Develop Bugs

AppFinder on Windows Phone 7

Check out my free app in the Marketplace: AppFinder
AppFinder is the fastest way to find apps by name bar none.
Start typing the name of an app or publisher, and the search results are shown instantly.
tap one of the results to go to the marketplace page for the app.
Check it out and let me know what you think

Been using it last couple days, its a big help! Thanks!!!

I'll check it out thanks!

Thank you - it's very fast like the marketplace search should be. Good for quick looking apps if you know the name.
Are there any improvements coming? Like the Top Downloads or anything else?

appfinder feedback
thanks for the feedback - I'm on it

Great app, thanks!
BTW I can't find HTC Hub...

I think you need an HTC device for that sorry buddy

zukа said:
I think you need an HTC device for that sorry buddy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah but some guys were able to find it...

AppFinder
Ok, v1.1 has been submitted to the app marketplace and is ready for testing - should show up in the marketplace as an update within a few days

ebadger said:
Ok, v1.1 has been submitted to the app marketplace and is ready for testing - should show up in the marketplace as an update within a few days
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
does this fix the crash where it closed and wouldn't reopen for me (even after soft reset)?
I had to uninstall, reinstall to get it working again.

I don't think so.
Although I think I know the cause. I will have to roll the fix into another update.
I think there is a small window where the downloaded data file can be corrupted if the writing to flash is interrupted. It will be simple to fix. For now, if you hit it, uninstall reinstall is the only option.

nice find. but did you know while in maketplace you can use the search button to find apps as well?

jimecm said:
nice find. but did you know while in maketplace you can use the search button to find apps as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course I do
AppFinder is all about making apps discoverable in the fastest way possible.
I think if you're not in the top 20 apps in the marketplace under any one of the categories, then as a developer you're invisible. AppFinder seeks to make it easier to find apps via search, and with the update, via browsing as well.
Update is in the hopper, still waiting for testing to complete...

jimecm said:
nice find. but did you know while in maketplace you can use the search button to find apps as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the annoying thing is that it searches music and video as well. i can't just search for apps alone

locales
Ok, so I just figured out I've only been indexing the en-US locale
I've updated the data to include
{ "en-US", "en-GB", "en-IE", "en-CA", "en-IN", "en-AU", "en-HK", "en-SG", "de-DE", "fr-FR", "fr-BE", "de-AT", "de-CH", "it-IT", "en-NZ", "es-ES", "es-MX" };
this change is effective immediately as it is a data update. Still waiting for the update to make it through the approval process. It seems that the holiday has slowed things down a bit

The update finally arrived
Nice new features and still very fast. But unfortunately, in my case, it wont load after the second app start (even at first start if I switch the section). I always have to deinstall/reinstall again once the app was started.
Maybe you can take a look? Feels like a caching problem or something like that. I'm using a Samsung Omnia 7 in germany - if that helps
Feature wishlist:
1. add a settings screen to edit:
a.) the number of list entries on one page (10, 20, 50) to keep the app fast enough
b.) the section on loading (and maybe you also can set this to no section just for fast look-up app search - I used the app for this before the update)
2. Maybe you can use the OS-typical "left-to-right-scrolling-loading-dots" instead of the big ones?
3. New logo if there is enough time

PrivateJoker said:
The update finally arrived
Nice new features and still very fast. But unfortunately, in my case, it wont load after the second app start (even at first start if I switch the section). I always have to deinstall/reinstall again once the app was started.
Maybe you can take a look? Feels like a caching problem or something like that. I'm using a Samsung Omnia 7 in germany - if that helps
Feature wishlist:
1. add a settings screen to edit:
a.) the number of list entries on one page (10, 20, 50) to keep the app fast enough
b.) the section on loading (and maybe you also can set this to no section just for fast look-up app search - I used the app for this before the update)
2. Maybe you can use the OS-typical "left-to-right-scrolling-loading-dots" instead of the big ones?
3. New logo if there is enough time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Private Joker,
Thanks for the feedback.
First - there was a bug that only impacted the German locale! I was trying to save bandwidth by truncating unnecessary leading zeros in the price and this caused an exception when the locale was set to German. I've updated the data to include the leading zeros and this fixes the problem for Germans. You will have to uninstall and reinstall though to get it to work. I am very sorry for the inconvenience, and I really appreciate you taking the time to give me your feedback even though the app was not working for you at all. I hope you will try again given that the data has been fixed.
Regarding your feedback -
I think you are right on the mark for #2 and #3
I don't understand 2b.
regarding 1a.
perf should not be impacted by the number of items that are shown -
Appfinder actually transfers the marketplace data to the device and indexes it locally. I do this because the network is really, really slow. Aside from having artists and albums mixed up with apps in the marketplace search results, I also was tired of waiting for results to load. Scrolling through the apps means waiting.
The delay at the beginning is caused by reading the marketplace data from flash and indexing it in RAM. Occasionally the loading dots will appear after launching (like the first time that you use it) because AppFinder has transfered a new data file and needs to parse it again. Instead of delaying every 10 or so apps in the list, there is one delay at the beginning (which is relatively small). Right now parsing the file takes about 4 seconds.
Perf could be greatly improve if I had access to memory mapped file APIs. Further compressing the data would help as well - The really slowest part is really reading from the flash. I can improve perf when a network update occurs by reading from the flash in the background before blocking - this would drop the update delay from ~4 seconds to ~1 second.
I could also not query as you're typing -- Waiting until the enter button has been pressed would reduce CPU load and any chunkiness - pressing search would just render the apps instantly.
Anyway, really appreciate your positive attitude and willingness to give feedback in light of what must be a frustrating experience. Please give it another try.
Thanks,
Eric

