Related
So I know this has been an issue since at least the G1, and that there's a sort of workaround either using Linda File Mgr for Gmail uploads or use the Opera browser. Most of the posts out there on this issue are old now so apologies if I've missed something current sifting through everything...
Does a patch/fix/hack exist yet for the unrooted N1/2.1 to correct what seems to be a perpetual Google "beta" bug they have no interest in addressing? I mean, my world won't end if I can't upload a new pic to Facebook or video to Youtube, but it's a glaring omission from an otherwise great handset. Or is it an intentional nod to the carriers for bandwidth sake?
OK so, duh. I realized that if you long press on a photo or video in the gallery then click 'share' it gives you a bunch of options for places to upload to.
However...it's still extremely lame to not be able to upload anything from the stock browser, e.g., uploading pics to a blog or non-sponsored service when that uploading has to happen via the site's form (as opposed to FTP). I know Flash 10.whatever is a part of that, but plenty of sites use Java to handle uploads. Maybe that's what I'm missing...maybe the 'Upload Disabled' button shows up automatically on the Flash sites and I just haven't come across a Java-based site yet.
I would love to see this fixed soon, but just as an FYI, the fix has been committed to the Android source (not yet in AOSP) for Froyo:
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=2519#c112
Bump.... is this fixed in Froyo? If so can it be back ported to 2.1?
Confirmed working in stock Froyo. I can upload images, music tracks, sound clips to popular websites (e.g. Rapidshare).
Bitbrit said:
Confirmed working in stock Froyo. I can upload images, music tracks, sound clips to popular websites (e.g. Rapidshare).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome!!
Are you using the stock browser? Does it only allow you access to the sdcard?
Yep, stock browser.
From the looks of it, yes it does only allow me to access the SD card. I'm also limited to the categories I mentioned above (there's no "Other" option).
what a crock...
Just got Evo at launch, (coming from WinMo), and had to install opera today just to help a fellow XDAer to upload a file to xda for him. Unbelievable!
I'm considering a move from another OS to a Lumia 925, I won't say which one because I tend to find that people have preconceived notions of what iPhone and Android people are looking for and whether they'll be able to deal with the way Windows does it.
Just some questions...
1. I'm entirely in the Windows world for productivity (Word, Excel, Outlook, SkyDrive) so I imagine that will be seamless on a Windows Phone? I mean, is there anything that is actually not doable when operating documents, spreadsheets, etc? I just want to make sure it's not like with Google Drive/QuickOffice where you technically CAN open and work on docs but there are always formatting issues and tiny bugs that crop up from time to time.
2. How does file management work? I'm referring to copying files, music, pictures to and from the phone.
3. Can one save email attachments, attach anything one wants to an email, open any kind of file (pdf, office, images, audio, video, etc)
4. Can I use my own music files and set them as ringtones and notifications?
5. Will the email app allow for an IMAP account from my own email server and let me see all of its folder and subfolder structure?
6. If my wife and I both have Windows Phones and I assume we each will have our own accounts on our phones, how can we each connect to our PC at home? Will it mean having to have two different profiles of Windows on the tower?
7. Is there a way to know which phones will get the 8.1 update? I want to make sure the Lumia 925 gets it.
If anyone can help with these things, I'd really appreciate it. Unfortunately, mobile phone customer service reps in stores simply don't know these things well enough to give any kind of help and these are the kinds of things that really matter to me, not how many apps there are in the market or whether a phone's camera has a certain number of megapixels.
Thanks!
Here are some answers to the questions you have.
1. The Office suite on WP8 is obviously a stripped-down version compared to the desktop counterparts. However as long as you don't use anything advanced you should be fine. On the phone you will have Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote available. OneNote is especially useful on a phone.
2. It's different. Once you connect the phone to the PC you will find the following pre-defined folders:
- Documents - for Word, Excel, Powerpoint files
- Music - for.. well, music
- Pictures
- Ringtones - for ringtones and notification sounds
- Videos
There is no file manager on the phone itself, however there are apps, which handle files from each of these folders, through which you can rearrange or delete these file types. The system has an API (thus some apps developed as well) for handling new file types like zip, rar, ebook types, etc., which can be registered. You may attempt to open any file type you just downloaded, if an app on your phone is registered to it, it will open the file using it.
Copying the files into the folders I just listed is as straightforward as copying any file using your favorite Windows file manager.
3. Saving email attachments isn't supported out of the box - however you can open them if an app is registered for that file type, and if the app supports saving the file, then you may do that there too (this will save the file to the app's work folder). Once you're in the email app you can only attach photos, but I'm pretty sure you can attach other file types using their own apps and the share button (if any).
4. The short answer is yes. I haven't actually tried this, but I know music ringtones are supported and custom notification sounds are/will be supported with GDR3 (which is an update you can already download if you're a developer or will be getting soon through OTA updates). The way to actually do it is by copying the files to the Ringtones folder, but I think there are some apps, which automate this process (I'm not sure).
5. I'm currently using 2 google IMAP email accounts. I'm pretty sure you should be fine here.
6. Yes, you will have different accounts on the phones, but you don't HAVE to have different ones. I never actually tried sharing accounts, but I know logging in from the same account on several phones is possible, this way you'll get synced contact list, app list, you'll only need to purchase an app once for both of you, and some other benefits. No, you won't necessarily need two different accounts for it on the PC. I use the same account on my phone and on my home (and work) PCs (running Windows 8 and 8.1) and I haven't really seen much syncing between the phone and the computer other than the contact list and account list (email accounts, facebook, twitter, linkedin, microsoft accounts).
7. We're in the same ballpark here, I'm currently enjoying my Lumia 925, I personally think it's a great phone. All of the current devices running WP8 were promised to get 8.1, however we don't really know much details about the update.
