Database Users

[Q] How do I...? A few questions from a new convert

Ok so I'm coming from a different platform and I have a few questions on how to get back some (or if possible all) functionality I'm currently missing that has been essential to my work flow for a while. So hopefully if you can bare with the newb factor of some of these questions I'd really appreciate some pointing in the right direction....
Functionality Questions
1.) How do I get notification counts on app icons? So I can know how many texts or calls I've missed or haven't responded to yet.
2.) How do I rearrange my favorites list in the dialer... it seems to be in order that I star the contact but I can't seem to figure out how to rearrange them in the list.
3.) How do I arrange notifications in the notification shade? Currently notifications come in cronological order but how do I make it so text notifications are always first, then emails, then everything else...?
4.) How do I make it so even if my phone is on silent or vibrate, it still plays a notification sound for people I've designated (ie people on my favorites list)?
5.) How do I set individual text tones for contacts? I can set ringtones however I can't seem how to set text tones.
Misc... Questions
1.) In the messages app how do I make it so that instead of texts being broken up in "1 of 3" etc... that the texts come as one complete paragraph?
2.) How do I set a different picture for the lock screen than the home screen?
3.) Is there a music player widget that I can use that sits in the notification shade and or/ has an accompanying desktop widget that's more 'universal' or uses common music API's so that no matter what music app I use I can control it and see album art etc...? I'm coming from iOS a d the music widget in the task tray acts as control for any music app you choose to use etc...
Anyway like I said, I've switched platforms (from iOS to Android) and I'd like to have some of the aspects I've grown used to and made a part of my workflow and daily activity back. I know Android is ultra customizable and that the beauty is you can make it whatever you'd like so I'm sure these things are already there or can be done easily I'm just new and can't seem to figure it out. Any direction would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks in advance!

The Nexus 4 runs pure Android, which is quite basic as far as features. You're going to need a mix of a custom ROM with apps/widgets you download. Get to searching on the play store. There are tons of apps with great features. A simple search of "universal music widget" will yield results you can use. Also, check out the good messaging apps like Handcent, Go! SMS, and Chomp SMS. Search, download, test.
Edit: Here is another result from a simple search.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bruce.ringtonepicker

1. Download a third-party launcher such as Nova Launcher or Apex Launcher as they have these features. Some of these features may require a 'Pro' version of the launcher to unlock extra features.
2. Can't rearrange, it's based on the # of calls. You can download third-party dialers such as TouchPal.
3. someone else can explain
4. someone else
5. someone else.
misc.
1. download third party messenger app such as chompsms, handcent sms
2. custom rom
3. someone else

itpromike said:
Ok so I'm coming from a different platform and I have a few questions on how to get back some (or if possible all) functionality I'm currently missing that has been essential to my work flow for a while. So hopefully if you can bare with the newb factor of some of these questions I'd really appreciate some pointing in the right direction....
Functionality Questions
1.) How do I get notification counts on app icons? So I can know how many texts or calls I've missed or haven't responded to yet.
2.) How do I rearrange my favorites list in the dialer... it seems to be in order that I star the contact but I can't seem to figure out how to rearrange them in the list.
3.) How do I arrange notifications in the notification shade? Currently notifications come in cronological order but how do I make it so text notifications are always first, then emails, then everything else...?
4.) How do I make it so even if my phone is on silent or vibrate, it still plays a notification sound for people I've designated (ie people on my favorites list)?
5.) How do I set individual text tones for contacts? I can set ringtones however I can't seem how to set text tones.
Misc... Questions
1.) In the messages app how do I make it so that instead of texts being broken up in "1 of 3" etc... that the texts come as one complete paragraph?
2.) How do I set a different picture for the lock screen than the home screen?
3.) Is there a music player widget that I can use that sits in the notification shade and or/ has an accompanying desktop widget that's more 'universal' or uses common music API's so that no matter what music app I use I can control it and see album art etc...? I'm coming from iOS a d the music widget in the task tray acts as control for any music app you choose to use etc...
Anyway like I said, I've switched platforms (from iOS to Android) and I'd like to have some of the aspects I've grown used to and made a part of my workflow and daily activity back. I know Android is ultra customizable and that the beauty is you can make it whatever you'd like so I'm sure these things are already there or can be done easily I'm just new and can't seem to figure it out. Any direction would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. For unrooted phone there are launchers and for rooted many roms supports eg. Paranoid android.
2. Way around is to creat short cut on screen for contacts you prefer in your order. And Dont remember but there are several app available in play store. Search is your friend here.
3. Just have no idea about it.
4. lots of profile scheduler in play store. Check few out.
5. Never needed so no idea.
Misc.
1. Try other popular sms apps from play store.
2. In custom rom im sure I have used this in the past.
3. I didn't get that question.
Hope it helped you little. Just try few apps and choose what you like the best.
Good Luck :good:

Thanks for all the feedback so far. I'm going through the play store and getting there bit by bit. Any other suggestions keep'em coming. Thanks guys!

