Develop Bugs

Replace "Google Mail" Application

Is this at all possible? I still want to have my contacts, etc updated but I feel the interface is somewhat primitive!

Replace with what?

An alternative ...
K9 Mail maybe or better ...

You can't "replace" it you just start using something else.

Are there even Amy advantages to using the gmail app?
Any suggestions on alternatives? K9 Any good?

Ah gmail will be the best gmail tool you will find on the android lol. You don't mean Email tool? Do you use Gmail??

Yeah I maent the GMail application (it refers to itself as "Google Mail"). I'll just have to bear with it then till they upgrade it . I am though over the moon with the device the text input ROCKS! I do have a list of applications I need suggestions on though ... I'm used to the following on Windows Phoen so I need an Android variation ...
G-Alarm - A Comprehensive alarm application
G-Profile - easily change my profiles from night, work, home, etc, this would be great as a widget
Task Facade - A general task manager that will show all my running applications and let me close/switch
Wake On Text/Email/etc - As it says ... and stay awake until message has been read!
Lock Without using Power button - easy ...
That's about it for now

O and O said:
Is this at all possible? I still want to have my contacts, etc updated but I feel the interface is somewhat primitive!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know what you mean about the GMail app, if it's the same as in Android 1.6.. Ugly, flat and boring interface. Some customisation or nice animation wouldn't go amiss. I think the problem is that the Android team at Google don't really view the product UI as a whole, but instead as a load of separate modules that they can just chuck together. No time to make the GMail app look nicer for 2.1? No worries, just stick it out as it is. Media player still the worst/most basic there is? We'll worry about it another time, just stick it in, as is.
Depending on what you've come from, Android can seem amazing, or quite basic in it's vanilla form. I realise the intention is for manufacturers to add their own custom touches to the OS, like HTC have with Sense, and Motorola have with MOTOBlur. But really I think Google should be applying a bit more spit and polish to it's own core apps - the ones that come installed on all/most Android phones, and won't be messed with by handset manufacturers.
By this I mean GMail, Maps, Market, Browser, Gallery etc. Some of these are pretty good efforts (Browser), while others leave a lot to be desired compared to those found on other types of (non-Android) handsets.
I realise that they have to code for the lowest common denominator (low-end handsets) and not every handset can have a 1ghz Snapdragon in it, but I also feel that they are failing Android a little bit, by not ensuring the the latest hardware is taken advantage of in it's latest OS.
How hard would it be to tart up the GMail interface a little bit, while still keeping the same functionality? Not hard.
I know Android is about power and flexibility - don't like the Google way, then design or just install some other developers app instead. And that's great, but I really think there's something to be said for making sure your core experience is great, not just ok.
Disclaimer: I am basing this opinion on my experiences of Android 1.1, 1.5, 1.6 and 2.0 (2.0 admittedly is limited, since I do not own my own phone with Eclair yet, just flashed custom ROMs).
Feel free to flame away - I may flame myself when my Desire turns up by 1pm today, and I realise I'm tallking a load of BS when I'm presented the all singing, all dancing, beautifully animated new 2.1 apps from Google! But I doubt it...
BTW, don't get me wrong - I love Android, and I would not consider buying any other type of phone!

Why use the gmail application? I'm using the native email application and it works fine with gmail, lets me move all my mail to archive etc, receives it when its received (through push i think) and there is no reason why i would wantto use the local gmail application. In fact. It hasnt even been loaded up. lol

So I don't actually "have" to use th GMail application? I can just add the GMail account on Exchange/ActiveSync on the mail application? Sounds like a good idea! What are the disadvantages?
Any advice on the other applications I wanted?

O and O said:
So I don't actually "have" to use th GMail application? I can just add the GMail account on Exchange/ActiveSync on the mail application? Sounds like a good idea! What are the disadvantages?
Any advice on the other applications I wanted?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go in the Gmail application, settings, disable notifications.
You've pretty much turned off the Gmail Applcation then. Start using the other mail application or download one off the marketl.
I will give you some suggestions for your apps when I have time.

brummiesteven said:
Go in the Gmail application, settings, disable notifications.
You've pretty much turned off the Gmail Applcation then. Start using the other mail application or download one off the marketl.
I will give you some suggestions for your apps when I have time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THANKS! I was kind of pissed when I notced you couldn't send bbc emails with GMail app ... madness ...
Is there a way to have a Gmail, Google Apps and Exchange all on the same device? Also does the mail app use IMAP idle I don't want to drain the battery by checking mail every minute ...