People coming from a different major OS generally experience Windows Phones differently, than people coming from feature phones. Android users usually miss the Notification Center and Multitasking, which works differently here (the Live Tiles are your notification center and multitasking works by different rules), and iOS users might miss Siri? Actually I have no idea, since I've never actually owned one.
The sheer number of apps in the store is considerably lower, however there are hardly any apps, which don't have a counterpart in the WP8 store, some are even better than the originals on Android/iOS.
I wish you the best and I hope I helped. Choose wisely
That's a great overall description! A few more comments:
1) The phone should be able to *open* any Office document just fine, but you won't have anything close to the full Office suite's power to make changes; it's mostly basic edits only. For example, you can add or delete slides to a Powerpoint deck, and edit their text, but I don't think you can create or edit custom themes.
2) Documents, music, and pictures are no problem. The phone connects via Media Transfer Protocol (MTP), same as most modern Android phones do; all major OSes can access it, but it is *not* the same as USB Mass Storage. You can't just use it as a USB drive. Additionally, this kind of access only works for the built-in "Libraries" (in the Windows "My Documents", "My Music", etc. sense) on the phone; if you, for example, use a third-party app to handle a file type, that won't show up. One example is ebooks; you can open ebook files on the phone if you download them from the web or open them from attachments, but you can't just copy a bunch of .MOBI files into (or out of) the Kindle folder, for example. Note that this assumes no special hacks; we've been able to get full filesystem access on Samsung phones (such as the ATIV S, which I have).
3) Generally, opening any kind of attachment is possible. If the phone doesn't have an app to do it yet, it will offer to search the Store for compatible apps. If it has multiple compatible apps, it will ask which one to use. However, where attachments get saved is up to the app. The built-in Office programs and image viewer can save to the system libraries. Not so sure about videos or music, although they will open using the built-in apps (for recognized formats, at least).
4) Yes, using your own music works fine. Copy the clips to the Ringtones "folder" over USB, or use one of the many apps (they can do things like trim the file for you, too). Some notification types require GDR3, which your phone may or may no come with but which you can upgrade to easily.
5) IMAP works great. Switching folders is a *bit* more annoying than I'd like - three taps - but it works, and you can control which ones automatically sync to the phone. I use a private IMAP server without any trouble.
6) You really *should* have different user profiles on the PC (for unrelated reasons), but the phone OS doesn't require it. I don't know for sure how well the "Windows Phone App" handles the situation, but I do all the stuff manually anyhow (using Windows Explorer and other tools) and that works fine with multiple phones.
7) No way to know for sure. It's pretty well guaranteed that a phone released so recently as the 925 will get the update, though, and these days Microsoft allows developers and enthusiasts to get updates without waiting for them to finish carrier testing and customization (you'll get the customizations once they're released too). T-Mobile US is pretty good about releasing updates anyhow, though, and the phone's specs are easily good enough.
If it helps, the Samsung ATIV S (SGH-T899M, not the other models) works great on T-Mobile frequencies. The only problem I've had is with the WiFi tethering (USB tethering is unofficial but works fine and is built in if you can find it; instructions are on the forum) and everything else works including LTE. Can't get the loan from TMo for it, but you can find a SIM-unlocked one online for cheaper than the 925 anyhow.
Many people asked me to be more specific on these questions on a WP forum I found so I'll paste those more specific questions here just in case someone can help further...
I'm coming from 3 years on Android after 3 years on Windows Mobile. I've rooted every phone I've ever had, principally to be able to flash a different ROM to the stock version on the phone. There are any number of features you can play with on a custom ROM but my only concern was to get rid of Touchwiz, HTC Sense, and other ROMs I hated in favour of a more pure Android experience. So, no I wasn't rooting my phone for access to millions of "hack-y" applications.
I'm concerned about burdening people with a long post but I'll try to expand on my questions.
1. Office - Aside from the obvious limitations of not being able to put an ENTIRE version of the Office programs into app form on a phone (cause you'd need a computer) do all the Office apps offer view, edit, create, email, save to phone/cloud, share to other apps.
2. Files - Basically, can I take (non-DRM) an ebook file, music, video, document, pdf, photo on and off the phone by using a USB cable and Windows File Explorer on my PC/laptop.
3. Email attach - Can I get an email with any doc, pdf, photo, image and open/save it. Can I attach any file from my phone into an email? Even if it means doing it from within the adjoining app. A PDF by sharing through a PDF viewer, a photo(s) through the WP gallery app or other camera/photo apps, an Office document through Word.
4. Ringtones - I think I got the answer I wanted but I have several ringtone mp3s I've used for years for specific people, SMS, Email, Whatsapp that I'd like to keep using by copying to the phone. Yes? No?
5. Email - I have a private email server on bluehost. I have found very often that some email clients that are too basic will let me add these accounts with IMAP but won't let me define the IMAP Path Prefix for folders and subfolders to appear correctly. If you've done this and you have slightly nerdy email organisation, you know what I'm talking about. It comes down to all the email folders appearing as they do on your Windows email programs/clients as opposed to appearing as though all those folders are floating within the phone's inbox. It looks like hell and creates a very messy email experience.
6. Accounts - This is something that comes from being an Android user that never sat well with me for various reasons. For those that don't know, the entire Android experience is based on your phone being constantly connected to one gmail account at a time which is tied to your all apps and basically all other user info on the phone. Logout, everything is gone. The question is... at home we like using Windows without having to keep two different profiles/accounts/etc. except for in Outlook. Android doesn't really play well directly with the Windows productivity world (one of the reasons we don't want Android anymore). But now that Office and other elements of Skydrive will sync for us beautifully, we want the link to be easy as possible. So, to that end, does Windows Phone have the same concept of signing into your phone to operate it and how does that affect BOTH of us having instant access to all of Windows on our PC and Laptop? Will we each have to sign in to Word when we're sitting here? Will only the profile logged into in Windows see their files? Will we be constantly logging into and out of Windows? If I'm logged in will my wife not see her files? Hope that makes it clear?
