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Hi peeps,
I expect to get flamed for posting a repeat thread, for not fully searching the forums before posting, etc etc,
So instead of asking anything specific I'm just gonna share my experience so far with my Sprint Galaxy Note 2 and if any of you have any helpful tips for the issues I'm encountering, fire away.
I have searched for a few weeks now, and what I'm about to describe is where I'm at AFTER lots of experimenting and searching both this and other forums as well as plain old google web searches.
I researched devices before buying for something with enough processing power and RAM to replace my ASUS netbook, which, though small, wouldn't fit on my bike handlebars and was all around too bulky for outdoor adventures. Offline GPS app use, bike computer apps, taking videos in its handlebar mount as I rolled down the highway, etc, etc. I also fancied the idea of connecting it to the (usually 1080 16:9) TVs found in the hotel rooms across the country, most of which these days have an HDMI port on them. Also in my plans is to hack together some kind of case with a mini bluetooth keyboard in it.
I use Photoshop all the time on my Windows machines so I wanted something that would run Photoshop Touch. I downloaded PS Touch from the Amazon app store (paid for it legally) since Google Play wouldn't let me download it. I knew it was't officially supported before purchasing.
Then I set about hacking into things to get more content, icons, menus visible on the screen and tried to get PS Touch to display properly.
First I rooted the phone, installed super user, etc. Left the stock ROM on there. Then I modified the Build.prop for 180 pixel density, and voila, Photoshop Touch worked great, the full menus were visible. But a host of other problems presented themselves.
Some of the UI elements scaled to the display fine. 3rd party apps ALL look fine. They all scale correctly. The most obvious issue was that the home pages were still showing the same amount of icons, the grid count was the same, but all the icons where in the middle of the screen with lots of space around them. I noticed that the clock on the lockscreen was now in the upper left corner, and that Chrome was now showing (desktop/tablet style) tabs at the top. So I realized that some aspects of the UI and certain apps were coded to display different depending on the pixel density.
I'm wondering where in the APK's manifest.xml (or elsewhere) this is specified.
To get things looking better on the home screens and to enable landscape homescreens, I installed Nova Launcher, and I prefer it over the stock launcher. It's a more desktop like environment. I figured I could set up a homescreen page with lots of big widgets on it for fumbling with it on the go (making things big and easy to touch like with a 320 pixel density setting), and then I could have a bunch of icons on another homescreen page for the "desktop" style view when close to my face or connected to an external display.
All of this was fine except several of the widgets not longer worked, or didn't even show up in the widget list anymore. My list of issues follows:
- The multi-window app-chooser bar scales correctly when it's at the top or bottom of the screen, but does not completely span the display when on either side of the screen (in portrait OR landscape mode).
- The multi-window separator bar (between the 2 displayed apps) does not span the entire display, though it works otherwise
- In the stock e-mail app, landscape view works fine, but portrait view of the messages list and of the emails themselves is cropped to only the left side of the display, with blank space on the right.
- The drop-down notification drawer is the same number of pixels as it used to be (I believe) and therefore no longer scales to the entire display. In landscape mode, it's not only too small, but off-center as well. This is something I haven't been able to hack, there doesn't seem to be any notification drawer replacement apps.
- The alarm clock app (which honestly I liked better than any thrid party ones) stopped working completely. When I tap the Clock icon in the apps drawer, it starts up but only displays a black screen and then I get the error message that Clock has stopped. Bummer.
- The numeric keypad for the stock dialer app is up in the middle of the screen (vertically) and at the left edge.
- The UI elements, buttons, etc on the camera app don't scale, leaving buttons floating off of the gray background strips and over the top of the image viewfinder area. I prefer the interface of Camera JB+ anyway, which works great. But you can't use Camera JB+ with the stock messaging app if you wanna snap a quick pic to attach to a message. Unless you take the pic with Camera JB+, then go to messaging, then attach it from the stock gallery app. This leads me to one of my biggest questions. I'm sure it's been covered, but I don't know the terminology and numerous searches have yielded no answers...if someone just tell me what it's called, I'll do my best to search for it myself...I wanna know how to tell one app to allow me to use another app to import content What I mean is when, for instance, I go to attach a pic to a message, a list of sources comes up, gallery, camera, etc. But certain apps are't on that list...only the stock camera shows up, only the stock gallery app...sometimes this isn't the case...when I am in the stock contacts app, and I go to add a photo to a contact...it lets me choose from the various camera and gallery apps I have installed...when I click on the little button to message the contact, it lets me choose Handcent, etc...but the messaging app and the lockscreen wallpaper chooser in the settings menu don't let me choose images from anything but the stock gallery app, wheras the homescreen wallpaper can be chosen from any of my gallery apps. I want to know where to hack in and change this to "link" or "associate" the apps. Or at least I wanna know what this type of link between apps is called so I can search for it myself.
- The stock weather widget is just plan missing now. Don't know where it went. I liked it better than any of the ones I've downloaded.
I'm also noticing decreased battery life...not sure why, as I have a bunch of bloat apps removed and I'm running the same ROM. Maybe that's in my head.
So I'm looking at installing a custom ROM...but not sure where to start...I have searched and read about a bunch of ROMs for the Note 2. But nowhere did I see anything about how well the ROM's UI elements and included apps would scale to a 180 pixel density display...
I'd like a ROM that works well with my display settings, includes options for the number of icons on the home screen, where all the included apps see each other, and where I can ad any program to the multi-window list without hacking into each and every APK to enable it (I know there's really no way to do that, but perhaps an included feature to help you through the process without using a PC would be cool). I want everything deodexed so backups and restores are easy (I backed up a bunch of system apps and uninstalled them, creating a backup from ES File Explorer, AND saving the APK and ODEX files...but was unable to re-install them...).
