Related
It was suggested that we start a thread specifically for the apps that run well on the Android port to the HTC Touch/Vogue. I personally own an (Sprint=CDMA) HTC Touch Diamond, but upon seeing the maturity level of Android running on the Touch, I immediately went to eBay and picked up the Touch handset...and I am glad I did. The only reason I boot back to winmo is for work calendar (Lotus), Skype (iSkoot kinda sucks), and Podcasts (hopefully we getting DoggCatcher soon).I've found that battery life with Togga on to be about 8-10 hours which I can live with it, but it's a pain to keep toggling if you really need to conserve (but it could be worse )I plan on posting more battery data soon, but need a few more days of collection. Hopefully we can find a more permanent way of managing the data connection with balance for battery life.
You can find many apps on http://slideme.org/, AndAppStore (both have phone clients - very market-like) and by searching ".apk" on 4shared.com
The apps I have found to run well on my CDMA with dzo/f00bar's (much respect) latest files:
-Scoreboard - I'm not that big of a sports fan, but this app is slick!
-aLastFM - Just got permission to post the link from the developer. Thanks Oleg!!
-Stocker - Simple but effective stock app, but no graphs. If someone could find a better one...
-Weather - Simple, but effective. Multiple Cities, current and forecast, with menu link to detailed outlook including radar from Undergroud Weather.
-AnyCut -Great for making shortcuts to just about any screen in the OS, especially useful for Battery and Sounds&Display
-TextEasy - for sending a text to multiple contacts, until someone can get a hold of ChomperSMS or K9SMS (K9Mail I have not gotten to work either, we need a better mail app, the native client doesn't even recognize URLS, wtf?!)
-OIFileManager - It's the only one I've tried, so can't comment on the others, but there are several out there. UPDATE: I tried out Astro and Glance. I liked Astro, but after a day it stopped working for me and gives me a force quit. I prefer Glance over OI FileManager, it's on 4shared I believe.
-OIFlashlight - amazing how handy this comes in
-OINewsReader - No frills RSS aggregator
-ShopSavvy - Did you say "We'll match any price"?...but be fast with your fingers, camera is not fine enough to capture the barcode
UPDATE:
I wanted to add SMS PopUp as another great app. You can find it along with a bunch of other APKs here. One of the G1 owners that grabbed all of the apps and is hosting them for download.
WANTED:
-DoggCatcher - for my daily podcast fix
-A true Skype client
-HEADPHONE SUPPORT!!
Please post replies with your own favorite apps that run well on this port (with links, please!)
Cheers!
Wow, no replies?!
I'm looking for SMS PopUp if anyone can post a link.
Cheers!
The Meebo app is well worth a look - look for it on 4shared.com. Lets you IM on just about any IM network (Yahoo, MSN, AIM etc). IMs appear in the notification bar while you are in any other program. Great stuff.
I believe im the only person hosting the meebo.apk at the moment.
Meebo Instant Messenger:
http://jonsingh.com/android/files/meebo.apk
I did recieve the "ok" from the meebo!
thanks
Jon
steve98 said:
The Meebo app is well worth a look - look for it on 4shared.com. Lets you IM on just about any IM network (Yahoo, MSN, AIM etc). IMs appear in the notification bar while you are in any other program. Great stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i installed and signed into my MSN account, however, just a white screen shows up. No list of contacts, etc. No menu options other than to add another account or sign off. Not exactly useful (at least this version). Is anyone using this successfully?
EDIT: I received a chat, and that gave me a buddy online, maybe no one on my list was signed on at the time I first checked.
Also, it doesnt remember your username and password, which is annoying because it randomly closed on me after tapping the notification in the bar during a chat session today. I'll keep looking for a better app or updated version.
Ideal2545 said:
I believe im the only person hosting the meebo.apk at the moment.
Meebo Instant Messenger:
http://jonsingh.com/android/files/meebo.apk
I did recieve the "ok" from the meebo!
thanks
Jon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you might be the only one who got the 'ok' from meebo but as i said, it can be found on 4shared.com also.
What about an updated version of Shopsavvy. Mine keeps saying there is a new version, but of course we can't update off the marketplace.
