Database Users

Dial Numbers from Home Screen

I came from a Treo device, and one of the best features on that device was the ability to just start dialing from the home screen. Most of the android phones do support searching for your contacts by typing from the home screen, but as far as I know, none support input of actual numbers.
I realize the maximum benefit is only there if you own a device like the Droid Pro with a portrait keyboard, but surely I'm not the only one that misses this feature. I believe it was available on Blackberries as well, so I'm sure there's a ton of BB users that miss this.
If it's an easy thing to do, I'm sure a developer could write something without wasting too much time, and it would earn them some money if they chose to make it a paid app.
Anybody interested in this? I'm willing to help in any way I can, and I'd even write the app, but I have no coding experience, so I'd probably just screw something up.

You'll have to open an app either way, unless you have a hardware keyboard, so why not use a traditional dialer app? If you want a smart dialer check out dialer one.
Theres also an app that will let you pin shortcuts to apps to the notification panel.
I'm not sure what you're looking for exactly.. on all touchscreen phones your options are limited and you'll need to use search and then open the keyboard or another app at some point to call someone.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

This app would be meant for phones that have keyboards.
I refuse to buy a phone without one.

freak4dell said:
I came from a Treo device, and one of the best features on that device was the ability to just start dialing from the home screen. Most of the android phones do support searching for your contacts by typing from the home screen, but as far as I know, none support input of actual numbers.
I realize the maximum benefit is only there if you own a device like the Droid Pro with a portrait keyboard, but surely I'm not the only one that misses this feature. I believe it was available on Blackberries as well, so I'm sure there's a ton of BB users that miss this.
If it's an easy thing to do, I'm sure a developer could write something without wasting too much time, and it would earn them some money if they chose to make it a paid app.
Anybody interested in this? I'm willing to help in any way I can, and I'd even write the app, but I have no coding experience, so I'd probably just screw something up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are some homescreen dialer widgets in the market, which allow you to dial right from a home screen.

[Q] baby proof tablet?

Anyone know of an app or hack that will let lock the screen so the touch screen doesn't recognize input so that I could launch netflix or youtube for my 1.5 yo daughter and she can touch it without messing it up?

ikillulots said:
Anyone know of an app or hack that will let lock the screen so the touch screen doesn't recognize input so that I could launch netflix or youtube for my 1.5 yo daughter and she can touch it without messing it up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is an App on the Market called "Screen Tools" which has this function.
It allows you to use your camera button to "disable" the touchscreen. Not sure if this app will work on our Acer tablets, as we have no camera button - but it may be worth a 99cent gamble.
Also, from I have seen with the Netflix app - it does not keep playing in the background or pause when another app takes focus - it just stops the video and dumps you back to the selection screen. Not sure if this is going to be possible

I wonder if this would be better in the development section it would be nice to assign the rotation lock to a screen hold/lock

ikillulots said:
I wonder if this would be better in the development section it would be nice to assign the rotation lock to a screen hold/lock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not a topic for the development section, perhaps in Android General or Android Software and Hacking, as I see this being an application (especially since there is no source available for HC to be modified in such a way as you are hoping, meaning for a ROM developer to make this happen would be kind of far-fetched right now). Certainly it would require root, and most likely it would work as launcher replacement, perhaps requiring a specific gesture to be drawn to unlock the screen. This is a neat idea, not sure if the sdk allows this type of control from a launcher replacement, but perhaps Anderwebs (the developer of ADW) or another launcher master would know if this is possible. They would also be the most likely to implement this type of feature. Perhaps ask a moderator to move this into the Android Software Development and Hacking forum?
Unless you want to completely limit your options be requiring this to use the rotation lock switch, which would make this a device specific request, severely limiting the number of developers (application and os level) who would be able to assist you. I would approach it from a more generic state, make it applicable to all Android devices, and that way I could get more people interested in it and make it happen.
But, don't just go and start a whole bunch of threads, ask a mod to move this thread, change the title of your post to something like : App/Feature Request - Baby Proof (On-Demand Input Locking). That might work. I would stick with gesture based, and make it require a multi-touch gesture, obviously you would make something that your child could not easily imitate as your gesture, to unlock it, there should be an easy way to enter lock mode as well...
just my 2 cents

Just go buy app locker... it will lock everything or specific apps
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

There's an app I use for the same reason, but I don't give the tablet to my youngest in fear of it becoming a Frisbee or drowned in saliva. But my toddlers listen to direction, so this app works.
The FREE app is called "Show Screen Lock." But, because the "Home and Back" button are the means to unlock, if your child hits one of those, it will be unlocked.
Anyway, good luck!
I wish long pressing the volume up button locks and unlocks the screen.
edit:
Nevermind, I overlooked that you wanted to use this while playing media. This app freezes images, so no video plays at the moment. I've emailed the developer a while ago and he said he's working on one specifically for tablets.

Samsung's Touchwiz has this function. If you are playing video you can hit the power/lock button and it will lock it from screen or button presses until you hit the lock button again.
I dont know if there would be a way to extract that part of the UI to move over without porting everything.
I use it all the time with galaxy s phones so my kids can watch shows.
.....
There is also an app called "Kid Zone" by zoodles. It is nice, and free, and can be upgraded to premium. I use it on my phones and tablet and the kids love it. They can draw and do games and learn and I get emails about what they did and uploads in the email of their drawings. The cool thing is you can lock everything so that the only way to exit the app is to draw a "Z"
Its a nice app, and thinking about upgrading to premium with it here soon.
------
I used to use toddler lock, but as HC doesnt really have full screen while hiding the buttons the toddler lock doesnt work as well, but still temporarily fun.
Edit: I have recently been trying out HoneyBar for HC Tablets. It hides the bar at the bottom of rooted tablet. Works pretty well, and so far one of the best options I know of.

