Database Develop

[Q] Restore Walkman and Movies applications

I've just updated my Xperia Z to 423 and all I can say is that apart from transparency it's absolutely awful! Anyway, I also updated Walkman, Album and Movies apps from Update Center and new Walkman lacks a lot of functions + irritating Music Unlimited banner. I didn't like the new Movies app layout as well.
So the question is - Is it possible to restore the previous versions of those applications and how can I do that?
Thank you in advance!
UPDATE. Found the solution - Settings - Apps - All - Walkman - Uninstall updates
Sorry for the thread, can be closed now.

[Q] Apps Crashing | Album, Movies, Walkman, Play & More

Hi all!
I've followed XDA Developers for some time now; back when I first had the HTC Desire and again when I had the HTC Sensation XE. However, after a very poor experience with the HTC Sensation, I vowed that I would never have another HTC again. Thus, I turned to Sony and the Xperia Z offering. The device is amazing, it looks gorgeous, feels snappy and is a hell of a turn-around from Sense UI that I've been bogged down with for years.
I've had the phone approximately a month now and for the most part it has been a positive experience. However, I get very device specific issues regarding a few apps on the phone, they are as follows:
Sony's own media-specific applications: Walkman, Album, Movies & Camera.
Google's own: Play Store, Play Movies, Play Music & all of the other offerings (books, magazines, etc.)
Lastly, the official Twitter application and Amazon MP3.
They all crash! I can be looking at photos or videos or even listening to music using ANY of the apps listed above and I just get booted back to the home screen with no crash report. It doesn't say "Walkman has stopped working", just instantly crashes and boots to the home screen.
At first, I believed it might be the Mobile Bravia Engine as I was experiencing the issue heavily within the first days of use on the Sony's media apps (before I installed Twitter, etc.), so I turned off the MBE and nothing. The device still booted me back to the home screen whilst viewing photos or videos or listening to music.
I started to believe that maybe the SD card was at fault so I hooked it up to a Windows PC and ran all of the checks and there appears to be nothing wrong with the SD card after I repaired it (initially there was the error pop up that says to fix the device). And when I installed Twitter, it was an indication that maybe there was more of an underlying problem than a dodgy SD card anyway (since that doesn't store or operate from the SD), whenever I am typing a Twitter message, I get instantly booted out to the home screen... again, no crash reports.
Any tips?
The only thing related to this strange problem that I have found is on the Sony Mobile site that says there was a corrupt font in Taiwan... which obviously does not affect me as I live in the UK.
For a list of apps installed:
Adobe Reader, Alarm & Clock (S), Album, All Stars Island, Amazon, Amazon MP3, Astro File Manager, Back-Up & Restore (S), Box, Calculator (S), Calendar (S), Camera (S), Car Mode (S), Chrome, Contacts (S), Cover Art Grabber, Cracked Lite, Diagnostics, Dictionary, Dodol Wallpaper, Downloads (S), Dragon Fly!, DroID3Tagger, Dropbox, Earth, eBay, Email (S), Engadget, Facebook, File Commander (S), FM Radio (S), G+ Photo, GMail, Goggles,, Google, Google Settings, Google+, Hangouts, IMDB, Joystiq, Let's Start PSM (S), Local (S), Maps, McAfee Security (inactive), Media Remote (S), Messaging (S), Movie Studio (S), Movies (S), Music Unlimited, Name[dot]com, Navigation (S), NeoReader (S), Netflix, News & Weather (S), Notes (S), NowTV, O2 Priority Moments, O2 Priority Tickets, OfficeSuite, Phone (S), Play Books, Play Magazines, Play Movies, Play Music, Play Store, PlayMemories Online, PlayNow, Playstation, Playstation Mobile, pocket BLU, Settings (S), Shazam, ShopTo, Sky News, Sky+, Slices, Smart Connect (S), Socialife (S), Sony Select (S), Speed Test, Steam, Support (S), Tone Picker, TrackID (S), TweetCaster Pro, Twitch, Twitter, Update Centre (S), Video Unlimited, Voice Dialer (S), Voice Search, Walkman (S), Wikipedia, Wimbledon, Wisepilot for Xperia (S), WWE, XDA, Xperia Link (S), Xperia Lounge, YouTube
(S) = System default apps from Sony
Here is miscellaneous information regarding the phone:
Model Number: C6603 (Sony Xperia Z)
Android Version: 4.2.2
Build Number: 10.3.1.A.0.244
Any help you can give will be much appreciated!

