Database Develop

GPSInit: See if this helps you with GPS initialization problem!

I just slapped a small program to initialize the GPS port. Just wondering if this program helps people with GPS initialization problem. Please let me know. I cannot test it out 'cause I am deep inside a building!
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Interesting Sherpa. I will try this later, I'm hoping that it will (by using your "Exit" button) kill GPS. Some GPS apps have a habit of leaving GPS open when they exit. So not so much to start GPS for me but to kill it!!!
Thanks for sharing.
Mike

mikechannon said:
Interesting Sherpa. I will try this later, I'm hoping that it will (by using your "Exit" button) kill GPS. Some GPS apps have a habit of leaving GPS open when they exit. So not so much to start GPS for me but to kill it!!!
Thanks for sharing.
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the Exit button set to kill the GPS connection.

sherpa said:
I have the Exit button set to kill the GPS connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great!
Mike

First of all, good work.
I'm not trying to knock your work, and I do plan on utilizing it. I haven't tried this yet as I just got my device on Friday and haven't really had time to molest it. However, I was hoping someone would make something more along the lines of a Google Maps launcher that would activate GPS then load gMaps; or a program similar to the VJUtils that can activate and deactivate GPS with a button press.
Those are my thoughts....

Problem is, Google Maps activates the GPS just fine. It just doesn't wait long enough to get a fix. I suppose an app that started GPS, got a fix (delayed for some length of time) then launched Google would work, but it's probably not worth it when retry or two is all that's needed normally at worst.

GiODi said:
; or a program similar to the VJUtils that can activate and deactivate GPS with a button press.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What VJUtils are you talking about in this context? Searched this forum and VJ's website, but could not find a tool by his hand that starts and kills GPS . I am trying to find out wether or not my GPS is automatically stopped by an app when I quit the app, or stays on in the background, consuming power. I see that when I kill TomTom, the red LED stops blinking, but does that mean that the GPS is truely off?

GiODi said:
First of all, good work.
I'm not trying to knock your work, and I do plan on utilizing it. I haven't tried this yet as I just got my device on Friday and haven't really had time to molest it. However, I was hoping someone would make something more along the lines of a Google Maps launcher that would activate GPS then load gMaps; or a program similar to the VJUtils that can activate and deactivate GPS with a button press.
Those are my thoughts....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was actually thinking a 'GPS' entry in the htc comm manager would have been sweet. In original style icons of course.
Still, this app's pretty cool, good work sherpa.

GiODi said:
First of all, good work.
I'm not trying to knock your work, and I do plan on utilizing it. I haven't tried this yet as I just got my device on Friday and haven't really had time to molest it. However, I was hoping someone would make something more along the lines of a Google Maps launcher that would activate GPS then load gMaps; or a program similar to the VJUtils that can activate and deactivate GPS with a button press.
Those are my thoughts....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Re-reading my post, it is a little unclear. The VJ Utils i was referring to are the ones for the radios (bluetooth, wifi...). There is not one for GPS, but there should be.
Another thing I was thinking was maybe to have this program have an auto off by timer. Or maybe have it automatically close itself after certain programs that use gps close. Just throwing idea's out there.

I'm researching more regarding GPS functionality. My goal is to create something more functional. I hope time allows me to accomplish my goals. Thank you all for your feedbacks.

I was actually thinking a 'GPS' entry in the htc comm manager would have been sweet. In original style icons of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally think adding a button to the Comm Manager would be great! I could press the GPS icon there, and then start my GPS programs. This would add a small amount of buffer time to lock on to some GPS signals and get a fix.

sherpa,
Thanks for your great work.
Could you give us more information about what you do internally?
Do you just connect to COM4 or you need to send some data to this port in order to be initialized?
Thanks

As far as I can tell, the right hand LED blinks amber when GPS is active. Every GPS app that I've tried so far, lights it up and works with the GPS. Upon exiting the amber light always stops blinking, so I'm saying that in the several weeks of use so far, no app has left the GPS in an ON state.

GiODi said:
Re-reading my post, it is a little unclear. The VJ Utils i was referring to are the ones for the radios (bluetooth, wifi...). There is not one for GPS, but there should be.
Another thing I was thinking was maybe to have this program have an auto off by timer. Or maybe have it automatically close itself after certain programs that use gps close. Just throwing idea's out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aha, you mean VJVolubilis. I am using that for my GPRS and BT, great app, should indeed be a likewise solution for GPS as well. I don't know if the GPS stays on after quiting TomTom or Google Maps, the LED goes off, but does that mean the GPS is off? Does anyone know how to check that?
I am totally in favour of adding this to the CommManager, like I am totally in favour of adding a 3G/GPRS switch in there too, but it only has so many spaces to use unfortunately and I have only 1 left..

staryon said:
sherpa,
Thanks for your great work.
Could you give us more information about what you do internally?
Do you just connect to COM4 or you need to send some data to this port in order to be initialized?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is pretty much all this program is doing right now. It is connecting to COM4 at 4800 baud rate and opening the port. When you exit, it closes the port.