Anybody have a good suggestion for a ROM that works well with different pixel settings?
jd14771 said:
I think you would REALLY benefit from installing the XPOSED app mod. Essentially, it changes the DPI value, but instead of changing the DPI for EVERY app, it only changes the dpi for the app you select.
so assuming you start from the normal 320 dpi, you can then assign Photoshop touch to run at 180 dpi, therefore ONLY affecting that app and leaving everything else the same.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2067303
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AWESOME tool to know about, thanks. That sounds like it would do what I need...though I'd still like more/smaller icons on the home screen....Which I think you can do at stock pixel density with Nova Launcher paid version...
Researching XPOSED now...some people complain about longer phone startup...is it the kind of thing where you can use the app to modify the APK, then uninstall the app? I'm gonna find out...THANKS.
There is also a thread in the app/theme section regarding resized stock apps. The dialer, camera, keyboard etc were are scaled to a lower dpi. That might help some of your issues
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium
---------- Post added at 07:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:38 PM ----------
Here's a link to that thread I referenced.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2001143
[MOD] 240 DPI apps for samsung roms [updated 30/11/12]
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium
KB112 said:
There is also a thread in the app/theme section regarding resized stock apps. The dialer, camera, keyboard etc were are scaled to a lower dpi. That might help some of your issues
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium
---------- Post added at 07:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:38 PM ----------
Here's a link to that thread I referenced.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2001143
[MOD] 240 DPI apps for samsung roms [updated 30/11/12]
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate y'all takin the time to help me with this, Helps me out a lot......I have one question about android and scaling of graphics in general...The notification drop-down drawer...is that technically an "app"? Like is it one of the services, or hidden system apps or something...or is that "part of the frame work" and not skinable or changeable without changing ROMs? because I'm wondering how to scale that...but also just so I understand the OS better, what is that status drawer part of? Cause it's obviously not part of the launcher...
I'm about to try all these things out...thanks.
For email, pull the note 10.1 email apk and exchange apk from a 10.1 rom and put it in system/app reboot and enjoy!
That and as mentioned...xposed app is full of win. I personally use go launcher or apex launcher to fix the whole launcher issue.
The drop down is customizable. .you may really benefit from spending an hour or so reading through the themes and apps section
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app
spaceturd3000 said:
I appreciate y'all takin the time to help me with this, Helps me out a lot......I have one question about android and scaling of graphics in general...The notification drop-down drawer...is that technically an "app"? Like is it one of the services, or hidden system apps or something...or is that "part of the frame work" and not skinable or changeable without changing ROMs? because I'm wondering how to scale that...but also just so I understand the OS better, what is that status drawer part of? Cause it's obviously not part of the launcher...
I'm about to try all these things out...thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its part of systemui.apk which includes the status bar, notification pull down, etc
I like to break stuff!
Android ui is the lock screen and context menus btw.
System ui for task bar.
Xposed is awesome for low dpi settings
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium
Dudes....thanks a ton. I got all of that up and running. I'm able to set it up just as I want and with the tip about which app controls the context menus, that answered my next question. Totally tweakable. My only issue is that the stock dialer and stock contacts are really within the same app...I wanted to keep the dialer at default dpi and scale the contacts to be smaller....I'm guessing that's what a "shared package" is....which isn't supported yet....but I'll try that 240 dpi version mention above and see how that works.
Hi there,
Just got a new Galaxy Tab 3 10.1. There's a line of apps installed below the page/panel indicator on the home screens, with a bunch of (to me) ill chosen apps. But I can't drag them off the screen to delete them, like I can the ones above the page indicator. I can't find any mention of what this apparently separate panel is called to search better.
Of interest, are people happy with their purchase of one of these? So far I'm finding it pretty ordinary - not horrible, just ordinary...
maysa said:
Hi there,
Just got a new Galaxy Tab 3 10.1. There's a line of apps installed below the page/panel indicator on the home screens, with a bunch of (to me) ill chosen apps. But I can't drag them off the screen to delete them, like I can the ones above the page indicator. I can't find any mention of what this apparently separate panel is called to search better.
Of interest, are people happy with their purchase of one of these? So far I'm finding it pretty ordinary - not horrible, just ordinary...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just drag the apps on the lower part of your home screen to the upper part where it says delete. then you can go to your apps and drag them to the lower part of your home screen to add them in the dock
If you're saying about the lock screen then I don't know
Hi!
I'm pretty happy with the tab 10.1! With the latest OTA update it runs even smoother! The runtime is great, can handle up to 5 days with daily usage without charging. I received my leather case today, a 360° case.. I can put it horizontal or vertical and it "wakes up" when i open the case.
With that prize its an absolutely recommendation.
Greetings
Gesendet von meinem GT-P5210 mit Tapatalk 4
levihaler said:
Just drag the apps on the lower part of your home screen to the upper part where it says delete. then you can go to your apps and drag them to the lower part of your home screen to add them in the dock
If you're saying about the lock screen then I don't know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there,
On the default home page, there's two large widgets on the top (weather and news). Below that there's a Google search bar. Below that there's a row of shortcuts. These all behave normally. Below that there's the page/panel indicator (telling you which home page you're on) and then at the bottom there's another row of shortcuts. It's that last, bottom row that I'm having trouble with. They don't seem to act normally - I can't drag them off to delete as normal. They appear to be hardwired. They are not the choice I would select and I want to change them.
Are other people able to delete these shortcuts?
