Develop Bugs

"My first 10 days with Windows Phone 7"

I found this post on WP Central from a user by the name of "StrkerGT" and I have to agree with his findings and needs.
StrykerGt:
I jumped on the wagon on November 8 and got the Samsung Focus. I sold my iPhone 4 and I decided to keep it knowing that there are a lot of things missing on this OS but I know (if Microsoft really cares) will fix as soon as possible… Here is my list on the things that I consider missing in the telephone. I put them in order of FIX THIS NOW!!! to what I like in the future.
FIX THIS NOW!!!!!!!
• Visual Voicemail – Whoever decided to release the OS to the market without this should get fired right now! Come on Microsoft it is 2010 (almost 2011) this feature alone makes the phone look outdated. Please fix this a.s.a.p. I love to show off the telephone until someone asks to see the vm. This is inexcusable on this type of smartphone. Shame on you Microsoft!
• Global Address List - we have an Exchange Server 2003 (We have plans to upgrade to 2010 next year) in my company and it’s a pain to look for the contacts. Try to tell your boss about how awesome is the Windows Phone 7 OS and then tell him that in order to access the contacts on the GAL he has to put the address manually! This is something like the Visual Voice that has to be fixed now!
• HTML 5 – When I noticed that Microsoft put an already obsolete version of IE on the new Windows Phone 7 software without support for HTML 5 I said like in the WP7 ads, “Really?!” How come Microsoft that is telling everywhere that they are committed to HTML5 didn’t include it on the WP7 OS. Again, Microsoft, Really?!
• VPN Support - again come on!
• Marketplace Search – Hey Microsoft how about this, on the Marketplace put an option in Bing to filter what you want like apps, music etc. I hate to do a search for an app and get a bunch of other stuff like album, artist, song etc. The way you do it on the games hub is excellent please do the same in the Zune hub. I don’t go to the Zune hub to look for apps.
• Some kind of multi-tasking is much needed on this telephone Microsoft, get to work on this.
• SkyDrive Access I love the Skydrive concept but is completely ridiculous that I can put the files on the cloud but there is no way to access my documents directly on the phone. Something like Dropbox would be great.
• A favorite list for your contacts is a must, I really like the way this phone organize the contacts, but you always have that special list with contact you use more like family, friends etc. I don’t like to scroll to several work and business contacts to get what I need.
• Back Up/Restore – Please do something quick about this, there is no way to back up your settings, saved games, outlook configuration (certificates) downloaded apps etc. You have to re-download and re-configure everything every time that you reset your phone.
• Save Camera settings – It’s absurd to set everything every time that you use the camera. I feel like I have to put a flash bulb every time that I use the camera.
The things I want to see soon:
• I noticed that the telephone only vibrate once when you get a phone call. This is not good Microsoft. It should do both in case you have your telephone in the pocket or in a place with too much ambient noise.
• I’ll like to see the battery percentage on the notification bar. (I know the telephone already shows that information through one of the hacks but it will be great if I can see it easily.)
• Easier way to find the IP and MAC address. Again, (I know the telephone already shows that information through one of the hacks but it will be great if I can see it easily.)
• Add vibration to the Alarms
• Disable keys when playing games or at least pop a menu asking if you want to quit the app like the Facebook app.
• Run downloaded app directly from Marketplace
• Open file from any applications - example, open PDF files from Homepipe
• Unified Inbox or a mail Hub
• IE Address Bar in landscape mode
• Answer phone call when swipe up the lock screen
• Drop-Down notifications
• Outlook notifications (notification bar at the top, i.e. like receiving text messages)
• Volumes controls for Music, Notifications, Games, Alarms, etc.
• Market Place updates need to show what the update changes are.
I think that’s all for now, I’m planning to keep this phone because I know that this platform has a lot of room to grow but there are some things that have to be addressed now to put this platform on par with what other are already offering.

wsantiagow, your list is interesting and I agree with the vast majority of your points.
Especially this one:
wsantiagow said:
• SkyDrive Access I love the Skydrive concept but is completely ridiculous that I can put the files on the cloud but there is no way to access my documents directly on the phone. Something like Dropbox would be great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But I think most of them are on the way.... (I hope so)

wsantiagow said:
• Global Address List - we have an Exchange Server 2003 (We have plans to upgrade to 2010 next year) in my company and it’s a pain to look for the contacts. Try to tell your boss about how awesome is the Windows Phone 7 OS and then tell him that in order to access the contacts on the GAL he has to put the address manually! This is something like the Visual Voice that has to be fixed now!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine works just fine. If you hit the search button in the People Hub you have an option to search the Exchange server. The same option appears when you're addressing an email message. We use Exchange 2007. Maybe it's 2003 that doesn't support it.

jeffgeno said:
Mine works just fine. If you hit the search button in the People Hub you have an option to search the Exchange server. The same option appears when you're addressing an email message. We use Exchange 2007. Maybe it's 2003 that doesn't support it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No 2003 does not support it. Only 2007 and 2010 does.