Favorite Stylus apps

(This is intended to be a 'how do you show off your stylus', although in retrospect, it's going to turn into a 'best apps' thread,
so perhaps it should be moved?)
Just wondering how you show off your stylus, or what makes people oo and ahh at it?
I don't draw and my handwriting sucks so I don't do either. (Might have to get that 'Draw something' game though)
the new game 'Shogun' is a ton to play with the stylus.
It's a 'bullet hell' game and it's MUCH easier with the stylus as you can see all the bullets around your ship. I think it's my new stylus 'show off' app.
I had a lot of fun playing 'nemo picross' with a very tiny grid, and drawing with the stylus. Really nice.
- Frank

Its an S pen. Not a stylus. Stylus is what was used with old resistive touch screens.

Baghli said:
Its an S pen. Not a stylus. Stylus is what was used with old resistive touch screens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ehh, no.
It is a stylus as is a wacom pen that always have been called stylus or wacom pens.
s pen it is only a marketing word.

kersh said:
Ehh, no.
It is a stylus as is a wacom pen that always have been called stylus or wacom pens.
s pen it is only a marketing word.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmmm, ok sorry my bad.

ChodTheWacko said:
(This is intended to be a 'how do you show off your stylus', although in retrospect, it's going to turn into a 'best apps' thread,
so perhaps it should be moved?)
Just wondering how you show off your stylus, or what makes people oo and ahh at it?
I don't draw and my handwriting sucks so I don't do either. (Might have to get that 'Draw something' game though)
the new game 'Shogun' is a ton to play with the stylus.
It's a 'bullet hell' game and it's MUCH easier with the stylus as you can see all the bullets around your ship. I think it's my new stylus 'show off' app.
I had a lot of fun playing 'nemo picross' with a very tiny grid, and drawing with the stylus. Really nice.
- Frank
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any other awesome shmups on the Android? Unfortunately Cave went to the iOS
I haven't found any fun use for the stylus until you mentioned shmups. I am now a very happy camper.
EDIT: Already am 220th in the country. Its a grazing shmup.

i think the best stylus app is s-memo i use it very often!
i havent found an as useful stylus app... but maby anywhere out there is an better one???

I prefer Jotter (For Galaxy Note) for the following reasons:
-option for palm rejection
-option to disable back key
-just one tap on a widget to start writing
david.huwyler said:
i think the best stylus app is s-memo i use it very often!
i havent found an as useful stylus app... but maby anywhere out there is an better one???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

olympicchicken said:
I prefer Jotter (For Galaxy Note) for the following reasons:
-option for palm rejection
-option to disable back key
-just one tap on a widget to start writing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
freenote - the handwrite/freehand mode lets you put much more text on the screen

LectureNotes - Good note taking app
SketchBookMobile - Basically photoshop for the Note
OmniSketch - Cool sketching app
Pretty sure they're all available as free/paid versions, I bought all 3.

how about the xda galaxy note forum page as the best stylus demo
the demo is - that all frustration is lost with this phone, including having to zoom up just to hit a link or read text and miss hit the link anyway. So I have 3 demos I show all the time - really this is one:
I have a url ready to go of a dense page of the XDA forum with small text and many pages of comments, and I show how with my stylus how perfect and fast I can hit on even the supper small next of an author or the next or number page buttons perfectly ( on the bottom right of the page). I explain how I can do this while walking and never miss any hyperlink or button again. demo 1
I then have a pressure sensitive demo with zen brush all set up, where I go into a great picture already made ( already they are impressed) and I have purposely made room available at the bottom to make a very light to very hard brush strokes, where the different levels of pressure sensitivity show up by seeing the very very thin to very very think brush strokes - people go wild. it takes pracitse to do the very light especially with a screen protector. demo 2
last I have a smemo page ready to go with 3 lines of text I already wrote out in freehand (' buy more potatoes' is one of the lines). I have enough room to add another line and usually write "do it now" ( easy and I never mess it up). Then I hit the 'handwriting to text' button and get perfect text ( which I already knew would work). now folks with mouth open. demo 3
I also mentioned that this is approximately what apple would call a retina display, this is the only retina display with a full wacom tablet underneath it.
additional non stylus demo
The vlingo dead accurate speech recognition is actually the most successful demo to freak them out. I have it ready to go, say 'Hi Galaxy' , say Play "Let it be" and the music starts, I then either say dial the persons phone number and wait for their phone to ring, or 'say gmail' in which I show them swype ( many folks seemed to have no clue about swype) and then hit the mic and dictate alot of email. all perfect.
Lastly I have a HD movie, of nature from youttube downloaded on my device (called Best of HD movies: water/wasser) to show the beautiful screen.
I also show I can use it with one hand, put it my pocket and put it up to my ear. I mention the phone is a game changer and if Apple came out with it the world would be going crazy. and Smile.
ps - google 'gesture search' app (always a shortcut on my front page) impresses folks too, when they see I can call anyone, play any music, open any app in one or two swipes.

Thanks for the heads up on freenote.
The best note taking app for me.
I really like being able to combine handwriting, text and drawing all really easily.
Still trying to work out which handwriting mode works best for me (I think 2 cell - as long as I keep my writing in a straight line so words split over the 2 halves of the page don't end up looking wonky). And still tweaking the recognition timing thresholds, but definitely my favourite so far.
The limit to the amount you could fit in sMemo is way to small to be useful for anything more than post it note type notes.
Freenote will be useful for taking notes in just about any situation.
Rich

Hi,
Anyone knows about any remote desktop app that can take advantage of the stylus?
Thanks

Citrix works...
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA

smaragdhk said:
Citrix works...
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, do you know if it works with terminal services alone? Or do you have to install Citrix on the deskt aswell?

Vasko said:
Thanks, do you know if it works with terminal services alone? Or do you have to install Citrix on the deskt aswell?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't think it works as a standalone app. For work we have it running on a server, and staff use the client software on their handheld devices.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA

smaragdhk said:
Don't think it works as a standalone app. For work we have it running on a server, and staff use the client software on their handheld devices.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see, I'm looking for a terminal server client which could be less cumbersome with the stylus than the actual app i'm using.

