Related
Ok. So there are plenty of apps in the market, of course, but very few are exclusive and optimized for honeycomb because its so new. The Xoom should have came with more of its "own" apps pre-installed imo. Anyways, we've got CNN, the Human Body, Pulse, Youtube, some games, and probably others. And every app in the market will run on Honeycomb mostly, but I would like to hear some suggestions, comments, and concerns about what apps are great, and what we expect to see months from now. Sorry, if this topic has been posted before. I just want to hear some honest feedback about the Xoom/Honeycomb apps. Please share the what's recommended and what's just essential to our beloved Xoom.
Sent from the most 'Epic' phone in the world! ...Using XDA Premium app
js042507 said:
Ok. So there are plenty of apps in the market, of course, but very few are exclusive and optimized for honeycomb because its so new. The Xoom should have came with more of its "own" apps pre-installed imo. Anyways, we've got CNN, the Human Body, Pulse, Youtube, some games, and probably others. And every app in the market will run on Honeycomb mostly, but I would like to hear some suggestions, comments, and concerns about what apps are great, and what we expect to see months from now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe also include "list of apps that don't work well with Honeycomb."
But for the most part, they all work, some just look a little weird (like facebook) or something doesn't show up right (like the lasers in HexDefense).
Good:
Gun Bros works great on the Xoom. Fruit Ninja THD works flawlessly. Google Earth
Bad:
Unblock me; CNN sometimes doesn't display stuff, I have no idea why. And Google Body likes to crash too, but sometimes will work completely fine.
I haven't gotten too many "duplicate" apps - in other words, if I have them on my phone but rarely use them, I'll just keep it on the phone. But if it's something I'm going to be using just as much on the Xoom as my EVO, then I downloaded it. I just haven't gotten around to getting a ton of apps yet.
Thanks for your feedback. I agree with you about how some apps that are rarely used on my phone have no point of being on the xoom. I really haven't delve into my xoom that much either because im anal and waiting for my screen protectors. Lol. But I installed the common ones like root explorer which is a necessity in my opinion, and wordsmith! I love that friggin game! When I start using my Xoom religiously ill post my experiences. However, I know that over time honeycomb is going rock hard, and the xoom will be a longstanding beast in the war of the tablets!
Sent from the most 'Epic' phone in the world! ...Using XDA Premium app
js042507 said:
However, I know that over time honeycomb is going rock hard, and the xoom will be a longstanding beast in the war of the tablets!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, the main draw to the Xoom was the fact that it was a "Google Experience" device (or whatever they call it). So unlike Samsung, we'll actually get updates quickly and, I would guess, probably before any other 3.0 device (unless it's a Google Experience device as well without MotoBlur/Sense/Touchwiz).
What I meant about the apps I have on my phone - somethings like handcent for example won't be necessary on the Xoom (at least for me). Neither is SetCPU necessary for me right now (since I'm not currently rooted, and to be honest, don't really feel the need to so far...). Hmmm other apps I'll use only on the phone and not the Xoom? Probably stuff like remote control apps, financial stuff like checkbooks and mint.com (just go online or use the phone).
Wapedia works EXCELLENT (awhile ago I bought the ad removal plugin, totally worth it). Almost looks like regular desktop Wikipedia.
Yeah. I love Wapedia! That's an excellent app that would be awesome for the Xoom. I'll install it! So, it's a tablet, NOT a phone. It may suit some people to aquire a data plan for work, or if you're on-the-go constantly, but I won't need it. I simply use my WiFi, and that's sufficient enough. Handsent would be lame, because I have my phone of course, but I'm not going to sit there and send text messages on my kind of "replacement" laptop. LOL! I can Google voice being a good asset because instant messaging seems reasonalbe. I'm pretty sure that it's not working right now and they're planning an update soon to fix it. IDK, I love having the Xoom as my little 'sidekick' for school, and business-related tasks. It's such a multimedia powerhouse! How technology changes so rapidly amazes me...
