Hi,
This is a pretty special use case, and I hope you guys can help me put together a solution, that will help my family.
My daughter is severely autistic, but loves music. We have worked with CD's for years, but they get destroyed by herself, and are a constant source for conflict for a variety of reasons - because we need to control her access to them (music-time vs. sleep-time for instance) and control the volume. I have to think, I could come up with a technical solution, so we could avoid physical media altogether.
Here is what I would like:
Take our Nexus 7, fill it up with music (maybe google music), mount it on the wall in her room, hook speakers up to it and let her control it as she likes. However, we need to be able to override, ie. lock her out of it if necessary, control the volume etc. I also do not want her to be able to screw up the Nexus by doing other stuff on it, so I would like to be able to lock it to just the music app, unless myself or my wife unlock it to do some sort of maintenance.
To sum up:
- Nexus 7
- Control volume / lock remotely - from pc or another android phone
- Music software
- Access restricted to limited list of apps (music app first and foremost)
How could this be done on Android? What software should I use?
I hope you guys have some good suggestions, so I can get a nice solution to this. Thanks in advance.
Hi
Never really tried to do anything like this but maybe you could create another user profile that has limited functions, I don't know how limited you can be with this but any nexus seven model should allow for a second profile, only allow her to use this one
And in this profile use a launcher that allows you to hide apps if Google won't remove enough for you.
On this profile and the one you create for yourself have a lockscreen password of sorts as well
There may even be an app or launcher in the market to do something this similar.
As for remotely controlling it, I've never tried this, I know you can if it is wired... Actually if you have an adb shell opened on a PC and connect wirelessly to that PC with adb then you could use the PC to turn it off but it would disconnect at this point
Hope you find a working solution, feel free to bounce ideas or questions off me, best of luck!
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
peanutsy said:
Hi,
This is a pretty special use case, and I hope you guys can help me put together a solution, that will help my family.
My daughter is severely autistic, but loves music. We have worked with CD's for years, but they get destroyed by herself, and are a constant source for conflict for a variety of reasons - because we need to control her access to them (music-time vs. sleep-time for instance) and control the volume. I have to think, I could come up with a technical solution, so we could avoid physical media altogether.
Here is what I would like:
Take our Nexus 7, fill it up with music (maybe google music), mount it on the wall in her room, hook speakers up to it and let her control it as she likes. However, we need to be able to override, ie. lock her out of it if necessary, control the volume etc. I also do not want her to be able to screw up the Nexus by doing other stuff on it, so I would like to be able to lock it to just the music app, unless myself or my wife unlock it to do some sort of maintenance.
To sum up:
- Nexus 7
- Control volume / lock remotely - from pc or another android phone
- Music software
- Access restricted to limited list of apps (music app first and foremost)
How could this be done on Android? What software should I use?
I hope you guys have some good suggestions, so I can get a nice solution to this. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I may have a working solution for you, But just bare with me whilst i gather it together to make sure it works like i think it will, I'm heading off to sleep now for work but when i get out i'll be right back at it again and hopefully will be able to deliver a working solution for you tomorrow.
Thanks, look forward to what you have come up with.
peanutsy said:
Hi,
This is a pretty special use case, and I hope you guys can help me put together a solution, that will help my family.
My daughter is severely autistic, but loves music. We have worked with CD's for years, but they get destroyed by herself, and are a constant source for conflict for a variety of reasons - because we need to control her access to them (music-time vs. sleep-time for instance) and control the volume. I have to think, I could come up with a technical solution, so we could avoid physical media altogether.
Here is what I would like:
Take our Nexus 7, fill it up with music (maybe google music), mount it on the wall in her room, hook speakers up to it and let her control it as she likes. However, we need to be able to override, ie. lock her out of it if necessary, control the volume etc. I also do not want her to be able to screw up the Nexus by doing other stuff on it, so I would like to be able to lock it to just the music app, unless myself or my wife unlock it to do some sort of maintenance.
To sum up:
- Nexus 7
- Control volume / lock remotely - from pc or another android phone
- Music software
- Access restricted to limited list of apps (music app first and foremost)
How could this be done on Android? What software should I use?