Repair your firmware using pcc.
Gesendet von meinem Xperia ZL

[DISCUSSION] Sony + Android App Alternatives

+ the apps are free
+ widgets, icons and the user interface is beautiful
- many Sony and Google apps have become big and heavy pigs in terms of app size as wll as memory foot-print
- user interface, settings and options have been stripped down or hidden, sometimes to a level that cripples the app
- permissions required are numerous, sometimes without any connection to the function of the app
I personally found that functionally there are sometimes better alternatives. I personally like the VLC player much better than Movies and Walkman, even though it still has some rough edges.
What clever replacements are you using for Messenger, Album, Calendar, Phonebook, Musik Player, Movies, Barcode Scanner, File Browser, Internet Browser, Contacts, Email, Maps, Notes and the likes?

Album - Quickpic
Video - MX Player, because can be used together with Bravia (HW+)
Music - PowerAmp Trial Version, it's free but trial XD But you can still used =)
File Browser - ES File Manager and X-Plore
Browser - Baidu Browser and Opera Mini
Notes - Sony Note stock and Colornote
Personally, I don't care about beautiful UI, what I need is easy and simple navigation =)

Jet Audio Plus and Root Explorer are must have apps for me, along with Chrome!

thedisturbedone said:
Jet Audio Plus and Root Explorer are must have apps for me, along with Chrome!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried Jet Audio. It would be a typical example of what I mean. Walkman has 11 Mb and not even half of the functionality. I am looking more for "lean" alternatives. But for someone who loves listening to music Jet Audio is a great alternative, same as PowerAmp.
Personally I don't like Chrome. I am using Dolphin. It is the best I found for me, but not completely happy.

Yenkazu said:
Album - Quickpic
Video - MX Player, because can be used together with Bravia (HW+)
Music - PowerAmp Trial Version, it's free but trial XD But you can still used =)
File Browser - ES File Manager and X-Plore
Browser - Baidu Browser and Opera Mini
Notes - Sony Note stock and Colornote
Personally, I don't care about beautiful UI, what I need is easy and simple navigation =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the long run what works best has a straight design. Bauhaus. I think an app can be beautiful and not be worthless eye candy at the same time. I tried some Notes apps and found you are right, Sony Notes is among the best, and it IS simple and beautiful.
QuickPic is a golden tip. 0.5 Mb vs. 13 Mb of the Sony Album. For what? Memory foot print in operation is similar, only that QuickPic unloads from my memory immediately. And it has only the permissions which are needed for it's function. More over, the Sony Albums thumbs are to tiny for my taste. To me, QuickPic is really a worthwhile alternative.
It was already worth to open this thread

peter-k said:
Jet Audio Plus would be a typical example of what I mean. Walkman has 11 Mb and not even half of the functionality. I personally am looking more for "lean" alternatives, but for someone who loves listen to music on the on that's a great alternative, same as PowerAmp.
Personally I don't like Chrome. I am using Dolphin. It is the best I found for me, but not completely happy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I used to love PowerAmp. But switched to JetAudio because it made me remember the old days (on pc) and completely forgot about it now. JetAudio offers a few additional features to PowerAmp anyway. Walkman is all about looks and animations. If you want slim players you check stuff like Shuttle.
I used chrome because it syncs across my phone, windows laptop and ubuntu laptop as well and has all my bookmarks and history.

peter-k said:
More over, the Sony Albums thumbs are to tiny for my taste. To me, QuickPic is really a worthwhile alternative.
It was already worth to open this thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can just resize thumbnails with two fingers.

but when you try to name alternatives, for example jetaudio, then its only the half truth. the full functional jetaudio costs 2,99euro. so this is a minus....compared to walkman app. isnt it?^^
I saw the word "Bauhaus" ...maybe take a look into NexMusic. am using that. and it has a really nice feature: it not uses much battery
also when you speak about quickpic, you have to speak about the functions of the sony album. without sony album you will not be able to change lockscreen background wallpaper.
so you have to keep it on phone, if you need it for that. and if you keep it on phone, then you dont need quickpick, or you like to use two galleries?
for the notes, i use google keep. yeah i know privacy and all that stuff. but i use it only for useless "lists". not for private stuff.
its functional, you not have to use the sync. it looks good...and its fast.
the sony weather app/widget. i not like it. i love it clean and fast. i guess many use the same like me, 1weather?
the first thing i deleted was the smallapps and smallapps manager. and also the calculator, im usign a calculator from playstore, the one i use need NO privacy rights.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.android2.calculator3&hl=de and it has a pretty light theme, important for me
a sony app i like? smart connect.

