Android Apps: Use AMDroid and Solid Explorer

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > Android Apps: Use AMDroid and Solid Explorer

syscall girl: Nov 7, 2009; by FactsAreUseless; Fun Shoe

Blue Train posted:

The stock version made me stop using it because it popped up fullscreen ads over the lockscreen iirc but that was a while ago and I have no idea if it still does it

Wow. Should give you a free phone with that kind of deal

# ? Mar 23, 2018 02:10

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# ? May 27, 2024 19:37

Guillermus: Dec 28, 2009

I use Asus File explorer. Is quite nice and plays well when plugging usb drives on your phone. I also used zipsigner on an old rear end ES File explorer with no ads and lovely stuff but Asus one works great and is ad free.

# ? Mar 23, 2018 10:59

Sir Lemming: Jan 27, 2009; It's a piece of JUNK!

*2 days later*
We regret to inform you that Milkshake Duck File Explorer is now adware.

# ? Mar 23, 2018 13:01

Obsurveyor: Jan 10, 2003

Flipperwaldt posted:

I strongly prefer Speed Software Explorer for being ad free, free and not being a goddamn useless feature bomb. Works fine with Windows shares.

Thanks for recommending this! Both Google Drive and My Files(Samsung) are broken garbage right now. Google Drive can't install APKs directly right now and My Files seems to download a file from Drive once and appears to have no way to re-download(short of erasing the cached file), even though it has changed. This lets me download and install in one shot again. I wish it supported the common drag down to refresh and the five periods after "New....." in the menu bug me but it's worth it.

# ? Mar 24, 2018 01:44

Moey: Oct 22, 2010; I LIKE TO MOVE IT

I spent my hard earned play reward dollars on es pro, huge mistake.

Trying to connect to a network share is like pulling teeth.

# ? Mar 24, 2018 03:09

vyst: Aug 25, 2009

Isn't ES file manager the one that just got busted sending your info to China

# ? Mar 24, 2018 04:41

Obsurveyor: Jan 10, 2003

Moey posted:

I spent my hard earned play reward dollars on es pro, huge mistake.

Trying to connect to a network share is like pulling teeth.

The SMB connect with Explorer was flawless. Went ahead and connected with that to make turn arounds of apk builds even faster tonight.

# ? Mar 24, 2018 05:55

syscall girl: Nov 7, 2009; by FactsAreUseless; Fun Shoe

vyst posted:

Isn't ES file manager the one that just got busted sending your info to China

I thought that was Huawei in general?

# ? Mar 24, 2018 06:11

Guillermus: Dec 28, 2009

One question regarding Google Assistant: is it possible to close apps with voice commands? Like I'm using gmaps and with 'ok google' then "close google maps". It's a feature I'd be very interested in while I drive around.

# ? Mar 24, 2018 09:20

ClassActionFursuit: Mar 15, 2006

vyst posted:

Isn't ES file manager the one that just got busted sending your info to China

Yeah they were the ones who got caught.

# ? Mar 24, 2018 09:20

Tunga: May 7, 2004; Grimey Drawer

Guillermus posted:

One question regarding Google Assistant: is it possible to close apps with voice commands? Like I'm using gmaps and with 'ok google' then "close google maps". It's a feature I'd be very interested in while I drive around.

Why do you want to close it? What's the actual goal here? You can certainly "stop navigation".

# ? Mar 24, 2018 09:56

Guillermus: Dec 28, 2009

Tunga posted:

Why do you want to close it? What's the actual goal here? You can certainly "stop navigation".

Sorry, I meant close as in going back to the home screen. I know that I can stop the navigation but I'd like, without needing to touch the screen to go back to home so the screen turns itself off after 2 minutes (i don't know why, even without navigation active it takes longer).

# ? Mar 25, 2018 12:36

Incessant Excess: Aug 15, 2005; Cause of glitch:
Pretentiousness

Is there a better package tracking app than ParcelTrack? Just asking before I go premium.

# ? Mar 28, 2018 14:53

crack mayor: Dec 22, 2008

I've been using Package Tracker Express. I like it, but I haven't tried anything else. If you try it, lemme know how it compares.

# ? Mar 28, 2018 16:56

Sad Panda: Sep 22, 2004; I'm a Sad Panda.

I've used Deliveries before and found it functional. I don't order enough that I care about it arriving for me to have a proper opinion though.

# ? Mar 28, 2018 18:27

Zorak of Michigan: Jun 10, 2006

Sad Panda posted:

I've used Deliveries before and found it functional. I don't order enough that I care about it arriving for me to have a proper opinion though.

I also use Deliveries and I have no complaints. It took them a while to get their Amazon feed working with 2FA, and I was getting a little cross about it, but they fixed it and it works fine today.

# ? Mar 28, 2018 19:46

CLAM DOWN: Feb 13, 2007

My preference is Aftership

# ? Mar 28, 2018 19:49

Skarsnik: Oct 21, 2008; I...AM...RUUUDE!

