Related
Now that it is warmning up and my fiance and I can go back to do walks I would like to get a app that show how far we walked. Latter how far we jogged. I know I need a GPS program. What one is good for this? Since we do not always walk on paths by streets it is hard to do using google maps.
Thanks
Endomondo, or Cardio Trainer. Cardio trainer seems to be working great for me. Accurate and has some motivating features
fldude99 said:
Endomondo, or Cardio Trainer. Cardio trainer seems to be working great for me. Accurate and has some motivating features
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's also Runkeeper, I like that one.
I've tried many of these programs for my mountain bike rides. The best I've found so far is AllSport GPS. It supports many kinds of activities and allows sharing via Facebook, Twitter and Trimble.com (the app producer). You can see street and satellite views on the device and on the website. It also tracks way better than Google Maps.
I vote for Cardiotrainer. It has a lot of features like the other guy said. Plus one I like is you can save your walks etc. on their server which means you will always have your tracks even when changing roms.
CardioTrainer fan here too. What I find sets it apart is that you can adjust the GPS quality threshold, meaning that you can force it only to use strong GPS readings and ignore weak ones. I've gotten my best most accurate tracking from this app plus the Phoenix ROM.
I also appreciate that they allow you to manually enter workouts. Sometimes I do treadmill work and I can just enter it in easily.
YMMV
Use CardioTrainer here too. It seems like they always come out with new features and add ons to help engage the idea of fitness. It hooks up with your google health account (yes really) and saves all your stats there. You can track/time run/walks and classify them accordingly. You can track other work out types as well.
My favorite feature is the calorie burn tracker you can turn on in your notification bar. I just wish I could get mine over 500/week regularly
Cardio Trainer also has a setting somewhere where I get a reminder to run or whatever..so much harder to ignore and say..nah not today
I love the Galaxy Gear. I love the native apps on the watch. However, while a few of the add-on apps are good, I am disappointed some of the others are poor.
I recognize some of the physical design shortcomings of the Gear, but accept the product as it is. In my mind, the watch is not a sport watch, it is a little computer on my wrist. I accept that I need to take reasonable precautions to guard it from water exposure, cold shock and physical impact (caution with glass bezel).
The native apps are fabulous. They are what I consider essential in making the device a truly smart watch (swatch). Overall, it allows me to interact with the smart phone (sphone) upon urgent events: answering phone calls, reading text messages, notification on email, controlling media player while walking, monitoring distance and pace while running. The native watch faces are even good: review of weather or accessing any three apps. Of course, the camera is a huge bonus - not essential, but it truly makes the Gear a distinctive swatch. The inclusion of a speaker for phone calls is an outstanding feature, again this is handy when receiving a call while walking.
The issue I want to make in this thread is my experience with the add-on apps. A few of the apps are excellent and add value to the overall swatch experience (eg: Runtastic). However, some other apps are poorly coded, or outright fail to install or work. It astonishes me that some apps fail to work, given that Samsung has vetted this library of restrictive apps. As I understand it (read elsewhere), Samsung had exclusively invited developers to code apps for the Gear. I presume Samsung would also test these apps prior to including them in the download library. Well, I now suspect they may not have.
I am also disappointed at how slowly apps are being added into the library. I appreciate that the user base for Gear is small and thus revenue opportunities are assuredly small. However, any developer that introduces apps for the library could develop early expertise, etc. However, reality shows that third party apps are few and sometimes even disfunctional.
------------------------------------------------------------------------- GREAT APPS
Four apps in particular work very well and add value to the swatch experience:
RUNTASTIC
- Shows running performance (pace, distance, etc) on watch
EVERNOTE
- Read notes, checklist etc on watch when shopping etc.
- Upload camera photos to user account for later use.
POCKET
- Play audio reading of previously saved internet articles.
ZDCLOCK
- Set alarms, etc.
------------------------------------------------------------------------- POOR APPS
I tried with frustration and disappointment a few other apps.
MyFitnessPal
- This works, but it forces a very lengthy synchronization with sphone and internet on each access.
