Related
List things you wish Android would change (stock) that'll make it perfect...note, nothing about apps or third party skins...I'll start with 3 though I can think of a lot more
1. Better looking notification bar...I like the look of the icons, but the notification bar still has that 1.0 feel to it...not a fan
2. Better looking and more functional media app...and movie player
3. Better looking buttons and selection actions.
(doesn't matter if desired changes are superficial or system deep)
PS. I can't wait until this UI refresh that Gingerbread guarantees...ALSO...
am I the only person who loves when Apple announces new ****, because Android then does better and so on and so forth....the Apple, Android beef should be encouraged by fanboys on all sides...we all benefit greatly.
The dialer needs to be more functional. I cannot afford to scroll down 500 of my contacts to find a name, a simple keypad/numberpad on the contact section would suffice just like it works for sense ui.
mythamp said:
The dialer needs to be more functional. I cannot afford to scroll down 500 of my contacts to find a name, a simple keypad/numberpad on the contact section would suffice just like it works for sense ui.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried google gestures or voice dial? They work great but I dont have enough contacts to justify using them, wish I did but for me its quick to scroll.
Also the tab on the right is handy but im sure youve probably tried these things
mythamp said:
The dialer needs to be more functional. I cannot afford to scroll down 500 of my contacts to find a name, a simple keypad/numberpad on the contact section would suffice just like it works for sense ui.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried Dialer One? It is pretty awesome.
But I agree, the default dialer should work a lot better.
To add to the general discussion, I dont think there is much wrong with the media player but I would like the addition of an EQ and the ability to scroll through the playing song with more accuracy - something the iPhone does particularly well.
I also think the market needs massive improvements to make Android truly great. There may be 50,000 apps but when so many are themes and porn, that number becomes meaningless. I would rather there were only a few thousand really good and useful apps instead.
The UI should natively support themes to change icons, colors, etc
Perfect is yet far away. With basic features like call recording missing, it's take some time.
gllu said:
Perfect is yet far away. With basic features like call recording missing, it's take some time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When it's something provided only by third-party apps on other phones, I don't think it should be called a "basic feature".
gllu said:
Perfect is yet far away. With basic features like call recording missing, it's take some time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure recording a call, in America at least, is illegal unless you notify the person being recorded..
Wisefire said:
I'm pretty sure recording a call, in America at least, is illegal unless you notify the person being recorded..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Negative Ghost Rider...
In the US, it is determined by the state that you live in. Many states have what is called "single party" laws, which means that as long as one person is aware the call is being recorded (you), then it's legal.
I cant take my android phone to work. The inability to go to work is easily the largest single weakness of the phone imo. Millions of people need exchange (fully functioning and not through a third party server work around) and to connect to stand alone installations of outlook, often both. It rankles that I am still going to have to buy a winmo phone when when 7 hits to replace my old winmo phone because my 39 mflops N1 is a no go for work.
Decent copy and paste functionality would be nice. yikes even apple gives you that
Sync Tasks with Google Calendar
Sync Sports Calendars
Set "Peak Times" for Google Sync
crachel said:
Sync Tasks with Google Calendar
[*]Sync Sports Calendars
Set "Peak Times" for Google Sync
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i managed to find a workaround for that one, i found an exportable calendar for my local baseball team that did the trick, shows up just fine on my phone, its only googles native sports calendars that dont work in android
I sure would like support for wireless proxy servers, and for the phone to properly pull default gateway information via DHCP like it is supposed to.
gllu said:
Perfect is yet far away. With basic features like call recording missing, it's take some time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since when is call recording a "basic feature"...wow
As much as I love Android, I think the UI could use a lot of work. It lacks cohesiveness, and can be quite bland.
This guy can change all of that, however: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/palms-matias-duarte-has-joined-google-as-user-experience-direct/
How about these two simple features:
1) Native support for sound profiles. Coming from a blackberry this was shocking.
2) Unified gmail/hosted gmail inbox option. Not everyone would enable it but again a blackberry user is used to getting to all messages in one box. Currently I am constantly changing between 4 accounts in gmail. Super annoying.
Android is the best mobile OS out there but I think it isn't ready to be called perfect.
krabman said:
I cant take my android phone to work. The inability to go to work is easily the largest single weakness of the phone imo. Millions of people need exchange (fully functioning and not through a third party server work around) and to connect to stand alone installations of outlook, often both. It rankles that I am still going to have to buy a winmo phone when when 7 hits to replace my old winmo phone because my 39 mflops N1 is a no go for work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried Touchdown? It's a $20.00 app, and it's one time.
jmbrown32 said:
As much as I love Android, I think the UI could use a lot of work. It lacks cohesiveness, and can be quite bland.
This guy can change all of that, however: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/palms-matias-duarte-has-joined-google-as-user-experience-direct/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's only as bland as you make it.
As the title states, suggest away.
direct sync to outlook .pst
What the [email protected]#$% was MS thinking by leaving this out? Even the iphone syncs to outlook.
mightyeric said:
direct sync to outlook .pst
What the [email protected]#$% was MS thinking by leaving this out? Even the iphone syncs to outlook.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jesus, how many times is this going to be brought up? The function is NOT there, and it was known BEFORE any device came out. Quit the *****ing and get a phone that supports it, or move on.
Anyways, I'd like a good sports app like Sportacular that has notifications when games start, during and after with the scores. Fantasy updates with custom rosters would be great too.
Not sure what the SDK will let you do, but is it possible to develop an app that can be pinned to the start page, that toggles 3g/wifi/bluetooth? I know we can just drop in to the Settings menu, but I would pay for an app that put those three in one easy place.
I would also like an app that rotates, like a slideshow I guess, all sorts of images from the various Xbox games I've been playing across the tile. That would look cool on the start page. Maybe it does a Bing image search to find the images to rotate, etc. I'm not a developer, but it was something I thought of earlier today.
dougp.me said:
Jesus, how many times is this going to be brought up? The function is NOT there, and it was known BEFORE any device came out. Quit the *****ing and get a phone that supports it, or move on.
Anyways, I'd like a good sports app like Sportacular that has notifications when games start, during and after with the scores. Fantasy updates with custom rosters would be great too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is comming in dec development almost done..
The direct sync with outlook is not possible with the WP7 SDK. That would have to be incorporated into the Zune sync software. The WP7 is meant to be a cloud device so I don't see this coming anytime soon.
The idea about toggling the radios is also not possible im afraid. The SDK does not give developers any direct access to the hardware like that. Hell, we can't even adjust the volume.
rruffman said:
this is comming in dec development almost done..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
love to see more on this...
JMackey said:
The idea about toggling the radios is also not possible im afraid. The SDK does not give developers any direct access to the hardware like that. Hell, we can't even adjust the volume.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That really blows. Just thinking about what various iPhone and Android apps can do easily, it seems this platform is much more closed than even iPhone's. The key to both Android and iPhones success has been as much the developer community as it has been the solid hardware the apps run on, maybe even more so the developers. The new WP7 hardware seems solid enough so far. If MS doesn't open up the SDK to a greater array of components, this will just continue to lag behind, even fall farther behind.
...Hoping someone can cook up some nice WP7 ROM's
ability to take any music file and assign it as a ringtone!
an independent youtube app that doesnt simply goto a web page. Also bein able to watch high def on 3g, and not only on a wifi connection.
TOA Duck said:
an independent youtube app that doesnt simply goto a web page. Also bein able to watch high def on 3g, and not only on a wifi connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's already one in the Marketplace for free. You have to have the YouTube app installed to use it, but it allows for searching, etc. from within the App.
prubin said:
ability to take any music file and assign it as a ringtone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is supposedly coming in January according to reports this morning. See: http://www.wpcentral.com/rumor-january-firmware-update-wp7-include-custom-ringer-support-more
(Sorry, forgot to multi-quote.)
not sure if you can make do this or not, but I would like to be able to connect to hidden networks. Also be able to use the device as a wifi router.
Could it be made downward compatible? It would be nice to be able to run some of my already-purchased software.
As an alternative, the single-largest bummer of making this switch for me will be loss of the two coolest apps I have EVER had – “Pocket Earth”, and “Pocket World” by Bluepoint Studios. These apps, especially Pocket Earth, were stunning! I don’t know their status, but if you could buy the rights and the code and somehow rewrite them for WP7, I suspect you would do very well.
