Non-game Android Apps Recommendations Catch-All

You know, I'm pretty sure Manga Watcher can jump seamlessly between chapters as well. It's part of a recent update, I think. If you can verify that, it might make things easier for you.

How tight is Google's inspection of Apps submitted to their Marketplace, rooted or otherwise?

There were a bunch of Apps that broad casted user statistics over the interwebs a while ago. Can rooted Apps access more information?

I'm basically translating "rooted apps" like "warez cracks", but I'm not sure if the simile applies. Does it?

"Rooted" means the app has access to more system functions. Think the same thing as when Windows asks you to grant administrator privileges.

It's also the same thing, if you have SuperUser installed, no program will be given root access without you allowing it. Normally you don't want to do that unless you know what the program is doing. Common examples are like Titanium Backup, needs root to backup programs. SetCPU, needs root to overclock/underclock.

Also, when you go to download an app in the Android Market, it tells you what permissions it is asking for. So, pay attention and you can avoid things that ask for dubious permissions (e.g. if a game wants to access your call history and contacts)

Having a rooted phone doesn't make you more vulnerable to those things, unless you actively go and install stuff of unknown safety. It does allow you to override some of the usual safeguards against that sort of thing.

unntrlaffinity wrote:

http://lifehacker.com/5747993/samba-filesharing-for-android-shares-your-sd-card-over-wi+fi

Easy wifi access to your SD card. Needs root, though.

This is awesome. I've been frustrated by the absence of a simple Samba server on Android to the point where I wanted to write my own, porting one of the open source packages.

Citizen86 wrote:

"Rooted" means the app has access to more system functions. Think the same thing as when Windows asks you to grant administrator privileges.

It's also the same thing, if you have SuperUser installed, no program will be given root access without you allowing it. Normally you don't want to do that unless you know what the program is doing. Common examples are like Titanium Backup, needs root to backup programs. SetCPU, needs root to overclock/underclock.

Thanks. I'm using an Xperia x10 and loving it. I was finally able to root it after some attempts and I'm trying to see what this "rooting" business is all about. I have both SU and Titanium installed, which has allowed me to get rid of the stock bloatware.

Does the mexican X10 have the Android 2.1 update yet?

Amoebic wrote:

Ventriloid!

Allows you to use ventrilo from your phone. Handy little program. If you play WoW (or any game) on a dinosaur of a machine like mine that can't handle thinking about more than one thing at a time, this can be useful. My machine has issues hooking up to anything bluetooth related, so my usual headset wouldn't work. Enter Ventriloid - since my phone came with a mic/headset cable, it's serving it's purpose well. Need to try it with more people, though, so I can find out if it'll let me adjust other people's volume settings and such. I'll update my review as I get to use it with more people.

That app is awesome and it works great! I used it on vacation to do the TF2 tournament draft. It was really bizarre to be in Vent on my phone. I think there were 8 or 9 of us for about an hour and there were no issues.

MikeSands wrote:

Also, when you go to download an app in the Android Market, it tells you what permissions it is asking for. So, pay attention and you can avoid things that ask for dubious permissions (e.g. if a game wants to access your call history and contacts)

Having a rooted phone doesn't make you more vulnerable to those things, unless you actively go and install stuff of unknown safety. It does allow you to override some of the usual safeguards against that sort of thing.

And when an app tried to elevate to root privs, a very similar dialog to windows UAC pops up to verify access.

I know Android and Linux aren't equivalent, but the Songbird team has now put a Songbird app into beta, which I find humorous since they discontinued Linux development last year.

Who knows, if they can charge a few bucks for it, maybe they'll have the resources to continue development on other platforms like Linux again.

http://blog.songbirdnest.com/2011/01/21/songbird-for-robots/

Subbed

Change Carrier Name is a nifty little app for (rooted?) AOSP ROMs that lets you change the carrier name shown in the lock screen and in the notification drop-down list to whatever you want.

IMAGE(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_zjv6GH6wE7E/TXGsox6UKyI/AAAAAAAABVw/w6kkSfHlYS8/s640/snap20110304_222202.png)

I think I'm going to uninstall appbrain. Since the most recent market update it still never seems to update properly. Half the time it goes to a market page where the program is already downloading, or so it says it is, but it never does end up installing.

And the market now has an "update all" button when you go to "my apps" from the market. Seems like that's all I wanted out of appbrain anyway, so I might as well just let the market do it.

Stele wrote:

I think I'm going to uninstall appbrain. Since the most recent market update it still never seems to update properly. Half the time it goes to a market page where the program is already downloading, or so it says it is, but it never does end up installing.

And the market now has an "update all" button when you go to "my apps" from the market. Seems like that's all I wanted out of appbrain anyway, so I might as well just let the market do it.

I've kept AppBrain around just for the filtering and sorting of search results. It's nice to be able to sort by popularity/downloads to get an easier idea of which app I want to try first.

I use the AppBrain webpage mostly. When I find an app I like to try out, I add it to the queue and then just sync the app on my phone. Saves the me trouble of looking for it again and I prefer browsing on my computer than directly on the phone.

To follow up on RNG's post, visit the Android Market in your computer browser and you can install apps to your phone and they'll just immediately download and install in the background with no other action required on your end.