What uses more battery, gmail app or using HTC Mail to check for messages every half an hour?

Likely mail as GMail is push.

O and O said:
THANKS! I was kind of pissed when I notced you couldn't send bbc emails with GMail app ... madness ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BBC emails? Do you mean BCC? If so, you can.
Regards,
Dave

foxmeister said:
BBC emails? Do you mean BCC? If so, you can.
Regards,
Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just noticed it under menu ...
My bad ...
Still, I have a list of applications that I need asap .

So far, I've not found anything that even comes close to Galarm in terms of quality. I'm using Gentle Alarm though, which is really good compared to most other alarm apps for android.
Check out a program called Locale. That's meant to be really good for profiles and even does it location based
EDIT: Don't use a task manager, it's not good for your phone! There's an article that was posted up on here about the way android works, you don't need to kill tasks and reboot, etc. like you did with WinMo.

jamiepyrite said:
EDIT: Don't use a task manager, it's not good for your phone! There's an article that was posted up on here about the way android works, you don't need to kill tasks and reboot, etc. like you did with WinMo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fair does but how do I see the apps running in the background or what's an easy way to switch between apps?
I've heard of this "locale" before, seems to be very popular!

hold the Home button and it brings up a little task switcher, similar to Alt+Tab on a PC

Thank you! Goodbye, Advanced Task Killer!

[Q] Will the Desire do what my Diamond 2 does?

I am currently using a Topaz windows mobile based phone, and thinking about switching to a Desire.
However, I use my phone extensively for business, and need to know if there are some things that Android will allow.
First off, I need to be able to access my home network with the wireless. Currently I use Resco explorer, browse to my server share, and copy the files I will need to the SD card. Is this possible on Android? Is it just as easy? I often have to do this first thing in the morning, when I don't have a lot of time. This is an absolute deal breaker for me, so I am really looking for some help before I commit to a new phone.
Non show stoppers but nice to have;
Cookie's Home Tab type display , which allows me to show my next 3 calendar appointments, and 3 tasks on the home screen. Will Sense allow this on the Desire? I like the Sense interface and widgets, so would prefer to keep Sense, but am prepared to apply additional software to allow me to do what I need to. (Paid or otherwise).
The ability to map hardware keys to specific functions (eg I currently have long press on the back key to switch off my wifi. Handy for in the car, when I forget to switch it off).
Ability to edit open office, and ms office documents.
That's it I guess. Any and all feedback very much appreciated.

1) yes you can browse files on your home network using the desire, you need 3rd party software tho also there are apps that will let you controll your pc and or device remotlely from your device and or pc
2) there are loads of calendar widgets on the marketplace im sure one will take your fancy
3) the wifi will switch itself off after x amout of time idle
4) the desire comes with quick office out of the box but there are tons of office apps so yeah

Just a small warning if you think to sync your mobile with the PC (callendar, notes, mails, contacts) via bluetooth - it's not possible in android.
Well, not entirely true, as there is "Missing Sync" in the market, but costs for about $40 - a bit too much.
So, try to love your usb cable

Or sync through the google things and sync your home stuff with the google things. For me it's annoying as I hate the google things, but it does sort of work.

dysje said:
Or sync through the google things and sync your home stuff with the google things. For me it's annoying as I hate the google things, but it does sort of work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would you buy a google thing-centric phone if you hate google things?

On it's way
Thanks guys, you've convinced me.
Ordered from O2 for the princely sum of £285 + VAT, which I thought was a mistake, but it seems not. Be rude not to at that price.
Bit of luck it will arrive tomorrow, as I'm not working, so can play all day

JohnSteveDoe said:
Why would you buy a google thing-centric phone if you hate google things?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to give one example - I would not want to share with google my company contacts.
Also I preffer to keep business calendar outside of google (with all the respect)
Regards
R
Sent from my ZX Spectrum using Froyo_zx81

remmyhi said:
Just to give one example - I would not want to share with google my company contacts.
Also I preffer to keep business calendar outside of google (with all the respect)
Regards
R
Sent from my ZX Spectrum using Froyo_zx81
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're not "sharing" with google though. You're just using their webspace to host information such as calendar and contacts.
Do you really think that Google have the time to look though all of their user's data, see your calendar information and contacts?

brummiesteven said:
You're not "sharing" with google though. You're just using their webspace to host information such as calendar and contacts.
Do you really think that Google have the time to look though all of their user's data, see your calendar information and contacts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol ..........

brummiesteven said:
You're not "sharing" with google though. You're just using their webspace to host information such as calendar and contacts.
Do you really think that Google have the time to look though all of their user's data, see your calendar information and contacts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would they bother with your phone when they've got street view cars to access open WiFi networks?
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

Most people here swear by Astro file manager and their add ons.
Check out the Sense agenda widget for upcoming appointments and tasks.
Widgets are the way to go, Sense widgets for WiFi, mobile connectivity, airplane mode etc etc etc......
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

Thanks JabbaFat32.
Will check both of those out.

