Related
Seeing as WP7 will be almost as crippled as the iPhone, let's see ways in which it will be better, besides replaceable battery and memory card(and it's not certain every OEM will follow up on those either). So far it has two weaknesses that only the iPhone has: Lack of multitasking and apps must go through the marketplace.
In order to pick up iPhone users it will have to offer some advantage that the average iPhoner will notice.
Some advantages:
Information at a glance a la today screen with the hubs. iPhone has nothing like this.
It will (supposedly) have some degree of multitasking.
Two more hardware buttons.
Its funny since I've had my HD2 I've not really used multitasking and when I had my iPhone only not being able to use Spotify in the background bugged me so maybe certainly for me multitasking isn't a be all and end all.
Having read lots of stuff about WP7S, the conclusion I have come to is this...
There will be two types of apps
1. Apps with no need to run in the background
2. Apps that do need to run in the background
Examples of type 1 are games, spreadsheets and word processors.
Examples of type 2 are IM apps like palringo, and music streaming services such as pandora.
What will happen is that when you develop an app, by default it will not have the rights to use the background APIs. In order to gain access to them and have an app run in the background, you'll need to ask Microsoft to provide the access and make it a type 2 app. Microsoft will only allow this if you can convince them it is necessary for the functioning of your app.
Type 1 apps will simply pause when the user switches away from them. They will remain in memory but will be unable to execute any code until the user switches back to them, whence they will resume execution. This will ensure the app cannot hog any CPU and cause the UI to stutter or slow down. This is definitely a good thing.
Type 2 apps are given access to particular APIs to allow them to, for instance, download updates or postings on IM systems. This will be strictly controlled and priority will always be given to the UI, again to ensure it remains smooth and responsive.
That's my take on what's going to happen, and we'll see if I'm right at MIX 2010 next month.
So your answer is - yes it will multitask but only when it is truly needed. Which to me is the best of both worlds. It will ensure a smooth user experience whilst still allowing background operations.
Jim Coleman said:
In order to gain access to them and have an app run in the background, you'll need to ask Microsoft to provide the access and make it a type 2 app. Microsoft will only allow this if you can convince them it is necessary for the functioning of your app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lets hope theyre not too stingy with giving out access to these API's!
The hubs/services (I'm not sure what MS is calling these) system looks good; getting new relative options available on multiple hubs just from installing a single app (like they demo'd with Facebook) should make all the apps work together much better than on an iPhone. I already want to try to make one to generate a music playlist based on past plays, and another to find lyrics to the currently playing song; If I understand the system properly, these would automatically integrate into any 3rd party apps using the appropriate media API's.
Also the context-sensitive search looks to be awesome.
One disadvantage: possible lack of native code execution and probably no OpenGL support - making it harder for iPhone app developers to port their existing apps to Windows Phone.
weesals said:
One disadvantage: possible lack of native code execution and probably no OpenGL support - making it harder for iPhone app developers to port their existing apps to Windows Phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why the heck should iPhone devs have an easy migration to WP7 if WM 6 devs don't?
weesals said:
Lets hope theyre not too stingy with giving out access to these API's!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The impression I'm getting so far is that they will be very stingy indeed. The only people who will ever get access to non-standard API's will be phone manufacturers and networks, and even they usually won't get access to the native API's most of the time. Microsoft will not publish any documentation about native API's. To get access to them the manufacturers will have to apply to Microsoft on a case by case basis. If Microsoft judges that a native API is required (and if there actually is one that might help) then only at that point will they release any information, and a condition of this is that they will vet the resulting piece of software to verify that the native API is being used correctly, and forbid the release of the software if it isn't.
What we don't know yet is where multi-tasking sits within all this. Is it a standard managed API, an extended managed API, or a native API?
why must every phone be compared to an iphone...personally I never liked the iphone, never will...only good thing about iphone is the apps..otherwise it sucks..and high end smartphones should not be compared to it!
The only thing I like about iPhone is how I use the virtual keyboard to type text.
I have tested HD2 and iPhone in a store, and from my own perspective, iPhone is more responsive and accurate compared to HD2.
I hope WP7 can be better than those 2 platforms in this task.
giggles33 said:
why must every phone be compared to an iphone...personally I never liked the iphone, never will...only good thing about iphone is the apps..otherwise it sucks..and high end smartphones should not be compared to it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gogol said:
The only thing I like about iPhone is how I use the virtual keyboard to type text.
I have tested HD2 and iPhone in a store, and from my own perspective, iPhone is more responsive and accurate compared to HD2.
I hope WP7 can be better than those 2 platforms in this task.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that isnt aways based on the OS or software, but the quality of the touch screen.
Jim Coleman said:
Having read lots of stuff about WP7S, the conclusion I have come to is this...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This definitely seems like the best thing to do for multitasking in WP7.
We are going to need a task manager though...
As for comparing to the iPhone:
-WP7 will be available in different hardware configurations, giving the consumer a choice in the style and capability of their device.
-Xbox integration, which will most likely include Arcade games (ported for playability of touchscreens)
-Better hardware standards
-Not quite as locked down (hopefully)
RAMMANN said:
why the heck should iPhone devs have an easy migration to WP7 if WM 6 devs don't?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because that's where the money is.
Seems people are struggling to come up with any, maybe something magical will appear in the next few weeks, although I doubt it, the advantages of WM seem like they will be gone with WP7, people on forums like this and blogs have been asking for a windows mobile iphone [without being an iphone] and it looks like they're going to heed the demand.
The most important advantages are gone.
They've made an exact copy and think it is enough. But it's not. When you try to catch up, you have to be better.
There's almost nothing WP7 is better at. It's an exact copy of iPhone OS with a better UI on top, but lacking the thousands of applications. That's not going to be enough and I really can't think about a reason why consumers and developers would be excited about this.
