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Apps for Android |OT|

V

voodooray

Member
Nice thread, subbed and looking forward to some great recommendations! Some of the below will need a rooted phone to work.

Social Networks:
I like Twydroid for this, as it allows me to disable picture avatars, leaving just the feeds in. It also remembers where in the timeline you last were when re-opening the app up.

Browsers:
I switch between a bunch, but the ones I use the most are Miren, Boat Browser, XScope, and Firefox, in that order (for the occasional quirky site).

Security:
I like LBE Privacy Guard which gives discrete control over what an app can/can't do on your phone.

LUKS Manager, the closest and best alternative to TrueCrypt on android.

Apps:
Amazon App Store, for their free app of the day. Now and again something brilliant comes along, like Folder Organizer for managing all your apps.

Comms:
androidVNC, great for fumbling your way into a desktop pc for very quick tasks.

SMS Backup & SMS Backup+, to have copies backed up into a GMail account.

Files:
X-plore, nice dual pane mode to make file management in two locations painless.

Other:
NoLED, to mimic the sorely missed LED trackball from my previous Nexus 1 on the S2).
 
D

Divvy

Canadians burned my passport
Kyaw said:
Great work!

PowerAmp is awesome.

Is Sketchbook Pro and Sketchbook mobile (the one I got) the same?
Click to expand...

Sketchbook Pro is meant for tablets. It's fantastic with a stylus, especially a pressure-sensitive one.

Also, I would have put Miren browser up, but it seems to have been taken down from the market for some reason.
 
K

Kyaw

Member
If and when I get a tablet, would I be able to download SBM onto the tablet?
Will it function the same or would I have to buy it again?

I really do want a tablet just for that purpose since the Wacom Cintique costs like thousands.
 
K

kehs

Banned
Kyaw said:
If and when I get a tablet, would I be able to download SBM onto the tablet?
Will it function the same or would I have to buy it again?

I really do want a tablet just for that purpose since the Wacom Cintique costs like thousands.
Click to expand...

They have the same functionalities, but they are two separate apps as far as the market/account is concerned.
 
D

Divvy

Canadians burned my passport
Kyaw said:
If and when I get a tablet, would I be able to download SBM onto the tablet?
Will it function the same or would I have to buy it again?

I really do want a tablet just for that purpose since the Wacom Cintique costs like thousands.
Click to expand...

They're separate. You can't fully replace a cintiq with a Tablet because none of them have the accuracy of Wacom's hardware. But it's great for sketching and stuff that doesn't require perfect acccuracy.
 
R

Rocket Scientist

Member
Yea I'm wondering about Swiftkey too because apparently it works better if you let it analyze your tweets, emails and facebook. But when you try to do that it says you give access to their website to view your content. I'm sure it should be fine but it still feels weird. Note you don't have to let it analyze your emails and so on.
 
Z

Zyzyxxz

Member
I want to recommend Multicon widget! It's a great tool if you want to reduce the footprint of your apps on your home screen.

http://www.appbrain.com/app/multicon-widget/com.h9kdroid.multicon

I like to keep my android home screen clean like my PC desktop with as little icons as possible so I keep them a nice compact single line.

Or if you are an icon whore you can fill up your screen with an insane amount of apps like this:
748752-1281301733613.jpg
 
B

Blackhead

Redarse
Nice thread.

eReaders
PDF: ezPDF
ePub: Mantano Reader
chm: HYreader
djvu: EBookDroid

App/Widget Launcher
Wave Launcher
 
V

voodooray

Member
Divvy said:
Also, I would have put Miren browser up, but it seems to have been taken down from the market for some reason.
Click to expand...

How about that, so it is... It seems Boat Browser is what everyone is shifting to now, and it does feel a lot like Miren. I will definitely miss it if its gone for good though =(
 
J

j-wood

Member
Im giving feedly a shot and really like it so far. But can someone tell me the difference between the latest and my feedly section?
 
F

FireCloud

Member
Llama may be nice to add to the list as well. It is a free app that allows you to perform actions when certain conditions are true.

I did a write up for it in the Android Gingerbread thread but included it here in case anyone is interested:

FireCloud said:
Hi all. I have been looking for an app for a while that would automatically enable/disable gps, bluetooth, etc. when I dock/undock my phone from my car dock. From what I had read the consensus seemed to be that an app called Locale was the way to go. However, Locale is $9.99 in the marketplace. While the app sounds versatile, I find it hard to justify its cost for the few uses I intend.