Am i the only one that likes most of stock Sony apps?i really like Album app cause its different and unique.i dont care for memory footprint that much.but thats my opinion,i know alot of people prefer alternatives

josephnero said:
Am i the only one that likes most of stock Sony apps?i really like Album app cause its different and unique.i dont care for memory footprint that much.but thats my opinion,i know alot of people prefer alternatives
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love most the sony apps too, walkman and album especially

josephnero said:
Am i the only one that likes most of stock Sony apps?i really like Album app cause its different and unique.i dont care for memory footprint that much.but thats my opinion,i know alot of people prefer alternatives
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No You're not alone bro!
I Guess SONY Walkman,Album,Launcher & Stock keyboard Are Very nice

immerblind said:
snip ...
I saw the word "Bauhaus" ...maybe take a look into NexMusic. am using that. and it has a really nice feature: it not uses much battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, that's one of the important features I am searching for. Next on my list for trial.
also when you speak about quickpic, you have to speak about the functions of the sony album. without sony album you will not be able to change lockscreen background wallpaper.
so you have to keep it on phone, if you need it for that. and if you keep it on phone, then you dont need quickpick, or you like to use two galleries?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally don't have any interest changing my lockscreen wallpaper. For me it can be a black screen.
the sony weather app/widget. i not like it. i love it clean and fast. i guess many use the same like me, 1weather?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1Weather was my previous favourite. It is one of those apps that are created to harvest user data. I mean I agree it's great no-cash app and for those who don't mind, that's the price for it. I used it in a sort of modified state (Permissions, I found 3 data collectors there). Lately they implemented a lot of bloat into it. I tossed it and now I am having EZWeather. That's a sparse weather app. Arcus is also fine for a richer weather app, but still has some rough edges (in oarticular the widgets). The near future weather data is good.
the first thing i deleted was the smallapps and smallapps manager. and also the calculator, im usign a calculator from playstore, the one i use need NO privacy rights.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.android2.calculator3&hl=de and it has a pretty light theme, important for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Small apps -> same here. I don't see why it is there in the first place. I'd rather like to have this space available for launching 4 or so selected apps from my regular collection, or direct access to some settings.
The calculator is brilliant.
Thanks for the tips! Useful.

Mahthenewgamer1998 said:
No You're not alone bro!
I Guess SONY Walkman,Album,Launcher & Stock keyboard Are Very nice
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep.i tried many keyboards but keep going back to stock

josephnero said:
Yep.i tried many keyboards but keep going back to stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me Too but I Already using cm11 and I cannot use stock keyboard
But Album and Walkman Are Installable on it and I Using them
Waiting for official 4.3

Sony Home is awesome, especially 6.1. I tried a number other launchers but returned. The Sony Home is really good, considering the small app size it offers a lot, foremost a high level of easy functionality. For me the only other one that seems to be a keeper is Sicksky.
I like the phonebook, the keyboard, and conversations, too. Most of the Sony apps are actually pretty good. So are Google apps. They are good, but some of them have become hefty items. That applies even more for the Google apps. And also, I like manual not automatic. I know there are others, too.

Mahthenewgamer1998 said:
Me Too but I Already using cm11 and I cannot use stock keyboard
But Album and Walkman Are Installable on it and I Using them
Waiting for official 4.3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is ported Z1 keyboars in general android apps section.i guess it works regardless of rom

Yenkazu said:
Album - Quickpic
Video - MX Player, because can be used together with Bravia (HW+)
)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using VLC Player which is simple and works pretty well. But it's big. MX is very nice and works really well. However, as well too big for my taste. I am still looking for a kind of QuickPic equivalent but for video. UPDATED COMMENT: I see now why VLC is big. It opens everything available on Earth, Venus and Mars. The only thing it failed to open was a can of worms.
Shall strip down the entire ROM and and just leave it with core functions, then load apps that only use permissions needed for their function and are lean and muscular.

