all inverted wp8 - Windows Phone 8 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Greetings to all wp8 users!
I'm interested to buy a windows phone mostly because of the clean metro UI. And also because of the unified color schema of the UI. However I would like to know if any trick would be applicable to invert as well the texting fields and the email app and some left white backgrounds. In some, something like what it appears in the attached images. Thank you in advance for your suggestions!

other screens...

You could try checking the Ease of Access options in Settings, especially the High Contrast mode, maybe? Probably won't do exactly what you want, though.
It was possible on hacked WP7 devices to change the theme in such a way that you could get something like what you're looking for. I'm not certain if that's still possible even on interop-unlocked WP8, though.

GoodDayToDie said:
You could try checking the Ease of Access options in Settings, especially the High Contrast mode, maybe? Probably won't do exactly what you want, though.
It was possible on hacked WP7 devices to change the theme in such a way that you could get something like what you're looking for. I'm not certain if that's still possible even on interop-unlocked WP8, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your answer! Unfortunately I don't have a windows phone...so can't try it now to know if this is possible or not. I even tried to look after Ease access videos in youtube but they never go in deep to see changes like writing emails..messaging...etc.

GoodDayToDie said:
You could try checking the Ease of Access options in Settings, especially the High Contrast mode, maybe? Probably won't do exactly what you want, though.
It was possible on hacked WP7 devices to change the theme in such a way that you could get something like what you're looking for. I'm not certain if that's still possible even on interop-unlocked WP8, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would get a WP8 only if I could do that trick...this is why I'm waiting for an answer here....the only reason for me to switch from android, the black UI of WP8.

Related

App request with bounty

slightly edited double posting from CDMA development (tangent from a conversation in there)
If you've used webOS you'll know what I'm asking for here. If you haven't used webOS there are plenty of videos on youtube to look at to get the general idea of how it multitasks which is where it excells.
Open a web browser, press menu>bookmarks and look, finger scrollable preview windows of webpages, now in your head replace that with preview windows of currently running processes... add the ability to swipe + drag a process down to bring to foreground or up to kill that particular process. Very fluid, very easy, very natural.
Very intuitive idea and well executed in webOS. I would love to see a general port of this function added to android in form of an app or possibly a homescreen replacement, most ideal would be replace the worthless "add to homescreen button" on the senceUI dock, as longpress on the homescreen is another way to do exactly the same thing. Shade out your homescreen and put these previews over the top of your homescreen, drag in a direction as mentioned above, or hit the "add to homescreen button" agian to return to your homescreen.
I will make a bounty of $50 USD (a fair amount IMO) to anyone who makes it exactly as I describe... guaranteed to be a killer app and in no way infringing on webOS patents, as it's only replicating a function provided inside webOS similar to their "synergy" that android has copied almost bit for bit in idea.
also after all designing and beta testing is complete ... you put it out on the market you will be getting even more money, pm me if interested and details on the bounty I am offering. (I don't ever check this side of the forum so be sure to PM)
will be paying with paypal, so please have an account before responding.
I think there is already an app out there very similar to what you described
Can't remember what it's called though.
all its missing is the "previews" i think
Lennyuk said:
I think there is already an app out there very similar to what you described
Can't remember what it's called though.
all its missing is the "previews" i think
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
taskOS, I'm aware of it... the previews and the drag to foreground is what I'm wanting, and a little better way of starting it
johnsongrantr said:
taskOS, I'm aware of it... the previews and the drag to foreground is what I'm wanting, and a little better way of starting it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would imagine (though admit, I don't *know* definitively) that application previews wouldn't be possible without support from the application itself.
The reason I say this is because Android applications are essentially "sandboxed", and all inter-application communication is via "intents". Therefore, I believe that it is probable that in order to display a preview running apps, those apps would need to be coded with an "intent" to supply that preview.
As I said before though, I don't know with 100% certainty, but I'm sure if I'm wrong someone will chime in!
Regards,
Dave
i see sort of what you're saying. Bookmarks in the web browser save thumbnails of the webpages bookmarked to your sd card, but like you said it's not inter-app.
Each app would probally have to supply that thumbnail, or try and make an additoinal app that creates thumbnails when an app is in a foreground for x amount of seconds would proablly be needed, and reading the taskOS thread it sounds like it's probally not supported by the sdk. Something to look into... my offer still remains if a solution is found for this and is implemented, he's the closest example and it sounds like it's his goal as well so he will probally get the pot if he implements this and a few other things.
also find a way to twist that into senceUI as mentioned as a "root only" update.zip version to remove the explicit need for a hardware button
App
phandroid[dot com]/2010/02/18/spb-mobile-shell-5-0-coming-to-android/
Something like the top video?
Wow that looks cool
deejay300 said:
phandroid[dot com]/2010/02/18/spb-mobile-shell-5-0-coming-to-android/
Something like the top video?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, thats actually what I'm looking for... guess I'll look into it thanks
http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/android-software/
winmo version
http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/pocketpc-software/mobileshell/
foxmeister said:
I would imagine (though admit, I don't *know* definitively) that application previews wouldn't be possible without support from the application itself.
The reason I say this is because Android applications are essentially "sandboxed", and all inter-application communication is via "intents". Therefore, I believe that it is probable that in order to display a preview running apps, those apps would need to be coded with an "intent" to supply that preview.
As I said before though, I don't know with 100% certainty, but I'm sure if I'm wrong someone will chime in!
Regards,
Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my idea would be to take a screenshot of the device every time you push the home button, then use this screenshot for the task. remember how the iphone does the animations when closing tasks?
deejay300 said:
phandroid[dot com]/2010/02/18/spb-mobile-shell-5-0-coming-to-android/
Something like the top video?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I can tell from the video, that's more like a preview of live widgets rather than running apps which is going to be possible since widgets are by definition live on home screens.
Regards,
Dave
kendong2 said:
my idea would be to take a screenshot of the device every time you push the home button, then use this screenshot for the task. remember how the iphone does the animations when closing tasks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would probably work - the issue though (for me anyway) is that the screenshot wouldn't show the current status of the app, but the status just prior to shifting anyway.
If I'm running say Spotify, I'd want my live preview to show what I'm currently playing, not what I was playing when I put the app into the background. If it couldn't do that, I'm no better off with the screenshot than I am with a simple Spotify icon,
Regards,
Dave