I need programs which are NOT web-dependent. Dictionaries, translation programs, an atlas, etc. which are device-based. Traveling internationally is where one needs the language converters and I work a lot on the plane. I’d prefer to give up space in the device than to continually pay for international data.
Best of luck,
Dave
Battery indicator showing remaining strength in percentage or bars.
A recorder...
There are a few out there, but I need it to either have voice activated start/stop, or stop/start control from my bluetooth. I am a sports photographer, and if I can describe what is on a picture that I take right after I take it, it is much easier to do my captioning when I get home. But I don't have time to take the phone out of my pocket and start/stop after each play.
It seems a lot of the suggestions are things to do with hardware. The only hardware access the SDK gives developers is the GPS, Accelerometer, and the radio. We don't even have direct access to the camera. (When an app takes a picture, it opens the camera app then sends the taken picture back to the app).
riceboyler said:
There's already one in the Marketplace for free. You have to have the YouTube app installed to use it, but it allows for searching, etc. from within the App.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will we ever be able to watch high quality youtube vids over 3g. Now you have to be on wifi. I know on iphone the vids are HQ over 3g.
1) Something that bypasses Exchange-enforced password entry. Android has it; and frankly, PIN enforcement is a meaningless layer of security that does nothing more than inconvenience the end-user.
2) Something that let's you copy synced Calendar entries and Contacts to the Phone instead of forcing them to exist in the stupid cloud. <--I would pay good money for this. Again, something that Android let's you do that I like.
Edited to Add:
3) An app that keeps the phone on and unlocked. I don't like this forced lock/timeout thing, I'd prefer to have complete control of when it is locked and when it isn't.
1) A Remote Desktop Application compatable with MS's current RDP services
2) Something that periodically rotates the Logon Screen Picture
3) Something that would quickly display Battery Life, Used/Remaining Storage, etc...
- MEK
First of all, forgive me for a less than cogent post. This is an issue that has been on my mind and I'd like to have some other power users weigh in on this.
I am a user of both [jailbroken] iOS and Android. As you can see from my signature, I am fortunate enough to have a lot of different devices and as such have a firm understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of each platform. I have to say, Android is wonderful for it's openness and customizability (custom ROMs, themes, open apps, torrents, Swype, Power Strip, etc.). It's great that it's open source and freely modifiable by anyone (Except honeycomb, don't get me started). That said, it has some built in drawbacks. Architecturally, iOS seems to be a more solid platform, but some of the things in iOS that hold your hand are the same things that are considered a major hindrance to power users like us ("walled garden" app store, weird multitasking APIs like the 10 minute timeout, etc). I love how everything in the OS, including the apps, are composited (read: hardware accelerated). The SDK is amazing, and helps developers make incredible looking, cohesive applications. At the end of the day however, I am willing to sacrifice some of the usability for my freedom. Just as I live in the United States (not discriminating against any overseas users) and as such have to put up with some bull**** in order to have my civil liberties, I am eager to drop Apple completely on my laptop, desktop, tablet, and phone. I truly believe that they are an evil corporation and don't give a **** about anything except money and are unwilling in the slightest to cater to power users because of their [reasonable] fear of piracy and people breaking their devices. But I will no longer support them in their quest for erosion of my freedom in the name of profit. They will not get any more of my money.
So now that you have a little background on what I see, I have a few questions that maybe you guys can help me with as I try to transition to a fully Apple-free lifestyle.
1. I use an app called MyWi Ondemand to automatically tether my iPad to my iPhone over bluetooth whenever it needs an Internet connection (it's wifi only). Is there an app that is similar where I can tether my Galaxy Tab 10.1 to my Atrix 4G automatically, over bluetooth, as needed?
2. Is there an app that can automatically kill apps after a given amount of time (say 2 minutes - 20 minutes) for apps that persist in the background that I don't need hogging my battery (for instance, I have IM+ and it supports push notifications, but I don't want to have to hit menu->exit every time). I want to have it be killed when I hit the home button.
3. Where do you see the Android platform going? With Ice Cream Sandwich on the horizon, do you think that we'll get real hardware acceleration for scrolling and apps, etc.? Do you think we'll get an SDK that will help developers create great-looking apps across the board?
4. For former/current iOS users, what are some of the things you miss about iOS and how do you work around them or what solutions have you come up with?
5. Why did you choose Android over iOS? (I guess most Atrix 4G users in the states are on AT&T)
5. Anything you wanna say on topic!
I really don't wanna bring any fanboyism into this. Please understand, I don't want a flame war or "APPLE IS TEH SUX LOL!!!11" or "Android pwnz bc i hax0r!" I want people's honest opinion about why they made the decisions they did and hopefully the answers to my questions. Thanks so much!
1. its built into the os. WIRELESS AP. it doesnt use bluetooth, but it makes your phone into a wireless access point
2. instead of hitting the home button when leaving an app, hit the back button. it should kill the app. the home button doesnt exit, just allows you to swap to a different app. if android senses the app is resource hogging and you arent using it, it will kill it on its own.
3. dont know
4. as an iphone user for 3 years, i can honestly say, nothing. there is nothing i miss about IOS
5. i love to tinker
brashmadcap said:
First of all, forgive me for a less than cogent post. This is an issue that has been on my mind and I'd like to have some other power users weigh in on this.
I am a user of both [jailbroken] iOS and Android. As you can see from my signature, I am fortunate enough to have a lot of different devices and as such have a firm understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of each platform. I have to say, Android is wonderful for it's openness and customizability (custom ROMs, themes, open apps, torrents, Swype, Power Strip, etc.). It's great that it's open source and freely modifiable by anyone (Except honeycomb, don't get me started). That said, it has some built in drawbacks. Architecturally, iOS seems to be a more solid platform, but some of the things in iOS that hold your hand are the same things that are considered a major hindrance to power users like us ("walled garden" app store, weird multitasking APIs like the 10 minute timeout, etc). I love how everything in the OS, including the apps, are composited (read: hardware accelerated). The SDK is amazing, and helps developers make incredible looking, cohesive applications. At the end of the day however, I am willing to sacrifice some of the usability for my freedom. Just as I live in the United States (not discriminating against any overseas users) and as such have to put up with some bull**** in order to have my civil liberties, I am eager to drop Apple completely on my laptop, desktop, tablet, and phone. I truly believe that they are an evil corporation and don't give a **** about anything except money and are unwilling in the slightest to cater to power users because of their [reasonable] fear of piracy and people breaking their devices. But I will no longer support them in their quest for erosion of my freedom in the name of profit. They will not get any more of my money.
So now that you have a little background on what I see, I have a few questions that maybe you guys can help me with as I try to transition to a fully Apple-free lifestyle.
1. I use an app called MyWi Ondemand to automatically tether my iPad to my iPhone over bluetooth whenever it needs an Internet connection (it's wifi only). Is there an app that is similar where I can tether my Galaxy Tab 10.1 to my Atrix 4G automatically, over bluetooth, as needed?
2. Is there an app that can automatically kill apps after a given amount of time (say 2 minutes - 20 minutes) for apps that persist in the background that I don't need hogging my battery (for instance, I have IM+ and it supports push notifications, but I don't want to have to hit menu->exit every time). I want to have it be killed when I hit the home button.
3. Where do you see the Android platform going? With Ice Cream Sandwich on the horizon, do you think that we'll get real hardware acceleration for scrolling and apps, etc.? Do you think we'll get an SDK that will help developers create great-looking apps across the board?
4. For former/current iOS users, what are some of the things you miss about iOS and how do you work around them or what solutions have you come up with?
5. Why did you choose Android over iOS? (I guess most Atrix 4G users in the states are on AT&T)
5. Anything you wanna say on topic!
I really don't wanna bring any fanboyism into this. Please understand, I don't want a flame war or "APPLE IS TEH SUX LOL!!!11" or "Android pwnz bc i hax0r!" I want people's honest opinion about why they made the decisions they did and hopefully the answers to my questions. Thanks so much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1: There's an app for everything in the market now
2: Advanced task killer and others can be put into different modes depending on how much control you give it. Beware of battery life though:https://market.android.com/details?id=biz.stachibana.TaskKiller&feature=search_result
3: Since we'll hopefully be getting ice cream sandwich roms the hardware we have is just the beginning: http://androidandme.com/2011/08/new...ming-consoles-will-be-replaced-by-snapdragon/
4: There's nothing to miss about ios except that the iphone's hardware is built to help speed up the ui. If you miss it too much then just use MIUI which is the leading competitor to Cyanogenmod (which i prefer).
