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Any way to create a shortcut to the Profiles on CM9? I'd like to put it on my homescreen for fast switching. Thanks in advance.
Kayak83 said:
Any way to create a shortcut to the Profiles on CM9? I'd like to put it on my homescreen for fast switching. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I had an idea of how I might be able to help you if you use Apex. It didn't work. Instead I found a shortcut to a little CM easter egg. At least I've never seen it or heard it mentioned...
With Apex, long press on the home screen. Tap "Select Shortcut", then "Activities", Scroll down to "Settings" and click the arrow to expand it into a list. Scroll to "CIDCircus" and select it. You'll have to remember where on your home screen you created the shortcut, because it has no icon, so it is basically invisible. But then click it.
I'll keep looking around to see if I can help you, but if you want a third party way to do it I highly recommend Profile Scheduler. There is a free version you could use to see if you like it. It doesn't do the app groups, but I've never used that functionality so I don't miss it.
Edit: Just found out how to directly access that easter egg. Maybe this was already known: In System Settings > About Phone > CyanogenMod version tap it over an over like the normal android easter eggs, then long press on the logo after.
Hi there,
Just got a new Galaxy Tab 3 10.1. There's a line of apps installed below the page/panel indicator on the home screens, with a bunch of (to me) ill chosen apps. But I can't drag them off the screen to delete them, like I can the ones above the page indicator. I can't find any mention of what this apparently separate panel is called to search better.
Of interest, are people happy with their purchase of one of these? So far I'm finding it pretty ordinary - not horrible, just ordinary...
maysa said:
Hi there,
Just got a new Galaxy Tab 3 10.1. There's a line of apps installed below the page/panel indicator on the home screens, with a bunch of (to me) ill chosen apps. But I can't drag them off the screen to delete them, like I can the ones above the page indicator. I can't find any mention of what this apparently separate panel is called to search better.
Of interest, are people happy with their purchase of one of these? So far I'm finding it pretty ordinary - not horrible, just ordinary...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just drag the apps on the lower part of your home screen to the upper part where it says delete. then you can go to your apps and drag them to the lower part of your home screen to add them in the dock
If you're saying about the lock screen then I don't know
Hi!
I'm pretty happy with the tab 10.1! With the latest OTA update it runs even smoother! The runtime is great, can handle up to 5 days with daily usage without charging. I received my leather case today, a 360° case.. I can put it horizontal or vertical and it "wakes up" when i open the case.
With that prize its an absolutely recommendation.
Greetings
Gesendet von meinem GT-P5210 mit Tapatalk 4
levihaler said:
Just drag the apps on the lower part of your home screen to the upper part where it says delete. then you can go to your apps and drag them to the lower part of your home screen to add them in the dock
If you're saying about the lock screen then I don't know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there,
On the default home page, there's two large widgets on the top (weather and news). Below that there's a Google search bar. Below that there's a row of shortcuts. These all behave normally. Below that there's the page/panel indicator (telling you which home page you're on) and then at the bottom there's another row of shortcuts. It's that last, bottom row that I'm having trouble with. They don't seem to act normally - I can't drag them off to delete as normal. They appear to be hardwired. They are not the choice I would select and I want to change them.
Are other people able to delete these shortcuts?
Thanks!
maysa said:
Hi there,
On the default home page, there's two large widgets on the top (weather and news). Below that there's a Google search bar. Below that there's a row of shortcuts. These all behave normally. Below that there's the page/panel indicator (telling you which home page you're on) and then at the bottom there's another row of shortcuts. It's that last, bottom row that I'm having trouble with. They don't seem to act normally - I can't drag them off to delete as normal. They appear to be hardwired. They are not the choice I would select and I want to change them.
Are other people able to delete these shortcuts?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you show us a picture?
maybe installing a launcher / shell will help you organize your tablet's home screen...
Same problem.
