[Q] Looking for direct access to time zone function. App?? - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi All,
I've used XDA many times before, normally for specific questions on ARHD ROMs. This is my first 'non-handset-specific' post, so my apologies to the moderators if this is in the wrong place.
I work on a cruise ship and we're continually crossing time zones. Currently, to alter the time zone on my (rooted) HTC OneX, I need to pull down the notifications tray, select settings, scroll down and select date and time, then select time zone. I can't use the Auto function, as the network time on the ship (satellite) is only available over Wi-Fi, for which I have to pay an exorbitant rate.
I'm looking for an app that will allow me one-tap access to changing the time zone. 'Time Zone Widget Light' almost does the job, as a tap on the widget scrolls through pre-set time zones, but this only allows me to step forward, and sometimes I need to go backwards as well (sadly our ship itineraries refuse to follow pre-set time zones, although I'm working on it!)
Does anybody know of such an app, or perhaps a toolkit that lets me drill down to sub-layers of the android settings menu and create a short-cut?
And before you tell me to google this, please understand that I have to a certain extent, but as internet access here is £10 for 167 minutes (and that's the discounted crew rate!) you can appreciate that I can't afford to spend too much time googling!! Anyway, XDA forum folk are much more personal than a google search!
I hope someone can help me.
Regards,
Miles Forman
Musician
Somewhere between Portugal and the Caribbean.

There is a way... using Manual Intent Shortcuts, but is pretty difficult since you need the exact name of the activity that controls the timezone.
Try this app, maybe it's like what you're looking for.

RoberGalarga said:
There is a way... using Manual Intent Shortcuts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmmm.... tell me more! I'm sure I can work out which process points to the time zone screen.:fingers-crossed:

Solved!
I managed to find the correct Manual Intent shortcut by using xShortcut Lite (find it here https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ex.chinyang.android.xshortcut&hl=en which created the shortcut for me.
Thanks to all who browsed this post.

