app discovery - Xperia Z Themes and Apps

I was just thinking the other day about how many apps there are in the PlayStore. Its very hard to find neat apps or even great apps that aren't in the top one hundred. I decided to start a thread and see if the community would throw in there two cents about great or intriguing apps that aren't all that well know. I
think it could be great to get the word out about such apps and perhaps improve functionality of out phones. I won't post a limit of how many downloads an app has but rather its greatness. I don't think we need to include top 100 apps since they are already quite visible. I will do my best to keep the OP updated with the best apps that are suggested so we don't have to always sift through the pages.
I'll start things off
Mighty Text
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.texty.sms
Great app to send and receive sms from your desktop works great with chrome extension
Screeble
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.keyes.screebl.lite
I like it stops my screen from turning off when reading helps me save battery as well.
NFC Task Launcer
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jwsoft.nfcactionlauncher
Probably well know around here but essential for nfc tags
Camera 2
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dama.camera2
Real time effects I enjoy this one

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Related

Most useful task killer app?

Pretty self explanatory title.
If one were looking for the best of the task killer type apps, who's the best? This includes the paid apps (because a buck or two really isn't "paid" in my opinion).
BTW, I hate the search feature of the market. Google (the king of searching) makes a kick ass OS and then completely fails to remember to put their search engine into the market. WTF?
i have used advanced task manager for a few months and it works great for me. though i haven't tried any of the other ones such as task killer, so you might want to wait until you see what someone who has used more has to say.
IMO TasKiller works great. Unless you need to ignore more than 2 apps not to close the free version does everything for you. I personally prefer TasKiller over Advanced Task Manager since it seems lighter to me. My vote is for the free version of TasKiller
I love the task killer in dxTop - plus you get a great launcher.
I've tried TasKiller, Advanced Task Killer and TaskPanel. I'm not impressed by any of them, primarily in that none of them come up with the same list of apps running in the background. I've run one after another (without actually killing any tasks) and have not seen the same list in each one.
Shouldn't this be in the application forum?
Why? It's a question that needs an answer hence Q&A.
dkb218 said:
Why? It's a question that needs an answer hence Q&A.
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Click to collapse
Thats what I figured.
Gilliland12 said:
BTW, I hate the search feature of the market. Google (the king of searching) makes a kick ass OS and then completely fails to remember to put their search engine into the market. WTF?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I completely agree; the market search is tedious. I found androlib.com, and so I search and browse there and use barcode scanner to pick up the QR Code on the phone. You can also subscribe to RSS feeds to see the new stuff as it's being posted.
I'm using ATK and have noticed a big difference in my battery life span. However I am having a problem with apps launching by themselves. Every bootup I check ATK and see at least a dozen apps running so I close them; but even if I don't use any apps I check the list again hours later and see many apps running again by themselves. WTF is going on with my system? My battery just died in 1 hour because I didn't use ATK to close the auto launched apps. Anyone have any idea of what could be the problem here?
D
I use advance task killer seem to work well for me

Battery Monitor App, is it possible on this OS?