[o QUOTE=maysa;44827975]Hi there,
Just got a new Galaxy Tab 3 10.1. There's a line of apps installed below the page/panel indicator on the home screens, with a bunch of (to me) ill chosen apps. But I can't drag them off the screen to delete them, like I can the ones above the page indicator. I can't find any mention of what this apparently separate panel is called to search better.
Of interest, are people happy with their purchase of one of these? So far I'm finding it pretty ordinary - not horrible, just ordinary...[/QUOTE]
I have the same problem. I'm tired of reading the answer "click and hold then drag it up". It seems to be the stock answer on all forums. They won't move! No matter what I do, the ridiculous row of apps bottom most on the screen is stuck. There's no help for this in the help app/widget. Someone must know how to unlock these darn things. I want to replace them with ones I use regularly.
granparoger said:
maysa said:
Hi there,
Just got a new Galaxy Tab 3 10.1. There's a line of apps installed below the page/panel indicator on the home screens, with a bunch of (to me) ill chosen apps. But I can't drag them off the screen to delete them, like I can the ones above the page indicator. I can't find any mention of what this apparently separate panel is called to search better.
Of interest, are people happy with their purchase of one of these? So far I'm finding it pretty ordinary - not horrible, just ordinary...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same problem. I'm tired of reading the answer "click and hold then drag it up". It seems to be the stock answer on all forums. They won't move! No matter what I do, the ridiculous row of apps bottom most on the screen is stuck. There's no help for this in the help app/widget. Someone must know how to unlock these darn things. I want to replace them with ones I use regularly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Qranparoger,
Unfortunately that is the correct answer of click and hold and move. I just did it to mine and I can move two of the three apps I have in the bottom row. The only one that cannot move is APPS. My SETTINGS and FIREFOX can both be moved to the main screen above the bottom row.
My tab is rooted, but uses stock rom. There is nothing special about what I have done. I checked settings to see if I had changed a display or security function but I do not see anything. I do remember when I first got the tab that I too was having problems. But I do remember solving it and removing the bottom row (except APPS) and rearranging the icons or deleting the icons.
It think that maybe it might be in the APPLICATION MANAGER in SETTINGS that you "Turn Off" the app and it might vanish from the bottom of the screen. Again, I cannot remember how I did it but it can be done.
Brian D said:
Qranparoger,
Unfortunately that is the correct answer of click and hold and move. I just did it to mine and I can move two of the three apps I have in the bottom row. The only one that cannot move is APPS. My SETTINGS and FIREFOX can both be moved to the main screen above the bottom row.
My tab is rooted, but uses stock rom. There is nothing special about what I have done. I checked settings to see if I had changed a display or security function but I do not see anything. I do remember when I first got the tab that I too was having problems. But I do remember solving it and removing the bottom row (except APPS) and rearranging the icons or deleting the icons.
It think that maybe it might be in the APPLICATION MANAGER in SETTINGS that you "Turn Off" the app and it might vanish from the bottom of the screen. Again, I cannot remember how I did it but it can be done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Latest ROM update - still can't change the apps. My tab isn't rooted, and I couldn't be bothered to now. I don't necessarily want to "turn off" the apps, just not use my precious home screen space. Anyway, I solved the problem by buying a Nexus. Yep, free Samsung is just collecting dust, piece of rubbish... Before anyone rages on me, there's a bunch of reasons I didn't like the Samsung, not just this one thing.
maysa said:
Latest ROM update - still can't change the apps. My tab isn't rooted, and I couldn't be bothered to now. I don't necessarily want to "turn off" the apps, just not use my precious home screen space. Anyway, I solved the problem by buying a Nexus. Yep, free Samsung is just collecting dust, piece of rubbish... Before anyone rages on me, there's a bunch of reasons I didn't like the Samsung, not just this one thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Meh... it is all good. Since you got the tab for free, you can send it to me. Give me something to play around with. :laugh::laugh:
Hello,
the launcher of cm11 only has two pages/panels and does not seem to support folders.
With Trebuchet launcher of cm9 this was still supported pretty fine. Or did I overlook anything?
Is there any tip from anybody how to configure that?...