js042507 said:
Yeah. I love Wapedia! That's an excellent app that would be awesome for the Xoom. I'll install it! So, it's a tablet, NOT a phone. It may suit some people to aquire a data plan for work, or if you're on-the-go constantly, but I won't need it. I simply use my WiFi, and that's sufficient enough. Handsent would be lame, because I have my phone of course, but I'm not going to sit there and send text messages on my kind of "replacement" laptop. LOL! I can Google voice being a good asset because instant messaging seems reasonalbe. I'm pretty sure that it's not working right now and they're planning an update soon to fix it. IDK, I love having the Xoom as my little 'sidekick' for school, and business-related tasks. It's such a multimedia powerhouse! How technology changes so rapidly amazes me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely, I'm more stunned by the technology encased inside of it really, and the fact that they've gotten it work this well, regardless of number of crashes or bugs. Still better than a Windows computer!
If I'm not mistaken, Wapedia even had a slightly different layout - like you could change the type of wiki you're searching quickly on the right hand side. I haven't delved into it too much, but I remember it looked better than on the phone.
And of course you can always root and tether your phone if you haven't already so you can get on the move with the tablet. But I just really wanted its own connection since I'm pulling almost double the speed from Verizon as I would off of tethering from Sprint. And it's nice to have two different connections (although they probably connect to the same towers) if your data isn't pulling up well when you're on the road like I am.
Each day in the Amazon Android Apps market they give away an APP that you would normally have to pay for.
The FREE app for today (Wed April 27th) is BUSINESS CALENDAR and it sells normally for $4.99.
This is the best calendar app I have used on an android device, hands-down. It syncs with all of your google calendars - not just the primary ones for any account - and offers a mryiad of options for display, including home screen widgets.
Don't miss it.
http://gigaom.com/mobile/best-android-calendar-app-free/
- michael
I got it and like it much better than the G calender... Can't beat FREE!
Yeh I was using the free version and it rocked. Nice to have the full version now.
While I throroughly enjoy getting a free app every day, does anyone else have the same apprehensions I have when it comes to Amazon App Store?
I tend ot browse through it, then find an app I may be interested in, but ALWAYS feel like I shouldn't buy it becuase there's a chance it will be free soon.
It really is a nice perk to their store. Even at $1.00 each, after a year you've received $365 worth of apps, for nothing!!
i would suspect that the dev is still getting paid. i would believe amazon would foot the bill to pay the dev or something. but i'm just guessing
I know a dev who says that when they do this they pay the dev a percentage everytime someone downloads it. So yes, the devs are getting paid for this.
A percentage of nothing?
spamhead said:
A percentage of nothing?
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Click to collapse
No, I can't remember exactly where I read it, but it is something like 20% of their minimum selling price that they define, or something like that. So, if the calendar was $5.00, Amazon would pay them $1.00 for each download when it was the free app of the day.
Maybe someone can post the exact info, but that's the general idea.
What I like about the Amazon App store is that you can download the app once and use the appstore to install it on more than one device. Plus it keeps them stored for you, so it is a type of free app backup too.
ARGH!
It is so frustrating to code for Android, if people rate apps bad because they don't read the bloody description!
For example, I have an app that mutes the media volume (and does not do anything else!) and somebody complaints that my app doesn't do anything then showing the android volume popup.
Or people rate the medium version of Hack me if you can bad, because they can't solve it.
I guess most of them don't know, that 1-star reviews are really bad for us developers. And if it is a paid app, that also means less income!
But they don't think about it and just do it with one click.
I do understand, that the 1-star option is a must, especially if an app is not working and the developer doesn't response (I mean, that is why we enter an email address!), it is totally okay to give such a bad review.
But most people don't think about it. Best example is the WiiRemote Controller by ccp creations - either people complain that is not working on their phone (because the manufactor removed the functionallity) or because no Wii Games are included. I mean, WTF?
