Android Apps

[tek-monkey]

My alarm clock doesn't seem to work, says its all turned on and the volume is on full, but again this morning it didn't go off

 

[Gramaisc]

We've all heard that one.....

 

[tek-monkey]

Lol, its true! Seems the task killer also kills part of the alarm clock, hmm. Apparently you don't need a task killer, or so the people on the android forums say. Uninstalled mine so we'll see. Also my messaging problem is resolved, I had left the phone unlocked in my pocket and it created a draft message full of random chars to a number also consisting of random chars. Seems this crashed it whenever it tried to resolve it, or at least I assume that as its fine now I've deleted all 20 identical copies on my phone!

Now, whats a good (free) theme changer?

 

[My Name is URL]

I have read that stuff about not needing a task killer but I personally think its BS.... whenever my memory gets below 50 the phone gets really sluggish... using task killer soon perks it back up again.

The people who say that task killers aren't needed would say "its one or more apps draining all of the memory" but i'm not buying that.

 

[shoes]

Ok just been playing with the market, so far I have got:

Barcode Scanner
Facebook App
Hi Msn Beta
Boondocks Comic Strip
Rotary Dialer
Wavesecure
Compass - V cool
Bubble - Spirit Level
gStrings - tuner
Scan to PDF
Battery Widget
Android OS Monitor
BBC News Widget
Close everything

Not even started yet lol - i frickin love his handset, far far better than the touch HD..... shame they went with a windows OS on that one, if it were similer to this hero it would be equally as awesome.

 

[tek-monkey]

Well my alarm clock worked! Phone seems OK at the min, will see how it goes without the task killer. How much memory do these things have? I've been told that as it runs like Linux things that aren't 'running' take no memory - but as a windows bloke this seems a bit bonkers to me, it has to remember what it was doing surely?

 

[My Name is URL]

Incidentally, since I removed my battery monitor widget I seem to be getting much better battery life..... oh the irony...

Apart from Android System and HTC Sense my task manager seems to be the next biggest CPU user so I might ditch that over the weekend and see how I get on.

@ Shoes... was there a reason you went for close everything (which I assume you paid for) over any of the free task killers?

 

[shoes]

Ah no there are two versions, I downloaded Kill Everything 1 which is a 'lite' version of the application however seems to be everything i need at the moment. The full version is one you have to pay for albeit 85 pence lol. Hmmm I think I will have to keep an eye on the battery widget then because I don't want to kill the battery unnecessarily.

Compass is damned cool though, as is bubble (once calibrated). Any other cool apps I should consider? Scan 2 PDF is actually really good, unfortunately due to the crappy camera you need to do it in a well lit environment.

 

[My Name is URL]

Rather than me tell you what I think is good, might as well flash my apps at you and see if there's anything you like

BTW i'm just trying out Automatic Task Killer (I have tried nearly all task killers) and it seems very good. One thing you will notice is that you spend ages killing tasks you don't even need only for them to re start again. Automatic task killer seems to take away all that hassle so far.

 

[tek-monkey]

I just enabled latitude on google maps by accident, it asked me who I'd like to stalk! Obviously I immediately sent a request to MyCult, as I know he's always happy to embrace such big brother technologies. Not entirely sure where his number came from though, as I've not yet moved my phone numbers across.....

Now where's that tinfoil hat smiley?!?!?!

 

[Gramaisc]

Now where's that tinfoil hat smiley?!?!?!

 

[shoes]

Haha I got a request from you also mate, when I get some reception I'll send you a stalker request from mine - because clearly we need to know where each other is at any given time

 

[tek-monkey]

Damn right! Be interesting if you're not sure if you fancy going out, could see if any mates were down town already.

 

[shoes]

Or if someone makes an excuse for not coming out and it then turns out they're in the pub next to you

 

[tek-monkey]

Was at a talk today about android in education, saw an interesting app called layar. It overlays 'stuff' onto the camera, I used it to look for nearby pubs. Somebody has to create the layer itself, and there aint that many for the UK yet, but it looks interesting. Also took a look at mobeedo, a way to deliver location specific information. Draw a zone on a map, anyone entering that zone using the app (and on your map I assume!) gets a message to their phone. Pretty simple idea, but could have its uses. I may look into making one for Stafford, with all our favourite pubs/restaurants on. Could leave a message in the Pie and Ale House saying which beer is best that day

 

[My Name is URL]

Is layar anything like Wikitude / NRU?

 

[tek-monkey]

Maybe....

 

[tek-monkey]

Yes, seems like wikitude. Also found qik, a way to feed near live onto the net from your camera. Doesn't work well on 3G, really need wireless

 

[shoes]

Have you guys played much with google skymaps? It's truly heroic! Definitely my favourite app at the moment. That and the Mr T soundboard

 

[tek-monkey]

Yeah, love skymaps. 2 people were arguing the other night outside the Kings Arms about what the bright thing near the moon was. I pulled out my phone and said 'that'll be Mars then', which shut them up