Monday 30 August 2010

Droid VNC Server

I've been spending a lot of time messing with Tasker (see below) and got a bit tired of all the thumb work. Luckily I also discovered Droid VNC Server. It allows you to access you Android device from your PC (or other Android device running VNC Viewer if you are perverse!). Best of all it's free!

It can be accessed via a standard VNC client or via a web interface, although I couldn't get this to work.

It can be a bit laggy at times but it does have all the android keys mapped for ease of use.

Sunday 29 August 2010

Locale is Dead... Long Live Tasker

I started this blog with a post that highlighted two 'killer' apps, one of which was Locale. It is great sadness that I announce that my once killer app has been killed!

Locale is great, it's easy to use and has a wealth of plugins to extend it's funcitionality. Tasker is not so easy to use and there are no plugins written for it. So where's the benefit?

Tasker is more complicated, but this allows for loads of flexibility, it's vitually a programming language! No plugins... BOOOO!!!! Tasker supports Locale plugins... YAAAAAYYYY!!! I loved Locale but always found myself wishing it could do something I couldn't make it do, Tasker still has limitations but it's a leap forward from Locale.

Locale only supports entry conditions. This is difficult to explain but essentially it means that when an event is triggered (arriving home, putting your phone on charge, etc, etc) you can make stuff happen (enable wifi, start an app, etc). When you leave the situation there is no way to undo all the stuff you started, there is only the 'default' profile which is the state everything returns to when there isn't another profile overriding a setting.

With Tasker there are enter and exit tasks. When you enter a condition you can perform certain tasks and when you exit you can undo everything you did. This is more time consuming to setup but ultimately allows for more flexibility. For example, at night I turn all the volumes down so a late txt from a drunk friend in a different time zone (you know who you are!) doesn't wake me up with a klaxon level notification. On Locale the levels would return to whatever I set in my default profile. With Tasker I can set a variable for each of the Volumes (notification, ringtone, system, media, etc) and then use that to set the volumes back to whatever they were when the 'sleepy' condition exits!! I can also set it to kill apps I launched when entering a condition which stops the issue of the Locale default profile killing those same apps when at other times when they are launched manually!

The other 'win' for tasker is that it supports more events and conditions out of the box. Yet another are variables, which allow you to set variables that can be picked up by other tasks. As an example I have set a condition for meetings which silences my phone and sends a txt to anyone phoning or txting that tells them I will get back to them when I'm free again. I set a variable called '%MEETING' to '1'. I have another condition that reacts to incoming calls which, if %MEETING is 1, will reject them. This stops my phone buzzing on the table and also sets a notification (with a custom trackball colour!) so I can see who called as it doesn't show as a missed call (although tasker only allows me to program the number into the notification, not the contact name).

It's worth noting there are two ways to buy Tasker. 1) From the market, which gives you 24 hours to decide if it's a keeper and get a refund, or 2) via the website  which gives you a 7 day refund period and costs slightly less.

Widget support is better, and more complicated, under Tasker than Locale.

There is also a pretty active Tasker community who post the stuff they've achieved for you to import into your phone and mess about with it, even if it's just to get ideas.

One of the things that used to bug the shit out of me in Locale was that for a given condition you could only do one of each action, this was a particular pain with launching apps, you could only launch one! When I go into car mode (automatically when my bluetooth car kit connects) I wanted to launch my Speedcam software (RadarDroid) AND the car dock. Couldn't do it with Locale without creating multiple car conditions which would then clash and not always load. Tasker can!

Tasker isn't perfect, I've found a couple of things I couldn't do (but given it's programmy nature I may find a way) but nothing like the limitations of Locale.

Tasker is so powerful I don't need most of the plugins I bought to suppliment Locale, it can send txt messages and read things using text-to-speech which would have saved my buying Swiftreply and HandsfreeSMS (I still use them with Tasker, I've paid for them and I'm lazy!).

The bottom line is... if you want simple choose Locale... if you want more flexibility and don't mind jumping through more hoops then Tasker is the way to go.


You can't really get a lot from the screen shots, but here they are anyway:


Saturday 21 August 2010

Battery Use Update

I looked into battery use; I wasn't dissatisfied but thought I'd see how I could squeeze maximum time out of my battery.

