Related
Anyone else had problems with missing apps in the Market with the Desire?
Specifically:
http://www.google.co.uk/support/forum/p/Android+Market/thread?tid=72687bc93eba9a1b&hl=en
Good example seems to be the National Rail app, but I'm finding plenty of others too...some I've paid for :-(
Daern
Yes, I have. JuiceDefender is missing for me, however I got it from andappstore.com. No sign of that National Rail one there though.
And the BlueAnt Q1 app is not available....
I think everybody has problems finding all the programs. Try to search for Raging Thunder 2 for example. You will properbly only find the lite version and not the full version. I bought the full version with my Milestone, but now it cannot be found anymore.
Every Android phone has a 'fingerprint' in the build.prop file. This fingerprint has to be approved by google. Somehow google has not yet approved the fingerprint of the Desire, so protected apps cannot be fount yet.....
I have no clue why this takes so long.
Maybe someone from google is here and reads this and can explain to us why it's taking so long for the fingerprint to be approved?
Interesting. According to the similar thread about the Legend, however, it seems that HTC are pushing out an update to fix this...
Perhaps it's the fingerprint from the Hero
I've read about this issue which was recently explained by a developer of XDA (nprussell).
Apparently everyone is in the same boat so to speak. He states that many "protected" apps are missing from the market. There are generally two reasons why apps will be missing from the market:
When a new ROM or handset is released, the manufacturer (i.e. HTC), sends the build to Google for verification, which includes a 'Fingerprint' (a unique line of text which governs its market access) in one of the build files. Generally, it states the name of the phone and Android version in the fingerprint. With Root & System write access, this fingerprint can be changed, but although it's been claimed that the Desire has recently been Rooted, we still don't have confirmation from any developer of it being able to gain System write access.
Only until Google approve the build, then fingerprint will be added to their allowed database to view these protected apps on the market.
The other cause for apps missing from the market in builds is because of permissions of certain apps. For example, the barcode scanner app requires permissions to use the camera/auto focus. They are NOT protected apps. If the XML permission files are missing from system/etc/permissions, then Google Market will simply block these apps from showing.
HTC need to chase Google up on this and Google need to activate the Fingerprint.
Excellent info, thanks for that. So it's chasing HTC to get them to chase Google for an update.
I think I'll just go back to stopping the tide from coming in...much better chance of success, I reckon
Is there no where we can download the apk (for free apps of course) and just transfer it to the phone and install it ourselves?
strange think is I could find some apps. I found and installed Barcode Scanner no prob..
???
s4vva said:
Is there no where we can download the apk (for free apps of course) and just transfer it to the phone and install it ourselves?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just google which ever apk you want (for free apps obviously) and install it to your phone, with the sync software that was on your original memory card.
i emailed HTC today to find out what they and google are doing to sort this out. if everyone emails them they might eventually chase google...
Mastoid said:
I've read about this issue which was recently explained by a developer of XDA (nprussell).
Apparently everyone is in the same boat so to speak. He states that many "protected" apps are missing from the market. There are generally two reasons why apps will be missing from the market:
When a new ROM or handset is released, the manufacturer (i.e. HTC), sends the build to Google for verification, which includes a 'Fingerprint' (a unique line of text which governs its market access) in one of the build files. Generally, it states the name of the phone and Android version in the fingerprint. With Root & System write access, this fingerprint can be changed, but although it's been claimed that the Desire has recently been Rooted, we still don't have confirmation from any developer of it being able to gain System write access.
Only until Google approve the build, then fingerprint will be added to their allowed database to view these protected apps on the market.
The other cause for apps missing from the market in builds is because of permissions of certain apps. For example, the barcode scanner app requires permissions to use the camera/auto focus. They are NOT protected apps. If the XML permission files are missing from system/etc/permissions, then Google Market will simply block these apps from showing.
HTC need to chase Google up on this and Google need to activate the Fingerprint.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to confirm this explanation, I actually emailed HTC support asking about the missing apps and this was pretty much exactly what they told me. They are waiting for Google to approve the ROM for copy protected apps, and apparently it takes about a week... so hopefully we can expect full access some time next week. Fingers crossed!
foner78 said:
Just to confirm this explanation, I actually emailed HTC support asking about the missing apps and this was pretty much exactly what they told me. They are waiting for Google to approve the ROM for copy protected apps, and apparently it takes about a week... so hopefully we can expect full access some time next week. Fingers crossed!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice one Bud, thanks for that update
All back for me Now on Vodafone
Yep. One of those apps for me was Google Earth since this is what I was facing so I installed it from the link here too and all works well: http://www.google.co.uk/support/forum/p/Android+Market/thread?tid=46acda8204439646&hl=en
Sent from my HTC Desire using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
th3 said:
Yep. One of those apps for me was Google Earth since this is what I was facing so I installed it from the link here too and all works well: http://www.google.co.uk/support/forum/p/Android+Market/thread?tid=46acda8204439646&hl=en
Sent from my HTC Desire using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, that's about all we can do right now to install apps (or use barcode scanner app) which are not available via the Marketplace.
Tip: For anyone who has not done this yet and would like to know, make sure you first install HTC Sync (found pre-installed via your SD card).