Incessant Excess posted:

Is there a better package tracking app than ParcelTrack? Just asking before I go premium.

The latest reviews don't look great..

# ? Mar 28, 2018 20:32

CLAM DOWN: Feb 13, 2007

WhatsApp push notifications are not working correctly today and it's really annoying. They fire off all at once when I open the app.

Thanks for listening to my troubles.

# ? Mar 28, 2018 20:47

Rooted Vegetable: Jun 1, 2002

CLAM DOWN posted:

WhatsApp push notifications are not working correctly today and it's really annoying. They fire off all at once when I open the app.

Thanks for listening to my troubles.

Other apps ok?

Sync enabled in settings?

# ? Mar 29, 2018 03:56

Thermopyle: Jul 1, 2003; ...the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. �Bertrand Russell

hotsauce posted:

I really don't know how ya'll like the app. If you use the OS back button after being 8 screens deep, it advances back 1 screen at a time. You must use the iOS style back button in the top left to go back an entire screen (i.e. properly). It's such a bad iOS port it's not even funny. Anyhow...

Saying I like the app is a little too strong.

But you haven't used bad iOS ports. It is I've got a few line of business apps and two bank apps that even have iOS colors, button styling, icons and UX paradigms...and don't even do it well on Android.

Ecobee is a masterpiece of a port compared to them.

Apps getting the back button wrong is so common even amongst Android apps that I'm just used to it.

# ? Mar 29, 2018 06:22

Ola: Jul 19, 2004

Thermopyle posted:

Apps getting the back button wrong is so common even amongst Android apps that I'm just used to it.

Even Facebook gets this wrong.

For those unfamiliar: When you code an app, each screen calls the next. The "type in search query" page calls a method to create the "display search results" page and one of the parameters is "which page called me up" (pages are actually called views and everything is a drat view) The default back button behavior (which you can override but which don't have to write) is "go back to the page that called me". When lazy devs see that the back button goes backwards without them having to write anything, they're happy.

# ? Mar 29, 2018 06:46

buttchugging adderall: May 7, 2007; COME GET SOME

Ola posted:

Even Facebook gets this wrong.

For those unfamiliar: When you code an app, each screen calls the next. The "type in search query" page calls a method to create the "display search results" page and one of the parameters is "which page called me up" (pages are actually called views and everything is a drat view) The default back button behavior (which you can override but which don't have to write) is "go back to the page that called me". When lazy devs see that the back button goes backwards without them having to write anything, they're happy.

The guy who was in charge of our old mobile app at work disabled any input from the Android back button as it "caused errors."

# ? Mar 29, 2018 12:22

AkumaHokoru: Jul 20, 2007

my old tablet had a app that could pick up the over the airwaves radio signals as long as you had headphones in. my new tablet does not have this. is there such an app on the play store?

# ? Mar 29, 2018 12:28

Toast Museum: Dec 3, 2005; 30% Iron Chef

AkumaHokoru posted:

my old tablet had a app that could pick up the over the airwaves radio signals as long as you had headphones in. my new tablet does not have this. is there such an app on the play store?

I haven't used it, but that's what NextRadio is supposed to do. Your tablet still needs an FM tuner for it to work, of course.

# ? Mar 29, 2018 12:41

Tunga: May 7, 2004; Grimey Drawer

AkumaHokoru posted:

my old tablet had a app that could pick up the over the airwaves radio signals as long as you had headphones in. my new tablet does not have this. is there such an app on the play store?

This requires radio receiver hardware to be included in the device so it depends on what the tablet is but most likely no.

You can use something like iHeartRadio to listen to lots of stations via the internet though.

# ? Mar 29, 2018 12:42

Rooted Vegetable: Jun 1, 2002

Tunga posted:

You can use something like iHeartRadio to listen to lots of stations via the internet though.

TuneIn is also a good go-to for that.

# ? Mar 29, 2018 17:45

hotsauce: Jan 14, 2007

Thermopyle posted:

Saying I like the app is a little too strong.

But you haven't used bad iOS ports. It is I've got a few line of business apps and two bank apps that even have iOS colors, button styling, icons and UX paradigms...and don't even do it well on Android.

Ecobee is a masterpiece of a port compared to them.

Apps getting the back button wrong is so common even amongst Android apps that I'm just used to it.

Fair enough. The recent update seemed to make navigation a bit better, but it's still a bad port IMO. Worst ever? Nah, but aggravating for something you (or I, at least) use every day.

Support replied back about the weird error screen:

code:

Hello,

Thank you for contacting ecobee support.Its a known issue and our development team are aware of it, the issue will be fixed as 
soon as possible.However, it's on high priority but we do not have any specific ETA at the moment.
We highly appreciate your patience meanwhile. Feel free to reach out if any further questions or concerns.

Regards,

So, maybe they will fix this cryptic thing, maybe not. I hope they do.

hotsauce fucked around with this message at 03:44 on Mar 30, 2018

# ? Mar 30, 2018 03:40

Aranan: May 21, 2007; Release the Kraken

Pixel XL user here. I want to automate some phone behaviors. Examples:

1) Set ring to vibrate when at certain location and reset back to previous volume when I leave that location.
2) Turn on/off WiFi when in certain locations.
3) Automatically launch a specific app when connected to a bluetooth device.