[Q] What app would you like developed?

I'm a developer and I want to develop my first official market app. I've developed a couple of applications but just for personal use and experience. I have gathered a group of very talented developers and we are onto something big.
What would be an app that you would like to see developed? The app (or apps) with the most popular demand will get started on immediately.
We've been considering a couple of ideas. Anyone down for Airplay for android? tun tun tuuuuun..or maybe not. Maybe a crazy cross platform game?
We are open to suggestions.
Thanks

oblivior72 said:
I'm a developer and I want to develop my first official market app. I've developed a couple of applications but just for personal use and experience. I have gathered a group of very talented developers and we are onto something big.
What would be an app that you would like to see developed? The app (or apps) with the most popular demand will get started on immediately.
We've been considering a couple of ideas. Anyone down for Airplay for android? tun tun tuuuuun..or maybe not. Maybe a crazy cross platform game?
We are open to suggestions.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is an easy one
Develop and apk that fully integrates your Contacts with your Calendar. So if I want to schedule an appointment with John I just go to is contact record and select "make appointment". It then creates a link between John and the Calendar for that appointment. So if you are looking at the appointment you can easily call John, navigate to using address or add notes to his record.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Thats not a bad idea. I understand where you are coming from. It would actually come in handy. It would have to be an extension to the original android operating system. Unless I were to make an entire new contact app that would integrate these features easily.
Towards the end you say "..looking at the appointment you can easily..."
do you want to be able to just click his address from the calendar and open up navigator?

I'm too lazy to pick up the books and relearn what all I need to know, but, I've had this idea tossing around in my head for awhile.
Make an app to basically create a data set and determine your battery estimated maH, and if you need to recallibrate it. Once you have all that data, there are tons of things you can do with it as well, its just a matter of making the program light weight enough to run in the background so it doesn't re-do calculations and eat up juice.

Laurentius 26 Roms
bstok001

An actual tv remote

animal7296 said:
An actual tv remote
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Considering most TVs use IR, and the evo lacks an IR port, there is quite a substantial hardware limitation.

How about a torrent app? Utorrent?

here you go look read this one >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
you make this app AND ILL SCRATCH UR BUTT AND CALL U DADDY LOL
make a app that prints me real 100 dollar bills lol jk

oblivior72 said:
Thats not a bad idea. I understand where you are coming from. It would actually come in handy. It would have to be an extension to the original android operating system. Unless I were to make an entire new contact app that would integrate these features easily.
Towards the end you say "..looking at the appointment you can easily..."
do you want to be able to just click his address from the calendar and open up navigator?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The concept is so that you can create an appointment for a contact in your calendar that is linked between the contact and the calendar.
For instance, when I make an appointment with Joe, Joe's information such as his phone number and address are instantly accessible from the calendar. That way if I need navigation to Joe's address I can access it directly from the appointment without having to manually type it into the calendar program.
These links could also easily allow me to say "show me all appointments for Joe". Or if I am on way to Joe's and running late I can call or text Joe from the appointment record instead of having to look it up.
The idea is to automate and reduce duplication of effort. Never type the same information twice - link to it instead. There is an app called "Contact Event" that comes close to doing this the but it doesn't actually create a link, it just pastes contact data automatically into the calendar record when creating it. The difference would be the link which would make it a relational database concept as opposed to just cut and paste.
When creating a new contact your app should also generate a Primary Key that uniquely identifies that contact. Then when you make an appointment for that contact, you simply drop their Primary Key into the appointment record, link the two tables and you are done.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

jhoffy22 said:
How about a torrent app? Utorrent?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's already torrent apps. AndTorrent and Swarm.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

animal7296 said:
An actual tv remote
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Phajen is absolutely correct, the problem comes with the hardware limitation. It's almost ipossible unless the tv itself is on wifi

krazydude4g said:
here you go look read this one >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
you make this app AND ILL SCRATCH UR BUTT AND CALL U DADDY LOL
make a app that prints me real 100 dollar bills lol jk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trust me if I knew how to develop something like this I wouldnt be looking for ideas on forums.
What you CAN do is take one dollar bills remove the metallic ink they have on them if you put them to soak in sodium combined with carbon...ehhhh.....never mind.

