Related
Have a look at this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jipqNtc_PPU&feature=player_embedded
Our own developer Jaxbot is up to his tricks again, and this time, it's paid off: Finder of a hack that brought instant resuming to Windows Phone 7, he has been developing a full fast app switching/multitasking solution for Windows Phone 7.
Shown in the video above, the preview of the application is triggered by pressing the half shutter button (pressing the camera button halfway, not to the point where the camera would launch), and allows the user to jump between desired applications. The applications run in the background to a degree, as shown with the timer, and no time is required to bring the applications back from their background state. It's all very technical, but rest assure that he will be sharing some more details in the future.
Keep in mind the application is a preview-the interface and how it functions may very well change before release, and no release date is available. But if you're interested in having it on your device, share some thoughts about how you think it should look, function, etc, in the comments below.
Without further ado, watch the video above for a demonstration of fast app switching on Windows Phone 7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Source
Yeah, checked the article out yesterday. Hopefully he'll be releasing something to everyone soon. It's the one thing I'm dying without No third party alarms (as the one MS provides kind of blows) and all this resuming nonsense is becoming slightly annoying.
That looks pretty slick! Would love to see this one in the wild soon, now if I could only get Pandora I would be set.
kwill said:
Yeah, checked the article out yesterday. Hopefully he'll be releasing something to everyone soon. It's the one thing I'm dying without No third party alarms (as the one MS provides kind of blows) and all this resuming nonsense is becoming slightly annoying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its still work in progress, there are limitations... people work as hard as they can to overcome these limitations and make it work for all devices.
Currently I believe its not possible to automatically find the titles of the running apps, so they are manually added (hardcoded) however they can find the paths to the files... so the remaining thing is getting access to the files in these paths to extract the title and tile image.
However what you see really works, its real and should work with every app once this is accomplished.
Marvin_S said:
Its still work in progress, there are limitations... people work as hard as they can to overcome these limitations and make it work for all devices.
Currently I believe its not possible to automatically find the titles of the running apps, so they are manually added (hardcoded) however they can find the paths to the files... so the remaining thing is getting access to the files in these paths to extract the title and tile image.
However what you see really works, its real and should work with every app once this is accomplished.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for the insight on the operation and the obstacles they have to overcome. I'll be monitoring for any progress or assistance I can provide. Although, I'm sure my non-expert help won't be of much help.
kwill said:
Thanks a lot for the insight on the operation and the obstacles they have to overcome. I'll be monitoring for any progress or assistance I can provide. Although, I'm sure my non-expert help won't be of much help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can monitor here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1006331
and here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1021135
btw I have nothing to do with the developments, I was just excited by the news and kept contact with Jaxbot who made this app/video with the code wrapper provided by fiinix
Looks great! I like the idea of a half shutter press. Very elegant solution.
Want that app!
Is this app on the video released?????? I can't find any link to download, although it was introduces about 2 years
Hi everyone! I'm a very inexperienced wannabe-developer. I have little understanding or knowledge about the coding end, but can do a fair amount using the Design view of Expression Blend 4(<--- my preffered program).
What I'm looking to do is have an app that is primarily centered around TV clips. I'd have a "Selection" page, and a Button would direct the user to a Pivot page. The first section would be a brief summary of the clip, and other tid-bits of information while the other would take the user to the clip and utilize the Zune Player on the phone.
A few things I have no clue on how to accomplish:
1. Include all my clips without the app being huge.
2. Tell the 2nd Pivot page to play its respective clip.
Thanks for you help!
- dbG33K
dbG33K said:
1. Include all my clips without the app being huge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It really depends on how many videos you're thinking about including and their current size. You could compress them down a bit as the resolution isn't super high on the phone so you won't miss a little bit of resolution.
dbG33K said:
2. Tell the 2nd Pivot page to play its respective clip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could
a) Use the following
MediaPlayerLauncher NewVideo = new MediaPlayerLauncher();
NewVideo.Media = new Uri("url of file here"), UriKind.RelativeOrAbsolute);
NewVideo.Show();
b) Which is the option I chose, is to use a mediaelement in the page, and add your own playback controls.
