Related
I am feeling frustrated. I have now tried EIGHT weather programs, none of which deliver what I would like to have. What I want is
1. A discrete Today screen line with the 7 day forecast for a chosen city, which can readily be changed.
2. Ability to set the program to sync by Activesync (or wifi) only (when I am traveling to foreign countries) and otherwise to autoupdate. I'd be happies with 'autoupdate only by activesync'.
3. Either a small memory footprint, or the ability to run off the SD card
4. Good forecasts (e.g. in US: NOAA or weather.com and *NOT* gismeteo.ru)
5. International cities
I would also be happy just to have RSS feeds for the cities I am interested in, but RSS feeds seem to only go two days out and be mostly composed of advertisements for weather.com.
Here are my notes on the programs I have tried.
SPB Weather 1.6.2: Version 1.5 worked well for me until recently, and has a great interface. However it kept downloading data by GPRS connection even though I had set it not to do so, and used a lot of data in Europe, which cost me at least $100. This problem (others report similar problems, though usually the opposite: set to update but didn't) was allegedly fixed by an upgrade to 1.6.2, but the upgrade killed off weather.com as a source and the new source -- gismeteo.ru -- doesn't have data for Pasadena, CA weather! (It found the city, but came back 'data not available.' Moreover, the program is over 2MB and doesn't run well of the SD card. Hence my search for a new program.
Fizz Weather 2.3: This program seemed very promising. It has all the right settings. The interface is klugy -- it takes a lot of clicks to change cities, see forecasts, etc. -- but it promises to do everything I want and has weather maps besides. However, it messed up the activesync connection somehow; once it updated over activesync, nothing else could run, even after the program stopped. Fizz ran well off minisd, though. I had to wipe and install a backup to recover activesync functionality.
Weathertogo 4.0: Free! Max of 3 cities and US only. No good for international.
Stocks and Weather Today; This program might work but is the opposite of discrete -- moving icons and large images and spinning storms. This is ideal for some people, but I found it too distracting and garish.
Pocketweather: This seems to be very similar to spb weather, perhaps a little better (extra screens of information available). But it has the same defects, too: gismeteo.ru data and the user is strongly advised not to run off minisd card.
Weather forecast 101: Attractive price ($1.99) but US only.
ADB Weather: Couldn't find Pasadena, CA data, probably uses gismeteo.ru feed.
Handy Weather (penreader.com): 3MB in size, but runs off SD card. Miserable city selection (but not a big deal since adding cities isn't frequent). Requires too much today screen real estate -- no discrete mode. Very economical on data: 2KB per city per download claimed, 3KB experienced. This is what I am currently using, with a link in PHM traylaunch to fire it up, and the today screen part disabled. Subscription service ($15/year); data from their own site, I think from accuweather (hearsay).
I'm in the same boat ... any news on that ?
Thanks
Handyweather
In the end, I paid for handy weather. It takes too much space on the today screen so I don't use it there, but it can run off the sd card, it takes very little data (4K per city tops), has lots of cities. This has worked well enough for me even though it isn't optimal.
I did experiment with weathertogo because it has a great today screen and it is free. It uses NOAA but unfortunately it uses NWS areas for forecasts which are much too large -- I live in Pasadena and my NWS area includes mountains, so it always forecasts freezes for me. It just isn't sufficiently accurate.
I wrote a program to do the updating of my weather and rss feeds, so that it doesn't update when I'm in europe. A great thing about running programs off the sd card is that it doesn't need to be reinstalled after a hard reset.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=279232&highlight=skschema
Good luck and if you find a better program, please post!
There's also WeatherPanel by MarsWare. Not sure if it meets your specs.
http://www.marsware.net/WeatherPanel/main.htm
Stocks and Weather Today?
That program looks like Stocks and Weather Today, but might be different.
covers half your requirements
you an try weather watcher by singer's creations. it's free and offers half the stuff you were looking for...just doesn't update automatically.
http://www.singerscreations.com/AboutWeatherWatcherMobile.asp
if it doesn't link properly, try searching for weather watcher in google.
