Related
post you list here of apps here
this is to help people like me who have never used android before
DON'T POST LINKS TO WAREZ....I WILL BAN YOU
you have been warned
Ok i`ll go first then! Even though i`m new to Android also....
1 Power Manager, something ive always wanted on a phone, especially when you have phones that can go flat in one day of use. Allows you to set it so that when your battery is getting low it`ll turn of wifi 3g etc.
2 Beyondpod the best RSS feeder.
3 Copilot live 8 the only sat nav for it as yet.
4 Bluex not tried it yet to be honest but you need it for sending files.
5 Netcounter for all of you on capped data packages. monitors how much is used.
6 Shazam obvious really!
7 beebPlayer A quality iplayer style app watch live bbc channels too.
8 Task manager does what you think it does!
There are many other apps that i have some ive not even tried yet. Some worth a mention are: YouTube downloader, XGalaga, Tunewiki, snapPhoto, last.fm, imeem mobile, locale, compass, and barcode scanner.
Feel free to ask me any questions on any i love to help....
Taskiller for killing off processes and apps.
Astro - file explorer app.
Agree with Co-pilot above - wouldn't have bought it without proper sat nav program.
Not essential but useful - Toggle Settings and Tone Picker.
Still looking for a decent movie player which seems a long way off. If coreplayer ports over the Hero will be complete!
Wikitude augmented reality browser - show it to your iPhone pals and watch them weep...
Second BeebPlayer. Really nice iPlayer implimentation.
My Hero came with the pre-latitude Google Maps - needed an upgrade!
A decent compass app!
London Tube Status app - so I know whether to run or walk out of my office in the evening!
Great thread- thanks for the advise.
However I cant find this beebplayer app... help?
Locale - Awesome app. Lets you customise your phone based on location, time, etc.
Last.fm - until spotify is released
OpenSudoku (Best one by quite a margin)
ShopSavvy - Barcode price comparison that works in the UK and gives you local results as well as web ones
Google Voice Search - Works surprisingly well
Doom!!!!
ScummVM - Has issues but you simply can't beat playing Monkey Island on the phone.
beebPlayer - Works OTA on T-Mobile, including live channels
markya23 said:
Wikitude augmented reality browser - show it to your iPhone pals and watch them weep...
Second BeebPlayer. Really nice iPlayer implimentation.
My Hero came with the pre-latitude Google Maps - needed an upgrade!
A decent compass app!
London Tube Status app - so I know whether to run or walk out of my office in the evening!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried the app called compass?
The Jones said:
Great thread- thanks for the advise.
However I cant find this beebplayer app... help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go into market on your hero select applications all sort by popularity 7th one down...
johnboywilson said:
Go into market on your hero select applications all sort by popularity 7th one down...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome thanks
what about MSN? i expect my Hero in 3 days, need to prepare also, barcode scanner, is that pre-installed or needs to be downloaded/bought?
Barcode scanner is free from the marketplace, it works really well.
Ive got some - had an android Handset as my main phone for 6 months and I adore it - currently have a Google Ion dev version of magic.
PicSay (and Picsay Pro) - Ive got the pro version - takes pics from camera or gallery and really easily adds speech bubbles, clipart, doodles, colourise, warp, captions etc then allows you to send via mms, mail, to twitter, picassa, facebook.
AK Notepad - very simple, easy to use and very robust. can back up to SD.
Twidroid and Babbler - might be redundant on Hero but great twitter and facebook apps.
Bettercut - allows you to add shortcuts for allsorts of stuff, and to edit any shortcut on your desktop to show your own icons.
UK TVguide - free version has a pop up on start and an add strip at bottom but small and simple to use
Wallpaper Set And Save - lets you use .pngs for crisper images
Jewellust - brilliant bejewelled clone a bit like Jewel Quest...
BookmarkBR - Backup to SD and restore your bookmarks from and to the android browser - great for when you eventually start wiping a lot and loading roms etc...
G-Backup - backs up SMS and MMS and a few other things to folders on gmail server. Auto back up is brilliant again if you wipe and change roms a lot you never lose a message.
Root Explorer - for when hero gets root - lets you go anywhere and options to toggle r/w and r/o in each folder, to copy paste and move stuff - dangerous in the wrong hands obviously...
Beebplayer is great, as is an app called Television, lets you download and run videocasts mostly from US but grand
suisen said:
what about MSN? i expect my Hero in 3 days, need to prepare also, barcode scanner, is that pre-installed or needs to be downloaded/bought?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is no real msn...but i have meebo IM and and that works fine for me
liamhere said:
there is no real msn...but i have meebo IM and and that works fine for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am trying out Hi MSN. Seems ok to me. I dont use it much though, I prefer to be logged in on my PC.
The apps i use most are Hi MSN, ScummVM + Monkey Island , and couple other games. Co pilot live and Astro file manager, remote VNC, and Meridian (the best media player)
am i missing something? what do you guys use the barcode scanner for?
Hey, do you know how to make abul arts to show on Hero?
I have tried the folder.jpg image on the same folder but its not working...
liamhere said:
there is no real msn...but i have meebo IM and and that works fine for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Liam,
I've been on Windows mobile for years and have crossed over to android and got a htc hero. I'm very impressed with android and wish I'd crossed over sooner.
One thing I really miss is microsoft voice command on my old wm device.
Do you know if there is a similar app for the android os? There are voice dialers on android market but they dont seem to cut it for me.
Can you help please?