I have DHD rooted with the latest update installed fine (Thanks to the xda forums for helping out on that)
I have noticed some apps do not appear for me in the market, even when surfing to their url from the official site (or using their QR code). These apps include the Google Maps app, Nook, Google Buzz widget, Google Shopper, etc.
Is the market blocking these apps for me because of my current location (Israel)? Or is it the cell carrier I am using (Orange il)? Or maybe the language of my phone (English (Spain))?
Will an update to the most recent RUU solve it (And give me some more generic English language)? Or do I have to just hunt around for apk for these apps, and install them manually?
ATGardner said:
I have DHD rooted with the latest update installed fine (Thanks to the xda forums for helping out on that)
I have noticed some apps do not appear for me in the market, even when surfing to their url from the official site (or using their QR code). These apps include the Google Maps app, Nook, Google Buzz widget, Google Shopper, etc.
Is the market blocking these apps for me because of my current location (Israel)? Or is it the cell carrier I am using (Orange il)? Or maybe the language of my phone (English (Spain))?
Will an update to the most recent RUU solve it (And give me some more generic English language)? Or do I have to just hunt around for apk for these apps, and install them manually?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's most probably because they are not available in your area, you could use market enabler to mock a diffrent carrier, if you are rooted, try a uk carrier, because all thoes apps are availiable im my area
Thanks - it was just what I needed (and was hoping to hear).
Hi,
I was able to get Google Play on the unlocked $199 Amazon firephone without rooting. Also was able to get All google apps from play store and change the Launcher.
Only question is that Google maps labels are being overlapped (they are not refreshing) - Is this a known google map side load problem, or I just have a crappy version of the app with the wrong resolution?
Thanks,
( I have the steps to easily get Google play on the fire sale forum topic)
- As an employee of the maker, I will try to get the guys at Lab126 release some dev version that allows users to easily switch between Google experience and Amazon experience on this phone seamlessly - that would make it truly a good phone.
What happens when Google pushes an update to the store? Does this stop working?
The overlapping text appears to be caused by Google Maps not detecting the phone's resolution correctly. Can you try an older version of Google Maps?
Sorry if I'm not being helpful--I won't have my Fire Sale Phone yet until Tuesday.
Aztecwarrior25 said:
Hi,
I was able to get Google Play on the unlocked $199 Amazon firephone without rooting. Also was able to get All google apps from play store and change the Launcher.
Only question is that Google maps labels are being overlapped (they are not refreshing) - Is this a known google map side load problem, or I just have a crappy version of the app with the wrong resolution?
Thanks,
( I have the steps to easily get Google play on the fire sale forum topic)
- As an employee of the maker, I will try to get the guys at Lab126 release some dev version that allows users to easily switch between Google experience and Amazon experience on this phone seamlessly - that would make it truly a good phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jaywong said:
The overlapping text appears to be caused by Google Maps not detecting the phone's resolution correctly. Can you try an older version of Google Maps?
Sorry if I'm not being helpful--I won't have my Fire Sale Phone yet until Tuesday.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Extremely old version worked fine (4.4) - Tried all the ICS and up version 8.0 through to current - all have the label problem. Could be Some GPU rendering issue with text (I worked for something similar at my last job) - the website maps look ok from chrome/etc. so it must be in the app - dunno if I should reverse engineer the APK to get the setting corrected - I filed a bug with google to see if it is a known problem with certain devices.
I am using google maps for search and then using nokia maps for navigation currently - so should not be a big problem for now.
If you can get devs to release a version that can toggle ON/OFF the AVD launcher that'd be awesome. It shouldn't take too much time to do.
Meanwhile I guess we'll just have to sideload apps
Overlapping text
Aztecwarrior25 said:
Hi,
I was able to get Google Play on the unlocked $199 Amazon firephone without rooting. Also was able to get All google apps from play store and change the Launcher.
Only question is that Google maps labels are being overlapped (they are not refreshing) - Is this a known google map side load problem, or I just have a crappy version of the app with the wrong resolution?
Thanks,
( I have the steps to easily get Google play on the fire sale forum topic)
- As an employee of the maker, I will try to get the guys at Lab126 release some dev version that allows users to easily switch between Google experience and Amazon experience on this phone seamlessly - that would make it truly a good phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't know if this is relevant because I am not a developer but if you go into settings/applications and parental control/manage applications, then click on google maps and then on clear data, when you go back into google maps there is no overlapping of text initially. After you start zooming out or moving around the map, the overlapping starts back up.
I've noticed that the maps, on first launch, looked fine.
My Gmail will sporadically sync emails. Sometimes, it's instant; other times, it won't try to sync at all.
Found simple workaround for Google Maps If you don't use the voice Navigation feature (needed for California in driving)-
(uninstall Google Maps - optional)
1) Install Chrome and allow it to use location
2) from google app search for address by your voice and get direction card (google now style)
3) tap card (will prompt you to open first time with native Nokia/Here or Chrome or Gmaps)
4) Use Chrome to see the map and you can set chrome as default
Chrome Google map application/page is mostly same functionality as the Jelly bean version of Google maps (Left menu has traffic, transit, bicycle & satellite) only terrain is missing. - You can also bookmark Google map in Chrome and get almost everything you need for directions in regular usage.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think I have narrowed down the app problem to the system fonts/antialiased fonts used by the stupid fire OS - without rooting I doubt you can change the system font of the phone. If somebody has developer mode -try enabling GPU rendering and see if anything stands out v/s other android devices - I will check on my wife's HTC One M8 later.
snapplefish said:
I've noticed that the maps, on first launch, looked fine.