Pretty Nice
monkey_knight said:
you an try weather watcher by singer's creations. it's free and offers half the stuff you were looking for...just doesn't update automatically.
http://www.singerscreations.com/AboutWeatherWatcherMobile.asp
if it doesn't link properly, try searching for weather watcher in google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This program will remember a lot of cities but only seems to store data on one at the time. On the other hand, it provides good information about that city. Pretty nice at the free price. Nice interface. Apparently no today screen support. It was easy to add it to my automatic updating program that updates off activesync. Small footprint and runs off sd card.
prestonmcafee said:
Fizz Weather 2.3: This program seemed very promising. It has all the right settings. The interface is klugy -- it takes a lot of clicks to change cities, see forecasts, etc. -- but it promises to do everything I want and has weather maps besides. However, it messed up the activesync connection somehow; once it updated over activesync, nothing else could run, even after the program stopped. Fizz ran well off minisd, though. I had to wipe and install a backup to recover activesync functionality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After spending a lot of time looking for a decent weather program I ended up with Fizz as well. Like you said, the interface is a bit silly, but it does everything else very well. No problems here with activesync at all, using (the latest) version 2.31.
prestonmcafee said:
I am feeling frustrated. I have now tried EIGHT weather programs, none of which deliver what I would like to have. What I want is
1. A discrete Today screen line with the 7 day forecast for a chosen city, which can readily be changed.
2. Ability to set the program to sync by Activesync (or wifi) only (when I am traveling to foreign countries) and otherwise to autoupdate. I'd be happies with 'autoupdate only by activesync'.
3. Either a small memory footprint, or the ability to run off the SD card
4. Good forecasts (e.g. in US: NOAA or weather.com and *NOT* gismeteo.ru)
5. International cities
I would also be happy just to have RSS feeds for the cities I am interested in, but RSS feeds seem to only go two days out and be mostly composed of advertisements for weather.com.
Here are my notes on the programs I have tried.
......
Stocks and Weather Today; This program might work but is the opposite of discrete -- moving icons and large images and spinning storms. This is ideal for some people, but I found it too distracting and garish.
....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I am one of the developers for S & W T so I hope this is OK.
You can turn off the moving icons via the options page if you want.
In addition, I want to let you know that the US weather data is from NOAA and we use an XML service on the Internet to get us the data. This means that when NOAA changes the format of the data (which they do fairly often) you do not have to get an update of the software and reinstall it on your device. Go to http://www.xmlweather-usa.com/getNoaaWeather.php?location=Denver,CO if you want to see an example for the weather for Denver.
A lot of weather applications are always broken because of NOAA web site changes (just look at their bulletin boards (if they have one)). We have been using the XML weather service for over a year now and since we have been using it we have not had to release a single patch to deal with NOAA changes. This make life a lot easier for both us and our customers.
Again, I hope this post was not out of line.
Dave
------------
www.StocksAndWeatherToday.com
Im not offended...
Thanks for the heads up on your app SWT... I'm going to give it a try...
Currently using Marsware Weather.
VintageSlots said:
Hi, I am one of the developers for S & W T so I hope this is OK.
You can turn off the moving icons via the options page if you want.
In addition, I want to let you know that the US weather data is from NOAA and we use an XML service on the Internet to get us the data. This means that when NOAA changes the format of the data (which they do fairly often) you do not have to get an update of the software and reinstall it on your device. Go to http://www.xmlweather-usa.com/getNoaaWeather.php?location=Denver,CO if you want to see an example for the weather for Denver.
A lot of weather applications are always broken because of NOAA web site changes (just look at their bulletin boards (if they have one)). We have been using the XML weather service for over a year now and since we have been using it we have not had to release a single patch to deal with NOAA changes. This make life a lot easier for both us and our customers.
Again, I hope this post was not out of line.
Dave
------------
www.StocksAndWeatherToday.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just wanted to make a comment.. A post like this is always ok.. if a developer of software wants to offer support for their product then all is good, as long as your not specifically here trying to sell your app and spamming the boards.. so your post is definitely OK, and welcome to the boards!
