Related
The official Facebook app for Android is now available in the market. Looks a pretty solid release. Loving the widget.
A lot of people, at least in Sweden is reporting it to crash at startup. I'm running latest MoDaCo ROM.
How come application is released by katana-something. How do one actually know this application is an officially one?
bear78 said:
A lot of people, at least in Sweden is reporting it to crash at startup. I'm running latest MoDaCo ROM.
How come application is released by katana-something. How do one actually know this application is an officially one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
crach here to. Modaco 2.0
Crash here on HTC Generic 2.73.405.5 with radio 63.18.55.06EU_6.35.06.18
Doesn't look like an official application to me, no matter what it says in the description.
According to the application link
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=74769995908
On the left hand side in the information box
This application was not developed by Facebook.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay chanced language for the os from danish to english and now it works just fine
seems slow and laggy and has less options than a mobile site :/
Developers email: [email protected]
About as official as a 419 scammer purporting to be from the IMF with an email address like [email protected], with an offer of a share of a few million quid!
Regards,
Dave
Alright... Somebody should change the thread title
Yes and no. It IS the "official" Facebook app, and most certainly must have been developed WITH Facebook. Actually, even the iPhone app development page said it was not developed by Facebook up until v. 3 (I think). --And it definitely was. They just gave credit initially to the FB employee who had done the coding. The story behind this app is that Google "lent" FB an Android dev to create this app.
The Palm, Blackberry, and other "official" FB apps also say they were not made by Facebook. Click "mobile" on your computer at the bottom of the screen and check them all out. FB does this for some reason. Also, any previous apps that have been developed have been forced to remove the word "Facebook" from their names. Bloo was originally called something different, and he was forced to change the name. This is why we have "Babbler", "Bloo", "Fbook", etc. You know every one of those devs would have preferred to name their apps "Facebook". I have no doubt this app is developed officially in conjunction with Facebook.
http://androidcommunity.com/facebook-for-android-hits-market-20090908/
Works fine for me! No crash on modaco 2.0
Yeh, as Switchbitch said, it IS the official Facebook app, but it was NOT created by Facebook, but rather, in association with Facebook.
And in regards to crashing - working perfectly fine here on MCR 2.1e.
MCR 2.2 Here. No crashing, and every bit as cool as the iPhone app from what I can tell.
iPhone version is obviously going to be a lot more feature-filled and stable (seeing as they're already at version 3.x) but I can picture the Android one improving over time.
The app is the same one shown in the leaked images a few weeks back and when installed and used the 1st time you must accept the facebook terms and conditions.
Does not crash for me at all, is pretty fast however i have noticed that i seem to get notifications from babbler way before this app notifies me about anything.
From reading about the app previously you would have known that it wasnt going to be as advanced as the iPhone app and wouldnt have access to items such as your inbox.
This app is based entirely on the new stream system that facebook usues.
On a side note, does anyone know how to skin the widget and the notification icons?
which one is the "official" one?
i can see quite a few out there like facebook lite, mobile facebook etc etc
This is rubbish. You can see people's walls and your own, but no access to your inbox for private messaging...?
And how do you update your status rather than just post to your... "wall". I think the problem is that Facebook has changed since i used it last and I don't understand it!
They released a version this morning that didn`t work. Force quit during startup.
Around lunchtime they released an update. Now everything is work as it should. Pure joy!
So, it seems status updates now go straight to the wall rather than being seperate. and are archived to your wall. Then the news feed gets everyones comments and status updates. You can also post on someones wall if you wish, as well as commenting directly on thier status. I get it. I think
Well, it's missing friend search, and messaging.
Battery life
Has anyone else noticed this chewing through the battery? Since installing this I've been watching the percent left drop on a frequent basis. I've got it set to update every hour.
EDIT
Forget that, it was just me being paranoid. Fully charged the phone last night, unhooked it from the mains this morning at 7am and currently power is sitting at a very respectable 99%.
I have hardly seen anyone who uses Desire ROMS as their default day to day ROM. I'm debating doing this to get flash on the browser, but I'm not sure about how battery life is compared to enom.
Macmee said:
I have hardly seen anyone who uses Desire ROMS as their default day to day ROM. I'm debating doing this to get flash on the browser, but I'm not sure about how battery life is compared to enom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using Sense day-to-day exclusively for 2 months now.
I used it for the first month of owning the phone.
I would run it for like, 2 days at a time out of a given month and revert back to CM.
Maybe im slow, and they do in fact exist, but the Trackball wake mods are the deal breaker for me and Sense.
Untill they get the bluetooth worked out its not an option for me. Maybe add another option in the poll to something like "Im wanting to give it a spin but and will do so when its a little more ready for prime time". I suspect I am not the only one that is waiting because of the bluetooth issues.
How does everyone find the battery life, and and which desire ROM do you use?
I would love to use the Desire ROMs, but I get nothing but problems from them. They run slow, lag and **** up my text messaging. Otherwise I do like SenseUI a lot. Wish I could get it working flawlessly.
Used it went back to cm.. It just seems to cluttered
Sent from my Nexus One using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
I used it for 3 hours. Don't really see how sense is better... The widgets are huge and there are far fewer mods/themes for it.
Was planning on keeping it for the exchange support, then that stopped working
britoso said:
I used it for 3 hours. Don't really see how sense is better... The widgets are huge and there are far fewer mods/themes for it.