My Gmail will sporadically sync emails. Sometimes, it's instant; other times, it won't try to sync at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. The Gmail app has problems. It crahes periodically and doesn't want to auto sync. Also, i can't add a second Google account. It says that it can't communicate with Google servers and then gives a message about no network connection which is wrong.
I am on Thor Gapps Rom ( 13.3.2.4 ) rom and got the same issue too!
Google Earth works just fine - So there are 2 workarounds - Google Maps from Chrome and Google Earth
The Waze app also seems OK.
Upload to Fire OS 4.6.1 . the issue gets solved. You week receive an OTA update.
Sent from my SD4930UR using XDA Free mobile app
Hi guys,
I'm still happily using WM 6.5.3 and HTC Sense 2.5 on my HD2, but last week, my weather tab suddenly stopped updating anything.
Now I just get an "An error occured while trying to download weather Data. Retry ?" message (or it should read like that in English, provided I just freely translated it from French LOL )
Have Accuweather recently changed their communication protocol with portable devices or changed their server address, so the weather tab can't get data from them anymore ?
Does anyobody know what to look for, and what to replace it with ?
It could be anything, from a registry value to a an XML or SQL file, or maybe hardcoded inside an LUA script, DLL or even an exe program ?
If anybody has any hint about what I should look for (keyword, weather server address, etc.), please help !
Unless it's just my ROM going wrong... But all the rest is working OK otherwise, including the stocks tabs that still gets updated.
Thanks for any help !
same here. but the weather widget seems to work. time to investigate.
Same here
Hint : when selecting automatic location for the default city, then today's weather is showing on the Home tab and totday's weather only on the Weather tab, but it can't fetch data for the next days, and still displays the error message if you try to update.
So the server seems definitely still reachable, but probably just refuses to exchange information with the device.
Maybe it's related to the recent certificates obsolescence that has been reported ?
Another hint : I just received a cheap (very) used HD2 from the UK (with an extended battery and kickstand) and when selecting automatic city location, it's able to get the weather data for all the week to come (and to show today's weather on the Home tab), but is unable to download any other city data and displays the same error message if trying to update any city including the automatic current location, exactly as on mine. This one has a standard ROM (for now).
So yesterday I ticked auto-location for my default city (I generally avoid to do this, as it sometimes gives absurd results) and got only yesterday's weather.
This morning, the other days to come have updated as well.
Manual update is still impossible, same for other cities.
Now I'm beginning to think it's related to what's written inside the SQL Lite database.
Maybe the cities identifiers formats have changed, while automatically acquired data from the closest beacon is still delivered ?
AFAIK, GSM repeaters can be used to compute your location instead of the GPS (that's not always turned on, for battery consumption reasons), and weather data for that location can be transmitted even if it's not in the database (it actually contains only large cities - I was even annoyed in Australia last month, because it didn't contain ANY of Northern Territory nor South Australia city, except Adelaide, and the time zone isn't even correct ! - while you can get quite precise information about your current location, even small villages names).
So now I guess the automatic location data can be used to get information from the closest weather beacon, while pre-input cities data is probably obsolete somewhere and can't be used anymore to get weather data.
Do you know where to get the current cities codes list ? We'll probably have to type all of them differently inside 2330fc3c_manila...
Anyway, the list provided by HTC has always been terribly incorrect (my country time zone is completely fancy, and it's not alone in this case).
Maybe we could get a fresh one from a modern device ?
Actually, the data is provided by Accuweather.
If we rely upon information from here :
http://www.efferen.nl/2011/01/how-to-add-cities-to-htc-weather-widget-android/
... Each city code should be available from Accuweather website when selecting a city whose weather to display.
However, this kind of information seems now not to be displayed ; or maybe it's been replaced by a 5 digits number, as you can see at the end of my city's weather page address :
http://www.accuweather.com/en/nc/noumea/249098/weather-forecast/249098
Since all the information I could get from Accuweather related smarthones (including Android models) is dated from 2010 or 2011, anything could have occured in the meanwhile... Including some radical change in the way cities are coded, maybe replacing those "region|country|city" coding by a 5 digit number...
What do you think ?
Could anybody owning a 2015 updated device check what's inside his database, please ?
I see manual update works as long as have no other cities added which adds support to your theory on change with city coding.
I only use it for location weather manually updating so did not see this error but adding a city replicates the issue exactly :-/
Weather applications for other platforms would of needed updating so hopefully can find some info in it to see if looks fixable ...
Well I have found if add the following string value key it will work again (see attached weatherredirect.txt)
Also attached the custom weather city editor cab & have updated the registry key in the cab if anyone wants to use/try it .
Screen shots of location & 2 cities I added for testing via manual update with just registry key added.
Mister B said:
Well I have found if add the following string value key it will work again (see attached weatherredirect.txt)
Also attached the custom weather city editor cab & have updated the registry key in the cab if anyone wants to use/try it .
