Trigger app launch using name when multiple apps share same name... - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I downloaded and started using "terminal-launcher" as my homescreen (available from Google Play Store); it's amazing, simple, and has super-low-memory usage, but...
If you have multiple apps with the same name (I have two called Calendar and two called Messenger) it can only launch one of them (due to being text based and the names sharing text). I asked the developer if he could remedy but he (very politely) said he'd moved on and I should develop it if I wanted to. I have enough knowledge of java to know roughly what is going on in his script (roughly!), but not enough knowledge to make the change required, recompile, or pretty much anything really useful.
His script is on github.com/mattpvaughn/terminal-launcher but I can't post the link as I'm a newbie (but that basically was the link).
My theory is that either:
it appends app names (where multiples exist) with ~1, ~2, etc
it lists app ids next to the names (it lists app names when you type "apps" on your homescreen) and allows launch via app id
it does something more clever than I can come up with (this is the more likely option
To be honest, this is a great launcher that just needs a final polish (TUI console launcher crashes too much as it's script is too involved, this launcher has tried to keep script to a bare minimum); unfortunately there aren't enough comment lines to guide an inept idiot like me through adjusting the script.
Any ideas?

Related

[APP] LightJacker, the ultimate backlight fix & more

LightJacker 1.0.3
Universal backlight fix / TomTom backlight fix
for WM5 & Up​
Hi guys! I just installed TomTom on my S740 and found it still has that annoying bug where the backlight keeps going off, so I decided I would write my own app to fix this problem.
It features completely transparent operation with backlight resuming normal function when the target app is not focused (i.e. when one minimizes TomTom), universal-ness so it can be applied to any app, lightweightness, and doesn't touch the system in any way.
In future, I may also expand it to support configurable key-to-key and key-to-mouse translation, to make some PocketPC-only apps usable also on the Smartphone.
For the interested, see all the details at the program's webpage.
And let me know what you think about it.
Thank you!
Thanks! I think it is a great idea!
I have been looking around for such app to keep the backlight always on when necessary - e.g. reading e-books, watching video and etc.
My feedback is it may be a little troublesome to do the link to each application you want to apply?
Is it possible to make it a background app, whereby when turned on it keep the backlight on always, but when turned off it revert back to the default setting in Power management.
Thanks.
zhuozhi211 said:
Thanks! I think it is a great idea!
I have been looking around for such app to keep the backlight always on when necessary - e.g. reading e-books, watching video and etc.
My feedback is it may be a little troublesome to do the link to each application you want to apply?
Is it possible to make it a background app, whereby when turned on it keep the backlight on always, but when turned off it revert back to the default setting in Power management.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've put on my web page an easier semi-automatic procedure for creating the link, you just have to enter the path to the executable and the name for your shortcut, and download the ready-made .lnk file (be warned that it doesn't work with firefox, though, but it does with IE and Opera.)
I don't think it's so difficult and time-consuming now
There already are apps or mortscritps that do what you want, I.e. changing the systemwide setting, but it is exactly what I don't want to do: impose additional hassle on the user having to start/stop an app, and mess with registry and systemwide settings... I wanted LightJacker to be as invisible to the use as it could.
Hi there thenext1, I tried your app and the set up was fine and it works great, so thanks very much for that. I like the way it picks up the icon from the original app, this got me thinking that you could make an adaption of your app that just injected a new icon into a shortcut for any app and that is all it would do, just to change the icon for any app and nothing else, if you see what I mean, sorry to be a little off topic but just a thought. I have some apps that have horrible Icons I would like a simple way of adding my own Icon into a shortcut. "IconJacker"
uniqueboy said:
Hi there thenext1, I tried your app and the set up was fine and it works great, so thanks very much for that. I like the way it picks up the icon from the original app, this got me thinking that you could make an adaption of your app that just injected a new icon into a shortcut for any app and that is all it would do, just to change the icon for any app and nothing else, if you see what I mean, sorry to be a little off topic but just a thought. I have some apps that have horrible Icons I would like a simple way of adding my own Icon into a shortcut. "IconJacker"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That function is outside LightJacker's scope, anyway, you can try editing the .lnk file and changing the last path after the "?" mark to reflect a path to an .ico file on your phone, and editing the last number to be zero or remove it with the comma altogether.
I don't know if it will work.
Perfect idea! Sounds like a super program!! I have been looking for a feature like this!
A question: can it monitor several programs also? (e.g. Tomtom and igo and acrobat reader)? Seems like the shortcut generator can only support one program...
parkhaus said:
Perfect idea! Sounds like a super program!! I have been looking for a feature like this!
A question: can it monitor several programs also? (e.g. Tomtom and igo and acrobat reader)? Seems like the shortcut generator can only support one program...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just create a shortcut for each of your program.... be warned though, I didn't test multiple programs at once. It might not work.