I discovered SetCPU. What this does is allow you to over or underclock you phone’s processor. Overclocking isn’t something I’d recommend but underclocking seems safe in theory.

What it also allows you to do is set profiles.



The first profile is Screen off or sleep. Apparently the Nexus one will drop to 384Mhz (from 998Mhz) when the screen is off but this may peak higher if apps running in the background demand it. By setting SetCPU to use a maximum of 384Mhz and a minimum of 245Mhz you save at least 14% of your battery every time your phone goes to sleep!


The second profile relates to charging (there are 3 charging in general, charging AC, charging USB). This allows you to drop the Mhz when charging, which on the surface seems daft – why save power when attached to the mains? The reason is simple, the less power your phone takes out of the battery, the faster the phone will charge!

The final profile type relates to battery level you can start reducing battery use as you charge drops below, say, 50%. Then you can drop it further at 30% and cut it right back when you reach critical levels to maximise your uptime.

On top of this you can set your default Mhz range. I’ve dropped my max to 883Mhz, in theory saving 11% when my phone is working at full capacity.


I’ll see how all this pans out.

Friday 20 August 2010

Cyanonogen vs Orange - the winner is Cyanogen!!

I gave it another go... I'm a tinkerer at heart. Orange data has been stable (ie slow but there) so I installed Cyanogen again (I had taken a Nandroid backup but the restore hung everytime I ran it).

Installed Cyanogen, installed Google Apps, Titanium Restore, redid widgets... done! All seems pretty stable. Battery declined at an alarming rate (or so it seemed, it's easy to look for problems). A quick recharge and 2.5 hours later I've lost 5% of the charge, or about 2% per hour - I can live with 50 hours standby! The battery decline must have been due to me constantly messing about with the phone, the restores, etc. I may find cyanogen proves a bit juicy when in actual use but only time will tell. I've installed Juiceplotter which tracks your battery charge over time just to keep a track.

So how is it? GREAT! Favorite thing is apps2sd, this is like the default froyo version but works with most apps rather than just those coded to support it. It doesn't require a seperate partition like Cyanogen V5 either! I install a lot of, and I'll be honest here, crap and constantly have to delete stuff in order to fit new stuff on the phone.

Sadly my second favorite thing is the boot screen. The Nexus one was cool but I tired of it, this is new and I really like it. Look on Youtube if you wonder what all the fuss is about!

I'm gonna try it for a week and see how I get on... watch this space (not that anyone is watching it would seem!).

Thursday 19 August 2010

Cyanogen Nightly vs Orange

Tried the Nightly, got constant force close over the keyboard. Restore back to stock nandroid backup (which was working just fine when Orange data came back), no data! Is it Orange or is in tinkering? I have no idea thanks to Orange being crap... nice!

Time for bed me thinks!

Cyanogenmod vs Orange

I've spent quite a few days researching flashing a new OS having rooted using Universal Androot. I had been concerned as I had used Rom Manager to flash my recovery but it kept resetting after every reboot. I had assumed this was due to the fact that Universal Androot doesn't change the bootloader but after talking to some people on forums I discovered it was the Android OS and once Cyanogen is installed the recovery holds.

So... what happened next... *sigh*. I ran Titanium Backup, backed up my launcher pro settings, then used Rom Manager to firstly do a Nandroid backup then to wipe the phone and install Cyanogen.

2 minutes later I have a fully fledged Cyanogen Nexus one, restored my apps and settings using titanium backup and restored my desktop setting for launcher pro. Reboot and my phone is just like I left it, sms, call logs, bluetooth pairings, everything! Totally painless, other than the fact I had to redo all my widgets as the Launcher Pro backup doesn't work with those. Sorted!!!

I loved it! Moving most apps to SD was painless, no partitioning and it worked with 90% of the apps I tried. The boot graphic was awesome, there was just joy to be had everywhere!

Wait a minute... this was too easy.... I switched off wifi and... NO DATA CONNECTION OVER MOBILE NETWORK!!!! Damn it!!!!

Much tinkering and forum searching later I decide to restore back to my previous stock version using the nandroid backup. This was a full image of my system before I buggered with it. Still no mobile network... much more buggering, swearing and frustration until I had to go to bed (approx. 1AM).