Screen shots of location & 2 cities I added for testing via manual update with just registry key added.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
worked for me, just need to add http:// at beginning:
Code:
http://htc.accuweather.com/widget/htc/forecast-data_v3.asp?ac=TR2cra9U&locCode=%25ls&version=1&device=innovation%25ls
:good::good:
^ wrote my key without as believe not need application protocol in the value & works .
Main thing it works at present
Does look like accuweather have implemented new city codes structure & also have the 6 digit ID's too so original server would not deal with old city codes.
Expect the 2330fc3c_manila file could be edited with new details if needed in future but not a quick task & not seen a full list of new codes or proper details on it that would need to start editing.
EDIT: heres a mortscript to add the key if you lazy Just unzip & copy .mscr file to device & run it ...
expect most have mortscript on their WM6.5.x HD2's :-S if not also added .reg file so can import the key using a registry editor on your device or PC based one like linked in my signature or use Task Manager 3.5 inbuilt registry editor as has superb export/import support. just an .exe to run (2 older versions is in Windows directory on nrg ROMs)
Thanks a lot my friend, it works perfectly (even without the http:// prefix, btw). :good:
For quick testing registry modifications, I'm using Smartione : simple and easy to use, and you can import/export easily as well. You just have to modify the header and and file extention to turn the exported keys into standard regedit5 files.
So it was finally just a change in Accuweather server address...
We're lucky there was a registry key able to override the original address... Do you know inside which file it's hard coded ?
And how did you find this overridding registry key ? In a recent Windows CE device ?
While I'm enumerating useful tools, I use SQL Lite Admin to manually modify 2330fc3c_manila.
Lots of cities time zones (outside US and Europe) are compltely wrong in the files provided by HTC, and I could recently check they were still as wrong in recent Android devices !
This is one of the first information I had to fix, or all the other cities times were wrong in the world clock once I had set my local time !
You can also easily add more cities in the database with this tool. I was amazed not to find ANY Northern Territory city in the databse when I travelled to Australia last month, and the only available South Australia city was Adelaide, with a wrong time zone as well !
I had the override key in notes from few years back when people had problems with weather servers & also used with custom server at the time.
Quite common for reg key bypass & was very good practice by HTC & MS.
I was expecting the original server to be in the 2330fc3c_manila file.
Your theory on change of city codes was correct but the override server address feeds handset info & server supports the older city code format.
I expect manila can be updated & improved on weather data quite a bit but not looked into it yet myself but want to ...
Now I am having problems to sincronice gmail. For some reason it has been deconfigured and now it keeps asking to introduce the right password, and it does not recognize
^ do you have your Gmail setup as imap or pop3 mail or setup as GoogleSync through activesync via m.google.com server !?
activesync via m.google.com server
i did sync only gmail contacts and calendar without problems, but when i tried to add gmail account in email tab it mess. Now sync keep asking to introduce the password everytime.
^ First thing I would try is logging in to the Google account online & seeing if it blocked the device for security reason, have a look in settings/devices & will list devices used to connect to the account. Could also set a new password online if no issues found then try that on the HD2 !
verification in 2 steps (introducing code sent by sms) was making problems. Once unactivated it syncs again gamil contact and calendar. Now trying to add email tab ... done! I was mixing setup as imap and activesync via m.google.com server. Just need to tick on sync email in this last one. Thanks for support. Mr.B
^ No problem, thanks for all your input & themes etc over the years too
Quite amazing how much still works on WM6.5 mainly as very configurable, even IM+ works fine including facebook chat ...
Had a N97 mini I dug out the cupboard the other day & that was a right pain to get any worthwhile function, updated best I could & sold ...
Since two weeks AccuWeather MyLocation stopped working. Still working cities but not working MyLocation Weather (city #0)
10-3-21: As of late September 2021, Google has denied login access to devices older than Android 3 (Honeycomb). That pretty much puts the kibosh on the presence of GApps on the NST/G. You get login errors for existing accounts every time you connect to WiFi. Even Maps misbehaves. If you have a pre-GApps backup you can get rid of GApps easily. If not...I'll be working on a removal strategy and will post it in this thread when I get it done. I have removed all the linked downloads and instructional material from this post. No point encouraging people to mess us their devices. It really is over.
Removing GApps from your NST/G
The easiest way to do this, as mentioned above, is to revert to a pre-GApps backup. If you have one that does not mean you would be happy to go back there because a lot may have been done since then. That is my case, so here's a guide to manual removal. You'll need a good file manager with root access (ES File Explorer is what I used) and you may want sqlite, although I don't think it is absolutely needed. More on that later.
1. Navigate to /system/app. Remove this entire list of apks (you may not have all of them, but remove those you do). If your file manager allows you to multi-select files for an operation, I encourage you to do so. Otherwise, at least one of the removals is likely to cause a soft reboot.
GoogleApps
GoogleBackupTransport (may cause soft reboot)
GoogleCheckin
GooglePartnerSetup
GoogleSettingsProvider
GoogleSubscriberFeedsProvider
gtalkservice
Maps
NetworkLocation
SetupWizard
Street
Vending
2. Navigate to /system/framework and remove:
com.google.android.gtalkservice.jar
com.google.android.datamessaging.jar
(you can also remove the jar file related to Maps, if you wish, but this is one of the files needed to run any of the Tasker-generated apps I have made, so I left it. It does nothing if you leave it there, but Tasker--or a "kid" app--always looks for it and will not install without it.)
