Database Users

Starting afresh - what would you do?

Hi all
Right, so I'm getting fed up with my Windows Mobile's stability and it's time to wipe/reinstall the ROM. Since I'll be starting anew, I thought I'd take the chance to try out some new apps and styles, and I thought who better to ask about these than you lot?
First off, my habits. I use my wizard for music, communications (messaging & phone only), calendaring, scientific calculations/graphing, as a USB drive and as an alarm clock. That's about all, although I'd also like it to sport a bilingual dictionary (Spanish) and perhaps some download-and-go media (AvantGo, RSS or podcasts etc). I would also like a copy of my PC's email inbox downloaded on sync for reference, although rarely if ever OTA.
So far I achieve all this via the default apps (WMP, MS Messaging, MS Calendar) and a few extras (Eval, WMStorage, Wolfclock). And I hate it. It's slow, cumbersome, lacks options, forces me to use Outlook (which I hate with a passion) and frequently locks up my machine. Admittedly, much of that is from a history of installs and removals of programs and hacks, but some things (like the MS messaging program) are just awful.
So, what selection of programs should I install to get this functionality while keeping my device responsive, reliable and flexible? Although I'm willing to spend a bit if really needed, I was hoping to keep this list limited to freeware (but please say if there are good options around otherwise).

My switch from WM6.5 to Android on the Nexus One and the apps that will keep me there

So I bought my first non-WM smartphone. Below is documentation of my quest to replace, and surpass, the experience I was used to with my Touch Diamond 2 running Windows Mobile 6.5. I am what you would probably call a windows mobile 'power user'. I've been averaging about one new WM phone every 6 months since 2005, most of them HTC. But I always keep up on what the other platforms are doing. This is just the first time I've taken the leap, and I quickly became aware of what new doors Android opened for me in just the first few hours of using the Nexus One. The OS is nice, but like most people, it really comes down to the apps for me.
I was initially thinking I'd do a big blog review, but I've run out of motivation. There's plenty of info on the Nexus One hardware and Android out there, so I don't need to rehash that stuff. What I haven't seen a lot of, though, is detailed accounts of people switching and what exactly they found.
There remains a couple major things missing from Android. The lack of an OCS client is probably the biggest one for me professionally, but since it's a Microsoft product, I don't see that changing any time soon. That and the lack of xvid playback will keep me carrying around my TD2 as backup for the foreseeable future. But other than that, I'm extremely happy and will definitely be sticking with the Nexus for a while. The next post will be a comprehensive list of (practically) every app I've installed, what they do for me, and how they compare to their WM counterparts (if there are any).
On to the apps...

