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Hello everyone,
I've been around lurking in these forums for my previous android phone ( Nexus 4 ), but it's my first time posting.
I just got my hands on my new Xperia Z1 and although I really like how it looks, there's ALOT of things that bug me.
I was wondering if any of you could help me with some of the issues.
1 - First off, the most annoying part, is the messaging app. I've been searching on the net and noone seems to have even raised the question about this. Why in the world is there no widget for the stock messaging app ? Is it just me that finds this important ? All 3rd party applications from the playstore don't fit my style / needs. When I had my Nexus 4, i LOVED the stock text app widget. I could actually see multiple messages in the window, tap one of the messages to have the app open up directly to that message, etc. I attached an example.
On this sony phone, the messaging app ( which is so so ), there isnt even a widget available.
Also, is it normal that everytime i hit "send" for a SMS, a very short "popup" shows up and says "sending message" ? It kind of interrupts the flow of multiple messages as i have to RETAP the message box to start writing again. I know it's a small detail but it's something that gets annoying over time. The best thing would be for me to be able to install the google nexus 4 stock messaging app on this phone.
2 - So .. The screen is huge, very nice, and 1080p. Which brings me to my next issue. The way everything is so big without the option to make text/icons smaller. I could fit 4 widgets in one home screen if i wanted to ( im used to icons being small ), but for some reason, i can only put up to 2 widgets (mostly) that take up half of the screen each. If it was only that, i wouldnt mind, but the fact that my email widget takes up half of my screen and yet only shows me 2 messages within that window is mind blowing. I get about 50 emails a day and i need to see more than only 2 within a widget.
The threads / fonts are so big. Is there ANY WAY to make icons / fonts / etc smaller for the UI ? Or at least the mail widget or something ? I feel it is not utilizing the screen to it's full potential. This problem also applies to notifications ( sliding down from the top, i get like.. 4 notifications max that fit in the window ), the quickbar buttons ( sliding from the top , i have 6 quick bar buttons, and they take up 2 rows instead of one. Like my fingers were 3 inches wide ) to name a few.
3 - With my nexus 4, whenever i would get an email, it would push automatically. With this phone, it seems i can only cycle the Sync at 15 minutes minumum. I have to manually "refresh" to get my emails, which is another source of annoyance.
4 - Is there a way to make the volume rocker buttons interact with media that plays ? I use grooveshark for my music and I like to be able to forward/previous with the volume buttons ( holding the button for 1 or 2 seconds ). I can't seem to do that for this phone..
I know i have other issues and i'll repost when I think of them, but so far, unfortunately, i'm a bit dissapointed with this phone. Help me find a way to make me like it to it's full potential please
Lukamo said:
Hello everyone,
I've been around lurking in these forums for my previous android phone ( Nexus 4 ), but it's my first time posting.
I just got my hands on my new Xperia Z1 and although I really like how it looks, there's ALOT of things that bug me.
I was wondering if any of you could help me with some of the issues.
1 - First off, the most annoying part, is the messaging app. I've been searching on the net and noone seems to have even raised the question about this. Why in the world is there no widget for the stock messaging app ? Is it just me that finds this important ? All 3rd party applications from the playstore don't fit my style / needs. When I had my Nexus 4, i LOVED the stock text app widget. I could actually see multiple messages in the window, tap one of the messages to have the app open up directly to that message, etc. I attached an example.
On this sony phone, the messaging app ( which is so so ), there isnt even a widget available.
Also, is it normal that everytime i hit "send" for a SMS, a very short "popup" shows up and says "sending message" ? It kind of interrupts the flow of multiple messages as i have to RETAP the message box to start writing again. I know it's a small detail but it's something that gets annoying over time. The best thing would be for me to be able to install the google nexus 4 stock messaging app on this phone.
2 - So .. The screen is huge, very nice, and 1080p. Which brings me to my next issue. The way everything is so big without the option to make text/icons smaller. I could fit 4 widgets in one home screen if i wanted to ( im used to icons being small ), but for some reason, i can only put up to 2 widgets (mostly) that take up half of the screen each. If it was only that, i wouldnt mind, but the fact that my email widget takes up half of my screen and yet only shows me 2 messages within that window is mind blowing. I get about 50 emails a day and i need to see more than only 2 within a widget.
The threads / fonts are so big. Is there ANY WAY to make icons / fonts / etc smaller for the UI ? Or at least the mail widget or something ? I feel it is not utilizing the screen to it's full potential. This problem also applies to notifications ( sliding down from the top, i get like.. 4 notifications max that fit in the window ), the quickbar buttons ( sliding from the top , i have 6 quick bar buttons, and they take up 2 rows instead of one. Like my fingers were 3 inches wide ) to name a few.
