Longtime WinMo user (now with TP2). Just bought each kid an Android phone.
Been using XDA for a long time to modify my WinMo, add apps, etc...
Not familiar with the Android OS lingo and need to bone up so I can hook my kids up with some cool stuff
Did SEARCH but didn't find specific thread to read. Little help?
DLTempler said:
Longtime WinMo user (now with TP2). Just bought each kid an Android phone.
Been using XDA for a long time to modify my WinMo, add apps, etc...
Not familiar with the Android OS lingo and need to bone up so I can hook my kids up with some cool stuff
Did SEARCH but didn't find specific thread to read. Little help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well..
With android (especially with HTC Sense, HTC's UI) you can add plenty of little things to customize your phone. From the top
You can move application icons from page to page on the homescreen along with widgets. to add an application to the homescreen you can open the app drawer/list and longpress it and drag it to the homescreen. Once on the homescreen you can move it around.
Along with Apps you can add widgets to the homescreen, a widget is an app that runs in the homescreen it can do things like display a news ticker, enable/disable settings (power control widget), and other things like play music and search boxes. these can be very useful for getting a quick glance at information without opening up the app.
To change the background you can longpress the homescreen and select wallpapers.
If your phone supports it you can use live wallpapers, search for them on the market or on XDA.
One tip is dont install lots of apps! dont go and download every app you see it will slow down your phone, also dont use task managers as it messes with android native application closing process.
Also the biggest customization of all if your phone is rooted (IE: full permissions and access to the system) and has a hacked bootloader you can load custom roms that are themed or have a big performance boost.
Best of luck!
If you have any questions PM me and I will be glad to help!
Thanks
I spent the weekend tearing through other forums
Found a program called Sideload Wonder Machine that allows apk files to be put into the Aria without having to "root" the phone or otherwise dcik around with it. Worked pretty good after I found the USB Driver to sync it up with my laptop. that was a bit of a process in and of itself.
At the end of the day (weekend) I didn't really find too much to load into the phone that was not already available at the droid market. Swype, yes, but not for this phone. Loaded F-Secure anti-theft too but that, too, is not for this phone.
I am not sure how business savvy these droids can be but they are cool. Kids love them. The UI operates much like the iPhone and much less like WinMo.
I'll keep dciking around with it and see what happens. Thanks again.
DLTempler said:
Thanks
I spent the weekend tearing through other forums
Found a program called Sideload Wonder Machine that allows apk files to be put into the Aria without having to "root" the phone or otherwise dcik around with it. Worked pretty good after I found the USB Driver to sync it up with my laptop. that was a bit of a process in and of itself.
At the end of the day (weekend) I didn't really find too much to load into the phone that was not already available at the droid market. Swype, yes, but not for this phone. Loaded F-Secure anti-theft too but that, too, is not for this phone.
I am not sure how business savvy these droids can be but they are cool. Kids love them. The UI operates much like the iPhone and much less like WinMo.
I'll keep dciking around with it and see what happens. Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They can be quite business oriented (IE: Exchange, Calendars, Productivity Apps) If you want help PM me
Cheers,
Cap'n Krtek
Captainkrtek said:
They can be quite business oriented (IE: Exchange, Calendars, Productivity Apps) If you want help PM me
Cheers,
Cap'n Krtek
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i agree dont let the inteface fool you, android works as a tool just as well as winmo if not better
I have several outdated android smartphones laying around and would like to re-purpose one for an 8 year old.
The thing is, I cannot trust him not to install tons of adware and games on it and play it during school hours which will just cause trouble for everybody. What I'm thinking:
I need the ability to remotely enable/disable lock/unlock the phone and/or turn the phone on or off and/or time periods during which device is automatically locked or unlocked.
I need either a locked down modified cyanogen ROM (or equivalent) or I need to somehow setup everything from scratch.