I'm also a wannabe developer, but I'm trying my best to learn. I want to do something just like the HTC YouTube app. I want to be able to access a videothat is already in the internet. The question is, how to can I find info on how to do this..
Sent from my HD7 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Hello again
I figured out a quick little change in the WMAppManifest.xml file that allows you to make your XAPs resume, rather than restart, when clicked on from the start menu.
Here's a demonstration:
So here's how it works:
In every WMAppManifest.xml file, located inside the XAPs, there's a line called "DefaultTask". In the Visual Studio IDE, there's little you can do with this line, but if you edit it post-compiling, you can actually do a lot of things. In this case, adding the term ActivationPolicy="Resume" to your DefaultTask will make the application resume the task, rather than replace it (default action). Here's an example:
Original:
Code:
<DefaultTask Name="_default" NavigationPage="PivotPage.xaml" />
Resumable:
Code:
<DefaultTask Name="_default" NavigationPage="PivotPage.xaml" ActivationPolicy="Resume"/>
This follows the same rules as the back button resuming, for example, if my dehydration hack is enabled, the code will resume instantly, and otherwise, it will resume with the usual "resuming..." message. It'll make sense
Should be fairly easy for you guys to figure out, and hopefully we'll see some developers integrate this directly into their code
For the end users, though, I've created a simple tool that does this patch for them, then deploys. Info and download over on my website:
http://windowsphonehacker.com/resumablexap
I'd say more, but I'm in a bit of a hurry. Let me know what you guys think, if you have any questions, etc.
Your friend,
Jaxbot
Awesome. Imma try this in a bit with some .xap files I got stored somewhere... jejeje
Sent from my []D[][]V[][]D ARRIVE using Board Express
thanks for this app
really nice find
Cool hack thanks again
I have been experimenting with some xaps with this.
I found some quirky apps:
- Facebook (u already know)
- IMDB
- NU.nl
- Daily motion (does not play the video anymore)
All others I tested seem to work fine. I did not test any games.
Its probably bad coding or not storing the back history or something.
Thanks for the tool. It helps with productivity.
I btw notice more quirky behaviour with the dehydrate on (I could be mistaken)... how is your batterylife Jaxbot? Is it fine with normal use? Or do we have to be sure to close the apps etc?
Are the apps stored in ram temporarily?
Does it affect general performances if you have 4/5 apps in "soft sleep" ?
Sakem said:
Are the apps stored in ram temporarily?
Does it affect general performances if you have 4/5 apps in "soft sleep" ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have my dehydration hack enabled, yes, they're in the RAM.
In my experience, no, the performance isn't really affected (there's a reason for that), and as an example, I've had Twitter open for the last few days and I've seen no negative impacts.
So its an updated version of this one:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=999475
FPM
FlowerPotmen said:
So its an updated version of this one:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=999475
FPM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really. That dehydration hack allowed applications to stay open in the background. This method allows applications to be resumed from that state, directly from the start menu.
Eg, the instant resuming allowed Twitter to be instantly resumed when the lock screen popped up, or when you dive into messages and then click Back.
This allows Twitter to be navigated from, and then returned to, say, a day later, and it will still be where you left it. Nifty, I thought.
Does this new hack improve IM+ functionality? Will the app still have to reconnect with this hack? If so is this related to the lack of sockets in NoDo?
blindpet said:
Does this new hack improve IM+ functionality? Will the app still have to reconnect with this hack? If so is this related to the lack of sockets in NoDo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has to reconnect yes. This is the way IM+ is coded. However the contacts will still be displayed on the screen so its less annoying for sure.
It will look the same as opening IM+ then exit by pressing windows button, than click back, the exact same effect... only now you will have the same if you press a live tile
Thanks for the quick reply, guess I'll have to wait for Mango for true messaging functionality despite all the hard work of devs.
blindpet said:
Thanks for the quick reply, guess I'll have to wait for Mango for true messaging functionality despite all the hard work of devs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use native sockets, you can get around this, but it means you'll have to code your own IM client, which is no fun.
if do this to all of your xap and dehydration hack.
it look like u have real multitask.
parnunu said:
if do this to all of your xap and dehydration hack.
it look like u have real multitask.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed yes... Unfortunately in some cases it screws up the order of the backbutton press and you will not be able to "escape" from apps or go back to the main Menu. IMDB, FB, some others as well will have to be recoded in order to work with this hack
posted on wmpu
awesome job jaxbot per usual! cheers!
domineus said:
posted on wmpu
awesome job jaxbot per usual! cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the post (saw it a second ago), but you need to update it:
This is for *current* Windows Phone builds, not Mango. Mango already has this feature built in.
