The Android Thread

[Cube]

I highly suggest Game Dev Story. It's a lot of fun and is really addictive. It could be better (i.e. fullscreen), but it's still great. Probably the best game on the Market at the moment. Which admittedly isn't a lot - there isn't really a lot else other than the good-because-it's-free Angry Birds.

 

Still, Cut The Rope is due soon and it looks like more and more is being put into getting games onto Android.

[Ten10]

Game Dev story is currently on sale (Last day I think) for 79p in the market place. Another great game to be had on the cheap.

[Platty]

Ok battery life has improved immensely. Thanks for the tips.

 

Got another query. Facebook has me signed in constantly which has led to people saying "oh you're always online" doesn't bother me as such but I'm constantly getting facebook chat messages!!

 

Aside from just logging out from the app is there anything else I can do? I tried hitting menu in the chat screen and selecting "appear offline" but that doesn't seem to work.

[Ten10]

Are you signed in just using the facebook app or are you also using it through the HTC Peep application? I'm not a facebook user myself but I believe through peep the idea is that you are always "connected to the mainframe" as my old man likes to say.

[Platty]

umm signed in through HTC Sense Facebook... I guess thats what it could be.

 

EDIT: yup that was it. Removed the account and just used the app and all is well. I did like the way it linked all my contacts together though and gave me phone numbers and email addresses I never had but meh it was annoying receiving loads of chat thingys.

Edited December 30, 2010 by Platty

[Cube]

I think the Facebook App syncs the contacts anyway. My phone still synced after I got rid of HTC Sense.

[Platty]

Mine hasn't. As soon as I removed the facebook HTC sense it took away all sync'd contacts and I can't see any other way to do it without having the sense installed which for me = chat notification hell.

[heroicjanitor]

I highly suggest Game Dev Story. It's a lot of fun and is really addictive. It could be better (i.e. fullscreen), but it's still great. Probably the best game on the Market at the moment. Which admittedly isn't a lot - there isn't really a lot else other than the good-because-it's-free Angry Birds.

 

Still, Cut The Rope is due soon and it looks like more and more is being put into getting games onto Android.

 

I bought game dev story as you suggested and it's really cool, although after a while it's too easy. Mountainous piles of cash at my disposal after only a few hours. Still the best game I've played on a mobile phone that's for sure.

[Cube]

Mine hasn't. As soon as I removed the facebook HTC sense it took away all sync'd contacts and I can't see any other way to do it without having the sense installed which for me = chat notification hell.

 

Update the official Facebook app (if it isn't up to date) and go into the settings. There should be sync options in there.

[Platty]

Update the official Facebook app (if it isn't up to date) and go into the settings. There should be sync options in there.

 

Yeah updated the official app. Not using the sense anymore. The official app doesn't let you do the sync on my desire, only the sense version does.

 

Been following the new update on the Android forums and people having loads of problems with it. No push notifications, no sync etc etc

[ReZourceman]

Sorted out Claires 3G (we think) apparently a common problem for O2 ATM.

 

 

What are the best appie appies for Samsung Galaxy/Android whatever?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Cube]

Free Apps:

- Barcode Scanner (great for scanning links to apps if you find a good one on your computer)

- Twitter

- Facebook

- ColorNote Notepad

- Pulse News Reader (one of the best RSS readers I've found)

- Autodesk SketchBook Express (even though my phone is way below the recommended specs, this is still the smoothest drawing application I've found)

- Angry Birds/Angry Birds Seasons

- Zynga Poker (It's linked to the Facebook one)

- eBay

- SMS Backup & Restore

- RealCalc Scientific Calculator (sometimes you need something a bit more advanced than the standard one)

 

Plenty of Google Apps:

- Google Shopper

- Google Goggles

- Google Translate

- Google Sky Map

 

Paid:

- Rail Planner Live (if you use the trains a lot)

- Game Dev Story

 

Depending on what the stock Clock & Weather Widgets, and the camera are like (the one on my ROM are rather poor):

- Beautiful Widgets

- Vignette (lots of filters, I find that the Fake HDR option makes my phone's awful camera look bearable)

 

If you have a premium Spotify account then (obviously) Spotify will be the best music player option.