AppFinder update

AppFinder update is in the marketplace!
v1.1 includes a Hot list, New list and Best list. Apps can be filtered to show only free apps.
The apps list shows developer, price, ratings and rank. The lists show the top 1000 apps in each category making browsing hot, new and best apps simple and fast.
When selecting an app from the list, pressing back from the marketplace page will return you to where you were in the app list.
As usual, the app list is displayed nearly instantly as you type, and in the app list there is no waiting for additional results to load as you scroll through the results.
Images are NOT included - I wanted to keep the display and information access absolutely as quick as possible and have traded off loading images.
Please give it a try and let me know what you think

Very nice. Runs smooth and results are displayed quickly. Nicely done. I've rated and reviewed for you too.
Only extra thing that i'd like to see (don't know if it's possible) would be a "highest rated" list that shows apps sorted by rating highest to lowest.

The "best" apps list attempts to order by highest rated.
The main problem is that a 5 star app with 1 rating probably should not out rank a 4 star app with 20 ratings. Best apps uses an algorithm to order apps based on the star rating and rating count.

Hi ebadger,
After this update I don't get any search box. When I start the app I first see a triangle for a second, then I see the search box flash for a split sec. After that I just see a black screen with 6 blinking white dots, like if it is loading. I see the menu too, but it does not matter what ever I choose.
I'm on a Samsung Omnia 7.
Best regards
kjw

do you see anything? the dots should only show while the local data structure is being populated. This should only take a few seconds. Once this completes, you should be able to press on the flames button and see a list of apps. Is this not working?
If not, try uninstalling and reinstalling - sorry for any inconvenience - I can make this more robust to data errors. I'm wondering if perhaps the download is interrupted or corrupted.

ack!
Ok, so it turns out that the behavior of float.Parse is different with German locale.
I just booted my device with German UI language and I can repro in the debugger - luckily it can be fixed with a data update.
I have now updated the data file. Unfortunately you will have to uninstall and reinstall to make it work.
I was trimming leading 0's on prices (i.e. sending .99 instead of 0.99) float.Parse works in English but not in German. Anyway, leading zeros are back.
I'm really sorry for the inconvenience to the German users!

works better and hasn't crashed on me so I will edit my prev. ranking and give it 5 stars. Works great.

ebadger said:
ack!
..
I'm really sorry for the inconvenience to the German users!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all I did a reisntall of appfinder.
Then I tried to switch to english locale and now appfinder started to work!
But when switching back to Swedish (since I live in Sweden) locale appfinder hangs on the loading dots screen.
So there might be issues with other locales too?
Cheers
kjw

kjw said:
First of all I did a reisntall of appfinder.
Then I tried to switch to english locale and now appfinder started to work!
But when switching back to Swedish (since I live in Sweden) locale appfinder hangs on the loading dots screen.
So there might be issues with other locales too?
Cheers
kjw
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think so. I have also seen reports of this problem with French now as well.
I have updated the data file. Would you try uninstalling and reinstalling again and see if it's working with your locale?

ebadger said:
I think so. I have also seen reports of this problem with French now as well.
I have updated the data file. Would you try uninstalling and reinstalling again and see if it's working with your locale?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uninstalled, restarted, installed. But it's a no go, sorry. Same dots...
Have you tried debugging in other locales (swedish for example)?
Cheers
Kjw

crud.
Ok, so there is definitely still an issue.
Any locale that uses the "," as a decimal seperator will cause an exception while loading.
I am converting the data to use scientific notation to work around -- the fix will be a little bit tricky. I think you'll have to switch your locale to english for the first boot - once the updated data file has been downloaded you can switch back to swedish and it should work. ugh!
Well, it looks like I definitely need to do another update to fix this particular problem.