Also i just went to the site and checked out the app, and i must say that the Stocks & Weather Today Themes Edition Is a very interesting concept.. a little to bold for me, but i still like it!
Whatever weather app you decide on just make sure you stay clear of Journal Bar by Omega One. The app itself is a fantasic concept delivered in very tidy and functional today plugin however us users have had little or no service from the product since March last year. Check out this foum to get an idea of how poor Omega one are with regard to support. http://www.technologyatplay.com/main/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=4270&start=1
Unfortunetly this app is still on sale on most of the Pocket PC sites.
I have now opted for PocketWeather (ver 1.3.5) and to be honest I am well impressed. It didn't have the city I wanted in the pick list but it does give you the option to manually enter your city based on METAR city codes. Two minutes on Google found the code I needed and I haven't had any promlems since. - I love the earthquake tab!!!!!!
So Yahoo Go! seems to have come out today for devices running Windows Mobile. I downloaded and installed it immediately.
The first time I ran it I noticed it was VERY slow, and eventually crashed during initialization. I had to reset my 8525 to get it to run again. The second time around it ran (again, very slow). It deos require you to log in to your Yahoo account.
The UI is different and bit interesting. The front screen looks like it's intended to replace your home screen with today's date and links to calendar and contacts, as well as a box for searching. A mac-like dock down at the bottom rotates between the different features with a little animation.
There are sections for photos (flickr?) where you can upload your own and share your photos - weather, something called watchlists (I'm guessing RSS or something), stock reports, sports reports, news, and maps & directions. Each item gives you a preview before you actually run it.
I tried uploading a photo and the program crashed while changing the description. The interface looked pretty nice though - I'm assuming the photos end up on your flickr page. This may be a good reason to start photoblogging!
The maps function is pretty cool - probably a bit better than the google maps application for windows mobile. It also includes sat view, traffic, find nearby whatever, etc. It also gives you the option of connecting a GPS, but I don't have one handy although I'd love to see the directions function work with it.
The whole UI is an improvement on usual Windows Mobile standards, and once loaded the software runs reasonably fast and without hiccup. I think it is intended to be run all the time.
I'd like to hear everyone else's impressions.
i tried it but don't really like it.
The biggest disappointment for me is that ver 2.0 no longer syncs calendar info.
If you want to view your calendar, you now have to log onto yahoo before you can view it.
If you use yahoo for everything (email, calendar, etc.), this is a pretty nice thing to have. I'd call it essential in this case.
Otherwise, I think Livesearch is much more useful for looking up businesses in your area and getting driving directions and/or phone numbers to them.
Live search is pretty much useless unless you are in a major city.
I am really disappointed in it. Has good intentions and functionality, but the software seems extremely buggy and slow. I had to soft reset my phone a majority of the times trying the software out. Google Maps and Live Search seems much smoother. Hopefully they fix out all the bugs.
..........
According to msmobiles.com (see http://msmobiles.com/news.php/6898.html) a new version of Google Maps was released on November 16th. I have DLd it, but haven't yet installed it.
From reading about it, I am not too sure how much has changed. Here is the list the site speaks to:
Real-time traffic conditions
See where the congestion is, and estimate delays in over 30 major US metropolitan areas.
Favorite places and routes
Save time (and avoid sore thumbs) by keeping a list of residential or business locations, and driving routes.
Insta-KB-o-meter
Monitor your data consumption in real-time — just look to the top right portion of your phone screen while using Google Maps.
Enhanced business info
After selecting a particular business, select the "Details" tab for hours of operation, hotel amenities, and more.
BlackBerry support
Just visit www.google.com/gmm on your BlackBerry's web browser, and you're all set to go.
The update can be found here: http://www.google.com/gmm/GoogleMaps.CAB
Enjoy,
-pvs
thanks for the post, wouldn't have known about it otherwise
Yeah, appreciate the heads up!
thanks for the link
Sweet thanks for the headsup! I installed it, and it works better than ever over HSDPA and with my bt gps!
