I downloaded the 30-day trial of the app CarHome Ultra. This app is excellent and it functions automatically when using the Motorola Car Dock.
The main reason I have chosen this over the built-in car dock is the way it shows the speed, location, compass, and weather from the main screen. These items display in a green font on a black background.
With the built-in car dock app, you have to select the map icon, and then it only shows speed and direction in an overlay on the map. The overlay is hard to read because the font is very light gray over the whitish background of the map.
I have decided to purchase the full app for $1.99. There are also a ton of customization options. Finally, it has performed flawlessly for me and seems to start up faster than the built-in option.
Has anyone else tried this app out?
Thanks for the review!
I've purchased it as well but recently uninstalled it. Go Contacts didn't support landscape mode and I'm a stickler for aesthetics (aka a big whiney ***** LOL). But now they've updated it and I thought about installing it again.
The developer is great too. I don't have a bluetooth device to use but I asked that he put in an option for automatic speaker phone mode when CarHome Ultra is in use. He added it within a couple of days and has always been very good with supporting the program.
It does look a little ugly but I'm actually going to reinstall it today. Travelling to the US again and it'll definitely come in handy. I like that you can set the GPS intervals and other very handy options as well!
thanks for the info, looks nice, much better than stock. I hate looking at all those stupid stars lol.
Overall, I think the move from Blackberry to Android/Note was the right one but the transition has been painful in a few areas. I'll list them in this one post instead of inundating the forums with single posts with only one question.
Phone Application -
Admittedly, this is the most frustrating part about going with the Note (outside of the loss of a physical keyboard). The phone application is ridiculously inefficient compared to Blackberry.
Is there a way to prevent the phone from locking (PIN required) when I navigate away from the phone application while on a call? There is nothing more frustrating than having to enter my PIN to simply hang up a phone call. Also, while on a phone call only (meaning I don't navigate away from phone), the screen times out and turns off... forcing me to press the side key to get back into phone. Is there a program that can map the capacitive search key while on a phone call so I can hang up a call?
Regarding "Contacts", is there a way to default to keyboard entry upon opening Contacts? Does Android think the average person has only 6 contacts??... Because that's how many contacts show up when you enter Contacts. This forces me to press "search contacts" every single time I enter Contacts... and the magnifying glass is all the way at the tip top of the screen. Using one hand, it's impossible to comfortably extend my thumb all the way to the top of the screen after pressing my Contacts application icon on the very bottom of the screen. Then I am forced to pull all the way back down to the keyboard just to enter the first letter of the person I'm searching for! I call out of my Contacts list 50-100 times a day so this gets very, very cumbersome and time consuming.
Is there a way to change the text size in my contacts list? I'd like to see more than 6 contacts per page... the phone screen is HUGE!
Now this complaint I'm sure a lot of ex Blackberry people can relate with... Blackberry (via an available OPTION) would consolidate call logs into each individual contact. Android, for some strange reason, does not consolidate history to each individual contact. So when I pull up recent history, the top 100 entries can be from only 10 or 15 people Wouldn't it make more sense to have ONE entry PER CONTACT? I wouldn't have to go into Contacts as often if Android actually consolidated phone call logs into one log per contact because I could go into the phone log and call out people from there... instead of seeing a sea of missed, outgoing, incoming calls... from the same person. I really hope there is a way to consolidate these logs.
S Memo -
There is an option to pull up the S Memo pad in phone but for some strange reason, it always defaults to "drawing" mode instead of entering text. I'm often in a flustered state when on a phone call and/or listening to voicemail and trying to jot down notes... so having to punch that tiny little "T" at the very upper left hand corner of the screen is a pain.
Is there a way to decrease the font size? I never did understand why some native programs have no adjustments for font size... not everyone is 80 years old w/bad vision. I mean... what's the point of having such a high res screen if the font size is a quarter inch tall? Blackberry allowed text size to be adjusted in ALL native applications.
I'm assuming there is no way to increase the amount of text I can enter onto one S Memo page? It seems extremely limited (about ~100 words max).
Am I the only one that seems to have notes that don't save? I recall entering text into several notes and backing out supposedly automatically saves what was inputed... but often times the text is not there when I return to the note. Are others having this issue?
Finally, is there an alternative memo program that anyone could recommend that is as simple and easy to search as Blackberry's memopad?
Alarm Clock -
I realize that there are a ton of alarm apps out there but I've heard horror stories about apps that crash and/or don't work properly. I need a reliable alarm clock so would prefer to stick with the native application. It actually works perfectly... except that the alarm lasts for only 60 seconds. I've slept right through the alarm several times already. Is there any way to make it loop for a longer period? Say 5 or 10 minutes?
