After doing the rounds installing Auto Nooter on several NookColors, I thought I'd make a quick list of apps that are essential to have for any new installation. I'll update this list as needed, but hopefully it will provide new rooted users a good jumping point to get a nicely functioning device.
This list is geared towards the new rooted NookColor user who runs stable builds / auto nooted builds. If you just bought a Nook Color and haven't rooted yet, go see Guide to Nook Color Rooting. Many of these apps below will fix problems with the stock rom.
The list isn't really targeted for the Nookie Froyo bootable SD card, so if you have one, take what you will.
If you're a hip person and run custom roms or the like, you may find these useful, too! (Using ClockWorkRecovery or other roms is currently not documented in the Nook Color rooting guide. Don't attempt unless you're able to fix if things break.)
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Home Switcher - Say you accidentally set your home to not Softkeys before you got a launcher? Go grab home switcher and fix it!
ADWLauncher, or other Home screen. You need some place to run everything from. ADW Launcher is a great first step, and you can always change later.
AppBrain - An app market add-on that manages your apps for you. Much more comprehensive than current market.
Fancy Widget - Gets you started with an all-in-one clock widget you can add to your launcher, since ADW doesn't give you one by default. Add Fancy Home from the widgets menu for the comprehensive widget.
SoftLocker - Keeps wifi from bugging during a sleep by forcing sleep mode to only turn off screen. Yes, this will drain more battery, but the NC battery is huge, and not having to forcefully reconnect at every wake is worth it for people dealing with bugs. You may have to relaunch SoftLocker at reboot to get it to work properly, but that's a one-time thing per session.
DolphinBrowser HD, Miren Browser, etc. - There are plenty of better web browsers than the built-in one, mostly supporting multitouch, tabs, and more.
Root Explorer - Costs $4 at the time of this post. If you're going to spend any money on an android app, this should be it. A file management tool that is a million times better than others, since you can do a lot of simple root activities on device quickly without needing adb. It's really a very good and important to have app.
Astro File Manager - Another good file manager, but doesn't support Root. It's really good for simple file system management where you don't want to run the risk of breaking anything. Also, it can somehow install apk packages in the worst of conditions where other installers fail.
Titanium Backup - good for backing up data, or wiping data from a buggy app that keeps crashing
Thumb keyboard - $1.65 at time of posting. possibly the best keyboard for the nook. Beautiful display, customizable key and row height. Make sure to suppress full screen in options. Any keyboard requires some setup process to install via Terminal. See Replacing the Default Keyboard (You can use the terminal app below. Your app location should be /data/app/com.beansoft.keyboardplus.apk . Copy that to /system/app and use NookColor Tools to set the keyboard. This will make the market think the app isn't installed, but it works!)
Disk Usage - shows a visual representation of disk space at a glance. great app for finding where your space went!
GScript - lets you automate scripted commands. good for devs.
Android Terminal - lets you enter commands directly. good for devs.
adbwireless - adb connections over wireless. very convenient.
ROM Manager - An important app if you're using one of the newer experimental builds running from ClockworkModRecovery. If you don't know what this is, forget I even said anything about this app... Or read this link if you're really interested in some cutting edge build stuff, but ignore it if you just want a working device and you've auto nooted.
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Any apps you'd like to recommend for this list for the newbies out there? Post below what you think is important for people to have. This is for essentials, only, not optional apps like games or live wallpapers.
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Great list, here's a few more.
Miren browser - polished 3rd party browser with some awesome features. Slick menus and swipe to go forward and back sold me.
Thumb keyboard - possibly the best keyboard for the nook. I'm currently using the honeycomb skin and it looks fantastic. Customizable key and row height. Perfect for my huge thumbs.
Astro - file manager, compression handler, app installer,image and sound player....all around a badass app essential to any android device.
Also wanted to mention that root explorer is excellent. Forget logging on your computer to modify a file. I changed my nook hardware keys in a minute or so using root explorer. Great app.
Dont forget rom manager and the knowledge of howto make a nandroid with it
Nookie Froyo 0.6.8 (zoom2)/Tapatalk Pro
DROPBOX...Move .apks, music, movies, new flashables, ANYTHING, from phone, PC, or another Nook to yours. Should be 2nd on list beside Root Explorer (IMHO).
Sent from my PC36100
Great list. Consider adding Tasker. Total device automation.
Can anyone recommend a good ram manager? I have autokill but I notice it does not kill everything and says my ram available keeps going down until I reset my nook. (gradually but still kind of annoying)
darkhunter139 said:
Can anyone recommend a good ram manager? I have autokill but I notice it does not kill everything and says my ram available keeps going down until I reset my nook. (gradually but still kind of annoying)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are on the stock os 1.1 (Eclair 2.1) you may want to look into Advanced Task Killer. If you are on Froyo or higher you shouldn't use this. Android will do a good job taking care of itself.
That said, I reboot my Android devices once every couple of days. I notice that keeps it running pretty well.
I actually have been using advanced task killer on froyo. Will that hurt anything?
I found WiFi Explorer (FREE) or Pro ($1.60) very useful to move files between my computer and NC without a cable.
Besides some of the other great apps people have said I would add 'Pulse' as an RSS reader. It looks so good and a great way to get your news!
lyam23 said:
Great list. Consider adding Tasker. Total device automation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tasker turns a smartphone into a SMART phone.