Related

[29.10.2009] MarketPlaceRegionSwitch v1.1

Here it is people, as promised, MarketPlaceRegionSwitch. What does it do? It allows you to switch MarketPlace to USA, Germany, France, Netherlands, etc. Whatever you want - without mucking with regional settings, soft-resetting, etc. "because I can"
I DEMAND you read the entire post before using it, because there are definitely things you should know before using it.
This app actually fools Marketplace into thinking you are from somewhere else. This method is not foolproof, and may be circumvented by Microsoft in the near future. It is not for the faint of heart either.
Why?
Because developers have been left in the cold for manually verifying their apps are in the correct markets. Microsoft have dropped the ball a few times with "published" apps seemingly not being published at all, or incorrectly. While I'm sure Microsoft will fix these issues in due time (and indeed provide the functionality this program offers) for now developers need to check this for themselves. So no, this app is not meant for end-users, but for developers. If you still want to use it, that's fine by me, but it's on your own conscience
Keep in mind this is a developer tool, for verification of Marketplace presence. I would strongly advise against using this to download apps from market regions that are not your own, and especially not buying them through this app. In fact it is likely the Marketplace will not allow you to purchase from another country than your CC's billing address in either case.
How to use
Now here come the important bits. When you start the application, you will see two text boxes in front of you. MCC (mobile country code), and Lang (language ID). By default they have settings for the USA entered.
You will want to fill these values with the correct values for the market you want to visit. You should have matching country codes and language ID's, but see the note below about that. In 1.1 I have also added a select box with presets that mostly work.
Now, how to find the values you need to enter here:
MCC Go to this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Country_Code. You want to enter the numeric, 3-digit code.
Lang Go to this page: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/goglobal/bb964664.aspx. You want the values from the LCID hex column.
Hit go, wait a few seconds, and you should be in the market of your choice.
Please note that unlike the other region switching tricks, this one is supposed to work through your CELLULAR connection specifically! Please make sure you do NOT have USB/ActiveSync or Wi-Fi connected!
Notes about the "preset" selection box
While many of these presets work, I have noticed some strange behavior. Often the 'expected' codes do not work if a region is combined with a language, but that language is not from that region.
Take for example, Luxembourg. The preset uses the correct LangID and MCC for French/Luxembourg, but it usually wont work. If you keep the Lang from French/Luxembourg but use the code for France in the MCC box, it usually will work and you will end up in the Marketplace for Luxembourg, not the one for France. You will have to play with it if you want to test for these less common markets. If you have specific notes about which codes work for which specific Markets, please do post them here.
If you are having trouble connecting to the USA marketplace, try using 311, 312, 313 or 314 instead of 310 in the MCC box.
How it was done
The entire thing is done by runtime patching. Functions used to figure out which locale you are in are patched by the app, returning the value you entered in Lang. Accompanied with that, the IMSI is patched and the MCC part is replaced by the value you entered in MCC. This all is a lot more complicated than it sounds
Obviously the app does it's best to restore original behaviour on exit, though I would still advise soft-resetting when you're done with it.
Random notes
The UI sucks, deal with it. I spent less than 5 minutes on it. I did spend many hours on the actual functionality, though.
The app should remain running while running Marketplace! It will (should) automatically exit once you exit Marketplace. Be sure to use the menu->exit function, instead of the X (the latter will usually just hide Marketplace, not close it).
The method used to patch may cause issues that will not disappear until you soft-reset, chances are slim but things can go wrong.
Changelog
29.10.2009 - v1.1
Presets added
Having to restart Marketplace twice without this app to get back to your "home" market should be fixed
If you are a developer for Marketplace and you make use of this app, it would be much appreciated if you would DONATE to me for my time (the link to donate is at the bottom of my signature)
Download: (+24)
--Reserved--
Great job bro!
Thanks for the great util. Much appreciated bro!
nice, thx, finally a marketplace with more then 5 items and in a language i understand
Nice work!
Now to find me some US applications!
Figures, trying to add presets to this, and just as I want to start testing the whole data network craps out... *taps foot and waits for T-Mobile to fix things*
Chainfire said:
Figures, trying to add presets to this, and just as I want to start testing the whole data network craps out... *taps foot and waits for T-Mobile to fix things*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll test it if you want.
(Drop me a PM or something if you want)
Kudos, Chainfire.
1.1 released... most importantly it adds presets. Not all of them work right, see the notes.
Also, some mod please add an empty post at the top please (I always forget to do that, hah!)
sweeeeet.. going to try it straight away
Update : Cold beer coming your way
Great work, wish I had a data plan...
Chainfire said:
Also, some mod please add an empty post at the top please (I always forget to do that, hah!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice one, post #2 is your's .
Dave
Hi,
Great tool, but it doesn't work for me. After hitting the go button the app closes completely down.
Chainfire, you are a god!
I have to say, a great app, but it doesn't work for me.
I applied the standard settings (being the US one) but after this when I start Windows Marketplace I still get the dutch one.
I have Wi-Fi turned off, so what am I doing wrong? (I have the Marketplace version where you can select the location to save your app)
For those of you it doesn't work for, I'm not sure what the cause of this is. I actually had the same problem on one of my phones, it wouldn't switch away from Dutch (my "home" marketplace), and then suddenly it did - and I have been unable to reproduce the problem since.
All I can say is try uninstalling Marketplace, deleting HKCU\Security\Software\Microsoft\Marketplace, soft-reset, reinstall Marketplace. That might do the trick - or it might not.
@Sanderjohan: device/rom ?
Chainfire said:
For those of you it doesn't work for, I'm not sure what the cause of this is. I actually had the same problem on one of my phones, it wouldn't switch away from Dutch (my "home" marketplace), and then suddenly it did - and I have been unable to reproduce the problem since.
All I can say is try uninstalling Marketplace, deleting HKCU\Security\Software\Microsoft\Marketplace, soft-reset, reinstall Marketplace. That might do the trick - or it might not.
@Sanderjohan: device/rom ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try it when I get home!
Congrats on your thread at Tweakers.net
Also, it seems to work more reliable if you make sure you have a cellular connection before you run the app.. Also make sure you are NOT signed in with your LiveID
Thanks for this great app, it works flawlessly.
I have already tried to buy a product but it did not accept my credit card information at the last step. May be there could be a work around for this also.
Regards,
Chainfire said:
For those of you it doesn't work for, I'm not sure what the cause of this is. I actually had the same problem on one of my phones, it wouldn't switch away from Dutch (my "home" marketplace), and then suddenly it did - and I have been unable to reproduce the problem since.
All I can say is try uninstalling Marketplace, deleting HKCU\Security\Software\Microsoft\Marketplace, soft-reset, reinstall Marketplace. That might do the trick - or it might not.
@Sanderjohan: device/rom ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Chainfire,
My device is a HTC Tytn II with the following ROM Kaiser_HyperDragon_IV_Mega_6.5_WWE.
I already had Marketplace installed so I will try the thing you suggested by uninstalling and reinstalling Marketplace. I let you know if this works.

