Database Develop

Face chat

So, my super smug friends with their super gay Iphones are rubbing it in my face that I can't "face chat" although I remind them I can copy&paste without a 3rd party app that doesn't shut them up.
How can I get facechat to work on my phone? I know it almost worked with the beta version of opera before they switched it too the "new" facebook.

http://faceofmobile.com/
Works a treat (for standard facebook stuff). I'm not sure what the 'facechat' is, to be honest.

skyfire allows you to read the chat messages if someone tries to chat with you but you can't do anything with it no i haven't seen anything closer than that.... but i don't think the iphone can do it either, iphone doesn't handle full flash so you shouldn't be able to do it on that lemme no what you find.

Facebook Chat
What you are looking for is Yiego. It's kind of a Skype-wannabe. You sign up for their software, like you would for Skype and you get an IM app that includes all the usual like AIM, Google Talk, MySpace, but also includes (drum roll) Facebook. I've yet to find another app that does this.

Here's the cab to make it easier for you.

sethyboy said:
So, my super smug friends with their super gay Iphones are rubbing it in my face that I can't "face chat" although I remind them I can copy&paste without a 3rd party app that doesn't shut them up.
How can I get facechat to work on my phone? I know it almost worked with the beta version of opera before they switched it too the "new" facebook.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just play something in java or flash and tell them to shove off. Or open an email attachment or mms without having to type in a series of cryptic passwords and jumping through dozens of hoops. Or install a freeware/3rd party application without having to "jailbreak" your phone.
Not saying I don't like iPhones, just don't like fanboys of any sort.

it would be nice to see jivetalk or im+ input this

official facebook app now live

The official Facebook app for Android is now available in the market. Looks a pretty solid release. Loving the widget.

A lot of people, at least in Sweden is reporting it to crash at startup. I'm running latest MoDaCo ROM.
How come application is released by katana-something. How do one actually know this application is an officially one?

bear78 said:
A lot of people, at least in Sweden is reporting it to crash at startup. I'm running latest MoDaCo ROM.
How come application is released by katana-something. How do one actually know this application is an officially one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
crach here to. Modaco 2.0

Crash here on HTC Generic 2.73.405.5 with radio 63.18.55.06EU_6.35.06.18

Doesn't look like an official application to me, no matter what it says in the description.
According to the application link
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=74769995908
On the left hand side in the information box
This application was not developed by Facebook.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Okay chanced language for the os from danish to english and now it works just fine

seems slow and laggy and has less options than a mobile site :/

Developers email: [email protected]
About as official as a 419 scammer purporting to be from the IMF with an email address like [email protected], with an offer of a share of a few million quid!
Regards,
Dave

Alright... Somebody should change the thread title

Yes and no. It IS the "official" Facebook app, and most certainly must have been developed WITH Facebook. Actually, even the iPhone app development page said it was not developed by Facebook up until v. 3 (I think). --And it definitely was. They just gave credit initially to the FB employee who had done the coding. The story behind this app is that Google "lent" FB an Android dev to create this app.
The Palm, Blackberry, and other "official" FB apps also say they were not made by Facebook. Click "mobile" on your computer at the bottom of the screen and check them all out. FB does this for some reason. Also, any previous apps that have been developed have been forced to remove the word "Facebook" from their names. Bloo was originally called something different, and he was forced to change the name. This is why we have "Babbler", "Bloo", "Fbook", etc. You know every one of those devs would have preferred to name their apps "Facebook". I have no doubt this app is developed officially in conjunction with Facebook.
http://androidcommunity.com/facebook-for-android-hits-market-20090908/

Works fine for me! No crash on modaco 2.0

Yeh, as Switchbitch said, it IS the official Facebook app, but it was NOT created by Facebook, but rather, in association with Facebook.
And in regards to crashing - working perfectly fine here on MCR 2.1e.

MCR 2.2 Here. No crashing, and every bit as cool as the iPhone app from what I can tell.

iPhone version is obviously going to be a lot more feature-filled and stable (seeing as they're already at version 3.x) but I can picture the Android one improving over time.