I thought about getting it to try to enable a numeric lock code, and trying on my DX, it does work with one of the Locale plugins, but it's a bit flaky. I was gonna set the Nook so that if it was within range of my WiFi at home or at work, it would not have the lock code, but everywhere else, it would be enabled.
darkhunter139 said:
I actually have been using advanced task killer on froyo. Will that hurt anything?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes....You are running froyo...android 2.2 and above optimizes running apps/services...don't mess with it...keep one around if you have to kill a rogue app on the fly, but dont let it run continuously....
Sent from my PC36100
mazook98 said:
DROPBOX...Move .apks, music, movies, new flashables, ANYTHING, from phone, PC, or another Nook to yours. Should be 2nd on list beside Root Explorer (IMHO).
Sent from my PC36100
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lyam23 said:
Great list. Consider adding Tasker. Total device automation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
plus one for both of these
Tapatalk or XDA devs Android app for reading this site, duh! hehe
Two great app to how!
I would only add two additional apps to this great list...
Sqlite Editor and Task killer, great apps to have on a newly rooted nook color!
I would strongly recommend the following:
Moon+ Reader for reading ebooks
Perfect viewer for comics
Epistle for taking notes (synchronises with dropbox)
I use ATK a lot on my DroidX with Froyo, if not it just keeps on getting slower and the battery drains quickly. What happens is some apps keep transmitting even though you closed them. For example, USA Today app I believe keeps sending fresh news articles even after you close the app as it's still running. So keeping it alive when you may not look at it until a few days later is wasteful of battery life and slows other stuff you want to do. Was it works with 2.1, I don't think so, I believe ATK is just as relavent now than then.
The app you really need to get after Angry Birds is Paper Toss.
File Expert?
I use File Expert for managing my files on my nook. It's free, has an option to run as root, and has a built in network interface that works out of the box. Plus having a back button right on the UI makes it easier than using any of the soft keys hacks... I can't post links, but the package is called "xcxin.filexpert" on the market.
Related
Hey all,
I've recently rooted and I'm loving it. Quick background, I've recently rooted using the erisuser1 tutorial at android forums (VERY VERY helpful thank you!). I demo'd a few different ROMs, and decided I really wanted to keep some SenseUI feel, so ended up with xtrSense 4.2. It's worked really well for me, but I may be trying more in the near future (recommendations are welcome!). After the load, I've also utilized SetCPU for OC'ing, which was the main impetus for rooting. Has that ever made a difference! However, the question remains, what next? First, there are a couple things I know I want to do...
1. Remove stock apps: xtrSense did a nice job of removing a lot of bloatware from the OS, but some still remain, i.e. Amazon MP3 and teeter. It seems the xtrSense ROM included scripts for use in GScript to remove these, but I have yet to get them to work when following the steps outlined in the xtrSense post here at XDA. Has anyone had success using this method? If not, shouldn't the mere fact that I have root give me access to removing these programs via another method? What other apps/processes are used to remove stock apps once root is achieved? Any help would be awesome.
2. A2SD, C2SD & C2C: Does anyone use these processes? If so, how has it been achieved? Again, it seems the xtrSense 4.2 ROM included scripts for use in GScript to added this functionality, but I have never seen an increase in internal memory after using the scripts. I have undertaken the prereq that is partitioning my SD card, and have yet to see any success. Have others been successful using this or another process to achieve A2SD, C2SD or C2C? If so, how? Also, are there any cons to doing any of these? Any help in this regard would be MUCH appreciated.
3. What have YOU done post-root? I'm very very happy with what root, ROM and OC has done for the speed and battery life of my phone. However, I'm certain there are a million more tweaks that can be done to improve the speed and user experience of this cool little device, and I would be love to hear what others have done to further enjoy using the Droid Eris. What are your recommendations? Feel free to let me know!
Ok, any help in these areas would be really appreciated. Thanks for reading through this long post, and know that I am also happy to share any knowledge in regards to the steps I have already taken to get to this point.
Thank you!
Make the rom your own! mess with the theme, install bootanimations, make your own boot.
Change the splash screen (skateboard screen) don't be afraid to mess with the system just make sure you do nandroid backups. Try to figure how to add the features by yourself, struggle with it a little, that's always fun. Follow a few tutorials, like when I was starting there wasn't much documentation on how to enable a2sd by changing the boot.img so I had fun figuring that out.
Hope this gives you a few ideas ;p
Edit: if you going to be messing with phone I would suggest adding a linux partition to your computer if you are a windows person. Makes your life easier no need to worry about drivers etc
Sent from my Eris using XDA App
Agree, wholeheartedly! I've been rooted since July, and have learned a lot using this forum. It's great to be able to change the boot logo screen, boot animations, etc. You can also improve battery life, increase speed, etc. After root, it's like having a new phone, and you have a greater sense of control over your device each time you learn something new. Have fun!
ckfalls said:
1. Remove stock apps: xtrSense did a nice job of removing a lot of bloatware from the OS, but some still remain, i.e. Amazon MP3 and teeter. It seems the xtrSense ROM included scripts for use in GScript to remove these, but I have yet to get them to work when following the steps outlined in the xtrSense post here at XDA. Has anyone had success using this method? If not, shouldn't the mere fact that I have root give me access to removing these programs via another method? What other apps/processes are used to remove stock apps once root is achieved? Any help would be awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what to tell you, as removing stock applications with zach.xtr's Gscript process has always worked flawlessly for me. You may want to upgrade to the new xtrSENSE4.6 Beta that is out (you can find it by browser the more recent posts at the end of the xtrSENSE thread--Zach posted a link).
