[APP] PRadio - Pandora for Windows 8 - Windows 8 Development and Hacking

PRadio is a Windows 8 Store App for Pandora. Unlike IE, this app allows users to stream music from Pandora recommendation service in the background. It works great on tablets such as Microsoft Surface. This app works only in the US. If you want to use it in other countries you need a US based proxy or VPN software such as openvpn.net
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Features Supported
* Add radio stations via the search charm
* Search for Genre, Album, Artist and Songs
* Delete radio stations via the app bar
* Pin radio stations to start menu
* Play/Pause/Skip songs
* Multimedia Keyboard Support
* Support for snapped view and portrait layout.
* History of Songs Played
* Share Song Information with other applications via share charm
* Provide feedback for a song
* Background Streaming
* Support for touch and tablets
To download the released version please visit the Windows Store and search for PRadio or open the following link in IE.
http://bit.ly/Yt9qT5
The app is only available in the US Store, if you are in another country you can switch to the US Store by going to "Control Panel\Clock, Language, and Region\ Change region."
[Update 12/14/2012]:
If you want to try out the latest version that will be available shortly on the store you will need to sideload the app. This version supports background music streaming on Surface RT even when the device is locked (Connected Standby).
Please follow the instructions given below:
1. Download Pandora_0.0.4.8_AnyCPU_Test and unzip to any folder e.g. xyz.
2. Open powershell as an administrator
3. Execute the following commands in powershell
a) set-executionpolicy unrestricted
b) cd xyz\Pandora_0.0.4.8_AnyCPU_Test
c) .\Add-AppDevPackage.ps1
[Note: Installation process might ask you to login to your Microsoft Account which is necessary to get the necessary certificates from the windows store to sign the package]
If you have feedback on the app, please post below.
What is Pandora?
Pandora Internet Radio, an automated music recommendation service and "custodian" of the Music Genome Project whose service in full is only available in the United States, with limited access in Australia and New Zealand. The service plays musical selections similar to song suggestions entered by a user. The user provides positive or negative feedback for songs chosen by the service, which are taken into account for future selections.

Wow, very nicely implemented for a third-party client! The snapped interface is very good as well. The interface when something *else* is snapped (which means it only has about 1040 pixels of width on the Surface) isn't perfect though (usable, but some stuff gets covered).
I'd be happy to sideload and test a new version.
EDIT: A bit more feedback: the app doesn't handle being backgrounded very gracefully. It will stop playing after the current song. I suppose that *could* be intentional, but it's annoying.

GoodDayToDie said:
Wow, very nicely implemented for a third-party client! The snapped interface is very good as well. The interface when something *else* is snapped (which means it only has about 1040 pixels of width on the Surface) isn't perfect though (usable, but some stuff gets covered).
I'd be happy to sideload and test a new version.
EDIT: A bit more feedback: the app doesn't handle being backgrounded very gracefully. It will stop playing after the current song. I suppose that *could* be intentional, but it's annoying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback, I just posted instructions to sideload the new version.
It should not stop playing after the current song, this is not intentional. Can you send me the following PRadioInformation.log file which should be present in
%appdata%\..\Local\Packages\28268splashtetra.PRadio_80qntxqrmk3vj\LocalState folder

Sorry, I should correct myself: it won't start the next song if the screen is off. Turning the screen on by itself won't start playing agian, either; you either have to use the media control and hit Play, or log in and have the app at least partially in the foreground.
If you still need the log I'll post it here in a bit.

GoodDayToDie said:
Sorry, I should correct myself: it won't start the next song if the screen is off. Turning the screen on by itself won't start playing agian, either; you either have to use the media control and hit Play, or log in and have the app at least partially in the foreground.
If you still need the log I'll post it here in a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you using a Surface RT or an ARM based tablet? If yes, I believe it is going into connected standby. In connected standby, windows does not let the app get the next playlist. I need to use a different set of API to support this scenario. As soon as I get hold of an ARM tablet I will add support for this. If this is not an ARM based tablet then please send me the logs.

GoodDayToDie said:
Sorry, I should correct myself: it won't start the next song if the screen is off. Turning the screen on by itself won't start playing agian, either; you either have to use the media control and hit Play, or log in and have the app at least partially in the foreground.
If you still need the log I'll post it here in a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi GoodDayToDie or any Surface RT user,
I have created a new version 0.3.3 of the PRadio which hopefully should work in your machine. Can you give it a try? I do not own one yet so I cannot try it myself.
Instructions are given below.
Thanks
Instructions:
1. Download Pandora_0.0.3.3_AnyCPU_Test and unzip to any folder e.g. xyz.
2. Open powershell as an administrator
3. Execute the following commands in powershell
a) set-executionpolicy unrestricted
b) cd xyz\Pandora_0.0.3.3_AnyCPU_Test
c) .\Add-AppDevPackage.ps1
[Note: It might ask you to login to your Microsoft Account that is necessary to get the necessary certificates to sign the package]

Thanks! Yes, I'm using Surface RT. I'm sideloading your app now and will report later.
EDIT: Works fine! I had to uninstall the current (store) version first, but it preserved my configuration (you using the roaming AppData?) so that was no problem.
The music playback did cut out eventually, but I'm guessing that's intentional (just the "are you still there?" check, perhaps) since it was after an hour or so of inactivity, and as soon as I brought he app forward again it resumed. I'm on a free account, BTW (used to subscribe, but between them not creating a WP7 app and the advantages of Zune Pass instead, I let it lapse).
One piece of feedback: you could put a lot more info on the About page. Version would be good, for example, and I didn't actually see attribution for the CC-licensed artwork, just a mention that it was CC-BY. Other than that, love it!

Seems to be working all nice and proper for me now too, on RT.
Eats far less CPU than letting IE run in desktop mode.
Edit: Every once in a while there seems to be a delay for it loading the next song of 30-45 seconds. Not critical, just noting.
Edit2: More feedback.
1) I can't forward to the next song from the volume menu.
2) It seems to stop playing after an hour and a half or so, on a Pandora One account.
3) It'd be nice if it could remember the last station and start playing on launch
4) Related, it'd be nice if it automatically logged in on launch, not sending you to the login screen. Perhaps a settings option to clear the stored user settings, and make it log in automatically?
5) I suspect this is more of an OS issue, but outputting through a USB sound card and putting the device to sleep causes the audio to become garbled and broken.
6) The formatting seems to be a bit off in portrait mode, the 'Log Out' button on the top clips over the station name, and there's a considerable amount of deadspace at the bottom of the screen (probably a good 1/3 of the screen is wasted)
And, are the advertisements on it yours or Pandora's? If they're Pandora's, it'd be nice if you could detect if it's a Pandora One account.

does this work for cdn. IP addresses? regular pandora won't let cdn IP users
i know on android, you have to use ORBIT something app, forgot the name, and on iphone you use that hot shield free VPN

Thanks for the feedback GoodDayToDie & netham45.
The music playback did cut out eventually, but I'm guessing that's intentional (just the "are you still there?" check, perhaps) since it was after an hour or so of inactivity
>> I know why it fails to play after an hour....Connected Standby, I will fix this in the next release.
>> you could put a lot more info on the About page. Version would be good, for example, and I didn't actually see attribution for the CC-licensed artwork, just a mention that it was CC-BY
I will add version in About page. Currently if you run the app and in taskmanager search pandora.exe, right-click and go to properties you can see the version. I will add attribution too. Good catch!!
>> I can't forward to the next song from the volume menu.
Forwarding is currently disabled as Pandora does limit the number of skips after some time. If a users keeps on skipping he/she will eventually hit this limit and there is no UI to message this to the user. This also prevented my app to be certified in the store so i decided to disable it for now till i figure out a better way to deal with this.
It'd be nice if it could remember the last station and start playing on launch
Good feedback, I will add in the next release.
Related, it'd be nice if it automatically logged in on launch, not sending you to the login screen. Perhaps a settings option to clear the stored user settings, and make it log in automatically?
Currently it should automatically login based on the credentials stored on the machine. Do you want a way to clear the settings?
I suspect this is more of an OS issue, but outputting through a USB sound card and putting the device to sleep causes the audio to become garbled and broken
Interesting....Thanks for reporting it. I would need to get hold of a USB sound card to try this out. Was this on the RT device?
The formatting seems to be a bit off in portrait mode, the 'Log Out' button on the top clips over the station name, and there's a considerable amount of deadspace at the bottom of the screen (probably a good 1/3 of the screen is wasted)
Thanks Log Out button should not have appeared. Will fix it and i will try to make better use of the real estate.
And, are the advertisements on it yours or Pandora's? If they're Pandora's, it'd be nice if you could detect if it's a Pandora One account.
The advertisements are mine...Not Pandora's maybe i can reduce the number of advertisements if that is a big eye sore. Thanks again for the feedback.