Android Apps I've installed and believe I will continue to use.
This is a bit of a brain dump, so I apologize for not editing more thoroughly. Hopefully it will be useful to some, and feel free to suggest other apps you think I should try.
Advanced Task Killer - List of running apps that allows you to easily kill unwanted tasks. Nice to have for an OS that allows background apps, but I don't actually notice it slowing down, it seems to manage memory and close apps as needed.
Aldiko (replacing mobiReader, much better) - eReader with nice UI and quick access to several libraries of free books. Found Doctorow's books right away.
Amazon store - really just easier than using the web browser, but it also does barcode scanning and some other useful stuff.
BeamReader (replacing Adobe's wm reader) - rarely needed, but have to be able to see pdfs on the go sometimes
Beelicious - direct (cached) access to my delicious bookmarks. UI could be better and it's a bit of a pain to wade through them all, but it's useful.
BeyondPod (replacing YomoMedia, HUGE improvement) - It took me years to find a podcast downloader for WM that worked at all, but beyondpod is amazing. The UI is superb and inuitive. The customization is great. I have it setup to download only at night while charging. It remembers my place in podcasts and creates 'smart playlists' to make it easier to start listening. It also integrates with google reader, which is hugely useful because I can add new podcasts I'd like to listen to anywhere from google reader and then import then very quickly into beyondpod later. Also worth noting is the homescreen widget, which gives me access to basic controls and status from my home screen, no need to always navigate back into the app.
Browser (replacing Opera mobile) - Really there's not much difference here. Neither android nor WM have flash or silverlight support yet (although you can sort of get it on WM through skyfire, but that's not performant enough to be an everyday thing). Usability is about the same, but since multitouch zoom isn't enabled on nexus yet (though the hardware can technically support it), you have to use the zoom in/out buttons. This isn't as nice as zooming on the TD2 (zoom bar) or the HD2 (multitouch). Android does links to outside applications better though. It recognizes when you are browsing to a youtube video or RSS feed and will prompt correctly.
Cab4me - Nice little app for finding nearby cab companies making it very easy to see which is rated best, has cars available, and place the call. Not a must-have, but it's one of the little things.
Camera - very fast, 5mp (same as on hd2 and td2 wm phones), the LED flash is certainly better than nothing. Geotagging is default.
Car Home - this is Google's navigation 'car mode'. I think is this very cool, but honestly I won't end up using it much because I have navigation built into my car.
Carr Matey - dedicated app for recording car location so you can find it again. Another little nice thing I didn't have before. Android is just so much better at doing location-aware apps right now.
Documents to Go (replacing ms office mobile) - I'm using the lite version, which does not allow editing, but I have just never had the need to edit office docs on my phone. Sometimes I get one in an email and want to read it though, and this looks to do that fine. I'm happy.
Evernote (replacing Evernote) - I'm using this more and more as a dumping ground for everything that's not in email but I want to remember. This is what I use anytime I want to take a quick note (audio or text), or take a picture of a wine bottle or business card for later reference. It syncs with the cloud immediately and I can search that from anywhere.
Flashlight - not a big deal, but nice to have.
flickr droid (replacing shozu) - i like to have an easy way to upload a picture to flickr, this gives me that. I really like how android allows it to integrate with the normal gallery app. So after I take a picture I just have to view it, select 'share', and then select flickr droid (or other things like email, twitter, etc). It's more centralized than WM.
Flip2Silent and Vibrate During Meeting (replacing WM + HTC ringer management) - The ringer management on android is lacking as compared to WM. I used to be able to have my phone automatically go to vibrate during meetings, and silence the ringer after I pick up the phone (so it doesn't continue to be loud and annoying while I'm deciding whether to answer), AND there was a pocket mode to switch to vibrate and louder ring when the phone detected it was in a pocket. Vibrate During Meeting gives me back the meeting function, but it only works with the google calendar, not the exchange touchdown calendar in which all my actual meetings are stored. My work-around is to sync my exchange calendar with google via desktop outlook, but this doesn't keep it updated unless I have a desktop logged in. The good news is that the developer of this app says he'll look into touchdown. Flip2Silent gives me the option to just lay the phone screen-side-down to mute the ringer/vibrate functions. This will work while a call is coming in and I want to ignore it.
Foursquare - App for checking into various locations. It's treated like a game, you get points, but also get to see where your friends are and if they happen to be near you. Plus people leave tips for places.
g-backup and mybackup (replacing myphone on wm) - MS's myphone app on wm will automatically backup all user data (sms, mms, pictures, video, docs, etc) to the cloud every night. It can also restore these for when you get a new phone or hard-reset your current phone. I got used to having this. All my email and contacts are in exchange or the cloud anyway, but I don't want to lose these other things. MyPhone is also nice because all that data is accessible via the web. g-backup is cool because it will upload all this stuff to gmail, so you have it there, but it can't restore anything. MyBackup will backup and restore most things, but not pictures/video. So I'm using them both, but I'd like a more comprehensive solution.
Gallery (replacing HTC photo gallery) - The nexus gallery is implemented in 3d and is pretty cool, but ultimately it works about as well as the HTC version (which is also flashy). They need to add multi-touch zooming.
GCDroid (replacing gcz) - This is my geocaching app, but only until the official geocaching.com android app comes out (which is soon and it will be cool if their iphone app is any indication). Even though there isn't an official app for wm, the community created apps were pretty good. GCDroid is barely usable, but overall this category will be an upgrade over wm soon.
Glympse (replacing Glympse) - Something I'll rarely use, but it's cool when it applies. You can send a link to anyone that will allow them to track you via a webbrowser for x-minutes. So if you say you're on your way, they can actually see how far along you are.
Gmail (replacing hotmail) - both MS and Google have their email services integrated tightly with their mobile os. I used to forward all my gmail to hotmail so I could easily get it on my phone, so now I just flipped it. I like gmail well enough, and there are certainly features that are ahead of hotmail. I'm just happy to happy to have my personal email pushed to my phone.
Google maps (replacing google maps and bing) - This is definitely better than on WM, but ultimately it does the same stuff. It's smoother and a little easier to navigate (except, again, zooming is more difficult).
Meebo IM - nice to have an app that can log into ICQ, MSN, and GTalk all at once. Likely will rarely use it.
Messaging (replacing txt message HTC app) - this seems to be just what you'd expect. But at least it's very fast and predictable, unlike the HTC app which is sometimes laggy as hell.
Flixter Movies (replacing bing) - MS's bing app was good for finding local theaters and showtimes, this one does it with a bit more flash and some awesome additional features that i just found. It shows the rottentomatoes rating along with every movies. Plus, it has netflix integration, so it checks whether any movie is in my queue and lets me add it while browsing. It also has a list of recent dvd releases, which is great with the netflix thing. It also essentially serves as a mobile imdb. Very impressive.
Mother TED - dedicated app for watching TED talks. It seems ok but not great.
Music (replacing HTC media player) - Nothing special here. I don't know that I'll even use it much since i mostly listen to pandora or podcasts.
OpenTable - for the rare occasions when I make reservations (especially last minute) this will make it easy to find a place with an opening.
Pandora (NOT ON WM) - this is almost a reason to switch by itself. I hate that this isn't on wm yet. Very nicely implemented on android because it has a homescreen widget. I get all the basic controls without even having to go into the app, and I can use other apps while it plays in the background. Sound quality is great too.
Dialer - The android dialer is pretty basic, but it seems to get the job done. At least you can add a pause (with a comma) so that dialing conference numbers is somewhat doable (but still WAY harder than it should be, they don't do any smart parsing in meeting invites). This is still hard on WM though too.
PhoneFlicks (replacing official netflix wm app) - This is barely a replacement. Netflix's own app was better, this one is slower and harder to use, but at least I can do basic queue management from my phone, which is really nice sometimes.
SeattleBusBot - This is SO cool, and something I've wanted but couldn't find on wm. Seattle has the gps info of its buses available publicly, but their website is basically unusable on a phone (even on a desktop). This app will tell you exactly when a given bus is going to arrive, not just when it's scheduled.
Seesmic (replacing m.twitter.com on wm) - really good mobile twitter app. There are plenty of wm twitter apps, and HTC even builds one into the os now, but they tended to be slower. I think the HD2 is probably just as good as seesmic.
ShopSavvy - barcode scanning that tells you the closest places to get the given product and for how much. Haven't had a chance to see if this turns out to actually be useful, but I like the concept and test scans in the house have been accurate (which kinda surprises me because I had heard that phone barcode scanning doesn't work, but maybe the 5mp camera and snapdragon is making it more pratical).
TorrentFu (replacing starting torrents via Live mesh mobile) - This is a major upgrade (and rejected from itunes if I remember correctly). I finally switched to uTorrent on my server so I could use this. It uses the utorrent webui to connect, but exposes all the functionality like a local app. You can see progress, search for and start new torrents, and pause/resume. Very cool.
TripIt (replacing tripcase kinda) - I've only started experimenting with these two services, and i don't travel as much as I used to, but they are pretty good at what they do. Just forward your reservation emails and they build up a comprehensive itinerary and keep you updated. having a native app makes using these that much easier. Tripcase is on wm, tripit (which seems to be the better service) is on android.
tv.com - streaming tv from cbs, showtime, and some others. Haven't used this much, but always nice to have some free content.
Google Voice - At first I was skeptical about this because I don't have a real need to create a central phone number that rings all my phones, which was what i thought this service was for. Turns out you don't have to use that feature, and they also provide visual voicemail on android plus they send you transcriptions of the messages to your phone. so you can see who left messages and what they said (approximately) without even listening. So I'm definitely appreciating this feature.
Wapedia - native version of wikipedia. Nice and quick. why not?
y5 - Battery - This app is genius in its simplicity and value. It simply keeps track of where you are when you enable wifi, and remembers that going forward so it can automatically re-enable it when you come back to the same place. The rest of the time, it disables wifi to save battery. The end result here is that I never have to remember to turn wifi on or off when i come home or leave the house.
youtube (replacing youtube) - works well. nothing special to report except google's browser seems to be better at realizing when it should forward you to the youtube player.
yxflash (failing to replace coreplayer) - The only android app that claims to do xvid/divx decoding. I tried it on an xvid torrent that wm's coreplayer had no trouble with and it choked pretty hard. It played, but with extremely jittery video and slow sound. Not usable yet, but at least i know I might get something soon.
Touchdown (replacing exchange activesync on wm) - Saved the most important (and expensive @$22) for last. Without this app I wouldn't be able to sync my exchange data (contacts, email, calendar, tasks) with my phone because Android doesn't support all the required security features by default. (our company, like many these days, will not sync data with a platform that doesn't allow them to force the use of encryption, pin lock, and remote wipe) Beyond that, without the recently added feature of allowing me to flag emails for followup, I would not be able to switch to android because this workflow is too important to my everyday life.
Explanation: I check email on my phone often, and if I can respond then and there, I do, but if I can’t and need to follow up for any reason, I flag it. This creates a task in outlook which I will see the next time at my desk, so i KNOW i won't forget about it.
But there is an additional, more subtle, benefit at play here. And honestly, it's a little unfair to count it, but it makes such a huge difference in my enjoyment of my phone that I can't ignore it. I'm speaking about how the previously mentioned pin lock for exchange only applies (on android) to the touchdown app. I am not required to set a pin to unlock the phone itself. Ever since they turned on that requirement I've been punching in a 4 digit pin every damn time I wanted to glance at my phone, check the time, or even change the stupid volume! Now I'm finally free of that because google didn't bother to properly build in exchange support at the OS level. NICE! seriously though, this saves me so much annoyance it was almost worth the $530 by itself.