Cheers,
Dom
hi dom
hope these help.
http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f10/voice-commands-2511/
http://androidandme.com/2009/04/news/android-news-news/voice-commands-coming-to-cupcake/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=477522
bigviv said:
am i missing something? what do you guys use the barcode scanner for?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can scan a item......then check it online for the best price to buy
its very cool.....IMO
Okay I think the time has come for everyone to spill their guts about what apps you have installed on your phone with a brief description of what it is. I guess since this was my idea, I'll go first.
Barcode Scanner-I use this for the square barcodes only
BarTor-Program that tells your computer at home to download torrents. Can use barcodes to find the material and send theinstructions to a pc.
Better Terminal Emulator
Chrome to Phone-Send whatever page you are at on your computer to your phone so you can continue to view the page when you walk away from the computer
EasyTether-Works much better and much easier that PDAnet in my opinion.
Last.FM-Good internet radio. Make your own stations.
Google Maps
MP3 Downloader-search and download mp3's to your phone
Opera Mini-Not beta anymore!(can select as default)
Pandora-another internet radio
Parcels-track packages(ups, usps, etc...)
Ringdroid-crop and edit mp3's on your sd card to use as ringtones.
Root Explorer-can edit r/o files.
Scanner-Police Scanner
Shopsavvy-I tried this for regular barcodes but can't get it to work, help?
SlideIT Keyboard demo-works pretty good.
TuneWiki-displays lyrics to songs you listen to off sd card.
XDA-Stay up to date with the xda forums.
45 views already and no one?
OrbLive - Stream Live Cable Tv from my tvcard on PC and also stream other media stored on PC.
Widget Locker - Add Any Widget or shortcuts to Lockscreen
NBA League Pass - Watch Any NBA Game Live or Archived
Floating Image - Cool way to View Photos
Dual Mount Sd Widget - Easy Way to Mount SD card and still access it on phone
eRay Widget - Lots of features. Memory management, storage, volume controls ect..
Fancy Widget - Nice Weather Flipclock Widget
Launcher Pro Plus - Best launcher to date with tons of features. Now includes Sense like widgets
3 music Widget - My favorate Msic Player
Dro2cap - Nice Screenshot app
Rogue Tools - Set CPU Speed and DPI
Album Art Grabber - Easy Way to Grab Album Art for Your Music
How did you get the launcher pro plus?
Naemion said:
How did you get the launcher pro plus?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bought it from here
http://www.launcherpro.com/?p=130
It only has 2 widgets right now. People and Bookmarks but updates are free once you buy it. Hes addinga bunch more widgets in the next couple weeks. He will charge more down the road so best to buy it now
incubus26jc said:
bought it from here
http://www.launcherpro.com/?p=130
It only has 2 widgets right now. People and Bookmarks but updates are free once you buy it. Hes addinga bunch more widgets in the next couple weeks. He will charge more down the road so best to buy it now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What kind of settings and such are different from just the pro version?
Naemion said:
What kind of settings and such are different from just the pro version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no settings are different, outside of the widgets.
incubus26jc said:
no settings are different, outside of the widgets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh okay, I can't find the dual mount sd widget in the market anymore...
Naemion said:
Barcode Scanner-I use this for the square barcodes only
Shopsavvy-I tried this for regular barcodes but can't get it to work, help?
XDA-Stay up to date with the xda forums.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just ordered one of these, will let you know how it works out, could be very useful with the camera on the HTC Touch.
Macro lens for bar code reading.
NFHimself said:
I just ordered one of these, will let you know how it works out, could be very useful with the camera on the HTC Touch.
Macro lens for bar code reading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't think I can use one of those, I have the extended battery with the special hump back for the battery.
incubus26jc said:
no settings are different, outside of the widgets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Other than the widgets, you said that it had a ton of other features. Which ones were you referring to?
Some that haven't been mentioned that I use.
ASTRO - Must have
aTrackDog - keeps apps up to date. I usually run it once a day.
Gentle Alarm(purchased) - This alarm is one of the best i've used.
MicDroid - to goof around with friends and coworkers
Movies - Alter my netflix queue and check movie times on the go
Shazam
I've been running Android on my Vogue for almost a year now, and my must-have apps include:
Fake-call Me: Simulates an inbound call at preset intervals
Pandora: Love my Internet Radio!
Reverse Lookup: Gives name, address, even a map link for unknown numbers
Google Voice: I used this to create an additional phone number (free) that allows me to make and receive calls from the second number using my mobile phone. Also has text messaging and Visual Voicemail.
(FYI...Most of the features use your data plan)
TV.com: free TV! Showtime, CBS, CNET and lots more
Market no longer has this app, but here is the .apk
aa
Sound Hound - I find this app better than Shazam
Dialer One - hands down best dialer.
Opera Mini - I value fast loading over proper rendering of pages.
TouchPal - hands down the fastest text input for me. It's the chinese version but you can change the option to use English only.
Moxier World - keep track of world weather and time zones
aCurrency - world currencies and conversions
Movies - check out box office movies, upcoming, dvd, trailers, new releases etc...
IMDB - everything else Movies can't do.
Speedtest.net - test bandwidth
Newsy - 2 minute videos of the top news of the day
SportsTap - great for getting my sports fix.
Funny Jokes - keeps me happy.
Google Finance - reminds me of how poor I am.
Factbook - equivalent to the CIA factbook that provides useless facts about countries.
SD Dual Mount - to mount my SD card on the computer.
Widgets
Fancy Widget
Smooth Calendar
A few of the ones I use
3G watchdog - monitors data usage
airplane autoswitch - switch to AP mode at user defined time
Andnav2 - free navigation
Appbrain - market with synch feature
Apps organizer- organize your apps into groups with labels
BlueRSS
Cache cleaner - clean cache
Colornote - notes that can be pinned to desktop
Keeppassdroid - safe app.