5: I personally chose android since it's SUPER open and there's people like Kenneth Penn who's a badass. Also I hate apple since they sue everyone like HTC and motorola since HTC and motorola are coming out with better technology and hardware before they are.
As a former ios user, and on my second android device, the only thing I miss is the full backup capability of ios/itunes. It was nice to plug in a new phone and have it be exactly the way the old one was. Being on my second atrix this sucked caused the market was still only recognizing my previous atrix. But small price to pay for my freedom.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Pirateghost said:
1. its built into the os. WIRELESS AP. it doesnt use bluetooth, but it makes your phone into a wireless access point
2. instead of hitting the home button when leaving an app, hit the back button. it should kill the app. the home button doesnt exit, just allows you to swap to a different app. if android senses the app is resource hogging and you arent using it, it will kill it on its own.
3. dont know
4. as an iphone user for 3 years, i can honestly say, nothing. there is nothing i miss about IOS
5. i love to tinker
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Tethering over Wifi is specifically what I'm trying to avoid. I don't want to have to turn it on and off, I just want the tablet to query the device ONLY WHEN IT NEEDS A CONNECTION, then time out once it no longer needs it. Tethering over bluetooth, on demand. I assure you, this is a slick solution. It doesn't rape your battery.
2. I hate to sound callous, but that's absolutely untrue. Android will kill a background app only if it needs new resources for another app that's being loaded into memory at that time. And some apps can tell the OS that they HAVE to stay in memory; like a do not kill flag. Some ROMS like cyanogenmod, MIUI, do have an option to LONG HOLD the back button to force close an app however.
Thanks for your input.
shadowskorch said:
soles-will-be-replaced-by-snapdragon/[/url]
4: There's nothing to miss about ios except that the iphone's hardware is built to help speed up the ui. If you miss it too much then just use MIUI which is the leading competitor to Cyanogenmod (which i prefer).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MIUI is great, I agree. I'll be excited when it comes out for the Atrix. The iPhone's SOFTWARE is built to speed up the UI, not the other way around. That's why an iPhone 3GS/4 screen scrolls more smoothly than an Atrix 4G or HTC Sensation, despite having an inferior 3D accelerator.
Once again, I'm not trying to insult anyone here and I'm grateful for the input. I'm trying to have an open dialogue so that we can all have some mutual understanding on this topic. Thanks for weighing in!
brashmadcap said:
First of all, forgive me for a less than cogent post. This is an issue that has been on my mind and I'd like to have some other power users weigh in on this.
I am a user of both [jailbroken] iOS and Android. As you can see from my signature, I am fortunate enough to have a lot of different devices and as such have a firm understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of each platform. I have to say, Android is wonderful for it's openness and customizability (custom ROMs, themes, open apps, torrents, Swype, Power Strip, etc.). It's great that it's open source and freely modifiable by anyone (Except honeycomb, don't get me started). That said, it has some built in drawbacks. Architecturally, iOS seems to be a more solid platform, but some of the things in iOS that hold your hand are the same things that are considered a major hindrance to power users like us ("walled garden" app store, weird multitasking APIs like the 10 minute timeout, etc). I love how everything in the OS, including the apps, are composited (read: hardware accelerated). The SDK is amazing, and helps developers make incredible looking, cohesive applications. At the end of the day however, I am willing to sacrifice some of the usability for my freedom. Just as I live in the United States (not discriminating against any overseas users) and as such have to put up with some bull**** in order to have my civil liberties, I am eager to drop Apple completely on my laptop, desktop, tablet, and phone. I truly believe that they are an evil corporation and don't give a **** about anything except money and are unwilling in the slightest to cater to power users because of their [reasonable] fear of piracy and people breaking their devices. But I will no longer support them in their quest for erosion of my freedom in the name of profit. They will not get any more of my money.
So now that you have a little background on what I see, I have a few questions that maybe you guys can help me with as I try to transition to a fully Apple-free lifestyle.
1. I use an app called MyWi Ondemand to automatically tether my iPad to my iPhone over bluetooth whenever it needs an Internet connection (it's wifi only). Is there an app that is similar where I can tether my Galaxy Tab 10.1 to my Atrix 4G automatically, over bluetooth, as needed?
2. Is there an app that can automatically kill apps after a given amount of time (say 2 minutes - 20 minutes) for apps that persist in the background that I don't need hogging my battery (for instance, I have IM+ and it supports push notifications, but I don't want to have to hit menu->exit every time). I want to have it be killed when I hit the home button.
3. Where do you see the Android platform going? With Ice Cream Sandwich on the horizon, do you think that we'll get real hardware acceleration for scrolling and apps, etc.? Do you think we'll get an SDK that will help developers create great-looking apps across the board?
4. For former/current iOS users, what are some of the things you miss about iOS and how do you work around them or what solutions have you come up with?
5. Why did you choose Android over iOS? (I guess most Atrix 4G users in the states are on AT&T)
5. Anything you wanna say on topic!
I really don't wanna bring any fanboyism into this. Please understand, I don't want a flame war or "APPLE IS TEH SUX LOL!!!11" or "Android pwnz bc i hax0r!" I want people's honest opinion about why they made the decisions they did and hopefully the answers to my questions. Thanks so much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) There are tons of tethering apps out there. I dont use tethering so I dont know of any specifics, but I'm sure what your looking for does exist.
2) Yep, they're called task killers. I would advise you be VERY careful with them, since improper usage can hurt your phone's performance and battery life due to conflicts with Android's own internal memory management. Read up on them (there are plenty of articles on the subject) and make sure its really something you need to run on your phone before installing. If you do install one, I've heard good things about Advanced Task Killer
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.rechild.advancedtaskkiller&hl=en
3) Hardware acceleration will probably come in the future, although nobody knows exactly when it will. I dont think it'll be ICS though, because that would be a big feature that Google would want to advertise. However, I think on hardware like the Atrix, hardware acceleration isnt really needed.
The SDK is constantly improving. Already its ahead of iOS in terms of being able to create scaling apps. As proof, look at how non-tablet optimized android apps run on tablets compared to iOS. On iOS, it has to blow the display up and make everything pixelated, and there's still a border because iOS runs on fixed resolutions. On Android, thats not an issue since everything is relative instead of fixed; while the layout might not be optimal, applications will run full-screen and look great on a tablet.
Google's also made some changes to the market that allow an application to contain multiple APKs, so developers can target tablets and phones from the same app in the same way Apple can.
4) I used to use a dumbphone with an ipod touch. The only thing I've really missed was smooth scrolling in the web browser. Using Opera Mobile (not Mini) solves that problem, just as smooth.
The other thing I missed was a jailbreak tweak called Multiflow, which gave iOS's multitasking a WebOS like card interface. While similar apps exist for Android, none currently work with the Atrix. I've gotten used to working without it, but if an Atrix compatible solution ever came up I'd jump to it without hesitation.
5) You've certainly made the right choice, choosing to abandon Apple because of how they treat power users. Even their desktop computers are starting to get locked down. Sure, you can still download stuff outside the app store in Lion, but I'll bet that wont last. Before too long their desktop OS will be just as limited as iOS is.
Jotokun said:
5) You've certainly made the right choice, choosing to abandon Apple because of how they treat power users. Even their desktop computers are starting to get locked down. Sure, you can still download stuff outside the app store in Lion, but I'll bet that wont last. Before too long their desktop OS will be just as limited as iOS is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly why I jumped ship my man. I saw the writing on the wall. OS X will be iOS in one or two releases. Plus I hear there is an ARM-based MacBook Air in the works. Makes me cringe. Way to destroy the best operating system evar, Apple.
Thanks!
brashmadcap said:
1. Tethering over Wifi is specifically what I'm trying to avoid. I don't want to have to turn it on and off, I just want the tablet to query the device ONLY WHEN IT NEEDS A CONNECTION, then time out once it no longer needs it. Tethering over bluetooth, on demand. I assure you, this is a slick solution. It doesn't rape your battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wifi tethering can be setup to "timeout" and turn itself off when not in use (it just doesn't currently turn itself back on which is why I have a widget on my home screen so I can turn it back on quicker ).
