Database Develop

Babble

I downloaded Babble, a free app which resembled the facebook app which i saw in development which looked very promising, good UI, not great, could be punched up a little bit, i think it might be a beta though. I didnt see a fb chat portion of the program or the ability to view pictures, but hopefully on a final version there should be something

Hi,
I'm the developer of Babble. The application is very beta right now, I just wanted to hear some input from people who download this first version. More features will be included once I am sure they work as expected.
The ability to view photos is actually present in the version on the market. Just long press on a wall post and under the person's name you have the option to view albums or view photos of that person.
One thing that's coming soon is notifications - new messages, new pokes, new friend requests, replies to your comments etc. Also coming some time later: tagging photos, uploading photos to albums other than the default one, creating and viewing events and groups. I'm also working on optimising the wall to be a bit faster, but it's not easy with all the photos in there.
Chat cannot be included in this application, unfortunately, at least until Facebook releases an open API for that.
What makes Babble different from the other Android Facebook apps out there is that it uses the official Facebook APIs and abides by the Facebook Terms and Conditions for application developers. This means that my app never gets to see your login and password - hence the difficult login mechanism on first install. Sorry guys, that's how facebook wants it, I can't and won't make any hacks to bypass it, I want the app to make it to Facebook Application Directory one day so I have to play by the rules.
I hope I'll be able to deliver the best Facebook mobile experience to everyone, just give the app some time to mature But I think it's even useable as it is right now!

It's working pretty well right now for beta, what I noticed straight away was it took awhile to post a status change on facebook its self after posting on the phone. Also it's hard to tell if it actually posted or not from the phone. It could be a bit more UI friendly but for the most part for beta its running well. Can't wait to see where this app goes.

The posting is a bit slow, but honestly I can live eith it.
One request. Please make notifications opitional. I really dont need my email and this app going bonkers on a reply. My wifes phone goes off all day and honestly its kind of annoying. I dont personally need notications, but i tolerate the email ones.

You can turn all the email ones off in the settings of facebook thats what I do

Thanks for the app, its already a good app in its beta state! I'm looking forward to the faster wall.
thanks again

Anyone else have the issue when they click "see all friends" it just loads and loads?

See all friends is a bit slow to load right now, that will be taken care of soon.
By the way, since this is XDA-dev I imagine lots of you have access to logcat, so if the application ever crashes on you with a Force Close (which it doesn't ever do when I'm using it, but who knows...) please paste the error trace here. thanks !

Its really simple right now, but its great at what it does have. Great to get status updates and all the replies to them.

Nice app. I can't wait to see where you take this!
Ps. to the guy talking about the friends never loading, my loaded just fine even over an edge network.

For now this is excellent, great job avesik.

are Babble and FBabble the same thing?

fbabble has chat.

To be precise: fbabble is only facebook chat,
babble is (will be) everything else but chat

Thanks. Using Babble, don't need chat. I have AIM for that
Looking good so far. We need a good facebook app that doesn't just wrap the mobile facebook

the app is quite good actually but its a bit slow (while loading) hope that it could speed up abit

good job man, i love the app, i just havent sat down to go through the program, wouldve done it yesterday, but i had to perform major surgery on my xbox 360, had to fix my RROD, but overall its great. It would be pretty sweet if chat could be integrated, im using fbabble, but its got some bugs to be worked out, and facebook chat just seems to be the redheaded stepchild of chat programs

A new version is out, no new features this time, but thanks to some optimizations it should run faster and take up less memory!

I ll be be glad if the next version has notifications

damn admob, i really hate that stuff >.<
good app otherwise

twydroyd vs tweetcaster vs. touteir vs. twitter for android

ok so this might be the wrong thread and if so the mods will move it but my question is what do the nexus one users or even the android users think is the best twitter app? i used to use twidroid and it was great but i havent used it since the switch to "twydroid" and used tweetcaster as well for not very long. i used touteir probably the longest and then switched to the official twitter for android. so i wanted to know what people like the best and for what reasons so the people who are confused as me can choose easier. thanks

It would help if you spelled "twidroyd" right.