Thank you very much.
Falk2 said:
Hello,
the launcher of cm11 only has two pages/panels and does not seem to support folders.
With Trebuchet launcher of cm9 this was still supported pretty fine. Or did I overlook anything?
Is there any tip from anybody how to configure that?...
Thank you very much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just drag an icon or widget to the right(from the rightmost page) to create a new page. And folders can be made by putting one app icon on another
Thank you very much. That's it.
My girl-friend found it out today also. I failed before after several tries.
Anyway a little info text within the launcher would have helped here! Cause I suppose I am not the only one who has problems with that...
Do you also know?...
* where to set the order option of the icon overview screen? (there is NO settings -> personalization -> Homescreen option in my version!!) I cannot find how to set it to alphabetical order.
* how to move the icons order manually?
* how to set the HOME desktop panel? When I press Android Home button always the most left panel is selected instead of the middle one.
Thank you very much for your help.
Falk2 said:
Thank you very much. That's it.
My girl-friend found it out today also. I failed before after several tries.
Anyway a little info text within the launcher would have helped here! Cause I suppose I am not the only one who has problems with that...
Do you also know?...
* where to set the order option of the icon overview screen? (there is NO settings -> personalization -> Homescreen option in my version!!) I cannot find how to set it to alphabetical order.
* how to move the icons order manually?
* how to set the HOME desktop panel? When I press Android Home button always the most left panel is selected instead of the middle one.
Thank you very much for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use the stock CM launcher, but I'm pretty sure pressing the menu button will get some options if they exist
Got a new G3, the F460 with Snapdragon 805, guess straight from Korea (bought on Swappa). Minor annoyance, the lock screen shows double clock - "Local" and "Home" time, where "home" is, I guess, Seoul Korea. How do I get rid of this "Home" time there or change its time zone to elsewhere? There is nothing on it in lock screen options, time zone settings in system settings also don't affect this, nothing in "Clock" application settings... Any ideas?
I was wondering this too.
gregko1980 said:
Got a new G3, the F460 with Snapdragon 805, guess straight from Korea (bought on Swappa). Minor annoyance, the lock screen shows double clock - "Local" and "Home" time, where "home" is, I guess, Seoul Korea. How do I get rid of this "Home" time there or change its time zone to elsewhere? There is nothing on it in lock screen options, time zone settings in system settings also don't affect this, nothing in "Clock" application settings... Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remove the widget by long pressing it on locked screen, then you can replace it with whatever you want.
Doesn't work with that particular widget.
czechu01 said:
Remove the widget by long pressing it on locked screen, then you can replace it with whatever you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, as the user just above me wrote, it does not work. You can press it as long as you want - eventually the lock screen will timeout and go dark, but you can't remove or edit this widget in any way. Any other ideas?
Greg
gregko1980 said:
Right, as the user just above me wrote, it does not work. You can press it as long as you want - eventually the lock screen will timeout and go dark, but you can't remove or edit this widget in any way. Any other ideas?
Greg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In lockscreen settings option that says show lockscreen widgets or something like that has to be enabled.
czechu01 said:
In lockscreen settings option that says show lockscreen widgets or something like that has to be enabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope... it is enabled, but still can't remove or change the clock settings in any way. So seemingly simple problem and yet so difficult to solve!
Greg
gregko1980 said:
Nope... it is enabled, but still can't remove or change the clock settings in any way. So seemingly simple problem and yet so difficult to solve!
Greg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, try this way:
- screen is locked but it's on
- touch and hold the widget and try to pull it down like notification bar
- widget should become bigger and editable
- touch and hold the widget (now you should be able to remove it)
See my video
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tl8jw7czdcpw0nu/SCR_20140923_203842.mp4?dl=0
czechu01 said:
Ok, try this way:
- screen is locked but it's on
- touch and hold the widget and try to pull it down like notification bar
- widget should become bigger and editable
- touch and hold the widget (now you should be able to remove it)
See my video
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tl8jw7czdcpw0nu/SCR_20140923_203842.mp4?dl=0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for trying to help, Czechu! Dzięki! Unfortunately it still does not work. I can swipe the lock screen from the left edge, and _only_then_ I get a page and widget you show on your video. However, the screen that comes up first upon turning on is different, has two digital clocks that cannot be modified in any way, cannot be swiped down - nothing...