Alternative Apps: Small - Simple Interface - Least Permission
Album: QuickPic
Barcode Scanner: Barcode Scanner (by Zxing), or QR & Barcode reader (Secure)
Calculator: Calculator (CyanogenMod)
Calendar: Google Calendar
Browser: Tint for small + pretty + privacy, Boat for a medium sized better featured browser
Display Adjustment: Yet Another Auto Brightness
File Manger: inKa File Manager
Keyboard: OEM 6.1
Launcher: SickSky for Small, clever and elegant, otherwise hand s down Xperia Home 6.1
Messaging OEM (Conversations.apk)
Mobil Data Counter: Data Counter Pro
Music Player: NexMusic
Navigation: Mapfactor GPS
Notes: OEM 9.1
Screen Lock: EZ Screen Off
Text to Speech: Google Text to Speech
Video + Music Player: VLC
Weather: EZWeather or Notification weather for minum weather app, Arcus (but not finished)
Widgets: Wizz Widget
Wifi: Wifi Manger
More suggestions welcome!

immerblind said:
snip ...
also when you speak about quickpic, you have to speak about the functions of the sony album. without sony album you will not be able to change lockscreen background wallpaper.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We were talking abt photo album previously. I hope I don't sound too patronizing but to everyone who hasn't done so, I would suggest to try QuicPic. I dare to say it is better than the Sony Album at much much smaller size and with no obscure permissions.
The Tint browser is another top recommendation. Now that I got the hang on it, it just works beautiful.

Who knows a good calendar? Not 16 Mb, just a simple calendar which syncs with Goggle calendar and shows an agenda, too.
Or, alternatively a semccalendar.apk (together with the calendarprovider)?

[Q] Sony Xperia E1 Kitkat 4.4.2 Disabling or deleting bloatware + RAM BUG

Hey,
I was wondering is there any difference in disabling system apps(bloatware) or removing them?
Also I have something like a bug with the RAM, my device is showing that I have almost 400MB of free ram and there is almost no ram being used. This can t be real. Must bee some kind of bug. Does anyone else have something like this?!

-scarface- said:
Hey,
I was wondering is there any difference in disabling system apps(bloatware) or removing them?
Also I have something like a bug with the RAM, my device is showing that I have almost 400MB of free ram and there is almost no ram being used. This can t be real. Must bee some kind of bug. Does anyone else have something like this?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is.
I'm using the Russian version, downloaded from XperiFirm and flashed with Flashtool
If you disable or delete bloatware, or system apps you can feel the difference between when you remove it, and when you don't. The phone can withstand 5-6 days without doing anything to it. (14-19hrs If you play games, listen to music, etc..)
That must be a Software bug, I suppose.

Kizoky said:
There is.
I'm using the Russian version, downloaded from XperiFirm and flashed with Flashtool
If you disable or delete bloatware, or system apps you can feel the difference between when you remove it, and when you don't. The phone can withstand 5-6 days without doing anything to it. (14-19hrs If you play games, listen to music, etc..)
That must be a Software bug, I suppose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I can gain more free ram and extra battery life? Maybe you know a list of apps safe to delete for E1?
Mostly this ram bug appears when I play games. I had it on older updates and with the latest update.
Thank you for replying
Edit:
So here is the list of system apps(crap)that I deleted so far:
Account Manager
Black Hole
Bubbles
Drive
Email
Enhanced forest
Exchange Service
Google lyrics extension
Google Play Books
Google Play Movies & TV
Google Play Music
Google Play Newsstand
Google Search
Google+
Hanguts
Magic Smoke Wallpapers
Maps
News & Weather
Phase Beam
Play Games
Podcast
SenseME slideshow
Smart Connect
Social live
Support
TalkBack
Wikipedia extension
Wikipedia extension
Xperia Calendar Sync
Xperia Music Likes
Xperia Share
Xperia Social Engine Photos
Xperia Social Engine Sharing
Xperia Social Engine Sharing
Xperia Lounge
Xperia Lounge Pass
Xperia with Facebook
Xperia with Twitter
Youtube extension
Youtube karaoke extension