Mapping - Ordinance Survey

Does anyone know of an app that will use UK OS mapping ?
Ideally with a way to inject your current GPS position for accurate placement.
The OS do have an open map policy and there are a few iPhone apps that will access this... but cannot find any for Android so far.
ViewRanger on my 'old' Nokia N85 was very very good, but its currently not available for Android (fingers crossed though).
We do a lot of Geocaching and having access to an OS map helps with footpath placement and terrain... we hate to walk up very steep slopes if we don't have to nor over cliff edges
cheers

Thought i'd give this a bump as I would be interested in this also.
Imagine the 1:2500 1901 os maps on the thing too.You could overlay historical maps and stand at the door of your grandparents demolished house! Kewl!!
(I am such a geek)

Cool indeed
There are a few web based (for data) apps on the iPhone so I imagine its not tooo hard to build one, Multimap now have an OS layer so could be used to inject GPS location and pull up the correct map.

Andnav2 gives a choice of several map sources (diffent OS renderers, Google etc). Maps licensed with an AUP that permit caching can even be stored on the SD. TrekBuddy AtlasCreator can be used to create tilepacks for chosen areas.

Interesting app, but no Ordinance Survey support I'm afraid.
I also found RMaps which uses web based mapping from a variety of sources. Have commented on the Market that he look at the open source side of the Ordinance Survey for web based mapping apps...

joemax said:
Interesting app, but no Ordinance Survey support I'm afraid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry that was me jumping the gun reading "OS" as OpenStreet
Anyhow, why not contact the developers of atlas creatorif you've got information about good free map-sources with an AUP that allows apps to store them locally.
edit: just noticed OS maps are far from free. Terms seem similar to many other national mapping agencies. I.e. only companies with deep pockets can afford the proper access to raw data required to make them useful.

Web based solutions can use the OpenSpace data <http://openspace.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/openspace/>
One would assume that an app could be built to look into this data ??

I'm building one at the moment that uses exactly this principle.

David... excellent
If you need a beta tester - let me know. OS mapping with GPS position would be very very cool.

David Horn said:
I'm building one at the moment that uses exactly this principle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very cool.
The guy that does RMaps is also wanting to look into this. I emailed him and he mentioned it's on his list.
I'd happily pay for an app that gave access to OS maps....

I too would pay for an app that supported the GPS and compass in the Hero...
Kinda cool if it were like ViewRanger

Sneak Peak - OS Map Alpha 1
Well, I spent some time today getting to grips with Android development (trust me, C# for Win Mob is easier), and I've knocked together a working version of a GPS-linked Ordnance Survey app.
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Right now all it does is show your position on an OS Map, and update it if you stray more than 30m from that location. It's more proof-of-concept than anything else. The biggest issue is that it's a resource hog, especially the Javascript, though I think that's cached. I'd like to have it installed locally, but the maps are tied to a domain name. ;-(
What are the things that you'd like to see in it? Compass support is coming soon!
Edit: Actually, it does seem to be caching fairly well, it's gone up to 3MB now.
Edit 2: Small update to use the whole window to shop the map, and to move the location.

YOU ARE A GOD !!
I never thought just asking a the question would lead to what I am seeing above. If thats where you live - nice area... and you may want to change the pic as it could be showing your home
Well... when you say caching, do you mean it caches the map tiles and then reuses them if you load up the app in the same location ? ie it does not re fetch the data ?
Features... well you asked
1. Compass (on its way you say)
2. Bookmarking - to allow easy return to an area you've saved.
3. POI's
4. Panning with the finger not just buttons (like Maps does)
5. Ability to load GPX's for geocaching - for location not necessarily for navigating to as GeoBeagle does this very well when combined with Radar.
6. Google Maps terrain overlay and satellite view overlay (with selectable opacity maybe)
7. Route tracing / breadcrumb laying for re-tracing your steps should you get lost in a forest, moor etc.
hmmm I seem to be suggesting all those things that ViewRanger has... that is a great app but buying map tiles for usually single use is expensive.
I would happily pay for an app though that does what you have so far.
Again... very happy to beta test
Cheers

that's marvellous David, thanks.
It looks great as is, but my one extra request would be to (optionally, perhaps) remove the cursor and zoom buttons, and be able to control it with swipe (to move) and pinch/spread to zoom.
thanks again

Looks great so far !
I looked at OS OPenSource and noticed that the api key you get is tied to one domain so wondered how you've got round this, if at all yet.
As for requests. Any way to tie in google/wikipedia searches to display their locations on this map. Handy for finding pubs/historical places on the map.
Keep up the good work.
Dylan

Wow - all I can say is "I WANT"!
Very nice looking - even better when you get compass sorted!

