JSwarts Browser Snapdragon Optimized Chromium (v46) - Nexus 6 Themes and Apps

JSwarts Browser on XDA Labs​
Description from the Developer​
"Hello, my name is JSwarts - I have been compiling the latest revision of the Chromium browser optimized for Snapdragon processors. Over the last couple of weeks I have made significant improvements to the build process and I have implemented several major under-the-hood improvements, which significantly sped up the browser.
As per popular demand, I've restored the ability to synchronize your Google accounts with the browser, so you're finally able to keep your bookmarks!
Along with these changes, I have also compiled the browser with a custom toolchain, and I have removed some excessive debugging, which in turn makes it easier for the browser to perform well!
Of course, I'm unable to convince you to just use a browser, so see for yourself. It's got an ad-blocker built in which doesn't just remove the ads, it removes the frames as well, so you won't be left with an annoying blank space." -- !phenom/JSwarts
Features​
Updates Pushed Through XDA Labs
Google Sign-In/Google Sync
Ad blocking built in
Night Mode
Built with a custom toolchain
Excessive debugging removed for improved speed
Other CAF Features and updates as they are added!
Download Links​
XDA Labs: http://forum.xda-developers.com/devdb/project/?id=12438#downloads
AndroidFileHost: https://www.androidfilehost.com/?w=files&flid=44958​
***If you like his work please leave him a review in the XDA labs reviews section and you can thank him directly at his post at this link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=63993786&postcount=191***
My Thanks to:
@!phenom / jswarts - Developer
Chromium developers
Google
Other people who made this possible
XDA and One+One Forums

Play Store Link to CAF Browser v42
Just discovered @magic_man on XDA has been at this for awhile with RBrowser. The developer has been building the v42 release and uploading it to the Play Store and last updated today.
Source: http://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-one/themes-apps/app-swe-browser-t2993614/page11
Play Store Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ineedyourservice.RBrowser
This one has all the features of the v42 release (Night mode, Google sync, built-in adblocking) working. If you don't mind running an older build of Chromium you'll be very happy with the speed of this browser.

Play Store Link to CAF Browser v42
Changelog
19/12/15
New "New Tab" page.
Edge-swiping now works when your screen has been rotated.
Disabled GPU-rasterization for low-end devices.
Updated Skia to version 7.3.0.
Fixed incorrect restoration of form control state.
13/12/15
Latest upstream changes
Implemented edge-swiping
Added ability to set custom homepage
Added support for background audio
Minor changes to ad-blocker
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

this is much easier than downloading the apk's each update. thanks for sharing.

I've been trying RBrowser since I saw the article on phonearena.com here: http://www.phonearena.com/news/Spot...id-devices-with-Snapdragon-processors_id75088
Seems interesting! Personally I'm always open to try new browsers.

I don't know why I can't log in this app with my google account.
I can't use my Bookmarks , very annoying. I hope they fix this issue soon.

I can Login but for First time i must Reboot ti get it work. Since them everything is fine and fast
Sent from Bacon with AK CAF Power

Can't login either. Shows an error saying that the account is already on the device (duh), but won't sign in to the browser

I tried the newer one and it is indeed much faster.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

Thank you for putting this together. So much easier than downloading the apks. Exactly what I was looking for.
Also, I posted about this on the Android and Nexus subreddits to help you gain some traction (in addition to lots of people on reddit requesting something like this last week). I hope that you are cool with it. If not, let me know and I can take them down.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/3qk59k/caf_chromium_is_now_in_the_app_store/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Nexus/comments/3qk81f/caf_chromium_is_now_in_the_app_store/
Thanks for the hard work, a lot of us really do appreciate it.

DarK_DemoN said:
Can't login either. Shows an error saying that the account is already on the device (duh), but won't sign in to the browser
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here... can't login with my gmail, account already exists on your device.

If you're on Marshmallow, give the app access to your contacts and that should solve the sign-in issue. Unfortunately, it won't actually pull any of my history/bookmarks from my account, even though it thinks it's "signed in"

Well that was fast. I was going to ask if the developer of ChromePie to add support for this when he started working on it again and I was getting the Play Store link but it's been pulled already.

r34p3rex said:
If you're on Marshmallow, give the app access to your contacts and that should solve the sign-in issue. Unfortunately, it won't actually pull any of my history/bookmarks from my account, even though it thinks it's "signed in"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This worked for me after I rebooted.
Thanks!

Why Google removed the App from the Play Store?
Inviato dal mio Nexus 5 utilizzando Tapatalk

Link is dead

The app is no longer in the Play Store .

Quetzalcoalt_Lp said:
The app is no longer in the Play Store .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh No it was the best Browser i used ever[emoji19] [emoji35]
Sent from Bacon with AK CAF Power

Why..

http://www.enricoros.com/opensource/swe/
Edit: @najodleglejszy you right sorry. I misunderstood the message. I was in trouble with chrome in that moment.

