackle
Nokia Creative Studio
Contract Killer
Sent from my HD7 using Board Express
---------- Post added at 06:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:16 PM ----------
Box
SkyDrive
MetroTube
Sent from my HD7 using Board Express
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for all of the suggestions. That should keep me busy for quite awhile. :good:
Try also fantasia painter for photo editor. Is awesome and free. The only app i am missing since switching from wp7 to android
Sent from my HTC Explorer A310e using xda app-developers app
Before I get into my list, I'm just going to run down how apps and multi tasking work on WP7 in case you don't already know.
#1: No app can truly run in the background. The only way to get an app to continue running is either to have it up and prevent the screen from turning off, or (if supported by the app) allow it to run under the lockscreen, which means when you press the power button, only the screen turns off, the phone does not enter a sleep state.
-----------------The exception to this rule is when an app is playing music. If the app dev has done it correctly, he should have handed the music playing off to the system, so once you set up the music source in app, you should be able to minimize it and use the next/previous/play/pause controls. In fact you can even go to grooveshark's beta html5 in internet explorer; HTML5 can plug in to this system media playback! I was very excited to learn that. But at least on grooveshark, next/previous controls don't work.
#2: HOWEVER each app can have a "daemon" which is essentially a set of tasks that are run periodically by the system (minimum of every half hour). So if you use google latitude, latitude apps will only be able to update your position every half hour (or at longer intervals, but no shorter). This system of background daemons is actually very very good as it encourages unique thinking from the developer side, and still gives the user the benefits of true multi tasking without the battery drainage. What a daemon can do isn't that limited, but it's the fact that no internet connection can remain active in the background that poses a lot of problems (for example, IRC clients cannot have multi tasking for this reason). Since things can only run every half hour, you don't have to worry about things like turning off your gps, since nothing is allowed to just turn on the GPS and keep it on.
#3 : Also there's still push, of course. Lemme break that down for you: push notifications can either be through the live tile (rather than having a background daemon update the tile, things are pushed to it immediately as they arrive), or push can be used through statusbar notifications. One unfortunate oversight in this system is that if you have an app that you do not pin to the start menu, and if it has a notification and you did not hear it... there is no list of missed notifications. This doesn't come into play that often; for me it only happens with eBay, where I don't want to bother having that on my start screen but I might miss some alerts.
#4: Battery Saver mode is YOUR FRIEND. You can get nearly another day out of your phone (or I can with my Titan) when battery saver kicks in. You can enable it so that it turns on when the battery is low (%20), or manually. However, it disables all background daemons and push notification in order to save battery.
#5: Multi tasking and switching between apps. Hold down the back button to see the list of the last several apps you used (or in the case of my unlocked ROM, all of the apps you have used since boot). When you minimize an app (press the start button), it gets "dehydrated" which means it's just suspended to RAM. It works like you'd expect; start typing something in one app, switch over to another to look something up and switch back to the first to resume typing. To remove an app from the list, or "exit" the app (since it isn't actually running the only thing this does is remove clutter or perhaps free up some slots), you "back" out of them. Press the back button until the app goes away.
One of the reasons, in my opinion, that windows 8 is getting a lot of negative flack is because people don't know that live tiles are good. It doesn't help that, last time I checked, there were no useful live tile apps in the 8 marketplace yet. So frustrating! People hate what they don't understand, because hating on the internet is the standard state of existence. I encourage you to think about what you do on the internet every time you sit down on your computer, and see if you can find an app with live tile to do it for you. For me, I had a routine of checking my email(s), going through a lot of webcomics, reading news feeds, etc. That was my daily routine. Now with WP7, I have each aspect of my routine as a live tile, so I can literally replace that entire process with just looking at the start screen.
The other thing about live tiles and metro that people fail to understand is that active push notifications, where unnecessary are BAD, for a few different reasons. Push notifications are "active" and live tiles are "passive". This is because live tiles do not make any noise or otherwise prompt you to look at them; they are simply there and deliver content when you pull out your phone. Let me put this in perspective: say I pull out my phone to look up something on wikipedia. I can see that I have 2 new emails, some new RSS articles and a facebook notification. Number 1: I don't feel the urge to go and clear the unread count of all of these things, as I would if they were all aggregated in the statusbar like on android (because you need that statusbar for things, and if it's cluttered and you don't keep up on it, it quickly fills up and becomes overwhelming). I can leave them alone for now and go to wikipedia. Now if this were an android/IOS device, I would have gotten an audible notification for each of those three things, and I would have taken time out of whatever I was doing IN LIFE to tend to my phone.
