General XDA Article: Android tablets and foldables might see more helpful Play Store search results soon - Samsung Galaxy Tab S8

https://www.xda-developers.com/google-play-store-tablet-optimization/
March 16, 2022 4:35pm Comment Corbin Davenport
Android tablets and foldables might see more helpful Play Store search results soon​
Android on tablets and other large-screen devices hasn’t been a great experience for a long time, but Google is slowly trying to change that. The recent Android 12L update (also called Android 12.1) focused on interface improvements for tablets and folding phones, and now the Google Play Store is introducing a few changes to help people find applications properly optimized for large devices.
Google announced in a blog post on Wednesday, “in the coming months, we’ll be updating our featuring and ranking logic in Play on large screen devices to prioritize high-quality apps and games based on these app quality guidelines. This will affect how apps are surfaced in search results and recommendations on the homepage, with the goal of helping users find the apps that are best optimized for their device.”
Google only mentioned a few of the guidelines that will be used to determine if an app is high-quality for large screens, such as proper landscape/portrait modes (Eero and Target apps, I’m looking at y’all), keyboard shortcut support, and stylus pen compatibility. The company also says the Play Store will highlight apps that have been optimized for large screens “in editorial content across Play,” though the Play Store on tablets and Chromebooks already has a section on the home page with links to optimized apps.
Google’s current metrics for checking app quality on large screens include multi-window and multi-resume support, larger touch targets, tab/arrow key navigation, drag-and-drop, keyboard modifiers, and other features. The more features are supported, the higher the application should be ranked.
Even though the new ranking logic might improve search results, detecting support code for certain features doesn’t always mean the features work well. For example, while apps like Twitter and Google Home technically support landscape orientation on tablets, they simply stretch the portrait layout to widescreen. That’s the reason I use the Twitter desktop web app on my tablet over the native Android application.
Source: Google
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Related

[APPS]Must Have Apps for Xperia T, TL, V

Hiya everyone. This type of thread isn't new to XDA as it's on almost every device fora, but I decided to bring it over here aswell.
I'm going to share the most useful applications to have on a Xperia T, TL, V and would like you to share your must have apps. If an app gets mentioned by numerous people, that isn't on this list, I'll be sure to add it.
Power Toggles - This is simply the best toggle app around. Able to toggle lots of main features.
Picsay Pro - This is a brilliant photo editor, but limited compared to some others. My personal favourite.
Rotation Locker - WYSIWYG. It locks your screen to either Portrait or Landscape. Really useful on some apps.
XDA App ICS Blue Colours/Themed - Our favourite forum app but with a complete red or blue colour theme thanks to our own Whiskey103
Memory Usage - Lists all current apps and tells you current memory usage, peak memory usage and priorities.
Desktop Visualizer - Makes shortcuts or widgets using a custom image and can be used to make custom icons.
Neutron Music Player - Neutron is a professional music player with amazing high quality. Great for audiophiles.
SuperSU - SuperSU is the Superuser access management tool of the future. *ROOT*
ROM Toolbox Pro - ROM Toolbox combines apps like Titanium Backup, Root Explorer, ROM Manager and others. A must-have root app *ROOT*
AirDroid - For moving files between your PC and phone using WIFI
Tasker - The best app of its kind. It does almost anything
MXPlayer - MXPlayer is one of the best apps for viewing movies.
Photo Timeline - Lets you create a time elapsed sequence of anything you want with your camera and then play as a slideshow
Home Switcher - Switches between any Home Launchers you have on your device.
PicSpeed Wallpapers - Over 170,000 HD wallpapers of all different genres, for our device.
Solid Explorer - Solid Explorer is a file manager which with two independent panels is the most attractive, eye catching and intuitive file manager for the Android.
QuickPic - An alternate photo gallery app, incase you don't like the default
AdAway - AdAway is an open source ad blocker for Android. *ROOT*
Aldiko Book Reader - Read and download thousands of eBooks right on your Android phone or tablet. Download one of the best Android eBook Readers now!
Dropbox - Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere.
ES File Explorer- ES File Explorer is a free, featured all-in-one file manager & application manager & task killer & cloud storage client & ftp client & samba client which explores the pictures, music, video, document & other files on your phone and your computer.
Rom Manager - Must have app for any root user. Make backups, flash ROMs, and own your device. ROM Manager is THE MUST HAVE APP for any Android root user.
TeamViewer for Remote Control - Remotely control your computer with TeamViewer Free while you are on the road! Mobile and flexible: remotely access computers from your android device!
Titanium Backup - EXTREMELY powerful tool. Backup ALL apps, Market links, remove bloatware & MORE! ☆Needs ROOT, Android 1.5-4.1+
ZDBox - ZDbox is an amazing and free all-in-one toolbox. It holds a collection of useful tools and has a nice and easy to use interface. With ZDbox you’re getting your mobile/cell phone under control, do easily some optimization and customize it to your needs.
Unified Remote - Easily the most feature-filled Android-PC remote. Turns your Android device into a WiFi or Bluetooth universal remote control for your Windows PC. Control your favorite programs, mouse, and keyboard.
Whatsapp Messenger - WhatsApp Messenger is a smartphone messenger available for Android. Switch from SMS to WhatsApp to send and receive messages, pictures, audio notes, and video messages.
AireTalk - Aire is a new communication app loaded with features that lets you talk to your friends and family in more ways than ever! Use Aire to make calls to any Aire user with voice or video for free!
Astro File Manager - It's like Windows Explorer or Mac’s Finder for your phone or tablet and allows you to easily browse and organize all of your pictures, music, videos and documents. It also gives you the ability to stop processes that burn battery life and backup your apps in case you lose or change phones.
SketchBook Mobile - Autodesk SketchBook® Mobile is a professional-grade paint and drawing application offering a full set of sketching tools and a streamlined and intuitive user interface.
