***** Updated June 3, 2011 *****
Thanks again to everyone who helped with the beta testing. Just wanted you to know that I just posted version 1 to the Android Market. It's free and you can get it here:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.greggreno.whattowatch
-Gregg
***** Updated May 5, 2011 *****
Uploaded a new version to the same location. Here are the changes:
- Improved the scrolling position after adding more titles to the bottom, but still not perfect
- Fix bug leaving the Netflix registration window open
- Set maximum title list retrieval to 50 at a time
- Fixed bug with extra Edit Search Criteria icon showing in apps list
- Fixed size and look of loading images
- Added ability to turn off ads by buying an unlocker from the Android market
Netflix still hasn't fixed their problems with TV series and getting the data right in their API
***************************
Hi all. I've been working on a new Honeycomb only app called What To Watch, and I'm looking for some beta testers. Anyone interested in helping out?
I wanted a better way to browse for Netflix movies and also manage my queues. For example, I wanted to do something like "show me all Sci Fi movies available on Instant with a 3 star rating or higher, rated PG-13 or R, sorted by release date". I couldn't find any other web site or app to do this, so I figured I would build it myself.
There are 3 main sections:
1) My Searches - this is where you can create your own searches and save them for later. I create two to start with. Click on one and it will display the list in the panel on the right, 25 at a time. Once you click on one of the My Seaches items, you can edit it by long pressing it or clicking the Edit button at the top. Note that this uses a beta API from Netflix called OData. It's the only API that lets you do sophisticated searches like this, but unfortunately it is subject to change from Netflix and it may not always be current with the main Netflix library.
2) Netflix Queues - what you would expect. For example, what is in your DVD and Instant queues.
3) Top Lists - this comes from the Netflix web site rather than the API. It shows what the top titles are for each category. This method won't show the star ratings until you drill into a particular title.
You can download the apk here (note this is case sensitive):
http://jigawattlabs.com/temp/WhatToWatch.apk
Known issues:
This is the first release. Should probably call it an Alpha!
Authenticating with Netflix isn't quite right yet. You may wind up with the web browser still open after exiting the app, and you may get another instance of the app. But just exit everything and it should be ok
There is a bug with the Netflix API with TV series and specials. This is a problem on their end, so you might get some unexpected results when browsing TV shows
I would appreciate any and all comments in terms of general UI impressions, bugs, performance, usability.
You can reach me directly at [email protected].
Thanks!
-Gregg Reno
I just tried it out, seems to work great. I just wish there was a way to actually watch Netflix on my zoom
Thanks for trying it out. I'd love to be able to watch netflix movies as well, and I think we will see that at some point. Hopefully once Netflix makes that possible, I can integrate that into the app.
I'm also going to implement a friends feature, where you can mark your favorite movies and share it with friends, and see what their favorites are.
Comments from other folks are welcome!
My first impression of the app is that it has some shared elements with amazon's web page, which is great. But the reason I say first impression is that it isn't registering with netflix.
Sent from my Xoom the way it should be, rooted and with SD card.
chbennett - thanks for testing. Can you give me some more info on the problem you had registering? When clicking almost anything it should prompt you to register. If you say ok, it should take you to a Netflix web page. You may have to log in and then it should prompt you to give permission to the What To Watch application. If you approve,it should take you back to the app and you should be able to run any of the searches on the left.
Where did you run into problems?
I installed it on my XOOM. Log in into Netflix without any problems. Searching also good, but could be good to add additional information about movie like Availability (for some of it shows when it will be available in stream).
It's a pity that we still missing Hulu or Netflix apps on our XOOM. Get used to watch it on my iPad(
greno1 said:
chbennett - thanks for testing. Can you give me some more info on the problem you had registering? When clicking almost anything it should prompt you to register. If you say ok, it should take you to a Netflix web page. You may have to log in and then it should prompt you to give permission to the What To Watch application. If you approve,it should take you back to the app and you should be able to run any of the searches on the left.
Where did you run into problems?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Basically all it did for me (ill try it again) was stall out on the "registering with netflix" in app pop up, going no further.
Edit: still doesn't work
Sent from my Xoom the way it should be, rooted and with SD card.
Great app! Forcecloses when I click on New Instant Choices under Top Lists category
Also when going into the Instant Que list; I click one of the movies and it takes me to the description. I can also click on Similar, Drop from Instant or Add to Disc. If I choose Drop from Instant and click the back arrow it still shows in the Instant Que listing. Can we have the option of clicking the Instant Que button on the top left corner in the movie description to go back to the Instant Que listing and if we do happen to press the back arrow could the Instant Que listing automatically update with the removal of the movie?
Kozdoba - I will be adding additional information like directors and awards, but I'll also look at adding availability. Do you have an example title in mind I can test with?
bishop72 - thanks for finding the problem with the New Instant choices. I'll look at that one, but it may be because that's a really big list and I'm not handling it correctly. Also, good idea about removing titles from the instant titles if you click the remove from instant button. But the problem with that for me is if I remove it from the list, it should probably close that title window because it's no longer in the instant queue. Maybe someone hit the remove button by mistake and they want to re-add it?