Some points about stressors here (and when I say stressors, I don't mean overwhelming stress you can feel, but stress in the clinical sense, which is objective): having your phone beep at you constantly stresses you; for most people it's difficult to put their phone out of their mind until they have seen what the notification was. This is not good.
Moreover, feeling the need to go and clear unread counts/managing your statusbar is also somewhat of a stressor; if it starts overflowing you'll either learn to not use things that create notifications (somewhat limiting your experience with a smartphone), give up all hope and never look at the statusbar again, or just clear it out and miss out on things you wouldn't have if the information was presented in an orderly fashion.
Live tiles, being passive, are also more efficient in terms of time spent on the phone and your phone's battery life. Notice how in my example, I observed the new content only when I was already pulling out my phone to do something else. With things aggregating in bulk, I can view them in bulk at points of the day where I was already on my phone. This is opposed to pulling out my phone every 15 minutes because something new happened... which wastes time pulling your phone out of your pocket many times a day, wastes battery when turning the screen on/off many times a day, and if you use wifi; wastes even more battery when the wifi radio is turned on/off sporadically many times a day.
So yes, live tiles are an objectively less stressful approach to mobile devices and less distracting from tasks at hand. The same concepts can be applied to windows 8; rather than having popup notifications for all your facebook, email, rss, etc bombard you while you're trying to write a paper... all of that information is silently aggregated for you in the background.
------------The List-------------------
For alarms,
627.AM
Built in Alarm app.
For task / project management
Tasks by telerik
Or just use the built in calendar app
Or use Onenote and Pin your task list to the start screen.
For RSS
Wonder Reader hands down, none of the other google reader clients are quite as fully functional and polished.
Fuse is pretty but I never got the hang of using it.
For Wifi Video calls
Tango. It's pretty limited in that the android and IOS client are updated with better features, and you can only call other people with tango... but the service itself is more efficient and more reliable than the skype app was last time I tried it. Moreover it supports push for accepting calls, something skype doesn't. Also I like the concept of not having "online / offline" states. You call someone, and they choose to answer it or not. Why would I need to log into a phone...
I used to take notes on a tablet at school, and ran into the same problem as you. Only solution I know of is to print your notes back into onenote. You'll have duplicates of everything unfortunately.
Podcast functionality is built in.
For random recommendations...
das Image (Better image search)
Image Map (Renders all of your pictures on a map based on GPS loc info)
Dynamic Background (Unlock) (Updates the lockscreen picture every half hour choosing randomly from a pool of selected images)
Battery Status (Unlock) (Live tile for current battery percent, also tracks battery usage and graphs it for you)
EnClock (there is no stopwatch built in to WP7, and you never know when you need one)
eBay
HandyScan (Helps you take good pictures of papers, backs up to skydrive. Better to keep documents in here than with regular pictures).
Keep Alive (by jaxbot, it prevents wifi from turning off)
Nokia Drive (Unlock unless you get a nokia device)
MetroPaper (Read it later / pocket)
Metrotube + Supertube (youtube apps. 1 is awesome, 2 lets you download videos and even create offline "music" playlists)
Photo2cloud (back up full res photos to skydrive independent of PC)
Supreme Shortcuts (Unlock) (Lets you pin any setting page to the start screen)
WeatherLive (There are plenty of other weather apps... but weatherlive works, it's incredibly thorough, updates live tile using GPS location, is pretty, etc)
Zite (Gives you news articles based on google reader feeds and who you follow in twitter, good for every time I go to the toilet )
If you use IRC or SSH
The SSH Client Pro
TinyIRC
And now that you are a part of the WP community, you should invest in AND pin the live tiles of each to your start screen:
WPCentral
WMPoweruser
Games! I Don't like to play serious games on my phone; I like something I can whip out at any time and turn off at any time, no consequence. That said, I make an exception for the Final Fantasy updated / rerelease for WP7
COLLAPSE (Probably my favorite mobile game. It's an easy puzzle game, but satisfying to plow through at ludicrous speed. There are some very hard rounds with special conditions though.. story mode is dumb but it has unique challenges and you need to play through it to unlock all the quick play modes).