Whats the deal with Ordnance Survey anyways?

I've been waiting for an OS based map app since I got my Hero. This looks very promising. (and I too would be willing to pay)

woobit said:
Whats the deal with Ordnance Survey anyways?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are the best maps available of the UK.
Google Maps is great to a point, but only shows roads and the odd track.
OS maps show footpaths, field boundaries, historical points of interest and land marks, at some scales even the building outlines.
Take a look at how detailed they are

woobit said:
Whats the deal with Ordnance Survey anyways?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They're quite possibly the higest quality maps in the world for general usability and detail.

[APP] Bingle Maps -[R]- 10 Mar 2011 -[U]- 04 Sep 2011 -[V]- 1.5

[size=+2]Bingle Maps[/size]
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Bingle Maps is a free map application that aims at providing better user experience than the native Bing Maps that comes with Windows Phone 7 devices. The final target is to achieve a user experience that is equivalent or even better than the Google Maps app in iPhone and Android.
Current Version: 1.5
This version has several performance optimization. There's up to 30% performance boost under heavy operations in the maps screen.
This is the last WP 7.0 release of Bingle Maps. The next version will come in WP 7.1 flavour which supports many of the new features of Mango, such as multi-tasking.
Getting Bingle Maps
You can download the latest stable version here via Zune Desktop Software.
Using Bingle Maps
Bingle Maps is a full featured map application. In addition to many normal map features that you would expect, here are some tips that you may find useful:
Tap your current location to drop a pin.
Hold on anywhere else on the map to drop as many pins as you like.
Hold on a pin to move it.
When editing a pin, tap the name "my pin" on top to personalize it.
You can also search on the map just like the native Bing Maps.
Quickly navigate between pins, search results and route points via "Layers".
Send your pins to others via SMS or email.
Synchronize your pins via DropBox.
You can switch between Google Maps and Bing Maps.
Your feedback
Your feedbacks on Bingle Maps are extremely welcome. They are the most valuable source for future improvements of this app. Please don't be shy to leave comments. After all, this app is for you and you have your voice to shape it up.
There's also a poll in my app page to collect information about the most desirable feature for later versions.
Source: http://codifying.wordpress.com/binglemaps/
[size=+1]Version History[/size]
1.5- 04 Sep 2011
Up to 30% performance improvement.
Google Maps auto suggestion for search and finding directions.
1.4- 25 Jun 2011
Fixed itinerary section in layers page.
1.3 - 21 Jun 2011
Routes and itineraries are now auto saved so that you don't loss them when you exit the app.
Walking mode support for finding directions.
Fixed a bug that prevents moving pins.
1.2 - 15 Jun 2011
Fixed the crash when you exit the app in the pin details page and come back.
Enabled bitmap cache for all push pins on the map. This allows hardware acceleration on all these pins and can significantly improve map pan performance when there are many pins in the visible area.
1.2 beta - 12 Jun 2011
Google Maps search and address lookup integration.
Address and geographical coordinates (longitude and latitude) in the pin details page are now copyable.
Search result now uses the business name instead of "my search".
The Layers page now has color tags to the left of each item.
Some memory management optimization, this fixed a few occasional runtime level crashes.
Other bug fixes according to the error reports received.
Error report now contains the page url of the exception, and again, thanks a million times for sending in the error reports
1.1 - 10 May 2011
The "me" button now auto follows your current location when you move.
Improved gesture detection to prevent accidental pin drop/lift.
Fixed a DropBox bug that may prevent users from syncing for the first time.
Improved location service accuracy.
Added settings for distance unit and prevent screen lock.
Some other bug fixes.
1.0 - 5 May 2011
Google map source integration.
Enabled satellite view for both Bing map source and Google map source.
Fixed a bug that always fails the DropBox sync.
Fixed a bug that crashes the app when accessing to the edit page of a search result pin.
Re-written touch gesture logic to improve touch responsiveness.
Added a little search icon to the top right corner for search result pins – easier to distinguish from personal pins.
Added setting option to switch location service on and off.
Added about page.
0.9.4.1 - 26 Apr 2011
Fixed a bug that the app warns for incompatible save data on start up even if there's no previously saved data on the phone.
Optimized memory consumption for communication between the phone and Bing Maps services.
0.9.4 - 25 Apr 2011
Added DropBox synchronization for personal pins. Manual synchronization only for the moment. Please let me know if you think automatic sync is really necessary.
Added Layers page that allows list browsing and quick navigating between pins, search results, and itineraries.
Added the ability to send your pins and search results to others via SMS or email.
Added settings page where you can adjust a few things.
Bug fixes for possible crashes when getting current location and while dragging a pin (thanks to the ppl who sent in error reports ).
Adjusted pin expanding behavior to improve some usage issues.
0.9.2 - 16 Mar 2011
Added itinerary for routing. Look for the "car" icon on the bottom bar to bring up itinerary when you have a route on map. Tap on each itinerary item to move to the relevant location on map.
Added tap on current location to drop personal pin feature.
Added error reporting via email. When an unexpected error happens, the app asks if you want to report this error via email.
New app icon and splash screen.
New current location pin.
Updated behaviors for search and direction search screen for slightly better UI performance.
Re-organised code structure for less disk space usage, faster*start-up*time, and smaller app package size.
Some bug fixes.
0.9.1 - 10 Mar 2011
First public beta release.