For a true windows power-user, it's worth shelling out the <$10 for Remote RDP. It works incredibly well, even when connecting to my Windows 7 PC from 3G across town (or presumably, the world).
The ability to USE MY HOME PC from ANYWHERE WITH NET ACCESS...
Absolutely incredible for a phone..
EDIT: my home net speed is pretty quick, which owes to fast remote access. Wifi will always be fast, though, and that's what this app is really designed for.

Good recommendation. Just downloaded the Remote RDP demo. Seems to work well.

Thank you for the run down... I just made the switch myself and a number of the apps you mentioned helped me fill some of my void from WM. I'm still a little pissed about the exchange issues but the real truth is any company I work for issues me a blackberry and doesn't allow other devices to connect to thier servers. I worked for one midsized company once that let me and that was the only time I was completely in love with my WM device. Since my personal email is through gmail the nexus one is really amazing as my personal phone.

Good Stuff! I'm in the same boat WM to Android and no turning back I'll check out some of the apps u listed...
One thing I'm looking for is a widget with power/memory/storage/sd gauges.
Always had this on the wm home for reference & cool stats!

If you geocache then GeoBeagle is the other main geocaching app. I don't cache much any more, but I have tried GeoBeagle and liked it, though I can't compare it to GCDroid...

Wanted to say thanks for the excellent app list. Touchdown is awesome. A way for me to connect to work without merging my exchange contacts with the rest of my phone. Now thats a win!

@Seraph321 - want to add my thanks for your app info. i'll be getting an N1 soon and knowing there are options to some of my "must haves" apps/features/functionality (e.g., Exchange) will help shorten my learning curve. i'm not going to abandon WM because it will continue to serve as my work phone. the N1 will be my after work/personal phone until i'm comfortable tweaking Android. that's my plan, but once i have the N1 my plan may change!

Great write up, and welcome to Android
A few suggestions
Text Messaging
The two heavyweights are Chomp SMS and Handcent SMS. Both are considerably better than the default SMS app, it mostly comes down to personal preference.
Browser
Dolphin Browser is hands down the best browser on Android right now. Multi-touch zooming, delicious integration, tabs, themes, and much more.
Flashlight
Do a market search for Nexus One Torch. It utilizes the LED from the camera flash to use as a flashlight. Very bright.
Ringer Management
Locale manages your phone based off time and location. Never used it myself, but heard good things, and I believe it was and Android Developers Challenge winner or something.
Backup
I'm simple and only need to backup text messages (most everything else is stored via SD card or synced with Google anyway). I use SMS Backup to backup my texts to Gmail, and it works fantastic. Uploads directly to my mail account, archives the texts, puts them in threads according to contact, tags them, and marks them as read. I can then easily search my text conversations from my phone or desktop browser via Gmail, and don't have to worry about deleting conversations from my phone and losing something. I've never used g-backup, so it may have this function already.
Twitter
I've tried a couple Twitter apps (not Seismic, though I'll be trying that next) and have landed on Swift, which currently is the fastest, and the best looking Twitter app I've used. I'm not a giant twitter user, so I don't know if it supports all the features any other apps might, but it works great for me, and would recommend it.
That's all for now. I don't have my phone next to me or I'd give it a quick run through and suggest something you might be missing, but I'll have to do that another time.
As for getting multi-touch support in google maps, the browser, and gallery... just wait, it's been hacked in for the G1/MT3G, it will certainly be hacked in for the Nexus One.

