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so im a winmo expert and wont be switching to android til my hd2 dies.
but since my mom and sis are on vzw i told them to get the incredible since they were bugging for smartphones.
i already got them setup in terms of using sense and setting up accounts, got them advanced task killer and all that
any recommendation for good apps for basic use, not power users obviously.
then in terms of music is it as simple as drag and drop to the sd like with winmo?
and how about data tethering do i have to root the phone for her or is there a simple hack or app to do it for free instead of paying vzw
thanks guys
lbhocky19 said:
so im a winmo expert and wont be switching to android til my hd2 dies.
but since my mom and sis are on vzw i told them to get the incredible since they were bugging for smartphones.
i already got them setup in terms of using sense and setting up accounts, got them advanced task killer and all that
any recommendation for good apps for basic use, not power users obviously.
then in terms of music is it as simple as drag and drop to the sd like with winmo?
and how about data tethering do i have to root the phone for her or is there a simple hack or app to do it for free instead of paying vzw
thanks guys
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can get doubletwist for MP3 and video playback and theres even a PC program that goes with it, kind of like iTunes, but probably better. You can drop music on your SD card as well.
other apps I recommend
Beautiful widgets
Handcent SMS
Pandora or Slacker Radio, etc.
Google Voice, they can go to google.com/voice and get a free account, you can get free visual voicemail or get another phone number or both
ah doubletwist that came on my hd2 i didnt realize it was a syncing app i might just use that as well, thanks
what videos work on android or do you need different players for codecs like divx and such
being a smart phone and android n00b and a lady hopwefully my list will appeal to your mom and sis
Just a short list of the easy-to-use apps I've really liked so far...
Where's My Droid, fun little app that, at its most basic, will allow you to txt your "lost" phone to turn up the vol to max so you can find it... this seems to happen to me a lot so it is invaluable to me.
Mobisle Notes, simple notes app... lets you make multiple lists, groceries, feelance, what have you... easy to use.
Google Sky Map, self explanatory, amazes my 'rents
Gesture Search, set it up on long-hold of search soft key and draw letters on screen for speedy searching of pics, apps, files, people, etc.
Good Morning, interesting alarm app that will wake you with a custom message, the weather, your choice of song
Some fun and easy to understand games:
Coloroid
Grid Droid
Alchemy
Bonsai Blast
Doodle Jump
dali137 said:
being a smart phone and android n00b and a lady hopwefully my list will appeal to your mom and sis
Just a short list of the easy-to-use apps I've really liked so far...
Where's My Droid, fun little app that, at its most basic, will allow you to txt your "lost" phone to turn up the vol to max so you can find it... this seems to happen to me a lot so it is invaluable to me.
Mobisle Notes, simple notes app... lets you make multiple lists, groceries, feelance, what have you... easy to use.
Google Sky Map, self explanatory, amazes my 'rents
Gesture Search, set it up on long-hold of search soft key and draw letters on screen for speedy searching of pics, apps, files, people, etc.
Good Morning, interesting alarm app that will wake you with a custom message, the weather, your choice of song
Some fun and easy to understand games:
Coloroid
Grid Droid
Alchemy
Bonsai Blast
Doodle Jump
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
some good apps;
paper toss
epic fails
funny jokes
astro file manager
also, there are many soundboards from most movies
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
Other Useful apps.
yelp: Search for your favorite restaurant, stores, gas station and much much more... along with reviews. Searches by gps location
ziplocal: kind of like yellow pages.. only much better
google shopper (and or barcode): Useful when you want to scan bar codes in stores and see comparative prices online. Can also scan book covers and C/DVD covers
Uninstaller: good program that'll uninstall apps cleanly
Titanium backup: if you want to back up your apps along with user data and system data
guage battery widget: Nice widget that'll show your battery remaining as a gauge
sound manager: good for scheduling/setting ringtone sound, notification sound and vibration setting
Pandora: good for listening music
thanks to all, il forward suggestions to them.
last thing is just the tethering hack, anyone been successful? dont need wifi sharing just usb is fine
lbhocky19 said:
thanks to all, il forward suggestions to them.
last thing is just the tethering hack, anyone been successful? dont need wifi sharing just usb is fine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PdaNet works fine for tethering.
Sent from my FroyoEris using XDA App
For tethering I'd recommend EasyTether from the Market. Cheaper than PDAnet and faster to boot. Just don't try playing WoW or Starcraft 2 on it.
Also, task killers kill batteries because of the way Android operates. Android is very efficient at managing resources. Heck, Froyo (the new version of the OS that is rolling out) disables 3rd party task killers.
If battery life is a concern, look into UltimateJuice or Sedio's 1700mah battery. I'm a moderate to heavy user and the combo of those two gets me through the day on a single charge.
Also, they might like the program Foxy Ring. It auto adjusts ringer volume based on ambient noise and a toggle for a "timed" silence mode.
Hope that helps!
apps on the market get around having to pay for vzw's fees for tethering? surprised thats allowed
had no idea task managers did that, so even if 10 things are running in the back they really aren't using power like on winmo?
lbhocky19 said:
apps on the market get around having to pay for vzw's fees for tethering? surprised thats allowed
had no idea task managers did that, so even if 10 things are running in the back they really aren't using power like on winmo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as you're not using exorbitant amounts of data, it doesn't phase VZW or even come to their attention. So Facebooking and light to moderate YouTube streaming is peachy-keen.
Processes are kept in the background to launch faster and provide better QoS. Unless they are set to sync with the cloud on an interval, they actually aren't doing anything in the background. That's where UltimateJuice comes in with regulating sync and when the APN is on.
Now, if you have programs that came with the phone which you never use, but insist on loading into the background at boot, you can use a Startup Cleaner to nix those, but allow them to be reloaded if they actually are used.