cobyman7035 said:
does this work for cdn. IP addresses? regular pandora won't let cdn IP users
i know on android, you have to use ORBIT something app, forgot the name, and on iphone you use that hot shield free VPN
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use any VPN software to connect to US based server (I tried openvpn.net although has a data limit) you should be able to use the app to listen to pandora via the app. Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

hsalps said:
Thanks for the feedback GoodDayToDie & netham45.
Related, it'd be nice if it automatically logged in on launch, not sending you to the login screen. Perhaps a settings option to clear the stored user settings, and make it log in automatically?
Currently it should automatically login based on the credentials stored on the machine. Do you want a way to clear the settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It sends me to the login screen most of the time when I launch it, or if I come back to it if it's been inactive for 5-6 hours.
hsalps said:
Thanks for the feedback GoodDayToDie & netham45.
I suspect this is more of an OS issue, but outputting through a USB sound card and putting the device to sleep causes the audio to become garbled and broken
Interesting....Thanks for reporting it. I would need to get hold of a USB sound card to try this out. Was this on the RT device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I'm using RT, though further testing shows that I get the same result no matter what music app I use, so I blame the OS.

netham45 said:
It sends me to the login screen most of the time when I launch it, or if I come back to it if it's been inactive for 5-6 hours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you send me the PRadioInformation.log file which should be present in %appdata%\..\Local\Packages\28268splashtetra.PRadi o_80qntxqrmk3vj\LocalState folder? This should help me understand why it is not saving the password on RT.
netham45 said:
Yes I'm using RT, though further testing shows that I get the same result no matter what music app I use, so I blame the OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you also give details of the USB audio device like Manufacturer, Version etc? I will report this to Microsoft.

Superb app good sir! lives on my second monitor if not just for the cool background
Thanks!

cammykool said:
Superb app good sir! lives on my second monitor if not just for the cool background
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks cammykool!!

why not put it up in the windows store?

The previous version is actually already up there. We've been helping test the next release, at which point hsalps will presumably release a store update.

hsalps said:
Can you send me the PRadioInformation.log file which should be present in %appdata%\..\Local\Packages\28268splashtetra.PRadi o_80qntxqrmk3vj\LocalState folder? This should help me understand why it is not saving the password on RT.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't seem to get it to replicate it now. =/
hsalps said:
Can you also give details of the USB audio device like Manufacturer, Version etc? I will report this to Microsoft.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried it with two Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000 headsets and a generic unlabeled USB audio card.

so im using a test build?

cammykool said:
why not put it up in the windows store?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The store guys are approving the latest version of the app right now (Takes 7 days ). I will update this thread when it is available on the windows store. The older release is already in the store.