Tired, and quite frankly proper pissed off, I went to work and the network returned and then dissapeared again. I messed with the settings for a bit then someone suggested I did a factory reset. Sod it, I have a backup, so I did it, still no joy! I really couldn't understand this as I'd restored the system to the state it was in before then did a factory reset. The good news here is that a Nandroid restore takes 2 minutes so flashing a new rom is easily and swiftly reversable, bad news is it didn't fix it!

Eventually I sought out a colleague on Orange and asked them if they had a data connection. Guess what? it wasn't my tinkering, it was Orange (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/19/orange_down/). A total melt down of the Orange network just so happened to coincide with me screwing with my phone at a fundamental level. My colleagues are convinced I caused this but I'm refusing to incriminate myself.

Where am I now? I got mobile data back on my stock rom late this afternoon. This evening I braved flashing Cyanogen again... no data! Now I'm not sure if Orange suck again or if Cyanogen RC3 doesn't work properly on my phone.

I've done a nandroid backup of my Cyanogen so I can go back to it swiftly if it turns out Orange has jumped on the fail express again.

I'm gonna try Cyanogen's latest nightly build and if that doesn't work go back to stock. If mobile is still missing I may just flush it down the toilet, I'll post a video if I do!

Sunday 15 August 2010

Rooted!

Ok so I strapped a pair on and pressed the button in the Universal Androot app. It did some stuff and now I'm rooted.

And how did I celebrate my new found rootage? Titanium Backup and Clockwork Rom Manager!

Titanium Backup

One of the great things about Universal Androot is that you don't have to screw with your bootloader. No bootloader messing, no warranty inflingment and no phone reset and no need to reinstall all your data!!!

Once rooted I was able to backup all my apps and data and settings using Titanium. Rooting the old way would have wiped my phone and was one of the main reasons I resisted it previously.

I haven't used Titanium in anger yet, I've only backed stuff up but this seems to work well and the options and settings it backed up seemed comprehensive. It even backed up, my bluetooth pairings (I had a 'mare getting my Parrot to work) and links to the Android Market place so if I have to restore in the future market place updates will work.

There is a pro version that allows you to do a number of things including a one click restore of all your apps and settings, for when you've got a new phone or installed a new rom for instance.


Clockwork Rom Manager

This app is a must if you are going to flash your phone with a new rom as it takes all the hard work out of it. It will download the ROMs and flash for you, install a custom recovery ROM, and even do a totall backup of you ROM. By doing this you can install a new ROM, test it, and be back in your original ROM with all your settings intact in 30 mins.


Ok so I'm not using this to it's full potential yet, I've only used it to change my Recovery Image to Clockwork Recovery and to do a total backup of my phone. When CyanogenMod 6 is finalised I'll be flashing that, but I can wait....

Saturday 14 August 2010

RANTS

Time for the first in an irregular series of rants, there is no way to dress it up.

First up Google's App Inventor. Genius! This thing is brilliant. Simple yet powerful. So what's my beef with it? Application sizes! I created my 1st app, a "hello world" style thing. It has 1 button and displays an message. IT'S 3.6Mb IN SIZE!!!!!!

I use my phone a lot and have it rammed full of applications, I often have to delete something after installing a new toy just to get rid of the annoying "low on space" notification. I had visions of creating dozens of tiny apps to do little tasks I wanted but I can't afford the space.

I understand there is some interpretation going on it the code but would it not be better to install the interpreter once then make all the apps smaller?

Second Rant, and also space related, is games programmers. There are some great games out there now and many of them are visually rich. This takes space, lots of space. This isn't a problem as, since Froyo, I can install apps to my 16Gb SD card. Oh hang on... that relies on the programmer enabling the option to store the game on the SD card (which apparently is trivial to do). SO WHY DO SO FEW OF THEM DO IT?

I like games but I can't have more than a couple of the big fellas on my phone at the same time.

I just don't get it, more people will install your game if they can install it on the SD card. It's easy to do so why not do it?????

Blood pressure at max... my work here is done!

Tuesday 10 August 2010

National Rail

Ok so this app is a little pricey at £4.99 but the author has to pay to use the datafeed from National Rail. It's definately worth it if you commute or use the train a bit, but less so if you are just a casual rail user. I certainly wish I had this when I commuted, then again the carriages I travelled in were the same slam doors as the Hogworts express (and this was only a few years ago!!)