I'm still up in the air between ASTRO File Manager and Linda File Manager, but a file manager is an important addition to your tools, if you plan on keeping a lot of documents/files on board. Additionally, I know at least Linda has the DownloadCrutch functionality, associating itself with every filetype so that the browser will allow you to download such. To me, this last bit is essential.

Great stuff, I think a lot of people will be going from WM to Nexus because MS have failed to deliver for so long & there is now a great alternative with an OS that can be modded and a really cool handset.
So far I am happy to leave the N1 standard (not rooted) and play with apps - it is a real joy to have so many available & a single source for them.
Never going back !

+1 for Dolphin Browser... definitely a big step up over the default browser IMHO

SpyderMS said:
Great write up, and welcome to Android
A few suggestions
Text Messaging
The two heavyweights are Chomp SMS and Handcent SMS. Both are considerably better than the default SMS app, it mostly comes down to personal preference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally, I find the text bubbles childish and cheesy. I much prefer the stock sms app with sms popup.

bofslime said:
Personally, I find the text bubbles childish and cheesy. I much prefer the stock sms app with sms popup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tend to agree though why doesnt the icon to the app on my home screen tell me how many unread SMS there are?

The Jones said:
I tend to agree though why doesnt the icon to the app on my home screen tell me how many unread SMS there are?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SMS Count
ok, at work with nothing to do, so I browsed through my phone, and here's a couple Apps you may be interested in. Some of these are useful, some are just kind of cool
AudioManager Widget
Nice little app that lets you adjust all your volume levels easily and quickly.
AppControl - Full Version
Best app manager I've used. Really fast, nice interface, and lots of options.
Barcode Scanner
Barcode scanning from the phone is fantastic. It's very pronounced in the Android community as well. You'll see barcodes not only on these forums, but on App websites like AndroLib.com, which let you scan the barcode, and instantly be linked to a website or Android Market page. It's not only useful on the Nexus One's 5mp camera and 1GHz processor either. Worked great on my G1.
Google Goggles
Take a picture of just about anything, and Google will search for relevant results.
Google Sky Map
Virtual Planetarium on your phone.
Layar Reality Browser 3.0
Augmented Reality browser. Displays information about objects in front of you overlayed on the camera display.
Pkt Auctions for eBay
If you use eBay at all, this is a great companion tool.
Shazam
Lets you identify music being played around you by letting your phone listen to and analyze it.

Personally, I find the text bubbles childish and cheesy. I much prefer the stock sms app with sms popup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
handcent settings -> conversation style.
handcent has a ton of settings options, including different settings for individual contacts (conversation style, font, notification tone, etc)

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've already spent too much work time today finding and installing the ones I like.
I don't actually do THAT much texting, so I'm sticking with the stock sms app for now, but I did install sms popup and set my girlfriend to popup. That's convenient.
Someone mentioned SMS backup, and yes, g-backup does the same thing only for more data, but they both need a scheduling option.
I see the nexus one torch app requires rooted access. I'm no stranger to hacking my gadgets, but this app (plus tethering, and maybe installing to the sd card) are the only things I've seen so far that have me interested in doing it. Can anyone provide some examples of why they consider rooting a must?

You mentioned Wi-Fi tethering already, but that reason alone is a pretty big reason. You may also want to theme your phone. Any kind of advancements that developers like Cyanogen come out with will require root as well. Cyanogen is known for pushing the envelope, helping to increase speed, and overall functionality of the G1, and other devices; not to mention you will get features from new versions of Android faster than those without root. I'm sure there are other reasons to, these are just off the top of my head. A lot of people are waiting until someone finds out how to reverse the bootloader unlocking process before they root, in order to preserve their warranty, and that's certainly a good idea if you don't have a lot of use for root at the moment. I did it, like most people that did, just because I can.

I'll make sure to watch the Cyanogen stuff closely. I never followed the G1 enhancements, so I guess I don't know what to expect. Sounds like it's likely I'll do it at some point though.
Is it easy to get all your apps, especially the ones that you paid for, back on your phone after rooting? Does the marketplace just remember it all and let you re-download?
I should just search for these answers.

