Related
My sister lost her vision last year at the age of 24 due to diabetic retinapothy. She is missing be able to text message, facebook, celeb gossip... you know, the important things in life We initially bought the Droid X for her, but It's going back in exchange for the Droid 2, which should be here on 9/9/10.
Problem with the X is the Android Eyes Free Shell and the Talking Dialer make use of either a trackball or a directional pad. The Droid X has neither. It's also difficult to navigate pretty much everything blind without a d-pad. Should of thought of that earlier. Oh well, the exchange process is very easy. The Android Eyes Free team developed the software around the Nexus one i assume, which has a trackball. Personally i think a d-pad is better for a blind person, as you can press down once to go down once. A trackball you might go down 2 or 3 depending on how much you rotate it.
I'm going to be updating this thread with our progress as well as what steps we took along the way. Hopefully this will end up being helpful for someone else in a similar situation. Blind people DO use the internet (even youtube!).
Here are the initial changes I want to make:
Locating Touch Sensitive buttons
I will go to a craft store and find something to put below the 4 touch sensitive buttons on the front of the phone, this way she will be able to find them. Im thinking 4 drops of some puffy glitter glue or something to that effect. Being diabetic she's also lost somesensitivity in her fingers, so something with texture will be needed.
Removing the Lock Screen
Slide to unlock is basically an impossible task for a blind person. The Droid 2 uses the stock vanilla lock screen I believe, does anyone know how to remove it? I could potentially replace it with a "shake to unlock" or whatever, and ideas here are appreciated.
Answering the phone
Again, here slide to answer isn't going to fly. Does anyone know: If you slide the keyboard out while the phone is ringing does it answer the call? Most slider phones I've seen operated like that, I'm hoping the Droid 2 does too. She will also have a bluetooth headset which should make it easy to answer, but if your blind trying to find your bluetooth headset in time to answer the call can be a problem, so i'd like her to be able to answer the phone without a headset as well.
Hanging up the phone
Can you slide the keyboard shut to end a call? What happens if your on a call and you slide the keyboard out and then closed, does that hang up the call? Another solution would be to make it so the power button hangs up the call, surely it can be remapped do that. Or is there an end call button somewhere on the hardware qwerty?
Ok, those are the first major things. Actually dialing a call is no problem once we get past the lock screen issue. She can double tap the home button to launch the voice dialer, or she can use the Android Eyes Free "Talking Dialer" to dial a number with her finger using swipe motions. It's pretty neat actually, give it a try if you haven't already. The Eyes Free Shell and the Moto Voice Command will take care of pretty much everything else.
Thanks in advance for your help!
I can confirm that the Droid 2 does NOT answer when sliding the phone open and does NOT hang up when sliding closed. Just tested this.
Edit: forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=762101
View that thread and search the app "no lock" in the market. Seems to do what you are looking for in the marketplace. You may also want to contact the developer to see about source code or see if it was a .apk that was removed.
Also in response to the glue idea:
I would test on another device because the screen has to be able to sense your impulse as well because it wont trigger unless it has a touch by a human hand. My guess it it reads the electronic pulse by the skin and that is how it picks it up.
about the unlock screen, I can say is once you do it enough times you know where is on the screen, I usually unlock mine while its not even all the way out of my pocket, also it vibrates when you touch the unlock area and it vibrates again as you pull it to the right...hope this helps
I don't have an Android phone yet, but I've seen a nice replacement for the stock locker, called WidgetLocker. You can modify it a lot (add your own apps, widgets etc.) but the most important thing for you is that you can move the unlock slider down to the bottom of the screen so it would be easier to unlock it.
Of course, the best solution is to remove completely the locker, but I don't know whether it's possible, so I'm just giving you another option
Kamill said:
I don't have an Android phone yet, but I've seen a nice replacement for the stock locker, called WidgetLocker. You can modify it a lot (add your own apps, widgets etc.) but the most important thing for you is that you can move the unlock slider down to the bottom of the screen so it would be easier to unlock it.
Of course, the best solution is to remove completely the locker, but I don't know whether it's possible, so I'm just giving you another option
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This page has been a big help: http://eyes-free.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/documentation/android_access/basics.html
Above link talked about No Lock, an app on the market that removes the lock screen. Although it turns out she is actually able to unlock the phone blindly, but it usually takes her a few tries. For now we are going with no lock...