How does this compare to LiveSearch?
sook said:
How does this compare to LiveSearch?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not really sure. LiveSearch was the best for a short while (IMO), until Google Maps came out with an executable version. I dropped LS back then, and have not looked back.
Google Maps has many nice features:
1) Look up any of your Contacts for whom you have Address Information
2) Drag-scroll around the map, in map or satellite view
3) Shows real-time traffic conditions
4) Zoom-in and out quickly and easily
5) Provides directions from point A to point B
6) Integration with GPS devices (I haven't used this, but imagine it works ok)
7) Find info on searched-for businesses and easily saving it into Contacts
Some "features" I'd like to see are:
1) Storing data in user-defined locations on the device
2) Management of that data ... selectively deleting old location searches
3) Tilting of the map aka Google Earth
Again, I don't really know how well LiveSearch has developed, so I really can't compare. But maybe you can judge for yourself from what I show above for GM.
-pvs
I'll install it and play around with it, but from what you describe it sounds much the same. LiveSearch also has something called community search that will show you events, movies, and todos in your area, along with traffic and local gas prices.
If I read you correctly, the only thing on your list LiveSearch doesn't have is an easy way to look up contact addresses.
I will report back this weekend, either bumping this one or starting a new thread. I'm quite attached to LS, but if I can find something even better, well, right on.
ER... just in case anyone is having a blond moment like me
the link is CAsE SenSitivE!!
nice find.
has it got rid of those anoying no data warning messages that you had to keep clicking OK to in order to continue?
I was originally using (the previous version of) Google Earth. So far, I like Microsoft Live. The addressing and directions are a LOT more accurate. When I look up addresses, google doesn't even find most of them. Live also does a lot better with one way streets and stuff like that too.
Yes, Live is much, much better, even the diectory is better. Map loading seems a little quicker also.
I wish google showed on the page what version it was up to, so I can know when they've updated it.
I love google maps mobile.
Wow, judging by sook's and Braingears' comments, it sounds like Live Search has come a long way in the past year. Might be time to give it another shot.
And yes, frenchglen, wouldn't it be nice? I guess they have some reason to want to keep the version number a secret, eh?
-pvs
Since we have all been having fun watching the stock market recently, I decided to write a quote/chart app, using the style of that fruity excuse for a phone as a springboard. So I present for your enjoyment an app called "Ticker Tape".
Notes:
Requires .Net CF 3.5
See the 2nd post for revision history and features.
Please read the FAQ and the planned Future Features - your question or suggestion may already be there.
See this post for a version translated into Russian. Resource files will be supported soon for translation into whatever languages you want.
As always, your thoughts and bug reports are appreciated!
UPDATED Nov 24, 2008 to version 0.5.1 (see next post for revisions)
To Avoid Losing Your Custom Lists:
The install might overwrite your data file. If you want to keep your existing lists, make a copy of TickerTape.dat before installing, and copy it back after installing.
Many thanks to those who have donated to this project!
:: dlugo, Tazkika, pwhooftman, mhoesch, 69alfa, romant,
:: fryman, ld-runner, zcai2672, rspman, vadim_bogaiskov
:: Sperbs, arcsvibe, klassej
Your continued support might inspire me to actually finish it.
.
Features
Create and edit ticker lists
Download quotes and charts for the symbols on your lists
Show charts for period ranging from 1 day to 5 years
Show charts in line, bar, or candlestick format
Show chart fullscreen
Completely touch-friendly
Scroll through lists and tickers using touch screen buttons, gestures, or D-pad
Set the download (refresh) rate from 5 seconds to 30 minutes, or Never
Settings for download behavior, and chart caching
Integration with AppToDate for automatic updates
Note: "Compare To" will be expanded later so you can get charts comparing any tickers.
FAQ
Can you add the ^XYZ index and the XYZ stock to TickerTape?
NO. The data is downloaded from Yahoo, because it is the only free service I know of. If Yahoo doesn't have it, then I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do about it for this app.