Has anyone gotten this to work with an HTC Touch Pro? I've tried installing this - and after I create the shortcut, and click the master app I'm trying to keep lighted - I get the following error message:
"The file 'ljack' cannot be opened. Either it is not signed with a trusted certificate or one of its components cannot be found. If the problem persists, try reinstalling or restoring this file."
When I click on the ljack.exe file on it's own - I get the following message:
"LightJacker error 2"
I'd read that another program that requires a purchase, "smartlight" was incompatible with our phones, so I'm wondering if it's something unique to the Touch Pro.
P0ll0L0c0 said:
Has anyone gotten this to work with an HTC Touch Pro? I've tried installing this - and after I create the shortcut, and click the master app I'm trying to keep lighted - I get the following error message:
"The file 'ljack' cannot be opened. Either it is not signed with a trusted certificate or one of its components cannot be found. If the problem persists, try reinstalling or restoring this file."
When I click on the ljack.exe file on it's own - I get the following message:
"LightJacker error 2"
I'd read that another program that requires a purchase, "smartlight" was incompatible with our phones, so I'm wondering if it's something unique to the Touch Pro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Error 2 means that an incorrect command line was supplied - in your case, no cmd line at all.
The other error with the proper shortcut is a windows mobile generic error, and I don't know why it comes up, it should run fine as it does when start ljack.exe on its own....
Maybe your phone isn't fully app-unlocked?
A super idea for a program! however, a GUI would be nice....
command-line options are not very handy. And I think that is where the Error 2 comes from. I also had trouble using your .lnk maker.
Hmmm, your site seems to be down.
Any chance you could upload the cab here on xda?
Yes, I confirm...
I tried several times.... The website is dead since this morning. So, no chance to download this promissing application until now.
For a very similar app go here:
http://oldsap.blogspot.com/2009/02/dontsleep.html
there is a version which prevents the PPC from entering standby, and one that does it only while wifi is on. Also a great app!
arturobandini said:
Yes, I confirm...
I tried several times.... The website is dead since this morning. So, no chance to download this promissing application until now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right! Will investigate the problem.
@parkhaus: what'd be the GUI for?
I would love to have a program that keeps the backlight on when certain programs are running (Adobe reader, Tomtom, ebook reader, etc).
A menu for defining those programs would be great! making shortcuts for each program is a bit too complicated for most users.
A solution in MortScript you can find here
Note: knowledge of german language is required
parkhaus said:
I would love to have a program that keeps the backlight on when certain programs are running (Adobe reader, Tomtom, ebook reader, etc).
A menu for defining those programs would be great! making shortcuts for each program is a bit too complicated for most users.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
An utility in .NET CF can be easily made, but I absolutely don't have any spare time to do it.
Or you can use the method provided by the above users, although it's the old method of changing values in the registry.
Thankyou very much, I needed an app like this for Memory-Map OS5 (App for Off-road satnav in the UK).
I don't suppose you use winmo 6.5 do you? I have another problem with that app in 6.5 where it has icons along the bottom like 6.5 does - however, as 6.5 changes the width of the icons at the bottom, I cannot see all the icons when in the app. If there is any chance you could also code something to alter the size of the bottom buttons whilst in a certain app, that would be even better!
There is a free trial @ http://www.memory-map.co.uk/ should you care to try and code this in.
OK, I used and tested this with TomTom and Memory-Map, and all seems good.
A couple of things, however.
As the size of the app is so small, why go around duplicating it?
Personally, I found that putting LightJacker in \Program Files\LightJack and then doing my app shortcuts like this:
107#"\Program Files\LightJack\ljack.exe" \Program Files\Navigator\TomTom Navigator.exe?TomTom Navigator.exe,101
Meant that I could:
a) Only keep one copy of lightjacker for multiple apps. If there is an update, you only need replace the exe and dll once.
b) Use the shortcuts anywhere. I have one shortcut in the start menu, and one in the app folder. That way, if you have to pick an app via a folder list that starts in the root, you do not have to navigate through the windows folder to get to the start folder, which takes ages
Working on Rhodium (ATT Tilt2 - WM 6.5)
This works on my Tilt2, but with the following tweaks.
The author's site recommends this format for the .lnk file, but this didn't work for me. It produced and Error 4:
123#"\Storage Card\Program Files\GoogleMaps\ljack.exe" GoogleMaps.exe?\Storage Card\Program Files\GoogleMaps\GoogleMaps.exe,101
But using the format in the previous post, it works - the backlight stays on while this program is the front program, and the backlight dims properly when the program goes into the background or is shut down:
123#"\Storage Card\Program Files\GoogleMaps\ljack.exe" \Storage Card\Program Files\GoogleMaps\GoogleMaps.exe?GoogleMaps.exe,101
The only thing not working is the icon. Following the advice on the author's site, I used Resource Hacker to find the Resource ID for the icon, which appears to be 800. But changing that in the link file stilll results in the link showing a generic icon.
Any suggestions on how to get the proper icon to show in the Start Menu for Google Maps?