Was planning on keeping it for the exchange support, then that stopped working
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally I find the whole 'Icons-plastered-all-over-the-place' that the iPhone and Stock Android do extremely ugly. And I find non-HTC widgets too dissimilar and all different sizes to look any good when trying to fill a lot of space.
I have 4 icons on my home screen; that's IT * (as you can see in my signature). The other 6 windows are Sense Widgets that I use on a daily basis.
If anything, I wish there were MORE good-looking full-screen (and useful) widgets!
* Hence your MoreRecent app
How do you launch apps other than the 4, Paul? Just curious as I don't like having icons all over the place either; I basically alternate between Gesture Search and Quick Search
Amrosorma said:
How do you launch apps other than the 4, Paul? Just curious as I don't like having icons all over the place either; I basically alternate between Gesture Search and Quick Search
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just use the launcher (bottom left arrow on Sense UI home screen).
More recently, I've been using britoso's MoreRecent app http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=676438
I have use it for about two weeks now tried cm and emon but I switch back.. I like the widgets and havent had a problem with with it the battery life is the same for me
Sent from my Nexus One using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
I use the Desire rom when i am at home, but this week i have used cyan to get better battery life on vacation. i really like the email app, camera, and the widgets.
the battery life isnt where i want it, but with a charger at the desk and at home, i can pull through.
I use to use Sense, but switched back to Cyanogen because I don't enjoy the fact that Desire ROMs are not as speedy as stock, or ROMs based off of stock. I love Sense more, but speed is also not to be forgotten, I can easily feel the difference.
There are also several quirks that can occur.
I probably would use Sense if bluetooth would work reliably but I have a feeling that shipped has sailed. So until Paul gets BT working and a few other bugs worked out I'm sticking to CM Roms and Pershoot's kernels
jlevy73 said:
I probably would use Sense if bluetooth would work reliably but I have a feeling that shipped has sailed. So until Paul gets BT working and a few other bugs worked out I'm sticking to CM Roms and Pershoot's kernels
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well we all know HTC has to release the Desire kernel source eventually, which is how Paul said Bluetooth would be supposedly be fixed.
They have merely 60 days from the official release of the Desire to release the source before it becomes illegal. I'm sure they want to uphold their moral standards..
Eclair~ said:
Well we all know HTC has to release the Desire kernel source eventually, which is how Paul said Bluetooth would be supposedly be fixed.
They have merely 60 days from the official release of the Desire to release the source before it becomes illegal. I'm sure they want to uphold their moral standards..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I don't understand is why they're taking so long to release the Desire code, when the Incredible's code was already released -- less than a week since it's release??!!
I have to wonder if HTC is looking at Paul's work and not releasing it because of that haha Maybe they're trying to figure out a way to modify the code so it's not able to be ported to the N1
Love the Send-UI.
BT works fine, once you've paired the device.
i've been using Sense UI since R8. i tried R20 and R21, but those releases weren't as stable as R19, so i've been on R19 for the last 5 weeks. what i like most about the Sense UI ROM are the native features/functionality i use everyday. by native i mean out-of-the-box apps. these include:
Exchange functionality (mail, calendar and contacts); push email has worked flawlessly for me with the Sense UI ROM
mail app features - threaded email view, ability to resize fonts, view emails from/to contacts, signature for each email account
contacts features (screen to see txts, email and calls by contacts)
agenda calendar widget (60 day view via scrolling, ability to view my gmail and Exchange calendar on the same widget)
contact favorites widgets (one group for family one for work)
email widget (scroll/view for new mail, tap email to open directly)
i also prefer the native black task bar, so no need to install a task bar theme. i prefer a conservative look with access to the things i use most. i don't like icons on every screen, so i use the app drawer (?) to access and launch programs. i haven't used CM's ROM since 5.0.3, so i can't offer an opinion on speed, etc. navigational speed on R19 is great from my perspective. fyi, i'm using intersectRavens (4.29) kernel with R19 and am seeing a notable improvement in battery life. i'm using a Jabra BT device for music and calls and it connects every time i turn on Bluetooth and the headset. i suspect this is due to me using the custom kernel.
the only 3rd party customizations i've installed are morphs for the HTCClockWidget (custom font and no background), the mail icon and the message icon. the fact that all of us have customization options is a really a great thing! options like Sense ROMs, CM ROMs, etc, allows me to "make it (my N1) mine"!
Please help me to decide. I have used android for long time. I want to try something different but I'm not sure . Any one here switched from the Note or an android phone?
argo1a said:
Please help me to decide. I have used android for long time. I want to try something different but I'm not sure . Any one here switched from the Note or an android phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, you're asking in the Windows Phone 8 General section, so you probably won't get an unbiased opinion, so be sure to check out other sources too, which should help you decide.
Honestly, I think I would go for the Note 3. I currently use both Windows Phone 8 and Android 4.4.2 (ATIV S and Nexus 4) and I think both of them are great devices. But I prefere using the ATIV S because of its camera, the keyboard and its performance.
But in case of a phablet, I think the Note 3 (with a good custom ROM) is a much better choice.
The Nokia Lumia 1520 has a great camera, a wonderful screen and Windows Phone 8 performs seemlessly on it. The Note 3 has a bit smaller screen than the Lumia 1520, does support input via stylus and can be used much more productively. If you need or want a stylus, you have no other choice.