Last week I stumbled upon an app called Llama. This app is free and so far it does everything I want. When I put my phone in the car dock, it automatically enables GPS and Bluetooth and disables WiFi. When I take my phone out of the car doc, it disables GPS and Bluetooth and, depending upon whether I'm home or not, enables WiFi.

Llama allows you to define events that can be triggered based on several criteria, entering/leaving an area, time of day, docked/undocked, charging/battery, etc. These events can have multiple actions that happen when the event is triggered by all of its conditions being met. Llama seems to have many actions it can perform. As mentioned before, it can enable/disable Bluetooth, GPS, and WiFi. It can also run applications, play music tracks, set a sound/volume profile, change the wallpaper, etc.

Llama learns areas by recording the ids of cell towers for a particular place. It doesn't use GPS or mobile data in determination of location. I currently only have one area defined, Home. Llama has found 3 cell towers that are visible while at I'm at home. So if I use home as a location in any events I define, if Llama sees one of these cell towers, it assumes I'm at home. Seems to work well for me so far but this means that Llama's locations are not very granular. For example, if you define two areas Home and School and your school isn't very far from your home then the Llama may not be able to distinguish between the two.

So far, I have not noticed any detectable increase in battery drain while using Llama. Since I've only been using it for about a week, I'll continue to monitor my battery performance with it running.

I don't usually "evangelize" apps but I've found this one so useful that I'd though I share my experience with fellow GAFers. If you want to give it a try, here is the marketplace link:


Link to market: Llama - Location Profiles by kebabapps

These are the events I've defined so far:

Name: Car Dock In
Conditions: In car dock
Actions: Enable Bluetooth, enable GPS and disable WiFi

Name: Car Dock Day
Conditions: In car dock and time between 8am and 8pm
Actions: Set brightness to 100%

Name: Car Dock Night
Conditions: In car dock and time between 8pm and 8am
Actions: Set brightness to 10%

Name: Car Dock Out
Conditions: Not in car dock
Actions: Disable Bluetooth, disable GPS and set brightness to automatic

Name: Home WiFi
Conditions: At home and not in car dock
Actions: Enable WiFi

Name: Profile Day Loud
Conditions: Time between 7am and 10pm
Actions: Set sound profile to loud (max volume and vibrate)

Name: Profile Night Silent
Conditions: Time between 10pm and 7am
Actions: Set sound profile to silent (added vibrate to this profile)


My phone details:

Phone: Motorola DroidX
OS: Android 2.3.3 - stock/not rooted
Carrier: Verizon


Edit: Oh, by the way, I had gone into Settings/Cell Polling Mode and set it to "No polling(events may be delayed)" just to keep it from chewing up unnecessary battery.
Click to expand...




lolez2matt said:
https://market.android.com/details?id=net.zedge.android&hl=es

ZEDGE:

Its useful to look for easy made wallpapers and ringtones on the go...
Click to expand...

I also recommend ZEDGE. Easy way to find new wallpapers and ringtones.
 
V

voodooray

Member
SpinningBirdKick said:
Screen Filter

Reduce the brightness of your screen to save your battery.

Great for late night screen reading when your phone's lowest brightness setting is too bright.
Click to expand...

For those with a Samsung Galaxy S2 running on stock rom, you can do the same thing by swiping left/right (on the notification bar at the top. Don't drag it down, just swipe along it in either direction to either dim/brighten your display as needed.
 
K

kehs

Banned
FireCloud said:
Llama may be nice to add to the list as well. It is a free app that allows you to perform actions when certain conditions are true.

I did a write up for it in the Android Gingerbread thread but included it here in case anyone is interested:
Click to expand...

Llama is pretty cool, works great for auto playing music when I get in my motor vehicle. (Setup a "press play when connected to bluetooth device). I only wish the lockscreen implementation in android wasn't so shitty. I want to be able to automatically enable/disable my lockscreen when I'm on my wifis.
 
A

AndyD

aka andydumi
Copernicus said:
Llama is pretty cool, works great for auto playing music when I get in my motor vehicle. (Setup a "press play when connected to bluetooth device). I only wish the lockscreen implementation in android wasn't so shitty. I want to be able to automatically enable/disable my lockscreen when I'm on my wifis.
Click to expand...

I could have sworn you can do this. Or was it to disable just the security lock and not the lockscreen?