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
brashmadcap said:
1. Tethering over Wifi is specifically what I'm trying to avoid. I don't want to have to turn it on and off, I just want the tablet to query the device ONLY WHEN IT NEEDS A CONNECTION, then time out once it no longer needs it. Tethering over bluetooth, on demand. I assure you, this is a slick solution. It doesn't rape your battery.
2. I hate to sound callous, but that's absolutely untrue. Android will kill a background app only if it needs new resources for another app that's being loaded into memory at that time. And some apps can tell the OS that they HAVE to stay in memory; like a do not kill flag. Some ROMS like cyanogenmod, MIUI, do have an option to LONG HOLD the back button to force close an app however.
Thanks for your input.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dont know about using bluetooth to tether, but theres an app for just about anything you want to do, and if you are technically inclined, you could just build your own solution.
as far as your comment on the background apps, what you are saying goes against pretty much everything i have read about how the processes work.
If the user leaves a task for a long time, the system clears the task of all activities except the root activity. When the user returns to the task again, it’s as the user left it, except that only the initial activity is present. The idea is that, after a time, users will likely have abandoned what they were doing before and are returning to the task to begin something new.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Activities, on the other hand, provide the user interface. They’re in a long-running conversation with the user and may remain active, even when idle, as long as the conversation continues. Similarly, services may also remain running for a long time. So Android has methods to shut down activities and services in an orderly way:
An activity can be shut down by calling its finish() method. One activity can shut down another activity (one it started with startActivityForResult()) by calling finishActivity().
A service can be stopped by calling its stopSelf() method, or by calling Context.stopService().
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Android is hard coded to automatically kill a task when more memory is needed.
Android is hard coded to automatically kill a task when it’s done doing what it needs to do.
Android is hard coded to automatically kill a task when you haven’t returned to it in a long time.
Most services (while possibly running in the background) use very little memory when not actively doing something.
A content provider is only doing something when there is a notification for it to give. Otherwise it uses very little memory.
Killing a process when it isn’t ready only causes it to have to reload itself and start from scratch when it’s needed again.
Because a task is likely running in the background for a reason, killing it will only cause it to re-spawn as soon as the activity that was using it looks for it again. And it will just have to start over again.
Killing certain processes can have undesirable side effects. Not receiving text messages, alarms not going off, and force closes just to name a few.
The only true way to prevent something from running at all on your phone would be to uninstall the .apk.
Most applications will exit themselves if you get out of it by hitting “back” until it closes rather than hitting the “home” button. But even with hitting home, Android will eventually kill it once it’s been in the background for a while.
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disclaimer: i am not necessarily arguing with you, but presenting items i have read and the way i understand them to be. this is just adding to the discussion and not meant to be confrontational.
Pirateghost said:
dont know about using bluetooth to tether, but theres an app for just about anything you want to do, and if you are technically inclined, you could just build your own solution.
as far as your comment on the background apps, what you are saying goes against pretty much everything i have read about how the processes work.
disclaimer: i am not necessarily arguing with you, but presenting items i have read and the way i understand them to be. this is just adding to the discussion and not meant to be confrontational.
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Wow! Thanks for the comprehensive clarification!
in regards to tablet tethering through bluetooth "pdanet tablet beta" does exactly that.
1. Google "Wifi Tether for Root Users" and download the latest apk. Bluetooth tethering.
2. Advanced Task Killer. I'd advise against setting a kill time for all apps for the same reasons others have mentioned. It can jack up phone performance if used too much, but you can leave a link to the app within your notification bar for quick access during those times when you know a few rogue apps are running out of your control and they need to be killed.
The one thing I miss most about iOS is apps like BiteSMS that allows you to compose a text message from *any* application by just pressing volume up, then tapping the center of the screen. Even from the lockscreen.
It saves so much time from entering my PIN to unlock my device every time I want to send a message.
And note: I know apps exist that allow you to *reply* to a message even from the lockscreen. I'm talking about composing an entirely new one.
m0biusace said:
The one thing I miss most about iOS is apps like BiteSMS that allows you to compose a text message from *any* application by just pressing volume up, then tapping the center of the screen. Even from the lockscreen.
It saves so much time from entering my PIN to unlock my device every time I want to send a message.
And note: I know apps exist that allow you to *reply* to a message even from the lockscreen. I'm talking about composing an entirely new one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Handcent and ChompSMS (literally, the same developers of biteSMS, duplicate program just on android) offer this. Just configure it, hold the search key, and viola! Just no MMS from that screen.
At least with windows 7.x you could switch ROMs and side load useful apps, with this safeboot thing and Microsoft's lame attitude to give us more of the features and apps that we want it's no wonder why Windows Phone 8 fourms and blogs are so boring. Way to go Microsoft.
Agreed. I used to come here every day but, now it's once a week (kind of how it was on PPCgeeks.com). No roms, No interop unlocks, no unlocks period.
If you want more discussion about WP8, I suggest going to WPcentral.com...It's pretty active over there...
I really wish a hack of some type would hit, this is getting old. I just want my custom colors back (like I have with WP7).... Advanced Config I miss you !!!
Nobody has been able to find an exploit yet , but I don't really mind lack of activity in forms though as long as cobwebs don't settle upon the entire ecosystem itself we'll be fine
DavidinCT said:
Agreed. I used to come here every day but, now it's once a week (kind of how it was on PPCgeeks.com). No roms, No interop unlocks, no unlocks period.
If you want more discussion about WP8, I suggest going to WPcentral.com...It's pretty active over there...
I really wish a hack of some type would hit, this is getting old. I just want my custom colors back (like I have with WP7).... Advanced Config I miss you !!!
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Click to collapse
Yea I agree that WP Central has lost more action going on but it's all the same stuff; I mean how many reviews of itsdagram, Facebook, Angry Birds and Skype can one handle before they get bored.
I always use to wonder why XDA turned into Android forum almost over night; now I know why its thanks to Microsoft. I feel sorry for Nokia though they took a big risk and now MS is being stubborn.
sinister1 said:
Yea I agree that WP Central has lost more action going on but it's all the same stuff; I mean how many reviews of itsdagram, Facebook, Angry Birds and Skype can one handle before they get bored.
I always use to wonder why XDA turned into Android forum almost over night; now I know why its thanks to Microsoft. I feel sorry for Nokia though they took a big risk and now MS is being stubborn.
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Click to collapse
Agreed, it's the same *****ing over there sometimes. Don't get me wrong, it's a good site if you want new and useful Windows Phone news. This site used to be a WM haven, just like PPCgeeks was. As that is all there was at the time, we had WM and BB...they were all mainly used by business people or hackers like ourselves.
WP7.x was pretty hackable after a while (with custom roms for most phones and interop unlock for about 90% of the models) so it was pretty active but, now with everyone moving to WP8 (ex WP7 users and converts) and No hacks yet, it's slowed down to almost nothing.
Android is mostly hackable and most phones have or NEED a custom rom, so this became a haven for Android users. And for now, as long as they are not going in this area and trolling, there is no issue with it or at least, I don't have an issue with it.
I do think it's a matter of time, they will find a exploit in WP8. I know why MS locked it down, once WP7 was hacked, it opened the doors for the pirates and some people took advantage if it. Sure there was some cool underground apps but, it just opened the system for the pirates. They wanted to lock down WP8 to make the higher end DEVs come and create the apps and games people want, to grow the system.
Nokia was paid pretty well to make a change to WP and over all they are doing very well with it...and their market is growing.