Related

Page Turner - Epub Reader with position sync

Has anyone tried this app to see how well it works?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.nightwhistler.pageturner.ads
I found it to work great between my Nexus 7 and my Galaxy Nexus, and I'm wondering if it's worth nootering my Nook for
For anyone willing to try it out, you simply import the epub file on both devices, then after reading on one, from the other, with the book open, press menu and "sync reading progress". After that, I think it stays synchronized between the two devices as best I can tell.
Keep in mind for testing that the sync uploads and downloads don't appear to be instant so it might take a few minutes for changes to get pushed, which is fine by me.
I spent a long time trying to find a good solution for a reader app that would stay synced between devices and I found this one to be the best! Hope it works well on the Nook!
Just installed, when i open it, it just flashes and go back to launcher screen.
Tried it also, same result. It's a pity... Sounded promising.
can anybody get a logcat of the app crash? I'm going to point the dev to this thread..
i never did a logcat before, i hope its right.
just opened ddms, opened logcat, then go to pageturner and opened, this is the result:
http://pastebin.com/h4JXacPg
wont you be better of using fbreader and fbsync plugin.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.asd.fbsync&hl=en
PageTurner for Nook Touch
I've been working on getting PageTurner to work with the Nook Touch.
The changes aren't in the main PageTurner build, but you can get a preliminary test build here:
http://www.projectgus.com/files/pageturner/PageTurner.apk
Please let me know if you find any issues. The PageTurner author Alex hasn't reviewed the changes yet, but in theory he's happy to merge them - so at some point the Google Play versions (PageTurner Pro, etc.) will also support Nook Touch.
Source is at
https://github.com/projectgus/PageTurner/tree/nook_touch
Changes for Nook Touch:
* Fix segfault at startup (seems no OpenType font support on Nook Touch.)
* Support hardware buttons for page forward/back (direction configurable in Settings.)
* Better defaults (disable animations, bigger font, etc.)
* Workaround broken Nook theming, so no white-on-white text in dialogs.
* Disable the shelf background image.
installed and it work \o/
I have not test all function for the moment. but try all this week
Envoyé depuis mon GT-N7100 avec Tapatalk
I'm quickly chiming in as the author of PageTurner... I don't own a Nook myself so I can't test it.
I have been coordinating with projectgus to see which changes are needed for the app to support the Nook without compromising other devices.
In the mean-time please post your experiences, either here or in the PageTurner forums or Github page... especially if something doesn't work right or crashes the app, I'd like the hear it.
NightWhistler said:
In the mean-time please post your experiences, either here or in the PageTurner forums or Github page... especially if something doesn't work right or crashes the app, I'd like the hear it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi NightWhistler,
For my part I've been using PageTurner on my NST daily with no crashes. I'm loving being able to read on my Nook and seamlessly switch to my phone. Battery life seems very good also, even with the wifi left on.
I have some commits for the comments you gave me on github, I just want to test them a tiny bit more and then I'll push them.
I did change my font from Gentium Book Basic to Droid, I got eyestrain reading on my Nook with Gentium. It might just be me, or it might be the sub-par font rendering on e-ink displays (Android libskia still has anti-aliasing enabled but the screen doesn't render it well.) My eyes are fine with Droid, and I still use Gentium on my phone!.
I noticed one weird thing, which is PageTurner seemed to forget my (local, not synced) book position one time. I noticed because I opened the book on a tram so I didn't have wifi available to do a networked sync. I'll try to reproduce this and let you know, I don't think it's Nook related.
Great e-reader in general. I'm looking into the possibility of making an update that removes everything from my Nook apart from it (because I don't really use it for anything else.) It's not really necessary though, works fine for me now.
Cheers,
Angus
Have posted a second test build, incorporates Alex's latest changes and should fix the bug I mentioned above (PageTurner Nook sometimes forgetting where you were up to if the sync server was unavailable.)
http://www.projectgus.com/files/pageturner/PageTurner.apk
Commits also pushed to github. Comments & bug reports from NST users very welcome.
Just installed on my nst. Unfortunately I need an access key to test the sync feature.
I'll try it for awhile and see how it does before deciding...
Thanks for paying attention to NST users though!
Hmm, I can imagine that you'd like to test the sync feature before deciding if it's worth paying for.
On Google Play you can do that by using the ad-supported version, but there is no ad-supported version of the dev build yet.
Here's the alternative though: you can e-mail me at [email protected] and I'll send you a trial key for free that expires after a week.
If more people are interested in this I can set up something more formal / automated for it.
dtexan said:
Just installed on my nst. Unfortunately I need an access key to test the sync feature.
I'll try it for awhile and see how it does before deciding...
Thanks for paying attention to NST users though!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NightWhistler said:
Hmm, I can imagine that you'd like to test the sync feature before deciding if it's worth paying for.
On Google Play you can do that by using the ad-supported version, but there is no ad-supported version of the dev build yet.
Here's the alternative though: you can e-mail me at [email protected] and I'll send you a trial key for free that expires after a week.
If more people are interested in this I can set up something more formal / automated for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you don't mind, I'll send you an email asking you for a temporary code to try it on my nook before deciding if I should buy it
albertocalle said:
If you don't mind, I'll send you an email asking you for a temporary code to try it on my nook before deciding if I should buy it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, smart thinking
I've formalized it a bit now, all the temp keys have an automatic lifetime of 30 days... that should give you enough time to try it out.
I would like to ask that you grab the APK file from the beta folder on the site. There's a link at the top of my dev blog (I'm not allowed to post links here).
That's the beta build I'm currently testing... it should be pretty stable, but I want to get as many bugs out as I can before putting it in the Google Play Market.
Thanks for the app it works really well, syncing on my phone tablet and nook simple touch. Is there a way of changing it so the screen updates fully every six page turns as in stock nook app.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA Premium HD app
ian929 said:
(...) Is there a way of changing it so the screen updates fully every six page turns as in stock nook app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't own a Nook myself right now (any pointers on webstores that will ship one to the Netherlands are very welcome!), so I can't really implement that behaviour at the moment.
If someone can send me a patch for it I'll gladly accept it
A new NST on eBay goes for about £55 including postage to you.
There is a post in android development regarding a custom kernel and fast mode there may be some info that is useful to you there.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA Premium HD app