The Lumia 1520 is a great phone though, but imho it is not a good phablet, because I simply expect stylus support from a smartphone with such a big screen. If you just want a phone that has a great battery, great camera, great screen, great performance, great built-quality all the advantages and disadvanteges of Windows Phone 8 and you want to try something different/new, you should totally get the Lumia.
Maybe take a look at some reviews, but I don't think that you are making a wrong decision when buying either of these devices.
If you want to change from ecosystem.......from Droid to WP8x
Then you should do a lot more than compare devices.
There is a upcomming update for wp8 ( wp8.1 ) so some of the stuf you read wil soon be obsolete.
Phablets is not only about stylus.
I got a 1320, the big little brother of the 1520.
And i like it better than the note I of my wife and the note II of my daugter.
The letterfonts are bigger, i dont need my glasses to work with it.
Its simply strait forward and does everything what it supose to do.
Battery life is a lot longer and also i find the gps a lot better.
Aspecialy with the Here maps and Here drive.
Also the Nokia camera-app is way better than the one on the Samsung.
But there is no possibility to change custom roms and root ( yet ),
but thats oke because it works great strait out of the box, no need for tinkering.
yeah, he should definitely take a look at Windows Phone 8.1.
The Lumia 1520 is great, but imho it is just another Nokia phone with a bigger screen. This is not bad at all, Nokia makes great phones, but it is not really a phablet like the Note 3.
If you want something that will work out-of the box for years, have a great performance as always and will just become better the more you use it, you should take the Lumia 1520. For everything else, like Custom-ROMs, stylus support, etc. you will have to get the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.
1520
HI
i own a nokia 1520 and i like it very very much. everything goes smooth and the phablet is very handy , long battery life ...in my case 3 days... beautiful design...much quicker browsing !!
there are so many android devices on the market and allmost everybody has such a phone.
with the 1520 you have something special in your hand. all my friends want to have a nokia 1x20 or x20 ...
go for the NOKIA LUMIA 1520 !!!!
I like the 1520. I can live with windows phone limitations. Android is indeed a better OS without a doubt cz you can drop your PC for an android phone but with WP you can't do a lot of things.. But I love the windows phone, its faster, more secure, stylish and has a better look. Its a matter of taste and a subjective approach... I chose the Lumia 1520 and didn't buy the Note 3.
argo1a said:
Please help me to decide. I have used android for long time. I want to try something different but I'm not sure . Any one here switched from the Note or an android phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i switched android phone...
note 3 is more productive than nokia :good:
patraaas said:
note 3 is more productive than nokia :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wel nee, Nokia is more productive ..........
serious
How come that N3 is more productive than a 1520, care to explane?
I heard that a lot, but they never could explane.
I, too, wanted to leave android and get a windows phone.
Until I realized what I used primarily, and how windows phones didn't have it (officially, or yet)
I didn't want a clone of VLC - I wanted VLC. Or a subsitute of Chrome/Firefox - I wanted the real thing.
My bank didn't have an app - I could just use the mobile version, but then again, that's true for almost everything! Right???
Tethering wasn't available, or at least how I would tether. So those long trips w/me using my Verizon unlimited plan instead of those crappy hotel wifis....gone!
Shoot, even the price of the windows store seemed pitiful! Apps that were 99 cents on android were 2.99 on windows!
These are things you gotta take into account!!!!
I had the note 3 when it first came out for T-Mobile. I actually had every major galaxy phone S1, s2, s3, sIV,(I will be skipping S V, 1 because it didn't impress me, and 2 I'm so bored with Samsung phones), Note 2 and Note3, along with some HTC android phones and some Sony android phones. I recently switched to the unicorn model of the Lumia 1520. I say unicorn model because it's a very hard and rare phone to find. It actually supports the AWS band for T-Mobile along with the At&t bands and rest of the world bands.
I actually got bored with Android and wanted something different. Pretty much it comes down to the how much do you really care about apps/games. I don't game a lot on a phone that's why I have consoles, 3ds, vita, and a pc. I do a lot of productivity on my phone though. A lot of banking and emails. Not really into the social media stuff. As people always say, windows phone does not have a lot of apps. Some of my banks do not have apps on windows phone. But when you look at what an app does it is just a pretty UI that connects to your bank. In windows I can just pin the website to the home page and poof instant app for that bank or that website, etc. On the Lumia 1520, the screen is large enough where it's not hassle.
I can say that battery life between the two, are very good. Both will last all day with heavy usage. I normally am streaming music, checking emails, playing a game or two, viewing websites, and watch a little Netflix and I don't have to charge untill I go to bed. Normally the phone is off the charger about 6:00 am each day and I got bed around 11pm or 12am. Performance wise, I have to say the windows phone runs a little smoother.
When it comes to customization, Android wins hands down. I actually do miss the customization that Android allows. On windows phone you have the tiles you can put and you can resize them between small, medium, and large. Medium and large will show additional information, where as small tile just shows the app without any info.
Tethering works fine on both, although on the Lumia 1520 I did have to do a few extra steps to get it to work. Apparently the US carriers has some type of block on the built in tethering app. One last thing, if you heavily in with google services, pretty much none of those services are available on windows phone. So no google play, no google voice, no push service for gmail, no chrome, etc.
The things I don't like about windows phone:
1.) Unable to download large files - I tried to download a 2 GB map file for the nokia here and it said I had to switch to wifi. Android has no such restrictions.
