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What are your top 3 third party applications that you would love to have on your Windows Phone 7 Series? Most used applications for your daily routines, works, entertainment, what not ... Top 3 applications that you have in mind when asked about mobile applications.
Interesting to know so we could see what users expect to have on WP7 in terms of application.
It does not have to be Windows Mobile 6.x applications. If you think certain iPhone / Android / BB / Symbian apps thats fine.
I start with my top 3:
1. Offline navigation software
- like TomTom, CoPilot, iGo.
2. Opera Mini
- I just love the speed, thats all.
3. Good Facebook client
- Microsoft has one for WM6, but I expect much better than that. I read that iPhone version is better.
I basically use my phone for calls, messages and development... being last one like the only reason why I didn't keep my cheap old Nokia phone. Sometimes I'm using weather, GPS, reading emails or google for this or that but that's all and I'm just happy that I just can do such things whenever I would need them. I'm not really a crazy apps freak....
Got to be iGo as one of them for me!
gogol said:
3. Good Facebook client
- Microsoft has one for WM6, but I expect much better than that. I read that iPhone version is better.
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Click to collapse
The OS comes with great facebook integration already built in, no need for an app!
My top apps are:
FPSeCE (Playstation Emulator)
Spacetime 4.0 (Graphing Calculator Software)
Pandora
I know that, but I have doubt with that Facebook integration.
Not that I am saying it is not good, but from what I saw ... the integration is split into 2 hubs ... People hub where you can see status update of your Facebook friends and Photo/Pictures hub where you can see Facebook photo albums of your friends.
With dedicated Facebook app, all those will come in the same flow of information.
Well, not a big deal really, because I am using http://touch.facebook.com via web browser (Opera Mini).
Kloc said:
The OS comes with great facebook integration already built in, no need for an app!
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Click to collapse
gogol said:
Not that I am saying it is not good, but from what I saw ... the integration is split into 2 hubs ... People hub where you can see status update of your Facebook friends and Photo/Pictures hub where you can see Facebook photo albums of your friends.
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Click to collapse
Which, IMO, is the best approach possible. Heck, I might even start using Facebook this way. Why would I need that information in a separate application? Why would I want to view photos in anything but a photo viewing app? Or where else do I need contact information apart from the contact app?
Also, this approach theoretically should aggregate information from different networks in a way that makes sense. I mean, if you are a member of both Facebook and, say, Linked-In, would you really want two separate applications to handle data from these networks?
1.Opera Mobile 10
To read 3 different newspapers each morning on my Omnia II and have all my desktop bookmarks synced OTA to my phone. Been using Opera since v3.0 or so, love it.
2.GSPlayer
to listen to somafm.com !
3. Googlemaps
Works good enough, could be done much better (font size can not be set !) and leaks 2 DC's each time you start and stop it. Have to take another look at bing maps soon
Coreplayer!!!!!!!!
IGO
BattClock (used to display battery info)
For me, if I can reduce time spent then I will choose that way.
Instead of going into 2 hubs to read status updates AND photo updates, I would prefer to just go once to look them all
Like I said, this is not a big deal because there is facebook website itself which can be accessed via web browser.
Probably because I use facebook a lot
Oh yes, the idea of multiple social network integration is nice, dont get me wrong. Probably just because of that, I would start using Twitter! Atm I am only using FB.
vangrieg said:
Which, IMO, is the best approach possible. Heck, I might even start using Facebook this way. Why would I need that information in a separate application? Why would I want to view photos in anything but a photo viewing app? Or where else do I need contact information apart from the contact app?
Also, this approach theoretically should aggregate information from different networks in a way that makes sense. I mean, if you are a member of both Facebook and, say, Linked-In, would you really want two separate applications to handle data from these networks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Top applications: 'Real' Map-reader/GPS, Ebook reader,
Well, I might not be a typical user (and actually one of the things I liked about 'Windows Mobile Classic' was that it had a diverse ecosystem, catering for non-typical users!) but these are the two apps I use most:
1) A GPS/map-reader that works with real maps (i.e. topographic maps such as, in the UK, the Ordinance Survey series)
- so ideally, Memory-Map will port their software to WP7
2) An ebook reader that can read EPUB and TXT formats
- actually this is such an important use-case for me that I wrote a program to do it (see this thread). I expect to start porting it to WP7 just as soon as the SDK becomes available.
Windows Phone 7 is a paradigm-shift in how phones operate. Apps will no longer be individual screens, but will be subsumed into the overall user interface. Facebook is the most obvious example of that. If you take Tomtom, for instance, it will be peppered all over the phone in any of the following ways;
People Hub: Select a person and then hit the menu option to navigate to their home or workplace
Calendar Hub: Select a Calendar Entry and then hit the menu option to navigate to the Location of that entry.
Bing Search: Hit a search result to be navigated to its location if it is a real world place like a pizza restaurant, for instance. Once Tomtom is installed, instead of just the one option to be directed there by Bing Maps, you'll have a second option as well to navigate there by Tomtom.
Only once you're actually on the road will you get the Tomtom screen up with the 3D view of the road. The rest of the Tomtom UI will be embedded into these hubs.
I'd expect Twitter, Google Maps, Flickr etc to all melt into the phone's UI as simply extra menu options.
I think this is largely why the App list accessible from the home screen is so basic - it won't be the usual way to start an app. Normally the app will be called from a menu in part of one of the hubs. In this way, apps will organically feel like just an extension of the phone's usual functionality. Heck, I can even see the Photos hub doing something like footprints and recording the GPS coordinates, so you can use the Tomtom menu item in there to navigate to the place in the photo!