Tunee music - mp3 download app.
DGMT - exercise app.
Dolphin browser
dropbox
Fbreader - ebook reader
Fast web installer - install apps from market directly from PC
Gesture search - search for contacts, music, apps using gestures
gmot - control your pc using your Android device
google translate
Gtasks - synchronize your tasks with google calendar
GTwidget data- turn on/off data using widget
Mort player music / MP audio book - mp3/audio book playuer
My backup pro
Oi file manager
Opera mini
Pure calendar widget
Quick settings
Root explorer
Shazaam
Slideit keyboard
Sms popup
Taskkiller
Studydroid
TerminalWapedia
astro- file manager- must have
IMDB- to fulfill my useless movie trivia
bible reader (by olive press) electronic bible KJV
easy excel- self explanatory
quick calendar- helps me track my calan lifedar reminders etc
Rogue tools- overclock to 520
CHOMP- current for text messaging- trying to go through them all and see what i like
linpack- supposed to measure flops per second
opera mini- just a bit better than browser for browsing- i know its a little redundant-
tapXDA for reading new posts i want to replay to later
notepad color- note taking app
google maps
batterylife widget- battery life program
Does anyone know if this app http://hanashi.nu/ uses data or if having just unlimited mobile browser would work... i dont want to get charged for data usage again if thats what the app does. Could someone with a data plan check it out? Thanks
Barogi44 said:
Does anyone know if this app http://hanashi.nu/ uses data or if having just unlimited mobile browser would work... i dont want to get charged for data usage again if thats what the app does. Could someone with a data plan check it out? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't installed the app but i'm sure it uses data. It's stated in the "How does it work" page and the FAQ.
Everything incubus26jc's got on his super froyo rls 14
Adobe Reader-self explanatory
Advanced task killer-see above
AK notepad-notepad that lets me lock my notes with a passcode or pattern
Armored strike light-fun little game to pass the time
Better Keyboard-I go back and forth between keyboards, I like the symbols and such on this one, but it takes up more screen space.
Color Flashlight-not only white, but any color plus strobe patterns and other nice features
Contacts GroupU- lets me group my contacts to text people easy, and for my People Widget
Documents To Go- read Word, Excell, Etc files
ES File Explorer-I like the UI a TON better than ASTRO
gStrings- Guitar Tuner. indispensable
Handcent SMS- I like customization,
iTag-Change artist, title, album etc info for my MP3's
Jorte- Calendar replacement (I don't have data)
Launch-X Pro - nice shortcut widget
MicDroid-Auto tune your voice. not very useful, but cool
Mobile Metronome-keepin' time
PicSay Pro-Edit pics to the fullest, almost as good as on my PC
Ringdroid-cut MP3's and save as ringtone/notification
Ringtone Randomizer-changes RT everytime someone calls
Robotic Guitarist-sounds and shows and chord diagram
Sound Grenade-plays a high pitch noise. nuff said
Tape Machine-record sound
Titanium Backup-backup my apps+settings. also lets me remove factory apps that I don't use, frees up a lot of memory
Uninstaller- I change apps a lot, and try a lot out.
Hi everyone, just got my N3 last night and I am pretty excited about it.
I am a long time Mac Rumors member and my past phones have been ...... JB 3g, JB 3gs, JB 4, JB 4s
I am very upset with the tiny screens on my iphones and I refuse to wait another year for the 6 to come out.
So now I am a 1st time Android user and what to really check out the Android scene.
What are the first things I should do with the phone, what should I install right away? (different keyboards, apps, etc)
Is there a thread around here with tutes instructing how to transfer my contacts etc?
I surely will appreciate all replies, so thanks in advance. I really wanna get the very MOST out of this device.
edit: does Google Play offer any rebates/coupons/freebies for newly purchased devices?
Hey I would use smart switch to get your things from iPhone to your new phone but that is after you have it activated
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using xda app-developers app
XiphoneUzer said:
Hi everyone, just got my N3 last night and I am pretty excited about it.
I am a long time Mac Rumors member and my past phones have been ...... JB 3g, JB 3gs, JB 4, JB 4s
I am very upset with the tiny screens on my iphones and I refuse to wait another year for the 6 to come out.
So now I am a 1st time Android user and what to really check out the Android scene.
My N3 arrived Wednesday evening, and it's STILL not activated, (and its killing me).
The reason being, I wanna know if there is anything I should do BEFORE I call ATT and activate it.
(I do NOT want to close any windows, so is there is anything you folks recommend I do before I activate it)?
Once activated, what are the first things I should do with the phone, what should I install right away?
Is there a thread around here with tutes instructing how to transfer my contacts etc?
I surely will appreciate all replies, so thanks in advance. I really wanna get the very MOST out of this device.
edit: does Google Play offer any rebates/coupons/freebies for newly purchased devices?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean by call ATT and activate it? All you have to do is put your SIM card in and it is ready to go with a few account setups. After that it is up to you except for rooting and modding. Cant be done right now without voiding your warranty.
First thing you do is scratch off the att emblem since they locked the bootloader
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
XiphoneUzer said:
Once activated, what are the first things I should do with the phone, what should I install right away?
Is there a thread around here with tutes instructing how to transfer my contacts etc?
I surely will appreciate all replies, so thanks in advance. I really wanna get the very MOST out of this device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello?
Looking for some help here. This keyboard is way different than iphone, is it something you get used to, or should I install something else?
Please tell me what are some of the things I should change/install right away, (there's got to be some "must haves" no?)
XiphoneUzer said:
Hello?
Looking for some help here. This keyboard is way different than iphone, is it something you get used to, or should I install something else?