Looks very promising. I'm gonna give it a try. Oh, for your statistics: I prefer the satellite view. But it's absolutely okay to not use it as long as this would prevent your app from working as intended.
[Edit]
I installed your app and played around with it some time. I like it a lot, even though for some reason it's not able to detect my work address (where I currently am). I'll try it again when I'm back home and see if it will detect this address correctly. The pin is at to correct spot though.

nice start! i suggest:
audio - turn by turn.
when you add Google, add the longitude option also
route details to be displayed as well
Thanks, and i look forward to your updates

Cool app
Very Cool. It seems very sensitive, maybe a little too much. Sometimes swiping will take you out of the program. Nice icons. Can you edit the 'me' icon?
Can't seem to edit a pin, tapping does nothing right now.
no pins are saved for me either.

Thanks for trying out guys and glad you find the app somewhat nice.
@dkp1977:
Thanks for finding this. I've done some testing last night and it seems this is a problem only on the HD2. Tried on HD2 and also the Omnia 7 and HTC Mozart. Current location was reported correctly on the other 2 all with GPS, mobile network and WiFi turned on. I'll definitely look into this issue.
@barrychon:
If route detail means turn-by-turn itinerary list for the route, it's definitely coming in the next version. Google Longitude is an interesting idea that I've never thought about. I should add this to my "To-Investigate" list now
@Wind Dancer:
I'm quite interested in the bugs that you encountered. Can you let me know which handset your are using? And if possible, how much disk space you still have?
About the 'me' pin, I don't like it either. That's one of the first changes I'm gonna bring in the next version, making the 'me' pin editable like the other pins and, you're right, I should give it a nice icon too

I have a Mozart
5 Gb free

Is it possible to cache the offline map so that I will not have to load a new map every time to use the program.
This is just a suggestion by me.
I will try to use your app, It's look great.. Thank you.

Caching image is a nice idea, and I realize the native Bing Maps does this too. However the map control in the SDK does not support this feature yet. So there's no guarantee that this would come in a future version.

leonzhou said:
Thanks for trying out guys and glad you find the app somewhat nice.
@dkp1977:
Thanks for finding this. I've done some testing last night and it seems this is a problem only on the HD2. Tried on HD2 and also the Omnia 7 and HTC Mozart. Current location was reported correctly on the other 2 all with GPS, mobile network and WiFi turned on. I'll definitely look into this issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tested the app again when I was back home. It named the address under the pin absolutely correct. oO Just the pin wasn't located where I was. It was like half a mile away from me. But I think that was just because I was in a building, so it had to depend on the mobile connection rather than GPS.
Anyways, your app is absolutely promising. I'm looking forward to future versions.

I like how this apps works a bit choppy, especially when loading maps but its a beta
keep up the good work

@Perlnx
When I was working on 0.9.2, I realized that the map control actually caches the images, for a very limited extent. When network reception is very low or completely unavailable, I can still open the app seeing images cached from last time. Although this is not always the case.

Very Cool.downloading

Will you be submitting this to the marketplace once it reaches version 1.0?
Nice performance increase. But got the same error i used to get in previous version where you try to remove a pin. Then the pin keeps jumping around. And then you get an error. Which keeps repeating till the app crashes.

Thanks for testing out the app evolutionqy7. I intend to release this app to Marketplace when it reaches 1.0.
I haven't been able to reproduce your problem yet. But in 0.9.2 there should be a message asking you if you want to send an error report to me before the app crashes. Did you see the message?

Yeah but when I press it, It just keeps giving me an error message. The only work around I found so far is to exit the app. Enter it again and it removes then. But if you don't then it just keeps crashing.
Sent from my OMNIA7 using Board Express

nice one ,
working fine , liked adding mark feature not like map no marked places
Regards,

Looks great, will have to give it a try.
Good Job.