Looking for Developer to...

Hi.
I was wondering how hard it would be to create a simple application that would connect to a server or website checking for updates. I plan on loading font .apk's on the server or website, and would like a application to periodically check for updates or manually check for updates, be able to preview the font, and then download the .apk if wanted. How hard would it be to create such an application?
Thanks.
Jzero88
jzero88 said:
Hi.
I was wondering how hard it would be to create a simple application that would connect to a server or website checking for updates. I plan on loading font .apk's on the server or website, and would like a application to periodically check for updates or manually check for updates, be able to preview the font, and then download the .apk if wanted. How hard would it be to create such an application?
Thanks.
Jzero88
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, this depends on how you approach it, but I think the easiest way to do this would be to create a feed using XML. So if you were doing your font updater, you would load a file like this:
<FontDetails>
<Font name = "Font1" example = "http://www.myfontsite.com/FontExamples/Font1.png" location = ""http://www.myfontsite.com/Fonts/Font1.apk"\>
<Font name = "Font2" example = "http://www.myfontsite.com/FontExamples/Font2.png" location = "http://www.myfontsite.com/Fonts/Font2.apk"\>
</FontDetails>​
The problem with this is that you will have to maintain this XML file, making sure its always up-to-date(Easily manageable with some simple scripts).
If you aren't willing to do this, you could go down the road that is wrongly mislabeled as "The Easy Way" and hard-code the locations of all your APK's and all of your example images, but I would only do this if you were planning on dumping all the APK's and images in the same place(For example, if all your APK's were here: http://www.myfontsite.com/Fonts/). You would request the directory information from the server and parse that into your list of font APK's and correspond them with their example images(probably by naming them the same; i.e. Font1.apk and Font1.png).
If you decide to use the first option, you could do a bunch of cool things with the organization, like break things into categories and apply taggings and it would only require one request to the server per update. If you go with the second method, organization is guaranteed to be a mess if you try anything large scale, and adds a layer of complexity if you try to break things into folders and categories. This would require a ping per folder you have to check, which can have a high complexity factor if you have a lot of folders.
I just want to point out that even though this is directly related to development, this is a type of question that belongs in the General section(Questions ALWAYS belong in General). I'm sure a Mod will come around, scold you, then move the thread.
Anyway, I do hope this helps,
Good luck,
Tyler
Edit: Having a bit of problems getting the XML looking correct. Sorry if it looks ugly :S
Even easier would be to manage the updater as an RSS feed. Then it becomes quite trivial, as there are several examples of RSS readers online already.
Great! Thanks for the reply!
Yeah, the XML approach I think would be the better option as well, just because we could use this thread to hold everything I currently do no have any hosting at this time. Would you be up to making such a application? It seems you have the know abouts to so.... I would be the one to maintain everything and update it. I would monitor this thread and when new ones pop up, I wouldn't mind adding it to in the XML.
Also, how would the RSS feed work?
Thanks
jzero88 said:
Great! Thanks for the reply!
Yeah, the XML approach I think would be the better option as well, just because we could use this thread to hold everything I currently do no have any hosting at this time. Would you be up to making such a application? It seems you have the know abouts to so.... I would be the one to maintain everything and update it. I would monitor this thread and when new ones pop up, I wouldn't mind adding it to in the XML.
Also, how would the RSS feed work?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wish I could...I've got about 50 projects already on the back-burner and no time to finish them Tell ya what though...I've finished a mini project a couple weeks ago with some buddies at school for my friends website. Its an Open-Source RSS reader that was made to read in the latest articles of his site. With some slight tweaking, I'm sure you(or some other dev) could mod it to work in your favor...Here's the github address:
http://github.com/pencilo/Absolute-Android-RSS.git
I don't think this is the latest code, but all the working elements you need are in here.