Grzegorz
gregko1980 said:
Thank you for trying to help, Czechu! Dzięki! Unfortunately it still does not work. I can swipe the lock screen from the left edge, and _only_then_ I get a page and widget you show on your video. However, the screen that comes up first upon turning on is different, has two digital clocks that cannot be modified in any way, cannot be swiped down - nothing...
Grzegorz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heh, trudno.... I'm out of ideas then. Seems like the Korean variant is a bit different than euro. Hopefully someone will have a solution for that. Maybe try some 3rd party lockscreena for the time being?
czechu01 said:
Heh, trudno.... I'm out of ideas then. Seems like the Korean variant is a bit different than euro. Hopefully someone will have a solution for that. Maybe try some 3rd party lockscreena for the time being?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe it was not supposed to go out of Korea, so home would be in Seoul forever. Thank you again!
Greg
gregko1980 said:
Maybe it was not supposed to go out of Korea, so home would be in Seoul forever. Thank you again!
Greg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2769512
This works perfectly. You can safely uninstall the app thereafter. It won't undo the setting. Thanks!
Try to download an app called Dual Clock Remover. i had the same problem too. But after downloading this app it worked(^-^)v
Solution Here - Works Perfectly.
gregko1980 said:
Got a new G3, the F460 with Snapdragon 805, guess straight from Korea (bought on Swappa). Minor annoyance, the lock screen shows double clock - "Local" and "Home" time, where "home" is, I guess, Seoul Korea. How do I get rid of this "Home" time there or change its time zone to elsewhere? There is nothing on it in lock screen options, time zone settings in system settings also don't affect this, nothing in "Clock" application settings... Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1RkAGfsQIk
This guy demonstrate that how to disable roaming clock through settings which is hidden. In order to access those settings, you need to download a free app named "Quick Shortcut Maker" from playstore. I just follow his steps and i just feel happy. 100% working.
As a long time Android user, I (like most others) had a bit of a hard time getting used to using the Fire Phone's FireOS. Having used the OS for a couple of weeks now, it's not quite so bad once you get used to a few things and learn a few new tricks. Just wanted to start a thread for collecting these types of things that will help others making the transition to FireOS. I'm purposely omitting the fact that google play store can be side loaded whenever possible (sideloading the play store is something I highly recommend everyone with this phone do) so that I can focus on tips and tricks that actually relate to transitioning to FireOS.
Side panels Most everyone at this point is probably aware of the extra info panels that can be accessed by swiping in from the left or right edge of the screen. I have mixed feelings on this myself, as it's used well in some apps (like swiping from the right edge while typing a text message to add pictures), and not very well in other apps (and yet not at all in some apps). Additionally, it's not always obvious if an app does support this feature, or if a certain app will put these options in either the left panel, right panel, or both.
Back Button There is no back button on the Fire Phone. This was a cause of confusion at first. The back button has been replaced with a "swipe up" from the bottom of the screen to go back. This can be a bit finicky at times, but I've found that if I start a short swipe up from the top edge of the home button, it works nearly every time. Additionally, some apps seem to treat this a little differently, as from time to time I will see "back" and "menu" soft-buttons appear at the bottom of the screen when this gesture is used.
Screen Shots You can take a picture of whatever is on the screen by pressing the power and volume down buttons at the same time
App Switcher This is usually accessed on a NORMAL Android phone by long holding the home button. In FireOS, the same is accomplished by double-tapping the home button (the long hold in FireOS brings up voice search). This is the fastest way to switch between apps and gets you around having to navigate the carousel. Also, while in the app switcher, you can swipe individual apps up to kill the process AND remove them from the carousel. I like the Fire Phones implementation here much better than stock Androids. You can double-press the button very fast and this is much less disruptive to workflow while multitasking than pausing for a long press. I think Amazon implemented the switcher and action of the home button beautifully.