Nice product..
When I try to create route using 2 boxes from Route menu, it didn't work, it always think the destination is the same with start or current location. Unless I set it from Search menu, then it works.
Suggestions:
-Sound on routing would be nice
-Update to socials on the Pin or current Route
-Route progressing with different color
Keep post the updates, I would like to be a tester
Cheers
Arif Budimartoyo
using Samsung Omnia 7

Love it. Everything bing maps has missing.
1) Try make it more costumizable such as if i want the + and - to zoom in and out, i prefer without that option
2) Laggy, not as fluid as bing maps, try make it better
Feedback of Optimus 7
Thanks

Nice App!!

[APP] NewsSpot Google Reader -[R]- 2011-10-30 -[U]- 2012-01-02 -[V]- 2.10

Name: NewsSpot
Sync your articles as quick as a wink, store text and images for offline reading and search your articles in a gorgeous metro style way.
This is NewsSpot, a full-featured Google Reader client for Windows Phone: Its advanced sync-engine delivers a two-way sync for your unread and starred articles, which only syncs what needs to be synced. Already stored hundreds of starred articles? NewsSpot will download them once and never again. It caches articles as well as images for later offline reading.
Ever wanted to search your starred articles? Ever been interested in a specific topic of your reading-list? No problem with NewsSpot. Just tap the search button and enter your keywords, it will instantly filter your current list to what you've searched.
Together with Windows Phone Mango, NewsSpot now offers live tiles and toast notifications. For example, you can pin secondary live tiles to your start screen showing the count of your folders. Of course, live tiles can be updated per background task.
Other features include:
- Bookmark your article in Instapaper or ReadItLater or send a link per Email
- Mango only: share your article via Twitter, Facebook, Windows Live etc.
- Mango only: benefit from compressed web communication and save up to 80% of your data plan
- Open YouTube or Marketplace links from within the application
- Read articles in full or mobilized view, supported by Google or Instapaper
I've just released v2.0 of the app, which takes advantage of a lot of Mango features. Here is a list of things that are new in v2.0:
- Compatible with Windows Phone Mango
- Share article via builtin phone services
- Application live tile can show unread, starred and shared count
- Secondary live tiles with folder count
- Background task with toast notification and update of tiles
- Adjusted trial limits, added advertising
- Added support for gzipped communication
- Further improved sync speed
- Uses system progress indicator
- Added what's new to about page
- Added flip animation to folder tiles
- Changed icons so that they stick to the system theme
- Lots of minor changes and bug fixes
There is an add-supported version which has all features with the sole restriction that it lets you sync at a max 200 unread and 50 starred articles. The full version supports up to 1000 unread or starred articles.
NewsSpot is a matter of the heart to me and I'm constantly trying to improve it. So if you find a bug, have a suggestion or any other feedback, don't hesitate to write here or contact me per pm or twitter (@fourspotproject).
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I just downloaded it, will check it later!
I normally use WonderReader, let's see how your app fares against it...

FourSpotProject said:
Name: NewsSpot
PS: I'm not yet allowed to post links here, but I'm sure you will find the app in the Marketplace
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is the link to the app
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/apps/27ec9e5f-f88a-4caf-bdb4-68d71c962f02

@banvetor:
Thanks for trying it, looking forward to your feedback

@arkavat:
Thanks for posting the link!

Nice Work
Only got to try a few feed items with it so far, but I like what I'm seeing. Nice settings menu, very fast. I just wish it had the option to download read articles for a certain period of days (I frequently have to reference read articles within a day, but not so much after say, three), and a higher class icon to match up to the slickness inside the app and I'd say there's a new Google Reader app in my life.
---------- Post added at 09:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:00 PM ----------
Ooh, one more thought. It might be nice to have an option to go ahead and automatically resync to the server after tapping to mark all as read, that way if I switch back to a desktop it already knows what I've seen.

@zedmartinez
Thank you very much for your suggestions.
Syncing and keeping read items: this is already on my list, though I think it will not make it to the next or after next version. Maybe I should re-schedule things
Application icon: Yeah, grafics are not my strength. I'll figure out something for that
Automatic sync: this one also is on my list. I think automatic sync after tapping mark all as read can be done quickly. What do you think of automatic sync after a certain amount of time (like 5 minutes or so). I think this would especially make sense in combination with a sort from oldest to newest. Then you can read articles from top and the new ones are automatically appended at the bottom.

Those sync options could work. I'm trying to think how Wonder Reader does it (currently my workhorse feed reader), I think it syncs everytime I go back to the all feeds list, or after marking all as read. I like the idea of the timeline-based syncing though, that's a neat idea.
Sorry to gripe about the logo I'm a graphics designer by trade, so, fussing over icons is sadly engrained in me. If you have too many problems or just would like the help, let me know what the parameters for tiles are and I'd gladly lend you some gratis help.
I keep being really pleased with the speed as I play with this. Excited for future updates, and you can expect a formal purchase as soon as I get paid this week.