- The delay caused by syncing is so frustrating that I uninstalled it, and refuse to use it.
RunKeeper
- This works, but it displaces far less performance data than Runtastic.
- Because of its inadequacy, I uninstalled it.
QuickSpeedometer
- This app fails to install. This failed on numerous attempts.
Mini Gallery
- This app fails to install. This failed on numerous attempts.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've got mini gallery installed on my 'swatch' and it's never failed yet.
Works well and runs without fault.
Although I have mini gallery installed and it works (sort of), I have over 400 images on my 64 gig card and mini gallery is so ridiculously slow to load (even after the first time) it is virtually unuseable.
My favorite add on is watch styler it totally makes this watch worthwhile to me. I can make my own face, how awesome is that! Got one with the same wallpaper as my phone got my white and red jumpman (Jordan logo) got my Rolex background and I'm just getting started.
Man I love this watch.
Carried by a Raven
watch styler is one of the apps that I consider useless LOL.
Not only is the hour hand always off on a custom face, it freezes up constantly and kills battery life.
My main annoyance with a specific app is miniSquare. It boggles my mind that this app has been broken since day one with no removal or developer communication. Literally no one can use the app, as it only brings up a Korean error.
As a big fourquare user, I really really want this app to work.
Aside from that, I'm still on the negative side as far as my feelings on the marketplace go. Hopefully that changes in the future.
Amdathlonuk said:
I've got mini gallery installed on my 'swatch' and it's never failed yet.
Works well and runs without fault.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MINI GALLERY
-------------------
OK, taking your lead, I made another attempt to install Mini Gallery. Nope, it failed to install yet again. Or maybe not? So what happened is that it finally appeared to install and appeared on the Gear. However it seemed to freeze on the watch. After waiting for a couple of minutes I rebooted the Gear and uninstalled it.
Now, after reading your note, I see what might have happened. It was busy scanning my s-phone's thousands of photos stored on my extSDcard. Well then, demanding such a long wait time makes it unusable for me.
QUICK SPEEDOMETER
------------------------------
This app is by the same developer, Symphony Teleca. I tried installing this again, and this time it did load. This makes me think that Samsung's app server might instead be sending a link to the developer's server for downloading. Is this possible? I have only had previous difficulty download the two apps from the same developer.
The app does work. Good. However, I notice something irregular. Only when this app is run on the Gear, its duplicate app appears on the Note-3's notification window as an actively running task. That is because this app needs to poll the s-phone's GPS for data updates, so I presume the developer launches a GPS server service on the s-phone, while on the s-watch is a client service. Later when I stop and quit the app on the Gear, its server app remains active on the Note-3. I must then resort to killing the task on the Note-3 to recover system resources.
I have a suspicion that this might be the fault of Samsung's SDK library and not that of a developer's sloopy program techniques. Regardless, good programming practice, SDK, and libraries should never leave a thread active after the main program has terminated.
On the contrary my boy Watson.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Skeleton said:
MINI GALLERY
-------------------
Now, after reading your note, I see what might have happened. It was busy scanning my s-phone's thousands of photos stored on my extSDcard. Well then, demanding such a long wait time makes it unusable for me.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly.
The gallery probably works fine if you don't have a ton of images on your MicroSD card, but I just realized I have over 800 images in just one of multiple folders on my 64 gig card.
I'm the developer of atmosHere (play on words of atmosphere) Weather for Android, an Android app to make weather smarter, and simpler. The app is "Card UI" based, similar to that of Google Now, and is powered first and foremost by the hyper accurate Forecast.io. By using Google's Fused location Provider, we can get your exact location and get down to the minute weather information, all while also getting data for the upcoming week! The app prioritizes information based on the current weather conditions. So if there is a weather alert for your location, that will be the first card you will see! Similar concepts are used else where, if it's raining or snowing, you will get a card for nearby traffic accident counts. This pattern is used throughout the app. This makes it extremely simple to get glance-able information about what is going on right now, and other data that applies based on the conditions. The card ui also makes it simple to fling down a little further for the upcoming week weather, chances of rain, device sensor readings (barometric pressure, temps, etc), pollen counts, UV index, astronomy information, and many more! The app is also extremely configurable, by allowing users to toggle what information they want to see, allowing them to personalize the data they get within the app!
