A Dreamwidth Android Community

Google just turned me on to the Amazon App market

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 02:48:20 GMT

Posted by: flarenut

Got a new phone today, and wanted to populate it with a bunch of the apps that I have on my tablet(s). But apparently to access the android app market from a phone (or at least this phone, from the acme of evil that is verizon) I have to not only have a google account but an honest-to-goodness gmail address. To which (according to some of the searches I did) all of my contacts in the phone will be synched unless I take heroic measures, to which a bunch of notifications about updates will be sent, regardless of whether I actually use that mail, blah blah blah. In other words, a new account that I have to manage, with a bunch of privacy risks if its information happens to get loose etc. All tied to my real name and physical address for good measure...

And then one of the entries I read mentioned the amazon app market. Which doesn't need anything new, because, well, Amazon already knows everything about me.

So I'll keep using the regular android market on my tablet, but for my phone it looks like anything but. Go figure.

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hello and a question

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:29:45 GMT

Posted by: blueraccoon

Hi :) I found this comm via a friend's suggestion - I upgraded to a Droid 3 about ten days ago, and I'm loving it so far. I do have a question, though, and I'm hoping someone here can help me out?

I use my phone to sync with my work email/calendar/etc, and when I got the phone I set it up using the default email app on there. My work has a lock policy, so I created a PIN, and now when my phone locks I have to input a PIN to unlock it and access my stuff.

This is all fairly standard, and no issues so far. But.

Not being thrilled with the default "Email" app, I downloaded TouchDown and configured that to use my work email. It's doing fine so far and I like some of its features, but it also required a PIN. So now I have a PIN when I unlock my phone and another PIN when I try to get into my email, and that seems ridiculous to me. I cleared the defaults on the 'Email' app, but does anyone know how I can get rid of this dual-PIN nonsense?

Thanks much!

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dynamically editable to-do list on lockscreen of phone

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 09:27:46 GMT

Posted by: erika

To put your dynamically editable todo list on your lock screen for Android users, I suggest the following:

Download Widget Locker (I know, I know, it's paid :C but I haven't found a free app with the same versatility and lack of bugs )

Use your favorite notes/todo widget and add it to Widget Locker's lock screen.

Taskos (free)

Astrid (requires Astrid PowerPack (paid)

and ColorNote Notepad Notes (free) all work well.

(screenshot of what it looks like on my phone)

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directions on how to extend battery life on the HTC Evo

Sun, 08 May 2011 15:05:07 GMT

Posted by: erika

This is copied from a comment I left for winneganfake:

( directions on how to extend battery life on the HTC Evo )

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Swype

Wed, 05 Jan 2011 22:30:27 GMT

Posted by: willful_zephyr

Just signed up for the Swype Beta, I'll do the install when I get home to my wifi.

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YAY!

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 23:12:36 GMT

Posted by: miss_s_b

I got an HTC Desire on Christmas Eve! YAY! So, far, apart from the battery life, I am loving it to bits.

Does anyone have any news on how far along the development of the DW Android app is, btw?

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app recommendations

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 22:04:58 GMT

Posted by: erika

A list of all the apps currently running on my phone, from appbrain.

( Read more... )

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Phone Protection Apps

Sat, 18 Sep 2010 00:07:39 GMT

Posted by: syntheid

Out of curiosity, has anyone tried WaveSecure? If so, what do you like about it/dislike about it? Does anyone know of or use alternatives?

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PTT app for Android

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 00:28:42 GMT

Posted by: xaea

TiKL is a PTT app for Android that my friend told me about. Bear and I tried it out today and it's actually pretty nifty! From my experience, here are the pros and cons.

Pros:
- Instant communication
- Clear reception

Cons:
- Operates on media volume, not ringer volume so even if you're phone is on silent, you will hear incoming calls. Either turn your media volume all the way down, or put it into busy mode (rejects calls)
- Doesn't tell anyone trying to contact you that you're in busy mode so they'll have to just figure out that you're not going to respond.
- My husband suspects it drains the battery. This wasn't a problem for me because I also have the Close Everything app so I can just shut it down when I'm done. He had to go into application settings, which was a little cumbersome.