I had Android for a while, and I remember there was an App that broke down Battery/Cpu usage. It would even keep track of how long the screen was on, what was being used most that could potentially be using the battery more.
Ive yet to see an App like this for WP7, let alone 8. Is it even possible? Or is it just yet another thing impossible due to MS lock down on some aspects of the phone OS?
I really do like this OS, but it seems more and more, MS's lock down really hurts development, preventing Devs from really bringing out the most of the OS and prevents functions and abilities youd normally think would exist.
I can understand the want for an app like this (I had it on android myself), but since switching over to WP8 I don't see the need.
All the apps on here run very well and nothing is going crazy like it does with android. Locking down the OS is a good thing sometimes, devs have a much harder tune creating system level apps that run way out of control or have memory leaks that cause battery to run dry in an hour. The only thing I have done is gone to the background apps in settings and stopped what I didn't want running in there.
Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express
LudoGris said:
I can understand the want for an app like this (I had it on android myself), but since switching over to WP8 I don't see the need.
All the apps on here run very well and nothing is going crazy like it does with android. Locking down the OS is a good thing sometimes, devs have a much harder tune creating system level apps that run way out of control or have memory leaks that cause battery to run dry in an hour. The only thing I have done is gone to the background apps in settings and stopped what I didn't want running in there.
Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I initially thought this when I had WP7 and a Trophy. Now that I have the 920, I would love to have this. Partially just to prove out that using my phone (screen on) and games and other things just eats up the battery like crazy. Others over at WPCentral have also posted issues with the battery. Many people have in fact. It would be very useful to some of us who are experiencing issues.
I know some claim to get over a day or more use out of their 920. I, among many others, could only dream of such a thing, or perhaps achieve it if we just didnt do much with our phones.
I disagree on the lock down. While I get your point, having used Android also, I enjoyed many great apps that just wont ever be possible on WP's. No other email clients, no true 3rd party browser not built on IE, no new keyboards to name a few. Some of these apps I had used on Android really were superior to what Ive seen MS do with WP. Which is why I think sometimes 3rd party Devs or home Devs sometimes can just do things better as well as think outside the box and give us real options. You dont get real options for many thing on WP. Everyone is stuck with the same keyboard, browser, mail, messaging client, etc.
True...but remember, there was a time when nothing like that was available for Android either.
Devs have made things more than possible - granted an open system helps - but don't discount what may become available in the future.
Yes there are battery monitor apps for Windows Phone 8. Battery Level for Windows Phone 8 seems to be the most popular. The nice part is that it will autoupdate the live tile with the battery level and you can add it to the lockscreen to show it there as well. It's not quite as in depth as Android with regards to telling you what is pulling the most power but as others have mentioned on WP8 it's a slightly different mechanic than Android as the background processes are a lot more regulated with regards to how they can do that (as are the developers when making their apps). It would be kind of interesting to see something like Android's built-in battery stats but I honestly haven't really haven't had any problems (not that I was really having problems on Android either).
Battery Measure is similar, and has a free version with ads - live tile, graph over time. etc.
and can you tell us where we can get the battery monitor for th WP 8? I want one...
Battery App
inconceivable said:
Yes there are battery monitor apps for Windows Phone 8. Battery Level for Windows Phone 8 seems to be the most popular. The nice part is that it will autoupdate the live tile with the battery level and you can add it to the lockscreen to show it there as well. It's not quite as in depth as Android with regards to telling you what is pulling the most power but as others have mentioned on WP8 it's a slightly different mechanic than Android as the background processes are a lot more regulated with regards to how they can do that (as are the developers when making their apps). It would be kind of interesting to see something like Android's built-in battery stats but I honestly haven't really haven't had any problems (not that I was really having problems on Android either).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sound very good but where can I get the apps Battery Level?

any rom with the following?

