Everything Android

[Spazosaurus]

All I can say, if you and your friend(s) wanna leave, the door is open, you can leave. Just dont come into the thread and piss all over it and expect men to not say anything. YOU would not like if somebody do that in WP thread so dont do it in others and i'll ask you to check yourself one last time. Capice?

U want apps? https://play.google.com/store. Almost anything you wanna do, you can find an app or two to satisfy your needs. Personally, apps alone are a means to an end. I like those apps that enable me to have desktop-like abilities right on my phone. Personally, I dont even use my PC for anything other than gaming anymore.

For example, if I am home and chilling outside away from my pc, I can stream all my content from on my server 2008 box just as I would on my client pc. My entire project proposal for Masters is being done up on Google docs from the phone. PC is off, I connect via HDMI to my pc and my phone's display is mirrored onto my TV in high def. Wanna watch youtube or other streaming media without the need to put on the PC. I am gaming with the boys online, I can administer our BF3 server directly from my phone, change maps, kick people, balance teams all from my phone.

This is the tip of the iceberg. Like I said, the market is there for you to explore.

[captainchris]

All I can say, if you and your friend(s) wanna leave, the door is open, you can leave. Just dont come into the thread and piss all over it and expect men to not say anything. YOU would not like if somebody do that in WP thread so dont do it in others and i'll ask you to check yourself one last time. Capice?

U want apps? https://play.google.com/store. Almost anything you wanna do, you can find an app or two to satisfy your needs. Personally, apps alone are a means to an end. I like those apps that enable me to have desktop-like abilities right on my phone. Personally, I dont even use my PC for anything other than gaming anymore.

For example, if I am home and chilling outside away from my pc, I can stream all my content from on my server 2008 box just as I would on my client pc. My entire project proposal for Masters is being done up on Google docs from the phone. PC is off, I connect via HDMI to my pc and my phone's display is mirrored onto my TV in high def. Wanna watch youtube or other streaming media without the need to put on the PC. I am gaming with the boys online, I can administer our BF3 server directly from my phone, change maps, kick people, balance teams all from my phone.

This is the tip of the iceberg. Like I said, the market is there for you to explore.

With you on that one with respect to the USE of the phone. Seeing as we have the same phone and use it for similar duties I can relate to that!

[woodyear99]

All I can say, if you and your friend(s) wanna leave, the door is open, you can leave. Just dont come into the thread and piss all over it and expect men to not say anything. YOU would not like if somebody do that in WP thread so dont do it in others and i'll ask you to check yourself one last time. Capice?

U want apps? https://play.google.com/store. Almost anything you wanna do, you can find an app or two to satisfy your needs. Personally, apps alone are a means to an end. I like those apps that enable me to have desktop-like abilities right on my phone. Personally, I dont even use my PC for anything other than gaming anymore.

For example, if I am home and chilling outside away from my pc, I can stream all my content from on my server 2008 box just as I would on my client pc. My entire project proposal for Masters is being done up on Google docs from the phone. PC is off, I connect via HDMI to my pc and my phone's display is mirrored onto my TV in high def. Wanna watch youtube or other streaming media without the need to put on the PC. I am gaming with the boys online, I can administer our BF3 server directly from my phone, change maps, kick people, balance teams all from my phone.

This is the tip of the iceberg. Like I said, the market is there for you to explore.

I think Messiah was asking for examples of things/apps you can do on Android that cannot be done on other platforms. While they aren't exclusive, there are more than enough Android apps to fulfil most needs...

http://www.readwriteweb.com/mobile/2011/10/android-market-hits-500000-suc.php

Android Market Hits 500,000 Successful Published Apps, Has 37% Removal Rate

In terms of pure volume, the Android Market is rapidly catching up with the Apple App Store. Android has also been a step behind Apple. The iPhone was released in 2007, Android made its mass market debut in 2008. Apple just released iOS 5 while Android just put out version 4.0. From the application perspective, Apple has long maintained a large lead.

[phoenix31tt]

correct @ woody... things that only android can do, because awesome... all those things you called there (with the exception of hdmi, because the phones dont have hdmi outs as yet) can be done on other platforms, including windows phone.

what he is trying to asses atm, is that killer thing that only android does or does better than everybody else. hopefully i will be assessing a couple of phones for work as well (apple and android), and i will be asking the same questions from the android guys. for instance i can quickly say what windows phone does best and also recommend some apps to show u the platforms advantage over others. Thats what he's looking for (summarized of course).

as i'm typing this i realise of course that may be difficult as you might not be aware that other platforms are doing the same things that you love to do on your android phones... so maybe just listing the stuff you THINK are unique will do and the assessment will be made by the people with multiple devices

[MessiaaH]

Yes woodyear, i want android exclusive stuff. Im  going to search for and install d apps i want to use. But i not going to sift through 500,000 apps to find out what android is made of, which is why i ask for recommendations.