splashtop remote desktop HD

i notice this app in the android app store today. has anyone purchased this $4.99 app? recommendations? pros and cons?
damn, instead of fixing their app they want us to buy it AGAIN?!
this kind of behavior by app makers really makes me mad!!
...and besides, by the comments, it looks like it still changing the host's resolution, that is the biggest issue with this app for me, as it messes with all open windows locations and sizes.
this is bull****, it should be an update. i have the old app and it's the best for streaming videos but not for actual work, for that i recommend teamviewer.
i disagree. this app is great and is well worth the $5 dollars for their hard work. you can always request a refund for the first app. they might not give it to you but its worth a shot.
the app runs incredibly even on my ****ty internet
it originally does change your resolution size however when reverting back to normal resolution the orientation of your desktop is left unchanged! you can make it not change your resolution at all in the settings for the connection itself.
great app
I bought it since I do not have it yet. yes it DOES change the host resolution to 720p which is VERY annoying but otherwise it is pretty good.
THanks for the heads up....although I SWEAR that I saw this thread in the Asus Transformer section....now it is in Xoom section?
I like the app, except I wish it had the ability to blank the screen on the host. Resolution change doesnt bother me as it does this to match the screen resolution of the xoom. Also you can not use it outside of your own LAN yet which is a pretty big deal.
adoublearonn said:
I like the app, except I wish it had the ability to blank the screen on the host. Resolution change doesnt bother me as it does this to match the screen resolution of the xoom. Also you can not use it outside of your own LAN yet which is a pretty big deal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure you can, it's called port forwarding.
By the way this version of the app utilizes the dual core tegra more efficiently and they are already optimizing for 1280x752 instead of just 1280x720. I was running around in WoW for a few minutes, it was funny
adoublearonn said:
I like the app, except I wish it had the ability to blank the screen on the host. Resolution change doesnt bother me as it does this to match the screen resolution of the xoom. Also you can not use it outside of your own LAN yet which is a pretty big deal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you can, you can use it as long as you know your IP address and the port that is assigned to Splashtop, it tells you that when you configure it the first time.
I bought the program based on the comments in the market after the OP here made me aware of the program. I think it's a great program and it does exactly what it says it does.
flukeSG2 said:
Yes you can, you can use it as long as you know your IP address and the port that is assigned to Splashtop, it tells you that when you configure it the first time.
I bought the program based on the comments in the market after the OP here made me aware of the program. I think it's a great program and it does exactly what it says it does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My mistake then. I emailed the dev and he actually told me no...
jrezin said:
...and besides, by the comments, it looks like it still changing the host's resolution, that is the biggest issue with this app for me, as it messes with all open windows locations and sizes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's normal for remote desktop. Even the windows client from Microsoft does this.
If you don't want this behavior you're going to need to find a different protocol, like logmein or VNC.
I bought it, love it. Might as well get it now before the price raises to 10. Even if not going to use it much like me.
bjarnia said:
That's normal for remote desktop. Even the windows client from Microsoft does this.
If you don't want this behavior you're going to need to find a different protocol, like logmein or VNC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that is not correct. RDP can just use the host resolution (or any available resolution in the host) like any other! even spalshtop for iOS can do that!!
check your facts before posting something like that!
Ok just to be fair, if you adjust it to use the computer's native resolution, it doesn't change a thing host wise. It defaults to best fit the device using it, and most people don't know how to change it or didn't know you could.
Stealyourface said:
Ok just to be fair, if you adjust it to use the computer's native resolution, it doesn't change a thing host wise. It defaults to best fit the device using it, and most people don't know how to change it or didn't know you could.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that is something that already existed in iOS version, but not in the non-HD version and the description of the app didn't mentioned it... some posts confirmed it changing the resolution anyway, like the non-HD version, but I'm glad they actually implemented this setting this time. (can you confirm it not changing a host resolution larger the 1280x800? 1440x900 or 1920x1080? thanks)
Just waiting if they can refund the old version now, as I have no use for it and was just it for this single option to be implemented.
Yes, my res is 1440*900 and it doesn't change a thing host wise for me.
Stealyourface said:
Yes, my res is 1440*900 and it doesn't change a thing host wise for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks =D
(if anyone with ~ 1920x1080 can confirm this too, it would be very nice!)
I have tried
phonemypc
Team viewer
Loads of vnc ones
And this is by far the best viewer application at the moment.
Audio streaming has problems though.( solved my set up is PC to HD TV to amp, just had to changed it from HDMI audio to standard and it worked)
I will be sticking with this for a while.
Sent from my Tablet
i bit the bullet and decided to purchase the app. im loving the app. a cheaper alternative to gotomypc or teamviewer. i love the fact that it streams the desktop, audio, and video to the xoom. highly recommend this app!
Somebody made a video demonstrating it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpEo7pyX8XQ
(I think it was fondoo )