This is going to be totally awesome. And I think it's partly why the question of "Does it multitask" isn't so clear-cut...
I use my phone as a phone and as a PDA so most of what I need is already there (calendar, alarm, agenda, Excel, etc)
1) But I have to have an ewallet. I use SPB at the moment and fully expect them to port it to WP7.
2) I also would like some ereader that handles most file types (EPUB mostly).
Could care less about the whole Facebook/Twitter thing. Just hope they don't get in the way of how I use my phone. Will have to wait to see how the interface can be changed. If I have to have Facebook/Twitter in the middle of my processes I will probably not get a WP7 phone.
donnaw said:
Could care less about the whole Facebook/Twitter thing.
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Click to collapse
Sorry that doesn't make sense? Do you mean you could NOT care less?
I would like to see all my apps on it I hope I will be able to port them!
I love opera and youtube
giggles33 said:
I love opera and youtube
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Opera should be made redundant by the new version of IE contained in WP7S. Youtube will become a subsumed service as part of the Pictures & Videos hub in the UI, and will simply be another source of video from the cloud, in the same way that Facebook posted videos are. I would also imagine that the Bing search engine will return Youtube hits.
Basically, be prepared for apps to function in an entirely different way to what you're used to - they will become simply extensions of your phone's functionality - many apps will be able to avoid having their own screens at all and instead rely on the hubs to provide their input/output.
Jim Coleman said:
Opera should be made redundant by the new version of IE contained in WP7S.
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It's not likely that we'll see a version of Opera on WP7S as it's impossible to do a decent browser engine in managed code, because alternative browser makers will be the last to get access to native APIs (if ever), and probably IE will be much better than what we have now, but alternative browsers will not be made "redundant" by this. I can bet IE won't have text reflow, for example, which I personally love and severely miss when I try to use iPhone's Safari.
vangrieg said:
I can bet IE won't have text reflow, for example, which I personally love and severely miss when I try to use iPhone's Safari.
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You would lose that bet.
I would like to see Skype on Win Phone 7
Making competitors (Opera must earn a lot of money with their OEM deals) redundant is just plainly impossible nowadays without some sort of "deal" made. It's really very interesting what will happen soon.
So I've finally joined the club and boy am I stoked. So, what are the first things one should do e.g. apps to get, slight customisation, games etc, help your fellow comrade.
I don't know if this thread has been done before, if not, maybe it could be a sticky?
the first advice i could give to you is: read the forums
That's the beauty of WP7. There's no real customization to be done and no real apps to get. You're good to go!
Sent from my GT-I9000M
APPS?
download OEM apps.
download what you need. Marketplace got almost everything
customization? you mean changing the color of the tiles? LOL
radeon_x said:
That's the beauty of WP7. There's no real customization to be done and no real apps to get. You're good to go!
Sent from my GT-I9000M
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How adorable, another android troll. There's also no lag, a good music player, no fragmentation (It's good to know I can't buy a new phone and have it be outdated next week) and hell, gaming has already about caught up with Android. You guys have more, we have better.
z33dev33l said:
How adorable, another android troll. There's also no lag, a good music player, no fragmentation (It's good to know I can't buy a new phone and have it be outdated next week) and hell, gaming has already about caught up with Android. You guys have more, we have better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess the problem is that the more you feed the trolls , they keep coming back for more.
i just realize that he is using a sgs...
eww.
saldawop said:
I guess the problem is that the more you feed the trolls , they keep coming back for more.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, it's pretty much a greek tragedy how incompetent these android users are "LOL my phone OS is better than yours *tap 3 times before an app finally pulls up then swipe left or right and watch the lag roll in* Yup, totally better, I troll you."
Ha. That wasn't really a troll. I just meant there's no setup or critical apps you need to get the phone running. Just grab whatever catches your eye from the market and you're golden. I like that aspect of the platform compared to Android. Until you want your phone to do something a specific way, it's bliss.
Sent from my GT-I9000M
kappo78 said:
So I've finally joined the club and boy am I stoked. So, what are the first things one should do e.g. apps to get, slight customisation, games etc, help your fellow comrade.
I don't know if this thread has been done before, if not, maybe it could be a sticky?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to the world of WP7. Care to share which device you acquired?
MartyLK said:
Welcome to the world of WP7. Care to share which device you acquired?
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Click to collapse
I don't get it, aren't you the one who was pushing the WebOS users to outvote everything on that poll?
If you only get two games, get...
Ilomilo
Aphajax
Both will blow your mind into little wobbly pieces of grey blancmange and raspberry sauce. And all will be well in the world.
Wait! Someone's just put QUORUM down on a TW! Bastard!
radeon_x said:
That's the beauty of WP7. There's no real customization to be done and no real apps to get. You're good to go!
Sent from my GT-I9000M
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on how you look at it.
Lacking the need for customization at a low level is good (Rooting to uninstall bloatware, etc.), but there are tons of instances where you have to hack the system up just to achieve trivial tasks. Adding Ringtons to you phone, accessing Camera Shutter options, changing the default Search Engine in the Browser (T-Mobile sets it to Google, and some Euro Carrier sets it to Yahoo!). Things like that. You can't even set a home page in the browser (so even though I can't stand searching through Google, there's no way to Set Bing as the home page and just open a new tab and search from there). The OS is literally devoid of options/settings that matter. Can't even toggle between EDGE and 3G to save battery without hacking the phone (and that hack doesn't even work for some phones).