NookTouch App Recommendations

Now that you've rooted your NookTouch what do you install onto it?
I've been trying out loads of apps and I've found plenty that work well but also quite a few that make a lot of sense on an eink ereader.
First the ones that I personally find very useful and match the NookTouch well:
1) ReaditLater: Let's say you're browsing on your laptop while eating your breakfast in the morning. You don't have time to read it now so you click a button in Firefox or whatever and that marks the page. You then hit sync on the Nook and you can then read that webpage on the Nook at work in your lunchhour or whatever. I've only checked out ReaditLater and it doesn't always sync all images properly and css styles... is there any alternatives... perhaps opensource?
2) RSS Readers. Subscribe to Slashdot, sync while at home and then read it on the move. Can anyone get the ability to read the more interesting comments?
3) VNC Viewer. Eyes go squiffey after reading for hours on the ipad or computer? Setup a quick link to this.
4) MapDroyd. No GPS but having a map with a long battery life might be more useful than a mobile phone. MapDroyd isn't that great without pinch to zoom but it works.
5) Kindle. Being able to read .mobi is obviously pretty handy.
6) OperaMobile, connecting to a Caliber server. Caliber organises books really easily and it has a server function so you can connect to your library on your computer.
7) Dropbox. A really handy way to share and sync files to the Nook. Can act as a library but unlike the Opera & Caliber example it can sync rather than only viewing live.
8) There's more than ebooks. Check out VU Viewer for comics. Various better PDF viewers. Try putting work documents on it. Try putting guitar tab notation on it. Anyone know how do we view music notation?
Things that are pretty essential after rooting:
Startup Auditor. After installing a load of stuff things can startup at boot and drain your battery. This prevents that.
n Button tweak. There's a thread on here somewhere, it's almost essential. Either that or use buttonSaviour
Some things that work well but just as good on a mobile phone:
- WiFi Analyser. You can see wifi strength in realtime.
- calculator. Handy if you don't have a phone with you
- unit converter. Convert metres to feet.
- currency exchange app. If you take the Nook on holiday a currency app is handy.
- encrypt your passwords in a file.
- backup your mobile phone contacts
- ssh tunnel for open wifi networks where you need to check your bank balance
Hope you find this useful!
-j

Jago:
What apps are you unable to block with Startup Auditor?
Does Startup Auditor stay loaded (as an app or as a background process) after startup or do you have to kill it manually?
Thanks in advance,
Sebastian Armas
Avid reader, Spanish Interactive Fiction Author

As far as I can see StartupAuditor doesn't load on startup or stay resident so I presume it edits startup scripts.
You have 2 options for each thing you want to kill - kill it now and not allow it to start again now and block it from starting up on startup as well.

List of offline & low battery usage apps appropriate for the Nook Touch

I think a major advantage of the Nook is being able to go for 2 or 3 weeks on a single charge, if correctly setup after rooting. That however, relies on being offline as WiFi drains the battery so fast. I tend to keep the Nook for offline things because of this and use a phone for online things.
Most of the apps I have are related to reading and reference. However, I've found a few that don't need connectivity that often and so makes most sense on the nook rather than a phone.
Here's my list of apps in order of unusualness:
- Google Authenticator; doesn't need connectivity and without QRcodes you can configure it manually. Bit of a pain to do but it works.
- "Simply Do"; simpler to use than evernote. lighter and won't screw the battery
- Opera Mobile; can browse local files offline. Just use "/" as the address to get started. I save webpages in myfiles, bookmarl my files and then read it later. I find this simpler than "Read it later" or whatever the latest thing is
- Photos for reference; can be useful to be able to see your photos this way; battery lasts longer than on the mobile phone. Can have photos of reference docs this way. You can save a QRcode of a Bitcoin address or private key. Probably scope here for more possibilities
- KeePassDroid; keep your passwords here
- AGP encryption; it can actually encrypt local files with your PGP key or use a passphrase so this too can
- NewsRob, gReader, Instafetch and even syncing things like email only need intermittent connectivity so you can get your articles and then carry them elsewhere when offline. Need a better offline article sync app: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1811873
- Maps. I use MapDroyd with about 4gb of maps but it's a bit basic and only there in case my phone battery runs out. I wonder if there's a better alternative? Of course it's a bummer without GPS but that's how maps were in the old days right? edit: see Orux Maps
- "Calculations"; this app has a calulator but also remembers your unit conversion rates for you
Things I haven't yet tried:
- Dictionaries; which do you recommend?
- offline translation; I only know of dictionaries to look up individual words, nothing that works offline but can do sentances
Semi offline things:
- connect to a laptop VNC via USB networking to save screen power
edit:
Generally my focus here was offline apps or apps that don't need much syncing and so can save the battery the most. I figured games aren't essential so won't include. See rest of thread of these things.
Notes from replies ->
Reading & notes:
-Goodreads
-Mantano
-Instafetch
-Speed Reader
-Evernote (screws the battery but you can put a freeze & refreeze widget on your desktop with Titanium backup or App Quarantine)
-gReader
-Documents to Go (paid office docs app)
Syncing:
-DropSync
-k9mail
Photos:
-Quickpic
Maps:
-Orux Maps
Reference:
-Colordict (does translation and thesaurus)

jago25_98 said:
Things I haven't yet tried:
- Dictionaries; which do you recommend?
- offline translation; I only know of dictionaries to look up individual words, nothing that works offline but can do sentances
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try colordict, it really is useful and simple. And is compatible with many of 3rd party readers.

Yep, ColorDict is awesome.
I'm currently trying to optimize my rooted Nook (MinimalTouch) by disabling features that I don't use:
- I've started with a Barnes&Noble services. I've frozen them all (like ~10 of them). STR works perfect.
- Then I've frozen few Google apps - Talk, Calendar and Gmail. It happend that without them I can't use Search Market (downloading files not starting). Does anyone know which Google services I can remove in order to keep Market working?

It's really hard to keep track of what causes what in battery drain problems.
Some of the problems can be intermittent.
I seen to have less (no?) problems since disabling most of the B&N stuff and never installing any Google stuff.
I also disabled all the unnecessary receivers in the stock Reader.
I had seen problems in the past where the touch panel did not turn off in sleep mode.

In android 2.1 it is required to have google talk working in order to make market work.
NookSimpleTouch/Tapatalk 2

domi.nos said:
In android 2.1 it is required to have google talk working in order to make market work.
NookSimpleTouch/Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Indeed problem was with GTalk.
BTW: Does your Tapatalk2 works correctly on Nook? I can browse catalog of recommended forums (post, login etc. works) but I can't find my own forums (which I'm sure they support tapatalk). Is this normal?