[Q] App which puts phone on Vibrate during times posted on a site. Difficult?

I took Java in High School (10yrs ago) and don't remember any of it. However I am computer savy and am a quick learner. Here is the deal: My group has meetings several times a week and sometime several times a day. These meeting times are posted on our website. We don't like phones going off during our meetings.
Currently I use a app called "silent time lite" which I program to put my phone on silent during pre-determined times. Would it be difficult to make a simple app which pull the meeting times off our website and puts the phone on silent during these meeting times? I would imagine allowing the user to choose which days they attend the meeting and allow them to change how often they want the app to check with the website regarding meeting time changes. ?
Would it be complicated? Can someone please point me in the right direction. Any Guidance would be appreciated. Thanks a lot.
Ps(using an app which uses google calendar events to determine when to put the phone on slient, like Taker, is not what we are looking for)
I don't think it would be too complicated for an Android developer, but for a novice? Not so easy.
Also depends on how the date and time data is stored. You would have to scrape the html off the page, parse it (we're into PHP scripting here) and send the data back to the phone.
On the phone side, you have to call the php script on the server, and get your data. This app would most likely have to run as a service and sit in the background and poll a date/time every x minutes to see if it matches a meeting date/time and set phone accordingly.
To me, sounds like a lot of fun. Development, debugging, testing, implementation etc., in my opinion is 40 hours minimum. Per hour rate? I imagine that varies from $20 to $70 per hour.
Thanks for the reply.
Unfortunately I don't have the means to hire someone right now, but I have plenty of free time (not currently working) and I am a pretty quick learner. I was just hoping for some guidance in terms of what I should look into and try to study. For example, do you think this tutorial is something that would interest me?
http://www.anddev.org/getting_data_from_the_web_urlconnection_via_http-t351.html
or should I look into Http GET? or the like? I was just hoping to follow different relevant tutorials and then putting everything together.
The way the data is posted online is very simple and I was hoping that the app can handle everything instead of getting into PHP:
For example, there exists a simple txt file at: http://www.sample.com/test.txt.
Inside this file it looks like this:
"
1:30 PM
6:30 PM
7:40 PM
9:00 PM
"
I just need to make a simple app which puts the phone on silent during these times + 10 minutes (ex: from 1:30 to 1:40, 6:30 to 6:40 , etc). The app would need to recheck the txt file every 2-3 days as it is constantly changing.
Then I would suggest getting Eclipse on your computer, the Android SDK and JAVA JDK (if you don't have a Mac).
See if you can create a simple app.
From there, see if you can add a button to the app that will switch the phone to silent mode when pressed.
Then, try to get current time from the phone and see if you can do what the above button press does, but based on the current time, i.e.
if(currentTime == meetingTime) { // you can hard-code a meeting time to test
// Silence phone
}
Don't forget about setting the phone OFF silence mode when meeting is over. This should get you going on a basic concept-test. And explain why developers/programmers make $25 to $100 an hour ROFL
Thanks again for your reply. I will definetly look into those suggestions.
So far, I have installed all the software needed and went through the tutorial I posted earlier and I made a apk file which I already sent to my phone. Currently, it is just showing the text from txt file on the app.
So the next step will be to find some ways to put the phone on vibrate etc.
If anyone else has any tips or links, please let me know. Thanks again.
llamas are awesome
this is not exactly what you asked but I am confident you'll muse, "I need that!"
master4g said:
My group has meetings several times a week and sometime several times a day. These meeting times are
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the meetings are a mobile tower away from where the phone may be loud consider the app
Llama
http://kebabapps.blogspot.com/
http://www.appbrain.com/app/llama-location-profiles/com.kebab.Llama
Ps(using an app which uses google calendar events to determine when to put the phone on slient, like Taker, is not what we are looking for)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then you wouldn't use
http://tungle.me
for that.. but you might want to use it otherly
my other WS has a bookmark for 'learn android java by example' or somesuch. no, I don't sync all my profile's bookmarks. If I can find that and remember to post it here then it will appear here edits allowing
thanks for that, I currently use something similar, however it will not work for the rest of the group because of various reasons.