Cheers!
dali137 said:
being a smart phone and android n00b and a lady hopwefully my list will appeal to your mom and sis
Just a short list of the easy-to-use apps I've really liked so far...
Where's My Droid, fun little app that, at its most basic, will allow you to txt your "lost" phone to turn up the vol to max so you can find it... this seems to happen to me a lot so it is invaluable to me.
Mobisle Notes, simple notes app... lets you make multiple lists, groceries, feelance, what have you... easy to use.
Google Sky Map, self explanatory, amazes my 'rents
Gesture Search, set it up on long-hold of search soft key and draw letters on screen for speedy searching of pics, apps, files, people, etc.
Good Morning, interesting alarm app that will wake you with a custom message, the weather, your choice of song
Some fun and easy to understand games:
Coloroid
Grid Droid
Alchemy
Bonsai Blast
Doodle Jump
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny to see a list of apps that most of which I've never heard of. Other than Google Sky map and Doodle Jump. Shows the market is getting more diverse.
Just thought of a couple of apps they might like.
Movies: find movie theatre times, reviews, trailers, and manage Netflix queue.
eBuddy: universal chat client for MSN, aim, Facebook, etc.
Mood Agent: quick temp playlist generator based on mood or song.
Just found a new Twitter app called Beezz. A few improvements could very well make this app better than the official Twitter app! Check it out, it's free.
It has promise, but it doesn't save state and doesn't support favorites, I use them as bookmarks. It does seem more solid than the official app.
ckacey said:
It has promise, but it doesn't save state and doesn't support favorites, I use them as bookmarks. It does seem more solid than the official app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Main reasons why this app hurts to use as a primary Twitter app. Why do none of the WP7 Twitter apps save your spot in the timeline?
It's probably worth noting that Beezz has a scheduled update for either today or tomorrow which includes push notifications and a live tile.
I like seesmic
Do your direct messages for twitter work in seesmic because mine don't? It also has a tombstone bug when using multiple accounts that's incredibly annoying. Other than that I like it.
blahism said:
I like seesmic
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Installed seesmic, didn't like it, uninstalled it. Like beezz a lot. Waiting for that update that supports live tiles I've been hearing about but have yet to receive.
If there's something that needs live tiles, it's twitter.
Thanks for sharing I have been dying over here without notifications....hopefuly update comes soon and answers prayers. Anyone have anything in the direction of FB? Same issue primarily, no notifications.
I installed the update today, and still not getting any live tile notification of new tweets. I turned the setting for it on, but still no go.
Yeah notifications aren't working for me either. They must be having some server problems at the moment.
Every time I try to turn on the notifications, Beezz throws an error!
Edit: Just tried again and it's all working now! Have promoted this app's tile to right near the top! :O)
How can I allow the application to access my account?
I'm not able to login.
The live tile stopped working.
I uninstalled it again, because live tile support is nice, but at least for me it didn't show a number of unread tweets bigger than 30. No matter what happen, nothing read over night, half a day of not using twitter, 30 has always been the maximum.
furthermore I really like the "quote a tweet" feature of the official one, since wp7 doesn't support c&p. Since that isn't in Beezz I switched back.
Maybe some updates are able to change that.
Does anyone have a .xap file of Beezz ? i'm from holland and the windows phone 7 market isn't available yet. Found a lot of xap files, (inc a beezz.xap, but it didn't work) so i'm looking for a other one.
Greats from holland!
Paatskie said:
Does anyone have a .xap file of Beezz ? i'm from holland and the windows phone 7 market isn't available yet. Found a lot of xap files, (inc a beezz.xap, but it didn't work) so i'm looking for a other one.
Greats from holland!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, you brought up a topic that died in December, so you might want to look for something more recent next time.
Secondly, it's easy to access the marketplace from Holland.
First, on your computer, go to 'Configuratiescherm', then 'Klok, taal en regio'. Choose 'Locatie wijzigen', and select 'Verenigde Staten' as your country (this is for Vista/Win7, but should be similar on XP).
Second, change your Live ID's location to the United States or 'Verenigde Staten'.
You can do this by going to Hotmail, opties (top right), meer opties, Accountgegevens, and change it there.
Then, reset your device, link it with your live ID and you can access all disabled services like Voice Commands, Marketplace, Zune, directions in Maps and more.
If it doesn't work, you can also make a new account. If your old one is '[email protected]', you could make your new one '[email protected]'. Make sure the country you select is USA or 'Verenigde Staten'. That's what I did, and it also worked (as long as your computer also has 'Verenigde Staten' as its location in the control panel)
Thanx for the reaction!
Got it all working! Thanx alot dude!
Bedankt
if the developer is online here, so please update this app, because Twitter has changed something with DM's. No there is "Twitter Connection Problem" every time i start the app. So i hope that the author can update it. It's theonly Twitter Client with Tweet Count in the live tile, or does anyone else know's an alternative?
bilbo_b said:
if the developer is online here, so please update this app, because Twitter has changed something with DM's. No there is "Twitter Connection Problem" every time i start the app. So i hope that the author can update it. It's theonly Twitter Client with Tweet Count in the live tile, or does anyone else know's an alternative?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Birdsong & Rowi are both superior apps... I prefer Rowi, it's quick, really quick, and the notifications are reliable... Check it out, @Rowiapp on Twitter
FiyaFleye said:
Birdsong & Rowi are both superior apps... I prefer Rowi, it's quick, really quick, and the notifications are reliable... Check it out, @Rowiapp on Twitter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have installed Rowi now (Trial), but couldnt find anything to set up the Live Tile. My only reason for Beezz are the Live Tile with Tweet Counts. I dont need the Live Tile for DM and such things. Only the pure total Unread Tweet Counts are important for me. But i must say, its very fast this app. Faster than Birdsong or moTweets. I have installed Birdsong also, but i will uninstall it because, there are also no Tweet Count, only a Live Tile for DM.
i don't think the trial of rowi supports live tiles
just buy the full version, you won't be unhappy
edit: actually, I don't think rowi has a live tile count for new tweets
So I've finally joined the club and boy am I stoked. So, what are the first things one should do e.g. apps to get, slight customisation, games etc, help your fellow comrade.