2.) Lack of Customization
3.) Lack of Google services (Not sure if it's Google or MS)
The things I like:
1.) Very clean and simple interface,
2.) The Lumia 1520 has a great design
3.) Runs smooth and works
4.) Office intergration
5.) Native Email and Calendar apps are the best (much better than android or ios)
Things I like about android:
1.) Customization
2.) Tethering worked out the box
3.) No restrictions on file types to download or file size
4.) Multitasking with 2 apps on the screen at once.
Things I don't like about android:
1.) You have to root to really use the phone as you want
2.) A lot of bloatware
3.) You have to watch out for rogue apps (haven't heard of any in windows phone)
4.) You may or may not get the next version of the OS regardless of how new your phone may be.
This is just my thoughts. So far though I'm like the 1520. I have high hopes for the next update to windows phone and look forward to it improving. Windows phone is still young so still is playing catch-up, but I think it has a bright future.
Erm... there are plenty of third-party apps for Google Voice on WP8, and push for Gmail works fine for me and has been for years (since WP7). With that said, yeah, the integration with Google services other than Gmail and Calendar isn't great, and mostly relies on third-party apps.
GoodDayToDie said:
Erm... there are plenty of third-party apps for Google Voice on WP8, and push for Gmail works fine for me and has been for years (since WP7). With that said, yeah, the integration with Google services other than Gmail and Calendar isn't great, and mostly relies on third-party apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's actually fetch if you use the default email client on non Microsoft accounts. It only allows push on Microsoft accounts (.msn,.live,.hotmail,.outlook). For those accounts you have the option to receive mail as they arrive. But when you set up Gmail you have to select intervals and the shortest interval is every 15 minutes. At least when I set it up it did not give me the option of as mail arrives on the Gmail accounts.
Ah... I still have ActiveSync on my Gmail account, and therefore get push email plus calendar and contact sync. I've heard that new accounts may not get ActiveSync anymore, but it still works for me. Try setting up an Exchange/Outlook account with the following details and see if it works? May only work for accounts created before 2013 or something (mine's from way back when Gmail was invite-only beta...)
Username = <your Gmail address, including the @gmail.com or similar>
Password = <your Google password>
Server = m.google.com
Require SSL = Yes
Note 3 for sure... and I'm a Windows Phone user, really good OS. Note 3 is the best Android device ever, at least for me.
hotrock11 said:
I, too, wanted to leave android and get a windows phone.
Until I realized what I used primarily, and how windows phones didn't have it (officially, or yet)
I didn't want a clone of VLC - I wanted VLC. Or a subsitute of Chrome/Firefox - I wanted the real thing.
My bank didn't have an app - I could just use the mobile version, but then again, that's true for almost everything! Right???
Tethering wasn't available, or at least how I would tether. So those long trips w/me using my Verizon unlimited plan instead of those crappy hotel wifis....gone!
Shoot, even the price of the windows store seemed pitiful! Apps that were 99 cents on android were 2.99 on windows!
These are things you gotta take into account!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah you're 100% right, but after all, and I'm talking about myself - android guy- I threw away all "reason" and I did buy the Lumia cz its simply better than the note. Better in hand, better in screen, better in sound, camera, looks, touch sensitivity (or at least how I feel), build quality.....etc... its a Nokia !!!! Lol
I went from OG Droid -> Droid X -> Galaxy Nexus = 6 years of Android to a brand spanking new Nokia Lumia Icon (the slightly smaller version of the 1520 on Verizon).
I can say, in the end, I just got tired of tinkering with my Android phones. Root-wipe-backup-install rom-install kernel-backup, rinse and repeat - over and over again, every time a updated ROM was submitted to the site. I just got tired of it all. Windows phone has limitations, but you have to take it for what it is, after all, these are smart PHONES we are talking about here. They all do the same things, some differently, some the same. The Galaxy nexus was awesome when I first got it, but after about a year, it lagged like crazy, no matter what rom/kernel combo I had on it. The battery life was abysmal. The Note 3 is better on all accords, but from seeing my friends GS4 lag it up after a year, it seems that even new hardware cant keep up on Android. But I think this is also dependent on the user, if you have a lot of apps, and you tinker its bound to run like $hit after a year +.
If your debating between the Note and a Lumia phone, my recommendation is to go with the Lumia (unless you have a specific need for the stylus). I tried the Note 3 out for 2 weeks, and returned it. It was faster, and almost lag free, but touchwiz is just aweful, and trying to put 2 apps on screen lagged the thing to death. Its a good feature, that is really not ready for prime time. Maybe in a year or 2 Android and the chips will be ready for this feature, but its just not there yet, for me.
My reasons for choosing the Lumia are very simple. I looked at my Android device, and decided that there were really no apps that I couldn't live without. I looked through the windows phone store to see if I could do what I needed to, and haven't really missed a beat. The phone is highly customizable with apps like Custom Tile Maker, and Lockmix, and I find the live tiles refreshing and new. The things I miss, are reported coming to Windows phone 8.1 - VPN, Notification Center, and Cortana (Google Now replacement), and background images on the start screen. The Camera is better than my point and shoot camera, it gives me RAW .dng files, that I can open in Photoshop / Lightroom and edit. Add to it all, the fact that I use a Windows 8 PC, and the syncing between the devices is really pretty awesome. I forward all my GMAIL to my Outlook.com account, and I can say, outlook.com is soooooooo much better than gmail. The App gap is more media perceived than reality. The only apps I couldn't find a suitable replacement for were kids apps, and an HSBC banking app (which is supposedly coming soon).