I want a rom that includes the following:
1. way to clear all the recent task list with a click, like the pre lollipop stock did.
2. An intermediate option on the volume rocker between vibrate and normal volume with a "meeting mode." where the phone just rings a single beep. Similar to the old nokia phones did.
3. Tethering.
4. Stable and fast and lite.
5. Data defaults to wifi. I have issues getting the wifi webpage to sign in to hot spots unless I turn off cell data.
Anyone have any suggestions
Aosb!
deadave said:
way to clear all the recent task list with a click, like the pre lollipop stock did.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're doing this just so it looks tidy, in case you're unaware this is a bad idea if you do it regularly. Unless of course you're unhappy with how much battery lasts and want to make it last less.
Looking through a hundred open apps is a lot more of a pain than plugging my phone in to get charged. I appreciate your concern for my battery life.
Most ROMs have #1, the lightest is probably Clean ROM. They all have #3. None have #2. No ROM will do better at #5 than stock.
deadave said:
Looking through a hundred open apps is a lot more of a pain than plugging my phone in to get charged. I appreciate your concern for my battery life.
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Click to collapse
I agree that I think Google made a mistake with recents. It should just reflect cached apps. Hopefully custom ROMs will implement a modified version. But many people don't understand then associated drain caused by always clearing recents so on the off-chance that you didn't, I thought I'd let you know about it.
You never have to go more than a few apps back to find your recently cached apps so you shouldnt ever have to look through a hundred apps. They're just in the background
How do you even know it causes more drain? Have you taken multiple nexus 6 and controlled for all variables such as apps, age of device etc and compared them with statistical analysis for significance?
deadave said:
How do you even know it causes more drain? Have you taken multiple nexus 6 and controlled for all variables such as apps, age of device etc and compared them with statistical analysis for significance?
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Not sure if its an internet language barrier but your post reads as if you're being confrontational.
Its common sense. Android is designed to cache apps for quick retrieval. If you open an app cold, it uses significantly more CPU cycles to open up than a cached app. More CPU cycles = More power uses = shorter batter life. If you're constantly clearing recents and always starting your regularly used apps up from cold, you will take a battery hit. I don't need to do a statistical analysis for this fact, in the same way I don't need statistics to prove that one day, we'll be dead.
It's an assumption. I can make the same argument right back at you. Pulling up the task list and displaying 20 items and scrolling use plenty cpu cycles.
deadave said:
It's an assumption. I can make the same argument right back at you. Pulling up the task list and displaying 20 items and scrolling use plenty cpu cycles.
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Click to collapse
Actually it is not an assumption. Its a fact. And science! I can't believe you could even think it was an assumption, unless you don't understand CPU cycles, energy use or the principles of caching..
And no, the argument you're presenting does not use extra CPU cycles. I've come to the understanding that you are indeed being intentionally confrontational. I was just trying to help in case you didn't understand this concept - as a warning. To be honest I dont care if you waste CPU. I just wanted to let you know in case you were.
Let's not have this turn into you being an anti-vaccer that doesn't believe in measles.
I'm an inquisitive not confrontational, and you have not proven your point. Though if you actually worked on the android OS team I'd take your word for it. I don't take most people's words for anything. The media is full of lies, the government are all thieves and liars. Trust no one. Many published publications have been redacted and falsified.
However, suppose you are correct.
So how many items do you have on your recently used list? You don't find it the least bit inefficient searching through all the clutter on your recently used list.
-Dead
deadave said:
I'm an inquisitive not confrontational, and you have not proven your point. Though if you actually worked on the android OS team I'd take your word for it. I don't take most people's words for anything. The media is full of lies, the government are all thieves and liars. Trust no one. Many published publications have been redacted and falsified.
However, suppose you are correct.
So how many items do you have on your recently used list? You don't find it the least bit inefficient searching through all the clutter on your recently used list.
-Dead
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK if you're simply being inquisitive, then I apologise for that assumption.
Well the beauty of it is you don't need to take my word for it. You can research the subject yourself. Whether you believe me or not though, it is a fact that android caches apps and that cached apps take fewer CPU cycles to open than an uncached app. You can even find some statements from the Greenify developer stating this if you're so inclined.
