Android must haves, Feb 2011 edition

In alphabetical order...

• Abduction - a firm favorite with the kids, mostly because it's got a broad range of difficulty levels, and since it's very nice
• Android System Info (by ElectricSheep) - handy on occasion
• Angry Birds / Seasons - I play this a fair bit, and it's very good - which goes without saying...  [and the valentines update for 'seasons is good...]
• Ansta - nice call log manager, simple interface to sort and slice call logs
• Bubble Popper - for the kids, I can't stand it...
• Circle Battery Widget (by Cedric Depoortere) - a circle with a number in it, which changes colours sometimes and tells you how much battery you have left, sorted
• Ebay - official app, which is useful on occasion
• Etherophone - wibbly wobbly noises to keep kids amused for 5 minutes
• Free English Dictionary (by oeri technology) - nice & simple dictionary & thesaurus, written by my mate Neil
• Google Chrome to Phone - handy on occasion, since I use chrome on home pc
• Google Reader - official app, which gets weekly use, although sometimes it's a bit slow imho
• [Google] Shopper - useful sometimes, nice to have image and voice search
• Jewels - see Bubble Popper
• Mahjong (by Magma Mobile) - I do like this, needs a large screen
• Message Scroller - which I think I downloaded during a rather long and boring meeting so I could send rude messages across the room
• mNote - which syncs nicely with SimpleNote; together they're absolutely essential for taking text notes (I gave up on Evernote a while back - too complex)
• National Trust - written by my mate Martin - I do like this a lot, expect a lot of use over the summer
• NinJump - kids like this too, all rather simple
• Paper Toss - it's ok, one for the kids
• Rocket Bunnies - kids like it, i'm not so sure...  very professional game though
• Slice it! - bit too complex for the kids, but professionally done, really well presented
• SMS Backup (by Christophe Studer) - is the simplest, easiest and thus best SMS backup app i've found (essential imho, couldn't get Jan Berkel's SMS Backup+ to authenticate with Google...)
• Street View on Google Maps - pretty much standard part of navigation toolkit
• Tricorder - another old favourite that gets installed on new phones, handy for wifi
• Zeam Launcher - it's very simple and I like this a lot, particularly removing apps without faffing in settings menu or with market

updated list here.

Motorola Phone Portal

Ok, so this is weird, but a neat idea.   I was browsing for a bit of software to connect the two, a data suite in the olde parlance.

Motorola Phone Portal - as opposed to Motorola Phone Tools - works differently.  You connect up the phone, usb or wifi, and the android app gives you a URL to connect your browser too.  That is, the phone runs it's own mini web server, from which you can browse & change things.  See here.

Problem #1: the USB on my PC doesn't know it's a Motorola, so time for some drivers.  Go and download the 4.7.1 driver with MotoConnect and install that.  Search for USB and PC charging drivers, although that page doesn't say it supports android - it does.

How to make it work then:

1. install charging and pc drivers
2. plug in usb, wait for PC to sort itself out (ready?)
3. on android, change the usb connection mode to "Portal and tools"
4. on android, run the "Phone Portal" app
5. with luck, that app will give you a URL to connect to (and you'll see a notification in the status bar, "Moto Phone Portal  Running on USB @ http://192.168.16.2:8080")
6. [optionally] unplug LAN cable so it's just PC & phone together
7. [if you're lucky] your default browser will automatically open the phone's page (i.e. fetched from http://192.168.16.2:8080)
8. view stuff...   you need to run IE to operate File Manager, it basically kicks open a Windows Explorer window.

On second go, it happens a lot more smoothly and automatically.  When you plug in, the USB mode is defaulted to portal and tools, the web server starts, the PC connects and browses to it.  Easy.

I particularly like the phone reporting it's signal strength as "Awesome".

Motorola / Motoblur, Flipout and photo upload to Picasa

Ok, so it's not exactly rocket science: you take a photo, and choose to either 'share' it or 'quick upload' it.  This is on the Moto Flipout (sure my old Dext worked ok).

Try #1: choose "quick upload", which seems to use the Motoblur social thing to kind of proxy it out to Picassa (i.e. picasaweb).  That doesn't seem to work, since it says there's no data connection available after rumbling away for a while.  It lies.  The forums suggest it's a size issue, which, if true, is stupid.

Try #2: try to share, then choose Picasa (I have a Picasa account setup).  The goes through the motions of uploading - a nice red bar in the notification bar, but also fails.  With no real error.

The way to make it work is to go in Galllery app, open Menu and choose 'More', then 'Settings'.  In there is an item called "Quick Upload Album".  Choose that, and choose email.

In the meantime, head over to Picasaweb and it's settings.  In there, enable upload via email; where you need to give a secret word.  It gives you a nice email address of the form user.name.secretwork@picasaweb.com   Save the settings!