Also the Droid 2 has an option in the Accessibility page to enable "use power button to end call" so that has been a big help.
So far the biggest problem with the Droid 2 is the keyboard really sucks for a blind person. The navigation keys are kind of awkwardly placed, and the keys are very flat. I wish I would of known about the LG Ally, as the appears to be the best Android phone for a blind person. Has physical buttons on the front to start/end calls, and the keyboard is WAY better (for a blind person anyways). Unfortunately Verizon only lets you exchange a phone 1 time, and we already bought the Droid X. So looks like I'd have to sell the Droid 2 and buy the LG Ally on eBay. Not sure if we are going to go that route.. might just try and make the best of it with the Droid 2.
I have a LG Ally wits a protective rubber case, invisible shield screen protector, and 2 batteries which I'm not currently using. I'll do a straight up trade for your Droid 2.
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
Made my account to reply to this (And because I got my Droid 2 2 days ago). Will be watching this thread. My son is 2 and nearly blind. We are exploring any and all ways to work around it. I'm currently learning braille so I can teach him, and looking into how to make phones and computers more usable for him. Hopefully your sister handles what's happened well and finds ways to keep up her life, goals, and hobbies
Thanks for posting this. Good luck with the project and keep us updated, please!
Need some help here too
Hi there,
This seems to be the only forum that I can find on this subject. I will definitely be checking out the LG Ally but I'm also looking at the Droid 2 Global (which my partner has bought for himself and I have been testing out).
I am a blind person with little vision and I have to find a smart phone that works for me, as I have hit the point where I need to access my work email, work calendar, and browser functions do be more efficient and effective.
The blackberry is out, as it doesn't work for blind people through Verizon.
The IPhone, though just coming out from Verizon, does seem to have a great VoiceOver application which works great for a blind person. However, I'm not sure I'm patient enough to type without a keyboard--though it is possible for a blind person to use it.
Your points about the LG Ally are helpful for me. Does it have an accessibility application like the Droid 2 Global?
In testing out the Droid Two Global, I have enabled the "accessibility application" and checked the read out checkbox in the settings. It has abled me to see most stuff and some of the pieces you put up on the post will help. What I am struggling with is the following:
When I access any part of the browser application, it doesn't read the page of the web site or any of the links. I'm wondering if there are key combinations I am not femiliar with that would make this work or does it do it at all?
Also, the calendar is not reading things to me as well. Any ideas?
In general, is there a button that I can press, that will get it to repete something or to read a screen. I currently am just arrowing back and forth to choose something. I also can hit the OK button when typing a message to read what is in the edit box.
The last issue, though I think it would get much easier as I used it, is that to dial just a phone number seems to take a bit longer. But, I just tried using the voice dialer and it quickly got much easier. lol
I also wonder if the Accessibility application is the only one you are installing. Should I be installing something else to give me more functionality
Sorry for the long-winded questions but I really can't seem to find other assistance on this.
Thanks,
Jeremy Grandstaff
614-519-3026
Hi Jeremy,
I think you will get the best answers to your questions on Google's eyes-free group (I'm not allowed to post outside links on this forum, or I would have given you the URL).
On that list many blind Android phone users report accessibility issues and workarounds, and the list is monitored by Google's Android accessibility developers. Android web accessibility is indeed still very limited, as is text editing support.
Best regards,
Posted my question also to the eyes-free group
Thanks for the reply. I did post my message to the Google eyes-free group, but felt I would get a fuller response here as well.
Hi everyone. I just purchased my Droid X last week, and I'm having some migrating pains coming from Windows Mobile 6.5 (HTC Touch Pro 2, Mighty ROM) over to Android. I'm wondering if the fine folks here at XDA can help me ease into the Android OS a little easier.
Here are the things I miss most about WinMo, maybe you can tell me some viable alternatives.
1) The Dialer. - Skip the next 3 paragraphs if you're familiar with HTC Sense on WinMo.