3. Navigate to to /system/etc/permissions and remove:
com.google.android.gtalkservice.xml
com.google.android.datamessaging.xml
(same deal as above on the xml file related to Maps)
4. Navigate to /data/system/sync. Inspect the file "accounts.xml". It's just plain text, so try to do this on your device but otherwise copy it out to your PC to have a look at it. It should be "empty", looking like this:
Code:
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8' standalone='yes' ?>
If there's anything else there, delete it until your file looks like above. Be sure to save any changes.
Delete "pending.bin" if it exists.
[Wishing you just reverted to a pre-Gapps backup yet?]
5. Navigate to /data/data and remove all the folders listed. Again, you may not have every one of these, but remove those you do. Note, if you installed either Maps or Street as user apps, these can just be uninstalled with the App Manager.
com.android.setupwizard
com.android.vending
com.google.android.apps.gtalkservice
com.google.android.apps.maps
com.google.android.apps.backup
com.google.android.apps.gm
com.google.android.apps.googleapps
com.google.android.apps.location
com.google.android.apps.partnersetup
com.google.android.apps.providers.gmail
com.google.android.apps.providers.settings
com.google.android.apps.providers.subscribedfeeds
com.google.android.apps.servercheckin
com.google.android.street
6. Navigate to /data/dalvik-cache and remove all the files there corresponding to ALL of the apks and jars you removed in steps 1 and 2.
7. Reboot.
After I had done all of this I was surprised to see zero-byte "ghosts" in the App Manager for the system apps I had removed (and in the user app section!). So I went through and "uninstalled" them all. You cannot, in case you are wondering, just change the filter on the App Manager so you can see the system apps and uninstall them that way. There is no "uninstall" option for system apps.
Optional
When GApps was installed, patched copies of two files: services.jar and framework.jar were copied onto the device (/system/framework). These were patched mainly to establish device ID's and allow the SetupWizard to work. These minor changes seem to have no other effects. You may find that during GApps installation the original files were renamed as "service.jar.gappsorig" or similar. If that's the case, you could delete the patched ones and rename the old "gappsorig" ones. If you do this, you should delete the entries in the dalvik-cache as well and reboot.
Finally, accounts.db still holds information about whatever Google accounts you had on the device. Again, this probably is not really an issue. If you want to remove these entries, you will need a copy of sqlite3. Check /system/bin. If you have it, you're good to go. Otherwise, you need to download a copy, move it into /system/bin, set permissions to rwx r-x r-x and reboot. Sqlite is accessed within the adb shell. So establish an adb connection with your device (USB or WiFi, doesn't matter) and execute the following:
adb shell
sqlite3 /data/system/accounts.db "DELETE from accounts WHERE name LIKE [email protected];"
.q
reboot
Of course you substitute your account for "myacct".
Mea culpa
When I put together the update package for NTGAppsAttack I just assumed that the patched jars for FW 1.2.1 (framework.jar and services.jar) would be the same for FW 1.2.2. And, in fact, I've not had any issues yet.
But in tracking down an, as it now turns out, unrelated issue, I had cause to look more closely at the jars from the two firmwares. They are close, but not identical. This made me a little nervous because I don't want to mess up peoples' devices
So, with guidance from @Renate NST I have patched the jars from FW 1.2.2. These can now be found at the attachment section of the first post in this thread.
The good news is that you don't need to reinstall GApps. You can just "hot swap" these files:
Code:
adb push framework.jar /system/framework/
adb push services.jar /system/framework/
After I had done that I deleted the dalvik-cache files for the same two jars (found in /data/dalvik-cache near the end of the listings), and then completely shut down. Boot on powering up is alarmingly slow, but it does happen and then everything is back to normal.
As always, you might want to make a back-up first if doing this makes you a little nervous. Or, you could just ignore the whole thing. It may not matter.
Changes added to first post.
nmyshkin said:
It's ironic that I picked up this project since I've been posting about the death of GApps for the NST/G and telling people who ask that calendars, contacts, etc., won't sync--never mind the loss of the old Market. Back in 2013 when @straygecko brought GApps to the NST/G in a nice, neat package minus the hand-waving of previous schemes it was a great thing. But time and Google have been unkind to the package.
I thought about the issue only a little, although each time someone asked about some feature or described some ill-fated attempt to sign in I wondered a little what they were experiencing, unwilling to sacrifice my installation to find out. Then I got my second NST.
NTGAppsAttack is back.
Well, maybe it should be called NTGAppsSkirmish. In my wanderings I was lucky to come across an old CM5 ROM as well as several sets of GApps for the HTC "Passion" device. I spent a lot of time reading in the Nook Color forum (Eclair was the initial OS) and this forum. I tried a LOT of things. Some worked. Some didn't.
What works
Upsync (from the device to Google) for Contacts and Calendar (and, of course, Gmail)
Downsync (from Google to the device) for Contacts and Calendar (and Gmail)
Network location
Maps and Street
Potentially other apps that work with Google account sync and/or use NetworkLocation
What doesn't work
The stock contacts app (yes, I found one--finally)
Autocompletion of email addresses in ANY mail client I tried (Gmail, K-9, stock)
Market
Google Books
Google Drive
Just about everything else
What can be worked around
Go Contacts EX 1.0 works fine as a contacts replacement but only for the principal Google account.
