I read on Engadget that Swipe was having some troubles on Android 4.0/Ice Cream Sandwich. Of course, they are talking about the Galaxy Nexus, and I am running it on my HD2, so maybe that is why it is different. Here’s what it looks like:
I installed the Swype from their beta website. If you want to get your own you can head here:
Here’s a few more screenshots:
And here’s the actual settings for Swype.
I have seen a flurry of activity on the XDA Forums for development of Ice Cream Sandwich/Android 4.0. So, I wanted to create my own little list of ROM threads.
Here’s a list of what I have found so far:
If you want to watch the fun with me, check out this list of ROMS:
Note: I found an article on Engadget that suggests that we need to wait until January for ICS on Cyanogen.
On a side note, Engadget pointed out that my old phone (the G1) now has ICS, too! ICS is getting around!
Thanks to TyTung, I now have Ice Cream Sandwich / Android 4.0 running on my phone!
You can view his work here:
Well, this past week I became the new owner of an HTC HD2 phone. I had read that you can flash them to Android, and so begins my saga! I have it most of way, but it is still a little flaky. I was actually surprised that it was more difficult than I remember my G1 being. It was because there were too many partial directions that conflicted.
Below, I will give you some unorganized links and thoughts. It was too crazy to create a step by step process.
Three articles in one day!
First, I read that Amazon is talking about selling Android Apps. Gizmodo is talking about it, too. Like Gizmodo, I wonder why we need another app store and how they plan to compete? Would a user have to enable the non-market apps option to use the store? What is going to be the advantage for either the user or the developer to use Amazon?
Then, I read about Google’s new features on their app store. To me, this should be very attractive to developers because it should give them more options for monetizing their development.
On a different note, I read about Saab putting Android in their cars. This has always been cool to me. When the prices of the tablets drop, I would like to try to make my own little car info center with one.
I have been using the Sword Bible project for years, and so, it was only natural for me to ask if it exists on Android for my phone. The short story is that a project exists at Google Code, but it doesn’t quite look like it is ready for prime time.
First, if you want to know a little more about the Sword project, you can read up on it at this Wikipedia article. I think I first started with it when I bought a Bible program from our college bookstore. Now, in Linux, I use a program called Xiphos, which is a Linux/Gnome frontend for the Sword Project. The program used to be called Gnome Sword. You can also find more information from the main Sword Website including a small list of sofware.
My first find was this post on Werx Limited. The post mentions a project named Bishop, but that project is more of a tech test than an actual application for use. So, I read through the whole conversation thread discussing Bishop and the development of an application. To my delight, I hit Martin Denham’s message about his And-Bible project.
I haven’t had a chance to install it or anything. For now, I just wanted to capture these links, but I hope to mess with it some more. For now, I am just using Virtue Bible FE. I will keep you updated.
Yea! I have Froyo finally! Several Co-workers had rooted their phones and were talking about it, and I thought I would take a look. I was skeptical, but the instructions I found weren’t too bad. It was a little scary working around all of the warnings, but the end result was a version of Android 2.2 on my HTC G1 phone.
I didn’t keep good notes of exactly what I did. I was more concern with getting it done rather than blogging it, but basically, I started with the instructions at The Unlocker. The AndRoot application didn’t work for me, so I ended up going to Cyanogen’s Website for the directions. I could have probably just used the original instructions at The Unlocker even though it said they were outdated.
I did just have one issue yesterday that I noticed. My battery was draining much faster than normal. Ever since my battery went bad and I replaced it with a 2200mah battery, I haven’t had to worry about conserving power. My phone could easily last two full days with no charging. Yesterday, it died after one day of use, and I didn’t hardly do anything special.
I found this post, and it seems to have fixed the problem! All I did was disable the notifications on the Downloads screen of the Market application.
The two new big features that I gained through all of this were the Wireless Tether and the Chrome to Phone. Both of those features were things I had admired from Google IO. The Wireless Tether worked with no problem. I tested with my laptop the other night, and it worked pretty fast. I had to configure the wireless settings like the SID and the security key. Then, I could connect to it with Network Manager the same way I connect to my home router. The Chrome to Phone tool worked pretty good too, but I haven’t played with it much.