The app is the same one shown in the leaked images a few weeks back and when installed and used the 1st time you must accept the facebook terms and conditions.
Does not crash for me at all, is pretty fast however i have noticed that i seem to get notifications from babbler way before this app notifies me about anything.
From reading about the app previously you would have known that it wasnt going to be as advanced as the iPhone app and wouldnt have access to items such as your inbox.
This app is based entirely on the new stream system that facebook usues.
On a side note, does anyone know how to skin the widget and the notification icons?

which one is the "official" one?
i can see quite a few out there like facebook lite, mobile facebook etc etc

This is rubbish. You can see people's walls and your own, but no access to your inbox for private messaging...?
And how do you update your status rather than just post to your... "wall". I think the problem is that Facebook has changed since i used it last and I don't understand it!

They released a version this morning that didn`t work. Force quit during startup.
Around lunchtime they released an update. Now everything is work as it should. Pure joy!

So, it seems status updates now go straight to the wall rather than being seperate. and are archived to your wall. Then the news feed gets everyones comments and status updates. You can also post on someones wall if you wish, as well as commenting directly on thier status. I get it. I think
Well, it's missing friend search, and messaging.

Battery life
Has anyone else noticed this chewing through the battery? Since installing this I've been watching the percent left drop on a frequent basis. I've got it set to update every hour.
EDIT
Forget that, it was just me being paranoid. Fully charged the phone last night, unhooked it from the mains this morning at 7am and currently power is sitting at a very respectable 99%.

[Q] Captivate phone for IT

I'm in IT and plan on most likely getting a Captivate from work for my job. I will be using VPN to connect to my work network (ipsec) and then using a remote desktop app to support people remotly when I am not in front of a computer. (No WiFi at work)
I currently have an iPhone 4 as a personal phone, and I know that I can use the logmein app to connect to computers and use the phone at the same time. I'm assuming I can do this on the captivate also. I was hoping to get the fascinate for the flash, and the fact that Verizon works much better at one of my remote offices, but the fascinate will not be able to do voice + data at the same time right? Also from what I read it has less RAM available.
Does anyone else work in IT and use this phone? What are your experiences with it as far as helping you on the job?

1) ass-u-me : but, in this case, you're correct https://secure.logmein.com/welcome/...oid&campaign=us&destination=/welcome/android/
2) It is likely that the VZW will not be able to do both transmissions at once, based on network type, but since I don't have VZ, or access to a fascinate.. ICSFS
3) Does Verizon really work that much better (actual experience) or is it just what the bars on the phone say... don't trust the bar display as an accurate detail.

fastblack said:
I'm in IT and plan on most likely getting a Captivate from work for my job. I will be using VPN to connect to my work network (ipsec) and then using a remote desktop app to support people remotly when I am not in front of a computer. (No WiFi at work)
I currently have an iPhone 4 as a personal phone, and I know that I can use the logmein app to connect to computers and use the phone at the same time. I'm assuming I can do this on the captivate also. I was hoping to get the fascinate for the flash, and the fact that Verizon works much better at one of my remote offices, but the fascinate will not be able to do voice + data at the same time right? Also from what I read it has less RAM available.
Does anyone else work in IT and use this phone? What are your experiences with it as far as helping you on the job?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can give you some incite in the IT category. I maintain multiple networks with the company I work for, and there are a handful of apps on the market place that act as an RDP connection for logging on to servers and whatnot with a FQDN (Which I'm sure would work with the IP, but haven't personally tried it). Of course, if you use listen/forward on certain ports, you can get into those as well. My company uses a program that utilizes an instance of VNC to manage the workstations. I haven't had the time to sit down and try to crack that one yet, but I'm sure it could be done somehow. Our company just made the switch over to Google Apps hosted email so I've never used Exchange with it, but I've heard it works just fine.
I'm thinking here........
Ah yes, we all use Outlook. Calendar invitations import right into Google calendar perfectly. Contacts/email can be synced using Samsung Kies, but only with the default TouchWiz launcher, which I do not prefer. Dropbox works perfectly, yay!
Off the top of my head that's all I can think of. If you have any questions regarding certain areas, please let me know, and I'll give you as much info as I have.
* Oh, and I can confirm, Verizon does not support Voice+Data at the same time. My buddy has a DROID X and he can't even get an email while on a call, much less have an RDP session going.