...
• I noticed that the telephone only vibrate once when you get a phone call. This is not good Microsoft. It should do both in case you have your telephone in the pocket or in a place with too much ambient noise.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Really?"
10 char...

Visual voicemail as #1 missing feature? Really? What does it even do? I have an iPhone 4 at this time, and don't notice anything special about voicemail here. Am I stupid or what?

vangrieg said:
Visual voicemail as #1 missing feature? Really? What does it even do? I have an iPhone 4 at this time, and don't notice anything special about voicemail here. Am I stupid or what?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WiKi - "Visual voicemail is voice mail with a visual interface. Such an interface presents a list of messages for playback and may include a transcript of each message."
You may not notice anything special about it but try having a telephone that does not support it and you are trying to find a message from 100 voicemails. Non visual voicemail phones have to dial a number to get your messages and go one by one to find the one you are looking for.

wsantiagow said:
WiKi - "Visual voicemail is voice mail with a visual interface. Such an interface presents a list of messages for playback and may include a transcript of each message."
You may not notice anything special about it but try having a telephone that does not support it and you are trying to find a message from 100 voicemails. Non visual voicemail phones have to dial a number to get your messages and go one by one to find the one you are looking for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny how we survived before visual voicemail was available...

efjay said:
Funny how we survived before visual voicemail was available...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah and it's even funnier how we survived before smartphones were available...
Thanks to the op for post this here.

StrykerGT said:
Yeah and it's even funnier how we survived before smartphones were available...
Thanks to the op for post this here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe here in the US visual voicemail is a carrier feature. T Mobile has it and my wife and I hated it. Some people love it, but we are not two of them.

addicus said:
I believe here in the US visual voicemail is a carrier feature. T Mobile has it and my wife and I hated it. Some people love it, but we are not two of them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on T-Mobile. How do you get visual voice mail?
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

Maybe it is a carrier feature because I don't have anything of the sort on my iPhone here. I can get a text message notifying me about who just left a voicemail and a number to tap and listen to the thing. Can't imagine when this wouldn't be enough. Rarely even have voicemail on - if I'm not available people text me, send emails, or use a gazillion of other methods to keep in touch.
Guess the love for answering machines is just a local US thing.

addicus said:
I believe here in the US visual voicemail is a carrier feature. T Mobile has it and my wife and I hated it. Some people love it, but we are not two of them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are Windows phones 7 right now with this feature on other carriers? EU or in the US? If that true then I'll change the list and put the blame on AT&T. I just hate to have to dial a telephone number hear a recorded message with options, press key to hear the voicemail in sequencial order press more keys to delete o hear it again. This is ridiculous, its the same method of any cheap flip phone out there since the last 15 years. AT&T support this on the iPhone since day one so I don't see why they won't allow it for this telephones.

vangrieg said:
Guess the love for answering machines is just a local US thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the contrary, I hate them, that is why I don't want to go through one everytime I get a message.

hicube said:
I'm on T-Mobile. How do you get visual voice mail?
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should be preloaded on your HD2 if you still have the stock rom, otherwise you need to find a cab for Windows Mobile, however if you have Android on your HD2, then it should be in the market place under Visual Voicemail, has a magenta colored logo

StrykerGT said:
On the contrary, I hate them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just turn voicemail off completely then.
Trust me, your life will only be better. Those who really need to tell you something or have you call back will easily find a way to communicate. Those who just waste your time won't do it.

wsantiagow said:
WiKi - "Visual voicemail is voice mail with a visual interface. Such an interface presents a list of messages for playback and may include a transcript of each message."
You may not notice anything special about it but try having a telephone that does not support it and you are trying to find a message from 100 voicemails. Non visual voicemail phones have to dial a number to get your messages and go one by one to find the one you are looking for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
$2.99 a month for this on Vzw ? I guess I'll stick with the old method.
After insurance, Data, text messages, taxes and all the other crap vzw charges me with...