Yalp Store makes an excellent replacement for Market (really, it's better).
Edit: Yalp Store appears dead as of June 2019. Word has it the developer has abandoned the app.
The stock calendar is really pitiful. Hard to believe anyone ever thought that would be useful. aCalendar works and looks great.
How to update NTGappsAttack
The biggest hurdle seems to be getting the custom addon installed properly on the NookManager card. Lots of questions about this in the original thread. I have to say it was not clear to me as a noob years back and even when I recently returned to it I had to scratch my head a bit. So here's what to do:
1. Download NTGappsAttack.zip from the original thread.
2. Insert your prepared NookManager card into the card reader slot of your PC.
3. Unzip the NTGappsAttack file with the destination being the root of the NookManager card.
(In other words, don't copy the zip file to the card, don't unzip to your PC and copy the result to the card. Don't do anything except let your PC unzip the file and dump the contents onto the NookManager card without your intervention. This allows the folders/files to merge on the card and sets things up where they belong.)
Once the original NTGappsAttack is installed onto the NookManager card, you can update the GApps files:
1. Download the zip attached below which contains additional/replacement/optional GApps.
2. Place the NookManager card in the card reader slot of your PC.
3. Remove the following GApps from custom/files/NTGAppsAttack/gapps/system/app:
--Calendar
--GenieWidget
--Gmail
--GmailProvider
--MarketUpdate
--Talk
--TalkProvider
4. Replace/add the following apps from the zip file I have provided (the ones marked with * are optional)
--Gmail
--GmailProvider
--Maps*
--NetworkLocation*
--Street*
Of course, Calculator in the original package is also "optional".
If you are installing GApps on a FW 1.2.1 system, the patched jars that came with the package are fine. However, if you have previously patched your framework.jar for full spectrum audio recording via USB Audio, the patched jar from GApps will overwrite your file. To address this, I have attached below a copy of framework.jar with both patches. You can copy this into custom/files/NTGAppsAttack/1.2/system/framework, overwriting the file already present.
If you are installing GApps on a FW 1.2.2 system, the patched jars for FW 1.2.1 that came with the package are similar but not identical to the jars from FW 1.2.2 (especially framework.jar). I initially used these old files on a FW 1.2.2 system with no problems, but as I have prepared a set of patched files for FW 1.2.2, you might as well replace the ones on the card with the ones provided in the zip file below. Copy them into custom/files/NTGAppsAttack/1.2/system/framework, overwriting the files already present. The framework.jar in the zip is also patched for audio recording. If you never use USB Audio, it doesn't matter, but if you decide to someday, it will save you a step.
Installing NTGAppsAttack and signing in
BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP!!!!
DID YOU MAKE A BACKUP?!
1. Start WiFi
2. Shut down NST/G
3. Insert NookManager card with NTGAppsAttack
4. Power on NST/G
5. No to Wireless
6. More
7. Custom
8. Install NTGappsAttack
9. Back
10. Back
11. Exit
12. Wait for reboot (long time...so long it goes to screensaver...gave me the heebie-jeebies the first time...)
13. If Wifi does not start, start it, being careful not to touch rest of screen.
14. Touch Android
15. Begin
16. Next
17. Skip (no sign-in or new accounts)
18. Google Location options: YOU MUST CHECK BOTH
19. Next (Setup closes)
21. Open Gmail
22. Using Menu button access "Accounts"
23. Add account--the primary Google account you want to use for the device
24. Sign-in
25. Gmail closes and you may catch "signed-in" flashing by at the top of the screen; sync arrows show in status bar
26. If you have a second (or more) account to add, sign in. You'll see the various sync options. Check/uncheck the ones you want. If something fails to sync, uncheck it and check it again until it syncs. (Anytime you want to check an account for sync options, just add a "new" account but make it the same one. It won't add again, but you'll see the sync options. Make sure all you want have synced. Might as well check the initial account you started with while you're there. Make sure everything you want synced.)
27. Exit Gmail.
*Ignore the Market app. I left it in because during my testing I noticed the system wondering about it (logcat) when I had left it out. So it's there, but just to keep the system mollified.*
Getting things working
Contacts
Install the Go Contacts Ex 1.0 app I have attached below. It's the only thing I could find that syncs in both directions and doesn't crash. However, stay away from the Backup and Recovery/Account Sync settings. These will cause a reboot because of the tight security around accounts.db that B&N built into the device. Gmail is the only way into those settings.
If you enter a new contact or edit one on the device, upsync is almost immediate. Downsync is another matter. This is the most reluctant of the apps to sync and the only one that does not have a manual sync option. A solution under "Sync" below.
Calendar
I'm not a calendar user myself, so I can only go on what is pleasing to my eyes and what seems to behave logically. I think aCalendar is good (attached below). It will pick up the calendar from your primary account as well as holidays, etc. It also seems to want to sync contacts although I'm not sure what the calendar wants with those. Like Go Contacts, upsync of events you generate on the device seems to be nearly instantaneous (and "silent"--no sync arrows). Unlike Go Contacts, there is a manual sync option if you're in a hurry.