All I can say is that, when using Gscripts, make sure that you have "Needs SU?" checked. Aside from that, you just need to load Zach's scripts into Gscripts. After you load the scripts, have you pressed them? Just because you've loaded them into Gscripts doesn't mean they've run. You actually need to press on them to run them.
ckfalls said:
2. A2SD, C2SD & C2C: Does anyone use these processes? If so, how has it been achieved? Again, it seems the xtrSense 4.2 ROM included scripts for use in GScript to added this functionality, but I have never seen an increase in internal memory after using the scripts. I have undertaken the prereq that is partitioning my SD card, and have yet to see any success. Have others been successful using this or another process to achieve A2SD, C2SD or C2C? If so, how? Also, are there any cons to doing any of these? Any help in this regard would be MUCH appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've used all of them at various points in time--I used to use A2SD and C2SD, but ever since C2C was developed I've had no need. In xtrSENSE4.2, I'm pretty sure C2C is enabled by default. So, you don't need to worry about it UNLESS you're running low on disk space. If you're running low, how many apps do you have installed (you should be able to store ~100 with C2C)?
ckfalls said:
3. What have YOU done post-root? I'm very very happy with what root, ROM and OC has done for the speed and battery life of my phone. However, I'm certain there are a million more tweaks that can be done to improve the speed and user experience of this cool little device, and I would be love to hear what others have done to further enjoy using the Droid Eris. What are your recommendations? Feel free to let me know!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My recommendation would be NOT to use SetCPU. I've found that running both of Zach's Gscripts for Max and Min CPU Speed has worked better--you won't need to wait for SetCPU to load up, be granted Superuser Permission, and then adjust your clock settings on boot. Plus, you'll have one less process running at all times, increasing performance.
Additionally, you may want to take a look at the xtrSENSE4.6 Beta that I mentioned previously. New, in that version, is the first ever inclusion of Collins_ph's Battery Tweak. Previously, it could only be used with Froyo ROMs. Enabling and configuring the utility will increase battery life because it gradually turns down the speed on your processor proportionally as your battery drains.
In terms of making the ROM "your own," I'd take a look in the Theme's thread. I can't provide you a list of everything that will work on xtrSENSE, but I can confirm that both the Minimal Matte Grey and Touch of Legend MetaMorph Themes do work for xtrSENSE. Also, you may want to check out LauncherPro (Plus), if you haven't already (www.launcherpro.com)... I absolutely love LauncherPro Plus, but I'm not "actively" using it. I'm really waiting on Fede to develop acceptable Photo and Music widgets to replace HTC's Sense Widgets (if anyone has suggestions on existing replacements, please let me know...). Having said that, I run a secondary "experimental" ROM on weekend--I run xtrROM with LauncherPro Plus. If you do decide to use LauncherPro, then I'd really recommend taking a look at xtrROM verses xtrSENSE.
Also, if you're a Sense fan, you might want to check out the newest version of KaosLegendary, V18. This is a port of a Tiawanese leaked version of HTC's forecoming Wildfire Sense UI. This is an Alpha Build at the moment and there are a few nagging issues, but it's neat just to use for half a day on the weekend to see how Froyo Sense will eventually pan out.
Finally, take a look at some of the Froyo ROMs that are built around CyanogenMod 6.0 (e.g. CELB Froyo; KaosFroyo; Tazz Froyo; and I think ShadowROM). Maybe you'll find that you like CyanogenMod better than Sense and stick with that?
Good luck!
P.S. In the future, you're probably better off posting something like this in the Q&A section.
I highly reccommend downloading Titanium and running a batch back up of all your apps and data. When you flash a new rom you can download Titanium again and restore your apps and settings (saves a lot of time if you become a flashaholic). Also grab Root Explorer. It's an app that allows you to access your sd card and your rom system. Wana change your boot animation? Save the file to your sd, open Root Explorer, copy it from the sd to data/local and reboot. Same goes for stock apps. Locate them and delete. Another valuable app is a terminal emulator. Open it up, type SU to obtain superuser permission, then a2sd check. This will tell you if a2sd is functioning correctly. Type a2sd help for a list of commands to use if it's not working.
Always Nand back up and you can flash any rom you want, play with it, screw it up, who cares....nand restore and you're back to point A. I highly reccommend trying a few Froyo roms. You'll need to partition your sd back to all fat32 or it wont recognize it. Froyo is faster than 2.1 and has a stock (somewhat different) a2sd. KaosLegendary is the only current Froyo rom with sense but it's fun to play with. WARNING - many users have bricked their phones using Clockwork. Some people love it but I'm afraid of it.
If you haven't already, try ADW or Launcher Pro. Once you decide you hate one and love the other (this will happen), you wont even miss sense.
Also download Metamorph and Busybox. You'll need these to theme your rom of choice (unless you find a flashable theme).
Now, put your phone down, get back to work, and for God's sake tell your wife you love her. You haven't even talked to her in weeks!!
Sent from my nonsensikal froyo using XDA App
joshw0000 said:
I highly reccommend downloading Titanium and running a batch back up of all your apps and data. When you flash a new rom you can download Titanium again and restore your apps and settings (saves a lot of time if you become a flashaholic).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great post! +1 on Titantium Backup and Root Explorer--I use both.
Just a note: With Titanium Backup, I recommend scheduling it to backup both Apps + System Data and syncing it with Dropbox. This way, if something should happen, like your SD Card becomes corrupt and you can't Nand Restore, you'll be able to reflash your current ROM and Restore all Apps + System Data, since you're having a scheduled backup taken and stored in your Dropbox folder as well.