Go back to your phone, and add that address for the quick address album.  All quick uploaded photos nicely appear in your picasaweb dropbox.  Without comments, and without a choice of another album.  And it probably sends via your default email account (i.e. probably not your google one).  But, it works.

(the alternative of course is to 'share' via email, and you have to compose the email, but can choose the subject line to relate to the album.  'quick upload to email' is a one-click operation)

[sort it out eh Motorola?  firmware update would be nice...]

Android Must-Haves, Sept 2010 edition

Ok, so moving to the dark side, albeit temporarily I suspect.  So, an update, in case I need to install a load of stuff again.  Can I have 2.2 on Wildfire please?

This past few months, i've mostly been using:

• Abduction - for the nippers; one of the earliest games i'd played which actually looked good and played well too.
• ActionComplete - go sign up here - the web / android bit is what makes it (although, web is a bit slow updating imho...)   But, better than Google Tasks...  And uses Google sign in.  Nice.
• Dropbox - of course!  It's on all my machines, so now on my phone, sorted...  (go here)
• ebay - for those odd occasions.  Nice enough app for watchlist viewing, but searching is dreadful; same for big screen
• Evernote - which is used on all machines and all browsers, so mobile access is perfect (go here)
• Facebook - pretty much a no brainer, but android app has improved a lot in recent builds
• Goggles - although I never use it...
• Kindle - i'm still undecided on this, the idea is sound, and syncing to a (real) kindle is good; alas, I don't have one.  So another ebook reader would probably do it just as well (see Aldiko)
• Paintjoy - which is fun for the kids, I like some of the effects on it, and the 'replay' of you drawing is really cool (shame you can't save the replay, just the final image)
• Prey - as anti-theft solution.  Wish I had this when I lost the [HTC] Desire.  Bah!
• Shopper - perhaps i'm just a google junkie, but used once or twice
• SMS Backup+ - which is great.  It syncs all your SMSs in a gmail folder.  Instant SMS backup.  And free.
• Talking Tom - for 5 minutes...  (why is this still on my phone?  oh yeh, kids...)
• Tricorder - yay for geeky wifi scanning and useless other stuff too!  
• Voice Search - which seems to come built in more and more, but, don't bother imho; my fingers are more accurate than google's speech recognition (and I speak the Queen's English too doncha know..?)

That is all.

updated list here.

reflashing custom firmware on HTC dream / G1

Ok, there's a lot of pages out there about how to do it, and cyanogen is perhaps the best (only?) place to start.  And xda is, of course, rather handy - but too many cluttered threads imho...

Why?   My G1 has been stuck on android 1.1, and as much as I like G1, I "needed" to have Evernote, Facebook and a couple of things that need 1.5+, and of course basic G1 doesn't have exchange sync.  The cyanogen page details all the other goodies, a fair few are nice to haves too.   So...

I'd recommend heading over the wiki, and following the instructions there - to the letter.   It's 4 simple steps really:

1. downgrade - this takes you to a low level (ie hackable) version of android, that is, putting you in a position to do what you want
2. exploiting the loophole (what they call 'rooting' it) and then installing a custom recovery program (i.e. cm_recovery), which essentially allows you to install the 'proper' firmware image (i.e. the android bit)
3. installing the new (custom android) firmware image(s) - at least 3 of them
4. installing audio pack - the basic firmware image only has 1 or 2 ringtones...

What requires some digging is the following...

In step 1, when you're trying to downgrade to the hackable firmware, what you may find is that you get the mysterious error "00028002 not allowed" just after  your G1 verifies the image.

[in a nutshell, format microsd card as FAT32, copy either RC7 (UK) or RC29 (US) image onto it, ensure it's called "DREAIMG.nbh", stick it in G1, hold camera and power button and off you go...]

The problem is the SD card isn't 'trusted', so the G1 rejects the firmware image.  What you need to do is similar to how you create a pandora battery on a PSP.  First things first, work out how to get the card's CID - either via the G1 (before you brick it), via the card in a Windows Mobile device and using QMAT (now PSAS, $$$) or some other black magic.  (I suggest using G1 itself, but see here).

Then, head off to here with that CID and do as it says.

What you need to do is (using a hex editor) copy the bytes in the image you get via email over the first bytes of your SD card.  (see here)

That makes your card 'magic', and in step #1, your G1 will quite happily work.

If you find out you're getting that weird error, and your G1 always returns to the rainbow screen (with error RUUNBH on top right), that magic card will sort you out...

Steps 2 & 3 are easy enough with cyanogen's instructions.   

Step 4 requires a quick look here.  Installing the HTC android dev kit comes in useful.

[edit]
Afterwards, noticed standard HTC headset (usb one) didn't work, but also killed all audio - requiring a reboot.   Repeat steps 3 & 4 magically cured it...

Android apps list 2010 edition

Spookily realised last post on this was March 23rd 2009, which is almost 1 year ago.