The dialer absolutely sucks compared to the TP2. Having to click different tabs juts annoys me. In the TP2, the dialer and recent calls were displayed in a single window, so if I wanted to dial Steve, I had 2 ways of doing it.
The first way was to dial 7(S), 8(T). The phone would recognize I am spelling out Steve, and list everyone who fits the ST criteria sorted by most recently called. The more I spelled out his name, the narrower the results got.
The second method was to dial his number. Pretend Steve's number is (123) 456-7890. If I dialed 123, it would sort all contacts with numbers who matched the area code, and it would narrow the results as I typed more of his phone number.
I really hate having to tap between Contacts (there is a contacts soft button next to the dialer anyway), I would just click that if I wanted to from the beginning.
Are there any dialers out there closer to the HTC Dialer?
2) Contacts.
There has to be a better contact manager. Not being able to quickly tap a letter to get to contacts is really dumb.
3) Ninja Applications.
Why do I keep seeing applications running that I never started when I load Advance Task Killer. It's really annoying when I load up an App, and go to close it, and see Skype and CityID running when I never launched either of them. I'm almost afraid to set up AIM on my phone at this point.
4) GPS.
If I keep my GPS on, my battery gets killed. With my TP2, it would only use the GPS when it needed it, so for weather updates, and Google Maps, otherwise it stayed off (or was in a suspend state). I turned the GPS on my first day and had 0 battery by around 2 (left the house at 8). Is there any way to set the GPS to only be used, as needed?
5) APPLICATIONS EVERYWHERE.
Is there anyway to sort these into folders? Also, is there anyway to add an X to the application so I can close it when I'm done with it rather than having to launch an App just to close the App I just used?
I really liked the Sense way of doing it, where I had an X in the Application, and a drop down on the home screen that would list the open Apps so I could close them 1 at a time.
6) MotoBlur.
Ugh, I really hate this UI. Has anyone had any experience with SenseX?
7) Custom Roms.
I've seen a handful of Custom ROMs, and I'm planning on putting one on when I have some time next week. I need a good way to backup contacts, after I just spent an hour linking everyone, but I'd like to know if there is a decent Apples to Apples comparison of the ROMs. They don't seem to be outlines as detailed as I'm used to.
On this topic, are there any problems setting up things like MMS once you install a Custom ROM? It was a nightmare on the TP2, but those ROMs were also made for multiple carriers, which isn't a problem with this phone, so I imagine it shouldn't be an issue.
----------------------------------
Thank you for taking the time to read this wall of text.
Other than the 7 things listed, I love the phone. Finding MortPlayer for Droid made my day. I'm looking forward to unlocking it's true potential, and I hope my list isn't a bunch of things I'm just going to have to adjust to.
Thank you again, have a great day.
EDIT:
Also, it's really annoying that every time I connect my phone to my PC, it launches a Verizon web site. Is there anyway to disable this?
Ok... I will take a stab at this.
FIRST, You DO NOT have to settle for the apps that come preinstalled on your phone! Just had to clear that up... Ok, here we go:
Check an app called "Dialer One" and see if that fits your needs... I haven't used it in a while... but heard it still a great replacement for the stock dialer.
Searching for a better Contact Manager is on my To-Do list.. hope someone comes in and help out a little more with that one
Don't worry about the "ninja" apps TOO much. Android Froyo has an amazing task manager and even though you SEE the apps as "running applications", they are not really RUNNING. They are more like... in a queue.. so they are ready for whenever you come back to them....but you still have to watch what the apps are doing. Some do not play nicely and hog memory. I'll link a good post here in a minute explaining that a little better.
There is a widget that can help you out here.. it's called "Power Control" put that bad boy on your homescreen and the option to turn on/off wifi, bluetooth, gps, etc is at your fingertips (for even more controls... check out "Extended Controls" in the market. It cost like $1 and some change)
I'm... not really following this one. For one.. you CAN use folders on your homescreen and put whatever your heart desires in them.. and label it accordingly. I'm not sure what you mean by the "X" in the app
SenseX?? What is that?? Anyway.. as you will find out soon, 99% of the Droid X community despise MotoBlur!! You can use a different Home Launcher and not use Blur. Two of the major Home Launcher replacements are Adw.launcher & LauncherPro... which one is better is a whole different story. They are both great and only YOU can choose which one is best. There many threads comparing them and they run neck to neck mostly. I'm on LauncherPro personally
Custom Roms?? Eh.. I personally do my own developments and theming on my phone and do not use them... there not really all what they cracked up to be because whatever they have on them... I can do myself. So I'm not much of an help on that one... Somebody else maybe will chime in.