I'm not really active twitter user but its great to read the latest news.
I used seesmic, touiteur, tweetcaster, twitter but i'm using touiteur(paid for more accounts) and that was the one i liked. It looks really slick and it works as it's supposed. the notification is also different and nice.

The only thing I loved about touteir was that you can change the colors of it.

I only use touituer as it looks the nicest UI, and I also use the official Twitter app for its system notifications and its integration into contacts app and the OS.

Twigee is the best twitter app for me.

Twicca for me

I like Seesmic because it has a widget that's dark (I like dark themed widgets).
As for the application, they're all pretty much the same and I've used seesmic, twidroid, tweetcaster, twicca and twitter for android.
Twicca is nice but the widget doesn't show tweet previews. If it did I'd probably switch from Seesmic.

+1 for Twicca. I've tried most of them, and found this one the best. It has a great UI IMHO.
Only thing missing for me is multiple accounts. Certainly worth trying out nonetheless.

Good recent comparison here

I'd say Twitter for Android is the most stable, since Seesmic crashed on me when it was doing a couple of things at once, i.e. geotagging my post and uploading a picture.
Haven't used Tweetcaster though.
Sent from my Nexus One

i LOVE tweetcaster and Touteir. these are the two apps i use the most! its hard for me to choose which one to use so since i bought both, i find myself switching between apps every so often. i uninstall one n install the other. or ill just have them both on

Still looking for a new twitter app
For the longest time I just used SMS (on WinMo), then when I moved to android, I used SMS and Peep since it came bundled with my EVO. Well, I started really using twitter, so now I follow tons of people/bloggers/news. i set up lists to differentiate the streams. Way back int he day I had a desktop app that let me separate/make lists to keep streams separate. Is there something like that on android? I was thinking that swipe left or right could go through the different lists I have made, but I haven't come across an app that claims to do anything with lists. Currently I am testing out twitdroyd as well as Peep, but it doesn't seem that it doesn't anything substantially different. I know it has a pro version, and if it does what I want I wouldn't mind buying it, but it just has a vague "list management" feature, and the free version is "list viewing". List viewing is not as integrated as I would hope.
Any ideas or recommendations?

one thing twitter for android has thats awesome. the twitpics show on your profile instead of having to click the link.

I like Seesmic since I have to use two accounts so for multiple accounts I would choose Seesmic.
If you only need one account then I would say probably the official Twitter client.
Twicca is quite nice as well. Refer to the link to help you decide that was posted earlier. A good comparison by Engadget.

ColorNote

Hi,
Am pretty new to Android and came across this really nice App/Widget called ColorNote. An all in one package that has a lot of features and comes in a reasonably sized package.
I'm sure many of you are already using this. The reason for the post however is not to promote this, but to ask if anyone either knows of a way to contact the author or know of an alternative to this.
What I need is an app with all the features of the above, but with a widget that is NOT a sticky post, but with something like a flip pad. That is the widget shows page 1 of the notes and then I either click an up/ down arrow to move between pages or click on the tip of a page to move between them as in the app here -> http://www.appbrain.com/app/simple-notes/hu.monsta.simplenotes
Can someone help me?
Thanks

Evernote is one of the best note taking apps. You can do voice notes, text notes and pictures. Web, desktop and phone apps. My only real complaint is that you can't write checkable lists on the phone app, but they are adding new stuff all the time. Oh and it doesn't have a widget, but you should still check it out.

springpad is also pretty good.. has awidget where you can scrol through different notes...

I use colornote for checklists. I like it. Its very clean and easy to use.

I have been trying to embrace the cloud using Springpad on my phone, CR-48 (meetings/note taking computer at work), my W7 work desktop and my Macbook Pro personal laptop. It's been working out well so far.

Colornote is nice for taking quick notes, like during a meeting or something.
For everything else, I also use Springpad. In the past I've gone through Catch (formerly 3banana) and Evernote both but I feel that Springpad is superior to all of them.

Just to add an extra choice, I've been liking Simplenote
Andronoter is a free Android client of it, www.simplenoteapp.com is the web interface.

Any app that can log all phone activity?