(and don't get me wrong - I LOVE the UI - it's just not enough)
Free Microsoft Office (Document viewing, creation, downloading, and editing)
Abobe Flash Player 10.1 is coming
File downloads (possibly)
Apps like a Wi-Fi router and file manager will likely come and be allowed
XBOX LIVE! Enough said.
Zune integration and support (I'm a Zune user)
1GHz Snapdragon is the processor minimum (This will lead to awesome apps and games)
WVGA display minimum (You might not care too much about this one, but I've seen the difference, and it's AMAZING!)
Bing search (That's just my preference.)
Contextual search (A handy feature, I suppose.)
There is not an app collection of 100,000 with most of which being totally useless. This means that you"ll be able to find the good apps.
Even if Microsoft won't allow apps like a Wi-Fi router and file manager, all we would need to do would be to get all WinPhone7 users on XDA to install the XNA Game Studio (and possibly the Win Phone7 SDK) and we could simply upload .ccgame files to XDA instead of .cab files.
giggles33 said:
why must every phone be compared to an iphone...personally I never liked the iphone, never will...only good thing about iphone is the apps..otherwise it sucks..and high end smartphones should not be compared to it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know! Why must smartphones always be compared to a simple feature phone! I've tried the iPhone/ iPod touch (3rd generation) at Best Buy stores, and, let's just say, they froze more and gave out more errors in 5 sec. than 5 WinMo devices did combined over the course of 2 hours. The iPhone's keyboard isn't too great either. It's (the errors thing) 100% true.
Jim Coleman said:
There will be two types of apps
1. Apps with no need to run in the background
2. Apps that do need to run in the background
Examples of type 1 are games, spreadsheets and word processors.
Examples of type 2 are IM apps like palringo, and music streaming services such as pandora.
What will happen is that when you develop an app, by default it will not have the rights to use the background APIs. In order to gain access to them and have an app run in the background, you'll need to ask Microsoft to provide the access and make it a type 2 app. Microsoft will only allow this if you can convince them it is necessary for the functioning of your app.
Type 1 apps will simply pause when the user switches away from them. They will remain in memory but will be unable to execute any code until the user switches back to them, whence they will resume execution. This will ensure the app cannot hog any CPU and cause the UI to stutter or slow down. This is definitely a good thing.
Type 2 apps are given access to particular APIs to allow them to, for instance, download updates or postings on IM systems. This will be strictly controlled and priority will always be given to the UI, again to ensure it remains smooth and responsive..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the right answer. Anybody who calms down would see that this makes sense. More Apple-like approval process for Type 2, free reign for Type 1
Shasarak said:
The impression I'm getting so far is that they will be very stingy indeed. The only people who will ever get access to non-standard API's will be phone manufacturers and networks, and even they usually won't get access to the native API's most of the time.
What we don't know yet is where multi-tasking sits within all this. Is it a standard managed API, an extended managed API, or a native API?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, you're talking about native vs managed stuff, which is not the same as simply allowing an app to have a background process. True, AT&T and HTC will have to apply to for native API use for stuff relating to making calls, etc, but that was only about OEMS and network operators.
Regular 3rd party guys, of which there are many, will be expected to get a way to do what they need on the device. Pandora we've seen in Music, you can expect apps like Palringo showing up in People
burnblue said:
This is the right answer. Anybody who calms down would see that this makes sense. More Apple-like approval process for Type 2, free reign for Type 1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just because it makes sense doesn't mean Microsoft will act like that. In fact, I'm sure they will not.
The mass market will not benefit from every joe having all the API's because it's going make programs that cause glitches/crashes/memory leaks, etc. They are doing what they think is best for mass market and that is make sure things work well on the device and everything is user friendly with the least amount of hiccups possible. So that means more restrictions on us.
^^^ +1
Jim Coleman said:
What will happen is that when you develop an app, by default it will not have the rights to use the background APIs. In order to gain access to them and have an app run in the background, you'll need to ask Microsoft to provide the access and make it a type 2 app. Microsoft will only allow this if you can convince them it is necessary for the functioning of your app.
Type 1 apps will simply pause when the user switches away from them. They will remain in memory but will be unable to execute any code until the user switches back to them, whence they will resume execution. This will ensure the app cannot hog any CPU and cause the UI to stutter or slow down. This is definitely a good thing.
Type 2 apps are given access to particular APIs to allow them to, for instance, download updates or postings on IM systems. This will be strictly controlled and priority will always be given to the UI, again to ensure it remains smooth and responsive.
That's my take on what's going to happen, and we'll see if I'm right at MIX 2010 next month.
So your answer is - yes it will multitask but only when it is truly needed. Which to me is the best of both worlds. It will ensure a smooth user experience whilst still allowing background operations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This neither solves problems nor guarantees anything though. Poor code is still poor code. Too many apps running is STILL too many apps running (slows the UI). MS can police neither. So, your #2 solution really makes no sense and has no advantages. MS has no way of predicting who will run what app and when on their phones. What if a user chooses to run several "Type 2" apps? Will you get some sort of error message? Will the MS police arrest you for ruining the UI experience? What happens after several years of approved type 2 apps hitting the market? Now were back to the same problems of WM.
Dude, we're talking about 1Ghz+, 512MB+ RAM phones here! You can run lots of apps without slowing anything down. Really, the "multitasking slows down the UI" argument is utter bull****. A good OS handles multitasking in a way that doesn't slow down anything. Restrictions are only necessary if the OS itself sucks. A good OS doesn't need them.
I read in a few places that there are now over 30,000 Andriod Apps on the Android Market, but I don't see them here: http://www.android.com/market/
By my count there are exactly 34 paid apps and 134 free apps...
Am I missing something?
Maybe they show up when browsing from your mobile
you can access from your android mobile, or use http://www.cyrket.com/m/android/
This one is also nice. Easy to search and find the apps/games you need and just Barcode Scan them to install into you phone....
http://uk.androlib.com/
/Dudeldei
I think http://www.appstorehq.com/android-apps is very good. You can download or buy the app directly from the website, from your phone.