[Android] Pebble App Released

Pebble app for Android available here : Google Play Store.
Changelog : http://developer.getpebble.com/sdk/changelogs/
NEW: Full notification support.
NEW: End calls in-progress.
Rewritten from the ground-up, this version contains many improvements to reliability, performance, and user experience.
This version currently requires a device running Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) or higher. A future update will include support for earlier versions of Android.
Access to 2.1.0 will be a phased roll-out on the Google Play Store. Keep checking to see when it’s available for you!
Post for beta 2.0 : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2524865
v.2..0.16 :
Improved overall stability
Improved performance in app load times and responsiveness
Improved Bluetooth connection reliability, especially for sports and fitness applications
Support for selecting a Pebble from multiple paired Pebbles
Ability to connect to a Pebble when there is no internet connection
Added notifications for firmware updates (when app is foregrounded)
v.1.9.4 - 25 July 2013
What's new :
Fixes for reconnection issues.
A small fix for people who may have had trouble logging into Gmail if the Inbox was empty or had only one message.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
v.1.9.3 - 18 July 2013
What's new :
more reliable reconnection to Pebble: Pebble status notification will stay in notification area more consistently
improved detection of already paired Pebbles
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
v.1.9.1 - 8 July 2013
What's new :
Onboarding will be skipped if you have a previously paired device.
Added an settings to indicate that onboarding should always be skipped.
Known issue: there are some phones which will not reliably detect that a Pebble (or other Bluetooth device) has been paired.
If this happens, just hit the back button on your phone to skip onboarding.
If you skip onboarding by pressing the back button, a dialog will prompt to ask you if you want to always skip onboarding.
Fixes for crashes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
v.1.9.0
What's new :
Added new introduction and setup screen.
Getting started with Pebble is now easier. No need to go to the Android Bluetooth settings; everything you need is right in the app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
v.1.8.2
What's new :
Support for Google Hangout notifications
Various stability improvements
Enhancemnts for third-party app developers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
v.1.8.1
What's new :
More reliable Gmail notifications
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
v.1.8.0
What's New
Streamlined Gmail Login
It's no longer necessary (or possible) to enter a password to login to Gmail.
Instead, when a you check the box to receive notifications for an email account, you'll see a dialog asking to grant permission to Pebble to access the Gmail account.
Once permission is granted, that dialog will not appear again in the future unless the Google account is removed & re-added from that phone via the Android account settings app.
This will solve issues with 2-factor authentication. You no longer need to enter an application-specific password—simply granting Pebble permission will be sufficient.
All who were experiencing Gmail authentication issues should update to this release and re-enable Gmail notifications.
All users will need to re-authorize with Gmail. Email notifications won't arrive until after you've un-checked then re-checked your email again to login.
Developer Features
ACK/NACK broadcasting. When a Pebble app receives a message from an Android app, it will send an ACK/NACK back to the phone. This will now be broadcast back to the Android app that originated the message.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The beta 2.0 I don't see the list if installed apps like prior. I can only presume it's a bug.
Connectivity seems good.
The fonts on in calls are bigger I think? But it may be placebo affect.
I'll play with it bit more.
I don't like that I can NOT see installed apps on pebble app with beta 2.0
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 01:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:53 PM ----------
kparikh82276 said:
The beta 2.0 I don't see the list if installed apps like prior. I can only presume it's a bug.
Connectivity seems good.
The fonts on in calls are bigger I think? But it may be placebo affect.
I'll play with it bit more.
I don't like that I can NOT see installed apps on pebble app with beta 2.0
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just noticed also the other pebble apps I'm trying to install are NOT installing, maybe that's why I can't see anything in the apps to see what's installed BC nothing is being installed.
That's for sure is a bug.
Back to the stable version.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
Don't mix versions! 1.x watchface and apps are not compatible with 2.x firmware and vice versa. You need all on 1.x or all on 2.x
Verstuurd vanaf mijn Xperia Z
What about stability?
Отправлено с моего Nexus 5 через Tapatalk
2.0 is perfectly stable. Just can't mix 1.x and 2.x.
iPhone 5S, LG G2, Razr Mini, Nokia 928, Blackberry Q10
Is that for every pebble or just original or steel one?
arun483 said:
Is that for every pebble or just original or steel one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both variants of the pebble use the same pebble app.
Pebble Android App 2.1.0 Release Notes
NEW: Full notification support.
NEW: End calls in-progress.
Rewritten from the ground-up, this version contains many improvements to reliability, performance, and user experience.
This version currently requires a device running Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) or higher. A future update will include support for earlier versions of Android.
Access to 2.1.0 will be a phased roll-out on the Google Play Store. Keep checking to see when it’s available for you!
Pebble app with call reply
Hi,
Does anybody know if there is a chance to have pebble support to repply to the calls with a meesage.
Ther ar default messages which are set, but can't be used to reject call s with a message.
THX,
Siminhu
I see your excellent post. This is a great job. By the beginning of 2013, the products began shipping and by 2014, over 400 000 units were sold. By 2016, that number was already two million units. But it's 2019 and, chances are, most people don't know what a Pebble Watch is. Pebble was ready to take world by storm with its line of smartwatches.

4.4 [CM11 & CyanFox] No Picture upload possible with any Browser

Hi guys,
anyone got an idea why it itsn't possible AT ALL with Android 4.4 to post a picture on Facebook or other sites that allow uploading content?
The maximum reaction i get out of it is "failure opening file",it just doesn't work with any browser (tried Dolphin,Chrome,Firefox,Stock)
This happens on every 4.4 based ROM somehow,can't thank you enough for any input about this matter
edit: 85 views and not a single "yeah,i face the same problem" or "no problem on my side at all",whats up with that
edit2: it tested every 4.4 ROM now,not only CM11&CyanFox.Nowhere is the upload working trough Browser
Tlailaxu said:
Hi guys,
anyone got an idea why it itsn't possible AT ALL with Android 4.4 to post a picture on Facebook or other sites that allow uploading content?
The maximum reaction i get out of it is "failure opening file",it just doesn't work with any browser (tried Dolphin,Chrome,Firefox,Stock)
This happens on every 4.4 based ROM somehow,can't thank you enough for any input about this matter
edit: 85 views and not a single "yeah,i face the same problem" or "no problem on my side at all",whats up with that
edit2: it tested every 4.4 ROM now,not only CM11&CyanFox.Nowhere is the upload working trough Browser
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google made changes in KitKat replacing webkit with chromium webview and broke file upload, text reflow, etc. Basically web browsing is awful in KitKat, Google is aware but won't revert the changes. The only workaround at present is to use Opera Beta, or Firefox nightlies, there are other browsers with file upload but I would not recommend them at all if you don't want spyware. CM just implemented some changes on last night's nightly to fix file upload, but it's done nothing for me so far, still broken. At least the CM team is aware and willing to fix things.
http://review.cyanogenmod.org/#/c/58210/
http://review.cyanogenmod.org/#/c/58211/
Thank you for passing that info,this problem was/is driving me nuts and not reading anything about it other than my ramblings was the icing on the cake.
Maybe they can make it work again on CM
Tlailaxu said:
Thank you for passing that info,this problem was/is driving me nuts and not reading anything about it other than my ramblings was the icing on the cake.
Maybe they can make it work again on CM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd blame developers just as much as Google though. I understand it makes sense for them to use a web engine that Android provides for free and save time and money, but this is what happens when Google breaks something, suddenly 90% of browsers are broken. Firefox uses its own gecko engine and thus is unaffected, Opera shows a bit of spirit and patches chromium to fix these things, on the other hand. And then most people use apps instead of a browser to do things, so if some of us protest, it's not relevant.
Anyway, know that there are lots of complaints over at AOSP, but Google's reply is that these changes are intended and won't be reverted, so that's that.
Edit : "From what I understand the following is what is broken in KitKat webview :"
• text wrap no longer works
• cannot upload files
• cannot save passwords
• cannot force enable zoom
• no inverted rendering
• cannot play Flash videos (broken in 4.3 too)
Woa,the rabbithole goes deeper & deeper.I thought this was a weird bug that just happens with custom ROMS of not officially supported devices but reading that it comes from Google (and they saying "deal with it") pushes this to a whole new level.
Tlailaxu said:
... reading that it comes from Google (and they saying "deal with it")...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
KitKat is such a kick in the ... for anyone developing on Android or just using it. Here's another jewel.
It looks like they're trying to restrict more and more things. The very reason many of us choose android over ios....
Sent from my GT-I9305 using xda app-developers app
Ultramanoid said:
KitKat is such a kick in the ... for anyone developing on Android or just using it. Here's another jewel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This whole KitKat issue transforms to a scandal of some sort.If Google doesn`t change its current course,we will be on full lockdown like iOS in 2 or 3 revisions (Android 6 for example).This roadmap doesn`t make me happy at all