Please tell me what are some of the things I should change/install right away, (there's got to be some "must haves" no?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the keyboard, i prefer the google keyboard over the samsung one. It provides functionality similar to the iphone and is easy to switch between the iphone and android if you use them both in daily life.
As for apps, here is a small list of apps i like to have on all of my devices.
GOOGLE CHROME. Its much better than the built in browser and is able to synchronize with my desktop browsers favorites, etc.
Skype: Perfect for if you are travelling over seas at all with your device.
Google Hangouts: A good replacement for the built in SMS app.
Facebook & Twitter: If you need an explanation, you shouldn't be useing these apps.
Battery Doctor by KS Mobile: Simple app, but is helpful to save battery life and know exactly how much you have left.
Google Music: I have most of my library stored on google so it makes my life easy to have this.
Google Books: The book equivalent of my music library. Syncronizes what i have read across devices and browsers.
Kindle for Android: For the ebooks you buy on amazon.
Google Keep: Great for taking quick notes and having them on all your devices.
Dropbox: Great cloud file storage. Comes with free storage and you can pay to get more.
Google Drive: Google version of dropbox.
MX Player: This video player will play any video format you throw at it.
Google Maps: A must have for all smartphone users.
Zedge: While its quality has gone down a fair bit from what it once was, its still a great place to find ringtones and notification sounds for your android device.
GPS Status: Great for calibrating your devices sensors and ensuring that it works properly.
Now for the ROOT ONLY apps.
Titanium backup
SuperSU
Triangle Away
Hopefully this is a useful list to get you started. I have all these plus many more installed on my devices, and I find I use them all fairly regularly.
djdelusional said:
Skype: Perfect for if you are travelling over seas at all with your device.
Google Hangouts: A good replacement for the built in SMS app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I prefer Hangouts to Skype because Hangouts features free video multi-chat.
But I use Google Voice for SMS because it provides free unlimited texting. Hangouts insists on using the phone's native number rather than your Google Voice number, so you have to pay extra for a text plan or for individual messages.
Doesn't anyone else have any advice for a first time Android user?
XiphoneUzer said:
Doesn't anyone else have any advice for a first time Android user?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your new to android I'd stay away from root for a while.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I467 using Tapatalk 4
XiphoneUzer said:
Hello?
Looking for some help here. This keyboard is way different than iphone, is it something you get used to, or should I install something else?
Please tell me what are some of the things I should change/install right away, (there's got to be some "must haves" no?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel like for every-day typical phone use cases, there aren't that many gaps that stand out as needing to be filled by a third party app. You'll probably need a new music player, the defaults are crapola - but I can't be much help here; I keep my music as folders full of MP3 files (like God intended!) and play with Music Folder Player, and shun the dirty S&M ("sync and manage") apps.
There's a big list of stuff that I did when I first got the phone to get it to where I'm happy with it, but all of this was root required stuff. There are apps that come pre-loaded on android devices and can't be removed or disabled without root. Also, customizing stuff that can't be customized without root. I couldn't abide by some of the not-changable-without-root defaults. Getting rid of the "screen turns on so you can unlock it when you hit the home key" behavior is probably the most glaring example for me; my ass* was unlocking it constantly - but coming from iPhone, you probably view that as the Right Thing for home button to do.
I think most people use a custom keyboard. Swiftkey and Swype are the most popular. The phone comes with Swype, but it's an ancient version with limited support for changing the dictionary, you want the newest one.
I use Hangouts for gchat, but not for SMS. I actually prefer default app for SMS..
Settings:
Pull down status bar, long press on wifi, WiFi -> menu -> advanced settings, uncheck auto connect to AT&T hotspots (unless they don't suck where you are. Around here, they often don't have internet behind them, and just break your connectivity for the 30 seconds or so it takes for the phone to connect to them, determine that the wifi is no good, and fall back to 4G. At least this phone does that; Original note would just sit there like a fool trying to use non-functional wifi... I've also yet to find a hotspot that performs better than the 4G does. But I live in a city, so the situation may be different elsewhere).
Pull down status bar, long press on GPS. Uncheck "Use wireless networks" - on newer versions of android, this drains battery while idle; the damned thing wakes the phone periodically to check the networks around it - if the phone is nearly idle, this can halve battery life (!!!)
Pull down status bar, swipe to the left along the options at the top (woah, did you know you could do that?), tap multiwindow to enable multiwindow (this was a headline feature for the note 3, but comes disabled by default). If I long-press back button, that makes the multiwindow tab hide or unhide (once it's enabled), but I don't remember if I had to do something to get this behavior.
General must-have things:
AppOps Starter (to kill permissions from apps that request permissions you don't want to give them)
Battery Monitor Widget (gives you a realtime readout of battery usage)
ES File Explorer
If you want to pretty-ize clock + weather widgets:
DigiClock
Eye in Sky
If you work in IT or have need of these (if you aren't sure what these mean, you don't need them ):
ConnectBot (telnet/ssh client)
AndFTP (ftp/sftp client, supports scp if you pay)
RDP Client (remote desktop and VNC client)
FEAT VPN (OpenVPN client)
Hacker's Keyboard (you'll tear your hair out trying to use swype/swiftkey for terminal sessions or RDP)
If you want to root the phone:
Root it, then immediately install titanium backup and "freeze" AT&T software update, so it won't update your phone (breaking root) while you're not looking
Titanium Backup - freeze all the useless bloatware that AT&T and Samsung included (there's a list of what apps you can freeze here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmzC8GFarItSdGpOZzBfWlR4MC03aDMyZ1BDUFNqU0E - not my work)
Root Explorer
Pen Window Manager for adding apps to the pen window feature
Xposed Framework
Wanam - general huge amount of customization, including selecting apps for multiwindow.