3 - With my nexus 4, whenever i would get an email, it would push automatically. With this phone, it seems i can only cycle the Sync at 15 minutes minumum. I have to manually "refresh" to get my emails, which is another source of annoyance.
4 - Is there a way to make the volume rocker buttons interact with media that plays ? I use grooveshark for my music and I like to be able to forward/previous with the volume buttons ( holding the button for 1 or 2 seconds ). I can't seem to do that for this phone..
I know i have other issues and i'll repost when I think of them, but so far, unfortunately, i'm a bit dissapointed with this phone. Help me find a way to make me like it to it's full potential please
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Stock messaging apps s*ck when it comes to additional features. Just download a 3rd party app.
2. Go to Settings > Display > Font Size and set it to Small. As for icons and such, you're better off installing an alternate launcher.
3. Are you using the GMail app or the Email app?
Email App - Hit the menu key > Sync Options > Inbox Frequency Check
If you are using Hotmail or Live, make sure you set it up manually and use Exchange Active Sync. Server is m.hotmail.com
GMail App - Go to Settings > Accounts > Google. Select your Google account the make sure that GMail sync is enabled.
4. No Idea. I never use the volume buttons for anything other than volume.
aridoasis said:
1. Stock messaging apps s*ck when it comes to additional features. Just download a 3rd party app.
2. Go to Settings > Display > Font Size and set it to Small. As for icons and such, you're better off installing an alternate launcher.
3. Are you using the GMail app or the Email app?
Email App - Hit the menu key > Sync Options > Inbox Frequency Check
If you are using Hotmail or Live, make sure you set it up manually and use Exchange Active Sync. Server is m.hotmail.com
GMail App - Go to Settings > Accounts > Google. Select your Google account the make sure that GMail sync is enabled.
4. No Idea. I never use the volume buttons for anything other than volume.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your quick response
1 - There were no 3rd party apps that did what i needed :/ Is there a way to get the stock messaging from the nexus 4 ?
2 - its already on small. Everything is still very big
3 - Email app. I cant find where to put the exhange active sync server
4. I forgot to say that the volume buttons can previous/next only when the screen is off and a media player is opened (again, with long presses only). otherwise it would only control the volume with short presses. But yeah, a very useful function for listening to your music and not have to take out the phone from your pocket every time!
Thanks again. Anyone else has some input on these ?
Lukamo said:
Thank you for your quick response
1 - There were no 3rd party apps that did what i needed :/ Is there a way to get the stock messaging from the nexus 4 ?
2 - its already on small. Everything is still very big
3 - Email app. I cant find where to put the exhange active sync server
4. I forgot to say that the volume buttons can previous/next only when the screen is off and a media player is opened (again, with long presses only). otherwise it would only control the volume with short presses. But yeah, a very useful function for listening to your music and not have to take out the phone from your pocket every time!
Thanks again. Anyone else has some input on these ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the email app, you'd have to remove your account (I'm assuming you're using hotmail/live correct?), then add it again. On the screen where you put your username and password, there will be an option to select Exchange Active Sync.
Lukamo said:
Thank you for your quick response
1 - There were no 3rd party apps that did what i needed :/ Is there a way to get the stock messaging from the nexus 4 ?
2 - its already on small. Everything is still very big
3 - Email app. I cant find where to put the exhange active sync server
4. I forgot to say that the volume buttons can previous/next only when the screen is off and a media player is opened (again, with long presses only). otherwise it would only control the volume with short presses. But yeah, a very useful function for listening to your music and not have to take out the phone from your pocket every time!
Thanks again. Anyone else has some input on these ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2. Use another launcher that allows for change in the number of rows and columns, and resizing of widgets.
4. This isn't a native feature of Xperia phones. You will need to install 3rd party apps for this. For me, I use the Xposed Xblast Tools module (which requires root).
Hi everyone, just got my N3 last night and I am pretty excited about it.
I am a long time Mac Rumors member and my past phones have been ...... JB 3g, JB 3gs, JB 4, JB 4s
I am very upset with the tiny screens on my iphones and I refuse to wait another year for the 6 to come out.
So now I am a 1st time Android user and what to really check out the Android scene.
What are the first things I should do with the phone, what should I install right away? (different keyboards, apps, etc)
Is there a thread around here with tutes instructing how to transfer my contacts etc?
I surely will appreciate all replies, so thanks in advance. I really wanna get the very MOST out of this device.
edit: does Google Play offer any rebates/coupons/freebies for newly purchased devices?
Hey I would use smart switch to get your things from iPhone to your new phone but that is after you have it activated
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using xda app-developers app
XiphoneUzer said:
Hi everyone, just got my N3 last night and I am pretty excited about it.