I'm stil deciding if I am going to pick up the Lumia 928 or stick with my HTC 8X(full price, Not giving up my unlimited data)....Hmmmmm... I just wish I could use Advanced Config to get my custom tile colors back
^stick with 8x at least till Nokia world sometime in September because surprises are on its way
Personally I like the very secure nature of my windows phone, I have rimmed more than my share of devices over the years, so its kind of refreshing to k ow this nuts hard to crack. Nokia did take a big risk but I think its been good for both companies. Nokia has done well with exclusive apps in a starved market and there devices are aimed well at a growing group of android overloaded users. With apps like tumble, netflix, Hulu and others coming over the devices are getting more main stream support and with time that will pay good dividends too. All in all I have found little reason to "root" this device other than for the hell of it. They come pretty lean on apps out of box. The biggest thing people seem to be trying to do is get tethering to work without paying out to a carrier for it. Personally if that's basically the reason your wanting to rom so bad, go back to android its far easier get going. I ramble now though, to sum up phone runs great unrommed, clean eco system and very secure setup makes for an all around pleasant device. I think special rimming is more or less unneeded for these devices. Been running unrommed windows mobile 7 and 8 now for about two years collectively. Have android tablets all rommed and a s3 rommed as a backup device.
Sent from my RM-878_nam_usa_100 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Meh... I considered WP7 without hacks to be nigh-unusable, even though I stuck with a stock ROM. No way to have apps open files automatically, for example (but I could manually add the registry entries, and could write apps that knew how to handle them). No way to access the filesystem (but I could sideload Kindle ebooks using homebrew file managers). No way back up app data or messages (except with homebrew). Minimal control of theming (as a class, this was one of the biggest homebrew categories). No real control over multitasking (I like that the default behavior is so conserving of battery life, but sometimes I don't *want* Puzzle Quest 2 or Fruit Ninja to have to go through its entire launch process just because I switched tasks or let the phone sleep for a bit!). Severe limit on sideloaded apps (I have over 30 of them, counting small utilities that that I developed, and not counting outdated versions, redundent apps, or anything else I removed). No listener sockets (though this didn't require a very fancy hack). No C++ code reuse (same as the server sockets). No way to tell how much space each app was using (but there's a homebrew for that).
WP8 fixes many of the worst problems. We can now register filetype handlers (though Kindle still doesn't register .MOBI or .PRC, so no more sideloading my ebooks for now...), use native code (with restrictions, but it's better than the default on WP7), and theme our phones (well, a litttttle bit more than before; still not enough). They added some much-requested features (SMS backup, variable text size, ability to control the browser app bar at least a bit, WiFi on while sleeping, Skype integration) and of course the change in OS brought many other improvements (multi-core, removable SD cards, higher resolutions, etc.). However, it still has some big problems of its own. True multitasking is still very limited. Data backup is still iffy. Still no filesystem access (or ability to do anything outside an app sandbox except the official Settings tools). Still very limited sideloading.
I promise you, though, people are working on it. I'm one of them, and several of the other names you know from WP7 hacking are as well.
People like GoodDayToDie & netham45 make the windows forums so much fun to follow
nikufellow said:
^stick with 8x at least till Nokia world sometime in September because surprises are on its way
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Yea but, I am on Verizon....After a release of a model it will take 6 months for Verizon to get a phone that is almost outdated on release.
The 8X is so limited on space that it's driving me nuts, If I find app or game I want to try, I have to uninstall a Paid app to install it. It's getting too old. 8X on format is 11.5gb and the Lumia 928 is 23.5gb, a little over double the space might be worth it, depending on what I can get it for, of course.
The blogs are dead because places like XDA that centralize around modding your phone to improve performance isn't necessary when WP8 software already performs flawlessly. Go to blogs like WPCentral and the Windows Phone community is alive and well swapping out our black Lumia shells for yellow and talking about games and apps. Pretty much doing what we should be doing on a phone, not repairing phones that came broken.
Flawlessly? Ahahahahaha
Still no app data backup machanism.
Still no custom themes.
Still no way to sideload XAP files (unless they are "company apps") without a PC.
Still no filesystem access.
Still no way to control the permissions an app has (what if I want to use the app, but don't want to give it access to my camera?)
Still no way remove "Settings" apps.
Still no way to do true multitasking (not the restricted and often crippled things that the official APIs call multitasking).
Still no way to overwrite file associations (you can choose them when opening a file that multiple apps claim to support, but that's it).
Still no way to change the default browser or email client or dialer.
Still no way to install apps to the SD card.
Still have only limited access to Bluetooth.
Still no way to browse, much less edit, the registry.
Still no way to sideload large numbers of (non-"company") apps.
...
Seriously, go look at the list of things that are possible with WP7 homebrew (never mind WinMo or Android or iOS), and then see how many of them are possible with WP8 right now. It's a joke. MS added some (much needed) features, but also took away some things that I think are vitally important, and took away our ability to re-create them for the new OS... unless and until we break it as we have broken OSes in the past.
You imply that WP8 didn't come "broken" and therefore doesn't need modding? Bull.
I've been wanting to root/unlock my Lumia for one purpose only, sideloading my own developed apps. It's gruesome to try an app in the emulator all the time, but in a month that will be fixed with an AppHub account. And after that my real purpose for rooting/unlocking is gone.
Always fun to see what's possible on the unlocked device though, code-wise.
Sent from my Lumia 920 using Board Express
GoodDayToDie said:
Flawlessly? Ahahahahaha
Still no app data backup machanism.
Still no custom themes.
Still no way to sideload XAP files (unless they are "company apps") without a PC.
Still no filesystem access.
Still no way to control the permissions an app has (what if I want to use the app, but don't want to give it access to my camera?)
Still no way remove "Settings" apps.
Still no way to do true multitasking (not the restricted and often crippled things that the official APIs call multitasking).
Still no way to overwrite file associations (you can choose them when opening a file that multiple apps claim to support, but that's it).
Still no way to change the default browser or email client or dialer.
Still no way to install apps to the SD card.
Still have only limited access to Bluetooth.
Still no way to browse, much less edit, the registry.
Still no way to sideload large numbers of (non-"company") apps.
...
Seriously, go look at the list of things that are possible with WP7 homebrew (never mind WinMo or Android or iOS), and then see how many of them are possible with WP8 right now. It's a joke. MS added some (much needed) features, but also took away some things that I think are vitally important, and took away our ability to re-create them for the new OS... unless and until we break it as we have broken OSes in the past.
You imply that WP8 didn't come "broken" and therefore doesn't need modding? Bull.
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Click to collapse
If there is one thing I do not understand about the new SDK APIs, is why on earth an app can not register itself to open file formats reserved by the system. IMO thats the most retarded idea ever implemented in the history of computing. And to make the retarded thing completely retarded, they made it so most common files are handled by system apps, so you can not override the file association.
I am really wondering what is microsoft going to do about these things. If they really want a marketplace full of games, facebook, youtube and instagram apps, then they should stick to their current plan. WP will never get useful in a broad sense.
I hope the update this fall brings new stuff, otherwise the platform will die soon.
GoodDayToDie said:
Flawlessly? ... You imply that WP8 didn't come "broken" and therefore doesn't need modding? Bull.
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Click to collapse
Although I don't agree with much of his bill-of-particulars, I have to agree with GDTD's sentiment.
Probably, modders need to correct deficiencies. I'm down with MS or anybody else who steps up. I'm in no hurry to crack my OS open right now, though.
I am especially offended at Microsoft's pitiful PDF reader attempt. And some of the apps in the store make me squint. I want to see the author "Google" emblazoned on my YouTube app, not a third party dev. I sure hope MS is putting these apps under a microscope.
The joy of homebrew (and of a developer forum, like this one) is, even if your goals are different from mine, it's possible for you to make your own changes to the device. It's yours; you control it. That's what security *means*, or at least what it's supposed to mean: you (the owner) are in control of what happens.
Ever since the iPhone, though, the trend has been twoards more and more lockdown, taking control away from the device owner and branding this as "security". I don't like it, so I aim to break it. Ideally, we break it in ways that only work with a local attack; I don't want somebody else able to control my device (that really would be the opposite of security)... but I do want to control it myself!
Part of the problem is that there have been no updates in recent months. Portico came out, Nokia dropped some new firmwares last month. But largely, nothing has changed in WP8 since launch. Personally, I find that boring. Maybe I should have an Android phone on the side to keep me entertained with updates, but I find Windows Phone much more usable day-to-day.
It has been more than 6 months since the WP8 launch, and GDR1 didn't really add much. Microsoft should have planned to have GDR2 out by now, even if it meant postponing some features for GDR3. I think most of us would rather have small quarterly updates to WP8, rather than a massive upgrade once a year. It's starting to feel like WP7 and the Mango anticipation all over again, now that it sounds like WP8.1 might be delayed into 2014. Hopefully they come through with their vaporware enthusiast program to keep our attention in the meantime.