Related

[App] Sab Watch - Monitor Sabnzbd and search/download from NZBMatrix and Newzbin

After a long delay, I wanted to see if anyone wanted to do some Beta testing. Sab Watch has been changed quite significantly, and before it heads to the Marketplace, I thought it could use a little more real world testing.
If you're interested, Ill send you a XAP which you can use with no limitations... Just post here with your email. Note that the unofficial contract in the deal is that you provide a little bit of your experience. (Errors that you see, language translation errors, etc). Without further adeu, here's the changelog:
3/20/2011 - Version 2.0
Layout change. Quite a few things have moved around. I am interested in hearing what you think: [email protected]
Trial version added. The trial version is the same as full version, except for ads on main screen and a nag when loading the app.
Multi-Language support. Sab Watch will now identify your language, and change text to work for your language. This is experimental, but testing did not show any problems. If you would like to help translate, please contact me at [email protected]. If Sab Watch doesn't recgonize your language automatically, you can change to a language of your choice by going to App Settings.
Supported Languages:
English
English (United States)
Spanish
German
Japanese
Dutch
French
Quite a few UI improvements.
Much more input validation.
Sab Watch will now save your search history. You can clear the history in app settings.
HTTPS support. Note that you will need a valid certificate, or you'll need to add your server certificate onto your phone.
A great tutorial can be found here:
http://davesimm.blogspot.com/2011/03/using-openssl-to-secure-and-encrypt.html
Price Drop - Sab Watch will now sell for 99 Cents (USD)
Please email me for any requests, support, and questions at [email protected].
http://www.williammelani.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/changelog.html
It also should completely support landscape mode.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Bought the app, looks great but its a bit difficult to setup. Can you post some sort of guide.
serialtoon said:
Bought the app, looks great but its a bit difficult to setup. Can you post some sort of guide.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't currently post links, but I made a post about it on williammelani.com which has some pictures which may be helpful in setting up Sab Watch. Alternatively, you can try reading the information below for more help.
Yep, sorry about it, I actually just changed it to a Pivot/AppBar application which makes the configuration much easier.
On the configuration Page, click on the + Icon to add your first server (or a new one, etc)
From here, enter your Sabnzbd Credentials. You can click the blue 'Config Help...' for more detailed information, but the idea is this:
Server Name is a way for you to identify the server. For example, if you want to communicate on your local network when you're at home, you might call it 'home', and another server with a remote IP you might call 'away'.
Then, enter the IP you use to connect to Sabnzbd, as well as the port and API.
You can find the API key for sabnzbd by going to the 'Config' header and clicking on General. It should be a ~30 character long string.
The IP/host is something like 192.168.1.201, or if you have a domain name attached, it might be something like myhomeserver .com.
Back on the configuration page, you can directly enter your NZBMatrix details. You will need the username you use to login, as well as your API key. The API key can be found by clicking on Your Account at the top of the page after you've logged in.
Finally, you can set a server to be your 'default' by clicking the 'check' button. This server will be the one the application tries to automatically connect with when the application is launched.
When you've done all that, you need to connect to the server for the first time.
To select a server, click on the name until it highlights in your accented color. Then the 'Edit Server', 'Delete Server', 'Default Server', and 'Connect (PLAY icon)' will become available to use.
Your queue and history should show up after the first refresh, and continuously refresh based on the value you set on the 'status' page.
The application fully supports Context menus, meaning that in the three large lists (Queue, History, and Search), you can press and hold for a second to bring up a context menu to perform actions on the selected item.
Single clicking any item brings the 'detailed' view, which shows more information about the particular item you clicked on. On the queue page, you're presented with a few buttons to pause/resume the item, delete it, or move it to the top of the queue.
You can also change the category by clicking on either the Category header or the category itself.
History lets you view slightly more detailed history information, as well as delete the item from the history.
Search lets you view detailed results from NZBMatrix, and gives you a button to download to the server. This button, as well as the one from the context menu, will attempt to automatically sort downloads to their respective category.
I will add some pictures soon to help with the configuration. Sorry about that, Version 1.3 in ~ a week will make configuration and layout much easier.
Thanks again for the purchase
In the version currently in the app store, Newzbin is not available, although It was submitted 2 days ago so you should expect it soon.
Gotcha! Looks like i successfully added my Sab server. Thanks! Fantastic app so far!
Thanks I've just spent the last couple hours making the app use the pivot/appbar design, and I can't wait to release it It's much more intuitive and responsive, and the app seems more fluid in general.
williammel said:
Thanks I've just spent the last couple hours making the app use the pivot/appbar design, and I can't wait to release it It's much more intuitive and responsive, and the app seems more fluid in general.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im looking forward to it!
Check out a preview of Sab Watch 1.3 here: youtube.com/watch?v=VYJpHDeQCyo
New version looks great! Do you know if Sab Watch will work with https, I tried it real quick on my machine and it didn't appear to work. Could easily be a problem on my end though.
Goatmaster said:
New version looks great! Do you know if Sab Watch will work with https, I tried it real quick on my machine and it didn't appear to work. Could easily be a problem on my end though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks !
It doesnt support https yet, but only because I have hard-coded it to use http. Ill try to add it into 1.3 however. NZBMatrix is already using https.
Sab Watch 1.2 Is now in the marketplace!
Sab Watch 1.3 has been submitted to the marketplace. There was a weird goof/bug/something that happened in the 1.2 submission that renamed the app to 'sab watch (app)'.
I have been talking to support, and they advised me that it would be fixed if I submit a new app with the 'Sab Watch' name. If it doesn't fix it, ill just submit the app updates to each
Anyway, since 1.3 is considered a 'new' application, it goes through a more strenuous testing than if it was an update; therefore it might take a couple more days. Expect it by 12/9.
VERSION 1.3
NEW FEATURES
Entire App switched to Pivot/AppBar design. Makes performance on the main page better as it isn't always trying to display every list at once.
Added ability to set Pause Timer for SabNZBd server.
'Status' page renamed to extra. Still not quite sure what to do with it yet, as seems like less important information than anything else. Would appreciate suggestions.
Removed config page. This has been replaced by options on the Application Bar.
You may now set a custom amount of items to display for the Queue, History, and Newzbin Results. This will persist throughout application launches.
You may now set a custom refresh rate for the application. This will persist throughout application launches.
When entering the list of servers with no servers defined, you will now get prompted on how to begin adding your first server.
Clicking on a Warnings on the Detailed Server Information page shows the actual warnings received.
Trying to change the NZBMatrix category should be a little easier to bring up the category selector list. In addition, the selector list should load a little faster.
Added Turnstile transitions to pages.
You can now pick from a list of times to pause the server if you wish. This will make it much easier in most situations. Selectable times are 0 (off), 15 min, 30 min, 1 hour, 3 hours. You can still enter a number instead if you wish.
BUGFIXES
Certain Help dialogs contained outdated information from old versions, this is corrected and updated now.
Fixed numerous misspellings of the word occurred.
Fixed a bug where if the user left out their port on the server setup page, the port would be changed to 80, and then tell the user 80 is not a valid number.
Fixed some text placement inconsistencies on the Newzbin detailed post page.
Sab Watch now properly urlencodes search queries. I haven't observed any changes in search results, but YMMV.
Category on queue page should now stay at the line below the rest. This should prevent the 'jumpy' behavior you might have experienced, where as soon as it could fit on the previous line, it moved.
Made error messages that show when you attempt to use NZBMatrix or Newzbin without entering login information actually state that there is no information saved.
NOTES
Newzbin only supports 500 results returned. Any number higher than 500 will still return, at max, 500.
Setting the amount of items to display higher not only causes the application to lag while displaying them, but also uses considerably more data downloading the results, and CPU time to format the results. Keep the display amount reasonable to see good performance.
Here's an look at the upcoming Sab Watch 1.4, Which will feature RSS feeds of NZBMatrix, and possibly Newzbin. You can browse the categories in the same way as you can when select a search category.
Edited 12/5:
NZBMatrix feeds have been completed.
I bought it, thanks for your work so far.
Goatmaster said:
I bought it, thanks for your work so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Goatmaster. I sent you a pm about HTTPS; but the problem is basically this:
Windows Phone 7 requires a valid certificate to use https, which means that:
1. You must have a valid certificate on your server.
or
2. You must jump through quite a few hoops to copy a your invalid certificate to special file format, email it, and open the email in IE, verify it, etc.
I don't mind adding it, its not much work, but just getting your opinion on if you'd do step (2). I asked some of the SabNZBd developers what they thought and they told me probably no one has a valid certificate.
Microsoft said:
If I understand correctly you want to communicate with a Web Service that is running on your own computer using SSL over HTTP (HTTPS). If the certificate of the Certificate Authority (CA) that signed the SSL certificate used by the server hosting your Web Service is not in the certificate store of your Windows Phone 7 device you could do the following:
Export the CA certificate to a Base64-encoded or DER-encoded X.509 .CER file.
Send the .CER file as an email attachment to yourself or put it on a Web server so that you can open and install it from the email application or Internet Explorer Mobile on the device .
If there are any intermediate certificates used do the same for those since a .CER file can only install one certificate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Edit: Sab Watch 1.3 is going to be skipped, and 1.4 was sent to the marketplace last night.
This may be a dumb question but would this allow me to start downloads from my phone? I use newsbin currently and I am sure I can figure out sabNzb if it would allow me to search and add things to my download queue. Or is this app just to watch and make priority changes to your queue?
IVIadness said:
This may be a dumb question but would this allow me to start downloads from my phone? I use newsbin currently and I am sure I can figure out sabNzb if it would allow me to search and add things to my download queue. Or is this app just to watch and make priority changes to your queue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, you can download things onto your sabnzbd server from within the app.
You setup the server to have your NZBMatrix/Newzbin credentials, and then this app have your credentials too.
It works like this: You search for new content on Newzbin/NZBMatrix, or browse feeds in the new version (comes out today!).
Once you find what you need, you click download in the app, which 'sends' the link to sabnzbd, and it begins the download.
There's a video on youtube in the first page which shows how you'd use the app. It's the closest version to the version that should be out today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYJpHDeQCyo
ok that is awesome, looks like I may be buying this asap becuse this takes care of my remote issues the only time I remote into my pc from the phone is to queue stuff on Newzbin
Cool! I just got the "Approved Marketplace Submission" email a couple hours ago, should the new version should be in there today or at latest tomorrow.
Right now there is a version which works for newzbin currently in the marketplace however. There was a goof with the name so it's called
sab watch (app) in the marketplace, but the new version should fix it.
Cool got it working and it kicks ass thanks for saving me money and being really awesome and updating this thread to answer my questions, also works great with dyndns!!

