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So I bought my first non-WM smartphone. Below is documentation of my quest to replace, and surpass, the experience I was used to with my Touch Diamond 2 running Windows Mobile 6.5. I am what you would probably call a windows mobile 'power user'. I've been averaging about one new WM phone every 6 months since 2005, most of them HTC. But I always keep up on what the other platforms are doing. This is just the first time I've taken the leap, and I quickly became aware of what new doors Android opened for me in just the first few hours of using the Nexus One. The OS is nice, but like most people, it really comes down to the apps for me.
I was initially thinking I'd do a big blog review, but I've run out of motivation. There's plenty of info on the Nexus One hardware and Android out there, so I don't need to rehash that stuff. What I haven't seen a lot of, though, is detailed accounts of people switching and what exactly they found.
There remains a couple major things missing from Android. The lack of an OCS client is probably the biggest one for me professionally, but since it's a Microsoft product, I don't see that changing any time soon. That and the lack of xvid playback will keep me carrying around my TD2 as backup for the foreseeable future. But other than that, I'm extremely happy and will definitely be sticking with the Nexus for a while. The next post will be a comprehensive list of (practically) every app I've installed, what they do for me, and how they compare to their WM counterparts (if there are any).
On to the apps...
Android Apps I've installed and believe I will continue to use.
This is a bit of a brain dump, so I apologize for not editing more thoroughly. Hopefully it will be useful to some, and feel free to suggest other apps you think I should try.
Advanced Task Killer - List of running apps that allows you to easily kill unwanted tasks. Nice to have for an OS that allows background apps, but I don't actually notice it slowing down, it seems to manage memory and close apps as needed.
Aldiko (replacing mobiReader, much better) - eReader with nice UI and quick access to several libraries of free books. Found Doctorow's books right away.
Amazon store - really just easier than using the web browser, but it also does barcode scanning and some other useful stuff.
BeamReader (replacing Adobe's wm reader) - rarely needed, but have to be able to see pdfs on the go sometimes
Beelicious - direct (cached) access to my delicious bookmarks. UI could be better and it's a bit of a pain to wade through them all, but it's useful.
BeyondPod (replacing YomoMedia, HUGE improvement) - It took me years to find a podcast downloader for WM that worked at all, but beyondpod is amazing. The UI is superb and inuitive. The customization is great. I have it setup to download only at night while charging. It remembers my place in podcasts and creates 'smart playlists' to make it easier to start listening. It also integrates with google reader, which is hugely useful because I can add new podcasts I'd like to listen to anywhere from google reader and then import then very quickly into beyondpod later. Also worth noting is the homescreen widget, which gives me access to basic controls and status from my home screen, no need to always navigate back into the app.
Browser (replacing Opera mobile) - Really there's not much difference here. Neither android nor WM have flash or silverlight support yet (although you can sort of get it on WM through skyfire, but that's not performant enough to be an everyday thing). Usability is about the same, but since multitouch zoom isn't enabled on nexus yet (though the hardware can technically support it), you have to use the zoom in/out buttons. This isn't as nice as zooming on the TD2 (zoom bar) or the HD2 (multitouch). Android does links to outside applications better though. It recognizes when you are browsing to a youtube video or RSS feed and will prompt correctly.
Cab4me - Nice little app for finding nearby cab companies making it very easy to see which is rated best, has cars available, and place the call. Not a must-have, but it's one of the little things.
Camera - very fast, 5mp (same as on hd2 and td2 wm phones), the LED flash is certainly better than nothing. Geotagging is default.
Car Home - this is Google's navigation 'car mode'. I think is this very cool, but honestly I won't end up using it much because I have navigation built into my car.
Carr Matey - dedicated app for recording car location so you can find it again. Another little nice thing I didn't have before. Android is just so much better at doing location-aware apps right now.
Documents to Go (replacing ms office mobile) - I'm using the lite version, which does not allow editing, but I have just never had the need to edit office docs on my phone. Sometimes I get one in an email and want to read it though, and this looks to do that fine. I'm happy.
Evernote (replacing Evernote) - I'm using this more and more as a dumping ground for everything that's not in email but I want to remember. This is what I use anytime I want to take a quick note (audio or text), or take a picture of a wine bottle or business card for later reference. It syncs with the cloud immediately and I can search that from anywhere.
Flashlight - not a big deal, but nice to have.
flickr droid (replacing shozu) - i like to have an easy way to upload a picture to flickr, this gives me that. I really like how android allows it to integrate with the normal gallery app. So after I take a picture I just have to view it, select 'share', and then select flickr droid (or other things like email, twitter, etc). It's more centralized than WM.
Flip2Silent and Vibrate During Meeting (replacing WM + HTC ringer management) - The ringer management on android is lacking as compared to WM. I used to be able to have my phone automatically go to vibrate during meetings, and silence the ringer after I pick up the phone (so it doesn't continue to be loud and annoying while I'm deciding whether to answer), AND there was a pocket mode to switch to vibrate and louder ring when the phone detected it was in a pocket. Vibrate During Meeting gives me back the meeting function, but it only works with the google calendar, not the exchange touchdown calendar in which all my actual meetings are stored. My work-around is to sync my exchange calendar with google via desktop outlook, but this doesn't keep it updated unless I have a desktop logged in. The good news is that the developer of this app says he'll look into touchdown. Flip2Silent gives me the option to just lay the phone screen-side-down to mute the ringer/vibrate functions. This will work while a call is coming in and I want to ignore it.
Foursquare - App for checking into various locations. It's treated like a game, you get points, but also get to see where your friends are and if they happen to be near you. Plus people leave tips for places.
g-backup and mybackup (replacing myphone on wm) - MS's myphone app on wm will automatically backup all user data (sms, mms, pictures, video, docs, etc) to the cloud every night. It can also restore these for when you get a new phone or hard-reset your current phone. I got used to having this. All my email and contacts are in exchange or the cloud anyway, but I don't want to lose these other things. MyPhone is also nice because all that data is accessible via the web. g-backup is cool because it will upload all this stuff to gmail, so you have it there, but it can't restore anything. MyBackup will backup and restore most things, but not pictures/video. So I'm using them both, but I'd like a more comprehensive solution.