Eg, if you have a developer unlocked device, you can use this on NoDo, pre-NoDo, RTM, etc. You don't need Mango.
Jaxbot said:
Thanks for the post (saw it a second ago), but you need to update it:
This is for *current* Windows Phone builds, not Mango. Mango already has this feature built in.
Eg, if you have a developer unlocked device, you can use this on NoDo, pre-NoDo, RTM, etc. You don't need Mango.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I said that in the article too
domineus said:
I said that in the article too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but this has nothing to do with Mango. In fact, it probably wouldn't even work on Mango.
Regardless, I do appreciate the mention
Jaxbot said:
Yes, but this has nothing to do with Mango. In fact, it probably wouldn't even work on Mango.
Regardless, I do appreciate the mention
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and I'm sorry too
I've been trying to amend it and it won't amend
However I did note in the comment it works on all devices
I sincerely apologize for the mixup darn thing didn't save at all ><
wordpress fail sorry man
domineus said:
and I'm sorry too
I've been trying to amend it and it won't amend
However I did note in the comment it works on all devices
I sincerely apologize for the mixup darn thing didn't save at all ><
wordpress fail sorry man
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No worries, I know the drill Just wanted to make sure you knew, wouldn't want trolls getting on ya
Good luck man, and again, thanks for the mention
~Jaxbot
Hi Guys This is a guide on app design guidelines.This can be applied everywhere and not only app design. I have seen many apps that perform awesome but their UI scares people away! This won't be a very detailed guide, only basic pointers on UI Design.
First off i would like to say that User experience and functionality of the app is equally or more important than it's UI. There's no point in a app that has a awesome looking UI but is very laggy or lacks functionality.
Lets begin with a few tips :
Try to make the UI simple and clean with no extra clutter.Hide extra functionality in menus. Keep the main function of the program in the front.
Make the UI flat.Use subtle gradients and shadows. Don't make it too flat like the metro ui,in which you can't distinguish an icon from a button
Use a specific color scheme. Select two to three lead colours. and select 1 or 2 background colours.
Either make it dark themed, or light themed, don't mix the two!
Use transitions. But not too fancy.
Split your app into different parts and provide a easy way to navigate
Fix Whatever you can behind the scenes
Use short Phrases, No one wants to read too much to do a simple task!
Use pastel colours or darker colours. ie. one shade lighter or darker than the original color.
Have contrast between the text color and the background color, making it easier to read.
Tricks :
Don't waste much time making animations. Use LayoutTransitions (android 3.0+)
Test your apps on different screen sizes.
Download the color swatches provided by google -click here
Google is your friend. Go to developer.android.com for more guidelines, application fundamentals etc.
Use good typography. Roboto and helvetica are some of the good fonts. Download roboto - click here
Guide on iconography - click here
Warnings! :
Do not use harsh gradients! for eg.. black to white , It makes the app feel cheap.
Try and stay away from putting ads
Do not let the app make decisions for itself, let it ask the user!
Do not make the app too colourful.
Make sure it runs smooth without jitter.
Don't put too much info. at once!
Don't use too flashy colors that hurt the eye.
Again, this isn't meant to be a very long guide, just a few basic things you should keep in mind while designing. For more detailed guidelines use developer.android.com
If i missed something important let me know! :good:
That's really helpful..
Thank you
wad!e said:
That's really helpful..
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you liked it
Amazing guide! Thanks so much! I'm glad more people love great design.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Hello there, thanks for this guide.
I am no developer so I don't have to mess with the graphics, but I still often wonder : in android programming, where there will always be the probrem of multiple display size / resolution, why isn't the most primary & most basic guideline to use as much as possible vector graphics instead of bitmap based graphics ? wouldn't it save a huge amount of hassle of having to make gfx resources for different screen sizes ?
thx in advance
phentex said:
Hello there, thanks for this guide.