Also I notice that there is some type of caching going on with the adding and removing from queues. When you add or remove, it does that action and then sends another request to netflix to get the current status. But it may not register that quickly. So you may hit remove from instant, and then I get back a status from Netflix saying it's still in the instant queue. If you click it again, it shows up ok.
I appreciate the feedback - good or bad!
greno1 said:
Kozdoba - I will be adding additional information like directors and awards, but I'll also look at adding availability. Do you have an example title in mind I can test with?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look this series soon will be available online.
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Death_Note/70081003?trkid=2361637
downloaded the apk to nook but just got a parse error failed to load. I really love my netflix and was looking forward to tablet style look on nc.
The app installed fine, the Netflix login auth worked fine as well. The fit & finish look good as well. Some of the images and searches render a bit slow, but that could be my wifi. I will play with it more through the day and report back.
I believe i heard that Netflix was going to do a live stream with Netflix only productions, so a Top List of Netflix Original or something would be good.
Everyone - thanks for testing and for the comments. I really appreciate it! It's interesting it worked for some but didn't work for dbolton. Not sure why that is.
dbolton - can you post a screen shot of your error, or email it to me at [email protected]? I also took a few screen shots so you can see what it should look like:
http://jigawattlabs.com/w2w/screen1.png
http://jigawattlabs.com/w2w/screen2.png
kiteOregon - once Netflix posts a list of their own content in some type of list, I'll definitely look at adding that. For the Top Lists section, I'm just using the Netflix RSS feeds linked from the bottom of the page. Modified it somewhat to return no more that 50 at a time though since it would load too slow.
Thanks again!
-Gregg
Thus far all is working well. I really like the interface too, great job!
I am going to keep tinkering with it and let you know if I run into any issues or have any suggestions.
Thanks for the great app!
chbennett said:
Basically all it did for me (ill try it again) was stall out on the "registering with netflix" in app pop up, going no further.
Edit: still doesn't work
Sent from my Xoom the way it should be, rooted and with SD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I heard that Netflix was having problems with authorization from 3rd party apps. As a work around the suggest launching your browser and log into Netflix. Leave the browser running, and then launch the app and try to register again. Can you let me know if that works?
-Gregg
garyh2 said:
Thus far all is working well. I really like the interface too, great job!
I am going to keep tinkering with it and let you know if I run into any issues or have any suggestions.
Thanks for the great app!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Working to add more features.
somehow I now have a 'edit search criteria' icon (same as main apps icon) in my app drawer as if it were a separate app.
My initial reaction is very positive, but I have the same issue as garyh2. When I tell it to uninstall, I am informed that it is part of the main application so obviously I left it there. This is a weird bug though...
The only other thing I noticed is that the placeholder icons that appear before titles and images populate are slightly larger than the images and titles that replace them. This doesn't really cause problems but is slightly distracting.
I really like the power search function and the ability to save searches and haven't really seen this functionality elsewhere. Good job!
Thanks garyh2 and vidriera - ill take a look at that. The edit screen is a separate activity rather than a fragment, which is probably its somehow getting its own icon. Just one of the differences with honeycomb I need to figure out.
Also good point about the loading graphic. I'll fix that too.
Related
7.0.7008.0 - 03/03/2011
Hi Guys Most people are getting the Update only few on Uk O2 and US Tmob seem to be not getting it
I have unlocked UK O2 and just popped a tmobile UK sim and have updated my phone
so good luck ........
Your Questions Answered about updates - 25/02/11
http://goo.gl/Fw4kW
First Windows Update and How to Get It - 22/02/2011
http://goo.gl/AS3SM
NEW on Upcmong UPdates :14/0212011
Microsoft announced several new Windows Phone 7 features coming in 2011, including a “dramatically enhanced” browser experience based on Internet Explorer 9; additional multitasking capabilities; support for Microsoft Office documents in the cloud; and the addition of Twitter to the People Hub. The expanded capabilities announced today include:
•
Copy and paste functionality via first major update, coming in the next month
•
Twitter integration directly into the People Hub in 2011
•
Support for Office documents in the cloud in 2011
•
Dramatically enhanced Web browser experience based on IE9 in 2011
•
A new wave of multitasking applications in 2011
•
Targeting significant volume of Nokia Windows Phones in 2012
Multi Tasking
Want to know how the eventual, inevitable implementation of app multitasking on Windows Phone 7 will look? Wonder no longer: it's cards, which seems to be the way a lot of guys are going after webOS showed how to do it right a couple years back, and it looks hot. If you press the Start button you'll see the app tiles, then press the back button and you'll be right back in your app right where you left off. However, that's just the beginning: hold the back button you'll get a card-like view of all running apps. Pick your app and you're back where you left off in that one. You can multitask even in games, have Slacker playing in the background, and if you press a volume button while on the home screen you'll get a quickie interface for changing track, pausing, and playing.