These aren't deep customizations on any other smartphone platform, but for WP7 it requires going beyond rooting or jailbreaking an Android phone. It makes Android a bit easier to use than WP7 when you factor in OneClick Root apps and the ability to sideload applications without scouring threads/the internet for information to get this done (and installing a ridiculously big SDK on your computer - nevermind the fact that it requires a Windows PC as well).
Microsoft got it wrong.
The issue with Android settigs is not that there were too many. It's the way they are presented to the user. They're generally (especially in third party applications from independent devs) just thrown in the user face on one huge page. Decently organized options in groups or tabs... there's nothing wrong with that. They need to add tons of options for the system and stock applications, because making even trivial changes to some behaviors is impossible without going through more work than loading a custom ROM on an Android phone is right now.
Minimalistic is good if you do it right (iOS). Microsoft took it to the extreme and all it does is create a ton of usability faux pas.
z33dev33l said:
How adorable, another android troll. There's also no lag, a good music player, no fragmentation (It's good to know I can't buy a new phone and have it be outdated next week) and hell, gaming has already about caught up with Android. You guys have more, we have better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, you're trolling him.
He means that the stock functionality in the WP7 system is above and beyond Android and iOS. And it is. Everything comes from Microsoft, integrates nicely, and performs well. Aside from Microsoft and Manufacturer Apps (i.e. HTC, LG, Samsung Apps), there aren't that many apps that you need on a WP7 device to be functional - besides games. Twitter is missing in the People Hub, so that's a biggie, and the Facebook integration doesn't include all functionality, so you need that.
I suggest Twitter, Seesmic, Facebook (Seesmic because it includes both and is a nice hub to use when you don't need heavy duty FB/Twitter functionality). Microsoft has a ton of free apps that are useful. Your manufacturer (especially if HTC) will fill in many of the other gaps. Foursquare is in the Market.
Adobe Reader is in the market. Amazon and Amazon Kindle is there. eBay has a very nice App in the market. Messenger by Miyowa sadly I have to recommend it because it's the best of any Messenger app in the market at the moment.
If you have an HTC phone you don't need a weather app. The HTC Hub Tile is Live for Weather. If not, I recommend Weather bug or Microsoft's little weather app. Weather Channel is a 9MB app and I can't see how that ridiculous size is justified given how WeatherBug and Microsoft's weather app are both < 2MB (if not 1 or below).
Microsoft has a few free games to try out. AlphaJacks is like Words With Friends for Windows Mobile ("Try It" version is free forever, but Ad Supported). Haypi Kingdom is a nice strategy game that is multi-player (also available for iOS and Android, so there is no shortage of people to play with/against).
Office Apps aren't needed (Office Mobile)
NoteTaking Apps aren't needed (OneNote Mobile)
Exchange Clients aren't needed (In-Built Functionality)
Music Players aren't needed (Zune)
Radio Apps aren't needed (Zune)
Slacker and Last.FM exist for Internet Radio.
Shazam is available with Unlimited Tagging.
Microsoft has a List App in the market (and HTC has one in their Marketplace).
Poynt, AP Mobile, IMDb, Fandango are all there.
But there aren't many needed apps, TBQH. Most apps are slower to use than the web browser because they tend to take excessive amounts of time "Updating..." Loading a web browser or performing a voice search often outperforms them, IME.
I'd get the biggies. Personally I'd avoid crap that you don't necessarily need and use the space for stuff that matters (Music, Pictures, Documents, etc.).
You can save documents from SkyDrive to your computer by opening them up from the Office.Live.com website and saving them to your Office Hub in Office Mobile. OneNote Mobile Syncs perfectly. There is an option to keep your Camera Roll in Sync with SkyDrive (this can use a lot of data if you take lots of pictures).
N8ter said:
Actually, you're trolling him.
He means that the stock functionality in the WP7 system is above and beyond Android and iOS. And it is. Everything comes from Microsoft, integrates nicely, and performs well. Aside from Microsoft and Manufacturer Apps (i.e. HTC, LG, Samsung Apps), there aren't that many apps that you need on a WP7 device to be functional - besides games. Twitter is missing in the People Hub, so that's a biggie, and the Facebook integration doesn't include all functionality, so you need that.
I suggest Twitter, Seesmic, Facebook (Seesmic because it includes both and is a nice hub to use when you don't need heavy duty FB/Twitter functionality). Microsoft has a ton of free apps that are useful. Your manufacturer (especially if HTC) will fill in many of the other gaps. Foursquare is in the Market.
Adobe Reader is in the market. Amazon and Amazon Kindle is there. eBay has a very nice App in the market. Messenger by Miyowa sadly I have to recommend it because it's the best of any Messenger app in the market at the moment.
If you have an HTC phone you don't need a weather app. The HTC Hub Tile is Live for Weather. If not, I recommend Weather bug or Microsoft's little weather app. Weather Channel is a 9MB app and I can't see how that ridiculous size is justified given how WeatherBug and Microsoft's weather app are both < 2MB (if not 1 or below).
Microsoft has a few free games to try out. AlphaJacks is like Words With Friends for Windows Mobile ("Try It" version is free forever, but Ad Supported). Haypi Kingdom is a nice strategy game that is multi-player (also available for iOS and Android, so there is no shortage of people to play with/against).
Office Apps aren't needed (Office Mobile)
NoteTaking Apps aren't needed (OneNote Mobile)
Exchange Clients aren't needed (In-Built Functionality)
Music Players aren't needed (Zune)
Radio Apps aren't needed (Zune)
Slacker and Last.FM exist for Internet Radio.