To replace your Google services:
Here Maps/Drive is better than Google Maps Navigation. Only think I miss is street view.
MetroTube for Youtube (you can download audio or video for anything
Outlook > GMAIL (forward gmail to outlook.com, or just use built in mail app with fetch)
Onedrive > Google Drive
Office > Google Docs
No stupid requirement to use Google +. Windows Phone ME tile, allows you to connect to multiple social media apps, and integrates them into the experience. Its pretty great once you get into it.
Music: Cloudmuzik Beta - works for Google Music you have previously uploaded, but I find that XBOX music subscription blows everything out of the water. I like it better than Spotify. Nokia Mix Radio is better than Pandora too, and its free on Nokia devices.
Hangouts - I use IM+, works fine. I have a feeling Skype will be integrating google chat at some point, but until then, IM+ is suitable chat replacement.
Bing and Google.....difference is really subjective. if im not getting the results I want on Bing, just go to google.com, and do the same search
for File management, and multiple cloud storage integration, use Pocket File Manager app - I paid for it, its pretty awesome. Theres no Dropbox app, you can access your files via Pocket File Manager, or use Cloudsix for Dropbox app.
I don't know, I guess my opinion of Android just soured over time. The only thing that I "miss" is being able to steal wifi tethering through a rooted device. Take my opinion like a grain of salt, because that's what it is, my opinion, and just like everyone else, im entitled to my opinion.
Thanks
I had the note 2 since it came out,and before that the Captivate and all the others up to #3...Motorola,and a few Iphones..
Last Sunday..I traded it in on the 1520 along with my wife's original Captivate for her a 1020
I had both rooted and custom roms loaded..
As much as I used to enjoy flashing roms,radios,themes...it just became tiresome to me as well..
I did my comparison of all the new Sammy phones..and went with these because they did exactly what we wanted,and because for me there was no comparison of build quality or screen displays...no for my wife a better camera.
Also,as far as connectativity these connect better than any here at work and home..
Do I miss my Androids...no..not in the least and have run win 7/8 themes off and on for a couple of years anyway...and there isn't any apps I can't find I use in the wins app store
FWIW..I'm extremely pleased with my choices..
Mac
Sent from my Nokia 1520
I've had a Note1, Note2 and S4. An iphone 3g and 4. A lumia 920 and 1520. I like my 1520 much better than my note 2. The note3 isn't a significant upgrade as far as I'm concerned. Aside from missing a lot of games and not being able to tether for free, I love wp8 and the 1530. Wp8 is smoother than even ios. Btw, I also have an ipad3 and galaxy tab pro 8.4.
Looking at the Nokia 640 on metro PCs , what are you guys opinions on this phone?I had a Nokia 521 quiet awhile back but switched to android because of the lack of SD card use back then.
I can't speak to MetroPCS as a carrier, but the 640 is a great phone for its price. The biggest problem with it is the same problem every WP device will have - there aren't as many apps available for the platform as there are for Android and iOS (although there are a bunch nonetheless, and more every day) - but the phone itself is quite good unless you need high-end specs for some reason. The OS runs very smoothly on it. Also, it's upgradable to Windows 10 Mobile (yes, Microsoft changed the branding on their phone OS *again*...), so you've got a reasonably future-proof design and it'll even be able to run at least some Android apps in the future.
In my opinion windows phones are always better and safe than android phones. You can also read about technology public relations.
Play Apps?
GoodDayToDie said:
I can't speak to MetroPCS as a carrier, but the 640 is a great phone for its price. The biggest problem with it is the same problem every WP device will have - there aren't as many apps available for the platform as there are for Android and iOS (although there are a bunch nonetheless, and more every day) - but the phone itself is quite good unless you need high-end specs for some reason. The OS runs very smoothly on it. Also, it's upgradable to Windows 10 Mobile (yes, Microsoft changed the branding on their phone OS *again*...), so you've got a reasonably future-proof design and it'll even be able to run at least some Android apps in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where are these claims about Android apps to WP coming from? Isn't it still a rumour?
I can't seem to find any official substanciated news about this...
As I understand it MS currently have two problems regarding the app-gap;
1) if they open WP to Play-apps, then they risk losing interest from dev's to continue making apps specifically to WP, making WP more or less another version of Android.
2) making dev's keen on making apps for a third platform, which isn't futureproof yet (even tho it's been around for long enough). This "solution" will make WP it's own and keep MS in the mobilemarket as an real and actual alternative to the established platforms.
What is sure and what are rumours?
M
Metalbuddhist said:
Where are these claims about Android apps to WP coming from? Isn't it still a rumour?
I can't seem to find any official substanciated news about this...
As I understand it MS currently have two problems regarding the app-gap;
1) if they open WP to Play-apps, then they risk losing interest from dev's to continue making apps specifically to WP, making WP more or less another version of Android.
2) making dev's keen on making apps for a third platform, which isn't futureproof yet (even tho it's been around for long enough). This "solution" will make WP it's own and keep MS in the mobilemarket as an real and actual alternative to the established platforms.
What is sure and what are rumours?
M
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They will not enable android apps to run directly on the phone like in an emulator, they developed a tool so android developers can recompile their existing app code so it can be used in windows, see the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qgajY4An1I
I'm really looking forward to making the switch from Android. I've always been a Windows PC enthusiast, and Windows 10 is shaping up nicely.