P.S-To fix the Verizon thing, go to the "M" in the taskbar at the bottom of your screen by the clock on your PC and right click it.. there should be an option saying to tell it to NOT send you to the Verizon site when you connect your phone. I don't know the EXACT wording of the option menu.. I'm on a mac
Thank you for your reply.
I will check out the Dialer. Thank you very much.
Darn!
A friend of mine told me that, but it's hard for me to not be a bit OCD about background Applications. I've been a Windows user most of my life, and coming from WinMo, background apps really kill performance.
More than anything, my issue is with things like Skype loading when I do not want to be signed in. I want auto-login when I launch the Application, but I don't want the application loading when it feels like it, and me getting a random IM or call from someone when I didn't even tell it to log in.
It also bothers me that Amazon MP3, something I've never even loaded, has turned itself on. It makes me feel like I don't have control over my phone.
I do have a widget that lets me turn these things on and off, I was just hoping for a way to set it up so that the GPS is "pinged" and only used as needed, and turned back off. My TP2 did this, and was a great battery saver. Having to turn the GPS on and off just to get a weather update based on location is a bit annoying.
I didn't mean on the home-screen, I meant in the application list. So when I hit the application list, I can sort them by "Games", "Google", etc.
For the "X", what I mean is in reference to closing an App. In WinMo, the top right of the screen had an X, and if I touched that X, the app would close. Now, once I exit the App, I need to use an application killer to close said App.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=764840
Looks like Sense for the Droid X. In Beta now, so I'm waiting for a stable release.
Really, it's just to get rid of bloatware and take advantage of some performance optimizations that have been made.
A couple of other things that have come up.
I need a better keyboard. One with arrows so I can navigate text. Touching isn't precise enough, and I don't have a stylus with this phone. Today I voiced a text message, and I went to correct an error, but I couldn't get the curse to go in the exact spot I needed it to go into. My old OSK had arrow soft-keys I could tap to navigate with.
Also, I notice when I pull my phone out of the leather pouch I have, when I hit the power button it comes up in landscape, and the accelerometer doesn't pick up on the turn. I need to turn the screen off and turn it back on.
Finally, I'm having extender issues, but I think I need to call VZW for that. When leaving my house, I can't reconnect to Data without a power-cycle.
Thank you for the reply.
my .02
3. Break yourself from the taskiller need. If you have programs allways running that you dont need, ie skype or city id. Root and delete those SOB's. you can look around and there are plenty of articles of why not to use them. Android is a linux based os. Linux is far supirior to Win in memeory management. You dont need task killers.
4. if your gps is turned on its not always running. It only runs when needed. Is by chance your wifi on? that will run all the time by searching for access points. if not you might have maps running, make sure to always back out of maps and not just hit home. That way it closes and doesnt just run in background. (actually goes for most apps)
5 organization- you cant sort the app drawer, you can hide apps (just the icons) using launcher pro, not sure if ADW has that option. Useing folders or the app "app manager" is your best bet
extra. swype has arrows. swype from the swype icon to abc and it will bring up a new keyboard.
I came from winmo- so I know all about your "X" pains. But I say forget about a task killer or even killing tasks (except maybe maps and navigation). I did a little reading about pros and cons and decided to try the "no task killer" approach. I haven't had any problems. the task killer is a pain anyways. you can kill apps all day long and there are a bunch of them that are just going to repopulate themselves in like 5 minutes. I just said, "fegetaboutit". My phone runs great.
if you open the dialer and are on the contacts tab just long press the menu button (the physical button) and your keyboard will pop up. start typing and contacts will appear.
I like "Zeam Launcher". There is a thread here on XDA. I have Launcher Pro+ -but actually liked Zeam so much I use it. Just different preferences though.
that's all i got for now.
Thank you for your replies.