Keyboard Manager (almost a necessity if you use ConnectBot/RDP frequently - keyboards designed for messaging and such are garbage for doing administration of non-phone systems, while hacker's keyboard is garbage for messaging and everyday phone stuff)
Terminal Emulator (gives you a command prompt on phone. Doesn't require root, but there are very few use cases for terminal on android that don't also need root)
*Well, I keep it in my front pocket, so technically it wasn't my /ass/ unlocking the phone....
Hi,
I have been an IOS user for quite a while, with brief excursions into Android land usually without much success. I am trying hard this time because I actually prefer a lot of things about Android (specifically the S5) ... less restrictive, removable battery, storage etc..
However some of the things I really struggle with and wonder if anybody has any answers before are listed below !
Lock screen preview of mail and txt's , I have downloaded an app called NILS but it seems to be such a hack and is not very seamless, anybody else have a better suggestions?
Bluetooth, when I get in my car , the phone starts playing the last thing i was listening to , that's fine & is similar to the iPhone, however the iPhone knows the difference between a call and music and if I turn the car off and get out , it switches off the music (but does not hang up calls). The S5 just carries on playing whatever i was listening to. I cannot find any way of changing this behaviour (any ideas ?).
Quick access to search, with the iPhone you swipe from the top and type the first couple of letters of an app to run it , sometimes this is really useful. The closest i have found is to go into the pull down notification bar and click sfinder... yeuch , any better ideas?
Memory and CPU usage, the phone gets quite laggy and I cannot find a specific reason ... other than having to installs NILS and the call blocking app (see below). I have installed task killer now , not sure if this is the correct approach.
Do not disturb mode, (blocking) , well its crap on the S5 compared to the Iphone. None of the functionality that i am used to such as letting repeated calls through and setting specific schedules is available. I have downloaded an app called do not disturb which does most of this stuff but i am sure this is also contributing to lag and memory usage. Also annoyingly it does not return the phone to the state it was in before it activated do not disturb. What do i mean by this ? I am the kind of person that has my phone on silent 99% of the time with vibrate, when do not disturb is active i want all vibrations and screen alters disabled (it does this) , but when coming out of do not disturb it switches the phone to full sounds on.
I am trying not to be down, there is a lot to like with this phone and if I could resolve some of the above I would be much happier with it.
Hope to hear some of your suggestions.
Acdisplay for lockscreen. Used it on on RAZR Maxx but not yet on my s5
Sent from my SM-G900V using XDA Free mobile app
zero66 said:
Acdisplay for lockscreen. Used it on on RAZR Maxx but not yet on my s5
Sent from my SM-G900V using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I will try that.
Download Apex launcher or any other launchers for lag problem, put in mind that Android uses more ram and cpu processing than IOS, that's why they keep on increasing ram, also turn off as much bloatware (apps came with phone) as possible, another very useful tip is to turn of your phone every day for few mins like your computer this will clear ram.
Welcome to the future
Don't use task killers. They don't help. Android will automatically kill off apps when it needs to. Task killers will kill off apps that will be autostarted again and this becomes a loop leading to lag and battery drain.
Hellscythe said:
Don't use task killers. They don't help. Android will automatically kill off apps when it needs to. Task killers will kill off apps that will be autostarted again and this becomes a loop leading to lag and battery drain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh thanks for this , I will try that.
Lockscreen preview of text and mails is already in touchwiz you just have to switch it on so it will show you the preview via settings.
For quick access to applications long press on the home button will bring you google now and from there you can open your apps easily.
noideaforusername said:
Lockscreen preview of text and mails is already in touchwiz you just have to switch it on so it will show you the preview via settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes for the messaging app, however I use a third party app for email, (nine), this does not seem to support this. Anyway my use case is that when my phone is lying on the desk and mails / sms etc come in , I would like it to wake up briefly and display a preview so that I can decide to ignore it or continue on with whatever it is that i was doing. NILs does this quite well, but seems like a bit of a hack.
noideaforusername said:
For quick access to applications long press on the home button will bring you google now and from there you can open your apps easily.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This works fairly well.
mah123 said:
Hi,
I have been an IOS user for quite a while, with brief excursions into Android land usually without much success. I am trying hard this time because I actually prefer a lot of things about Android (specifically the S5) ... less restrictive, removable battery, storage etc..
However some of the things I really struggle with and wonder if anybody has any answers before are listed below !
Lock screen preview of mail and txt's , I have downloaded an app called NILS but it seems to be such a hack and is not very seamless, anybody else have a better suggestions?
Bluetooth, when I get in my car , the phone starts playing the last thing i was listening to , that's fine & is similar to the iPhone, however the iPhone knows the difference between a call and music and if I turn the car off and get out , it switches off the music (but does not hang up calls). The S5 just carries on playing whatever i was listening to. I cannot find any way of changing this behaviour (any ideas ?).
Quick access to search, with the iPhone you swipe from the top and type the first couple of letters of an app to run it , sometimes this is really useful. The closest i have found is to go into the pull down notification bar and click sfinder... yeuch , any better ideas?
Memory and CPU usage, the phone gets quite laggy and I cannot find a specific reason ... other than having to installs NILS and the call blocking app (see below). I have installed task killer now , not sure if this is the correct approach.