I don't know if this thread has been done before, if not, maybe it could be a sticky?
the first advice i could give to you is: read the forums
That's the beauty of WP7. There's no real customization to be done and no real apps to get. You're good to go!
Sent from my GT-I9000M
APPS?
download OEM apps.
download what you need. Marketplace got almost everything
customization? you mean changing the color of the tiles? LOL
radeon_x said:
That's the beauty of WP7. There's no real customization to be done and no real apps to get. You're good to go!
Sent from my GT-I9000M
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How adorable, another android troll. There's also no lag, a good music player, no fragmentation (It's good to know I can't buy a new phone and have it be outdated next week) and hell, gaming has already about caught up with Android. You guys have more, we have better.
z33dev33l said:
How adorable, another android troll. There's also no lag, a good music player, no fragmentation (It's good to know I can't buy a new phone and have it be outdated next week) and hell, gaming has already about caught up with Android. You guys have more, we have better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess the problem is that the more you feed the trolls , they keep coming back for more.
i just realize that he is using a sgs...
eww.
saldawop said:
I guess the problem is that the more you feed the trolls , they keep coming back for more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it's pretty much a greek tragedy how incompetent these android users are "LOL my phone OS is better than yours *tap 3 times before an app finally pulls up then swipe left or right and watch the lag roll in* Yup, totally better, I troll you."
Ha. That wasn't really a troll. I just meant there's no setup or critical apps you need to get the phone running. Just grab whatever catches your eye from the market and you're golden. I like that aspect of the platform compared to Android. Until you want your phone to do something a specific way, it's bliss.
Sent from my GT-I9000M
kappo78 said:
So I've finally joined the club and boy am I stoked. So, what are the first things one should do e.g. apps to get, slight customisation, games etc, help your fellow comrade.
I don't know if this thread has been done before, if not, maybe it could be a sticky?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to the world of WP7. Care to share which device you acquired?
MartyLK said:
Welcome to the world of WP7. Care to share which device you acquired?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't get it, aren't you the one who was pushing the WebOS users to outvote everything on that poll?
If you only get two games, get...
Ilomilo
Aphajax
Both will blow your mind into little wobbly pieces of grey blancmange and raspberry sauce. And all will be well in the world.
Wait! Someone's just put QUORUM down on a TW! Bastard!
radeon_x said:
That's the beauty of WP7. There's no real customization to be done and no real apps to get. You're good to go!
Sent from my GT-I9000M
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on how you look at it.
Lacking the need for customization at a low level is good (Rooting to uninstall bloatware, etc.), but there are tons of instances where you have to hack the system up just to achieve trivial tasks. Adding Ringtons to you phone, accessing Camera Shutter options, changing the default Search Engine in the Browser (T-Mobile sets it to Google, and some Euro Carrier sets it to Yahoo!). Things like that. You can't even set a home page in the browser (so even though I can't stand searching through Google, there's no way to Set Bing as the home page and just open a new tab and search from there). The OS is literally devoid of options/settings that matter. Can't even toggle between EDGE and 3G to save battery without hacking the phone (and that hack doesn't even work for some phones).
These aren't deep customizations on any other smartphone platform, but for WP7 it requires going beyond rooting or jailbreaking an Android phone. It makes Android a bit easier to use than WP7 when you factor in OneClick Root apps and the ability to sideload applications without scouring threads/the internet for information to get this done (and installing a ridiculously big SDK on your computer - nevermind the fact that it requires a Windows PC as well).
Microsoft got it wrong.
The issue with Android settigs is not that there were too many. It's the way they are presented to the user. They're generally (especially in third party applications from independent devs) just thrown in the user face on one huge page. Decently organized options in groups or tabs... there's nothing wrong with that. They need to add tons of options for the system and stock applications, because making even trivial changes to some behaviors is impossible without going through more work than loading a custom ROM on an Android phone is right now.
Minimalistic is good if you do it right (iOS). Microsoft took it to the extreme and all it does is create a ton of usability faux pas.
z33dev33l said:
How adorable, another android troll. There's also no lag, a good music player, no fragmentation (It's good to know I can't buy a new phone and have it be outdated next week) and hell, gaming has already about caught up with Android. You guys have more, we have better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, you're trolling him.
He means that the stock functionality in the WP7 system is above and beyond Android and iOS. And it is. Everything comes from Microsoft, integrates nicely, and performs well. Aside from Microsoft and Manufacturer Apps (i.e. HTC, LG, Samsung Apps), there aren't that many apps that you need on a WP7 device to be functional - besides games. Twitter is missing in the People Hub, so that's a biggie, and the Facebook integration doesn't include all functionality, so you need that.
I suggest Twitter, Seesmic, Facebook (Seesmic because it includes both and is a nice hub to use when you don't need heavy duty FB/Twitter functionality). Microsoft has a ton of free apps that are useful. Your manufacturer (especially if HTC) will fill in many of the other gaps. Foursquare is in the Market.
Adobe Reader is in the market. Amazon and Amazon Kindle is there. eBay has a very nice App in the market. Messenger by Miyowa sadly I have to recommend it because it's the best of any Messenger app in the market at the moment.
If you have an HTC phone you don't need a weather app. The HTC Hub Tile is Live for Weather. If not, I recommend Weather bug or Microsoft's little weather app. Weather Channel is a 9MB app and I can't see how that ridiculous size is justified given how WeatherBug and Microsoft's weather app are both < 2MB (if not 1 or below).