[XAP] [Source] [Mango] MultiTaskToggle 1.1.1

Hi hackers,
Threw together something fun for you: a one-click (don't sue me, Bezos) app for enabling or disabling multitasking (no-dehydrate) on Mango. Fast app switching + full multitasking = awesome! Disabling multitasking when you need to save battery = convenient!
Credit to Jaxbot for working out the no-dehydration registry change. That's all this app is, just a convenient way to toggle that registry value.
I'm going to try to add support for more devices (Samsung Focus S and HTC phones that have lost the ability to use COMRegRW.dll).
UPDATE 1.1.1: Case sentitivity recognizing SAMSUNG now fixed, Samsung and LG confirmed!
UPDATE 1.1: Better Samsung support, possible LG support.
Features:
Secondary tile with deep linking! Shows current multitask state and toggles it when tapped.
Supports HTC, LG, Samsung phones.
HTC phones need to not have the latest HTC updates, as those break the Registry driver I used.
The latest DFT ROM works, and others that support TouchXplorer probably do too.
I'm working on a way to make it work with official ROMs as well - you can help out here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1335862
Works on Mango! Uses no homebrew DLLs.
Limitations:
No Dell/Asus/Toshiba/Nokia/etc. support yet (find me a registry function and I'll add them, though).
Doesn't work pre-Mango; it's a 7.1 app (could be downgraded pretty easily).
Requires interop-unlock.
Instructions:
Unpack ZIP file and find the XAP in MultiTaskToggle\Bin\Debug.
Install app on an interop-unlocked Mango phone.
Run app and ensure it loads the current value.
[Optional] Select the value you want; it will set immediately.
[Optional] Tap "Live Tile" button to create a tap-to-toggle secondary live tile.
This app is a simple wrapper for the OEM registry edit DLLs to make use of Jaxbot's hack. I wrote it largely just for familiarity with mango homebrew. The source is a bit of a mess right now - I took an existing homebrew library and beat it savagely until it worked on Mango, but didn't really put the pieces away neatly afterward - but it's simple enough I expect somebody else can use it for good things. Personally, I plan to make an app that allows easy general-purpose registry edits on Mango, though I still don't see any way to do registry browsing.
Thanks to XDA member MarysFetus for taking the time to do a visual overhaul of the app, with nice icons and such. It's much more artistic than my solid-color tiles with simple text! Grab the xap directly below. You can also visit the site: http://www.suicideclown.com
Thanks to XDA member singularity0821 for doing more visuals for the app, with a new (and flipping) live tile. I've included that XAP below as well.
Downloading to test now.
Oh. wow nice tool.Fast toggle MultiTask no need to edit registry by using touchexplorer and connection setsetup
Doesn´t run on OMNIA 7.
"System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMExeption (0x80070032)..."
Custom Skin
Great App,
but personally wanted to do an custom design, so I've changed color values in the MainPage.xaml file, but for some reason I am getting an error while building the xap.
Anyone knows how to fix that?
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Error Code is in German.
@Moderators: delete if this necessary.
MarysFetus said:
Great App,
but personally wanted to do an custom design, so I've changed color values in the MainPage.xaml file, but for some reason I am getting an error while building the xap.
Anyone knows how to fix that?
Error Code is in German.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Error in English;
Code:
C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft\Silverlight for Phone\v4.0\Microsoft.Silverlight.Common.targets(249,9): error : Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Phone.InteropServices, Version=7.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=24eec0d8c86cda1e' or one of its dependencies. Strong name validation failed. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8013141A)
Thank u very much.....
It works great in my HTC Mozart....
regards
work on HTC HD2 Mango 7720 (BTTF)
edit:
change between Dehydrating and Multitasking with Live Tile also working
MarysFetus said:
Great App,
but personally wanted to do an custom design, so I've changed color values in the MainPage.xaml file, but for some reason I am getting an error while building the xap.
Anyone knows how to fix that?
Error Code is in German.
@Moderators: delete if this necessary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read: http://thounsell.co.uk/2010/11/avoiding-reflection-adding-the-interopservices-library-to-the-wp7-sdk/
fiinix said:
Read: http://thounsell.co.uk/2010/11/avoiding-reflection-adding-the-interopservices-library-to-the-wp7-sdk/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure to read the comments about using Visual Studio Command Prompt. I had to do this after copying in the dll & editing the filelist XML.
Yeah, I had to get around the Strong Name Validation too, before it would compile. People have said it shouldn't be necessary but I ran into it all the time.
Thanks for testing, folks! Let me know if you find any bugs or have feature requests.
contable said:
Doesn´t run on OMNIA 7.
"System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMExeption (0x80070032)..."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Contable,
That's unfortunate, but I need more info to fix it. There should be a stack trace; can you tell me where in my code the exception is coming from? It's probably either the way I'm accessing the registry on Samsung, or the way I'm deciding whether it's a Samsung device or not. Either one can probably be fixed, if I know what's broken.
Unfortunately, the old way of determining what device I'm on (checking a registry key) doesn't work until I know what registry reader to use (the generic reader doesn't work in mango).
Big thanks if you help me get this working!
Hah... you ever felt like a total idiot before, doing something the unreliable and hard way when there's no need to? Yeah... there's an official API to get the OEM name. LOL @ all those registry-based versions.
New version coming soon. Fixes to Samsung support; please test again. Possible LG support too, please test that also! Still needs Mango.
EDIT: Update is live, now! Please let me know if it works on non-HTC, and give me a bug report if it doesn't. Thanks!
GoodDayToDie said:
Hi Contable,
That's unfortunate, but I need more info to fix it. There should be a stack trace; can you tell me where in my code the exception is coming from? It's probably either the way I'm accessing the registry on Samsung, or the way I'm deciding whether it's a Samsung device or not. Either one can probably be fixed, if I know what's broken.
Unfortunately, the old way of determining what device I'm on (checking a registry key) doesn't work until I know what registry reader to use (the generic reader doesn't work in mango).
Big thanks if you help me get this working!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here my reply:
V1.1 doesn´t work either. After starting the app on my screen appears a message: "Unknown Manufacturer: SAMSUNG Please report at XDA..."
GoodDayToDie said:
Hah... you ever felt like a total idiot before, doing something the unreliable and hard way when there's no need to? Yeah... there's an official API to get the OEM name. LOL @ all those registry-based versions.
New version coming soon. Fixes to Samsung support; please test again. Possible LG support too, please test that also! Still needs Mango.
EDIT: Update is live, now! Please let me know if it works on non-HTC, and give me a bug report if it doesn't. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just downloaded latest and installed on LG Quantum. app works fine, live tile works fine as well. not sure if it does what it says though. still tinkering to see if the settings actually have an effect. should I see a change o fthe setting under settings/background tasks?
That always lists Tasks "on", irrespective of what I do with your app.
edit1: hmm. just tried to turn the Tasks under background tasks in WP7 to off. Now I can't turn it back on. any idea why that is?
edit2: in addition to the observation above it seems some of my multitask programs stopped working in multitasking (they crash on resume, or refresh instead of resume - e.g. bbc news mobile, wpcentral). Is it possilbe your program can have this effect and how to fix it?
edit3: it seems it's only bbc news that crashes. others seem to work fine. maybe that wasn't working before I sideloaded your app (likely).
contable said:
Here my reply:
V1.1 doesn´t work either. After starting the app on my screen appears a message: "Unknown Manufacturer: SAMSUNG Please report at XDA..."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL case sensitivity fail. Thanks for testing though, try version 1.1.1
GoodDayToDie said:
LOL case sensitivity fail. Thanks for testing though, try version 1.1.1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks button is pushed.
V1.1.1 is confirmed to work on OMNIA 7.
I like the concept of the live-tile toggle. A Bluetooth toogle is still a dream...
derausgewanderte said:
just downloaded latest and installed on LG Quantum. app works fine, live tile works fine as well. not sure if it does what it says though. still tinkering to see if the settings actually have an effect. should I see a change o fthe setting under settings/background tasks?
That always lists Tasks "on", irrespective of what I do with your app.
edit1: hmm. just tried to turn the Tasks under background tasks in WP7 to off. Now I can't turn it back on. any idea why that is?
edit2: in addition to the observation above it seems some of my multitask programs stopped working in multitasking (they crash on resume, or refresh instead of resume - e.g. bbc news mobile, wpcentral). Is it possilbe your program can have this effect and how to fix it?
edit3: it seems it's only bbc news that crashes. others seem to work fine. maybe that wasn't working before I sideloaded your app (likely).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the report that it works on LG! First post updated.
You can read more about the change by reading about Jaxbot's multitasking hack - that's all this is, a convenient way to enable or remove it. The simple asnwer to "what does it do" is that if you background an app (hit Start, hit Camera, hit Search, lock the screen, answer a phone call, tap on a streen-top toast, switch apps uing Mango's fast app switcher, etc.) the app you were running won't exit. This means it doesn't need to be re-loaded when you switch back, and also means that if it's running a timer or similar in the background, that can still run. However, it also consumes RAM and may decrease battery life.
Mango is completely un-aware of this hack, even though it makes fast app switching work better. Settings -> Background Tasks (a new Mango control panel) has nothing to do with it and shows no changes when I enable or disable the hack.
If you want to test if it's working, this is easy. Enable multitasking using the app. Then, open any NoDo app with a significant load time (anything from Facebook to Plants vs. Zombies). Once that app is loaded, hit the Start button. Then, hit the Back button. If the hack is working, the app will resume instantly, no re-loading at all.
contable said:
Thanks button is pushed.
V1.1.1 is confirmed to work on OMNIA 7.
I like the concept of the live-tile toggle. A Bluetooth toogle is still a dream...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, thanks for testing and reporting!
GoodDayToDie said:
Thanks for the report that it works on LG! First post updated.
Mango is completely un-aware of this hack, even though it makes fast app switching work better. Settings -> Background Tasks (a new Mango control panel) has nothing to do with it and shows no changes when I enable or disable the hack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the clarification. Got it. It's good to know it's flying under Mango's radar. Just wasn't sure. The change in the Background Tasks I see must be something else. Apparently something I do not understand at this point. It showed "on" before, now after turning it "off" I can't turn it back to "on".
Wait wait hold up... Are you telling me you have interop working on Mango?
Looks like I've been out of it for the last few months. Good work, to all the developers who have been working towards this, and hey, glad to see my hack is still useful come Mango time

[APP] Spotlite - Listen to Spotify [Spotify Client for Premium/Unlimited Users]