Thanks!
maysa said:
Hi there,
On the default home page, there's two large widgets on the top (weather and news). Below that there's a Google search bar. Below that there's a row of shortcuts. These all behave normally. Below that there's the page/panel indicator (telling you which home page you're on) and then at the bottom there's another row of shortcuts. It's that last, bottom row that I'm having trouble with. They don't seem to act normally - I can't drag them off to delete as normal. They appear to be hardwired. They are not the choice I would select and I want to change them.
Are other people able to delete these shortcuts?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you show us a picture?
maybe installing a launcher / shell will help you organize your tablet's home screen...
Same problem.
[o QUOTE=maysa;44827975]Hi there,
Just got a new Galaxy Tab 3 10.1. There's a line of apps installed below the page/panel indicator on the home screens, with a bunch of (to me) ill chosen apps. But I can't drag them off the screen to delete them, like I can the ones above the page indicator. I can't find any mention of what this apparently separate panel is called to search better.
Of interest, are people happy with their purchase of one of these? So far I'm finding it pretty ordinary - not horrible, just ordinary...[/QUOTE]
I have the same problem. I'm tired of reading the answer "click and hold then drag it up". It seems to be the stock answer on all forums. They won't move! No matter what I do, the ridiculous row of apps bottom most on the screen is stuck. There's no help for this in the help app/widget. Someone must know how to unlock these darn things. I want to replace them with ones I use regularly.
granparoger said:
maysa said:
Hi there,
Just got a new Galaxy Tab 3 10.1. There's a line of apps installed below the page/panel indicator on the home screens, with a bunch of (to me) ill chosen apps. But I can't drag them off the screen to delete them, like I can the ones above the page indicator. I can't find any mention of what this apparently separate panel is called to search better.
Of interest, are people happy with their purchase of one of these? So far I'm finding it pretty ordinary - not horrible, just ordinary...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same problem. I'm tired of reading the answer "click and hold then drag it up". It seems to be the stock answer on all forums. They won't move! No matter what I do, the ridiculous row of apps bottom most on the screen is stuck. There's no help for this in the help app/widget. Someone must know how to unlock these darn things. I want to replace them with ones I use regularly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Qranparoger,
Unfortunately that is the correct answer of click and hold and move. I just did it to mine and I can move two of the three apps I have in the bottom row. The only one that cannot move is APPS. My SETTINGS and FIREFOX can both be moved to the main screen above the bottom row.
My tab is rooted, but uses stock rom. There is nothing special about what I have done. I checked settings to see if I had changed a display or security function but I do not see anything. I do remember when I first got the tab that I too was having problems. But I do remember solving it and removing the bottom row (except APPS) and rearranging the icons or deleting the icons.
It think that maybe it might be in the APPLICATION MANAGER in SETTINGS that you "Turn Off" the app and it might vanish from the bottom of the screen. Again, I cannot remember how I did it but it can be done.
Brian D said:
Qranparoger,
Unfortunately that is the correct answer of click and hold and move. I just did it to mine and I can move two of the three apps I have in the bottom row. The only one that cannot move is APPS. My SETTINGS and FIREFOX can both be moved to the main screen above the bottom row.
My tab is rooted, but uses stock rom. There is nothing special about what I have done. I checked settings to see if I had changed a display or security function but I do not see anything. I do remember when I first got the tab that I too was having problems. But I do remember solving it and removing the bottom row (except APPS) and rearranging the icons or deleting the icons.
It think that maybe it might be in the APPLICATION MANAGER in SETTINGS that you "Turn Off" the app and it might vanish from the bottom of the screen. Again, I cannot remember how I did it but it can be done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Latest ROM update - still can't change the apps. My tab isn't rooted, and I couldn't be bothered to now. I don't necessarily want to "turn off" the apps, just not use my precious home screen space. Anyway, I solved the problem by buying a Nexus. Yep, free Samsung is just collecting dust, piece of rubbish... Before anyone rages on me, there's a bunch of reasons I didn't like the Samsung, not just this one thing.
maysa said:
Latest ROM update - still can't change the apps. My tab isn't rooted, and I couldn't be bothered to now. I don't necessarily want to "turn off" the apps, just not use my precious home screen space. Anyway, I solved the problem by buying a Nexus. Yep, free Samsung is just collecting dust, piece of rubbish... Before anyone rages on me, there's a bunch of reasons I didn't like the Samsung, not just this one thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Meh... it is all good. Since you got the tab for free, you can send it to me. Give me something to play around with. :laugh::laugh:
I thought, would be nice to talk separetly about the KitKat International B510 firmware. Also we can write reviews.
My FIRST impression about this KitKat update is mixed. I missing a lot of features, like Permission manager for push services?!
Video playing is really bad! Standalone and online also. If i open videos online, and rotate the screen, i only hear the sound but the screen flashing all the time. Also video image slides alot!
Sometimes the launcher freez, when scrolling to another page. At multi-tasking when i close app with gesture, (not clicking on "X") it closes not smoothly.
Permission manager is gone? A lot of apps needed that, to work properly. For example: Facebook Messenger Cheat heads blocked, so i cant use it because of that.
Others? Whats your imressions overall?
benjaminbodoky said:
I thought, would be nice to talk separetly about the KitKat International B510 firmware. Also we can write reviews.
My FIRST impression about this KitKat update is mixed. I missing a lot of features, like Permission manager for push services?!
Video playing is really bad! Standalone and online also. If i open videos online, and rotate the screen, i only hear the sound but the screen flashing all the time. Also video image slides alot!
Sometimes the launcher freez, when scrolling to another page.
Permission manager is gone? A lot of apps needed that, to work properly. For example: Facebook Messenger Cheat heads blocked, so i cant use it because of that.
Others? Whats your imressions overall?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is BETA, so it's undestandable to have some issues and missing apps. All apps will be there in the official release.