The Experiment: Android without Google

Hey folks,
after reading the Article on xda about using Android without google, i instantly fell in Love with the idea. I decided yesterday, that i'll take the plunge and give it a try.
First off, why?
For me, there are a couple of reasons. First of, i generally think, the less a company like google knows about me, the better. So keeping the Data on my phone away from google might help with that. If this experiment goes well i might stop using Google for Calendar and Contacts.
Second reason for me is Battery. The Google Framework and Play Services are always on the Top of my list of Battery consumption. I'd like to see how leaving these away might improve Battery life.
And third, i'm curious if it's possible. The reason i'm on xda is because i'm a tinkerer. So pushing the boundaries and trying new things is what i really like about Android. You have the choice to do whatever you want with your phone.
So, how do i go about it? Well, a bit of pre work needs to be done. First of, you might need a google Account to set things up. WhatsApp or Outlook are simply only available from the official Playstore. Since i start with my daily driver, all was set up already.
I use the 5.0.1 Variant of Nameless Rom. Debloated, Nova Launcher, rooted and stock apart from that. I might go CM later on, but i always find CM draining the Battery more then Stock Roms. We'll see.
What am i going to use instead of all the nice google things?
Play Store: F-Droid
I'll give F-Droid a try. it's obtainable as an apk, so if you only need apps that are available there, you won't need google at all. The Interface and search is not as nice as the Play Store, but the selection is really good, Installation of apps is hassle free (no manually downloading apks and installing them by hand) and it does check for updates daily.
Gmail:
I already moved away from gmail to outlook.com a few months ago. Not because MS is better in keeping your data private (actually they might be as they make money through selling software, not your data) but because i wanted to spread my info. Mail on outlook, contacts on google, Calendar on Strato... The Outlook app was already installed and set up, so no work to be done here.
Contacts:
Here it's getting a bit tricky. Google doesn't want you to move your contacts away form them. So there is no way to directly sync your google Contacts to your phone. As soon as you deactivate the play services, all you contacts will be gone.
For me, i used the Web Version of Google Contacts, exported them all to vcf and imported them to my phones storage. I'm not going to set up a personal sync for now. I'm fine with my contacts on my Phone only for now. I might end up going the OwnCloud route later on, but don't find it necessary currently.
Calendar:
my Calendar is already done through outlook and start (my webhoster). I installed Etar from F-Droid (a open source variant of googles calendar app). All my Calendars were already in on first launch (imported from the phones Accounts). No hassle, everything looks as always.
Chrome:
I've never been happy with chrome anyways. Loading pages is slow, scrolling is nowhere near smooth. I currently compare Firefox and Fenec. Both from F-Droid. Firefox will be discontinued on F-Droid soon as they implemented none OS proprietary add ons. Fenec is a OS alternative to Firefox compiled from Source without Proprietary add ons. Both work well but Fenec is a bit unstable as a daily driver for most people.
Camera is Focal now. Apart from being OS it's also much more capable than samsung camera. Plus easier to use. Whats not to like here?
After setting everything up, i went into the settings and disabled most google stuff (Play Store, Play Services, Calendar, Mail, Chrome). I'm still trying to find out what other Google Services i may disable without braking android. I'll keep this updated here.
I'm not completely done yet. I still use apps that are only available through the Playstore. Maybe you know alternatives, that i should check out:
WhatsApp. I don't see an alternative here. Moving to another service is not really an option. I tried Telegram and liked it, but a nice app is nothing when nobody uses it...
Ebay and Amazon. Both have a good mobile website which should work. But a standalone App is much easier and convenient to use.
Nova Launcher. It's simply the best. I haven't found a OS alternative that has anywhere near the features.
Tapatalk. Again, one App all Forums on hand. Simply the best app for that. Any XDA compatible OS alternatives to it?
Outlook. A OS mail client which supports Outlook, Material Design and is easy to use? I've yet to come up with one...
Over all, the switch went really smooth. After getting F-Droid as a Playstore alternative i was able to do all this in 1 hour. I'll have to see how Batterylife works out. I feel it's better, but the numbers will tell after some days of use. I feel really good to have found a way around google so far. It's nice to rethink things you've been using for years. Even if you're not opting out of google completely, there might be a alternative to something you use, that you'd otherwise never consider.
Let me know what you think. You're alternatives to some proprietary apps. How do you feel about google being in all the parts of your mobile life? Is Android without google something you'd consider?
For further reading, here are the XDA Articles, that inspired me to start this journey:
Setting up Marshmallow without Google
The "Say Sayonara to Google" Series
Have a nice start into the week.
I'll keep my replacement Apps in this Post for Tracking what i've used and what my Pros and Cons are over time.
PlayStore: F-Droid
F-Droid is THE FOSS Android community. A good selection of Apps, easy install and Updates plus a community thats interested in whats happening behind the scenes of apps. Firefox for example will soon not be supported anymore because they now are using proprietary none FOSS compatible sources. For most, this attempt might not be the easy one (they never claim to want to go the easy route), but it sure is the most straight ahead if you want Open Source Apps that are tracked for what they do on your phone.
Outlook: K-9
I replaced Outlook with K-9 for now. It's not as polished or easy to use, but it works, is OS and Outlook was constantly connected without me being able to change that. I only need sync every 30 minutes and outlook doesn't have a setting for that. Lets see how K-9 works out, stability and battery wise...
Google Maps: OsmAnd
OsmAnd seems to be the alternative here. As a plus it allows offline sync of Maps. The Interface is nowhere near as intuitive as GMaps, i've found no traffic information until now and entering a address is a hassle. The Search feature and easy Adress Input has always been a strong point for GMaps. We'll see how the turn-by-turn Navigation Turns out. Also OsmAnd works with plugins, so maybe i'm missing some features here and there.
Facebook: Tinfoil
Tinfoil for Facebook seems to be the App of Choice. In the end it's the Mobile website displayed in an "App". On the Plus site, you don't need that horrifically annoying Messenger. Facebook chat just works from the App, which is great. Sadly, since its a webpage, Notifications are none existant. Since i'm debating leaving Facebook completely anyways it's not a problem for me. Less distraction during the day, which is always welcome nowadays...
Deezer: Tomahawk
When I thought about replacing my Deezer app I did not have high hopes since most streaming services use proprietary api's. I was impressed to find not only a Deezer alternative that's open source, but tomahawk does much more. It combines most streaming services plus some other online music services plus your local music.
One downside for me: you are not able to save Deezer music offline. Tomahawk itself is completely open source. If the Deezer plug in is OS as well I couldn't find out for sure...
Titanium Backup: Oandbackup
Oandbackup works much the same way Titanium does, but with some less options. If you want just a good Backup App, i prefer Oandbackup since it's much less cluttered and options are easier to find. It served me well when i last switched from TW to CM.
I didn't read your what i can only call a thesis on Ungooglying Android write-up, it's an effort that I implore and admire your courage. I too worry about the data that google has monopolised on, it's time we broke this and find alternative ways. I salute you sir in your endeavours.
I will drop by time to time to see how you're prodding along.
Regards
F