Do not disturb mode, (blocking) , well its crap on the S5 compared to the Iphone. None of the functionality that i am used to such as letting repeated calls through and setting specific schedules is available. I have downloaded an app called do not disturb which does most of this stuff but i am sure this is also contributing to lag and memory usage. Also annoyingly it does not return the phone to the state it was in before it activated do not disturb. What do i mean by this ? I am the kind of person that has my phone on silent 99% of the time with vibrate, when do not disturb is active i want all vibrations and screen alters disabled (it does this) , but when coming out of do not disturb it switches the phone to full sounds on.
I am trying not to be down, there is a lot to like with this phone and if I could resolve some of the above I would be much happier with it.
Hope to hear some of your suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally if it were me I would try another company. I have a 5s and tried the s5. The s5 is just not a good example of what android is. Hardware to software the s5 is not done very well at all. Good luck with your choice.
Sent from my XT1060 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
thegrants82 said:
Personally if it were me I would try another company. I have a 5s and tried the s5. The s5 is just not a good example of what android is. Hardware to software the s5 is not done very well at all. Good luck with your choice.
Sent from my XT1060 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Completely disagree. I love my S5 and the HW integration.
But each to their own.
mah123 said:
Yes for the messaging app, however I use a third party app for email, (nine), this does not seem to support this. Anyway my use case is that when my phone is lying on the desk and mails / sms etc come in , I would like it to wake up briefly and display a preview so that I can decide to ignore it or continue on with whatever it is that i was doing. NILs does this quite well, but seems like a bit of a hack.
This works fairly well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install Push Bullet and be amazed. It mirrors any notifications on your phone onto your PC via chrome. That way you don't been to look at the phone. I work at a desk all day and can leave the phone where ever and always know if I have an SMS, call, email or anything else. Don't forget Google now also works with Chrome.
thegrants82 said:
Personally if it were me I would try another company. I have a 5s and tried the s5. The s5 is just not a good example of what android is. Hardware to software the s5 is not done very well at all. Good luck with your choice.
Sent from my XT1060 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree a bit with your response. And that's why I am also checking out the Xperia Z1 Compact. Once you go from the Galaxy S5 to the Z1C you will notice a huge difference in speed for opening and closing apps. I am even using Nova launcher, google calendar and avoiding any TouchWiz apps, but still the lag is disappointing.
mah123 said:
Memory and CPU usage, the phone gets quite laggy and I cannot find a specific reason ... other than having to installs NILS and the call blocking app (see below). I have installed task killer now , not sure if this is the correct approach.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For lags, you should try to put off the opening of S voice with the home button, because when you press it, it wait for second press for opening s voice app... or not. My S5 is really smooth now, hope this gonna help you.
HitMile said:
For lags, you should try to put off the opening of S voice with the home button, because when you press it, it wait for second press for opening s voice app... or not. My S5 is really smooth now, hope this gonna help you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this , yes I did this , made a difference.
@mah123 First step, do whatever you can to separate yourself from Apple products, for good this time. Just messin, but I'll continue on:
I see that you have a lot of little details you don't like about the S5/Android. Luckily, you're on the Android platform, where you can tweak just about anything you want. For what you're interested in you'll want to have a look at Tasker, the mighty automation app from Play Store. It's $3.49 but if you don't want to pay that just download the apk from Google search. Just make sure to get it from XDA or one of the apk blogs. With Tasker you can fix your bluetooth issue by detecting when bluetooth is detected and then use command pause music. Tasker should help you fix all your other issues as well. For email the easiest fix is to use a special color on your notification LED or specific vibrate pattern to know when you have email. You can also show an overlay using a "scene" (Tasker's definition of a popup or app window) on top of the lockscreen. Handy :thumbup: But if you need help using Tasker you can do a lot of things: there are plenty of guides all over the Internet, you can google search your problem with the word "tasker" at the end, you can PM me (yes, I'm friendly), you can ask a question over at the Tasker Noob thread here on XDA (I also monitor this thread and I will answer your questions there). Welcome to Android and have fun!
--
Say thanks if I was of help!
Sent from my SCH-I605 using XDA Free mobile app
aarongillion63 said:
@mah123 First step, do whatever you can to separate yourself from Apple products, for good this time. Just messin, but I'll continue on:
I see that you have a lot of little details you don't like about the S5/Android. Luckily, you're on the Android platform, where you can tweak just about anything you want. For what you're interested in you'll want to have a look at Tasker, the mighty automation app from Play Store
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.
Fantastic thanks !
I own both phones. In the last few years I have owned the latest Samsung and Apple flagships (iPhone 4 and Galaxy S2, iPhone 5 and Galaxy S4, and iPhone 5S and Galaxy S5).
Both platforms are great and they have their cons and pros.
I am an iOS Developer. I have my name in both Cydia tweaks and App Store. To be honest I felt in love with iOS when I used it for the first time. I like Android, but not as much as iOS yet.
I find the quality of iOS blows Android out of the water. Third app quality is much better on iOS than on Android, based on what I have seen. In terms of software in general, I think iOS is much better. It may be restrictive, but nothing that can't be beaten with jailbreak. Android's big plus is freedom and yes, I like customizing my phone.
In terms of hardware Samsung blows Apple out of the water. I love the camera and that it is Water Resistant. Design wise the iPhone looks prettier, but personally I don't care about those aesthetics.
The one thing I absolutely hate about most Android phones are the hardware buttons. When I type in landscape I keep hitting the sensitive buttons accidentally, many times this result in losing a wall of text I just typed (my palm hits the back button accidentally all the time). I wish these could be disabled when typing or that they could be replaced with software buttons.
Sent from my SM-G900H using XDA Free mobile app
There are many things that iOS does 'better' than android, or at least, its a mix of what people of become accustomed too and some are just better. So, when people do make the switch to android, or indeed WP etc, it can be an uphill struggle as those things that are 'better' are maybe less intuitive over on the android side.