So, just checked again: Wonder Reader has some kind of direct sync model, meaning the status of articles is synced as soon as you tap on it.
I'm pretty sure this could be done in NewsSpot, too, though these actions have to be tolerant to network failures. Added to my checklist.
Regarding the offer to help with the icon: You'll get a PM soon

Oh, I totally forgot to meantion that v2.1 is out since 11-10.
It was done in haste since Google changed the interface of its Reader, removing all social elements like sharing and replacing them with Google+.
I'm quite optimistic that the next update will add features instead of stripping them

Just downloaded to try out. If I like it, I'll be sure to buy it and rate it.
Sent from my HD2 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

Ok. I've been playing with this a bit and seeing what it will/won't do. I like it.
I've noticed that it doesn't run in the background well, as in play well with multitasking.
Pretty much, I can open it up and read an article. Were I to press the home button or press an alert to answer an SMS, I can see NewsSpot in the open tasks list from the long press of the back button, but it attempts to resume then closes out back to either my home screen or another application running.
Also, I can press the globe button to open the mobilized version and then press back to return to the article. If, however, I choose the option to Browse in Internet Explorer, I cannot return to NewsSpot. It will attempt to resume and then crash to the home screen. I imagine this is the same issue as when trying to select it from the multitasking screen.
BTW, I decided to support you and pay.

@ anseio,
Thank you for your valuable feedback and your purchase.
Regarding that multitasking issue: I've got a lot of crash logs lately and as far is I've analyzed them, many arise from the advertising control, especially when the app is tombstoned/resumed. Its a known bug I unfortunately overlooked during development.
So let me ask you a question: since you bought the app, the advertising control disappears. Did these errors you mentioned went away, too?

Thanks for the info. Yes, I compiled this feedback after i upgraded.
Sent from my HD2 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

@ anseio,
Sorry to bother you, but I didn't get your answer. Does 'I compiled this feedback after I upgraded' mean that the errors remain?

Yes, it means that it still doesn't hibernate.
Sent from my HD2 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

It may have to do with the fact that I'm using the HTC hd2, not an official wp7 device.
Sent from my HD2 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

Well, I'll check the logs. Maybe I can find something there. Did the app just crash or have you been asked to send a crash log? If not, you may also look into the settings. If there is a log not uploaded yet, you should have an additional entry called 'manage logs'.
Anyway, there are a couple of logs on my hd from Hd2 owners. Will check them this weekend.

FourSpotProject said:
Well, I'll check the logs. Maybe I can find something there. Did the app just crash or have you been asked to send a crash log? If not, you may also look into the settings. If there is a log not uploaded yet, you should have an additional entry called 'manage logs'.
Anyway, there are a couple of logs on my hd from Hd2 owners. Will check them this weekend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't find anything in settings for managing logs. I wouldn't say that the software crashes. There's definitely no error. It's as if they close out in the middle of the "resuming" process.
For example. I'll open NewsSpot, go to an article, press home button, enter messaging and locate a message, long press "back" button, select NewsSpot... it will show "resuming", then go back to the messaging section within a few seconds. Another long press of the back button shows that there are no other apps in multitasking.

Just wanted to let you know that v2.2 was approved by Microsoft and should be online within a couple of hours.
Besides new artwork by zed martinez (thanks again ) you can now navigate from folders to your feeds. Furthermore read items can now be kept and synced.
@anseio:
I've found another couple of bugs related to tombstoning. Please tell me if the app now works better for you.
However, still I have no clue why the app crashes without a notification. The only reason I can think of is that the system runs out of RAM (and NewsSpot is actually rather demanding in terms of memory). Am I right that a HD2 has little less RAM than a HD7 (448 vs. 576MB)?