Same thing phoenix saying as well. I want to see what makes android the best in you guys mind. Which is why i come here, this suppose to be d android elitist here.

Btw, all i've setup this thuss far:
Facebook, Hotmail, Gmail, Exchange.
And joined it to a wifi.
Nothing else.

This morning i pull out d phone to check my email, tapped d email icon, and was greeted with the following:




.....a Biased crash im sure.....

[woodyear99]

As I said before, don't think you will find any worthwhile exclusive android apps.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note using Tapatalk

[Spazosaurus]

As woody said, most of the functionality that the android apps out there provide has already been done on IOS. Perhaps the apps would be done by different devs under different names. IOS has the app count on lock (for now) but Android is quickly catching up.

Were it a question of who have the most apps alone, i devices would win right now. One of my favourite things is going on XDA and Modaco every day, looking at mods, custom roms etc and trying ALL that look interesting. If something gets screwed up, I can take a snapshot of my entire OS complete with apps and configs and restore quickly and easily, continue to tinker. Similarly, each individual app can be backed up and restored with ease when upgrading OS.

These abilities I cannot do without which is why there is no other OS out there for me.

[woodyear99]

Yeah there definitely is an active Android modding community, no denying that at all.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note using Tapatalk

[MessiaaH]

Please Recommend the following:

Best Of These:

Package Tracking (fedex, ups etc)
News Reader
TV Show tracking
Flight Tracking / Organization
Voice Recording
Podcasts

I've just installed the basics, missing the ones above.
Basics installed thus far:

TeamView
Facebook
Sonos
HomeSeer (HSTouch)
Skype
WhatsApp
SoundHound
XE Currency
Amazon
XBMC Remote
IMDB

[woodyear99]

Please Recommend the following:

Best Of These:

Package Tracking (fedex, ups etc)
News Reader
TV Show tracking
Flight Tracking / Organization
Voice Recording
Podcasts

I've just installed the basics, missing the ones above.
Basics installed thus far:

TeamView
Facebook
Sonos
HomeSeer (HSTouch)
Skype
WhatsApp
SoundHound
XE Currency
Amazon
XBMC Remote
IMDB

I use these..

News Reader - Newsroom or Pulse
Voice Recording - Tape A Talk Pro
Podcasts - Acast


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note using Tapatalk

[woodyear99]

I know this doesn't really affect people on this forum with custom roms and all. Still it is a trend with Samsung and delayed updates...

http://www.tgdaily.com/mobility-brief/61977-samsung-delays-galaxy-s-ii-android-update

Samsung delays Galaxy S II Android update

Samsung is reneging on promises it made to quickly dole out an Android update for one of its best-selling phones.

The manufacturer was supposed to roll out the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade for the Galaxy S II tomorrow, but now it says the process won't happen until a bit later.

The company said that it does have a new date confirmed internally but is not yet sharing it with the public. This comes as just the latest setback in the Ice Cream Sandwich update saga.

The first phone that tried to update was the Nexus S, a phone that Google actually had an active hand in developing. The upgrade process seemed to be running smoothly, with handsets beginning to receive the new OS in December.

But Google quickly yanked the updates after numerous reports of upgraded phones freezing and crashing. It would not admit that was the reason for pulling the update, but we have to assume that it was.

Then, early this year, Asus decided to push Ice Cream Sandwich to its Transformer Prime tablet. Same story. Updates began being sent through, but users reported numerous instances of crashing software as soon as ICS was installed. So that update was yanked as well.

Ice Cream Sandwich came built-in to the Galaxy Nexus phone, and on that device it runs just fine, but getting legacy devices to come on board has been the most embarrassing part of Android's history to date.

Only about 1% of active Android device are running Ice Cream Sandwich today. Many manufacturers have pledged sweeping updates for their devices, but few have promised to make that happen before the second half of this year.

[captainchris]

Well as of today im going back to Gingerbread with sense 4.0. Way too many unstable movement with the custom rom

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

[shivanandrs]

I hope all is well on Sony Ericsson's end. I am looking forward to ICS. Is it April month end for my device? Read that somewhere.