So, a phone to match will be nice. As for apps for phones, I hardly use any nowadays.
The biggest disadvantage of WP is the low market share of under 10% .
This means that most of the useful apps or games will not be available to WP.
But if as you say you dont use apps and you like the windows style you should go for it!
My experience switching over
I picked up a 640 on T-Mobile the other day as a new "daily driver" - my S4 went swimming once upon a time and reception was never quite the same after that, and I've been thinking about app development and the possible advantages of being a bigger fish in a smaller pond - particularly if MS manages to be successful going forward with Windows Phone. I'm sure I won't have anything available by the time Windows 10 Mobile comes out, so I'm not sure how that's going to work out in the end - perhaps Android development would be a better choice after all? But my experience with the phone overall hasn't been bad so far, particularly not for $100.
The one thing that I hate about the phone is that I can't put it on WiFi at home - something about the WiFi config puts it into a boot loop when it tries to kick in the voice over WiFi piece. Seems like it's similar to the "no iOS zone" problem that turned up for Apple back in April, except that since (relatively) nobody is using Windows Phone nobody really cares. The "fix" recommended is "reset your router to factory defaults" which might be an issue since I'm running OpenWRT..... I'm thinking about putting the Windows 10 preview on so this may go away - even if it's only due to lack of support for T-Mobile's WiFi calling. At least I have LTE coverage in most of my house and an "unlimited" data plan.
The main thing I'm really missing is browser choice - I REALLY miss having Firefox and Dolphin, because I do a lot of long-form reading in my browser and the readability view in FF is much more usable. LastPass in Dolphin is also nice to have, though it never worked for me in Firefox. I'm also missing the addon ecosystems of both browsers. Surfy is at least a nice addition, but browsers on WP seem to be at least 2-3 years behind what's on Android. Both IE and Surfy "feel" kind of like the built-in browser in Gingerbread (2.3) or maybe in the early days of Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) before Google started pushing Chrome as the default browser. Having relatively weak browser(s) is a problem because with the lack of apps at least I can use mobile websites..... when they don't simply crash out the IE tab/window/whatever since it's not a tabbed or windowed interface.
I'm also hoping that Pocket Casts will work correctly for me after their next update (currently it hangs if I turn on sync to pull in my podcasts, then dies on app startup), but I'll survive for a while. I'm also feeling the lack of good ebook readers, I've been spoiled by Cool Reader and Moon+ Reader Pro on the Android side.
The only things besides browsers that I'm really missing:
Things tied in with Google's ecosystem - I use Google Voice for my voicemail, I've been using Location History for a long time to help me track when I arrive at and leave customer locations, and there's a group of us that uses Google Hangouts for group chat. I can get Voice notifications in email with the transcriptions then listen to the messages via URL. The Location History bit I may be able to replace with Phone Tracker, but I'm not sure what to do about Hangouts yet.
Replacement keyboards! I've been a big Swiftkey user for years and would love to have it back even without the voice recognition link (which launches Google's service). I hate having to do 4-6 extra keystrokes to enter passwords because of the switches to get to numbers/punctuation and extended punctuation (via the numbers page). There are places where Hacker's Keyboard (a much more full keyboard nice for terminal emulations) was also nice to have.
A GOOD text editor (e.g. DroidEdit which has syntax highlighting, etc.) or really even an adequate text editor. Maybe a mediocre one? Please? I've seen mention of Code Editor but was unimpressed by the "Free" version (first thing it does is throw you to the store page for the paid version, free version can't even see the "advanced" editor that's the only reason to actually consider it). The only other option that at least looks good in screenshots ("HTML+JS+CSS IDE") hasn't been updated since 2013 and has a total of 3 reviews - and the two with text are both 1-star.
CallTrack (which adds all of my phone calls to my Google Calendar, tagged appropriately and with start and end times) and SMS Backup (which uploads my sent/received SMS to GMail, tagged appropriately). CallTrack is great for going back and "Who did I talk to that day?" and SMS Backup is great for tracking down things received in old messages. I WILL be working on finding replacements for these.
And a few less-important things that I can either do without or still need to find replacements for:
My auto mileage/service tracking app - if there's something comparable to aCar then I haven't seen it yet.
OpenVPN, though the VPN service I use allows IPSEC as well so I'll need to set that up.
Lyft, though I've not actually needed to use it. I know Uber's on there, I just like what I know of Lyft better (and there's one area where my wife may need it that's on the edge of the areas for both but Lyft covers it and Uber doesn't).
KeePass - I believe I saw one implementation in the Store, but I'd want to check into the background of it given the number of scam apps I've come across.
@fencepost: Good list of stuff, there. I don't really have a good solution to much of it - I mean, Microsoft has alternatives to a lot of Google's stuff, but they are mutually incompatible so everybody you hang out with would need to switch too - but those are some good problems to list. The problem with WiFi calling is probably a T-Mobile bug, sadly; I don't have it myself but WiFi Calling on WP8.x isn't really as good as it could be. My biggest personal complaint with WiFi is that the OS is too damn desperate to stay on (unusably weak) WiFi signals even when it has cellular data; if I'm actively using my phone when I leave the apartment (for example, checking a bus schedule) it's faster to manually disable WiFi than to rely on the phone to notice that the WiFi signal is much too weak to use and fail over to cellular. Ideally I'd be able to tell the phone to use cellular by *default* and only use WiFi for stuff that it can't get ont he WAN (LAN servers, etc.), but the OS wasn't really designed to provide an optimal experience for people with unlimited data plans.