I like my Focus but the iPhone 4 kicks it ass in every way except reception. I can't imagine Microsoft is sitting on it's collective hands doing nothing and hopefully there's an upgrade that's pretty inclusive of everything you've mentioned, hopefully it's soon and hopefully we don't get jerked around by the carriers again, as usual. Patience is a virtue, especially when you own the latest and barest. That having been said, however, with a little more than 2 weeks left to evaluate the Focus, I think I'm keeping it and selling the iPhone, the main reason being potential. The iPhone is close to running out of steam while WP7 has a huge amount of potential.

wsantiagow said:
WiKi - "Visual voicemail is voice mail with a visual interface. Such an interface presents a list of messages for playback and may include a transcript of each message."
You may not notice anything special about it but try having a telephone that does not support it and you are trying to find a message from 100 voicemails. Non visual voicemail phones have to dial a number to get your messages and go one by one to find the one you are looking for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would you even want to save 100 voicemails? Listen to voice mail......delete voice mail.

TomH123 said:
Why would you even want to save 100 voicemails? Listen to voice mail......delete voice mail.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Often for business you need it as "proof"...at least with the company and customers I work with...

Features missing in Ics?

Hi again, just a couple of features I have noticed missing, or not found them....
First is being able to long hold a contact and send business card etc,
And the other one is deleting individual calls from call history, either in batch or long pressing.
Any one else found some features you'd expect missing or if the ones above will be included in a software update?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

You can't zoom in the photo edit application,which makes it absolutely impossible to remove red eyes even though there is such a functionality. Tried it several times already, the built in flash almost always guarantees red eyes.

kravevr6 said:
Hi again, just a couple of features I have noticed missing, or not found them....
First is being able to long hold a contact and send business card etc,
And the other one is deleting individual calls from call history, either in batch or long pressing.
Any one else found some features you'd expect missing or if the ones above will be included in a software update?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm running ICS on my nexus s and I couldn't find any way to send contact info by sms to someone. Is this feature missing on the galaxy nexus also?

Copy and pasting pics like in ios. I miss that a lot.

kravevr6 said:
First is being able to long hold a contact and send business card etc,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
go into the contact on the People application, hit the menu button, hit Share.
kravevr6 said:
And the other one is deleting individual calls from call history
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go into the individual entry in the Phone application, hit the menu button, hit Remove from call log.
Don't know why people are having a hard time with this...

oscillik said:
go into the contact on the People application, hit the menu button, hit Share.
Go into the individual entry in the Phone application, hit the menu button, hit Remove from call log.
Don't know why people are having a hard time with this...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
completely agree! this is perhaps the most user friendly android experience thus far! perhaps it'll just take some a little bit of getting used to!

When I hit share I get offered yo send in many ways, but not SMS!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

kravevr6 said:
When I hit share I get offered yo send in many ways, but not SMS!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I remember correctly, stock Android hasn't had SMS business card sharing for a long time. It's no new discovery with Android 4.0

OK, thanks for the help. Seen the delete call option now. But no SMS sharing.
Galaxy s2 had it, so must be the touchwiz.
Phone is amazing all in all tho!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Ics features Missing
update which misses the core features of ICS. Still its getting rolling to many country almost 4 days gone.
Native 3G VIDEO CALL.- why we have a front camera where we cant use it for video call. Its not fair
WIFI-DIRECT- The most welcomed features. Thought its being the highend smart phone we already misses the 4.0 bluetooth which the board can support but atleast the WIFI capable direct transfer technology which most company including samsung incorporated even in GB phone and adding to these the white paper reveales that its has the technology in buit. But why its not implemented in the latest build.
Camera : Burst Mode. Many low end smartphones has that features. Why we dont have that feature. its really a pain that having spent on high end phone lacks basic functionality where a mediocre devices can perform the same functionality at a fraction of price.
I am not pin pointing or complaining. I am just esclating to the right department to notify that these core features which are missing in the XS.
Please take it as a feedback and do the needfull to the owners of XS.
Thanks

The use of wifi direct. Setting an external MP3 as a ringtone without the use of any apps or moving the MP3 to another location on the phone. In the contacts app, choosing to view only people with cellphone numbers (again, without using any other external app)