Is there one decent timer for Android?

This may be an area where the dumbphones win, but I've only been able to find one app that is just a timer--open the app, you've got a timer--and it's way too cumbersome.
When the app opens, I need to see:
A number pad.
A Next button (for moving from hh/mm/ss).
A Start button.
ETA: Also, number pad input needs to overwrite the current field, not insert.
These features have been available on every dumbphone for over a decade. Can't they be done in Android?
This isn't exactly what you are looking for, but I use it.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.hybrid.stopwatch
It has a stopwatch, too, but remembers which mode you chose and launches in that mode.
Yeah, I tried that one and it has all the same issues as Kitchen Timer, though it's nicer to look at. Who decided an Android timer would use this cumbersome +/- interface? It's made worse by the fact that once you get a cursor in a field, it inserts rather than overwrites, and won't jump fields.
Ideally, the only actions necessary to set a timer should be open-0-0-7-3-5-start, no navigation, no clicking up and down as if we had a device with two buttons (i.e. a watch).
Yeah, I looked around for a timer too. This was the easiest to use that I found. I rarely have to change the time on it so for me I launch it and hit go. But if I was constantly changing the value, it would be annoying. Makes you want to go out and write your own!
I'm poking around in App Inventor to see what I can manage--I would be lost writing code from the ground up. I think I should at least be able to come up with something with multiple one-button presets on the starting page, and they can probably be user-programmable, but I don't think App Inventor has the commands to give focus to a numerical text-box (thereby highlighting the contents for replacement and launching the number pad) on app initialization.
If you want, take the time to send me some EXACT specifications and I'll see if I have time to whip something up; we're not talking 10 year global weather modeling here! LOL
TIA,
Roots
Rootstonian said:
If you want, take the time to send me some EXACT specifications and I'll see if I have time to whip something up; we're not talking 10 year global weather modeling here! LOL
TIA,
Roots
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm actually making progress in App Inventor, but if it comes to naught, I'll PM you.
Well, it's not finished and it's not pretty, but it's a timer
So far, I can't get the box to grab focus when the app opens, but it's still quicker for entering a new value than the others on the market. The empty red bar will bring up the number pad. Hit hours, mins, or secs to start the timer with the relevant units. Start/Pause work, and if you enter, for instance, "90 + Mins" it will convert it to 1 hour 30 mins. More than two digits in the Hours box will break the UI, but it will count them down
The preset buttons and persistent notification box don't do anything yet, and it doesn't remember the last value entered if you close the app yet, but the core functionality is there.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7299403/TimerSAUR.apk
ETA: enabled persistent notifications and shake-to-stop.
ETA2: remembers last value entered and whether Persist was checked, made some visual tweaks and added an icon.
ETA3: re-skinned the whole thing and hid the preset buttons for now. I can add features, but I'd call it a complete app, and more functional than anything on the market, for my purposes.
ETA4: I, um, even fixed those script errors that caused FCs if you tried to start a timer with all fields empty. Details.
D'oh! As far as I can tell, the App Inventor "clock" function pauses if the device is sleeping--not exactly practical for a timer :/
Maybe I'll have another run at it tomorrow.
Maybe you can save the time that it paused, then calculate how much time has passed when it wakes up and start from there. That won't help much if your time expires while it is sleeping, though. Will App Inventor let you prevent sleeping?
Talking to App Inventor community members, I think the clock provided is just not workable for something like this. Maybe if I'm willing to build a windmill to turn a doorknob, I could figure something out, but I'd probably be better advised to start learning real code if I want to pursue the matter.
Better yet, I could take Rootstonian up on his/her offer
Yeah, it shouldn't be too difficult to build. And since you already have some of the GUI worked out, you can just pass that on.
I've built one Android app but it was a while ago so I'm very rusty. But it sounds like it can be done pretty quickly.
Jason