The custom keyboard thing may be fixable soon - at least, I really hope so - but for now it is indeed a problem. WP8.1 has the best *built-in* keyboard of the three leading mobile OSes, IMO, but it's not better than all the Android options.
As for a text editor, I generally avoid writing anything longer than notes or minor document edits (or emails, but usually only plain text) on the phone, so I haven't really looked. You might be able to use SSH or Remote Desktop, though; there's a number of decent apps for each (including a MS-authored one for RDP) and with unlimited data they should work. You may even find them more useful than a local editor. It might be worth setting up a Remote App server (so you'd *just* get an editor, rather than a whole desktop) for this.
OpenVPN *should* be possible to port, but it needs a driver (TUN/TAP) and MS would need to approve or provide that even more than they would need to approve a new VPN app (which I think requires a capability not normally available to third-party devs). I'm tempted to say that they really *should* allow it, but I'm also painfully aware that OpenVPN on Windows (and, possibly, other platforms) is sort of crap. I can usually beat it into submission on a machine where I have admin, but on a phone it could simply just sit there being unusable until the phone gets rebooted or something.
WP8 in general seems to have a lower risk of scam apps than Android, but it's definitely a good idea to look into any password keeper utility's trustworthiness.
EDIT: As for browsers, as far as I know there's not actually any rule against third-party browsers. Opera Mini does exist for WP8, which is cool, but so far as I know nobody has ported a Gecko or WebKit/Blink-based browser. Ideally, somebody should fix this, although getting them to work within WP8's application model might mean rebuilding a lot of the browser as well as just porting the rendering engine.
Metalbuddhist said:
Where are these claims about Android apps to WP coming from? Isn't it still a rumour?
I can't seem to find any official substanciated news about this...
As I understand it MS currently have two problems regarding the app-gap;
1) if they open WP to Play-apps, then they risk losing interest from dev's to continue making apps specifically to WP, making WP more or less another version of Android.
2) making dev's keen on making apps for a third platform, which isn't futureproof yet (even tho it's been around for long enough). This "solution" will make WP it's own and keep MS in the mobilemarket as an real and actual alternative to the established platforms.
What is sure and what are rumours?
M
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read an article on Flipboard some while ago that MS had ditched it because of Lack of security in Open-source and it wouldnt work directly from the file system.. only if they sideloaded Android apps. Why do we want android apps anyway.. It removes the love of WP. MS need to invest more money in their WP store to entice new devs.
Let ms make a toolkit for the android devs
A toolkit to one click port it to MS ecosystem
Then the threshold to port it would be lower and a real mony maker for the devs
Sent from my C6603 using XDA Free mobile app
NightOrchid said:
I read an article on Flipboard some while ago that MS had ditched it because of Lack of security in Open-source and it wouldnt work directly from the file system.. only if they sideloaded Android apps. Why do we want android apps anyway.. It removes the love of WP. MS need to invest more money in their WP store to entice new devs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't want Android apps as such, but Android and IOS devs in the wp game.
I've had a lot of Apple and Andy devices the last eight years and have grown to like the variety of developers and want they put out for us.
WP is a good ecosystem, but the app gap is way bigger than I expected. There are just to many everyday apps I had on my other phones, which I cannot get in WP (yet).
I feel like I've walked into a grossery store and most of the shelfes are empty... I have to buy my oj and milk in another store, simply because MS can't get those dev's on board.
...And that's just a crying shame.
The 640 has a baked in WiFi calling feature rather than a separate app like almost every other Lumia device. I think it may be the only Lumia to have Wi-Fi calling baked into the SIM settings rather than running as a separate app.
Be careful if you are using any Google apps with it - Google is scared of Windows phone and they are doing everything they can to prevent app development. Any app they have taken over will never see another Windows phone release, and they are kind of crazy about it. For example Microsoft made their own YouTube app because Google wouldn't ,Google forced them to take it down. Now the YouTube app on the WP is just a link to YouTube - not because no one wants to make one for WP, but because Google won't let anyone make one.
---------- Post added at 08:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:32 PM ----------
I should add though - I have the 640 and it's awesome, extremely fast, well built, solid screen, expandable SD card slot, decent cameras for a phone and an ok flash. It's also neat the way the apps tie together with your windows 10 computer
NightOrchid said:
I read an article on Flipboard some while ago that MS had ditched it because of Lack of security in Open-source and it wouldnt work directly from the file system.. only if they sideloaded Android apps. Why do we want android apps anyway.. It removes the love of WP. MS need to invest more money in their WP store to entice new devs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried both Windows as well as Android Phone but everyone will agree that Android is anytime the best coz of features or benefits it has to offer. I used to be a Windows Mobile fan but now I love Android.
I would not switch to Windows again for now atleast
Hello,
I switched from Lumia 920 to Nokia 8 about a month ago. But it often freezes and hangs and apps crash (Chrome, Camera, System UI). It's my first Android device after years of Windows Phones and I don't know if this is an expected behavior of Android. Is it?
Could this be a faulty device? Or maybe app incompatibilities? I use the Microsoft Launcher and TrueCaller and it happens quite often that Chrome crashes when I open TrueCaller (although I don't even use Chrome).