Just recently (last night) I added a new feature that I have yet to see from any other Forecast.io powered app. Forecast.io provides TONS of information, but for the normal person it is hard to parse through all the data given and make sense of it and what it means for the weather. So i have taken the data given, and "pre-parsed" it in a sense, and turned it into a friendly, readable, format when needed. For example, forecast.io provides a summary for a given days' forecast, "Breezy starting in the afternoon, continuing until the evening." and then this is where I come in and add additional, relevant information. So if there is a high chance of rain in the forecast, I will add precipitation information, "75% chance of rain, with light rain starting at 5pm". This gives you the chance of rain, how heavy it will be (can range from very light to very heavy), and then the forecasted time of that precipitation! I also do the same for the given temperature. So you may see "High for today of 35, with a low of 25" and if it will "feel" warmer or cooler than the given temperature, it will also let you know! This makes the forecast for every day personalized and relevant, and lets you very quickly flip to a given day's forecast and know exactly what the forecast is. No need to flip through charts of data, and stare at numbers trying to make sense of them!
The app also features data from other services to aid with contextual information, such as traffic conditions, marine and ski conditions, latest earthquake information, and even a feed of National Weather Service Audio Streams! This will be built out even further going forward, allowing users to custom tailor the weather information they are shown!
The app also features radar data of all types, from precipitation, to weather alerts, and plenty more! Your Android standards such as widgets, notifications, and even extensions for the ever popular DashClock and Muzei are included! The app has already been optimized for Android Wear once it is released to the public. Google Glass has not been forgotten either, as there is a build ready to go for when Google Opens up GDK app distribution!
I have a G+ community setup that I am posting information about updates, bugs, and asking random questions for possible future updates. I will also answer any questions or I am open to just good old conversation! I am always open to suggestions of new ideas for the app. It's been extremely enjoyable thus far getting that app to where it is, and look forward to keeping that going. I also have no problem answering any emails if you prefer taking that route. The about section of the app includes all contact information you could ever need.
Youtube Demo video
Play Store Link
G+ Community
I have been doing weekly releases, and the app has improved tremendously over the last few weeks. We are now sitting in the top 30 in free weather app!
I have also worked on a free version, as some people have seemed hesitant to purchase without being able to really try the Card UI style out first.
So atmosHere Weather Free has been published just today!
Google Play Feature!
atmosHere Weather is now being featured on Google Play!
Feel free to join the G+ Community as well to follow development, make suggestions, or report bugs! There's a current Reddit thread right now as well.
I bought this the other day for my brand new Note 4. After installing all it would do is tell me i was running an unlicensed version. Pretty odd behavior considering i bought it via the play store. Had to request a refund pretty much immediately. Shame. I liked the look of this.
Other then the obvious time.
I like mine, but debating taking it back because in not using it as much as expected. Maybe i just don't have enough uses for it. Hence this thread
I use mine for notifications whilst at work so I'm not constantly getting my phone out.
Use it for music using Bluetooth ear phones when I'm out running or in the gym.
Controlling music playing from My phone so i can leave my phone plugged in.
Controlling my phones settings easily, again without getting the phone out.
Ticking off the shopping list as im getting dragged around tescos with the misses.
Use the camera app quite a bit too have a look in hard to reach areas when working on my car or fixing generators at work, also handy when playing hide n seek with my kids.
Quick text messages and replys.
Starting and stopping My Tracks easily.
And lastly just enjoy geeking out with it.
When working out, I use the heart rate tracker with Endomondo. For real time heart rate tracking the entire workout. This helps give a better idea of how many calories were burned. It works best during treadmill walking, not as well when weightlifting. But even what it does during weightlifting is better than nothing.
Shopping list as was mentioned already.