Shazam is available with Unlimited Tagging.
Microsoft has a List App in the market (and HTC has one in their Marketplace).
Poynt, AP Mobile, IMDb, Fandango are all there.
But there aren't many needed apps, TBQH. Most apps are slower to use than the web browser because they tend to take excessive amounts of time "Updating..." Loading a web browser or performing a voice search often outperforms them, IME.
I'd get the biggies. Personally I'd avoid crap that you don't necessarily need and use the space for stuff that matters (Music, Pictures, Documents, etc.).
You can save documents from SkyDrive to your computer by opening them up from the Office.Live.com website and saving them to your Office Hub in Office Mobile. OneNote Mobile Syncs perfectly. There is an option to keep your Camera Roll in Sync with SkyDrive (this can use a lot of data if you take lots of pictures).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Eh, no real apps to get doesn't exactly sound right. It makes it sound like anything released on this platform is bad.
To OP though, Ilomilo and Twin Blades are the only games I have that live up to my XBL expectations (and sadly I have most of them) there are other good games but Ilomilo overall. other than that Netflix is the only other one I'd deem necessary.
I knew exactly what he means when I read the post. Perhaps English isn't his first language, but it wasn't a hard statement to decipher...
Netflix is useless if you're not a subscriber, so I wouldn't deem it necessary at all. No one is going to subscribe to Netflix just to watch movies on a phone. Just doesn't make sense, IMO. If you're a subscriber, though, have it's nice to have...
The only necessary apps are those for social networking, and XBox Live Extras.
The Manufacturer Hub Apps (some/most of them) are a given.
TBQH, most smartphone OSes are like this. If the platform is missing something, like Android is, the Manufacturers usually add it in (ThinkFree Office, Amazon MP3, MobiTV, Exchange support, etc.).
One thing most of us forgot is Navigation Software. At this point if you want decent navigation with Turn-By-Turn directions, you're basically required to pay a subscription fee for TeleNav or whatever the phone comes with.
I've tried A-to-B Navigation. It's useless for all practical purposes.
Social Networking and Navigation Software are the only ones I'd say are necessary.
Also the Carriers are allowed to change the default search provider in Internet Explorer, so if you're a Bing user like me the usability of in-browser search is... terrible. T-Mobile Maps the Search button (and address bar search) in IE to Google and some Euro Carriers change it to Yahoo. Severely inconsistent and bad considering most people use the address bar to perform searches.
There is no option to change the default search provider. And performing that hack requires more manual labor than rooting and installing a custom ROM on an Android computer (and involves making registry changes, etc. on your Windows PC).
N8ter said:
I knew exactly what he means when I read the post. Perhaps English isn't his first language, but it wasn't a hard statement to decipher...
Netflix is useless if you're not a subscriber, so I wouldn't deem it necessary at all. No one is going to subscribe to Netflix just to watch movies on a phone. Just doesn't make sense, IMO. If you're a subscriber, though, have it's nice to have...
The only necessary apps are those for social networking, and XBox Live Extras.
The Manufacturer Hub Apps (some/most of them) are a given.
TBQH, most smartphone OSes are like this. If the platform is missing something, like Android is, the Manufacturers usually add it in (ThinkFree Office, Amazon MP3, MobiTV, Exchange support, etc.).
One thing most of us forgot is Navigation Software. At this point if you want decent navigation with Turn-By-Turn directions, you're basically required to pay a subscription fee for TeleNav or whatever the phone comes with.
I've tried A-to-B Navigation. It's useless for all practical purposes.
Social Networking and Navigation Software are the only ones I'd say are necessary.
Also the Carriers are allowed to change the default search provider in Internet Explorer, so if you're a Bing user like me the usability of in-browser search is... terrible. T-Mobile Maps the Search button (and address bar search) in IE to Google and some Euro Carriers change it to Yahoo. Severely inconsistent and bad considering most people use the address bar to perform searches.
There is no option to change the default search provider. And performing that hack requires more manual labor than rooting and installing a custom ROM on an Android computer (and involves making registry changes, etc. on your Windows PC).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not only that, but I wouldn't subscribe to any version of Netflix because of the cost. I watch maybe 2 to 4 rented movies a month. And some months, none. To have to pay a fee just to use Netflix is wasteful. Yet that's how NF works. I would, however, subscribe to NF if there was no fee. The only cost would be the rental charge.
I have to say the best game for Xbox Live is the Harvest. Feels like diablo with a sci fi twist. The bad thing though is if your a typical Xbox console gamer, you won't find much that will interest you on WP7.
I swear its a new puzzle or tower defense game ever week.
you can of course customise your lock screen, you could also install "pin to start" which apparently offers customised live tile (don't have it myself, not my type of thing". Apps wise, get the HTC You tube app if you have an HTC device, would also recommend pdf reader and the amazon kindle app (if you like books) beyond that, there are nearly 9000 apps to choose from - I think there are even a couple of "fart" apps if that floats your boat...........
I've already mentioned Adobe Acrobat Reader X and Amazon Kindle.
Not all applications have Live Tiles, and TBH without a Live Tile an app would have to be very important to merit a spot on you home screen (no one wants a home screen that scrolls for miles). I have issues keeping Seesmic/Twitter/Facebook on the Home Screen, for example, without a Live Tile. Games like AlphaJax are good cause the Tile is Live (tells you when it's your turn and how many games you have waiting on you, for example).