Having said that, when flashing a NEW ROM or UPGRADING, remember to Restore "Apps + Data" but NOT to do the "Restore Apps + System Data." This will ensure that if the developer of your ROM has changed any system files, they won't be messed up. Sure, it'll take you 10-15 minutes to get your ROM the way you want (e.g. Home Screens, Systems Sounds, Notifications, etc.) but it's worth it to know that everything will work properly. Since your applications and their set up have nothing to do with the ROM, you can rest easily knowing that at least they'll come back configured as you left them for the most part.
KarateExplosion6 said:
Great post! +1 on Titantium Backup and Root Explorer--I use both.
Just a note: With Titanium Backup, I recommend scheduling it to backup both Apps + System Data and syncing it with Dropbox. This way, if something should happen, like your SD Card becomes corrupt and you can't Nand Restore, you'll be able to reflash your current ROM and Restore all Apps + System Data, since you're having a scheduled backup taken and stored in your Dropbox folder as well.
Having said that, when flashing a NEW ROM or UPGRADING, remember to Restore "Apps + Data" but NOT to do the "Restore Apps + System Data." This will ensure that if the developer of your ROM has changed any system files, they won't be messed up. Sure, it'll take you 10-15 minutes to get your ROM the way you want (e.g. Home Screens, Systems Sounds, Notifications, etc.) but it's worth it to know that everything will work properly. Since your applications and their set up have nothing to do with the ROM, you can rest easily knowing that at least they'll come back configured as you left them for the most part.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perfectly explained, nice job sir. This should be in the rollup!! Too many people make the mistake of restoring sys data from a older rom to newer, have to watch that. Rollup
My article at http://jonsuh.com/2010/09/make-your-droid-eris-faster-smoother-and-increase-battery-life-how-to/ will give you a whole mess of ideas of what you can do post-root. Hope this article helps!
Remember, these are just my suggestions, they are not necessarily the law. Some may disagree with my suggestions, some may work well for you, other may not as well as one may think. They are just pointers to get you in the right direction
KarateExplosion6 said:
I don't know what to tell you, as removing stock applications with zach.xtr's Gscript process has always worked flawlessly for me. You may want to upgrade to the new xtrSENSE4.6 Beta that is out (you can find it by browser the more recent posts at the end of the xtrSENSE thread--Zach posted a link).
All I can say is that, when using Gscripts, make sure that you have "Needs SU?" checked. Aside from that, you just need to load Zach's scripts into Gscripts. After you load the scripts, have you pressed them? Just because you've loaded them into Gscripts doesn't mean they've run. You actually need to press on them to run them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, the tapping!! That did it. Also messed around (again) with titanium to get it to work, fig'd that out as well. Rookie mistakes...
KarateExplosion6 said:
I've used all of them at various points in time--I used to use A2SD and C2SD, but ever since C2C was developed I've had no need. In xtrSENSE4.2, I'm pretty sure C2C is enabled by default. So, you don't need to worry about it UNLESS you're running low on disk space. If you're running low, how many apps do you have installed (you should be able to store ~100 with C2C)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you're right C2C is default, I guess I'm just not certain if it's working. Apparently, there are two blocks on internal storage being used for apps in 4.2: /data/ and /cache/. I have 56mb free according to internal memory settings (/data/??) and 87.7 of 130mb used in /cache/ according to the report setting gscript Zach made. According to AppBrain I currently have 33 apps installed. 33 apps, ~100mb used already? Average of 3mb per app?? That just didn't seem right to me...maybe I'm just plain wrong. Opinions welcome!!
KarateExplosion6 said:
My recommendation would be NOT to use SetCPU. I've found that running both of Zach's Gscripts for Max and Min CPU Speed has worked better--you won't need to wait for SetCPU to load up, be granted Superuser Permission, and then adjust your clock settings on boot. Plus, you'll have one less process running at all times, increasing performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I may try that, although in full disclosure, my main reason for rooting and OC'ing was for running game console emulators. They run SO much better since OC'ing. I did try Zach's max out of the box (710 max?), but I find that my SetCPU main setting of 768,528 during normal usage makes operation even more smooth and especially works best when emulating. I want to OC even when battery is lowering until it gets to the condition threshold i set in SetCPU (amount or temp). But I still may try his scripts and lose SetCPU, thanks for the idea.
KarateExplosion6 said:
In terms of making the ROM "your own," I'd take a look in the Theme's thread. I can't provide you a list of everything that will work on xtrSENSE, but I can confirm that both the Minimal Matte Grey and Touch of Legend MetaMorph Themes do work for xtrSENSE. Also, you may want to check out LauncherPro (Plus), if you haven't already I absolutely love LauncherPro Plus, but I'm not "actively" using it. I'm really waiting on Fede to develop acceptable Photo and Music widgets to replace HTC's Sense Widgets (if anyone has suggestions on existing replacements, please let me know...). Having said that, I run a secondary "experimental" ROM on weekend--I run xtrROM with LauncherPro Plus. If you do decide to use LauncherPro, then I'd really recommend taking a look at xtrROM verses xtrSENSE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So here's my questions with this: Don't apps like MetaMorph and Launcher run on top of everything that the ROM already has going on, thus adding another cumbersome running process to the already limited hardware? Wouldn't running this be akin to having two GUI's on the phone, or am I looking at this the wrong way? I'm assuming that's why you recommend switching to the more vanilla xtrROM, but maybe I'm off.
I also do badly want to try some additional ROM's once I have the time. The leaked Froyo with Sense ROM does sound intriguing and I may pursue that next.
Thanks for all the help, really appreciate the replies!