I am a long time Mac Rumors member and my past phones have been ...... JB 3g, JB 3gs, JB 4, JB 4s
I am very upset with the tiny screens on my iphones and I refuse to wait another year for the 6 to come out.
So now I am a 1st time Android user and what to really check out the Android scene.
My N3 arrived Wednesday evening, and it's STILL not activated, (and its killing me).
The reason being, I wanna know if there is anything I should do BEFORE I call ATT and activate it.
(I do NOT want to close any windows, so is there is anything you folks recommend I do before I activate it)?
Once activated, what are the first things I should do with the phone, what should I install right away?
Is there a thread around here with tutes instructing how to transfer my contacts etc?
I surely will appreciate all replies, so thanks in advance. I really wanna get the very MOST out of this device.
edit: does Google Play offer any rebates/coupons/freebies for newly purchased devices?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean by call ATT and activate it? All you have to do is put your SIM card in and it is ready to go with a few account setups. After that it is up to you except for rooting and modding. Cant be done right now without voiding your warranty.
First thing you do is scratch off the att emblem since they locked the bootloader
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
XiphoneUzer said:
Once activated, what are the first things I should do with the phone, what should I install right away?
Is there a thread around here with tutes instructing how to transfer my contacts etc?
I surely will appreciate all replies, so thanks in advance. I really wanna get the very MOST out of this device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello?
Looking for some help here. This keyboard is way different than iphone, is it something you get used to, or should I install something else?
Please tell me what are some of the things I should change/install right away, (there's got to be some "must haves" no?)
XiphoneUzer said:
Hello?
Looking for some help here. This keyboard is way different than iphone, is it something you get used to, or should I install something else?
Please tell me what are some of the things I should change/install right away, (there's got to be some "must haves" no?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the keyboard, i prefer the google keyboard over the samsung one. It provides functionality similar to the iphone and is easy to switch between the iphone and android if you use them both in daily life.
As for apps, here is a small list of apps i like to have on all of my devices.
GOOGLE CHROME. Its much better than the built in browser and is able to synchronize with my desktop browsers favorites, etc.
Skype: Perfect for if you are travelling over seas at all with your device.
Google Hangouts: A good replacement for the built in SMS app.
Facebook & Twitter: If you need an explanation, you shouldn't be useing these apps.
Battery Doctor by KS Mobile: Simple app, but is helpful to save battery life and know exactly how much you have left.
Google Music: I have most of my library stored on google so it makes my life easy to have this.
Google Books: The book equivalent of my music library. Syncronizes what i have read across devices and browsers.
Kindle for Android: For the ebooks you buy on amazon.
Google Keep: Great for taking quick notes and having them on all your devices.
Dropbox: Great cloud file storage. Comes with free storage and you can pay to get more.
Google Drive: Google version of dropbox.
MX Player: This video player will play any video format you throw at it.
Google Maps: A must have for all smartphone users.
Zedge: While its quality has gone down a fair bit from what it once was, its still a great place to find ringtones and notification sounds for your android device.
GPS Status: Great for calibrating your devices sensors and ensuring that it works properly.
Now for the ROOT ONLY apps.
Titanium backup
SuperSU
Triangle Away
Hopefully this is a useful list to get you started. I have all these plus many more installed on my devices, and I find I use them all fairly regularly.
djdelusional said:
Skype: Perfect for if you are travelling over seas at all with your device.
Google Hangouts: A good replacement for the built in SMS app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I prefer Hangouts to Skype because Hangouts features free video multi-chat.
But I use Google Voice for SMS because it provides free unlimited texting. Hangouts insists on using the phone's native number rather than your Google Voice number, so you have to pay extra for a text plan or for individual messages.
Doesn't anyone else have any advice for a first time Android user?
XiphoneUzer said:
Doesn't anyone else have any advice for a first time Android user?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your new to android I'd stay away from root for a while.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I467 using Tapatalk 4
XiphoneUzer said:
Hello?
Looking for some help here. This keyboard is way different than iphone, is it something you get used to, or should I install something else?
Please tell me what are some of the things I should change/install right away, (there's got to be some "must haves" no?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel like for every-day typical phone use cases, there aren't that many gaps that stand out as needing to be filled by a third party app. You'll probably need a new music player, the defaults are crapola - but I can't be much help here; I keep my music as folders full of MP3 files (like God intended!) and play with Music Folder Player, and shun the dirty S&M ("sync and manage") apps.