Pocket - When you find something on the web that you want to view later, put it in Pocket. It automatically syncs to your phone, tablet or computer so you can view it any time, even without an internet connection.
Adobe Photoshop Touch - Transform images with core Photoshop features in an app designed for tablets and smartphones. Really this one is self-explanatory. Says what it does on the Tin
AfterFocus - Bring DSLR-like Photography to Your Smartphone
Appy Geek - Appy Geek brings you all the leading tech news sources from the industry in a cleverly laid-out user interface, including TechRadar, Gizmodo, T3 Magazine, The Next Web and more... Staying at the cutting edge of innovation has never been so easy!
VLC for Android Beta - VLC media player is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player that plays most multimedia files as well as discs, devices, and network streaming protocols. This is a BETA version of the port of VLC media player to the Android™ platform. It is intended for power users and hackers. This version is not perfectly stable and is slower than the final version.
Tapatalk Forum App - The only and the best fully functional forum app in the Market, endorsed by over 35,000 of forums worldwide.
Machinima - Machinima is the premier online network providing entertainment for the gaming culture, showing game trailers, gameplay videos and tips, video game reviews, first looks, and original series created in video games. One of the most viewed YouTube channels in the world!
Appextractor - AppExtractor is a tool which will allow you to restore individual applications, data, SMS, and MMS messages from your ROM Manager backups.
SmartTools - Measure length, angle, distance, height, direction and sound with your phone. Smart Tools is a complete package of 5 app sets. It includes 5 Pro sets for a total of 15 tools. In a word, All-in-One.
News Republic - NEWS REPUBLIC features more content than ever including articles and opinions from major players right alongside specialist experts - including ITN, Press Association, Tech Radar, The Sports Review, WENN, HitFix, The Next Web, AFP... More content sources are added regularly with more top names already on the horizon for the future.
CPU Spy - This is a simple app to display the time the CPU spends in each frequency state. This can be a useful tool in diagnosing battery problems or tweaking your over-clock settings.
Avast! Mobile Security - Full-featured, best/top-rated Android antivirus & security app
DroidWall - Allows you to restrict which apps can access the network. This is the perfect solution if you don't have an unlimited data plan, or just wants to see your battery lasting longer. For advanced users, it also allows you to manually define custom iptables rules.
GO SMS Pro - GO SMS PRO brings you cool UI, fast and convenient SMS/MMS experience. GO SMS Pro is the most popular messaging app; Very powerful, Cool, Funny, Safe, Fully customizable; Well support SMS/MMS + GO Chat(free message) + Walkie Talkie(free voice).*
Plume for Twitter - Plume is a beautiful and completely customizable Twitter app that will revolutionize the way you use Twitter! Brought to you by the authors of the popular Beautiful Widgets, Plume is one of the best Twitter clients for Android! (Plume was formerly known as Touiteur)
System Tuner - The most complete system tuner and manager for all your phones and tablets!
BetterBatteryStats - With BetterBatteryStats you can analyse the behavior of your phone, find applications causing the phone to drain battery while it is supposed to be asleep and measure the effect of corrective actions. Guys you can also find this app if you search on XDA..
GTA Radio - GTA Radio is a free way to listen to all radio stations of famous game Grand Theft Auto from every corner of the earth.
K-9 Mail - K-9 Mail is an open-source e-mail client with search, IMAP push email, multi-folder sync, flagging, filing, signatures, bcc-self, PGP, mail on SD & more!
Goal.com - Goal.com offers local coverage of all the latest developments including breaking news, exclusive interviews, transfer gossip, live commentary and much more. Whatever and wherever the story is, Goal.com offers the most comprehensive and expert coverage of the major domestic leagues and competitions, as well as all the major international tournaments
Aqua Mail - Easy automatic setup for popular email services (Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, and more).
Android Lost Free - Lost your android? We will help you find it. See http://www.androidlost.com. Remotely control your Android phone from the internet or by SMS.
Chomp SMS - chomp SMS is a souped-up replacement to the stock android Messaging app with a heap more features.
FilePush - FilePush lets you transfer files to your Android device with only two clicks.
Light Flow Lite - Take control of your notifications. LEDs, vibration, repeating sounds and more.
Poweramp - Poweramp is a powerful music player for Android.
Eye in Sky Weather - Eye In Sky Weather is for those who like their weather clean, simple and beautiful. The app includes 12 of the best weather icon sets available, with the ability to add your own icon sets.
Fast File Transfer - The app uses Wi-Fi Tethering for establishing a connection between the devices but does not need the Internet. Fast File Transfer is an alternative for Bluetooth file sending.
LiveScore - This application comes directly from LiveScore Ltd., the leaders and inventors of real-time delivery of live sport data and owners of the no.1 ranked football / soccer web site globally... I use it and i love it and it is ten times better than the Sky Sports Football Center app.. Must have for all footy fans
Google Googles - Search by taking a picture: point your mobile phone camera at a painting, a famous landmark, a barcode or QR code, a product, a storefront, or a popular image. If Goggles finds it in its database, it will provide you with useful information. Goggles also works as a barcode / QR code scanner.
Zinio - Download the Zinio for Android app and read top magazines from around the world instantly. Zinio is the premier app for magazines on Android, giving readers immediate access to thousands of global titles.
Screen Filter - Applies a shade that acts as a dimmer to ensure your eyes don't hurt. Far more powerful than Android's built-in brightness setting.
Headset Button Controller - Headset Button Controller is very configurable, allowing you to play music, change tracks, adjust volume, answer phone calls, start Voice Command and many other things, just by clicking the button on your headset. Paid app but worth the money
MD5Checker - This application allows the user to compare the MD5 checksum between two files or alternatively between a file and a value entered manually. When loading a .md5, it will read its content and put it in the field instead of calculating the hash.