Home Button I initially found the behavior of the home button weird. On first press (from a running app), it will take you to the carousel. Additional presses from this point will cycle between the Carousel and the app tray.
App Tray Aside from subsequent presses of the home button, the app tray can be slid up by touching and dragging the bottom row of quick launch icons upward while in the carousel. Likewise, you can continually drag the app tray downward to eventually reach the carousel at the top. It will seem more logical if you picture in your mind that the Carousel sits at the top of the app tray.
Another App Tray annoyance is the lack of alphabetical sorting of apps. While I've found no way to do this automatically, apps can be dragged and dropped in the app tray in any order you like. Apps can either be dragged on top of eachother to create collections (folders), or dragged in between other apps for changing the sorting order. A bit of a pain initially, but pretty easy to keep up with once you get your current collection sorted initially.
Lastly, to get the most from your 4 quick launch icon slots - you can use collections (folders) there as well! This is a feature I'm really using a lot lately to make navigating and the lack of a normal launcher much easier! For example, currently I have the following 4 quick launch collections: "Communication","News","Organize" and "Media". Within the "Communication" collection, I have Phone, Contacts, Messaging, Email, Facebook, Messenger, and Snap Chat. Within the "News" collection, I have Yahoo, Silk Browser and Weather. Within "Oganize" I have Notes, Calendar, and Our Groceries. Within Media I havePhotos, Music, Prime Music, Instant Video, Plex and Netflix. Since using collections in the quick launch area, I find that I rarely ever use the app tray, as my most frequently used apps are right there, easily accessible from the Carousel.
Facebook Mesenger If you're used to using the floating chat heads, and missing them in FireOS, here is a tip. Go to messenger, and enter the settings. Navigate to "Chat heads", ensure the switch is set to "On" and that the "Hide when using apps that take up the full screen" checkbox is NOT checked. For some reason the FireOS launcher/carousel is treated like a full-screen app.
Music Fire phone comes with a "Music" app. But don't confuse this with Amazon's own "Prime Music" app - they are actually two different apps! For those that use the prime music service, do yourself a favor by installing "Prime Music" right from the Amazon App Store. Why this isn't on the phone by default is beyond me!
Cellular usage data As most of us have to keep tabs on our data usage, I find this to be a nice built-in feature (though not the easiest to find). You can set your monthly limit and view current usage under "Settings->Wi-Fi & Networks->See your cellular data usage"
Carousel I'm not a huge fan of the carousel, though I'm finally starting to adapt to it.
EDIT: I'm starting to become a huge fan of the carousel. It has forced me to become organized, and the ability to do simple actions (delete emails for example) without opening an app is just awesome once you get used to it.
There is one cool feature, and that's "pin to front". You can make any number of apps appear at the beginning of the carousel by long-pressing and selecting "pin to front". This has limited utility, as this is only efficient for pinning a few frequently used apps to the front of the list, but still useful once you start using it.
Also, the dragging and dropping apps from the app tray works to replace the default quick launch apps that appear at the bottom of the carousel.
For non-app items (books, music, etc) that appear in the carousel, long-pressing will reveal an addition option of "Pin to app grid", which will pin the book/music/whatever into the app grid for easy access just as if it were an app.
For Pinned items, you can reorder them kind of crudely with a long press and using the "Move to front" option
Status Bar By default, the status bar auto-hides. You set it to always be visible in Settings->Display
Lock Screen This actually has a very little-knows and very cool feature called a "Locket". This allows you to add a number of photos that can easily be accessed from the lock screen. The utility of this isn't immediately obvious, so consider this scenario:
You bump into an old friend in the mall and they ask how your family is doing. Instead of pulling out your phone, getting to the app tray, pulling up the "Photos" app and searching for pictures to show - you can use the locket feature to do this much more efficiently.