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I backp all my contacts using outlook. I still use playstore. I have also disabled as much of Samsung as I can, and im sure there is more I could disable of both. I want my phone set up the way I want it set up, not with what google and samsung say I should. Also use Nova
Sent from my SM-P900 using XDA Free mobile app
I added Tomahawk as a Deezer/Spotify OS alternative In Post #2
Gesendet von meinem SM-N910F mit Tapatalk
I've yet to find a good alternative to the play store personally.
I don't use google services on my Note 4. I use Here Maps and disabled Google Maps, I use Nine for Email, I've disabled contacts and calendar sync, I've disabled every google program like books, games, gmail (I have a google account linked to a generic outlook addy for G services), music, hangouts, G+, etc. I keep my contacts backed up on my own personal .com server via exchange along with the calendar. I also like the Samsung browser, so Chrome is disabled as well. Don't use Now, have all the google account settings set to not target me for advertising, not keep track of location, etc... All the regular privacy concerns taken care of there.
My battery life is about a !% loss every two hours in standby. I wish I could get it better. My old GSIII would lose 1% over an 8 hour time frame at night while I was asleep. The Note 4 loses about 4%.
Oddly, no matter how much I restrict my access to google services, the people section of the play store still links me to a ton of people I know. Some that I have not had contact with since High School. Very strange. The only thing I can think is people I do know have me in their contacts so it assumes I know these people correctly. The phone is obviously reading my phone number without me entering it into my google account. :shrug:
I look forward to reading how it goes for you. (I broke down and signed up for Google Music the other day out of curiosity, but I'll get some of my anonymity back when I cancel my google account and create a new one.)
Alright,
some Updates:
I switched to the official CM12 build yesterday. It seems to run fairly well. My Radio was not able to register in the Network once, but activating and deactivating flight mode fixed that. Reception seems to be better than on TW rom. Concerning Battery i see no major difference for now.
CM is Open Source. I'm not 100% sure that every preinstalled app is 100% open source. During the Weekend i'll review the code and do a build on my own, just to be sure. Also, theres a pure AOSP build coming, which i'll be testing.
This time i didn't even Install Gapps. I did not log in to cm accounts or anything. I installed F-Droid from my SD Card and went from there. One thing i'll have to keep in mind, is, that factory reset means loosing my contacts, so i'll have to do a backup the next time.
Also i switched from Titanium to Oandbackup. I works much the same way and served me well during the switch from TW to CM. For me the relevant options are much easier to find (Safe Backups to external SD...).
Since Battery endurance is one of my concerns, i do some changes to improve that:
- Since the N4 has an AMOLED Display, using Black Background and Dark Apps helps quite a bit. I'm using Dark Material Beta through CM Theme Engine. Its Black (i like solid Black, not Gray or something like that) and white and does theme quite a lot of Apps (WhatsApp as an important one).
- I deactivated AudioFX, All Live Backgrounds, Stock Browser, CM-Backgrounds, Calendar and NFC Tags
- for cLock (Lockscreen Clock) i deleted all permissions to access location and Data. It's been trying to update weather all the time, which you can't seem to disable
I'd really like a simple white Icon theme, but getting most themes for CM depends on the Play Store. There are not many good themes that are available outside of the Playstore... Any help here is appreciated :good:
bbeelzebub said:
...My battery life is about a !% loss every two hours in standby. I wish I could get it better. My old GSIII would lose 1% over an 8 hour time frame at night while I was asleep. The Note 4 loses about 4%...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Over the last night i lost 2% over 7.5 hours. With 4G, WiFi, BT, Mail Sync (once per hour). Quite good, but i think theres a bit in it. K-9 (Mail) and Whatsapp keep the Mobile Network active. K-9 does so relatively long although i should only Sync once per hour. I'll configure some kind of "Whatsapp do not disturde" over night, this should bring down Standby draw a bit...
domsch1988 said:
Over the last night i lost 2% over 7.5 hours. With 4G, WiFi, BT, Mail Sync (once per hour). Quite good, but i think theres a bit in it. K-9 (Mail) and Whatsapp keep the Mobile Network active. K-9 does so relatively long although i should only Sync once per hour. I'll configure some kind of "Whatsapp do not disturde" over night, this should bring down Standby draw a bit...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I leave 4G, WiFi, BT and Mail on all the time as well. It doesn't make any difference when I turn them off that I've noticed. I use ActiveSync for my email / calendars / contacts and it really is no difference from when I used to use google for the calendar / contacts and a pop 3 account. As long as I don't use the stock email app which kills the battery on exchange or Activesync.
There are a few Samsung apps that I can't disable that I would like to. (I'm on a non rootable US model), I think I'll take the time tomorrow and see if I can use debloater to shut them down. Now that I think about it, there were less Samsung things running all the time on my old phone and I'm sure that makes a slight difference.
You can download Whats App from their site without going through Google since its attached to your phone number.
https://www.whatsapp.com/android/
...There is no way Focal is more capable than the Samsung Camera app. How do you figure this?
jetbruceli said:
You can download Whats App from their site without going through Google since its attached to your phone number.
https://www.whatsapp.com/android/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wouldn't use whatsapp at all considering they are owned by facebook and every message you send is being tracked. Telegram is the better option.
Toss3 said:
Wouldn't use whatsapp at all considering they are owned by facebook and every message you send is being tracked. Telegram is the better option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is the dumbest reason to not use Whats App. It was bought to protect FB from losing ground. Telegram has all your messages on a server to where as Whats app is peer to peer. There is no reason to worry about big Facebook looking at your every message. Also, i would rather have FB, Google or MS looking at my stuff than some unknown company.
---------- Post added at 10:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:09 AM ----------
freeza said:
...There is no way Focal is more capable than the Samsung Camera app. How do you figure this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont get that either, also stock camera doenst need google play services to be used.
jetbruceli said:
That is the dumbest reason to not use Whats App. It was bought to protect FB from losing ground. Telegram has all your messages on a server to where as Whats app is peer to peer. There is no reason to worry about big Facebook looking at your every message. Also, i would rather have FB, Google or MS looking at my stuff than some unknown company.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Telegram does not save your messages on a server when you use private chats. They are also encrypted.
Oh and: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/whatsapp-ranked-worst-for-users-data-privacy-in-internet-snooping-report-10328539.html http://time.com/3928503/whatsapp-privacy-watchdog/
This shows how "secure" WhatsApp really is: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33152898
Toss3 said:
Telegram does not save your messages on a server when you use private chats. They are also encrypted.
Oh and: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/whatsapp-ranked-worst-for-users-data-privacy-in-internet-snooping-report-10328539.html http://time.com/3928503/whatsapp-privacy-watchdog/
This shows how "secure" WhatsApp really is: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33152898
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sure there are security holes in everything we use but it doesnt change the fact that Whats App is better for most people. This isnt a whats app vs telegram thread and also, I am not sure if you can install telegram on its own without google or other app stores like you can with whats app