The HTC YouTube app is good, but it's only for HTC devices (I already said the Manufacturer apps were a given since they fill in obvious gaps in functionality i.e. YouTube, NotePad/List App, Flashlight, Attentive Phone, Live Weather Tile (HTC), Sound Enhancer, etc.).
The customization that I say is missing isn't really "customization" in the XDA-Developers sense.
Setting a Home Page in the Browser, Setting the Default Search Engine in the Browser, and Options for things like how long you want Toast Notifications to stay on the screen aren't any type of deep customization. It's simply a trivial setting that Microsoft needs to add. These things are missing all over the OS and need to be added in ASAP. It acually makes the OS a chore to use in many instances.
They also need to make carriers unable to alter the default search engine. It sucks for people who use a certain search engine, and makes it take 3x longer to perform searches if you don't want to go through Google. There just need to be an option for the three biggies (Bing, Yahoo, Google) or the ability to allow the bing homepage to set itself as the default search engine (or Yahoo, or Google).
Google is probably holding back with Google Now, not wanting to scare people away by releasing too many features too soon that show just how much it knows about us. Here are my ideas:
1. Send to Now – As you browse the web or read a book, you could highlight words or people’s names to Google Now so it loads up information about them for you to read through later.
2. Photos – when you take a photo of a landmark, Google Now could load a card with information about the landmark. I think Google Goggles already does this but now would be a better platform.
3. People – when you take or scan a photo of a person or their business card, Google Now could load up a card in the background with their LinkedIn or G+ profile.
4. Things – scan a barcode or object and Now loads up information (price, retailers etc) about it. Again, just like Goggles but better.
5. Rules – Google could let us write rules to trigger cards. For example, I could ask Now to pop up a card reminding me to take my groceries from the fridge in my office when I start my car (connect to my car’s Bluetooth) at work on a Friday evening. I already kind of do this with an app called Automate It by the way – it’s similar to Tasker.
6. Networking – Google Now could load profile cards of people nearby who have opted in to the networking feature.
7. Second Screen – Google Now when prompted could listen to what’s playing on your TV and offer more information about the programme. It could even offer links to purchase products advertised on TV or radio.
8. Related Articles – As you browse the web, Google Now could build up a list in the background of other articles related to those you have read and you could later review the list at your leisure - rating, reading and/or discarding the suggestions as you see fit.
9. Conversations - This one is a little scarier than the others and I’m not sure I would opt in to it myself, but Google Now could listen in on your phone and email conversations and provide related information – links to products you discussed or articles about concepts or news mentioned. As I say, I think I’d pass on this one.
10. Custom Cards – Google could let retailers or even websites build custom cards that are loaded when you check-in to their stores or visit their websites. These cards could include special offers and promotions, best-selling items etc. I imagine Google could even charge businesses for such a service if it were so inclined.
In all of this it would be important that they are opt in only – opt out wouldn’t be good enough. Also, Google Now should always remain non-intrusive but perhaps one should be allowed to set which cards should pop up as notifications, cause the phone to vibrate or simply load in the background. I might want a reminder to trigger a notification by the way but for others I may be happy to ignore or review at my convenience. By the way, I haven’t seen or used Google Now yet so if I’ve completely misunderstood how it works or could work, this is my excuse.
Oh and I apologise in advance if this is not the right forum – I couldn’t immediately find a better one and I see others have posted about Google Now here too, I guess since the G Nex is one of only two devices with it on at the moment.
What are your ideas for Google Now?
How about more integration with GAPPS? (I'm looking at you Calendar!)
anton2009 said:
How about more integration with GAPPS? (I'm looking at you Calendar!)
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Isn't Calendar already integrated? I see reminders for my calendar entries in Now. Don't know about setting events via Now though, since it isn't completely functional in German / other languages than US english.
On topic, OP has some great ideas! Hope to see some of the less scary integrated
Really? I thought reminders were only within the alarm app... I will have to double check...
anton2009 said:
Really? I thought reminders were only within the alarm app... I will have to double check...
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Click to collapse
I see a reminder for this evening right now, it's definitely integrated
there was a interview with matias, and he confirmed that there is calendar feature, only reading from it.
there isn't any feature to create a calendar entry from NOW. but he emphasise that the API exist and all down to developers.
maybe hinting that its possible for 3rd party developer to write some custom card that can be installed?
I would love to be able to teach Google Now how to pronounce my name, placenames in my area etc. so that dictation works better.
Having said that, I find the accuracy of the dictation to be outstanding for most other things. I love GN!
There are so many possiblilities to this feature. I can't wait to see how it evolves over time. I actually use it quite a bit more than I thought I would. It makes a simple task so much easier, such as setting an alarm! Being able to set calendar appointments would be amazing though!
qwer23 said:
I see a reminder for this evening right now, it's definitely integrated
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Click to collapse
I think they're referring to that you can't use now to create a calendar event. If you want it to remind you of something, it can only set an alarm for you.
Music, it should tell you when an artist you like has a new single or album coming out, and if they are going to be playing a show withing X miles of your location. Or have just announced a tour etc.
Media, it should tell you when a new movie or video game is being released and give ratings for it and such.
I like idea number one, maybe adding in a dictionary for certain words, although that may be part of what your talking about.
That's one of the nice things I like about reading books on my Ipad. You can highlight a word in a book you're reading and, it will define the word.
WiredPirate said:
Music, it should tell you when an artist you like has a new single or album coming out, and if they are going to be playing a show withing X miles of your location. Or have just announced a tour etc.