Rafsen said:
Thanks! Indeed problem was with GTalk.
BTW: Does your Tapatalk2 works correctly on Nook? I can browse catalog of recommended forums (post, login etc. works) but I can't find my own forums (which I'm sure they support tapatalk). Is this normal?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the colordict tip but its only a dictionary. can't do multiple words a t a time and have to click search on each word.
agreed that its best to avoid gapps if possible and find an alternative way to getting the .apks off market.
I didnt have much trouble with b and n apps? I disabled a few things but can't remember now. certainly phone.apk helped removing.

I'm with Renate here, I find that rooting and then sideloading the apps I want rather than having the market running seems to do my battery a lot of good.
Unlike Renate, I'm not able to simply write my own apps
I'm surprised that Amazon's appstore doesn't seem to be equally as much work for the battery as google's is, but it doesn't seem to be, even though many of the Amazon appstore-linked apps do check to be sure the appstore is available.

thank you guys alot. any recommendations for game

Rafsen said:
Thanks! Indeed problem was with GTalk.
BTW: Does your Tapatalk2 works correctly on Nook? I can browse catalog of recommended forums (post, login etc. works) but I can't find my own forums (which I'm sure they support tapatalk). Is this normal?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, as a standard NST issue, it cannot search using default method. But I did it by setting Tapatalk on my phone, making a backup using titanium backup, or go backup, then just restore it on Nook. Searching is still a problem but it takes 3 minutes.
GT-I5700/Tapatalk 2

my apps
Evernote
Dropbox
Instafetch
K9 mail
Opera
Remote for iTunes
QuickPic
Mantano reader
Speed Reader
ezPDF Reader
IM+
Seesmic
DropSynch
Orux maps
Real Calc
Root explorer
mSecure
Goodreads
gReader Pro

airdroid
colordict
document to go
chess free

On my to do list for the Nook at the mo:
- finding lineart wallpapers that fit the screen... what is the screen res?
- finding a less animated launcher
- finding a way to share files without dismounting the sd card (checking out SwiFTP)
- an alterative to astro with working filenames (checking out estrong)
- wondering how to link a vncserver on windows to a separate desktop rather than simply sharing what is seen

jago25_98 said:
On my to do list for the Nook at the mo:
- finding lineart wallpapers that fit the screen... what is the screen res?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
600x800. Some grayscale images work very well (Ansel Adams photos, for example). Between Google image search and Deviant Art, you should find plenty of line art!
- finding a less animated launcher
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use ADW EX with the animations turned down, but I rarely see my launcher, so it doesn't bother me much.
- finding a way to share files without dismounting the sd card (checking out SwiFTP)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SSH Droid works very well for both command line and SFTP access. I use it with WinSCP in SFTP mode.
- an alterative to astro with working filenames (checking out estrong)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ES File Explorer allows both root access, and direct access to networked (e.g. Dropbox) folders in the same interface, which is very handy. It suffers the "too colorful" experience on the NST that a lot of apps do, but it's definitely usable.

Keeping WP8 Samsung Ativ

after 3 months with the Ativ WP8 I start thinking to change to android (eventually Galaxy4) for good reasons
1. Incomplete BT stack - no keyboard to connect or certain consoles
2. Miserable sync with Outlook and One-Notes
3. Limited camera functions - e.g. where to save and to transfer to a PC)
4. Cannot use DropBox
5. Useless letters in apps
6. Want not and cannot allow certain info an the cloud (SkyDrive)
7. Calendar - no weekly, daily and to-do app
8. No basic info like battery status, signal strength, Wi-Fi visible as a top bar
9. Better organization for apps, e.g. based on importance and not just one long list to scroll, why not at least two
I am aware that WP8 is a great improvement and with good tools, but I have to decide what serves my daily needs the best. Is there any major update in the next few months to expect. Any suggestions

Not sure if trolling or just ...

Sell it to me.
Sent from rehab using XDA Windows Phone 8 App

mcosmin222 said:
Not sure if trolling or just ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not trolling mate, this isn't windowsphonecentral. You're not going to get an army of windows phone enthusiasts trying to go against this guy.

Lol trolls.
Sent from Lumia 810 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

theguitarman94 said:
Not trolling mate, this isn't windowsphonecentral. You're not going to get an army of windows phone enthusiasts trying to go against this guy.[/QUOT]
Given his reasons, I am 100% convinced he is either a troll or too stupid to use a smartphone, in which case, Android/WP/IOS won't make much of a difference.
So I think he is a troll.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I mean it is very difficult to find the signal strength

If you're not happy with how the phone handles things and if it can't do certain things you need it to do the best way to go is to sell the phone and get one that does. Given that you already tried to find solutions for some of those things and found out that they could not be done differently on WP you are left with only two options:
- live with how things are done/can be done (e.g. Jump Lists in the App List, pinning important Apps to the Start Screen)
- get rid of the phone and use something else in the hopes of it doing things the way you want them done

You can be sure not a troll nor stupid. I use mobile phones from the beginning and can very well distinguish pros and cons. We can and do build out own servers and use the phone as a business tool. Just see what MS did with the BT stack, incomplete, you cannot connect a simple keyboard which is needed when taking notes in conferences, Using the cloud for confidential information is a nono, DropBox does not work with WP8.... Me or someone else calling stupid shows where your standard is.

When I make a final decision to sell the phone you will be the first for an offer. It will come with a nice black leather case open front and 32 GB SD card. I need some additional research to find the right solution.