[GUIDE][Difficulty: Intermediate] Determine Best Route for Daily Commute

Using the Google Maps API, we can input a starting address and a destination address and it will spit out the best route to take as well as the estimated travel time. And yes, it accounts for current traffic and road conditions!
Credits to redditor Golden-Death for figuring this out!
Prerequisites
A Google Maps API account. I will quote the instructions you need to set up the account and the API from the thread above:
First, get a google maps API account here: https://developers.google.com/maps/ Click "Get Started" and then click on Google Maps Android API. Then click on "Get a Key". Create a new project and name it whatever you want. Generate an API key, and take note of it. From here on out, I will refer to this key as YOUR_API_KEY.
Click on the "Overview" button on the left tab (of the API manager screen), then expand the Google Maps APIs section. Click on "Google Maps Directions API", and then enable it at the top. From here, you can also visit the USAGE tab to see how many requests you have made for directions, or visit the QUOTAS tab to limit your daily quota to the free amount so you never get billed (or, at least that's my understanding).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Instructions
Variables --> Variable Clear. Name %GMAPS.
Variables --> Variable Set. Name %start, and set it to your starting address. Replace any spaces with a + sign. For example,
Code:
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500
becomes
Code:
1600+Pennsylvania+Ave+NW,+Washington,+DC+20500
Variables --> Variable Set. Name %destination, and set it to your destination address. Use the same convention as above.
Variables --> Variable Set. Name %api, and set it to your Google Maps API key.
Net --> HTTP Get. Set Serverort to
Code:
https://maps.googleapis.com:443
and set the Path to
Code:
/maps/api/directions/json?origin=%start&destination=%destination&travelmode=driving&departure_time=now&key=%api
Remember to input your API key above!
Variables --> Variable Set. Name %GMAPS to %HTTPD. This will set the output from the Google Maps API to a variable we will parse using a Javascriptlet.
Code --> Javascriptlet. Here is the code you need:
Code:
var routeSplit = JSON.parse(global('GMAPS'));
var routetraffic = routeSplit.routes[0].legs[0].duration_in_traffic.text;
var routename = routeSplit.routes[0].summary;
Alert --> Say. Text: Hello, you should take %routename to get to your destination the fastest. Expected travel time is %routetraffic.
How do you use this task, you ask? You can use it as an exit task when disconnecting from your home wifi. You can use it to trigger when connecting to your car's bluetooth. You can use a location trigger when leaving your home. You can use an NFC tag. The choice is yours.
Here's a screenshot of the task:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
I've attached an XML of the task below. You can import it by moving it to /sdcard/Tasker/tasks, then opening Tasker and long-pressing on the tasks tab up top then pressing import.

You are fast becoming my hero of this week. ?
Working like a charm. Thanks?

MishaalRahman said:
Using the Google Maps API, we can input a starting address and a destination address and it will spit out the best route to take as well as the estimated travel time. And yes, it accounts for current traffic and road conditions!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the contribution! This is so odd, I was just working on this yesterday evening. What I was trying to do, instead, was use custom routes from home to work (we all know that shortcut that brings us around the one traffic light or ramp that backs up) ... Google Maps indicates many of these shortcuts are in fact faster during traffic, but doesn't route using these because it involves counterintuitive maneuvering (for example, going north and then taking a u-turn to go south, instead of taking the south ramp which is sometimes backed up for miles). But I digress...
What I tried to do is create custom routes in Google Maps by dragging the route to where I wanted it to be, then using a HTTP GET to pull the html, a variable split to capture the travel time in minutes with traffic, and then printing it as a notification.
The goal being to have an on-demand decision maker before I hit the first option to split off onto a different route, then again before I hit the second option, and so on.
All I got was garbage returned, and truth be told it's been a decade since I wrote anything entirely in code.
Any suggestions?

krisjag said:
Thanks for the contribution! This is so odd, I was just working on this yesterday evening. What I was trying to do, instead, was use custom routes from home to work (we all know that shortcut that brings us around the one traffic light or ramp that backs up) ... Google Maps indicates many of these shortcuts are in fact faster during traffic, but doesn't route using these because it involves counterintuitive maneuvering (for example, going north and then taking a u-turn to go south, instead of taking the south ramp which is sometimes backed up for miles). But I digress...
What I tried to do is create custom routes in Google Maps by dragging the route to where I wanted it to be, then using a HTTP GET to pull the html, a variable split to capture the travel time in minutes with traffic, and then printing it as a notification.
The goal being to have an on-demand decision maker before I hit the first option to split off onto a different route, then again before I hit the second option, and so on.
All I got was garbage returned, and truth be told it's been a decade since I wrote anything entirely in code.
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One thing you could try is to run the multiple times and set the destination address to a different intermediate point on your route, so the best route will be determined from each marker point. For it to activate as soon as you reach that point on the map you would need a location context using geofences such as with AutoLocation.

MishaalRahman said:
One thing you could try is to run the multiple times and set the destination address to a different intermediate point on your route, so the best route will be determined from each marker point. For it to activate as soon as you reach that point on the map you would need a location context using geofences such as with AutoLocation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks... I read the source link a little deeper and it seems they're recommending something similar, doing individual routes and using Tasker to add the time (reported in seconds) and round into minutes. If anyone can think of a simpler way not involving an API, or that just uses HTTP GET to strip out the travel time using "via" points through Google Maps through a browser, I'm all ears! (apparently you can't do waypoints, that borks the traffic time report since it factors in a "stop" at each waypoint; you can't use via points, since you need to have at least one waypoint when using that).