Microsoft has a few free games to try out. AlphaJacks is like Words With Friends for Windows Mobile ("Try It" version is free forever, but Ad Supported). Haypi Kingdom is a nice strategy game that is multi-player (also available for iOS and Android, so there is no shortage of people to play with/against).
Office Apps aren't needed (Office Mobile)
NoteTaking Apps aren't needed (OneNote Mobile)
Exchange Clients aren't needed (In-Built Functionality)
Music Players aren't needed (Zune)
Radio Apps aren't needed (Zune)
Slacker and Last.FM exist for Internet Radio.
Shazam is available with Unlimited Tagging.
Microsoft has a List App in the market (and HTC has one in their Marketplace).
Poynt, AP Mobile, IMDb, Fandango are all there.
But there aren't many needed apps, TBQH. Most apps are slower to use than the web browser because they tend to take excessive amounts of time "Updating..." Loading a web browser or performing a voice search often outperforms them, IME.
I'd get the biggies. Personally I'd avoid crap that you don't necessarily need and use the space for stuff that matters (Music, Pictures, Documents, etc.).
You can save documents from SkyDrive to your computer by opening them up from the Office.Live.com website and saving them to your Office Hub in Office Mobile. OneNote Mobile Syncs perfectly. There is an option to keep your Camera Roll in Sync with SkyDrive (this can use a lot of data if you take lots of pictures).
N8ter said:
Actually, you're trolling him.
He means that the stock functionality in the WP7 system is above and beyond Android and iOS. And it is. Everything comes from Microsoft, integrates nicely, and performs well. Aside from Microsoft and Manufacturer Apps (i.e. HTC, LG, Samsung Apps), there aren't that many apps that you need on a WP7 device to be functional - besides games. Twitter is missing in the People Hub, so that's a biggie, and the Facebook integration doesn't include all functionality, so you need that.
I suggest Twitter, Seesmic, Facebook (Seesmic because it includes both and is a nice hub to use when you don't need heavy duty FB/Twitter functionality). Microsoft has a ton of free apps that are useful. Your manufacturer (especially if HTC) will fill in many of the other gaps. Foursquare is in the Market.
Adobe Reader is in the market. Amazon and Amazon Kindle is there. eBay has a very nice App in the market. Messenger by Miyowa sadly I have to recommend it because it's the best of any Messenger app in the market at the moment.
If you have an HTC phone you don't need a weather app. The HTC Hub Tile is Live for Weather. If not, I recommend Weather bug or Microsoft's little weather app. Weather Channel is a 9MB app and I can't see how that ridiculous size is justified given how WeatherBug and Microsoft's weather app are both < 2MB (if not 1 or below).
Microsoft has a few free games to try out. AlphaJacks is like Words With Friends for Windows Mobile ("Try It" version is free forever, but Ad Supported). Haypi Kingdom is a nice strategy game that is multi-player (also available for iOS and Android, so there is no shortage of people to play with/against).
Office Apps aren't needed (Office Mobile)
NoteTaking Apps aren't needed (OneNote Mobile)
Exchange Clients aren't needed (In-Built Functionality)
Music Players aren't needed (Zune)
Radio Apps aren't needed (Zune)
Slacker and Last.FM exist for Internet Radio.
Shazam is available with Unlimited Tagging.
Microsoft has a List App in the market (and HTC has one in their Marketplace).
Poynt, AP Mobile, IMDb, Fandango are all there.
But there aren't many needed apps, TBQH. Most apps are slower to use than the web browser because they tend to take excessive amounts of time "Updating..." Loading a web browser or performing a voice search often outperforms them, IME.
I'd get the biggies. Personally I'd avoid crap that you don't necessarily need and use the space for stuff that matters (Music, Pictures, Documents, etc.).
You can save documents from SkyDrive to your computer by opening them up from the Office.Live.com website and saving them to your Office Hub in Office Mobile. OneNote Mobile Syncs perfectly. There is an option to keep your Camera Roll in Sync with SkyDrive (this can use a lot of data if you take lots of pictures).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Eh, no real apps to get doesn't exactly sound right. It makes it sound like anything released on this platform is bad.
To OP though, Ilomilo and Twin Blades are the only games I have that live up to my XBL expectations (and sadly I have most of them) there are other good games but Ilomilo overall. other than that Netflix is the only other one I'd deem necessary.
I knew exactly what he means when I read the post. Perhaps English isn't his first language, but it wasn't a hard statement to decipher...
Netflix is useless if you're not a subscriber, so I wouldn't deem it necessary at all. No one is going to subscribe to Netflix just to watch movies on a phone. Just doesn't make sense, IMO. If you're a subscriber, though, have it's nice to have...
The only necessary apps are those for social networking, and XBox Live Extras.
The Manufacturer Hub Apps (some/most of them) are a given.
TBQH, most smartphone OSes are like this. If the platform is missing something, like Android is, the Manufacturers usually add it in (ThinkFree Office, Amazon MP3, MobiTV, Exchange support, etc.).
One thing most of us forgot is Navigation Software. At this point if you want decent navigation with Turn-By-Turn directions, you're basically required to pay a subscription fee for TeleNav or whatever the phone comes with.
I've tried A-to-B Navigation. It's useless for all practical purposes.
Social Networking and Navigation Software are the only ones I'd say are necessary.
Also the Carriers are allowed to change the default search provider in Internet Explorer, so if you're a Bing user like me the usability of in-browser search is... terrible. T-Mobile Maps the Search button (and address bar search) in IE to Google and some Euro Carriers change it to Yahoo. Severely inconsistent and bad considering most people use the address bar to perform searches.
There is no option to change the default search provider. And performing that hack requires more manual labor than rooting and installing a custom ROM on an Android computer (and involves making registry changes, etc. on your Windows PC).
N8ter said:
I knew exactly what he means when I read the post. Perhaps English isn't his first language, but it wasn't a hard statement to decipher...