Vasko said:
I see, I'm looking for a terminal server client which could be less cumbersome with the stylus than the actual app i'm using.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm... Remote RDP perhaps? There is lite version.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA

Why better than lecture notes or Will?
QUOTE=richlum;23945608]Thanks for the heads up on freenote.
The best note taking app for me.
I really like being able to combine handwriting, text and drawing all really easily.
Still trying to work out which handwriting mode works best for me (I think 2 cell - as long as I keep my writing in a straight line so words split over the 2 halves of the page don't end up looking wonky). And still tweaking the recognition timing thresholds, but definitely my favourite so far.
The limit to the amount you could fit in sMemo is way to small to be useful for anything more than post it note type notes.
Freenote will be useful for taking notes in just about any situation.
Rich[/QUOTE]

I couldn't find LecureNotes in the Market on my phone (tried searching for Acadoid, and also tried changing my region using Market Enabler too). I could find it on my web browser on my PC, but when I try to install it via the web, it says it's not compatible with my Galaxy Note and won't let me proceed.
I'm not sure what Will is...?
I did try out Handrite, Fliq, Genial Writing and sMemo.
For me, the handwriting entry process works best in freenote.
It seems to be the most tweakable to be able to get the settings just right for your speed and style of writing.
Plus it's quick and easy to swap between different modes of input (handwriting, typing, drawing freehand, highlighting)

Sony Confirms Android KitKat provided for Xperia SP in the Near Future

HI Guys: The good news! :victory:
Sony Confirms Android KitKat provided for Xperia SP in the Near Future! :victory:
Link this news to Sony's site:
http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/software/phones/xperia-sp/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Thank you very much Sony! :fingers-crossed:

No need to create a whole new thread, when another is already created.
The info you posted is already here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47696383
Sent from my C5303 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

whitemamba said:
No need to create a whole new thread, when another is already created.
The info you posted is already here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47696383
Sent from my C5303 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True whitemamba, but the news was updated to Android Kitkat important enough to be a separate thread!

Amin.HVS said:
True whitemamba, but the news was updated to Android Kitkat important enough to be a separate thread!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No.
I mean, you saw the other thread, read it and then thought 'Hey, lets make another thread'. -_-

Robin>Hood said:
No.
I mean, you saw the other thread, read it and then thought 'Hey, lets make another thread'. -_-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, your Purpose do not understand!
You have seen me in the other thread?!
What's this?

Amin.HVS said:
Sorry, your Purpose do not understand!
You have seen me in the other thread?!
What's this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im glad you made this thread! I wouldnt have seen the other post. Thanks! Cant wait, JB 4.3 next month and then KK sooon! :laugh:

Pavilo-Olson said:
Im glad you made this thread! I wouldnt have seen the other post. Thanks! Cant wait, JB 4.3 next month and then KK sooon! :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome my good friend. :highfive:
I was very glad of this good news. Kit Kat Best Android version Subset 4.xx Android version of the collection. and it has very good facilities.
I hope this version for the Xperia SP will be provided as soon as possible.

Robin>Hood said:
No.
I mean, you saw the other thread, read it and then thought 'Hey, lets make another thread'. -_-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pavilo-Olson said:
Im glad you made this thread! I would'nt have seen the other post. Thanks! Cant wait, JB 4.3 next month and then KK sooon! :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay Robin Hood
You Notice, As I said, it was!

