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I have been thinking a lot lately about my phone, I have a Galaxy S and I felt some features that were not there or missing without the third party apps, I think putting these together will help making an already amazing operating system even better
1. SMS and call history
Google should come with service where these are backed up on Google servers, or have the option to save it to the external sd card, so that when you format your phone they should be back again. (Yes I know there are third party software’s that does that but something like that should be a part of Google android)
2. Google Talk with Video Integration.
(Right now Yahoo, fringe etc. are there for video chat) but Google should come up with their own video integration service.
3, Google doc support.
Android is lacking with Google doc support, I hope they come up with it, in coming versions.
4. Google chrome,
It should be the default Browser, and should come up as preinstalled browser on the Android.
5. Bookmarks.
Google should come up with a service like xmarks and xpass, which saves your bookmarks and passwords on the servers and sync them with your home and office computers.
6. Video/music player.
I saw this somewhere on the xda where they have put in upcoming default player for android that would be a great thing to come. Also I would want it to have an option where it gives you option to select the directory which you want to scan and put into the music and video player. I don’t want it pick anything and everything (Like the game video/music files)
7. Google sync.
Google should come up with a default pc application, not something like HTC has their own, and Samsung has bull**** kies. Also it should have options to save a back up for settings, sms, applications and call logs etc.
8. Market.
They made the interface better but they still need to sync it much better to the Google account and next time when you format the phone, the applications which the person has always be using, should come in the list of previously installed applications, so that we can install them all in one go.
9. Power saving feature.
I used the task killers etc.. They don’t really do anything. but one thing I do not know when you close the application why does it keep running in background? We don’t really need this, it should be more like Symbian once you close the app, it should not run unless you rerun it.. (This will help fix the battery issues)
10. Google maps.
They are getting better and better day by day with maps, but one thing I would say is still lacking is the navigation part. Google Navigation is really not as good as the Igo, Garmin etc. They should allow you to download the map of the city you are in and should show route by route navigation. Also There is a Mark your place option missing, you can mark your house etc, unless you save it as a contact on Google maps, which is annoying..
This is my experience on Android and features which I feel are missing and can make the Android the best OS on the earth ...
PS. This feedback is more related with software only, if you know any feature that you miss the most, comment
Gaurav Kainth
Android SGS user
196 views 0 reply
Guyz this is not something random picked from some site.. this is what I feel is missing on the android... worth a reading.. may be some devlopers put these issues accoss and might help us all
Contrary to popular believe google software is far from the miracle work it's made out to be. In fact their software is often rather immature. Best example of that is google maps but the whole android os is another example. However, unlike microsoft, google is not looking to provide an all in one solution by themselves. They are in fact intentionally leaving out many of the features you mention in order to make those a commodity (and it works, there are apps for most of those functions). It's bad and good for the enduser at the same time. But considering google's software quality, I think it's mostly positive.
PS: Leaving voice and video out of gtalk on the mobile is retarded. But it will likely change with the new apis introduced in android 2.3
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
They probably do back up your call history and SMS messages lol.
Market should be a part of Android (AOSP), not Google Apps.
1. SMS and call history
Syncing to a server would enrage privacy organisations, regular users don't flash thier phone every week. But being able to read them in Gmail would be awesome.
2. Google Talk with Video Integration.
Will be here within months, Andy Rubin already showed it on the dive into D:mobile interview
3, Google doc support.
Google docs = webbased, you can edit in the webversion.
4. Google chrome,
Browser already uses the V8 engine and the webkit renderer, just like chrome.
5. Bookmarks.
Bookmarks already get saved and synced on google phones and AOSP roms, samsung disabled it?
6. Video/music player.
7. Google sync.
it's called google apps (gmail, calendar, picasa, enz)
8. Market.
AOSP roms automatically reinstall all your apps after a reset/flash, samsung disabled it?
9. Power saving feature.
Apps dont keep running, they just keep in the RAM so they don't need to reload. They only keep running if they have ongoing processes, and then you probably want them to keep running.
10. Google maps.
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10charsoutsideaquote
RambJoe said:
They probably do back up your call history and SMS messages lol.
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Lol yeah you never know but atleast they should give users an access to that
I agree with every point.
Here’s the gist of a thread I started @ WPCentral that I wanted to bring over to XDA to get an additional perspective.(Let's be honest...XDA is a bit cooler than WP Central good )
How about allowing for users to create 2 custom Hubs? The Custom Hub would have two panes – the default being a notifications list, and the second being a list of all the apps added to that hub.