Netflix is useless if you're not a subscriber, so I wouldn't deem it necessary at all. No one is going to subscribe to Netflix just to watch movies on a phone. Just doesn't make sense, IMO. If you're a subscriber, though, have it's nice to have...
The only necessary apps are those for social networking, and XBox Live Extras.
The Manufacturer Hub Apps (some/most of them) are a given.
TBQH, most smartphone OSes are like this. If the platform is missing something, like Android is, the Manufacturers usually add it in (ThinkFree Office, Amazon MP3, MobiTV, Exchange support, etc.).
One thing most of us forgot is Navigation Software. At this point if you want decent navigation with Turn-By-Turn directions, you're basically required to pay a subscription fee for TeleNav or whatever the phone comes with.
I've tried A-to-B Navigation. It's useless for all practical purposes.
Social Networking and Navigation Software are the only ones I'd say are necessary.
Also the Carriers are allowed to change the default search provider in Internet Explorer, so if you're a Bing user like me the usability of in-browser search is... terrible. T-Mobile Maps the Search button (and address bar search) in IE to Google and some Euro Carriers change it to Yahoo. Severely inconsistent and bad considering most people use the address bar to perform searches.
There is no option to change the default search provider. And performing that hack requires more manual labor than rooting and installing a custom ROM on an Android computer (and involves making registry changes, etc. on your Windows PC).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not only that, but I wouldn't subscribe to any version of Netflix because of the cost. I watch maybe 2 to 4 rented movies a month. And some months, none. To have to pay a fee just to use Netflix is wasteful. Yet that's how NF works. I would, however, subscribe to NF if there was no fee. The only cost would be the rental charge.
I have to say the best game for Xbox Live is the Harvest. Feels like diablo with a sci fi twist. The bad thing though is if your a typical Xbox console gamer, you won't find much that will interest you on WP7.
I swear its a new puzzle or tower defense game ever week.
you can of course customise your lock screen, you could also install "pin to start" which apparently offers customised live tile (don't have it myself, not my type of thing". Apps wise, get the HTC You tube app if you have an HTC device, would also recommend pdf reader and the amazon kindle app (if you like books) beyond that, there are nearly 9000 apps to choose from - I think there are even a couple of "fart" apps if that floats your boat...........
I've already mentioned Adobe Acrobat Reader X and Amazon Kindle.
Not all applications have Live Tiles, and TBH without a Live Tile an app would have to be very important to merit a spot on you home screen (no one wants a home screen that scrolls for miles). I have issues keeping Seesmic/Twitter/Facebook on the Home Screen, for example, without a Live Tile. Games like AlphaJax are good cause the Tile is Live (tells you when it's your turn and how many games you have waiting on you, for example).
The HTC YouTube app is good, but it's only for HTC devices (I already said the Manufacturer apps were a given since they fill in obvious gaps in functionality i.e. YouTube, NotePad/List App, Flashlight, Attentive Phone, Live Weather Tile (HTC), Sound Enhancer, etc.).
The customization that I say is missing isn't really "customization" in the XDA-Developers sense.
Setting a Home Page in the Browser, Setting the Default Search Engine in the Browser, and Options for things like how long you want Toast Notifications to stay on the screen aren't any type of deep customization. It's simply a trivial setting that Microsoft needs to add. These things are missing all over the OS and need to be added in ASAP. It acually makes the OS a chore to use in many instances.
They also need to make carriers unable to alter the default search engine. It sucks for people who use a certain search engine, and makes it take 3x longer to perform searches if you don't want to go through Google. There just need to be an option for the three biggies (Bing, Yahoo, Google) or the ability to allow the bing homepage to set itself as the default search engine (or Yahoo, or Google).
So.... Just putting the "Teaser" out there to gather some interest.
Devs that are interested send me a PM!
Oh, and seeing as I don't have a WP7 device (yet), what are the current Facebook frustrations so I know where to attack?
The one issue with the current Microsoft supplied Facebook app is that when you click on a youtube video is sends you to the regular youtube page and not the mobile version...so without flash it won't work. The only other thing would be a live tile that shows number of new notifications.
66stang351 said:
The one issue with the current Microsoft supplied Facebook app is that when you click on a youtube video is sends you to the regular youtube page and not the mobile version...so without flash it won't work. The only other thing would be a live tile that shows number of new notifications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The last update introduced live tiles and push notifications..
66stang351 said:
The one issue with the current Microsoft supplied Facebook app is that when you click on a youtube video is sends you to the regular youtube page and not the mobile version...so without flash it won't work. The only other thing would be a live tile that shows number of new notifications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MS could of made it open an installed Youtube App as they have native code access. Not sure there are API's for this to a Marketplace Developer. Just a thought anyway, I could be wrong.
As for the Live tile, I would love to see a double wide live tile with more than just a number of notifications. I'd love to see more app actually have a true live tile with some of the notification text in the tile. Is this possible with the new Mango API's for a Marketplace Developer though?
drkfngthdragnlrd said:
As for the Live tile, I would love to see a double wide live tile with more than just a number of notifications. I'd love to see more app actually have a true live tile with some of the notification text in the tile. Is this possible with the new Mango API's for a Marketplace Developer though?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe double-wide live tiles are still not available to 3rd parties, but certainly much more informational live tiles are available with the use of the back and front of the tile now.
prjkthack said:
I believe double-wide live tiles are still not available to 3rd parties, but certainly much more informational live tiles are available with the use of the back and front of the tile now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I though so, thanks for the information.
drkfngthdragnlrd said:
I though so, thanks for the information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem.
Getting back to this app, while its nice to see someone trying to get a better Facebook app up and running, I hope that it doesn't end up looking like the Android or iOS Facebook app (as pictured in the screenshot).