I agree with the OP. Cobwebs on this side of the section totally. A thread in a week may be? But there is something I often read on many forums. People who are happy (I know it's a very wide term) with their devices, I.e don't run into problems with their devices, see no need to lurk around. So actually, it is a good sign. It shows how well-thought after a WP device is.
And GoodDayToDie, even though I agree with everything u've noted down, I don't quite believe WP needs all of that.
Still no app data backup machanism. - Umm...Data Sense?
Still no custom themes. - Fair Enough, but again, WP IS NOT meant to be themed to the T
Still no way to sideload XAP files (unless they are "company apps") without a PC. - I believe this is for security reasons.
Still no filesystem access. - Why do you even want that when the system is running flawless, (yes the same word u scorned at.)
Still no way to control the permissions an app has (what if I want to use the app, but don't want to give it access to my camera?) - LOL! You gotta be kidding me right?
Android has the worst permission management I have ever seen in my adult life. Android gives wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy more information out than any OS out there.
Still no way remove "Settings" apps. Umm..u sure u want that?
Still no way to do true multitasking (not the restricted and often crippled things that the official APIs call multitasking). Multi-tasking is really good with WP8.
Still no way to overwrite file associations (you can choose them when opening a file that multiple apps claim to support, but that's it). - Fair enough, but not a deal breaker either.
Still no way to change the default browser or email client or dialer. - I believe you are again entering the territory of themeing, already replied above. Every OS comes with it's own email client. I don't see the point here.
Still no way to install apps to the SD card. - Fair enough. By far the best point in your list.
Still have only limited access to Bluetooth. - In what way?
Still no way to browse, much less edit, the registry. - Again, WHY? WHy mend it when it's not broken.
Still no way to sideload large numbers of (non-"company") apps - U can download the app(paid or otherwise) from the App store on your computer, put it on the SD card and say install from the Store App on the phone. Simple?
DataSense has nothing even remotely to do with backing up (and restoring) app data; where'd you get that idea? Vital feature that homebrew eventually made avaialble in WP7 but is missing in WP8.
"IS NOT meant" nothing! Somewhere under all that sandboxing and locked-down UI is a general-purpose OS running on top of highly capable hardware. It's "meant" to be whatever the owner fo the device *wants* it to be, including (in the case of many, many people if the popularity of WP7 homebrew apps is any sign) theming. Stop being an apologist for Microsoft; it's one thing to say "extensive theming wasn't implemented because other features were higher priority" but when you start trying to tell me that I'm not supposed to theme it, you seriously need to put down the Kool-Ade. Besides, the very claim is ludicrous to the point of disingenious; have you *seen* the WP8 ads? They all stress the customizability of the Start screen. To the point of suggesting you can "meet" a person simply through how they have their phone set up... those ads freaking scream "customize me!" Then you discover there's only a handful of pre-set colors, two background styles, and the ability to mess with the tiles; nothing else.
No, it is quite absolutely *not* for "security" reasons. Security means the owner of the device controlling the device's behavior. If somebody else (like, for example, the manufacturer of the device) is controlling its behavior, that is not security; it's lockdown. The sideloading restriction can only be called security if it's not your device but actually belongs to Microsft. Screw that. Besides, that argument makes no sense anyhow; if I can pay my $99 and sideload with a PC, why can't I sideload without one (or without paying)? The marketplace has DRM to mitigate piracy and that's a darn weak excuse to cripple a device anyhow.
When I can load my Puzzle Quest 2 savegames and other game progress and high scores, copy my PGP keychain, sideload my Kindle ebooks into the Kindle app (yes, this is possible on WP7), extract or replace the built-in audio files, and delete the junk which accumulates in the OS and uses up storage space (without hard resetting the device), then I will stop considering the level of filesystem access a problem. Until then, "running flawless" is quite worthy of scorn indeed.
Wow, I seriously question your reading comprehension. I never mentioned Android in this point, or anywhere else (except to point out that it has a lot of homebrew). But, for your information, the default permissions / capabilities handling in Android is just as broken as in WP8. The difference is that with Android, it is possible (CyanogenMOD did this, for example) to install apps without actually granting them all the permissions they ask for. On WP7, this wasn't properly possible yet, but I was working on a system to do it that hooked the app install process and allowed people to uncheck app capabilities they didn't want to permit.
Um yes, I'd like to remove the non-functioning Samsung apps (until they are fixed) that are taking up space on my phone's storage and making the Settings list longer. I can always re-install them if needed. Every other carrier or OEM app is removable; why should these get special treatment just because they have a field in their app manifest that says "install me in the Settings hub"?
Multitasking - true multitasking, where multiple apps can run at once - is nigh-nonexistent on WP8. Aside from things like audio background agents and once-every-30-minutes-you-get-a-few-seconds-of-CPU-time scheduled tasks, there basically isn't any multitasking (of third-party apps) at all. Fast app switching is *not* multitasking; every app aside from the main one is suspended, unable to do amything until brought into the foreground.
Changing file associations obviusly isn't a deal-breaker, or I wouldn't be using the phone... but definitely a problem. Windows has offered the ability to control file associations since at least Win95, and I think it was possible in 3.1 as well...
Changing the default browser and email client and calendar and dialer aren't "theming" by any conventional definition, but the point made above about theming stands anyhow: it's a matter of personalization. It can also be a matter of functionality (for example, the built-in email client can't handle S/MIME encrypted email at all and has no PGP integration). Or a matter of usability (I use folders a lot; it's a pain needing to expand a menu to get to them)! Or something else... the important point is that it should be possible. Every OS comes with an email client, but every OS except iOS (and WP) allows you to change the default email client, too. This isn't even hard to implement (the relevant registry keys were present on WP7, at least; carrying over the API to control them wouldn't have been hard at all); it's once again a case of Microsoft intentionally restricting what you can do with your phone. If I wanted a mobile OS designed by a control freak, I'd buy an iPhone...
Nothing more really needs to be said here, except that with filesystem access (create a symlink or junction in the apps folder, for example) this would be possible...
Many BT profiles, such as HID devices (for mice and keyboards), are missing from WP8. So far as I know, apps can't use the Headset profile either; the pseudo-turn-by-turn navigation on WP7 would give its instructions via the car's BT if possible, but Nokia/Here Drive must use the phone's speakerphone speaker instead.
When I can change default browser and text editor, create my own themes, enable features that a ROM shipped disabled (have you seen the thread by the guy who can't get visual voicemail?), sideload high-privilege apps (without paying for the privilege), and remove root certificates of CAs that I don't trust (in WP7, these were stored in the registry), then I will stop considering the level of registry access to be a problem.
If they're from the store, they aren't really sideloaded, just downloaded on a different machine. I'm talking homebrew, stuff that the isn't yet, or never will be, or *can't* be (because it breaks some policy of Microsoft's, or requires high privileges to work) put in the store. Besides, many of the most popular WP8 models don't have an SD card slot at all.
GoodDayToDie said:
Flawlessly? Ahahahahaha
Still no app data backup machanism.
Still no custom themes.
Still no way to sideload XAP files (unless they are "company apps") without a PC.
Still no filesystem access.
Still no way to control the permissions an app has (what if I want to use the app, but don't want to give it access to my camera?)
Still no way remove "Settings" apps.
Still no way to do true multitasking (not the restricted and often crippled things that the official APIs call multitasking).
Still no way to overwrite file associations (you can choose them when opening a file that multiple apps claim to support, but that's it).
Still no way to change the default browser or email client or dialer.
Still no way to install apps to the SD card.
Still have only limited access to Bluetooth.
Still no way to browse, much less edit, the registry.
Still no way to sideload large numbers of (non-"company") apps.
...
Seriously, go look at the list of things that are possible with WP7 homebrew (never mind WinMo or Android or iOS), and then see how many of them are possible with WP8 right now. It's a joke. MS added some (much needed) features, but also took away some things that I think are vitally important, and took away our ability to re-create them for the new OS... unless and until we break it as we have broken OSes in the past.
You imply that WP8 didn't come "broken" and therefore doesn't need modding? Bull.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only thing I can agree with you on is the file system, bluetooth, and not being able to override the default apps associations (seriously, the default apps is the most retarded idea ever).