Is my best bet something like the Tasker app?

# ? Mar 30, 2018 17:17

Skarsnik: Oct 21, 2008; I...AM...RUUUDE!

Tasker can do it yes but Trigger is more suited to the task

# ? Mar 30, 2018 17:22

Aranan: May 21, 2007; Release the Kraken

Thanks! I'll check that out.

# ? Mar 30, 2018 17:27

VikingofRock: Aug 24, 2008

Is there a way to allow an app to see my location only when it is in the foreground?

e: sorry if this is a very common question. I searched for an answer online but couldn't really find anything.

# ? Mar 30, 2018 20:27

Taffer: Oct 15, 2010

VikingofRock posted:

Is there a way to allow an app to see my location only when it is in the foreground?

e: sorry if this is a very common question. I searched for an answer online but couldn't really find anything.

Not that I'm aware. Is your concern privacy, or battery? If it's the latter, you don't need to be worried. Location services is always running, and is tailored to have a very small battery hit, and apps just poll it when they need location results, so an app accessing it has no battery hit. If an app is using high-accuracy and high-frequency GPS (e.g. navigation), which does have a really strong battery hit, it is required to be in the foreground or have a persistent notification.

If your concern is privacy.... well, you're probably out of luck. My best advice is to just not give that permission to apps unless they really need it, and you trust them.

# ? Mar 30, 2018 21:10

Obsurveyor: Jan 10, 2003

Or just keep Location off until you need it. If you open the app and do something that requires Location, it will prompt you to turn it on every time(unless you told it not to).

# ? Mar 30, 2018 22:09

ClassActionFursuit: Mar 15, 2006

Obsurveyor posted:

Or just keep Location off until you need it. If you open the app and do something that requires Location, it will prompt you to turn it on every time(unless you told it not to).

That's bad advice as apps which want location and can't get it will keep requesting it over and over, never sleeping.

# ? Mar 31, 2018 02:49

XIII: Feb 11, 2009

LastInLine posted:

That's bad advice as apps which want location and can't get it will keep requesting it over and over, never sleeping.

Worst movie pitch ever.

# ? Mar 31, 2018 03:27

Obsurveyor: Jan 10, 2003

LastInLine posted:

That's bad advice as apps which want location and can't get it will keep requesting it over and over, never sleeping.

Sounds more like poorly written apps to me. Never seen this on any of the apps I use that are based around location use like Google Maps or Strava, despite being open and wanting location.

fake edit: In fact, according to the SDK, location is provided via a callback, which means that the app will periodically be told what the location is, not query it over and over so the situation you've described is literally impossible. Of course, an app can do stupid things when data expected to be available is not but that's neither the user's fault for having location off nor Android's and the app shouldn't be used.

Obsurveyor fucked around with this message at 03:32 on Mar 31, 2018

# ? Mar 31, 2018 03:30

ClassActionFursuit: Mar 15, 2006

XIII posted:

Worst movie pitch ever.

I almost included the scare line "and it won't show in battery stats" but since they're removing battery stats there was no point.

Either way the takeaway should be to not disable services on your phone in an attempt to outsmart it. Deny permissions and uninstall bad apps instead.

Obsurveyor posted:

fake edit: In fact, according to the SDK, location is provided via a callback, which means that the app will periodically be told what the location is, not query it over and over so the situation you've described is literally impossible.

Want to take a guess why that change was introduced? Also want to take a stab at what happens when the app targets an older version of Android?

I'll give you a hint: apps don't care about your battery life.

Turning off location services is dumb because it's the precise thing that allows that service to work as intended.

ClassActionFursuit fucked around with this message at 03:40 on Mar 31, 2018

# ? Mar 31, 2018 03:33

VikingofRock: Aug 24, 2008

Taffer posted:

Is your concern privacy, or battery?

My concern was mostly privacy; my battery is fine. In particular I was thinking about Facebook and Yelp, because it's useful to have them be able to use your location when you check in somewhere (or in Yelp's case when you are searching), but there's not really a strong reason to have them be able to track your every move. I didn't necessarily want to limit the discussion to those two apps, though.

# ? Mar 31, 2018 09:38

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# ? May 27, 2024 19:37

G-Spot Run: Jun 28, 2005

Can anyone tell me a gallery app that does nothing but browse photos. No feature creep, no delete/rename/edit/share, just scroll left and right through the images on the camera folder or pulled from Google Photos account. I've tried searching and every possible combination of "just browse images" and "gallery only" terms has come up with feature creeped apps because, I guess, every rear end in a top hat and their dog wants to make a buck on the play store.

Alternatively, how hard would it be to create such an app in ADK with my late 90s scripting experience if I finally got around to bothering?

# ? Mar 31, 2018 10:46

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > Android Apps: Use AMDroid and Solid Explorer

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