I'm looking for the Locale application. Even though we don't have GPS running, Locale still alows profile switching based on time and days of the week, which would be useful for office vs. non-office settings. If someone could post this I would appreciate it!
how do i install apps i have them saved to the storage card i just dont know how to load them up, sorry if this is a dumb question
thoughtlesskyle said:
how do i install apps i have them saved to the storage card i just dont know how to load them up, sorry if this is a dumb question
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If they are in the AndroidApps folder then they should be installed already. I found that sometimes icons don't show up to launch the program, however. This is where AnyCut comes in handy. Use AnyCut to search in "Activities" to find your app. If you are not seeing it in this list then you may have to "manually" install the app. Open a file browser such as OI File Manager or Glance and navigate to your AndroidApps folder. Click on the .apk file and it should launch teh app installer.
Hope this helps.
Any word on aLastFM?
etx said:
Any word on aLastFM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See the update first post.
Scoreboard.apk
I am very interested in the Scoreboard app, I got it running fine, but the other day the game I added to my favorite never really gave me updates until the game was over by a few hours.
Isnt this application able to provide real-time results?
I am having more success simply by going to www.nhl.com :-S
Thanks for aLastFM!
I was looking around and found another 4shared user with a bunch of APK's!
http://www.4shared.com/dir/11234070/20e0c1f0/sharing.html
Someone in the main topic said something about an ebay app. What is it and is it any good? Is it secure? It'd be nice to have for me.
There's been a couple apps I liked that didn't fit our screen plus having to reinstall android files often I lose all my saved info so it doesn't work out for me. Sprint needs to hurry up with an HTC Android phone.
Maybe a stupid question, not sure... Why can't someone extract the android market application from the G1 to be used on other phones? Seems a bit odd of Google to limit the market to only a specific phone.
There is a discussion about the marketplace on the big long forum. The marketplace is not open source. They're talking about the commands and encryption and such for it. I'd think it's not open because they plan on having pay for apps but I could be wrong
G1 Central
This is a must have for any one with a Grand Central account- G1 Central
http://evancharlton.com/projects/g1central
Allows you to place calls and check voicemail for your GrandCentral account. Pretty much allows for unlimited free calling. Works great on my friends G1.
Still missing a few features.. like the ability to call contacts that are only in your GC account, but still very good.
Heres the problem.. it crashes when trying to dial out on the Vogue!!! Ahhh!
So close to beating the telecoms... If anyone knows anything about error codes or how to get this working, I might have a GrandCentral account invite...
megalewis said:
I am very interested in the Scoreboard app, I got it running fine, but the other day the game I added to my favorite never really gave me updates until the game was over by a few hours.
Isnt this application able to provide real-time results?
I am having more success simply by going to www.nhl.com :-S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed this also. i resolved by changing my time zone in settings. Only problem is that this then modifies your "synced" time with your carrier, it adjusts + or - according to your time zone, so you have to comensate...each time you boot. Not by any means an elegant solution, but if you need realtime scores this is the answer. Probably better off sticking with NHL.com
aven_soulgazer said:
Someone in the main topic said something about an ebay app. What is it and is it any good? Is it secure? It'd be nice to have for me.
There's been a couple apps I liked that didn't fit our screen plus having to reinstall android files often I lose all my saved info so it doesn't work out for me. Sprint needs to hurry up with an HTC Android phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried the "Ebay.apk" from 4Shared, but it doesn't display properly. The tabs extend all the way to the bottom of the other screen which is a common problem for us vogue port users.
yup..that's correct, I have my little notification LED flashing when I have an email now..
you need PhoneAlarm (which I simple cannot live without and is ALWAYS the very first thing I install on my device)
so..I'm sure this tweak will be appearing in cooked roms soon
Hooooray for Penguin (the developer) for jumping on this!
twisted-pixel said:
yup..that's correct, I have my little notification LED flashing when I have an email now..
you need PhoneAlarm (which I simple cannot live without and is ALWAYS the very first thing I install on my device)
so..I'm sure this tweak will be appearing in cooked roms soon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How does this integrate with the HTC Sense user interface?
thegios said:
How does this integrate with the HTC Sense user interface?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you have to run it in Host mode
I don't use Sense, so can't say how well it works though.
twisted-pixel said:
you have to run it in Host mode
I don't use Sense, so can't say how well it works though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Host mode works great. To further enhance this, there is now a tweak on his forum to allow you to replace the network operators name with the current profile. Clicking on this will launch PA Host.
QUESTION:
Have you had to set "use broker" for alarms to get the email notification to work. Without this option set, i only get the notification when i wake up the device. I'm guessing its due to using a custom rom (pandora 1.3). Using the broker option does solve the issue.
twisted-pixel said:
you have to run it in Host mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is this an option of the application?
thegios said:
is this an option of the application?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
more like a stand alone way of running the app
thegios said:
is this an option of the application?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes. Host mode is used when you do not have the today screen active - ie when running manila. Host mode will be enabled by default on the HD2 and an icon will appear in the top bar. This can be hidden and a shortcut used to open phonealarm if you prefer.