 

The limit for getting a refund on paid apps is now only 15 minutes. Which I suppose is fair as you could blast through a game in less than 24 hours and get your money back. 15 minutes still lets you see if a game/app will work.

Edited December 31, 2010 by Cube

[ReZourceman]

Sweet, thanks dude.

[Mr_Odwin]

Launcher pro (improved my phone 100% - it is almost unbelievable the effect it has on performance) (Also heard good things about ADW and Zeam (I tried Zeam and my app draw wasn't as smooth, but resizable widgets may drag me there eventually))

Retro Camera - takes old camera style pics with your nice new camera phone. Rubbish resolution and takes a long time to process but end results are fun. Like hipstamatic's smaller uglier cousin.

Tweetdeck - best Twitter client by a mile. Not loads of features but lovely to use.

widgetsoid2.x - pretty switches for everything!

[Cube]

Launcher pro (improved my phone 100% - it is almost unbelievable the effect it has on performance)

 

I can also recommend this. It (once again) depends on what the Samsung stock one is like. There's a lot of options.

 

Edit: Just tried Tweetdeck. It just crashes.

Edited December 31, 2010 by Cube

[ReZourceman]

Cool, thanks.

[Ten10]

Also I'm going to recommend some apps. They are built in but have updates that improve functionality.

The YouTube app received an update that has a much improved UI and user experience.

 

Also voice search which can be activated by pressing and holding search, The update in the marketplace adds functionality such as voice commands: search, call, navigate, map to carry out different actions based on a particular voice command.

 

Also here is a list of recommended apps that I gave out awhile ago.

 

 

 

 

Quick list of apps for you to grab:

 

 

3g watchdog

 

myPlayer

 

Movies

 

Color note

 

Astro file manager

 

Rings extended

 

Zedge

 

 

Worth a look:

 

 

Google goggles

 

Layer reality browser

 

Cardio trainer

 

Dropbox

 

Last.fm

 

keyring scanner

 

Barcode scanner

 

Metal detector

 

Shopper

 

Skyfire browser

 

Snesoid

 

Wave secure

 

Swype

 

What the doodle

 

Meebo IM

 

Checkout 3g watchdog if you have a limited 3g allowance. I have a 3GB allowance but I still use it for some reason. Also checkout wavesecure a great backup and phone security application.

[ReZourceman]

Oh brill, that 3G Watchdog sounds perfect.

[Cube]

myPlayer

 

The latest version is pointless as the BBC have forced them to drop the iPlayer. The BBC seems to hate Android.

[david.dakota]

The BBC are due to launch Android Apps in due course. There were originally delays due to other providers complaining that BBC Apps would distort sales of their own apps across all platforms.

[Ten10]

If anyone is interested I'll happily provide the apk for the now defunct beeb player.

[Cube]

Android 3.0 Honeycomb Video

 

It's for tablets only, but it does look really nice.

[Ten10]

I like it I'll probably pick up a honeycomb tablet at some point.

 

Also the next wave of high end androids are going to be beasts.

 

 

More power than my first laptop and PC combined.

[david.dakota]

I'll also be picking up a tablet in due course - Honeycomb looks stunning, really refreshing. Hopefully, Android for phones will follow the look and feel (although, i'm sure we'll see 3.0 on phones in the future).

 

Hopefully, Android 3.0 will also include phone services (can't see that anywhere in the gumf). I have always said I'd happily use a tablet rather than a phone. Although, i'm not sure the 10" screens of most tablets will suit - the Galaxy Tab seemed a reasonable size for phone use also.

 

 

Fingerprint Login Security.

Edited January 6, 2011 by david.dakota
Automerged Doublepost

[Cube]

Hopefully Google will work with lots of developers to get apps/games ready for launch. I think we can expect Facebook and Twitter to be ready on launch and I also expect a few things from. Hopefully they can convince a few more big developers to come to Android. Sony are the other one, but they'll likely only support their phones (hopefully someone will hack the store to work on other phones/tablets).