I will try to be a bit less OCD regarding my tasks. I did kill a couple of services of applications that kept starting, like Skype.
I'll check out those launchers and see if I like them better.
Any good stock widgets?
EDIT:
So I just tried to check my location on Google Maps with GPS turned off, and it says I need to turn it on.
How do I set it up to use the GPS as needed?
I leave location services on (GPS)
My theory is that applications will only enable GPS when they need them, so if you have a application running that wants GPS, it will use it.
The GPS icon appears in the notification bar when I'm using something that is using GPS, so I assume its only actually on when this icon is present. Leave it on in settings just makes is available.
Any widget or application that has a setting for manual location (Weather, IMDB) I use it, and disable GPS location, to keep GPS from running all of the time.
To exit an app you are using, either hit the back button or the home button.
If you are worried about "ninja" apps using cpu and memory, you can try a minfree adjustment application such as AutoKiller Memory Optimizer. It fine tunes android's inner memory manager to be a bit more aggressive in closing applications.
I use another Rom (rubiX, link in sig) that already has minfree adjusted (according to the author) and it does help in keeping the X smooth. It also removes all (well most) of Blur and default installed apps as well, so you start with a very clean X.
The default home screen (blur) is crap. I would also suggest replacing it with LauncherPro or ADW
For removing the pre-installed applications. Follow this guide
http://www.droidxforums.com/forum/d...ta-3-ways-super-easy-safe-safe-easy-free.html
Some apps in /system/app/ are not named what they are
(IE. mynet.apk = 3g Hotspot)
For a keyboard anywhere, you can hold the menu button, and it will pop up.
Swype is really a few keyboards. Swype from the icon to the SYM button, it will give you the edit panel (arrows, home, end, copy, paste, etc...) press the ABC button to go back.
Swype from the icon to the f key, it will turn into a number pad. Press the ABC button to go back to the normal keyboard.
Run the tutorial on Swype too, it will give you some very nice pointers on it's use. I used Swype on windows mobile and I found out a few things about Swype I never knew.
Also, as for touching where your cursor is in a text field, if you press and hold, and magnifying bubble will pop up. This makes moving the cursor easier
Did you find a dialer yet? I saw these posted and thought about this thread...
http://www.appbrain.com/app/kz.mek.DialerOne
http://www.appbrain.com/app/acontacts/kz.mek.aContacts
Haven't had a chance to try them yet.
bad4u6669 said:
.... swype has arrows. swype from the swype icon to abc and it will bring up a new keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OMG. thanks. been loving swype but that has been driving me nuts. Thanks for the info.
Thank you for the replies.
One of the things I liked about my TP2, is I could leave location services on, and it used very little battery.
I guess Weather Bug just SUCKS battery out like crazy. I turned on the GPS last night for something, and decided to see how well it did with battery today. It turns out that some grocery shopping app I wanted to try was sucking my GPS dry (no idea why)... yet another "ninja app" that just started up because it felt like it (this kind of **** really makes me , programs should only start up when I tell them to, not when a component of my phone turns on).
I live in an apartment that has really bad signal (I actually have a Network Extender), so that might be my GPS constantly trying to update when I'm at home killing my battery.
WeatherBug is set to update every hour, so I'm going to see what happens tomorrow with the GPS turned on. It would be nice if I could just set it and forget it, not need to turn it off every time I come home.
Thank you for the contact program, I might check it out. I've been pretty content since I got DialerOne and found out I can get the keyboard up by holding the options.
I tried LauncherPro, and I LOVED it at first, and my phones performance was fantastic!
Then I found out it charges me to resize widgets... WTF is that crap?
I'm going to try some other launchers and see what happens. I'm getting the hang of it, but I still do not like things starting up on their own. Regardless of memory management, my phone should not just decide to boot up programs on it's own.
the phone only does what the app or the user tells it to do. If theirs an app that you don't like, delete it.
And complaining that launcher pro charges for every thing it offers is ridiculous. Every thing it offers for free already ( 7 home screens, 10 rows and columns, unreal speed improvement, etc. ) then to get the extras its less than most people throw away on a daily basis. Where as this three dollars its money that pays off on a daily basis
Adw and lp should be paid apps from the start for all they offer.