[Q] New persistent notification in 4.3

Is it possibile to clear the new persistent notification of running app in the notification bar?
I mean, there are apps that are supposed to be running as a background service, can I put trusted app in a white list so I don't see them in the notification bar anymore?
I have tried to uncheck the option in the setting page (as shown in the screenshot attached), but the notification will appear again.
This is so annoying, any workaround?

ee_981 said:
Is it possibile to clear the new persistent notification of running app in the notification bar?
I mean, there are apps that are supposed to be running as a background service, can I put trusted app in a white list so I don't see them in the notification bar anymore?
I have tried to uncheck the option in the setting page (as shown in the screenshot attached), but the notification will appear again.
This is so annoying, any workaround?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem with ADW launcher EX, I got it off by entering the settings menu of the app, not the settings of the phone. Look for it.

guys, read this.. http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/0...tifications-after-you-upgrade-to-android-4-3/
Have Persistent Notifications After You Upgrade To Android 4.3
Posted by Bertel King, Jr. in News
Anyone who has made the jump to Android 4.3, which admittedly isn't that many people right now, may have noticed that some applications now plant persistent notifications in the status bar. We offered this as a disclaimer in our post about manually updating a Nexus 4 to Android 4.3. Turns out, this is completely intentional. Android now forces persistent notifications on unkillable apps that run silently in the background. This is an attempt to call attention to behavior that isn't quite okay.
Notifications3
Many developers have made their applications impossible to kill and don't alert users to the fact that they're still running. They do this by creating a malformed notification object that doesn't appear in the status bar but still tricks the activity manager into allowing the service to enter the foreground. This is great for snooping, but that doesn't mean that only malicious apps adopt this behavior. As Artem's screenshots show below, the Network Monitor Mini Pro was one offender, but the developer has since updated the app to fix the problem.
Notifications1 Notifications2
While Android developers originally wanted to force quit apps that submit malformed notifications, there are simply too many out there for this to be a usable approach. Instead, Android will alert users to the offending apps, and developers will probably be inclined to change their software once users stop using their products and/or bring public shaming down on their heads. Hopefully the bulk of them will have been fixed by the time most phones make the jump to the latest version of Jelly Bean.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Weird approach from Google. So all the fuss is from forcing app devs to remove fake invisible nottifications , they can sill run in foreground or background!?!?! And all the masochists loving this. •_•

I've read about new Google policy, but what I'd like is the possibility to put some applications in a trusted-app list that gives us to choice if clear them from the notification bar.
This new feature by Google is helpful for all the malicious-purpose applications that are running in background without our assent, but once you notified me let me also choose how to manage them.
Maybe this could be an idea for a new app development by someone in this forum.

ee_981 said:
I've read about new Google policy, but what I'd like is the possibility to put some applications in a trusted-app list that gives us to choice if clear them from the notification bar.
This new feature by Google is helpful for all the malicious-purpose applications that are running in background without our assent, but once you notified me let me also choose how to manage them.
Maybe this could be an idea for a new app development by someone in this forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ability to whitelist is an excellent idea, but it would require opening new security restrictions. Considering Google's new Apple like approach, it would be surprising this would be allowed.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[Q] Would like to customize the phone a little bit, just not sure how

There are a few things that really bug me about the Touchwiz software.
1) The ridiculous color scheme/non-standardization between pages. For instance, the new apk install menu is just horrid to look at, as well as certain pop-up confirmation buttons. Is there any easy way to change these so that they more reflect AOSP?
2) The messaging application and the widget that appears on the lock screen when you have a missed phone call/text message. I was wanting to use Dashclock widget on the homescreen to replicate this purpose, but no matter what, I can't find a way to disable that widget that always appears. Is there a way to remove it?
3) This sorta ties along with #2, but when you use a pattern on the lock screen, you can't use a stand alone widget, Samsung automatically takes over and uses it's own. I know it's possible to use pattern and a widget (I can do it on the GE Rom, and my Nexus 7), is there a way duplicate this process?
4) Is there a way to replace the TW messaging app with an AOSP messaging application?
5) The pull down notification bar, is there any way to make it look more like AOSP?
There are things that I love both about TW and AOSP, and unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a rom (in my opinion) that compliments both of the features that they consist of nicely. I don't have the knowledge (or the time at the moment with school coming up) to try and build my own rom that would enjoy the features that I would want. I was wondering if anyone could help me out with this process. I would be forever grateful.