Official link here http://www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/features/update-info.aspx
One question we hear often is: What’s next for Windows Phone? We’re obsessive about listening closely to our customers and improving our phone software. So over the next few months, look for updates that add some new features you’ve asked for and also tune up your phone’s performance.
Here’s a peek at some of what’s ahead:
Copy and paste
Soon you’ll be able to copy text from emails, text messages, web pages, and Office Mobile documents, and paste it anywhere you can type.
Using copy and paste is easy and intuitive. In many cases you just tap a word, slide your finger to highlight any additional text, then tap the Copy icon. To insert this text in a message or app, just tap the spot where it should go, then tap the Paste icon.
Copy and paste is a handy way to quickly send someone’s latest Facebook update, turn-by-turn directions from Maps, or a must-see link from Internet Explorer Mobile. Once you’ve copied something, you can paste it again and again.
The new feature adds to the list of time-saving shortcuts already built into Windows Phone, like the ability to tap an address on a webpage to map it (US only).
Faster apps and games
Nobody likes to wait. That’s why we’ve whittled down the time it takes for apps and games to start up and resume. It’s all part of our focus on getting you to the things you love, easier and faster.
Better Marketplace search
We’ve streamlined Marketplace search to make it easier to find specific apps, games, or music. Press the Search button in the apps or games section of Marketplace and you’ll see only apps or games in the results.
Press Search in the music section of Marketplace to search just the music catalog.
Getting phone updates
How will you know when an update is available? Easy. Your phone is designed to automatically tell you via a pop-up message (unless you’ve turned this option off). For more details, see How do I update my phone software? link here http://www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/howto/wp7/basics/how-do-i-update-my-phone-software.aspx
Nice. Thanks for this.
SWYPE! GIVE US SWYPE!!!!!
jimbonics said:
Nice. Thanks for this.
SWYPE! GIVE US SWYPE!!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
most likely it will be a paid app in the market place..
tfn said:
Official link here http://www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/features/update-info.aspx
One question we hear often is: What’s next for Windows Phone? We’re obsessive about listening closely to our customers and improving our phone software. So over the next few months, look for updates that add some new features you’ve asked for and also tune up your phone’s performance.
Here’s a peek at some of what’s ahead:
Copy and paste
Soon you’ll be able to copy text from emails, text messages, web pages, and Office Mobile documents, and paste it anywhere you can type.
Using copy and paste is easy and intuitive. In many cases you just tap a word, slide your finger to highlight any additional text, then tap the Copy icon. To insert this text in a message or app, just tap the spot where it should go, then tap the Paste icon.
Copy and paste is a handy way to quickly send someone’s latest Facebook update, turn-by-turn directions from Maps, or a must-see link from Internet Explorer Mobile. Once you’ve copied something, you can paste it again and again.
The new feature adds to the list of time-saving shortcuts already built into Windows Phone, like the ability to tap an address on a webpage to map it (US only).
Faster apps and games
Nobody likes to wait. That’s why we’ve whittled down the time it takes for apps and games to start up and resume. It’s all part of our focus on getting you to the things you love, easier and faster.
Better Marketplace search
We’ve streamlined Marketplace search to make it easier to find specific apps, games, or music. Press the Search button in the apps or games section of Marketplace and you’ll see only apps or games in the results.
Press Search in the music section of Marketplace to search just the music catalog.
Getting phone updates
How will you know when an update is available? Easy. Your phone is designed to automatically tell you via a pop-up message (unless you’ve turned this option off). For more details, see How do I update my phone software? link here http://www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/howto/wp7/basics/how-do-i-update-my-phone-software.aspx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All fine and dandy, when can we expect this, mine is collecting dust, so I need to know when to turn it on to get the update.
Reading through what they are updating, they are giving us one thing that is need, leaving out 20 other important things, then focusing on what makes them money, games and market place, go figure.
I am excited about the windows phone 7 updates that will be coming down the pipeline soon. I actually wrote an article about it for Yahoo the other day. You can check it out here
http://www.associatedcontent.com/ar..._phone_7_update_is_on_the_horizon.html?cat=15
What i would also like though is an update from HTC that fixes battery life issues and sound level from the speakers, then all would be well in the world
brett_day said:
I am excited about the windows phone 7 updates that will be coming down the pipeline soon. I actually wrote an article about it for Yahoo the other day. You can check it out here
http://www.associatedcontent.com/ar..._phone_7_update_is_on_the_horizon.html?cat=15
What i would also like though is an update from HTC that fixes battery life issues and sound level from the speakers, then all would be well in the world
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice way to advertise your self, or as its called in the marketing world " nice plug"
But your article misses the big picture as many have, they give us copy and paste to shut us up, and then focus on fixing or improving what makes them money.
Till they add in the other 20 important missing functions which every smart phone in todays markets should have, your praising a product which is an insult on our intelligence.
when are we likely to get the update? i just got my hd7 today switched from android. i have to say the os is smooth. but lack of apps makes me sad . and the youtube app does not have hq option which sux.
they need to let us manually configure hidden network...