I hope you guys have some good suggestions, so I can get a nice solution to this. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well i hope you can bascially connect the nexus to the speakers and use a app locker just sure u wont lock the music app then it would lock other apps and through it you can allow or deny access to other apps and check these links to remotely use the nexus via ur pc http://drippler.com/google/nexus_7#!766313
http://www.yumapk.com/how-to-control-your-nexus-7-on-pc-with-airdroid.html
Hope it might help!
Best of luck
Hit thanks button if i helped
After finally getting root on the device, I hours trying to get a VNC server to work - with no luck at all.
Airdroid works, and while it is pretty damn clever piece of software, it does not really allow me meet any of my requirements. Yes, I can lock the device, but I cannot turn off the sound or exit a running application.
Limiting a profile to just a few apps seems doable, but if we cannot control volume and access to the device remotely, I cannot wall-mount it and prevent her taking it and damaging or losing it. Having a connected to a PC permanently becomes to complicated.
I am considering maybe just putting all her music on a mediaserver, installing an app for it on the nexus (like Plex) - and then creating a kill-switch for the mediaserver. That way there is no local music on the device, and I am able to cut the connection to the music, which I think eliminates the requirement to remote control the device itself.
Did you try setting up adb wirelessly? This would at least allow you to kill the app or turn off device, I don't know if you could change volume though.
Looking through the app store their are many child lock apps, maybe dig around there a bit and see if there is something that has more controls that can be done remotely
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
If I may, the style of music makes a difference too. Easy listening gospel being the best and the Lord being the very top, He listens and His yoke is light.
peanutsy said:
I am considering maybe just putting all her music on a mediaserver, installing an app for it on the nexus (like Plex) - and then creating a kill-switch for the mediaserver. That way there is no local music on the device, and I am able to cut the connection to the music, which I think eliminates the requirement to remote control the device itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have now set up plex with a specific section for her music, shared that folder with a user account I logged in with on the Android Plex App - and she can now see her music collection and play it. I have not yet found an elegant (read: wife friendly) way to "unshare" her music library - without taking down all plex server sharing. But I will figure something out.
I have also managed to limit the user profile on her nexus 7 to just the plex media player. However, there are many options for her to mess with in the player itself, that I am unable to lock down. I am also unable to let her use the youtube app, as it does not run on "restricted profiles" - but that was just a "nice to have", not a "need to have".
Input and ideas are still welcome.
peanutsy said:
I have now set up plex with a specific section for her music, shared that folder with a user account I logged in with on the Android Plex App - and she can now see her music collection and play it. I have not yet found an elegant (read: wife friendly) way to "unshare" her music library - without taking down all plex server sharing. But I will figure something out.
I have also managed to limit the user profile on her nexus 7 to just the plex media player. However, there are many options for her to mess with in the player itself, that I am unable to lock down. I am also unable to let her use the youtube app, as it does not run on "restricted profiles" - but that was just a "nice to have", not a "need to have".
Input and ideas are still welcome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try applocker it might let you active apps you need and deactive apps you dont and i dont have a solution for the music app thingy which has less settings.. Still working on it.. Ill let you know as soon as i find something. Till then try this one "Songbird Music App"
Please hit thanks if i helped!
Good Luck!
Related
Been stalking the forums, but mainly for the OG Droid as that was my primary phone until recently.
Recently got a RAZR MAXX and am just looking for a few functions be carried over from my Droid on CM7.
The one I need most is to change tracks in a media player with long presses on the volume buttons while the screen is turned off.
Is there any way I can get this to happen, preferably without rooting? This phone is pretty new and I wanna wait to root it for a little while if possible.
I would be more than willing to root for CM, but haven't heard anything on if it's coming to the RAZR at all.
Last time i used Winamp for android there was an option for doing this.
Ill look in to that. Is there any way to make it default for any media player though? I use pandora a lot and while riding bike, i cant pull it out to change the track, especially with my gloves on.
The developer must include the feature in the app, its an API if I remeber well.I don't use pandora so i can't help you there, sorry.