[email protected] said:
after 3 months with the Ativ WP8 I start thinking to change to android (eventually Galaxy4) for good reasons
1. Incomplete BT stack - no keyboard to connect or certain consoles
2. Miserable sync with Outlook and One-Notes
3. Limited camera functions - e.g. where to save and to transfer to a PC)
4. Cannot use DropBox
5. Useless letters in apps
6. Want not and cannot allow certain info an the cloud (SkyDrive)
7. Calendar - no weekly, daily and to-do app
8. No basic info like battery status, signal strength, Wi-Fi visible as a top bar
9. Better organization for apps, e.g. based on importance and not just one long list to scroll, why not at least two
I am aware that WP8 is a great improvement and with good tools, but I have to decide what serves my daily needs the best. Is there any major update in the next few months to expect. Any suggestions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So to avoid wasting more thread space criticizing OP:
1. Yes, the BT stack is limited, but what's there works well (other phones have all sorts of issues with BT freezing on connect, etc.)
2. If by "Outlook," you mean Outlook.com or an Exchange server, nothing syncs better with those than WP; same with OneNote; the only thing that would make sense is if you mean data stored in a local PST on the desktop Outlook app, which WP doesn't directly sync to-- valid point, but other platforms don't do native sync at all (or very well) either, so the only real comparison point is Windows Mobile 6.x lol; if you do want to do local Outlook syncing, try Akruto Sync
3. What's limited? Plug in a USB cable, or open your SkyDrive folder, and it's all there
4. Actually you can-- see the "Boxfiles" app
5. Don't know what you mean
6. Don't know what you mean
7. The Calendar app has daily, agenda, and month views, along with to-dos- what more are you looking for?
8. All of that is in the top bar- just tap it
9. That's what start screen pinning is for; the list itself has alphabetical and search functions

Good answer, but please see that DropBox (will try Boxfiles App)or Team Viewer or Dragon and other do not work, As an attorney- (working with very sensitive data) I cannot have data from clients in a cloud, I could loose my shirt. I need a weekly calendar which also shows to do and notes like in Outlook.. OneNote on the PC is not fully compatible with OneNote in WP8. I made it work, but it is a work around. In the list of Apps I have at least 10 single letters and when you click on it, it opens the full alphabet, nothing else. SkyDrive is for me only of limit use, A BT Keyboard is a deal breaker, I use the phone in meetings to take notes which later will be part of a client electronic file. Samsung Ativ is a nice phone, basically I like it, but it has to assist and function in my daily work. I do not care to store a lot of music or videos. Miss a good file manager. You mention the top bar, not on the Samsung above the tiles. It shows only the time. Imagine you have a fight with the IRS for hundred of thousand of $$ and I would as your attorney leave documents in your case on SkyDrive.
Thanks and have a great day with your coffee.
By the way, I am for over 10 years a MS Partner.

[email protected] said:
Good answer, but please see that DropBox (will try Boxfiles App)or Team Viewer or Dragon and other do not work, As an attorney- (working with very sensitive data) I cannot have data from clients in a cloud, I could loose my shirt. I need a weekly calendar which also shows to do and notes like in Outlook.. OneNote on the PC is not fully compatible with OneNote in WP8. I made it work, but it is a work around. In the list of Apps I have at least 10 single letters and when you click on it, it opens the full alphabet, nothing else. SkyDrive is for me only of limit use, A BT Keyboard is a deal breaker, I use the phone in meetings to take notes which later will be part of a client electronic file. Samsung Ativ is a nice phone, basically I like it, but it has to assist and function in my daily work. I do not care to store a lot of music or videos. Miss a good file manager. You mention the top bar, not on the Samsung above the tiles. It shows only the time. Imagine you have a fight with the IRS for hundred of thousand of $$ and I would as your attorney leave documents in your case on SkyDrive.
Thanks and have a great day with your coffee.
By the way, I am for over 10 years a MS Partner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks
On the top bar, if you tap anywhere in the bar (on the time or anywhere to the left of it), the cell + Wifi + BT + battery status show up. They disappear after a few seconds in the interest of clean design (then show up only when there's a problem, like no signal or low battery). On the app list, in addition to the alphabetical jump-list, there's also a search button at the top-left.
The Calendar app has to-dos (see the "to-do" tab to the right of "agenda"). Week view is indeed missing-- MS should prob implement it in landscape view, as Apple did when it added week view in iOS 5. You can sort of approximate it by tapping month view -> day for each day of the week. Something weird about the month view is that if you look at it carefully on a 720p device in landscape, you'll notice the number of items matches how many you have scheduled for that day, but the actual text is gibberish (lorem ipsum) instead of your actual items, since it's not meant to be visible haha.
I've been a pretty heavy OneNote user- the WP8 app is not the full desktop app by any means, but it's better than what you get on Android or iOS. The local file manager issue is valid-- WP8 does not expose the file system in the interest of simplicity, which does make things less flexible than, say, Windows Mobile. I use SkyDrive as a sort of local drive, since everything in WP8 can save there-- but if you have concerns with consumer cloud services (SkyDrive, Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, etc.) being subpoenable, etc., that's a valid concern.
There is some motion in that space, though-- I know of many law firms that have switched to Office 365 for Exchange/Sharepoint/etc. (which is a lot more data than just files in SkyDrive), since the uptime and security is actually better than what they had in-house (http://www.microsoftbusinesshub.com/Industries/Legal). That includes "SkyDrive Pro," the Sharepoint file store.
If I can suggest something, take a look at the Surface RT, with the Type Cover. You'll get a full-blown Windows experience, with local files, full-blown Office 2013 (minus x86 macros) with desktop OneNote, etc., and a great keyboard, but 10-hour battery life, in a 1.5 lb form factor. There's a TeamViewer app for WinRT, and you can access almost anything a full PC can (here on XDA, people have even ported x86 desktop apps and an x86 emulator). I generally carry the Surface + WP8 everywhere now-- phone for quick stuff and Surface for longer content.