2012iawait said:
the youtube app does not have hq option
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get the HTC YouTube app from marketplace and be happy that it solves this problem.
2012iawait said:
youtube app does not have hq option which sux.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Posted already
still waitting......
Why do we have this thread? We don't even have the update yet, it's misleading. Who knows exactly when they're releasing the update. By the time they release the update this thread will be 1,000 pages long LOL
Not a good idea to me
rysky007 said:
All fine and dandy, when can we expect this, mine is collecting dust, so I need to know when to turn it on to get the update.
Reading through what they are updating, they are giving us one thing that is need, leaving out 20 other important things, then focusing on what makes them money, games and market place, go figure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the marketplace search is an awesome update. I thought it was terrible searching for apps and music was thrown in there. Supposedly they're fixing all the other problems later in the year with a HUGE update.
Don't worry be happy. Good news it has been officially announced that there will be an update for hd7 soon....the exact date will be announced and soon as it is guess what You will know. In the meantime I suggest live your lives, make someone smile, make another happy. Get some fresh air and smile.
updated info on first page
Update coming by March now , fingers crossed and it does look promising,
although no news about what htc will be doing to sort some of the problems we are having or if MS will fix em for us
thread title is too misleading. It should say coming update!
vcard support coming??
http://twitter.com/#!/WinPhoneSupport/status/37205768843300864
http://twitter.com/#!/microsofttag/status/37299986991423489
just thought I'd share.
Windows First update
Read link on first Page
Apparently its gonna be a small update to update the updater
evolutionqy7 said:
thread title is too misleading. It should say coming update!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ditto...plus, what's the girls gonna cry about..? this os runs w/o the update...folks always want to ***** about something!
I still stuck at version 7004, anyone here have version 7008 already? Or the newest one from MS that brick the Samsum WP7 One?
April 7
Here's another new version.
Turned on hardware acceleration.
Fixed some of the initial setup issues.
Fixed issue when using a Wifi XOOM with the web service.
Fixed some misc infrequent crashes
Removed some unecessary debug code
Known issues
Colors still don't work
If you choose a google account, and have never provided permission before, a loading dialog will not show up. This has been a ***** to fix because the emulator is dog slow and I have to wipe everytime I try to test.
---------------------------
As promised here's a new release. quickjotter-android2.apk is the new one. I left the old one on there in case you don't like the permissions for the new one.
It has a few performance improvements. There is now an editor in the main view, so you can still use the syncing without having the always visible sticky. I've also added a syncing component, just choose a google account when the app first runs to use that account.
http://quickjotter.appspot.com for the web interface. Log in with whatever account you choose when you first run the app. Syncing to your XOOM is done via C2DM, so it does not poll and should impact battery life minimally.
Please uninstall the old version before installing this one.
Some notes...
I've had some testing troubles since I can't figure out how to wipe out the permissions to access a Google Account without removing it, which is a total pain in the ass. So it's quite possible this version will crash right off the bat. I apologize if it does. Hopefully I'll be able to test a first use aspect more this week before it goes public. Please let me know any oddities related to account permissions.
The colors don't work yet.
The account selection is very rough, press it once and wait a few seconds it should go away. If you hit the back button it will likely screw up. This is my priority to fix this coming week.
---------------
Hi guys,
I started working on a proof of concept for a sticky note app for the XOOM.
Right now there's one note, it's the only note. Swipe inward over the bar to bring up the note. You can't move the note.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Please don't distribute it.
-mike dg
This looks neat. I'll give it a try.
For what its worth, my home screen began to run really rough after installing this and having the service run in the background. But its a very handy app. Looking forward to further developements.
Hmmm. Perhaps it's due to the transparency. I'll look into it.
Hopefully this weekend I'll have a new version up.
Some editing and UI improvements. Some performance improvements as well, since I remove some bad debug cod. Also push synching between your device and the web. So you can get stuff off of or put it onto your XOOM.
Awesome idea, I have to agree there is some pretty heavy slow down post installation.
Going to remove the semi transparentness of the bar. Any objections or suggestions? The sticky note will remain semi transparent.
Yay for new version.
Couldn't open the apk..
Just me? Hmm.
this is great! Thank you Thank you Thank you
Hi guys,
I should have a new release in the next few days. Mainly bug fixes. I'll possibly work on getting colors working or at least removing that toolbar if they don't work.
Any thoughts on the current version. Stability issues? Has anyone used the website?
-Mike
Mike
The app is great! The only thing I suggest is nothing that will make the app more functional, but rather aesthetically pleasing IMO. Can you capitalize the "new" and "hide" buttons?
also possibly making the hidden bar a bit skinnier?