Gallery (replacing HTC photo gallery) - The nexus gallery is implemented in 3d and is pretty cool, but ultimately it works about as well as the HTC version (which is also flashy). They need to add multi-touch zooming.
GCDroid (replacing gcz) - This is my geocaching app, but only until the official geocaching.com android app comes out (which is soon and it will be cool if their iphone app is any indication). Even though there isn't an official app for wm, the community created apps were pretty good. GCDroid is barely usable, but overall this category will be an upgrade over wm soon.
Glympse (replacing Glympse) - Something I'll rarely use, but it's cool when it applies. You can send a link to anyone that will allow them to track you via a webbrowser for x-minutes. So if you say you're on your way, they can actually see how far along you are.
Gmail (replacing hotmail) - both MS and Google have their email services integrated tightly with their mobile os. I used to forward all my gmail to hotmail so I could easily get it on my phone, so now I just flipped it. I like gmail well enough, and there are certainly features that are ahead of hotmail. I'm just happy to happy to have my personal email pushed to my phone.
Google maps (replacing google maps and bing) - This is definitely better than on WM, but ultimately it does the same stuff. It's smoother and a little easier to navigate (except, again, zooming is more difficult).
Meebo IM - nice to have an app that can log into ICQ, MSN, and GTalk all at once. Likely will rarely use it.
Messaging (replacing txt message HTC app) - this seems to be just what you'd expect. But at least it's very fast and predictable, unlike the HTC app which is sometimes laggy as hell.
Flixter Movies (replacing bing) - MS's bing app was good for finding local theaters and showtimes, this one does it with a bit more flash and some awesome additional features that i just found. It shows the rottentomatoes rating along with every movies. Plus, it has netflix integration, so it checks whether any movie is in my queue and lets me add it while browsing. It also has a list of recent dvd releases, which is great with the netflix thing. It also essentially serves as a mobile imdb. Very impressive.
Mother TED - dedicated app for watching TED talks. It seems ok but not great.
Music (replacing HTC media player) - Nothing special here. I don't know that I'll even use it much since i mostly listen to pandora or podcasts.
OpenTable - for the rare occasions when I make reservations (especially last minute) this will make it easy to find a place with an opening.
Pandora (NOT ON WM) - this is almost a reason to switch by itself. I hate that this isn't on wm yet. Very nicely implemented on android because it has a homescreen widget. I get all the basic controls without even having to go into the app, and I can use other apps while it plays in the background. Sound quality is great too.
Dialer - The android dialer is pretty basic, but it seems to get the job done. At least you can add a pause (with a comma) so that dialing conference numbers is somewhat doable (but still WAY harder than it should be, they don't do any smart parsing in meeting invites). This is still hard on WM though too.
PhoneFlicks (replacing official netflix wm app) - This is barely a replacement. Netflix's own app was better, this one is slower and harder to use, but at least I can do basic queue management from my phone, which is really nice sometimes.
SeattleBusBot - This is SO cool, and something I've wanted but couldn't find on wm. Seattle has the gps info of its buses available publicly, but their website is basically unusable on a phone (even on a desktop). This app will tell you exactly when a given bus is going to arrive, not just when it's scheduled.
Seesmic (replacing m.twitter.com on wm) - really good mobile twitter app. There are plenty of wm twitter apps, and HTC even builds one into the os now, but they tended to be slower. I think the HD2 is probably just as good as seesmic.
ShopSavvy - barcode scanning that tells you the closest places to get the given product and for how much. Haven't had a chance to see if this turns out to actually be useful, but I like the concept and test scans in the house have been accurate (which kinda surprises me because I had heard that phone barcode scanning doesn't work, but maybe the 5mp camera and snapdragon is making it more pratical).
TorrentFu (replacing starting torrents via Live mesh mobile) - This is a major upgrade (and rejected from itunes if I remember correctly). I finally switched to uTorrent on my server so I could use this. It uses the utorrent webui to connect, but exposes all the functionality like a local app. You can see progress, search for and start new torrents, and pause/resume. Very cool.
TripIt (replacing tripcase kinda) - I've only started experimenting with these two services, and i don't travel as much as I used to, but they are pretty good at what they do. Just forward your reservation emails and they build up a comprehensive itinerary and keep you updated. having a native app makes using these that much easier. Tripcase is on wm, tripit (which seems to be the better service) is on android.
tv.com - streaming tv from cbs, showtime, and some others. Haven't used this much, but always nice to have some free content.
Google Voice - At first I was skeptical about this because I don't have a real need to create a central phone number that rings all my phones, which was what i thought this service was for. Turns out you don't have to use that feature, and they also provide visual voicemail on android plus they send you transcriptions of the messages to your phone. so you can see who left messages and what they said (approximately) without even listening. So I'm definitely appreciating this feature.
Wapedia - native version of wikipedia. Nice and quick. why not?
y5 - Battery - This app is genius in its simplicity and value. It simply keeps track of where you are when you enable wifi, and remembers that going forward so it can automatically re-enable it when you come back to the same place. The rest of the time, it disables wifi to save battery. The end result here is that I never have to remember to turn wifi on or off when i come home or leave the house.
youtube (replacing youtube) - works well. nothing special to report except google's browser seems to be better at realizing when it should forward you to the youtube player.
yxflash (failing to replace coreplayer) - The only android app that claims to do xvid/divx decoding. I tried it on an xvid torrent that wm's coreplayer had no trouble with and it choked pretty hard. It played, but with extremely jittery video and slow sound. Not usable yet, but at least i know I might get something soon.
Touchdown (replacing exchange activesync on wm) - Saved the most important (and expensive @$22) for last. Without this app I wouldn't be able to sync my exchange data (contacts, email, calendar, tasks) with my phone because Android doesn't support all the required security features by default. (our company, like many these days, will not sync data with a platform that doesn't allow them to force the use of encryption, pin lock, and remote wipe) Beyond that, without the recently added feature of allowing me to flag emails for followup, I would not be able to switch to android because this workflow is too important to my everyday life.