The app is in beta though so I have a hunch they'll be fixing some of these annoyances and making it an even better app. :)

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Sun, 12 Sep 2010 13:57:45 GMT

Posted by: delight

Anyone have a Samsung Epic? I'm getting one on Friday and am so excited. I've been a smartphone user for about four years, and in that time have been through four phones (that sounds horrible, but in my defense my Blackberry did break once and then get stolen, so I replaced it twice) – I've had two Blackberry 7108s, an 8130 and a Palm Pre. After a year with the Pre and having it break on me about six times and get sub-satisfactorily repaired, I allowed myself to follow in my father's footsteps and be swayed in the way of the Android.

He just got his Droid X, but as I live nowhere near him I can't play with it; I did get to toy around with an Epic at the store, though, and I really enjoyed it.

So if anyone has one, give me some pros and cons? I'm especially nervous about potential damage to the screen, as that's one of the things that happened to my Pre. My face makeup damaged the touchscreen, for crying out loud.

(And since my area won't have 4G coverage until January, I'm adding an extra $10 to my plan for essentially nothing, and occasionally wonder if the 4G coverage is worth it ... if any of you have experience with 4G, I'd love to hear about that, too!)

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Angry Birds

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:37:17 GMT

Posted by: willful_zephyr

Yay! Rovio has released a beta version of Angry Birds for Android.

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First-time Android user!

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 06:01:07 GMT

Posted by: feathertail

That's right ... my new HTC Aria is my first Android phone, and my first modern smartphone, period. My last phone was a Palm Centro, which was technically a "smartphone" but didn't have a data plan, and was basically a glorified Palm Pilot.

I bought the Aria even though I was on AT&T because I fell in love with it at the store. I love how simple and sleek it is, and I <3 how the textured back feels. Also I use Ubuntu on my PC, and iPhones don't have Tomdroid and can't sync with Banshee. (I'm tickled pink that Astrid can sync my to-dos with Getting Things GNOME! via Remember the Milk. ^.^ )

I've been having lots of fun going through the Android Market and trying out apps. I don't like the uninstallable AT&T things, but I'm thinking of putting Cyanogen on it so I can get rid of them and sideload apps.

Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions for a first-time Android owner? :3

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intro, nexus one, useful apps

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:57:20 GMT

Posted by: anjelabug

Howdy! I am a new-ish Android user; I bought the Nexus One after years and years and years putting up with Windows Mobile (from the days when it was branded PocketPC up through the T-Mobile MDA and Wing). I'd played around with the Droid and the iPhone, and thought the formfactor of the Nexus One was more what I was looking for.

I really like the hardware. It's small, slick, easy to find and use the buttons, and the trackball has its uses (although I have to admit, I don't use it that much). The virtual keyboards (portrait and landscape) have been good enough for me. The camera, of all things, is really good, and the fact that it is good has been getting me to take more pictures.

My biggest complaint about it is that all the ringtones are very, very quiet -- even turned up all the way, it's hard to hear the thing. Fortunately, the vibration is strong enough to feel whether it's in my pocket or my purse.

As for apps, I have the following things in the "useful" category:

* Tea Timer (countdown timer)
* DroidDice (hey, you never know when you'll need to roll for initiative)
* Seesmic (the best Twitter client I've found -- slick interface and multiple account support)
* Text Edit/Papyrus (TextEdit has better "get file to other devices" options, but Papyrus has better "input text" functionality)
* Chess Clock For Android (what it says on the tin)
* BatteryTime Lite (both for the widget, which tells me the actual percentage of my battery left, and the app itself, which estimates how much time I have left on my remaining charge)
* Listen by Google Labs (podcatcher/podcast listening app better than anything else I've ever used, which admittedly is only Juice and iTunes)
* OpenTable (restaurant reservation system that hooks up with the website of the same name)

And the following things in the "games" category:

* CopyCat ("Simon")
* Coloroid
* Abduction! World Attack (so cute!)
* Milky Milky, by the same creator (ditto!)
* Bubble Defense (standard tower defense game)

My only fear is that my new house isn't going to have good enough signal to use the phone as an actual phone, but frankly, I loathe making phone calls and would love an excuse not to have to make them. :P I'm sure VoIP options will come along eventually, too.