Thanks for the suggestions. I have no sense of style, so most of my apps are ugly as hell, but I hope they are usable.
kaze00 said:
Thanks for the suggestions. I have no sense of style, so most of my apps are ugly as hell, but I hope they are usable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haha, you are too humble..just keep making updates! =)
so any updates on this? Another suggestion is the ability to access the settings menu from the note. Like have a new, hide and settings button
Going to be a delay of a few days until the next version. Just swapped my XOOM for a wifi one, and that caused a handful of issues.
Also noticed some peculiarities with the website data. Anyone out there want to tell me if the web syncing has been working?
Any updates?
Just because you asked I'll put the current Work in Progress later today. It's pretty stable except for a wonky initial sign in if you pick a Google Account, you will see no loading screen for a few seconds.
Ok latest version updated. Next on the agenda is adding the location setting to the note and making the "bar" much more eye pleasing and less intrusive.
Hi All,
First time posting here, I've been developing an Xbox Media Center remote for Windows Phone 7 as A) It's fun and B) The other available ones are crap.
My app is called XBMC Remote7 and I'm about ready to submit it to the market place, I was wondering if there's anyone around that uses Xbox Media Center and has a WP7 phone (Developer or otherwise unlocked) that would be keen to give my app a go and give me some feedback?
You can browse your media libraries and control Xbox Media Center via a virtual remote.
I have both. are you on gpforums as well?
my device is not developer unlocked so will need to download it from the marketplace.
More pictures (I can't link to external image sites yet )
And that's all the pics
@powersquad Hey yeah I'm a member on GP. Hopefully this will be on the marketplace within a few weeks
cool. can you please update this thread when it's in the marketplace. I use WMC on 360 a lot and have a samsung focus. will provide feedback every now and then.
Does will have a free version?
orb3000 said:
Does will have a free version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There will be a free trial version that limits the amount of media items you can view. Everything will work the same as the full version you just won't get all your movies and music etc. in the lists.
Ok that sounds good, if you post a download link I can write an article on our portal
let me know
Here's the free trial version if anyones interested - mediafire.com/?89eda202b9fe9fz
You need Xbox Media Center 10.0 or newer and must have the web interface enabled in the settings menu.
Would love some feed back!
Here attached as well, thanks!
Going to give those a go and I'll report back ... Looks pretty decent from the screen shots though.
Aaron McCarthy said:
Going to give those a go and I'll report back ... Looks pretty decent from the screen shots though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you get on?
Can you please check the stick for this sections guidelines and edit your OP accordingly?
~~Tito~~
Thanks to some awesome feedback from williammel I've been ironing out bugs and tightening the UI.
Will post up a new build soon and really looking to get this on the market place within a few weeks.
Any feedback is appreciated
It's named 'XBMC Media Center'
Looks really nice! Would give it a try, but I have no unlocked device! So I will wait till its in Marketplace!
btw, hope your app will not spy the phone/owner identity like the other remote apps
I'm not able to test the app, but I'm using the XBMC remote for iOS. And I would love to see some kind of listview for the movie library. It takes to long to scroll through pictures and descriptions of every movie, if you have a bigger library.
Sure thing good idea The long list selector makes this less of a problem on WP7 but it can still be an issue on larger libraries.
The first release will essentially look the same as the screenshots in the first post, but I've already started working on extra "skins" that can be changed by the user that completely alter the look and feel. I'll put in a large library/minimalist skin
dstruktiv said:
Sure thing good idea The long list selector makes this less of a problem on WP7 but it can still be an issue on larger libraries.
The first release will essentially look the same as the screenshots in the first post, but I've already started working on extra "skins" that can be changed by the user that completely alter the look and feel. I'll put in a large library/minimalist skin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since you mentioned it.. I'd like to see a way to switch from Banner/Poster mode in the app. Basically, when you are caching the image, perform some sort of guess based on the LxW of the image, and determine if it's a banner or poster. And then display it accordingly.
The other XBMC app I have made me switch to banners. Now yours is making me switch to posters. It would be an awesome feature to support both.
I have four XBMC devices in this house and a HD7 that is developer unlocked and running nodo update.
Hey folks,
Bored of IE and annoyed by bad browsing-experiences of third party apps?
Use all features of the default webbrowser and enjoy some additional
tweaks implemented by me to improve your everyday web usage:
- Unlimited trial (no annoying ads in important areas)
- up to 10 tabs
- custom urlBar position
- multiple startpages
- integrated Back/Forward & search functions
- scalable brightness
- LiveTile support
- orientation-lock
- custom contextmenu
- individual style
- 100% fullscreen
- run under locked screen
- back-up-feature
- pin to start feature
UPDATE: submitted for certification
while 1.1 is going to arrive in marketplace soon, I'm already working on 1.2 which will include:
A more IE-like,stunning mainpage
A more responsive UI (input-feedback)
auto-full screen option
progressbar
Bugfixes
post feedback, bugs, complaints (...) HERE or email/PM me.
mail: [email protected], also found on the aboutpage.
Let me know what u think, everything positive and negative
So far, hope theres some use for it
roqstr
added in 1.1:
userAgent switcher (desktop,mobile)
scrollable urlbar
scalable imagequality
bugfixes
*********CHANGE-LOG*********
in-app now!