Media, it should tell you when a new movie or video game is being released and give ratings for it and such.
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Click to collapse
Well for the concert notification, I stumbled upon an app called song kick. Which will scrap your Google music and pandora ( maybe something else too) and email you when an artist you liked or own content from is touring near you.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
It should show a card every monday, wednesday, friday morning when I first unlock my device with the day's XKCD comic and the mousover text.
Keeping tabs on movie releasedates would be nice too. Google "The dark knight rises" and on the release day it shows up on a card with the theatre times for your cities movie theatres.
Connect with (Google) TV to give you a tvguide card when your watching tv.
Shows a card with directions to the nearest florists on your anniversary
BrianDigital said:
Well for the concert notification, I stumbled upon an app called song kick. Which will scrap your Google music and pandora ( maybe something else too) and email you when an artist you liked or own content from is touring near you.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will check it out, thanks!
WORPspeed said:
Keeping tabs on movie releasedates would be nice too. Google "The dark knight rises" and on the release day it shows up on a card with the theatre times for your cities movie theatres.
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Click to collapse
Excellent idea. The more media related info the better imo.
One more feature I'd like to see is the ability to send a time or location based reminder to someone else. The person can then choose to accept the reminder or not. I suspect Apple will do this soon if they haven't already. The reminder could then appear in Google Now along with any notes the sender included.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Integration with Tripit.
Integrate with Tripit directly to send reminders of all the little tripit events you have, check-in, check-out, flights, etc.
I want there to be an actual notes app for which Google Now can create a note and save it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
A card to nearby news!
I'm wondering what RSS reader/google reader type apps you guys are using?
I have gReader Pro, Reader HD, FeedR, and NewsRob Pro. I have already also used the default google reader app and Just Reader and a few others. I still haven't found a google reader app that looks and works great. The main issues I have with the listed reader apps are that most don't display images properly, as in 70% of the screen is for the feed but pictures from flickr rss feeds or tumblr only show up as a small box fitting 10% of the screen; tons of unused space. Would be nice for an RSS reader app that smartly adjusted pictures for optimal screen usage.
Wish they'd make Reeder for android, that rss app is nearly perfect.
gReader Pro. Best interface/everything.
Personally I love Reader HD
to each their own.
Reader HD or the official Reader App for me. Maybe flip board when it gets optimized for tablets.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
What don't you like about JustReader? My go to tablet reader. Pictures show up pretty good, though not perfect. As for why an app doesn't do what you want it to do, trust me, it's a stupidly hard thing to do. You'd think it would be built in to android to make that an option, but by the time you are allowed to measure pixel size, all the automatic calls have passed. It takes some rewriting of how views measure themselves. I went through that with my Read It Later app I was working on before I canned it when Pocket came out.
For the apps that overcame that issue (JustReader being one of them) you then have the problem of online pictures being small. A 320x480 picture would be about 2.7" diagonally on a 7" 1280*800 screen. If you look at a feed like The Verge that uses large pictures, you will seem them fill edge to edge (on JustReader). However, other places use much smaller pictures. Then you have the problem that a lot of places send smaller pictures over RSS. For example, LifeHacker uses ~600x400 pictures on their website, but half that size on their RSS page. I will say I wish Just Reader handled images a little better in that it still centered the picture above the text (not hard to do, but I guess that was the devs design choice), but it scales pictures up to, but not past the devices native resolution, but it cannot magically make pictures higher res. None of these can. The alternative is super pixelated larger pictures.
*I don't mean to sound like a JustReader fanboy, it's simply the app I use and have experience with. I'm sure many of the other apps handle this the same way. I also feel that this is the most "Reeder" like app I've used. In fact, I prefer it due to the more customizable swipe gestures.
E_man5112 said:
What don't you like about Just Reader? My go to tablet reader. Pictures show up pretty good, though not perfect. As for why an app doesn't do what you want it to do, trust me, it's a stupidly hard thing to do. You'd think it would be built in to android to make that an option, but by the time you are allowed to measure pixel size, all the automatic calls have passed. It takes some rewriting of how views measure themselves. I went through that with my Read It Later app I was working on before I canned it when Pocket came out.
For the apps that overcame that issue (Just Reader being one of them) you then have the problem of online pictures being small. A 320x480 picture would be about 2.7" diagonally on a 7" 1280*800 screen. If you look at a feed like The Verge that uses large pictures, you will seem them fill edge to edge (on Just Reader). However, other places use much smaller pictures. Then you have the problem that a lot of places send smaller pictures over RSS. For example, LifeHacker uses ~600x400 pictures on their website, but half that size on their RSS page. I will say I wish Just Reader handled images a little better in that it still centered the picture above the text (not hard to do, but I guess that was the devs design choice), but it scales pictures up to, but not past the devices native resolution, but it cannot magically make pictures higher res. None of these can. The alternative is super pixelated larger pictures.
*I don't mean to sound like a Just Reader fanboy, it's simply the app I use and have experience with. I'm sure many of the other apps handle this the same way. I also feel that this is the most "Reeder" like app I've used. In fact, I prefer it due to the more customizable swipe gestures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is Just Reader and app, or do you mean Google Reader?
If you mean Google Reader, does it work with podcasts?
ace7196 said:
Is Just Reader and app, or do you mean Google Reader?
If you mean Google Reader, does it work with podcasts?