Will go the Q&A route next time too, thanks.
KarateExplosion6 said:
Great post! +1 on Titantium Backup and Root Explorer--I use both.
Just a note: With Titanium Backup, I recommend scheduling it to backup both Apps + System Data and syncing it with Dropbox. This way, if something should happen, like your SD Card becomes corrupt and you can't Nand Restore, you'll be able to reflash your current ROM and Restore all Apps + System Data, since you're having a scheduled backup taken and stored in your Dropbox folder as well.
Having said that, when flashing a NEW ROM or UPGRADING, remember to Restore "Apps + Data" but NOT to do the "Restore Apps + System Data." This will ensure that if the developer of your ROM has changed any system files, they won't be messed up. Sure, it'll take you 10-15 minutes to get your ROM the way you want (e.g. Home Screens, Systems Sounds, Notifications, etc.) but it's worth it to know that everything will work properly. Since your applications and their set up have nothing to do with the ROM, you can rest easily knowing that at least they'll come back configured as you left them for the most part.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great thank you both! I will take both of these posts into account when using Titanium before I go further down the ROM rabbit hole.
So I've had my gtablet for a little while and found some things I really like. I'm going to list them, and maybe say why. There are a couple things I couldn't get working. Really though, my purpose with this post is to see if anyone knows about anything really cool I'm missing!!!
The ROM: Calkulin's 1.1 - this ROM has been great. VERY responsive compared to TNT lite, a couple of the CM's, and Vegan that I have tried. I'm also running it with Clem's kernal. Still haven't been able to change anythign to fix the random shut off problem, but it restarts pretty quickly and I'm still getting 10+hrs batt life if I just leave the screen on when I'm at school.
Thumb Keyboard: From the market - this keyboard is awesome. It costs a couple bucks, but it's worth it. The keyboard is optimized for tablet use (ie - letters on the sides, so you're not reaching over the middle). Using it for a week now with no complaints.
ADW Launcher: I paid. Used it on my fascinate. Like it on my tab. Are there launchers optimized for tablets or anything cool/unique?
Hard Keyboard: it's a "genius" USB keyboard. It was 18 bucks. Kids at school make fun of me for having a corded keyboard but I don't care. It's light weight and works well.
Calibration.ini on my SD card. IT'S LIKE A DIFFERENT SCREEN!
Carbon Fiber Pattern Stick on from Ebay everyone else seems to have found. Like it a lot.
Market fix, although once in a while appbrain has an app the market can't seem to find. No real complaints yet though.
My biggest complaint is a widget problem - the Widget for SPRINGPAD does not exist! It's not even on the list. I wish I could find it.
I really enjoy using OFFICESUITE for taking notes in class and it supports keyboard shortcuts like copy/paste, save. 30 day trial is nice, too. RepliGo Reader has been my go-to pdf reader (I read a lot of those in PT school). Alkilido (sp?) Ebook reader is my go-to for ebook readers. Dropbox, and the titanium media sync for dropbox is great! I've been switching between Firefox Browser and Miren Browser for web browsing, but haven't found a browser for the tablet I'm completely sold on.
What i'd really like to find is a stylish looking folding case I've read through the posts and I'm not really excited about anything I've seen on amazon or etsy.
I guess my big question is: am I missing out on anything really cool?
Nice timeline of what you've done. Looks like you've tweaked the system to your liking.
As I thought about things you might have missed, it occurs to me that there isn't any one or several things you just have to do. It's more about the process of tinkering and playing with a new toy.
as for ROMs, I've tried TNTL, Vegan 5.X, and currently Vegan Ginger. They've all been great. Each has their own little quirks, and if you put made me use one or the other, I would be less upset about the actual choice, than the lack of choice.
I guess all I'm saying is just keep tinkering. Make sure you get comfortable with CWM backup, and flash away into new territories.
bah stupid forward button
Only thing I did in addition to those things was d isable the hard menu buttons on the side (I kept hitting them when I didn't want to) using button remapper and used button savior to make software keys that are easy to use.
As far as accessories VS dropped the ball in that area, from what I can see they are getting a nice penny from slapping their name on the tablet and paying for someone to update it a few times and they'll quit supporting it. I don't expect to see any "official" items for this tablet no matter what VS says.
A cool home launcher that's been optimized for tablets is VTL. Check it out in the Gtablet Apps section of XDA. It's based on ADW and is a work in progress but runs really well.
vtl is awesome but it doesnt play nice with caulkins
What is the "calibration.ini" all about? I am running TnT lite (though I an a CM7 fan on my phone), love almost everything but the viewing angles so if you have something that helps I'd love to know about it.
Thanks!
Create a file on the SD card called calibration.ini if you are unhappy about he responsive ness of your screen. I was, and the difference it made was like it became a completely different device!
Better yet, download this App and calibrate at will:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=934500
The 'problem' with calibration.ini is that if you leave it on the SDcard, it recalibrates everytime you reboot. Not a problem unless you happen to be touching the screen while it does it!
With this app you can run the calibration at will.
Zaphod-Beeblebrox said:
Better yet, download this App and calibrate at will:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=934500
The 'problem' with calibration.ini is that if you leave it on the SDcard, it recalibrates everytime you reboot. Not a problem unless you happen to be touching the screen while it does it!
With this app you can run the calibration at will.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the first thing I tried. Unfortunately, like some others on here, it did not fix the screen at all time. It worked the first day, but not anytime afterward for me. I then tried the .ini file fix, perfect!