GPS tracking (realtime constant monitoring isn't necessary but I'd like to be able to ping his location if I'm worried about him and maybe have some sort of perimeter alert system in case he strays into a dangerous neighborhood/gets kidnapped/whatever)
I also need to lockdown which contacts can be called/SMSed/telegramed/IMed/emailed
This kid is sharp, so if there is a way to circumvent these measures, he'll probably figure it out. But I'd like you're ideas and I'll try anyway. How would you go about this? If you're going to tell me I'm a horrible person for tracking my child, I know already.
wow your asking for alot OP. lol eaither this is a really dangours kid, or your extremely protective lol
eaither way il try and help as best as i can. for tracking you can use "wheres my android" app. its gps tracking after you text it a certain phrase, it gives the location to the phone you texted.
you can try cnmod and just install wa app passwors to lock the settings, so the kid wont change anything
Thanks for the reply. He isn't dangerous, he is more of the absent minded genius type. I'm more afraid a stranger will say "lets go to my place to build model rockets" and he won't be able to resist.
What do you mean "wa app passwords"?
You sort of addressed the tracking and locking down apps. Any ideas for contact control so he doesn't just use up all of the minutes calling buddies and 900 numbers?
Hello, what phone are you going to give your child?? What I'm thinking is putting custom rom on the device and use the multi user option if the rom supports it. Then maybe, (maybe) you'll be able to omit which things can see/use and disable some of the things you're asking for.
Good luck.
Sent from my 1+1
go0 said:
Thanks for the reply. He isn't dangerous, he is more of the absent minded genius type. I'm more afraid a stranger will say "lets go to my place to build model rockets" and he won't be able to resist.
What do you mean "wa app passwords"?
You sort of addressed the tracking and locking down apps. Any ideas for contact control so he doesn't just use up all of the minutes calling buddies and 900 numbers?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We use MMGuardian Does everything you want and more and it's pretty cheap. I just assume you know a thing or two about Android so I'll tell you this, mmguardian is amazing, the only thing is you have to turn off persistent notifications for the app. I get why they don't have that built in, but just do that and hide that app and your as good as gold. You can add 'key words' that when come up in a text, IM, email or search, it will send you and alert on your phone. You get transcripts of their texts, im and email (which I was happy for, now I just find creepy and intrusive to my childs privacy) but it's pretty sold service OP
Hey guys,
I just placed an order on Amazon for the International S7 Edge version. I was looking on the xda forum and the Playstore for certain tweaks that will help with the transition from an iPhone 6 Plus to S7. I will admit it's this is overwhelming for me, it's like learning a whole new language.
These are the apps and tweaks that I mostly use on my iPhone. Can you tell me if there is anything similar to these.
- Cydia - All in one app for mods, tweaks, torrent client, etc.
- Protecti+ - Allows me to only show you want I want to show you when someone uses my phone. I can choose to hide apps, pictures, text messages, etc. I can use an command to bring everything back like hitting my home button three times.
- GV Mobile+ - I use this app if I am selling something on Craigslist and I don't want to give out my real phone number. I am able to use a different phone number for texting and calling by using my real number but it's masked with my fake number.
- AppCake - it's a pirated site for crack apps. Just an FYI, I do purchase all of my apps and tweaks through Cydia but I have learned my lesson to try it out before buying.
- TorrentBox - Just an app I use to download torrents.
For torrent Client - flud has no rival.
For torrent search - Use torrent search app from the playstore
For cydia - there are a lot of applets outlet on Android. Do your search when you get your phone.
Protecti+ - Use guest mode on Android or use security apps to hide whatever secret you've got. Your best bet here will be to use the guest mode.
To hide/mask a number, there are a lot of apps that do similar things on Android. You might want to root and discover new ways of doing that. Google search and you'll find virtually all the steps needed to do whatever you want to do to your phone. Make google your friend.
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
Thanks for the info. If I root my phone will I still be able to use the finger print login? I hear mix reviews about Samsung pay not and is working with international phones.