Additional things...
- I'm going to the Lumia 925 from the Galaxy S3. I was on a Google AOSP ROM so there is nothing TouchWiz that I'll be missing. I don't even know what was on there to be honest. It was flashed pretty quickly. Anyway, if there are any opinions about the 925, limitations, problems.
- Most important, crucial must-haves for us on a phone are: strong camera quality, photo apps, phone call quality, good maps app, email and web browsing. Pretty much nothing else.
- My use is about 95% camera, ebook reading, web browsing, Twitter, light gaming, Whatsapp, SMS, note taking, recipe saving and working on documents. I never use mobile phones for any kind of music or video playing. I don't watch video on anything smaller than a TV, and I only listen to music on a dedicated audio media player that plays specific file formats.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, if you do. I appreciate it.
Nevermind.. mistake post
tinpanalley said:
1. Office - Aside from the obvious limitations of not being able to put an ENTIRE version of the Office programs into app form on a phone (cause you'd need a computer) do all the Office apps offer view, edit, create, email, save to phone/cloud, share to other apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you can. Currently I could use the Share feature for email or bluetooth, but I suppose it's possible for other apps to show up there if installed.
tinpanalley said:
2. Files - Basically, can I take (non-DRM) an ebook file, music, video, document, pdf, photo on and off the phone by using a USB cable and Windows File Explorer on my PC/laptop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The answer is: no, yes, yes, yes, yes(only through the office application if placed in the documents folder), yes; but remember, these answers are for STRICTLY using the Windows File Exporer.
The easiest ways to handle file transfer for ANY file type is either SkyDrive or downloading the file from the internet(for example: through a web-browser using an ftp server over local Wi-Fi). Pocket File Manager is a great app for downloading stuff (and opening) from anywhere including ftp, SkyDrive, GDrive, Dropbox, etc.
tinpanalley said:
3. Email attach - Can I get an email with any doc, pdf, photo, image and open/save it. Can I attach any file from my phone into an email? Even if it means doing it from within the adjoining app. A PDF by sharing through a PDF viewer, a photo(s) through the WP gallery app or other camera/photo apps, an Office document through Word.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can attach anything if you have a handler app for the specific file type, which supports sharing through email (like the Office app for office documents).
tinpanalley said:
4. Ringtones - I think I got the answer I wanted but I have several ringtone mp3s I've used for years for specific people, SMS, Email, Whatsapp that I'd like to keep using by copying to the phone. Yes? No?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have the option to select ringtones and SMS sounds for individuals using the People hub. I haven't used Whatsapp, so I can't help you there.
tinpanalley said:
6. Accounts - This is something that comes from being an Android user that never sat well with me for various reasons. For those that don't know, the entire Android experience is based on your phone being constantly connected to one gmail account at a time which is tied to your all apps and basically all other user info on the phone. Logout, everything is gone. The question is... at home we like using Windows without having to keep two different profiles/accounts/etc. except for in Outlook. Android doesn't really play well directly with the Windows productivity world (one of the reasons we don't want Android anymore). But now that Office and other elements of SkyDrive will sync for us beautifully, we want the link to be easy as possible. So, to that end, does Windows Phone have the same concept of signing into your phone to operate it and how does that affect BOTH of us having instant access to all of Windows on our PC and Laptop? Will we each have to sign in to Word when we're sitting here? Will only the profile logged into in Windows see their files? Will we be constantly logging into and out of Windows? If I'm logged in will my wife not see her files? Hope that makes it clear?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the limitation here is the computer/laptop. I just read up on having multiple SkyDrive accounts and it seems it's not officially possible without logging in/out for each switch. HOWEVER you can actually choose which SkyDrive account you want to log in to from the phone(using the official SkyDrive app or the Pocket File Manager app, or others), it doesn't necessarily have to be the same as your phone's microsoft account.
The Lumia 925 is an awesome phone, has great camera quality, has included navigation with offline maps, has lens apps(for photo modifications), has photo post-processing apps in the store, it has 4G LTE for quite a few networks. Overall, I love this phone and I hope you'll love it just as much
GoodDayToDie said:
You can open ebook files on the phone if you download them from the web or open them from attachments, but you can't just copy a bunch of .MOBI files into (or out of) the Kindle folder, for example.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So is there not an ebook app that will read any .mobi or .epub files you place on the phone somehow? There's really no way to do this at all?
Not without hacks, no. I use Bluetooth to transfer them, rather than USB; the phone accepts files via BT and opens the appropriate app to handle them, and there are several apps that can do that handling. However, while the apps can save the files to their local folders, those files can't be subsequently accessed either from the PC or from other apps.
The exception to this limitation is SD cards. Apps can open files on SD cards if those files are of the same extension that the app registered for (such as .MOBI, .PRC, .EPUB). You can also load up the phone's SD card over USB from the PC. Of course, if your phone doesn't *have* an SD card, that's not much use.
GoodDayToDie said:
Not without hacks, no. I use Bluetooth to transfer them, rather than USB; the phone accepts files via BT and opens the appropriate app to handle them, and there are several apps that can do that handling. However, while the apps can save the files to their local folders, those files can't be subsequently accessed either from the PC or from other apps.
The exception to this limitation is SD cards. Apps can open files on SD cards if those files are of the same extension that the app registered for (such as .MOBI, .PRC, .EPUB). You can also load up the phone's SD card over USB from the PC. Of course, if your phone doesn't *have* an SD card, that's not much use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So strange, I just read about 2 apps that can read epub and mobi files off SkyDrive and Dropbox and without the need to use sd cards. Freda and Raccoon Reader.