Andaho said:
I read in a few places that there are now over 30,000 Andriod Apps on the Android Market, but I don't see them here: http://www.android.com/market/
By my count there are exactly 34 paid apps and 134 free apps...
Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
android.com/market doesn't show all the apps... stupid I know
You need to use something like cyrket.com or androidlib to view all the apps on a PC.
Ha, I was wondering the same thing as the OP- will have to bookmark the links.
Just on a side note: what's the general procedure of downloading/installing apps from a PC (or for that matter on the device)?
sh500 said:
Ha, I was wondering the same thing as the OP- will have to bookmark the links.
Just on a side note: what's the general procedure of downloading/installing apps from a PC (or for that matter on the device)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you download a application to your PC, you'll have to transfer it to your phone. Either by copying it to your SD card, or by other means. You then have to install it via a file manager like Linda, ASTRO or similar.
If you use the Android Market on your phone, you just find a program, select install and voila.
Thanks for that.
Need to have the device in my hand to really find out things about it and more importantly to me, how it's done differently than on a WinMo device!
Hi,
I just found this when visiting AndroidCentral.com:
http://www.androidcentral.com/app-overload-take-control-android-market-app-brain
With the seer number of apps (30K), I think it is a very nice tool/website to filter out junk apps!
I thought it worth to share
Hi,
I was just wondering are any of the game apps as good as the Iphone. There are many good games but what I have seen so far on android some games look taccy and kind of old.
I have not searched a lot of games. But what are the best games?
I am struggling with this too.
I've become so used to the quality of design, look and function of iPhone apps and their appstore. I am keen to move to the HTC Desire shortly, but am finding it nigh on impossible to even find the spps I will require. I spend ages searching and still come oup with stuff which looks like it was written for a PC 20 years ago. And the recommended sites to browse the apps on are so ugly and full of dross, but more importantly, are unable to present the applications in a way which gives me any confidence that I will be able to satisfy my requirements using this platform.
I thought it must just be me as I am new to it (although I had none of these problems when I moved to iPhone) so asked for pointers. but I am still at a loss as to where the good, well-designed, modern, slick apps are.
I believe the Desire will give me a great comms experience out of the box, but no-one has been able to convince me that the apps I may desire to customise the device to me requirements are actually available.
Please dont think I am having a go; I am not. I am dead keen to move to this platform, but my research is not delivering results so far.
So I ask again, where is the good stuff?
XDAgeek said:
I am struggling with this too.
I've become so used to the quality of design, look and function of iPhone apps and their appstore. I am keen to move to the HTC Desire shortly, but am finding it nigh on impossible to even find the spps I will require. I spend ages searching and still come oup with stuff which looks like it was written for a PC 20 years ago. And the recommended sites to browse the apps on are so ugly and full of dross, but more importantly, are unable to present the applications in a way which gives me any confidence that I will be able to satisfy my requirements using this platform.
I thought it must just be me as I am new to it (although I had none of these problems when I moved to iPhone) so asked for pointers. but I am still at a loss as to where the good, well-designed, modern, slick apps are.
I believe the Desire will give me a great comms experience out of the box, but no-one has been able to convince me that the apps I may desire to customise the device to me requirements are actually available.
Please dont think I am having a go; I am not. I am dead keen to move to this platform, but my research is not delivering results so far.
So I ask again, where is the good stuff?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Good stuff is in the market. To find the good stuff you need to search in the market on your phone or via cyrket.com
If you give a list of apps I'll more than hapily find ones that are as good as or better than iPhone equivalents.
I've been trying Cyrket.com but it doesnt seem to work properly for me. All I did was filter for navigation tools and it came up with a blank.
As for a list of required apps,
- Exchange Tasks (with push sync)
- Compass
- London Tube map/planner
- Tide Planner for sailing
- Office apps - Word, Spreadsheet, Powerpoint editing
- Decent dictionary/thesaurus - such as Chambers
- and some quality games with good graphics
That'll do for starters
Android really got it's start as a device platform for the more tech savvy.
Most of the first year's worth of apps were written by developers venturing into the Android app environment. As such - most were pretty rudimentary and more focused on performance (learning how to make an app work well in the Android environment) than aesthetics. Also, there were many more apps made for productivity, communication, etc and very few made for Gaming (as Gaming development is normally a LOT more involved). Finally, the G1 which for a LONG time was the only device available was so memory constricted that many custom home screen apps had difficulty running - MUCH LESS any graphically oriented game. It was a learning experience.
AND, one cannot say (as I have read many claim) that Android is just Linux on a phone so what is the big deal development wise.... I have read this forum a LOT and Android IS NOT just Linux on a phone. There are a lot of differences and a lot more restrictions with Android.
Believe it or not... The Android app scene is constantly improving. Better looking games and more polished apps are constantly coming out.
Please don't try to compare the Android apps available to the Iphone which has had over three years to improve and started out with a better device in the first place.
I really dislike the Iphone and feel it's GUI is not intuitive at all (for me). So, I never really used one at length. But, I have seen some really great games on the Iphone. However, I can definitely say - I ENVY the Iphone devs a great starter phone for development! I only wish that Google/Android had put out a really great device (not memory restricted) as a first device. It would have made it so much easier for the developers to learn and work on.
Try AppBrain.com to search for apps. That is the site I use now. They also have a companion app for the phone.
Thanks for that historical viewpoint.
The interesting thing is that I actually dont 'NEED' to add many 3rd party apps to the Desire spec in order to fill my requirements as the out-of-box experience is so good. I have over 130 apps on my iPhone, but I probably use 10 of them regularly - the rest are just a bit of fun.
At present I am just trying to assimilate what apps are available that I know I will need, and how good the quality is.
Are any of the better 3rd party apps emulating the style of the SENSE UI? That would be cool.