Since Spotify will not build a store app for Windows 8/8.1, I decided to develop my own app to listen to Spotify. It took a few months to understand how to call in to Spotify but after many trials it is working and stable. It has been on the Windows Store for over a week now and I have fixed many glaring glitches to make the experience smooth. Currently it only supports Spotify Premium/Unlimited users as Free accounts have to show spotify advertisements at regular interval and have many restrictions. If you have a Spotify Account and would like to try this on Windows 8 then head over to the Windows Store and download it. Here is the link to the description page and the download link is in the page. It is only available in all the countries where Spotify is available. Feel free to report any glitches on this thread or at the spotlite website.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Download Page
[Update 10/16/2013: It now allows free spotify users to login and play tracks]
hsalps said:
Since Spotify will not build a store app for Windows 8/8.1, I decided to develop my own app to listen to Spotify. It took a few months to reverse engineer Spotify APIs but finally it is working and stable. It has been on the Windows Store for over a week now and I have fixed many glaring glitches to make the experience smooth. Currently it only supports Spotify Premium/Unlimited users as Free accounts have to show spotify advertisements at regular interval and have many restrictions. If you have a Spotify Account and would like to try this on Windows 8 then head over to the Windows Store and download it. Here is the link to the description page and the download link is in the page. It is only available in select countries like US, Sweden, Germany, UK, Mexico etc. Feel free to report any glitches on this thread or at the spotlite website.
Thanks
Hsalps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great work, I've seen it working with a friend of mine.
Unfortunately, my store account is dutch and I can't find/install the app.
Can you fix that, it's much appreciated if you can.
gerke said:
Great work, I've seen it working with a friend of mine.
Unfortunately, my store account is dutch and I can't find/install the app.
Can you fix that, it's much appreciated if you can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here ... Awesome initiative, and or those who do not see it in the store (yet), change your location to United Kingdom and it will appear. Install it and set your location back to your original location.
Wrong location query in marketplace?
hsalps said:
It is only available in select countries like US, Sweden, Germany, UK, Mexico etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey there, thanks for this great app!
I really love the look and have been wondering for quite some time, why Spotify won't build a Metro app.
But I have one problem with your app: it requires a US location.
To clarify, I use two Windows 8 PCs and am based in Germany.
On my main PC, I could easily access your app via the market place, while on my tablet it just wouldn't find the app.
After running through all my settings, I found out that my main PC (for whatever reason) was set to US location (settings panel - region - location).
When I checked my tablet, it was set to Germany...
After changing this the app finally appeared on the tablet as well
Could you please correct this?
Thanks.
FrozenLord said:
Hey there, thanks for this great app!
I really love the look and have been wondering for quite some time, why Spotify won't build a Metro app.
But I have one problem with your app: it requires a US location.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hsalps said:
It is only available in select countries like US, Sweden, Germany, UK, Mexico etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It mentioned the region lock in the original post, but you should have been able to get it in germany...
Currently listening to my spotify playlists on this app! works great, and a big thanks to OP:good:
SixSixSevenSeven said:
It mentioned the region lock in the original post, but you should have been able to get it in germany...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think i was very tired fixing all the bugs when i wrote the original post. Spotlite is being launched in various countries in a phased manner, so far it is available in Australia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hong Kong SAR, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Sweden, UK, US. I will launch the app in all the markets tonight and it should be available in the store by tomorrow.
Your app is awesome, thanks a lot! I got one problem though: Playback often stops, telling me that my internet connection is too slow. Which certainly isn't the case. I never had that problem with my pc or my mobile phone and I'm always streaming the highest quality possible. Any idea?
Sephi said:
Your app is awesome, thanks a lot! I got one problem though: Playback often stops, telling me that my internet connection is too slow. Which certainly isn't the case. I never had that problem with my pc or my mobile phone and I'm always streaming the highest quality possible. Any idea?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmmm. Is it possible for you to reproduce the problem and send me the Spotlite.log file?
Here are the instructions on how to find this log file.
1. Press windows key + R
2. Type %localappdata%\Packages\49573Spotlite.Spotlite-ListentoSpotify_z5pndgmqb06wp\LocalState and press enter
3. Open Spotlite.log and remove all lines starting containing the string "name":"connect","id":"0". I do not want your auth token
4. PM me the modified spotlite.log file.
Im getting errors all the time now it's barely working. Maybe its because I'm still on preview?
Sephi said:
Im getting errors all the time now it's barely working. Maybe its because I'm still on preview?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sephi, there is a new version of Spotlite 1.0.0.36 on the windows store that caches tracks so you should see less of these errors. It would be nice if you could give it a try and let me know how it goes.
I still get random logouts after 2-3 minutes...right now I really can't use the app, too many errors. I'd buy it if it really works. There is also some bug with playlists I guess. I used the search and the things I clicked were automatically added as a playlist although I never intended that...
---------- Post added at 12:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:33 PM ----------
"Internal Error - please try again later" after 2-3 minutes is what always happens.
---------- Post added at 01:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:39 PM ----------
"Internal Error - please try again later" after 2-3 minutes is what always happens.
Sephi said:
I still get random logouts after 2-3 minutes...right now I really can't use the app, too many errors. I'd buy it if it really works. There is also some bug with playlists I guess. I used the search and the things I clicked were automatically added as a playlist although I never intended that...
---------- Post added at 12:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:33 PM ----------
"Internal Error - please try again later" after 2-3 minutes is what always happens.
---------- Post added at 01:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:39 PM ----------
"Internal Error - please try again later" after 2-3 minutes is what always happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback.
I suspect that your tablet is going to sleep after a few minutes of inactivity, which is done to conserve battery. One way to avoid the problem you are facing is to keep the tablet plugged in to a power outlet and make the following changes:
From the tiled Start Screen, swipe up from the bottom of the Tablet and go to All Apps. From here, you can swipe your way left and choose Control Panel from the last grouping under the Windows System subhead.
Choose the System and Security option when Control Panel opens.
Find the Power Options area and open it.
On the left-hand side of the Power Options area, choose Change when the computer sleeps.
Set your preferred options (I recommend "Never") for the Plugged in value and Save Changes.
Let me know if this fixes your problem.
Also I highly recommend Windows 8.1 RT some of the issues that you are seeing could be related to slow performance in Windows 8 RT
hsalps said:
Thanks for the feedback.
I suspect that your tablet is going to sleep after a few minutes of inactivity, which is done to conserve battery. One way to avoid the problem you are facing is to keep the tablet plugged in to a power outlet and make the following changes:
From the tiled Start Screen, swipe up from the bottom of the Tablet and go to All Apps. From here, you can swipe your way left and choose Control Panel from the last grouping under the Windows System subhead.
Choose the System and Security option when Control Panel opens.
Find the Power Options area and open it.
On the left-hand side of the Power Options area, choose Change when the computer sleeps.
Set your preferred options (I recommend "Never") for the Plugged in value and Save Changes.
Let me know if this fixes your problem.
Also I highly recommend Windows 8.1 RT some of the issues that you are seeing could be related to slow performance in Windows 8 RT
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey there already tried that an I am on 8.1. Doesn't help either. Also on the login screen it always tells me =invalid credentials = before I use Facebook login.
Sephi said:
Hey there already tried that an I am on 8.1. Doesn't help either. Also on the login screen it always tells me =invalid credentials = before I use Facebook login.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is strange. What type of account do you have? Free/Unlimited/Premium? Do you have non-English characters in your password?
Regarding your early question, when you click on a playlist that you searched it will get added to your account. Currently there is no way to view the playlist before adding it. To remove the playlist you can use Spotify Desktop.
hsalps said:
That is strange. What type of account do you have? Free/Unlimited/Premium? Do you have non-English characters in your password?
Regarding your early question, when you click on a playlist that you searched it will get added to your account. Currently there is no way to view the playlist before adding it. To remove the playlist you can use Spotify Desktop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using a Premium Account and I'm connected via Facebook. No non-english-chars in my PW. Is there a way to completly deinstall and reinstall the program? I did it before but I have the feeling that some stats stay so it's not a complete new reinstall. You know what I mean?
Somehow I only see 15 out of my 40+ playlists. I have a spotify premium account.
Is this a limitation of the app, or do I have to buy it to see more?
If not, is there anything I can do to fix this?
jhermans said:
Somehow I only see 15 out of my 40+ playlists. I have a spotify premium account.
Is this a limitation of the app, or do I have to buy it to see more?
If not, is there anything I can do to fix this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im unable to download it. Im located in the states. Can you fix that, thanks
hsalps said:
[Update 10/16/2013: It now allows free spotify users to login and play tracks]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the windows store and after installing the app tells it shouldn't be used with free accounts.
I couldn't find the exact part of the terms and condition that doesn't allow you to use a third party app.
I was wondering if we arre supposed to use the app with free accounts or not?
Hi... Really like to try your app, but can't install it, when I go the link it didn't show in the Store, also tried to search on the store and didn't found the app. I'm from Bolivia if this info helps.