That's not on the phone in any way, shape, or form. Of course any app that wants to (assuming the ubiquitously declared ID_CAP_NETWORKING) can open a TCP socket to dropbox.com and send some HTTP traffic over it and download files. That has nothing to do with the OS capabilities, though. The question was about "files you place on the phone somehow" and my butt doesn't count.
Has anybody got this to work? I have tried, but I sure can't get it to work. I've got videos, audio, pictures, but not a powerpoint. Thanks.
I'm unsure what you are asking, but if you want to view a PowerPoint from your computer just use the CC extension and cast the entire screen. Walla, PowerPoint on CC.
MOLON LABE
Vbukit for Chromecast is like this -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8ByLPXHnP8
I'll give PowerPoint a try later today and post back.
primetime34 said:
Has anybody got this to work? I have tried, but I sure can't get it to work. I've got videos, audio, pictures, but not a powerpoint. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Chromecast only scenario PPT file:
Requirements:
Android device and chromecast on the same Wireless LAN
Vbukit for Chromecast (Android app)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.creatingrevolutions.vbukitchromecast&hl=en
AND
Vbukit User (Android app)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.creatingrevolutions.virtualbucket&hl=en
Procedure:
1. Run Vbukit for Chromecast, connect it to your chromecast device.
2. Press Send To TV - it will automatically open Vbukit User.
3. Choose Send file>send Business>Send File>Pick desired PPT file from phone
4. Scan bacrode from screen
5. Wait as it takes ages to upload file
6. Vbukit User app crashes all the time(and it shouldn't), but i can see first slide on the screen
If this crapp crashes. Connect, disconnect and connect again Vbukit for Chromecast, otherwise Vbukit User will not work.
Vbukit.com makes me wonder if it's not smart and efficient data mining project.
You upload file and they can do whatever they want with it.
Privacy policy means nothing in evil NSA age and connection to the site is just in http.
Intelligence, corporate espionage, sensitive personal info...
I did exactly what the above post recommends, but it always fails on uploading the pptx file. I can upload other file types, but not a powerpoint.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk
PowerPoint Question
primetime34 said:
Has anybody got this to work? I have tried, but I sure can't get it to work. I've got videos, audio, pictures, but not a powerpoint. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Primetime34, I can help you concerning this issues.
But first please answer these questions.
1. Are you using the Vbukit User Android or iPhone version of the app with Chromecast?
2. Are you accessing the PowerPoint file from Phone Storage, Google Drive, or Dropbox from within the Vbukit User app?
3. Is the file a ppt or a pptx?
If you can answer these questions, i will be able to address your issue. As well, we did notice a recently introduced bug when accessing PowerPoint in the Android version of the app using Dropbox. We are on that bug and will have it resolved in the next update due out in the next 24 to 48 hours.
Thank you and I look forward to your answers so I can address this issue.
I will let you know that we have tested PowerPoint using over two dozen Android phone models from Samsung, HTC, LG, Asus, and many more, as well as testing with iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s.
So far all those phones are able to do all the file types great and cast them to not only Chromecast but also to other Smart Phones, Computers, Tablets, and Smart TV's via Vbukit.com.
I await your reply.
primetime34 said:
I did exactly what the above post recommends, but it always fails on uploading the pptx file. I can upload other file types, but not a powerpoint.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Application is buggy and it's programmers fault. PERIOD
If you want to see it with your own eyes just look at the comments:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.creatingrevolutions.virtualbucket&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.creatingrevolutions.vbukitchromecast&hl=en
Privacy Question
mathorv said:
Chromecast only scenario PPT file:
Requirements:
Android device and chromecast on the same Wireless LAN
Vbukit for Chromecast (Android app)
AND
Vbukit User (Android app)
Procedure:
1. Run Vbukit for Chromecast, connect it to your chromecast device.
2. Press Send To TV - it will automatically open Vbukit User.
3. Choose Send file>send Business>Send File>Pick desired PPT file from phone
4. Scan bacrode from screen
5. Wait as it takes ages to upload file
6. Vbukit User app crashes all the time(and it shouldn't), but i can see first slide on the screen
If this crapp crashes. Connect, disconnect and connect again Vbukit for Chromecast, otherwise Vbukit User will not work.
Vbukit makes me wonder if it's not smart and efficient data mining project.
You upload file and they can do whatever they want with it.
Privacy policy means nothing in evil NSA age and connection to the site is just in http.
Intelligence, corporate espionage, sensitive personal info...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to answer your last question.
Vbukit is based on a technology we created called Virtual Bucket which is designed from the ground up to give you not only dramatic increase in security, but also total privacy and complete anonymity.
The system is completely blind to who or where the sender is, who or where the receiver is, and what you are sending.
I know its a new concept but we make sure you actually have real privacy.
So there is ZERO TRACKING, ZERO DATA COLLECTION, ZERO ADVERTISING!!!!
And we also don't charge you for using the system either.
That being said, to make a platform that allows this much privacy, security, and work with nearly every type of device and on nearly every OS is not an easy task.
we hope that clears up any concerns you might have and appreciate what we've built and that we are constantly improving the system which only recently fully came out for public use.
thank you from the Vbukit Team.
---------- Post added at 10:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:03 AM ----------
We do not currently have pptx file type integrated.
We do offer ppt and you can also convert your powerpoint to pdf.
Both those should work perfect, but pptx we do not support right now.
Vbukit said:
We do not currently have pptx file type integrated.
We do offer ppt and you can also convert your powerpoint to pdf.
Both those should work perfect, but pptx we do not support right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't get me wrong man but
#1 just inform about formats supported on play store site and if app is not stable yet rebrand it to Vbukit BETA because user rating will reach rock bottom level and comments will stone app/brand to death.