Sorry for spamming, but I think I am not the only one who is frustrated by that. Leave a comment if you want to
The ones I hate are the ones who ding an app because of "no apps to SD"...even if the bloody app is like 2Mb in size...a whole 2MB!!!
Sent from my Nexus S 4G
And if your app uses widgets, you simply can't move it to the SD - but you're right, I have seen a lot of these, too....
hmm.. not true, there are many widgets that works even when they are on SD
i got many of them running
To name a few Learn from Go Team, they have a lot of widgets that runs fine even when the App is installed on SD
An app that does nothing but mute volume is a waste of space and deserves a 1 star review IMO.
The Android market has enough junk in it and developers don't seem to care. That's why users barely pay attention anymore. Everyone assumes the worse.
I only have two ratings I use. 1 star and 5 star. Ive yet to meet this mythical flawless app. Paid apps tend to be buggier and less supported than free apps on android and WP7, actually, so people are much harsher towards them.
And do you serious expect me or anyone to hold a rating for an email response? Did you email those users and wait for responses from them before posting this topic?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk
@AllGamer: Do you know how to achieve that? Because according to the Developer Guide this is not possible.
@N8ter: If you think it is a waste of space, well don't download it and don't rate it. For other people it is useful, in this case it mutes the media volume, which is normally not muted. So eg. you're sitting in a bus and don't want to annoy other people, you can mute your game sounds with one click.
Yes, you might find it not useful, but still 1-star ratings should be avoided at all costs (unless it is a buggy app AND the developer is not responding)
When developers stop bloating the marketplace with trash then the ratings will stop being so negative. People are frustrated. That's why they have such low attention spans.
Seriously an app to mute volume? You have to back out of your game to run the app, so it's not one click. It's a useless app and you're better off just depressing the volume rocker. Which accelerates and gets it done faster than backing out, tapping the icon, and going back into the app. I don't see any usability advantages to that.
You can publish why you want. But don't complain about the ratings.
Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
N8ter said:
When developers stop bloating the marketplace with trash then the ratings will stop being so negative. People are frustrated. That's why they have such low attention spans.
Seriously an app to mute volume? You can do that with the volume rocker on most every phone without even unlocking the phone.
Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like I said, the media volume, that is not the ringer volume. But I don't want to discuss whether this app is useful or not, it is about the ratings.
And you can't say the WiiRemote app is not useful, but still people give it bad ratings. Same with the Hack me if you can app - people give bad ratings because they don't read the description (the first sentence is that people shouldn't download the app, if they don't know what adb, logcat etc means) and still I am gettings mails everyday asking me why this app asks for a serial -.-
/edit: No, you click on this app *before* you start the game.
That depends on why the app received those ratings. You're starting an apples and oranges comparison now.
If you expect them to not download because they don't know what adb means then why is it not published on xda instead of the android market.
Most phones have an option to vibrate when silenced so keeping the ringer on is useless. If you don't wan them hearing your game sounds you probably don't want them hearing your ringtones either. Hard to miss a call vibrate when the phone is in both your hands anyways. Games don't use the vibrator that much to miss the call (and it would pop up on the screen anyways).
Again, it's absolution to a non issue. That's why people call it useless. I've read a lot of the reviews.
Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
As an educator and former support desk supervisor for a 1000 seat call center I believe those responding inappropriately to applications are immature and/or ignorant. The former is understandable but barely bearable and coupled with ignorance it makes for an unhappy experience for everyone else. I'm proposing a matrix for apps. and 15 or 20 associates from your ranks or readership to review apps if in fact this can be done at xda. Xda could conceivably be the stopping place for accurate reviews based on a matrix.
All devs care about ratings. Don't get me wrong. I just think your expectations are out of line. People will not wait for email responses before rating free apps, and since app markets let you edit ratings they will always rate low and raise the rating only if the app improves or becomes useful.
Low ratings for niche apps ensure that more broadly useful apps surface higher for that broader user base.
The fact that your volume app is low rates means its only useful to a very small number of people. The ratings simply reflect that.