Closer look at the features and capabilities of Android Kitkat
Google's newest version of its mobile operating system, Android 4.4 KitKat, doesn't deliver a huge list of transformative design and feature changes, like what we saw when Ice Cream Sandwich was introduced. Instead, KitKat's main purpose is to usher in a strategy from Google to get the latest Android version on all Android devices, both premium and low-end.
That's a big deal because every year, lower-end handsets come out running old versions of Android, fueling the argument that Android is fragmented and giving customers an inconsistent Android experience. With KitKat, Google shrank the operating system so that it can run on many more devices, thus helping close the gap between low-end and high-end devices.
This hands-on examines Android 4.4 as it runs on the Nexus 5, as that is the only device that currently has the operating system. Not all of the features mentioned will be available on other devices when they get the update. We'll continue to update this material as we spend time with the operating system on other devices when we can. For an in-depth review of the Nexus 5, read Lynn La's review on CNET.
The newest Android for all
Google's ultimate goal is to get KitKat on all Android devices from this point forward. Every year, we see new devices running the latest flavor of Android, but also some running versions that are, in some cases, years old. That makes cheaper devices seem less appealing even given their low prices, and leaves the budget-minded miffed that they can't get the latest features without a cost.
The problem is that budget devices often have smaller amounts of internal storage and RAM and can often only run an older version of Android. More powerful, and more expensive, phones pack faster processors and more RAM, allowing them to run the most updated version of the OS, previously Jelly Bean. Google fixed this issue in KitKat by shrinking the footprint of the operating system by 16 percent so that it can run on devices with only 512MB of RAM. That means that budget devices and phones aimed at emerging markets, which is exactly what Google is after, can run KitKat, instead of now-outdated Gingerbread (2.3) or Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0).
Google is giving manufacturers and carriers the opportunity to put KitKat on all devices in 2014. However, since there's no pressure or directive to only ship devices with version 4.4, it's up to them to follow through. It remains to be seen if carriers and OEMs will jump at the chance to only go with KitKat, and if the past is any indication, it's likely that we'll continue to see new phones shipping with Jelly Bean for a while.
Fresh, simple design
KitKat sports a minimalist design that still has remnants of the Holo look introduced in Ice Cream Sandwich. Many of the design changes I talk about in this section are ones I came across on the Nexus 5. We don't know yet if they will show up on other non-Nexus devices if and when they get Android 4.4. It's safe to say that if your phone has a custom skin, such as HTC Sense or Samsung TouchWiz, and gets upgraded to KitKat, you're not likely to see many design differences.
The app drawer and status bar are now transparent.
First, the home screens on KitKat look a bit different. Icons are now much larger and the text is condensed. The top status bar is translucent and blends with your wallpaper. Google says that other apps can take advantage of this as well. For instance, Twitter could have the blue background on the app's header extend into the status if it so desired.
There are no longer five home screens visible by default; instead there are only two. You can add more by grabbing an app or widget and moving it to the right or left of an existing screen. Just as you can do in TouchWiz and other skins, you can now rearrange entire home screens, instead of moving apps and widgets around individually. To do it, you just tap and hold the screen and then tap and hold the screen you want to move.
There's a new menu where you can change your wallpaper and add widgets that pops up when you press and hold the screen. There's also an option called settings in that menu, but it takes you to Google search settings, not your phone's settings menu, which is strange and unexpected. When you select wallpapers, a row of thumbnails of new wallpapers designed for KitKat appears. On the far left, there's an option to choose photos from your gallery. When you choose your own photo, it will show a full-screen preview of what it will look like as a wallpaper, instead of forcing you to crop the photo with a box, which is a welcome change. It reminds me a lot of how you set the backgrounds on an iOS device.
If you select widgets from that home screen menu, you'll get a grid of available widgets that you can add to your screens.
The app drawer also got a makeover. There is no longer a section for widgets and no icon for Google Play in the top-right corner; all you see is a grid of your phone's apps. It also has a translucent background that shows your home screen wallpaper.
What hasn't changed is the notifications menu, though Google did add a new location tile in the quick-settings panel. Lastly, the persistent Google search bar that popped up in Android 4.0 and stays at the top of your home screens is still there. You still can't remove it unless you use a launcher or install a new ROM.
Next up is the lock screen. Though it doesn't look much different from 4.2 and 4.3, there's a new music widget that lets you control audio playback from the lock screen without unlocking your phone. When you play music from the Google Music app, the lock screen will show the song's album art full-screen. Additionally, if you're playing a video on a Chromecast from your phone, the lock screen will show the video or movie's art and give you an option to pause or play the video.
With third-party music apps, there's no album art, but the app's icon, song title, and artist will show up on the lock screen, right above the playback controls. Apps like Spotify and Pandora and most podcast players have had lock screen controls for a while, but the new widget gives them a much cleaner look.
You can still add other widgets to the lock screen, for Gmail or other apps, just make sure you check the box in the security settings that says "Enable widgets."
Google introduced a new immersive experience for some apps in KitKat. The idea is that when you're watching a video, reading a book, or playing a game, the status bar and onscreen buttons will fade away so there aren't distractions. In the Google Books app, that means each page takes up the entire screen.
Google Now at your fingertips
With Google Now, Google is aiming to bring you all the information you could possibly need in one place. There are cards for your upcoming appointments with travel times to help you plan your journey, weather cards to tell you the forecast, and sports scores that help you stay on top of your favorite team. In KitKat, Google Now gets more robust.
First, I need to mention that Google built a special launcher for the Nexus 5 that makes Google Now even easier to access. If you unlock your phone, you can say, "OK Google" to activate voice search without needing to tap anywhere on the screen. Also, when you turn on Google Now, you can swipe all the way to the left to pull it up. Those two features are exclusive to KitKat on the Nexus 5, at least until future notice. That said, the Nexus 5 is not the only phone that allows you to use voice commands to launch Google Search. Motorola's Moto X, Droid Ultra, Droid Maxx, and Droid Mini all sport Touchless Controls, where you can say "OK Google" to start a search without needing to touch the phone at all.