I did the ini before I saw an app was released. Deleted after boot n its worked well since but thanks a lot! Can anyone recommend a good mobile web browser? I'm using Miren and Firefox. Tried skyfire and don't much care for the dolphin apps.
biggggant said:
vtl is awesome but it doesnt play nice with caulkins
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you be more specific? I'm running Calkulin+Clemsyn Froyo combo and VTL is included in that ROM. Seems to work as advertised for me.
Great thread OP!
Im running skyfire for now as my browser. Firefox all the way for my macbook and pc! The reviews for firefox in market make me not want to bother. Is it any better than skyfire? Only thing that bugs me is can't delete tabs, you've got to wipe cashed or after a reboot they are gone.
So what's the issue with the calibration of screen? Is this something everyone with a Gtab should do? Only just out of bootup is my screen unresponsive.
EDITI ran it and can now tell a huge difference! Everyone run the app that was posted.
Can't wait to run VTL once launcher widgets work.
Running rockplayer with no more HD playback issues so far (wish VLC would put out an app).
Ive noticed FF renders some pages a little smoother, is a big different from Loren or skyfire. But it takes a little longer to lad.
Yea, I could go through each and every post of every thread, bt instead of taking several days to do that, figure I will take the shortcut and get with you guys first.
I will be getting my Thunderbolt by Tuesday, and want to jump right into customizing (a little bit, no unlocking!), and downloading and installing the apps I need!
So my question to everyone, (coming from an Imagio), what apps do you recommend? What widgets? And what about different clocks and other things?
I notice there are some with text clocks and calendars, I would really like that. Is that something easy to install?
And what about modding so that I can throw alot of stuff on the SD card instead of stacking up my phones memory? Any suggestions there?
Same question regarding performance, there are several apps that run in the background, and I hear that they are not able to be shut off (except for what the XDA wiz kids have come up with) in order to save battery life. Is that correct? If so, can I shut them down or remove them?
What about skype, does it come with it installed or not?
Thats all I got for now, I am sure there will be more! So any advice and suggestions would be great.
You guys really helped make my Imagio last this long, looking forward to working with you guys on a brand new phone.
Brightness Level widget, LTE OnOff
Veridor said:
Brightness Level widget, LTE OnOff
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with both of these as they will help you with your batt life a bit.
As for the text clock/calendar, that is also a must have for me (Minimalistic Text) all of these are easy to install just look for them in the market.
Beyond that, i don't do much more to my phone beside using Launcher Pro and the widgets that come with it.
Clock/Weather Widgets: Beautiful Widget or Fancy Widget
Calendar: Agenda Widget
Home screen replacement: ADW or LauncherPro (I prefer ADW)
SMS Replacement App: Handcent SMS
Clock replacement: Alarm Clock Plus*
Ringtone finder: Zedge
Wallpaper finder: Flikie
Email replacement app: K-9 Mail
Browser replacement: Miren Browser
File Browser Replacement: OI File Manager
Weather app: Weather Bug or The Weather Channel
Hope these help!
JerryA said:
And what about modding so that I can throw alot of stuff on the SD card instead of stacking up my phones memory? Any suggestions there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install everything in your internal memory. It's MUCH faster than the SD Card. For media (MP3s, videos, etc.) you don't have much of an option unless you unlock it - those go on your SD Card. And even if you unlocked it, I'd still recommend you put them there.
JerryA said:
Same question regarding performance, there are several apps that run in the background, and I hear that they are not able to be shut off (except for what the XDA wiz kids have come up with) in order to save battery life. Is that correct? If so, can I shut them down or remove them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uninstall as much of the pre-installed software as you can that you won't use. That said, you'll be stuck with most of the bloat. However, it's not really a problem - it's pretty smooth and performs pretty well, stock.
Lastly, BEWARE of anybody who tells you to install a tool like Advanced Task Killer. This tool will NOT speed up your phone - it will just slow you down a bit (probably not enough for you to notice) but it will drain your battery even faster than normal. The battery life on this phone is bad enough - you don't need to make it worse!
For best results and maximum customizations, I suggest you root your phone, if not to load a custom-super-themed-decked-out ROM then at least to load a standard debloat-deodex ROM.
nerozehl said:
For best results and maximum customizations, I suggest you root your phone, if not to load a custom-super-themed-decked-out ROM then at least to load a standard debloat-deodex ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I must disagree, honestly. Stock Sense, while it is a bit bloated, it is by no means laggy. If somebody isn't comfortable with rooting, and doesn't have a pressing need to root, then I don't think they should root their phone. It adds risk, headaches, and concerns to make something, that is already fast, faster. If somebody should root their phone, it should be for more of a reason than, "well, it seems like a good thing to do".
[edit] Although, you are right. If you want "best results and maximum customizations", then yeah, rooting is required. But it didn't sound like that the OP wants. It sounds like the OP wants to know how to customize it well without rooting. That's my interpretation, and why I disagreed with you suggesting the the OP root and flash roms.
Just my $0.02 worth.
Jaxidian said:
I must disagree, honestly. Stock Sense, while it is a bit bloated, it is by no means laggy. If somebody isn't comfortable with rooting, and doesn't have a pressing need to root, then I don't think they should root their phone. It adds risk, headaches, and concerns to make something, that is already fast, faster. If somebody should root their phone, it should be for more of a reason than, "well, it seems like a good thing to do".
[edit] Although, you are right. If you want "best results and maximum customizations", then yeah, rooting is required. But it didn't sound like that the OP wants. It sounds like the OP wants to know how to customize it well without rooting. That's my interpretation, and why I disagreed with you suggesting the the OP root and flash roms.