Uninstalled, switch to english locale -> reboot, install. Now appfinder works great.
Switch to swedish locale -> reboot. Now I'm back to the loading dots in Appfinder, not working.
I don't really know what you are doing in the app that is locale dependant, but maybe it could be done in a more generic way? Like convert locale dependent data to english format, do your thing, and then convert back to current locale settings. And try to avoid converting different datatypes to text if it's not relly needed, a decimal variable is not locale dependant until converted to text... Just a thought...
Thanks for your effort, though!
Cheers

kjw,
Ok, I have been debugging in Swedish today. I have updated the data file such that it doesn't use the locale specific delimiter for floating points. I have converted the data over to use scientific notation instead. It's really a simple code fix as I can specify the locale settings to use when parsing - my mistake. I have confirmed that with the new data format (just uploaded), the steps:
1) uninstall
2) switch to English locale
3) run appfinder - wait for the dots
4) wait for the dots again
5) switch locale to Swedish forcing reboot
6) launch AppFinder
this will fix it such that it should just work with Swedish locale.
I'm sorry about the inconvenience - I'm working on an update now to fix this and other issues.
Eric

After following your steps it works in swedish locale!
Great work!
Thanks,
kjw

S8500xpkh2

Downloading now!!! anyone else downloaded?? let`s try !!!
share your thoughts
http://hotfile.com/dl/126991111/9d3f7ee/S8500XPKH2.rar.html

downloaded it.... havent yet flashed.... ppl give some changelogs or reviews about it pls. the samfirmware one is freaky....

update!
This the latest beta firmware of bada 2.0 for the Wave I & Wave II. Samsung has compiled both firmwares on Monday 8th August. Below you will find a short list with some things that has been changed or improved:
- New icon (Sound & vibrate) in the statusbar
- Better Graphics startup screen Chaton app
- Slightly changed keyboard
- New startup screen Twitter app
- Slightly changed Youtube icon (Menu)
- Faster scrolling through photos
- Voice output, you download German test voicefiles. With voice output your device can read incoming sms text messages, email and more. I haven’t test this feature at the moment.
- Can’t log into my Samsung account.
Problems:
With this firmware I faced for the first time some real problems, because it will crash on some (stranges) moments (mainly using the twitter app). I advice you to set the debug level on low, so you won’t get a blue screen with detailed crashlogs instead your device will reboot automatically.
For the ones who are using KIES for backups, I can advice you to backup only the contacts and sms text messaging. I won’t suggest to use a full backup, I’ve tried it 2 times but both times my device crashed and it got stuck into a reboot loop.
Overall I can say that the devices are a bit faster (snappier) but it also crashed often than before. Since this is just a beta firmware its normal that it crashed.
Once again I’m warning people that they should be aware of these things. If you want a stable 2.0 firmware you should wait till 2.0 is ready!!
- How to fix Samsung account problem...
There is a new Samsung Account login in this beta Firmware and it doesnt work, users cannot type in passwort and after klicking on logon bada crashes. But there is a workaround, so everyone can use the downloads in samsung apps.
At the first startup page to configure language time, and samsung account there is still the old login page.
You can trick the wave by removing your simcard starting the phone with it, then it forgets that it was already the first time started.
After that simply add your simcard and logon on the first startup page, after that you will not see in settings/accounts any account but you can use them as always.
Email accounts can be handeled over the settings/email and so on.
You will see Samsung Account over samsungapps.

Things I've seen already:
- much faster and smoother than before
- font much easier on the eyes (clearer)
- bootsplash black again (no blueish like in XPKH1) / dialogs still blue
- the 3 info pop-ups after first-run have been revamped
- several icons revamped

That's nice, but based on what I have read on the SamFirmware changelog, I decided to NOT flash my phone with this firmware, mainly because I don't particularly like (frequent) crashes....
I'll stick to XPKH1 for now...

20 more min of downloading (hotfile is piss slow as usual .. 100kb/s )
Then i'll flash as well

toxicdust said:
20 more min of downloading (hotfile is piss slow as usual .. 100kb/s )
Then i'll flash as well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
use jDownloader. I get 650Kb/s on free mode!

stathismes said:
That's nice, but based on what I have read on the SamFirmware changelog, I decided to NOT flash my phone with this firmware, mainly because I don't particularly like (frequent) crashes....
I'll stick to XPKH1 for now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not to burst your bubble but the others apparently also crash a lot ... i haven't experienced that in particular but i'm just saying.
He did mention its mainly in the new twitter app.... so normal use of the phone should be fine.

stathismes said:
use jDownloader. I get 650Kb/s on free mode!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's such BS dude ... I have a premium account and i use DAP

toxicdust said:
Not to burst your bubble but the others apparently also crash a lot ... i haven't experienced that in particular but i'm just saying.
He did mention its mainly in the new twitter app.... so normal use of the phone should be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the clarification, nevertheless I rely on the twitter client... Anyway, I'm sure the next beta will have these problems fixed, and I feel safe enough with XPKH1...
thanks again!

what i want to know is does it installs all apps? is it worth the download?