There's a big list of stuff that I did when I first got the phone to get it to where I'm happy with it, but all of this was root required stuff. There are apps that come pre-loaded on android devices and can't be removed or disabled without root. Also, customizing stuff that can't be customized without root. I couldn't abide by some of the not-changable-without-root defaults. Getting rid of the "screen turns on so you can unlock it when you hit the home key" behavior is probably the most glaring example for me; my ass* was unlocking it constantly - but coming from iPhone, you probably view that as the Right Thing for home button to do.
I think most people use a custom keyboard. Swiftkey and Swype are the most popular. The phone comes with Swype, but it's an ancient version with limited support for changing the dictionary, you want the newest one.
I use Hangouts for gchat, but not for SMS. I actually prefer default app for SMS..
Settings:
Pull down status bar, long press on wifi, WiFi -> menu -> advanced settings, uncheck auto connect to AT&T hotspots (unless they don't suck where you are. Around here, they often don't have internet behind them, and just break your connectivity for the 30 seconds or so it takes for the phone to connect to them, determine that the wifi is no good, and fall back to 4G. At least this phone does that; Original note would just sit there like a fool trying to use non-functional wifi... I've also yet to find a hotspot that performs better than the 4G does. But I live in a city, so the situation may be different elsewhere).
Pull down status bar, long press on GPS. Uncheck "Use wireless networks" - on newer versions of android, this drains battery while idle; the damned thing wakes the phone periodically to check the networks around it - if the phone is nearly idle, this can halve battery life (!!!)
Pull down status bar, swipe to the left along the options at the top (woah, did you know you could do that?), tap multiwindow to enable multiwindow (this was a headline feature for the note 3, but comes disabled by default). If I long-press back button, that makes the multiwindow tab hide or unhide (once it's enabled), but I don't remember if I had to do something to get this behavior.
General must-have things:
AppOps Starter (to kill permissions from apps that request permissions you don't want to give them)
Battery Monitor Widget (gives you a realtime readout of battery usage)
ES File Explorer
If you want to pretty-ize clock + weather widgets:
DigiClock
Eye in Sky
If you work in IT or have need of these (if you aren't sure what these mean, you don't need them ):
ConnectBot (telnet/ssh client)
AndFTP (ftp/sftp client, supports scp if you pay)
RDP Client (remote desktop and VNC client)
FEAT VPN (OpenVPN client)
Hacker's Keyboard (you'll tear your hair out trying to use swype/swiftkey for terminal sessions or RDP)
If you want to root the phone:
Root it, then immediately install titanium backup and "freeze" AT&T software update, so it won't update your phone (breaking root) while you're not looking
Titanium Backup - freeze all the useless bloatware that AT&T and Samsung included (there's a list of what apps you can freeze here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmzC8GFarItSdGpOZzBfWlR4MC03aDMyZ1BDUFNqU0E - not my work)
Root Explorer
Pen Window Manager for adding apps to the pen window feature
Xposed Framework
Wanam - general huge amount of customization, including selecting apps for multiwindow.
Keyboard Manager (almost a necessity if you use ConnectBot/RDP frequently - keyboards designed for messaging and such are garbage for doing administration of non-phone systems, while hacker's keyboard is garbage for messaging and everyday phone stuff)
Terminal Emulator (gives you a command prompt on phone. Doesn't require root, but there are very few use cases for terminal on android that don't also need root)
*Well, I keep it in my front pocket, so technically it wasn't my /ass/ unlocking the phone....
Well, trying to put some order on one of the most important (yet problematic) app for our Samsung Gear: GEAR MANAGER
Until now (30th Dez 2013) Samsung Gear communicates basically with Gear Manager to configure the overall settings, Samsung Gear launcher, sync settings/multimedia or to receive notifications.
Some of the most important threats (IMO) are:
"gear manager update v1.5.121601" http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2586480
"Unable to reply SMS-es through S-voice" http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=48581831
"Gear Manager Uninstalls Feedly" http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=48582488
As of 30th Dez 2013, Samsung Gear MK7 and Gear Manager v1.5.121601
Issues:
1) Gear Manager v1.5.121601 crashes/freezes when people press "Notifications" and then "More Notifications" (ex: to turn ON Whatsapp or other app notifications) (temporary fix: uninstall v1.5.121601 -> find & install Gear Manager_1.5.120903 apk)
2) My Samsung Gear has Null_ 16 ROM. Before Gear Manager v1.5.121601, when I tried to update my firmware through Gear, it said "no updates (as I have the latest MK7, though with Null_), now it says "your Gear has been modified".
3) S-Voice does not work to answer SMS: A) voice recognition is horrible! B) it tries to send the SMS to a complete different number!!!
Example: I live in Germany, I received an SMS from (example) +49 1 777 55 66 77. When I reply using S-VOICE, the reply fails "Unable to send SMS" as the stupid software through S-Voice replies to (example) (it is sent to 49 1 0000 777 55 66 77 --> WRONG Number!!! FIRST it ignored the "+" and SECOND it added "0000" to the number...)