XDAgeek said:
As for a list of required apps,
- Exchange Tasks (with push sync)
- Compass
- London Tube map/planner
- Tide Planner for sailing
- Office apps - Word, Spreadsheet, Powerpoint editing
- Decent dictionary/thesaurus - such as Chambers
- and some quality games with good graphics
That'll do for starters
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This took me 2 minutes on cyrket.com
- Exchange
Am not going to bother searching, htc sense gives exchange functions
- Compass
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/com.mob4.compassPro/
- Tube
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/com.presselite.londontube/
- Tides
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/com.atlantistech.android.tideapp/
- Office
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/android.androffice/
- Dictionary
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/org.freedictionary/
- Games
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LEjO9DGppo
http://www.brighthub.com/mobile/google-android/articles/62882.aspx
brummiesteven said:
This took me 2 minutes on cyrket.com
- Exchange
Am not going to bother searching, htc sense gives exchange functions
- Compass
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/com.mob4.compassPro/
- Tube
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/com.presselite.londontube/
- Tides
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/com.atlantistech.android.tideapp/
- Office
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/android.androffice/
- Dictionary
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/org.freedictionary/
- Games
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LEjO9DGppo
http://www.brighthub.com/mobile/google-android/articles/62882.aspx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
impressive games
why still I have a WM
Thanks for the list of apps. Some good stuff in there!
Re the Exchange on Desire, the reason I included this in my request was that all my research indicates that the Exchange implementation does not include Tasks.
I could use Moxier Mail which includes task exchange sync, but that may compromise the integration with the rest of the Sense UI, so I am looking for a good Task app with exchange sync, perhaps using WebDav.
It would be great if Tasks was included in the Sense interface as standard, but so often Tasks are omitted. Baffles me why they leave it out - same on iPhone.
Here is my freeware game -ads free. Working probably at any resolution, especially tested on my HTC Touch Pro 2 480x800. No big graphics but I think good playability. So download from this thread or game website (search for version 2.5): www.lineapolis.dizzy.pl, play (in game is demonstration and help) and comment it - I wait for your opinion...
------------------------------
2010-08-10: update to 2.5
mrdarek said:
Here is my freeware game -ads free. Working probably at any resolution, especially tested on my HTC Touch Pro 2 480x800. No big graphics but I think good playability. So download from this thread or game website (search for version 2.3): www.lineapolis.dizzy.pl, play (in game is demonstration and help) and comment it - I wait for your opinion...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What game is it? How do you play this?
Never heard about such thing
I try explain my game but I'm not native English speaker... Principal game rules are simple. You need draw line by 5 adjacent points. On start it not possible so game rules allow add 1 new point for create line. You have some default set points on start, their number increases with the progress of the game. There is also bonus mode in game - you can store points for future use if you draw line by 5 existing points.
Idea is not new. Before computer times I play this game on boring lessons in school using only paper and pen. But i was not happy - I could not restore my best games, so I create computer version of that game - now I can save games, undo moves, reviews games, found hidden moves e.t.c.
Unique value of that game is that you can play just for fun drawing lines or can play in ambitious style and try get best score.
Peoples don't know my game because is unique in Internet - so many sudokus sokobans and other games for single players but no one has coded my favourite game. So try my game and give me opinion here, might you like it.
Thanks for this, I used to play your java version, but for some reason it stopped working on my hd 2, this works great!
thanks for releasing this as a stand alone cab file
I'm so happy that xda promoting my freeware software At last in win-mo you have nice icon. j2me is not bad language - very strict rules so code are runing fast even on old phones. This is framework version - is fast on fast devices. In j2me I was have trouble programming auto-player, I think you will be like this feature. And in this version at last I got idea how coding bonus mode and doing this!
Whats funny is that I lost my Phone in November, last year, used t oplay your game all teh time. Switched to Android for a while, hated it, came back to WM, flashed an NRG ROM, but was missing your game. Took me a while to find the Java Version, actually found a copy last week, but couldn't get it to work with the Java version I have on this phone. Was quite upset, and just about gave up, until today, that is, when I saw a Tweet about it, on my phone, and imediatly installed it. Still haven't figured out what Bonus mode does, or how it differs from what I am used to. Keep up the good work, and again, I am glad I can play this game again on my HD2. Maybe you can do an animatted GIF to show how this works, I am not getting it from the explination on your web site
The only thing i will say, is that on the HD2, it is a little hard to get the dots sometimes, even after increasing the screen size a bit, so sometimes it takes two or three taps to hit the dot I want. No way around this though, as the HD2 has no stylis. It still works fine, however, and if I am really lazy, I can just cycle through the hints until I find the line I intended, or see another line of interest, that I may have missed.
I will add, you should throw up a donation link, in your sig, or add it to the first post, as some people may want to donate a little token of apreciation...
For those who need an understanding on how to play, I ripped this of your web site:
Maybe you need calibrate screen on HD 2 if you have trouble select point? After adding demonstration game and simple help I think that this gif is no big useful but still OK. Read help and you learn what is bonus mode. Or often use hint and in medium game you can see "can store!" - This is bonus feature. With bonus mode You can get much better score eg my is 135! Or just disable bonus in config and play classic mode like in 2.2 In bonus mode strategy has changed - less thinking how to effectively draw lines - more thinking how get and use precious stored points.
2010-08-08: New 2.4 version released - worth redownload!
Twoja gra podsunela mi pomysl, ze nie widzialem jeszcze gry w popularne KROPKI w ktore namietnie gralismy na kartce w kratke na lekcjach w podstawowce moze cos takiego stworzysz?
I translate it by google translator:
Your game gave me the idea that I have not seen the game in the popular DOT in which we played passionately on a piece of the lessons in class in elementary school: P Maybe this will create?
----------------------------------------------
Hm, what difference beetwen this game and your? Please explain me on mail
PL: A jaka jest różnica? wytłumacz mi na maila, i nie pisz PL na angielskim forum, użyj translatora... L
Im not dogging android im not trying to be a negitive nancy though i know somone will still smack me for it anyway....
