Android Stuff

Modified on 2010-01-21 09:32 by TaoK — Categorized as: Mobile Development

I recently purchased a Samsung I7500 "Galaxy" (Android) phone to replace my Samsung i600 "European BlackJack" (Windows mobile) one - now the excitement of just pawing the thing is starting to wear off, so I thought I'd record a log of all the silly things I need to do to get it working as I want:

Essential Apps that should come pre-loaded:
- Barcode Scanner (plays up a bit with the Galaxy flash and autofocus, but OK when the product to be scanned is placed on a flat matt surface)
- FTP Application (so far trying AndFTP)
- VNC Application (so far working well with androidVNC)
- File Browser
  - ES File Explorer - Samba / Windows network client
  - Astro - root folder visibility
- Silent Time - silence on schedule or for limited time (why not also on meetings? Is that already in the OS or something?)
- APNdroid - disable/enable mobile internet access (cost control)

Random Cool apps I'll keep:
- Sky Map - like it says, look at constellations & stuff.
- Battery Status Free - look at the Battery usage history etc (but need to place the widget somewhere on your home screen)
- UberColorPickerDemo - get color codes in a very cool interface

Apps On Trial
- Check Redirect
- RegEx Matcher
- LapStop
- GeoPicker
- Compass (works ok I guess, but I would think there is better)
- ConnectBot
- FlashLight (so trivial I feel like making my own :))
- G-Force (good idea, bad implementation)
- Object Browser (I thought it was some sort of reflection tool allowing analysis of existing programs, not sure now)
- Text Edit (looking for a better one but this is quite good)
- Telnet
- Smart Vibrator - vibration patterns?
- Snake (just not v good...)
- ViewSource (MUST be able to get something integrated with browser...?)
- Xtremelabs Speedtest (just something to run I guess)
- Labyrinth Lite

Programs to look into:
- Shake Awake - so you can access stuff during a call
- Some sort of todo / post-its app
- Scientific calculator (learn to use google?)
- Funambol for syncing - http://my.funambol.com/c/portal/layout?p_l_id=PUB.1001.1
- Mobile GA (google analytics)
- No Signal Alert
- Contact Owner - for lock screen info
- AbsoluteFitness as starting point for location tracker things
- Joyity / geocaching
- Notes/Postits: Use Astrid (Opensource and feature rich), AK notepad (simple) or toodo (complicated) or NextAction (GTD) or Doogle (integrated with phonebook)
- wikitude - annonted view (like sky view)
- Missed Call app - uses led for missed call alert, any use on galaxy??
- phonalyzr - stats like the battery app but maybe better?
- netmeter - internet use stats?
- SMS commander - control phone by sms
- tts translator - translation tool
- Share your board - auto-whiteboard-fixup
- Localspinner - no idea what that was...
- noise alert - spy with your phone (it calls you when there is a noise)
- http://iphone.facebook.com ???
- Dial zero - forgot what that does...
- Firepin - forgot what that does...
- locale - like the silencer app but by location...?
- androidboy - game boy emu

Large-scale Needs:
- How to gain root access?
- How to back everything up should there be a catastrophic failure? (regularly / transparently)
- How to get Outlook contacts and old phone SMS history into new phone?
- How to best manage music etc? Current "SD CardMount" autoscan sounds like a recipe for disaster when I have 30 GB of stuff on there...
- Is there a DRM-free content vendor, like itunes with fully portable formats?
- Remote Wipe?
- Understand device security / data model - does the "lock" really do anything useful? How are programs really separated?
- Any way to get a VPN Client going?
- How to understand tasks / services running in detail?

Possible Projects
- Better G-Force tracking app (first explore the marketplace)
- Location tracking/graphing etc (first explore the marketplace)
- "Force Index Folder" feature for when music files are obtained via download from FTP/SMB/HTTP

Minor annoyances:
- Can't seem to reorder icons in a home page folder?
- Can't organize application list (need to have separate structure on home screen)

Weird issues:
- Moving media files via ES file explorer can to cause issues with files "locked" by the media player...? Or just ES File Explorer crashing when you do several things at once?
- O2 balance view does not work

Tips (resolved annoyances)
- Safe Mode - hold menu button on boot
- Check running apps / services: Settings -> Manage Apps -> Filter by Running
- On-Screen Keyboard force display/hide - press and hold menu

---

Edited from my android phone?