To setup and/or access the photo locket feature, from the lock screen, simply swipe from right to left (instead of swiping up to unlock). This enters the photo locket, where you can add more photos, or swipe left and right to view the collection of photos in your locket. It's actually a really neat feature and has some real utility (I can't count how many times I've had to fumble through navigating through my entire photo collection to show pictures of my kids to someone I haven't seen in a while. This really makes it easy)
Silk Browser Another thing I'm not very keen on - though if you plan on using stock FireOS, learning to properly use the app will help.
EDIT: Ok, the browser is growing on me now.
It can be a bit confusing since there is a menu button in the upper-right hand corner, a different menu in the left panel (accessed by swiping in from the left edge of the screen), and other options such as tab switching that are only visible at the bottom of the screen only at certain times. I'll try to detail some of the common functions here:
Bookmarking pages Bring up the page you want to bookmark, then use the menu button in the upper-right hand corner to add the bookmark
Desktop View Use the menu button in the upper right-hand corner and navigate to "Request another view", which will allow you to select the desktop view
Clearing browsing history Access the menu in the left panel, and go to settings, then "Your Data" -> "Clear Browser Data". From here you can clear just history, or anything else such as cookies, etc. You can also clear sites from the history list one at a time by using the left panel menu->History and long pressing the entries you wish to delete.
Tab Management This took me quite some time to figure out. Sometimes I would notice the tab switcher at the bottom of the browser, other times I wouldn't. To make these tab controls visible again, simply start scrolling the current web page back towards the top of the page and the tab controls will appear.
Private Browsing Mode This keeps websites from saving to your history, saving cookies, etc. Like other options, it's not easy to find in the Silk browser. To go into private browsing mode, use the Tab Management above to enter the list of tabs. On this screen you will find the option for private browsing.
Offline Reading One interesting feature that is useful (but poorly implemented) is "Reading Lists", which stories/web pages for offline reading. It's confusing, because you use one menu system to save to the reading list, and yet another menu to access the saved items. To save a page for later viewing, use the menu button in the upper right-hand corner and choose "Save to Reading List". To access the actual reading list to either read, or remove items, use the left panel menu->"Reading List"
Default Search Engine The search engine can be changed from the default (Bing) to either Google or Yahoo by going to the left panel->Settings->Search Engine
Cloud Photos Prime members get unlimited storage for backing up photos. Unfortunately, it's poorly implemented in FireOS and ONLY allows for automatic uploading of ALL new photos at this time. But what if you want to be able to specifically select only the photos you want stored on the cloud? Unfortunately in stock FireOS this isn't yet possible. However, if you have installed the Google Play Store or are familiar with side loading, look for the "Amazon Cloud Drive Photos" app - which oddly enough is published by Amazon for general Android devices, but not available to their own Fire Phone via their own App Store. At any rate, this is how to get around the limitation of the default implementation.
I'd love to hear tips from others and continue learning to use FireOS more efficiently. The tips I outlined above have made this a very usable OS for me, even though I flat out hated it at first. I'll try to keep up adding tips and tricks from others to this master list.
Edited the first post a bit. FireOS is really starting to grow on me and I'm actually more productive now on my Fire Phone than I was on my Galaxy Note II. Amazon still has some work to do on FireOS - but once you get the hang of it its a nice efficient OS
Found another tip. I'll add it here and to the original post:
For non-app items (books, music, etc) that appear in the carousel, long-pressing will reveal an addition option of "Pin to app grid", which will pin the book/music/whatever into the app grid for easy access just as if it were an app.
Thanks. Your tips made a real night and day difference between using Fire phone.
jondecker76 said:
Found another tip. I'll add it here and to the original post:
For non-app items (books, music, etc) that appear in the carousel, long-pressing will reveal an addition option of "Pin to app grid", which will pin the book/music/whatever into the app grid for easy access just as if it were an app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks JonDecker. Your tips made a difference of actually liking and using Fire phone. Couldn't find such information anywhere else.