JoeFromSFO said:
Thanks for the info. If I root my phone will I still be able to use the finger print login? I hear mix reviews about Samsung pay not and is working with international phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure about Pay, but fingerprint will definitely work. Moreover, there is a private mode by default which hides gallery, music, voice recorder and files. If this isn't enough, you can easily find new apps on the play store. Most of them have free versions, so you don't have to buy (at least at first).
If you do root your device, you can install xposed and get almost all the network & location spoofing done. I haven't personally needed an app like GV Mobile+, so I'm not sure about it.
thedisturbedone said:
I'm not sure about Pay, but fingerprint will definitely work. Moreover, there is a private mode by default which hides gallery, music, voice recorder and files. If this isn't enough, you can easily find new apps on the play store. Most of them have free versions, so you don't have to buy (at least at first).
If you do root your device, you can install xposed and get almost all the network & location spoofing done. I haven't personally needed an app like GV Mobile+, so I'm not sure about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll check out xposed for location spoofing.
Google Voice is great if you don't want to give out your real phone number. You can make calls using a Google number which will call you to your real phone number then once you pick up it will then call the number your trying to call so it only shows that Google phone number not your real number.
I'll checkout Guess Mode. I only hide personal apps like my back account, settings, shopping apps or anything someone can go in and make changes.
Just going through these post on here is crazy. So much to learn. I just hope the auto correct and multi tasking is great on the Samsung. Right now my phone reboots 8 times a day when I
Multitask with my iPhone 6 Plus.
For Cydia equivalent, use Xposed, it works almost the same but you don't need to add source like cydia does.
I don't think we have any AppCake equivalent source/module, but most of the Xposed module came free with a complete feature.
for Torrent, uTorrent on the playstore would do the trick, no need to root, just install it.
pitopika13 said:
For Cydia equivalent, use Xposed, it works almost the same but you don't need to add source like cydia does.
I don't think we have any AppCake equivalent source/module, but most of the Xposed module came free with a complete feature.
for Torrent, uTorrent on the playstore would do the trick, no need to root, just install it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, so xposed is not a location spoofing app but more like a Cydia, gotcha. I am familiar with uTorrent on my PC so that would work.
I don't think I need to root my phone. I am not trying to change the color my my keyboard or make changes to my layout. I just like certain tweaks like different multi-tasking options, hiding apps, location spoofing for apps and much more.
Xposed is what you want. Root using the guide on xda id stick to stock rom for now and flash the xposed files
Sent from my SM-G935F using XDA-Developers mobile app
Ausboy 2011 said:
Xposed is what you want. Root using the guide on xda id stick to stock rom for now and flash the xposed files
Sent from my SM-G935F using XDA-Developers mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks,
Do you need to root your phone to load xposed and use tweaks?
Having used appcake I don't think xposed is really equivalent at all. Xposed will give you more control over our os and installing mods. You'd probably want something like blackmart or apptoid which are more similar to appcake. You can find these apks by doing a Google search. Once you download an apk it installs like a normal app. Doing this is called side loading and you have to go into your security settings and check allow from unknown sources.
---------- Post added at 08:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:59 AM ----------
JoeFromSFO said:
Thanks,
Do you need to root your phone to load xposed and use tweaks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you need root. You will want to unlock your boot loader and install a custom recovery first thing. They're some great guides on here on how to do that.
Keep in mind, once you root, you'll never get to use Samsung pay, which does work on international devices. Where are you located?
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
JoeFromSFO said:
Thanks, I'll check out xposed for location spoofing.
Google Voice is great if you don't want to give out your real phone number. You can make calls using a Google number which will call you to your real phone number then once you pick up it will then call the number your trying to call so it only shows that Google phone number not your real number.
I'll checkout Guess Mode. I only hide personal apps like my back account, settings, shopping apps or anything someone can go in and make changes.
Just going through these post on here is crazy. So much to learn. I just hope the auto correct and multi tasking is great on the Samsung. Right now my phone reboots 8 times a day when I
Multitask with my iPhone 6 Plus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Looks like you've learnt a lot already! And yes, in iPhone terms, xposed is like Cydia
Keyboard, I'll either suggest the Google Keyboard or Switkey. Both are free, so you can try them. Swiftkey has a special mode for the edge screen which is kinda helpful for me, so keys don't overflow to the edges of the screen. And it learns your typing patterns damn well including where you press for each key.