[Q] Organisation App

Hey there, I've had an android phone knocking around for some time but only recently started really using it. The main reason I need it is to organize my self, my work and life.
So with this in mind I went and got Any.do and such apps but as I downloaded opened and discarded them I started to find that they all seem to run into the same grave limitations. I have a room full of lists on bits of paper and what I want is to keep them on my phone. But the apps I try offer the option of creating a list and that's it, about 70% of them I discarded because you cant even change the order of the items in the list which is useless to me as i need to write them in priority.
The next problem is that apps such as Any.do which is the best I've found so far can create folders such as work and play and then one long list of everything i will ever need to do at work. I have many tasks to do at work and those tasks consist of other lists of tasks and so on. For example I need to sort out transport up north for a group of people to do a job so I have a work list with the current jobs on it and on it is this job's name, on another bit of paper iis a list of things i need to do for this Job. One of the things I need to do is sort the van out so under fix the van is another list of things I need to do to fix the van, in that list amongst other things in insurance, so i have another list of things to do to get the insurance.
This is how it all works, breaking big tasks down into smaller and smaller tasks till life is all clear and doable. One folder labeled WORK with all these things listed is useless. Great for doing the shopping or organizing a party but no good for organizing your life unless your life is painfully simple.
Because the method of lists within lists is so old and simple and suited to an app I presumed they'd all be able to do it but I cant seem to find one anywhere and I've been at it for a while but then I can barely turn the thing on. So please anyone who knows where to look or what I'm doing wrong I'd appreciate some guidance.
yadnom1973 said:
Hey there, I've had an android phone knocking around for some time but only recently started really using it. The main reason I need it is to organize my self, my work and life.
So with this in mind I went and got Any.do and such apps but as I downloaded opened and discarded them I started to find that they all seem to run into the same grave limitations. I have a room full of lists on bits of paper and what I want is to keep them on my phone. But the apps I try offer the option of creating a list and that's it, about 70% of them I discarded because you cant even change the order of the items in the list which is useless to me as i need to write them in priority.
The next problem is that apps such as Any.do which is the best I've found so far can create folders such as work and play and then one long list of everything i will ever need to do at work. I have many tasks to do at work and those tasks consist of other lists of tasks and so on. For example I need to sort out transport up north for a group of people to do a job so I have a work list with the current jobs on it and on it is this job's name, on another bit of paper iis a list of things i need to do for this Job. One of the things I need to do is sort the van out so under fix the van is another list of things I need to do to fix the van, in that list amongst other things in insurance, so i have another list of things to do to get the insurance.
This is how it all works, breaking big tasks down into smaller and smaller tasks till life is all clear and doable. One folder labeled WORK with all these things listed is useless. Great for doing the shopping or organizing a party but no good for organizing your life unless your life is painfully simple.
Because the method of lists within lists is so old and simple and suited to an app I presumed they'd all be able to do it but I cant seem to find one anywhere and I've been at it for a while but then I can barely turn the thing on. So please anyone who knows where to look or what I'm doing wrong I'd appreciate some guidance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry, but you are searching for an notes app, am i right?
i suggest you to try google keep, easy to use, reorderable, you can set alarms and its in the google enviroment.. so it is synced between devices and browser
.. or ask the nsa for help, if you forgot something
I'm searching using the terms: Organization, to do list, Productivity and things like this to try and find an App to help organize into one orderly document of easily assessable lists of what I have to do.
Google Keep is another one that you can make lists in but the list's can not reference each other so you can list everything you have and need to do and buy and so on but you can not group or nest the lists beyond the first level much like the other apps I've seen. You can list WORK,HOLIDAY,SHOP,PARTY and then within the WORK list you can list NORTHERN JOB, FRANK'S, TAX RETURNS. But then that's it. You cant list anything inside TAX RETURNS. It's to basic to organize anything beyond odd jobs and the shopping.
It is one of the ones that is reorderable as in you can move the order of items in the two lists and synchronizing and alarms and all that is fine but I just really need a simple but effective app that allows me to create lists to organize what I have to do and in what order.
I guess I can do it by using folders inside folders with names on them for jobs but it seems like a hell of a work around. Be easier to just live with all my bits of paper but I'm sure there are apps out there to organize things in a little more depth than things like Google keep, I'm sure just not looking in the right place? Anyone?