-scarface- said:
So I can gain more free ram and extra battery life? Maybe you know a list of apps safe to delete for E1?
Mostly this ram bug appears when I play games. I had it on older updates and with the latest update.
Thank you for replying
Edit:
So here is the list of system apps(crap)that I deleted so far:
Account Manager
Black Hole
Bubbles
Drive
Email
Enhanced forest
Exchange Service
Google lyrics extension
Google Play Books
Google Play Movies & TV
Google Play Music
Google Play Newsstand
Google Search
Google+
Hanguts
Magic Smoke Wallpapers
Maps
News & Weather
Phase Beam
Play Games
Podcast
SenseME slideshow
Smart Connect
Social live
Support
TalkBack
Wikipedia extension
Wikipedia extension
Xperia Calendar Sync
Xperia Music Likes
Xperia Share
Xperia Social Engine Photos
Xperia Social Engine Sharing
Xperia Social Engine Sharing
Xperia Lounge
Xperia Lounge Pass
Xperia with Facebook
Xperia with Twitter
Youtube extension
Youtube karaoke extension
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You shouldn't delete Account Manager, now you can't download any apps from Google Play

Kizoky said:
You shouldn't delete Account Manager, now you can't download any apps from Google Play
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
who told you that?
I can download apps just fine, even after restart

So I can confirm this ram bug appears whenever I am playing games, the more I play the more free ram I get I mean WTF?
Updated list:
Account Manager
Black Hole
Bubbles
Chrome
Drive
Email
Enhanced forest
Exchange Service
Google lyrics extension
Google Play Books
Google Play Movies & TV
Google Play Music
Google Play Newsstand
Google Search
Google+
Hanguts
Magic Smoke Wallpapers
Maps
News & Weather
Phase Beam
Play Games
Podcast
SenseME slideshow
Smart Connect
Social live
Support
TalkBack
Wikipedia extension
Wikipedia extension
Xperia Calendar Sync
Xperia Music Likes
Xperia Share
Xperia Social Engine Photos
Xperia Social Engine Sharing
Xperia Social Engine Sharing
Xperia Lounge
Xperia Lounge Pass
Xperia with Facebook
Xperia with Twitter
Youtube extension
Youtube karaoke extension

[System apps safe to remove list][ROOT]Sony Xperia E1 D2005 Kitkat 4.4.2

So here is the list of system apps(crap) safe to remove for Sony Xperia E1 D2005 Kitkat 4.4.2, Build number 20.1.A.2.13
ROOT Required!
DO ON YOUR OWN RISK!
Delete apps using System app remover so you can recover deleted apps if something goes wrong.
Account Manager (Some say that if you delete this system app you won t be able to download apps from Play Store, however I am downloading apps just fine, so be advised)
ANT HAL Service(Fitness apps and stuff won t work on your phone, like heart monitor and so on)
Black Hole
Bubbles
Chrome(Uses a lot of space and RAM, I suggest downloading Lightning Browser instead)
Drive
File Commander
Email
Enhanced forest
Exchange Service
Google lyrics extension
Google Play Books
Google Play Movies & TV
Google Play Music
Google Play Newsstand
Google Search
Google+
Hanguts
Magic Smoke Wallpapers
Maps
News & Weather
Phase Beam
Play Games
Podcast
SenseME slideshow
Smart Connect
Social live
Support
TalkBack
Wikipedia extension
Wikipedia extension
Xperia Calendar Sync
Xperia Music Likes
Xperia Share
Xperia Social Engine Photos
Xperia Social Engine Sharing
Xperia Social Engine Sharing
Xperia Lounge
Xperia Lounge Pass
Xperia with Facebook
Xperia with Twitter
Youtube extension
Youtube karaoke extension

.apk names would be nice, so If someone using update-scripts he doesn't have to delete them manually after flashing new firmware or rom

Syc the emails don't remove
Exchange Service
Someone give me back the Exchange Service if you own the application.
It helps syc your mail in the application
That's what i have done and it's broken the email app just so people know there is no email app better then that one because it allowes you to add attachments i can't find no other app.
Xperia with Facebook
Remove that application you can't upload videos to facebook why do i like xperia because it allows you to upload videos to facebook.
Hope this helps

scott mawdsley said:
Syc the emails don't remove
Exchange Service
Someone give me back the Exchange Service if you own the application.
It helps syc your mail in the application
That's what i have done and it's broken the email app just so people know there is no email app better then that one because it allowes you to add attachments i can't find no other app.
Xperia with Facebook
Remove that application you can't upload videos to facebook why do i like xperia because it allows you to upload videos to facebook.
Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here you go