Can you give details on the app. Is it using the IE Engine or you have it from scratch etc.
wpxbox said:
Can you give details on the app. Is it using the IE Engine or you have it from scratch etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry, i should have mentioned this. It's completely based on IE
Everybody who couldn't install yet, try this:
1. copy the zune-link i sent you.
2. write a mail to yourself.
3. open it on your phone.
for the 12 folks that are already in i sent a mail to their live-inbox.
hope that solves the installation issue.
Installing got no problem.Try google you tube it's quite fast and manage toplay video without any problem.The only thing I must get used to the tab.Well so far there's not any bug yet .
When I make a new tab it seems I can't search when I type xda developers it says ERROR Invalid url.I think every tab that we make if possible make to the home page.
Ttblondey said:
Installing got no problem.Try google you tube it's quite fast and manage toplay video without any problem.The only thing I must get used to the tab.Well so far there's not any bug yet .
When I make a new tab it seems I can't search when I type xda developers it says ERROR Invalid url.I think every tab that we make if possible make to the home page.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Search isn't implemented yet, will be in soon.
The home-page can be set in settings-> general-> new tab
thanks for fast feedback
BETA tester
My response from BETA-testing. (Note: Even if you have posted some bugs I'll still fill my list with what I experience)
Phone: LG Optimus 7
Status: Works perfectly!
My current status: Stopped BETA testing.
Positive:
100% fullscreen
Customization!
Live tile with information about current session!!
Slide up the URL tab on fullscreen to get to normal view without fullscreen.
Fast web browser
Share page function (lovely!!)
It's now my official MAIN browser!
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Things to maybe improve & suggestions:
First startpage is google.de, could have been google.com (but nothing special actually)
Maybe you could make your own videoplayer to play eg. youtube videos on, instead of using the phone's player (not required since the videoplayer of the phone is also good)
Also have the abillity to press the favorites url instead of only the visit button at the bottom. But keep it.
Maybe slide with 2 or 3 fingers down on the screen for entering/exiting fullscreen mode?
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Negative and or Currently found bugs:
When entering fullscreen mode, it's hard to get back to regular. I had to tap like 5 times on the black button at the bottom left. (hard to use the button)
If the application opens without internet connection it will say ERROR, no network available. But it does say it when I change to other menus such as settings (keep spamming ERROR everywhere)
Theres no suggestion of websites when entering a url for eg. if you enter www.fa it could show up some suggestions like facebook or failblog.
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I'll edit this post with more when I find
thanks for that wonderful feedback, so much inspiration
some response to the bugs:
- i'm currently working on the suggestionlist, shouldn't be that difficult.
- for the fullscreen-button i got a new solution, what should make it much
easier.
- the Network-check must be fixxed, thanks for your discovery.
@Ttblondey: search function is now included
I have given my review here and video review here.
Overall I found the app to be very nice and smooth. A good alternative for sure but there are few things you can look into except the bugs which is already reported.
1) One is integration with skydrive for syncing bookmarks etc.
2) More Gestures
3 ) Open up option for both Google and Bing as search engine.
4 ) cookie turn on and off.
Rest is all good, keep us rolled in beta.
wpxbox said:
I have given my review here and video review here.
Overall I found the app to be very nice and smooth. A good alternative for sure but there are few things you can look into except the bugs which is already reported.
1) One is integration with skydrive for syncing bookmarks etc.
2) More Gestures
3 ) Open up option for both Google and Bing as search engine.
4 ) cookie turn on and off.
Rest is all good, keep us rolled in beta.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm really pleased about your review.
1) 2) & 4) are noticed.
for 3) view my changelog
could you sent me this app? [email protected]
thanks
Please read the first post carefully
I would like a "Search for text" function in the functions menu Would be awesome to be able to search for words on a page
And else I can say that I'm really happy with the browser, works well, and hopefully soon releasing? Because then you could like update with small minor updates incase something is needed
Happy New Year roqstr!
there's a search for text function ;O it's just not my own at the moment, a provisional solution,if you will
Yea, but i always find features that shouldn't be missing in the release-version, to make it working right
next week i'll be busy with school, shouldn't fail my exams
afterwards, i'd be able to release an open beta, just for some extra feedback
next step is fixing last issues and then i'll release ;P
if somebody do have experience with apphub, pubcenter & co, he can pm me to help me understanding
thanks, hope you all enjoyed New Year's Eve, i did ;P
Still waiting to test this thing
it looks nice, can't wait for release :O
I wrote a browser, based on IE its in my signature.
I'll be happy to test your browser and get better result to my and your app.
Biggest issue at the moment is the picture-viewer, but I hope I can handle this soon.
@sma6871: I'll test it and message you when I have questions or suggestions.
Unfortunately I forget to set trial mode, but now I send a trial mode enable update, and it will be up to date soon.
open beta out now. read 1st post!