Explanation: I check email on my phone often, and if I can respond then and there, I do, but if I can’t and need to follow up for any reason, I flag it. This creates a task in outlook which I will see the next time at my desk, so i KNOW i won't forget about it.
But there is an additional, more subtle, benefit at play here. And honestly, it's a little unfair to count it, but it makes such a huge difference in my enjoyment of my phone that I can't ignore it. I'm speaking about how the previously mentioned pin lock for exchange only applies (on android) to the touchdown app. I am not required to set a pin to unlock the phone itself. Ever since they turned on that requirement I've been punching in a 4 digit pin every damn time I wanted to glance at my phone, check the time, or even change the stupid volume! Now I'm finally free of that because google didn't bother to properly build in exchange support at the OS level. NICE! seriously though, this saves me so much annoyance it was almost worth the $530 by itself.
For a true windows power-user, it's worth shelling out the <$10 for Remote RDP. It works incredibly well, even when connecting to my Windows 7 PC from 3G across town (or presumably, the world).
The ability to USE MY HOME PC from ANYWHERE WITH NET ACCESS...
Absolutely incredible for a phone..
EDIT: my home net speed is pretty quick, which owes to fast remote access. Wifi will always be fast, though, and that's what this app is really designed for.
Good recommendation. Just downloaded the Remote RDP demo. Seems to work well.
Thank you for the run down... I just made the switch myself and a number of the apps you mentioned helped me fill some of my void from WM. I'm still a little pissed about the exchange issues but the real truth is any company I work for issues me a blackberry and doesn't allow other devices to connect to thier servers. I worked for one midsized company once that let me and that was the only time I was completely in love with my WM device. Since my personal email is through gmail the nexus one is really amazing as my personal phone.
Good Stuff! I'm in the same boat WM to Android and no turning back I'll check out some of the apps u listed...
One thing I'm looking for is a widget with power/memory/storage/sd gauges.
Always had this on the wm home for reference & cool stats!
If you geocache then GeoBeagle is the other main geocaching app. I don't cache much any more, but I have tried GeoBeagle and liked it, though I can't compare it to GCDroid...
Wanted to say thanks for the excellent app list. Touchdown is awesome. A way for me to connect to work without merging my exchange contacts with the rest of my phone. Now thats a win!
@Seraph321 - want to add my thanks for your app info. i'll be getting an N1 soon and knowing there are options to some of my "must haves" apps/features/functionality (e.g., Exchange) will help shorten my learning curve. i'm not going to abandon WM because it will continue to serve as my work phone. the N1 will be my after work/personal phone until i'm comfortable tweaking Android. that's my plan, but once i have the N1 my plan may change!
Great write up, and welcome to Android
A few suggestions
Text Messaging
The two heavyweights are Chomp SMS and Handcent SMS. Both are considerably better than the default SMS app, it mostly comes down to personal preference.
Browser
Dolphin Browser is hands down the best browser on Android right now. Multi-touch zooming, delicious integration, tabs, themes, and much more.
Flashlight
Do a market search for Nexus One Torch. It utilizes the LED from the camera flash to use as a flashlight. Very bright.
Ringer Management
Locale manages your phone based off time and location. Never used it myself, but heard good things, and I believe it was and Android Developers Challenge winner or something.
Backup
I'm simple and only need to backup text messages (most everything else is stored via SD card or synced with Google anyway). I use SMS Backup to backup my texts to Gmail, and it works fantastic. Uploads directly to my mail account, archives the texts, puts them in threads according to contact, tags them, and marks them as read. I can then easily search my text conversations from my phone or desktop browser via Gmail, and don't have to worry about deleting conversations from my phone and losing something. I've never used g-backup, so it may have this function already.
Twitter
I've tried a couple Twitter apps (not Seismic, though I'll be trying that next) and have landed on Swift, which currently is the fastest, and the best looking Twitter app I've used. I'm not a giant twitter user, so I don't know if it supports all the features any other apps might, but it works great for me, and would recommend it.
That's all for now. I don't have my phone next to me or I'd give it a quick run through and suggest something you might be missing, but I'll have to do that another time.
As for getting multi-touch support in google maps, the browser, and gallery... just wait, it's been hacked in for the G1/MT3G, it will certainly be hacked in for the Nexus One.
I'm still up in the air between ASTRO File Manager and Linda File Manager, but a file manager is an important addition to your tools, if you plan on keeping a lot of documents/files on board. Additionally, I know at least Linda has the DownloadCrutch functionality, associating itself with every filetype so that the browser will allow you to download such. To me, this last bit is essential.
Great stuff, I think a lot of people will be going from WM to Nexus because MS have failed to deliver for so long & there is now a great alternative with an OS that can be modded and a really cool handset.
So far I am happy to leave the N1 standard (not rooted) and play with apps - it is a real joy to have so many available & a single source for them.
Never going back !
+1 for Dolphin Browser... definitely a big step up over the default browser IMHO
SpyderMS said:
Great write up, and welcome to Android
A few suggestions
Text Messaging
The two heavyweights are Chomp SMS and Handcent SMS. Both are considerably better than the default SMS app, it mostly comes down to personal preference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally, I find the text bubbles childish and cheesy. I much prefer the stock sms app with sms popup.
bofslime said:
Personally, I find the text bubbles childish and cheesy. I much prefer the stock sms app with sms popup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tend to agree though why doesnt the icon to the app on my home screen tell me how many unread SMS there are?
The Jones said:
I tend to agree though why doesnt the icon to the app on my home screen tell me how many unread SMS there are?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SMS Count
ok, at work with nothing to do, so I browsed through my phone, and here's a couple Apps you may be interested in. Some of these are useful, some are just kind of cool
AudioManager Widget
Nice little app that lets you adjust all your volume levels easily and quickly.
AppControl - Full Version
Best app manager I've used. Really fast, nice interface, and lots of options.