Speedy Uploader for Facebook - Uploads pics in an instant, after compressing them. Great stuff.
Fast Reboot - Simulates a reboot by closing/restarting all core and user processes and thus frees up memory. Your phone should be much snappier after using Fast Reboot.
Falcon Pro for Twitter - Falcon Pro brings the Ultimate Twitter Experience to your Android Phone and Tablet.
Trial Xtreme 3 - Trial Xtreme 3, will take your breath away with its new innovations and amazing features. Tackle 76 completely original courses, fighting your friends for the race, win while carefully controlling your bike to ensure that you don’t fall victim to one of the many hundreds of mines, water pipes, or wrecked cars that are standing in your way. Great game and highly recommended and it is free
Temple Run - Need i say more
Subway Surfers - I like this game. Very fun and great graphics to.
Instagram - Share your photos in a simple photo stream with friends to see - and follow your friends' photos with the click of a single button. Every day you open up Instagram, you'll see new photos from your closest friends, and creative people from around the world.
Viber: Free Calls & Messaging - Viber allows you to call, text, and send photos worldwide for free.
MovieTube: Free full Movies - MovieTube is a missing channel on YouTube for Free Full Length Movies. It manages free movies in 14 languages including: English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, Thai and Malay movies.
Amazon Mobile for Android - The Amazon Mobile app allows customers to browse and shop by department, search, compare prices, find deals, read reviews and make a purchase right from their mobile device.
IMDb Movies & TV - Does what it says on the tin..No need for further introduction..Must have specially if you are a movie fan
Netflix - Netflix is the world’s leading subscription service for watching TV episodes and movies on your phone.
Many thanks goes out to KidCarter93 for allowing me to share his thread here to...
On a side note more apps will be added in the coming days so stay tuned for more goodies..Will be adding more apps that i use as well and find useful and just like my other thread wanna compile the most used apps on your handset.
IF YOU'VE FOUND THIS POST, OR ANY OF THESE APPS USEFUL, INSTEAD OF POSTING THANKS, JUST USE THE BUTTON!
If there are any apps that you feel shouldn't be in this list, please let me know and suggest a better one. I can then test it and maybe add it to the list, in place of the other one.
If you don't suggest a better app, I won't change anything.
Must have Widgets List
Beautiful Widgets - Beautiful set of Widgets containing clock widget, clock and weather widget, weather widgets, date widgets and toggle widgets with skins/themes support!
Fancy Widgets - Personalize your Android home screen with highly customizable clock widgets, weather widgets, home (clock & weather) widgets, forecast widgets, and more with lots of customization options.
Appy Geek - Have to add this part of the widgets to cause it is simple awesome to read all the main headlines on your homescreen and saves from going into the app to find out what is happening in the tech world
Spotify - Spotify gives you instant access to millions of songs on your Android device. With the Spotify app, you can choose to listen for free, or subscribe to Spotify Premium
Flipboard - Flipboard brings together world news and social news in a beautiful magazine.
Elixir 2 Widgets - This application is an add-on for Elixir 2 but it can use as a standalone application too. Widgets makes it possible to put higly configurable widgets to your home screens.
Battery Monitor Widget - Complete battery monitoring with notification icon, history, graphics and alarms
Zedge - Free Ringtones, Wallpapers, Alerts, Live Wallpapers & Games enjoyed by millions.
Daily Mail Online - The Mail Online (Daily Mail) app has been optimised for Android mobile devices on OS version 2.1 and above and offers various features that will allow you to stay up to date with the latest news, gossip, sport, pictures
SiMi Clock Widget - This is a simple minimal Clock Widget. Available size 2x1 3x1,4x1 and 5x1 (Galaxy Tab). If you have a Taskmanager running please exclude SiMi Clock !!!.. I highly recommend this great widget..I personally use it and it is a must have
Battery Clock Calendar - Battery, Clock and Calendar in one widget. Nice design, and good looking.
Falcon for Twitter - Falcon is a powerful *WIDGET* that brings a full Twitter client to your homescreen
Multicon Widget - Save space on your homescreen with this free widget. Use it to clean up or add more applications. It will let you put more then one shortcut in the same space as one icon normally takes up.
Evernote Widget - The Evernote Widget lets you go directly to core Evernote features right from your home screen
ClockQ Digital Clock Widget - Simple digital clock widget for your homescreen. The power of this widget is in variety of customization options.
Android Pro Widgets - A set of powerful and extremely useful home screen widgets!
Glass Widgets - All the widgets are semi-transparent, with a nice smoked glass look
Pulse News - Pulse News is a beautiful app that takes your favorite websites and transforms them into a colorful and interactive mosaic.
There is already one Thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1924873
xperiax10.awesome said:
There is already one Thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1924873
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry bud i did check first and i could not find anything within the first pages....i was going to ask for this to be shut but looks like you already reported it..apologies for the inconvenience
but to my defense you did not update that thread since like few weeks ago. and i only bet you bumped a bit your thread cause you saw me creating this one..hence why when i looked through the pages yours was not to be found....and plus you hardly update your threads....but anyways sorry to stepped on your grounds and like i said you already reported this to close so that is fine and get your ass together and update in the Note 2 thread....they been asking me about you through PM
Goku80 said:
sorry bud i did check first and i could not find anything within the first pages....i was going to ask for this to be shut but looks like you already reported it..apologies for the inconvenience
but to my defense you did not update that thread since like few weeks ago. and i only bet you bumped a bit your thread cause you saw me creating this one..hence why when i looked through the pages yours was not to be found....and plus you hardly update your threads....but anyways sorry to stepped on your grounds and like i said you already reported this to close so that is fine and get your ass together and update in the Note 2 thread....they been asking me about you through PM
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Click to collapse
No actually I created one today for Xperia Z Then only I came to know abt your thread !!