#2 In app add filetype not supported prompt if someone select popular, but not supported format.
#3 It's also worth to mention other apps limitations like filesize limits
Edit:
Using HTTPS instead of HTTP would also be dramatic increase in security and anonymity you mentioned.
Also adding straight Privacy Policy would be nice. What you do to protect data, info about data retention.
Office 2010 formats (.docx, .pptx, .xlsx etc) are generally not well-supported by third party applications. I have trouble with them even in Salesforce.
The older Office 2007-compatible formats (.doc, .ppt, .xls, etc) work much better.
@Vbukit thanks for taking the time to reach out and clarify the issues here.
Pretty cool that you're not data mining, I admit that I wondered about that myself.
Answer
Chromecast's actual SDK libraries were released literally less than a week ago.
1. This is a public beta
2. This is a very complex platform that does many many things, and works on dozens of devices on multiple OS's
3. Unlike basically all others, we don't track you, advertise to you, or charge you.
So how about some positive support
---------- Post added at 12:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:56 AM ----------
Thanks for the suggestion.
actually on chromecast it is running on HTTPS. Google mandates that.
the core system runs on HTTPS, but the front end hides that so that it can work on more devices.
we've found a good number of devices such as many smart tv's still don't like https, so we found a way to overcome that issue while still keeping the security.
but thank you for the suggestion, it is a good one and we're always open to other suggestions.
1. I am using the android version
2. From phone storage (I can't get anything to show up in the google drive on vbukit)
3. It is a pptx
Thanks!
Vbukit said:
Primetime34, I can help you concerning this issues.
But first please answer these questions.
1. Are you using the Vbukit User Android or iPhone version of the app with Chromecast?
2. Are you accessing the PowerPoint file from Phone Storage, Google Drive, or Dropbox from within the Vbukit User app?
3. Is the file a ppt or a pptx?
If you can answer these questions, i will be able to address your issue. As well, we did notice a recently introduced bug when accessing PowerPoint in the Android version of the app using Dropbox. We are on that bug and will have it resolved in the next update due out in the next 24 to 48 hours.
Thank you and I look forward to your answers so I can address this issue.
I will let you know that we have tested PowerPoint using over two dozen Android phone models from Samsung, HTC, LG, Asus, and many more, as well as testing with iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s.
So far all those phones are able to do all the file types great and cast them to not only Chromecast but also to other Smart Phones, Computers, Tablets, and Smart TV's via Vbukit.com.
I await your reply.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Solution
Great, this is very helpful.
Unfortunately, pptx is not handled well, so we do not support it.
What we do support currently support is ppt.
Additionally, you can save your pptx file as a pdf and we support that as well.
But unfortunately pptx right now we don't support.
As for Google Drive. If you don't see the file, Its because as stated, we don't support pptx.
I suggest you do a save as of your pptx and save it as either a ppt or pdf file format.
Then you should be good not only in seeing it in your Google Drive, but also in being able to cast it to the screen.
I hope this helps and i'll mark a note to inform you if in the future we offer pptx, which is on our road map.
Let me know if you need anything else and don't forget to comment and rate us positively.
Apps name before my suggestion:
Vbukit for Chromecast - Android Apps on Google Play and after Vbukit Chromecast Public Beta - Android Apps on Google Play
Vbukit User - Android Apps on Google Play and after Vbukit User (Public Beta)
@ https you're right, things are loaded from amazons cloud.
What meant and didn't say - in web browsers www.vbukit.com starts HTTP session not HTTPS so MITM is theoretically possible. Partial encryption will always be partial.
Good Idea
Oh, I get what you are saying now.
Thank you, that's helpful. I'll speak with my team and look to implement it.
Please let us know if you come up with other good ideas and have a great rest of the week.
Vbukit said:
Great, this is very helpful.
Unfortunately, pptx is not handled well, so we do not support it.
What we do support currently support is ppt.
Additionally, you can save your pptx file as a pdf and we support that as well.
But unfortunately pptx right now we don't support.
As for Google Drive. If you don't see the file, Its because as stated, we don't support pptx.
I suggest you do a save as of your pptx and save it as either a ppt or pdf file format.
Then you should be good not only in seeing it in your Google Drive, but also in being able to cast it to the screen.
I hope this helps and i'll mark a note to inform you if in the future we offer pptx, which is on our road map.
Let me know if you need anything else and don't forget to comment and rate us positively.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tried it with a ppt file and it still won't upload. It just says (after about 60 seconds of "Preparing Upload") "Can't upload file". I can upload other file types, but a ppt file just won't upload. Any other suggestions? Thanks.
We see the bug now, and are attacking it as we speak
Ok, we now see what you mean.
In the past week, we had a massive increase in the number of users and it has now revealed an instability specific to only android, in dealing with office files.
We are putting the whole team on this and will have a solution very soon, I promise. Its good you pointed this out, because oddly enough, you were the only one who said something.
having community members like you make things possible, so thank you for informing us.
So at this point i have two positive pieces of news for you.
1. If you convert your pptx to a pdf, you will be absolutely fine. That will work, i tested it myself. Its only the microsoft office files this bug causes problems with. So convert your pptx to pdf and you'll be set.
2. Because you've been so helpful and nice about this issue, unlike some internet trolls, i've stepped up work on not just solving the ppt problem, but also because of you, i've accelerated work to get pptx.
So for now, use PDF, and hopefully in a few days, you'll be able to use PPT and a very good chance we'll have PPTX.
Thanks again, and expect the fix in the next update.
have a great weekend.
Thanks for the quick response. I'll use the pdf alternative for now and hope to see the ppt/pptx support working on android soon. This is such a great app that I can think of so many different uses! Thanks again!
Vbukit said:
Ok, we now see what you mean.