4) Gear Manager uninstalls Feedly, another company´s application, and without my consent! (gReader does the trick, but nevertheless... ridiculous!)
What to improve:
1) S-Voice...voice recognition! It is so bad comparing to my Note 3´s S-Voice, that hurts!!!
2) S-Voice capabilities: first I thought that Gear´s S-Voice was just a channel from Note 3´s S-Voice, so it would be (a little) smarter, and could also do some basic web search, etc.... but it doesn´t!!! And so stupid it is...when I try to know the weather in some city that is not the one I am at (or well known like London, Paris, Madrid), it always says the weather to the city I am at! Even "New York" or "Miami" fails! (at least if I speak in German or Spanish)
3) No basic web search....(original software)
4) No basic keyboard writing (original software)
5) No basic RSS / Feedly / Google Translate (original software)
6) No photo/video sharing capabilities to common ways like E-Mail, MMS, Whatsapp, Viber, Facebook,...
7) No standard (-alone) alarm??? what??? (original software) So...if my Note 3 ran out of battery while asleep, my Gear just won´t sound any alarm, or just do alarms.... No comments.
8) No possibility to turn off the camera sound (original software. Null_ 16 ROM turns this off)
9) Auto-Internet teethering (but with On/Off option)
10) Work on every single (also non-Samsung) Android 4.x or iOS device!!!!
Please be free to add Issues: and What to improve: and, if possible, alternatives/solutions to it that do not mean "hard core" solutions like editing system files and others
Personally I have some questions:
A) with Null_ ROM, is it possible to answer Notifications (SMS/E-Mail/Whatsapp) with keyboard? (I can use the keyboard for other apps, but to the default Gear-Manager-mediated-notifications, despite Null_ ROM, I am still limited to the standard Samsung options)
B) Is there a way to take pictures, and directly send to whatsapp/E-mail? (note that I still want to manage my E-mail/Whatsapp on my phone. I just want to send the pictures and basic answer)
C) Better installable alternative to S-Voice? (with web search, more options, etc)
1) Sucks. Even clean install doesn't work for me
2) Well, that is the case, not really an issue. How can it update a rom it knows nothing about? Just like phones
3) Super annoying
4) GM removes all apps that it installs (or knows about - app store or sideload or 'sub apks'). it then reinstalls when GM is installed (except sideload for obvious reasons). Feedly developers included something in newer versions to make it interact with GM hence it gets uninstalled
---
8) It's a legal thing (same as on phones)
9) I'd rather wifi, and instead of Bluetooth tethering, just access internet using current protocol via the app (similar to google glass)
10) Pebble manages to work fine, no reason this watch needs to use touchwiz
I'd like to hope that next version of watch fixes many things and opens up to other devices. This is first gen after all
Really need a SKD!!! That way we won't need to rely on Samsung to make all the changes that we want - just look at everything you can do on the very simple Pebble
A) You need tablet talk. Have a search for it and sms - plenty of discussion here
B) No - only autotransfer (setting in app on phone) or share to evernote
C) There is a thread here about using autoremote (and I think google now?). Requires a bit of setting up though
Brendo: thanks, I´ll look into it!
About my B) question "Is there a way to take pictures, and directly send to whatsapp/E-mail?", I partially solved that. If you install a mail client on Gear (I installed K9, as it is very light), when you take a picture, you can directly from Gear´s Camera app share to the E-mail. To Whatsapp... only the "old solution": take the picture and with the phone.
Something I have wondered but not being a developer I cant answer, has any of you clever sparks thought de constructing the gear manager and doing a re write? ie like we have roms we have a new watch controller (notice I didnt say gear manager)
NZ_Nitro said:
Something I have wondered but not being a developer I cant answer, has any of you clever sparks thought de constructing the gear manager and doing a re write? ie like we have roms we have a new watch controller (notice I didnt say gear manager)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reverse engineer? It's easy enough to view the source code, but there is a hell of a lot. I guess it could be possible
NZ_Nitro said:
Something I have wondered but not being a developer I cant answer, has any of you clever sparks thought de constructing the gear manager and doing a re write? ie like we have roms we have a new watch controller (notice I didnt say gear manager)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In theory it is possible, *but* Samsung Gear is not a popular model like other smart watches, as it is not iOS/other Android compatible, and it makes to much trouble (perhaps, I do not know).
An re-written Gear Manager would be wonderful: flaws solved, opened Gear to all 4.x Android, etc... a dream come true.