However, you have to look at the bigger picture. Android is far far more customisable, even as stock. With the addition of TouchWiz and Sense etc, they bring a lot of features that in themselves are 'better' than iOS.
There are many people that go the other way (Android to iOS) and struggle with some of its inability to control and customise.
What I'm saying is.... give it time, and do not judge android on its lacking in one or two areas, try and look at it from a bigger perspective.
**When I say 'better'... I mean its what each individual sees as better, I'm not saying that it is**
aarongillion63 said:
For what you're interested in you'll want to have a look at Tasker, the mighty automation app from Play Store. It's $3.49 but if you don't want to pay that just download the apk from Google search. [ / QUOTE ]
Tasker is an excellent program. It should be paid for and not stolen.
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a very good discussion. I find that generally programmers favor Android because of it's similar OS structure to a PC (I'm talking about the coding behind it all and C/Java), and common consumers and Apple computer owners favor iOS. This is a generalization and personal opinion. I know there is the outlier of Apple programmers, I've tried to get into it myself, but my problem I've ran into is that Objective C is overly complicated, just to accomplish simple things. Anyway, even if you don't develop apps, you may favor Android as a coder thanks to Tasker. I've found myself addicted to Tasker as far as tweaking/programming goes, without the need to use Android SDK. Then, you can still export Tasker projects to apks if you want. Tasker can make a good visual-sdk app creation tool.
iresq said:
Tasker is an excellent program. It should be paid for and not stolen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True. :thumbup:
Sent from my HTCONE using XDA Free mobile app
So the finial version has come out. Im sure a lot of you guys have updated to it. Plus a lot of you have been using the Dev version along the way.
What are your guys thoughts?
I like the the new version but also there are still tons of things are are bugging the *poop* out of me.
I thought this was going to be "THE" version that appeased almost all android fans. Fixed a lot the issues since 2.3 while bringing a lot of new features.
1st the things i dont like.
1. Battery % WHY THE *heck* do we still not have an option to turn on a battery % next to the battery icon?????!!!!!!!
2. Hangouts picture (when syncing with FB) not always showing up bug is still present.
3. I like the new light colors with white and grey but why did they choose that color of teal. Im not super excited about that but i do like the white backgrounds.
4. Multitask menu. I dont like how EVERYTHING is in there. And why do we STILL NOT HAVE A CLEAR ALL
5. Google Now launcher. I like it and dont like it. Dont like how everything is so big and dont like how i cant have the middle space be my default. But Nova fixed that. Plus im rooted so i changed my DPI
6. Battery life. Ive only used it for 1 day (going on 1 day) but it seems my battery life is worse then on 4.4.4
7. Battery menu. Dont like anything about it.
Things i do like.
1. Material design (in most places) animations and universal layout for apps is nice.
2. Lockscreen notifications although i dont like how EVERYTHING is on there but im still messing with the menu for this feature.
Im still playing with it and im sure it will get better as apps update (what took them so long) but over all im kinda disappointed with the amount of hype 5.0 got.
Same here, like it but meh it's not there yet, hoping for apps updates etc. And my battery life is slightly worse too
I like it so far, but smart lock seems buggy as hell. I've got my Moto 360 set up as a trusted device, and even went so far as to set up face unlock, and still, I'm prompted for a passcode more often than not. There really needs to be a rescan option -- or, better yet, just make it work like it's supposed to.
Battery life seems worse for me too but I will give it another few days before really making that decision
Make sure you turn WiFi always scanning off. I am getting better than the Dev preview because of the fixed WiFi drain bug. I like it though.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
You cant know anything about battery one day after update, after update system still need some time to "sit on place" and its drains battery.
Where is material design music. Sadly it doesn't animate when I press the play button. I really like what was was shown in the demo .
jt3 said:
I like it so far, but smart lock seems buggy as hell. I've got my Moto 360 set up as a trusted device, and even went so far as to set up face unlock, and still, I'm prompted for a passcode more often than not. There really needs to be a rescan option -- or, better yet, just make it work like it's supposed to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have my moto 360 set up as a trusted device and I never need to unlock my phone. Only on reboot. rest of the time works perfectly.
Im not using face unlock though.
hmmm...
i don't like how you'not able to delete multiple contacts + separation of the phone numbers from the emails.
photos app gather all the jpg files that are in the sdcard which kinda sucks (dude, i don't need my album art in my photo gallery.) + you need Google+ enabled to be able to just look at the photos.
multitask is OMG.... really really nice effect but damn, is there any real need to "mark" every menu page i open? (oh, where's the "clear all" button?)
camera is ok but there is no 0.03 seconds of the new API. pictures are taken as slow as before.
material design is not bad but it shines on multiple layers only.
keyboard is really cool looking and although it'll take some time to get used to "button-less buttons" i do like it.
and battery, well, i can't say since it's only 1 day of use.
still, i think it's going to be ok (i still hate those wakelocks though... ) and last but not least, Chrome... i still miss "text wrapping" that's why i use Opera
all in all, i don't hate it, i'm not thrilled about it but i'm sure it'll "grow on me".
UI looks definitely great,performance and battery haven't improved, nor got worse. But it's too early to comment on that.
No toggle in quick settings to cycle through sound modes(sound/silent,vibrate), dafuq Google? I'm certainly missing Xposed.
very annoyed about the removal of the stock email app, i dont want to comingle gmail and my work stuff.
gjw00 said:
very annoyed about the removal of the stock email app, i dont want to comingle gmail and my work stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can DL the stock email app from the play store now
Really? I cant find it. Ended buying 'nine'
I really like having all my emails in gmail app. First day of use, I'm going to get 4hrs sot without messing with settings. It runs really smooth with hells kernel. I would like the pull downs yo have more options, but all in all, I'm happy.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
#sharath said:
UI looks definitely great,performance and battery haven't improved, nor got worse. But it's too early to comment on that.