Here's my IT experience. I personally think the stock email has issues. Everything works fine except for 2 things:
1. Emails are not instant. I thought I had a bad phone, swapped it, and no improvement. With any other phone I had previously owned (iPhone 3g, HTC Fuze, Blackjack II), emails would always arrive at the same time or even before Outlook would get them. Now I get anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 minute delay.
2. No NTLM support. Even with an iPhone I can connect to local wireless using Safari and use my domain authentication to access our intranet. I have yet to find a way to negotiate windows authentication on this android. I hear that mozilla is putting out a mobile browser (Fennec I believe) that may support it. Or hopefully 2.2 will add this functionality.
There are clients for RDP and even a couple for VNC. I installed one for VNC but never used it. I used WYSE RDP and love it.
Other than those 2 issues,i love it. I haven't tried setting up the VPN yet (pointless to me without NTLM), but that's all I'm missing.
I wish I had a tab or phone that I could install something like an admin tool pack on that would give me Active Directory tools on the go (besides the obvious RDP to a server). Maybe I'll have to wait for a windows phone 7 tablet........unless someone knows something I don't, I'd loved to hear some good news.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

I am in IT as well and find this to be leaps and bounds better when coming from blackberry 9700
I use remote rdp and logmein ignition. I have direct push with exchange 2007 and the Gal is supported.
One complaint i have is with the email client. If you have rules setup to automatically sort mail without it being read, gl finding it on the phone. I had to turn all rules off and have everything delivered to the inbox.
Other then that i can pretty much do everything i think except dell drac console. But i hardly ever need to use those and if i did, i got bigger problems and should whip out the laptop.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

I'll second what was said here, as a server admin, my phone is indispensable. I use VNC and RDP all the time, leave my home computer signed into VPN(it's a work provided laptop that has port 3389 forwarded) and just RDP into that, and then use it on my work domain. Or use the mobile AP functionality with a netbook running 7 Enterprise w/ VPN. No worrying about hotspot locations.
Exchange works great for me on it, no issues with active sync on E2k7. I do kind of wish we had an OCS 2007 R2 compliant messaging app for it. That's about all I could really use that isn't already available.

swedishcancerboi said:
1. Emails are not instant. I thought I had a bad phone, swapped it, and no improvement. With any other phone I had previously owned (iPhone 3g, HTC Fuze, Blackjack II), emails would always arrive at the same time or even before Outlook would get them. Now I get anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 minute delay.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me, ActiveSync to the Captivate is as fast as my BlackBerry 9700 using BES which is pretty darn fast! Now if only the email client worked with all my sub-folders and allowed me to move emails, etc., I'd be happy.

Search for issues with IMAP and Exchange accounts on the ANDROID platform. I've personally had my IMAP and Exchange email accounts disappear from my phone completely, 3 times in the last month.
This is a know issue across all the Android phones and a problem that is still present in Froyo, kinda disappointing that Google can't get their act together and fix this MAJOR issue.....

There are great email replacement apps out there that solve the problem. The best replacement in my opinion at least is K9. I wouldn't use the version in the Market as it's a few versions old but the latest releases can be found on the googlecode page.

Replacement Apps???
I never needed a replacement app on my BlackBerry or Iphone so I could receive email? That to me is just plain absurd and unacceptable.

Josh K. said:
Replacement Apps???
I never needed a replacement app on my BlackBerry or Iphone so I could receive email? That to me is just plain absurd and unacceptable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android is in its infancy. How many version of windows mobile where there before you got activesync direct push access? Did you have exchange support on the original iphone?
Clearly anyone with a brain can see that the android platform is the most open platform today and compared to all others is more like an actual computer then just a phone.
I came from a blackberry and I hate to admit that I was a fanboy for the last 5 years or so... But after going android, the blackberry is the biggest pos and I give RIM 2 years before they become PALM.
The fact that you can run a 3rd party app that can handle your email, your phone or your sms functionality is amazing. However hard developers try to make a one size fits all... it may work for majority, but not all.
I have had zero issue with android and exchange activesync. My accounts don't disappear. Maybe you should take a look at your environment and see what is going on behind the scenes on your mail server or probably at your crappy anti-spam filter. I got emails instantly on my captivate before i get them on my computer, just like my blackberry did.

Yeah, must be my filters causing the account settings to be wiped from my phone on multiple accounts instantaneously....
Come on dude?
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=4866
Kinda hard to make progress on a platform when your preventing the corporate world from adopting due to serious issues with non Gmail accounts?