It finally dawned on me after way too long that Virgin Mobile is a pretty good deal. I now have an LG Optimus V, a fairly standard Android 2.2.1 device.

After skimming the whole thread I never saw mention of one app that I've found very interesting: c:geo, a free quite-well-done geocaching application.

IMAGE(http://cgeo.carnero.cc/files/img-qr.png)

A fellow convert!

I noticed today they raised the price to $199.99 for the phone.

Lester_King wrote:

A fellow convert!

I noticed today they raised the price to $199.99 for the phone.

The monthly price still makes them a good deal.

I bought the Samsung Intercept from them as soon as it came out. The complaint I think people had with it being slow is it's really easy to put too much on it and bog down the memory.

I installed Android Assistance and it's helped me keep an eye on my memory to keep memory free.

Okay hivemind. This has probably been asked before. *cough* me if needed.

What's your favorite Android browser?

1) Firefox for Android: I used this for 2 weeks and just deleted it today. It's slow, buggy, flash doesn't work, and the double-tap-to-zoom works in a weird way. Unimpressed.

2) Skyfire 3.0: Just downloaded this to replace Firefox. It's cluttered, buggy (forceclosed once already), and ugly. however, I DO appreciate how closely it's tied to social media, and it's fast enough. The other plus is that pretty much every streaming video I've found works on it.

3) Dolphin HD: I used this exclusively since August, and I'm pretty happy with it. I like the gestures, the tabs, and the add-on support. However, it does not interface with social media well AT ALL, and it's not exactly speedy. Faster than Firefox, but slower than Skyfire. I am seriously considering deleting it in favor of Skyfire.

4) default 2.2 browser: I have used this for all of...5 web pages, and those were all today. Honestly it seems really good; it's snappy, stable, flash works, double-tap-to-zoom works, etc. I have not yet tested how well it interfaces to social media. It makes me wonder if all these extra browsers are worth the time.

5) Opera Mini: I have *no* experience with Opera Mini. . or really, Opera since Firefox was invented. If someone pipes up and says it's the bees' knees, I will try it.

Did I miss any? Let me know!

Still using default browser for 2.2

Tried Firefox a few months back and yeah it was terribly slow and I didn't like it at all.

I think I might have downloaded Dolphin at one point but it had a bunch of extensions or something weird, and I decided I didn't want to futz with it, and the default browser worked good enough.

I have had several instances of the default browser force closing more often lately. Doesn't even pop up a menu to close it, it's just gone. I think it might be flash-related though, so it's hard to figure if it's the browser itself or flash.

Dolphin HD got completely screwed up on my phone recently. It just wouldn't open. I uninstalled and reinstalled and it still doesn't work.

Didn't spend too much time on it. Just went back to the google browser.

I think I'm going to try Cynogen 7 when it gets a final version to see how good the 4G support works, so I'll see if I can go back then.

I like the way Dolphin handles tabs.

RoughneckGeek wrote:

What exactly are you doing with social media in your phone browser?

I have a hard time being able to share links to FB or Twitter with any sort of consistency. In Firefox the "post" button simply wouldn't work. In Dolphin, I wasn't able to make comments before posting a link.

Skyfire seems to be more adept at that. And I haven't tested it with the default browser.

I will give Dolphin Mini a try. Sounds encouraging!

RoughneckGeek wrote:
Seth wrote:
RoughneckGeek wrote:

What exactly are you doing with social media in your phone browser?

I have a hard time being able to share links to FB or Twitter with any sort of consistency. In Firefox the "post" button simply wouldn't work. In Dolphin, I wasn't able to make comments before posting a link.

Skyfire seems to be more adept at that. And I haven't tested it with the default browser.

I will give Dolphin Mini a try. Sounds encouraging!

Ah. I do that the hard way myself... copy the URL and manually paste it into my FB or twitter update. On the phone that means swapping to the corresponding app.

Default browser has a "share this page" button that links up to all the social media pretty well. I only use it with Twidroyd and Gmail, but I've had no complaints. I'm cycling between Firefox and default Browser atm. I tried Opera a while ago, and was very underwhelmed.

Default browser for me on 2.2

Tried Dolphin once -- and went right back to the default 2.2 browser.

I wiped my phone yesterday and don't have Dolphin HD installed right now, but I'm almost certain that the Share this Page link was there too. I avoid all this social networking hoohaw though so I can't guarantee it.

LiquidMantis wrote:

I wiped my phone yesterday and don't have Dolphin HD installed right now, but I'm almost certain that the Share this Page link was there too. I avoid all this social networking hoohaw though so I can't guarantee it.

It is. And it sort've works -- I can post links -- but I can't *comment* on them.

Maybe I'm being too spoiled. I already -- and eternally -- suffer from iPhone envy when it comes to the FB app.

Here is a question... If you have a phone that is from verizon/sprint can they be put on to virgin mobile? Virgin mobile uses sprints towers right? This is a bit out of my realm as I have been on cingular, at&t, now t-mobile (and soon to be forced back to at&t with no intention of going back) I really liked that with t-mobile I could buy any unlocked phone, and pay less per month like you do with virgin but am not super excited about the hardware (full qwerty for me please, unless I get wooed by the PS phone)
I am assuming I would have to either buy an unlocked phone or use my hack skills to unlock it from the carrier it cam from.