I am no developer so I don't have to mess with the graphics, but I still often wonder : in android programming, where there will always be the probrem of multiple display size / resolution, why isn't the most primary & most basic guideline to use as much as possible vector graphics instead of bitmap based graphics ? wouldn't it save a huge amount of hassle of having to make gfx resources for different screen sizes ?
thx in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe it would be easier.
However, you would need a proper library to do that. Android does not support adding *.svg vector graphics by default. So all the conversion of the vector graphics need to be done manually. (There are some libs out there, but they do not support all features of *.svg graphics.)
For basic things there is support to do that using the standard Android development APIs provided by Google (declaring drawables in xml files) but it will not be enough for shapes which are more complicated than lines, rectangles or circles or a combination of those.
Addititionally the conversion of vector graphics to bitmaps (graphics consisting of single pixels) would need much processing power and would slow everything down.
Hence *.png and *.9.png files are still the standard way to do that.
@TechMasta: By the way, great guide.
TechMasta said:
Try and stay away from putting ads
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No ads? How does one go about monetization then? Don't get me wrong. I'm a Windows and Windows Phone developer. I was thinking of porting my apps to Android. I'm just getting started. But I'm using Windows Azure for which I do have to pay for. How should I go about those expenses?
TechMasta said:
Do not let the app make decisions for itself, let it ask the user!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sometimes it should. However, the user should be able to change the default behaviour. Or as the android design guidelines express it:
Decide for me but let me have the final say
Take your best guess and act rather than asking first. Too many choices and decisions make people unhappy. Just in case you get it wrong, allow for 'undo'.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(http://developer.android.com/design/get-started/principles.html)
Great guide, though.
akshay2000 said:
No ads? How does one go about monetization then? Don't get me wrong. I'm a Windows and Windows Phone developer. I was thinking of porting my apps to Android. I'm just getting started. But I'm using Windows Azure for which I do have to pay for. How should I go about those expenses?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can put ads if you want. Just don't bombard the user with them, place them in a way it does not interrupt or come in the way of the user when he is using your app
phentex said:
Hello there, thanks for this guide.
I am no developer so I don't have to mess with the graphics, but I still often wonder : in android programming, where there will always be the probrem of multiple display size / resolution, why isn't the most primary & most basic guideline to use as much as possible vector graphics instead of bitmap based graphics ? wouldn't it save a huge amount of hassle of having to make gfx resources for different screen sizes ?
thx in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With google's plugin for eclipse you can add your graphics in multiple resolutions by Copying your layout from "layout" folder of resources and paste it in the "layout-land", "layout-xlarge" etc.
SahilC said:
Amazing guide! Thanks so much! I'm glad more people love great design.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you liked it
Thank you very much, very useful information.
Thx for it mate I will develop good think
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
Looks good
graphics design
Thank you for this information about web design. Really nice.
Good set of tips for the first version of an app!
The next level of designing should ideally be with testing different design variations via split testing.
Making Decisions
TechMasta said:
Do not let the app make decisions for itself, let it ask the user!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hai,
Thanks for your guide. But I am having a different opinion from one of your warnings.
Let the app make decisions by itself, for example when user deletes an item DELETE it. But do provide an option to UNDO it. Showing another dialog to confirm it, in your words "ask the user", is redundant.
Because providing too many options makes the user overwhelmed in an unexpected way. Choose the best/defaults for your app and provide some ways to configure them [Ex : Colors, Themes, Font size etc]
Ahamed.M said:
Hai,
Thanks for your guide. But I am having a different opinion from one of your warnings.
Let the app make decisions by itself, for example when user deletes an item DELETE it. But do provide an option to UNDO it. Showing another dialog to confirm it, in your words "ask the user", is redundant.
Because providing too many options makes the user overwhelmed in an unexpected way. Choose the best/defaults for your app and provide some ways to configure them [Ex : Colors, Themes, Font size etc]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True. This can also be found in the Android design guidelines:
Decide for me but let me have the final say
Take your best guess and act rather than asking first. Too many choices and decisions make people unhappy. Just in case you get it wrong, allow for 'undo'.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(Source: http://developer.android.com/design/get-started/principles.html#simplify-my-life)
a
nice
Nice Tips
These tips are very useful. One should keep in mind while dealing with apps whether in Android or iPhone.