Sending sms or email to a group. I don't know why such a simple feature is absent.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

oscillik said:
go into the contact on the People application, hit the menu button, hit Share.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Major option missing in that. No sharing via text. That's ****ing stupid to leave out Messaging/Text sharing, which is the main reason to share a contact or business card.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

seriously guys move on you live in like 90s.... sms? are you serious? come on... There is like 50 or more social platforms out there way but wayyyyy better than sms.... to name some of them: whatsapp, chaton, viber, etc etc etc, you can send any kind of media any size and create groups or whatever and they are multi platform... meaning they run in blackberry, windows phone, iphone, Android, so what's the deal with sms? I personally haven't sent a sms to a person in years wtf
also world wide you only need a WiFi signal to chat or share media with your people
Sent from my GT-P7500 using xda premium

msedek said:
seriously guys move on you live in like 90s.... sms? are you serious? come on... There is like 50 or more social platforms out there way but wayyyyy better than sms.... to name some of them: whatsapp, chaton, viber, etc etc etc, you can send any kind of media any size and create groups or whatever and they are multi platform... meaning they run in blackberry, windows phone, iphone, Android, so what's the deal with sms? I personally haven't a sms to a person in years wtf
also world wide you only need a WiFi signal to chat or share media with your people
Sent from my GT-P7500 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never even heard of those apps before. Everybody texts still. All my friends, family, and in my business sales SMS texting is very common and popular.
If those apps you mentioned are so great, lets see Android or iPhone incorporate them directly into their OS or some type of version based off them.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

mondenath said:
Native 3G VIDEO CALL.- why we have a front camera where we cant use it for video call. Its not fair
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup yup, it's a bit daft we need to install Skype or something similar. I wish Google would follow suit like other manufacturers and OEMs, and bundle a native video calling app.
Also, a BBM type thing would be nice, preinstalled, so all Android phones come with it. Group chats and the like would be pretty awesome.

Kalavere said:
Yup yup, it's a bit daft we need to install Skype or something similar. I wish Google would follow suit like other manufacturers and OEMs, and bundle a native video calling app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am confused. We have already "Talk" that is Androids default video chat app.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Zorachus said:
I am confused. We have "Talk" that is Androids default video chat app.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought Talk was an MSN Messenger type app? You can't use it via the Phone can you? I.e. going to contacts and clicking call - video call. Surely if you want to make a call using Talk, you need to be logged in, and the other person has to be online etc etc?

SMS is still the most common thing, everyone with a phone has it.
Whatsapp? Not all my friends have a smartphone, let alone Whatsapp.

Mach3.2 said:
SMS is still the most common thing, everyone with a phone has it.
Whatsapp? Not all my friends have a smartphone, let alone Whatsapp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. Texting is by far the standard. Never even heard of Whatsapp before today.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

[REQ] Modded Google Voice APK that uses static bridge numbers

As most of you know, Google stopped the use of static dial-out numbers which many of us made use of by putting such numbers in our Fave5 or equivalent.
Has there been any work on modding the GoogleVoice apk to operate as it used to?
Thanks a bunch in advance for any help or guidance that can be provided.

godhamba said:
As most of you know, Google stopped the use of static dial-out numbers which many of us made use of by putting such numbers in our Fave5 or equivalent.
Has there been any work on modding the GoogleVoice apk to operate as it used to?
Thanks a bunch in advance for any help or guidance that can be provided.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When did they stop doing this?
This isn't an answer to your question, necessarily, but I set one of my "faves" to my own Google Voice phone number (set as my Sprint "Home" number, and one of my five faves on T-Mobile), they GV Callback routes all of my outgoing calls through my own Google Voice phone number. Also fixes the call log to reflect who I actually called. It's pulled from the market, but available on amazon app store if u want a link, or are unfamiliar with it.
I use the GV app for all of my sms (so I don't know the following): if they stopped using static dial out numbers, how does it handle received SMS though the stock messaging app?

Thanks for the suggestion. I have Xinlu's GV Callback - its still available on the Amazon Appstore - but its not as elegant I'd like, and I wondered if people had actually fixed the app itself. The last version of the Google Voice Apk which used the static dial-out is still available here, but its lacking in some of the newer features and smoothness of the more recent versions of the Apk.
decalex said:
I use the GV app for all of my sms (so I don't know the following): if they stopped using static dial out numbers, how does it handle received SMS though the stock messaging app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are receiving texts to the messaging app, it's because you are using the feature of the Google Voice APK which tells it to pass the message to the native messaging app.
I guess GV Callback is the only real solution, though I'm surprised the enterprising XDA folk haven't yet figured this one out!