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Click to collapse
I mean JustReader (no space, my bad). It claims podcast support in the free version, but I've never done that. Always kept podcasts and rss seperate.
gReaderPro. Best RSS reader available for Android from the functionality point of view, if you subscribe to dozens of feeds like I do it is really the way to go. If your RSS needs are more casual stuff like Flipboard and Currents or Pulse may suffice (prettier to look at).
ace7196 said:
gReader Pro. Best interface/everything.
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Click to collapse
I agree.
Greader Pro. Its the best I've used. The layout is good, it's fast and it's reliable.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
You guys not using google current? You could import your rss from your google reader directly in the apps itself, pretty awesome
wugui said:
You guys not using google current? You could import your rss from your google reader directly in the apps itself, pretty awesome
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If only it had 2 way sync. As it is, I don't want to see an article in both currents, and google reader, such as on the desktop.
E_man5112 said:
If only it had 2 way sync. As it is, I don't want to see an article in both currents, and google reader, such as on the desktop.
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Click to collapse
oh right, that is one issue, didnt thought of it as i dont always read everything :laugh:
E_man5112 said:
What don't you like about JustReader? My go to tablet reader. Pictures show up pretty good, though not perfect. As for why an app doesn't do what you want it to do, trust me, it's a stupidly hard thing to do. You'd think it would be built in to android to make that an option, but by the time you are allowed to measure pixel size, all the automatic calls have passed. It takes some rewriting of how views measure themselves. I went through that with my Read It Later app I was working on before I canned it when Pocket came out.
For the apps that overcame that issue (JustReader being one of them) you then have the problem of online pictures being small. A 320x480 picture would be about 2.7" diagonally on a 7" 1280*800 screen. If you look at a feed like The Verge that uses large pictures, you will seem them fill edge to edge (on JustReader). However, other places use much smaller pictures. Then you have the problem that a lot of places send smaller pictures over RSS. For example, LifeHacker uses ~600x400 pictures on their website, but half that size on their RSS page. I will say I wish Just Reader handled images a little better in that it still centered the picture above the text (not hard to do, but I guess that was the devs design choice), but it scales pictures up to, but not past the devices native resolution, but it cannot magically make pictures higher res. None of these can. The alternative is super pixelated larger pictures.
*I don't mean to sound like a JustReader fanboy, it's simply the app I use and have experience with. I'm sure many of the other apps handle this the same way. I also feel that this is the most "Reeder" like app I've used. In fact, I prefer it due to the more customizable swipe gestures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just retried JustReader and you were right! So far on the Nexus 7 it seems to work the best for what I'm looking for. I spend way too much money on RSS apps lol, but thankfully I already owned JustReader from a few months ago. Thanks man.
Try Freely. Great RSS app much like Flip board. I love it
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
is there any RSS app that does not use Google? i use to use News Room, but it seems to be abandoned and is not updated since ICS..
I use Feedly, works great on android and on desktop in Firefox or chrome
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Reader HD isn't just a good rss app it's one of the better android apps I've used. Very slick and just loaded with features. I'm impressed and happy every time I use it.
Sent from my Nexus 7
nigelw said:
I use Feedly, works great on android and on desktop in Firefox or chrome
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
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Click to collapse
Ditto. Feedly is great on JB, but its frustrating that it doesn't work on ICS. If Google Currents would support the organization of feeds into groups like Google Reader does I'd be all over it.
ReaderHD here, I like the mobilization options.
Hi Folks,
One of my primary reasons for buying the Note2 (arrived yesterday, so not had much time to experiment) was the Stylus^D^D^D^D^D^D S-Pen. I'm hoping that the phone can replace my Moleskine notebook, in which I make short notes, jot down my action items, etc in meetings where I'm not chair / taking full minutes (for those, I expect I'll need to stick to an A4 pad).
Given what the device is, and who the contributors here are, I thought I'd post, to see if anyone else had the same requirements, and come up with a good working solution? If not, I'll post updates as I go along, and whether or not I find a solution which works well for me.
Ideally, then, my workflow would look something like:
Attend a meeting
Write relevant notes on the Note2 using the S-Pen
Have those notes sync <somewhere> (ideally automatically, but I can live with pressing a button or two)
Have my notes subsequently available on a desktop computer (Windows PC in the office, Mac when working from home)
Ideally have the notes auto-handwriting-recognised at a reasonable level of quality into machine manipulatable text
Other initial thoughts/comments:
I'm happy to use S-Note for this if it works well, but just as happy to use a 3rd party app, and to pay for said app if the value proposition is there.
I've had an evernote account for years, always though the concept was great, but never really made use of it. This will probably be my first port-of-call.
I'm a heavy Dropbox user, so Dropbox integration would work for me (especially since gaining the additional 48gig through purchase of the Note2!).
It would be great if the single app divided out action items and notes "auto-magically" somehow, and populated a cloud-syncing task management tool with the action items. But on this assumption this is asking too much, I think I'd be adverse to switching between two tools, one for notes, one for actions (though perhaps Multi-View would be an interesting solution here?).
Cheers!
Gav.
I'm very interested to see what your thoughts are after using it a while. I'm an engineering student, and was looking to buy a Note2 and take advantage of the SPen functionality. I like the idea of 'Formula Match' although I haven't experimented with it since I don't know anyone with a Note/2/10.1 etc.
I had the Note, and just got the Note 2 last weekend. The problem with S Note is that it only seems to sync to the PC as an image. So, you can't edit them on the PC.
The best solution I've found is using OneNote on the phone and PC. And, syncing them via skydrive.
