darrenm Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Linux 3.4 is way better than 3.0 for power savings. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 http://androidniceties.tumblr.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrenm Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 No surprise that the best looking stuff just uses Holo. Here's Google showing iOS as an example of how not to make a UI: http://developer.android.com/design/patterns/pure-android.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 (edited) BTW, Just want to say hat's off to Samsung for updating the S2 to Jellybean and they're updating my Tab 7.7 to 4.1.2 soon. Awesome stuff from them, loads of the note features coming too. Scheduled update is in May or June. Still love that tablet. Edited March 24, 2013 by CVByrne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 25, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted March 25, 2013 http://androidniceties.tumblr.com/ amazing link, purely for the expense manager app on the first picture. Been looking for a decent one for ages. Had a great one on the iPhone but couldn't find one as good on the Play Store. Had to go for "Easy Money", which is ok, but screws you in that what you download is (sneakily) a full trial and you then have to pay after 30 days to keep the app. And you're so invested because you've spent hours putting in all your monthly expenses and balancing everything that it's easier to just pay the couple of quid and keep the app! In conclusion, thanks Rev! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 25, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted March 25, 2013 Right guys, bit of help needed (wanted) from you beautiful Android geeks I'd quite like to jazz up my phone's homescreen a bit. All I've got is a pretty generic app layout with Brad Guzan looking delighted as my background. So I did some googling and stumbled across this forum, where a load of people have awesome homescreens. So I want something like that. Nothing extravagant, I like the nice clean screens but what I'm interested are the ones where all their app icons are different. How do they do that? Obviously I intend to scour that site to find out, but thought I'd ask here in case anyone has a quick answer. Is it to do with these different "launchers" that people have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tegis Posted March 25, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted March 25, 2013 but what I'm interested are the ones where all their app icons are different. How do they do that? That can be done with themes. Just download one fitting the launcher you prefer. If you for example use Apex, just put in apex theme in the play search and you get loads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 25, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted March 25, 2013 http://androidniceties.tumblr.com/ amazing link, purely for the expense manager app on the first picture. Been looking for a decent one for ages. Had a great one on the iPhone but couldn't find one as good on the Play Store. Had to go for "Easy Money", which is ok, but screws you in that what you download is (sneakily) a full trial and you then have to pay after 30 days to keep the app. And you're so invested because you've spent hours putting in all your monthly expenses and balancing everything that it's easier to just pay the couple of quid and keep the app! In conclusion, thanks Rev! Actually, I take it back. Still a great link, but that expense thing isn't what I was after Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Stevo you can make some really cool homescreens if you're good at Photoshop. But if you're not don't worry, you're still in luck, check out Mycolorscreen for a wide variety of user created homescreens. I'm sure you'll find something you'd like. Right now, I've got a single homescreen where everything is concentrated. Mostly to save battery by not having too many updating widgets etc. Also, yesterday I dropped my phone face first (ouch, I know) and now it's got this large blotch of brown dots right smack dab in the middle. It's an eyesore, and it fluctuates in how pronounced it is. It's also one of the reasons I went with a dark homescreen as it doesn't show up in dark colors. I think I jinxed myself by mentioning I've had my phone for over 2 years . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Also for different icons, you can download an icon pack and load them with a launcher like Nova or Apex. If you notice on my homescreen, right under the weather I've got some white icons which are from the Tiny White Icon Pack which you can get on the Play Store for free. The icons on the bottom though aren't actual icons but part of the wallpaper. I just put the corresponding app icons on top of them and made them transparent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 25, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted March 25, 2013 Thanks TEgis and Keyblade. I'll have a play around with those things later and see what I can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 28, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted March 28, 2013 Google Now's started recommending films (along with showings and times) based on stuff I've watched on YouTube. It's currently telling me I should see GI Joe because I watched some clips of The Rock last night. Love that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briggaman Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 I'm planning on picking up the Galaxy S4 when it's released as my contract is almost up for my S2. Do you think it's worth paying an extra £9 a month to get 4G? I can pay £22 per month for 3G with 750MB data limit (phone cost £399.99). Or £31 per month for 4G with 500MB data limit (phone cost of £269.99). Both are 24 month contracts and I'm unsure which would be best. Any suggestions? Or does anyone know of any better deals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted March 29, 2013 Administrator Share Posted March 29, 2013 It's not worth having "4G" if you have a 500MB cap. In my opinion 24 month contracts for smartphones are madness. Especially with the clauses which allow them to increase the charges as they see fit. Pay a bit more upfront and get a SIM only deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrenm Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 4G with 500MB data?