Man, I'm surprised too. I've been looking for good gv solutions since I was using grand central on winmo.. Lol.
Btw.. If u want a nice inverted GV app
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=12265200
/end shameless self promotion.
Sent from my Paranoid GNex

Holy ****, that is smoking!
decalex said:
Man, I'm surprised too. I've been looking for good gv solutions since I was using grand central on winmo.. Lol.
Btw.. If u want a nice inverted GV app
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=12265200
/end shameless self promotion.
Sent from my Paranoid GNex
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I use groove IP for calls thru WiFi. Signs into gv so number is the voice number
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Xparent SkyBlue Tapatalk 2

Hangouts 2.0

I know this is the wrong thread but I thought more peole would see it here.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxI1YpjkbX0ONnlLbjc0bzJjZ1k/edit?usp=sharing
SMS feature is here
Sent from my SGH-I747M using xda app-developers app

Seems to work well on Quantum via Google Voice with Voice+ activated
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

Its working for me... does it not seem a bit clumsy in its implementation? You've got to switch back and forth between sms/hangouts. Two separate conversations. Not sure what I was expecting... but I dont think this was quite it.

I was reading that 4.4 would have both SMS and MMS in hangouts.

It's working for me very well. But still has some catching up to do even with the stock Galaxy s3 messaging app. Hangouts needs to be able to attach contacts or calendar or even a voice recording.
nearlydigital said:
Its working for me... does it not seem a bit clumsy in its implementation? You've got to switch back and forth between sms/hangouts. Two separate conversations. Not sure what I was expecting... but I dont think this was quite it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean?
Sent from my SGH-I747M using xda app-developers app

Jamolah said:
What do you mean?
Sent from my SGH-I747M using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One contact = two conversations. One for sms messages, one for hangouts messages

I'm sorry to post a full newbie post here regarding this but I'm trying to settle some debate and confusion online about Hangouts 2.0
Basically has google "done it right" this time and copied iMessage? (No, I'm not an Apple fanboy)
The advantage of iMessage is that it defaults to data when possible, fallsback to SMS when it has to.
It's also completely seamless, this is handled for you - no need to manually change from data to SMS mode or anything.
2 more points:
iMessage allows you to SMS a "new" phone number for someone you've never encountered before, iMessage detects the phone number is "iMessage-able" and simply sends via data, no kind of handshake / friendship needs to be setup
and finally
There's no "online" status required of iMessage, you need not "log in" or always be set to online, it's an SMS app natively but you can communicate with people over data without them knowing you're necessarily "online"
The advantages as follows.
Cheapest possible was of conversing with friends (assuming your SMS plan is NOT unlimited, I'm in a country where it's pricey)
Privacy / "aloofness" - the lack of an online / offline requirement allows you to ignore a message and respond at your leisure, be it 5 minutes, 5 hours or 5 days. If someone however sees a green O next to your name with Hangouts, the social pressure / obligation to reply is there, you can't just relax if that makes sense (I guess this is an introvert feature)
Sorry for the long post but I'm hearing conflicting reports online that google STILL screwed it up - but that's from people who have obtained the Hangouts 2.0 APK file and do NOT have 4.4 KitKat, rumour has it that's required for the full backend SMS "engine" update to work like iMessage?
Thanks all, really appreciate your time.
EDIT: This also covers what I'm trying to clarify.
http://ausdroid.net/2013/11/01/down...mpaign=download-hangouts-with-sms-integration

Moved to Apps. Please adhere to Forum rule 15
Thanks
FNM

I've update to 2.0 and moved the appropriate .so file into system/lib and my videochat is still not working anybody have a solution?
Sent from my SGH-I747M using xda app-developers app

New Hangouts 2.0.012

Finally Hangouts with SMS! Been waiting for this ever since "Babel" and its here!
For the download link, head on over to androidspin.com OR click the download link below!
https://www.copy.com/s/vRBrzPCxDE9i/Hangouts.apk

sheltrack said:
Finally Hangouts with SMS! Been waiting for this ever since "Babel" and its here!
For the download link, head on over to androidspin.com OR click the download link below!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, working perfectly! Been waiting a long time for this