Evernote seems pretty good, but I figured since I already had OneNote installed on the pc I'd try and make that work first, and never got around to Evrenote. It's a bit clunky though. I use the MS app most of the time, bit it doesnt do everything, so I bought MobileNoterSE and that does some things the MS apps doesn't. But neither is a complete solution.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app
Best options will be to use something like Google Drive, to use google docs support, or Polaris Office (free with this phone) or QuickOffice to create word documents and sync with somewhere like Dropbox.
This way you will have easily editable files, you lose the ability to do things like the formula thing and easily insert images etc, but it works perfectly for handwriting.
Experience thus far
So, my story thus far.
Firstly, I had a play using S-Note and Evernote together:
To get your handwritten notes into evernote, you export via JPEG to Evernote (note, not a problem in the short term, but I've found the Note2 keeps a copy of the exported docs on the internal storage, so if you use it a lot, it could conceivably munch a lot of your space).
Evernote doesn't (so far as I can find) do OCR on the text to make it machine readable, but it does do an amazing job at OCRing for the purpose of making your handwritten notes searchable. Because it can be a little more "relaxed" in doing this (i.e. if it's not sure if you've written "pound" or "sound", it'll index the word as both for searching purposes) it does a truly wonderful job. It almost makes me wish I'd bought a page-whiz type scanner and fired in my hand written notes over the past few years.
My initial perception of the possible value of this search facility might be enough to make me forego the machine manipulatable part of my requirement.
However...
The handwriting recognition option, replacing the keyboard, built into the phone is very good. It does, I would guesstimate, about an 80% accurate job in recognising my (awful) handwriting in tests yesterday/today (how it fares when used "in anger" vs at my desk tests, I've yet to determine). The advantage here, ofcourse, is that it can deliver machine manipulatable text directly into Evernote, or any other tool you so wish (e.g. Polaris Office as mentioned above).
And, of-course, machine manipulatable text is searchable via any one of a hundred methods or varying complexity and sophistication, as suits your needs.
Ideally...
Of-course, ideally, both would be great. Being able to write, without worrying whether or not the machine "gets it right" is a godsend. I (most of the time) can recognise my handwriting, so if offered both, I could correct where necessary.
My experiments continue!
I'm a teacher and have used the Note II for a couple of weeks. Here are my thoughts:
-I previously used a 7" tablet, a swype-style keyboard and Evernote for making notes
-I bought the Note II after playing with it in the phone shop and seeing how accurate the handwriting recognition was. I have used a Palm PDA in the past and the Samsung system is lightyears ahead of the gesture-style recognition of the Palm.
-I input text now either using handwriting recognition and the S-Pen or voice recognition (when I'm at home and on my own!). It's very possible that using the swype-style keyboard is quicker, but I find in terms of vision, seeing my own handwritten, rather large words on the screen easier to see than the smaller keys of the keyboard, so it works out quicker and is more restful for me.
-I use Evernote for all of my notes. It's amazing. An example is of me helping another teacher assess some speaking and listening tasks in the classroom - I made my comments on my Note & Evernote, then emailed them to her. I now have a copy on Evernote for future reference. I travelled on the train over the weekend and planned all of my lessons on the Note. I'll be able to share these with support assistants easily, can access them from the desktops at school, and they are all automatically tagged with the date.
-I use several Evernote widgets. I use tags and notebooks to keep all the quick-reference notes a touch away, like this week's lesson plans and my timetable. I can find other notes very quickly using the search option.
-I've toyed with writing notes in cursive using the stylus - but in the end think - why would I want to do that, since the handwriting recognition is so good on the Note and I can then edit the text later very easily? My handwriting is not THAT beautiful! If you were really attached to cursive handwriting, S-Note can save notes with both drawing on and written text, although this would be converted to an image file were it then uploaded to Evernote.
-When I have time and energy, I mean to look into Tasker to make note-making more automated, for example opening a new note when I draw out the S-Pen. I'm sure Tasker can save and open notes according to location or calender appointments (you mentioned meetings)
My only wish was that attachments like spreadsheets could be edited and saved while still being attached to the Evernote note. Instead, I used Dropbox for files such as PPT and spreadsheets.
Hope this helps!
emeffeff said:
-When I have time and energy, I mean to look into Tasker to make note-making more automated, for example opening a new note when I draw out the S-Pen. I'm sure Tasker can save and open notes according to location or calender appointments (you mentioned meetings)
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Click to collapse
Ooh, now, here's something I've not yet considered. If my notes could be auto-labelled based on the meeting I'm (supposed to be) in. That would be interesting.
Evernote can actually do this already. There is a setting which labels the title of your note with the current appointment from your calendar.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
I have started using Papyrus...
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...m5vdmF0aW9uLmFuZHJvaWQucHJvamVjdHBhcHlydXMiXQ..
And Dropbox on my Note 2.
Handwrite notes whilst out at meetings, conferences, etc. Then share to Dropbox in pdf format and thus available on my Desktop when I get back to the office.
Papyrus is still under develeopment and doesn't do OCR afaik. I use my notes for my own recollection, so no need to produce keyboard text or send to colleagues.
Quite simple, but works for me.
Lennyuk said:
Best options will be to use something like Google Drive, to use google docs support, or Polaris Office (free with this phone) or QuickOffice to create word documents and sync with somewhere like Dropbox.
This way you will have easily editable files, you lose the ability to do things like the formula thing and easily insert images etc, but it works perfectly for handwriting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Must admit, this is the way I am leaning at present. The coolness of Evernotes indexed handwriting though continues to appeal