Ok long story short having trouble with one of my kids, I have an app (couple tracker) installed that allows me to see location, sms, and Facebook messages, but what I need is and app that can basically log all activities that I can install and hopefully password protect. I'm mainly looking to see what all email addresses get logged into via apps and Web browsers. And would also like to know what websites my kids been visiting. App does not have to be hidden but needs to be to where I can install it and it can't be tampered with.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

msd24200 said:
Ok long story short having trouble with one of my kids, I have an app (couple tracker) installed that allows me to see location, sms, and Facebook messages, but what I need is and app that can basically log all activities that I can install and hopefully password protect. I'm mainly looking to see what all email addresses get logged into via apps and Web browsers. And would also like to know what websites my kids been visiting. App does not have to be hidden but needs to be to where I can install it and it can't be tampered with.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get them a flip phone

msd24200 said:
Ok long story short having trouble with one of my kids, I have an app (couple tracker) installed that allows me to see location, sms, and Facebook messages, but what I need is and app that can basically log all activities that I can install and hopefully password protect. I'm mainly looking to see what all email addresses get logged into via apps and Web browsers. And would also like to know what websites my kids been visiting. App does not have to be hidden but needs to be to where I can install it and it can't be tampered with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well first off, there is no such thing as installing something that is beyond tampering. Especially not with a Nexus -- these things are DESIGNED FOR tampering.
At the moment, I'm not aware of any system developed in this manner to offer the type of monitoring that you are proposing.
One of the big issues with this, is that in order for it to work in a user friendly manner, it would actually require that EVERY application be modified to cooperate with it.
Otherwise, you're stuck basically with remote access and digging through system logs and application databases manually.
It is also worth noting that certain applications like the web browsers actually have privacy modes (some people call them "porn" mode) where they won't actually log activities.
The reason why sms can be relayed using the program you found, is that the sms database is system-level, not application-level. It is designed so that you can choose your own sms front-end, while leaving the complex telephony software at the root of it, all alone.
By the sounds of things, the problem you are having with your kid is beyond what you can deal with by adding controls and monitors to his/her phone. Since the kid knows you are watching, they WILL find alternative means of making those communications that you clearly don't want happening -- the ones you are watching for. You are going to have to find a better way to deal with this.

You want a keylogger, I've never used one on Android but a quick search popped this up http://www.vagueware.com/keylogger-software-for-android-phones/
Not sure if any work, search around for keylogger and find out you feel comfortable to try on your phone. Good luck