As for multi-tasking, its quite epic with the 4GB of ram. You should be able to do all your work. No reboots at all here!
I hope you have the International variant! Because it has a lot more support and is easily unlockable / rootable. If you do root though, you trip a security switch called Knox. This will harm your validity, which is why Samsung Pay would mostly likely not work (people might find a way around it). But in normal day usage, rooting has no effect whatsoever.
If your banking apps can see that you've rooted and refuse to work, there are modules in Xposed that can help you hide it. So its a negligible.
Anything else?
Thanks guys,
I will mess with the phone this weekend and see what I can come up with. I know it's going to be a learning curve for me but I am sure in the end it will be worth it. If not then I always have my jailbroken iPhone I can use.
Appcake on iOs, Blackmarket on Android. I can get any latest version apps(from the other country) when it still not available for my country. On Appcake you cant update your apps, need to reinstall it (cmiiw)
JoeFromSFO said:
I will admit it's this is overwhelming for me, it's like learning a whole new language.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And then a handful of people in here goes on to tell you to root and install Xposed. Right. I would NOT root or do any heavy modifications to the device at first. You're coming from an iPhone and Android is completely new to you, so I would recommend you to get to know Android first, and then after a month or so when you've learned how to properly use the thing, then start looking for alternative apps, services, mods etc. Don't look at a product you haven't touched yet and ask your self "how can I improve this?", when you don't know what to even improve.
People around here will, of course, tell you to root, tweak the battery and launch it on a rocket to mars. Don't listen to them. You are however interested in some alternative apps to the one's you used on your iPhone.
- Cydia = Xposed, but the latter is much more powerful, and thus much more dangerous. It's a fun app to use, but it requires root, which will void your warranty, and Samsung Pay will be long gone. It'll trigger KNOX, and your phone will forever be marked as modified. You won't be able to make it completely stock again. Ever. So I would hold off with root and Xposed for now.
- Protecti+ = Private Mode, which you can find in the drop down notification center. You can toggle it on and off there, and you can set photo albums, files etc. to private, and the files will only be visible when you tap the Private Mode-toggle, access it with your fingerprint, and then all the files will be visible in the Gallery, file explorer and so on. When you want to hide it again, just exit Private Mode by tapping the Private Mode-toogle again.
- GV Mobile+ = No idea, but it's a Google Voice number, so I guess there's a solution out there. I don't use it myself, so I don't really have an overview over what's going on in that area.
- AppCake = Piracy is something that is really easy to do on Android, and it's a serious problem for the devs, so please don't do it. The Google Play Store has a refund function, which means that if you buy an app and you're not happy with it, then just tap "Refund". Voila. That's it. You can use the refund-button for about 2 hours after you've bought the app (or more), but you can easily get a refund after a month to if you really want to. The point here is that there's no reason to pirate any app. Pirating an app is also risky, since the APK can be modified with malware and so on. This is literally how malware spreads on Android. Cheap people who can't spend a buck.
- TorrentBox = Flud. Simple as that. It looks great, and it works great.
Again, just use your S7 Edge! Just use it and get used to Android. Are you bothered by something? Alright, it can probably be tweaked. Don't like the default messaging app? Okay, so just install a different one. Don't like the browser? Install a different one. Don't like the look of things? Download a theme or two from the Theme Store. You have no reason to root right now. At all. If you do, I'm sure we'll read a Q&A thread from you soon where something has gone horribly wrong, and you have no idea what to do, since you have no idea how things work
J.biden is 100% right get used to s7 edge before you start playing with tweaks and root.
Once you root you can never go back to complete original firmware as out of the box and you will void warranty. To some including myself that doesn't matter but many it does especially those new to android.
Don't rush it just tske your time.