This seems cool but forgive me if I'm missing something here. How is this different from what Gmaps already does? When I am about to leave for work, I open google now and the card with my drivetime to work is already there on top. Tapping it opens maps where it usually (~95% of the time) is already set to what it perceives to be the fastest route based on current traffic conditions. Totally honest question, and I'm certainly not trying to downplay or discredit the work of the task's creator. I'm just failing to see what this is solving or improving upon.

tykob said:
This seems cool but forgive me if I'm missing something here. How is this different from what Gmaps already does? When I am about to leave for work, I open google now and the card with my drivetime to work is already there on top. Tapping it opens maps where it usually (~95% of the time) is already set to what it perceives to be the fastest route based on current traffic conditions. Totally honest question, and I'm certainly not trying to downplay or discredit the work of the task's creator. I'm just failing to see what this is solving or improving upon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many people don't use Google Now because of battery issues

Some people also won't use Google Now because of how invasive it is towards personal privacy.
Sent from my LG-D801 using Tapatalk

tykob said:
This seems cool but forgive me if I'm missing something here. How is this different from what Gmaps already does? When I am about to leave for work, I open google now and the card with my drivetime to work is already there on top. Tapping it opens maps where it usually (~95% of the time) is already set to what it perceives to be the fastest route based on current traffic conditions. Totally honest question, and I'm certainly not trying to downplay or discredit the work of the task's creator. I'm just failing to see what this is solving or improving upon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google Now doesn't always give me the little ancillary improvements that I know from regional familiarity, it only gives me the "macro" routes. For instance, getting onto the state highway from the local access road, there is a ramp that backs up for about a half mile and goes really slow because of the merge. To circumvent it, I take the opposite direction on the highway and flip around at the next exit. It shaves 5 minutes off my commute but it's not something Google Maps or Google Now will recognize.
It also doesn't give me an option to refresh the commute time when I hit each geographic decision point, without just using Navigation outright.

I just tried this, but I'm getting the following error (on GMAPS variable):
"This API project is not authorized to use this API. Please ensure that this API is activated in the API's Console" I doubled check my API key and seems right. Also, it looks active in the API's console. Any ideas what is going on??
Thanks
EDIT: I found out the problem: On the API manager console you must activate also the "Google Maps Directions API"

Hmmm. This is looking good, but I can't quite get it to work - I've put a popup at the end to display %routename, but it always displays actually "%routename" rather than the value. Does does the variable in the javascript need making public somehow?

TangerineTractor said:
Hmmm. This is looking good, but I can't quite get it to work - I've put a popup at the end to display %routename, but it always displays actually "%routename" rather than the value. Does does the variable in the javascript need making public somehow?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you go to your Google console, Click on the "Overview" button on the left tab (of the API manager screen), then expand the Google Maps APIs section. Click on "Google Maps Directions API", and then enable it at the top. Console will generate a key when you enable it. Use this key, and the task will work.

iamronin said:
When you go to your Google console, Click on the "Overview" button on the left tab (of the API manager screen), then expand the Google Maps APIs section. Click on "Google Maps Directions API", and then enable it at the top. Console will generate a key when you enable it. Use this key, and the task will work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got maps android and maps directions APIS both enabled. Still don't get anything in the variable.

Awesome. I've been playing around with this a lot and I got it to work exactly how I want it to for my 20~40 minute commute to work.
I have the task trigger whenever I connect to my car's bluetooth, with the if statements matching the certain time of the day, and day of the week (when I usually commute to work) so it doesn't trigger when I just go out to get groceries or run errands, etc.
I also modified it a little bit as well,
I added Clear %LOC, then Get Location and changed %start variable set to %LOC instead of a predefined starting address so that where ever I am I can get updated travel times, since I might have to stop by some place before I reach my destination.
No modifying elsewhere needed outside of that, all the actions you provided still take it as a proper starting point.
Thanks a lot for this. I've been looking for something like this for months. Really Appreciate it :good:

This works and is really nice. However, the travel time that it calculates (15 minutes) is lower than Google maps (19 minutes). Is anyone else getting the discrepancy? I just want make sure it accounts for traffic.

Great idea and thanks for posting a thorough guide! One tidbit for me is that I'm trying to get this to work on a public transport commute. I thought that maybe it could be as easy as changing the travel mode in the path of step 5 to transit but that didn't change the output of the alert. Any ideas?

TangerineTractor said:
Got maps android and maps directions APIS both enabled. Still don't get anything in the variable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you get this fixed? I am having the same issue. Notification returns "%routetraffic " & "%routename"

Thank you so much for sharing. I actually made a video with your steps and I added an auto notification
You guys can check out my YouTube channel. Here is the direct link to the video,

I was getting the same error/issue, and then I realized I missed step 6 (set %GMAPS to %HTTPD). It worked after that.

Savetheknot said:
Did you get this fixed? I am having the same issue. Notification returns "%routetraffic " & "%routename"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having the same problem.