(first and for most I DO NOT LIKE APPLE ITS TOO MUCH OF A TRENDY CULT) but they know how to-do some stuff the right way....
why does the android market suck so much I have had the hero now the evo and have LOVED both phones more then you want to know... but i just relized what me and my ipod touch compadrays lack... every week hes like OMG NEW APPZZZ and im like barcode scanner FTW??? or robo defence ftw............
im just estaticly happy we have such a great group of devs*xda-devs* because that makes the whole experience for me at this point because the exciting apps arnt exciting any more.......
if you read nothing else read this(what i want this post to be about) Why arent new apps popping up all the time... it seems like android phone are selling faster then they can keep them on the shelves but we cant seem to get developers to provide me with happs for me to spend my money on?
I am not sure how long you have had your EVO for, but outside of the top Free Apps, there are a few apps of interest, but it really is dependent on you. I will give you a list of what I use and why.
ADB Wireless - Needs no explanation.
Air Control Light - One of the best time wasters and is really addictive.
Album Art Grabber - gets all of your missing album art (Paid for)
Android Mate - a simple way for removal of apps you don't want w/o using ADB
Astro File Manager - have been using this one since G1. Its a good choice between that or ES File manager. (Paid for)
Better Cut - for individual shortcuts and main screen Icons.
Call Block - Needs no explanation.
Carr Matey - Great when your in a huge parking lot to help remember where you left your car.
Chrome to Phone- easy way to send Links/numbers/addresses from your desktop to your phone.
Dialer One- Great dialer replacement. I actually prefer the dialer in CM6 but it is not Sense compatible.
Documents To Go - Great to view Word/Excel and other M$ Docs as well as PDFs (Paid for)
Lets Golf - Great Game (Paid for)
Pandora - A must have. Is more valuable than a FM Radio App.
PhoneMyPC - Great for controlling my PC while I am not home. I can pull up documents on my PC and email them to myself, or turn stuff on, monitor my appt with my web cam and so on.
Solitare - Best game in the world
Robo Defense - Great Time waster
Truphone - VoiP Wifi to Wifi for speaking to my kids in Germany. Free!
Trillian- best IM program ever.
You really have to be in "need" of a program before someone actually designs one to fill that need. So basically your statement is why is there not cool programs. Name some of the programs you want/need, and then someone will tell you what might work for you. Also remember that Apple has 1-2 years on Android, and due to the fact that they only have to program for 1 phone basically, it is a lot simpler not needing to be compatible with 15 different phones.
I have to somewhat agree with you. I came from an iPhone and bought the EVO without even touching an android running phone before. While I do love android - most apps really, really, suck. You just have to find the apps that aren't complete **** - look at it as an adventure.
Thanks for the list above, too.
Oh, and in all my experances of freelance computer work...Overall, Java just sucks.
There's definitely some better apps on iPhone.. I miss my Mafia wars app, haha.. I'd much rather have android though.
Sent from my HTC Evo 4G using XDA app.
Its what your used to. Everyone talks up the iphone apps and they certainly have the most popular ones (biggest market) but I soo prefer android over apple.
My current phone game is alchemy (not available on iphone)
thanks guys
I dont really have any particual needs my "needs" are PEGGLE and apparently zombies vs plants is also an awesome game.... they need to make an idiot proof music loading platform that will also assist me in finding games..... i just get soo sad when i see apps in the iphone/pad/touch marketplace that kicks ass,
I REALLY apreciate the list of games.... i downloaded some stuff off that list and am about to get my game on when i stop writing it....... ok I thought of my one and only true need::::
Castle Crashers Android
Hrshycro said:
Oh, and in all my experances of freelance computer work...Overall, Java just sucks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This statement just pisses me off. Java is a powerful cross platform language. I will take it as "like just your opinion man" and move on.
jkinnison90 said:
There's definitely some better apps on iPhone.. I miss my Mafia wars app, haha.. I'd much rather have android though.
Sent from my HTC Evo 4G using XDA app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
..but there is a Mafia Wars app in the market.
rulermon said:
I dont really have any particual needs my "needs" are PEGGLE and apparently zombies vs plants is also an awesome game.... they need to make an idiot proof music loading platform that will also assist me in finding games..... i just get soo sad when i see apps in the iphone/pad/touch marketplace that kicks ass,
I REALLY apreciate the list of games.... i downloaded some stuff off that list and am about to get my game on when i stop writing it....... ok I thought of my one and only true need::::
Castle Crashers Android
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is pay 10 bucks easily for cc on android. I don't think I've ever put as many grind hours into a game like I did cc and never will again. Best beatemup ever
All spelling errors thanks to xt9 on my Evo!
fapstick said:
This statement just pisses me off. Java is a powerful cross platform language. I will take it as "like just your opinion man" and move on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Java is a powerful cross platform language, but I have to agree that I haven't seen a lot of really blow your mind apps built with it (in the UI department at least. I've seen some amazing programming feats done with it, but UI usually is lacking in Java and Android apps) I think it has a lot to do with Java not being a very nice language to use. I'm having a horrible time learning it compared to other languages I'm working on. Of course I'm a programming noob, but still, C++ is so much easier to learn than Java.
Anyways, it has a lot to do with experience. I don't think a lot of Android programmers are really experienced Java devs, so that could explain some of the lack of appeal in a lot of normal Android apps.