J.Biden said:
And then a handful of people in here goes on to tell you to root and install Xposed. Right. I would NOT root or do any heavy modifications to the device at first. You're coming from an iPhone and Android is completely new to you, so I would recommend you to get to know Android first, and then after a month or so when you've learned how to properly use the thing, then start looking for alternative apps, services, mods etc. Don't look at a product you haven't touched yet and ask your self "how can I improve this?", when you don't know what to even improve.
People around here will, of course, tell you to root, tweak the battery and launch it on a rocket to mars. Don't listen to them. You are however interested in some alternative apps to the one's you used on your iPhone.
- Cydia = Xposed, but the latter is much more powerful, and thus much more dangerous. It's a fun app to use, but it requires root, which will void your warranty, and Samsung Pay will be long gone. It'll trigger KNOX, and your phone will forever be marked as modified. You won't be able to make it completely stock again. Ever. So I would hold off with root and Xposed for now.
- Protecti+ = Private Mode, which you can find in the drop down notification center. You can toggle it on and off there, and you can set photo albums, files etc. to private, and the files will only be visible when you tap the Private Mode-toggle, access it with your fingerprint, and then all the files will be visible in the Gallery, file explorer and so on. When you want to hide it again, just exit Private Mode by tapping the Private Mode-toogle again.
- GV Mobile+ = No idea, but it's a Google Voice number, so I guess there's a solution out there. I don't use it myself, so I don't really have an overview over what's going on in that area.
- AppCake = Piracy is something that is really easy to do on Android, and it's a serious problem for the devs, so please don't do it. The Google Play Store has a refund function, which means that if you buy an app and you're not happy with it, then just tap "Refund". Voila. That's it. You can use the refund-button for about 2 hours after you've bought the app (or more), but you can easily get a refund after a month to if you really want to. The point here is that there's no reason to pirate any app. Pirating an app is also risky, since the APK can be modified with malware and so on. This is literally how malware spreads on Android. Cheap people who can't spend a buck.
- TorrentBox = Flud. Simple as that. It looks great, and it works great.
Again, just use your S7 Edge! Just use it and get used to Android. Are you bothered by something? Alright, it can probably be tweaked. Don't like the default messaging app? Okay, so just install a different one. Don't like the browser? Install a different one. Don't like the look of things? Download a theme or two from the Theme Store. You have no reason to root right now. At all. If you do, I'm sure we'll read a Q&A thread from you soon where something has gone horribly wrong, and you have no idea what to do, since you have no idea how things work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well put JBiden??
I wasn't planing on rooting the phone at first. I need to learn how to switch between apps, learn the settings and learn how to use other functions.
With my iPhone I don't even use custom themes. I just like Protecti+, Intube, Flex2, and TypeStatus.
I only use AppCake to try out paid apps and if it's something I like and does what they claim then I will delete the app and pay for it. But honestly I don't buy that many apps at the App Store because everything I need is free but I do but a bunch of tweaks and apps from Cydia. I just hate it when developers don't update their tweaks.
Can I download custom app switchers / Multi-Tasking tweaks?
Is there Visual voicemail on the International S7 Edge?
JoeFromSFO said:
Thanks, I'll check out xposed for location spoofing.
Google Voice is great if you don't want to give out your real phone number. You can make calls using a Google number which will call you to your real phone number then once you pick up it will then call the number your trying to call so it only shows that Google phone number not your real number.
I'll checkout Guess Mode. I only hide personal apps like my back account, settings, shopping apps or anything someone can go in and make changes.
Just going through these post on here is crazy. So much to learn. I just hope the auto correct and multi tasking is great on the Samsung. Right now my phone reboots 8 times a day when I
Multitask with my iPhone 6 Plus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One biggest thing that I am still trying to find a good resolution to is group mms messaging and with pictures video mail. Imessage was great and reliable and didn't compress images and videos.
U should shut off imessage and FaceTime on your iPhone a few days prior to porting that number over to Android.
I also had an issue that if people sent me a text to a thread that was when I had imessage enabled, it didn't go through. I needed to have my family erase and start brand new text messages to me in order to receive them.