How about allowing Kids Korner to be a Hub where parents can add in apps and other educational stuff for the kids to look at (then at the bottom of Kid’s corner, put a menu option that allows the parents to put in a password to get into the rest of the phone)?
How about expanding the Lenses idea to give third party apps the option to pick one key feature of their app that gets integrated into a Hub?
How about tighter integration between Hubs? For example taking the option of in the phone dialer to hit the phonebook icon and get sent to the People Hub and using it this way…if I’m in the Calendar Hub and make a reminder note to meet with someone, or to call someone, that note shows up under that person’s name in the People Hub. If I want to edit that, when I am in the people hub I hit that note which sends me back to the Calendar to change it.
These are just some thoughts I had on how MSFT could flesh WP8 out and give it an edge. I think RIM is trying to do that in its BlackBerry 10 Blackberry Hub, but MSFT has more resources in WP8 to make things more seamless and less cluttered.
Here’s the link to the original thread:
http://forums.wpcentral.com/windows-phone-8/220854-hubs-over-folders-lenses-improve-core-apps.html
But I’d love to get feedback here on XDA.
HMm not so sure this is really worth it. Besides, to integrate an app with a specific hub is a specific job the developer needs to do. In order to integrate with the music+video hub, for instance, you need to do specific thing. Same goes for people/photo/whatever hub.
Having a custom hub is very difficult for the apps to integrate properly with it and sloopy developers might actually ruin the entire experience with poor integration.
While i see where you are going with this (notification center), the need is really not that big.
The kids corner is a completely different thing and is not similar to a hub in any way.
EDIT: the news/notification thing in the hub is something the apps do, and not the hub itself. The hub just centralizes them in a ... hub. In order for the hub to know what to centralize and from who, the apps must call specific APIs.
mcosmin222 said:
HMm not so sure this is really worth it. Besides, to integrate an app with a specific hub is a specific job the developer needs to do. In order to integrate with the music+video hub, for instance, you need to do specific thing. Same goes for people/photo/whatever hub.
Having a custom hub is very difficult for the apps to integrate properly with it and sloopy developers might actually ruin the entire experience with poor integration.
While i see where you are going with this (notification center), the need is really not that big.
The kids corner is a completely different thing and is not similar to a hub in any way.
EDIT: the news/notification thing in the hub is something the apps do, and not the hub itself. The hub just centralizes them in a ... hub. In order for the hub to know what to centralize and from who, the apps must call specific APIs.
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Ok. I think I follow along with you comment.
But MSFT does have these some of these elements in play in the OS itself, so why not use them more effectively? I know Apple has a more stringent control of apps that get approved before going in the app store, so could MSFT enforce these add-ons?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Microsoft regularlly provides the Options and in my experience developers will use them by themselves, simply because it increases the usability of their Apps a lot more than it adds required effort. It's rather a problem how to implement this in a way that does prevent a badly written App from affecting the system's Performance and stability.
That especially gets a Problem when Apps are allowed to surface data somewhere as could be seen by the problems Skype originally caused with the People Hub Integration.
I'm pretty sure Microsoft will add more Integration Points into the System with the next API update - let's just wait and see.
As for making usage of some of those Integration Points mandatory. I don't believe that to be a good idea. I also don't believe that it is necessary. Developers regularly complain that they can't integrate somewhere so I really believe that if they were allowed to do it they would do it by themselves. This is also necessary because the Integration regularly involves the Transfer of data to the invoked App (Images, Files, etc.)
Stevie, I think what you've said is fair. I suppose MSFT could just use their own apps like Photosynth and Skype as a way to sure more seamless integration instead of making that a mandatory process for all devs.
Do people even see the need for such integration in the platform going forward?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
In general I believe that it can make for a more fluid experience if there are well done Integration points. Camera Lenses or the Image editing capabilities are a great example for this. Another is the possibility to have an App specific contact store (like Skype does it now).
What I believe would greatly improve the concept would be Message Integration into the Messaging Hub and the ability to create an app specific calendar store that is also availble inside the Standard calendar App.
Also nice would be the possibility to register Apps for all filetypes. Currently you can only consume files inside your App that are not assigned to System Apps (e.g. MP3 or JPEG Images).