From my own experience, a lot of the big name devs are making some great apps now with great UI's like Nook, Gameloft Games, Tweetdeck, etc. So I think the platform is beginning to mature, but there will always be crappy apps. Personally, I don't mind UI's as long as they aren't a pain to navigate and perform the functions well. Android apps are by far much more useful than their iPhone counterparts because of all the extra access and interoperability they have. If you haven't noticed, there are a lot of apps that build on other apps to get jobs done. Plus the way Android handles background tasks (unlike the iPhone with only allows about 5 different basic services to run) is amazing. There are so many useful things Android apps can do that the iPhone can't even touch when jailbroken.
fapstick said:
This statement just pisses me off. Java is a powerful cross platform language. I will take it as "like just your opinion man" and move on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The platform benefit died long ago. Code for it now hardly more portable than C. It's simply rarely used that way as well as having so many branches for a particular platforms extensions. A language is only cross platform if you can actually run or build programs easilyfor multiple platforms. Dalvik really shoots that one down pretty damn fast.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
superlinkx said:
Java is a powerful cross platform language, but I have to agree that I haven't seen a lot of really blow your mind apps built with it (in the UI department at least. I've seen some amazing programming feats done with it, but UI usually is lacking in Java and Android apps) I think it has a lot to do with Java not being a very nice language to use. I'm having a horrible time learning it compared to other languages I'm working on. Of course I'm a programming noob, but still, C++ is so much easier to learn than Java.
Anyways, it has a lot to do with experience. I don't think a lot of Android programmers are really experienced Java devs, so that could explain some of the lack of appeal in a lot of normal Android apps.
From my own experience, a lot of the big name devs are making some great apps now with great UI's like Nook, Gameloft Games, Tweetdeck, etc. So I think the platform is beginning to mature, but there will always be crappy apps. Personally, I don't mind UI's as long as they aren't a pain to navigate and perform the functions well. Android apps are by far much more useful than their iPhone counterparts because of all the extra access and interoperability they have. If you haven't noticed, there are a lot of apps that build on other apps to get jobs done. Plus the way Android handles background tasks (unlike the iPhone with only allows about 5 different basic services to run) is amazing. There are so many useful things Android apps can do that the iPhone can't even touch when jailbroken.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly my point. Thank you for typing it out. Couldn't have typed it better myself. While Java is powerful, it's buggier than all get out. Everybody I know in the info systems world also hates it. I don't care for it it's really buggy and the UI is usually outdated, confusing and doesn't look good at all - usually.
When I've ran into client's problems, it requires a complete uninstall of it or the multiple installed updates, then reinstalling the newest update, or an older update because what they want to use doesn't work with the newest java update. :| It's especially annoying when they are trying to use two different java related programs and one only works with the newest update and the other one only works with an older update - just makes me day.
I'm not programmer, but why are the apps for android programmed with java? Android is based of linux, right? Are there not other prog langs that work with linux?
Come to think of it: There's not very many products that google has made that are very aesthetically pleasing to look at or use, but they work.
Hrshycro said:
Exactly my point. Thank you for typing it out. Couldn't have typed it better myself. While Java is powerful, it's buggier than all get out. Everybody I know in the info systems world also hates it. I don't care for it it's really buggy and the UI is usually outdated, confusing and doesn't look good at all - usually.
When I've ran into client's problems, it requires a complete uninstall of it or the multiple installed updates, then reinstalling the newest update, or an older update because what they want to use doesn't work with the newest java update. :| It's especially annoying when they are trying to use two different java related programs and one only works with the newest update and the other one only works with an older update - just makes me day.
I'm not programmer, but why are the apps for android programmed with java? Android is based of linux, right? Are there not other prog langs that work with linux?
Come to think of it: There's not very many products that google has made that are very aesthetically pleasing to look at or use, but they work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can code with C or C++ if you use the NDK (Native Dev Kit). Im not sure if you can do the whole app that way or just parts but it just seems more difficult. But I learned java in a highschool class, and despite its failures, its easiest for me to use.
I definitely recommend looking for new apps using App Brain. As long as you're not strictly looking for games, I've found a lot of jewels in there I never would have found in the regular Market app.
The thing that gets me most is not the lack of apps, but the inconsistency among apps.
1. Most apps carry their own theme and UI and does not blend well with the rest of Android.
2. Software updates tend to roll out slower than the iphone counterparts.
3. Resolution of the icons in some apps are blurry looking. Again this is because of differences between the resolution available for Android phones.
xeroxsmm said:
I definitely recommend looking for new apps using App Brain. As long as you're not strictly looking for games, I've found a lot of jewels in there I never would have found in the regular Market app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would agree. There are a lot of bad apps out there but there are some really good ones I found with App Brain.
Sent from my HTC Evo 4G using XDA App
I hadn't clicked on this thread yet because I totally expected some rant about something silly but I have to admit I do completely agree with the OP in that the market is not a good way to find apps. It's the place to GET apps but the "top" lists, paid and free, haven't changed much since I got my Hero last December..
I have never had an iProduct of any sort, and likely never will so I don't have any experience for comparison but I think the android apps are alright, no complaints other than FINDING them..
1. Google's Market needs upgrades, nothing major. Just add more and better ways to find applications. Sad a search giant has had difficulty getting this done.
2. Get AppBrain's application.
3. Android uses a Java flavored language, but not Java or even Java ME. This is why Oracle is foolishly suing Google.
RE #3 - I'm beginning to wonder myself whether they should have used Python or Ruby over Java.
bludragon742 said:
RE #3 - I'm beginning to wonder myself whether they should have used Python or Ruby over Java.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They aren't using java, thats what he was saying with point 3. Android uses a different language which is similar to java, but not java.
Also java > *. Java is used in phones, cars, sterio systems, tvs, gaming systems, etc..
Try to find a electronic unit where java hasn't been used in
Ive had so many apps that suck so bad, they are so buggy and barely work. Such as Opentable, podcast, and several others. Makes me weary to even purchase full apps even though you can try them. Most apps available suck anyways.
I need:
Best buy app
Chipotle app
Panera bread app
Good podcast app
Good radio app
Good turn by turn navigation app
Opentable that actually works
and im sure there are several apps that I would like to use but not yet available, marketplace is full of bull crap. lets get some stuff people will actually use on a daily basis.