The Experiment: Android without Google

Hey folks,
after reading the Article on xda about using Android without google, i instantly fell in Love with the idea. I decided yesterday, that i'll take the plunge and give it a try.
First off, why?
For me, there are a couple of reasons. First of, i generally think, the less a company like google knows about me, the better. So keeping the Data on my phone away from google might help with that. If this experiment goes well i might stop using Google for Calendar and Contacts.
Second reason for me is Battery. The Google Framework and Play Services are always on the Top of my list of Battery consumption. I'd like to see how leaving these away might improve Battery life.
And third, i'm curious if it's possible. The reason i'm on xda is because i'm a tinkerer. So pushing the boundaries and trying new things is what i really like about Android. You have the choice to do whatever you want with your phone.
So, how do i go about it? Well, a bit of pre work needs to be done. First of, you might need a google Account to set things up. WhatsApp or Outlook are simply only available from the official Playstore. Since i start with my daily driver, all was set up already.
I use the 5.0.1 Variant of Nameless Rom. Debloated, Nova Launcher, rooted and stock apart from that. I might go CM later on, but i always find CM draining the Battery more then Stock Roms. We'll see.
What am i going to use instead of all the nice google things?
Play Store: F-Droid
I'll give F-Droid a try. it's obtainable as an apk, so if you only need apps that are available there, you won't need google at all. The Interface and search is not as nice as the Play Store, but the selection is really good, Installation of apps is hassle free (no manually downloading apks and installing them by hand) and it does check for updates daily.
Gmail:
I already moved away from gmail to outlook.com a few months ago. Not because MS is better in keeping your data private (actually they might be as they make money through selling software, not your data) but because i wanted to spread my info. Mail on outlook, contacts on google, Calendar on Strato... The Outlook app was already installed and set up, so no work to be done here.
Contacts:
Here it's getting a bit tricky. Google doesn't want you to move your contacts away form them. So there is no way to directly sync your google Contacts to your phone. As soon as you deactivate the play services, all you contacts will be gone.
For me, i used the Web Version of Google Contacts, exported them all to vcf and imported them to my phones storage. I'm not going to set up a personal sync for now. I'm fine with my contacts on my Phone only for now. I might end up going the OwnCloud route later on, but don't find it necessary currently.
Calendar:
my Calendar is already done through outlook and start (my webhoster). I installed Etar from F-Droid (a open source variant of googles calendar app). All my Calendars were already in on first launch (imported from the phones Accounts). No hassle, everything looks as always.
Chrome:
I've never been happy with chrome anyways. Loading pages is slow, scrolling is nowhere near smooth. I currently compare Firefox and Fenec. Both from F-Droid. Firefox will be discontinued on F-Droid soon as they implemented none OS proprietary add ons. Fenec is a OS alternative to Firefox compiled from Source without Proprietary add ons. Both work well but Fenec is a bit unstable as a daily driver for most people.
Camera is Focal now. Apart from being OS it's also much more capable than samsung camera. Plus easier to use. Whats not to like here?
After setting everything up, i went into the settings and disabled most google stuff (Play Store, Play Services, Calendar, Mail, Chrome). I'm still trying to find out what other Google Services i may disable without braking android. I'll keep this updated here.
I'm not completely done yet. I still use apps that are only available through the Playstore. Maybe you know alternatives, that i should check out:
WhatsApp. I don't see an alternative here. Moving to another service is not really an option. I tried Telegram and liked it, but a nice app is nothing when nobody uses it...
Ebay and Amazon. Both have a good mobile website which should work. But a standalone App is much easier and convenient to use.
Nova Launcher. It's simply the best. I haven't found a OS alternative that has anywhere near the features.
Tapatalk. Again, one App all Forums on hand. Simply the best app for that. Any XDA compatible OS alternatives to it?
Outlook. A OS mail client which supports Outlook, Material Design and is easy to use? I've yet to come up with one...
Over all, the switch went really smooth. After getting F-Droid as a Playstore alternative i was able to do all this in 1 hour. I'll have to see how Batterylife works out. I feel it's better, but the numbers will tell after some days of use. I feel really good to have found a way around google so far. It's nice to rethink things you've been using for years. Even if you're not opting out of google completely, there might be a alternative to something you use, that you'd otherwise never consider.
Let me know what you think. You're alternatives to some proprietary apps. How do you feel about google being in all the parts of your mobile life? Is Android without google something you'd consider?
For further reading, here are the XDA Articles, that inspired me to start this journey:
Setting up Marshmallow without Google
The "Say Sayonara to Google" Series
Have a nice start into the week.

I'll keep my replacement Apps in this Post for Tracking what i've used and what my Pros and Cons are over time.
PlayStore: F-Droid
F-Droid is THE FOSS Android community. A good selection of Apps, easy install and Updates plus a community thats interested in whats happening behind the scenes of apps. Firefox for example will soon not be supported anymore because they now are using proprietary none FOSS compatible sources. For most, this attempt might not be the easy one (they never claim to want to go the easy route), but it sure is the most straight ahead if you want Open Source Apps that are tracked for what they do on your phone.
Outlook: K-9
I replaced Outlook with K-9 for now. It's not as polished or easy to use, but it works, is OS and Outlook was constantly connected without me being able to change that. I only need sync every 30 minutes and outlook doesn't have a setting for that. Lets see how K-9 works out, stability and battery wise...
Google Maps: OsmAnd
OsmAnd seems to be the alternative here. As a plus it allows offline sync of Maps. The Interface is nowhere near as intuitive as GMaps, i've found no traffic information until now and entering a address is a hassle. The Search feature and easy Adress Input has always been a strong point for GMaps. We'll see how the turn-by-turn Navigation Turns out. Also OsmAnd works with plugins, so maybe i'm missing some features here and there.
Facebook: Tinfoil
Tinfoil for Facebook seems to be the App of Choice. In the end it's the Mobile website displayed in an "App". On the Plus site, you don't need that horrifically annoying Messenger. Facebook chat just works from the App, which is great. Sadly, since its a webpage, Notifications are none existant. Since i'm debating leaving Facebook completely anyways it's not a problem for me. Less distraction during the day, which is always welcome nowadays...
Deezer: Tomahawk
When I thought about replacing my Deezer app I did not have high hopes since most streaming services use proprietary api's. I was impressed to find not only a Deezer alternative that's open source, but tomahawk does much more. It combines most streaming services plus some other online music services plus your local music.
One downside for me: you are not able to save Deezer music offline. Tomahawk itself is completely open source. If the Deezer plug in is OS as well I couldn't find out for sure...
Titanium Backup: Oandbackup
Oandbackup works much the same way Titanium does, but with some less options. If you want just a good Backup App, i prefer Oandbackup since it's much less cluttered and options are easier to find. It served me well when i last switched from TW to CM.