As for rooting and development, I am interested in doing both, but they have to make it to the top of the hobby queue first, past the knitting and reading and video games. ^_^ I'd be very interested in hearing what people are interested in developing or interested in seeing developed, though. Would a dedicated Dreamwidth client be useful, or just redundant (since you can already post from the website)?

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ping?

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:17:32 GMT

Posted by: syntheid

As part of the DW community meme, I'll actually make a post in here, as I'd kind of wanted to for a while, but hadn't since it was rather dead.

I got my Motorola Cliq in November, and I kind of love it. I might have gotten the G1 earlier, but the keyboard is literally unusable for my tiny, tiny hands (my thumb wouldn't fit over the chin to type anything), so I was waiting for another Android phone (on T-Mobile) that had a physical keyboard. There are apparently rooting guides for the Cliq, that I haven't quite summoned up the courage or carved out the time slot to try it yet, but hopefully will carve out the time to do so sometime soon.

Now that there's more than the G1 out running Android, what phones do you have and what version of Android are you running? If anyone else has a Cliq, what do you think of Motoblur (or have you already rooted your phone)?

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Root! Woot! and My Favorite Games...

Sat, 30 May 2009 22:59:53 GMT

Posted by: chasy

I rooted my phone using this guide and I haven't regretted a minute of it! (I rooted about...two weeks ago? Maybe a week...I don't actually remember.)

I'm running JesusFreke's 1.51 ADP build and it ROCKS. Very smooth, ability to tether my phone to my laptop (which is how I'm writing this entry right now), early cupcake update...good stuff! :-D

If you have also rooted your phone, feel free to comment with tips and tricks and cool stuff you can only do with a rooted phone!

Also - I meant to update a while back with a list of my favorite games but then I took a sabbatical from the nets. :p So real quick, here are my absolute favorite games (some of them you have to pay for but it's TOTALLY worth it):

Build-a-lot
Jewellust
Coloroid
WordUp!
Bonsai Blast

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Chasy's Favorite G1 Apps

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:58:05 GMT

Posted by: chasy

Astrid: A comprehensive To Do application.
Twidroid: The best Twitter app for G1!
ChompSMS: A nifty SMS app that includes a virtual keyboard. Supposedly, they are developing a virtual T9 keypad for it too. I *love* this app.
Android IRC: BEST app for IRC addicts. :) Stays running in the bg - major plus in my book. Doesn't seem to drain battery too badly.
Useful Switchers: One-click access to frequently used settings. (i.e. brightness, ringtone, bluetooth, and many more. Also shows battery power remaining. Extremely handy app.)
G-Notepad: This is a great notepad app that allows you to transfer .txt, .html and other files back and forth from phone to computer.
Flashlight: A simple app but MAN, is it bright! I was impressed. :)
DroidSans Virtual Keyboard: A must-have if you just hate having to pop your keyboard open for every little thing.
Dark Keys: *THIS* app is a must-have for anyone using the white G1! Hard to see your keys in daylight when that backlight comes on, right? Bind Dark Keys to a quick launch shortcut so you can turn that pesky light off any time! Or turn it back on again...
Shazam: One of my very favorite apps - tune it in to a song that's playing and it will tell you what it is. I love this app because I listen to the radio a lot and I'm constantly going "I love this song! I wonder what it is..." I've used this app about ten times so far with 100% accuracy.
Wallpaper Set & Save: I like this app because it prevents the G1 from applying that annoying filter to an image before using it as a wallpaper. Translation: Get nice, crisp backgrounds by using this app to set your wallpaper with images on your SD card.

I have lots of other apps that I like - games too - but I'll post about those some other time. :D

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Welcome...

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:42:20 GMT

Posted by: chasy

...to the first community on Dreamwidth for Android users!

This is a casual community for people who love their G1 (and in the future, any other device that's operating Android). By "casual", I mean it's for everyday users - as opposed to the uber smart people who make things FOR the android. They are called Developers and they have my utmost admiration and respect. Developers are welcome to post here but please keep it simple so the rest of us know what you're talking about. Currently, there isn't an Android Developers community so if you're a developer, you should consider starting one!

Feel free to post anything here, as long as it has to do with Android! Talk about your favorite features, recommend apps (this is especially helpful when an app costs money), vent about its flaws, and meet other people who carry their G1 with them everywhere they go!

Hooray for Android!

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