In the process of reinstalling, I had to download a few new applications. One of the areas that I found new programs was for my Guitar. I decided to try out ChordBoard. It is a great program, but I think I am going to have to find something else because it doesn’t have sharps or flats. The other application is gStrings, which is a tuner that works great. You can play a string, and it will tell you if it is in tune.
I came across this article the other day:
Engadget: Gmail for Android updated, becomes Market app
The new feature they were talking about was the priority Inbox. I am all for new features and I thought I would give it a shot. But, I couldn’t find it in the market!
I searched for the App on AndroLib, but I didn’t see it there. Then, I searched on AndroidZoom and found it. In fact, AndroidZoom has a nice list of all the applications that Google puts out.
I tried to scan the QR Code found on the download page. This is the error message I got:
There are no matches in Android Market for the search: pname: com.google.android.gm
And, I think I finally found the problem on the official blog. The application requires Froyo! Here is the quote:
The Gmail update requires Froyo (Android version 2.2), so it’s available if you have a Nexus One, HTC EVO, Motorola Droid 2 or Motorola Droid. (Not sure if your device is running Android version 2.2? Check here.)
I have been meaning to write up my list of Andriod apps that I currently have installed on my G1, and then, I found these lists:
I had hopes to linking to the Market, but I couldn’t find a good link to it. This is the best I could find:
So, I thought I should finally get around to doing it. So, here are my installed programs:
I definitely use this all the time. It came with the phone, but I installed it from the market to get the new features. The biggest new feature is the Navigation, which works very well, and I really like it.
The best place I could find for info on updates was their blog.
This is a great Bible application. I use it a lot during church, and it is nice to have access to the Bible wherever I go. It looks nice and is easy to read. I can quickly browse to passages, and I can search for words. I don’t think it has a commentary or else I haven’t used it.
Links:
I have been using Google Reader to keep up with various RSS feeds. This program gives me an interface to the reader on my phone. My biggest complaint has been that I only want to view certain feeds on my phone. Some of the feeds I had subscribed to were too hard to read on the phone. I haven’t looked to see if Google has changed their API but last I looked Google didn’t provide a way to pick and choose feeds.
All in all, I have really liked this program.
Links:
This is what I have used to post and view Facebook. I remember seeing comments about the iPhone application being so much better, but I haven’t had the chance to compare. I have noticed that it has improved since I first installed it.
Links:
According to this article, this application won the developer challenge. I have bounced back and forth between this application and the Weather Bug. With the more recent update from The Weather Channel, I have liked this one better.
This is a great application for viewing the weather. One of the features that I do like is the temperature in the notifications bar.
Links:
This is a great application for times when you need to turn your phone to vibrate. It turns all of the volumes down to vibrate only. You can choose a time frame, and it will turn it back on after the time frame. You can also choose a distance where it turn it back on after you go that distance. I haven’t used that because I haven’t wanted to spend the battery required to leave the GPS on for that.
I use Timeriffic for planned times that I need my phone on silent. I use this for meetings and such that are not on a schedule.
Links:
I started using Locale, but they made it a paid App and disabled the old version. This program allows me to set the phone to silent automatically. I have it set for during church times. That way my phone shouldn’t ring in the middle of church.
One cool thing I just learned about this program is that it is open source. It is hosted on Google Code and I could make changes to it and contribute!
Links:
This is the first app I came across that would let me sync and use the Google Tasks in GMail on my phone. I don’t use it a lot, but it gets the job done.
Links:
This program seemed to save battery at first. I don’t really open it now, but I think it runs in the background. I haven’t done any comparison to see if it really does.
Links:
I oringally downloaded this when it was free. It was great to have in Church while I was playing my guitar and couldn’t remember how to play a chord. I could look it up quickly before the song started.