Cooking: I use "My Cookbook" app. To view recipes on my watch while cooking. This is so much easier, than trying to pull out the phone, book or tablet, to read a recipe while in the act of cooking. It keeps the hands free for the actual cooking.
Weather: I use the "Bright Weather" app. Which keeps a persistent weather card on my watch. So anytime I want a quick view of the the weather I can pull up that card right away.
Easy reading and replying to text. I use the "WearResponses" app, to easily reply to text messages. It's also easy to create and send a message via voice.
Watch faces, wow there are so many. I'm very much a watch face junkie .
Calendar: I always have the calendar card open for easy lookup of my daily schedule.
Step Counting: Aside from tracking steps during my workouts. Google Fit tracks steps all day. So I can see when I'm getting a good number of steps in a day overall.
Navigation: When using Google Maps, I can see directions on the watch while walking.
Calculator: I use the "Multi Calculator" app, to be able to use a calculator right on my phone.
Sleep: (Last but certainly not least.) I use the "Sleep As Android" app. To track my sleep patters, pause tracking when I get up in the middle of the night momentarily, to stop sleep tracking when I wake up and even dismiss alarms.
There's more, but that's the regular everyday stuff ,
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 09:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:03 PM ----------
I have to add answering the phone. It's so nice to get caller ID on the watch. No need to pull out the phone when I get a call. I can look at the watch and decide if I want to send the call to voicemail or answer. There have been times I would have never taken any action on a call. Because my hands were not in a position to pull out the phone. But I was able to send to voicemail, because I could at least get one finger to my watch .
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
@phil gpx. How are you taking pics with the watch? Also what app do you find best for the shopping lists on the watch? Keep?
@Darnell_Chat_TN. How is the heart rate tracker with Endomondo? Google fit sucks at it as I get a BPM after a run at 70. There's no way.
How do you like my cookbook?
Edit: I just did a search for some of those apps: which cookbook app? There were 2. And, which endomondo app? Pro or basic?
Thanks guys. I just got this watch a few weeks ago. Played with the basics myself, but I know it can do more for me.
Sorry for the off topic questions
Definitely more then I'm using it for.
I wish i could get it to work with my fitness pal
BadFish79 said:
@phil gpx. How are you taking pics with the watch? Also what app do you find best for the shopping lists on the watch? Keep?
@Darnell_Chat_TN. How is the heart rate tracker with Endomondo? Google fit sucks at it as I get a BPM after a run at 70. There's no way.
How do you like my cookbook?
Edit: I just did a search for some of those apps: which cookbook app? There were 2. And, which endomondo app? Pro or basic?
Thanks guys. I just got this watch a few weeks ago. Played with the basics myself, but I know it can do more for me.
Sorry for the off topic questions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For camera, have a look at the "ZenWatch Remote Camera" app. It will work with any Android Wear device.
Heart rate tracking with Endomondo is good. It's not always perfect, but for an hour walk/run, it does give a good overall picture of BPM average and high. It's best to just allow the arm to swing normally during the activity. Trying to keep holding your arm up to look at the watch I have found messes the reading up and gives low numbers.
The watch only works with the free version of Endomodo, but if you want extra features you have to get the paid version. And then, the free version will work with the watch, plus have all the paid features too. So you'll have 2 apps if you get both, but only use the free version, that will also have the paid features after you buy the paid app .
I'm using "My Cookbook (Recipe Manager)", by Maadinfo Services. It's very nice, since I can put in recipes however I like them and then see it on my watch. The last viewed in the phone app will show on the watch.
flyboy1100 said:
Definitely more then I'm using it for.
I wish i could get it to work with my fitness pal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Endomodo is "supposed" to automatically feed data to MyFitnessPal. But I have never been able to get that to work. So I always have to enter the data into MyFitnessPal manually .
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
As mentioned above or camera for wear or camera remote etc as there are many on the play store.
The shopping list is called Bring. You can have multiple people on the list and you get a alert when someone updates the list.
Darnell_Chat_TN said:
For camera, have a look at the "ZenWatch Remote Camera" app. It will work with any Android Wear device.
