I was surprised to find there are no script or macro recorders in the Android Market. Is this impossible in Android for some reason? Or just against Market policy?
What I was looking to do was put a "button" on a home screen, so that one 'click' on the button would open a couple of menus and make a couple of choices, allowing me to "one shot" a setting instead of drilling down through menus.
Not possible? Or just overlooked so far? (And if you write one and become rich, remember, send me a 10% agents fee, wouldya?)
Related
Hello, I'm thinking about switching over from my Palm OS Treo 700p to a Sprint Mogul and would like to develop some apps using .NET. I'm a long-time VB developer (VB3 thru VB6) but a more recent newbie with .NET (focusing on C#). I've also had experience with several Pocket PC / WM devices and dabbled with eVB long ago (hated it). Anyways, I've got some ideas for apps/applets/hacks that I'd like to create for WM devices (and the Mogul specifically), but I'm not sure what's possible with WM6 and .NET, so some questions:
1) Let's say I wanted to create an app that "runs in the background" all the time. I'm fairly certain that I can create an app that gets started after a soft reset but doesn't show any visual signs of being started. I want this app to essentially "listen" for other events. So, if for example, I'm using IE and the user presses a specific hard button, I want my app to trap that before IE notices it. My app might then fire up a window which displays on the screen.
a) Can I do this?
b) Can I trap *any* button (including the Start button, the OK button, and the two "soft menu" buttons?
c) Can I distinguish between a regular button press and a "press and hold"?
2) Can I effectively "replace" some/all of the built-in phone functionality? For example, when a call comes in, instead of the built in phone functionality taking over and showing on-screen an answer/ignore window, could I create an alternative app that had answer/ignore buttons?
3) What are my options for displaying windows on top of other apps?
a) Can I have a small window display on top of other running apps?
b) Can I do something fancy like have my app display a translucent full-screen window on top of a running app?
Thank you for any help you can offer.
Scott
all those things are possible but I think you had better use c++ especially for the phone stuff.
for the button pushes, the problem is that other programs can change it after you start up. Because the user will not see you app they will not know it happened.
There is not a good way to replace the phone answer dialog but you can just stop it and put up your own, you will need to be careful to prevent any uncontrolled ringing or vibrating that can be left when stopping the phone. If you are using c# to know when the phone is rinning you will not catch it fast enough to prevent the phone app rinning before your one.
You can put windows on top of other windows but you will then have to make sure the ok/x is correct. Its very easy to screw up the os smart minimize so that it no longer corresponds to the window the user sees. Maybe it would be better to just subclass the window you want to cover and make it look like you want.
Hi,
The last two phones I had have both been Blackberry's.
I tried an iPhone recently (1 week) and just found myself pausing to do things that I would do on the blackberry very quickly.
It was almost like I had to completely stop what I was doing and give all my attention
and thought to navigating my way around the iphone, where as with the bb, I seem
to be able to do many tasks with one hand and dont have to think about the task
too much.
I'm wondering if I switch to a G1 how will I go on. Will I find myself waiting for the OS to catch up, continually opening the keyboard to do simple tasks etc?
I like the idea of placing shortcuts on the home screen to dial numbers etc, are there other shortcuts like this?
One task I find myself doing on the bb a lot is taking a quick photo and sending it to a single email address. (the same address every time).
Would this be possible on the G1?
I press the side camera button which opens the camera app,
take the photo by pressing the trackball,
move the trackball to the right and press once.
This gives me the sharing options, "send as email" is the top one.
Click the trackball which adds the photo as an attachment,
type my two letter alias in the To field,
scroll to the subject, type something.
Click the trackball once more and press send.
It sounds a lot when you read it but its pretty quick and simple. Any way of doing this without opening the keyboard?
Thanks
Mike
The camera after taking a pic will offer 4 options, Save/Set As/Share/Delete.
With SnapShotPro you get these options, Save/Delete/Share/Edit.
Touch Share and it will give you a list of options....Gmail/Email/MMS/Myspace/Picsay...the more apps that are able to use your camera the more options...
You only need to open the keyboard to start typing the contact and it will autofind the name for you. But you will still need to open it since there isnt a onscreen keyboard for it yet.
I love snapphoto.. but jesus it's slow to save a photo.
Dirky said:
Hi,
The last two phones I had have both been Blackberry's.
I tried an iPhone recently (1 week) and just found myself pausing to do things that I would do on the blackberry very quickly.
It was almost like I had to completely stop what I was doing and give all my attention
and thought to navigating my way around the iphone, where as with the bb, I seem
to be able to do many tasks with one hand and dont have to think about the task
too much.
I'm wondering if I switch to a G1 how will I go on. Will I find myself waiting for the OS to catch up, continually opening the keyboard to do simple tasks etc?
I like the idea of placing shortcuts on the home screen to dial numbers etc, are there other shortcuts like this?
One task I find myself doing on the bb a lot is taking a quick photo and sending it to a single email address. (the same address every time).
Would this be possible on the G1?
I press the side camera button which opens the camera app,
take the photo by pressing the trackball,
move the trackball to the right and press once.
This gives me the sharing options, "send as email" is the top one.
Click the trackball which adds the photo as an attachment,
type my two letter alias in the To field,
scroll to the subject, type something.