Barcode Scanner
Barcode scanning from the phone is fantastic. It's very pronounced in the Android community as well. You'll see barcodes not only on these forums, but on App websites like AndroLib.com, which let you scan the barcode, and instantly be linked to a website or Android Market page. It's not only useful on the Nexus One's 5mp camera and 1GHz processor either. Worked great on my G1.
Google Goggles
Take a picture of just about anything, and Google will search for relevant results.
Google Sky Map
Virtual Planetarium on your phone.
Layar Reality Browser 3.0
Augmented Reality browser. Displays information about objects in front of you overlayed on the camera display.
Pkt Auctions for eBay
If you use eBay at all, this is a great companion tool.
Shazam
Lets you identify music being played around you by letting your phone listen to and analyze it.
Personally, I find the text bubbles childish and cheesy. I much prefer the stock sms app with sms popup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
handcent settings -> conversation style.
handcent has a ton of settings options, including different settings for individual contacts (conversation style, font, notification tone, etc)
Thanks for all the suggestions. I've already spent too much work time today finding and installing the ones I like.
I don't actually do THAT much texting, so I'm sticking with the stock sms app for now, but I did install sms popup and set my girlfriend to popup. That's convenient.
Someone mentioned SMS backup, and yes, g-backup does the same thing only for more data, but they both need a scheduling option.
I see the nexus one torch app requires rooted access. I'm no stranger to hacking my gadgets, but this app (plus tethering, and maybe installing to the sd card) are the only things I've seen so far that have me interested in doing it. Can anyone provide some examples of why they consider rooting a must?
You mentioned Wi-Fi tethering already, but that reason alone is a pretty big reason. You may also want to theme your phone. Any kind of advancements that developers like Cyanogen come out with will require root as well. Cyanogen is known for pushing the envelope, helping to increase speed, and overall functionality of the G1, and other devices; not to mention you will get features from new versions of Android faster than those without root. I'm sure there are other reasons to, these are just off the top of my head. A lot of people are waiting until someone finds out how to reverse the bootloader unlocking process before they root, in order to preserve their warranty, and that's certainly a good idea if you don't have a lot of use for root at the moment. I did it, like most people that did, just because I can.
I'll make sure to watch the Cyanogen stuff closely. I never followed the G1 enhancements, so I guess I don't know what to expect. Sounds like it's likely I'll do it at some point though.
Is it easy to get all your apps, especially the ones that you paid for, back on your phone after rooting? Does the marketplace just remember it all and let you re-download?
I should just search for these answers.
Hi.
Market URL https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dhr.commmgrpro&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5kaHIuY29tbW1ncnBybyJd
I am porting CommMgrPro from Windows Mobile to Android.
This is the original post.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=299070
The goal of this project is to customize the behaviour of your device depending of many events, like time, date, position, battery state, calendar, radios states, and any environment element.
Rules Engine is a complete rules engine to customize your device behaviour automatically. The idea is simple and powerfull:
The device broadcast automatically events about many thinks
Hardware events like Bluetooth, wifi, battery level, cpu state, position events, time events, calendar events, phone ring state, screen state
And much more...
And the device can perform automatically many actions without user intervention:
Set hardware state, wifi, bluetooth, speaker, launch or kill a program, apply a predefined profile, send a SMS/Email, ringtones....
And much more...
With Rules Engine you can create many rules. Each one is composed of:
Conditions. Simple or complex conditions using AND/OR clauses. For example, if weekday is monday, between 7:00 and 9:00 and my current position is my office and battery level is higher than 20% then send an email .....
Actions. Actions to be executed when the rule passes from unmatched to matched and actions to be executed when the rule passes from matched to unmatched. User can set their order, delays, etc
Other features:
Profiles: These are set of actions that the user can select / unselect quickly from the main page.
Quick timed switchers: For example, set Bluetooth on, but put off again after 90 minutes
New actions and conditions are being added each day.
Current conditions:
Weekday and time
Wifi state
Speaker state
Bluetooth state
Flight mode state
Data connections enabled / disabled
AC power / Battery
Location. To be inside or outside of some place (defined by point and radius)
Screen state
To match or unmatch other rule
Some program is running or not
Battery level (min, max)
Bluetooth connected to an specified device
Phone status (ringing, in call...)
Calendar events. To be in a caleendar event that contains some word, like 'meeting"
Autorotation screen On/Off
Mobile network type in use (GPRS, HSDPA, CDMA, LTE, etc)
Data connection On/Off
Headphone plugged or not
Car mode activated / deactivated
Current action:
Set wifi state
Set speaker state
Set bluetooth state
Set flightmode state
Set connections enabled / disabled
Launch a program
Kill a program
Apply a profile (Set of rules)
Set autorotation screen state
Set screen bright state
Set auto sync accounts state (gmail, facebook, etc)
Play a song.
Send SMS
Send Email
Set car mode
Set wallpaper
Set ringtone (as user mp3 or android ringtone)
As we did with CommMgrPro for Windows Mobile I hope this project become a user driven project.
Thanks¡¡
Known bugs
Empty
Next features being developed
Roaming condition
Condition connected to a specified hotspot
Was a CommMgrPro user for a long time on WM so I'm looking forward to how this turns out on Android, Daniel. Glad to see you're here!
For my part, I'd like to
1) have ALL of those notifications available to me (with the possible4 exception of date/time set)
2) be able to change settings, run scripts, use Locale plug-ins (no reason for you to replicate functionallity that's available in existing code), start/kill other apps and send arbitrary Intents to other apps. Output to a file would be nice as would being able to read and parse a file (rudimentary parsing is OK)
Perhaps a tall order, eh? Start small. GPS and/or cell tower location-based notifications to trigger actions like turning on/off WiFi, bluetooth, cellular radio, conditioned on time of day/day of week/date would be a good start, for me at least. I'd also like to be able to create profiles that I can trigger manually, preferably by a shortcut. While I'm not big on widgets, people will want them and give you bad ratings in the Market if you don't have them.
short/y said:
Was a CommMgrPro user for a long time on WM so I'm looking forward to how this turns out on Android, Daniel. Glad to see you're here!