Its a great app with many options including data counter, call costs, automatic profile changes etc etc
ardsar said:
yes. Host mode is used when you do not have the today screen active - ie when running manila. Host mode will be enabled by default on the HD2 and an icon will appear in the top bar. This can be hidden and a shortcut used to open phonealarm if you prefer.
Its a great app with many options including data counter, call costs, automatic profile changes etc etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, one more: will it work INSTEAD OF the WM alarms function or will it have it's own handler?
I mean: if I set an alarms in this app, will it be set also in the WM alarms or does the app handle alarms in a completely different way (and this latter case, should I disable WM default alarms?)
I was very interested in this app until I saw the price. Why is so much stuff so expensive for windows phones? I had the iphone before and hardly had to pay for anything I wanted, and if I did it would be less then £1.00
snerkler said:
I was very interested in this app until I saw the price. Why is so much stuff so expensive for windows phones? I had the iphone before and hardly had to pay for anything I wanted, and if I did it would be less then £1.00
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
then go back to iphone...
thegios said:
then go back to iphone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't dissing the HD2, it was just a genuine question as to why everything costs so much on windows phones as I don't understand? If one platform can give so much for free, or very cheap why not another? Is it people trying to cash in, or is it down to something like the costs to develop the programs?
snerkler said:
I wasn't dissing the HD2, it was just a genuine question as to why everything costs so much on windows phones as I don't understand? If one platform can give so much for free, or very cheap why not another? Is it people trying to cash in, or is it down to something like the costs to develop the programs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my guess: iphone apps are an hipe now so there are a lot more ppl downloading apps from apple store rather then wm apps, so developers can make more money by quantity rather than price...
In addition apple store cuts down a lot advertising costs as all iphone apps are in one single place, so developer does not need an extra effort (read: money) to advertise his app on too many websites/forums/etc)
thegios said:
my guess: iphone apps are an hipe now so there are a lot more ppl downloading apps from apple store rather then wm apps, so developers can make more money by quantity rather than price...
In addition apple store cuts down a lot advertising costs as all iphone apps are in one single place, so developer does not need an extra effort (read: money) to advertise his app on too many websites/forums/etc)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, that makes sense. If that is the case then having a dedicated 'app' store should help bring the costs down. One day hopefully
thegios said:
Thanks, one more: will it work INSTEAD OF the WM alarms function or will it have it's own handler?
I mean: if I set an alarms in this app, will it be set also in the WM alarms or does the app handle alarms in a completely different way (and this latter case, should I disable WM default alarms?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is totally customisable. For instance you can select whether you want phonealarm to control email, sms, mms, im, missed calls etc notifcations or leave it to WM. Also it gives you the ability to set repeat alarms, again completely customisable for each alert. The alarm function is not tied to WM and therefore resolves many issues that others have faced.
There is a trial that can be downloaded - fully working for 14 days. Suggest you give it a test drive. It will take some time to become familiar with the many options. There are skins that can be used to make it look more flash - all the info is on the forum. The support from Bruce is excellent. I had an issue this morning with the latest beta and within 1 hour i had a fix for it!.
ardsar said:
It is totally customisable. For instance you can select whether you want phonealarm to control email, sms, mms, im, missed calls etc notifcations or leave it to WM. Also it gives you the ability to set repeat alarms, again completely customisable for each alert. The alarm function is not tied to WM and therefore resolves many issues that others have faced.
There is a trial that can be downloaded - fully working for 14 days. Suggest you give it a test drive. It will take some time to become familiar with the many options. There are skins that can be used to make it look more flash - all the info is on the forum. The support from Bruce is excellent. I had an issue this morning with the latest beta and within 1 hour i had a fix for it!.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've read on a couple of forums that latest versions crash HD2: is this correct?
snerkler said:
Ok, that makes sense. If that is the case then having a dedicated 'app' store should help bring the costs down. One day hopefully
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is, but is simply sucks...
try OpnMarket
http://www.freewarepocketpc.net/ppc-download-opnmarket.html
similar to apple store for only freeware apps
For those who are interested in similar product, can try PhoneWeaver from SBSH or Phone Suite (or something like that) from SPB..
thegios said:
I've read on a couple of forums that latest versions crash HD2: is this correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never had any issues on my HD2.