I didn't asked to close, we can merge the same way as we did for Note 2
I will reply to MOD !!
sent from Giant Killer Galaxy Note 2
So what is your stance in this matter, gentlemen?
eagleeyetom said:
So what is your stance in this matter, gentlemen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I send PM to you.
OK. Thread closed.
If you want to coopereate, please end me a message and I will add some additional posts

[Android 2.2+] AGS Stream - Download and play Amateur & professional Adventure Games

[Android 2.2+] AGS Stream - Download and play Amateur & professional Adventure Games
Adventure Game Studio is Software for Windows that can create 1st and 3rd person point and click adventure games(www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk). Games can run on Windows, Mac, Linux, IOS, Android and Sony PSP. AGS Stream is a tool created for the Adventure Game Engine: AGS(Adventure Game Studio). This tool is not the run-time or engine itself. It is merely an app that will assist in downloading and installing the game of your choosing onto your Android Device. You can purchase the app for $1.15 here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.agsstream1.diperla&feature
New Version:
AGS 2.1.5 (2/11/13)
Media:
-Changed the Image logo again to better fit the play store, thanks to Selmiak.
App:
-Resized Icon.
-Fixed an error that appears if the device does not have an internet connection.
-Fixed the notification area to properly tell you when a game is being installed or has succeeded or not.
-Adjusted some layouts for different size devices. It still will not be perfect, but it will be better.
-When clicking on the game download notification, it will take you to the apps main page.
-When clicking on a game, the main page will no longer interrupt the page while loading its list of games.
-Downloading on Tablets has been fixed.
-Fixed an issue where if you downloaded a game and then return to any games listing, the notification would report that the game download was %100 when in fact it was still downloading.
Games:
-Added a new game
AGS:
-Updated to the latest AGS Build.
It is now updated to Version 2.1.1
It contains a few features such as:
-Feature Game (With every update, the Featured Game will change)
-9 Games currently installable.
-All games are hosted on my private server to ensure that the games never become unavailable.
-All Games have the project developer listed right below the title.
-Each game gives you a screenshot and brief description along with how large the download will be.
-The app will download, extract and install the game for you.
-The app will download and install the latest daily build of AGS for Android at the time of upgrade/installation.
-Search feature so you can easily find a game you know you want. With 9 games currently available, it shouldn't be too hard to find anyway, but as the database expands, you want to have a search feature so that you can find games easily.
-Slightly different Interface.
-Other little things such as bug fixes, etc...
A new version of the app will be updated to contain a new list of games and features. This will be done once a week. At times, with the updates, new features will also be made available with the App.
Changelog:
AGS Stream 2.1 Update Log (2/8/2013)
Sorry for this one, I had to pull it originally from the store as I noticed a major bug in it. Either way, I have now re-uploaded and it is ready to go.
Games:
-No new games added. I apologize for that. Getting the kinks out of AGS has been very difficult and I had to focus all my time on that for now. However, the next update will have an additional 21 games, bringing it up to 30 games. That will be later in this week or early next.
Interface:
-Updated the Menu system so that it works with the older and the newer versions of Android OS, especially for devices without a hard menu button.
-We now have an action bar which works very well with the design of the app.
AGS:
-JJS has updated his port to Android and therefore it has been included in this update. A new notable feature is that you can use the menu button to bring up the keyboard. Another feature is that its configuration settings are now available and exposed to outside apps, therefore, In the next version coming, we now can allow users to set configuration options for AGS and for the games in general. At the moment it may work, at times it may not. Need to investigate whats going on.
App:
-The App now properly checks if AGS has been installed or not and will prompt you upon the first time you run the app to install it.
-If you do not have the latest daily build of AGS, the app will also prompt you to update AGS.
-Downloading and extracting has been fixed. Therefore, games will properly install whether you are using viewing the app or the game page or not.
-Notification telling you what percentage of the game is downloaded and what its current process is. Please note though that if your device is charging, the notification may not appear properly.
-Fixed some bug fixes.
-Improved App performance.
Games Page:
-If the game has a Youtube vide, you will now have a menu option to view the youtube video.
-If your game provides you with errors, or if your game is not installed properly, you will have the option to re-install the game now or to delete the game directory.
Release Notes for V2.0.0 (1/31/2013)
App:
-More Games coming soon!
- Added a Genre Page for the games and an installed games view.
- Removed Landscape version and different size versions. The app works on almost %100 of all devices and From Android 3+ you can stretch the app on your screen to make it compatible (Built in feature with Android, not this app). So, the app should look good enough on any device. It may not end up looking pretty, but at the very least, smartphones should look good.
- Changed the application icon (Thanks to Selmiac from the AGS Forums)
- Changed Play Store details and description as well as version number.
- You will have a link that takes you to the Official AGS Web site.
- Demo App will no longer be updated.
Interface:
- Updated the interface to look a little cleaner, have a better color scheme that fits in with AGS and its website.
- We included Menu Item both on the main page and also on the games page itself.
- You can now swipe left to right and vice versa on the main page to switch between pages.
Footprint:
- The app will have a smaller footprint than it did before when adding new games. Before we would add the screenshots into the apps resources, making the app larger and larger. This time around, the games list and page will simply load the games screenshot off the web, meaning that the app size will hardly increase as games are added.
AGS Runtime:
-Latest Run Time Build has been added.
-If you have AGS already installed, you can still install the latest version through the app.
Games Page Features:
- New Menu option to take you to the games official web site.
- New Menu option that takes you to the games AGS Database page where you can find more details about the game and user reviews.
- New Menu option that takes you to the main page.
- New Menu option if the game is installed that launches AGS and allows you to play the game.
- If a Game is installed, you can uninstall the game.
New Features:
- You have a "Help" option in the menu that helps you get around the app.