I've had a look through, and haven't found anything in either apps that would allow this. I use both Winamp and Pandora on a daily basis.
I searched for a solution before throwing up this thread, but only found solutions for other devices. I saw pretty much I need either a ROM that includes it as a feature, or an app that will change the system file, and I'm guessing it needs to be rooted to do so.
I suggest you the app ttpod with track change by shake option.
Sent from my XT910 using XDA App
gosh yes! bump! i was just thinking the other day how much i missed my old WM6 phone with lots of hardware buttons on the front that i could map to do anything i wanted. i don't know if this trend to a screen only interface is so great after all. sure, it looks cool, but it's also less functional in some real world situations, especially driving!
Okay, so I've been dabbling with app development for a while now but I haven't found the motivation to actually work on a sizable project. I just don't have any good or interesting ideas.
So, I'm turning to you, XDA. Are there any apps that you'd like to see exist? Or any apps that you use that you'd like to see a better version of?
I'm not promising to actually do these and release them, I'm just looking for ideas to motivate myself to start on a project. Obviously, if I actually get something worthy of release, I'll share it.
So, any ideas? Thanks in advance.
I have way too many ideas and lack motivation lol I also have a very screwed up memory, like right now I can think of 5 ideas I had but I can't place them. One had to do with location but until I get home and find the notebook I write all my ideas in I couldn't tell you. Hell I can't even remember what happened 5 minutes ago with out seriously focusing on what happened 5 minutes ago
This is just my add kicking in but I wondered if I could parse an md5 checksum in android terminal emulator and it turns out md5sum utility is built it...neat!
The first app I ever wrote was born by asking myself, "What do I want my phone to do that it can't currently do?"
This made development much more enjoyable as it was something I was interested in and that kept me going and gave me the will to follow thru until it worked.
If you're looking to make an app for someone else, here's my suggestion:
I'd like a 1x1 toggle widget that does the following:
Toggle On (potato mode):
Screen Brightness at lowest
Bluetooth off
GPS off
Mobile Network off
WiFi off
AutoSync off
Toggle Off (radsauce mode):
Return to whatever settings I was using before pressing Toggle On
Nice.
I have a bunch of baby videos (baby Einstein and whatnot) in avi format that I use a third party player to play when traveling. The problem is that I can't give the phone to my daughter because she presses a button or something that stops the video. Same with YouTube vids. So i have to hold the phone the whole time.
Would love a kind of baby lock that disables the touchscreen and buttons but allows third party apps to run behind it (like third party media players and YouTube) so that she can hold the phone herself while her videos or music is playing. It should then be able to be unlocked by pressing a combination of buttons at the same time or something like that. This would be ideal on those long car rides. You parents know where I'm coming from...
There's an app out there already that does something similar, but it's limited to the stock video player only.
How's that for an app idea?
fachadick said:
I have a bunch of baby videos (baby Einstein and whatnot) in avi format that I use a third party player to play when traveling. The problem is that I can't give the phone to my daughter because she presses a button or something that stops the video. Same with YouTube vids. So i have to hold the phone the whole time.
Would love a kind of baby lock that disables the touchscreen and buttons but allows third party apps to run behind it (like third party media players and YouTube) so that she can hold the phone herself while her videos or music is playing. It should then be able to be unlocked by pressing a combination of buttons at the same time or something like that. This would be ideal on those long car rides. You parents know where I'm coming from...
There's an app out there already that does something similar, but it's limited to the stock video player only.
How's that for an app idea?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a pretty interesting idea. Sadly, I won't know if anything is possible until I give it a try, because I'll be learning a lot as I go (I already know Java and I've studied some guides to making apps, as well as a book that I have, but it isn't enough to just magic a useful app together). I'll keep a list and I'll give each thing a try to see if I can pull anything off.
Thanks!
louched1 said:
The first app I ever wrote was born by asking myself, "What do I want my phone to do that it can't currently do?"
This made development much more enjoyable as it was something I was interested in and that kept me going and gave me the will to follow thru until it worked.