For my part, I'd like to
1) have ALL of those notifications available to me (with the possible4 exception of date/time set)
2) be able to change settings, run scripts, use Locale plug-ins (no reason for you to replicate functionallity that's available in existing code), start/kill other apps and send arbitrary Intents to other apps. Output to a file would be nice as would being able to read and parse a file (rudimentary parsing is OK)
Perhaps a tall order, eh? Start small. GPS and/or cell tower location-based notifications to trigger actions like turning on/off WiFi, bluetooth, cellular radio, conditioned on time of day/day of week/date would be a good start, for me at least. I'd also like to be able to create profiles that I can trigger manually, preferably by a shortcut. While I'm not big on widgets, people will want them and give you bad ratings in the Market if you don't have them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks¡ and happy to see you again
Hi Daniel,
Great news that you are thinking of a port to Android. You will make me (and a lot of others as well) very happy with that. I am still using a bunch of programs to let at least do a part of what your program did for WinMo. After I finally ported my HTC HD2 permanently to Android (one of the things that was holding me, was the lack of your program for Android), but I am still missing CommMgrPro.
short/y said:
1) have ALL of those notifications available to me (with the possible4 exception of date/time set)
2) be able to change settings, run scripts, use Locale plug-ins (no reason for you to replicate functionallity that's available in existing code), start/kill other apps and send arbitrary Intents to other apps. Output to a file would be nice as would being able to read and parse a file (rudimentary parsing is OK)
Perhaps a tall order, eh? Start small. GPS and/or cell tower location-based notifications to trigger actions like turning on/off WiFi, bluetooth, cellular radio, conditioned on time of day/day of week/date would be a good start, for me at least. I'd also like to be able to create profiles that I can trigger manually, preferably by a shortcut. While I'm not big on widgets, people will want them and give you bad ratings in the Market if you don't have them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do totally agree with this. Lets start with cell-tower switched on and off, of 3G, WiFi and GPS. One of the biggest problems with Android is the huge amount of battery drain. This will make a good start. I know, there are a lot of programs which does it in a simular way, but CommMgrPro has a lot more to offer, after some time. And Daniel, you have the proof and skills of a very good programmer
Thanks!
Hi.
Right now there is a fully working version. I am testing it myself and works very well. In a few days I will post it. Then I will fix bugs and will add more features. Basically:
1) More conditions to trigger a rule. Battery level, incomming call from XXX, incomming SMS, etc
2) More actions to be executed when a rule is matched: run or kill a process, etc
Thanks
Gigabyte Gsmart G1345
I will be locking forward to get this working on my device.
It is really needed.
I sincerely hope that it could work on my device with Android 2.3.4.
God damn D man you finally turned to the dark side. Thought you had abandoned development. CMP was the only thing that kept me on WM until Jan this year. Have looked for CMP for android a couple of times but now you are ready. Cool man. I have started to use Tasker, and have some pretty crazy rules, but some things are not possible with Tasker, so I hope that you make it possible to integrate with Tasker as a plugin.
Anyway D. Its good CMP have not died.
One thing I miss. Being able to run my CMP as a service. Actually I believe tons of apps could save battery if they were better programmed and just called the part of the app that is needed. Maybe its nonsense, as I am not a dev, but I look forward to have you back on the train D.
---------- Post added at 11:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:30 PM ----------
Just went to the CMP page. MAN, memories from good old wm days. I really spent many hours tweaking CMP.
I miss the possibility to see all cell towers in a time scheme, and then add them to different profiles..... Is that part coming?
By the way, what phonie are you having?
HI answer in my next post (5 minutes)
Hi Martin. Time passes hehehehehhe
Well, as I posted before I didn't want to waste your time with buggie releases.
Answering your question, positions are given by location + radius. But I will develop a simple way to provide cells. It is a old way but has a good advantage. It doesn't require internet connection. You teach CMP which cells are near your home so CMP doesn't need internet. Well, currently you define a point and a radius.
As you know CMP is a rule engine. The device gets thousand of events (battery levels, positions, week days, hardware status, calendar events) so you can create complex rules to launch actions (set hardware status, launch programs, kill processes and much more.
The program will be FREE and will probably contain ADDs. There will be a donate version (0.99$) to avoid ADDs to support me.
Don't forget Martin, post suggestion about conditions and actions. Rememeber, one rule = Condition 1 AND Condition 2 AND condition 3.......and if matched then execute Action1 and Action 2 and ACtion 3......
There are other rules programs, but this one will what we really need (from programmer to programmer)
andddd just sold my galaxy S2 to buy a galaxy note. I ve iPhone 4s to develop projects for old and busy customers (you know, MAC=MONEY)
Don't worry, I will come up with suggestions if something comes up. Like your way to always answer our good and sometimes stupid questions, but important to me is flexibility. I know there is is problem calling GPS functionality, but Secure Settings solved that by an external plugin that could be called from Tasker and others. So are you planning an SDK or similar to let CMP interact with other software? In my head CMP could be a standalone app, but also the app that could be used in bits or integrated with other software.
Have another...
One thing I miss on android is being able to copy screen press like calling an app and then copy the button interactions. I will send you thoughts on this in a pm later when more thinking have been done as it could be a standalone app you could develope later.... And perhaps make some earning on.
Note..I am thinking about buying it, so I look forward to hear your thoughts about it.... When do you get it?
Hi Martin.
CMP will interact with other programs using android Intents. And other programs can interact with CMP, applying rules for example, using intents too.. I dont really know if you know what intents are, but they are a nice and easy way to allow programs interaction.
I didnt understand your sugestion about copy press. What does it mean? You know my english is poor, hehee
Enviado desde mi GT-N7000 usando Tapatalk
Daniel, I've been away from CMP (and Windows Mobile/Phone) since Android launched but I have missed CMP just about every day. Because of the value I received from CMP back then, I plan to buy it as soon as it's available. And when you're ready for beta testers I want to participate.
looking to test myself,I remember testing back in the wm5-6.5 days
Very soon I will upload the first version. Let me finish a couple of conditions (a program is running or is stopped and other one, battery level range). So probably next week i will upload it,but remember, much work to do
Enviado desde mi GT-N7000 usando Tapatalk
may i ask why you don't simply use one of the many many already available apps of this kind?
just to name a few:
tasker
settings profile pro
llama (it's free)
...