I'm a Sr. Sys admin and my experience using the captivate on the job has been great. By connecting to our wpa2 enterprise I've SSH'd into routers and switches using Better Terminal (BTEP SSH Client). It's great not having to drag a laptop and a rollover cable into a server room while working with a switch. I've used the WYSE's beta client which supports RDP, VNC and VM View. I'm also a big fan of Astro file manager which has an add-on for connecting to SMB shares. We've also setup a Rove Mobile Admin server. it's an SSL encrypted publicly accessible server which utilizes an android app from which i can manage everything from BES, to SQL, to Exchange, to AD. Its an expensive license but very very well worth it. and while i do think the stock active sync client is usable i've found that TouchDown offers a much more advanced product complete with meeting invites and GAL support. Again, this is a great phone for for IT work!

Hmmm, I just wonder what is different about the heartbeat to Exchange with Android than it is with every other phone. I agree it could be some mysterious setting that needs adjusted on Exchange, but I'll probably worry about it after we upgrade from 03 to 07.
Doesn't matter......phone rocks.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

i am a sytems and network admin, droid x with and touchdown and logmein has never failed me. wifi teathering with a laptop is great too.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

Help required on buying Htc HD7 in India

Hi guys..
i live in india....i would like to buy Htc HD7....i have few doubts...can someone clarify(those who uses hd7 in india)..i am switching from Android to WP7
1. Tell me about Zune... how well it works in india....asking about updates and syc with vids and songs..also about air syc....also tell me about zune pass..(since we don't have any contract with network...how we can update the updates from MS)
2. i would like to know about xbox live...how well it works in india?
3. ms exchange syc...how well it works? i am frequent flyer so i need to syc frequently to update my office mails.
4. how about the market place....is it all the apps visible....since my android phone does not show everything...
5. how about the bing map...is it covered all the cities in india?
hope to see your answers...thanks in advance.
cheers

Surprised...no one is helping or answering .....or i don't know no one is using hd7 from india...
lets wait...
i have ordered HD7 through ebay...lets see.
cheers

I dunno If this helps
I recently got an HD7, my old HD2 (running android) broke so my carrier was willing to give me a brand new HD7 at a discounted rate.
1. Tell me about Zune... how well it works in india....asking about updates and syc with vids and songs..also about air syc....also tell me about zune pass..(since we don't have any contract with network...how we can update the updates from MS)
The zune software is just a means to sync your music, videos and podcasts between your device and the computer. It's not carrier specific so it doesn't matter what type of plan you have, you should be able to update the software on your phone. I think zune pass and air sync are not carrier specific aswell
2. i would like to know about xbox live...how well it works in india?
Again, it's not carrier specific, so there shouldn't be any problems
3. ms exchange syc...how well it works? i am frequent flyer so i need to syc frequently to update my office mails.
It works well, but I don't think it's "push" based, like android's gmail app, so you'll have somewhat of a delay from when the email reaches your account and when it actually gets synced to your phone
4. how about the market place....is it all the apps visible....since my android phone does not show everything...
I'll be in mangalore in a few days, I'll get more info about that for you... If you had a rooted android phone you should've have been privy to all the apps in the android marketplace
5. how about the bing map...is it covered all the cities in india?
Not sure, I'll get back to you on that
Sadly, I'm not a fan of this Windows OS, it may be a touch smoother than the Android OS, but it just doesn't seem powerful enough.

hey thanks xxvtcxx ....it was great help....i understood after reading your description....thanks for spending time for me...
Actually almost a year i was using android phone.....few things i felt very sad...
1. not able to udate the latest version like other phones...i could manage to update unofficial versions...but didn't work as official version.
2. its very slow...more than 2 year i was using iphone..it was better in speed....but speed of the android hurts more.
3. its not stable...some days it works fine some days not......slow hangs in between and restarts automatically...
4. i have rooted my phone but i am not able to see or add the black market applications...
after seeing some of the review of hd7.... i was impressed....so i though i can try...
once again i would like to say my thanks...also i would like to know which network provider gave you hd7?
cheers

From an HD7 user
Hi,
I live in Nagpur, India and use an HD7.
So some updates:
1. Zune works perfectly fine.
You can see the apps on the marketplace only if you have the latest version i.e. Mango, but it is available only to developers currently, but there is a hack for Zune on desktop through which you can install apps, its no biggie.
XBOX live works perfectly fine.
BING maps are pretty good, very detailed, even for Nagpur. But the local businesses are not mapped out, you can download a Google maps app and work with them though.
MS Exchange will work fine for your scenario.
Let me know if you have more specific questions.