This whole market place concept is a bust.. just because it worked for iphone dosent necessarily mean it will work for wp7. They said marketing stuff like 'oh we have 6000 applications in marketplace!' Reality is its not even worth except for more than 1-2 of them to even download and waste time on.
937dytboi said:
Ive had so many apps that suck so bad, they are so buggy and barely work. Such as Opentable, podcast, and several others. Makes me weary to even purchase full apps even though you can try them. Most apps available suck anyways.
I need:
Best buy app
Chipotle app
Panera bread app
Good podcast app
Good radio app
Good turn by turn navigation app
Opentable that actually works
and im sure there are several apps that I would like to use but not yet available, marketplace is full of bull crap. lets get some stuff people will actually use on a daily basis.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Zune is great for podcasts. What do you want a podcast app to do? The Maps app has great TBT nav - no voice, though.
937dytboi said:
Good radio app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to guess you don't like the radio that's already in there.
This is the kind of thing that may suck on WP7 phones for a little while...but i expected that didnt you?
The iphone apps were all full of crap when they first came out....it took time for people to get used to making them, I think the promising thing is that big companies are starting to bother making apps, so it shows people are getting serious.
I read it in an article that MS is a software company and if theres anyone who is going to be able to make it work at this sort of 'late entry' into the market its them.
I have at least 12 APPS I really like and that I use all the time
I think we are just guna have to wait for a bit
The marketplace idea is not a bust.
Developers who want to earn money selling their apps and games have a better chance when all the customers are funneled to one place, as opposed to having to search obscure sites, to find their product.
At that point, it's up to the developer to try to make a compelling enough product for the customer to think it's worth purchasing.
For the customer, they could go to one place to look for anything that is currently available for their phone. They can try out any application without risk, and if they feel that the product is worthy, they can purchase it easily. The rules for purchasing each app/game will be universal. They don't have to go through different payment processes with different companies.
Purple11 said:
Reality is its not even worth except for more than 1-2 of them to even download and waste time on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? So which one or two out of the following do you feel is worth downloading?
Twitter
Facebook
Youtube
Microsoft Tag Reader
Adobe Reader
Shazam
IGN
IMDb
eBay
Flixter
These are just some of the apps I couldn't live without - however, if you manage to witter it down to 1 or 2 I'll post an updated list of all my "important" apps. Although, IMO, 99% of people would have maxed their 2 apps from the top 5 in the list above.
emigrating said:
Really? So which one or two out of the following do you feel is worth downloading?
Twitter
Facebook
Youtube
Microsoft Tag Reader
Adobe Reader
Shazam
IGN
IMDb
eBay
Flixter
These are just some of the apps I couldn't live without - however, if you manage to witter it down to 1 or 2 I'll post an updated list of all my "important" apps. Although, IMO, 99% of people would have maxed their 2 apps from the top 5 in the list above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This and more and more and more.
OP and hater beneath him, you're just being a little narrow minded tbh.
given that A LOT of the applications are data based, how is your network coverage? is it quite patchy? if so, this would explain why a lot of applications appear very bad constantly not responding/loading data.
as for the market place, i think it's a bit of a good and bad thing. the iPhone model is good for itself, but WP can't copy it completely because of the differences it has. for example, WP offers in app trial mode. this needs to be made more promonent and needs to encourage the end user that these apps work as a trial. with this, then more people who list their apps as a paid app would get better usage as people don't instantly think they have to pay anything to use it.
i personally don't buy any app unless i get a bit of a play with the app first. but the problem is, i have to go to each app to see if it has trial available. the market place needs to adjust to this variable in greater force because it's actually what makes the WP market place a great prospect and cancels out the duplicates which you see in the iOS market place (the free and paid version of apps).
emigrating said:
Really? So which one or two out of the following do you feel is worth downloading?
Twitter
Facebook
Youtube
Microsoft Tag Reader
Adobe Reader
Shazam
IGN
IMDb
eBay
Flixter
These are just some of the apps I couldn't live without - however, if you manage to witter it down to 1 or 2 I'll post an updated list of all my "important" apps. Although, IMO, 99% of people would have maxed their 2 apps from the top 5 in the list above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Other than Adobe Reader all other software you mentioned are useless to me. I am a smartphone user, not an Iphone user.
Oookayyy... so what do you want then?
zukа said:
Oookayyy... so what do you want then?
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Click to collapse
Better: Calendar, Appointments, Time Management, Alarm, Wallet, Book Keeping, Expense Records, Maps, Navigation, SMS/Mail Organizing, Dialer, Auto-Call Record, Call Management, Data Management etc etc you should get an idea ..
Purple11 said:
Better: Calendar, Appointments, Time Management, Alarm, Wallet, Book Keeping, Expense Records, Maps, Navigation, SMS/Mail Organizing, Dialer, Auto-Call Record, Call Management, Data Management etc etc you should get an idea ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of which is part of the core OS - now if all you want are better implementations of the above, feel free to discuss what, specifically, needs fixing in the core experience.
If you ask me, the calendar, appointments, time management, alarms and email are all working fine out of the box - sure, we need better exchange support (server search etc), but it does what it's supposed to for now.
As for Book Keeping / Expense Records (why are you listing both?) - there are apps for this.
Bing Maps is included out of the box. Navigation may be poor, but there are apps for this that help somewhat.
In any case - if you need enterprise features like what you've listed above you're really not part of the target audience for WP7 at the moment. Something which has been very clear ever since the February unveiling of WP7 last year.
emigrating said:
Really? So which one or two out of the following do you feel is worth downloading?