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briggaman Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 (edited) It's not worth having "4G" if you have a 500MB cap. In my opinion 24 month contracts for smartphones are madness. Especially with the clauses which allow them to increase the charges as they see fit. Pay a bit more upfront and get a SIM only deal. I figured that would probably be the case with the 500MB not being enough for 4G and I'm not really convinced that I would really need the faster internet anyway to be honest. I know what you mean about 24 month contracts being madness as I would prefer to upgrade every 12 months. I could buy the phone outright and go through Giffgaff. although apparently the phone will be around £597 SIM-free (from ASDA). That's bloody expensive, even though it would work out cheaper over a 24 month period than any of the contracts available. Just the initial outlay... Edited March 29, 2013 by briggaman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrenm Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Then it means the phone's not worth the price and you shouldn't buy it. Just because you can spread it over 24 months doesn't mean you're not still paying a ludicrous price. Especially as the Nexus 4 is less than half the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted March 29, 2013 Administrator Share Posted March 29, 2013 I know what you mean about 24 month contracts being madness as I would prefer to upgrade every 12 months. I could buy the phone outright and go through Giffgaff. although apparently the phone will be around £597 SIM-free (from ASDA). That's bloody expensive, even though it would work out cheaper over a 24 month period than any of the contracts available. Just the initial outlay... and that's before you factor in the mid-contract price hike which has become the norm. I'm sure you can arrange the credit cheaper yourself if you don't have the cash. Perhaps an interest free credit card? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briggaman Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 (edited) Then it means the phone's not worth the price and you shouldn't buy it. Just because you can spread it over 24 months doesn't mean you're not still paying a ludicrous price. Especially as the Nexus 4 is less than half the price. The Galaxy S4 is a better phone than the Nexus 4 though in my opinion and based on what I would use it for (and like). Bigger screen (which I prefer), better camera, 4G capability (incase I decide to go with a 4G deal down the line), expandable internal storage and a faster phone. Those are all important to me, although the fact I would be paying almost double for those things is something I will have to seriously take into consideration. I know what you mean about 24 month contracts being madness as I would prefer to upgrade every 12 months. I could buy the phone outright and go through Giffgaff. although apparently the phone will be around £597 SIM-free (from ASDA). That's bloody expensive, even though it would work out cheaper over a 24 month period than any of the contracts available. Just the initial outlay... and that's before you factor in the mid-contract price hike which has become the norm. I'm sure you can arrange the credit cheaper yourself if you don't have the cash. Perhaps an interest free credit card? That might actually be a good way to do it so I'll look into that. Cheers for the advice. Edited March 29, 2013 by briggaman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 29, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted March 29, 2013 It's not worth having "4G" if you have a 500MB cap. In my opinion 24 month contracts for smartphones are madness. Especially with the clauses which allow them to increase the charges as they see fit. Pay a bit more upfront and get a SIM only deal. I figured that would probably be the case with the 500MB not being enough for 4G and I'm not really convinced that I would really need the faster internet anyway to be honest. I know what you mean about 24 month contracts being madness as I would prefer to upgrade every 12 months. I could buy the phone outright and go through Giffgaff. although apparently the phone will be around £597 SIM-free (from ASDA). That's bloody expensive, even though it would work out cheaper over a 24 month period than any of the contracts available. Just the initial outlay... Have you done the maths on that? (I haven't so you may be right) When I got my S3 it didn't work out cheaper to buy the phone sim free and go on giff gaff over 24 months, and my contract is £26 a month. Obviously that doesn't factor in any mid contract price increase which Limpid mentioned (although I've never experienced that before) It's really the flexibility and lack of restraint of a contract that you get with giff gaff rather than it being a whole lot cheaper. Which is probably worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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