Metro is a very capable design ethic, and the general design of Windows Phone 7 and it's apps lend themselves very well to presenting information in both an organized and beautiful fashion. Please make sure to take advantage of that. That being said, I of course only have this one screenshot to judge off of, so don't shoot me. XD
I agree with prjkthack, stay with the Metro UI look. The picture above does not look good for a WP7 app.
Things missing in the current Facebook app...
Can't see who liked status-update/picture, (you can see a few in notification area but not when looking at the actual update/picture)
Can't like Comments to updates/pictures
Annoying...
When looking at a picture you have to press comment button to see/add comments (it switches to a comment view where you don't see the picture anymore), why not show comments directly below the picture?
Everything just loads so slow
Does the current Facebook app from Microsoft have the Places or Check-In feature?
Honestly, since I put Mango on my phone, there's no need for a dedicated Facebook app. Notifications are on the "Me" tile, Status Updates in the People's Hub, and chat is in the Messaging hub...
Well the most annoying thing is not having a seperate fb messaging client.
And i think its better for you not wasting your time on doing a full fb app, but rather make a messaging only app which is quick with push, so people can actually use is since this is missing from the os integration.
However with Mango we can probably pin the fb inbox to our startscreen so this will cancel out the need for a facebook messenger client. And deep linking will add the desired speed to it.
Good luck anyway thank you for the effort, i hope it will come out nice.
nizzon said:
Everything just loads so slow
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Click to collapse
Soooo true ... I use m.facebook.com ..
Between the Mango integration and the FB app, we have 90% of what we need covered. I'm not sure its worth the effort to create a new FB app honestly.
One of my biggest annoyances with the Microsoft Facebook app and alot of the apps that have been released is there smoothness and scrolling speed. We have this wonderful smooth and efficient operating system which is plagued by i suppose poorly coded apps that are trying to bite of more then they can chew.
The Facebook as is very sluggish to Navigate which really annoys the **** out of me. Another problem i have noticed is with the tile notifications, when you have a notification it displays on the tile as a number then you click on the facebook and and navigate to notifications, click on the notifications then exit and the counter has not updated. I disabled the push notifications and it still has a stupid number. When you open the app it should assume you have read all the notifications like on fb when click on the notifications button. So if you can manage to fix the notifications and the scrolling speed id be a very happy man.
NoWorthWhile said:
Honestly, since I put Mango on my phone, there's no need for a dedicated Facebook app. Notifications are on the "Me" tile, Status Updates in the People's Hub, and chat is in the Messaging hub...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about Facebook Mail/Messages (not chat, the other ones)?
There is still enough feature disparity to warrant the need of a real App.
Also, does the new "integration" update in the background? For Twitter especially, since the lack of background updates would make that useless for me.
Thank you for all of your feedback!
prjkthack said:
No problem.
Getting back to this app, while its nice to see someone trying to get a better Facebook app up and running, I hope that it doesn't end up looking like the Android or iOS Facebook app (as pictured in the screenshot).
Metro is a very capable design ethic, and the general design of Windows Phone 7 and it's apps lend themselves very well to presenting information in both an organized and beautiful fashion. Please make sure to take advantage of that. That being said, I of course only have this one screenshot to judge off of, so don't shoot me. XD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually don't have much experience with WP7 and the Metro UI (other than the emulator). I will be upgrading my WinMo 6.5 to WP7 once my contract runs up, and so hopefully by then I will have more knowledge of what metro looks/feels like.
One thought I had was instead of making the 3x3 grid of pictures, making a 2xN set of Live Tiles for each of the different areas. Then do a pivot for "Pinned" friends, etc. Thoughts?
NoWorthWhile said:
Honestly, since I put Mango on my phone, there's no need for a dedicated Facebook app. Notifications are on the "Me" tile, Status Updates in the People's Hub, and chat is in the Messaging hub...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PG2G said:
Between the Mango integration and the FB app, we have 90% of what we need covered. I'm not sure its worth the effort to create a new FB app honestly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmmm.... I'm curious about this. I would much rather spend my time developing something useful rather than copying integrated features.
Now, I know that on the HD2, HTC added a "Facebook Tab" that did basic stuff, but clicking into any of the different messages launched the m.facebook.com. Is this the same as with Mango?
Also, I know that some people like a consolidated feel when it comes to things like facebook. The integrated features sound great in terms of "Glance and Go", but how are they in regards to general Facebook Browsing? Do you get the full Facebook experience?
I would really like some more information about these comments. If there is no need for a dedicated app, then I won't make it.
Also, I know that Facebook limits what 3rd party devs can do, where as 1st party apps (Like the iOS and Android app) don't have those limits. Examples of this are adding places, sending messages to Inbox, Poking, etc (these CANNOT be done on 3rd party apps!) If the integrated app can do all of those, then there might not be any need to have a limited stand-alone app.
Any feedback about this would be excellent!
N8ter said:
What about Facebook Mail/Messages (not chat, the other ones)?
There is still enough feature disparity to warrant the need of a real App.
Also, does the new "integration" update in the background? For Twitter especially, since the lack of background updates would make that useless for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mail/Messages cannot be sent by 3rd party apps... It is a terrible terrible thing I know. They had enabled it in 2009, but it got abused so they took it away. I've seen apps that work around the limitation, but I haven't found out how.
As for background apps, there is support for background threading in Mango so that should be possible!
Thank you again for all the feedback!
joe_coolish said:
One thought I had was instead of making the 3x3 grid of pictures, making a 2xN set of Live Tiles for each of the different areas. Then do a pivot for "Pinned" friends, etc. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That makes sense, sounds like a good place to start.
So the "home" pivot would feature Facebook's main features (like feeds, photos, etc.), and then a "favorites" pivot would be custom pinned features like friends, groups, etc.?
Makes sense. Sounds good.
prjkthack said:
That makes sense, sounds like a good place to start.