So in short: yes, those integrations can greatly improve the workflow and I'd love to see Microsoft in the end deliver on the promise of Hubs they gave when introducing them. When you want to do something with Images, open the Image Hub. If you want to message someone open the Messaging Hub, etc.
If it were up to me, here’s how I’d organize the Hubs in WP8. I’d love to hear other’s thoughts:
Store: Same. Just better Secondary links from the all the other Hubs. This and People Hub should be the two primary Hubs where all other Hubs have shortcut links to.
Photos: Same. Shortcut Links to Store, People, Search, Content Manager
Music and Videos. Same. Shortcuts to Store, People, Search, Content manager
Games: Same. Better shortcut links to Store. Also links to People, Search, Content manager
Productivity: Office + Calendar + Note Apps + Voice Personal Assistants here (allow Tell Me to be an app where you can add commands to it).
- 3rd party apps list include: any note, calendar, language, Office Assistant Apps.
- Secondary shortcuts to People (especially Rooms), Content Manager, Wallet, Store
Content Manager: Skydrive and a page showing list of downloaded content here...not a full file manager where you can move stuff around on the phone itself, but a general downloads folder.
- 3rd part apps include Box and other upload apps
- Secondary Hub links – Photos, Music + Videos, Office
People: You manage contacts and social media here.
- Me Tile: Notifications...and have the option to reply to an individual tweet or FB post or Skype message from a listed contact here.
- 3rd party apps include: All social media apps
- Secondary shortcuts: all the other hubs.
Messaging: Emails, SMS, Skype IM is here.
- 3rd party apps include all IM apps, FB messenger, shortcut to Skype.
- Shortcuts to People, Store, Phone
Navigation: All Maps and Transit apps here.
- Some of Local Scout functionality here (also accessible in the Search Hub).
- Secondary Shortcuts to Search, People, Store.
Search: Same, except adding one more page to list search related apps.
- Secondary short cuts to Navigation, People, Store, Content Manager
Phone: Skype (calling features, video chat) and Dialer are primary options here. Other apps that tap into this Hub (or get listed here) are 3rd party Video Apps
- Secondary shortcuts to People, Messaging.
Wallet: Holds Credit Cards and Financial Apps
- Secondary shortcuts to Search, Store, Productivity (in particular – calendar), People
Corporate: Same. Allow Corporate IT to do their thing. Better links to the Productivity, Office
Custom Hubs: Users are allowed to create only two. A two pane look – default page with app related notifications and a second page with the app list.
It is still a hybrid mix of hubs and apps – if you don’t want to use a Hub, don’t use it.
Sent from my Lumia 810 using Board Express
My head hurts. It is just too complicated.
This implementation can go wrong in soooooooooooooooo many ways, it will be a wonder if a developer manages to get it right for every scenario.
I believe you're making it more complicated than it needs to be and a lot of what you are talking about is already there. I don't need an explicit link to go from Calendar to people. If I open an appointment and swipe to attendants I can tap on any of them to be taken to their contacts page inside the people Hub (as it should be).
It's a good idea to have those kinds of shortcuts around that are contextually aware but adding a load of Buttons to jump somewhere else is mainly getting the UI cluttered or getting confusing/annoying.
Some of those connections you mention are already there - e.g. Store in Music/Videos.
What actually would be a nice idea is to allow productivity Apps to tie into the Office Hub similarily to how it works with imaging Apps in the Pictures Hub.
Some of the other stuff you mention is also there. Cloud Storage applications can integrate themselves into the system for automated Uploads similarily to SkyDrive but currently limited to Pictures so it can definitely be improved upon.
TellMe is also extensible to allow Apps to tie into it and use voice command functionality. Audible would be one App that takes advantage of this. It doesn't really make sense for all Apps though. E.g. a picture taking App will require the ViewFinder etc. so it would not benefit that much from Voice Control (and it is quite a hazzle to implement this - especially if the App is getting localized in several languages).
As for search - if there would be something like a search charm on Windows 8 it should tie into the Bing App which already has a permanent shortcut in the search button.
I guess your idea would be to allow people to jump easily from Hub to Hub without going to the Homescreen. Having Links for this in every other Hub just isn't the way to go there. A possibility would be to add all the Hubs at the bottom of the Task Switcher Screen. So you would long press on the back button and would get the Thumbnails of running Apps and at the bottom the icons for People, Calendar, Messaging, Pictures, Music/Video and Office. I'm not sure if that would be an improvement over just going via the Home screen though.