[Q] Considering switching from HTC One to 1020; have questions

As the title suggests, I'm considering jumping from my HTC One to the Nokia Lumia 1020, and I have some questions. If this is the wrong forum, I'm sorry.
1. Is it possible (even through a hack) to set a homescreen background? I used to do this on the WP 7 themes on my iPhone, and it looked great with transparent tiles.
2. Has Google gotten into WP8? Voice, Gmail, Play Music?
3. Photo editing. What sort of post-processing options are there? I must have had 10gb of just photo apps on my iPhone, and I'm kinda struggling now on Android.
4. Keyboards? I've become a Swiftkey addict. Is there anything comparable to this in Redmond's garden?
5. Twitter and Facebook? My fiance has a Lumia 900, however her Facebook and Twitter apps look awful. Tweetbot was the best Twitter client I've ever used, so my standards are high.
Thank you in advance for any insight.
Start screen backgrounds are still not supported. There are pseudo-hacks to do it, using a large array of customized tiles, but there's still black or white behind them. The hacking scene or WP8 has been very limited.
Gmail works fine on WP8, as it did on WP7. There's no official app that I know of, though. Google has no official Music app for the OS, but there are plenty of third party ones (I cannot comment on the quality as I use Pandora and Zune/Xbox Music Pass). There's also Nokia's music app, which I don't use. Google Voice is similar; no official app but several third-party ones, and WP8 allows apps to integrate into the phone system and to continue calls when backgrounded (this is how Skype works).
Lots of photo editing apps, plus time-of-shot "filters". I have no idea of their quality as a PC is, and always will be, better at that task.
Sadly, custom keyboards are not currently supported at all. The built-in keyboard is excellent, with nice new features like next-word prediction, but it's not customizable or aimed at specific nich users, nor is it (yet) replaceable.
I don't use Twitter, even the integrated functionality. The new version of the Facebook app is excellent, though. It's much faster, has more features, and looks better than the old app.
GoodDayToDie said:
Start screen backgrounds are still not supported. There are pseudo-hacks to do it, using a large array of customized tiles, but there's still black or white behind them. The hacking scene or WP8 has been very limited.
Gmail works fine on WP8, as it did on WP7. There's no official app that I know of, though. Google has no official Music app for the OS, but there are plenty of third party ones (I cannot comment on the quality as I use Pandora and Zune/Xbox Music Pass). There's also Nokia's music app, which I don't use. Google Voice is similar; no official app but several third-party ones, and WP8 allows apps to integrate into the phone system and to continue calls when backgrounded (this is how Skype works).
Lots of photo editing apps, plus time-of-shot "filters". I have no idea of their quality as a PC is, and always will be, better at that task.
Sadly, custom keyboards are not currently supported at all. The built-in keyboard is excellent, with nice new features like next-word prediction, but it's not customizable or aimed at specific nich users, nor is it (yet) replaceable.
I don't use Twitter, even the integrated functionality. The new version of the Facebook app is excellent, though. It's much faster, has more features, and looks better than the old app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the responses. With regards to music, I had a 64gb iPhone 4S and still have an active subscription to iTunes in the Cloud. So I could store most of my music on my phone, and have access to the rest as needed. My One is only 32gb, so I keep some music on it, and the rest I stream via Google Play.
As for Google, does WP8 integrate with Google Voice at all? Or is there at least an app?
With photos, there are some apps from iOS that I truely miss, and haven't seen any alternatives on Android as of yet. I fear my pickings will be even slimmer on WP8.
Does the built in keyboard have anything akin to Swype? I'm fairly certain my girls WP7 does not.
As my girl does have WP7, she can't upgrade to the newest Facebook and is thus stuck with the awful one she currently has.
Thanks again.
As I mentioned, there are apps for streaming music from Google. Nothing official, but the reviews say they work.
There's one app I can find in the store, "Spare Phone", which claims to integrate somewhat (and has the WP8-specific app capability to do so). However, it looks like it can't recieve GV calls directly (forward to your mobile number or take voicemail notifications only) when it's in the background. I'm pretty sure the dev could fix this with enough effort. The app costs $3.49 USD, so I can't easily test if for you. There's no OS-level integration with GV, which doesn't surprise me in the least. Google is Microsoft's biggest competitor in this space...
I have no real idea what the photo app situation is like. There are tons of them, some well-rated, plus some built-in features of the OS. I still prefer to do my photo editing with the power and precision of a PC, though, so I haven't tried. The photos are overcompressed as is (all smartphone photos are), so manipulating them tends to produce artifacts anyhow.
Nothing like Swype, sorry. Microsoft really needs to get with the picture there. It's especially sad/funny, considering that Swype was originally for Windows Mobile and (according to a guy I know who works there) they'd be happy to bring it to WP, but MS hasn't allowed it yet.