If you're looking to make an app for someone else, here's my suggestion:
I'd like a 1x1 toggle widget that does the following:
Toggle On (potato mode):
Screen Brightness at lowest
Bluetooth off
GPS off
Mobile Network off
WiFi off
AutoSync off
Toggle Off (radsauce mode):
Return to whatever settings I was using before pressing Toggle On
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will consider this one as well. On the surface, it doesn't seem like it would be overly complicated.
fachadick said:
I have a bunch of baby videos (baby Einstein and whatnot) in avi format that I use a third party player to play when traveling. The problem is that I can't give the phone to my daughter because she presses a button or something that stops the video. Same with YouTube vids. So i have to hold the phone the whole time.
Would love a kind of baby lock that disables the touchscreen and buttons but allows third party apps to run behind it (like third party media players and YouTube) so that she can hold the phone herself while her videos or music is playing. It should then be able to be unlocked by pressing a combination of buttons at the same time or something like that. This would be ideal on those long car rides. You parents know where I'm coming from...
There's an app out there already that does something similar, but it's limited to the stock video player only.
How's that for an app idea?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as media players go, Mx player locks so u have to press the unlock on screen icon to unlock touch buttons.
While it doesn't work for YouTube app, u can use it as default streaming and to watch downloaded movies.
Issue ?partially? solved..
Ask me about my ability to annoy complete strangers!
Touch block comes to mind, last I checked it didn't offer a hardware unlock solution. It disables the touch screen, except for the notification bar. You lock and unlock from there
Thank both of you - I had no idea those were out there, I'll check both of them out!
How's about an app that let's you keep your extSDcard in your phone so that when flashing roms, said app would protect it from being reformatted. It's a pain in the arse having to unmount it/pull it out.
The U.S government wouldn't lie to us...would they?
I don't pull my external sd card when flashing ROMs and I've never had it get formatted. Do you use TWRP?
no app will protect you from recovery since there is no android environment to run the app. Theres also no reason to pull sd card from phone when flashing a new rom.
Iv actually been a lil preoccupied to do anything w/my phone. The only thing Iv done w/it is Zedomax's root method and have yet to flash any roms
The U.S government wouldn't lie to us...would they?
---------- Post added at 12:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:33 PM ----------
SoraX64 said:
Okay, so I've been dabbling with app development for a while now but I haven't found the motivation to actually work on a sizable project. I just don't have any good or interesting ideas.
So, I'm turning to you, XDA. Are there any apps that you'd like to see exist? Or any apps that you use that you'd like to see a better version of?
I'm not promising to actually do these and release them, I'm just looking for ideas to motivate myself to start on a project. Obviously, if I actually get something worthy of release, I'll share it.
So, any ideas? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My other idea wasnt gud so how's about this one. There are quite a few games still floating about that were pre android. I guess this would be an emulator for pre android games. One that comes to mine is a game by glu 'Transformers'.
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=muOBTLXUmqM&desktop_uri=/watch?v=muOBTLXUmqM
The U.S government wouldn't lie to us...would they?
There's a full java me port of that game, you just need to convert the jar/jad files and run it in an app called j2me player. Can't guarantee it will run but a lot of java games do
With JB android has started to meet expectations of using tablets and cells for audio engineering apps. I'm a comm engineer by day and run a recording studio by night and hate to admit the integrations of apple iPad etc work very well with multi track audio apps, up until now, android latency issues have preventd good audio multimedia apps so I would love to see more of that development. There is an app called audio evolution now which is amazing and touches the surface of android JB potential.
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app
Wasn't the latency due to the fact that android didnt use a realtime kernel? Every distro on the PC side that I've used, I've had to patch or replace the kernel to get realtime support for audio
How about a working Bluetooth keyboard and mouse software? One that actuallys good pairing and better features.
Side stepping the Bluetooth connection would challenge you a little. The kcm and no file with matching dictionary would also be a good challenge.
an app that can decompile and recompile apk
How about an app that let's you download apps that you know will run on your phone but the playstore says your device is not supported for that app. App device support bypass?
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
The U.S government wouldn't lie to us....would they?