[email protected] said:
Good answer, but please see that DropBox (will try Boxfiles App)or Team Viewer or Dragon and other do not work, As an attorney- (working with very sensitive data) I cannot have data from clients in a cloud, I could loose my shirt. I need a weekly calendar which also shows to do and notes like in Outlook.. OneNote on the PC is not fully compatible with OneNote in WP8. I made it work, but it is a work around. In the list of Apps I have at least 10 single letters and when you click on it, it opens the full alphabet, nothing else. SkyDrive is for me only of limit use, A BT Keyboard is a deal breaker, I use the phone in meetings to take notes which later will be part of a client electronic file. Samsung Ativ is a nice phone, basically I like it, but it has to assist and function in my daily work. I do not care to store a lot of music or videos. Miss a good file manager. You mention the top bar, not on the Samsung above the tiles. It shows only the time. Imagine you have a fight with the IRS for hundred of thousand of $$ and I would as your attorney leave documents in your case on SkyDrive.
Thanks and have a great day with your coffee.
By the way, I am for over 10 years a MS Partner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
U couldnt have data from ur clients on a cloud? Then u shouldnt use android
And if u want not to use Skydrive with Onenote u can also create Offline Word Documents and write down ur Meeting Information there.
And what exactly isnt working with One Note on PC and ur Phone?
But for what r u using dropbox? Isnt that a cloud too?
After u press a Letter in the Apps Menu the Alphabet is show so u can select the Letter u want ur App starts with.
For the Topbar u can always touch on the Clock to get the Whole Topbar shown with all Informations.

[email protected] said:
You can be sure not a troll nor stupid. I use mobile phones from the beginning and can very well distinguish pros and cons. We can and do build out own servers and use the phone as a business tool. Just see what MS did with the BT stack, incomplete, you cannot connect a simple keyboard which is needed when taking notes in conferences, Using the cloud for confidential information is a nono, DropBox does not work with WP8.... Me or someone else calling stupid shows where your standard is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Androids bt stack is also incomplete. Most of the other things you mention are there. If its trully business usage you want then buy a WM device, not even your beloved android comes close to wm. The only thing wm doesn't do better is games and video playback and most of that is down to crap drivers from the oems
Sent from my Arc using xda app-developers app

Thanks for your answer but you should not imply like "not even your beloved android comes close to wm" never used it. You asked "And what exactly isnt working with One Note on PC and ur Phone?" On the PC I have in One Note a personal and office section. The office section can only be seen with Sky Drive.Why not having both section direct in the Phones One Note without Sky Drive. Any suggestion? I guess it is possible but do not know to get it done. It seems Logitech will bring a compatible Keyboard for the Ativ,
Calendar, I use Week View 8 what does the most I need, but you cannot change there appointments or to dos, you have to go through agenda.. We have Office 365 and have until today nit made a final decision.A replacement for Team Viewer not found except you run it through Internet Explorer.I will always listen and learn and keep things in an appropriate way.

[email protected] said:
Thanks for your answer but you should not imply like "not even your beloved android comes close to wm" never used it. You asked "And what exactly isnt working with One Note on PC and ur Phone?" On the PC I have in One Note a personal and office section. The office section can only be seen with Sky Drive.Why not having both section direct in the Phones One Note without Sky Drive. Any suggestion? I guess it is possible but do not know to get it done. It seems Logitech will bring a compatible Keyboard for the Ativ,
Calendar, I use Week View 8 what does the most I need, but you cannot change there appointments or to dos, you have to go through agenda.. We have Office 365 and have until today nit made a final decision.A replacement for Team Viewer not found except you run it through Internet Explorer.I will always listen and learn and keep things in an appropriate way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like vnc better then teamviewer personally. Ive never had as problem with one note or outlook syncing. I also enjoy the android os on my tablet. Perhaps that might be a solution for you. I use my Aviv s to provide internet to my android tablet.
Sent from my A100 using xda app-developers app

[email protected] said:
Good answer, but please see that DropBox (will try Boxfiles App)or Team Viewer or Dragon and other do not work, As an attorney- (working with very sensitive data) I cannot have data from clients in a cloud, I could loose my shirt. I need a weekly calendar which also shows to do and notes like in Outlook.. OneNote on the PC is not fully compatible with OneNote in WP8. I made it work, but it is a work around. In the list of Apps I have at least 10 single letters and when you click on it, it opens the full alphabet, nothing else. SkyDrive is for me only of limit use, A BT Keyboard is a deal breaker, I use the phone in meetings to take notes which later will be part of a client electronic file. Samsung Ativ is a nice phone, basically I like it, but it has to assist and function in my daily work. I do not care to store a lot of music or videos. Miss a good file manager. You mention the top bar, not on the Samsung above the tiles. It shows only the time. Imagine you have a fight with the IRS for hundred of thousand of $$ and I would as your attorney leave documents in your case on SkyDrive.
Thanks and have a great day with your coffee.
By the way, I am for over 10 years a MS Partner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If there is one thing that WP does infinitely better than Android, that is protecting your privacy.
Hell, on android you can even get spyware and trojan downloaded from the marketplace, and you will never even know it. If you want privacy, go for WP and stick with it.

mcosmin222 said:
If there is one thing that WP does infinitely better than Android, that is protecting your privacy.
Hell, on android you can even get spyware and trojan downloaded from the marketplace, and you will never even know it. If you want privacy, go for WP and stick with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL.......it seems that 95% of WP apps require access to your location, and they send this also to Microsoft. Having access to my location is fine, as long as it makes sense.

Darkjamzi said:
LOL.......it seems that 95% of WP apps require access to your location, and they send this also to Microsoft. Having access to my location is fine, as long as it makes sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cause yeh LOL google maps location process doesn't run like 100% if time in the background on ANY android phone.