[Q] Theme Builder for PC/Mac?

Is there a way to build Themer themes (or even Zooper widgets) on a PC or Mac and export them back out, transfer them to the device and import them into Themer?
I have been trying to build a theme but I keep getting frustrated with how cumbersome it is to use these tools on a touchscreen device. I would be able to create a theme a lot more quickly and efficiently if I could drag elements around with a mouse, type on a physical keyboard and make use of a larger screen with more real estate than my phone. I also think it would be much more precise.
A tool like this would be fairly easy to build. It'd just have to have a few basic options for the device like resolution and dpi and could also have presets so that a designer could select the device he or she is exporting to. This would also be helpful for people who are modifying themes to work with other devices or if users are running their phones with custom DPI settings (I do).
Would anyone else find this useful?
Please forgive me if this has been asked and answered already. I did a bunch of searching and couldn't come up with anything.
Thanks,
Cass
cbarnes913 said:
Is there a way to build Themer themes (or even Zooper widgets) on a PC or Mac and export them back out, transfer them to the device and import them into Themer?
I have been trying to build a theme but I keep getting frustrated with how cumbersome it is to use these tools on a touchscreen device. I would be able to create a theme a lot more quickly and efficiently if I could drag elements around with a mouse, type on a physical keyboard and make use of a larger screen with more real estate than my phone. I also think it would be much more precise.
A tool like this would be fairly easy to build. It'd just have to have a few basic options for the device like resolution and dpi and could also have presets so that a designer could select the device he or she is exporting to. This would also be helpful for people who are modifying themes to work with other devices or if users are running their phones with custom DPI settings (I do).
Would anyone else find this useful?
Please forgive me if this has been asked and answered already. I did a bunch of searching and couldn't come up with anything.
Thanks,
Cass
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. I second your idea. i did search for theme builder. nothing of that sort. on a different note , i did find an ancient theme builder for ancient symbian phones. i donot know whether to laugh or to cry. LOL
cbarnes913 said:
Is there a way to build Themer themes (or even Zooper widgets) on a PC or Mac and export them back out, transfer them to the device and import them into Themer?
I have been trying to build a theme but I keep getting frustrated with how cumbersome it is to use these tools on a touchscreen device. I would be able to create a theme a lot more quickly and efficiently if I could drag elements around with a mouse, type on a physical keyboard and make use of a larger screen with more real estate than my phone. I also think it would be much more precise.
A tool like this would be fairly easy to build. It'd just have to have a few basic options for the device like resolution and dpi and could also have presets so that a designer could select the device he or she is exporting to. This would also be helpful for people who are modifying themes to work with other devices or if users are running their phones with custom DPI settings (I do).
Would anyone else find this useful?
Please forgive me if this has been asked and answered already. I did a bunch of searching and couldn't come up with anything.
Thanks,
Cass
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, if you are asking if there is an App to build themes on a PC? If yes then the answer is sadly no.
However there is another option. You can use an Android VM such as GenyMotion. It no longer has Play Store access, so you will need to sideload Themer on it, but it does work well. http://www.genymotion.com/features/
the link doesn't work comes back as nothing found,fortunately this one does work https://cloud.genymotion.com/page/launchpad/download/
you wiull need to register and log in before download
ThemerSupport said:
However there is another option. You can use an Android VM such as GenyMotion. It no longer has Play Store access, so you will need to sideload Themer on it, but it does work well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I started to do this but as the performance is fairly bad in emulation, I threw in the towel. If there is enough support, is this something that you guys would be willing to build? It's probably even something that could be built in a web app, meaning you could build it once and be done