In the past week, we had a massive increase in the number of users and it has now revealed an instability specific to only android, in dealing with office files.
We are putting the whole team on this and will have a solution very soon, I promise. Its good you pointed this out, because oddly enough, you were the only one who said something.
having community members like you make things possible, so thank you for informing us.
So at this point i have two positive pieces of news for you.
1. If you convert your pptx to a pdf, you will be absolutely fine. That will work, i tested it myself. Its only the microsoft office files this bug causes problems with. So convert your pptx to pdf and you'll be set.
2. Because you've been so helpful and nice about this issue, unlike some internet trolls, i've stepped up work on not just solving the ppt problem, but also because of you, i've accelerated work to get pptx.
So for now, use PDF, and hopefully in a few days, you'll be able to use PPT and a very good chance we'll have PPTX.
Thanks again, and expect the fix in the next update.
have a great weekend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PPTX
Well, we've worked hard to get a fast, stable, smart system to implement pptx and and its now released in todays latest update in the android market
so you can now use your PPTX files.
and i'll tell you, it was not easy to do.
enjoy
Ok long story short having trouble with one of my kids, I have an app (couple tracker) installed that allows me to see location, sms, and Facebook messages, but what I need is and app that can basically log all activities that I can install and hopefully password protect. I'm mainly looking to see what all email addresses get logged into via apps and Web browsers. And would also like to know what websites my kids been visiting. App does not have to be hidden but needs to be to where I can install it and it can't be tampered with.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
msd24200 said:
Ok long story short having trouble with one of my kids, I have an app (couple tracker) installed that allows me to see location, sms, and Facebook messages, but what I need is and app that can basically log all activities that I can install and hopefully password protect. I'm mainly looking to see what all email addresses get logged into via apps and Web browsers. And would also like to know what websites my kids been visiting. App does not have to be hidden but needs to be to where I can install it and it can't be tampered with.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get them a flip phone
msd24200 said:
Ok long story short having trouble with one of my kids, I have an app (couple tracker) installed that allows me to see location, sms, and Facebook messages, but what I need is and app that can basically log all activities that I can install and hopefully password protect. I'm mainly looking to see what all email addresses get logged into via apps and Web browsers. And would also like to know what websites my kids been visiting. App does not have to be hidden but needs to be to where I can install it and it can't be tampered with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well first off, there is no such thing as installing something that is beyond tampering. Especially not with a Nexus -- these things are DESIGNED FOR tampering.
At the moment, I'm not aware of any system developed in this manner to offer the type of monitoring that you are proposing.
One of the big issues with this, is that in order for it to work in a user friendly manner, it would actually require that EVERY application be modified to cooperate with it.
Otherwise, you're stuck basically with remote access and digging through system logs and application databases manually.
It is also worth noting that certain applications like the web browsers actually have privacy modes (some people call them "porn" mode) where they won't actually log activities.
The reason why sms can be relayed using the program you found, is that the sms database is system-level, not application-level. It is designed so that you can choose your own sms front-end, while leaving the complex telephony software at the root of it, all alone.
By the sounds of things, the problem you are having with your kid is beyond what you can deal with by adding controls and monitors to his/her phone. Since the kid knows you are watching, they WILL find alternative means of making those communications that you clearly don't want happening -- the ones you are watching for. You are going to have to find a better way to deal with this.
You want a keylogger, I've never used one on Android but a quick search popped this up http://www.vagueware.com/keylogger-software-for-android-phones/
Not sure if any work, search around for keylogger and find out you feel comfortable to try on your phone. Good luck
Edit 1-8-23: I've updated the Mantano apk file. Seems there were still some issues with the aspect ratio of the default.png (book cover) image. Fixed now at 1.5!
I keep my NSTG on FW 1.2.1 because there are issues with Tasker and plugins on FW 1.2.2. The resulting apps are OK, but development is a problem unless I do it on FW 1.2.1. So that one device has B&N apps removed. AlReader has been my go-to reader app. Until now.
While working on some thorny issues with a Tasker app update I came across a book I wanted to read. Unfortunately it was only available in PDF format and AlReader can't handle that. I soon found that something like EBookDroid really couldn't deal well with a PDF file that begged for text reflow (problematic as that is). I wanted something that was at least as good as the stock reader. I could have just picked up one of my other NSTs and read the book that way, but when you abandon the B&N system you should at least break even, not lose. So I went searching through the forum for some ideas.
Mantano Reader caught my interest. Not only can it reflow PDF text (pretty much like the stock reader-don't get too excited), it can also display PDFs as a continuous scroll, with zoom. It can handle Adobe DRM books! And the TTS works (not a big deal). So I looked around and started with version 2.2.12 from Apkpure. This is the last version for Android 2.1. I found that full-screen reading was broken in this version and I couldn't see why, so I worked my way back until it wasn't broken. That was version 2.2.3.
Not for everyone
Those are some of Mantano's virtues, but it's not for everyone. I think it's chief drawback is the absence of full font support. There is only the default (admittedly not bad) and although there is provision for user fonts, there are issues. More on that later. Then there is the really tiny user interface. The colors render somewhat muddy on the NST also. Those are really tough issues to address, certainly beyond my pay grade. Also, none of the syncing, cloud, downloading of dictionaries, OPDS books, fulfilling of .acsm files, additional fonts, user manuals, etc., works. Can't be fixed. I looked. Finally, the reader options are pretty simple, about what is available for the stock reader (except for fonts). So if you like the hundreds of setting combinations in something like AlReader or FB Reader, this app is not for you. If you want something straightforward so you can just read a book without all the B&N hoopla, Mantano may be worth a look.