Heart rate tracking with Endomondo is good. It's not always perfect, but for an hour walk/run, it does give a good overall picture of BPM average and high. It's best to just allow the arm to swing normally during the activity. Trying to keep holding your arm up to look at the watch I have found messes the reading up and gives low numbers.
The watch only works with the free version of Endomodo, but if you want extra features you have to get the paid version. And then, the free version will work with the watch, plus have all the paid features too. So you'll have 2 apps if you get both, but only use the free version, that will also have the paid features after you buy the paid app .
I'm using "My Cookbook (Recipe Manager)", by Maadinfo Services. It's very nice, since I can put in recipes however I like them and then see it on my watch. The last viewed in the phone app will show on the watch.
Endomodo is "supposed" to automatically feed data to MyFitnessPal. But I have never been able to get that to work. So I always have to enter the data into MyFitnessPal manually .
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just tried the ZenWatch Remote Camera app with the LG G Watch R and it basically **** the bed told me in no uncertain terms it only supports the ZenWatch. Too bad, it looks like a neat app.
grafikal said:
I just tried the ZenWatch Remote Camera app with the LG G Watch R and it basically **** the bed told me in no uncertain terms it only supports the ZenWatch. Too bad, it looks like a neat app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Start the app on your phone. Then it will open on the watch automatically.
Darnell_Chat_TN said:
Start the app on your phone. Then it will open on the watch automatically.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When starting it on phone it has a popup saying that it could not pair with watch and asking if I still want to continue using it with the option of "yes" or "no thanks". Absolutely nothing happens on the watch. Maybe you have an older version? Either way thank you for trying to help.
grafikal said:
When starting it on phone it has a popup saying that it could not pair with watch and asking if I still want to continue using it with the option of "yes" or "no thanks". Absolutely nothing happens on the watch. Maybe you have an older version? Either way thank you for trying to help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had it a while, but get all update. So I'm using the latest version now.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
Hey folks,
after reading the Article on xda about using Android without google, i instantly fell in Love with the idea. I decided yesterday, that i'll take the plunge and give it a try.
First off, why?
For me, there are a couple of reasons. First of, i generally think, the less a company like google knows about me, the better. So keeping the Data on my phone away from google might help with that. If this experiment goes well i might stop using Google for Calendar and Contacts.
Second reason for me is Battery. The Google Framework and Play Services are always on the Top of my list of Battery consumption. I'd like to see how leaving these away might improve Battery life.
And third, i'm curious if it's possible. The reason i'm on xda is because i'm a tinkerer. So pushing the boundaries and trying new things is what i really like about Android. You have the choice to do whatever you want with your phone.
So, how do i go about it? Well, a bit of pre work needs to be done. First of, you might need a google Account to set things up. WhatsApp or Outlook are simply only available from the official Playstore. Since i start with my daily driver, all was set up already.
I use the 5.0.1 Variant of Nameless Rom. Debloated, Nova Launcher, rooted and stock apart from that. I might go CM later on, but i always find CM draining the Battery more then Stock Roms. We'll see.
What am i going to use instead of all the nice google things?
Play Store: F-Droid
I'll give F-Droid a try. it's obtainable as an apk, so if you only need apps that are available there, you won't need google at all. The Interface and search is not as nice as the Play Store, but the selection is really good, Installation of apps is hassle free (no manually downloading apks and installing them by hand) and it does check for updates daily.
Gmail:
I already moved away from gmail to outlook.com a few months ago. Not because MS is better in keeping your data private (actually they might be as they make money through selling software, not your data) but because i wanted to spread my info. Mail on outlook, contacts on google, Calendar on Strato... The Outlook app was already installed and set up, so no work to be done here.
Contacts:
Here it's getting a bit tricky. Google doesn't want you to move your contacts away form them. So there is no way to directly sync your google Contacts to your phone. As soon as you deactivate the play services, all you contacts will be gone.