Final Fantasy
Wordament
Fruit Ninja
Dodonpachi Maximum (Genre: Bullet Hell. If you don't know what that means then try it before you buy it. If you love bullet hell; buy this. It's by CAVE).
Wizard's Choice (A casual text adventure).
link68759 said:
Lots of good info
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the detailed response!
I've started using Onenote as a to-do list, but I made a recent post as to why that's causing me problems (or so it seems).
I seem to be syncing everything from onenote, and my device has basically filled up overnight as it downloaded my files. Microsoft told me to contact Nokia about it, and then disconnected?
It seemed like a good plan to me as well. I don't really need to see detailed graphs and notes on the phone, just a couple simple folders.
I may just reset the phone and give the other apps you suggested a shot, and not connect with my microsoft live ID at all. I went from plenty of space on the device to none, in a matter of days.
I'm not sure if podcasts were an issue as well, and how it saves and deletes them. I only stored what I would consider a small amount, maybe 200 megs or less.
Nokia drive works great. It takes up a lot of space, but I have it on my feature phone as well, and the GPS acquisition time on the Lumia 710 blows away my E5-00, and my Droid X. It's just incredibly fast at locking in.
I'll do a reset tomorrow and give the other apps a shot, and try to avoid anything that could be crushing my storage. All I really need for storage is email, nokia drive, and basic apps/news/podcasts, which on my android (nav aside) shouldn't really take more than 1 gig of space. A few small games to pass the time, and some apps for productivity, and I should be back in business.
Unfortunately I can't seem to find a way to determine what is using X amount of space, so I'll have to do a full wipe and install items slowly, to sort it out.
There isn't a proper app to view this kind of thing, is there?
Regards,
--bb
I'll reply to your other thread about one note.
You can't not connect with your live ID if you plan to download apps unfortunately.
For viewing used space, Zune does divide it up for you, I don't remember how specific it gets but it should be divided into space used by music, videos, podcasts, apps. I don't think it's possible for an app to view usage, because each app is sandboxed; that is they have their own folder on the device and they are not allowed to leave it.
Nokia Drive shouldn't need to take up a lot of space; you can just download the maps of where you live and where you might possibly go spontaneously, as opposed to your whole country XD. Yeah I've had good luck with my phones and GPS, WP7 in general does an excellent job with GPS.
Oh I forgot to mention in my first post; WPCentral and WMPoweruser are good because they do a lot of app/game reviews, usually the reviews are on new apps in the market. This is pretty much the only way I discover new apps
link68759 said:
I'll reply to your other thread about one note.
You can't not connect with your live ID if you plan to download apps unfortunately.
For viewing used space, Zune does divide it up for you, I don't remember how specific it gets but it should be divided into space used by music, videos, podcasts, apps. I don't think it's possible for an app to view usage, because each app is sandboxed; that is they have their own folder on the device and they are not allowed to leave it.
Nokia Drive shouldn't need to take up a lot of space; you can just download the maps of where you live and where you might possibly go spontaneously, as opposed to your whole country XD. Yeah I've had good luck with my phones and GPS, WP7 in general does an excellent job with GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotcha!
I will look into setting up a new windows live account for OneNote to-do type lists. I know Office sometimes used to have issues with multiple live accounts on the same computer, in Windows 7, but I think that's mostly fixed now. I use google calendar anyways (to sync), so realistically it's not the end of the world for me to keep the accounts disconnected from my school Onenote live account.
I guess I synced all of Nokia North America at once (1.9 or so gigs of a download). I certainly don't need more than 20% of it. In fact, my whole state, now that I look at it, is only 36 megs.
Now that you've given some ideas of how to approach it, I'm liking this more than any of my other previous phones (iPhone, BB Bold, Droid X, etc). It needs some time to grow as an operating system, and Nokia really needs to put an LED notification light on future models [shakes tiny fist], but I think they're back in the game!
Thank you very much for all of your help.
//Edit: I read your other post responding to mine. I think you're right. I could probably do a wipe, use the same account, but move the basic to-do lists to a separate folder, pin them, and make sure to never ever open the school folder itself in Office on the phone. That sounds like it would work ok as well, as I must have opened a school folder that overwhelmed it and just started syncing massive amounts of pdf's, inking, and so on, along with the simple things.
I just wanted to also mention that all that you typed out would make for a great sticky. That's a ton of great info.