So I've been inactive for a little while (partially because there wasn't really much happening that affected me). But I thought now would be a good time to talk about Windows Phone 8.1 and what it will bring (even though we're mostly speculating). The particularly interesting part to me is what will happen to phones such as mine (Ativ S Neo) now that Microsoft is buying out Nokia.
So here are my predictions (some of them are totally random):
1. Microsoft will make launching the camera faster by modeling it after Windows 8.1 (swipe down on lockscreen) however this could be replaced with a notification center, but either way, it will be used.
2. The notification icons can be touched as you're swiping the lockscreen away to launch the respective app. This is a more dubious prediction, but would be nice.
3. Nokia apps could be brought into the fold (integrated fully into Windows Phone). This is more likely to come with a GDR2 update or such since 8.1 is coming out right after the deal closes. It's also a hopeful prediction, but Microsoft had better make it happen.
4. Bigger square tiles. This is something I'm pretty confident about, and would love to see for things like Pictures and People apps, and would be awesome to see what developers do with them.
5. Group messaging. If they don't do this, I swear....
6. Notification center. This is of course going to happen, but what I'd love to see is not swiping down from the top, but perhaps swiping in from the left-hand side, and when you're on the Start screen, it would work beautifully with having the app drawer on the right (left notifications, middle Start, right apps).
7. Also, I'm guessing they'll integrate new app APIs in an effort to get ready for the move to one Windows store. This would also include APIs for Cortana integration, which I'll discuss in a minute.
8. Internet Explorer 11/sync with Windows 8.1. IE 11 is sorta given, but sync is one of those things they'd better do, because it would make my Windows experience even more seamless, and I love the way it happens on Windows 8.1 with multiple computers.
9. Cortana. This is something I can't wait for, and I just hope she integrates REALLY deeply into the Windows ecosystem, and eventually Xbox and Windows 8. First off, I realize Cortana is a codename, but I hope they let you name him/her. This way I can keep Cortana. It would also be sweet if you could make an avatar for her! For this section I'll be making sub-points.
I. However, here's what Cortana should be able to do: cue up music based on what she knows you want to listen to. This way when I'm biking to work, she can cue up some great Imagine Dragons radio for me. Or when I'm biking back I can just ask her to play music and she'll cue up some rap for me.
II. I should be able to talk to her in a natural way, instead of using keywords ("let my girlfriend know where I'm at" and Cortana says "I'm leaving work" or sends a map of where I am).
III. I also really hope the voice sounds natural and works offline. Working offline is probably the number one thing besides accuracy that I want. IV. Cortana shouldn't just be there when I ask her though, she should be ready before I ask. When my girlfriend texts and asks where I am, Cortana should say "your girlfriend wants to know where you are, should I tell her you're leaving work?". Or if I'm looking for a place to eat, Cortana should know from my texts that I'm going out with my girlfriend for a nice evening in San Diego and recommend somewhere based on the kind of food I like and the budget I work with, before I ask her. She should turn herself on before I go out the door and say "here's a place to eat at tonight".
V. Of course this wouldn't be an instant thing. She'd learn you over time, and change as your preferences change.
VI. She should also be situation-aware. For example, if someone from work sends me an email and I ask Cortana to reply, she should draft it in appropriate business language. When I send a Facebook message, it should include appropriate smileys and lingo.
VII. Cortana should be part of the camera experience. If I pull out my phone to take a picture on the beach with my girlfriend, it should already be on the camera app before I unlock (I don't press the camera button, just turn the screen on.) and be able to take pictures when I give my phone to someone else on the beach without them pressing a button. It would be even crazier if I could prop my phone up and Cortana can tell someone to move left or right to get better in the picture.
VIII. She should recognize me. When I speak, she should know by my voice that it's me, or even discretely use the camera now and then to make sure it's me and if not lock someone out.
Anyways, those are my insane Cortana expectations, and they also include many other system features.
10. All-in-one Windows integration, not just sync. Obviously this would be later in the year, with GDR2 or 3 and another Windows 8 update. However, this is when I'm playing music on my phone and open my computer, then the computer automatically starts playing it. I move into my living room and my Xbox turns on and starts playing the music. This wouldn't be just music, but that's an example of what I want to see.
So yeah, my expectations are insane, but I'm guessing I've hit a couple things right.(especially with Cortana, though she's the thing that I set my expectations most ridiculously high on ha). But what do you think? How much of this will be a reality? Is there something I've missed?
And Microsoft, if you're reading this, just do it. Make Cortana blow everything out of the water. :good:
Group messaging has been built into Windows Phone since WP7 (maybe it was Mango, but I think it was actually a release feature...). If your phone doesn't "support" it, that's a problem with your carrier, not the OS or the hardware. (I'm not entirely clear why anybody would use Sprint, honestly; at least AT&T and Verizon have the advantage of network coverage).
I like the notification center ideas. Swipe (pivot) from left could be useful on both the Start screen (opposite of the app list) and on the lock screen (opposite of Kid's Corner), quite possibly.
IE11 is already part of GDR3, I believe... probably IE12 by the time WP8.1 comes out.
New APIs are much needed. I reallllly hope they move towards less lockdown (make it more RT-like, at a minimum, with file pickers and whatnot). Well, or let us bypass this lockdown BS altogether...
Your "Windows integration" thing is kind of weird, for a few reasons. First of all, your phone can already do this (again, this applies all the way back to WP7) by using Bluetooth. I can play music through my laptop, control it through my laptop, etc. automatically; if my desktop had BT it could do the same. Second, the thing that I really want to see with regard to Windows integration is the ability to work like a Windows machine instead of some special second-class-citizen "device". Things like Homegroup support, ideally domain-joining support (not likely, but it would be really nice to be able to sign my phone into the work network and access internal resources seamlessly; this *may* come as part of the VPN functionality), printing support (not sure if WP8 currently supports printing at all, although it can "see" BT printers), Favorites/documents/settings (where applicable) sync (some of this is coming via Skydrive integration, but it *should* be at least as good as Win8.0 managed), solid built-in Remote Desktop support, and that kind of stuff.
GoodDayToDie said:
Group messaging has been built into Windows Phone since WP7 (maybe it was Mango, but I think it was actually a release feature...). If your phone doesn't "support" it, that's a problem with your carrier, not the OS or the hardware. (I'm not entirely clear why anybody would use Sprint, honestly; at least AT&T and Verizon have the advantage of network coverage).
I like the notification center ideas. Swipe (pivot) from left could be useful on both the Start screen (opposite of the app list) and on the lock screen (opposite of Kid's Corner), quite possibly.
IE11 is already part of GDR3, I believe... probably IE12 by the time WP8.1 comes out.
New APIs are much needed. I reallllly hope they move towards less lockdown (make it more RT-like, at a minimum, with file pickers and whatnot). Well, or let us bypass this lockdown BS altogether...
Your "Windows integration" thing is kind of weird, for a few reasons. First of all, your phone can already do this (again, this applies all the way back to WP7) by using Bluetooth. I can play music through my laptop, control it through my laptop, etc. automatically; if my desktop had BT it could do the same. Second, the thing that I really want to see with regard to Windows integration is the ability to work like a Windows machine instead of some special second-class-citizen "device". Things like Homegroup support, ideally domain-joining support (not likely, but it would be really nice to be able to sign my phone into the work network and access internal resources seamlessly; this *may* come as part of the VPN functionality), printing support (not sure if WP8 currently supports printing at all, although it can "see" BT printers), Favorites/documents/settings (where applicable) sync (some of this is coming via Skydrive integration, but it *should* be at least as good as Win8.0 managed), solid built-in Remote Desktop support, and that kind of stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately Group messaging got dropped from Windows Phone on Verizon and Sprint from 7 to 8... I have no idea why.And with the music, I have desktop speakers hooked up to my laptop most of the time, but yeah, that was more a want than a prediction. And I have GDR3 and I don't believe it is an updated IE (I never saw something about that... But I could be wrong. Never noticed any improvements though) and yeah, I think you're very right on the VPN and domain stuff, they'll want to get businesses to want these for employees, and advertising it as working with existing infrastructure would be HUGE.