Requesting feedback on new app - NotiFire

Update 5/8/14 - Just wanted to let everyone know that I've released this app under a new name to the Amazon Appstore, now called "Signal for Fire TV". I really appreciate all the feedback and most the suggestions made it into the initial version, including Tasker support. I've also removed the temporary demo version.
Some links:
Download the app here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/mas/dl/android?p=com.jigawattlabs.signal
Details on app here: http://www.jigawattlabs.com/signal-for-fire-tv
Tasker instructions here: http://www.jigawattlabs.com/tasker-instructions-for-signal
Thanks for all the help!
-Gregg
*********************
Update 4/28/14 - just uploaded new version to (removed)
Added help screens and fixed a few bugs. I think this is feature complete for the first release, except for how to charge for it. Demo and Paid version, or in app purchase?
*********************
Update 4/27/14 - just released an updated version of the app. Please install on both the FireTV and your Android phone/tablet. Changes include:
- Send notifications to all FireTV devices (although the Send button on the FireTVs tab only sends to the currently selected FireTV)
- Privacy settings on FireTV side to turn on/off the sender name and the actual message
- Added ability to get notified when any app posts a notification.
To enable app notifications, the following are REQUIRED
- You must be running Android 4.3 or above. The app takes advantage of a new app notification feature introduced in 4.3
- You MUST first hit the "Enable App Notifications" button in the APPS tab, and make sure the NotiFireTV app has a checkbox next to it
- Select the apps you want to get notifications on. For example - Gmail and mail are likely candidates
Please post your comments and suggestions. And thanks for all the great feedback.
*********************
Hi all. I've developed a new app specifically for the FireTV called NotiFire, and I'm looking for feedback before I release it. The basic idea is that if you get a phone call or text message on your phone or tablet, a notification will pop up on the FireTV showing you the notification and who it's from.
It doesn't matter if your Android device isn't near by or silent - it just needs to be connected to the same wifi network (and same channel if you have multiple channels). I plan to add additional notifications over time.
There is one apk, and it needs to be installed on both the FireTV and your Android device. You can download the latest version here: http://jigawattlabs.com/notifire/NotiFire.apk
On the FireTV, do the following:
- adb connect (ip address of your firetv)
- adb install NotiFire.apk
- From FireTV home screen, go to Settings->Applications->NotiFire->Launch Application
- You can leave all the check boxes checked if you want, but you should set the FireTV name - maybe something like "Living Room"
- Exit back to the home screen
On your Android device
- Launch the NotiFire.apk
- If all goes well, within a few seconds you should see a line in the list for your FireTV. If you have multiple FireTV devices, they should show up
- Select your FireTV and it's name should turn orange to show it's now the default FireTV
- Go to the Notifications tab and make sure the notifications you want to send to the FireTV are checked
- Exit the app
At this point, any time you get a call or SMS message, you should get a notification on the FireTV - even in the middle of watching a movie or whatever. The NotiFire app doesn't need to be visible on either the FireTV or your Andorid device since they run background services that will also start up when you reboot either device. So you really don't need to launch the app any more on either device, except if the FireTV IP address changes. If it does, just launch the NotiFire app again and re-select your FireTV.
You can also just send a simple message from your phone to the FireTV by entering some text at the bottom of the Fire TVs tab and hitting the send button.
Permissions
Note that there are a lot of permissions that the app requests. Here is an explanation:
Checking WiFi status and sending messages across the network:
INTERNET
ACCESS_WIFI_STATE
ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE
CHANGE_WIFI_STATE
Keeps the devices going into such a deep sleep they won't respond when needed
WAKE_LOCK
For device discovery, send broadcast to all devices on network to see which are FireTVs:
CHANGE_WIFI_MULTICAST_STATE
See if my background process is running:
GET_TASKS
Reverse lookup to get name of caller/SMS sender
READ_CONTACTS
For caching files
READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
Detect if a phone call or SMS message is received
READ_PHONE_STATE
RECEIVE_SMS
Automatically start background service on startup
RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED
Known issues:
- (Fixed by locking orientation) After an orientation change on the phone/tablet, app doesn't seem to detect FireTV devices. For now, just close and open app again
- (Fixed) Preference changes on FireTV don't seem to take effect until you close and restart the NotiFire app again
Just tested sideloading the app to the Fire and installing it on my Note 2. Works like a charm! Thanks for a great app
Will it be able to notifications beside phone calls and SMS? Should be fairly easy to add with the current implementation already in place.
I think so. Just wanted to get the basic framework in place first and then add on from there. I'll have to see how to get copies of all notifications.
Thanks for testing!
-Gregg
Equalizer said:
Just tested sideloading the app to the Fire and installing it on my Note 2. Works like a charm! Thanks for a great app
Will it be able to notifications beside phone calls and SMS? Should be fairly easy to add with the current implementation already in place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will try today, thanks
:good: Works great on my Nexus 5 and Fire TV. The only thing is that I can't actually see my FireTV being paired but it works. The app is fantastic, you should develop it further, I would pay up to 4.99 for a full-functioning version. Can it connect more than 1 device, for example my phone and my gf's phone?
Thanks for testing Solo, and for suggesting a price. It would great to get other opinions here on that too. Also, how about the name? I did find there were a couple of other apps called NotiFire, none related to the FireTV.
I designed the app so on the FireTV side, it will receive notifications from multiple devices on the same network. So if your phone and your girlfriend's phone are both connected to the same network, you would see notifications on the FireTV from either. And on the phone/tablet side, it does support showing any number of FireTV devices, but right now it will only send notifications to the one that was last selected. Do you think it should send to all FireTV devices? If you do try it with multiple phones/tablets, let me know how it works out for you.
I also think I have a way to capture notifications from any app, although that feature would only work on Android 4.3 and higher.
One other thing - the version I posted is a timed demo, so it will expire around May 19th unless I replace it. Hopefully I'll post the production version before then.
-Gregg
solo said:
:good: Works great on my Nexus 5 and Fire TV. The only thing is that I can't actually see my FireTV being paired but it works. The app is fantastic, you should develop it further, I would pay up to 4.99 for a full-functioning version. Can it connect more than 1 device, for example my phone and my gf's phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
greno1 said:
Thanks for testing Solo, and for suggesting a price. It would great to get other opinions here on that too. Also, how about the name? I did find there were a couple of other apps called NotiFire, none related to the FireTV.
I designed the app so on the FireTV side, it will receive notifications from multiple devices on the same network. So if your phone and your girlfriend's phone are both connected to the same network, you would see notifications on the FireTV from either. And on the phone/tablet side, it does support showing any number of FireTV devices, but right now it will only send notifications to the one that was last selected. Do you think it should send to all FireTV devices? If you do try it with multiple phones/tablets, let me know how it works out for you.
I also think I have a way to capture notifications from any app, although that feature would only work on Android 4.3 and higher.
One other thing - the version I posted is a timed demo, so it will expire around May 19th unless I replace it. Hopefully I'll post the production version before then.