As for my recent a list, I have 122 items. I only use recents to switch between open and cached apps. I'd say I probably never go more than 10 apps back in that list so anything in there over that amount is irrelevant to me. Yes it is quicker to find an app in my app drawer or from my pie / glovebox shortcuts than way back in my recents list since the recent list is only sorted in order of when I last used it. Recents is only really for quick task switching. I did already agree that anything that isn't cached is pretty pointless appearing on recents and I have no idea why they decided to design it like this but it doesn't bother me much because of the way I use recents. Also, since I would much rather use a cached app than start cold, I'd also rather not clear recents. You don't even need to use the recents interface anyway. Whether you call an app from the recents list or the drawer, if its cached, it will load it quicker and more efficiently. As long as its not cleared from recents..
I found some vague reference that if you clear an app from the recent list it doesn't even close the app process it just goes away from the list depending on the specific app.
In the end I don't really care if it uses more cpu cycles, I just want it not cluttered. I don't need to show my phone to a significant other and have them see every recent app I went to. I favor privacy and less clutter over cpu cycles. It was a mistake on google's part not to leave it up to the user.
I'm also not sure why it's such a pain in the butt to find a way to have a setting to have a single ring without it repeating. I made my own ring tone with a single beep and 30 seconds of silence but it still sucks because I can't easily switch back and forth without installing another app for profiles and such making it a lot more complicated...
deadave said:
I found some vague reference that if you clear an app from the recent list it doesn't even close the app process it just goes away from the list depending on the specific app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the app is coded against googles guidelines, that could be the case though I've never found one that does that. Its quite an easy test to do too.
Open an app that's in recents then minimise it. Clear from recents again and if it opens fresh, its working as Google intended
Anyway, you don't care and nor do I so o suppose I should let you continue with the initial purpose of the thread
im always closing/clearing my recents. whatever battery drain that it causes me is so very minimal that it really doesnt matter.
simms22 said:
im always closing/clearing my recents. whatever battery drain that it causes me is so very minimal that it really doesnt matter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The more you do it and the more you use the apps you're clearing, the worse it is. More so of you're just blanket clearing them all. Regardless of whether you perceive a difference or not, its a real thing. Efficiency, battery and performance all take a hit and that's what its there for. Oh and convenience of course. Its awful if you're in a thread on tapa talk and then check something really quick then you have to load the app up again and find the thread.
rootSU said:
The more you do it and the more you use the apps you're clearing, the worse it is. More so of you're just blanket clearing them all. Regardless of whether you perceive a difference or not, its a real thing. Efficiency, battery and performance all take a hit and that's what its there for. Oh and convenience of course. Its awful if you're in a thread on tapa talk and then check something really quick then you have to load the app up again and find the thread.
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Click to collapse
i guess my app choices are so that it doesnt bother me then. tapatalk will never live on any devices i own! but really, i dont really see any kind of hit in battery drain what so ever.
simms22 said:
i guess my app choices are so that it doesnt bother me then. tapatalk will never live on any devices i own! but really, i dont really see any kind of hit in battery drain what so ever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't use Tapatalk if the forum theme was better. I know you use an older one but on a computer the newer one is better but in a mobile browser it kills too much space.
That said when I installed Firefox, I changed the theme and it didn't change in chromium so maybe the theme is tracked in cookies? If so I'd happily change it on my phone. Though I do like the "participated" tags on the latest theme.
Sorry @deadave for the off topic.
rootSU said:
I wouldn't use Tapatalk if the forum theme was better. I know you use an older one but on a computer the newer one is better but in a mobile browser it kills too much space.
That said when I installed Firefox, I changed the theme and it didn't change in chromium so maybe the theme is tracked in cookies? If so I'd happily change it on my phone. Though I do like the "participated" tags on the latest theme.
Sorry @deadave for the off topic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i like that 2010 theme for its simplicity, that and the no ads when youre a rc(like us), and the simplicity of the aosp browser, and im happy. i guess its just about what you yourself are more used to and familiar with
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.chainfire.recently
As for the recents issue, just use this. You can limit what shows (cached vs lifetime with limits to both) as well as a clear all (and cahinfire advises against for reasons already discussed)