So in short: more integration of Apps into the OS: yes, more context aware integration of Apps with each other: yes, adding loads of shortcuts: no
StevieBallz said:
I believe you're making it more complicated than it needs to be and a lot of what you are talking about is already there. I don't need an explicit link to go from Calendar to people. If I open an appointment and swipe to attendants I can tap on any of them to be taken to their contacts page inside the people Hub (as it should be).
It's a good idea to have those kinds of shortcuts around that are contextually aware but adding a load of Buttons to jump somewhere else is mainly getting the UI cluttered or getting confusing/annoying.
Some of those connections you mention are already there - e.g. Store in Music/Videos.
What actually would be a nice idea is to allow productivity Apps to tie into the Office Hub similarily to how it works with imaging Apps in the Pictures Hub.
Some of the other stuff you mention is also there. Cloud Storage applications can integrate themselves into the system for automated Uploads similarily to SkyDrive but currently limited to Pictures so it can definitely be improved upon.
TellMe is also extensible to allow Apps to tie into it and use voice command functionality. Audible would be one App that takes advantage of this. It doesn't really make sense for all Apps though. E.g. a picture taking App will require the ViewFinder etc. so it would not benefit that much from Voice Control (and it is quite a hazzle to implement this - especially if the App is getting localized in several languages).
As for search - if there would be something like a search charm on Windows 8 it should tie into the Bing App which already has a permanent shortcut in the search button.
I guess your idea would be to allow people to jump easily from Hub to Hub without going to the Homescreen. Having Links for this in every other Hub just isn't the way to go there. A possibility would be to add all the Hubs at the bottom of the Task Switcher Screen. So you would long press on the back button and would get the Thumbnails of running Apps and at the bottom the icons for People, Calendar, Messaging, Pictures, Music/Video and Office. I'm not sure if that would be an improvement over just going via the Home screen though.
So in short: more integration of Apps into the OS: yes, more context aware integration of Apps with each other: yes, adding loads of shortcuts: no
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Stevie, I like much of your suggestions. The goal here isn't to clutter the OS - if it were up to me I would use the contextual menus and a few other existing options in the OS to facilitate moving from Hub to Hub instead of adding extra buttons.
Based on how the OS is, there may not be a need to have list of all the hubs at the bottom. The goal is to jump from certain Hubs to each other based on "common user tasks that would involve multiple Hubs or steps that can be reduced". Now if you want to do things the current way, fine. More I think some would welcome more intuition.
I was just trying to describe a smoother way to leverage the existing strengths of the OS and to see where MSFT could make the quickest improvements. No question, the OS is smooth but if they build out these extensions, you can have an improved user experience. My apologies if my explanation was convoluted.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Should MSFT eventually push an all Hub version of WP8?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
What do you mean by "All Hub"? The Hubs are a thematic grouping but I guess we will always have certain use cases that don't exactlly lend themselves to being integrated into one of those Hubs so putting everything into the Hubs probably isn't the best idea. Giving developers the integration points to integrate their data into the Hubs if it is suitable should be the priority.
I agree. Apps are mostly isolated programs running on their own. If apps could talk to each other more easily we can have more interesting behaviors and abilities that no other mobile os has. For quality control, just give the user a on off switch for each app just like the background task.
Ehm.. Hello.. I am Ahmed Nefzaoui.. I am a Mozilla Community member.. From Tunisia.. and a Mozilla Official Representative.
No one denies Firefox OS needs more Apps.. OR let's say needs more well performing Apps.. That's what I am aiming at making true.. Or making part of it true.. That is why I am asking around:
What Apps do you want to see on Firefox OS marketplace? Maybe the question should be: What apps you miss from Android or iOS that you want in Firefox OS?
Please list as many Apps as possible. Thanx!
A SSH client
Well, I am a sysadmin, not a developer.
Try port FirefoxSSH to Firefox OS
Calendar and address book app with full caldav and carddav support.
CPU control or something like this
Great ones But to be honest.. I was expecting kind of apps like productivity, utilities, news, weather + some style guides, custom UIs..
Remote desktop to windows machine.
Multimedia apps like NetFlix, Hulu, HBO Go, etc.
Launchers, so you can pick and choose the feel of the phone, etc.