I would like to disable the lockscreen period, or combine it with the security screen into one single screen with both simple info and a security entry option. Clock/date/calendar at the top, security gesture at the bottom.

Any suggestions on how I could do that?
 
K

kehs

Banned
AndyD said:
I could have sworn you can do this. Or was it to disable just the security lock and not the lockscreen?

I would like to disable the lockscreen period, or combine it with the security screen into one single screen with both simple info and a security entry option. Clock/date/calendar at the top, security gesture at the bottom.

Any suggestions on how I could do that?
Click to expand...

It doesn't really work too well, it will work on occasion, but it's not stable enough. I think llama would need device administration rights to get it to work properly.

I'm not sure about disabling the lockscreen other than setting "none", CM has a couple of different lockscreen options.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6157483/1.jpg

Unlocking the screen requiers just gesture(or hitting menu/trackball), sliding left to right will bring up the pin pad to unlock, not sure if your thinking along those lines.
 
D

Divvy

Canadians burned my passport
Sleeplessnights said:
I was using orbot but since updating to ICS it doesn't work, how can I use Hotspot Shield? There's no native app that I can find.
Click to expand...

You just have to sign up for google music on your computer once. That's the only time google music will care about where you're from (aside from purchasing songs, which you can get a virtual visa for). After you have a google music account, you can use it whenever and wherever you want. I haven't tried to use currents so I don't know about that, there's an apk for it in the OP now though you may want to try. There's an apk for google music now too.
 
A

AndyD

aka andydumi
Copernicus said:
Unlocking the screen requiers just gesture(or hitting menu/trackball), sliding left to right will bring up the pin pad to unlock, not sure if your thinking along those lines.
Click to expand...

That is still two screens, a lockscreen with a simple gesture then a pin pad screen. I was thinking one where you have both on there at once. Lockscreen info and instead of a simple slide, replace it with the actual pin pad or pin pattern and which results in unlock to homescreen.

Sort of build in the security pattern into the lockscreen's slide.
 
S

Sleeplessnights

Banned
Divvy said:
You just have to sign up for google music on your computer once. That's the only time google music will care about where you're from (aside from purchasing songs, which you can get a virtual visa for). After you have a google music account, you can use it whenever and wherever you want. I haven't tried to use currents so I don't know about that, there's an apk for it in the OP now though you may want to try. There's an apk for google music now too.
Click to expand...

I use MarketEnabler (https://market.android.com/details?id=ch.racic.android.marketenabler) to get US only apps. Requires root though.

Thanks for the advice, I got it working!
 
K

kehs

Banned
AndyD said:
That is still two screens, a lockscreen with a simple gesture then a pin pad screen. I was thinking one where you have both on there at once. Lockscreen info and instead of a simple slide, replace it with the actual pin pad or pin pattern and which results in unlock to homescreen.

Sort of build in the security pattern into the lockscreen's slide.
Click to expand...

Just checked the CM options and there is an option to skip the unlock to slide, it'll take you straight to your pin/password screen, but you lose the info/date/calendar/lockscreen widgets.
 
A

AndyD

aka andydumi
Copernicus said:
Just checked the CM options and there is an option to skip the unlock to slide, it'll take you straight to your pin/password screen, but you lose the info/date/calendar/lockscreen widgets.
Click to expand...

I guess I need to try it. But it seems like such a no brainer, why has no one done it? Combine the lockscreen and security screen into one. It must have to do with Android security.
 
D

Divvy

Canadians burned my passport
Bad_Boy said:
They have a pressure sensitive stylus that is compatible with android? tell me more.
Click to expand...

Well, the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet and the Xoom2/Xyboard have digitizers in them. The Lenovo one has a built in stylus and the Xoom2 has a compatible stylus you can buy separately. There isn't a pressure sensitive stylus that works for capacitive screen yet, though I read somewhere that one was in development.
 
J

Jangocube

Banned
Can apps that you download on your phone be downloaded on a tablet for free? Is it tied to your account?

Sorry if it's been posted, on new meds ftl!
 
B

Blackhead

Redarse
Divvy said:
Well, the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet and the Xoom2/Xyboard have digitizers in them. The Lenovo one has a built in stylus and the Xoom2 has a compatible stylus you can buy separately. There isn't a pressure sensitive stylus that works for capacitive screen yet, though I read somewhere that one was in development.
Click to expand...

The S-pen for the Galaxy Note is pressure senstitive, i think. But tell me more about the tablets. any reviews?
 
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