The Past:
I've been working on this app since last 3 months and I'm pretty happy with the progress I made:fingers-crossed:. I was waiting for this day to post the app publicly in the forum which taught me so much:laugh:. Well, some might say this app is completely useless, but other might find it useful. I've considered all kind of users and accordingly added features to make it as productive as possible. This is still an alpha release and you may find several bugs, and I would really appreciate if you guys can report it whenever it crashes:angel:. I'm open to all kind of ideas and feel free to suggest me additional features.
About Floating Commander:
Well, I'm sure you're all are in love with Google Now, but then, so I'm I. But it sucks sometimes, how Google Now can't do many things that I want it to do, may be like setting the brightness of my screen to lets say 50%, changing sound settings and so on.. So, I've tried to accommodate all that in this app. Yes, this is a voice command utility that will do many things which Google Now can't (may be in future, but not now). Moreover, I've seen people who don't like the app simply because it eats up a little bit of data from your data pack and affects the battery aswell. Now, this one also needs data, but just to transform your voice to text, and rest all the features are processed natively and accordingly invoked. Its superfast (atleast on my phone, Galaxy Note 2) and it gets the work done. This app starts a floating widget which can be put on any edge of the screen, or freely (if u choose so in settings), and upon clicking, will invoke a voice recognition utility (Google's own recognizer) to detect your command (English Only for now) and thanks to its SpeechOptimizerEngine, it processes the command very fast and accurately and executes it. You can basically select/de-select each and every feature this app has from its settings and accordingly it''ll take more or less time (which is again negligible). Now, I'm sure there are people who think this is just another bull**** app and they don't need it when they have Google Now. Trust me guys, I have something for you guys aswell. I've put two new options which will be very helpful to most of you, I'm sure. Enable inbuilt "Google Now" mode in settings to launch "Google Now" from any screen using the floating widget, this will completely disable the native feature of the app. Also, another option is "One Touch" mode which can map to any activity, like changing sound profile, opening flash light, running memory cleaner or opening any installed app at the touch of a floating widget from any screen. The battery consumption is almost zero if it is not used, and if used, takes only for the internet data for converting voice to text. There's an additional feature to send the floating widget back to notification area by long clicking (when playing games) and bringing it back by clicking notification area. Its completely add free at the moment and I would definitely try to keep it that way. Overall, this app might or might not be suitable for your, but I would really appreciate if you guys devote some time analyzing and reviewing it here.
Ok, the final and the best thing, I've also tried integrating an offline mode, yes you heard it right.:laugh: But that's only for U.S. folks, since it works on only U.S. English accent. So, please don't review the app badly if it doesn't work offline for others.
Commands to try:
You can launch/open an app by saying:-
- launch <app name | any settings>
- open <app name | any settings>
- start <app name | any settings>
- run <app name | any settings>
Examples:-
- open bluetooth settings
- run cleaner
- launch whatsapp
- open browser
- open messaging
- run flashlight
You can toggle things by saying :-
- turn on <settings name>
- turn off <settings name>
- start <settings name>
- enable <settings name>
- toggle <settings name> on/off
- turn <settings name> on/off
Example:-
- turn on wifi
- start bluetooth
- switch on internet
- enable hotspot
- toggle autobrightness on
- turn rotation on
You can use set commands like:-
- set <settings name> to <value>
- change <settings name> to <value>
Example:-
- set brightness to 60%
- change ringer mode to silent
- change music volume to 80%
- set ringer volume to 100%
- change ringer mode to vibrate
- set all volume to 100%
- set alarm for 8:30 a.m.
- set alarm for 9:00 a.m. every weekday
- set alarm for 10:00 am. on monday tuesday thursday
Miscellanious Commands:-
Examples:-
- clean memory
- dial 12938
- call <contact name>/ <contact number>
- send message to <contact name>/ <contact number> <message>
- send message to joshua I'll be late tonight
- browse to www.google.com
- show my location
- drive from <location from> to <location to>
- drive to <location to> from <location from>
- show way from <location from>
- navigate to <location>
- navigate from <location> to <location>
These are a few bunch of examples, keep trying combinations and I'm sure most of them will work. Let me know if you have a worthy new command in mind. May be I've just wasted time in this, but I'm really looking forward to encouragement here for further development. And I repeat, I'm not doing it for financial gain.
Screens:-
Credits:
This app uses StandOut library by pingpongboss for creating the floating widget. Many thanks to him.:laugh:
This app also uses an open source application Searchlight without which, I couldn't have added an amazingly looking flash light inbuilt in the app. :laugh:
Apart from these, the application has been coded from scratch and supports only 4.1+
Known Issues: :cyclops:
- I've witnessed a few weird things on Nexus devices (it opens and closes the last opened background activity when voice recognizer is called)
- The floating widget doesn't appear on center when launched for first time (something wrong with my calculations)
- One Touch mode has a few drawbacks (all solved in my latest code which I'll upload in a few days)
- The donation section is mapped to whatsapp (since I was testing something on that and whatsapp has an easy package name:silly
- I haven't changed the min sdk version yet, any device from 1.6 and above can install it, but trust me, that's not gonna work for sure. I'll change it in the next update for sure.