Just my $0.02 worth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea, its not that I don't want to, because I really would love to, but the wife was pissed that I unlocked my Imagio, and blames that on the problems I have had, so a deal was made, I take my kids upgrade, transfer to mine, and get the new Thunderbolt provided I DONT unlock, root, jailbreak, or do anything that allows me to customize it beyond what the original design allows.
Yea, fine, sounds fair. So what I am looking for is just those things that I can download and install that are 'authorized', so to speak, from Verizon and HTC.
Maybe when she upgrades she will want to see what can be done (she is due in a few months) and thats when I will have to 'show' her!
Thanks again guys for all your help, one more day!
Heres the jist of the ones I use on a regular basis:
Utilities
Amazon App Store
Titanium Backup (requires root)
Root explorer (requires root)
Shoot Me (requires root)
QR Droid
Recalls.gov (I got kids lol)
Fancy Widget Pro
iCorps (Marine Corps App)
Social
Facebook
Foursquare
Skype
eBuddy
WordPress
Ventriloid
XDA
SMS
Handcent usually
Trying out chompSMS atm
Entertainment & Themeage
Zedge
Pandora
HBO Go
Soundhound
Finances
USAA
PageOnce Pro
Ing Direct
Progressive Insurance
Shopping
Key Ring
ShopSavvy
Amazon.com
Kayak
Craigsphone
News
NYTimes
Engadget
Health & Fitness
CardioTrainer
Libra (Weight Log)
Games
Robo Defense
Farm Frenzy
Flight Control
Collapse
Angry Birds
Angry Birds Seasons
Angry Birds Rio
Doodle Jump
Fruit Ninja
Words Free
Hello,
i rooted my phone not too long ago and i love it!!!! i tried BAMF 3.0 and i didnt like it much at all, it was choppy but i got it to be smooth with changing the cpu, well as of now i am just rooted and my question is: what apps do u recommend(rooted) ? i got rom manager already ^^ and also, what is some roms outs their that u like? and why? im looking for a new ROM but dont know where to continue xD
and also, is there an app that hides all my apps on my screens? ive searched but no luck, kind of like in which on a computer we can view, or not view desktop icons
As far as apps; Titanium Backup will let you back up apps and data, RootExporer will let you access files you couldn't otherwise (be careful with both, you can delete or uninstall things you shouldn't), wifi tether will let you tether over wifi I recommend version 2.0.7 (google it), those are the biggies anyways. Check my sig for my ROM recommendation, links included. This setup has offered bulletproof stability for me and the best battery life I've seen. Of course phones and opinion vary so try a few and see what you like. As far as that last part, I have no idea.
Are you talking about temporarily hiding the widgets and icons, per permanently?
If temporarily, why not just set up a blank screen? Stock sense came with several desktops with a widget, or two. All you'd have to is remove some not by long pressing on them.
Robert
[]QUOTE=fdp55;15629866]...is there an app that hides all my apps on my screens?[/B] ive searched but no luck, kind of like in which on a computer we can view, or not view desktop icons[/QUOTE]
Ty both of u, definitely will check ur info!
And I don't want to delete them permanently, just not visible, I've searched and I can't find any at all, and yea deleting is always good, I've just always like hiding icons on my computer, and i'd like to also on my tb xD
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
if you mean hiding apps in the app drawer, I think you'll need a different launcher like LauncherPro or ADW. I don't know that there's any way to hide apps in the drawer of the sense launcher
OP, Das Bamf 3.0 is a great rom, but I don't like it either!
I have tried 6 roms on the TB and finally found the right one for me, which given your description sounds like it might be perfect for you as well.
Liquid Thunderbread (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1160637)
This is a VERY stripped down and fast rom. Also it is AOSP instead of Sense based and is only 66 mb!
It is awesomely fast and smooth without any of the BS, I seriously cannot recommend it enough. I like it so much that I made my first rom based donation to the developer and plan on doing so again if they continue updating.
Let me know what you think if you decide to give it a shot.
Im on synergy and i love it. its speedy quick but still lets you keep a lot of the fancy stuff. also the battery is great on 4g or 3g, wifi is a little lacking. and an app you should definitively download is setcpu ( i think its free if youve signed up for xda here) itll let you overclock or set up underlcoking for when your screen is off etc.
on my older incredible, i had an ad-block app (got it from the app market). it blocked the banner ads that are in a lot of the apps.
Hi everyone. Im one of the developers of SwitchMe, and app that allows multiple secure logins into separate installations of android on a single device. The pr is after the break.
I really need a few people to check into some issues people on the original galaxy s have been experiencing. There are some warnings involved:
- testers must perform a full nandroid backup before using the app, it is not our responsibility if you start getting boot loops
- if you report results or bugs, please use the "Write to us" function in the app whenever possible, and always describe the issue in the header of the logs you send
- if you post here, bes sure to include your device type and rom
- if you have apps installed on sd, be sure to mention that as well
--------------------------------------------------------------------
SwitchMe is a unique application for root users that allows you to log in and out of multiple installations of Android just as you would on a desktop computer.
The technology behind SwitchMe saves all of your applications and data, protects it and stores it as a file in memory. You can then log out of an
account and log into a fresh installation of Android or another account with its own unique content.
You may create as many profiles as the memory is capable of holding. Some of these may require very little free memory because they contain few apps,
others will be larger as they contain many applications and lots of cache and data.
Why is this functionality useful?
Privacy - the most obvious benefit is that you can securely share one device among multiple users, which gives you privacy and peace of mind.