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
"This tweak is called CleverPin and was designed to make LockScreen functionality on your iDevice much smarter. How many times did you disable passcode, because you didn’t really need it? For example, I don’t need it when I’m home. Or I don’t need it while I’m listening music. This is a fairly common mindset amongst people and because of it, CleverPin was created.
CleverPin allows you to make your iDevice ask for a passcode intelligently: you can choose to automatically disable it while you’re connected to your home network (more than one network supported), listening music or charging battery"
Is there anything similar to this that works for Android ?
Running CM10.1 on GSM Galaxy Nexus.
Thanks
Damn, someone should create this
Try this
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.benhirashima.unlockwithwifi
Have not personally tried it but looks nice.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
exactly what I want except it doesn't accept pattern lock .. until then, i'll hold off buying it
So I've looked around for something to suit my needs but haven't come across any great, non-clunky solutions. We recently purchased a Public Address System at my job but they had to cut the professional message scheduler out of the project due to cost (they wanted about $3500 for said device). It's currently set up so we can broadcast manually but I was looking for something more hands off and realized we have an old tablet lying around that we never use and thought I could re-purpose that for this task through the AUX input port. I haven't tested it yet but my current plan is to use the Alarm Clock Xtreme app from the play store to play the mp3 files on a schedule since it is both reliable and has an auto dismiss function. I'm thinking I can set up the mp3 files as the ringtones and go from there. I'm 99% sure this will work but I'm curious if there is anything else out there that may work a little better.
I was wondering if anyone knew of an android program designed for this function. Ideally I would love something that provides a clean interface to complete this task. The icing on the cake would be the function I wanted the most from the professional scheduler and that was the ability to phone in a message and set it to play remotely. Possibly some way that I could email an mp3 file to it or something? I doubt this exists but figured it was worth asking. Any help is greatly appreciated and I apologize in advance if I missed a thread that already addressed this issue. Thanks in advance and I look forward to your responses.
Hi guys!
I'm working on a Car PC software and I'm looking for contributors. You can find the project on github: https://github.com/viktorgino/headunit-desktop
More about the project:
HeadUnit Desktop is a based free and open source software that is intended to be run on computers built into cars. This software is currently under active development and lot of the features are experimental. As of now there are three main features:
Media player with a media library and media scanner
Android Auto™ client
DAB radio (integrating welle.io)
Proposed features:
FM radio
CAN bus sniffer with a customizable profile for each car.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some screenshots of the GUI: http://imgur.com/a/pnrpy
And a screen recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26EYhQuH-Xs
I'm using the C++ and Qt for this project, the front end is QML.
If you are interested in helping with this project, then PM me here, hit me up on Gitter https://gitter.im/headunit-desktop or drop me an email on [email protected]
Pretty excited about this, wish I could help
very interesting project today I try it on my p9 lite. any help files regarding steering wheel controls and buttons?
This is exactly the type of experience that I was looking for, something that allows AA but also maintains AM/FM radio so this can be used as a replacement to the current stereo.
I've been trying to get this installed, but running into some issues in the instructions.
I have the PI all setup, and now following the instructions here:
I'm stuck on this step:
After you’ve installed Qt add the lib folder its installed in to the library load path, the bin folder to your PATH and the lib/pkgconfig folder to the pkg-config path.
I'm not really sure what it's telling me to do here or how to do it.
Can anyone help?
So i got this up and running, this has a lot of potential.
Hopefully development of it can continue soon.
I have a few questions I'm hoping someone can answer.
Questions on current build
1. How is the progress for the FM radio going? Do you know what hardware requirements will be to use AM/FM?
This was the biggest draw to me, to allow me to use this as a replacement to a standard head unit.
2. With Android Audio, when I push the button to go into AA mode. When I plug my phone in, nothing happens? I have AA installed on my phone and it works on other devices.
3. I have a red box at the bottom of the screen that says 'no valid device found use Null device instead.'
What is this trying to tell me? Message is there regardless if phone is plugged in or not.
4. How do you enable the bluetooth so it can connect to the phone contacts etc?
Features I would like to see:
1. Customization navigation bar.
This will be going in an older car, with old fashion lever type heater controls, so I really don't need the climate control button on the screen. Be nice to be able to swap that out for something else.