mitchellvii said:
The concept is so that you can create an appointment for a contact in your calendar that is linked between the contact and the calendar.
For instance, when I make an appointment with Joe, Joe's information such as his phone number and address are instantly accessible from the calendar. That way if I need navigation to Joe's address I can access it directly from the appointment without having to manually type it into the calendar program.
These links could also easily allow me to say "show me all appointments for Joe". Or if I am on way to Joe's and running late I can call or text Joe from the appointment record instead of having to look it up.
The idea is to automate and reduce duplication of effort. Never type the same information twice - link to it instead. There is an app called "Contact Event" that comes close to doing this the but it doesn't actually create a link, it just pastes contact data automatically into the calendar record when creating it. The difference would be the link which would make it a relational database concept as opposed to just cut and paste.
When creating a new contact your app should also generate a Primary Key that uniquely identifies that contact. Then when you make an appointment for that contact, you simply drop their Primary Key into the appointment record, link the two tables and you are done.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting...I'm gonna check Contact and Event and see what it's like, I would just have to beef it up a little bit. I will get back to you one this but I like the idea.

An app that lets you add on to the existing code to your liking.
Or a series of apps, a basic twitter client, a home launcher, a clock widget. Something easy we could build on *from the phone* without the use of Eclipse. If that's at all possible.
We now have Stericson's Signapktic app that allows us to sign zips, apks, and jar file from our phone so we're slowly getting closer to something like that.
Stericson's apps are pretty awesome.

How about and app that lets you dynamically re-arrange your homescreens without havin to drag icons around?
You can do this in the MIUI Rom but I hate the apple-like interface so I dont use that rom.

I know u woild get rich off the apl alone lol
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

in line call recording
please create an evo ap that will record calls without the speakerphone activated.

Browser questions

Hello everyone,
This is my first android device and I have a couple of questions regarding the browser:
1) Is there a way to add a plug-in to the browser to behave like iOS's Safari "Reader" functionality? Something that will basically display the text of an article without all the fluff (like ads and whatnot)?
2) The fonts used for the different sites I frequent seem to be a bit off. Are there fonts missing from the stock android that I need to add?
3) Zooming-in to a piece of the text by double-tapping seems to be a bit off, for me its zooming in a bit more that it should leaving the last few words of each line of text outside of the view. Am I doing something wrong here?
Thanks a lot!

LordGrahf said:
Hello everyone,
This is my first android device and I have a couple of questions regarding the browser:
1) Is there a way to add a plug-in to the browser to behave like iOS's Safari "Reader" functionality? Something that will basically display the text of an article without all the fluff (like ads and whatnot)?
2) The fonts used for the different sites I frequent seem to be a bit off. Are there fonts missing from the stock android that I need to add?
3) Zooming-in to a piece of the text by double-tapping seems to be a bit off, for me its zooming in a bit more that it should leaving the last few words of each line of text outside of the view. Am I doing something wrong here?
Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what the...
1) "Reader" functionality? some kind of jailbreak hack? Anyways, I believe you can disable images in the settings of browser (theres a ton of settings there so go check them out). As for ads, there are some apps out there that do that.. but as a dev, I'm pretty against it so maybe someone else will point one out
2) Thats even more weird.. the Galaxy Nexus does use the new roboto font and it does use this to render websites. But you're saying some websites appear off? Got any examples?
3) huh? double-tapping works very well for me. Again, some example sites? You're double tapping on a segment of text right?

For #3 you probably need to turn on word wrap/reflow or whatever it is called. Occassionally doesnt work and you need to refresh on dolphin browser.
Sent from my samsung gt i9250 which is in the wrong state.

The answer is yes
For issue #1, there is! You don't need an account, but I would highly recommend signing up for one at readability dot com
Go the Android Market and search for Readability. Download the Readability Bookmark app and create the bookmarklet. This will create a bookmark with no icon called Readability. Then just go to any page with boat loads of text and images and ads and garbage and click the tabs button to show the bookmarks button, click it and then click the Readability bookmarklet.
It's a terrible workflow but it does work. I've been using it the past couple of days and it's very comparable to the Reader button in Mobile Safari.
For issue #2, I don't know of anything like that.
For issue #3, I have the same problem. Double tap on a column of text and the column fills the screen with just a few words off of the edge. I've played around with the browser settings and I can't get it to work. Pretty much any site with text, to answer kwazi's question.

