Android apps

[kjjjjshab]

Re: Android apps

...And re the barcode scanner - I seriously have no idea what it does... Must check the market and find out.

Great fun at the holidays/birthdays... *bleeep* and there is the price of your gift. Luckily my wife is a bit of a geek herself, so she doesn't mind too much.

[woodsmoke]

Re: Android apps

barcode scanner works automatically. turn it on, point the camera at a barcode and it will scan automatically and work with google market to find either local products or nationwide.

a) An example is that the better half and I were looking at some expensive candy at a discount store and I decided to check it, pointed the camera at the barcode, it did it's thing with NO work, and then popped google shopper, I picked the local store option and it showed that a Wal-greens that was on the way home was actually cheaper on a one day markdown than the discount store.

However, the stores have to interact with google shopper for you to see the costs.

b) I pointed the thing at a "block" barcode on the computer screen to download a game, the barcode reader automatically read the "block" thing and then automatically with no work on my part began to download the app, it then stopped and ASKED me if I WANTED to download the app, I said yes and it installed as if I had got it from the android market.

woodsmoke

[toad]

Re: Android apps

@Toad.
Thanks for rooting instructions! Been out all day - too late to try today will experiment over the next couple of days. I like the sound of your "ultimate app"!

Wow, things are happening too quickly in this thread, cannot keep up...

Anyway, I found a decent link for you, PhilT: http://androidforums.com/optimus-one...root-info.html

Plus I've got CPU Tuner and APNDroid. The former has ondemand, powersave and performance settings (adjustable) and the latter is very easy way to turn your phone into a phone, i.e. you kill all traffic by pressing one button (if a smartphone had any, that is...).

[Xinixs]

Re: Android apps

Take care with APNDroid. It may mess up your APN settings. At least it happened to me a couple of times that I had to reset the phone in order to get 3g back and when it erased my APN completely that's when I decided to get rid of it altogether.

If I have one beef with Android, it's that it does not offer a decent way to just prevent 3g / 2g data connections. Many people still do not have a data bundle, mr Google...

[toad]

Re: Android apps

Oh, thanks for that. So far it hasn't given me any problems, on the contrary. But since I don't even know what APN settings are it may have done something without me realising it

[woodsmoke]

Re: Android apps

Ok Toad, this whole "rooting" thing....

I'm not too bright ya gotta remember. My TMobile G1 Android was out of warranty when I got it, but I use it daily for phone, internet, you name it and it does just fine for what I do.

HOWEVER....I did a modicum of research on rooting and noticed in one thing that the fellow was running, I guess, a very "light" version of some kind of office.

So...my question might be.... if there was an "open office" type thing....

a) in your rambling about have you run across a thread as to whether it is useable, if not that is ok, no need to research it.
b) if it was useable, hypohetically, and I did "root" the thing so that I could use it, does the "rooting" somehow have other apps that are attendant upon it that can "trick" the hardware so that it can do things that the original OS would not do...in terms of maybe "tricks with the memory in an SD card" or something?

Or is it more of a "this is cool to do" type thing and it will run "small stuff" but you still can't run the "big stuff" or stuff that needs certain things like being able to run "animated gifs", which I was researching...

The big deal being people wanting to see the animations of weather channel weather loops...

And if you haven't thought about all this that is ok, it is just a question.

Or maybe others?

woodsmoke

[kjjjjshab]

Re: Android apps

Take care with APNDroid. It may mess up your APN settings. At least it happened to me a couple of times that I had to reset the phone in order to get 3g back and when it erased my APN completely that's when I decided to get rid of it altogether.

If I have one beef with Android, it's that it does not offer a decent way to just prevent 3g / 2g data connections. Many people still do not have a data bundle, mr Google...

Many people over at xda have had similar experiences with the APN apps... that is a very good warning.

[toad]

Re: Android apps

@ woodsmoke

You on about thinkfreeoffice? And to try and answer your question - if I understood you right, rooting your 'phone has nothing to with any office apps...

@ kjjjjshab & Xinixs

Is there a drop in alternative to APNDroid?

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Android apps

@ PhilT
How to root your phone?

As muzicman0 stated - get a backup (I've got titanium backup) app and back up your install. Then I got z4root for my LG P500 and followed the instructions.

Perhaps I'm just being dense, but I just installed Titanium Backup thinking I could do what you mentioned--in the same order--but it won't work. TB says it needs root access. Well, I haven't rooted my phone yet...I want to back it up and THEN root it. So what's the trick?

[toad]

Re: Android apps

Unfortunately I didn't take notes when I did it but I just used their most comprehensive backup. Here the feature list from their website:

Features of the Free version:

* No time limit
* Very fast app listing (~1 second for 300 apps)
* Sort apps by name / last backup / backup frequency
* Filter apps by name / type / status / Apps Organizer labels (also affects Batch operations)
* Backup/restore regular apps + their settings
* Backup/restore protected apps + their settings
* Backup/restore system settings (incl. Wi-Fi AP list)
* Restores the Market links when restoring apps
* Zero-click background batch backup
* Interactive batch restore
* Many batch scenarios (eg: if more than N days since last backup, etc)
* Zero-click app un-installer
* Zero-click system app un-installer
* Desktop widgets
* A single weekly or biweekly scheduled backup
* User-defined apps lists with filtering, coloring and scheduling support

EDIT:
And here is their forum http://www.legendroid.com/forumdispl...ficial-Support

[Xinixs]

Re: Android apps

@ kjjjjshab & Xinixs

Is there a drop in alternative to APNDroid?

So far I haven't found one. In my specific situation, a bug in Android actually helps me to control traffic. I have a virtual provider, and Android thinks I am always roaming, even when I am within my own network. So I have a widget (2g/3g on off) that allows me to quickly enable / disable roaming.

In your case, you really need to mess with the APN, and I don't know if there is a decent app for that. It is crazy!! Android should allow you to control data traffic ootb. It is a major design flaw that can cost people loads of money.

EDIT
This page mentions an app called Quick Settings: http://www.mydigitallife.info/2010/0...android-phone/

[toad]

Re: Android apps

Installed quicksettings and like it Many thanks.

[kjjjjshab]

Re: Android apps

Installed quicksettings and like it Many thanks.

They all change the APN settings... just make sure everything is turned on before ever uninstalling an app that turns on/off GPS, data, etc. and you'll be fine.

[kjjjjshab]

Re: Android apps

@ PhilT
How to root your phone?

As muzicman0 stated - get a backup (I've got titanium backup) app and back up your install. Then I got z4root for my LG P500 and followed the instructions.

Perhaps I'm just being dense, but I just installed Titanium Backup thinking I could do what you mentioned--in the same order--but it won't work. TB says it needs root access. Well, I haven't rooted my phone yet...I want to back it up and THEN root it. So what's the trick?

You need root first, but that's generally ok... Titanium comes in handy when you are changing roms. But your first backup would actually be a nandroid backup from recovery. That creates an image of EVERYTHING... apps and OS... everything except your SD card contents, but that you can just copy over to your desktop.

[kjjjjshab]

Re: Android apps

For most of your questions, searching http://forum.xda-developers.com/filter.php?cat=Android in your specific device forum will provide the answer... just read the wiki and please never post in the dev threads until you know what you are doing.

But I am happy to help new users here as well... one tip I will give you all right away is that the CyanogenMod rom is the gold standard of roms and the one a lot of users try first, but their forum does not get much traffic. The CM threads on xda-developers are much more active.