Well, it isnt a profiler. Its a rule engine. Of course, you can use it as a profiler. The idea is a total automation of the device. Soon the conditions can be used as complex AND/OR clauses. Well, its a rule engine as I think it should be. I did it in Windows MObile and I am trying to translate it to Android learning from old errors...
tasker is a rule engine too.
and llama and settings profiles is just a simpler rule engine, more optimized towords profiles, but not only!
Thanks, I am trying to make CMP better than those programs
ok. no worries. i just wanted to mention this as maybe it would be easier.
but this of course is a reasonable reason to port it.
good luck.
I've used several of the other apps (Locale, Tasker, Settings Profile and a few other profile programs I can't recall). Tasker is currently my workhorse. It's extremely powerful but it's a PAIN to program. There's no good way to cross-reference variables or other tasks so, to make global changes to a routine, I need to export my profile, bring it up in a file viewer on my PC and do searches and such on the PC while changing the programming on my phone. I'm not knocking Pent, the developer, he's done a phenomenal job on Tasker, especially given that it's only one person doing the development. But, for all its power, once I got beyond a few relatively trivial profiles, its become nearly unwieldy.
I don't know exactly what Daniel has in mind but I know what I did with CMP on Windows Mobile. With the additional capabilities in Android, I think Daniel could do really really good things (no pressure, Daniel). I'm looking for power with more facilities to make it easier on someone who does lots of things with the app.
Hi Everyone
I would like to hear what smartwatch Mode do you think is the best : Stand Alone or Phone Companion and answer some questions:
1.Standalone Mode what will be in this mode the most important and what you will use the most?
2.Phone Companion Mode : What you will use the most in this mode and what you will want to have ?
3.Phone Companion Mode : When you will receive a phone call do you think you will like to answer from your smartphone or your smartwatch ?
4.What Mode you will think use the most ?
5.Someone that use yet a smartwatch how is your experience what is not practical, what did you not like?
Specify the model and if its was a Standalone or a Phone Companion.
Thanks
Best Regards
Damien Douk
A.I Watch Creator
www.aiwatchtech.com
Hi Damien, you probably know my reply already since we discussed it off-line
For me Companion mode is the most important. I would like to receive notifications of who is calling (so I can keep my phone on mute most and out of sight), notifications of txt message and being able to view it on the smartwatch (typically an easy implementation since its a short plain unformatted text), notification of calendar events so I don't miss a meeting or an upcoming appointment, and email notifications with a preview of the message.
In my personal opinion, answering call from a phone is optional but not necessary. Phone call is a private thing. I just would like to see who is calling and then make a decision if I want to dismiss the call (maybe with a simple rejection button or an option to send a few pre-defined txt messages like "i'm busy" or "will call you back soon"). If I need to pick up the call, I can always get my phone out of the pocket or pick up the call on bluetooth headset. With text message and calendar events, as I mentioned above, it is nice to preview on the screen of the smartwatch where I think 1.54"+ display is big enough to preview simple short text. With emails, it would be nice to see who is it from and body of the text. I wouldn't expect replying back from the watch; if its important and needs my immediate attention - I will take out my phone and type away the reply.
Of course, music control (of the songs on the phone and also songs stored on internal to smartwatch microSD card) would be important. Also, getting weather notifications from the phone is a big plus, as well as battery status of your smartphone.
A.I Watch
vectron said:
Hi Damien, you probably know my reply already since we discussed it off-line
For me Companion mode is the most important. I would like to receive notifications of who is calling (so I can keep my phone on mute most and out of sight), notifications of txt message and being able to view it on the smartwatch (typically an easy implementation since its a short plain unformatted text), notification of calendar events so I don't miss a meeting or an upcoming appointment, and email notifications with a preview of the message.
In my personal opinion, answering call from a phone is optional but not necessary. Phone call is a private thing. I just would like to see who is calling and then make a decision if I want to dismiss the call (maybe with a simple rejection button or an option to send a few pre-defined txt messages like "i'm busy" or "will call you back soon"). If I need to pick up the call, I can always get my phone out of the pocket or pick up the call on bluetooth headset. With text message and calendar events, as I mentioned above, it is nice to preview on the screen of the smartwatch where I think 1.54"+ display is big enough to preview simple short text. With emails, it would be nice to see who is it from and body of the text. I wouldn't expect replying back from the watch; if its important and needs my immediate attention - I will take out my phone and type away the reply.
Of course, music control (of the songs on the phone and also songs stored on internal to smartwatch microSD card) would be important. Also, getting weather notifications from the phone is a big plus, as well as battery status of your smartphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi vectron
Thanks to taking your time to answer to all my questions, interesting suggestions like to see the battery status of your smartphone on your smartwatch seems to me a great Idea....
Just one question A.I Watch have a music player and you can play music directly from your A.I Watch, so why can be interesting to control your smartphone music from A.I Watch?
Best Regards
Damien Douk
A.I Watch Creator
If you pair up your smartwatch with a phone (wireless through bluetooth), your smartwatch becomes a controller just like any wireless headphone with playback control. That's how it works with a Pebble, Metawatch, and any other basic smartwatch. It becomes very useful when you are streaming music from your phone to external wireless speaker and can control playback right from your smartwatch.
A.I Watch
vectron said:
If you pair up your smartwatch with a phone (wireless through bluetooth), your smartwatch becomes a controller just like any wireless headphone with playback control. That's how it works with a Pebble, Metawatch, and any other basic smartwatch. It becomes very useful when you are streaming music from your phone to external wireless speaker and can control playback right from your smartwatch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Vectron
Thanks for your reply
Yes but If I am correct on all those smartwatches that you mention you dont have the possibility to add music directly on the smartwatch and due of that not able to connect them to a Bluetooth speaker directly you always need to past from your smartphone....