Thanks for the respone!
kwazi said:
1) "Reader" functionality? some kind of jailbreak hack? Anyways, I believe you can disable images in the settings of browser (theres a ton of settings there so go check them out). As for ads, there are some apps out there that do that.. but as a dev, I'm pretty against it so maybe someone else will point one out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It just formats the page to make it all text with no images or ads or anything else that doesn't belong to the article you're reading. Its like the Readability plug-in for desktop google Chrome and Firefox.
kwazi said:
2) Thats even more weird.. the Galaxy Nexus does use the new roboto font and it does use this to render websites. But you're saying some websites appear off? Got any examples?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed this while reading on a boxing site I frequent: www.eastsideboxing.com
I also noticed the same with websites written in a foreign language.
kwazi said:
3) huh? double-tapping works very well for me. Again, some example sites? You're double tapping on a segment of text right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed this also on www.eastsideboxing.com
Thanks!

freicook said:
For issue #1, there is! You don't need an account, but I would highly recommend signing up for one at readability dot com
Go the Android Market and search for Readability. Download the Readability Bookmark app and create the bookmarklet. This will create a bookmark with no icon called Readability. Then just go to any page with boat loads of text and images and ads and garbage and click the tabs button to show the bookmarks button, click it and then click the Readability bookmarklet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh thanks a lot! That's what I was looking for. Yeah its bit of a workout, but better than nothing

pukemon said:
For #3 you probably need to turn on word wrap/reflow or whatever it is called. Occassionally doesnt work and you need to refresh on dolphin browser.
Sent from my samsung gt i9250 which is in the wrong state.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Do you think this can only be done under Dolphin browser and not the stock one? I've just checked the settings of the stock browser and didn't find that option.

I have a question, will Last Pass be able to plug into it something like it does with Dolphin?

After further inspection, the font looks just about right when zoomed in (for English at least). I think my eyes are not used yet to see cramped text on this display
So I guess the only thing that I still can't figure out is how to make the double tap zoom work properly.

Letters in main menu.

Hello. I just discovered a strange thing and I don't know how to get rid of it. So i was adding some music and I deployed "Sound enhancer" and after that my phone grouped all my apps in menu like it is done in people tab. So i have a huge letter above all my apps which makes my menu longer and it takes more time to find an app. It also doesn't look eyecandy. So i want you to ask how to get rid of those letters and bring my menu back to normal state.
Regards
okey~

It's not a bug, it's a feature. After a cetain amount of apps this is added to your menu. When you touch on one of the letters in the menu it will bring up a screen of letters. Touch on one of these and it will take you to those apps starting with the corresponding letter. This was added to reduce scrolling when you have a large amount of apps. If you do not like it I believe that uninstalling enough apps to bring you below the limit will disable the feature.

I know how it works. But is there no way to bring it back without uninstalling apps?

Not sure it goes away even if you uninstall apps.

okeyus said:
I know how it works. But is there no way to bring it back without uninstalling apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope.
Surely it makes scrolling faster, not longer? For example, rather than scrolling all the way down to, say, 'Skype'...two taps and you are there in the 'S' section..
Either way, it cannot be disabled (except perhaps if you are fully unlocked, and edit the registry?)

jasonkruys said:
Nope.
Surely it makes scrolling faster, not longer? For example, rather than scrolling all the way down to, say, 'Skype'...two taps and you are there in the 'S' section..
Either way, it cannot be disabled (except perhaps if you are fully unlocked, and edit the registry?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right, and think only a fool might want to disable it! I purposefully installed 4 apps more that I won't ever use just to get those indexed letters on!

Use voice instead, it is the fastest. Hold windows key and say start "app name"
Sent from my PI39100 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

ROCOAFZ said:
Use voice instead, it is the fastest. Hold windows key and say start "app name"
Sent from my PI39100 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OMFGYKM!
I had no idea you could use speech recognition to open apps. Sweet. I'm still enjoying sending SMS while driving or doing the dishes via my bluetooth headset.

anseio said:
OMFGYKM!
I had no idea you could use speech recognition to open apps. Sweet. I'm still enjoying sending SMS while driving or doing the dishes via my bluetooth headset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It gets better - say find "whatever address"
It will give you directions also (right above the web search)
or find "Store name" it will show that store closes to you.
and try find "movie name"
It will show theaters near you playing the movie
and find "weather in san fransisco" for example will show 5 day forcast via bing in websearch
Then find an iphone user that has siri and show him opening apps. Siri doesn't do that yet i use find flashlight all the time to use htc flashlight. it auto comes on when the app opens and it great for opening car or house door in the dark
enjoy!