Sent from my Xperia arc using Tapatalk

[woodyear99]

I hope all is well on Sony Ericsson's end. I am looking forward to ICS. Is it April month end for my device? Read that somewhere.

Sent from my Xperia arc using Tapatalk

A few more weeks hopefully

http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/22/sony-details-xperias-ice-cream-sandwich-progress-remains-on-tr/

[MessiaaH]

Feature	HTC Titan (7.5 Mango)	Samsung Galaxy S 2 (Android 2.3.6)
UI & Usability	Win : + Easy + Intuitive + User Friendly + Fast & Fluid + Optimized for speed of use. + Superior auto-correct when typing. + Superior typing speed and experience	Loss : - Complicated - Confusing + Heavily customizable + Pretty when customized
Build Quality	Win	Loss: - Brittle & Flimsy - Poor hardware button layout.   (Opposing Volume and Power buttons lends to   accidental volume change when turning on/off phone.)
Battery Life	Win: + Unplugged @ 6am and lasts till 12pm the following day on average use (3hrs music playback, Frequent checks of news reader, frequent checks of emails, multiple im conversations, multiple phone calls, onenote and cloud access, various app use) Heavy use makes it to 12am the same day. (Gaming / Lengthy phone calls)	Loss - Unplugged @ 6am, sim card inserted at 9am and usage started.  Battery warning @ 3pm same day on low use. (No music playback, minimal checks of email, average im conversations, multiple phone calls, various app use) - OS takes control of brightness settings when battery is low and cannot be overridden to use phone normally.
Unlock Screen	Win : + Fast + Fluid + Unlocks and goes to msg if notification was tapped then screen unlocked.	Loss: - Slow - Laggy - Ugly + Unlock and go-to  new message.
Email	Win: + Separate Mailbox Shortcut Notification (Extremely important for my needs) + When open inbox, unread indicator on live tile is removed. (Helpful when you receive tons of emails, and you only want to read a few, but also want to quickly be visually notified of new emails without having to remember how much new emails u had the last time u viewed them.)     .. Only shows new mail count since the last time you've opened the inbox.  (Extremely important for my needs)	Loss: - Poor Layout - Sluggish pinch-to-zoom - Poor readability - Ugly - Cant setup non-google accounts without sim inserted. - Extremely slow loading of mails when your inbox is huge.
Stability	Win: + Rock solid, on for weeks	Loss: - Email app crash on day 1 - Various app crashes. - Contact widgets were randomly emptied on multiple occasions, having to add each contact back to homescreen manually. VERY FRUSTRATING! (Happened 6-7 times over the period of 2 days) - Phone randomly unjoins merged contacts.
Multitasking	Loss: - True multitasking of 1st party apps only. - Third party apps are suspended or utilizes background agents for audio, notifications and live tiles	Win: + True multitasking of all apps.
Messaging	Win: + Integrated WLM/FBChat + Fast fluid and reliable + Linked consolidated threaded messaging with fast msg service switching within the same thread.	Loss: + Integrated gtalk - Unreliable FBChat - WLM does not support multi presence sign on. (Signs out all other msn locations when in use)
Cloud Storage	Loss : + Skydrive	Win: + Better DropBox Support
Document Management	Win : + Native Office Suite + Better document editing and viewing	Loss
Picture viewing	Win: + Pictures hub = Complete Pwnage	Loss
Cam / Share	Win : + Superior UI + Faster view of snapped pics (slide left to cycle pics taken). + Superior focus and image quality. + Dedicated hardware button	Loss : + More sharing options : ability to share to installed apps, skype, whatsapp, etc. - Horrible default focus on small text. (Essential in my field to quickly take pictures of Service Tags/Serial Numbers/ mobo-chipset, etc)
Contact Management	Win : + Automatic contact linking + Social network integration on contact card (view fb updates, albums etc via contact). + Pin contact groups to start and get aggregated live updates on missed calls/emails/im/social/etc for group members only. + Quickly call pinned contacts using a 2 tap process.	Loss : - Manual linking of contacts required. - Too many steps to quickly call contacts via widget, dedicated call to number widget can be used, but makes for duplicate contact widgets on homescreen, not efficient. + Some communication apps installed on phone are accessible via contact widget. Call skype via contact widget. Launch fb and go to contact page via widget.
Notifications	Win : + Configurable aggregated notifications for specific contacts + Live tiles offer dynamic per app notification + Message preview of incoming instant messages which can be easily dismissed to view other incoming im messages without the need to open IM app / Messaging Hub.	Loss : + Notification center allows viewing of all notifications in 1 place.
Gaming	Win: + Xbox Live	Loss
Music Management	Win : + Automatic and wireless syncing of music via managed software (zune) + Playback controls accessible from volume keys.	Loss : - Playback controls not accessible when notification tray is full. - Problems getting phone to connect to PC to add music.
Social Integration	Win: + Social networks (fb,twitter, etc) fully integrated into the core of the operating system providing fast fluid access to important and frequently accessed information. (Social Apps used to extend functionality for powerusers that require more features than provided by core integration)	Loss: - Limited social network integration
Apps:	+ Superior UI, Faster, Polished, Live Tile Integration,     User Friendly, Better All-Round Quality	Better 1st Party support of won apps.
Facebook WhatsApp IDMB Aamazon TeamViewer SoundHound MusicSearch Skype Youtube Kindle Manga Reader Sonos & Homeseer News Reader Podcasts Voice Recording	Win Win Win Tie Loss (No App) Tie Win (Bing Music Search) Loss (Beta App) Tie Win Win Loss Win Win Win	Loss Loss Loss Tie Win Tie Loss (SoundHound) Win Tie Loss Loss Win Loss Loss Loss