Gmail
Settings for Gmail are pretty much like those of the stock email app, although there is no "check mail" frequency setting since Gmail is supposed to sync at random when mail becomes known to the server. Supposed to... It has a manual sync ("refresh") option. You can set a signature for each account. You can decide which mail folders are synced and how many days worth of mail is synced. Unlike the version in the original GApps package, this one appears to be OK, continuing to send mail reliably.
Reading through the Nook Color forum it is clear that autocomplete of email addresses in the To: field bedeviled the early hackers. They suggested a lot of kludges, none of which worked on the NST. With FW 1.2.2 there is a teasing grey bar that appears when you type two or three letters of an email address that is in the contacts, but nothing happens when you tap on the bar. With FW 1.2.1 there is no grey bar. So that's a project for someone. I used up my spare little grey cells on this particular issue. You can, of course, open your contacts and choose one to send mail to.
Maps and Street
When I first discovered a NetworkLocation app in one of the GApps packages I thought "oh, that will never work". There was also a Maps app so I just put them into one of my test batches and...it worked! That's actually pretty amazing. The location accuracy is perhaps not the best (I've gotten anywhere from 30 to 100 m reported), but it's still pretty crazy. The first Maps I tried was nice in that the streets actually had names, unlike the version of Maps you can still get for Android 2.1 from the Yalp Store. But this version was so old that Places had not yet been integrated. Also missing was the ability to pre-cache map areas for off-line use. So I went searching.
I finally came up with a good version with visible street names, Places, and a Labs option for pre-caching (and these don't expire, unlike in the current PlayStore Maps version). Directions also work.
The first Street app I had didn't run at all and I had pretty much given up--I mean, it's pretty silly--until I came across one more package and decided, what the heck? Sure enough, it actually worked.
Edit: some people have expressed frustration with Street, indicating that it is often greyed-out or simply gives a black screen. I recently discovered two things: 1) it does not have to be installed as a system app, i.e., you can install as a user app, and 2) it never fails to show starred (favorited--is that a word?!) places. I'm not sure whether that is intentional or just the vagaries of all these disparate GApps trying to work together, but if you add a place as a favorite and then call it up from your favorites list, Street will not be greyed-out and will actually show what you want to see. Who knew?
Maps can be pretty CPU hungry. It likes to annoy with messages like "Application Maps is having a hissy fit. Do you want to wait or force close?" (paraphrase ). I have a "solution" that, while somewhat draconian, works well: turn it off when not using it. I've written a little toggle app that alternately disables and enables/launches Maps. So you need to remember to tap the icon again when you are finished with Maps, but if you can get into the habit you will have the use of Maps without the annoyance of Maps. Attached below, "Google Maps". Use this to launch Maps (which may in fact disappear from your app drawer when disabled, but will return when enabled).
Sync
Now we get to the make-or-break part. Upsync from contacts, calendar and Gmail (sending) works like it should. It's "silent" (no arrows) and appears to be nearly immediate. Downsync is reluctant, at best. I've seen it happen on its own, perhaps twice in one day, but not always. The app Quick Sync (attached below) is a one-touch app with no settings that forces a manual sync of all accounts it finds on the device. I tried a variety of other apps (Synker is popular) but none worked as reliably as Quick Sync. Still, it's kind of lame, right? Wouldn't it be better if the NST/G behaved like the big boy's (and girl's) toys and did a quick sync when Wifi started? Yes!
I've made two apps to address this. Download and install one or the other. The attached app WiFiSync runs the Quick Settings dialog just like normal but adds an auto-run of Quick Sync after an appropriate pause. Use NookTouch ModManager to assign the app to "Clock" (that's the absolute last entry of the various buttons that can be reassigned). This generally updates everything although occasionally contacts are sulky and you may need to tap on the Quick Sync app and give it another go, but typically not.
The WiFiMenu_Sync is a special edition of my WiFi Menu app and functions as described in the link but also does an auto-run of Quick Sync. Also best when assigned to the "Clock" using NTMM.
*Even if you decide later not to use it, you should install and run WiFiSync or WiFiMenu_Sync at least once, if only by tapping on the icon. On first run it sets the AutoSync flag just in case it didn't get done in all the previous to-do. There's no other way to access this setting.*
Edit: one more option, my Quick Tiles app includes a WiFi/sync option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am going to use this in my office for the calendar feature to access my appointments quickly via the awesome, low energy, easy on the eyes e-ink of the nook. Thanks so much for everything you do!
---------- Post added at 07:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:27 PM ----------
@nmyshkin If I want to keep the stock calendar app, will that cause any problems? If I don't like it, can I remove it without issues?
ALinkToTao said:
If I want to keep the stock calendar app, will that cause any problems? If I don't like it, can I remove it without issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try out the stock calendar app without any issues. As long as the calendar sync app is enabled, it should work OK. If you decide against it later, simply remove the app from /system/app and reboot. For complete cleanup, also delete the stock app folder from /data/data/app and also the cache for the app from /data/dalvik-cache
Thanks, man.
@nmyshkin I've been playing with this, and it's working really well for my purposes. Paired with USB host and a keyboard, it's a great energy efficient and distraction resistant tool for the office. The only issues I've seen so far are these:
1. I just installed the GoContacts app. (I didn't install it at the very beginning). For right now, it doesn't seem to want to sync. I tried forcing sync with your app. I feel like it will eventually work. Or perhaps maybe I should have installed it at the very beginning of this process?