How does multitasking really work in Lollipop?

Previously until 4.4 kitkat we had a list of "opened apps" / multitasking list, but now in Lollipop we have a recent apps list , and even if you reboot the device the apps are kept on that list, also there's no clear all button, so it kinda feels like google wants us to let apps be in that in list all the time, they're not really running all the time and are not draining the battery?
So how does multitasking works now? Is it like IOS 8 that the apps are "frozen" until you reopen them? I read that it's better if you keep the apps in there and don't close them because then android is able to open them faster when you want to use them again, but too me it feels kinda cluttered if I have so many "cards" in that list and kinda defeats the purpose of having a dedicated multitasking button if I have to keep looking for the tab of the app I want to use , what I'm doing right now is closing the tabs/cards of the apps I don't use that much but I still have a LOT of cards on that list
What's your take on this?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1966571 Good explanation of how RAM in Android works in the OP of this thread.
If you don't like the clutter of how recents are handled by stock, I would suggest checking out Recently by Chainfire, he just released it on the Play Store. If you want more explanation on that I believe @Andromjb posted a video to his YouTube channel to show how it works.
joshm.1219 said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1966571 Good explanation of how RAM in Android works in the OP of this thread.
If you don't like the clutter of how recents are handled by stock, I would suggest checking out Recently by Chainfire, he just released it on the Play Store. If you want more explanation on that I believe @Andromjb posted a video to his YouTube channel to show how it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But that post is from 2012 and the last reply was from 2014 , does it still apply for lollipop?
Chad_Petree said:
But that post is from 2012 and the last reply was from 2014 , does it still apply for lollipop?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes that post explains how Android was designed to work at its core and how that compares to a traditional operating system like Windows. So that is still the principle but now we have a better way to execute our runtime, which is ART. Here's a good explanation of how ART compiles https://source.android.com/devices/tech/dalvik/index.html

I want to see what's consuming my ram.