- You have a "What is AGS" option in the menu explaining what AGS is.
- You also have an "About" Section giving you information on the team that brought you AGS.
- Added a Progress Notification to the downloads so that you are aware the game is still downloading.
Bug Fixes:
- Some people were saying that they were having download issues. I looked into it, tinkered with what I could and hope that it solved the issue.
- ANR keyDispatchingTimedOut errors that Many Galaxy S3 and Nexus 7 users were experiencing should be fixed now, or at the very least, made to happen less frequently.
-Freeze ups after the game downloads have been fixed.
V1.0.3 - 1/16/13 (11:58PM Eastern Time)
-Fixed a couple of Typos
-Fixed a couple of bugs
-Added more games
-Displayed the developer under the games name
-A new featured game is displayed.
-Latest Daily Android Build of AGS Run-Time.
-On the games page, you will now know how big the game file is.
V1.0.2 - 1/16/13 (9:20PM Eastern Time)
-Added a few more games.
-Fixed a couple of bugs
-Added the ability to search for a game as they are put in.
Uploaded a new version. Should be available in the play store in a few hours. Mainly a bug fix edition.

Must have apps for Optimus 4X HD

Hiya everyone. This type of thread isn't new to XDA as it's on almost every device fora, but I decided to bring it over here aswell.
This Post is origanally from HTC One X Forum. All credits go to Goku80.
I'm going to share the most useful applications to have on a LG Optimus 4X HD and would like you to share your must have apps. If an app gets mentioned by numerous people, that isn't on this list, I'll be sure to add it.
Rooted apps Section​
SuperSU - SuperSU is the Superuser access management tool of the future. *ROOT*
ROM Toolbox Pro - ROM Toolbox combines apps like Titanium Backup, Root Explorer, ROM Manager and others. A must-have root app *ROOT*
AdAway - AdAway is an open source ad blocker for Android. *ROOT*
Rom Manager - Must have app for any root user. Make backups, flash ROMs, and own your device. ROM Manager is THE MUST HAVE APP for any Android root user.
System Tuner - The most complete system tuner and manager for all your phones and tablets!
BetterBatteryStats - With BetterBatteryStats you can analyse the behavior of your phone, find applications causing the phone to drain battery while it is supposed to be asleep and measure the effect of corrective actions. Guys you can also find this app if you search on XDA..
Titanium Backup - EXTREMELY powerful tool. Backup ALL apps, Market links, remove bloatware & MORE! ☆Needs ROOT, Android 1.5-4.1+
ZDBox - ZDbox is an amazing and free all-in-one toolbox. It holds a collection of useful tools and has a nice and easy to use interface. With ZDbox you’re getting your mobile/cell phone under control, do easily some optimization and customize it to your needs.
Appextractor - AppExtractor is a tool which will allow you to restore individual applications, data, SMS, and MMS messages from your ROM Manager backups.
Orbot:Tor on Android - Orbot is the official port of Tor to Android. Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. STANDARD/NO ROOT - Works best with Firefox Mobile+ProxyMob Add-on - Works with Orbot-enabled apps like Gibberbot (secure chat) and Orweb
CPU Sleeper Quad Core - Since we have Quad Core CPUs, we have a CPU 0 and a CPU1/2/3, core 0,1,2,3 while the screen is off we really only need to have 1 core active "CPU0", this App will make sure CPU 1/2/3 shuts off while the screen is off, then resumes normal usage when the screen comes back on.(You need to pay for this app)
General Must have Apps for LG Optimus 4x HD​
Power Toggles - This is simply the best toggle app around. Able to toggle lots of main features.
Picsay Pro - This is a brilliant photo editor, but limited compared to some others. My personal favourite.
Rotation Locker - It locks your screen to either Portrait or Landscape. Really useful on some apps.
XDA App ICS Blue Colours/Themed - Our favourite forum app but with a complete red or blue colour theme thanks to our own Whiskey103
Memory Usage - Lists all current apps and tells you current memory usage, peak memory usage and priorities.
Desktop Visualizer - Makes shortcuts or widgets using a custom image and can be used to make custom icons.
Neutron Music Player - Neutron is a professional music player with amazing high quality. Great for audiophiles.
AirDroid - For moving files between your PC and phone using WIFI
Tasker - The best app of its kind. It does almost anything
MXPlayer - MXPlayer is one of the best apps for viewing movies.
Photo Timeline - Lets you create a time elapsed sequence of anything you want with your camera and then play as a slideshow
Home Switcher - Switches between any Home Launchers you have on your device.
PicSpeed Wallpapers - Over 170,000 HD wallpapers of all different genres, for our device.
Solid Explorer - Solid Explorer is a file manager which with two independent panels is the most attractive, eye catching and intuitive file manager for the Android.
QuickPic - An alternate photo gallery app, incase you don't like the default
Aldiko Book Reader - Read and download thousands of eBooks right on your Android phone or tablet. Download one of the best Android eBook Readers now!
Dropbox - Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere.
ES File Explorer- ES File Explorer is a free, featured all-in-one file manager & application manager & task killer & cloud storage client & ftp client & samba client which explores the pictures, music, video, document & other files on your phone and your computer.
TeamViewer for Remote Control - Remotely control your computer with TeamViewer Free while you are on the road! Mobile and flexible: remotely access computers from your android device!
ProCapture - Capture photos and panoramas like a pro with the ProCapture camera app. ProCapture adds advanced features to the Android camera experience. Multiple advanced camera shooting modes supported: Timer, Burst, Reduced Noise, Wide Shot and Panorama.
Unified Remote - Easily the most feature-filled Android-PC remote. Turns your Android device into a WiFi or Bluetooth universal remote control for your Windows PC. Control your favorite programs, mouse, and keyboard.