Is it worth upgrading from B507 to B510 ?
warea said:
Is it worth upgrading from B507 to B510 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Give it a shot, it is much faster and all the new functions are running very smooth. The performance is much better.
Update this beta version through OTA (I attended to do beta tester).
No problem with standalone and online video, about launcher seems slightly less fluid, I recommend using a theme created for 2.3 EMUI version.
About the permission manager, I suppose it's changed the method of management with the app "phone management"
I love the new keyboard and the new lock screen !
interdan said:
Update this beta version through OTA (I attended to do beta tester).
No problem with standalone and online video, about launcher seems slightly less fluid, I recommend using a theme created for 2.3 EMUI version.
About the permission manager, I suppose it's changed the method of management with the app "phone management"
I love the new keyboard and the new lock screen !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, im okey with changes, but if it's working well. In phone management you'll not finding any options to set up, permissions neither push options. So it's not a good "change".
benjaminbodoky said:
Yes, im okey with changes, but if it's working well. In phone management you'll not finding any options to set up, permissions neither push options. So it's not a good "change".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I find instead the new implementation significantly easier to use than before, for example, the widget is really functional and also the new management once you understand how it works, I do not mind at all.
It is true, I have not found the settings about notifications, but the rest is "smarter" :highfive:
for me no problem with video playback ( i sugest hwreset)
and Permission manager is now phone manager... so nothing is missing at all ;p
it runs good as for day of usage ;p
interdan said:
I find instead the new implementation significantly easier to use than before, for example, the widget is really functional and also the new management once you understand how it works, I do not mind at all.
It is true, I have not found the settings about notifications, but the rest is "smarter" :highfive:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im curious about future updates. They said, at the end of july they will release the final version. doubt that we will have a newer beta. I hope everybody will gave a feedback to them. The wierd thing, is we have official beta for 2.3 but china didnt.
meilbox said:
for me no problem with video playback ( i sugest hwreset)
and Permission manager is now phone manager... so nothing is missing at all ;p
it runs good as for day of usage ;p
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Half true. Phone manager, is a cleaner + harrasment filter. But without push services settings etc.
benjaminbodoky said:
Half true. Phone manager, is a cleaner + harrasment filter. But without push services settings etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And without Boot Manager & Background Manager.
Cannot be rooted. VRoot fails to root this firmware.
ShahKashif said:
Cannot be rooted. VRoot fails to root this firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not the way to root the device. You must install KK TWRP and that will root your device.
@BeyondTheHorizon (assuming your working for Huawei)
My impressions, after updating from B506 to B510. Note that since i have already used Emui2.3 beta (B014) and Emui 2.0 (official) i will not get into mentioning its improvements over Emui1.6.
- Magazine lockscreen is awesome. But i don't understand why magazine option is enabled only for a selected theme, while a few other theme have weather option on lockscreen, and why not instead have them all for all themes. (Also haven't figured out what the "link" option is within the magazine lockscreen menu).
- Overall there is lags and inconsistency in transition and animation speeds everywhere.
Examples:
> Pulling down notification panel has slower animation then when pulling it back up. While on the other hand there is also a jamming lag when notification panel goes back up.
>Random lags when moving about homscreen pages.
> lag in settings sections when entering each settings item.
- I personally dont like the splitting of drop down panel into two "notification" and "switches". The combined was much better. Even in the split form, there is design inconsistency, for example in the switch panel there is lot of free empty space on the bottom half and there is no point in having a slide down arrow to reveal just one row of switches. Furthermore it would have made sense to have the switches fill the bottom half, as it makes it easier for one hand usage. But i still prefer the the combined form which just two rows of switches and brightness option, while the rest hidden under the slide down.
- Thankfully the weather 4x2 widget is proper size, compared to the huge size on B506 and B014. But the transparent clock widget (first introduced on Honor 3c & 3x) is not yet available on this rom.
- The video player app is missing (and like others mentioned, the permission and startup apps manager, one hand option and navigation bar hiding option is missing too)
- I was hoping for changes in the "customize" section of the theme changer app. The old problem of swiping right/left a lot to get to the end of the lockscreen styles, or icons types, etc remains a burden.
- As someone said, its time to change the grey color of navigation bar. Either allow users to customize it, or have a number of colors that changes according to apps.
- In contacts "favorite" section, there is Chinese fonts.
- I don't think there is a need to have all the google apps pre-installed. Just a couple of them would be enough, while the rest can be downloaded from playstore.
- The water mark option in camera is nice. Cant find the "Cheeze" to take pics option. The photo editor is great and fun too. Video recorded on camera comes out dark. In case of taking selfie pics, once you hit the shoot button, the screen weirdly gets all yellow before taking the pic. Photos looks grainy too. But im no expert on camera, so i could be wrong.
- The Chinese rom had an app center app, and at times the latest version of the Huawei apps would be available on that. Such app updates are not available on this rom.
- The types of transition effects for homescreen keeps decreasing with every new rom update, when instead we should be getting newer ones added.
- The homescreen icons on this rom appear slightly bigger compared to them on the Chinese rom. Can be noticed when applying emui2.0 theme icons on this emui2.3 launcher.
Good and bad in B510
Good
- Magazine lockscreen is really good. I like it, hope more themes are like that.
- I like the splitting of drop down panel into two "notification" and "switches". But I hope they could have a setting to enable/disable it.
- Floating apps are awesome.
- Torch in notifications is very useful.
- Ultra power saving mode changes UI to dark black --> seems convincing that it will save battery life. Overall this rom has decent battery life.
- External SD settings
Bad
- Just hope that when I use other music players it can get the controls on the lock screen. Also, if there was a music slider to skip a few seconds of music was available on lockscreen that would be good.