For me, i used the Web Version of Google Contacts, exported them all to vcf and imported them to my phones storage. I'm not going to set up a personal sync for now. I'm fine with my contacts on my Phone only for now. I might end up going the OwnCloud route later on, but don't find it necessary currently.
Calendar:
my Calendar is already done through outlook and start (my webhoster). I installed Etar from F-Droid (a open source variant of googles calendar app). All my Calendars were already in on first launch (imported from the phones Accounts). No hassle, everything looks as always.
Chrome:
I've never been happy with chrome anyways. Loading pages is slow, scrolling is nowhere near smooth. I currently compare Firefox and Fenec. Both from F-Droid. Firefox will be discontinued on F-Droid soon as they implemented none OS proprietary add ons. Fenec is a OS alternative to Firefox compiled from Source without Proprietary add ons. Both work well but Fenec is a bit unstable as a daily driver for most people.
Camera is Focal now. Apart from being OS it's also much more capable than samsung camera. Plus easier to use. Whats not to like here?
After setting everything up, i went into the settings and disabled most google stuff (Play Store, Play Services, Calendar, Mail, Chrome). I'm still trying to find out what other Google Services i may disable without braking android. I'll keep this updated here.
I'm not completely done yet. I still use apps that are only available through the Playstore. Maybe you know alternatives, that i should check out:
WhatsApp. I don't see an alternative here. Moving to another service is not really an option. I tried Telegram and liked it, but a nice app is nothing when nobody uses it...
Ebay and Amazon. Both have a good mobile website which should work. But a standalone App is much easier and convenient to use.
Nova Launcher. It's simply the best. I haven't found a OS alternative that has anywhere near the features.
Tapatalk. Again, one App all Forums on hand. Simply the best app for that. Any XDA compatible OS alternatives to it?
Outlook. A OS mail client which supports Outlook, Material Design and is easy to use? I've yet to come up with one...
Over all, the switch went really smooth. After getting F-Droid as a Playstore alternative i was able to do all this in 1 hour. I'll have to see how Batterylife works out. I feel it's better, but the numbers will tell after some days of use. I feel really good to have found a way around google so far. It's nice to rethink things you've been using for years. Even if you're not opting out of google completely, there might be a alternative to something you use, that you'd otherwise never consider.
Let me know what you think. You're alternatives to some proprietary apps. How do you feel about google being in all the parts of your mobile life? Is Android without google something you'd consider?
For further reading, here are the XDA Articles, that inspired me to start this journey:
Setting up Marshmallow without Google
The "Say Sayonara to Google" Series
Have a nice start into the week.
I'll keep my replacement Apps in this Post for Tracking what i've used and what my Pros and Cons are over time.
PlayStore: F-Droid
F-Droid is THE FOSS Android community. A good selection of Apps, easy install and Updates plus a community thats interested in whats happening behind the scenes of apps. Firefox for example will soon not be supported anymore because they now are using proprietary none FOSS compatible sources. For most, this attempt might not be the easy one (they never claim to want to go the easy route), but it sure is the most straight ahead if you want Open Source Apps that are tracked for what they do on your phone.
Outlook: K-9
I replaced Outlook with K-9 for now. It's not as polished or easy to use, but it works, is OS and Outlook was constantly connected without me being able to change that. I only need sync every 30 minutes and outlook doesn't have a setting for that. Lets see how K-9 works out, stability and battery wise...
Google Maps: OsmAnd
OsmAnd seems to be the alternative here. As a plus it allows offline sync of Maps. The Interface is nowhere near as intuitive as GMaps, i've found no traffic information until now and entering a address is a hassle. The Search feature and easy Adress Input has always been a strong point for GMaps. We'll see how the turn-by-turn Navigation Turns out. Also OsmAnd works with plugins, so maybe i'm missing some features here and there.
Facebook: Tinfoil
Tinfoil for Facebook seems to be the App of Choice. In the end it's the Mobile website displayed in an "App". On the Plus site, you don't need that horrifically annoying Messenger. Facebook chat just works from the App, which is great. Sadly, since its a webpage, Notifications are none existant. Since i'm debating leaving Facebook completely anyways it's not a problem for me. Less distraction during the day, which is always welcome nowadays...