Whatsapp Messenger - WhatsApp Messenger is a smartphone messenger available for Android. Switch from SMS to WhatsApp to send and receive messages, pictures, audio notes, and video messages.
AireTalk - Aire is a new communication app loaded with features that lets you talk to your friends and family in more ways than ever! Use Aire to make calls to any Aire user with voice or video for free!
Astro File Manager - It's like Windows Explorer or Mac’s Finder for your phone or tablet and allows you to easily browse and organize all of your pictures, music, videos and documents. It also gives you the ability to stop processes that burn battery life and backup your apps in case you lose or change phones.
SketchBook Mobile - Autodesk SketchBook® Mobile is a professional-grade paint and drawing application offering a full set of sketching tools and a streamlined and intuitive user interface.
TeamViewer QuickSupport - Remotely control your Samsung mobile device with original Samsung firmware from your computer with the free TeamViewer QuickSupport app! Now you can provide remote technical support to colleagues, friends, and family who need assistance with their Samsung mobile device.
AfterFocus - Bring DSLR-like Photography to Your Smartphone
Appy Geek - Appy Geek brings you all the leading tech news sources from the industry in a cleverly laid-out user interface, including TechRadar, Gizmodo, T3 Magazine, The Next Web and more... Staying at the cutting edge of innovation has never been so easy!
VLC for Android Beta - VLC media player is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player that plays most multimedia files as well as discs, devices, and network streaming protocols. This is a BETA version of the port of VLC media player to the Android™ platform. It is intended for power users and hackers. This version is not perfectly stable and is slower than the final version.
Tapatalk Forum App - The only and the best fully functional forum app in the Market, endorsed by over 35,000 of forums worldwide.
Machinima - Machinima is the premier online network providing entertainment for the gaming culture, showing game trailers, gameplay videos and tips, video game reviews, first looks, and original series created in video games. One of the most viewed YouTube channels in the world!
SmartTools - Measure length, angle, distance, height, direction and sound with your phone.
Smart Tools is a complete package of 5 app sets. It includes 5 Pro sets for a total of 15 tools. In a word, All-in-One.
News Republic - NEWS REPUBLIC features more content than ever including articles and opinions from major players right alongside specialist experts - including ITN, Press Association, Tech Radar, The Sports Review, WENN, HitFix, The Next Web, AFP... More content sources are added regularly with more top names already on the horizon for the future.
CPU Spy - This is a simple app to display the time the CPU spends in each frequency state. This can be a useful tool in diagnosing battery problems or tweaking your over-clock settings.
JellyBean Keyboard - Android Jelly Bean Keyboard from Android 4.1 ported to work on your device. Alternative android keyboard that has Swiftkey like next word prediction. Now includes split keyboard for thumb typing!
Avast! Mobile Security - Full-featured, best/top-rated Android antivirus & security app
DroidWall - Allows you to restrict which apps can access the network. This is the perfect solution if you don't have an unlimited data plan, or just wants to see your battery lasting longer. For advanced users, it also allows you to manually define custom iptables rules.
GO SMS Pro - GO SMS PRO brings you cool UI, fast and convenient SMS/MMS experience. GO SMS Pro is the most popular messaging app; Very powerful, Cool, Funny, Safe, Fully customizable; Well support SMS/MMS + GO Chat(free message) + Walkie Talkie(free voice).*
Plume for Twitter - Plume is a beautiful and completely customizable Twitter app that will revolutionize the way you use Twitter! Brought to you by the authors of the popular Beautiful Widgets, Plume is one of the best Twitter clients for Android! (Plume was formerly known as Touiteur)
BetterBatteryStats - With BetterBatteryStats you can analyse the behavior of your phone, find applications causing the phone to drain battery while it is supposed to be asleep and measure the effect of corrective actions. Guys you can also find this app if you search on XDA..
GTA Radio - GTA Radio is a free way to listen to all radio stations of famous game Grand Theft Auto from every corner of the earth.
K-9 Mail - K-9 Mail is an open-source e-mail client with search, IMAP push email, multi-folder sync, flagging, filing, signatures, bcc-self, PGP, mail on SD & more!
Goal.com - Goal.com offers local coverage of all the latest developments including breaking news, exclusive interviews, transfer gossip, live commentary and much more. Whatever and wherever the story is, Goal.com offers the most comprehensive and expert coverage of the major domestic leagues and competitions, as well as all the major international tournaments
Aqua Mail - Easy automatic setup for popular email services (Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, and more).
Android Lost Free - Lost your android? We will help you find it. See http://www.androidlost.com. Remotely control your Android phone from the internet or by SMS.
Chomp SMS - chomp SMS is a souped-up replacement to the stock android Messaging app with a heap more features.
FilePush - FilePush lets you transfer files to your Android device with only two clicks.
SD Maid Pro - A maid for your android, to regain precious memory and keep it clean & tidy. For rooted devices
Fast File Transfer - The app uses Wi-Fi Tethering for establishing a connection between the devices but does not need the Internet. Fast File Transfer is an alternative for Bluetooth file sending.
LiveScore - This application comes directly from LiveScore Ltd., the leaders and inventors of real-time delivery of live sport data and owners of the no.1 ranked football / soccer web site globally... I use it and i love it and it is ten times better than the Sky Sports Football Center app.. Must have for all footy fans
Google Googles - Search by taking a picture: point your mobile phone camera at a painting, a famous landmark, a barcode or QR code, a product, a storefront, or a popular image. If Goggles finds it in its database, it will provide you with useful information. Goggles also works as a barcode / QR code scanner.
Zinio - Download the Zinio for Android app and read top magazines from around the world instantly. Zinio is the premier app for magazines on Android, giving readers immediate access to thousands of global titles.
Screen Filter - Applies a shade that acts as a dimmer to ensure your eyes don't hurt. Far more powerful than Android's built-in brightness setting.