Phone weaver doesn't have as many functions like call costs, data counter etc. i also found the profile options to be more limiting. Phonealarm gives u more for your money. However this is my opinion and others will have different views. try them and see ....
ardsar said:
...The alarm function is not tied to WM and therefore resolves many issues that others have faced.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does this mean that if I set an alarm with PhoneAlarm at lets'say 8:30 on the manila main page the alarms box (on the right of to the date box, just below the clock/weather box) will display OFF instead of 8:30?
Ok so ive been playing with my X10 constantly since I got it (not going over well with the misus) and more specifically timescape and mediascape. Especially considering all the hype around these apps prior to the release of the phone. I have come to the conclusion that......basically, they could be better, as im sure others here would agree.
Ive posed questions here before but I think its time, if others agree, to centralize our gripes and concerns about these two, potentially awsome apps here in this thread.
Obviously the lack of complete integration between timescape and facebook is one ie click on an update tile and instead of the FB app opening it directs you through the browser..
One more for me in TS is that I had envisioned one tile for each contact, and in that tile would be all the corresponding timescape stuff like phone calls, FB, twitter blah, blah, blah. Instead you get a new tile for every individual thing that contact does.....kinda messy imo.
Also I think that SE could really take it to the next level with a lot more detail. How?? Well, say that they made it kinda of like you main contact app. You tap on a contact in then not only do you get their number address etc....you also get their FB, Twitter, link to google maps to bring up directions to their address, picasa photo links etc...
I just feel that the apps have sooo much potential but that they are falling short. Unless of course you can do all that stuff and im just not smart enough to figure it out.......entirely possible.
No it's not you, they just need tighter integration with apps like facebook & twitter.
The tiles look cool and all, but I think that I would rather have more information available at a glace then the fancy animation. That should improve performace too.
And more services would be nice rather than just facebook and twitter, since i dont use facebook anymore, maybe something like a RSS reader integration.
Plus shortened urls need to be accessable right from timescape, which is driving me crazy right now!
What do you guys think fancy or more effecient?
I think Mediascape should be split into two or three different apps, music and videos/photos or all three separate. Can't really see the need for the "Mediascape start" with music. I want artists when I start it!
As for Timescape, well, yeah... Less flashy and more useful. Not being able to comment or like Facebook statuses is really limiting. That's why I don't use it at all!
Sadly right now Timescape serves very little purpose (if any), that's why most of us never even open it. I'll apologize right now for the length of this message...
TIMESCAPE NEEDS:
RSS feeds
Capability to read ENTIRE message not just a small portion (seriously wtf SE??)
Ability to reply, like, comment, tweet, call, sms, etc. all within Timescape
Option to choose which app Timescape opens i.e. dedicated FB app/Twitter client
YouTube integration, like subscriptions etc.
Ability to add ANY social network you may use or even XDA forums!! woot woot! (I guess that would be tapatalk?)
Better filtering options for facebook:
-I do not want status updates on my phone from 500 people I don't care about
(and don't say it's our own fault for adding that many people on facebook, there's lots of people we interact with on a daily/weekly basis, and then the majority of others we use facebook to just keep in touch with)
-Why only status updates and not messages, replies, likes, comments too??
-Facebook events (parties, birthdays, etc)
Integrate all a contact's activity in facebook (or respective spline) into ONE tile, maybe open up a large tile to display all (threaded) sms messages from contact
More options for widget! Size, filtering options, minor functions like scrolling tiles and sliding between splines. Right now it's just a shortcut for Timescape. And while you're at it add the missing Mediascape widget too...faack
Calendar and Task integration into dedicated splines
(maybe it's just Android but wow...compared to my blackberry something seriously needs to be done here for both)
Last but not least...integrate my F*%&ING contact photos!! Does it not seem like this is a standard feature of the X10 in all advertising campaigns?!
from my twitter @SonyEricssonNA and @SEAnswers:
Why doesn't the X10 integrate phone contacts' facebook profile pictures into the phone?? Such an obvious missing feature
SEAnswers @rvictorg I believe that is a feature implemented in Android 2.0 OS. Let me check and get back to you.
SonyEricssonNA @rvictorg it does in TimeScape so you should see your contacts fb pics in the spline, if you link the tile with a contact, it should sync.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They're right, it SHOULD sync. That was nearly a month ago, I sent them both back messages and haven't got a response from either. And yes, this is not nearly important as the other missing features, it'd just be nice if the phone natively did it without a 3rd party app like syncmypix.
ok so a little long MAYBE, BUT after all, this is the highest end device they make and the way carriers and SE have been advertising it a lot of those features should have been standard, Timescape is supposed integrate everything in your life into one glorious app no?? I just hope someone from SE reads XDA and can implement some of them. Peace.