Great help manishkungwani....i am now very clear about xbox , zune and market...thanks for your detailed descriptions....your help much much appreciated.
Cheers

[Q] switching from android to windows phone

Looking at the Nokia 640 on metro PCs , what are you guys opinions on this phone?I had a Nokia 521 quiet awhile back but switched to android because of the lack of SD card use back then.

I can't speak to MetroPCS as a carrier, but the 640 is a great phone for its price. The biggest problem with it is the same problem every WP device will have - there aren't as many apps available for the platform as there are for Android and iOS (although there are a bunch nonetheless, and more every day) - but the phone itself is quite good unless you need high-end specs for some reason. The OS runs very smoothly on it. Also, it's upgradable to Windows 10 Mobile (yes, Microsoft changed the branding on their phone OS *again*...), so you've got a reasonably future-proof design and it'll even be able to run at least some Android apps in the future.

In my opinion windows phones are always better and safe than android phones. You can also read about technology public relations.

Play Apps?
GoodDayToDie said:
I can't speak to MetroPCS as a carrier, but the 640 is a great phone for its price. The biggest problem with it is the same problem every WP device will have - there aren't as many apps available for the platform as there are for Android and iOS (although there are a bunch nonetheless, and more every day) - but the phone itself is quite good unless you need high-end specs for some reason. The OS runs very smoothly on it. Also, it's upgradable to Windows 10 Mobile (yes, Microsoft changed the branding on their phone OS *again*...), so you've got a reasonably future-proof design and it'll even be able to run at least some Android apps in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where are these claims about Android apps to WP coming from? Isn't it still a rumour?
I can't seem to find any official substanciated news about this...
As I understand it MS currently have two problems regarding the app-gap;
1) if they open WP to Play-apps, then they risk losing interest from dev's to continue making apps specifically to WP, making WP more or less another version of Android.
2) making dev's keen on making apps for a third platform, which isn't futureproof yet (even tho it's been around for long enough). This "solution" will make WP it's own and keep MS in the mobilemarket as an real and actual alternative to the established platforms.
What is sure and what are rumours?
M

Metalbuddhist said:
Where are these claims about Android apps to WP coming from? Isn't it still a rumour?
I can't seem to find any official substanciated news about this...
As I understand it MS currently have two problems regarding the app-gap;
1) if they open WP to Play-apps, then they risk losing interest from dev's to continue making apps specifically to WP, making WP more or less another version of Android.
2) making dev's keen on making apps for a third platform, which isn't futureproof yet (even tho it's been around for long enough). This "solution" will make WP it's own and keep MS in the mobilemarket as an real and actual alternative to the established platforms.
What is sure and what are rumours?
M
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They will not enable android apps to run directly on the phone like in an emulator, they developed a tool so android developers can recompile their existing app code so it can be used in windows, see the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qgajY4An1I

I'm really looking forward to making the switch from Android. I've always been a Windows PC enthusiast, and Windows 10 is shaping up nicely.
So, a phone to match will be nice. As for apps for phones, I hardly use any nowadays.

The biggest disadvantage of WP is the low market share of under 10% .
This means that most of the useful apps or games will not be available to WP.
But if as you say you dont use apps and you like the windows style you should go for it!