Links:
This is the one game that I have probably played the most on my phone. It is addicting, and it has many levels to work through. The graphics are great which I think has a big impact on the appeal. The game play is simple: you tap the screen to shoot a ball and try to eliminate the balls in the line by getting three or more in a row of the same color. Now that I am through all of the levels, I haven’t played it in a while, but it is still fun.
Links:
This was a great application for my son. He has kind of outgrown it, but I think my second son might grow into it soon. The cool part about it is that you don’t have to worry about him clicking something wrong and getting into another program or placing a call. You do still have to watch to make sure he isn’t throwing it across the room or dropping it in the toilet.
Links:
This is a nice little way to play freecell while you are waiting for something.
Links:
This was one of the first games that I put on my phone. The reason it caught my eye was that it illustrated the phone’s accelerometer. Playing the game was very fun, but it didn’t take long to beat the 10 levels. It looks like it also works on the iPhone.
Links:
This program is handy to check the account details such as the minutes that I had used. It also provides a quick way to check things like how much battery is left.
Links:
I had used this program for a while, but then they made it something that you have to pay for.
Links:
These are fun, simple little games. Sunflat has a bunch of different little games like this: PapiJump, PapiOrange, ActionPotato, SFCave, PapiMissle, PapiRiver, PapiCatch, PapiPole. I started with PapiJump because it was a game that demostrated the accelerometer. I also tried PapiRiver. The graphics aren’t much on the ones that I tried, but they were entertaining for a little bit.
Links:
I originally downloaded this program to try to create my own rings. I never got around to doing that, but I have used it to record some notes while I was in the car and couldn’t type. It is very easy to use and worked great.
Links:
This program started a great idea for me. I haven’t traveled enough to give it a far chance, but if I traveled more, it would be a necessity! The great part is that it allows you to take a picture of your receipts while you are traveling. You can key in some information such as the price and type of expense. At the end of the trip, you can download the images and info to your computer.
I also found that on the homepage, there is a link to the source repository.
While I haven’t used the program that much, I love the concept. I have started my own little program that will take pictures of receipts and sync up with my money management software.
Links:
I have a Google Voice account, but I haven’t used it that much. I had trouble with latency, and it wasn’t good enough to use on a regular basis. It has been a while since I tried, so I will have to try again. The program allows you to make calls from your phone using Google Voice. It doesn’t save anything on minutes, and the program didn’t let you change the settings and such.
Links:
This is kind of a cool application, but I never really understood what the advantage of this program was over the regular Google Maps. I think I noticed that maybe now it is combined with the Google Maps application.
Links:
I haven’t used this application very often. I can’t really even remember why I installed it!
Links:
I downloaded this program to be able to blog from my phone. The problem is that I usually wanted to just save it as a draft and finalize it on my computer. Then, I would actually publish from my computer. I couldn’t make that happen with this app for some reason. I will probably try the official application next.
I haven’t used this much, but I do look at Wikipedia a lot. I am not sure how many advantages this gives over just using the regular browser.
Links:
I tried this is an option to use Skype with my phone. It never did work exactly the way that I wanted it to, so I haven’t stuck with it.
Links:
This is a Super Nintendo Emulator that I install but have never used. I keep meaning to download a ROM and try it out, but I haven’t ever done it.
Links:
I finally finished my first Android application to the point that I wanted to try to start using it on my phone.
This post explains how to install applications, but I had some problems:
Bright Hub: How to install APK files on your Google Android Phone
First, with installing from the SD Card, it doesn’t say exactly what application to use. From the Market, I installed “AppsInstaller” developed by ModMyMobile.com. When I opened the program, it scanned my card, and found my application that I had uploaded via the USB cable. But, it said that the applications were blocked and offered to take me to settings. I check the “Unknown sources” option which is described as “Allow install of non-Market applications”. Then, it worked!
Also, I tried to install with adb, but I couldn’t get that to work. When I ran “./adb devices”, I don’t see any devices listed. This “G1 usb drivers for linux” post looks promising, but I haven’t finished going through all of the steps. I will try to post back when I do.