- Hope that the default launcher could have a drawer. Having all the apps on the screen is messy.
- The radio widget still isn't transparent while the other huawei widgets are. It stands out and looks ugly.
- No permissions manager. It blocks facebook chatheads by default because it draws over other apps. No way to unblock it because permission settings are missing.
- The grey color of navigation bar is horrendous. Hopefully they notice this and they make it black or able to customize.
- Camera pictures look grainy.
- GPS still sucks. Don't know if it is a hardware issue.
- No ART mode
Other
- I don't know what to think about the carrier name. I feel like it's ok, don't hate it or like it.
The carrier name HAS to go! Why do they need to put it there anyway?
I agree with @warea about the notification panel that is better in Emui 2.0. Having it separate could work if you can change the settings of how you want it to be opened.
I find that the rom is a bit laggy most of the time, but for a beta I can live with it.
miz_pimp said:
The carrier name HAS to go! Why do they need to put it there anyway?
I agree with @warea about the notification panel that is better in Emui 2.0. Having it separate could work if you can change the settings of how you want it to be opened.
I find that the rom is a bit laggy most of the time, but for a beta I can live with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At least the cursor is back.
I missed it.
Sent from my HUAWEI P6-U06 using Tapatalk
bokchoi2020 said:
At least the cursor is back.
I missed it.
Sent from my HUAWEI P6-U06 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know, right? It's awesome having it back! [emoji16]
I'm also glad that the day of the week is back in the notification panel.
miz_pimp said:
The carrier name HAS to go! Why do they need to put it there anyway?
I agree with @warea about the notification panel that is better in Emui 2.0. Having it separate could work if you can change the settings of how you want it to be opened.
I find that the rom is a bit laggy most of the time, but for a beta I can live with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The carrier name it's something new for this update. And everything else it's really just a matter of opinion. The most important thing is that this ROM must run smooth and fast without any lag when it will be released as official/final. Everything else is just customization that can be added or removed by rooting and installing third party apps.
Also noticed, my phone is really hot, even for simple use. And the battery is really bad on this rom.
BB
As a long time Android user, I (like most others) had a bit of a hard time getting used to using the Fire Phone's FireOS. Having used the OS for a couple of weeks now, it's not quite so bad once you get used to a few things and learn a few new tricks. Just wanted to start a thread for collecting these types of things that will help others making the transition to FireOS. I'm purposely omitting the fact that google play store can be side loaded whenever possible (sideloading the play store is something I highly recommend everyone with this phone do) so that I can focus on tips and tricks that actually relate to transitioning to FireOS.
Side panels Most everyone at this point is probably aware of the extra info panels that can be accessed by swiping in from the left or right edge of the screen. I have mixed feelings on this myself, as it's used well in some apps (like swiping from the right edge while typing a text message to add pictures), and not very well in other apps (and yet not at all in some apps). Additionally, it's not always obvious if an app does support this feature, or if a certain app will put these options in either the left panel, right panel, or both.
Back Button There is no back button on the Fire Phone. This was a cause of confusion at first. The back button has been replaced with a "swipe up" from the bottom of the screen to go back. This can be a bit finicky at times, but I've found that if I start a short swipe up from the top edge of the home button, it works nearly every time. Additionally, some apps seem to treat this a little differently, as from time to time I will see "back" and "menu" soft-buttons appear at the bottom of the screen when this gesture is used.
Screen Shots You can take a picture of whatever is on the screen by pressing the power and volume down buttons at the same time
App Switcher This is usually accessed on a NORMAL Android phone by long holding the home button. In FireOS, the same is accomplished by double-tapping the home button (the long hold in FireOS brings up voice search). This is the fastest way to switch between apps and gets you around having to navigate the carousel. Also, while in the app switcher, you can swipe individual apps up to kill the process AND remove them from the carousel. I like the Fire Phones implementation here much better than stock Androids. You can double-press the button very fast and this is much less disruptive to workflow while multitasking than pausing for a long press. I think Amazon implemented the switcher and action of the home button beautifully.
Home Button I initially found the behavior of the home button weird. On first press (from a running app), it will take you to the carousel. Additional presses from this point will cycle between the Carousel and the app tray.
App Tray Aside from subsequent presses of the home button, the app tray can be slid up by touching and dragging the bottom row of quick launch icons upward while in the carousel. Likewise, you can continually drag the app tray downward to eventually reach the carousel at the top. It will seem more logical if you picture in your mind that the Carousel sits at the top of the app tray.
Another App Tray annoyance is the lack of alphabetical sorting of apps. While I've found no way to do this automatically, apps can be dragged and dropped in the app tray in any order you like. Apps can either be dragged on top of eachother to create collections (folders), or dragged in between other apps for changing the sorting order. A bit of a pain initially, but pretty easy to keep up with once you get your current collection sorted initially.
Lastly, to get the most from your 4 quick launch icon slots - you can use collections (folders) there as well! This is a feature I'm really using a lot lately to make navigating and the lack of a normal launcher much easier! For example, currently I have the following 4 quick launch collections: "Communication","News","Organize" and "Media". Within the "Communication" collection, I have Phone, Contacts, Messaging, Email, Facebook, Messenger, and Snap Chat. Within the "News" collection, I have Yahoo, Silk Browser and Weather. Within "Oganize" I have Notes, Calendar, and Our Groceries. Within Media I havePhotos, Music, Prime Music, Instant Video, Plex and Netflix. Since using collections in the quick launch area, I find that I rarely ever use the app tray, as my most frequently used apps are right there, easily accessible from the Carousel.