Deezer: Tomahawk
When I thought about replacing my Deezer app I did not have high hopes since most streaming services use proprietary api's. I was impressed to find not only a Deezer alternative that's open source, but tomahawk does much more. It combines most streaming services plus some other online music services plus your local music.
One downside for me: you are not able to save Deezer music offline. Tomahawk itself is completely open source. If the Deezer plug in is OS as well I couldn't find out for sure...
Titanium Backup: Oandbackup
Oandbackup works much the same way Titanium does, but with some less options. If you want just a good Backup App, i prefer Oandbackup since it's much less cluttered and options are easier to find. It served me well when i last switched from TW to CM.
I didn't read your what i can only call a thesis on Ungooglying Android write-up, it's an effort that I implore and admire your courage. I too worry about the data that google has monopolised on, it's time we broke this and find alternative ways. I salute you sir in your endeavours.
I will drop by time to time to see how you're prodding along.
Regards
F
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I backp all my contacts using outlook. I still use playstore. I have also disabled as much of Samsung as I can, and im sure there is more I could disable of both. I want my phone set up the way I want it set up, not with what google and samsung say I should. Also use Nova
Sent from my SM-P900 using XDA Free mobile app
I added Tomahawk as a Deezer/Spotify OS alternative In Post #2
Gesendet von meinem SM-N910F mit Tapatalk
I've yet to find a good alternative to the play store personally.
I don't use google services on my Note 4. I use Here Maps and disabled Google Maps, I use Nine for Email, I've disabled contacts and calendar sync, I've disabled every google program like books, games, gmail (I have a google account linked to a generic outlook addy for G services), music, hangouts, G+, etc. I keep my contacts backed up on my own personal .com server via exchange along with the calendar. I also like the Samsung browser, so Chrome is disabled as well. Don't use Now, have all the google account settings set to not target me for advertising, not keep track of location, etc... All the regular privacy concerns taken care of there.
My battery life is about a !% loss every two hours in standby. I wish I could get it better. My old GSIII would lose 1% over an 8 hour time frame at night while I was asleep. The Note 4 loses about 4%.
Oddly, no matter how much I restrict my access to google services, the people section of the play store still links me to a ton of people I know. Some that I have not had contact with since High School. Very strange. The only thing I can think is people I do know have me in their contacts so it assumes I know these people correctly. The phone is obviously reading my phone number without me entering it into my google account. :shrug:
I look forward to reading how it goes for you. (I broke down and signed up for Google Music the other day out of curiosity, but I'll get some of my anonymity back when I cancel my google account and create a new one.)
Alright,
some Updates:
I switched to the official CM12 build yesterday. It seems to run fairly well. My Radio was not able to register in the Network once, but activating and deactivating flight mode fixed that. Reception seems to be better than on TW rom. Concerning Battery i see no major difference for now.
CM is Open Source. I'm not 100% sure that every preinstalled app is 100% open source. During the Weekend i'll review the code and do a build on my own, just to be sure. Also, theres a pure AOSP build coming, which i'll be testing.
This time i didn't even Install Gapps. I did not log in to cm accounts or anything. I installed F-Droid from my SD Card and went from there. One thing i'll have to keep in mind, is, that factory reset means loosing my contacts, so i'll have to do a backup the next time.
Also i switched from Titanium to Oandbackup. I works much the same way and served me well during the switch from TW to CM. For me the relevant options are much easier to find (Safe Backups to external SD...).
Since Battery endurance is one of my concerns, i do some changes to improve that:
- Since the N4 has an AMOLED Display, using Black Background and Dark Apps helps quite a bit. I'm using Dark Material Beta through CM Theme Engine. Its Black (i like solid Black, not Gray or something like that) and white and does theme quite a lot of Apps (WhatsApp as an important one).