Headset Button Controller - Headset Button Controller is very configurable, allowing you to play music, change tracks, adjust volume, answer phone calls, start Voice Command and many other things, just by clicking the button on your headset. Paid app but worth the money
MD5Checker - This application allows the user to compare the MD5 checksum between two files or alternatively between a file and a value entered manually. When loading a .md5, it will read its content and put it in the field instead of calculating the hash.
Speedy Uploader for Facebook - Uploads pics in an instant, after compressing them. Great stuff.
Fast Reboot - Simulates a reboot by closing/restarting all core and user processes and thus frees up memory. Your phone should be much snappier after using Fast Reboot.
Falcon Pro for Twitter - Falcon Pro brings the Ultimate Twitter Experience to your Android Phone and Tablet.
Trial Xtreme 3 - Trial Xtreme 3, will take your breath away with its new innovations and amazing features. Tackle 76 completely original courses, fighting your friends for the race, win while carefully controlling your bike to ensure that you don’t fall victim to one of the many hundreds of mines, water pipes, or wrecked cars that are standing in your way. Great game and highly recommended and it is free
Temple Run - Need i say more
Subway Surfers - I like this game. Very fun and great graphics to.
Instagram - Share your photos in a simple photo stream with friends to see - and follow your friends' photos with the click of a single button. Every day you open up Instagram, you'll see new photos from your closest friends, and creative people from around the world.
Viber: Free Calls & Messaging - Viber allows you to call, text, and send photos worldwide for free.
MovieTube: Free full Movies - MovieTube is a missing channel on YouTube for Free Full Length Movies. It manages free movies in 14 languages including: English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, Thai and Malay movies.
Amazon Mobile for Android - The Amazon Mobile app allows customers to browse and shop by department, search, compare prices, find deals, read reviews and make a purchase right from their mobile device.
IMDb Movies & TV - Does what it says on the tin..No need for further introduction..Must have specially if you are a movie fan
Netflix - Netflix is the world’s leading subscription service for watching TV episodes and movies on your phone.
Temple Run 2 - Sequel to the best game around in my eyes..Must have
Jorte Calendar - For personal use or for business, Jorte will assist you to manage your daily schedule thoroughly.
Cerberus Anti Theft - Cerberus is a complete anti-theft application, the best protection you can get to recover your misplaced, lost or stolen Android device
BubbleUPnP - BubbleUPnP is a full featured UPnP/DLNA Control Point, UPnP Media Renderer and UPnP Media Server. Play easily your music, videos and images on your phone and devices on your network (DLNA TVs, XBMC, WMP, ...), from your external UPnP Media Servers.
Chrome - No need for any introduction here
ColorNote - Color Note is a simple notepad app. It gives you a quick and simple notepad editing experience when you write notes, memo, email, message, shopping list and to do list.
Messaging + Google Voice - Stock Messaging Application with Google Voice capabilities.
Sliding Messaging - Easily manage text messages in a new and up to date format compliant with the Android design guidelines and visually based on the stock messaging app from Google, with added features. Get Pro for more features though and show support to dev
LINE: Free Calls & Messages - LINE is a new communication app which allows you to make FREE voice calls and send FREE messages whenever and wherever you are, 24 hours a day
Sygic: GPS Navigation - High quality TomTom maps stored on your Android (no internet connection needed!) together with a robust set of navigation features help you drive with confidence.
gReader - gReader is an unofficial Google Reader client for Android. Read all your RSS/Feed news in one place with Google Reader, where keeping up with your favorite websites is as easy as checking your email.
GSam Battery Monitor - Does what it says on the tin...Read the description in the link to find out what exactly it does..But this is the best battery monitor app out there...Link for FAQ here regarding the app
Many thanks goes out to KidCarter93 for allowing me to share his thread here to...
On a side note more apps will be added in the coming days so stay tuned for more goodies..Will be adding more apps that i use as well and find useful and just like my other thread wanna compile the most used apps on your handset.
IF YOU'VE FOUND THIS POST, OR ANY OF THESE APPS USEFUL, INSTEAD OF POSTING THANKS, JUST USE THE BUTTON!
If there are any apps that you feel shouldn't be in this list, please let me know and suggest a better one. I can then test it and maybe add it to the list, in place of the other one.
If you don't suggest a better app, I won't change anything.
Re: Good apps for Optimus 4X HD
I am not on pc but got a few pointers for you to make the thread better.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
AW: Good apps for Optimus 4X HD
thanks
it would be very nice if you would copy your thread in editing mod and pm me so I have all the links to the apps included
Sent from my LG-P880 using xda app-developers app
tobixdev said:
thanks
it would be very nice if you would copy your thread in editing mod and pm me so I have all the links to the apps included
Sent from my LG-P880 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that is what i was going to say that you did...
AW: Must have apps for Optimus 4X HD
thank you
Sent from my LG-P880 using xda app-developers app
AW: Must have apps for Optimus 4X HD
nice collection, bro
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
AW: Must have apps for Optimus 4X HD
bump
Sent from my LG-P880 using xda app-developers app
Nice list man, let's new stuff.
thanks
Nice, comes in handy after a hard reset
You should try this, and put it in your list... arguably the best sound effect app... (root required)
Very useful to improve P880's poor audio quality...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2191223
Sent from my LG-P880 using xda app-developers app

[Q] How viable is this phone?

If i wana game and stuff.. can i still do android games, or i dont understand exactly how this works.. is it a mini pc?
"i wana game and stuff" is a pretty un-informative list of desired functionality. However, I'll do the best I can.