Facebook Mesenger If you're used to using the floating chat heads, and missing them in FireOS, here is a tip. Go to messenger, and enter the settings. Navigate to "Chat heads", ensure the switch is set to "On" and that the "Hide when using apps that take up the full screen" checkbox is NOT checked. For some reason the FireOS launcher/carousel is treated like a full-screen app.
Music Fire phone comes with a "Music" app. But don't confuse this with Amazon's own "Prime Music" app - they are actually two different apps! For those that use the prime music service, do yourself a favor by installing "Prime Music" right from the Amazon App Store. Why this isn't on the phone by default is beyond me!
Cellular usage data As most of us have to keep tabs on our data usage, I find this to be a nice built-in feature (though not the easiest to find). You can set your monthly limit and view current usage under "Settings->Wi-Fi & Networks->See your cellular data usage"
Carousel I'm not a huge fan of the carousel, though I'm finally starting to adapt to it.
EDIT: I'm starting to become a huge fan of the carousel. It has forced me to become organized, and the ability to do simple actions (delete emails for example) without opening an app is just awesome once you get used to it.
There is one cool feature, and that's "pin to front". You can make any number of apps appear at the beginning of the carousel by long-pressing and selecting "pin to front". This has limited utility, as this is only efficient for pinning a few frequently used apps to the front of the list, but still useful once you start using it.
Also, the dragging and dropping apps from the app tray works to replace the default quick launch apps that appear at the bottom of the carousel.
For non-app items (books, music, etc) that appear in the carousel, long-pressing will reveal an addition option of "Pin to app grid", which will pin the book/music/whatever into the app grid for easy access just as if it were an app.
For Pinned items, you can reorder them kind of crudely with a long press and using the "Move to front" option
Status Bar By default, the status bar auto-hides. You set it to always be visible in Settings->Display
Lock Screen This actually has a very little-knows and very cool feature called a "Locket". This allows you to add a number of photos that can easily be accessed from the lock screen. The utility of this isn't immediately obvious, so consider this scenario:
You bump into an old friend in the mall and they ask how your family is doing. Instead of pulling out your phone, getting to the app tray, pulling up the "Photos" app and searching for pictures to show - you can use the locket feature to do this much more efficiently.
To setup and/or access the photo locket feature, from the lock screen, simply swipe from right to left (instead of swiping up to unlock). This enters the photo locket, where you can add more photos, or swipe left and right to view the collection of photos in your locket. It's actually a really neat feature and has some real utility (I can't count how many times I've had to fumble through navigating through my entire photo collection to show pictures of my kids to someone I haven't seen in a while. This really makes it easy)
Silk Browser Another thing I'm not very keen on - though if you plan on using stock FireOS, learning to properly use the app will help.
EDIT: Ok, the browser is growing on me now.
It can be a bit confusing since there is a menu button in the upper-right hand corner, a different menu in the left panel (accessed by swiping in from the left edge of the screen), and other options such as tab switching that are only visible at the bottom of the screen only at certain times. I'll try to detail some of the common functions here:
Bookmarking pages Bring up the page you want to bookmark, then use the menu button in the upper-right hand corner to add the bookmark
Desktop View Use the menu button in the upper right-hand corner and navigate to "Request another view", which will allow you to select the desktop view
Clearing browsing history Access the menu in the left panel, and go to settings, then "Your Data" -> "Clear Browser Data". From here you can clear just history, or anything else such as cookies, etc. You can also clear sites from the history list one at a time by using the left panel menu->History and long pressing the entries you wish to delete.
Tab Management This took me quite some time to figure out. Sometimes I would notice the tab switcher at the bottom of the browser, other times I wouldn't. To make these tab controls visible again, simply start scrolling the current web page back towards the top of the page and the tab controls will appear.
Private Browsing Mode This keeps websites from saving to your history, saving cookies, etc. Like other options, it's not easy to find in the Silk browser. To go into private browsing mode, use the Tab Management above to enter the list of tabs. On this screen you will find the option for private browsing.
Offline Reading One interesting feature that is useful (but poorly implemented) is "Reading Lists", which stories/web pages for offline reading. It's confusing, because you use one menu system to save to the reading list, and yet another menu to access the saved items. To save a page for later viewing, use the menu button in the upper right-hand corner and choose "Save to Reading List". To access the actual reading list to either read, or remove items, use the left panel menu->"Reading List"
Default Search Engine The search engine can be changed from the default (Bing) to either Google or Yahoo by going to the left panel->Settings->Search Engine
Cloud Photos Prime members get unlimited storage for backing up photos. Unfortunately, it's poorly implemented in FireOS and ONLY allows for automatic uploading of ALL new photos at this time. But what if you want to be able to specifically select only the photos you want stored on the cloud? Unfortunately in stock FireOS this isn't yet possible. However, if you have installed the Google Play Store or are familiar with side loading, look for the "Amazon Cloud Drive Photos" app - which oddly enough is published by Amazon for general Android devices, but not available to their own Fire Phone via their own App Store. At any rate, this is how to get around the limitation of the default implementation.
I'd love to hear tips from others and continue learning to use FireOS more efficiently. The tips I outlined above have made this a very usable OS for me, even though I flat out hated it at first. I'll try to keep up adding tips and tricks from others to this master list.
Edited the first post a bit. FireOS is really starting to grow on me and I'm actually more productive now on my Fire Phone than I was on my Galaxy Note II. Amazon still has some work to do on FireOS - but once you get the hang of it its a nice efficient OS
Found another tip. I'll add it here and to the original post:
For non-app items (books, music, etc) that appear in the carousel, long-pressing will reveal an addition option of "Pin to app grid", which will pin the book/music/whatever into the app grid for easy access just as if it were an app.