Are proper lockscreen notifications possible?

Since I got the Note 3 a week ago, I've spent most of that time trying to find a way to get proper lockscreen notifications. "Proper" in this case means pretty much what LockInfo IV did on jailbroken iPhones (if you're familiar with that):
Each notification chosen by the user is displayed on the lockscreen as a separate entity
Each notification (text or email) can be viewed in its entirety on the lockscreen, if the user chooses that option (such as by tapping to expand each notification)
Notifications are persistent, in that they remain visible on the lockscreen whenever the phone is brought out of sleep mode.
I've tried LockerPro, Nils, Pop-up Notifier, and others and they all fail in one way or another. I'm led to believe that lockscreen notifications are limited by the way that Android populates the notifications panel. The big problem is that if you get more than one email or text, they all get lumped together into a single, useless "You have <x> number of new messages" entry, which means you have to unlock the phone and launch the respective app to see who it's from and what it says.
This completely defeats the purpose of screening notifications on the lockscreen.
I'd appreciate recommendations for any app that will make lockscreen notifications useful. Thanks to designgears, my phone is rooted now, if that makes a difference.

Try dynamic notifications. It mimics the moto x.
Won't show everything though.

Thanks for the suggestion. I've tried that one and it didn't do it for me, but I'll give it another shot at some point.
For now, I've stopped worrying about lockscreen notifications, since push email is basically broken on the Note 3 anyway. It's like a time machine back to 1995.

barnabydog said:
Thanks for the suggestion. I've tried that one and it didn't do it for me, but I'll give it another shot at some point.
For now, I've stopped worrying about lockscreen notifications, since push email is basically broken on the Note 3 anyway. It's like a time machine back to 1995.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey - I was looking for the same for my N3....i've been trying Dynamic Notifications on and off for awhile now. At first it works, and then just stops. Maybe give Knock2 +V2..I'm testing it now and so far it seems to work flawlessly for me

Yota cover/panel questions

I'm just getting used to my new Yotaphone 2, it is living up to my expectations so far but I've got a couple of questions...
1. Can you disable yota cover? The manual mentions an option to disable it but I can't find it on the yota hub settings, the scenario is I have a lock screen with swipe pattern to unlock the device, so the yota cover is unnecessary. when mirroring, I end up removing the yota cover, then putting the unlock pattern in , the EPD is all about convenience for me and this double step to unlock is annoying.
2. The "next event" widget should be awesome but it doesn't display "all day events" from the calendar so its somewhat crippled, a true agenda widget would be better but any how my question is why the hell is an address in Moscow showing up as the location of all my calendar events when displayed on the "next event" widget on the EPD?? Any one else getting this?
3. Anyone else getting stuck notifications only on the "any other notifications" icon (the bell) if so how are you removing or resetting the counter?
Thanks for any advice you can give me
Sent from my YD201 using XDA Free mobile app

Hey dude, just spotted this thread, sorry didn't answer sooner. You may have figured the answers to your own questions out by this point but i'll reply anyway -
1. Not sure about stopping yotacover, have you tried simply removing each page (via menu > remove in yotacover) until none are shown? Haven't tried it but might work.
2. The next event widget is working fine for me, showing all day events and the address it shows is fine. Perhaps this has been fixed in an update?
3. I get stuck notifications occasionally, mostly they come from apps that leave a notification, whether invisible or not, like ad block plus. These tend to go away eventually and stop showing up after a time, maybe the phone gets used to them. Occasionally there are random notifications that I assume are left over from when there were actually things I had not dealt with or swiped away from notification drawer. These also tend to go away, and I think this has been addressed a little bit in the recent update.
Hope you got the issues sorted and if not I hope you get some use out of this.

Thanks for the input, to add my findings since my original post.....
1. I've got used to yotocover and how it works so it's not bothering me so much now, I may try your en suggestion tho and delete the set up of the yota covers to see if that stops it.
2. The next event is working as I would expect now, it shows all day events and the Moscow location has stopped showing up on my events thank goodness. I'm guessing this improvement is due to the software updates that have been coming via the play store.
3. One of the notifications I was getting was from the google now weather notification that shows up in the notification shade but not on the top bar, also avg notifications do the same. Any notification what so ever will flag the " bell" on the EPD, it would be nice if we could configure that. Or give is an android wear notification yota panel, now that would be awesome!
Sent from my GT-N8010 using XDA Premium HD app