- I deactivated AudioFX, All Live Backgrounds, Stock Browser, CM-Backgrounds, Calendar and NFC Tags
- for cLock (Lockscreen Clock) i deleted all permissions to access location and Data. It's been trying to update weather all the time, which you can't seem to disable
I'd really like a simple white Icon theme, but getting most themes for CM depends on the Play Store. There are not many good themes that are available outside of the Playstore... Any help here is appreciated :good:
bbeelzebub said:
...My battery life is about a !% loss every two hours in standby. I wish I could get it better. My old GSIII would lose 1% over an 8 hour time frame at night while I was asleep. The Note 4 loses about 4%...
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Over the last night i lost 2% over 7.5 hours. With 4G, WiFi, BT, Mail Sync (once per hour). Quite good, but i think theres a bit in it. K-9 (Mail) and Whatsapp keep the Mobile Network active. K-9 does so relatively long although i should only Sync once per hour. I'll configure some kind of "Whatsapp do not disturde" over night, this should bring down Standby draw a bit...
domsch1988 said:
Over the last night i lost 2% over 7.5 hours. With 4G, WiFi, BT, Mail Sync (once per hour). Quite good, but i think theres a bit in it. K-9 (Mail) and Whatsapp keep the Mobile Network active. K-9 does so relatively long although i should only Sync once per hour. I'll configure some kind of "Whatsapp do not disturde" over night, this should bring down Standby draw a bit...
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Click to collapse
Yeah, I leave 4G, WiFi, BT and Mail on all the time as well. It doesn't make any difference when I turn them off that I've noticed. I use ActiveSync for my email / calendars / contacts and it really is no difference from when I used to use google for the calendar / contacts and a pop 3 account. As long as I don't use the stock email app which kills the battery on exchange or Activesync.
There are a few Samsung apps that I can't disable that I would like to. (I'm on a non rootable US model), I think I'll take the time tomorrow and see if I can use debloater to shut them down. Now that I think about it, there were less Samsung things running all the time on my old phone and I'm sure that makes a slight difference.
You can download Whats App from their site without going through Google since its attached to your phone number.
https://www.whatsapp.com/android/
...There is no way Focal is more capable than the Samsung Camera app. How do you figure this?
jetbruceli said:
You can download Whats App from their site without going through Google since its attached to your phone number.
https://www.whatsapp.com/android/
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Wouldn't use whatsapp at all considering they are owned by facebook and every message you send is being tracked. Telegram is the better option.
Toss3 said:
Wouldn't use whatsapp at all considering they are owned by facebook and every message you send is being tracked. Telegram is the better option.
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That is the dumbest reason to not use Whats App. It was bought to protect FB from losing ground. Telegram has all your messages on a server to where as Whats app is peer to peer. There is no reason to worry about big Facebook looking at your every message. Also, i would rather have FB, Google or MS looking at my stuff than some unknown company.
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freeza said:
...There is no way Focal is more capable than the Samsung Camera app. How do you figure this?
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I dont get that either, also stock camera doenst need google play services to be used.
jetbruceli said:
That is the dumbest reason to not use Whats App. It was bought to protect FB from losing ground. Telegram has all your messages on a server to where as Whats app is peer to peer. There is no reason to worry about big Facebook looking at your every message. Also, i would rather have FB, Google or MS looking at my stuff than some unknown company.
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Telegram does not save your messages on a server when you use private chats. They are also encrypted.
Oh and: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/whatsapp-ranked-worst-for-users-data-privacy-in-internet-snooping-report-10328539.html http://time.com/3928503/whatsapp-privacy-watchdog/
This shows how "secure" WhatsApp really is: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33152898
Toss3 said:
Telegram does not save your messages on a server when you use private chats. They are also encrypted.
Oh and: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/whatsapp-ranked-worst-for-users-data-privacy-in-internet-snooping-report-10328539.html http://time.com/3928503/whatsapp-privacy-watchdog/
This shows how "secure" WhatsApp really is: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33152898
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I am sure there are security holes in everything we use but it doesnt change the fact that Whats App is better for most people. This isnt a whats app vs telegram thread and also, I am not sure if you can install telegram on its own without google or other app stores like you can with whats app