Summary:

The Windows Phone Advantage:

Fast, Stable, Reliable, Superior Social Integration, Superior chat experience, Superior Email experience and integration with exchange servers, superior music experience, Intuitive, User Friendly, Full Office integration, Xbox Live, Superior Camera experience, Superior app quality and polish.

The Android Advantage:

Heavily Customizable, Larger Apps Library.

Final Thoughts:

I really wanted to like android, and in some ways I kind of do, but at this stage it feels more like a beta product, with frequent app crashes, having to monitor and maintain resources on the handset, and unreliable messaging experience. If ICS addresses these issues, it would be a more appealing platform. For the most part, everything Android can do, WP can do, with the excerption of a few features. These features do not outweigh the benefits WP provides.
My previous opinion of android was that it’s a Hot Pile of Steaming Garbage.
Having used the phone as a daily driver, that opinion has been somewhat changed.
On one hand I now see android as a viable platform for the users that wants a customizable experience and access to a large library of apps.
On the other hand the stability issues keep me from recommending it to anyone, and reinforces my opinion of it being a steaming pile of cow down.
If ICS addresses said issues, android IMO would be a solid alternative to WP, though the WP advantage is to great to give up.

Results:

Surprisingly enough, the issue that caused me to get an android device in the first place has actually been addressed by using the GS2. Call quality, dropouts, missed calls, etc, all these issues, have been resolved. So I guess the digicel techs were right in saying that phones not tested on their network give problems. Said phones happen to be Iphones and Windows Phones. Lol.
What a way to bully customers into android. Ah well, LIME here I come.

Issues Illustrated:

[woodyear99]

Just wanted to share a fun little app I just bought. Smart Tools on sale for 25 cents.



https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kr.aboy.tools&feature=search_result

You can measure length, angle, distance, height, direction, metal, sound ...Smart Tools is a toolbox of a collection of 1-4 series.It includes 4 Pro versions that have 14 tools. In a word, All-in-One.

Part 1. Length, Angle, Slope, Level : Smart Ruler Pro

Part 2. Distance, Height, Width, Area : Smart Measure Pro

Part 3. Compass, Metal detector, GPS : Smart Compass Pro

Part 4. Sound level meter, Vibrometer : Sound Meter ProFor more information, see the manual for each of the apps, see the Youtube video and visit the blog. http://androidboy1.blogspot.com/

Even more tools will be added soon. The next is Flashlight, Speed Gun, ... etc.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note using Tapatalk

[Spazosaurus]

Yeah I bought this too. Cant seem to get the distance measure to work right though.

[Arcmanov]

25c?   Boom.  Sold.



SwiftKeyed from my Samsung Galaxy S2 with Tapatalk

[woodyear99]

Don't know how practical it is, just find it looks cool lol

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note using Tapatalk

[shivanandrs]

Don't know how practical it is, just find it looks cool lol

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note using Tapatalk

The level works excellent. I used it yesterday while installing a door frame. Just remember to calibrate it first using an actual level.

Sent from my Xperia arc using Tapatalk