+100. I support everything rvictorg wrote.
SE came up with a great idea in timescape but it's really limited. i find myself just really not using the app at all because while i can view the updates of my friends, i can't reply to them with timescape. i really wish they made an app like gravity where you can view and basically have almost all the functions of both twitter and facebook. i guess SE can cop out and say that they never intended for all those functions to be integrated with timescape and if that's the case, fail.
Ive got to agree with you guys 100%. I find myself opening timescape up from time to time now just in the hopes that i missed something that might make it better. Of course each time im left feeling a little more disappointed than the last.
I really like the ideas that rvictorg posted, no worries about the length of that post as its actually SE's fault that it took that much space to write out all the problems.
Anyway, i hope SE's promise that with the coming updates to TS and MS its users will gain a "richer" experience, is actually true cause for now im just not even going to use it anymore.
TS / MS is only good to use and watch. User features seem bad! donating money to fix user features of TS / MS
As the title states, suggest away.
direct sync to outlook .pst
What the [email protected]#$% was MS thinking by leaving this out? Even the iphone syncs to outlook.
mightyeric said:
direct sync to outlook .pst
What the [email protected]#$% was MS thinking by leaving this out? Even the iphone syncs to outlook.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jesus, how many times is this going to be brought up? The function is NOT there, and it was known BEFORE any device came out. Quit the *****ing and get a phone that supports it, or move on.
Anyways, I'd like a good sports app like Sportacular that has notifications when games start, during and after with the scores. Fantasy updates with custom rosters would be great too.
Not sure what the SDK will let you do, but is it possible to develop an app that can be pinned to the start page, that toggles 3g/wifi/bluetooth? I know we can just drop in to the Settings menu, but I would pay for an app that put those three in one easy place.
I would also like an app that rotates, like a slideshow I guess, all sorts of images from the various Xbox games I've been playing across the tile. That would look cool on the start page. Maybe it does a Bing image search to find the images to rotate, etc. I'm not a developer, but it was something I thought of earlier today.
dougp.me said:
Jesus, how many times is this going to be brought up? The function is NOT there, and it was known BEFORE any device came out. Quit the *****ing and get a phone that supports it, or move on.
Anyways, I'd like a good sports app like Sportacular that has notifications when games start, during and after with the scores. Fantasy updates with custom rosters would be great too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is comming in dec development almost done..
The direct sync with outlook is not possible with the WP7 SDK. That would have to be incorporated into the Zune sync software. The WP7 is meant to be a cloud device so I don't see this coming anytime soon.
The idea about toggling the radios is also not possible im afraid. The SDK does not give developers any direct access to the hardware like that. Hell, we can't even adjust the volume.
rruffman said:
this is comming in dec development almost done..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
love to see more on this...
JMackey said:
The idea about toggling the radios is also not possible im afraid. The SDK does not give developers any direct access to the hardware like that. Hell, we can't even adjust the volume.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That really blows. Just thinking about what various iPhone and Android apps can do easily, it seems this platform is much more closed than even iPhone's. The key to both Android and iPhones success has been as much the developer community as it has been the solid hardware the apps run on, maybe even more so the developers. The new WP7 hardware seems solid enough so far. If MS doesn't open up the SDK to a greater array of components, this will just continue to lag behind, even fall farther behind.
...Hoping someone can cook up some nice WP7 ROM's
ability to take any music file and assign it as a ringtone!
an independent youtube app that doesnt simply goto a web page. Also bein able to watch high def on 3g, and not only on a wifi connection.
TOA Duck said:
an independent youtube app that doesnt simply goto a web page. Also bein able to watch high def on 3g, and not only on a wifi connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's already one in the Marketplace for free. You have to have the YouTube app installed to use it, but it allows for searching, etc. from within the App.
prubin said:
ability to take any music file and assign it as a ringtone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is supposedly coming in January according to reports this morning. See: http://www.wpcentral.com/rumor-january-firmware-update-wp7-include-custom-ringer-support-more
(Sorry, forgot to multi-quote.)
not sure if you can make do this or not, but I would like to be able to connect to hidden networks. Also be able to use the device as a wifi router.
Could it be made downward compatible? It would be nice to be able to run some of my already-purchased software.