Here is my feedback :
1.Dropdown to switch between search engines
2 Where did Advance Main Colour Gone ?
3. When I try yo change Main Colour Accent Colour it gives me sorry message "You Should not Overwrite the accent style"
4. Find Text Crashes the app
5. You can think of ignoring pics which are of very small size in the Picture view.
6. Picture viewer also picks up YouTube thumbnail as picture but does not display anything.
5-31-21 I've ceased development on this app because I think there is a better alternative. See post #7.
*updated to version 1.3, adding error trap for discontinued or blank feeds*
It's been awhile since the demise of the last working version of Genie Widget (aka Google News and Weather) but not so long since the big G retooled news.google.com so that our browsers can no longer deal with it and also put the kibosh on the Google News RSS feeds. Sigh.
I have a work-around
Google News 1.3 for the NST/G exploits the "alerts" that Google offers on news topics. These alerts can be optioned in the form of RSS feeds. My app downloads the HTML source for the feed, picks out all the good stuff and trashes all the rest, then builds up a local HTML document which is easily displayed by our browsers (I highly recommend Opera Mobile for ease of scrolling and general all-around function). You can build up your own topics, change your mind, mix them about, read that one more story you didn't get to the first time around, etc. I'm not saying that your browser will negotiate every target link. Some newspaper sites have just become too much. That was true even when Genie Widget was still working. But updating Opera Mobile for TLS 1.2 solves much of that. See this post for details.. The beauty of this app is in the simplicity. It's entirely browser-based once the feeds are downloaded, so you're not going back and forth between the app and your browser (like the current Google News app.......). Designed for both portrait and landscape.
Requirements
1. Android 2.1 has a security issue with opening local HTML files. In order for Google News to work properly you need to address that. Included in the zip below is a tiny app, android-open-in-browser-0.0.4-4-debug. Install that. It's not my app but I have used it for years and wish I could credit the originator.
2. This is a Tasker-generated app. If you already have one of my other Tasker-generated apps or have previously installed GApps, you don't need the two Google maps library files included in the zip and can delete them. If you do need them, copy the two files into the locations shown 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.
3. Create a folder in the root directory of your sdcard: Google News (exactly as shown)
4. Install the app itself, Google News.1.apk
How to use
Before you run the app you need to select some news categories, set up the feeds, get the URLs, blah-blah-blah. All of this is covered in the PDF included with the zip. It may seem a little annoying at the start, but it goes quickly once you get started and it's not like you have to do it every time you use the app. You're just setting up your news topics, just as if you were using the current Google News (either the app or the web version). Once you have your topics and URLs and have edited the included text file google_rss_feeds.txt, copy that into the Google News folder of your sdcard.
Note: recently (June 2019) the big G has not been very consistent with the RSS feeds. Some days they are "empty" but come back the next day with lots of stories. Some feed topics simply "die" and a minor change in the topic will resurrect them (change "World" to "World news", as an example). Version 1.3 includes a trap for these eventualities so that the app should not crash, even if your first feed comes up empty. To inspect/edit your feeds, point your browser (on your PC) to your Google Alerts page. If you are signed in this will be found among the options on the Google home page, in the upper right corner where the "apps" grid is shown.
Now you're good to go. Start the app, make sure you're connected to WiFi. There are only three buttons on the app screen. The first one, "Fetch the news" does just that. You will see a little toast that the first news category is being prepared. Once that is done, you will be taken to the browser and that page will open. Meanwhile the remaining pages are being downloaded and reconstructed in the background.
The news page is very simple. I tried to aim for readability over all other considerations (this is the reason the news items are in bold black, even though they are the external links). I have my Opera Mobile set to 100% page zoom. It looks good to me, but you could probably get away with 75%. External websites are another matter. At the title bar left is a drop-down menu button that gives you access to your other news topics. Since no fixed navbar schemes work under Android 2.1, there is a duplicate drop-up menu bar at the end of the page. The use of NoRefresh, or to a lesser extent FastMode, is a plus.
Edit: you cannot use this app with Opera Mini. It lacks the ability to open local HTML files.
The second option on the opening screen, "Read old news" sounds a bit daft, but I just thought maybe someone might have been looking at the topic pages, saw something that interested them and then got interrupted. So this option opens the first local file in the browser again and you can navigate from there. Strictly speaking, WiFi is not needed to browse the local files once they have been created, but it is needed to pursue any stories.
The third option simply dismisses the app screen.
Whew! So this is new...and I think I exterminated all the bugs, but I did not try other browsers. I'm open to suggestions and would appreciate feedback.
Google alert change? No option for RSS alerts anymore...