Though the Nexus 5 gets the most Google Now features, KitKat will bring updated search features to other phones as well. First, when you run a search, Google will dive deeper into your phone and pull results from your installed apps. It works like this: Say you search for a restaurant on Google Now and already have the OpenTable app installed on your phone. You'll get the same Web results, but if you scroll to the bottom, there will be an option to launch the OpenTable app which will immediately show the reservation page for that restaurant. In the past, you'd have had to open the app yourself and search separately. Google says this will work with apps from OpenTable, Etsy, Flixster, Moviefone, and Newegg, with more to come soon. In my testing on the Nexus 5, it didn't work, and Google has yet to say when exactly you'll be able to do this.
Next, Google Now is getting a few new cards. One will show you updates from favorite Web sites and blogs, without overwhelming you with every post in the way an RSS reader would. Another will try to understand your recent searches and group together related queries, such as "Nexus 5" and "Android KitKat." Again, these cards did not pop up for me in my testing, but they are expected to roll out soon.
Lastly, Google gave us a vague promise of future cards that will provide context when you're near a certain event or attraction that is getting a lot of search hits. For example, say there's a parade in your city and there are a lot people searching for information on what's happening. Google would display a card about the event's time, location, and other important information when you're near the event.
Google, place my call
KitKat includes a brand-new dialer, which remembers who you call the most and keeps those people front and center. When you open the dialer, the dial pad is hidden away and you'll see a list of frequently called contacts.
One of the biggest changes is that you can now search for businesses from the dialer and call them with one tap. That means instead of opening Google Search or Google Maps and looking for a business, finding its number, and then placing the call, you can just start typing in the dialer, and select the correct result, and your phone will start dialing. You can get specific by typing "Starbucks" to find nearby locations, for example, or just type "coffee" for broader results.
Also, you can type the words of a vanity number -- such as 1-800-Flowers or 1-888-Wait-Wait -- into the search bar, and the dialer will translate it into a numerical phone number. It's a small touch that makes the actual phone part of your phone much more user-friendly.
Another major feature is Caller ID. When a business that's not in your contacts calls you, its name will show up on the screen, helping you figure out who's calling. This only works if the business has a listing in Google Maps (most do) and the number that's calling you is the same number in that listing. If someone calls from an extension, it won't work.
Hangouts meets texting
It's long been rumored that Google would fold the basic stock SMS text messaging into the IM, voice, and video calling app Hangouts. It finally did that with the release of Android 4.4.
If you already use Hangouts on your Android phone to IM with your friends, the experience hasn't changed much. You can still search for contacts by e-mail address or Google account name and send them IMs. What has changed is that, at least for the Nexus devices, there is no longer a separate dedicated SMS app. You now send and receive text messages and photos from the Hangouts app.
Hangouts separates your SMS conversations and Google Chat conversations into individual threads on the main screen, even if you're communicating with one contact. You can, however, switch between those two conversations when you're in the message thread by tapping the person's name at the top.
While Hangouts is easy to use, it doesn't bring anything else to the...tablet that any other SMS client doesn't. I'll stick with a separate app on my Android phone, mostly because I've never been a fan of Hangouts for its original purpose and I can customize the look of my text-messaging app. If you'd rather use something else too, I recommend Textra.
Extra features
Even though emoji was available in earlier versions of Android, they officially come to Android in KitKat. Emoji are part of the stock Google keyboard now and can be used anywhere you input text. Luckily, if you send a message with emoji to a friend with an iOS or non-KitKat device, your friend will still be able to see the tiny pictures, as they can translate to other emoji protocols. I, for one, am a big fan of the new emoji, especially since that's one of the few features from iOS that I was hoping would someday turn up in Android.
You can now print photos from the Gallery app with Google Cloud Print. If you have a cloud-enabled printer, you need to register it with its cloud e-mail address. For non-cloud printers, you need to use a USB cable to connect it to your computer and register it on Google Cloud Print.
For my Wi-Fi-connected HP all-in-one, which doesn't have a cloud print option, that meant I had to connect it to my laptop and sign into Google Cloud Print in my Chrome browser's settings menu. Once that was set up, I could go to the Gallery app, choose a photo, select print from the menu, and find my correct printer.
You can now open files in Google's productivity suite, Quickoffice, from any cloud apps you have installed on your phone, such as Google Drive or Dropbox. You can easily save them back to the cloud when you're finished.
Android is making it easier to manage your launchers with a settings option called Home. There you can switch between the stock launcher and any that you have installed, such as Apex or Nova. This is a personal favorite feature of mine, since I like to use launchers and this makes it really easy to switch back and forth.
Other smaller changes introduced in KitKat include faster multitasking, improved touch-screen performance, low-power audio playback, and a lower-accuracy battery-saving location mode.
Here's a full list of the changes:
The revamped phone dialer app will evaluate which contacts you talk to most and automatically prioritize your phone book accordingly. Also, integration with more Google apps such as Maps will let you search for nearby places and businesses right in the phone dialer.
Caller ID gets a boost, as well. For incoming calls that don't match a phone number not in your contacts, Google apps will scan and display any matches from local businesses listed in Google Maps.
The immersive mode clears up clutter on your screen by automatically hiding everything except the one thing you're viewing (like a photo, map, or game). In other words, you'll be in full-screen mode without status and navigation bars. When you're ready to move on, you can bring back your status bar and navigation buttons by swiping the edge of the screen.
A new Hangouts app consolidates all of your text and multimedia messages, conversations, and video calls in one place.
You'll be able to print photos, documents, and Web pages from your phone or tablet. Any printer connected to Google Cloud Print will be compatible, along with HP ePrint printers and other printers with Google Play apps.
If you have an Android device with an IR blaster, you'll be able to use applications that make it function as a TV remote.
Capable devices will now support Chromecast.
When you reach the bottom of a menu, there's a faint white glow instead of the earlier, brighter blue glow.
Support for the Message Access Profile (MAP) will let drivers exchange messages between their Bluetooth-enabled cars and devices.
Closed captioning comes to most applications.
A new look for the e-mail app brings nested folders, contact photos, and revamped navigation.
NFC features now will work with more wireless carriers.
App developers can take advantage of new step detection and counting composite sensors.
Smaller details range from a uniform color for status bars to a new condensed font.
(Credit: CNET)