My experience switching over
I picked up a 640 on T-Mobile the other day as a new "daily driver" - my S4 went swimming once upon a time and reception was never quite the same after that, and I've been thinking about app development and the possible advantages of being a bigger fish in a smaller pond - particularly if MS manages to be successful going forward with Windows Phone. I'm sure I won't have anything available by the time Windows 10 Mobile comes out, so I'm not sure how that's going to work out in the end - perhaps Android development would be a better choice after all? But my experience with the phone overall hasn't been bad so far, particularly not for $100.
The one thing that I hate about the phone is that I can't put it on WiFi at home - something about the WiFi config puts it into a boot loop when it tries to kick in the voice over WiFi piece. Seems like it's similar to the "no iOS zone" problem that turned up for Apple back in April, except that since (relatively) nobody is using Windows Phone nobody really cares. The "fix" recommended is "reset your router to factory defaults" which might be an issue since I'm running OpenWRT..... I'm thinking about putting the Windows 10 preview on so this may go away - even if it's only due to lack of support for T-Mobile's WiFi calling. At least I have LTE coverage in most of my house and an "unlimited" data plan.
The main thing I'm really missing is browser choice - I REALLY miss having Firefox and Dolphin, because I do a lot of long-form reading in my browser and the readability view in FF is much more usable. LastPass in Dolphin is also nice to have, though it never worked for me in Firefox. I'm also missing the addon ecosystems of both browsers. Surfy is at least a nice addition, but browsers on WP seem to be at least 2-3 years behind what's on Android. Both IE and Surfy "feel" kind of like the built-in browser in Gingerbread (2.3) or maybe in the early days of Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) before Google started pushing Chrome as the default browser. Having relatively weak browser(s) is a problem because with the lack of apps at least I can use mobile websites..... when they don't simply crash out the IE tab/window/whatever since it's not a tabbed or windowed interface.
I'm also hoping that Pocket Casts will work correctly for me after their next update (currently it hangs if I turn on sync to pull in my podcasts, then dies on app startup), but I'll survive for a while. I'm also feeling the lack of good ebook readers, I've been spoiled by Cool Reader and Moon+ Reader Pro on the Android side.
The only things besides browsers that I'm really missing:
Things tied in with Google's ecosystem - I use Google Voice for my voicemail, I've been using Location History for a long time to help me track when I arrive at and leave customer locations, and there's a group of us that uses Google Hangouts for group chat. I can get Voice notifications in email with the transcriptions then listen to the messages via URL. The Location History bit I may be able to replace with Phone Tracker, but I'm not sure what to do about Hangouts yet.
Replacement keyboards! I've been a big Swiftkey user for years and would love to have it back even without the voice recognition link (which launches Google's service). I hate having to do 4-6 extra keystrokes to enter passwords because of the switches to get to numbers/punctuation and extended punctuation (via the numbers page). There are places where Hacker's Keyboard (a much more full keyboard nice for terminal emulations) was also nice to have.
A GOOD text editor (e.g. DroidEdit which has syntax highlighting, etc.) or really even an adequate text editor. Maybe a mediocre one? Please? I've seen mention of Code Editor but was unimpressed by the "Free" version (first thing it does is throw you to the store page for the paid version, free version can't even see the "advanced" editor that's the only reason to actually consider it). The only other option that at least looks good in screenshots ("HTML+JS+CSS IDE") hasn't been updated since 2013 and has a total of 3 reviews - and the two with text are both 1-star.
CallTrack (which adds all of my phone calls to my Google Calendar, tagged appropriately and with start and end times) and SMS Backup (which uploads my sent/received SMS to GMail, tagged appropriately). CallTrack is great for going back and "Who did I talk to that day?" and SMS Backup is great for tracking down things received in old messages. I WILL be working on finding replacements for these.
And a few less-important things that I can either do without or still need to find replacements for:
My auto mileage/service tracking app - if there's something comparable to aCar then I haven't seen it yet.
OpenVPN, though the VPN service I use allows IPSEC as well so I'll need to set that up.
Lyft, though I've not actually needed to use it. I know Uber's on there, I just like what I know of Lyft better (and there's one area where my wife may need it that's on the edge of the areas for both but Lyft covers it and Uber doesn't).
KeePass - I believe I saw one implementation in the Store, but I'd want to check into the background of it given the number of scam apps I've come across.

@fencepost: Good list of stuff, there. I don't really have a good solution to much of it - I mean, Microsoft has alternatives to a lot of Google's stuff, but they are mutually incompatible so everybody you hang out with would need to switch too - but those are some good problems to list. The problem with WiFi calling is probably a T-Mobile bug, sadly; I don't have it myself but WiFi Calling on WP8.x isn't really as good as it could be. My biggest personal complaint with WiFi is that the OS is too damn desperate to stay on (unusably weak) WiFi signals even when it has cellular data; if I'm actively using my phone when I leave the apartment (for example, checking a bus schedule) it's faster to manually disable WiFi than to rely on the phone to notice that the WiFi signal is much too weak to use and fail over to cellular. Ideally I'd be able to tell the phone to use cellular by *default* and only use WiFi for stuff that it can't get ont he WAN (LAN servers, etc.), but the OS wasn't really designed to provide an optimal experience for people with unlimited data plans.
The custom keyboard thing may be fixable soon - at least, I really hope so - but for now it is indeed a problem. WP8.1 has the best *built-in* keyboard of the three leading mobile OSes, IMO, but it's not better than all the Android options.
As for a text editor, I generally avoid writing anything longer than notes or minor document edits (or emails, but usually only plain text) on the phone, so I haven't really looked. You might be able to use SSH or Remote Desktop, though; there's a number of decent apps for each (including a MS-authored one for RDP) and with unlimited data they should work. You may even find them more useful than a local editor. It might be worth setting up a Remote App server (so you'd *just* get an editor, rather than a whole desktop) for this.
OpenVPN *should* be possible to port, but it needs a driver (TUN/TAP) and MS would need to approve or provide that even more than they would need to approve a new VPN app (which I think requires a capability not normally available to third-party devs). I'm tempted to say that they really *should* allow it, but I'm also painfully aware that OpenVPN on Windows (and, possibly, other platforms) is sort of crap. I can usually beat it into submission on a machine where I have admin, but on a phone it could simply just sit there being unusable until the phone gets rebooted or something.
WP8 in general seems to have a lower risk of scam apps than Android, but it's definitely a good idea to look into any password keeper utility's trustworthiness.
EDIT: As for browsers, as far as I know there's not actually any rule against third-party browsers. Opera Mini does exist for WP8, which is cool, but so far as I know nobody has ported a Gecko or WebKit/Blink-based browser. Ideally, somebody should fix this, although getting them to work within WP8's application model might mean rebuilding a lot of the browser as well as just porting the rendering engine.