Most of my FB on the phone is just done using the built-in integration (People hub, Messaging hub. etc.), but the new WP8 app really is excellent.
1. No you can't set homescreen background. I hope it will be coming in WP Blue update.
2.Gmail works fine, Xbox music is very much better option.
3. WP store is full of lots of photo editing apps, 1020 itself has proshot app. I think you would be very happy in this department.
4.No, unfortunately but you can expect it in updates.
5. Both official apps are very very good. FB just got updated and it's very good. You can also have beta app which updates continuously so FB support from MS is very much active. Official twitter app has everything you want, same as its iOS & Android counter part.
Instagram has 3rd party app instance which is very good, even you can save photo in it. Official Vine app is coming till then 6 sec is available.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Google Voice is handled quite nicely by Metrotalk. It takes some work to get setup properly, but once setup works very seamlessly.
Google has no official apps (aside from a poor Google search app) on Windows Phone, and the only thing known on the horizon is an official YouTube app (a joint project between Microsoft and Google). Otherwise Google has been pretty anti-Windows Phone. If you want the quality and selection of Google apps and services that you find on an Android phone, you simply won't get it anywhere except Android. Windows Phone and even iPhone don't compare to what Google offers on it's own platform. There are third party apps, and some of them are decent.
The Twitter and Facebook apps for WP8 now very closely match the functionality and look/feel of their official counterparts on iOS and Android. They still aren't as awesome, but thankfully, because of the tight OS integration, they aren't necessarily needed as much as you would need them on iOS or Android.
Nothing close to Swype and I'm gonna take a guess and say that it won't be coming anytime soon. There just isn't a demand for it. Clearly there is one here on this site (and other enthusiast sites), but this is a site made up of hardcore tweakers and enthusiasts. In the real world, most people do not know what Swype is and simply don't bother to learn it even if it is available to them. The Windows Phone keyboard is an excellent stock keyboard, and with some of the improvements being seen in Windows 8.1, you can expect it to get better as time goes on.
Almost any kind of configuring, tweaking, or hacking you may be used to on Android goes out the window with Windows Phone 8. For the most part, the operating system just works, so you don't always need it (like iOS), but some people still have that itch to tweak, and if that's you, Windows Phone 8 may not make you happy. But then again, I used to be that type of person, but once I got used to a platform that just worked and didn't need me to go ROM hunting every week, its just became so much better. The operating system is just so much more secure than WP7 or Android, so there isn't much of a development/hacking community for it.
As with any upgrade, new line, or purchase, you should have an opportunity to try it for a bit before you go past the point of no return. So your best bet is to try it as your main driver for a week and see how it works for you.
prjkthack said:
The operating system is just so much more secure than WP7 or Android, so there isn't much of a development/hacking community for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Security, in the context of operating systems or really anything else, is about granting or revoking authorization for access or activity. The key point, there, is "authorization". Authority is a property of ownership. However, I actually have relatively (compared to other OSes) little ability to authorize, *or* revoke authorization for, actions occurring on what is nominally my phone. So, which of the following is true?
A) It's not my phone; it's actually owned by Microsoft, the OEM, and the operator (but mostly Microsoft).
B) The OS is "so much more" locked down than WP7 or Android, and is actually pretty meager on security features.
Did you know that on some Android ROMs, you can do things like prevent apps from making using of certain capabilities while still using the app? That on WP7, you can disable the "Microsoft, may I install or run sideloaded apps?" check that the OS makes periodically without your authorization? Now *that* is an increase in security!
GoodDayToDie said:
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Security, in the context of operating systems or really anything else, is about granting or revoking authorization for access or activity. The key point, there, is "authorization". Authority is a property of ownership. However, I actually have relatively (compared to other OSes) little ability to authorize, *or* revoke authorization for, actions occurring on what is nominally my phone. So, which of the following is true?
A) It's not my phone; it's actually owned by Microsoft, the OEM, and the operator (but mostly Microsoft).
B) The OS is "so much more" locked down than WP7 or Android, and is actually pretty meager on security features.