How about "Personal Accounting Software" or like this?
Ahmed Nefzaoui said:
Great ones But to be honest.. I was expecting kind of apps like productivity, utilities, news, weather + some style guides, custom UIs..
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How about a fully customizable open source (!) dictionary software with full (!) support for StarDict?
Whatsapp. None other needed. I have sent a request to the developers but no response as yet. Rest not that necessary...
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Ahmed Nefzaoui said:
Ehm.. Hello.. I am Ahmed Nefzaoui..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im an android user ever since eclair and this apps make me stay on android os:
AIDE (on the Phone IDE and compiler)
AndFTP
AndroPHP (on the Phone PHP/MySQL Server)
Android Assistant (Multi-Purpose Phone Monitoring Tool)
Beats or DSP by CM (Sound Enhancement)
Control Panel for cPanel
Dj Studio
Droid VPN
Expense Manager
Fast Burst Camera
Firefox
FPse
Go SMS
gStrings
Guitar PRO
GameBoid
Genesis
Geroid
GBcoid
Halo/Multiwindow
Instagram
Jbed
Joooid
Link2SD
My Tracks
Mx Player
Nesoid
Nova Launcher
Open Bibles
Opera Mini
PPSSPP
Project NOAH
QuickPIC
Root Explorer
Shadyface
SMS Bomber
Sweep2wake
Titanium BackUP
uTorrent
I was browsing around and saw this thread. Good timing too!
I have been thinking a lot about Firefox OS and how it may be the best hope at open source seeing as how Google is slowly taking backing away from open sourcing and making things rely on their closed APIs.
Anyway, I've given it some thought and I've realized that for Firefox OS to ever succeed, it will really be up to the app developers that choose to port or write apps, and lastly OEMs.
I'm not sure the people got the idea as they're listing forms of apps that are non essential or third party entertainment, that will eventually make its way over once the OS gains numbers.
Netflix, emulators, games ...would be nice but not essential to my mobile device as a productivity device. I would love if all my apps could be ported, but that's being too hopeful.
Bare bones, at the minimum, these are the most essential things:
1) A good simple note taking app. Nothing fancy. Think of AK Notepad or ColorNote
2) An office suite like OfficeSuite by Mobile Systems. & A good PDF reader with annotation support like ezPDF Reader
3) A good ebook reader with multi format support, like Cool Reader or Aldiko
4) A Google Voice dialer app (GrooveIP) + SIP and VOIP capabilities
+ A built-in text/messaging app would beat any third party options
5) A good email and contact system. This is a must have. I want to see easy transfer of Gmail and Outlook contacts + no frills push notifications.
6) An intuitive stocks app. I want to be able to gains / loses and real time prices. Lock screen widget of this would be nice.
7) Maps + Navigation (This a must)
It doesn't have to be Google. Although it would be preferred.
8) News/RSS reader + an app like pocket or read it later. + Podcast support
+ A forums reader like Tapatalk
Bonus...
If you guys could get devs or companies on board...
Dropbox
Pandora
Microsoft's recently released remote desktop or another alternative like Splashtop
Might be moot, but maybe you guys can work together with Adobe to port Flash (I know it's a long shot given they called it quits on mobile)
whatsapp. zello, line,viber hangouts...
Thanks
Share files with a computer through wifi
Offline dictionary
Control PC
VPN
Thanks
---------- Post added at 03:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:54 AM ----------
SMOKERBUNNY said:
whatsapp. zello, line,viber hangouts...
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Firefox OS WhatsApp reach before end of year
http://www.movilzona.es/2013/10/04/whatsapp-llegara-firefox-os-antes-de-final-de-ano/
VK, google maps, hangouts, guitar tuner, some country-specific apps like 2gis, yandex.traffic, anybalance.
Ahmed Nefzaoui said:
Ehm.. Hello.. I am Ahmed Nefzaoui.. I am a Mozilla Community member.. From Tunisia.. and a Mozilla Official Representative.
No one denies Firefox OS needs more Apps.. OR let's say needs more well performing Apps.. That's what I am aiming at making true.. Or making part of it true.. That is why I am asking around:
What Apps do you want to see on Firefox OS marketplace? Maybe the question should be: What apps you miss from Android or iOS that you want in Firefox OS?
Please list as many Apps as possible. Thanx!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A MUST for me: Spotify
Not so neccesary: Instagram, Netflix, Photoshop Express, maybe Google Music, Snapchat, native Foursquare, Facebook Messenger...