You dont think its useless on a stand alone smartwatch ??
Best Regards
dedesuper said:
Hi Vectron
Thanks for your reply
Yes but If I am correct on all those smartwatches that you mention you dont have the possibility to add music directly on the smartwatch and due of that not able to connect them to a Bluetooth speaker directly you always need to past from your smartphone....
You dont think its useless on a stand alone smartwatch ??
Best Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you are correct. Those other smartwatches don't have internal storage, so it makes sense to use them as wireless controller for audio playback on your smartphone. With AI Watch, TrueSmart and others you have an option of internal storage. As a matter of fact, I often use my TS as mp3-player on a wrist with my wireless headphones paired up directly. So in a way, its redundant to either play music from your watch or use your watch to control your music on the phone, since you can pair up external speaker directly to your watch. I do see your point now.
I believe there is a need for both a Standalone and a Companion. A standalone is great for those of us who have to carry two phones all the time. I know many people at work who have to carry their work phone and a personal phone, and at work the only thing the personal gets used for is checking email and taking calls from the wife. To be able to use the watch for that while still carrying the work phone for use all day would be great. And to be clear, the watch would ONLY be used for the personal as a standalone, and not also a companion for the work phone at the same time.
As a companion, which is how I use my Smartq Zwatch now is fairly useful, but would be infinitely more useful if: 1. Low power Bluetooth internet tethering; and 2. I need the option to let the watch make changes to the phone. I bought this watch so that I could see when I received text and email messages without pulling my phone out of my pocket but now I find that every time I receive a message I have to delete it from my phone AND my watch which actually make MORE steps in the process in stead of making the process easier. If I could have the option to "Delete Message From Phone?" Each time I deleted the message on the watch then it would make the process faster.
Just my two cents.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
While running today I had a thought. I use my smartwatch with my Galaxy Note 3. The phone is really big but I love the s pen, the media capabilities, and the battery life. But there are times when I'd rather not carry such a big phone so I keep an old galaxy Nexus lying around. What would be really cool would be to have all the cellular capabilities built into my watch with the ability to bluetooth tether lte data through the watch and into the phone. The the phone mfg's could make sick devices without having to include radios. Instead of having to pay $700 for this phone I could have bought a Note 8 for like $300. I know the watch would be more expensive, but some are already paying $300+ for a watch AND $600 for a phone.
Then when I go running for instance, the watch could connect via bluetooth to my headset and I wouldn't have to carry around my phone at all since this screen does nothing for me while running.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
vectron said:
Hi Damien, you probably know my reply already since we discussed it off-line
For me Companion mode is the most important. I would like to receive notifications of who is calling (so I can keep my phone on mute most and out of sight), notifications of txt message and being able to view it on the smartwatch (typically an easy implementation since its a short plain unformatted text), notification of calendar events so I don't miss a meeting or an upcoming appointment, and email notifications with a preview of the message.
In my personal opinion, answering call from a phone is optional but not necessary. Phone call is a private thing. I just would like to see who is calling and then make a decision if I want to dismiss the call (maybe with a simple rejection button or an option to send a few pre-defined txt messages like "i'm busy" or "will call you back soon"). If I need to pick up the call, I can always get my phone out of the pocket or pick up the call on bluetooth headset. With text message and calendar events, as I mentioned above, it is nice to preview on the screen of the smartwatch where I think 1.54"+ display is big enough to preview simple short text. With emails, it would be nice to see who is it from and body of the text. I wouldn't expect replying back from the watch; if its important and needs my immediate attention - I will take out my phone and type away the reply.
Of course, music control (of the songs on the phone and also songs stored on internal to smartwatch microSD card) would be important. Also, getting weather notifications from the phone is a big plus, as well as battery status of your smartphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, is there a watch (ZGPAX, SmartQ, HOT) which does all of this today ? I don't see why this would be so hard today. Doesn't Android allow applications to communicate with notification manager. Isn't it just a matter of pushing all your notifications from phone to watch ? This is for messaging and phone calls. For email and other apps, update happens automatically on all devices which shouldnt need anything special to work on a watch
cyrux004 said:
So, is there a watch (ZGPAX, SmartQ, HOT) which does all of this today ? I don't see why this would be so hard today. Doesn't Android allow applications to communicate with notification manager. Isn't it just a matter of pushing all your notifications from phone to watch ? This is for messaging and phone calls. For email and other apps, update happens automatically on all devices which shouldnt need anything special to work on a watch
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi ofsinreno
Thanks for all your suggestions, A.I Watch definitely do that we working on a Phone companion app by Bluetooth, and not Bluetooth tethering to be more battery efficient for both side, for now we succeed to get notifications etc...We still testing everything with different Android versions.
Hi cyrux004
Yes you are right all the smartwatches that you mention have this possibility but for the ZGPAX and SmartQ its by Bluetooth tethering and its not at all battery efficient. for the Hot is not a stand alone smartwatch so only the Phone companion option.
A Bluetooth app of this kind is new for everyone so actually not a lot of developers know how to develop it.
Best Regards
Damien Douk
A.I Watch Creator
I always carry two numbers. My company number rings the most and having that sim in my smart watch instead of having two phones would be easier for me. Options like camera, media, anti theft, sdcard and internal storage are something I need for everyday use. Wifi is a must and if possible since the watch can use simcard I can use gps and edge to connect if no wifi is available. I know for some of this may seem too much but I prefer my smart watch to be a back up for my phone just in case and also have the option of controlling my phone remotely.
Sent from my SM-N900 using xda app-developers app
well, i'm not new to a Smartwatch.
I used to have a DZ09, then a ZGPAX S8 and now i have a AN1 Standalone Smartwatch.
Mine is about to break soon and i was thinking about a replacement.
The first devices, that took my attention were the flofon and the lemfo lem4.
Yet i noticed: i actually don't need the big screen or sim function anymore (work environment changes)
So i was thinking of something like a fitness band/smartband thing.