You can plan a journey or check on live departures and journey progress, it seems to do this all very well.


1-Click Universal Root

I've not had the guts to press the button yet but there is a new app about that will (apparently) root the following android phones without anymore fuss than sending a txt message.

Google Nexus One (2.2)
HTC Hero (2.1)
HTC Magic (1.5)
Dell Streak (2.1)
Motorola Milestone (2.1)
Motorola XT701
Motorola XT800 (2.1)
Motorola ME511
Sony Ericsson X10 (1.6)
Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro (1.6)
Acer Liquid (2.1)
Vibo A688 (1.6)

Unfortunately the following phones aren't supported:
Samsung i9000 (Galaxy S)
Samsung i6500U
HuaWei U8220
HTC Desire / Legend / Wildfire

I'm not one to quible but the fact there is a list of unsupported devices kinda makes the 'universal' claim a bit of an exageration. But hey the Nexus is supported so what do I care (sorry Tim!)?

Install the app from XDA Devs and click the button. You can unroot your phone using the same app.

Reading the XDA thread reveals that rooting your phone this way does not modify the boot loader so your warranty is intact, and you can unroot it so no one is any the wiser!

You can install new recovery images, new roms (like Cyanogenmod), or just root your phone to enable enhanced apps (screen grabs, full backups, etc).

A word of warning. This was on the Android Market but Google removed it as it exploits a vulnerability in the Android OS (allegedly). It is likely that future updates will patch this, but if you've installed a new rom or patched your recovery image this shouldn't be an issue.

2nd word of warning - If you brick your phone doing this or something rooty after doing it, it's not my fault!

Hoorar for Magically Repairing Trackballs

Should have blown some compressed air into it, there was obviously a bit bit of dust in it and it magically cleared itself!!!

Sunday 8 August 2010

Sods Law!

So I decided to start a Blog for my Android obsession.... the very next day my phone developes a fault (track ball doesn't like left anymore since you ask).

Not a good omen. 10 day turnaround for repair... bugger!

Game: Shatter

I've just discovered 'Shatter', it's a picture puzzle game with a neat twist.

What you have is a 3D swarm of pixels, your job is to rotate the swarm until you are viewing from the angle that resolves into the example image.


And this is just before I lined them up (it jumps to the next image as soon as you get it so a screen cap isn't possible)


It's difficult to explain... download it and have a look Shatter

Saturday 7 August 2010

App 2 SD

Rather confusingly this has a similar name to the system of installing apps on an SD card for rooted users, that being called "Apps2SD" and this "App 2 SD".

Google introduced the facility for apps to be installed to the SD card with Froyo but it wasn't the solution many of us hoped for. Firstly you have to move apps yourself and secondly apps have to be coded to support it.

One of my frustrations was having to look at every app individually to work out which could be moved out to SD to free up some space.

App 2 SD solves this as it scans the installed apps and shows you the ones that can be moved, then lets you move them from within the app.

AppBrain Fast Web Installer

AppBrain have a cool new app that is similar to Chrome-to-phone.

Prior to the release of this you would need to install the app manually via the market or scan the QR code.

Now all you do is click 'install' and it is magically installed on your phone without any further interaction. Your phone can be in the other room even!

Find it here: Fast Web Installer

Post One!

Here we go... I'm new to this so bare with me, it WILL get better over time or I may get bored of it quickly ;-)

I suppose my first post should be a brief synopsis to date.

My two absolute favorite apps on Android are:

1) Launcher Pro.
This Launcher/ Home Screen replacement is great. 7 home screens, customisable dock, scrollable widgets, etc, etc. The dev of this app makes updates weekly, not bug fixes either most updates contain new features.

2) Locale.
Locale is an app that uses your location and other conditions (wifi networks, bluetooth connections, power source, etc) to change your phone's settings. My two best examples are:
  • Car Mode - I've configured Locale to switch on bluetooth when external power is attached (ie when in the car dock). When the phone connects to my bluetooth car kit it starts the speed cam software (Radardroid) and changes the screen time out and volumes.
  • Home - When I'm at home it switches on wifi, switching it off when I leave the area. I used to spend half the day wasting battery on wifi when I was at work!
This is the App that makes iPhone bois jealous, even now they have their almost multitasking!


That's it... I've got some new stuff I found today so the next post should be here soon!