Mods
When I started getting serious about this I decided to try to learn by doing. My goal was to remove (or at least hide/disable) stuff that did not work. Almost all of my modifications were in the resources folder of the apk file. There was also one annoying issue with the aspect ratio of book covers that required a minor change in two smali files (thanks to @Renate). Here's a short list:
1. Removed Bookstore (OPDS) tab on home screen (formerly "My Catalogs" as described in User Guide)
2. Removed menu icons for sync and cloud
3. Disabled sections in Settings that don't work (Login, Sync, Dictionary download, Fonts, User Manual download)
4. Corrected font colors in some local dialogs so text is visible
5. Made the page number black, smaller, and with a transparent background for less visual distraction
Also, there were a few dialogs with invisible text that used the system framework to generate the window. The only way to fix this was to make a few very minor changes in framework-res.apk. This worked well and even helped with a few other apps that formerly had invisible text. A win-win. You can update your framework-res.apk using the CWM zip provided below. Despite its filename, it is not an "update" zip. You'll just be installing a zip file with CWM.
Making do
Overdrive Library epubs: No app will be able to fulfill .acsm files on the NST/G. The SSL is just not up to it. So there's no point in registering the device with Adobe. That just wastes one of your allowed devices and so I disabled that first Settings selection. However, the app can read Adobe DRM books, understands due-dates, etc. You just need to introduce your device to ADE running on your PC (ver. 3.0 works well for me on Windows) and transfer fulfilled books from there, just as you would with the stock reader.
Fonts: You can, in theory, supply your own TrueType fonts and place them in /sdcard/Mantano/fonts. When a book is opened, the lower menu options include "Themes". This odd term is for adjusting the appearance of the book (fonts, margins, justification, line spacing, colors). You can make a new theme or edit the default one. Either way, you will get to select a font. You will see the font you added in the folder (you can copy any font you like from /system/fonts or from anywhere else). The problem is that Mantano has no way to deal with font families. For example, I prefer Malabar. Of course, there is the base font, the bold instance, italic, bold italic. Mantano makes you choose one of these. Clearly you choose the base font (no need to copy over the others). If there are italics or bold type in a book, the reader uses the default font. This would not be such an issue for small sections of emphasized text, but the font scales are not the same. Malabar is larger than the default font. So any italics is obviously smaller. I tried a software package for scaling the font but it just turned it into rubbish. I am learning to like the default font. This issue was fixed in version 2.4.6, based on what I've read. But that won't run on the NST, of course.
Dictionaries: The reader has the ability to go out to find definitions on the WWW. Big pain. Although you can't download any dictionaries from within the app, Mantano does play nicely with ColorDict and there are plenty of dictionary options for that. Easy fix.
User Guide: I poked around and found a guide labeled "Version 2.1". That was the best I could do. It seems pretty close, although what was the "Bookstore" tab in this version (which I have removed) is referred to as "My Catalogs" in the manual. Either way, it's non-functional and gone. The same goes for references to cloud, accounts and sync. None of it works and all of it has either been removed from view or disabled in this mod.
Extras
Unlike AlReader and FB Reader, Mantano's main activity is the library view. That means there is no simple way to use the "reading now" status bar button to go directly to your current book.
I also like to be able to use the current book cover as a screensaver. AlReader and CoolReader both have this capability. Mantano does not, but it does create thumbnails for each book (if you let it) and one of those is screensaver size (default.png). For some unknown reason, all the thumbnails of various sizes for display in the library have the correct aspect ratio except for default.png. I fixed this in the app with a view to using it as a screensaver image.
To address these issues, I have used Tasker to create two small apps. Mantano_Extras1 enables a listener for when the reader is closed (either by two presses of the back button or simply by pressing the "n" button). When that happens, the Mantano database is queried for the last reading point/book. This is stored in a variable. Accessing Mantano_Extras1 after setup sends a command to open that file. If Mantano is your default app for epubs and/or pdfs, the book will open automatically to the right place without passing through the library. Thus assigning Mantano_Extras1 to the "reading now" button with NookTouch ModManager restores the function of that button.
Mantano_Extras2 does everything described above. During setup it also creates the folder /media/screensavers/CurrentBookCover. When the reader is exited and the database information stored in a variable, it copies the default.png for the current book to that folder. If you select that folder in your NST Settings app for the screensaver, the current cover will be displayed during sleep.
I should add that both apps check to see if the current book has changed before they do anything. If there is no change, they simply stop.
As these are Tasker-generated apps (but don't require Tasker to run), they have a dependency on two small library files. If you don't have one of my other Tasker apps already, you need to copy the two files in the zip as below:
/system/etc/permissions/com.google.android.maps.xml
/system/framework/com.google.android.maps.jar
Set permissions for both files to rw-r--r-- and reboot. Without these files resident, the app will not install.
The apps also use sqlite3 and busybox. If you rooted with NookManager you already have busybox. A few other special packages probably include it. If you have it, you will find it in /system/xbin. If it's not there, copy the file from the zip to that location and set permissions to rwx-rwx-rwx.
If you don't already have sqlite3, move the file from the zip to /system/bin and set the permissions to rwx r-x r-x.
When you have prepared the way, reboot and then install whichever of the two "Extras" apps you want. When you first tap on the app icon there will be a pause while things are set up and then a request for root access. Once that's done they are good to go. Use NTMM to assign the app to the "reading now" status bar button and set your screensaver directory to "CurrentBookCover" (if you installed Mantano_Extras2).
This is nice work. I have heard good thing about Mantano reader before. I believe it still exists although under new name I think. Its sad that you had to remove app options to make it work on NST. Still I am glad that you make some improvement that could if exploited properly make this device better than before. I believe that solving invisible text message is best of what you did and if understood properly can make number of apps that had this problem before usable again for this device. I would not dismiss even TTS working as I remember that someone tried to implement that on NST before yet I do not remember it was solved. So if it work out of box with Mantano reader it might be prudent to see what makes it work if it is fine TTS not some hardly intelligible sound generator. This options you removed how did you confirmed that they are not working? For cloud I believe it was NST lockout and now enforced TLS1.2 it can not reach that gives you hard time. Yet for syncing it is little harder to understand. For the rest like OPDS and such I guess my knowledge is not sufficient to guess how that even work so if you know more than me I am more than ready to listen.