Did you know that on some Android ROMs, you can do things like prevent apps from making using of certain capabilities while still using the app? That on WP7, you can disable the "Microsoft, may I install or run sideloaded apps?" check that the OS makes periodically without your authorization? Now *that* is an increase in security!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whether the product is yours or not does not matter much here. At its base level, all the platforms are "locked down" to a certain extent, some more than others, and what you can do is limited by what the OEMs (Microsoft, Apple, or Google) say you can do. Now you can go ahead and throw hacks at it, tear it apart, or throw money at it to completely change it, but that's going beyond the scope of this discussion. They choose what permissions you may alter or ask for. Finding loopholes to get around permissions or authorization goes beyond what the original manufacturer intended, but its pretty fair to say that its far easier to circumvent security on Android than on any other platform. Android's inherently more "open" platform allows for greater risk at times because it isn't as locked down as iOS or Windows Phone.
That being said, being more locked down inherently offers more security or at the very least, piece of mind, whether that be protection from scripts or hacks, viruses, financial security, or just preventing errors/crashes. Denying or granting access to certain activities, or just flat out not having the option to deny/grant certain activities can be the base for a safer, more reliable, more secure operating environment. "Security" and being "locked down", in some cases, go hand in hand. Of course it can mean many different things to many people.
Now you could also be referring to other "security" features like corporate encryption policies or secure NFC or stuff like that, but that wasn't part of the original discussion, so my use of the word security does not include any of that, but I understand that certainly those types of security features may or may not exist between platforms.
So I have another question.
I've been quite spoiled by 64gb of storage on my 4S combined with iTunes in the Cloud and lately been forced to stream from Play Music due to my One only having 32gb of storage.
Does WP8 have any sort of set up where I upload my music collection to the cloud and can download/stream from there? I do have a 50gb AT&T Locker account, but I'd rather use something that's a little more polished.
OGhoul said:
So I have another question.
I've been quite spoiled by 64gb of storage on my 4S combined with iTunes in the Cloud and lately been forced to stream from Play Music due to my One only having 32gb of storage.
Does WP8 have any sort of set up where I upload my music collection to the cloud and can download/stream from there? I do have a 50gb AT&T Locker account, but I'd rather use something that's a little more polished.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you have 7GB of skydrive space for free, can be increased for additional cost.
mcosmin222 said:
Yes, you have 7GB of skydrive space for free, can be increased for additional cost.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have over 60 gigs of music alone.
OGhoul said:
I have over 60 gigs of music alone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt anybody is going to give you 60 gigs of storage for free (ATT does not count, since you pay for it anyway)
There are apps which can stream from Google Music.
Alternatively, get a phone that has a microSD slot; my ATIV S has 80GB of total local storage, never mind the amount I have in my butt.
mcosmin222 said:
I doubt anybody is going to give you 60 gigs of storage for free (ATT does not count, since you pay for it anyway)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
iCloud.
OGhoul said:
iCloud.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so then what's the problem?
I mean, you can stream it the same way you did on your HTC one.
But unless you want that camera badly, there is no real reason to get the lumia 1020.
lumia 820 or Ativ S are probably better for you.
mcosmin222 said:
so then what's the problem?
I mean, you can stream it the same way you did on your HTC one.
But unless you want that camera badly, there is no real reason to get the lumia 1020.
lumia 820 or Ativ S are probably better for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The camera is the reason I'm considering a WP. Don't get me wrong, I like the Metro UI. I would usually install a Metro theme on my iPhone when I had it. I'm tremendously underwhelmed with Android and in particular, the camera in my One, which is what prompted my questions.
Basically, if I can get WP8 to do things close to as seamless as they are on iOS, I'd really consider switching. If I'm reading this correctly, SkyDrive offers automatic syncing of photos to my PC from my phone, the way iCloud does?
OGhoul said:
The camera is the reason I'm considering a WP. Don't get me wrong, I like the Metro UI. I would usually install a Metro theme on my iPhone when I had it. I'm tremendously underwhelmed with Android and in particular, the camera in my One, which is what prompted my questions.
Basically, if I can get WP8 to do things close to as seamless as they are on iOS, I'd really consider switching. If I'm reading this correctly, SkyDrive offers automatic syncing of photos to my PC from my phone, the way iCloud does?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes windows phone will upload full res images to skydrive. Great feature actually. BTW have you looked at Xbox music? Its similar to Google play music and iTunes streaming. Take a look, it might be what your looking for: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/music
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Xbox music, Pandora, Nokia Music all work great on my 1020. And something new in WP8, it can sync from your iTunes library. (new WP8 desktop app, no more Zune app like used for WP7)
Did you ever get the 1020 and what were your thoughts?
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk 4