Also I don't think DAB radio is available in the US, so that would be another one that I would like to remove. Any plans on HD radio for those in the US?
2. Will this support wireless AA at some point?
3. Suppress the Pi Login/Password screen on boot. It seems if you wait about 20 seconds it skips over it automatically. Would be nice in the settings if there was a way to turn that on/off.
So I think this is almost exactly what I have been looking for as a carpc setup, but I had a couple of questions/suggestions. It would be great if you could customize the "action menu" on the right to open other apps that are installed on the system. Like chrisfromwa said above, I have an older car and have no need for the A/C controls, but would I do have an aftermarket fuel injection system and have tuning software currently running on my Raspberry Pi that I would like to be able to open from the "desktop" environment. Also, while I realize that you can do mapping through Android Auto, it would be great if you could launch a navigation system that is installed on the Pi itself like Navit. That way I could have fully offline maps and navigation via a USB GPS dongle and not have to worry about my phone having a signal to have mapping info.
Ultimately I'm really just looking for a "launcher" of sorts that can do FM radio, navigation, and open my tuning app, but that has a nice interface that is easy to use in a car with the 7" touchscreen I have. This is one of the most promising I have seen and would love it if it could launch other apps from the main screen.
i would like to ask a question, and please know that i mean ABSOLUTELY no disrespect by this, but why build one? I ask because there are many head units that are double din, touchscreen, can play darn near every file known to man, have android auto, can interface easily with your car itself, much less the steering wheel controls (cheap interface built with the molex plugs needed for plug-n-play use. Again, i mean no disrespect as i tried doing this a few years back. I gave up because to do it properly, i found that i would have to pretty much rewrite the kernel so that it could idle when necessary and go into full-on ready in seconds vs a full boot every time. Creating an output section thats worth a damn would also prove to be expensive, which is what inexorably led me back to the pioneers, kenwoods etc etc etc of the world. I guess if youre wanting full, unrestricted access to what android has to offer while driving, that would explain it then. But you can also achieve this with some automated processes in your phone to lie to the deck and tell it that youre not moving etc etc. Anyways, just curious of your reasoning for doing this
Youdoofus said:
i would like to ask a question, and please know that i mean ABSOLUTELY no disrespect by this, but why build one? I ask because there are many head units that are double din, touchscreen, can play darn near every file known to man, have android auto, can interface easily with your car itself, much less the steering wheel controls (cheap interface built with the molex plugs needed for plug-n-play use. Again, i mean no disrespect as i tried doing this a few years back. I gave up because to do it properly, i found that i would have to pretty much rewrite the kernel so that it could idle when necessary and go into full-on ready in seconds vs a full boot every time. Creating an output section thats worth a damn would also prove to be expensive, which is what inexorably led me back to the pioneers, kenwoods etc etc etc of the world. I guess if youre wanting full, unrestricted access to what android has to offer while driving, that would explain it then. But you can also achieve this with some automated processes in your phone to lie to the deck and tell it that youre not moving etc etc. Anyways, just curious of your reasoning for doing this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've built my own and after you see so many people having issues with their official head units, it is nice to know that you have the control and aren't at the mercy of a car manufacturer or company. Also, I can use it to play retro games and more. Plus I have a unique dashboard that I have helped design in some ways. Honestly I've tried this project and while it was heading in a good direction there wasn't enough for me to use it as it is currently. I have something else and don't have to pay for like Openauto pro. It's called OpenDash and while it functions as is, it is continuously adding functionality and customizations that you can't find in anything commercial.
talon_dgnr8 said:
I've built my own and after you see so many people having issues with their official head units, it is nice to know that you have the control and aren't at the mercy of a car manufacturer or company. Also, I can use it to play retro games and more. Plus I have a unique dashboard that I have helped design in some ways. Honestly I've tried this project and while it was heading in a good direction there wasn't enough for me to use it as it is currently. I have something else and don't have to pay for like Openauto pro. It's called OpenDash and while it functions as is, it is continuously adding functionality and customizations that you can't find in anything commercial.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right on. What model car?