John Navas wrote on [Wed, 11 Aug 2010 10:00:06 -0700]:
> FWIW, my own personal list. Suggestions welcome.
>
ShopSavvy,
Mileage
dropbox
keepass
The Weather Channel
wifi analyzer
yahoo messenger
> One (free) iPhone app that I miss on Android:
> Dragon Dictation
On Wed, 11 Aug 2010 23:13:22 +0000, in
<Xns9DD1C371AD2E3noonehomecom@74.209.131.13>, Larry <noone@home.com>
wrote:
>John Navas <spamfilter1@navasgroup.com> wrote in
>news:3il5669olifrj6dsdus9k8qv73kihj26tu@4ax.com :
>
>> Swype
>
>John, are you using Swype? If so, what do you think of it?
I think it's the cat's meow! I can Swype much faster than I can type on
any real phone keyboard. Caveat: It took me a couple of days to get the
hang of it.
Larry wrote:
> John Navas <spamfilter1@navasgroup.com> wrote in
> news:3il5669olifrj6dsdus9k8qv73kihj26tu@4ax.com:
>
>> Swype
>>
>
> John, are you using Swype? If so, what do you think of it?
>
I know you asked John specifically, but I thought I'd throw in my
experience. I tried it for a day and sort of liked it. However, I am at an
age where I need reading glasses but can sometimes get by without them. What
I came to realize was that I could get by without the glasses with the
standard keyboard, but not with swype because I couldn't always locate the
keys fast enough with my eyes to be able to follow along with my finger.
Also, at times my own finger blocked my view of a key I was looking for
making it difficult for me to complete the swipe. Let me qualify that I was
never a touch typist to begin with, if that has any bearing on this problem.
John Navas wrote:
> FWIW, my own personal list. Suggestions welcome.
>
After surveying all the lists posted here, I was surprised to not find
Advanced Task Killer on anyone's list (unless I missed it?). How do you
guys/gals clear your memory periodically? Or do you just let all those apps
run in the background all the time with no ill result?
I would also add K-9 Mail to the list for those of you who would like to
delete emails from your device and have them deleted from your server at the
same time (for those of you not using gmail as your primary email account
that is).
And last for me, Barcode Scanner is an amazing app which allows me to do
price comparison shopping in stores that tag their merchandise with bar
codes.
Carl wrote on [Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:18:41 -0400]:
> Larry wrote:
>> John Navas <spamfilter1@navasgroup.com> wrote in
>> news:3il5669olifrj6dsdus9k8qv73kihj26tu@4ax.com:
>>
>>> Swype
>>>
>>
>> John, are you using Swype? If so, what do you think of it?
>>
> I know you asked John specifically, but I thought I'd throw in my
> experience. I tried it for a day and sort of liked it. However, I am at an
> age where I need reading glasses but can sometimes get by without them. What
> I came to realize was that I could get by without the glasses with the
> standard keyboard, but not with swype because I couldn't always locate the
> keys fast enough with my eyes to be able to follow along with my finger.
> Also, at times my own finger blocked my view of a key I was looking for
> making it difficult for me to complete the swipe. Let me qualify that I was
> never a touch typist to begin with, if that has any bearing on this problem.
Swype is fantastic if you are familiar with a qwerty keyboard layout, you
don't even need to hit the exact keys. It's very good as guessing the word
you meant. The only issue is when words are not in the dictionary it has
to be manually typed the first time.
I use swype with skype chat, and yahoo IM, and it is almost as fast
as using a keyboard on a PC.
Carl wrote on [Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:24:39 -0400]:
> John Navas wrote:
>> FWIW, my own personal list. Suggestions welcome.
>>
> After surveying all the lists posted here, I was surprised to not find
> Advanced Task Killer on anyone's list (unless I missed it?). How do you
> guys/gals clear your memory periodically? Or do you just let all those apps
> run in the background all the time with no ill result?