For me the most needed smartphone apps are (not in this order.) : mail clients, chat clients, internet browser, navigation/maps, file manager, ssh/sftp clients, conversation recording (I'm using it very seldom, but it is a quite nice, almost important feature for me.), camera, sms , smart keyboards are quite nice also, notifications, calendar / task planners, video players... That's it I think.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
Before to get Apps,we need an Excelent App-Caching(the most important part in such OS) and the best Responsiveness we can get.
About Apps,i think you guys(Mozilla) should do a Campaign to incite/stimulate developers to port their existing apps to Firefos OS(i hope all Packaged apps,at least near all of them)so you won't have the need to code,or other stuff related.
I actually own an Alcatel one Touch Fire..as main phone,and i think this will be very handly,i have this hope in Mozilla.
We need an Official channel directly with the our mother(Mozilla) to have upgrades for our phones,cause carriers are going to do a Bottle-neck effect on our phone software,and to do this ,the best choice is to get prebuilded-builds,probably it's hard but not all the people can follow that loooong Wiki on how-to-build-it-your-self.
Take the idea to implement Node-Js,i think it will be helpful this guy already doing something http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2374160
As Google and the others company,Mozilla need to do simple way to take care of his Users
about apps: OpenVpn,SSH,PC-remote controlling(i'm thinking about a Gnome-Mozilla Collaboration
If you ask me, Firefox has had "apps" almost from the beginning. They are called "addons" (or, before that, extensions) and they handled all sorts of tasks which, prior to that, had only been possible as standalone applications on your desktop.
So consider my disappointment in finding out that all these addons are gone from the Firefox OS browser. They cannot be installed, as far as I can tell. There is not even any Adblock Plus. To me, this is insane, because the addons are the Firefox browser's greatest strength. Can someone explain this to me?
Graphic calculator will be a nice addition
Screen dimmer/ color editor (to make it look more green or red or anything)
adblock?
Hei Azuz !did you read this?
we all replyed to you,can you show to us a conversation about you and this topic to Mozilla?
Upon first launch these apps are installed
Apollo
Browser
Calculator
Calendar
Camera
Clock
Dev Tools
Documents
Downloads
DSP manager
Email
Gallery
Messaging
Movie Studio
OmniSwitch
People
Phone
Search
Settings
SIM Toolkit
Torch
Voice Dialer
I'd like to know which of these are actually supported.
I believe many of them have been abandoned by upstream, like Email, Calendar, Gallery, Messaging, etc.
Search should be removed, seeing as it hasn't been updated since like 1.5. Same with Movie Studio.
I disabled Apollo, Browser and Email within minutes, as there are better apps for their purposes.
VLC instead of Apollo, Firefox instead of browser and K-9 Mail instaed of email.
For some reason, Apollo, a third party app by Cyanogenmod gets included but not any other third party apps.
If third party apps are going to be included, there should be some kind of system as to what is included.
Is omnirom going to come with everything included or just what you need to get started?
bump
There are some open-source apps I'd like to include, but there are some issues (regarding package signatures) that make it difficult to properly include stuff that is also available on the Play Store.
Apollo's inclusion is mostly from inertia, I think that really needs a nuke and repave. Once it was submitted to CM it kind of just sat there. (I'm wondering if it was the victim of shady manuevering by the CM leadership like Focal was...)
Most of the other apps are included as part of AOSP - fixing these apps is something pulser is working on organizing in conjunction with some other projects.
In general, if an app doesn't automatically start a background service and is part of AOSP, we don't put significant effort into removing it since free space in /system achieves nothing for the user.
Frankly most of these apps are useless as Google has alternate in market eg.
Calendar
Browser
Voice dialer
Apollo
Camera
Dash clock widget
I generally freeze them after installing. Might use a script to flash and remove these after install
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
shri_chanakya said:
Frankly most of these apps are useless as Google has alternate in market eg.
Calendar
Browser
Voice dialer
Apollo
Camera
Dash clock widget
I generally freeze them after installing. Might use a script to flash and remove these after install
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But a solid rom *must* include apps to cover that basic functionality, regardless of what else is availabe in the market. Preferrably it should include excellent apps to cover the basics like that. No calendar? No camera? No browser? Those are *must-have* apps to be included with any rom). Unless there's a replacement baked in, it would be a major slight to cut them out. It'd be better to leave what essential apps in as placeholders until superior replacements can be developed/incorporated, instead of just shipping with gaping holes in the ROM and telling users, 'You don't like a barren, crippled build? Ha! Go fish!'