The data is not scraped off a web page, so sites that display the data you want (even Yahoo's own real-time quote pages) are not useful to Ticker Tape.
Yahoo (and therefore Ticker Tape) has information for a lot of the world markets, but there are some markets it does not provide. Again, I'm sorry, but that's just how it is.
How do I get quotes for Company X?
Find the ticker symbol here, and add it to Ticker Tape.
I added a ticker, but there's no data. Why?
You probably need an exhange extension at the end of the ticker. Find the correct ticker symbol here.
Where can I get a list of indices?
Here for US indices, or here for major world indices.
Where can I get a list of currency exchange symbols?
Here
How do I get the price of Gold, Crude, Lean Hogs, and other commodities futures?
Use the symbols found here
What stock exchanges are available in Ticker Tape?
A list of them is here.
How long are the quotes delayed?
This depends on the exchange. The delays are listed here. Most indices are real-time.
How much data is downloaded?
Quotes: ~80 bytes per ticker (~480 bytes for a full list)
Charts: ~2.5KB each
Can Ticker Tape do [insert feature here]?
Yes, of course it can. The next version will do your laundry too.
I installed it on my non-VGA device, and it looks funny.
Ticker Tape was initially designed for VGA. This *is*, after all, a forum for Diamonds. The latest version has been tweaked to support QVGA, but there might be some areas that still need work. It does not and will not have support for square-screen devices.
Future Features
Custom symbols for "Compare To" charts
Implement settings for download rate in off-market hours
Search feature to find ticker symbols
Adjust times based on regional settings
D-pad navigation in menu and other places.
Ability to rearrange/insert lists and tickers
Advanced ticker properties, such as notes, held positions, and alarms
Ability run in a TF3D tab - THIS DOES NOT SEEM TO BE POSSIBLE AT THIS POINT - See this post
More adjustments for non-VGA resolutions
Import/export lists
Revision History
Version 0.5.1 - Nov 24 2008 (minor update)
Added swipe (gesture) to switch between lists.
Added Exit button to menu.
Changed application icon.
Tweaked menu item borders to look better.
Rearranged menu a little to accomodate more items now and in the future.
Version 0.5 - Nov 9 2008
Optimized menu for speed.
Implemented settings for download behavior and chart caching.
Replaced price change calculations with downloaded values.
Tap chart to show fullscreen.
Some tweaks for various resolutions.
Version 0.4 - Nov 4 2008
Fixed the keyboard issue.
Fixed a problem where ticker data was not displayed when the previous closing price was not available.
Fixed the percent change calculation.
Added support for 3 decimal places.
Enabled comparison charts (limited ... this will be explanded later).
Other minor UI tweaks
Version 0.3 - Nov 2 2008
Enabled use of D-pad for naviagation on main screen
Fixed numeric displays for various regional settings
Added integration with AppToDate
Fixed issue with (some?) tickers that are reported in non-US currencies
(NOTE: the above fix should take care of all the crashes reported so far, as they were all related to the issue of either non-US currency, or symbols that weren't found)
Changed application icon (happy now th1nm1nt? )
Other minor UI tweaks
Version 0.2.1 - Oct 31 2008
Enabled everything except "Compare To" and "Settings"
Bug fix when adding symbols that don't exist
Version 0.1 - Oct 31 2008
Initial "concept" release
keep working... I have faith
GeckoDev, I'm still waiting for a decent stock app and this looks very promising. I'll be an avid supporter if you keep developing.
My only suggestion, and you've probably already thought of this, would be to include enough options in settings for what happens over the data connection based on the usage of the app.
For example: have checkboxes/choices in settings for options like such as:
-Continue streaming in realtime when program is minimized
-Prompt user that data is still streaming when program is minimized or unfocused after: (then add choices for 30 sec, 1 min, 2 min, 3 min, etc)
-Do not download any data when program is minimized
-Only update manually
-Update every: (choices of times)
You get the idea, something like that. The point being that those of us that don't have unlimited data connections, warnings and settings should be there to prevent accidental overages of data usage. A streaming stock app would be a very easy app to end up forgetting is on and using data and causing overages, whereas at least with a broswer, you're most likely eventually just going to end up parked on one page with no further data being streamed, if you accidentally leave the browser open.