And I don't like the camera. I always liked taking pictures, but with this camera it is so annoying. The app often freezes the phone for minutes and is laggy overall. I tried OpenCamera and the Google Pixel Camera app and although they are better, they still lag or crash sometimes. And it takes very long to take a photo compared to all my previous devices (Lumia 920, Lumia 925, Lumia 950), even with HDR turned off.
I mean, I really like the hardware of the device and there is much to like about Android, but I really hate the inconsistent performance and lagginess of the software and since there is no soft reset key combo (at least I couldn't find one) like on Windows Phones I don't have as much trust in it than I had with my old phones and can't do anything, when the phone freezes.
Any tips for me to get a better experience or something?
I didn't have any freezes or crashes so I would try factory reset and if didn't help then RMA the phone.
As for the camera - lag in other apps maybe cause by above problems (Nokia's app is laggy even on my device so it's normal in this case).
mKay00 said:
Hello,
I switched from Lumia 920 to Nokia 8 about a month ago. But it often freezes and hangs and apps crash (Chrome, Camera, System UI). It's my first Android device after years of Windows Phones and I don't know if this is an expected behavior of Android. Is it?
Could this be a faulty device? Or maybe app incompatibilities? I use the Microsoft Launcher and TrueCaller and it happens quite often that Chrome crashes when I open TrueCaller (although I don't even use Chrome).
And I don't like the camera. I always liked taking pictures, but with this camera it is so annoying. The app often freezes the phone for minutes and is laggy overall. I tried OpenCamera and the Google Pixel Camera app and although they are better, they still lag or crash sometimes. And it takes very long to take a photo compared to all my previous devices (Lumia 920, Lumia 925, Lumia 950), even with HDR turned off.
I mean, I really like the hardware of the device and there is much to like about Android, but I really hate the inconsistent performance and lagginess of the software and since there is no soft reset key combo (at least I couldn't find one) like on Windows Phones I don't have as much trust in it than I had with my old phones and can't do anything, when the phone freezes.
Any tips for me to get a better experience or something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found one version of Pixel Camera app caused lots of issues with my camera crashing and hanging so switched to a different version which was fine.
I had the system ui crashes a lot recently using Nova launcher so unistalled it last week so used standard launcher and then MS Launcher and Action launcher and no issues since, I think it was a problem somehow with Nova so I will try that again soon - my point is the launcher could be causing some issues so install it and test with standard launcher for a few days to make sure the phone is performing as it should or if the launcher is making the problems due to somethng strange going on.
I tried uninstalling some apps now and it seems that the performance has improved. But I want to test a little longer and then I install again to see which app makes problems. I uninstalled "Microsoft Launcher", "ESET Security", "VLC" and "ES File Explorer File Manager", btw.
And I am playing around with Tasker to make little changes, like turning off the sound it makes when I plug in the charger or that a caller will be announced via Text-to-Speech or that the screen wakes up when I get a new notification.
I am quite sure that I found the reason for the laggy experience. It seems that the Microsoft Outlook Calendar widget makes problems when pinned to the homescreen, even on the default launcher. As soon as I add the widget, it starts to lag and as soon as I remove it, it works again - even on Microsoft Launcher. Although it seems that either Oreo 8.1 or the latest update for Microsoft Outlook resolved the issue. At least there where no problems the whole day today with the widget on my homescreen.
I thought I let you know if anybody else has this problem. Now I start to really like the phone, especially with Oreo 8.1. I really hope HMD can fix the default camera app in the near future, which is the only problem left. And more settings for the Glance screen would be nice as well, so that I can keep it always on and have the option to see if there are new WhatsApp messages.
Truecaller has a problem on Android 8 where chrome crashes when it's launched, it's not just Nokia.
mKay00 said:
I am quite sure that I found the reason for the laggy experience. It seems that the Microsoft Outlook Calendar widget makes problems when pinned to the homescreen, even on the default launcher. As soon as I add the widget, it starts to lag and as soon as I remove it, it works again - even on Microsoft Launcher. Although it seems that either Oreo 8.1 or the latest update for Microsoft Outlook resolved the issue. At least there where no problems the whole day today with the widget on my homescreen.
I thought I let you know if anybody else has this problem. Now I start to really like the phone, especially with Oreo 8.1. I really hope HMD can fix the default camera app in the near future, which is the only problem left. And more settings for the Glance screen would be nice as well, so that I can keep it always on and have the option to see if there are new WhatsApp messages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange for me I had zero issues with MS Launcher, it was the fastest and most reliable.
For a few days I had Nine calendar, Outlook calendar and normal calendar widgets on home screens at the same time as I was trying to test which one I like more and I had no slow down.
Nova is working great for me on 8.1 also - after I did a brand new setup from scratch.
I found some issues with Action Launcher - not for speed but every so often the side swipe screens caused issues.
Default launcher is very fast but I just don't like it - no customisation or icon pack support,
BleedBlue said:
Truecaller has a problem on Android 8 where chrome crashes when it's launched, it's not just Nokia.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The latest update of TrueCaller has fixed this issue.
shaunydub said:
Strange for me I had zero issues with MS Launcher, it was the fastest and most reliable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have now zero issues as well and I am happy about my phone now. Although pinning the calendar widget of Outlook to my homescreen still makes my phone laggy. I don't know why, but I use now the calendar widget of MS Launcher which doesn't make any problems.