So the "home" pivot would feature Facebook's main features (like feeds, photos, etc.), and then a "favorites" pivot would be custom pinned features like friends, groups, etc.?
Makes sense. Sounds good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
So, any thoughts about the usefulness of the app?
I wouldn't personally use it, the FB App itself and Mango has all I need. But competition is good and it'll be nice having more than 1 facebook app in the market.
I think it sounds like a great idea I actually use the FB app when I need to check something. If I need to post something then the integrated is awesome as it posts to twitter to
As above. Can't because there is no demand, can it? One of the big let-downs for me coming from PalmOS and Agendus is the really week Calendar app. Let's not get into the bizarre two week limit on past events! I also miss the tweakability of ChatterEmail. But that was then ...
So why no PIM or email apps? Is it a programming issue? Is the WP market entertainment, not enterprise? Will it change with Apollo/WP8?
Just wondering.
PS: other than that I love WP7. Just hoping for more.
truthfully the built in is so good and i use exchange so i never really thought about it. I also have yet to see anyone but you so far ask for it, so i am not thinking the demand is there yet. I have see in the marketplace a few task and calendar apps though.
ROCOAFZ said:
truthfully the built in is so good and i use exchange so i never really thought about it. I also have yet to see anyone but you so far ask for it, so i am not thinking the demand is there yet. I have see in the marketplace a few task and calendar apps though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PIM was very useful on WM, I don't understand why there is no demand for it? I guess it is what it is, Don't want to even ask because I don't what to hear some [email protected]$$ fanboy comment about that feature is so 1999 or something.
The real reason is that everything is sandboxed.
You don't have direct access. You used to just import poutlook.dll Then you could send an email. It would go into the phone's outbox for the account you wanted to send with. It would get sent on the next sync.
Now, you will be asked if you want to send the mail.
Also, I don't think there is any way to programatically get at the content of your emails. This is actually a good security piece. Imagine a dev writing a pretty cool app. You use it. Only months later you find that the content of all email messages on your phone were being sent to the dev while you used the app through a http post.
This is the why. Now, Microsoft could provide controls that would access this information.
Back in Windows Mobile, I wrote an app for users of Sense that also used the Facebook tab that would go through all of your contacts that were linked to Facebook. It would let the user update the contact with the Facebook pic. It used poutlook.dll.
ROCOAFZ said:
truthfully the built in is so good and i use exchange so i never really thought about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Built-in so good? I don't think so. Good as far as it goes maybe. I too use Exchange, that's the backend. It's the presentation of the PIM data that is so lacking.
Needs more views. Today summary. Ledger view for day. 5/7 day week view. A proper month view, with readable text and icons. Templates, filtering. Ability to duplicate events. Tasks in the tile. Lots of little things. When I think what could be packed into my little 320 X 320 Centro display ...
Have a look at the features in the iOS and Android versions of PocketInformant or Agendus.
While I'm at it, the email app needs customisable notifications per mailbox.
JVH3 said:
The real reason is that everything is sandboxed.
You don't have direct access.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The more I look, the more I'm getting that message. Just have to see what the future holds.
conorn said:
Built-in so good? I don't think so. Good as far as it goes maybe. I too use Exchange, that's the backend. It's the presentation of the PIM data that is so lacking.
Needs more views. Today summary. Ledger view for day. 5/7 day week view. A proper month view, with readable text and icons. Templates, filtering. Ability to duplicate events. Tasks in the tile. Lots of little things. When I think what could be packed into my little 320 X 320 Centro display ...
Have a look at the features in the iOS and Android versions of PocketInformant or Agendus.
While I'm at it, the email app needs customisable notifications per mailbox.
The more I look, the more I'm getting that message. Just have to see what the future holds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PIM is only needed for sms and history. Exchange or hotmail backs up the rest when you put contacts in unless you don't have a data plan. And if you want it all backed up... here yah go (only for stock roms)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1346276
by xda themselves
Next
Needs more views. Today summary. Ledger view for day. 5/7 day week view. A proper month view, with readable text and icons. Templates, filtering. Ability to duplicate events. Tasks in the tile. Lots of little things. When I think what could be packed into my little 320 X 320 Centro display ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me break this down for you...
Duplicate events... go to the event, scroll down, hit more details. press occurs, Choose once, everyday, every weekday, every saturday, every (Day number) of the month, ever month day (as in yearly)
For Tasks in the tile - while on agenda,
Week view? for someone that has a lot of appointments, weekview is never readable, same with month. At least in month you can tell there is an appointment and click on it.
For tasks tile that syncs with exchange try this one - http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/3455bef8-895d-49d6-9c71-131a8fd0106a
They do however show in agenda once you have opened the task
ROCOAFZ. Maybe you don't understand what I was trying to explain (BOTD). Also, please don't be so defensive, I'm not trying to diss WP. I'll be in for the long run. But if I see (IMO) a weakness I will point it out. And to me the functionality in the Calendar app is poor. Especially when other parts of the OS are so good.
Responding to your points ...
Firstly, forget about Exchange, etc. I'm not talking about backing up. I'm talking about the presentation and management of the data. I don't care where it's stored. Could be local, could be cloud - doesn't matter.
Secondly, when I use the term PIM, I mean it in the broadest possible way. I want to manage my personal info. Traditionally, on PDAs, that meant calendar, contacts and tasks. Smartphones have replaced PDAs, so now I want my current smartphone to do this at least as well.
Thirdly, the intent of the original post was to query why there are no 3rd-party PIM-type apps available for WP7. There are for iOS and Android, even BB. There were for WM6 and PalmOS. Why not WP7? A couple of replies confirmed what I suspected. The OS doesn't provide the access programmers need. Everything is very hands-off. Maybe this will change in future releases. there are indications that this may be so.