Twitter
Facebook
Youtube
Microsoft Tag Reader
Adobe Reader
Shazam
IGN
IMDb
eBay
Flixter
These are just some of the apps I couldn't live without - however, if you manage to witter it down to 1 or 2 I'll post an updated list of all my "important" apps. Although, IMO, 99% of people would have maxed their 2 apps from the top 5 in the list above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See we are just two different people, KI dont have a twitter or Facebook account. So thats useless to me, Shazam I wont really use. But everything on your list is fine. My problem is that some apps that ive downloaded seem not to work like advertised and they crap out by running slow or not working at all. But I think im jumping the gun here, I just think we should have a better marketplace selection but I have to realize that the marketplace has just really opened to be honest. Just felt I needed to gripe about my experience
What's also a problem (for now) is that development for Windows Phone is so similar to developing for regular Windows environments: same tools, same programming languages, etc. A lot of "normal" Windows / .NET developers are early adopters of the platform and are having their go at developing a Windows Phone app. Unfortunately they don't always consider the limitations that the platforms has. They'll use a lot of heavy animation, request huge amounts of data, use imagery not optimized for mobile use. Thus: crappy apps.
I think over time this will all settle and the apps will become better.
That said, Microsoft does need to increase the overall app performance on the phone. There's a noticable difference between the built-in (native) apps and the managed apps.
stringray said:
What's also a problem (for now) is that development for Windows Phone is so similar to developing for regular Windows environments: same tools, same programming languages, etc. A lot of "normal" Windows / .NET developers are early adopters of the platform and are having their go at developing a Windows Phone app. Unfortunately they don't always consider the limitations that the platforms has. They'll use a lot of heavy animation, request huge amounts of data, use imagery not optimized for mobile use. Thus: crappy apps.
I think over time this will all settle and the apps will become better.
That said, Microsoft does need to increase the overall app performance on the phone. There's a noticable difference between the built-in (native) apps and the managed apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is blatantly false. First of all unless you're doing game programming you can only make Silverlight apps. Most regular windows applications do not use silverlight! You would think the web designers who use that stuff can create better apps, guess not.
Secondly the reason for crappy apps is entirely microsoft's fault. To get your app published, you need to pay 99$ a year for a developers license and get your identity verified by some thirdparty. After that when you submit an app, it is supposed to get reviewed by a team at microsoft to verify that your app meets many of the app guideliness set (like not crashing!).
I remember going to Tech Days (microsoft developer conference) and hearing them bragging about how their app reviews ensured that only quality apps were released but lately the amount of **** apps that have been appearing on the app marketplace makes me think they are just auto approving anything without even checking to see if it works.
pillsburydoughman said:
this is blatantly false. First of all unless you're doing game programming you can only make Silverlight apps. Most regular windows applications do not use silverlight! You would think the web designers who use that stuff can create better apps, guess not.
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Click to collapse
Zero windows applications use Silverlight. WPF maybe, but Silverlight is a web-only subset. What stringray actually said was:
Windows Phone is so similar to developing for regular Windows environments: same tools, same programming languages, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which is correct. Visual Studio is the primary development tool for desktop and C# is very popular development language for desktop.
The rest of what you said is probably true. But you can never test an app and say that it will never crash. Do you remember WM6.5 when you downloaded an app to find it didn't even launch on your device? Well at least it's filtering out all that crap
Silverlight is not only for web development. I believe since Silverlight 3.0 you can use them as desktop applications as well.
pillsburydoughman said:
Secondly the reason for crappy apps is entirely microsoft's fault. To get your app published, you need to pay 99$ a year for a developers license and get your identity verified by some thirdparty. After that when you submit an app, it is supposed to get reviewed by a team at microsoft to verify that your app meets many of the app guideliness set (like not crashing!).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How is the way you pay and get verified the reason why the apps are MS' fault?
Yea, they check them but rarely have I seen an app crash (actually I haven't yet but I'm not going to state that all of them have).
I just want to quickly point something to the ones you have hated apps.
Why don't you give feedback to developers? I have given serveral and emailed several feedback and have gotten a response each time. And each time, they take my feedback into consideration and either plan to implement them in the future.
As the end-user don't we want the best product? To get the best, we have to critique and help evolve the marketplace/apps. Only this way do developers know how to improve and what needs to be improved.
Otherwise they believe everything is dandy.
pillsburydoughman said:
this is blatantly false. First of all unless you're doing game programming you can only make Silverlight apps. Most regular windows applications do not use silverlight!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, Silverlight development does resemble WPF programming a lot (afterall, it is a subset of WPF). And we've been doing WPF programming for years now, haven't we? Actually, if you stick to simply placing controls on a page and adding event code it resembles WinForms very much. And that last thing is what I see happening a lot. Many developers create some spaghetti app, which totally messes up tombstoning or page navigation.
Once developers get more comfortable with Windows Phone (Silverlight) programming, they'll see that things like the MVVM pattern, async processing , etc. actually do make sense and can be very helpful. And that's when the good apps are starting to get made.
Secondly the reason for crappy apps is entirely microsoft's fault. To get your app published, you need to pay 99$ a year for a developers license and get your identity verified by some thirdparty. After that when you submit an app, it is supposed to get reviewed by a team at microsoft to verify that your app meets many of the app guideliness set (like not crashing!).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In general I think they do a really good job. Of course they had to learn in the beginning and a lot of faults were made. But the test department is getting better and better. The reports you get when an app fails certification are often very detailed.
Don't forget they check apps against the Guidelines. I agree there are a lot of stupid apps (Peace Sign app, anyone?). But those apps do follow the Guidelines.
Crashes are hard to predict and it's not that easy to test for them. Personally, I haven't experienced much app crashing on my device. In fact, I've seen more apps crash on my iOS devices than on my WP7.
Microsoft has said they collect crash dumps from all apps on the phone (at least, if you've opted in for that). I hope that someday they'll give us developers access to those dumps, so we can do post-mortem analysis of our app's crashes.
But lately the amount of **** apps that have been appearing on the app marketplace makes me think they are just auto approving anything without even checking to see if it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totally disagree. The apps may be not to your liking, but most of them do work according to the Guidelines. And did you give feedback to the developers of those apps? They often actually listen!