SJT75 said:
I believe it still exists although under new name I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now Bookari.
SJT75 said:
Its sad that you had to remove app options to make it work on NST.
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Click to collapse
I didn't so much remove options to make it work. It worked as-is, but not the login/download components, and they are not necessary for the reading functions.
SJT75 said:
I believe that solving invisible text message is best of what you did and if understood properly can make number of apps that had this problem before usable again for this device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's possible. I noticed improvement in dialog boxes for ES File Explorer. But there are other types of dialog boxes and I only dealt with what was needed for this app. Spillover is a gift.
SJT75 said:
I would not dismiss even TTS working as I remember that someone tried to implement that on NST before yet I do not remember it was solved. So if it work out of box with Mantano reader it might be prudent to see what makes it work if it is fine TTS not some hardly intelligible sound generator.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, that could have been me. Pico TTS (if not removed) always worked on the NST if you downloaded some voices. I have a post about this somewhere with links. But the quality is really wretched. I looked at this further awhile back and found that Google TTS began with Android 2.2 (of course). There is a "bridge" system involving a custom settings app but each application must include this custom code to work. I did a MOD for AlReader to enable this, but it's not easy and would be (nearly) impossible for Mantano as very few of the smali files have descriptive names. Most are just "a.smali, b.smali", etc. So it's really difficult to track down what you want.
SJT75 said:
This options you removed how did you confirmed that they are not working? For cloud I believe it was NST lockout and now enforced TLS1.2 it can not reach that gives you hard time. Yet for syncing it is little harder to understand. For the rest like OPDS and such I guess my knowledge is not sufficient to guess how that even work so if you know more than me I am more than ready to listen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not all SSL. Or it may be that also. The URLs in the apk file don't go anywhere, even on my PC browser. So far I've gotten up to version 4.5 and still no working URLs. Perhaps when Bookari emerged as the name the old URLs were abandoned and the old Mantano apps became crippled in this way.
Thanks nmyshkin you clarified some things. I agree that change to new platform and abandoning the URL domain for cloud use could be cause for that option not functioning anymore. Yet unless the syncing have not be performed through a same route (login account on the same domain) sync should function fine from one device to another for example. About the rest you are correct I have come to a same conclusion that even slight upgrade of Android on this device would make vast improvement in options available to exploit. Sadly B&N did not go that way. I will look upon PicoTTS to see if something about the way it actually work can be understood to evaluate if it is worth the effort or it maybe can be discarded as irrelevant for this device.
Just crossed my mind... nmyshkin did you tried to hunt down inside apk file exact spot where that URL is written/coded and change it to something else like IP address of your computer/drive/*/*/sync folder ?
SJT75 said:
Just crossed my mind... nmyshkin did you tried to hunt down inside apk file exact spot where that URL is written/coded and change it to something else like IP address of your computer/drive/*/*/sync folder ?
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Click to collapse
No, it didn't occur to me. I only read on one device so that's not the kind of thing that interests me. Also, I just transfer books over from my PC to the Nook when I get them, usually via FTP.
I did see cloud, sync, etc., URLs but I suspect that just changing them would not produce the capability you seem to be hinting at. It's likely a lot more complicated than that. It seems to me that syncing implies active communications from both ends. Teaching your PC to respond to the overtures of the Nook would be a whole other rats nest.
You are correct. Using URLs to connect to PC is not safe. Therefore some home workgroup network or SFTP access are more reasonable way. Maybe if you change cloud sink URL to Dropbox folder you get something?
SJT75 said:
You are correct. Using URLs to connect to PC is not safe. Therefore some home workgroup network or SFTP access are more reasonable way. Maybe if you change cloud sink URL to Dropbox folder you get something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think so. The app innards were designed for negotiating with certain remote servers and expect a certain dialog. Just changing the URL doesn't address these issues. Using Dropbox as an example, there are login credentials to be supplied and other issues to be addressed before files can be freely moved in either direction.
Well yes unless dropbox folder is public shared one what I wrote will not work. What if you link sync/cloud to internal folders on device inside Dropbox application that also initiate script written to execute Dropbox synchronization? Then login credentials would come from Dropbox app I think.
SJT75 said:
Well yes unless dropbox folder is public shared one what I wrote will not work. What if you link sync/cloud to internal folders on device inside Dropbox application that also initiate script written to execute Dropbox synchronization? Then login credentials would come from Dropbox app I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. I am not a Java programmer. What you are suggesting is going to require significant changes in the app. It's not in the same league as the modifications I made.
2. I have no interest in the feature. People who must have synchronization with myriad other devices would be better served by selecting an app that currently has this feature working (like FB Reader).
3. If someone who is a Java programmer and is interested in this feature wants to take a crack at it, more power to them. I personally think it's a dead end. Just about the time you get it figured out, Dropbox will no longer work on the NST. Any modification that relies on exchange with an external commercial server has a built-in self-destruct timer, just waiting for tightening external server access rules. It's over for Android 2.1.
nmyshkin said:
Just about the time you get it figured out, Dropbox will no longer work on the NST. Any modification that relies on exchange with an external commercial server has a built-in self-destruct timer, just waiting for tightening external server access rules. It's over for Android 2.1.
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Click to collapse
Amen to that. Making NST more cooperative with Calibre is much better option anyway. Commercial server could be also a trap. There was an outcry when Remarkable for example started charging access to their services out of blue and without warning.