[Q] Password protect certain applications?

Is there an application that can password protect certain apps that I choose?
And please do not say Kids Corner as it does not do what I am asking.
It's probably possible (though far from easy), but I'd actually be more inclined to help if you hadn't opened a duplicate thread about this.
Only made second thread about this to attract some attention, 7 months passed since that guy opened his thread and nobody could give a good answer.
To me it's weird that nobody tried to make an app like this still, it would be very popular and help users very much.
Anyways, thank you for replying.
Really, just bumping the other thread was enough, but since we're here anyhow... my idea for how to approach it (and this would take a *lot* of hacking) goes something like this:
1. Create an app (call it X) that has the capability to launch other apps, and filesystem write access.
2. Have X take another app (call it Y) and encrypt its binaries. This prevents anybody from launching it by any means.
3. Tweak the app database to make it so that when you try to launch Y, it instead launches X and passes the id of Y as a parameter to the launcher.
4. X prompts the user for a password to Y. On getting the right one, it decrypts Y's binaries and writes them back to the correct location, then launches Y.
5. When the user (or OS) closes Y, a background process of X notes that Y is closed and re-encrypts it.
Currently we know how to do... well, some of #1, and we think the rest is possible. Given that, #2 isn't too hard. #3 is something I don't have the least notion how to do *right now* but I'm sure it's possible. #4 shouldn't be too hard given #1 and #2. #5 will be a trick - currently, apps have no way to know what other apps are running - but I'm sure it can be done.
It's a large engineering problem blocked by an even bigger research and hacking problem, though. Nothing we'll have soon. You'd never be able to publish it in the store, either, and it would only work for people with hacked phones. It's exactly the kind of *useful* thing that would be possible if Microsoft were willing to let up the restrictions on third-party developers a bit, of course, But for the time being, there are *reasons* nobody has done it yet.
Well the word that I actually was thinking after reading your post was "crap".
It seems only with time (and a whole [email protected]#$ing lot of it) will wp become a true competitor to android, but to be honest I don't think it will come to that.
Thanks for replying GoodDayToDie, I'm freakin' sad that there is no app that can suit my needs, I even tried with kids corner but the screen still needs the password entered like the normal one. Nothing really can make up for what I have in mind.
Cheers mate.
as soon as we can interop unlock all WP devices, it will be pretty easy... if you're able to provide the XAP (uncrypted of course )
i'll be able to "mod" this in for you... which app are we talking about?
@GoodDayToDie: i do'nt think he is looking for real data security here, so encrypting the whole thing shouldnt be required... i think it's more about preventing his gf to read his private messages or something like that
oh btw.: you would need a dev-unlock to deploy the modified XAP then...
tfBullet said:
as soon as we can interop unlock all WP devices, it will be pretty easy... if you're able to provide the XAP (uncrypted of course )
i'll be able to "mod" this in for you... which app are we talking about?
@GoodDayToDie: i do'nt think he is looking for real data security here, so encrypting the whole thing shouldnt be required... i think it's more about preventing his gf to read his private messages or something like that
oh btw.: you would need a dev-unlock to deploy the modified XAP then...
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You're right tfBullet! I need it for whatsapp, photos, message and games app, mostly to prevent from friends but gf too.
I was thinking it might be possible to mod an app and add password before it can be accessed, although I have no experience in this domain. Many apps in store have this function, like wallet or prive photo apps.