I didn't read your what i can only call a thesis on Ungooglying Android write-up, it's an effort that I implore and admire your courage. I too worry about the data that google has monopolised on, it's time we broke this and find alternative ways. I salute you sir in your endeavours.
I will drop by time to time to see how you're prodding along.
Regards
F
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I backp all my contacts using outlook. I still use playstore. I have also disabled as much of Samsung as I can, and im sure there is more I could disable of both. I want my phone set up the way I want it set up, not with what google and samsung say I should. Also use Nova
Sent from my SM-P900 using XDA Free mobile app

I added Tomahawk as a Deezer/Spotify OS alternative In Post #2
Gesendet von meinem SM-N910F mit Tapatalk

I've yet to find a good alternative to the play store personally.
I don't use google services on my Note 4. I use Here Maps and disabled Google Maps, I use Nine for Email, I've disabled contacts and calendar sync, I've disabled every google program like books, games, gmail (I have a google account linked to a generic outlook addy for G services), music, hangouts, G+, etc. I keep my contacts backed up on my own personal .com server via exchange along with the calendar. I also like the Samsung browser, so Chrome is disabled as well. Don't use Now, have all the google account settings set to not target me for advertising, not keep track of location, etc... All the regular privacy concerns taken care of there.
My battery life is about a !% loss every two hours in standby. I wish I could get it better. My old GSIII would lose 1% over an 8 hour time frame at night while I was asleep. The Note 4 loses about 4%.
Oddly, no matter how much I restrict my access to google services, the people section of the play store still links me to a ton of people I know. Some that I have not had contact with since High School. Very strange. The only thing I can think is people I do know have me in their contacts so it assumes I know these people correctly. The phone is obviously reading my phone number without me entering it into my google account. :shrug:
I look forward to reading how it goes for you. (I broke down and signed up for Google Music the other day out of curiosity, but I'll get some of my anonymity back when I cancel my google account and create a new one.)

Alright,
some Updates:
I switched to the official CM12 build yesterday. It seems to run fairly well. My Radio was not able to register in the Network once, but activating and deactivating flight mode fixed that. Reception seems to be better than on TW rom. Concerning Battery i see no major difference for now.
CM is Open Source. I'm not 100% sure that every preinstalled app is 100% open source. During the Weekend i'll review the code and do a build on my own, just to be sure. Also, theres a pure AOSP build coming, which i'll be testing.
This time i didn't even Install Gapps. I did not log in to cm accounts or anything. I installed F-Droid from my SD Card and went from there. One thing i'll have to keep in mind, is, that factory reset means loosing my contacts, so i'll have to do a backup the next time.
Also i switched from Titanium to Oandbackup. I works much the same way and served me well during the switch from TW to CM. For me the relevant options are much easier to find (Safe Backups to external SD...).
Since Battery endurance is one of my concerns, i do some changes to improve that:
- Since the N4 has an AMOLED Display, using Black Background and Dark Apps helps quite a bit. I'm using Dark Material Beta through CM Theme Engine. Its Black (i like solid Black, not Gray or something like that) and white and does theme quite a lot of Apps (WhatsApp as an important one).
- I deactivated AudioFX, All Live Backgrounds, Stock Browser, CM-Backgrounds, Calendar and NFC Tags
- for cLock (Lockscreen Clock) i deleted all permissions to access location and Data. It's been trying to update weather all the time, which you can't seem to disable
I'd really like a simple white Icon theme, but getting most themes for CM depends on the Play Store. There are not many good themes that are available outside of the Playstore... Any help here is appreciated :good:

bbeelzebub said:
...My battery life is about a !% loss every two hours in standby. I wish I could get it better. My old GSIII would lose 1% over an 8 hour time frame at night while I was asleep. The Note 4 loses about 4%...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Over the last night i lost 2% over 7.5 hours. With 4G, WiFi, BT, Mail Sync (once per hour). Quite good, but i think theres a bit in it. K-9 (Mail) and Whatsapp keep the Mobile Network active. K-9 does so relatively long although i should only Sync once per hour. I'll configure some kind of "Whatsapp do not disturde" over night, this should bring down Standby draw a bit...

domsch1988 said:
Over the last night i lost 2% over 7.5 hours. With 4G, WiFi, BT, Mail Sync (once per hour). Quite good, but i think theres a bit in it. K-9 (Mail) and Whatsapp keep the Mobile Network active. K-9 does so relatively long although i should only Sync once per hour. I'll configure some kind of "Whatsapp do not disturde" over night, this should bring down Standby draw a bit...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I leave 4G, WiFi, BT and Mail on all the time as well. It doesn't make any difference when I turn them off that I've noticed. I use ActiveSync for my email / calendars / contacts and it really is no difference from when I used to use google for the calendar / contacts and a pop 3 account. As long as I don't use the stock email app which kills the battery on exchange or Activesync.
There are a few Samsung apps that I can't disable that I would like to. (I'm on a non rootable US model), I think I'll take the time tomorrow and see if I can use debloater to shut them down. Now that I think about it, there were less Samsung things running all the time on my old phone and I'm sure that makes a slight difference.

You can download Whats App from their site without going through Google since its attached to your phone number.
https://www.whatsapp.com/android/

...There is no way Focal is more capable than the Samsung Camera app. How do you figure this?

jetbruceli said:
You can download Whats App from their site without going through Google since its attached to your phone number.
https://www.whatsapp.com/android/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wouldn't use whatsapp at all considering they are owned by facebook and every message you send is being tracked. Telegram is the better option.

Toss3 said:
Wouldn't use whatsapp at all considering they are owned by facebook and every message you send is being tracked. Telegram is the better option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is the dumbest reason to not use Whats App. It was bought to protect FB from losing ground. Telegram has all your messages on a server to where as Whats app is peer to peer. There is no reason to worry about big Facebook looking at your every message. Also, i would rather have FB, Google or MS looking at my stuff than some unknown company.
---------- Post added at 10:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:09 AM ----------
freeza said:
...There is no way Focal is more capable than the Samsung Camera app. How do you figure this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont get that either, also stock camera doenst need google play services to be used.

jetbruceli said:
That is the dumbest reason to not use Whats App. It was bought to protect FB from losing ground. Telegram has all your messages on a server to where as Whats app is peer to peer. There is no reason to worry about big Facebook looking at your every message. Also, i would rather have FB, Google or MS looking at my stuff than some unknown company.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Telegram does not save your messages on a server when you use private chats. They are also encrypted.
Oh and: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/whatsapp-ranked-worst-for-users-data-privacy-in-internet-snooping-report-10328539.html http://time.com/3928503/whatsapp-privacy-watchdog/
This shows how "secure" WhatsApp really is: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33152898

Toss3 said:
Telegram does not save your messages on a server when you use private chats. They are also encrypted.
Oh and: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/whatsapp-ranked-worst-for-users-data-privacy-in-internet-snooping-report-10328539.html http://time.com/3928503/whatsapp-privacy-watchdog/
This shows how "secure" WhatsApp really is: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33152898
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sure there are security holes in everything we use but it doesnt change the fact that Whats App is better for most people. This isnt a whats app vs telegram thread and also, I am not sure if you can install telegram on its own without google or other app stores like you can with whats app