You have 3 options, write your own program, use the stock launcher, find a free one.
-end rant
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
I usually leave my location setting on "Use Wireless Networks" and don't bother with GPS other than for maps and navigation. Works fine for all of my other apps that need a location (e.g., weather).
There are apps out there that can turn GPS on and off automatically when you run a particular app, such as Tasker (which can do a whole host of things, but that is one one of them). Tasker is a paid app, but there might be something free out there that does something similar.
Also, I agree with the previous poster re: Launcher Pro. It's really a fantastic home launcher and well worth a few bucks to support the developer. The LP Plus widgets are also a lot better than any of the Blur widgets.
In the end, I probably will buy it, but I'm going to play around with some of the free ones first.
Tasker sounds like it might be worth it for that feature alone (being able to turn the GPS on and off at will). I'm just surprised a feature like this wasn't built in to begin with, considering WinMo has had it for years.
On an unrelated note, can anyone recommend a good media player? I'm going to be flying soon and want to test the battery out on Airplane mode while watching a movie from the SD card. I need something that can decode a variety of formats, mostly XviD for stuff like digital movie copies and TV shows.
EtherBoo said:
In the end, I probably will buy it, but I'm going to play around with some of the free ones first.
Tasker sounds like it might be worth it for that feature alone (being able to turn the GPS on and off at will). I'm just surprised a feature like this wasn't built in to begin with, considering WinMo has had it for years.
On an unrelated note, can anyone recommend a good media player? I'm going to be flying soon and want to test the battery out on Airplane mode while watching a movie from the SD card. I need something that can decode a variety of formats, mostly XviD for stuff like digital movie copies and TV shows.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might want to look into RockPlayer. That's the only one I found so far that decodes ALMOST anything on the spot.
The "Ninja Applications" are running because Android is a true multi tasking OS.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
I hope necromancy isn't frowned upon on this board, so my apologies if it is.
I found a new problem because I had the nerve to attempt to update a contact photo after Facebook had saved it's picture to it.
This is especially frustrating because I'm going to want to override a lot of these photos very soon.
Apparently, updating the photo updates the Google Contact photo, but the phone only displays the Facebook photo. This is a bug confirmed by Moto that will be fixed in a future update.
This leaves me with 2 options.
De-Sync FB, which I'm not thrilled about only because I like getting the most recent status update prior to receiving a call, and There is a lot of info that FB fills in for me.
Copy down all the FB info, and fill it in manually. With Google Contacts not being the best contact manager (I'm very OCD about uniformity in the way things are formatted), I really don't want to do this.
So I figure I need a new contact manager. I tried AContacts, and it crashed every time I tried to edit a contact.
I would love something like the HTC one that comes with WinMo, or maybe even the iPhone one.
I would be willing to pay for this.
P.S.
I'm now rooted and running a custom ROM (zapX I think it's called). I'm loving my phone much more now. My battery life has skyrocketed, and my performance is amazing now. Very iPhone smooth (one thing I was always jealous of, and I hate the iPhone).
Is it possible to create, save and switch between different sets of home screens and setting.
HTC Sense has "Scenes" that allows this, even my old Nokia E71 had two profiles that allowed for a completely different home screen and settings.
Is there anyway of doing this with the Nexus 4?
I would like to have a set of home screens and settings with the stuff I use at work, then be able to switch to another profile that has different home screens and settings for the road trips, and another for home.
I have seen apps that allow for all the settings to be switched, but have not had any luck with changing the home screen.
-BEGIN RANT-:crying:
Am I the only one that desires to customize my phone for completely different segments of my life and be able to switch between them with ease?
OK really, I need to learn to develop this stuff, because there are many basic tasks I thought would be standard issue by now on these little computers we carry with us, but not.
:angel:-END OD RANT-
So my Nexus 4 should be arriving today, so i guess I will start to play with it. I read about installing separate launchers and switching between them with Tasker.
Can more then one instance of a single app, like a launcher, be installed by changing something in some setting once I am rooted?
Any thought, ideas to give me another direction to search?
any good "learn everything there is to know about android development in one day" classes or books?
cjunk said:
-BEGIN RANT-:crying:
Am I the only one that desires to customize my phone for completely different segments of my life and be able to switch between them with ease?