Thanks, working well!
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk

I'm sorry to post a full newbie post here regarding this but I'm trying to settle some debate and confusion online about Hangouts 2.0
Basically has google "done it right" this time and copied iMessage? (No, I'm not an Apple fanboy)
The advantage of iMessage is that it defaults to data when possible, fallsback to SMS when it has to.
It's also completely seamless, this is handled for you - no need to manually change from data to SMS mode or anything.
2 more points:
iMessage allows you to SMS a "new" phone number for someone you've never encountered before, iMessage detects the phone number is "iMessage-able" and simply sends via data, no kind of handshake / friendship needs to be setup
and finally
There's no "online" status required of iMessage, you need not "log in" or always be set to online, it's an SMS app natively but you can communicate with people over data without them knowing you're necessarily "online"
The advantages as follows.
Cheapest possible was of conversing with friends (assuming your SMS plan is NOT unlimited, I'm in a country where it's pricey)
Privacy / "aloofness" - the lack of an online / offline requirement allows you to ignore a message and respond at your leisure, be it 5 minutes, 5 hours or 5 days. If someone however sees a green O next to your name with Hangouts, the social pressure / obligation to reply is there, you can't just relax if that makes sense (I guess this is an introvert feature)
Sorry for the long post but I'm hearing conflicting reports online that google STILL screwed it up - but that's from people who have obtained the Hangouts 2.0 APK file and do NOT have 4.4 KitKat, rumour has it that's required for the full backend SMS "engine" update to work like iMessage?
Thanks all, really appreciate your time.
EDIT: This also covers what I'm trying to clarify.
http://ausdroid.net/2013/11/01/down...mpaign=download-hangouts-with-sms-integration

The best person to answer those questions would be yourself...since it seems you have experience with iMessage whearas we just got the app.

wizzbang3 said:
I'm sorry to post a full newbie post here regarding this but I'm trying to settle some debate and confusion online about Hangouts 2.0
Basically has google "done it right" this time and copied iMessage? (No, I'm not an Apple fanboy)
The advantage of iMessage is that it defaults to data when possible, fallsback to SMS when it has to.
It's also completely seamless, this is handled for you - no need to manually change from data to SMS mode or anything.
2 more points:
iMessage allows you to SMS a "new" phone number for someone you've never encountered before, iMessage detects the phone number is "iMessage-able" and simply sends via data, no kind of handshake / friendship needs to be setup
and finally
There's no "online" status required of iMessage, you need not "log in" or always be set to online, it's an SMS app natively but you can communicate with people over data without them knowing you're necessarily "online"
The advantages as follows.
Cheapest possible was of conversing with friends (assuming your SMS plan is NOT unlimited, I'm in a country where it's pricey)
Privacy / "aloofness" - the lack of an online / offline requirement allows you to ignore a message and respond at your leisure, be it 5 minutes, 5 hours or 5 days. If someone however sees a green O next to your name with Hangouts, the social pressure / obligation to reply is there, you can't just relax if that makes sense (I guess this is an introvert feature)
Sorry for the long post but I'm hearing conflicting reports online that google STILL screwed it up - but that's from people who have obtained the Hangouts 2.0 APK file and do NOT have 4.4 KitKat, rumour has it that's required for the full backend SMS "engine" update to work like iMessage?
Thanks all, really appreciate your time.
EDIT: This also covers what I'm trying to clarify.
http://ausdroid.net/2013/11/01/down...mpaign=download-hangouts-with-sms-integration
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Click to collapse
Well first off, hangouts is still technically part google talk which was an online messaging service, so the online status will still be incorporated in the app unless they take the code out and re-do the app.
And iMessage probably had its advantages in the past when messaging plans weren't unlimited but doesn't have any advantages really unless you want to know who has an iPhone and who doesn't. And since I don't have kitkat I wouldn't know if it enhances hangouts or not!
Don't think google screwed up. They did exactly what they wanted to do.

Got 2.0.018 apk?
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Thanks bud! Works great over here

I installed the Hangouts 2.0 apk the other day on my Verizon S3 running 4.1.2 and it's working perfect except I am missing one person's contact picture. He has a picture in my contacts app. Anyone else run into this?

Is anyone group chatting with iPhone users? The main screen shows all participants, but in the chat thread all messages are showing one avatar / name.
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Thanks dudes!!
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

Finally!!!!
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

Works great. Thanks bunch :good:

Awesome, I need to d/l this when I get a chance.