- Theme changer and Widget Types are not working yet, thats easy but uploading an app on playstore takes like 6 hrs.
Overall, I'm hoping I've created something useful and I don't expect any financial profit from it, so please review accordingly. Also, I'm also planning to make it open source in future, but let me think about that again. And yes, this app is just of 270 Kb.
Thanks a lot for wasting your time on reading this. This app doesn't have any help section yet, will add one soon.
Download:
Application is deployed on Playstore in alpha release mode. So, please join the following Google Plus community first:-
boggartWare Google Community
Once you're added, you can find the link under "Floating Commander" category. Alternatively, you can click here and select "BECOME A TESTER". Only who joins this community can be a part of beta testing (that's google's policy). Once you've done that, you'll get a link on that same page to download the app from Playstore. Make sure you access all the links and join the community using the same Google id with which you access Playstore on your own phone.
Thanks guys.
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First off, impressive work.
What's the benefit of something like this vs something like utter?
Never used utter
aagha said:
First off, impressive work.
What's the benefit of something like this vs something like utter?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, I've never used Utter, but this one is for those who thinks that Google Now isn't enough to do the needful. I know, getting things done through voice is a little bit odd. But sometimes, when you're alone, sleepy, don't want to scroll through menus to get things done, this one really comes in handy. Apart from that, I've also put two additional modes, "Google Now" mode and "One Touch" mode which are really really useful for anybody. Try and let me know what do you think.
Just updated to Floating Commander 1.8
Just updated the apk in Playstore to version 1.8
Now you can toggle settings by just saying "toggle <settings name>.
Hope you guys like it.
Check out the public release of the app
Get it here - play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.boggartware.fcommander
Other apps
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How about playing music? I tried saying run music, play song but it only took me to music player.
I played a song and said, stop music. It took me to the music player,music kept playing.
Any suggestions?
Hello
And happy new year to everyone!
This is my first week on Lumia 735 after being 6 years with Android.
I like very much it's desktop, but there are some simple things that I thought until now I would figure out but I cannot find a solution....
1. How can I download a PDF from an email and then attach it to another email?
2. Is there a way to have a shortcut on notification bar for data connection?
3. Is there a way to remove Bing and get Google as default engine?
4. Is there a way to tide up settings? I feel that are randomly scattered...
5. Is there a way to open a new tab in internet explorer, but open in background? Cause we are always transferred to the new tab.
Thanks!
I'm on the same phone since about 4-5 days, so I have not yet answers for you, but another question to add:
- why on some apps the keyboard doesn't turn in landscape mode when I flip the phone? I found it working on some apps only, but in Bing search (just an example) it remains in portrait
EDIT: a bit of googling partially answers to 3: I'm a newbie so I don't know if I can link external sites here, but it seems you can change the default search engine in Internet Explorer in the browser settings (so when you type words in the address bar, it uses Google instead of Bing). Regarding the phone search button, maybe the trick is not so easy...
1. did you see download in email message? click on that link to download file to your phone.
2. with latest WP OS 8.10.14219.341 you can add mobile data shortcut in action center
or use Quick Launch app from store
3. settings - applications - internet explorer, select advanced settings and change to google
4. no... latest updated is always at end of list...
5. not exactly... try UC Browser 8.1, maybe you like it better than IE
Download a app named File attacher,it can help you to attach any files into outlook client.
Sent from my AT&T Nokia Lumia 920 using Tapatalk for Windows Phone
1) Download the file to your phone. You can then open it from the email (which will let you choose what PDF viewer to open it with, if you have more than one installed; some of them directly support sharing) or you can then switch to a file manager app (Files, Pocket File Manager, Aerize Explorer, etc.), go to the Downloads directory, and share the file from there. When "sharing" the file, one option will be to use email; this will attach the file to the email. This approach also works for other file types, by the way.
2) As dxdy says, you need to be on a new OS version (you may need to be using the "Preview for Developers" app) to get the ability to add mobile data specifically to the Action Center (swipe-from-top notification area thing) but there are lots of other ways (tons of free apps, for example) to pin a link to it on your Start screen. You can also have both WiFi and Airplane Mode toggles on the Action Center, even in less-than-newest versions.