Not a problem
After being with the phone for quite some time now, I actually cringe when I have to use my wife's LG G2 for anything. Once you learn a how to use FireOS , it's really pretty good!
Good stuff!!! I personally think that the interface is not that bad... and it is very smooth and quick... i like the phone. No tricks from me at the moment but i will share if i found any ?
Sent from my SD4930UR using XDA Free mobile app
If you have NFC turned on and tap it against your PC (with NFC as well) you can share the whats currently on your phones screen. I found this by accident. The screen shot pop's up in your pc's browser.
Increasing Battery Life
I have found that disabling Dynamic Perspective increases the duration of my phone charge significantly. This can be done by going to Settings (swipe from top) > Display > Configure low motion settings > Dynamic Perspecitve.
I'm glad to see a thread dedicated to this. I'd like to share a review I wrote on this phone a while ago as I feel it adds to the already terrific thread topic.
Below, in no particular order, is a list of things I hated out of the box. Following will be my feelings, along with tips & tricks, on the same items.
1. The Home Screen - I didn't like how the apps were randomly scattered on the home screen. It was difficult for me find what I was looking for.
2. No Google Play Store - I understand the logic behind this from a business prospective. However, from a consumer prospective, there are apps I use on a daily basis that were not available in the Amazon App Store. As bad as this sounds, it means I'd have to change my life style to accommodate this device. One thing that kind of floored me on this is that Google doesn't block the Amazon App store on their OS.
3. The grid - It scrolls up and down, where I've been used to scrolling left to right. Also, there is no way to easily sort the applications by alphabetical order. It simply displays them as they are installed.
4. The lack of soft keys - I've been accustomed to soft keys to open the menu, go home, view recently used apps, and to go back.
5. Notifications - The notification bar doesn't keep a log of icons of notifications. For example, if I get a KIK message it drops down, previews it, and vanished. Unless I open up the notification panel there is nothing to remind you of this. This bothers me as I often don't review them straight away and forget it even happened.
6. Keyboard - There is absolutely no way to install another keyboard. I've been a long time user of Swift Key and I keep find myself hitting the period instead of the space bar.
Due to the above I decided to try to make the phone a bit more what I'm used to. This was easy as I simply had to side load a few apps. This mainly included the apps that were not in the Amazon App Store along with a launcher to replace the Amazon Home screen. After installing several launchers I found one that I was happy with as it permitted me to use custom Widgets. I used it this way for a week or so and was happy to have my old Style back.
Now that I didn't feel held back, or limited by the device, I wanted to give it a go on how it was intended to be used. I changed my default home launcher to the Fire OS launcher. After using it a bit, and exploring it, it's my default launcher with no plans of going back to the standard Android Launcher! Below are the same 6 items listed above, but including how I feel about them now. It will also include what I consider to be tips & tricks, things I wish I knew out of the box.
1. The Home Screen - The use of Dynamic Perspective to access menus is amazing! The apps that are created for this OS have beautiful home screen widgets that I'm not sure I could go with out now. I love the fact I can read SMS messages on the home screen, emails on the home screen, a flip of the wrist shows me the current weather, my upcoming appointment and reminders, and much more. Although there is no easy way to change the apps listed, you can pin apps to the front. So simply pin the app that you want listed last first, and the first app last. This will put them in the order that you'd like.
2. No Google Play Store - As others have mentioned, installing the Google Play Store is very simply on this device. There is no downgrading required. Simply side load a few APK files. I won't go into detail on this as it can be found in a lot of other places.
3. The grid - I don't mind scrolling up and down now. It's second nature now. However, you still can not sort the apps. You must go through the tedious process of moving them one at a time by clicking and dragging it. I did this so they are sorted alphabetically. If I install a new app I now simply drag it where I feel it should be.
4. The lack of soft keys - I'm so used to swiping up now it's odd to use a traditional Android phone's back button! The physical home button works fine, especiall8y now that I discovered the "Quick Switch" menu by double pressing the home key.