Ratings reflect more than quality, they affect scope and usefulness as well. When you accept that, it will be less of an issue for you to swallow it.
Obviously you're new to this.
Example: the app that put ads in your notification bar would never have been fixed if people simply uninstalled and didn't rate or report it, or rated it highly because it worked well ads notwithstanding.
The problem is more the rating system than the ratings. A star system works better for your personal music library than an online app store, IMO.
Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
mtd076 said:
As an educator and former support desk supervisor for a 1000 seat call center I believe those responding inappropriately to applications are immature and/or ignorant. The former is understandable but barely bearable and coupled with ignorance it makes for an unhappy experience for everyone else. I'm proposing a matrix for apps. and 15 or 20 associates from your ranks or readership to review apps if in fact this can be done at xda. Xda could conceivably be the stopping place for accurate reviews according to a matrix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's useless because XDA readers are not a typical representation of the average consumer. All that data would be less than marginally useful IMO.
As an educator and support center supervisor you should know this (and how to paragraph).
The market reviews are doing the OP a favor by suggesting he should focus on other projects.
Sometimes obvious clues aren't so obvious, though. I'm sure Microsoft can still be selling the Kin, and Nokia can be trying to push Symbian in the US, among other things. After all, a few people did rate them 5 stars. Right.
Part of being a developer is knowing how to manage your obligations an knowing when it's time to drop something and move on. Crying about reviews can and likely will do nothing but harm your reputation as a dev (and attract more negative reviews, just to spite you in some cases).
It's not an easy thing to do, but it's part of the profession. Being an indie developer is hard as ****.
Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
Well, it is not about the app, but about the ratings. And I absolutely agree with mtd076.
Btw n8ter, the Muter app has an avarange rating of 4.7 and the Hack me if you can app *was* on xda (even on the frontpage). So, this discussion is getting way too offtopic...
I told you I read some of the reviews and looked at the download numbers.
This thread is pops up every 6 months or so.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk
LordLugard said:
The ones I hate are the ones who ding an app because of "no apps to SD"...even if the bloody app is like 2Mb in size...a whole 2MB!!!
Sent from my Nexus S 4G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you have a Nexus S. which means you have 15 GB of storage, and no SD card. what you fail to realize is not everyone has your phone. a very large amount of phones have small on board storage, and so those users (did I say users? I mean app developer's CUSTOMERS) NEED the app 2 sd option. and no, we don't all have the option of a phone with lots of storage, and even if we do, some of those phones have other limiting factors that some of us consider even worse. the fact is, there really are no excuses left for those devs that still fail to offer their customers the app 2 sd option.the feature debuted with Froyo, around a year and a half ago. ironic to hear people complain about version fragmentation, yet havent yet supported a good feature that's over a year old.
some devs simply fail to understand the fact that not all customers are like them, and use the phone they use. and they fail to serve these customers. which hurts the dev's reputation, and sales. good devs learn from this mistake, and adapt their product accordingly for success. bad devs, instead, blame their customers for the problem and ignore it, quickly developing bad word of mouth (ratings).
I'm not usually a promoter of capitalism, but seriously, welcome to the free (Android) market, folks. success is what YOU make it.
A lot of mid ranged phones come with < 400mb device storage but support to 32 gb SD cards as well. Think of phones like the Aria, as well as people on older "high end" phones who haven't upgraded. Nexus Ones, for example. Lots.of high end HTC phones came with relatively little internal storage as well.
You can always package the widget independently like the catch notes development team does for those people.
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Falkner09 said:
some devs simply fail to understand the fact that not all customers are like them, and use the phone they use. and they fail to serve these customers. which hurts the dev's reputation, and sales. good devs learn from this mistake, and adapt their product accordingly for success. bad devs, instead, blame their customers for the problem and ignore it, quickly developing bad word of mouth (ratings).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Completely agree. People will download your app for the sole reason of rating it down, and then uninstall without even opening it duebto bad word of mouth. This happens all the time with some popular apps... browsers. Launchers. Messaging clients. etc. All deal with that.