Looking for a specific application

I'm looking for a very specific tracking application for android. I am a small store owner and have 2-3 delivery guys. I am looking to buy them cheap android phones for keeping track of where they go while on delivery.
Now I have already selected a phone, what I need is an app for keeping track of them. I want an app that will, firstly, give me their position when requested, either through SMS or cellular (SMS is preferred).
Secondly, I want a feature that I automatically get a text alert if these phones (and so their owners) go out of a certain radius. If I set this radius for just my city, I want a text alert whenever that phone gets out of that city.
The master device through which I view the locations and on which I get the alert can either be a phone, tablet, or even a PC. Just as long as the two features I mentioned are present. I found many on the play store which meet the first requirement but not the second.
So does such an app exist?
Regards,
Cerberus97

Ineducable noob seeks to irreversibly remove wifi/data access for cheapest smartphone

Hi,
Apologies if this is in the wrong thread category.
I'd like to permanently remove internet access from either a whole phone or from selected apps. This would create a dumbphone with a touchscreen. This is to tackle a net addiction, yet leave me with the capability of communicating with family via SMS. Existing dumbphones don't have touchscreens and often cause me excruciating pain to use, because of a condition I suffer from called fibromyalgia, which mimics the symptoms of RSI. Autocomplete on touchscreen phones reduces the number & intensity of finger-touches I need to make to type an SMS and are thus relatively freeing.
Would anyone know how this could be done, please? I rooted a phone once or twice but am not capable of following any instructions which require judgement. Please don't take more than a couple of minutes over this because there's a strong chance any advice will go over my head.
With thanks in advance for your thoughts
Jonathan
joanthan75 said:
Hi,
Apologies if this is in the wrong thread category.
I'd like to permanently remove internet access from either a whole phone or from selected apps. This would create a dumbphone with a touchscreen. This is to tackle a net addiction, yet leave me with the capability of communicating with family via SMS. Existing dumbphones don't have touchscreens and often cause me excruciating pain to use, because of a condition I suffer from called fibromyalgia, which mimics the symptoms of RSI. Autocomplete on touchscreen phones reduces the number & intensity of finger-touches I need to make to type an SMS and are thus relatively freeing.
Would anyone know how this could be done, please? I rooted a phone once or twice but am not capable of following any instructions which require judgement. Please don't take more than a couple of minutes over this because there's a strong chance any advice will go over my head.
With thanks in advance for your thoughts
Jonathan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root your phone based on your past experience.
Install Xposed Installer app.
Install xposed framework by clicking install button in the app.
After a few minutes, your phone would ask for permission to reboot.
Reboot it.
It will take around 10 minutes or more to reboot.
Open the Xposed Installer app and click the menu icon on top left of the screen.
Select Downloads.
Search for XFirewall and install it.
Reboot.
Open XFirewall.
Select which apps you want to have net connectivity.
OR
You can try any other normal firewall app if you think it to be better than XFirewall
Augustoandro said:
Search for XFirewall and install it.
Reboot.
Open XFirewall.
Select which apps you want to have net connectivity.
OR
You can try any other normal firewall app if you think it to be better than XFirewall
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Augusto! Much appreciated.
Do you or does anyone on here please know of any firewall apps which allow the user to commit to a period (24 hours, a week, a year, permanently) without network access? Unfortunately without this kind of restriction I can't trust myself to stay off the web. Five minutes reading the news or Twitter always turns into five hours.
Thanks

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