My phone is dev-unlocked as I started a few days ago to study and try to create a simple app for me and my friends.
Modding an app like that would actually be quite hard, because it would break the signature and prevent the app from running. The encryption thing really isn't too hard, although you could skip it anyhow too.
If there was a way to run a program in the background that monitors when certain apps are selected and then prompts when its activated would work, but it would need an unlocked phone. And even under home brew I don't know if its possible to run apps in the background. Yet.
Sent from my Nokia 521 using XDA Windows Phone 8 App
The encryption thing really isn't too hard
Yea, but that's a little extreme. If you can create that password program that runs in the background you could probably have it watch files, apps or pretty much anything. You'd have to password protect the cofig file. And maybe if you can't remember the password after so many attempts you can have the program email the passwords to your email. Just some ideas.
Sent from my Nokia 521 using XDA Windows Phone 8 App
Running software in the background is actually shockingly easy. The trick is getting it to run with better-than-app-sandbox privileges. We're still working on that one. In the meantime, apps can't even read, much less write, to the install location of other apps.
GoodDayToDie said:
Modding an app like that would actually be quite hard, because it would break the signature and prevent the app from running.
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Click to collapse
@GoodDayToDie: actually these .NET apps are pretty easy to decompile, if you're willing to fix the bugs that the decompiler leaves you with...
so there is not really a need for a valid signature, if you're able to compile & sideload the app yourself
the only thing is: you need the decrypted XAP, as far as i know these get decrypted while installation and can be pulled from a interop unlocked device?!
It would be nice to get my fingers on some OEM (Nokia etc..) XAPs, to see if we can find any exploit in them
I know better than probably 95% of this forum what it takes to decompile managed code; I have reverse engineered huge numbers of apps. However, you are missing several important points.
1) Modifications like you suggest are very complicated to automate. It's certainly possible, but it's not simple.
2) Re-installing the app would be a pain. You would really want to do this as an in-place modification, and that means (for store apps) that it would still be signature-checked.
3) Not all apps are managed code; WP8 supports purely native code.
4) Even with managed code, obfuscation can make tinkering with the binary nigh-impossible.
It's just so incredibly stupid that WP is so limited. I know it's under Android big time, but I think even iOS more customizable, right?
Also, is there a message app in the store that has pass option? I searched but found nothing...
I don't believe iOS is any more customizable, no. It has some feature that WP lacks (it ought to; it's been out for years longer and Apple completely controls the hardware it runs on) but it's also missing some features that WP8 offers. In any case, this isn't the thread to have that discussion in.
GoodDayToDie said:
I don't believe iOS is any more customizable, no. It has some feature that WP lacks (it ought to; it's been out for years longer and Apple completely controls the hardware it runs on) but it's also missing some features that WP8 offers. In any case, this isn't the thread to have that discussion in.
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But with the jailbreak and MobileSubstrate, iOS is extremely customizable, and there are tons of tweaks, that's where Apple gets its new features from
Back to topic, I think the OP would be happy with a solution that locks the "normal" user of his phone out of some apps, so it wouldn't be necessary to modify anything of it, just making the standard launcher (I don't know how it's called, but I mean when you launch the app via home screen or with a toast) ask for a password should be enough.