I generally do not kill processes anymore. I did use advanced task killer
but it seemed more hassle than it was worth. I haven't noticed a difference.
Justin wrote:
> Carl wrote on [Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:24:39 -0400]:
>> John Navas wrote:
>>> FWIW, my own personal list. Suggestions welcome.
>>>
>> After surveying all the lists posted here, I was surprised to not
>> find Advanced Task Killer on anyone's list (unless I missed it?).
>> How do you guys/gals clear your memory periodically? Or do you just
>> let all those apps run in the background all the time with no ill
>> result?
>
> I generally do not kill processes anymore. I did use advanced task
> killer but it seemed more hassle than it was worth. I haven't noticed
> a difference.
>
I don't doubt the "difference" part, but I don't see the "hassle" part
either. You open the app, press the "Kill" button, and you're done. I do it
maybe once a day.
Moving on, can anyone tell me why some apps start themselves automatically?
And I'm not talking about critical apps of any kind either. For two
examples, my Music app and my Social Networking app start themselves
arbitrarily for no reason that I can understand. I do use the Music app from
time to time, but never the Social Networking one. Are they trying to tell
me something? :-)
Carl wrote on [Thu, 12 Aug 2010 10:04:28 -0400]:
> Justin wrote:
>> Carl wrote on [Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:24:39 -0400]:
>>> John Navas wrote:
>>>> FWIW, my own personal list. Suggestions welcome.
>>>>
>>> After surveying all the lists posted here, I was surprised to not
>>> find Advanced Task Killer on anyone's list (unless I missed it?).
>>> How do you guys/gals clear your memory periodically? Or do you just
>>> let all those apps run in the background all the time with no ill
>>> result?
>>
>> I generally do not kill processes anymore. I did use advanced task
>> killer but it seemed more hassle than it was worth. I haven't noticed
>> a difference.
>>
> I don't doubt the "difference" part, but I don't see the "hassle" part
> either. You open the app, press the "Kill" button, and you're done. I do it
> maybe once a day.
And then it has killed processes I didn't want killed.
> Moving on, can anyone tell me why some apps start themselves automatically?
> And I'm not talking about critical apps of any kind either. For two
> examples, my Music app and my Social Networking app start themselves
> arbitrarily for no reason that I can understand. I do use the Music app from
> time to time, but never the Social Networking one. Are they trying to tell
> me something? :-)
That is a good question. Some apps start due to events, and really, does
Verizon really need to install the City ID app (2.99 a month I think) on every
phone?
On Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:24:39 -0400, in
<4c63f618$0$4989$607ed4bc@cv.net>, "Carl" <crothman@NOSPAMoptonline.net>
wrote:
>John Navas wrote:
>> FWIW, my own personal list. Suggestions welcome.
>>
>After surveying all the lists posted here, I was surprised to not find
>Advanced Task Killer on anyone's list (unless I missed it?). How do you
>guys/gals clear your memory periodically? Or do you just let all those apps
>run in the background all the time with no ill result?
Android will automatically close background apps when it needs their
memory. State is saved so they can be restarted seamlessly (assuming
they are properly programmed). Thus there's rarely any real need to
kill apps. In the few cases when I do need to kill a task (like a
misbehaving app), I use Astro File Manager, which I prefer to Advanced
Task Killer.
>And last for me, Barcode Scanner is an amazing app which allows me to do
>price comparison shopping in stores that tag their merchandise with bar
>codes.
On Thu, 12 Aug 2010 10:04:28 -0400, in
<4c63ff6d$0$7592$607ed4bc@cv.net>, "Carl" <crothman@NOSPAMoptonline.net>
wrote:
>Moving on, can anyone tell me why some apps start themselves automatically?