I am not sure if any of the 3rd party SMS apps out there work better with group messages, picture mail and videos. I think either one u use, your carrier will compress the file.
Hangouts and whatsapp is only good if everyone installs.
AnThOnY- S7 Edge
---------- Post added at 05:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:24 AM ----------
JoeFromSFO said:
Well put JBiden??
I wasn't planing on rooting the phone at first. I need to learn how to switch between apps, learn the settings and learn how to use other functions.
With my iPhone I don't even use custom themes. I just like Protecti+, Intube, Flex2, and TypeStatus.
I only use AppCake to try out paid apps and if it's something I like and does what they claim then I will delete the app and pay for it. But honestly I don't buy that many apps at the App Store because everything I need is free but I do but a bunch of tweaks and apps from Cydia. I just hate it when developers don't update their tweaks.
Can I download custom app switchers / Multi-Tasking tweaks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Typestutus was cool tweak but not something available off imessage platform.
There is also an ad blocker for Samsung browser on playstore that works pretty good.
I miss youtube+ on iPhone as that blocked ads and allowed u to fast forward or rewind ten seconds with a push of a button.
I haven't found a good YouTube replacement on my s7 edge yet that.
I would suggest fooling around with default apps prior to installing 3rd party ones. I used android allot in 2012 and I had a replacement app for all default ones. Coming back to Android especially with Samsung there r big improvements.
I am.currently using the default keyboard and touchwiz. U have all those themes u can download to theme keyboard as well as touchwiz. Touchwiz has many options but.if u still feel that's not enough nova launcher is all I hear about when reading.
I used to love the tweak on iph
AnThOnY- S7 Edge
---------- Post added at 05:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:36 AM ----------
Iphone where u could slide cursor by sliding on keyboard. There is an option with the default keyboard to do that which was surprising.
Amazed how many options default KB has.
AnThOnY- S7 Edge
iTouch24 said:
One biggest thing that I am still trying to find a good resolution to is group mms messaging and with pictures video mail. Imessage was great and reliable and didn't compress images and videos.
U should shut off imessage and FaceTime on your iPhone a few days prior to porting that number over to Android.
I also had an issue that if people sent me a text to a thread that was when I had imessage enabled, it didn't go through. I needed to have my family erase and start brand new text messages to me in order to receive them.
I am not sure if any of the 3rd party SMS apps out there work better with group messages, picture mail and videos. I think either one u use, your carrier will compress the file.
Hangouts and whatsapp is only good if everyone installs.
AnThOnY- S7 Edge
---------- Post added at 05:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:24 AM ----------
Typestutus was cool tweak but not something available off imessage platform.
There is also an ad blocker for Samsung browser on playstore that works pretty good.
I miss youtube+ on iPhone as that blocked ads and allowed u to fast forward or rewind ten seconds with a push of a button.
I haven't found a good YouTube replacement on my s7 edge yet that.
I would suggest fooling around with default apps prior to installing 3rd party ones. I used android allot in 2012 and I had a replacement app for all default ones. Coming back to Android especially with Samsung there r big improvements.
I am.currently using the default keyboard and touchwiz. U have all those themes u can download to theme keyboard as well as touchwiz. Touchwiz has many options but.if u still feel that's not enough nova launcher is all I hear about when reading.
I used to love the tweak on iph
AnThOnY- S7 Edge
---------- Post added at 05:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:36 AM ----------
Iphone where u could slide cursor by sliding on keyboard. There is an option with the default keyboard to do that which was surprising.
Amazed how many options default KB has.
AnThOnY- S7 Edge
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this. I was trying to figure out how to move my curser using the keys on the keyboard. This helps out a lot.
The only thing I am struggling with is finding a way to hide selected apps with a gesture. I have been looking at a bunch of guest mode and privacy apps at the App Store but I don't like them. I also can't find a activator to enable and disable an app.
How can I hide apps and where can o get an activator?
Thanks.