C-Lang said:
Unfortunately Group messaging got dropped from Windows Phone on Verizon and Sprint from 7 to 8... I have no idea why.And with the music, I have desktop speakers hooked up to my laptop most of the time, but yeah, that was more a want than a prediction. And I have GDR3 and I don't believe it is an updated IE (I never saw something about that... But I could be wrong. Never noticed any improvements though) and yeah, I think you're very right on the VPN and domain stuff, they'll want to get businesses to want these for employees, and advertising it as working with existing infrastructure would be HUGE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
group messaging was added again on the 928 since gdr2 launched a while ago. I'm not sure if its been corrected with any of the others yet.
On top of that, I'm not all sure what MS has done between GDR3 preview and GDR3 RTM. (NOTE: it auto suggests the word preview after typing GDR3.)
I don't think that way can bet on anything yet for the 8.1 update... MS still is battling uphill, when it comes to a seamless integration with the "one windows experience".
My beef still:
Why wasn't Xbox video integrated at launch and why is MS touting finally as "coming soon" by word from Nokia, not MS announcing the news?
Why isn't MS leaving an option to "unlock" our phones beyond pushing development apps? There is still a quite a large amount of functionality that's missing from WP that's in your good old WM6. I can understand that started from scratch after seeing that the T-Mobile Sidekick UI worked well, while the Kin and the kin 2 for that matter was a flop.
I also have to agree wit @GoodDayToDie about some of the Domain features,, but I'd one up by adding DirectAccess support, after all MS hates being limited to VPNs.
I also recall seeing drivers inside the registry for printing while thinking,
What would I want to print directly from my phone? Photos?
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Click to collapse
I'm just not quite sure what Windows Phone's future is yet...
Essentially, I didn't find anything interesting coming out of Abu Dhabi.
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Just another wishlist, that wont happend.
You should be more realistic and read more infos about, what microsoft is going to do with there OS. A wishlist, what u would like to have and how they should done it, is just a wishlist that never will be happend.
dergutehirte said:
Just another wishlist, that wont happend.
You should be more realistic and read more infos about, what microsoft is going to do with there OS. A wishlist, what u would like to have and how they should done it, is just a wishlist that never will be happend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trust me, I've read everything there is to read and included it in my list. I included many realistic expectations, but all threw in a bunch of random stuff that could happen, whether its in the next update or not. Have you even read about Cortana? She's kind of what I described, albeit probably not THAT smart, but that's Microsoft's goal sort of from what we currently know. Now go do some reading before you speak up next time.
According to what has leaked so far, I still see 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, some of 9, and something like 10 as extremely realistic. Sure not everything will happen that way, but from Microsoft's goals and my extensive use of Windows 8/8.1 on multiple laptops/Surface and Surface 2 and my use of WP from WP 7.1 on and my Xbox and what I've seen of the Xbox One (which I've preordered, and watched every video there is to watch) this all could very well happen, although some of it will no doubt be an update or so away.
And as for my Cortana predictions, here's a great article to sum up what I've said and how it lines up with facts as we know them (Microsoft's goals and statements, leaks etc.) and it lines up PRETTY DARN WELL. And I quote Steve Ballmer "deeply personalized, based on the advanced, almost magical, intelligence in our cloud that learns more and more over time about people and the world". I don't know about you, but my predictions sound pretty reasonable to me.
This is not a "preview" in the sense of a "beta". It is, in fact, the RTM build... but in the proper sense of RTM (Release To Manufacturing) where "Manufacturing" here means the phone OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers). The OEMs may further customize things at this point, adding additional packages to the update. It then goes to the mobile operators, why may make yet more tweaks (usually, in my experience, this involves removing some stuff, like the ability to lock the phone to 3G only on AT&T, for example, but they also add their own ringtones and boot screens and similar cruft).
However, the bits from Microsoft are final and released. Those are not changing. I'm sure MS runs pre-release programs (betas) internally, and they had a public beta program for Mango (WP7.5), but it appears that no part of WP8 had any such external program.
1. Microsoft will make launching the camera faster by modeling it after Windows 8.1 (swipe down on lockscreen) however this could be replaced with a notification center, but either way, it will be used.
No yet. Only as second option.
2. The notification icons can be touched as you're swiping the lockscreen away to launch the respective app. This is a more dubious prediction, but would be nice.
Already has this since GDR2 as I know. You can tap on it to open that app from lock screen, swipe notification message in top from left to right side, to hide it.
3. Nokia apps could be brought into the fold (integrated fully into Windows Phone). This is more likely to come with a GDR2 update or such since 8.1 is coming out right after the deal closes. It's also a hopeful prediction, but Microsoft had better make it happen.
No. Nokia wants to be independent and leader. So if all OEM apps will be available for all other WP devices, than Nokia gonna lost part of market share.
4. Bigger square tiles. This is something I'm pretty confident about, and would love to see for things like Pictures and People apps, and would be awesome to see what developers do with them.
Developers, developers, developers only can do with own apps to make similar as People, Pictures. Go ahead.
5. Group messaging. If they don't do this, I swear....
What you mean Group Messaging? SMS or Social Messaging (Twitter/Facebook/Lync/Outlook?) Will be.
6. Notification center. This is of course going to happen, but what I'd love to see is not swiping down from the top, but perhaps swiping in from the left-hand side, and when you're on the Start screen, it would work beautifully with having the app drawer on the right (left notifications, middle Start, right apps).
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7. Also, I'm guessing they'll integrate new app APIs in an effort to get ready for the move to one Windows store. This would also include APIs for Cortana integration, which I'll discuss in a minute.
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8. Internet Explorer 11/sync with Windows 8.1. IE 11 is sorta given, but sync is one of those things they'd better do, because it would make my Windows experience even more seamless, and I love the way it happens on Windows 8.1 with multiple computers.
Will be. This calling ecosystem.
9. Cortana. This is something I can't wait for, and I just hope she integrates REALLY deeply into the Windows ecosystem, and eventually Xbox and Windows 8. First off, I realize Cortana is a codename, but I hope they let you name him/her. This way I can keep Cortana. It would also be sweet if you could make an avatar for her! For this section I'll be making sub-points.
I. However, here's what Cortana should be able to do: cue up music based on what she knows you want to listen to. This way when I'm biking to work, she can cue up some great Imagine Dragons radio for me. Or when I'm biking back I can just ask her to play music and she'll cue up some rap for me.
II. I should be able to talk to her in a natural way, instead of using keywords ("let my girlfriend know where I'm at" and Cortana says "I'm leaving work" or sends a map of where I am).
III. I also really hope the voice sounds natural and works offline. Working offline is probably the number one thing besides accuracy that I want. IV. Cortana shouldn't just be there when I ask her though, she should be ready before I ask. When my girlfriend texts and asks where I am, Cortana should say "your girlfriend wants to know where you are, should I tell her you're leaving work?". Or if I'm looking for a place to eat, Cortana should know from my texts that I'm going out with my girlfriend for a nice evening in San Diego and recommend somewhere based on the kind of food I like and the budget I work with, before I ask her. She should turn herself on before I go out the door and say "here's a place to eat at tonight".
V. Of course this wouldn't be an instant thing. She'd learn you over time, and change as your preferences change.
VI. She should also be situation-aware. For example, if someone from work sends me an email and I ask Cortana to reply, she should draft it in appropriate business language. When I send a Facebook message, it should include appropriate smileys and lingo.
VII. Cortana should be part of the camera experience. If I pull out my phone to take a picture on the beach with my girlfriend, it should already be on the camera app before I unlock (I don't press the camera button, just turn the screen on.) and be able to take pictures when I give my phone to someone else on the beach without them pressing a button. It would be even crazier if I could prop my phone up and Cortana can tell someone to move left or right to get better in the picture.
VIII. She should recognize me. When I speak, she should know by my voice that it's me, or even discretely use the camera now and then to make sure it's me and if not lock someone out.
Too much.................
Anyways, those are my insane Cortana expectations, and they also include many other system features.
10. All-in-one Windows integration, not just sync. Obviously this would be later in the year, with GDR2 or 3 and another Windows 8 update. However, this is when I'm playing music on my phone and open my computer, then the computer automatically starts playing it. I move into my living room and my Xbox turns on and starts playing the music. This wouldn't be just music, but that's an example of what I want to see.
Read my answer of question 8.
Notification icons != notification toasts. The ability to tap on Toasts to open the app has existed since well before WP8.