I don't need the call function anymore (is a nice feature, but now, i have my phone in reach, when needed)
Mp3 playback is also not important anymore, so back to basic functions:
All i need is:
A clock display (wallpaper/skinnable would be nice, but not needed)
a calendar function! The only important takeaway from the change would be the ability to view longer texts or appointments on the watch.
So alternatively a "simple" Text/txt-file-viewer would do the job.
I like the small design of the fitness bands, so smaller than a regular watch would be nice.
I've seen a few cheaper devices in china stores, but none seemed to have a calendar display.
Could you recommend me any devices?
Almost none band with calendar feature. I know just the Samsung Gear Fit 2 (and certainly above) with calendar events.
well, i spontaniously (mostly because of a short circuit literally melted my usb loading port on my AN1 smartwatch - so now it's "keep running untill the battery is down", cause i can't load anymore) bought me this one:
https://www.geekbuying.com/item/Mak...t-0-96-Inch-TFT-Color-Screen-Blue-416371.html
it was in local warehouse to skip the duties and has some sort of text display. - Well, it actually syncs the last 3 sms, but it shows some decent amount of text, so if i might send me my text i need - i all cases a running order for a festival - via sms and it works, i'm ok with it.
Plus it has a current speed display, which could come in handy while driving, cause the digital HUD in my car is somewhat inaccurate. I've tested it with the "GPS tools" app on my phone, but it requires constant internet connection and looking on a phone while driving is a bit complicated. A short look at the wrist is much easier.
I may report my experience once i get it.
Well, my smartband actually arrived yesterday.
I tried it, here's my expecience so far:
- i'm kinda new to the whole one click-menu, so it took me a while to get through the menus.
- the notifications sync seems to either sync the last 3 sms, whatsapp, facebook, other messenger or just android notifications, interesting....
- gps and path tracking works even at small paths (i don't have to wander the forests to get results)
- tracking my driving speed works (using the biking mode, i can track my current speeds)
So, the main-reason for me to choose this device, - showing texts - should work.
The notification sync takes the last 3 android notifications texts, so well this way i could either get me a calender reminder popup on my phone or else: i tried an app "custom notifications", where i can create a notification with my text to pop up. So this way i might get the text i want on my phone. Gonna play with this later today after work.
Well, the custom notification sync is still out of place (i get notifications from weather and lovoo, but not my custom notification)
I haven't tried sms sync (a free online sms sender should do this) trying later.
i also ordered the no.1 Dt58 Which seems to be similar (except changeable watch-faces via app, which i haven't tried out yet, but will today)
most other features seem the same. even the sync app.
Hi folks, I'm new MIUI8 SE user.
I've been using android for 6 years and I'm here - XDA - for 6 years
Since I got my first android phone which was Motorola XT910, I came here xda devs forum and search what can I do. I realized to install roms on android, custom roms. And after a few months I saw MIUI 4 is available for my Motorola XT910. I installed it and it looks great. I can costumize wahtever I want with MIUI4, and later it upgraded MIUI5 bla bla..
After a few years later I bought Xiaomi phone to use stock rom as MIUI. I bought Mi5 and later Mi6. Now I'm with Mi8SE (will continue )
So, I've been almost use all MIUı since 4th generation.
Now I just saw MIUI 11 China Beta released for our and mosth xiaomi phone. I wanted you to see, install this great rom to your phone too.
Here download link page.
How to install?
Just go to TWRP and wipe cache/data,
Format Factory Rest,
Install ROM,
Update Recovery.(if not, it will stuck in fastboot mode)
And That's It...
Keep in mind that this is Chinese build and thus do not come with Google Play Services or any Google apps pre-installed, though they are easy to sideload. The features may also be slightly different from what you expect from global builds as well, given that they’re focused towards the Chinese market. Lastly, the language options are likely limited to English and Chinese.
We hope EU rom will be available this week. And global beta will come soon.
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Attention – Empowering the productive
Comprehensive design optimized for fullscreen display devices
Removing visual clutter, improving touch controls, and refining the use of color allowed us to create the system where nothing stands between you and the content.
Beauty starts with text. Our fonts matured.
Now text looks gorgeous in all languages.
Now, font weight can be adjusted automatically depending on the text.
Ambient display
Ambient display now comes with gorgeous dynamic themes.
Essential information is displayed on your screen 24/7.
Personalize your device with a unique signature.
Keep your screen alive with our amazing special effects.
Sounds of nature
Wake up to the gentle sounds of nature with our new alarm ringtones.
Notification sounds won’t make you tired. Now, they keep changing dynamically, just like nature does.
Mi Share
Transfer files from phone to phone at breakneck speeds.
Mi Share works both on phones and computers.
Documents
Preview your documents before you open them.
Stay productive and efficient with our all-new Mi Doc Viewer.
Casting
MIUI allows you to cast videos, games, documents, and apps to more than 300 TV models directly from your phone.
MIUI’s casting functionality allows you to hide personal items to keep all sensitive things private.
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Print photos and files directly from your phone without installing any additional apps
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Plan your trips with MIUI: add your flight or train tickets, learn about the weather at your destination, get local mobile data, view the currency exchange rates, or contact your consulate abroad.
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Use this feature to challenge your device to a whole day on just 5% of the battery.
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Tasks. Manage and edit your tasks in the Notes app. Receive timely notifications and mark things done.
Kid space. Create a safe digital environment for your kids.
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Screen time. View stats and manage your time more efficiently.
Emergency SOS. Rapidly press the Power button 5 times to send an SOS message to your emergency contacts.
Earthquake warnings. Stay safe and informed in case of an earthquake.
Quick replies. Reply to messages from any app.
Themes. Lots of free resources to make your device truly unique.
Mi Community. Get the latest news from Xiaomi, test new features, and participate in our events.
Autofill passwords. Store passwords on your device and use them whenever you need them.
Calendar. All your events in one place.
Mi AI 3.0. All-new. Much more powerful.
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Game Turbo. Turn your device into an ultimate gaming console.
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it stuck mi unlocked display