Looking for a working, (hopefully) pretty todo-app!

Can anybody suggest a todo app for the NOOK which is compatible with its e-ink screen? I searched on Google but most of them are either full of fancy (in this case ugly and flashy) animations, or are incompatible with Android 2.1. I find it pretty sad because freqently something cames into my mind when i'm reading, and I can't really take a note of it..
Sagittarius0 said:
Can anybody suggest a todo app for the NOOK which is compatible with its e-ink screen? I searched on Google but most of them are either full of fancy (in this case ugly and flashy) animations, or are incompatible with Android 2.1. I find it pretty sad because freqently something cames into my mind when i'm reading, and I can't really take a note of it..
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Click to collapse
Try: Evernote https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B7ODz45fOUKVWlZ0S3lIb3hNNnM
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Sadly wi-fi is not really available to me, so it is out of question. Any offline apps?
Sagittarius0 said:
Sadly wi-fi is not really available to me, so it is out of question. Any offline apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure what you are looking for.
Evernote works off-line. Download the apk and side-load it to your nook, There is also a simple notepad app that comes with Android that should be already on your nook after rooting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66YJFnI18pw
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.socialnmobile.dictapps.notepad.color.note
.
Thank you Wozhere! This is what I was looking for!
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And regarding Evernote, Richardcoop, I have to register on the first start. But it doesn't matter now, thanks.
Pleasure. On nook I change the theme to: Dark & black on higher androids for all my devices. Settings: Default color to black & reduce Default font size + reduce List item heights, last option needs app relaunch. On phones/tabs I use Extensive Notes Pro which exports txt files sadly abandoned by it's dev as well as ColorNote.

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