R.I.P. Yalp Store

So the last (?) PlayStore access app for Android 2.1 bites the dust, apparently. The Search function died sometime last month and now log-in is impossible. The most recent version, 0.46, was done at the beginning of 2019. Word has it that the developer has abandoned the project.
Is there an alternative?
---------- Post added at 10:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:40 PM ----------
nmyshkin said:
So the last (?) PlayStore access app for Android 2.1 bites the dust, apparently. The Search function died sometime last month and now log-in is impossible. The most recent version, 0.46, was done at the beginning of 2019. Word has it that the developer has abandoned the project.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just installed Yalp Store fork from F-Droid.
Even ist says it's. Not compatible with my device, the app works perfect with yalp store built-in credentials.
XtraWater said:
Is there an alternative?
---------- Post added at 10:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:40 PM ----------
I just installed Yalp Store fork from F-Droid.
Even ist says it's. Not compatible with my device, the app works perfect with yalp store built-in credentials.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Assuming this is what you are referring to: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.github.kiliakin.yalpstore/
I cannot at this time confirm your experience. I have been unable to successfully log in with this new forked version.
nmyshkin said:
Assuming this is what you are referring to: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.github.kiliakin.yalpstore/
I cannot at this time confirm your experience. I have been unable to successfully log in with this new forked version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Choose another device.
XtraWater said:
Choose another device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mmm...you might have saved me some time by telling me which one worked for you. I eventually found that choosing HTC Desire would allow a log-in, but this raises other issues. Originally the Yalp Store would filter out apps that were not for Eclair (or at least list them as "incompatible"). This does not happen if you are spoofing another device that is running who knows what version of Android.
Also, Search is broken. It reverts to a search of the device (Library and Shops) rather than the PlayStore. Not helpful.
Finally, although you can use the "category" option to look at apps (with no idea which might actually be compatible...), you cannot download anything. At least I couldn't. I got an error each time I tried.
So....a lot of work for the new developer to make this functional for the NST. For a lark I installed the last version of the original Yalp Store on my Tablet running 8.1 and was surprised to see that it actually worked without any funny business. So whatever happened to it seems to have affected legacy devices, but not more current OSes.
nmyshkin said:
Mmm...you might have saved me some time by telling me which one worked for you. I eventually found that choosing HTC Desire would allow a log-in, but this raises other issues. Originally the Yalp Store would filter out apps that were not for Eclair (or at least list them as "incompatible"). This does not happen if you are spoofing another device that is running who knows what version of Android.
Also, Search is broken. It reverts to a search of the device (Library and Shops) rather than the PlayStore. Not helpful.
Finally, although you can use the "category" option to look at apps (with no idea which might actually be compatible...), you cannot download anything. At least I couldn't. I got an error each time I tried.
So....a lot of work for the new developer to make this functional for the NST. For a lark I installed the last version of the original Yalp Store on my Tablet running 8.1 and was surprised to see that it actually worked without any funny business. So whatever happened to it seems to have affected legacy devices, but not more current OSes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used galaxy 7 edge. However, can't login anymore today at all.
Including Aurora store not able to log in.
I guess this is a war against Huawei that might eventually lead to the death of aosp at least for gapps people. Imagine gapps flashing on top of clean aosp becoming useless as none of these apps would not be able to log in etc
darfri said:
Including Aurora store not able to log in.
I guess this is a war against Huawei that might eventually lead to the death of aosp at least for gapps people. Imagine gapps flashing on top of clean aosp becoming useless as none of these apps would not be able to log in etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't want to speak out of turn because I could not do the sort of programming required for these efforts. However, I do run the 8 gb version of the Nook Tablet using the microG project components. It works very well including maps, and uses so few resources you can even use the actual Playstore app instead of one of the other apps which seem to be either abandoned or in need of repair. Unfortunately, KitKat is the lower limit for microG, but it sure makes a difference, especially on a device struggling with memory issues.
At least F-droid have in descriptions of application requirements that state minimal version of Android it can be run from on my tablet it is so. I hope that is also the case with f-droid run from NST. If I had to choose device name for spoofing purposes on that YALP application my bet would be some of the phones running Eclair. Last were some Motorola phones from 2015 as far as I recall. Since on my NST social and even shop stopped working properly I am more and more leaning to go through the road taken by many and ditch original software and start tweaking and tinkering with the device. Eclair is so old that I do not know is there many application left to work with but in case this thread escaped attention I will leave link here. https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=698851
SJT75 said:
At least F-droid have in descriptions of application requirements that state minimal version of Android it can be run from on my tablet it is so. I hope that is also the case with f-droid run from NST. If I had to choose device name for spoofing purposes on that YALP application my bet would be some of the phones running Eclair. Last were some Motorola phones from 2015 as far as I recall. Since on my NST social and even shop stopped working properly I am more and more leaning to go through the road taken by many and ditch original software and start tweaking and tinkering with the device. Eclair is so old that I do not know is there many application left to work with but in case this thread escaped attention I will leave link here. https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=698851
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Run" and "work" are not always the same thing. The original Yalp Store stopped working in the mid 0.4x series. It could not log in, even with your Google account, probably due to SSL issues. The fork of the Yalp Store can log in but search is broken and download does not work. Search defaults to a device search rather than a search of the PlayStore and attempts to download an app from the Categories results in a crash. I've sent results to the developer but there does not seem to be a lot of change going on there (the app does work on the NST CM 11 ROM). It's pretty moot as there is not a lot in the Market any longer that will work on the NST. It's "easier" in the long run to do your homework and then search for the app you think will work using Apkpure or similar.