That kind of thing reminds me of so many Linux distros who spend tons of time on slick graphics, but don't even include basic functionality (*cough-elemental-hack*), leaving users to fend with a half-assed barely functional experience. That is just an atrocious way to go about things, IMO.
shri_chanakya said:
Frankly most of these apps are useless as Google has alternate in market eg.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To add to what Culot said a post above: an AOSP ROM should include apps to cover that basic functionality, and provide a fully functional and useful experience, not only regardless of what else is available in the Play Store, but mostly because an AOSP ROM should be usable without even having Google Play Services.
Hi everyone. I am getting an SM-G975F with the Exynos chipset. I was planning on flashing LineageOS on it but now I have stumbled upon MicroG for LineageOS and been doing a little reading up on it. Now I am not clear what the best choice would be from a privacy perspective.
My intention with LineageOS was to *not* install GApps and see how much I can make do with the default apps (i.e. the stock mail app, etc.). If that is my intention, then am I better off with LineageOS? or MicroG?
I don't really care about Google Apps. The only thing I can see myself struggling without is without some kind of semi-decent mapping application like Google Maps. Is there a decent alternative? Do I need MicroG for that? If I do cave and find I need Google Maps, then would I be better off with MicroG or LineageOS?
Also, is there a way to get Office apps (Word, Excel, etc.) on LineageOS? Or is that undesirable from a privacy perspective?
Lastly, is there a way to enable LTE bands 29, 30, and 46 on the SM-G975F model? These are enabled on the SM-G975W (Canadian) model, and I will be using the phone in Canada on Bell Mobility.
If these questions have been asked/answered elsewhere, can you please just drop a link?
Thanks,
The Fish
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Hi XDA’ers
I thought I would provide an update on my experience thus far with LineageOS 19.1 on my Exynos SM-G975F and answer some of my own questions which I asked above. Maybe some of this is obvious stuff or maybe not. Maybe it will be helpful for others in the future.
The operating systemI installed LineageOS from the official lineageos.org website. I did not install GApps so I am operating without the Google Play Services.
While Android itself is open source, the “Google Play Services” are not. They are a proprietary library from Google that are included with most (all?) Android devices and provide a number of services, APIs, etc. to apps running on Android. It's not part of the operating system per se, but lots of apps require it. So, I am operating with LineageOS only without the Google Play Services.
As a side note, there is an open-source re-implementation of Google Play Services called microG. MicroG cannot be installed as an app but needs to be installed as part of the OS. There are basically two flavors of LineageOS that include microG. They are “LineageOS for microG” and /e/OS. Both of these include microG. Pure LineageOS on its own however includes neither Google Play Services (unless you install GApps bundle) nor microG.
I was surprised how small the download file was for LineageOS. It weighs in at just 777 MB. I am used to Samsung firmware that weighs in at about 6 GB. So, this seemed really small to me.
Upon first boot up I was impressed with how clean the operating system was. Not only is there no bloatware but there is basically almost nothing at all. There is a dialer app, an SMS app, a camera app, a calculator, and a mini browser. There is also a local-only address book (no link to cloud services) and a local calendar app. The browser is fairly limited but gets the job done. Notably there isn’t a mail app (although I understand that there used to be one on previous versions of LineageOS). So, I set about seeing what I could do.
AppsI installed the F-Droid app store but there are not any mainstream apps in there. Some of the apps in there might be good (I still need to explore it more) but I needed a solid email app. My company is on Office 365 so Outlook would be my first choice.
I stumbled upon APKPure and APKMirror. Both are very ad-filled spammy looking website that seems to be a web-based front end to the Google Play Store. Using these sites website, you can download official APKs for mainstream apps like Outlook, Word, Excel, etc. Be very careful where you click. Lots of the ads on the site include "Download Now" type buttons that you can click on thinking you are downloading an APK but instead are clicking on a spammy ad. So, navigate carefully on these sites.