Thats was am awsom information about Kitkat.. Thanks for the share my brother

Rajeev said:
Thats was am awsom information about Kitkat.. Thanks for the share my brother
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome, My dear brother Rajeev, this overview of the Android Kitkat
But soon, very interesting information about the Android Kitkat will share the same topic!

9 Lesser-Known New Features In Android 4.4 KitKat!
9 Lesser-Known New Features In Android 4.4 KitKat
Shortly after Google revealed the latest version of its mobile OS a few days back, we wrote about some of the new features & improvements introduced in Android 4.4 KitKat. It’s been over a week since the release now, and many of us have had a chance to play around with the OS. With that, we have come across a few features that weren’t highlighted by Google, but can nevertheless prove to be quite useful to many users. Not all users are going to find a use for each one of these features, and not all of them are entirely new major additions to the OS; in fact a few of them are more along the lines of refinements to existing features, or handy components of newly added KitKat features that haven’t been specifically highlighted by Google or the press so far. So, let’s take a look at a few of the lesser-known features brought to Android in the 4.4 KitKat update.
Advanced File Picker With Full Storage Access
In KitKat, Google introduced an all new file picker with support for integration with Google Drive as well as third-party cloud storage services to make the process of picking a file easier and more universal. This feature has been talked about a lot by both Google and the media, but did you know that you can also use it to pick any file on your Internal storage and external SD card (on supported devices) directly?
To enable full storage access, go to the file picker’s settings from its menu, and enable the option labeled ‘Display advanced devices’. You can also set file sizes to be displayed from here. After enabling the former option, you should see an entry for your Internal storage (as well as your external SD card, if your device supports it) in the Open from navigation drawer. Tap it, and you’ll be able to select any file from your device’s file system.
You can also sort the files by name, last modified date and size, and choose between list and grid layout. One can’t help but think how nice it would have been if Google had also added basic file management options (opening, deleting, renaming, viewing properties etc.) to the feature and added its shortcut to the App drawer to make it a stock File Manager app – a feature that was considered a standard for mobile operating systems in the pre-iOS, Android & Windows Phone era.
Easily Switch Default Launcher & SMS Apps
If you’ve been reading up on the new features of KitKat so far, you probably know already that upon installing a third-party launcher, you’ll see a new ‘Home’ option in Settings that lets you choose the default one (demonstrated in the left screenshot below). You likely also know that the new Hangouts app in KitKat includes support for SMS messages, rendering the stock Messaging app redundant. Though that doesn’t mean stock Messaging has been completely excluded from the OS; it’s still there as a part of AOSP (though Google and device manufacturers/carriers may decided to not ship it on their devices), and there is also an easy way to choose your default SMS app among all stock and third-party options available. You can find this option under ‘Wireless & Networks’ in Settings.
The option allows you to choose your default SMS app between Hangouts, Messaging and any third-party options that you may have installed.
Advance Alarm Notifications With Option To Dismiss
This is an enhancement to an existing feature that shows attention to detail, and I am already in love with it. At times, we set an alarm but end up waking up before it has sounded, and either out of laziness or due to getting busy with something, we end up not stopping that alarm till it starts sounding. With KitKat, you will view expandable notifications for upcoming alarms one hour before their time, with a ‘Dismiss Now’ option that does just what it says, without requiring you to open the Clock app and go the Alarms section to disable the alarm manually.
As I mentioned earlier, it’s not a new major feature but a very useful addition to an existing one, and once you get used to it, you’ll find it hard to live without it.
Toggle Lockscreen Widgets
Google introduced Lockscreen widget support in Android Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, and the feature was immensely praised by users and critics alike. However, there were still many who didn’t really see a need to put widgets on their lockscreen. However, there was no way to disable the feature. That changes in KitKat, as you can now easily enable or disable lockscreen widgets in the Security section of Settings.
So, if you only use the lockscreen to keep your device secure and unlock it when needed, go ahead and disable the feature to make sure you never land on that ‘Add widget’ screen on your lockscreen.
View Text-To-Speech Support Status For Default Language
Text-to-Speech has long been a part of Android, but not all languages supported by the operating system itself were supported by this feature. KitKat adds a ‘Default language status’ section to the Text-to-speech subsection of Language & input settings that shows if your currently selected default system language is supported by the Text-to-speech system or not.
So, no more confusion on why you can’t hear any text-to-speech output for a language you’ve selected.
Mobile Plan Management
There’s a new option labeled ‘Mobile Plan under Wireless & networks settings that seems to be intended to help you manage your mobile plan right from your device, but it’ll only work if your carrier has a known provisioning website for the purpose in order to offer you any options to configure.
We couldn’t test this feature because our carrier doesn’t provide such a provisioning service.
Always Enabled Dial-Pad Autocomplete
Dial-pad autocomplete (also known as T9 dialing) is an extremely handy feature that lets users bring up contacts by typing the numbers representing the alphabetical characters of their names in the Dialer. This was probably the most requested feature in Android since Google decided to include it as an option in Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. In KitKat, the feature is no longer an option that you can toggle; it is instead always on. It’s really hard to think of a reason why anyone would want to have it disabled, so it only makes sense to have it always on, and removing the option to disable it.
In addition to the changes in KitKat that we have discussed above, there are also a few more new options hidden in the Developer options section of Settings that aren’t likely to be too useful for the everyday user, but can prove to be quite handy to developers. We said ‘hidden’ because since Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, Google has hidden the Developer options section by default. Though you can easily follow our instructions to reveal the hidden Android Developer options. Once revealed, you’ll notice several changes from the options available till 4.3, and we’ll be discussing a few notable ones from them below.
New ART Runtime (love This Feature )
Dalvik has been the default runtime environment of Android since its first public release. It has also been the primary bottleneck of the OS because it uses JIT (just-in-time) compilation, requiring apps to be compiled on the go before running them, which can be quite taxing on performance as well as battery life. ART (Android RunTime) is a replacement for Dalvik that uses AOT (ahead of time) compilation, meaning your apps are compiled to a ready-to-run state before you even launch them, making the process of launching and using them much faster and smoother. And since this would reduce their compilation frequency significantly, you can expect to start seeing better battery life.
While ART isn’t quite ready for prime time yet, an early version of the new runtime environment has been included in KitKat, though Dalvik is still selected as default. Developers who need to test their apps on ART, or users who want to try out the new runtime (at their own risk, since it’s not fully ready yet) can switch to it by tapping Select runtime under Developer options, as shown above.
Process Stats
One thing developers and power users are both interested in is seeing what’s going on under the hood in their devices. For this, KitKat now includes Process Stats – a section under Developer Options that shows you performance and usage stats of all your background, foreground and cached processes.
You can choose a custom duration for the stats, show or hide system processes and toggle the display of different stats types.
A few other new developer options include the ability to select and switch between different modes of HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) checking between always, for DRM content only, and never, a snoop log for Bluetooth HCI (Host Controller Interface), and more.
So, which one of these features do you like most? And have you found a lesser-known feature in KitKat that we’ve missed? Feel free to drop a line in the comments below!
Source

This is a great notice!!
and hope that there is not a trick marketin.

mpiero11 said:
This is a great notice!!
and hope that there is not a trick marketin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, this is a good news for us.
Sony confirmed Upgrade Xperia SP to Android 4.4, and probably in early 2014, we will witness the presentation.
**********
OP Updated.