2. The calendar works great-mostly. I use it in my office to quickly see my schedule at-a-glance for patients that are coming in. For some reason, it syncs 80 to 90% of the calendar entries from my google calendar, but not all of them. There will be holes in my schedule that aren't actually there. Every week there are often entries of 35 or more appointments. Perhaps there is a limit as to how much can be synced at once. The stock calendar app seems to work the best for my purposes. I have the aCalendar app as a back up as its features are different and still useful.
Thanks again for all the work you did on it. I'm definitely enjoying the benefits of it.
ALinkToTao said:
@nmyshkin I've been playing with this, and it's working really well for my purposes. Paired with USB host and a keyboard, it's a great energy efficient and distraction resistant tool for the office. The only issues I've seen so far are these:
1. I just installed the GoContacts app. (I didn't install it at the very beginning). For right now, it doesn't seem to want to sync. I tried forcing sync with your app. I feel like it will eventually work. Or perhaps maybe I should have installed it at the very beginning of this process?
2. The calendar works great-mostly. I use it in my office to quickly see my schedule at-a-glance for patients that are coming in. For some reason, it syncs 80 to 90% of the calendar entries from my google calendar, but not all of them. There will be holes in my schedule that aren't actually there. Every week there are often entries of 35 or more appointments. Perhaps there is a limit as to how much can be synced at once. The stock calendar app seems to work the best for my purposes. I have the aCalendar app as a back up as its features are different and still useful.
Thanks again for all the work you did on it. I'm definitely enjoying the benefits of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm afraid I'm not going to be of much help here. For me, contacts and calendar were an exercise to see if I could get things to work, given Google's abandonment of Android 2.1. I don't really use either, although I occasionally will use contacts to start up an email address I can't recall.
First, let me remind you that Go Contacts only will sync with contacts from the principal device account (so the first Google account you logged into GMail with). I just created a fake contact on my PC this morning as well as a fake calendar entry. Neither of them was picked up by just a simple wi-fi connection. Both were immediately picked up with a tap on QuickSync. I can't speak to the stock calendar app. Besides finding it difficult to read, I vaguely recall other issues. There were so many things to test, it's all pretty much magic now. So I settled on acalendar which I had seen someone recommend and found it to work as far as my testing went. Its manual "synchronize" function also brought up the new calendar event without the use of QuickSync.
As to multiple events, well I just didn't try whole bunches, so I just don't know.
Does Go Contacts not bring up anything? For settings, I have only Google accounts showing, but if you have contacts without phone numbers you'll need to include that also or you won't see any. I'm not sure about the "phone contacts" setting. Mine is unchecked. You just want to stay away from most of the other settings. Generally when I have installed the app it's already got all the contacts picked up by the time I get around to looking at it. I'm sorry I can't be of more help. The whole GApps thing is pretty weird in that anything works at all, but it's not of much use if it's not consistent for you.
nmyshkin said:
I'm afraid I'm not going to be of much help here. For me, contacts and calendar were an exercise to see if I could get things to work, given Google's abandonment of Android 2.1. I don't really use either, although I occasionally will use contacts to start up an email address I can't recall.
First, let me remind you that Go Contacts only will sync with contacts from the principal device account (so the first Google account you logged into GMail with). I just created a fake contact on my PC this morning as well as a fake calendar entry. Neither of them was picked up by just a simple wi-fi connection. Both were immediately picked up with a tap on QuickSync. I can't speak to the stock calendar app. Besides finding it difficult to read, I vaguely recall other issues. There were so many things to test, it's all pretty much magic now. So I settled on acalendar which I had seen someone recommend and found it to work as far as my testing went. Its manual "synchronize" function also brought up the new calendar event without the use of QuickSync.
As to multiple events, well I just didn't try whole bunches, so I just don't know.
Does Go Contacts not bring up anything? For settings, I have only Google accounts showing, but if you have contacts without phone numbers you'll need to include that also or you won't see any. I'm not sure about the "phone contacts" setting. Mine is unchecked. You just want to stay away from most of the other settings. Generally when I have installed the app it's already got all the contacts picked up by the time I get around to looking at it. I'm sorry I can't be of more help. The whole GApps thing is pretty weird in that anything works at all, but it's not of much use if it's not consistent for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I tried changing it to Google only, and it still isn't syncing. No problem, man. I really appreciate it. I'm seeing which functions are working smoothly and keeping those only.
Is there any version of Google books with syncing that works?
And also gDrive?
And does it make a difference if it's UK version or US version?
Thanks
frittahubris said:
Is there any version of Google books with syncing that works?
And also gDrive?
And does it make a difference if it's UK version or US version?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, and no, and no. Sorry.
That's a shame. Are there any eReader apps that have syncing that work with this mod? Otherwise I don't see much use for this unless it's your only reading device.
frittahubris said:
That's a shame. Are there any eReader apps that have syncing that work with this mod? Otherwise I don't see much use for this unless it's your only reading device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know that FBReader can use your Google Drive to sync books. I have tried it recently and it works. It's all handled within the reader app so you don't actually need a functioning Google Drive app on the device. I believe that AlReader also has this function.
Edit: here are instructions that worked for me with FBReader: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3957311