Hello everyone.
Even after hibernating all the apps, still 2GB of my ram is used. I want to look at all the processes that are using the ram. How can I do that?
Cheers!
Until someone comes up with a better answer...
Settings/Apps. Under each app there are stats for used storage and memory used in the past few hours. Might give you a clue.
xhamadeex said:
Hello everyone.
Even after hibernating all the apps, still 2GB of my ram is used. I want to look at all the processes that are using the ram. How can I do that?
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because ANDROID KNOWS that UNUSED RAM is WASTED RAM.
It ***preloads*** all of the things, in order of what it believes is the likelihood of you using those particular things.
This way when you actually DO use one of those things, it is ***already loaded*** (and starts fast).
Stop "hibernating" things. You are breaking Android.
doitright said:
Because ANDROID KNOWS that UNUSED RAM is WASTED RAM.
It ***preloads*** all of the things, in order of what it believes is the likelihood of you using those particular things.
This way when you actually DO use one of those things, it is ***already loaded*** (and starts fast).
Stop "hibernating" things. You are breaking Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm.. You have a point..
So, is using Greenify a bad Idea?
xhamadeex said:
Hmm.. You have a point..
So, is using Greenify a bad Idea?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bad idea.
yea there's two built-in ways to view running processes. One is directly Settings. Scroll down to where it says Memory. Open and check it out. I know. Google might as well not even wasted their time making that activity since it's next to useless. The other one is located in Developer Options. It's labeled "Running Services" and gives you stats on what apps are running, how long, etc. Yea, not very helpful either since there isn't much you can do besides uninstall some things or do the root and ransack thing. It's intentionally made like that, just like the way android battery stats are completely useless for nailing down offensive background services. Google likes it that way. They make money by tracking your location and serving you up with as many ads as possible. While it's true what dude said about the way Android preloads and makes a lot of stuff ready in RAM, hibernating, and using task killers is basically like working against your system resources, don't listen to people who yell things at you because they've been brainwashed by companies and developers who want their services installed, front-and-center, autostarting, and running 24/7 in your device's memory. Why else you think every website has a banner talkin' bout "oooh ooh install our app" and grant as many permissions as possible while some even go as far as sabotaging their own services via their website so users feel forced to install the app. They don't care about you, your cpu, or your experience as long as it's filled with ads and periodically uploading analytics and usage stats and the best way to do that is to have background and persistent services to silently restart their location polling or pointless notification systems designed solely around getting you to interact with the app. I'm not talking about things like email, messaging, or whatever other app you depend on or feel is important enough to keep close at a tap of finger. My suggestion is to analyze those settings activities I named earlier or a 3rd party one like BBS and make some decisions about what you are willing to delete. Compromises can be made depending on what's important to you and also with root. Half (or more) of the apps in your phone that have boot receivers and other various event listeners up the wazoo have no business knowing your phone is even on until you tap it's little icon. This is opinion of course because others will tell you you're breaking android and a bunch of other nonsense they've been fed by google to address the people, like me, who are tired of seeing google and other apps (usually ones my by behemoth corporations) that run constantly in the background even though I open up and use whatever particular app maybe once a week. If you're rooted, there is a lot you can do to take control of apps that like to stay nudged up as close as possible in the queue and keep open connections. It all depends on you and how you use your device. Don't listen to know-it-alls who yell at you IN ALL CAPS. Either accept the fact that google, facebook, admob (and whoever else app you have that thinks it's the most important) own your phone, or do a little research for yourself because regardless of what homeboy said, it's easy to see that available RAM feels way smoother than ram that has to wait for android to move pokey balls out of the way...just sayin
ElwOOd_CbGp said:
yea there's two built-in ways to view running processes. One is directly Settings. Scroll down to where it says Memory. Open and check it out. I know. Google might as well not even wasted their time making that activity since it's next to useless. The other one is located in Developer Options. It's labeled "Running Services" and gives you stats on what apps are running, how long, etc. Yea, not very helpful either since there isn't much you can do besides uninstall some things or do the root and ransack thing. It's intentionally made like that, just like the way android battery stats are completely useless for nailing down offensive background services. Google likes it that way. They make money by tracking your location and serving you up with as many ads as possible. While it's true what dude said about the way Android preloads and makes a lot of stuff ready in RAM, hibernating, and using task killers is basically like working against your system resources, don't listen to people who yell things at you because they've been brainwashed by companies and developers who want their services installed, autostarting, and running 24/7 in your device. Why else you think every website has a banner talkin' bout "oooh ooh install our app" and grant as many permissions as possible while some even go as far as sabotaging their own services via their website so users feel forced to install the app. They don't care about you, your cpu, or your experience as long as it's filled with ads and periodically uploading analytics and usage stats and the best way to do that is to have background and persistent services to silently restart their location polling or pointless notification systems designed solely around getting you to interact with the app. I'm not talking about things like email, messaging, or whatever other app you depend on or feel is important enough to keep close at a tap of finger. My suggestion is to analyze those settings activities I named earlier or a 3rd party one like BBS and make some decisions about what you are willing to delete. Compromises can be made depending on what's important to you and also with root. Half (or more) of the apps in your phone that have boot receivers and other various event listeners up the wazoo have no business knowing your phone is even on until you tap it's little icon. This is opinion of course because others will tell you you're breaking android and a bunch of other nonsense they've been fed by google to address the people, like me, who are tired of seeing google and other apps (usually ones my by behemoth corporations) that run constantly in the background even though I open up and use whatever particular app maybe once a week. If you're rooted, there is a lot you can do to take control of apps that like to stay nudged up as close as possible in the queue and keep open connections. It all depends on you and how you use your device. Don't listen to know-it-alls who yell at you IN ALL CAPS. Either accept the fact that google, facebook, admob (and whoever else app you have that thinks it's the most important) own your phone, or do a little research for yourself because regardless of what homeboy said, it's easy to see that available RAM feels way smoother than ram that has to wait for android to move pokey balls out of the way...just sayin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Holy wall of text Batman!
You've got a couple of points hidden inside that rambling, but dude... If you want anyone to read that, try that little thing called paragraphs.
Didgeridoohan said:
Holy wall of text Batman!
You've got a couple of points hidden inside that rambling, but dude... If you want anyone to read that, try that little thing called paragraphs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah...apologies. I may have been a little bit hopped up last night on the leftover holiday spirits but how else to explain what I see as google's all-over-the-place ridiculous approach at making it as god awful experience as possible for people interested in granular control over their devices' /system. I just got done flashing, setting up, and going thru the motions on a new phone so I may have been a little annoyed as well. lolz hope it helps someone.

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