5. Notifications - I've toggled all the options regarding notifications in the settings. My original complaint still exists. This was a HUGE set back for me with this device. Luckily, with a lot of trial and error, I found an app that works well for me. It's call NotifierPro Free. I configured it so a bar drops down and stays under the status bar. I also configured it so these notifications remain until I swipe them away. This has been a HUGE help in allowing me to adapt to this device.
6. Keyboard - There is still no way to change the default keyboard, even after side loading one. Amazon told me they made an update to their Kindles which allows the use of changing keyboard applications, so there will be an update that allows the Fire Phone to do the same.
Tips & Tricks / Q & A
1. Switching between running apps quickly.
- To do this simply press the home button twice quickly. You will be presented with a menu called "Quick Switch" where your most recently used apps can be found.
2. How do I quit apps that I'm not using at the moment to extend battery life and free resources?
- If you double click the home button to access the "Quick Switch" menu you can swipe up which will close the app, remove it from the quick switch menu, along with removing it from the cluttered home carousel.
3. Can I group applications together?
- Yes you can! Inside the home menu click and drag an application over another. It will ask you to give the new collection a name and they are then in a group. This is a great way to keep things together and sorted. You can also drag these "collections" into the home screen dock.
4. Any tips for the Camera?
- Yes! I've read about this "best shot" feature, but it didn't seem to do anything for me once I enable it. However, which viewing the photos you already have taken you will have a "best shot" option you can click on. This will show you the 3 photos the camera took, allowing you to select the one that you like the best.
- Burst Feature - The Amazon pages states you can click and hold the camera button to take a burst of photos. This doesn't work for me as it opens up Fire Fly. However, if you press and hold the soft key this feature works.
5. Amazon App Store or Google Play Store?
- I suggest you use the App from the Amazon App Store if available. Some of these apps are created specifically for the Fire Phone and give home screen widgets that the standard app does not support. For example, if you install KIK from the Amazon App Store it allows you to read messages on your home screen, where if you install it from the Play Store it does not.
6. Is the battery really as bad as people say?
- Maybe originally prior to the newest update. The newest update bring out amazing battery life, compared to my old phone at least. I can easily get through an entire day on a single charge. This is under moderate use such as messaging, emailing, browsing eBay, the web, and normal app use. I do not use the device to watch movies or television shows.
As I continue finding things about this phone that I feel are worth mentioning, I'll be sure to update this review. Outside of that, if you have bought this device but initially installed the Google Home Launcher, I strongly suggest you open your mind and give the Amazon Home Launcher a shot. It's truly amazing.
Can you post a link to "notification pro free"? I can't find it in the amazon store and my google-fu is failing me.
ractar28 said:
Can you post a link to "notification pro free"? I can't find it in the amazon store and my google-fu is failing me.
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I'm not sure if it's against any site rules, so I'll PM you.
---------- Post added at 05:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:40 AM ----------
ractar28 said:
Can you post a link to "notification pro free"? I can't find it in the amazon store and my google-fu is failing me.
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My apologies, and thanks for pointing this out. I had the app name wrong. It's actually NotifierPro Free!
Look at alternative markets or use a website to remotely download apks from the google appstore.
I have 1mobile market installed on my phone and it has it and it works.
Btw. Go Launcher Ex + Go Notifier works for notification badges (unread count at the app icon) and all widgets (you have to pull them onto the screen after every restart though) but has not wallpapers.
I use it, since I disliked the huge bar that Notifier used.
Now it almost feels like normal Android, I just wish I could deactivate the standard lockscreen... I already tried a lot of stuff via ADB, but I guess it needs root for it.
Since I do not want to root my phone as long as there is not notification bar like in stock android, I am fine now.
ractar28 said:
Can you post a link to "notification pro free"? I can't find it in the amazon store and my google-fu is failing me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like having found this thread, I had my fire phone for about a month now and I still can't get used to not having the back and menu soft buttons. Otherwise I do like the phone quite a bit and that is having to use it along with my Galaxy Note 3 work phone.