Thanks. Your tips made a real night and day difference between using Fire phone.
jondecker76 said:
Found another tip. I'll add it here and to the original post:
For non-app items (books, music, etc) that appear in the carousel, long-pressing will reveal an addition option of "Pin to app grid", which will pin the book/music/whatever into the app grid for easy access just as if it were an app.
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Thanks JonDecker. Your tips made a difference of actually liking and using Fire phone. Couldn't find such information anywhere else.
Not a problem
After being with the phone for quite some time now, I actually cringe when I have to use my wife's LG G2 for anything. Once you learn a how to use FireOS , it's really pretty good!
Good stuff!!! I personally think that the interface is not that bad... and it is very smooth and quick... i like the phone. No tricks from me at the moment but i will share if i found any ?
Sent from my SD4930UR using XDA Free mobile app
If you have NFC turned on and tap it against your PC (with NFC as well) you can share the whats currently on your phones screen. I found this by accident. The screen shot pop's up in your pc's browser.
Increasing Battery Life
I have found that disabling Dynamic Perspective increases the duration of my phone charge significantly. This can be done by going to Settings (swipe from top) > Display > Configure low motion settings > Dynamic Perspecitve.
I'm glad to see a thread dedicated to this. I'd like to share a review I wrote on this phone a while ago as I feel it adds to the already terrific thread topic.
Below, in no particular order, is a list of things I hated out of the box. Following will be my feelings, along with tips & tricks, on the same items.
1. The Home Screen - I didn't like how the apps were randomly scattered on the home screen. It was difficult for me find what I was looking for.
2. No Google Play Store - I understand the logic behind this from a business prospective. However, from a consumer prospective, there are apps I use on a daily basis that were not available in the Amazon App Store. As bad as this sounds, it means I'd have to change my life style to accommodate this device. One thing that kind of floored me on this is that Google doesn't block the Amazon App store on their OS.
3. The grid - It scrolls up and down, where I've been used to scrolling left to right. Also, there is no way to easily sort the applications by alphabetical order. It simply displays them as they are installed.
4. The lack of soft keys - I've been accustomed to soft keys to open the menu, go home, view recently used apps, and to go back.
5. Notifications - The notification bar doesn't keep a log of icons of notifications. For example, if I get a KIK message it drops down, previews it, and vanished. Unless I open up the notification panel there is nothing to remind you of this. This bothers me as I often don't review them straight away and forget it even happened.
6. Keyboard - There is absolutely no way to install another keyboard. I've been a long time user of Swift Key and I keep find myself hitting the period instead of the space bar.
Due to the above I decided to try to make the phone a bit more what I'm used to. This was easy as I simply had to side load a few apps. This mainly included the apps that were not in the Amazon App Store along with a launcher to replace the Amazon Home screen. After installing several launchers I found one that I was happy with as it permitted me to use custom Widgets. I used it this way for a week or so and was happy to have my old Style back.
Now that I didn't feel held back, or limited by the device, I wanted to give it a go on how it was intended to be used. I changed my default home launcher to the Fire OS launcher. After using it a bit, and exploring it, it's my default launcher with no plans of going back to the standard Android Launcher! Below are the same 6 items listed above, but including how I feel about them now. It will also include what I consider to be tips & tricks, things I wish I knew out of the box.
1. The Home Screen - The use of Dynamic Perspective to access menus is amazing! The apps that are created for this OS have beautiful home screen widgets that I'm not sure I could go with out now. I love the fact I can read SMS messages on the home screen, emails on the home screen, a flip of the wrist shows me the current weather, my upcoming appointment and reminders, and much more. Although there is no easy way to change the apps listed, you can pin apps to the front. So simply pin the app that you want listed last first, and the first app last. This will put them in the order that you'd like.
2. No Google Play Store - As others have mentioned, installing the Google Play Store is very simply on this device. There is no downgrading required. Simply side load a few APK files. I won't go into detail on this as it can be found in a lot of other places.
3. The grid - I don't mind scrolling up and down now. It's second nature now. However, you still can not sort the apps. You must go through the tedious process of moving them one at a time by clicking and dragging it. I did this so they are sorted alphabetically. If I install a new app I now simply drag it where I feel it should be.
4. The lack of soft keys - I'm so used to swiping up now it's odd to use a traditional Android phone's back button! The physical home button works fine, especiall8y now that I discovered the "Quick Switch" menu by double pressing the home key.
5. Notifications - I've toggled all the options regarding notifications in the settings. My original complaint still exists. This was a HUGE set back for me with this device. Luckily, with a lot of trial and error, I found an app that works well for me. It's call NotifierPro Free. I configured it so a bar drops down and stays under the status bar. I also configured it so these notifications remain until I swipe them away. This has been a HUGE help in allowing me to adapt to this device.
6. Keyboard - There is still no way to change the default keyboard, even after side loading one. Amazon told me they made an update to their Kindles which allows the use of changing keyboard applications, so there will be an update that allows the Fire Phone to do the same.
Tips & Tricks / Q & A
1. Switching between running apps quickly.
- To do this simply press the home button twice quickly. You will be presented with a menu called "Quick Switch" where your most recently used apps can be found.
2. How do I quit apps that I'm not using at the moment to extend battery life and free resources?
- If you double click the home button to access the "Quick Switch" menu you can swipe up which will close the app, remove it from the quick switch menu, along with removing it from the cluttered home carousel.
3. Can I group applications together?
- Yes you can! Inside the home menu click and drag an application over another. It will ask you to give the new collection a name and they are then in a group. This is a great way to keep things together and sorted. You can also drag these "collections" into the home screen dock.