It seems great, I willing to wait for this.
very nice, looks good as a start
will be following this thread
exactly what I was looking for.
Thanks
stpete111 said:
-Continue streaming in realtime when program is minimized
-Prompt user that data is still streaming when program is minimized or unfocused after: (then add choices for 30 sec, 1 min, 2 min, 3 min, etc)
-Do not download any data when program is minimized
-Only update manually
-Update every: (choices of times)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like those options. I had planned on the last two already, but the first few for what to do when minimized are great ideas.
And here I thought I was taking a day off ...
I have been searching for a suitable charting program for over three years. I have tried them all and consider all of them unsuitable. I have had to make my own local HTML files with links to www.stockcharts.com/avantgo mobile charts to deal with the shortcoming.
This Apple-like program would be awesome. If you put this on Handango, I would buy it.
Recommendation: as a first attempt, you could do a lot worse than the Apple interface, so I say stick with it for the first version.
Are you using Yahoo! data for this? I prefer Bloomberg, but Yahoo is OK.
nosro said:
Are you using Yahoo! data for this? I prefer Bloomberg, but Yahoo is OK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, Yahoo is the only free feed I know of. The Bloomberg feed costs several thousand in subscription fees. Some apps out there screen-scrape to get their data, but I think that approach is prone to error, so I'm just getting the raw data, which is why it downloads so few bytes.
The problem with the Yahoo feed is the delay, even though I'm telling it to send me real-time quotes. It appears to ignore that part (except for indexes). Does anyone know of a free feed that provides real-time data?
Yes, this is fantastic. I think MSNBC has a feed, but not sure of how interactive it is (think I read that somewhere from a developer). Very pleased with the appearance, and look forward to customizing to my portfolio.
FYI...I selected "This is amazing" in your poll, and not the second one. I felt it unfair to send you half of my gains since you're not willing to take half my losses (down 56% in the last 45 days...UGH).
Your application looks fine
Great job. It's a pre-pre-pre version and needs a lot of development but it looks fine ;-)
looks great! will love it!
Very cool app, would love to see this go further
GeckoDev said:
Yes, Yahoo is the only free feed I know of. The Bloomberg feed costs several thousand in subscription fees. Some apps out there screen-scrape to get their data, but I think that approach is prone to error, so I'm just getting the raw data, which is why it downloads so few bytes.
The problem with the Yahoo feed is the delay, even though I'm telling it to send me real-time quotes. It appears to ignore that part (except for indexes). Does anyone know of a free feed that provides real-time data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know of any that are free unfortunately. All the services want "power-trader" subscription fees to be able to get true realtime. If anyone finds a true free realtime feed, let us know!
In the meantime, a delay is fine with me since I won't be making spot trading decisions based on what my phone is telling me at any given second.
I have just updated the cab to version 0.2 -- you can now edit the quote lists and set the download rate!
Check the first post...
this is so great, thank you so much for your work, i have been waiting for something like this for a long time. and it's so easy on the eyes.
very nice apps, need to add some error handling in case of wrong symbol, the app just crush.
thanks,
argov said:
very nice apps, need to add some error handling in case of wrong symbol, the app just crush.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oops! It's fixed now.
This program is amazing. I like it very much.
Just some ideas for further development.
1. Please add an "exit" command. I don't know how to exit this program.
2. For the updates, please add a timer on it since market time is only from 9 to 4pm.
3. can you make it response to direction keys?
Thanks.
This is actually a Java question rather than Android, but I'm hoping you guys know the answer.
I wanna make an app where I'll be using data from an rss feed. The feed will be updated approximately every 3-10 minutes, so I was wondering, is it even possible to set up a listener for that feed's updates? Or do I have to check if it's been updated (which would make it much less accurate/efficient)?
Nvm, solved the issue =]