I hope one of the developer can make an app that can deliver updates for the apps built for introp capabilities and the apps not available anymore in the windows store
Of course we need, let's ask Jay Freeman for help.
Yeah sure cause it's getting messy out there and you have to check all the threads to keep up with the developers works
But wait, maybe we should get jailbreak first
w.bogdan said:
But wait, maybe we should get jailbreak first
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my phone is already jailbroken!
karaki93 said:
my phone is already jailbroken!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? Did you changed your password?
What password?
Exactly what are you talking about?
karaki93 said:
Exactly what are you talking about?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe he is talking about naive, useless ideas coming from newbies
sensboston said:
I believe he is talking about naive, useless ideas coming from newbies
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just long time jailbreak user on iPhone Waiting for something like AnsweringMachine https://9to5mac.com/2016/08/18/answeringmachine-cydia-tweak-enhanced-voicemail/ Firewall iP or Tage on W10M
sensboston said:
I believe he is talking about naive, useless ideas coming from newbies
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why useless? In WP7 there was Bazaar and Devstore and it was really usefull. (for me )
Greetz,
Let's make a list of apps that deserve to be in the alternative store for W10M. I can only think of
1. Interop Tools
2. PoGo-UWP (Pokemon Go for W10M)
Any other suggestions?
w.bogdan said:
Let's make a list of apps that deserve to be in the alternative store for W10M. I can only think of
1. Interop Tools
2. PoGo-UWP (Pokemon Go for W10M)
Any other suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- Font Style
- App Data Manage Tool
- Reboot
The list is growing everyday and there's also the apps pulled of the store but there's xap/appx on some forums so it worth the work on such app
@Rataplan, why do you need a special "store" just for the certain apps? Create a static web page with the short descriptions and tiles, links to the packages (but don't forget appropriate content type for the .xap, .appx & .appbundle extensions) looking good on the phone screen, host anywhere on the free anonymous http hosting and post link here - what's all
I believe, mods will be happy to pin/announce your page link at the forum's FAQ post.
P.S. Of course you are free to call your page "The Ultimate Underground WP Store"
sensboston said:
@Rataplan, why do you need a special "store" just for the certain apps? Create a static web page with the short descriptions and tiles, links to the packages (but don't forget appropriate content type for the .xap, .appx & .appbundle extensions) looking good on the phone screen, host anywhere on the free anonymous http hosting and post link here - what's all
I believe, mods will be happy to pin/announce your page link at the forum's FAQ post.
P.S. Of course you are free to call your page "The Ultimate Underground WP Store"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't be rude, in fact is a great idea thinking to the future with new tools.
Your idea is great too, we can to create an app seeded by a anonymous hosting. Why not?
Enviado desde mTalk
fer_cabr said:
- Font Style - App Data Manage Tool - Reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A reboot app is already in Windows Store - Power Options
Here are some of the reasons an alternative store might be good:
- Developers can reach a wider user base and get their work known, provide updates and receive feedback from users.
- User can easily find new apps and install them from a trusted source, receive updates in a simple way and request features.
But we only have four apps so far
sensboston said:
@Rataplan, why do you need a special "store" just for the certain apps? Create a static web page with the short descriptions and tiles, links to the packages (but don't forget appropriate content type for the .xap, .appx & .appbundle extensions) looking good on the phone screen, host anywhere on the free anonymous http hosting and post link here - what's all
I believe, mods will be happy to pin/announce your page link at the forum's FAQ post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, that's a really good idea (and more realistic than building a store tbh).
If people want an app they can make a web wrapper of that, I guess?
Although I'm not sure if a web wrapper can update installed apps, which would be super convenient for something like this
it doesn't have to be a fully functional store and update the apps automatically but at least provide all the apps in one place and notify about updates so users download them and install them manually so if a web-rapper app can notify about the updates it'll be more then enough for me
@karaki93, I gave you an idea; don't ask but do it by yourself!
P.S. If you need some advises or consultations, many people here will be happy to help you. The only thing you need is a start working on project instead of posting requests
P.P.S. Very first advise: find a XML- or JSON-based HTML5 mobile site template (without SQL database), this will be a 50% of the project.