As an alternative, the single-largest bummer of making this switch for me will be loss of the two coolest apps I have EVER had – “Pocket Earth”, and “Pocket World” by Bluepoint Studios. These apps, especially Pocket Earth, were stunning! I don’t know their status, but if you could buy the rights and the code and somehow rewrite them for WP7, I suspect you would do very well.
I need programs which are NOT web-dependent. Dictionaries, translation programs, an atlas, etc. which are device-based. Traveling internationally is where one needs the language converters and I work a lot on the plane. I’d prefer to give up space in the device than to continually pay for international data.
Best of luck,
Dave
Battery indicator showing remaining strength in percentage or bars.
A recorder...
There are a few out there, but I need it to either have voice activated start/stop, or stop/start control from my bluetooth. I am a sports photographer, and if I can describe what is on a picture that I take right after I take it, it is much easier to do my captioning when I get home. But I don't have time to take the phone out of my pocket and start/stop after each play.
It seems a lot of the suggestions are things to do with hardware. The only hardware access the SDK gives developers is the GPS, Accelerometer, and the radio. We don't even have direct access to the camera. (When an app takes a picture, it opens the camera app then sends the taken picture back to the app).
riceboyler said:
There's already one in the Marketplace for free. You have to have the YouTube app installed to use it, but it allows for searching, etc. from within the App.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will we ever be able to watch high quality youtube vids over 3g. Now you have to be on wifi. I know on iphone the vids are HQ over 3g.
1) Something that bypasses Exchange-enforced password entry. Android has it; and frankly, PIN enforcement is a meaningless layer of security that does nothing more than inconvenience the end-user.
2) Something that let's you copy synced Calendar entries and Contacts to the Phone instead of forcing them to exist in the stupid cloud. <--I would pay good money for this. Again, something that Android let's you do that I like.
Edited to Add:
3) An app that keeps the phone on and unlocked. I don't like this forced lock/timeout thing, I'd prefer to have complete control of when it is locked and when it isn't.
1) A Remote Desktop Application compatable with MS's current RDP services
2) Something that periodically rotates the Logon Screen Picture
3) Something that would quickly display Battery Life, Used/Remaining Storage, etc...
- MEK
Hey guys,
In an effort to 'hack' the Sense homescreen to use a custom launch/shortcut bar, I am creating an app that needs to know if the homescreen is currently visible. With this, I need some help.
I've been looking at four possibilities to do this:
1. constantly poll the window manager for the current activity. This works, however my battery doesn't like this and it's generally bad practice.
2. Use a widget to tell the service wether it's active. Too bad, Android doesn't seem to provide some kind of event to a widget when the homescreen is opened. Strange though, as you'd say this would be very useful when updating widgets. Am I overlooking something?
3. Watch the logcat or message broadcast. This works nicely to intercept a user moving away from the homescreen at it will output this when switching activities:
08-22 12:25:28.891: VERBOSE/HtcAppUsageStats(255): (launch app, package): (People, com.android.htccontacts)
I think I could intercept that, but then there's another problem. Pressing home broadcasts this message for com.htc.launcher, however using the back key (or even software options) to move back to the homescreen do not invoke this.
4. Intercept hardware presses. This seems rather hard when you don't want to actually do something with the presses. This combined with the above method would give me a decent way to see if the homescreen is active.
But all of those methods just don't work the way I want them to. Anyone got a clue on how to accomplish this? I don't mind if I require root access or some dirty programming, by the way. After all, it's some sort of a hack.
A push in the right direction would be very welcome
Quick kick. No one knows a solution for this?
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App
If this is just for sense, have you checked the openSense sdk?
From something awesome
I haven't really looked into this, I also have no experience with widgets, but using my general knowledge in how Android works, concerning 2), does the widget not receive a visibility change? I know for LiveWallpapers there is a void VisibilityChanged(boolean visible) method that allows it to update when visible. Do Widgets not have this?
killersnowman said:
If this is just for sense, have you checked the openSense sdk?
From something awesome
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't find the documentation of it. But it must be somewhere, this is indeed another option to look into.
Metastable said:
I haven't really looked into this, I also have no experience with widgets, but using my general knowledge in how Android works, concerning 2), does the widget not receive a visibility change? I know for LiveWallpapers there is a void VisibilityChanged(boolean visible) method that allows it to update when visible. Do Widgets not have this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried all the event listeners I could find in the reference. I don't remember the VisibilityChanged method thou, will look into that tonight. Otherwise I might be able to build a Live Wallpaper and hook it to a service.. Interesting
Thanks both!