Cool cant wait:laugh:

ExtensibilityApp class in WP 8.1 Silverlight

Hi all,
If you've read the text that USED to exist here before, scratch that. Big Thanks to @Sunius1 for clarifying what I thought was a win. Due to this, I DID find something interesting in regards to the ExtensibilityApp class (Windows.Phone.System.LockscreenExtensibility.ExtensibilityApp). I happened to also find a hidden capability "ID_CAP_SHELL_DEVICE_LOCK_UI_API" (Seems to be a locked CAP because it only works on Emulator. I get a deployment error on my if I try including this capability). I suspected that these two worked together, but I wanted to make sure of this.
Before we get started, read through the documentation from this site: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...lockscreenextensibility.extensibilityapp.aspx.
We have the following methods:
BeginUnlock
EndUnlock
GetLockPinpadHeight
IsLockScreenApplicationRegistered
IsSystemOverlayApplicationRegistered
RaiseToastNotifications
RegisterLockScreenApplication
RegisterSystemOverlayApplication
UnregisterLockScreenApplication
UnregisterSystemOverlayApplication
EDIT: After the release of the Live Lock Screen app, my speculations about the ID_SHELL_CAP_DEVICE_UI_API capability and the ExtensibilityApp object were correct. Thanks to @jessenic for finding out a good bit of info on this with me.
It seems that in order to get this working, we have to add an Extension to the WMAppManifest.xml
<Extension ExtensionName="LockScreen_Application" ConsumerID="XXXXX" TaskID="_default" ExtraFile="Extensions\\LockAppExtension.xml" />
In the LockAppExtension.xml:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<x:Extension xmlns:x="urn:LockApp">
<AppID>AppNameForLockScreen</AppID>
</x:Extension>
As usual, Microsoft doesn't really give us much in terms of documentation.. Probably because it isn't meant to be used by the normal developer Confirmed: For now we have to actually ask for permission in order to use the cap. As to whether we'll get that granted? Who knows....
All of these methods have no parameters at all, but I can almost guarantee this has to do with having an application that can control the lock screen.
This thread will be for efforts in breaking this open and seeing whether we can create lockscreen applications..
Homebrew Lockscreen Apps:
Lockscreen App by @-W_O_L_F-

There are actually two Windows.winmd files in Windows Phone SDK, one for Silverlight 8.1 apps and one for Jupiter 8.1 phone apps (located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Phone Silverlight Kits\8.1\ and C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Phone Kits\8.1\). There's only one the phone. And some APIs support only one app type (it's phone limitation it seems: faking .winmd file results in Platform::InvalidOperationException, saying you cannot use that API from this app type). That explains why the one on the phone has more APIs available than either of for single app type.
As for LockscreenExtensibility - it's documented, just not available for Jupiter apps:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...ows.phone.system.lockscreenextensibility.aspx

Sunius1 said:
There are actually two Windows.winmd files in Windows Phone SDK, one for Silverlight 8.1 apps and one for Jupiter 8.1 phone apps (located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Phone Silverlight Kits\8.1\ and C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Phone Kits\8.1\). There's only one the phone. And some APIs support only one app type (it's phone limitation it seems: faking .winmd file results in Platform::InvalidOperationException, saying you cannot use that API from this app type). That explains why the one on the phone has more APIs available than either of for single app type.
As for LockscreenExtensibility - it's documented, just not available for Jupiter apps:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...ows.phone.system.lockscreenextensibility.aspx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that is very good to know! Thanks for the clarification. The best part is that I was actually able to compile without receiving an error (somehow).

I found something that may be of use in order to get the LockscreenExtensibility working (I just tried on a Silverlight 8.1 app and got access denied).
<Capability Name= "ID_CAP_SHELL_DEVICE_LOCK_UI_API"/> <----. Can't be used OOTB
EDIT: I just tested this in the Emulator and it really IS the capability that the LockscreenExtensibility needs in order for it to work.

snickler said:
I found something that may be of use in order to get the LockscreenExtensibility working (I just tried on a Silverlight 8.1 app and got access denied).
<Capability Name= "ID_CAP_SHELL_DEVICE_LOCK_UI_API"/> <----. Can't be used OOTB
EDIT: I just tested this in the Emulator and it really IS the capability that the LockscreenExtensibility needs in order for it to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I assume this is the thing Rudy Hyun used to create the lockscreen app at Build?

TheInterframe said:
I assume this is the thing Rudy Hyun used to create the lockscreen app at Build?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I speculate that this is what he's using. I bet there's more going on that we have yet to figure out. It also could be that the base class EXISTS, but the full implementation isn't available yet. Who knows.

snickler said:
I speculate that this is what he's using. I bet there's more going on that we have yet to figure out. It also could be that the base class EXISTS, but the full implementation isn't available yet. Who knows.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, Yes that makes sense. I wonder if there are any other "half-baked" API's in the SDK?
Edit: I Know it sounds stupid but honestly I think we should have a thread dedicated to finding odd API's (Just found one: Windows.Phone.System.SystemProtection, nothing terribly useful though)

TheInterframe said:
Ah, Yes that makes sense. I wonder if there are any other "half-baked" API's in the SDK?
Edit: I Know it sounds stupid but honestly I think we should have a thread dedicated to finding odd API's (Just found one: Windows.Phone.System.SystemProtection, nothing terribly useful though)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there are also some hidden APIs in the current SDK for 3D Touch-enabled Apps!
From WP Central:
Some of the features include APIs for gestures, side interactions and even heat maps.
Crazy stuff.
Believe it or not, some of these APIs for developers are in the current SDK, they're just not visible. What this mean though is developers will have access to this 3D Touch technology for their apps. It also means that Microsoft will have a small batch of third-party apps supporting this 3D Touch technology on launch day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
source: http://www.wpcentral.com/microsofts-next-flagship-windows-phone-november-3d-touch

Yea, even though those 3D touch APIs may be available, they're not particularly useful, as they require special hardware to work.

Sunius1 said:
Yea, even though those 3D touch APIs may be available, they're not particularly useful, as they require special hardware to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is true. Sort of of a side question though, has anyone made a OEM account and looked over the API documentation there? There maybe some useful things we could learn about WP and maybe further a jailbreak for all WP devices....