>And I'm not talking about critical apps of any kind either. For two
>examples, my Music app and my Social Networking app start themselves
>arbitrarily for no reason that I can understand. I do use the Music app from
>time to time, but never the Social Networking one. Are they trying to tell
>me something? :-)
The usual reasons for background app startup are housekeeping (like
checking for new music files) or syncing (the biggest performance issue
in Android 1.x). Some apps are so poorly programmed they start up for
no good reason, but I just get rid of those. A good way to check is
with the Battery Use Monitor.
More than you probably want to know about Android app architecture:
<http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/fundamentals.html>
A background process is one holding an activity that's not currently
visible to the user (the Activity object's onStop() method has been
called). These processes have no direct impact on the user
experience, and can be killed at any time to reclaim memory for a
foreground, visible, or service process. Usually there are many
background processes running, so they are kept in an LRU (least
recently used) list to ensure that the process with the activity that
was most recently seen by the user is the last to be killed. If an
activity implements its lifecycle methods correctly, and captures its
current state, killing its process will not have a deleterious effect
on the user experience.
--
John
"Assumption is the mother of all screw ups."
[Wethern’s Law of Suspended Judgement]
Justin wrote:
> Carl wrote on [Thu, 12 Aug 2010 10:04:28 -0400]:
>> Justin wrote:
>>> Carl wrote on [Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:24:39 -0400]:
>>>> John Navas wrote:
>>>>> FWIW, my own personal list. Suggestions welcome.
>>>>>
>>>> After surveying all the lists posted here, I was surprised to not
>>>> find Advanced Task Killer on anyone's list (unless I missed it?).
>>>> How do you guys/gals clear your memory periodically? Or do you just
>>>> let all those apps run in the background all the time with no ill
>>>> result?
>>>
>>> I generally do not kill processes anymore. I did use advanced task
>>> killer but it seemed more hassle than it was worth. I haven't
>>> noticed a difference.
>>>
>> I don't doubt the "difference" part, but I don't see the "hassle"
>> part either. You open the app, press the "Kill" button, and you're
>> done. I do it maybe once a day.
>
> And then it has killed processes I didn't want killed.
>
>
You can uncheck the boxes of the apps you don't want killed. They remain
unchecked the next time they start. It's actually pretty easy and pretty
reliable.
>
>
>> Moving on, can anyone tell me why some apps start themselves
>> automatically? And I'm not talking about critical apps of any kind
>> either. For two examples, my Music app and my Social Networking app
>> start themselves arbitrarily for no reason that I can understand. I
>> do use the Music app from time to time, but never the Social
>> Networking one. Are they trying to tell me something? :-)
>
> That is a good question. Some apps start due to events, and really,
> does Verizon really need to install the City ID app (2.99 a month I
> think) on every phone?
>
>
Yes, the City ID is one of the apps that starts itself. I don't get it. I
think I uninstalled it (I have to check) and it still starts itself...but,
ATK does shut it down for quite some time until it restarts eventually, days
later.
John Navas wrote:
> On Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:24:39 -0400, in
> <4c63f618$0$4989$607ed4bc@cv.net>, "Carl"
> <crothman@NOSPAMoptonline.net> wrote:
>
>> John Navas wrote:
>>> FWIW, my own personal list. Suggestions welcome.
>>>
>> After surveying all the lists posted here, I was surprised to not
>> find Advanced Task Killer on anyone's list (unless I missed it?).
>> How do you guys/gals clear your memory periodically? Or do you just
>> let all those apps run in the background all the time with no ill
>> result?
>
> Android will automatically close background apps when it needs their
> memory. State is saved so they can be restarted seamlessly (assuming
> they are properly programmed). Thus there's rarely any real need to
> kill apps. In the few cases when I do need to kill a task (like a
> misbehaving app), I use Astro File Manager, which I prefer to Advanced
> Task Killer.
>
>> And last for me, Barcode Scanner is an amazing app which allows me
>> to do price comparison shopping in stores that tag their merchandise
>> with bar codes.
>
> Have you tried Google Shopper?