"can i still do android games" Let's see... what part of "Windows Phone" sounds like "Android"? Nope. Of course, a lot of games that are on Android are also on WP8. A lot of Android games are *not* on WP8, though. On the other hand, some WP games aren't on Android (relatively speaking, far fewer, but there are some). The main key features that WP has for gaming are that A) there's a mandatory chassis spec, so you don't get games that run great on some phones and terribly on others (though some of the cheaper phones will simply not run some high-end games); B) there is Xbox Live integration with a lot of games, meaning you can get Gamerscore, sometimes get rewards tied to the console games, and can play with Xbox friends in some multiplayer games.
"is it a mini pc?" Not any more than any other smartphone. It's a mini PC in the same sense that an iPhone is a mini Mac (which is to say, from a user experience and software compatibility perspective, not at all). It is made by the same company, uses some of the same online services (SkyDrive, Xbox Music, etc.), you can link it with a Microsoft account the same way you can a Windows 8 PC, its browser uses the IE10 rendering engine, and it supports Office documents. Other than that, though, all of the similarities between Windows Phone and Windows are under the covers, invisible and irrelevant to the end user. I personally think Microsoft was stupid to keep the "Windows" part of the name. It's arguably more similar to an "Xbox Phone" or something like that.
"i dont understand exactly how this works" I don't understand exactly how your spell checker let you type like that, but back on subject... Windows Phone is its own smartphone OS. It is as different from iOS or Android as iOS and Andriod are from each other, and as similar. Like Android, it's available on a range of hardware, some better than others; unlike Android (but like iOS), all the hardware that it's available on meets certain minimum specifications. Like iOS, it's a locked-down OS without any kind of file browser or command line features, but unlike iOS (and like Android) you can sideload (some) apps for free. (Taking this moment to preemptively remind you to read the forum rules, especially #6.) Like both iOS and Android, there's an app store with hundreds of thousands of apps, many of which are free or have free trials; like iOS (but somewhat unlike Android) the apps are all screened carefully to prevent malicious ones.
Regarding viability in general, here are some of WP8's strong points (note that some of them are specific to certain lines of phones, rather than being available on all of them):
Social network integration. Best with Facebook and Twitter, but it supports a bunch of them.
Office documents. Specifically Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and OneNote. Also works really well with Exchange servers, of course, though it can do other email just fine.
Music. The Xbox Music pass is a sweet deal, if you live in a region where you can get it, and support for it is built into the phone. Nokia Music, if you buy a Nokia phone, is also supposed to be great (I have a Samsung phone, so I can't speak for that). Pandora, etc. are of course available too, as apps.
Navigation. Here Drive/Transit/Maps (Nokia's mapping and navigation apps) are available on all Windows phones (free on all Nokia phones and also on non-Nokia ones in some parts of the world) and they are good.
Excellent hardware value. The Lumia 52x and 62x phones are fantastic value for their (very low) cost. The Samsung ATIV S is considerably cheaper than its Android equivalent, the Galaxy S3.
Fantastic cameras, especially on the higher-end Nokia phones. The Lumia 92x and 1520 phones have Really Good cameras; the 1020 has arguably the best camera of any production smartphone in the world (quite a bit better than some dedicated point-and-shoot cameras).
Security. Unlike Android, there is essentially no malware (I'm not aware of *any* malware "in the wild") for WP8.
Storage. Unlike iOS, some WP8 devices have microSD slots; combined with internal storage, they can hold a lot of music/videos/pictures/documents/etc. Apps can't be installed to the SD card, but you have more room for apps anyhow because you put everything else on the card and leave all the internal storage for apps.
Battery life. WP8 is *much* better than Android about preventing background apps from eating all your battery life.
Skype integration. If you use Skype much, WP8 is great.
Xbox Live integration. If you like getting achievements and having mobile games connected with Xbox games sounds cool, WP8 is where it's at.
At-a-glance information. The whole "live tiles" system, where basically every app can (if useful for it to do so) act sort of like a little Android widget (but with much less battery impact) and where notifications for a given app show up as a number on that app's tile, is pretty cool.
With that all said, WP8 does have some weaknesses too. If the following things are important for you, that could be a problem.
Not very hackable/rootable. We're part-way there on Samsung WP8 devices. Nothing much on any other manufacturer yet, although there's talk of something for Huawei.
No support for third-party app stores. Like iOS (but unlike Android), only the official app store run by Microsoft is supported by the OS.
Not as many apps, and the don't tend to come out on WP8 until they're already out on Android and iOS. That's not to say there aren't tons of apps - there are, by any objective measure - but there aren't *as many* as the two leading platforms.
No ability to install other browser engines. IE10 is good, and you can use apps that re-skin the browser engine (this is how Chrome works on iOS, as well), but like iOS (and unlike Android) you can't install things like Mobile Firefox at this time.
No VPN support yet. If you need a VPN on your phone (most people don't, but some do) then you'll need to wait on WP8; there's an update coming that should add support though.
Stuff I didn't mention, like gaming quality or so on, are basically on par with other platforms. The hardware is less diverse than Android but more diverse than iOS, it's available on tons of carriers around most of the world. It's less customizable than Android, but Microsoft also protects the software against being too screwed up by the OEM or carrier the way a lot of Android devices are. You don't need special software (like iTunes) for day-to-day use, so it doesn't really matter what OS you use on your PC. The UI is *different* from that of iOS or Android, but whether you like it or not is personal taste.

Augmented Reality for VR

I just ordered my Gear VR and haven't tried it yet so I don't know if such apps exist, but from what I've searched I couldn't find many references to Augmented Reality applications using the headset. The closest thing is the pass-though function that allows you see through the camera, but doesn't seem to provided a lot of added value.
There are a lot of standard Android AR apps like Layar, Ingress, Ikea Catalog.. even a simple barcode scanner or a HUD that could be ported to the Gear VR, and combined with the immersion provided by the headset the possibilities could be endless! Google Glass functionality could also find it's way in there.
Are there any in-progress developments or plans for such applications in the near future?

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