If Social and Shop have stopped working on your device you probably have not updated to 1.2.2.
nmyshkin said:
"Run" and "work" are not always the same thing. The original Yalp Store stopped working in the mid 0.4x series. It could not log in, even with your Google account, probably due to SSL issues. The fork of the Yalp Store can log in but search is broken and download does not work. Search defaults to a device search rather than a search of the PlayStore and attempts to download an app from the Categories results in a crash. I've sent results to the developer but there does not seem to be a lot of change going on there (the app does work on the NST CM 11 ROM). It's pretty moot as there is not a lot in the Market any longer that will work on the NST. It's "easier" in the long run to do your homework and then search for the app you think will work using Apkpure or similar.
If Social and Shop have stopped working on your device you probably have not updated to 1.2.2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True about that. Should and will are two different verbs meaning. Interesting info about that app is still working but under different ROM. Just for the sake of making things clear all custom made things here on the forum are still based on Eclair and there were not any Android upgrades through custom ROM to preserve compatibility with B&N software?
About your Nook page say that I have version 1.2.2 of software. Remember that I have NST in untouched never modified condition that has active over the air active update as designed by B&N. So it might be that something gone wrong during update and I need to do it again manually from SD card or through computer. Shop behaves odd. It allows me to search for a book but does not allow me to download. Social do not connect at all.
I am just sifting through different apps looking for those that might be possible to use on NST. I have seen in F-droid repository two YALP stores. One from the original author that is not updated for over a year and second one labeled fork which is not updated for over nine months period. To add to confusion OP mentioned version 0.46 which is not the latest version original author placed in repository (his latest version is 0.45). Still forked version with that number exist sort of labeled 0.46-legacy IIRC. So what is exactly version up used that stopped working? Even an info about non-working app is good sometime to avoid loosing time on very much likely fruitless effort.
SJT75 said:
I am just sifting through different apps looking for those that might be possible to use on NST. I have seen in F-droid repository two YALP stores. One from the original author that is not updated for over a year and second one labeled fork which is not updated for over nine months period. To add to confusion OP mentioned version 0.46 which is not the latest version original author placed in repository (his latest version is 0.45). Still forked version with that number exist sort of labeled 0.46-legacy IIRC. So what is exactly version up used that stopped working? Even an info about non-working app is good sometime to avoid loosing time on very much likely fruitless effort.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it's a mess over there. You have to go to the github to access older versions of the original Yalp Store. So you can see there that the developer of the "fork" just picked up with version 0.45 and carried on. The "legacy" refers to a simpler UI such as can run on Android 2.1, for example, as even the original developer started branching out, eventually releasing two versions of the app each time. Actually it was after the app tried to become a little more fancy that it began to have trouble on the NST (surprise). It's been quite awhile since I ran the app on the NST but I suppose somewhere in my original post about the Yalp Store the version is mentioned (probably started with 0.39, if memory serves, and then moved along as login failed when Google changed things; at one time I think I got as far as 0.43)
One issue with the "fork" (besides the fact that "fork" is in the screen display name...) on the NST is that Search is broken. It defaults to a device search rather than a PlayStore search. Not sure if this was ever a problem with the original. I'll have to download a few versions and see. Also, even if you wade through the categories and select an app that way, it crashes when you try to download.
All that said, those are definitely NST issues since the most recent version of the "fork" runs fine on the CM 11 sdcard-ROM for the NST (including Search and download)
nmyshkin said:
Yeah, it's a mess over there. You have to go to the github to access older versions of the original Yalp Store. So you can see there that the developer of the "fork" just picked up with version 0.45 and carried on. The "legacy" refers to a simpler UI such as can run on Android 2.1, for example, as even the original developer started branching out, eventually releasing two versions of the app each time. Actually it was after the app tried to become a little more fancy that it began to have trouble on the NST (surprise). It's been quite awhile since I ran the app on the NST but I suppose somewhere in my original post about the Yalp Store the version is mentioned (probably started with 0.39, if memory serves, and then moved along as login failed when Google changed things; at one time I think I got as far as 0.43)
One issue with the "fork" (besides the fact that "fork" is in the screen display name...) on the NST is that Search is broken. It defaults to a device search rather than a PlayStore search. Not sure if this was ever a problem with the original. I'll have to download a few versions and see. Also, even if you wade through the categories and select an app that way, it crashes when you try to download.
All that said, those are definitely NST issues since the most recent version of the "fork" runs fine on the CM 11 sdcard-ROM for the NST (including Search and download)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for reply with all quality info there! Does github work on NST or have done cloning/compiling elsewhere and sideload app to NST? Interesting issue with search on NST. It looks to me like B&N manage to pull another fast one on us like they did with "nonexistent" browser. I believe that somehow they screwed search through basically invoking any search attempt to link to their search library/shop application instead. Probably author in early versions used his search function but later decided to exploit some inbuilt Android/Google option that B&N screwed with. That might be the reason why on running the app through CM11 ROM from flashcard everything works as author intended/expected to work had NST be ordinary Android device. Now question remains...is that search function still there on NST but "hidden" and can it be somehow re-enabled or some heavier work lies on that road?
SJT75 said:
Thanks for reply with all quality info there! Does github work on NST or have done cloning/compiling elsewhere and sideload app to NST? Interesting issue with search on NST. It looks to me like B&N manage to pull another fast one on us like they did with "nonexistent" browser. I believe that somehow they screwed search through basically invoking any search attempt to link to their search library/shop application instead. Probably author in early versions used his search function but later decided to exploit some inbuilt Android/Google option that B&N screwed with. That might be the reason why on running the app through CM11 ROM from flashcard everything works as author intended/expected to work had NST be ordinary Android device. Now question remains...is that search function still there on NST but "hidden" and can it be somehow re-enabled or some heavier work lies on that road?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So here's a run-down of what still "works" on the stock NST:
Only one version of the original Yalp Store passes every test but one. Version 0.35 succeeds in log-in (with your own Google account--no version successfully logs in with a generic Yalp Store account), Categories successfully brings up lists of apps and you can download/install from these lists. Search shows in light grey within the field "applications" and an initial search string brings up a number of more specific items, but no matter which you select it always returns "no apps".
As to the "fork", you can log in with a Google account, but Categories is blank, and Search shows in light grey within the field "Search NOOK(R)" and will dutifully check the Library, Shops, Social, etc. Totally useless.
So it seems the most nearly working is 0.35 of the original app series. Presumably the API for getting search information from the PlayStore is no longer correct. However, it may be possible for someone clever (more clever than I) to reverse engineer or cross engineer versions. Since we know the "fork" versions work on a non-NST ROM, it seems the API or whatever for Search is currently valid in them. Why they default to device search remains a mystery.
I should add that I did not try device spoofing in any of my tests. Too many variables for my brain. It may be that changing the apparent device ID would bring up apps in Categories which is otherwise blank. But using Categories to select apps is painful. A working Search is essential or the app is pretty useless.
nmyshkin said:
So here's a run-down of what still "works" on the stock NST:
Only one version of the original Yalp Store passes every test but one. Version 0.35 succeeds in log-in (with your own Google account--no version successfully logs in with a generic Yalp Store account), Categories successfully brings up lists of apps and you can download/install from these lists. Search shows in light grey within the field "applications" and an initial search string brings up a number of more specific items, but no matter which you select it always returns "no apps".
As to the "fork", you can log in with a Google account, but Categories is blank, and Search shows in light grey within the field "Search NOOK(R)" and will dutifully check the Library, Shops, Social, etc. Totally useless.
So it seems the most nearly working is 0.35 of the original app series. Presumably the API for getting search information from the PlayStore is no longer correct. However, it may be possible for someone clever (more clever than I) to reverse engineer or cross engineer versions. Since we know the "fork" versions work on a non-NST ROM, it seems the API or whatever for Search is currently valid in them. Why they default to device search remains a mystery.
I should add that I did not try device spoofing in any of my tests. Too many variables for my brain. It may be that changing the apparent device ID would bring up apps in Categories which is otherwise blank. But using Categories to select apps is painful. A working Search is essential or the app is pretty useless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm...well nice to know what is working. Interesting that YALP spoofing does not work but you can login using your credentials. I was under impression that nothing in the line of Gapps works now on NST due to changes implemented by big G..gle. Since other methods like G-droid, Aurora store etc.are out of option due to their android version incompatibility it seems that sideloading through SD card and PC is only option left viable. That present another problem of search for a right app on web through PC but it seems like a topic for another thread. I believe that we also opened here another rabbit hole of messed up search on NST which is if I remember well been observed in several situation/application. On my side I think that two things I found. First apparently working search in B&N Shop does not have to mean anything as it seems that it simply goes through internally downloaded DB of their Shop. My request for download never delivers anything and it seems that internet connection to B&N servers is down. Interestingly later I received e-mail from B&N claiming that my books are ready for delivery. I will investigate this and report back about outcome but it seems that there is someone on the other end of my request sending listening and filing the intent but from some reason unbeknownst to me they do not send the requested file. Maybe they opted for another method of delivery in case of such outdated devices due to possible security problem/flaw? We will see.
While researching about Opera browser something came to my attention and I have to ask about it and this look as good place as any. I remember that people here managed to use Amazon app to download applications to NST that I have no information is it still working. However I stumbled upon an info about something called Opera store. Since Opera is still working on NST if the ancient version allows using Opera Store that might be interesting option? Has someone checked that out?
SJT75 said:
While researching about Opera browser something came to my attention and I have to ask about it and this look as good place as any. I remember that people here managed to use Amazon app to download applications to NST that I have no information is it still working. However I stumbled upon an info about something called Opera store. Since Opera is still working on NST if the ancient version allows using Opera Store that might be interesting option? Has someone checked that out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had always thought the Opera Store was for Opera extensions and addons, but you made me take a look.
Supposedly the URL is apps.opera.com, but this redirects to something called the "Bemobi Mobile Store" (using the Opera logo). The site loads fine in Opera Mini on the NST, probably Opera Mobile as well, although I did not try.
I looked at a few apps just to see what would happen. There didn't seem to be any check on the Android version. In each case I tried, tapping on the "Download" button took me to the Android Market agreement (i.e., the PlayStore entry) so whatever is going on there, it doesn't seem to be an actual "store" as much as a listing of apps with referral to the PlayStore (where, of course, the NST cannot go). There may be exceptions. Obviously I didn't try everything.
In the long run, there is very little point in some kind of Market access for the NST. If you want to try something you need to track it down. There are all kinds of sites like Apkpure, etc., that can be sources for old versions of apps. The other day I came across a huge listing of Android 2.1 apps (by an XDA member, as it happens) and most of them had dead PlayStore links. But with a version number and a little searching I had little trouble finding the few that sounded interesting.
I had hope that Opera tried to make their version of store like Amazon did or at least manage to make their online browser based version of Aurora which considering what they do with Opera Mobile wouldn't be that hard to achieve. Nevermind sideloading for the win it is!

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