3) Not unless you're in Russia, I think? You may be able to change the IE default search engine using the method dxdy posted above, but if you want to change the search button behavior, that's trickier. I think in Russia (or possibly just tell your phone you are), if you have the Google app installed, it may run that... haven't tried, though.
4) Settings are, unfortunately, not directly orderable. The default order for Microsoft-provided settings is basically "what MS has found people use most often", thus things like visual and audio customization are at the top, WiFi is on the first page, and stuff like Backup requires scrolling down a bunch. There's also OEM customizations, which are technically just Store apps that are pre-installed and use the Settings hub instead of the normal app list; those are always listed underneath all the Microsoft settings, and (as dxdy says), the one that was most recently installed/updated is at the top of that section ('top of the bottom of the list' if you will).
5) Doesn't seem to be any such way in IE, but there's lots of other browsers. Most of them just wrap the IE rendering engine, so pages will look the same as on IE but the UI can be totally different. This includes changes to tab management. They won't sync with your other devices, at least not by default, though. There's also a beta of Opera for WP8; it still has some bugs but mostly works and has a very different UI from IE. Annoyingly, though, Microsoft doesn't allow any of those apps to be set as the default browser (you can't change the URI association for http:/https: for example).
@axxel84: It depends on whether the app supports landscape mode. That requires work from the developer, since they have to change the layout of everything, so a lot of apps don't support it. If the app doesn't support it, then it will be locked in one orientation no matter how you turn it, keyboard included. Some apps (mostly games) are also locked in landscape mode only, and don't support portrait.
Hi guys, thanks for the help but I am still finding difficult to compose with windows after coming from fully updated Android phones.
- pdf attachments, not possible. You can see that you download files but no where to be seen in order to attach them in another email! What????
- the option to change Bing to Google was in the past, but they don't have it on new phones. And this is the company that wants to increase market share? With these kind of acts I don't think they will last many years...
- I found a way to have a shortcut on desktop that takes me to settings and there to click on for data. But why don't they include this in notification option? How difficult is this?????
- the other frustrating thing I am feeling, is that most other times when resuming an app when I go out and then in, it starts the"resuming" screen and takes 5 seconds to load... For example viber, I can't chat instantly with someone, I have to leave the program on continuously to do this
- no led notification. I should have known earlier by reading reviews, but there is no led notification!!
- no major apps as official pinterest, dropbox, instagram, sms backup to gmail. My biggest disappointment is Dropbox... I am thinking of selling the phone now and going back to Android. Having two small twins, I take continuously videos and photos, and I don't want to think about backup. I found another application but doesn't sync videos automatically. And also the backup app of windows doesn't do automatically the job... If I was windows I would hire people to help these companies develop the "big" apps...
- notification center doesn't always work. for example when a new app is downloaded, nothing comes app on notification. Or in viber you might get 10 messages on notification, if you click one and then in viber you read all, they remain on notification
Nobody seems to have emailed me a PDF recently, but I can download them from the web and they show up in my Downloads folder (on my SD card, since that's where I told Storage Sense to put new downloads). From there, I can see it in Aerize Explorer, select it, Share it, and choose an email account; a new message is created with the file attached.
Some new phones have the option for Google search, but it's not in all regions.
As you have ALREADY been told, the option to toggle data service from the Action Center is available in the latest version. It's also largely un-needed; Data Sense and related settings should give you enough control over your data usage to make it fairly unimportant. Mind you, I agree that it should have been there from the start, but asking rhetorical questions isn't actually helpful.
The "Resuming..." screen can come up for two reasons (or a combo thereof):
1) Badly-coded app that does a bunch of stuff immediately on resume, before it lets you use the app.
2) Your phone ran low on RAM and removed the app from background execution ("tombstoned" it, sort of like hibernating a laptop), so it needs to be restored from the Flash storage and then resumed.
Lots of phones don't have notification LEDs. That's not a WP8 thing, that's a "if this feature is important to you then you ought to buy a phone with that feature" thing. My HTC has a notification LED, my Samsung did not. Both are/were WP8 devices.
Automatic backup of photos and videos is included in the OS, has been included since WP7 actually, but it goes to OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive) instead of Dropbox. Microsoft software uses Microsoft services; this isn't really surprising.
SMS is automatically backed up as well, just not to Google. Why would Microsoft include a feature to back up your messages to a competitor's service?
Lack of official apps is somewhat annoying/disappointing, but you could have easily enough checked that before buying, and the apps will come in time. In the meanwhile, there's usually third-party versions of those apps.
App downloads are fast, and you know when you started them. Why would you need a notification for that? As for the thing with Viber, it's not the OS' fault that the app doesn't report when a message is read. Notifications are really easy to clear though, just swipe them to the right and all notifications for that app will clear (or hit the "clear all" button to get rid of all of them at once).