I was able to install Word, Excel, OneDrive and Outlook. This was huge because I needed a decent mail app. Being able to install OneDrive meant I could now sync my camera with OneDrive. All the Microsoft apps worked flawlessly on LineageOS even without Google Play Services. The one thing I noticed however is that Outlook does not give me notifications when I get a new email. I have to go into Outlook and swipe down to refresh. I believe this is due to the lack of Google Play Services. Maybe using microG would eliminate this problem (not sure). I can live with this for now but would obviously like a way to resolve it.
Installing Outlook synced the local Calendar and Contacts apps with my Outlook contacts and calendar so that worked great.
Bible AppsBoth the Olive Tree Bible Reader app and the ESV Bible app installed no problem from APKPure. Both of these are offline Bible apps (they download the whole Bible and can be used offline). I like Olive Tree because I have several translations (including the SBLGNT) and Olive Tree lets me switch between them. The ESV app is great because they have recordings and so you can hear Kristyn Getty or David Cochran Heath read the Bible to you in natural non-synthetic voices.
SignalI installed Signal directly from their website (they offer the APK directly on their website). Signal detects that it is being installed on a device without Google Play Services and so registers itself as a service and consequently I do get notifications for new Signal messages (unlike Outlook). I wonder if there is some way to make Outlook run the same way. I tried installing Microsoft Teams which we use at work but don't get any notifications when people send me messages. So that makes Teams pretty useless.
BrowserThe build-in default browser renders HTML/CSS just fine but is very limited in terms of features. When you install a progressive web app as an app on the home screen it works but launches in the full browser with the address bar visible which breaks the app-like experiance which is really the whole point of a PWA. So I set about trying to fix this. To my surprise I was able to install Microsoft Edge without ANY issues whatsoever. It works great and web apps pin to the home screen the way they should (and open as apps). So I made Edge my default browser.
KeyboardsThe default keyboard in LineageOS does not have stickers or GIFs. That is as it should be I think for a default built-in keyboard. But it does not support swipe typing either. This surprised me. It seemed like a huge step backwards to have to tap out every letter with my thumbs. Do people still type like that on their phones?!?! Oh, the humanity!
There is a microphone icon at the top of the keyboard for speech-to-text transcription. I used this all the time before on my Samsung S8+. But tapping it did nothing. Apparently I am missing a speech-to-text engine. This surprised be because Outlook has dictation built-in using Microsoft's engines and works well. But it only works in Outlook and not universally throughout the phone as it would if it was built-in on the keyboard.
I installed the Microsoft SwiftKey keyboard and that gave me stickers, GIFs and... swipe typing! Woo Hoo! But I was really hoping it would give me speech-to-text since I dictate almost all of my text messages. I figured it would use Microsoft's engine like Outlook does since it was a Microsoft app. But tapping the microphone on the SwiftKey keyboard promptly tells me that I need to download "Google Voice Search".
Microsoft AuthenticatorI installed the Microsoft Authenticator app for 2FA and it installed just fine. But it was impossible to add any accounts by scanning the QR codes. I think this is due to notifications not working properly, probably also due to the lack of Google Play Services or microG.
Outstanding IssuesSo, the outstanding issues I have right now are:
Microsoft Authenticator is non-usable. This is a huge issue for me
No speech-to-text transcription from keyboard
No notifications in Microsoft Teams
No notifications in Microsoft Outlook (this I can live with).
What I LikeWhat I like about LineageOS is the clean, minimalistic design of the operating system. I am not pushed into any particular "ecosystem" be it Google, Samsung, Microsoft or Apple. I can decide which ecosystem I want to participate in and to which extent. For example, I could download Outlook without downloading Edge and I don't need to backup my photos to OneDrive unless I want to. You can do this, to some extent, with OEM versions of Android, but it requires ignoring and disabling things. Come to think of it, that is really what an operating system should be - a platform for running apps, not an on-ramp into an ecosystem.
What irritates me is that not all apps work as they should. It seems like Google Play Services is an important part of the mix and many apps fail to function properly without it. Signal seems like one exception. It detects that you are not using Google Play Services and adapts the functioning the app accordingly.
Just a minor update. I tried several diffrent TTS engines (Pico TTS, Flite TTS, RHVoice) and none of these gave me text typing.
I ended up installing Speech Services by Google and it worked. I was surprised that it worked considering I do not have GApps (and thus no Google Play Services) and no microG on my phone.
So, I guess I can live with a little Google on my phone, but I would have preferred to find an open-source alternative or, barring that, a Microsoft alternative.