I have a ton of other questions but if anyone can help with these for now it would be much appreciated!
U have a button dedicated to search at the bottom. I use dw contacts. Not the cheapest solution but very customizable
There's an app to increase/decrease font size, I haven't used it but I saw someone mentioning it here the other day, the alarm is fine, I have never had any issues with any android alarm, and you can add as many alarms as you want, I get up at 3am to go to work and I can't ever be late so I have set like 4 alarms to go off in set times in order so if I don't hear one the others will follow.
As the issue with being able to reach the full length of the screen one handed , it is what it is, a big a$$ screen that for the most part demands two handed control.
Sent from my awesome Galaxy Note!
Do you have to use a PIN?
Go to settings, display, screen timeout. You can change how quickly or slowly your screen times out on you.
On your contacts app, just hit the magnifying glass at the bottom right and it'll pull up your keyboard and search function. Or there's teh alphabet running down the right hand side, just click on the letter the name starts with. Or for more customization and ease, install exdialer. It looks good, easy to use, font is small, etc. Exdialer also consolidates your call logs.
There are a ton of memo apps in the market. Personally I love Gnotes. It syncs with google, saves everything, is easy to use, and you can inbed pics, etc.
I don't know about the spen. So far I've only used it to make cute pics to send to my wife and to draw up soccer drills and practice plans.
esincho said:
U have a button dedicated to search at the bottom. I use dw contacts. Not the cheapest solution but very customizable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I'll give it a try. Does the phone still maintain its ability to keep a log and back up the calls to my computer?
roloracer said:
There's an app to increase/decrease font size, I haven't used it but I saw someone mentioning it here the other day, the alarm is fine, I have never had any issues with any android alarm, and you can add as many alarms as you want, I get up at 3am to go to work and I can't ever be late so I have set like 4 alarms to go off in set times in order so if I don't hear one the others will follow.
As the issue with being able to reach the full length of the screen one handed , it is what it is, a big a$$ screen that for the most part demands two handed control.
Sent from my awesome Galaxy Note!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried the program Big Font but unfortunately while the font size decreases, it does nothing to decrease the size of the useless silhouette image next to the contact name. So I still only get 6 contacts per massive page. I'm hoping there is another solution.
kiltedthrower said:
Do you have to use a PIN?
Go to settings, display, screen timeout. You can change how quickly or slowly your screen times out on you.
On your contacts app, just hit the magnifying glass at the bottom right and it'll pull up your keyboard and search function. Or there's teh alphabet running down the right hand side, just click on the letter the name starts with. Or for more customization and ease, install exdialer. It looks good, easy to use, font is small, etc. Exdialer also consolidates your call logs.
There are a ton of memo apps in the market. Personally I love Gnotes. It syncs with google, saves everything, is easy to use, and you can inbed pics, etc.
I don't know about the spen. So far I've only used it to make cute pics to send to my wife and to draw up soccer drills and practice plans.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, unfortunately I do need to use a PIN or some other form of security. I just don't think it makes any sense to require a PIN if I already entered one and then make a phone call. It's just silly that Android would require a PIN if you're clearly using the phone (on a call). Apparently Google thinks that using the phone does not include being on a phone call. Absurd.
As for your advice about using the magnifying glass, it doesn't work. Because if you pull up the contact via the magnifying glass, you cannot dial from it (swipe right for dial, left for text like you would if you clicked the text box at the top of the phone). You have to click on it and then click once again on what you would like to do. Not sure why it's like that but there are a lot of Android "features" that leave me scratching my head.
I'll give Gnote a try. Thanks!
pj737 said:
I tried the program Big Font but unfortunately while the font size decreases, it does nothing to decrease the size of the useless silhouette image next to the contact name. So I still only get 6 contacts per massive page. I'm hoping there is another solution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please don't mix up Google and Samsung. You see Samsung customizes the Android OS, and the stock contacts app is different than the stock Google one. Everything you see is what Samsung did not Google.
If you don't like it I suggest you switch phones or you try third-party apps like exdialer(excontacts comes with it), and it is a very popular choice people use as an alternative. Also, I if you have rooted your phone you can change the DPI, so everything will be smaller and more things can fit on the screen, but like I said you will need ROOT. Download a DPI changer app and go for 240dpi.