-Gregg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it would make sense for the app to send notifications to all FireTVs; I have 2 so I wouldn't want to have to select each time I am moving around.
The thing is, I don't even see the FireTV in the device list:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Yet it is functioning just fine!
I will try with multiple phones next week.
Gmail and Viber is what I am looking forward to
OK, I think that makes sense. I'll have it send to all FireTV devices. There will also be an option on each FireTV to turn off some notifications.
There is an issue with an orientation change that once you rotate it, it won't show any FireTVs. Closing the app and restarting works, but I also have a fix ready to go soon. But once the phone/tablet finds a FireTV, it knows the IP address and can send messages to it - even if it can't find the FireTV again on subsequent scans.
I now have a way of capturing all notifications, so I'm working on the UI for that to turn on/off notification forwarding to the FireTV. But it should be able to show whatever text is in the notification - like an email summary.
-Gregg
solo said:
I think it would make sense for the app to send notifications to all FireTVs; I have 2 so I wouldn't want to have to select each time I am moving around.
The thing is, I don't even see the FireTV in the device list
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works on my Sony Xperia Z1s.
The only issue I had was although I did set the name of the device on the firetv, when launching the app on the phone it just showed "firetv (no name)" - but it functions and seems to work well.
I have a suggestion. How about two privacy options for SMS notifications.
- Do Not Show contact Name for SMS notifications.
- Do Not Show actual message content.
It would just be nice to have so everyone using your firetv does not see your private info.
Keep up the great work. I like where this app is going.
That's a great suggestion - I'll add those privacy options.
Regarding setting the name, there is currently a bug where the settings on the FireTV don't seem to take effect until the app shuts down and restarts itself. So if you did a force stop on the FireTV client and started it again, you should see the new name.
-Gregg
jpage101 said:
Works on my Sony Xperia Z1s.
The only issue I had was although I did set the name of the device on the firetv, when launching the app on the phone it just showed "firetv (no name)" - but it functions and seems to work well.
I have a suggestion. How about two privacy options for SMS notifications.
- Do Not Show contact Name for SMS notifications.
- Do Not Show actual message content.
It would just be nice to have so everyone using your firetv does not see your private info.
Keep up the great work. I like where this app is going.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is an awesome app, can't wait for a full-fledged version :fingers-crossed:
I ran into a bit of a snag. My hope was to have one APK that you install on both the FireTV and your Android device. But to enable 3rd party app notifications, I need to build the APK on 4.3 or higher. But the Amazon SDK is built on 4.2. So it looks like I'll need to manage two apps. Ugh.
greno1 said:
That's a great suggestion - I'll add those privacy options.
Regarding setting the name, there is currently a bug where the settings on the FireTV don't seem to take effect until the app shuts down and restarts itself. So if you did a force stop on the FireTV client and started it again, you should see the new name.
-Gregg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can call it Girlfriend mode
Got it, thanks.
Great idea! I'd say for your roadmap it'd be great if you could incorporate IFTTT and Tasked support.
Also, I would change the name...I think the premise of the app is great and you'd do well to make the name generic so that it could be used on other devices (googletv, chromecast, tablets (think integrated custom installations in cars etc))
Just my 2 cents, great work!
Sent from my BN NookHD+ using Tapatalk
Thanks for the suggestions. IFTTT and Tasked support is a good idea. Maybe I'll add that in a subsequent release. But it shouldn't be too hard to implement.
I hear what you are saying about the name. I also develop apps for Chromecast and Roku, but this type of notification over top of other running applications/media wouldn't be possible on those platforms because they don't support multitasking (at least as far as I've been able to determine). It could run on other Android devices, but you probably are already getting the same notifications on those anyway - except for phone and text messages.
I should have another more complete version out in the next couple of days. It will support app notifications as well as calls and SMS messages. It will send to all FireTVs, not just the currently selected one. It will also have the privacy settings (or Girlfriend Mode) on the FireTV.
I also found a way to keep this as one APK and still compile with Android 4.4. For those trying something similar, I created a library project that was built on the Amazon 4.2.2 SDK, and my main project I built with Android 4.4 but linked in the library. It built fine and runs ok on both Android and FireTV devices.
I really appreciate the feedback - keep it coming! Especially on the name.
Edvard_Greig said:
Great idea! I'd say for your roadmap it'd be great if you could incorporate IFTTT and Tasked support.
Also, I would change the name...I think the premise of the app is great and you'd do well to make the name generic so that it could be used on other devices (googletv, chromecast, tablets (think integrated custom installations in cars etc))
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure thing, I don't develop for these platforms, but for something like Chromecast at least could you wrap the stream with effectively a dynamic transparent subtitle?
Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk
Oh man, I will test this on my Moto x when I get home. Very promising.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
App update - 4/27
Based on the great feedback from everyone, I just posted a new version of the app. Please install on both the FireTV and your Android phone/tablet. Please see first post in thread for download link and instructions.
Changes include:
- Send notifications to all FireTV devices (although the Send button on the FireTVs tab only sends to the currently selected FireTV)
- Privacy settings on FireTV side to turn on/off the sender name and the actual message
- Added ability to get notified when any app posts a notification.
To enable app notifications, the following are REQUIRED
- You must be running Android 4.3 or above. The app takes advantage of a new app notification feature introduced in 4.3
- You MUST first hit the "Enable App Notifications" button in the APPS tab, and make sure the NotiFireTV app has a checkbox next to it
- Select the apps you want to get notifications on. For example - Gmail and mail are likely candidates
Also make sure you actually run the NotiFire app on the FireTV side after doing the adb install.
Does anyone have two or more FireTVs they can test with? I only have one myself.
Please post your comments and suggestions. And thanks for all the great feedback.
I supposed it could if I could control the stream. But I couldn't add that on top of, say, the stream from Netflix.
Edvard_Greig said:
Sure thing, I don't develop for these platforms, but for something like Chromecast at least could you wrap the stream with effectively a dynamic transparent subtitle?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just uploaded new version to (removed)
This is feature complete for release one, and would really appreciate some feedback before I release it.
I'm thinking of using in-app purchase to unlock the full set of features. What do you think would be reasonable functionality to offer free for people to test with before purchasing? I was thinking of just enabling either phone calls or SMS messages, and doing an in app purchase would unlock all the functionality. I'm also thinking of offering it for $3.99. Thoughts?
Also, since users will need to go to the Amazon app store to get the app installed on the FireTV, I guess it doesn't make sense to make this available on any other app stores, like Google Play. Otherwise people would wind up having to pay twice - once for the FireTV app and one for the phone/tablet.
Still trying to decide on an app name, but I'm now thinking NotiFireTV since there are other apps called Notifire. I still welcome feedback on this. I also changed the app icon.
-Gregg