OK really, I need to learn to develop this stuff, because there are many basic tasks I thought would be standard issue by now on these little computers we carry with us, but not.
:angel:-END OD RANT-
So my Nexus 4 should be arriving today, so i guess I will start to play with it. I read about installing separate launchers and switching between them with Tasker.
Can more then one instance of a single app, like a launcher, be installed by changing something in some setting once I am rooted?
Any thought, ideas to give me another direction to search?
any good "learn everything there is to know about android development in one day" classes or books?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most custom ROMs have profiles for just this. You can easily switch between them by pulling down the notification bar and clicking on a quick tile. I know for sure that carbon does this and assume most of the major releases will as well.
Carbonized and francofied N4
Chameleon Launcher allows this.
Thanks for the suggestions.
ingenious247 said:
Chameleon Launcher allows this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems to, but it seems to be not very reliable at the moment from what I read. It is also a big change from the standard android feel I like.
I still might give it a try though, I like that they are trying something different. Looks almost like a windows/android warp
Cuzz1369 said:
Most custom ROMs have profiles for just this. You can easily switch between them by pulling down the notification bar and clicking on a quick tile. I know for sure that carbon does this and assume most of the major releases will as well.
Carbonized and francofied N4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have seen roms and launchers that promote their "profiles" feature, but all them do not seem to go as far as allowing me to save a whole set of home screen configurations, then change from one set to the other with ease. They seem to be just a collection of settings like volumes, sounds, radios on/off and such.
I will look into carbon to see if it can indeed do this.
I find it hard to actually find a detailed listing of what different roms can do. most of the info is just how to install, bugs and more technical development stuff.
My new baby was sitting all bundled up on the table when I got home today. I haven't even had a chance to turn her on yet. still admiring the curves
cjunk said:
Thanks for the suggestions.
It seems to, but it seems to be not very reliable at the moment from what I read. It is also a big change from the standard android feel I like.
I still might give it a try though, I like that they are trying something different. Looks almost like a windows/android warp
I have seen roms and launchers that promote their "profiles" feature, but all them do not seem to go as far as allowing me to save a whole set of home screen configurations, then change from one set to the other with ease. They seem to be just a collection of settings like volumes, sounds, radios on/off and such.
I will look into carbon to see if it can indeed do this.
I find it hard to actually find a detailed listing of what different roms can do. most of the info is just how to install, bugs and more technical development stuff.
My new baby was sitting all bundled up on the table when I got home today. I haven't even had a chance to turn her on yet. still admiring the curves
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure you'll be happ. Best phone I've ever had. And you are right about the profiles being mostly setting. Carbon is like that too. The only work around I can think of is a launcher. I use nova it is rock solid. You can back up the configuration and restore in less than a minute.
Carbonized and francofied N4
Coming from a moto x gen 1, my last touvhwiz experience was GS3, ready for a phablet if it comes with great screen, camera, and battery. Trying to decide between this and N6, wanted to know:
I remember having issues where even when you disabled some things in touchwiz, they still took the default actions for certain things and "lingered." I can't remember the specifics, but I do know that I would like to NOT use S voice and would rather use google for all of the voice command stuff. Is the voice command experience the same as a nexus when you disable the touchwiz stuff?
Along these lines, if you disable S Voice, does google's touchless control "OK Google" command work? What about if you use thee voice control button from a Bluetooth headset, does that bring up google now or something else?
is it possible to completely disable the native touchwiz apps, such as calendar, etc? replace the phone dialer? contacts? I've read that even if you disable the touchwiz calendar, clicking on a meeting invite still brings it up...
If you install a different launcher, like the google now launcher or nova, do you lose the ability to switch to one handed mode with the side swipe in and out motion? Also if you use the google now launcher does the s pen still work the same way? Like when you pull it out?
Have you found less of a need too use a tablet with such a big screen on your phone?
One more, how has your experience been with GPS? I remember having all kinds of issues in my gs3, never issues with my Motorola phones, I rely on GPS heavily for my job.