Thank you again for all of the feedback.
You made some excellent points about how smartphones add lots of unnecessary stresses when they're constantly distracting us with notifications, as well as how live tiles really help ease you into information you need, and information you might not, but are willing to take a brief glance at. I'm a big Windows 8 fan, and have used RP, RTM Pro (currently), and RTM enterprise. I think Live Tiles are fantastic, whether it's on my phone, my convertible laptop, or my desktop. I think you're absolutely correct about how people just don't quite understand how handy it will be yet.
//BTW: I bookmarked your post as a sort of "zen" explanation I can refer back to, or link to a friend, so they understand the unity and purposes in the next stage in Windows products.
///Afterthought: I still would like a notification LED on the phone, as long as it's customizable. On Android and Blackberry I would always disable the light for all of the nonsense things, but keep it enabled for things like a missed call (because that could be my son needing a ride, or something else that's important), or for a severe weather alert. Random emails would just have to wait until I turned on the screen.
Sorry to bump my own thread again, but I have a question about three of the apps that link68759 mentioned.
"Supreme Shortcuts (Unlock) (Lets you pin any setting page to the start screen)"
"Battery Status (Unlock) (Live tile for current battery percent, also tracks battery usage and graphs it for you)"
"Keep Alive (by jaxbot, it prevents wifi from turning off)"
By "unlock" I'm assuming he meant an unlocked bootloader, and not locked to a cellular carrier? I did the basic test today, and mine appears to be locked, which is a shame because both of those functions would be great.
As far as "Keep Alive" goes, I can't seem to find that specific app/dev combo in the market. I don't use 3g/4g data on this phone, or any phone anymore, so is that an app that is better than keeping the scanning on, or is it a battery drain? I'm just not sure I follow the concept, because I can't find a description of it.
Regards,
--bb
bladebarrier said:
Sorry to bump my own thread again, but I have a question about three of the apps that link68759 mentioned.
"Supreme Shortcuts (Unlock) (Lets you pin any setting page to the start screen)"
"Battery Status (Unlock) (Live tile for current battery percent, also tracks battery usage and graphs it for you)"
"Keep Alive (by jaxbot, it prevents wifi from turning off)"
By "unlock" I'm assuming he meant an unlocked bootloader, and not locked to a cellular carrier? I did the basic test today, and mine appears to be locked, which is a shame because both of those functions would be great.
As far as "Keep Alive" goes, I can't seem to find that specific app/dev combo in the market. I don't use 3g/4g data on this phone, or any phone anymore, so is that an app that is better than keeping the scanning on, or is it a battery drain? I'm just not sure I follow the concept, because I can't find a description of it.
Regards,
--bb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll need to flash a custom ROM, which you can luckily do on your 710.
The a wifi radio turning on/off takes more power than one that is idly connected. So if you use the phone frequently, it's better to stay connected. If you aren't going to touch it for many hours at a time, better to let it disconnect and turn off.
But if you aren't using cellular then you'll need wifi to update information in the background.
Some more here
Dialpad7
Handyscan
Photogram
Skype
Sleep Bug
Tango
UC Browser
whatspp= messenger
Yelp = to find nearby things
I'm starting to get bored and I've hear about people using their phones to controls their car and various other things. So I'm looking for ways that my Nexus 5 can interact with my computer and I'm finding it hard to come across apps and coming up with ideas on what to do.
So far I have:
- retune (connects to iTunes)
- gmote (file browsing to play movies on your computer)
I have a dual monitor setup and sometimes I'm laying in bed, I wouldn't mind being able to see what those two screens are showing.
For example I might have gotten a steam/xfire message, but I don't want to get up. I'd love for a way to see them in my phone.
Or maybe I'm watching a video on YouTube on my phone, I have friends over and I'd like to show them all, so I could just swipe it to my one if my dual monitors, as I'd my phone was an extended display, or vice versa
Other than that, could you guys/girls recommend me other things that you might do that I haven't mentioned?
Maybe if this thread kicks off if there isn't already one similar, I could edit the OP with a list of software/apps and what they do so other members could find stuff out, and get a sticky.
Okay, go!!
check out BBQ screen in the paid apps forum for the "i have friends over and id like to show them all, so i could just swipe it to my one if my dual monitors" part. also you can use your phone as a remote keyboard\mouse by pairing it via bluetooth...
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