Sent from my GT-i9220 using Tapatalk
Or if you're brave enough you can always change the lcd density in the build.prop but beware if you make a mistake editing It will brake the rom and unless you have it backed up like in cwm you'll be forced to flash it to bring it back to life.
Sent from my awesome Galaxy Note!
roloracer said:
Or if you're brave enough you can always change the lcd density in the build.prop but beware if you make a mistake editing It will brake the rom and unless you have it backed up like in cwm you'll be forced to flash it to bring it back to life.
Sent from my awesome Galaxy Note!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just use LCD resolution from the market. Much simpler for a novice
●●●●● I managed to get the settings icon back! I rearranged my icons a few times and put it next to one of my double clock icons and there it was! I did a factory reset. So far so good...... not sure what causes the problems below but I will leave this post unless a moderator wants to delete this thread for me ●●●●●
Hi all. Got a few problems with my Gear Fit... I want to do a factory reset but cannot! Honestly want to upgrade to a different smartwatch soon but for now I will have to work with this. I am disappointed in lack of apps that work with this but I LOVE the touch screen and features it does have...
1. No settings icon to factory reset my device. Thought there was a physical reset button on underside which I pressed in with a pin but nothing happens when I do. I held it down too... maybe not long enough? Does anyone know how long?
2. When I scroll in one direction its an infinite loop. Does not even show home screen with clock on it most of the time... instead there is an infinite loop as in the same 3 icons show over and over and over as I scroll....
3. Sometimes when scrolling, part of the clock shows on left half of the screen and its stuck there while the other half scrolls. Still no settings icon!
4. Also when I use the Gear Fit Manager on my S3, it shows 2 clock icons which I can drag and reorder but it only leaves a gap in the icons on the Gear Fit itself... looking at it horizontally should show 3 icons across but it will show 2 with a blank spot where 3rd icon would be.... sometimes I can see the clock but most times I cannot.
I wanted to contact samsung about these issues through email but I cannot seem to get there. I dont see any choice for smartwatches and model number so therefore I cant seem to figure how to send an email to the correct department.
Hope I can reset and start over before I end up getting mad and throwing it across the room!
Did some searching on here and Google but came up with nothing. Even tried to contact someone at Samsung and basically got hungup on (used the online chat feature, they quit talking to me after asking for my device model).
So I got the keyboard cover case since it was half off when I ordered my S6 and this is the real first time I've played around with Dex even though it's on several of my other devices. Just never liked having to need a seperate monitor, mouse, and keyboard basically.
My big complaint right now is that the taskbar at the bottom doesn't hide when an app like Samsung Internet is open and Ican't figure out any way to hide it. I'd love to hide the blinding white top bar too, but the taskbar takes up more room and is just more noticable while using the apps, to me anyways.
So my question is, is there any way to hide the taskbar and/or top app bar?
UPDATE: I managed to get in touch with someone at Samsung. They said hiding the bars is not something that can be done, but they will pass the info along as a request for a furture feature. So I encourage others to make a request on their website for this to be added. Might not be a huge deal on larger screens, but when using it built-in with the Tab S6 or other small screens the extra realestate would be grand. I believe I found an easy way to make the request using either the Samsung Members app or in the Dex settings Contact Us section while I was using Dex.
Kindly share a link to the Samsung site where I can make this request as well.
I'm using shortcutter for immersive mode and the keyboard is running fine. In DeX mode I made shortcut for quick navbar hiding/showing.
https://youtu.be/GHpTlGQg4QQ
When app is in full screen mode the taskbar is hidden.
techops said:
I'm using shortcutter for immersive mode and the keyboard is running fine. In DeX mode I made shortcut for quick navbar hiding/showing.
https://youtu.be/GHpTlGQg4QQ
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i installed and bought shortcutter.
i dont see full immersive option anywhere. guess i will uninstall to get my $2 back.
Does anyone have any idea if the left side of the screen (when sliding from left to right) can be configured with any other application rather than...Google App (of course)? I would like to have News Suite set up for that screen.
Also, as silly it may sound, would a proprietory Samsung app work on Xperia III? I love their "Files" and "Voice Recorder" apps !
Rather not.
Do not count on sony developing existing or new apps.
Sony focuses on removing existing apps and its features. In past you could choose the main screen to be different than on left side. Now only left side, close to google bloat scam. That is why I blocked this google spam on the left hand side, full of adds...
Just use any other launcher and you can put whatever you want anywhere. The stock SONY launcher is pretty basic and not very good.
As far as installing Samsungs "Files" and "Voice Recorder", I installed them but was NOT able to actually run them. They force closed on my 1 III.