First off, thanks so much for putting the time and effort into this app. I would love to have a more "future-proof" news reader solution for my NST. Sadly however, in typical Google fashion of constantly dropping/messing with feature support, it seems that there is no longer an option to deliver Google alerts to RSS feeds (only email addresses). If I'm reading this thread and your PDF correctly, I'm worried that this may break the app. In any case I'm stuck on page 3 of your setup PDF since I can't figure out how to get the RSS alert string from Google anymore. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated!
v619284 said:
First off, thanks so much for putting the time and effort into this app. I would love to have a more "future-proof" news reader solution for my NST. Sadly however, in typical Google fashion of constantly dropping/messing with feature support, it seems that there is no longer an option to deliver Google alerts to RSS feeds (only email addresses). If I'm reading this thread and your PDF correctly, I'm worried that this may break the app. In any case I'm stuck on page 3 of your setup PDF since I can't figure out how to get the RSS alert string from Google anymore. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm away from home right now but my copy of the app is working so the RSS feeds must still exist. I'll have to sit down with my instructions in front of the computer and see what mischief they've done. Thanks for letting me know.
v619284 said:
If I'm reading this thread and your PDF correctly, I'm worried that this may break the app. In any case I'm stuck on page 3 of your setup PDF since I can't figure out how to get the RSS alert string from Google anymore. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, so I've run through the instructions sitting at my PC. Everything is correct although Firefox no longer wants to open the RSS feed page as anything other than an xml "text" file. That just means the image on page 4 needs updating.
As far as page 3, everything is currently exactly as shown. Just to be sure, you have to be signed in to Google on your browser before you do any of this. Then when you get to the screen depicted on page 3 you need to change the "Deliver to" option to RSS feed. But even before that, it's important not to get sucked into the email alert business back on page 2. Do NOT click on "Create Alert" there, only on "Show options". That's how you get to the screen I show on page 3.
When you finally get to click on the little RSS symbol shown on the lower half of page 3, you (at least on Firefox) may end up at a page of xml code, or perhaps your browser may show a news feed page. Regardless, the URL shown for the page is the same and it's what you need to copy, just as described on page 4.
Let me know if you are still having issues with this.
v619284 said:
First off, thanks so much for putting the time and effort into this app. I would love to have a more "future-proof" news reader solution for my NST. Sadly however, in typical Google fashion of constantly dropping/messing with feature support, it seems that there is no longer an option to deliver Google alerts to RSS feeds (only email addresses). If I'm reading this thread and your PDF correctly, I'm worried that this may break the app. In any case I'm stuck on page 3 of your setup PDF since I can't figure out how to get the RSS alert string from Google anymore. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So a few days after I wrote my last post, the app stopped working for me. It just hangs on "Preparing......News"
Google has apparently changed the format of their RSS xml file. Right in the middle of something else at the moment, but I will get it fixed.
Nope, nix that. After fooling around with the app and an xml file from the Big G, I find nothing out of place and it seems the app is now working again
They're just messing with us.
Edit: Indeed they are. Today I caught another malfunction but this time looked at the Tasker routines for an error. Google is sending out (at least today) RSS feeds with empty content fields. That messes up my app. So I wrote an error trap for that. Updated in first post. Have to watch the big G like a hawk....
v619284 said:
If I'm reading this thread and your PDF correctly, I'm worried that this may break the app. In any case I'm stuck on page 3 of your setup PDF since I can't figure out how to get the RSS alert string from Google anymore. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whilst looking around for a solution to a different issue, I came across this: https://medium.com/@cassandragraft/...tion-not-appearing-heres-the-fix-bf842ca32b88
It appears to address the issue you describe. I never encountered the issue, but obviously some people have.
The Big G is making me very angry lately. Even version 1.2 with a new error trap is crashing. I'm finding that some of my feeds are "empty". The skeleton of the RSS file is there but there is no content populating the file. A category as ordinary as "world" is simply blank. This is new and very annoying. Just a change of topic to "world news" brings up a list of stories longer than your arm. I encountered this before with "science" and fixed it with a slight change in name, so I should have seen this coming. It's a nasty game Google seems to be playing....
Anyway, if the app crashes on the first topic it leaves an overlay artifact behind when you exit. To remove this, go to the App Manager and force stop the app. I will work on a fix which will alert you to the effect that the feed appears dead but allow the app to complete the download of whatever is still working and exit properly.
Grr....
Edit: App updated to v1.3 in first post. I hope that solves the problems. For now.
As I mentioned in my edit of the first post, I think my app is exhibiting creakiness already owing to Opera Mobile's increasing difficulty negotiating many websites.
I have an alternative to suggest, however, that is totally browser based. It seems to work "OK" with Opera Mobile although text display is a bit small with a default zoom of 100%. In Opera Mini, however, it shines, especially with NoRefresh.
Thanks to XDA member @SJT75 , I found out about a list of text-only news sites. One of them is a text version of Google News! The list is at: https://greycoder.com/a-list-of-text-only-new-sites/
While the Google News option does not allow for custom categories (hey, there's an app for that!), it does cover all the usual suspects. Even better, all of the links lead to text-only versions of the sources. Occasionally you go to a page and find it could not be fetched by whatever mechanism the author is using, but pages (even those error ones) include a link to the original source
Also notable on the list are the NPR and CNN sites. Both work well.