The benefit here is that having a tool like this would open the door for a lot more designers. The more great themes you have in Themer the bigger your install base.
Thanks so much for responding so quickly
Edit: I misunderstood. I have tried the emulator provided with the SDK, but I'll give GenyMotion a shot also. Thanks for the suggestion.
cbarnes913 said:
Yeah, I started to do this but as the performance is fairly bad in emulation, I threw in the towel. If there is enough support, is this something that you guys would be willing to build? It's probably even something that could be built in a web app, meaning you could build it once and be done
The benefit here is that having a tool like this would open the door for a lot more designers. The more great themes you have in Themer the bigger your install base.
Thanks so much for responding so quickly
Edit: I misunderstood. I have tried the emulator provided with the SDK, but I'll give GenyMotion a shot also. Thanks for the suggestion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We might have a look at an online version in the future, but that will only be once Themer is a lot more stable and we have more resources to work with. Thanks for the suggestion though!
it could be awesome for pc users
I installed Genymotion. Getting it configured with Themer took some doing, but once it was setup I had everything I needed. Thanks so much for this suggestion.
For those who want to do the same thing, there are some things you need to know. First, you need either a Google account or a Facebook account to log into Themer. That means that after you install GenyMotion, you need to do one of two things: either you need to 1) flash a Google apps package over the GenyMotion VM (a 4.3 apps package that works with Cyanogen mod works best), then log into Google, then update everything with the Play Store, and then install Themer; OR (and I didn't do this, so it might be more complex than this) sideload Facebook and sideload Themer, log into Facebook, then setup Themer.
The reason you need to do this is because in order to use Themer, you need to log in using either a Google account or a Facebook account, and Themer uses a list of accounts already on your phone (or in this case, the VM) to populate the dialog box that asks you to log in. That said, you want to have either a Facebook account or a Google account set up on the device (or VM) prior to launching Themer. Since I'd rather not ever use Facebook to do anything, that limits my option to Google.
It might be the case that if you exported themes from Themer and wanted to import it, that you might not have to go through any of these steps. However, if you want to be able to download existing themes from Themer and work with them as a starting point for building your theme, or even just pick them apart to figure out how they work in order to learn, you need to log in.
Someone correct me if I made this way more complicated than it needed to be.
As for developing a web client for theming, maybe this could be a community-led effort? I don't have the skill or time to do any of it, but if this is a popular request, perhaps we could organize a project and try to contribute to it. Is anyone interested?

[APP] BrowserShortcut - Use the browser key to open any browser

Hi everyone!
For those of you who want to give some extra behaviour to the browser key on the dock, here's one solution.
Although mod Aroma "kind of" does this, it should be noted that this solution is easier to recover from.
The browser key launchs any apk with ˋcom.android.browser.BrowserActivity´ as main activity, so I made a small app that mimics that.
It gathers a list of installed browsers and prompts a choice to the user; With the help of intents.
You can build it directly within the prime using AIDE, as it was coded in it.
GitHub repository: github.com/bit2shift/BrowserShortcut
In order to install it, you first need to remove the stock browser. Use Titanium Backup or ES File Explorer.
Install the replacement app as usually.
A screenshot of its choice prompt is attached.
EDIT: The google homepage is the URL used to query the installed browsers and start the chosen one. You can change it to something else.
TIP: For some browsers, about:blank does not get recognized properly.
Moderators: If this thread fits better on the development board, feel free to move it there.

Categories

Resources