TheInterframe said:
That is true. Sort of of a side question though, has anyone made a OEM account and looked over the API documentation there? There maybe some useful things we could learn about WP and maybe further a jailbreak for all WP devices....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
API isn't much useful as long as you cant really use most of functions due to policies.

ultrashot said:
API isn't much useful as long as you cant really use most of functions due to policies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, Yes that makes sense....

http://www.wpcentral.com/joe-belfiore-announces-new-updates-sheds-details-lock-screen-app
Sounds like there will be a dev preview update to enable lockscreen functionality quite soon. Joe also mentioned keeping the lock screen in memory. So 512 MB devices won't get the functionality soon....

Good stuff. Another question: can apps show the action center? Because I want code an app to show notifications on lockscreen. Thanks

Marocco2 said:
Good stuff. Another question: can apps show the action center? Because I want code an app to show notifications on lockscreen. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
something to force the volume/music control on the lock screen to automatically open would be really useful as well

Updated first post with some more data since the Live Lockscreen App debuted yesterday. There's more I didn't get into, but I want others to dig in and find out

I suppose we can only speculate how it works at this point, but if I had to guess, it goes like this:
1. You have 2 projects in your LockScreenApp solution, one for the application to register the lockscreen, and the second one for the actual lock screen application.
2. The former would use ExtensibilityApp APIs to register the the second one, coupled with the manifests so it's all "valid".
3. The second application is just a another app that is able to process input and draw whatever it wants on the screen. That would explain why there's a delay at it starting when you press lock screen button while the phone is sleeping (probably it's a time for .NET to startup? Direct3D app should be able to start much faster).
Although this is only speculation, I think this makes sense, because that's how background tasks work on Windows, at least. I wonder though, why Microsoft is not releasing the APIs to be used in public - are they afraid somebody will make a lockscreen application that will drain the battery fast or something?

Sunius1 said:
I suppose we can only speculate how it works at this point, but if I had to guess, it goes like this:
1. You have 2 projects in your LockScreenApp solution, one for the application to register the lockscreen, and the second one for the actual lock screen application.
2. The former would use ExtensibilityApp APIs to register the the second one, coupled with the manifests so it's all "valid".
3. The second application is just a another app that is able to process input and draw whatever it wants on the screen. That would explain why there's a delay at it starting when you press lock screen button while the phone is sleeping (probably it's a time for .NET to startup? Direct3D app should be able to start much faster).
Although this is only speculation, I think this makes sense, because that's how background tasks work on Windows, at least. I wonder though, why Microsoft is not releasing the APIs to be used in public - are they afraid somebody will make a lockscreen application that will drain the battery fast or something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think its that but most likely the fact that the API is un-optimized, some of the facts you stated (i.e. Slow start up, documentation is lacking) etc... The fact the OS needs to be updated to show a section telling the user what lock screen app has taken over (since the setting page doesn't now)
Edit: Remember what Joe said about keeping the lockscreen in memory and 512MB devices might not be supported for that reason? Yeah seems like they aren't doing that since you can see the resume time for the lo screen is wayyy to much

Sunius1 said:
I suppose we can only speculate how it works at this point, but if I had to guess, it goes like this:
1. You have 2 projects in your LockScreenApp solution, one for the application to register the lockscreen, and the second one for the actual lock screen application.
2. The former would use ExtensibilityApp APIs to register the the second one, coupled with the manifests so it's all "valid".
3. The second application is just a another app that is able to process input and draw whatever it wants on the screen. That would explain why there's a delay at it starting when you press lock screen button while the phone is sleeping (probably it's a time for .NET to startup? Direct3D app should be able to start much faster).
Although this is only speculation, I think this makes sense, because that's how background tasks work on Windows, at least. I wonder though, why Microsoft is not releasing the APIs to be used in public - are they afraid somebody will make a lockscreen application that will drain the battery fast or something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct. Two projects: One is the settings page, which is the main entrypoint of the app when it's opened from the start menu and the second one is the actual lockscreen app.
The settings page uses the ExtensibilityApp APIs to register the second one as a lock screen application. That second application is another 8.1 Silverlight app that uses a LockScreen_Bridge WinRT component that has native access to read what is shown on the lockscreen from the WP Settings item.
It then uses some storyboards to make it do different things as you're swiping up and down on the LayoutRoot grid. It does use a timer so that's where that little lag comes from.
The only background stuff it's doing is latching on to system events ("Start button being touched for example").
I can see where MS would be protective of this. They DID say that they would be releasing a public version of the API at some point. I'm hoping it's not one of the situations that leaves it public only when they've approved you to be able to use it.
It does suck that it's restricted to 8.1 Silverlight though. I could see some Music Apps wanting to take advantage of the lockscreen like this.

snickler said:
You are correct. Two projects: One is the settings page, which is the main entrypoint of the app when it's opened from the start menu and the second one is the actual lockscreen app.
The settings page uses the ExtensibilityApp APIs to register the second one as a lock screen application. That second application is another 8.1 Silverlight app that uses a LockScreen_Bridge WinRT component that has native access to read what is shown on the lockscreen from the WP Settings item.
It then uses some storyboards to make it do different things as you're swiping up and down on the LayoutRoot grid. It does use a timer so that's where that little lag comes from.
The only background stuff it's doing is latching on to system events ("Start button being touched for example").
I can see where MS would be protective of this. They DID say that they would be releasing a public version of the API at some point. I'm hoping it's not one of the situations that leaves it public only when they've approved you to be able to use it.
It does suck that it's restricted to 8.1 Silverlight though. I could see some Music Apps wanting to take advantage of the lockscreen like this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quite interesting...!
The API in itself is quite powerful, custom lockscreens with weather animations are possible! http://wmpoweruser.com/wp8-1-live-l...amazing-lock-screen-weather-animations-video/