Testing - if you are a developer, you can use profiles as clean sandboxes to test your applications and their interaction with the system.
Gaming – with multiple installations of Android on a single device, you can now play online MMOs as different characters.
Speed - the games your kids play slow down your tablet, but with SwitchMe you can easily create profiles without games or instant messengers.
Battery life - when the battery is low but there are important emails or documents to edit later, switch to a profile which only contains these essentials.
These of course are only suggestions - there are plenty of other uses for the functionality SwitchMe offers.
Market link:
https://market.android.com/details?id=fahrbot.apps.switchme
The Lite version allows the creation of two profiles, enough to test on.
Screens:
You had me all the way up to "testers must perform a full nandroid backup before using the app, it is not our responsibility if you start getting boot loops". That's when you lost me.
Hi,
I'm using the app for some days. First version works fine but I was not able to generate a cloned profile, the new profile was always empty. Next version was able to generate cloned profiles, but after installation of the update I was stucked in my second profile because the switch button don't work any longer. Todays update fixed these error.
I have a Prime 32 GB with dock, ICS 4.0.3 and I love this app. Now I can share my tablet with my wive without having trouble with emails and highscores.
ftgg99 said:
- testers must perform a full nandroid backup before using the app, it is not our responsibility if you start getting boot loops
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah we can't make nandroid backups just yet
ill test as soon as we can run full backups, hopefully in the next month or so
I have this running without any issue on ICS. Fast switching appears to work fine too. Great application.
I am a little nervous not having nandroid backup!
Here's the link to the post for the application! I Enjoy
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1465661&highlight=prime
I was nervous trying this app without a backup, but it worked great.
Sweet app!
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
Sounds like a good app. Bump
I have been running for 3 days with no issues, AND without the nandroid backup. So far no issues and it works a treat.
Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions or want me to test something.
hairdewx said:
Yeah we can't make nandroid backups just yet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry guys, i spent my cash on a 7.7 instead so there isnt a Prime in the office yet and i wasnt aware that you had no fully working recovery.
In any case, Titanium and the stock recovery should be just fine in terms of fixing the device if you have any issues!
No issues here for 3 days.
I get the pro version
Let me know if you have any issues please!
Just finished my backup with titanium, I just hope you are right with the stock recovery in case of problem! I will post comment soon!
Arsenick said:
Just finished my backup with titanium, I just hope you are right with the stock recovery in case of problem! I will post comment soon!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Recovery is recovery. This app will not affect it...
Good news
I just bought the app, because this is a feature requested in android since a long time and I think this is a really good start and I want you to still improve the app! Like switching without reboot or have a lockscreen with the possibility to switch profile
It's just bad that the average people can't use it because it require root, but I understand you have to follow Android limitation... Anyway, you did a good job!
Here's my test so far:
Clone current profile => Woking ( takes a while but I had a lot of apps )
Create new profile => Working
Fast Switching => Working
Problems or questions:
- Bubbleator "live wallpaper" seems to crash after a "profile switch" but to be honest it can crash by itself easy... lol
- Is it normal I can Access pictures/video folders of other profile ? ( if it is, that could be great to have an option to "lock" a folder so only the "owner" will be able to access the files )
- The "Asus" apps installed by default like SuperNote or mylibrary (ebook reader) seems to have access to notes or books stored in other profile ( again maybe this is normal )
I don't understand how the space usage is displayed..In one of my new blank profile there's 53.29mb available for apps same for data and same for Dalvik and it's filled at 84%. In another new blank account it's 246.54mb available for every categories.. So why the space allocated to each profile is different and when/how this is determined ? Is it fixed ?
That's pretty it, thanks for this good work! And thanks in advance for your answer!
Is there anything else to test ?
Problems with games
Hello,
I haven't try games in my previous test. After few profile switchover I can't play all fullscreen games.
I got problems with:
Tinytower (not tablet optimised), Zen pinball, Shine runner, they all crash at sometimes during the loading, 2-3 seconds after the program start or during game play. I can't say if it's the game itself having problem, but I can tell you tinytower as never crashed on my device before and I have played Zen pinball 2-3 times and it was ok.
Example of game that still work: mx moto, Angry Birds, Tank Riders, Air Attack HD, SiegeCraft THD. So far I haven't got any problems with normal apps other than games...
Most of the games seems to run ok... I don't understand why few of them are crashing.
Does SwitchMe will use more "ram" for other profile or it just don't have a footprint at all once you switch and "reboot" ?
Fullscreen games? Maybe you have them on the SD in some broken ways? For me every game works just fine.
Galaxy Tab 8.9, KANG
Yeah forget about the fullscreen.. lol it's just my bad english. I tried to reboot the device and the games worked again. It appear to happend when I do several consecutive profile switch. I will try to reproduce tonight and let you know if this happen again. The games wasn't on the sd because I have no "external storage" on my tablet.
I have been using the paid SwitchMe for a week or so now and have 3 profiles. One for my wife and me along with a "guest" account, so far its been great, I would, however, like to have an icon or section that would show the memory taken per user. That would be killer for me to see it visually at a glance like that.
My one question with the app as is I get toast notifications granting the app superuser access from time to time long after booting. It's the only app I have that does that. Not a problem at all, just curious about it.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
Works great here
Hello,
Succesfully rooted and created 3 profiles with switchme.
Everything works smoothly, from clone to fresh profile.
Fast switching works great, no problem so far...
One question though: I though there was a widget to switch profile... I need to go to the app (through notification's bar shortcut) to switch profile. Anything like that planned?