Seems SocialHub - at least here - (changed CSC to DBT) doesn't show my set-up Facebook account, though it properly display the feed and posts status updates.
You'll see that it actually added the account by checking feeds or "add account" there facebook won't show up anymore (obviously).
More I noticed:
- phone faster reacts after boot
- you can't switch pages by swiping in the gap between the bottom two rows (on menu, not homescreen)
SamsungApps always tells me "network not available", also I can't see any string in it's UI.

toxicdust said:
That's such BS dude ... I have a premium account and i use DAP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh man, DAP??? it kinda reminds me of... 2000/2001 times and stuff!
But you're right, Hotfile is very slow generally...I paid for a premium account some months ago, and had been cursing every moment after I did that... Filesonic works for me like a charm for months now.

I also noticed:
- CPU usage in "About phone" is shown in real-time now

It was always in real time.

Is it safe to flash this one ? All the people who flashed.... are they experiencing loads of crashes ?

as other 2.0,, once get into contact.. then to get back to main screen will be difficult ... few home touch needed

Can anyone upload a preview video of S8500XPKH2 in action?

kabir_sharma009 said:
Can anyone upload a preview video of S8500XPKH2 in action?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its exactingly the same as all the others. Nothing visually changes at all in the versions it just becomes more stable and less crashes and faster
Other than that nothing ever changes.... just sayin

rajarshi10 said:
Is it safe to flash this one ? All the people who flashed.... are they experiencing loads of crashes ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are crashes as before. But I was able to restore my yesterday's backup (with Apps ) and some of the stuff worked from the backup. Apps, background, internet connection settings. I tlost however my bookmarks, the homescreen settings, accounts and the ringtones...
But the biggest selling point of this fw is the SPEED. It's much faster. The browser flies compared to the KH1.

Question about KK roms

Weeks ago i tried the chinese kitkat but i had 2 problems as many others who tried it :
1) The cursor was missing in many apps ( in the search field of Play Store for example )
2) Below the incoming call i was seeing chinese letters.
Only these 2 things. ( i don't mention the lack of google play apps because i know how to install them manually )
I don't want better score in benchmarks,
I don't want any customizations.
I just want a rom exactly as the chinese KK but with the above 2 things corrected.
Is there such rom out there ?

ipred said:
Weeks ago i tried the chinese kitkat but i had 2 problems as many others who tried it :
1) The cursor was missing in many apps ( in the search field of Play Store for example )
2) Below the incoming call i was seeing chinese letters.
Only these 2 things. ( i don't mention the lack of google play apps because i know how to install them manually )
I don't want better score in benchmarks,
I don't want any customizations.
I just want a rom exactly as the chinese KK but with the above 2 things corrected.
Is there such rom out there ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right Now im using this rom " [ROM]KK_ Huawei P6_all in EN(BbN)_based on_repack SLMINSK":
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2763593
Have the next features:
- Removed Chinese apps.NO MORE CHINESE LETTERS in system apps.
- Country and City names are displayed in your language when calling and receiving calls.
- Smart number identification correctly dispayed, full international display call log, even how many times the phone rang when missed call.
- Messaging is no more displayed in Chinese...working correctly.
- Weather.com instead weather.com.cn
- I did some corrections and install missed system apps (ex. huawei backup, email), modif. in build.prop and local.prop for correct language display, call log display, gapps integration, rooted.
- Suspend button with float apps.
Im from venezuela and it gives the right cities in my country and show the correct info about it.
Try it :good:
BTW Tanks to mlsvcbbn for his release :good:

I have seen this rom but it solves only the problem No2 and not the problem No1 ( it doesn't mention anything about the missing cursor ) :/

only 1 page and a half of quick apps

Do you know how to create other pages besides the "home" page so not to resort to the long list of apps installed?
It seems so reductive. there is half page on the home, another full page on the second, the third page is a list of fast contact calls never used as the "browsing" call "app" that allows to digit numbers to find the contact to call is anyway fast enough. I never understood if the minimalism of this phone mine is SM A300F on Android 5.0.2 (and I guess it's not upgradable and anyway android has not much to do with the phone UI design afaik) could actually be a mistake of my ignorance or it's actually a phone constraint.
Thanks!