Finally, some specific comments -
ROCOAFZ said:
Duplicate events... go to the event, scroll down, hit more details. press occurs, Choose once, everyday, every weekday, every saturday, every (Day number) of the month, ever month day (as in yearly)
For Tasks in the tile - while on agenda,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I'm talking about duplicating existing appointments. Not recurring events, i.e., I had a meeting today at 2pm. We agree to meet again on Friday at 4pm. All other details the same. Previously I would quickly duplicate the event, update the date/time and I'm done. Now I must create from scratch. I right-click drag in Outlook, Google Calendar has Duplicate in More Actions - so it's not just me.
ROCOAFZ said:
Week view? for someone that has a lot of appointments, weekview is never readable, same with month. At least in month you can tell there is an appointment and click on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My choice to decide, but at least give me the choice. In month view I want to see better indicators. Maybe the smallish Lumia 800 display is at fault, or my chosen theme, but I really have difficulty noticing the existing (pretend) indications and they give no indication of what's there (task, appointment, all-day event). There is plenty of room to show boxes and bars for an 'at a glance' overview of my time. Especially in landscape view. BTW, what happened Categories?
ROCOAFZ said:
For tasks tile that syncs with exchange try this one - TaskTask
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. That, and some others, look interesting. But comes back to the issue raised by others. The only way to get at the tasks data is to go direct to the server. Shouldn't have to do that. It does work though, but should be in sync with inbuilt, not duplicating functionality.
conorn said:
Responding to your points ...
Firstly, forget about Exchange, etc. I'm not talking about backing up. I'm talking about the presentation and management of the data. I don't care where it's stored. Could be local, could be cloud - doesn't matter.
Secondly, when I use the term PIM, I mean it in the broadest possible way. I want to manage my personal info. Traditionally, on PDAs, that meant calendar, contacts and tasks. Smartphones have replaced PDAs, so now I want my current smartphone to do this at least as well.
Thirdly, the intent of the original post was to query why there are no 3rd-party PIM-type apps available for WP7. There are for iOS and Android, even BB. There were for WM6 and PalmOS. Why not WP7? A couple of replies confirmed what I suspected. The OS doesn't provide the access programmers need. Everything is very hands-off. Maybe this will change in future releases. there are indications that this may be so.
Finally, some specific comments -
No, I'm talking about duplicating existing appointments. Not recurring events, i.e., I had a meeting today at 2pm. We agree to meet again on Friday at 4pm. All other details the same. Previously I would quickly duplicate the event, update the date/time and I'm done. Now I must create from scratch. I right-click drag in Outlook, Google Calendar has Duplicate in More Actions - so it's not just me.
My choice to decide, but at least give me the choice. In month view I want to see better indicators. Maybe the smallish Lumia 800 display is at fault, or my chosen theme, but I really have difficulty noticing the existing (pretend) indications and they give no indication of what's there (task, appointment, all-day event). There is plenty of room to show boxes and bars for an 'at a glance' overview of my time. Especially in landscape view. BTW, what happened Categories?
Thanks. That, and some others, look interesting. But comes back to the issue raised by others. The only way to get at the tasks data is to go direct to the server. Shouldn't have to do that. It does work though, but should be in sync with inbuilt, not duplicating functionality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1st, not being defensive, just pointing out the way others like myself do it. What i say may or may not work for your situation but it's good to see another way to do it.
For contacts, calendar and tasks - without exchange - they are synced to the cloud hotmail. You don't need to back them up in that case. Last time i hard reset my phone, i didn't even restore via Zune. I put in my hotmail account. That brought in my local contacts and birthdays + vet appointments for my dog. i then synced facebook. That brought in all my friends. then exchange which brought my work contacts, email calendar, tasks ect. You have to get a windows live when you 1st bring up the phone. It is an automatic backup. Now what i did lose was my app list and saved games + contact history.
For apps go to https://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/my under get my apps and you will find a list of everything you purchased or got for free. you can send each app to your phone from there. So only thing is lost is contact history and saved games. Zune sync brings back pictures and music. I wanted to change what i had on my phone and didn't care to keep the exisint pics since they were on my pc anyway so i opted not to do this.
But if you want full local backup i highlighted a homebrew way to do it that doesn't require you to be unlocked.
Tasks - for your example, if you created the event, i normally would just edit it and change the date. Granted it's not copy but does the same functionality, unless you need a record of the event that passed.
I have a Titan so my display it pretty big. I probably could show a week view but on some weeks there are so many appointments that it would have to be bars. They should allow month view to zoom into calendar even if pinch to zoom to satisfy everyone.
Categories i didn't miss because i didn't use them but someone else asked me about them before purchasing a phone. That is when i noticed they were not there. Instead of categoris, i add to the subject.
example = Meeting with consumer - Billable
Instead of a billiable category which i can't do much with i add the text because outlook will allow me to search for it. at the end of the week when i bill out, i just enter in outlook's search (i do billing from pc) billable and it will show all my Billiable appointments in a list with time and date. it works way better that way for me. I haven't quite figured out what people use categories for yet though but i do know that they are not on the phone. Probably because each calendar has it's own color.
Thanks again. But, really, I have no issues with backing up, syncing, etc
Yes, I do keep old events. Which is why I can't believe you can only go back two weeks. Thank goodness for web access.
Second half of post is interesting. I may just have to change my habits. Certainly the idea of using different calendars for colour coding sounds good.
conorn said:
Yes, I do keep old events. Which is why I can't believe you can only go back two weeks. Thank goodness for web access.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm i never notice that. In the hotmail calendar it goes back further. I always thought it followed the email since i have it for a month but i never look back that far.
I didn't know if you knew this but if you change IE to Desktop version in settings you can do full outlook web access with all calendars including shared. (i know this works on 2010 exchange at least). One thing the iphone can't do as you are locked to mobile version and Outlook has no link to change out of it.