Perhaps I should start a running list, as there are sure to be more.
1. Facebook – every link that leads to the browser wastes my time going through some stupid Facebook warning *in the browser* that links can, you know, lead to unpredictable stuff, so be careful. Something that if it were necessary at all, would make a lot more sense on a PC (where no such warning is given) than a mobile device IMHO, and did I mention, wastes my freaking time and can’t be disabled as far as I can see.
2. The email app is atrocious. Not GMail, talking about what you use for e.g. an Exchange account. Has only rudimentary understanding of folders, and no way of getting notifications only for specific folders. Wonder if there’s a better app for that.
I also had a new idea for an app (probably already implemented somewhere) – hotspot fast track. When you’re at a public hotspot (or e.g. one at a hotel), every time you connect it wants you to go to some BS web page (usually requiring BS JavaScript) and click through some BS agreement to actually use the internet. As if everyone only ever used the web and anyone gave a shit about the stupid agreement. When you’re on a mobile this is a huge PITA, not least because you don’t tend to maintain a steady connection, and find yourself going back at that BS web page once you notice the network doesn’t seem to be working. The hotspot fast track app would look for wifi connections, test for BS portal redirections, and automatically “click through” known portal types that you authorize.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: android, apps, BS, email, facebook, hotspot | Leave a comment »
Exploring ApiDemos; misc Android
Android 1.5 is down below 8% market share. If my wife’s Cliq ever gets an upgrade I’m dropping that platform like a hot potato. What’s interesting is that Eclair is actually still more common than Froyo (40%) – you’d think if they’ve done the work to get the device to 2.1, and seen how quickly versions change, it shouldn’t be too big a step to 2.2. Oh well.
I’ve been looking through ApiDemos to learn. While most of the demo classes seem well-commented, amusingly the ApiDemos.java file itself is not, and it does some non-obvious things involving searching the package manager for intents to dynamically create the lists being browsed. The upshot is it’s less than obvious how to find the sample code that matches the sample functionality you browse to – nothing tells you how to make the mapping, and it’s not always obvious. The actual mapping is between the label listed in the AndroidManifest.xml file for the activity (which is what you see in the app’s list browser, except that in many cases the actual text is in the strings.xml file) and the class name listed with it, e.g.:
I would argue that the mapping between what you see (Views/Tabs/Content By Id – which again is often in strings.xml for no good reason I can see) and the class (com.example.android.apis.view.Tabs1) is far from obvious. Call me crazy, I think a README or at least a couple lines of comments in the main class would be in order. I should submit a patch.
Found a little nugget in ApiDemosApplication.java (which is otherwise empty):
This is a one-time setting of default prefs. Now of course, default_values.xml couldn’t be something simple like key-value pairs. It’s a PreferenceScreen like you would use for defining a PreferenceActivity. You wouldn’t know about those from the dev guide, unless you like decyphering reference docs. But as it happens I learned about these at some point and created a prefs screen with them in LogMyLife… which currently has no effect, so I need to do something about that.
I finally got around to gathering sources for the 2.2 platform to attach in Eclipse. I’ll have to update my article one of these days. Aside from the new sources, I should include the Apache license files in order to be proper.
I’m looking at migrating this blog to Blogspot. WordPress has neat themes but it deliberately blocks integration with tools like Adsense and Google Analytics. Also this editor drives me nuts. We’ll see.
Filed under: android, java, LogMyLife, meta | Tagged: android, apidemos, blogspot, comments, preferences, samples | Leave a comment »