Click the trackball once more and press send.
It sounds a lot when you read it but its pretty quick and simple. Any way of doing this without opening the keyboard?
Thanks
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The biggest hindrance to super quick operations on the G1 is the lack of on screen keyboard. Without one you'll be much happier on a BB.
hopefully we will get an on screen kb soon. Perhaps with cupcake or it ported over from another phone. It would be so useful for small simple tasks like thsi
axion68 said:
hopefully we will get an on screen kb soon. Perhaps with cupcake or it ported over from another phone. It would be so useful for small simple tasks like thsi
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm being drawn to the G1, an on screen keyboard for occasional use will be very nice.
I'm not keen on the G2 as this will only have an on screen keyboard so it seems?
IMO the real problem is developers making user workflows that require using a keyboard. In many cases I feel that if an app is written properly the need for a keyboard (flip-out or onscreen) should be minimized unless you're doing heavy data entry. As the apps get better over time it's my hope this situation will improve.
I just wanted to throw this out there so everybody knows about it. There's an App in the market called "Spare Parts" that exposes a bunch of options that are programmed into Android 1.5 but are not normally available in any of the phone's menus to enable.
My favorite features are the cool 3D effects for rotating the screen and opening the keyboard, but another handy feature (especially for WinMo converts) is the ability to set the red End button to return to the home screen instead of locking the phone. Handy!
I've developed and app that is a slide show of pictures which each play a sound when you tap them. It's like a picture book for ages 2-4.
The problem is, since android won't let you capture a home button press and essentially disable it, when parents give the phone to their child to play with unattended (brave parent), the child can inadvertenly exit the app and then make calls or otherwise tweak the phone.
There are two other apps that currently have a psuedo fix for this issue. The apps are Toddler Lock and ToddlePhone. I've tried contacting the developers of these apps for some guidance but they haven't been willing to disclose anything, which if fine, but does anyone here have any suggestions?
It looks like both of those other apps are acting like a home screen replacement app. When you enable the "childproof mode" on those apps the user is prompted to chose and app for the action and the choices are "Launcher, LauncherPro, etc." plus the toddler app. You then have to make the toddler app the default and voila, the phone is "locked" and can only be "unlocked" using a key combination or touching the four corners of the screen, etc. when you "unlock" the phone. your normal home screen app default restored. You don't even have to make the toddler app the default the next time you enable the "childproof mode".
I have read that these two apps have problems with Samsung phones and they can cause an an infinite crash-and-restart-loop that requires a factory reset to fix. Obviously this is not the ideal solution to the problem but it looks like the only one availiable at this point.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to implement a "childproof mode"?
Could it run on top of the lock screen
So Do you mean making the app a lock screen replacement? I suppose that could work.
Do you have a suggestion on how to accomplish that?
Hello everyone,
Yes I know this is Android we're talking about. The mighty mobile OS. BUT, Ive really missed some tweaks from Cydia.
Activator:
I cant imagine a smartphone without having one. Specially for big screens. I had set my volume down to become as home button and volumn up az showing all open apps. Or double tap on status bar would free the cache.
Only touching (not pressing) the home button, would act like home screen. This meant I have one more step to do things with pressing it or double press.
I could set pressing home button for three times, for next track of music.
Many many actions could led to many many functions. Dk the math and see how many ways you can personalize shortcuts.
SwipeSelection:
I dont use swipe keyboard, in iOS with swipig right or left I would move the curser to right or left so I could correct what I had written. No need to press and move the curser to put it in behind the right word. Only swipe left and right and the correction was as easy as writing.
I even could change the language by swiping up and down on keyboard
BioProtect:
It would give you a toggle, and when on, you could define which apps need to be opened only by your fingerprint. Even after the lock screen fingerprint
SaveGram:
Save instagram photos and videos within the official instagram app. You are browsing instagram and just ctap on save. No other apps. No "only public profiles" as android solution would offer.
No need to say, I had file explorers, themes, lock screen mods, call recorder, etc ...
You cannot imagine how Activator or SwipeSelection can ease your daily experience.
Yes, I have a better phone, better screen better camera better battery life. I know that I was an expert in jailbreaking having 4 generations of JBed iPhones, but honestly, I feel much limited now.
Anyone with same experience here?
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
Lol, I own a jailbroken air 2 and I find it more limited then a stock android phone. I will admit tho that there are some tweaks that can't be reproduced on Android. As for activator, you need root and then there's a lot of apps you can use for different gestures and button assignments.
root your phone lmao you cant compare jb iphone to non rooted android. root the s7e if you have an exynos model if not go back to the iPhone
Sent from my SM-G935F using XDA-Developers mobile app
There is a gulf of difference between Jailbreak and non rooted Android. However same can be said Jailbreak vs Root...
The answer lies in the word Root (access ) something that can and will never be done on IOS. Jailbreak yes allows you to tweak but even that has its limits....
With root access you can go a lot deeper such as changing the build prop, and creating scrips like Xposed and beyond...
So just root your S7 and take it from there and if unsure then return to the safety of the iPhone lol
Yep, can't really compare your jailbroken iPhone with Android. The main reason I moved over to Android is because of the limitations in iOS, even if you jailbroke it.
I must admit though, when I did still have an iPhone, SwipeSelection was probably my favourite app.