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N8ter said:
Completely agree. People will download your app for the sole reason of rating it down, and then uninstall without even opening it duebto bad word of mouth. This happens all the time with some popular apps... browsers. Launchers. Messaging clients. etc. All deal with that.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that... isn't what I said at all. and I doubt any sizeable number of people are doing what you're saying. no one trolls the Market just for that reason. I was actually saying that bad word of mouth prevents people from downloading flawed apps, which is exactly how it's supposed to work.
I never said you said it. I said I agree with you and addes my own thought afterwards.
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Moved
I have been using the free version for awhile and it is by far my favorite launcher. I just realized there is a pay version now and want to know if anyone has bought it? If so is it worth buying? What is the big difference in the pay version and the free version and benefits, etc etc?
Thanks for the help, I hardly ever buy apps but I really love this launcher and am curious if it is worth the money.
Derek
Yup, bought it and using it
It does not appear to fc as much as the free one (I had that all the time, esp on install of apps). I love the 'copy & paste' of shortcuts. I never had a different landscape page because I could not be bothered to add everything again. Now I can copy, rotate, and paste.
The slide transition seems much better too. Before it was too fast or jerky. You can also have different wallpaper for each page (not just each page type). My RAM usage is down too, although I do not know yet if this is related.
Generally the dev is putting new feature in the paid app. Some will be added to the free one after an interval, some will not, if I understand it correctly. More than happy to support such dev, anyway, of course!
I went ahead and bought it. Seems a lot smoother to me and it was tough because I usually don't find apps worth buying but this launcher is so unique. Definitely a good purchase, even my wife who isn't into all this "stuff" said she liked it and that was amazing coming from her!
From the Beast : Galaxy Note
I've actually been trying to get down to one screen (after a suggestion from another thread). Now I love the transition so much I am not going to! I have reduced it to three screens, however.
The 'slide' was too jerky, possibly too fast. Now it is great!
Man! The SS Launcher is as snappy as it gets. I had never even heard of it til this thread. I am running it on a stock Infuse and it acts like it just hit the crack pipe!
Wow.
Just my 2¢
A new launcher called TSF Shell is released.
It looks very nice, but it seems very demanding on the resources.
Anyone tried this already?
And do you think the €12,50 price ok?
Market link
Yes, I have.
Load of balls.
It's a shame that I missed the refund window by about 30 seconds.
when was it out? i just went to the official website yesterday and it only shows Beta tester advertisement!
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
I don't know when they released it. It is in the Market now.
It's awful. If you don't believe me... waste some money and buy it.
Shame
nobnut said:
I don't know when they released it. It is in the Market now.
It's awful. If you don't believe me... waste some money and buy it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So they spent their development time working on the video?
Shame - looked like it could have been a winner (even if a bit of a resource and battery hog)
It looks alright but is confusing, not intuitive and left me feeling like my mind had been turned inside out.
I did. I like it so far. Exceptionally smooth. Music, weather widgets work as shown in the video. The memo widget is a joy to use, works exceptionally well with our S-Pen. just click on it and write away. Why don't you try it for yourself? 15 minutes is good enough to test it out. For me it's usually the feel of things. I either like it or I don't, right after the first touch. Also, the only way to change between homescreens is the orb at the bottom-left corner. Frustrating at first, but since it's so smooth and accurate, it feels natural after a while.
Pure eye-candy. I do feel the price is quite high.
Does it upset you that I don't like it? LOL
15 minutes was too long for me. I know what I don't like. But I'm pleased for you that you like it.
nobnut said:
Does it upset you that I don't like it? LOL
15 minutes was too long for me. I know what I don't like. But I'm pleased for you that you like it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not at all
Personally, I dislike the mechanism to get to the app drawer, but I can live with it. Also, there are four homescreens, and that's about it. No settings menu either. You can change transition animation of the app drawer, though. There's a themes menu as well, but there are no themes online currently (doubtful, could be a connection error). Live wallpapers don't seem to apply too. You can select and configure them, but they won't apply. I think I'll have to watch the video again, it seems some of the app arrangement functionality is missing, or I can't get to it. I'll update with results.