>
Yes, I think I preferred the way Barcode Scanner worked overall. Besides, I
like its name better. :-)
Carl wrote on [Thu, 12 Aug 2010 15:35:09 -0400]:
> Justin wrote:
>> Carl wrote on [Thu, 12 Aug 2010 10:04:28 -0400]:
>>> Justin wrote:
>>>> Carl wrote on [Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:24:39 -0400]:
>>>>> John Navas wrote:
>>>>>> FWIW, my own personal list. Suggestions welcome.
>>>>>>
>>>>> After surveying all the lists posted here, I was surprised to not
>>>>> find Advanced Task Killer on anyone's list (unless I missed it?).
>>>>> How do you guys/gals clear your memory periodically? Or do you just
>>>>> let all those apps run in the background all the time with no ill
>>>>> result?
>>>>
>>>> I generally do not kill processes anymore. I did use advanced task
>>>> killer but it seemed more hassle than it was worth. I haven't
>>>> noticed a difference.
>>>>
>>> I don't doubt the "difference" part, but I don't see the "hassle"
>>> part either. You open the app, press the "Kill" button, and you're
>>> done. I do it maybe once a day.
>>
>> And then it has killed processes I didn't want killed.
>>
>>
> You can uncheck the boxes of the apps you don't want killed. They remain
> unchecked the next time they start. It's actually pretty easy and pretty
> reliable.
I didn't find it that reliable. It also killed things like my launcher
and my alarm clock
>> That is a good question. Some apps start due to events, and really,
>> does Verizon really need to install the City ID app (2.99 a month I
>> think) on every phone?
>>
>>
> Yes, the City ID is one of the apps that starts itself. I don't get it. I
> think I uninstalled it (I have to check) and it still starts itself...but,
> ATK does shut it down for quite some time until it restarts eventually, days
> later.
I find City ID always starts when I get a phone call.
I can't uninstall it.
Justin wrote:
> Carl wrote on [Thu, 12 Aug 2010 15:35:09 -0400]:
>> Justin wrote:
>>> Carl wrote on [Thu, 12 Aug 2010 10:04:28 -0400]:
>>>> Justin wrote:
>>>>> Carl wrote on [Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:24:39 -0400]:
>>>>>> John Navas wrote:
>>>>>>> FWIW, my own personal list. Suggestions welcome.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> After surveying all the lists posted here, I was surprised to not
>>>>>> find Advanced Task Killer on anyone's list (unless I missed it?).
>>>>>> How do you guys/gals clear your memory periodically? Or do you
>>>>>> just let all those apps run in the background all the time with
>>>>>> no ill result?
>>>>>
>>>>> I generally do not kill processes anymore. I did use advanced task
>>>>> killer but it seemed more hassle than it was worth. I haven't
>>>>> noticed a difference.
>>>>>
>>>> I don't doubt the "difference" part, but I don't see the "hassle"
>>>> part either. You open the app, press the "Kill" button, and you're
>>>> done. I do it maybe once a day.
>>>
>>> And then it has killed processes I didn't want killed.
>>>
>>>
>> You can uncheck the boxes of the apps you don't want killed. They
>> remain unchecked the next time they start. It's actually pretty easy
>> and pretty reliable.
>
> I didn't find it that reliable. It also killed things like my launcher
> and my alarm clock
>
>>> That is a good question. Some apps start due to events, and really,
>>> does Verizon really need to install the City ID app (2.99 a month I
>>> think) on every phone?
>>>
>>>
>> Yes, the City ID is one of the apps that starts itself. I don't get
>> it. I think I uninstalled it (I have to check) and it still starts
>> itself...but, ATK does shut it down for quite some time until it
>> restarts eventually, days later.
>
> I find City ID always starts when I get a phone call.
> I can't uninstall it.
>
I am probably wrong about my uninstall attempt. I think I didn't even try
because it came already loaded on the phone. But it is annoying. It might
be fine if it were free, but it's a non-transparent attempt to get a monthly
fee out of you.
Favorite Android apps 
Linear Mode