4. Any tips for the Camera?
- Yes! I've read about this "best shot" feature, but it didn't seem to do anything for me once I enable it. However, which viewing the photos you already have taken you will have a "best shot" option you can click on. This will show you the 3 photos the camera took, allowing you to select the one that you like the best.
- Burst Feature - The Amazon pages states you can click and hold the camera button to take a burst of photos. This doesn't work for me as it opens up Fire Fly. However, if you press and hold the soft key this feature works.
5. Amazon App Store or Google Play Store?
- I suggest you use the App from the Amazon App Store if available. Some of these apps are created specifically for the Fire Phone and give home screen widgets that the standard app does not support. For example, if you install KIK from the Amazon App Store it allows you to read messages on your home screen, where if you install it from the Play Store it does not.
6. Is the battery really as bad as people say?
- Maybe originally prior to the newest update. The newest update bring out amazing battery life, compared to my old phone at least. I can easily get through an entire day on a single charge. This is under moderate use such as messaging, emailing, browsing eBay, the web, and normal app use. I do not use the device to watch movies or television shows.
As I continue finding things about this phone that I feel are worth mentioning, I'll be sure to update this review. Outside of that, if you have bought this device but initially installed the Google Home Launcher, I strongly suggest you open your mind and give the Amazon Home Launcher a shot. It's truly amazing.
Can you post a link to "notification pro free"? I can't find it in the amazon store and my google-fu is failing me.
ractar28 said:
Can you post a link to "notification pro free"? I can't find it in the amazon store and my google-fu is failing me.
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I'm not sure if it's against any site rules, so I'll PM you.
---------- Post added at 05:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:40 AM ----------
ractar28 said:
Can you post a link to "notification pro free"? I can't find it in the amazon store and my google-fu is failing me.
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My apologies, and thanks for pointing this out. I had the app name wrong. It's actually NotifierPro Free!
Look at alternative markets or use a website to remotely download apks from the google appstore.
I have 1mobile market installed on my phone and it has it and it works.
Btw. Go Launcher Ex + Go Notifier works for notification badges (unread count at the app icon) and all widgets (you have to pull them onto the screen after every restart though) but has not wallpapers.
I use it, since I disliked the huge bar that Notifier used.
Now it almost feels like normal Android, I just wish I could deactivate the standard lockscreen... I already tried a lot of stuff via ADB, but I guess it needs root for it.
Since I do not want to root my phone as long as there is not notification bar like in stock android, I am fine now.
ractar28 said:
Can you post a link to "notification pro free"? I can't find it in the amazon store and my google-fu is failing me.
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I like having found this thread, I had my fire phone for about a month now and I still can't get used to not having the back and menu soft buttons. Otherwise I do like the phone quite a bit and that is having to use it along with my Galaxy Note 3 work phone.
I have A Pixel 2 XL. It is up to date with all patches installed. No custom ROM. I am using Nova Launcher.
About a week ago, a persistent floating circular search icon appeared on my home screen. As I swipe from screen to screen, the icon goes with each screen.
When I tap the icon, it expands to to a transparent search bar showing the bing icon. I can type into the search bar, but it does not link to any search engine. It does nothing. I can type in another search term with the same result.
When I tap the arrow at the end of the search bar, it reverts back to the circular icon.
I can move the icon around the screen. If I tap and hold the icon, instead of giving me the opportunity to delete it like with any other icon, nothing happens.
I've deleted all Microsoft products except Office, refreshed the cache, run AVG Antivirus, and still nothing.
Nothing obvious shows in the Apps and Notifications area.
I'm wondering if it's related to Nova Launcher, but I can't see anything obvious in the settings.
I'm totally mystified.
Any ideas?
Alright, so here we go.
First I'd like to state that any antivirus on Android isn't a bad idea per-se, but with Play Protect it is pretty pointless. All apps are verified upon downloading them from the Play Store. Apps like AVG and Avast are renown for collecting data that they shouldn't be and add a lot of unnecessary features on top. You wanted an antivirus right? Not some app that can also detect through deranged means when your password is being used?
If you want something more effective (totally not an antivirus though), there is SD Maid. It will remove any files that are left behind by other applications, and clear out deprecated databases that are no longer being used. That's all it has ever done, and why I went out of my way to support the developer in their initiative.
Now, on to that bing search bar. I'd imagine that if the only MS app you have installed is in fact office, it may very well be the source of it all. Another possibility is an invasive application that might have been installed after allowing the installation of unknown sources.
Are there any apps you installed outside of the Play Store?
i dont have nova laucher, but i got the same problem.
this search-floating-icon, is always on top of all apps. it can not be deleted/hide.
i got this problem from yesterday,
since i installed some non reputable apps on google play
I have never installed an app outside the play store. Thanks for the detailed answer.
anonymous2312 said:
i dont have nova laucher, but i got the same problem.
this search-floating-icon, is always on top of all apps. it can not be deleted/hide.
i got this problem from yesterday,
since i installed some non reputable apps on google play
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I'm sorry about your problem, but I'm glad it's not just me.
PeekRhol said:
I'm sorry about your problem, but I'm glad it's not just me.
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I think this is malware / virus.
open google play store, click the uninstall button in any application that you have installed.
this search-floating-icon automatically disappears, as if it was also uninstalled.
then 30 minutes laters its appear again..
dammmn @#$%^&
I have the same problem on my samsung tablet and I share your frustration. I think it comes with the software upgrade...chrome version xxxxx143. The icon temporarily disappear when you do an apps force stop but it comes back again. I have chrome on my other android devices but not this latest problem.
Can you post a screenshot of this thing?
Figured it out
Faced the same problem. It was an app Free VPN proxy master com.free.fast.master.unblock.proxy.vpn
After its removal button disappeared