Hated it, plus the price is outragous! Good thing I didn't miss the refune window
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
Would never pay that amount for a launcher when there are so many good cheap our even free available. It would have to make me breakfast to even consider it.
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Tried it and i'm going to be honest: A COMPLETE WASTE OF MONEY!
For everyone that wants a true launcher: GO LAUNCHER!
Using it now, its very complicated and confusing, but smooth, fast and pretty
Lacks too much options, and it's overpriced ...
Damn expensive little launcher !!
My god... I just checked on the market and my first impression towards the price was " RIP OFF ! " ... The price tag of $15.49 was just bit too much...
---------- Post added at 06:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:39 PM ----------
Zamboney said:
Would never pay that amount for a launcher when there are so many good cheap our even free available. It would have to make me breakfast to even consider it.
Sent from my superior GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1000000000000000000000000000000000 that !!
yesterday i tried it and i'm still getting used of it. by the way, after a day using it, i can say:
it's the fastest launcher i ever tried and it's perfect for the note.
graphical effect are very good and fluid, never had a lag.
it's widgets are wonderful (for me) and free
but don't forget that:
it has an interface different from any other launcher
it is possible to change pages only with the button down on the left of the screen
it is really expensive
do you have to buy it, in my opinion?
if you want to try something new and different, this is the launcher for you. the only thing i don't like is that the operation to change screens with one hand could be difficult, because the note's screen is very big.
P.S: i don't want to invite anyone buying the launcher, i'm only telling you my opinion, so, maybe, you can decide better what to do
I have to disagree with most of you here, the only thing I agreed is the price, come on $17 for a launcher? I personally don't care but $17 can't get the population of this launcher to nowhere. I think they should reconsider the price down to something like $7 or $8.
besides that. me thinks this launcher kick a$$. Yes, it's not completed YET but it's already the most intuitive, fluid(in terms of animation and work flow) launcher I've ever used.
some features are missing here and there but it's a beta, I am sure they will be there in some time and after few more months of tweaking, updating , more themes and plugins. This could be the BEST launcher out there. I totally see the potential out of this launcher.
I am not persuading anyone to get this launcher as the price is semi retarded and the supposed features are missing for most of the user's expectation.
But I do advice you guys keep an eye on this launcher for upcoming updates, hope TSF will complete the whole thing very soon and set the price right too. Then I am sure some of you will change your mind.
Zamboney said:
Would never pay that amount for a launcher when there are so many good cheap our even free available. It would have to make me breakfast to even consider it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would have to wake me up 'in that special way' to be worth it, I reckon!
darkinners said:
I have to disagree with most of you here, the only thing I agreed is the price, come on $17 for a launcher? I personally don't care but $17 can't get the population of this launcher to nowhere. I think they should reconsider the price down to something like $7 or $8.
besides that. me thinks this launcher kick a$$. Yes, it's not completed YET but it's already the most intuitive, fluid(in terms of animation and work flow) launcher I've ever used.
some features are missing here and there but it's a beta, I am sure they will be there in some time and after few more months of tweaking, updating , more themes and plugins. This could be the BEST launcher out there. I totally see the potential out of this launcher.
I am not persuading anyone to get this launcher as the price is semi retarded and the supposed features are missing for most of the user's expectation.
But I do advice you guys keep an eye on this launcher for upcoming updates, hope TSF will complete the whole thing very soon and set the price right too. Then I am sure some of you will change your mind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Echoes my thoughts since it was released. One to watch.
After using it for about a week, I feel ripped off. Other than a couple of fancy animations I can't see how this launcher is any better than any other launcher. Nothing at all special about it. Perhaps I am missing something but I doubt it. Like chameleon launcher overpriced and under featured launcher.