Thanks!!!
pchoi94 said:
Coming from a moto x gen 1, my last touvhwiz experience was GS3, ready for a phablet if it comes with great screen, camera, and battery. Trying to decide between this and N6, wanted to know:
I remember having issues where even when you disabled some things in touchwiz, they still took the default actions for certain things and "lingered." I can't remember the specifics, but I do know that I would like to NOT use S voice and would rather use google for all of the voice command stuff. Is the voice command experience the same as a nexus when you disable the touchwiz stuff?
Along these lines, if you disable S Voice, does google's touchless control "OK Google" command work? What about if you use thee voice control button from a Bluetooth headset, does that bring up google now or something else?
is it possible to completely disable the native touchwiz apps, such as calendar, etc? replace the phone dialer? contacts? I've read that even if you disable the touchwiz calendar, clicking on a meeting invite still brings it up...
If you install a different launcher, like the google now launcher or nova, do you lose the ability to switch to one handed mode with the side swipe in and out motion? Also if you use the google now launcher does the s pen still work the same way? Like when you pull it out?
Have you found less of a need too use a tablet with such a big screen on your phone?
One more, how has your experience been with GPS? I remember having all kinds of issues in my gs3, never issues with my Motorola phones, I rely on GPS heavily for my job.
Thanks!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I can answer some of those for you... like you, I was torn between this and the nexus 6.... decided on getting both, with the note 4 being first. Have since decided to not even get the nexus.... at least for now
1: I hate s voice too, and far prefer the "Ok Google" stuff I've been used to from my nexus 5. I use the google now launcher, have have not gotten anything other than a nexus like performance in that regard. I get the "Ok Google" command working from any screen (with language set to US English) With that said. I did "freeze" S Voice with titainum backup, completely disabling it.... and that caused me problems. The first and only major one I noticed, that caused me to unfreeze it, is that the front camera doesnt work if s voice is totally disabled!!
2: I don't know about the bluetooth headset thing
3: As above, I've experienced problems when trying to completely disable the touchwiz things. But, as long as I leave them alone, and use my preferred aps, the touchwiz stuff leaves me alone too... I dont find it getting in my way at all.
4: I dont know about the 1 handed mode thing. I use my phone one handed just fine without a special mode... I dont wanna go playing there. The Spen, with the google launcher works just as it does with the touchwiz launcher
5: I sold my galaxy tab s 8,4.... I can see myself with a larger, 12" tablet in the future maybe.... meh, I don't know
6: GPS so far seems more reliable and faster than my nexus 5..... would probably still be even better on a motorolla, but certainly not exactly a problem
Thanks for the quick reply!
Can anyone else weigh in on the GPS thing? This is a deal breaker for me. I remember my GS3 working fine when I first got it, then getting worse over time, then getting to a point where it was mostly not working and once in a while working, as if a wire was loose or something. My moto x locks instantly every single time for over a year now. I use GPS for my job on a daily basis, right now I think this is the only thing holding me back from accepting the Touchwiz overlords back into my life...[emoji6]
Hello there,
I am an iPhone Jailbreak user, who has always been curious about the capabilities of an Android phone to see if it matches upto anything the Jailbroken iPhones can do in my own perspective. I've posted on other communities before to ask these questions but since I got no real good answer, I decided to buy an old Nexus 4 phone (running v5.1.1 i believe) to see what the Android can do myself.
Now, I've noticed that with these "Dual Screen Browsers", specifically the "Dual Screen Browser" and the "DualScreen" app has this capability of when you have a Flash Video playing, and if you go back to the Home screen, it continues to play the video in the background. My understanding was for Android, because it uses an OOM memory management system, playing videos as if it remained in the foreground should not be possible, but some how these two apps are able to do this.
I also realized the app "Floating Apps" also achieves a similar effect of playing any Flash videos in the background. although for this it seems like it leaves a tiny icon floating around the phone. which seems totally fine. i would assume this behavior can be made available to all apps with an option to disable this feature (including games)
Could anyone shed light to how these three apps works, and what allows them to do this? Can this behavior be mimic'd for things like a Game app?
Or could anyone point to a better forum to ask these questions?
Since I now have an Android phone I can actually try out whatever suggestions may pop up so this is exciting.
Thank you all in advance.