Metalbuddhist said:
Where are these claims about Android apps to WP coming from? Isn't it still a rumour?
I can't seem to find any official substanciated news about this...
As I understand it MS currently have two problems regarding the app-gap;
1) if they open WP to Play-apps, then they risk losing interest from dev's to continue making apps specifically to WP, making WP more or less another version of Android.
2) making dev's keen on making apps for a third platform, which isn't futureproof yet (even tho it's been around for long enough). This "solution" will make WP it's own and keep MS in the mobilemarket as an real and actual alternative to the established platforms.
What is sure and what are rumours?
M
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read an article on Flipboard some while ago that MS had ditched it because of Lack of security in Open-source and it wouldnt work directly from the file system.. only if they sideloaded Android apps. Why do we want android apps anyway.. It removes the love of WP. MS need to invest more money in their WP store to entice new devs.

Let ms make a toolkit for the android devs
A toolkit to one click port it to MS ecosystem
Then the threshold to port it would be lower and a real mony maker for the devs
Sent from my C6603 using XDA Free mobile app

NightOrchid said:
I read an article on Flipboard some while ago that MS had ditched it because of Lack of security in Open-source and it wouldnt work directly from the file system.. only if they sideloaded Android apps. Why do we want android apps anyway.. It removes the love of WP. MS need to invest more money in their WP store to entice new devs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't want Android apps as such, but Android and IOS devs in the wp game.
I've had a lot of Apple and Andy devices the last eight years and have grown to like the variety of developers and want they put out for us.
WP is a good ecosystem, but the app gap is way bigger than I expected. There are just to many everyday apps I had on my other phones, which I cannot get in WP (yet).
I feel like I've walked into a grossery store and most of the shelfes are empty... I have to buy my oj and milk in another store, simply because MS can't get those dev's on board.
...And that's just a crying shame.

The 640 has a baked in WiFi calling feature rather than a separate app like almost every other Lumia device. I think it may be the only Lumia to have Wi-Fi calling baked into the SIM settings rather than running as a separate app.
Be careful if you are using any Google apps with it - Google is scared of Windows phone and they are doing everything they can to prevent app development. Any app they have taken over will never see another Windows phone release, and they are kind of crazy about it. For example Microsoft made their own YouTube app because Google wouldn't ,Google forced them to take it down. Now the YouTube app on the WP is just a link to YouTube - not because no one wants to make one for WP, but because Google won't let anyone make one.
---------- Post added at 08:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:32 PM ----------
I should add though - I have the 640 and it's awesome, extremely fast, well built, solid screen, expandable SD card slot, decent cameras for a phone and an ok flash. It's also neat the way the apps tie together with your windows 10 computer

NightOrchid said:
I read an article on Flipboard some while ago that MS had ditched it because of Lack of security in Open-source and it wouldnt work directly from the file system.. only if they sideloaded Android apps. Why do we want android apps anyway.. It removes the love of WP. MS need to invest more money in their WP store to entice new devs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried both Windows as well as Android Phone but everyone will agree that Android is anytime the best coz of features or benefits it has to offer. I used to be a Windows Mobile fan but now I love Android.
I would not switch to Windows again for now atleast