Upgrading Glory Star Nebula 21.5" Tablet to basic Android Rom

I just bought an Echelon spin bike and it came with a Glory Star Nebula 21.5" (glorystartouch.com/product/Kiosk-Tablet/NEB-215) The specs are on that page. It runs android 7.1.2 and uses a kiosk lock ap called STAROS
I am able to get to the main program and sideload most anything.
Tap at the bottom right corner 5 times, password is either "0000" or "1085"
I've installed Nova Launcher which helps, but most apps I have installed need a newer version. I have not been able to get play store working yet as the google services is touchy.
I'm looking for a basic android experience. The native app works on all android devices so i can just install and run it when cycling and wanting to use their app.
Any help or ideas would be good.
Also, they have disabled the power button so I have to use a small ubs keyboard when i boot into the android recovery mode.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
I had to remove all links.
If you get this to work, let me know. My wife and I just bought two of these bikes!
cashen said:
I just bought an Echelon spin bike and it came with a Glory Star Nebula 21.5" (glorystartouch.com/product/Kiosk-Tablet/NEB-215) The specs are on that page. It runs android 7.1.2 and uses a kiosk lock ap called STAROS
I am able to get to the main program and sideload most anything.
Tap at the bottom right corner 5 times, password is either "0000" or "1085"
I've installed Nova Launcher which helps, but most apps I have installed need a newer version. I have not been able to get play store working yet as the google services is touchy.
I'm looking for a basic android experience. The native app works on all android devices so i can just install and run it when cycling and wanting to use their app.
Any help or ideas would be good.
Also, they have disabled the power button so I have to use a small ubs keyboard when i boot into the android recovery mode.
I had to remove all links.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here! Looking to get it to a basic android experience. Found a link (not allowed to post.. ) to the knowledge base, from the Glory Star Touch site... Support > Developer Community.
Takes you to a Zoho site with a knowledge base and some FAQ stuff.
There's some basic info in there, including how to upgrade the firmware to Android 7.1... Good place to start.
I'm going to try and mess with it later tonight after I get home.
I'm wondering if ADB debugging mode is enabled?
So I've done some poking around here
As my hastily thrown together username implies, I'm new to android development so take that into consideration but my findings so far:
- There's no GFS ID associated to the device (at least after a factory reset) which will restrict you from the google play store
- ADB is not enabled but is accessible through the hidden developer settings
- If you brick your device trying to upgrade you'll likely need to contact glory star to flash it (with their own firmware) at a charge
- Overall community for this product is very quiet, haven't seen many discussions on the internet mentioning it at all
I'm going to keep looking into this but please keep the thread posted if you make progress!
dtrain83 said:
Same here! Looking to get it to a basic android experience. Found a link (not allowed to post.. ) to the knowledge base, from the Glory Star Touch site... Support > Developer Community.
Takes you to a Zoho site with a knowledge base and some FAQ stuff.
There's some basic info in there, including how to upgrade the firmware to Android 7.1... Good place to start.
I'm going to try and mess with it later tonight after I get home.
I'm wondering if ADB debugging mode is enabled?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dev menu gone?
Same here, and i while I had messed around in the STAROS earlier in the month, the touching repeatedly on the settings screen appears to be gone. Does anyone know where they moved it or are we SOL?
Got Netflix installed on Echelon-5xs
I got Netflix installed on the nebula tablet with echelon 5xs bike.
Process is really simple:
1. Tap lower right corner of the screen five times and then put 1085 as the password;
2. Unlock the startos, with either 0000 or 1085 as the password and admin as the username;
3. Plugin a keyboard to the USB port, use win+b to open browser;
4. Open google and search for Netflix apk, and download the Netflix apk and install it;
5. Back to Staros app, and change the Staros mode to multiple apps mode, and change its settings by adding Netflix to the list in addition to EchelonFit;
6. Click “Launch Now” in Staros app, and now you get to a screen where you can select which app you want to run.
Another tip, press win+n to access drop down menu and system settings etc.
Ptinga,
That is awesome, thanks for figuring this out! Do you think it is also impossible to install YouTube? Also, when you turn the bike on does it have the apps pop up first thing and u just select which one you want?
Thanks in advance for your time!
ptinga said:
I got Netflix installed on the nebula tablet with echelon 5xs bike.
Process is really simple:
1. Tap lower right corner of the screen five times and then put 1085 as the password;
2. Unlock the startos, with either 0000 or 1085 as the password and admin as the username;
3. Plugin a keyboard to the USB port, use win+b to open browser;
4. Open google and search for Netflix apk, and download the Netflix apk and install it;
5. Back to Staros app, and change the Staros mode to multiple apps mode, and change its settings by adding Netflix to the list in addition to EchelonFit;
6. Click “Launch Now” in Staros app, and now you get to a screen where you can select which app you want to run.
Another tip, press win+n to access drop down menu and system settings etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is possible to have YouTube installed. I’ll give it a try later today. Right now I have Netflix and Amazon Prime video installed.
The tablet will boot into a screen showing icons of the app for you to choose. Holding the power button (red button besides volume control) until pop-up window asking whether you want to power off will lead you back to the screen with app icons, touch outside of the pop-up window to cancel power off will let you stay on that screen and give you a chance to select a different app.
Thanks again for checking to see if it would work out! That is so badass that you figured out how to do it!!! I should be getting my bike in the next couple of weeks and I will give it a try!
Have a good one
ptinga said:
I got Netflix installed on the nebula tablet with echelon 5xs bike.
Process is really simple:
1. Tap lower right corner of the screen five times and then put 1085 as the password;
2. Unlock the startos, with either 0000 or 1085 as the password and admin as the username;
3. Plugin a keyboard to the USB port, use win+b to open browser;
4. Open google and search for Netflix apk, and download the Netflix apk and install it;
5. Back to Staros app, and change the Staros mode to multiple apps mode, and change its settings by adding Netflix to the list in addition to EchelonFit;
6. Click “Launch Now” in Staros app, and now you get to a screen where you can select which app you want to run.
Another tip, press win+n to access drop down menu and system settings etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are welcome! And congrats for joining the community.
Just tried to install YouTube, no avail. YouTube requires google play store service and that requires the device to have a GSF ID. As one of the previous message in this thread, this tablet does not have that ID. I installed the “Device ID” app to confirm this. Further tweaking might be risky (possibly voiding the warranty).
Anyhow, if it’s just YouTube you want, you can just open browser and watch it there.
I also got inspired from a previous post in this thread to install the nova launcher, and choose that as my Home app, instead of starOS. So now I get more complete Android experience. There are third party apps which can takes care of updating apps, like Yalp.
(I’m an Android newbie, this is the first Android device I used primarily for something. I have several cheap Android phones with pay-as-you-go SIM cards left in cars as emergency backups.)
BTW, having access to the Android system settings had helped me setting up two Bluetooth speakers with this tablet. One is Amazon Echo Dot, the other is Bose mini 2. Both of them was not recognized inside the EchelonFit app, but once I got the paired via the Android OS settings, they were connected fine and recognized by EchelonFit. Echelon’s official FAQ suggests users to by a separate Bluetooth receiver if they couldn’t pair their speaker in this case. That’s just ridiculous. My impression so far with the company is they need to pay more attention to details, such as the user manual, app experience, website user portal etc. All needs improvement. The EX-5s does seem to be a quick product targeting peloton. Hope they will improve the software side of things over the years. So far I’m pleased with the hardware though.
yandawg said:
Thanks again for checking to see if it would work out! That is so badass that you figured out how to do it!!! I should be getting my bike in the next couple of weeks and I will give it a try!
Have a good one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
has anyone tried installing the peloton app on their echelon? would love to be able to toggle back and forth between the two
I am doubtful that would work due to the way that the echelon bike transmits it’s serial number to the app. This has to be done before it will show rpms or resistance. I highly doubt that the echelon would communicate the correct parameters for peloton to accept it as a bike, if that makes since.
cynvp said:
has anyone tried installing the peloton app on their echelon? would love to be able to toggle back and forth between the two
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Everyone.. I just recieved my bike last week. The Nebula tablet was not able to connect to the bike. After logging into the admin screen I see that bluetooth is disabled and I can't seem to enable it. Support has not answered me. Today i turned on the bike and now the wifi is disabled and it to will not enable now. Do any of you smart guys know how to get them back enabled?
Ptinga, I just got my bike today and tried to get into the menu by tapping 5 times in the bottom right to no avail. I restarted it and tapped at the bottom right in the bottom right white portion of the screen. I know this isn’t rocket science... I am trying to figure out where I am screwing up. Thanks in advance for all of your help!
ptinga said:
You are welcome! And congrats for joining the community.
Just tried to install YouTube, no avail. YouTube requires google play store service and that requires the device to have a GSF ID. As one of the previous message in this thread, this tablet does not have that ID. I installed the “Device ID” app to confirm this. Further tweaking might be risky (possibly voiding the warranty).
Anyhow, if it’s just YouTube you want, you can just open browser and watch it there.
I also got inspired from a previous post in this thread to install the nova launcher, and choose that as my Home app, instead of starOS. So now I get more complete Android experience. There are third party apps which can takes care of updating apps, like Yalp.
(I’m an Android newbie, this is the first Android device I used primarily for something. I have several cheap Android phones with pay-as-you-go SIM cards left in cars as emergency backups.)
BTW, having access to the Android system settings had helped me setting up two Bluetooth speakers with this tablet. One is Amazon Echo Dot, the other is Bose mini 2. Both of them was not recognized inside the EchelonFit app, but once I got the paired via the Android OS settings, they were connected fine and recognized by EchelonFit. Echelon’s official FAQ suggests users to by a separate Bluetooth receiver if they couldn’t pair their speaker in this case. That’s just ridiculous. My impression so far with the company is they need to pay more attention to details, such as the user manual, app experience, website user portal etc. All needs improvement. The EX-5s does seem to be a quick product targeting peloton. Hope they will improve the software side of things over the years. So far I’m pleased with the hardware though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got everything figured out regarding using YouTube on the bike via a browser. I have tried watching 4K videos on different browsers but it constantly buffers. I am getting over 50 mbps on the bike so the connection is not the issue. Does anyone have any idea why it constantly buffers? Is it because there is limited memory in the tablet? The videos pause every 3-4 seconds to load.
Always liked this tab....?
Does Echelon broadcast power/cadence via any standard protocol (ANT+ or Bluetooth Smart), or does it go directly to its own App via the wire? Any info about such SDK in the latter case? Would like to make Apps for it.
Picked-up an EX5S and was able to get Netflix, D+ to work. HBO, YT required Google play services to be installed.
Using Lawnchair as home app. Might switch back to Nova if I can purchase direct access outside of Google Play and if it can resolve my issue below.
When I launch the Echelon Fit app , I don't have any other option to go back to my Home screen unless I go through the unlock process again. The home, back arrow icons aren't visible. When I launch Netflix, the back arrow works and allows me to exit the app, but the home icon does nothing.
Maybe I'm missing something?
So far I have the following working:
Disney +
CBS
Netflix
Hulu
Peloton
HBO Max requires the Play
VUDU detects that the table is rooted and will not run. Looking for workarounds on this.
I'm exploring the possibility of flashing this tablet with GAPPS so I can generate a GFS ID to access the PLAY store going forward.
Ordered a cellphone holder than I plan to mount under the monitor. This will allow me to use the Echelon app in Free Ride mode (to connect to the bike/track my cadence) while I'm logged into Peloton on the main screen and try to follow along with the class.
mobilEKG said:
Does Echelon broadcast power/cadence via any standard protocol (ANT+ or Bluetooth Smart), or does it go directly to its own App via the wire? Any info about such SDK in the latter case? Would like to make Apps for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's sent from the Bike via Bluetooth. The wire that runs through the bike simply provides power to the Tablet.
Would be great if there was an app that connected to the bike that you could then overlay over the Peloton app.

Categories

Resources