This year, i've mostly been using:

• whichever exchange client comes with the phone - and they're all clunky (moto's is ok, se/// is pish, htc is ok, dataviz roadsync is ok too)
• google maps - a lot.  buzz enabled? meh...
• facebook - while clunky sometimes (and tends to freeze on some posting), it's become my primary facebook interface
• evernote - except it's not in marketplace on current phone...  grrr.  it's good.
• etherial dialpad - fun, kids like it...
• tricorder - fun fun fun...  (and useful for wifi finding...)

That's probably it for essentials, not many I guess.   Other stuff I like, and use sometimes:

• beebPlayer - when i'm desperate for TV
• compass - never sure why I bother though...
• [google] finance - if I can't bother finding out how bad my portfolio is elsewhere
• goggles - cos it's fun sometimes (works well too..)
• [google] sky map - for entertaining the kids on occasion
• linkedin - it's pish
• last.fm - very nice indeed, but don't use it much
• layar - dunno why I bother...
• newsrob - but always forget to sync it up (very good though)
• pkt auctions - for when I have ebay on the go
• tv guide - nice, but seems slow

Can't say i've paid for anything yet, my phones tend to be rather spartan / utilitarian.

UPDATE: Sept 2010 right about here.

Android must-have and nice-to-have

I've had an android / g1 / htc dream for a little while now, and i've settled on the following 'keepers'.  I've installed many, many more apps or games or utilities, but none of them have lasted as long as those below.

Used daily:

• BatteryStatus (Monmonja) - so, it just displays "28%" or whatever in big letters. I like.  I used Watts for a while, which helped me realise wifi just kills battery (and now remains mostly off)
  
• KeePassDroid (Brian Pellin) - fantastic, since I use keepass on assorted computers already (i've long since abandoned SplashID)
  
• Picassa Upload (Google) - fantastic - I had a similar thing on a SonyEricsson phone (in fact, it uploaded to blogger), but this is much nicer.
  
• Shake Awake (Maplekey Company) - i'm on conference calls a lot, and this is really very helpful; quick wiggle and phone is awake.  Sorted.
  
• Text Edit (Paul Mach) - very useful for quick notes, often todo lists.  Nice that it saves on memory card too.
  
• ToggleWifi (Andrew Schwimmer) - used frequently, a must-have battery saver
  
• Tricorder (Moonblink) - save the geeky star-trek ui (which I kind of like...), it's a nice way to track wifi hotspots, and to check GPS is actually working (google maps kind of hides the detail)
  

Used weekly:

• My Tracks (My Tracks team) - this is sooo handy, I wish I had it when I was (more) in training.
  
• Pkt Auctions (Bonfire Media, Inc.) - whenever i've got something to sell, or something to watch on ebay, this is brilliant.  Searching ebay isn't worth the hassle.
  
• Quickpedia (Next Mobile Web) - my preferred way to browse wikipedia (nicer than via browser or other apps) due to a nice clean interface
  
• Sandblaster (Logan Hanks) - how can you not have a falling sand game?
  
• Zombie, Run! (Peter Dolan) - makes a quick stroll to the shops much more fun.  Scares the kids too.
  

Used less often:

• aFileShare (mAPPNn Inc.) - used it once or twice, to find stuff
  
• BetterBookmarks - the way to get nice favicon bookmarks on homescreen (instead of dull browser icon over and over again).  it's one of those must-haves, but only when you want to add bookmarks to homescreen (ie not very often)
  
• Cinema (Greg Millam) - although I haven't actually used it - can't get movies in right format!
  
• Compass (Bill Basaraba) - nice, but rarely used.  Maybe if I get lost with no mobile data signal...
  
• Finance (Google) - mostly to track my employers share price, but it's not a daily kind of thing...
  
• Mahjongg Solitaire (nitoware) - a really nice implementation, something to occupy 10 minutes on a bus
  
• ShopSavvy (Big in Japan, Inc.) - on those rare occasions when i'm buying something kind of expensive, this is fantastic
  
• SkyMap (Sky Map Team) - I really like this, but can't say I use it much. I find occasional views of the bright screen messes up my night vision...
  
• Sodoku (genina.com) - not that i'm a fan, but it's nice to have it, for the odd 10 minutes here and there
  
• Speedtest (Xtreme Labs) - handy to demonstrate HSDPA at work is faster than ADSL at home
  
• ToggleBlu & ToggleGPS (Andrew Schwimmer) - installed alongside toggle wifi, but rarely used
  

I would add that Zombie, Run!, ShopSavvy, Skymap and Compass are probably my preferred 'show off android' apps, since they nicely blend features available (ie maps, gps, camera sensors) into something really new and interesting that i've not seen on other phones before.  You'll also note that these apps are all lower down in my 'most used' lists...  The dull stuff wins on true value-add.

UPDATE: Sept 2010 update here.  One thing I noticed is that many of these things are now  part of the core android, regardless of manufacturer (with some minor exceptions).  That is, apps are now true additions to the OS, not partly making up for absences in the OS.  Nice.