No toggle in quick settings to cycle through sound modes(sound/silent,vibrate), dafuq Google? I'm certainly missing Xposed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's one of my main nits as well.
I've used Power Toggles for quite a while now. Short simple and to the point and it lets me toggle between sound vibrate or silent settings easily.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.painless.pc
Not my app but one I swear by.
not available in australia. jesus christ
jt3 said:
I like it so far, but smart lock seems buggy as hell. I've got my Moto 360 set up as a trusted device, and even went so far as to set up face unlock, and still, I'm prompted for a passcode more often than not. There really needs to be a rescan option -- or, better yet, just make it work like it's supposed to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had to enter my PIN once since I set up smart lock with my 360 and face yesterday. Works great!
You can't use the Photos app if you disable the Google+ app. So.... now I have to open the camera app and scroll through my pictures one by one to view them. Super!
I kinda don't like it.
1: The color scheme is not consistent throughout, which really irritates me. While you spend most of your time in a launcher (I use Nova pesonally) or in apps, some of those apps are system apps, and it seems like almost all of them have had color changes, they don't look good and don't even make sense.
2: Some of the features are cool, and even sound great...but they are commonly riddled with "omg, no way!" points of frustration. Smart-lock...would be AWESOME if it would just freaking work when connected to a specific wifi network! For example...in prior versions I had used tasker and secure settings to disable the lock screen and have a significantly longer screen timeout whenever I was connected to my home wifi. Tasker works just fine for the other things I use it for, such as reading my text messages outloud...but only when I'm connected to my home wifi or headphones. But the pin lock errors out, every single time. Root works, tasker and secure settings are configured exactly as they were before, and they both even have administrative rights. It still fails every time, and I get the toast message pop up. I wonder if it is because Google is worried that your neighbor might name their wifi network to the same as yours is, and have it be an open network so when they steal your phone they would automatically be able to get into it. If that is the case...well, that should be easy to fix, one make the service only work with password protected networks, and I'm also sure they could just only have it work when the network name is also reporting the same mac address. But I digress.
3: Lightflow. Ugh, enough said. You might say this is not a lollipop specific thing, but the guy posted an inquiry on this on the support thread since it was an complication with the new notification system, and they responded back saying they fixed it, and it has still not been pushed out by Google yet!
4: I find myself unable to quickly remove notifications from the lock screen and even when the phone is unlocked in some instances. For example, if I am copying lots of individual files over wifi from my computer, and there are multiple "copied" notifications as a result, the first few can be swiped away, but the rest can't! I have to click on them, and then close it. Kinda annoying.
5: One of the only reasons why I really wanted Lollipop were for the improvements to the lockscreen notifications. I envisioned being able to stop using dashclock entirely, and also having an all around easier time with notifications while the phone was locked. Nope! Sure, the basic functionality is good, I can read text messages without an app for it, and that's great...but I have to say I really miss having the unlock ability from just turning the phone on and swiping. Now I have to turn the phone on, press the padlock to get the phone to switch to the pattern lock, then do the pattern lock. That extra step is really quite annoying for me. I'd prefer to have the "extra step" be to SEE THE NOTIFICATIONS. You know, just like how it used to be with dashclock. (You would know you had a notification by the little icon right next to the time and you would swipe down from there to read them) Maybe I'm crazy, but I unlock my phone a lot more often than I have notifications to read. Especially since I can't get the pinlock automatic toggle to work when I am connected to my home wifi!
6: Most lock screen icons are blocked...and for good reason. But some of them are not. For example, in power toggles I have always used an icon that automatically makes a 14 minute timer, and another one for 29 minutes. I use this for my breaks at work of course. (The icon triggers a task in the "Trigger" app that does this) This works from the lockscreen...which sounds great because I can set that timer without having to unlock my phone...but it has also been deactivated by mistake when the phone was in my pocket. Ugh!
7: I don't like the "swipe down" from either the lock screen or from notifications bar option. A lot of this is because I am really used to using powertoggles for this, and this duplicates a lot of that functionality, but
I knew this was going to happen, I have been complaining about software "improvements" at work for the last year and a half. If something is working, don't break it!
---------- Post added at 09:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:35 PM ----------
svanheulen said:
You can't use the Photos app if you disable the Google+ app. So.... now I have to open the camera app and scroll through my pictures one by one to view them. Super!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check out Quickpic. I've been using it for ages, and it has always been amazing. It's super fast, very customizable...and just plain works!
gtg465x said:
I haven't had to enter my PIN once since I set up smart lock with my 360 and face yesterday. Works great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I've figured out the issue. I use "Gravity Screen" to shut my device down when I put it in my pocket. It seems that if Gravity Screen puts the device into standby, it also locks the screen in such a way that Smart Lock is disabled. Since that's normally how I shut off my device, I was seeing this almost every time. I'm hoping that the dev can fix this, because I'm really not used to touching my power button.
On another note. I wouldn't mind the email integration with Gmail, except that there's no way to label my various Exchange accounts. I have two separate Exchange accounts that I must monitor, and both simply show as a random-colored circle with a letter "J" (which is the first letter of each email address). I can't even change the color to something that would help distinguish the accounts. I just have to remember that random-color-J #1 equals one account, and random-color-J #2 equals another. It's very annoying. A combined inbox certainly wouldn't hurt, either.