Smartphone Apps

[Greg]

Doesn't Droid come with an app to kill/shutdown co-resident apps?

Not that I'm aware of. Some apps have a Quit command, but most don't. As that article explains, the OS does its own sort of memory management as needed, but that doesn't address battery-draining apps.

This is a geeky thread. :dunce:

 

[dmc]

Not that I'm aware of. Some apps have a Quit command, but most don't. As that article explains, the OS does its own sort of memory management as needed, but that doesn't address battery-draining apps.

This is a geeky thread. :dunce:

That's a problem.. Vampire apps... Sucking the life out of your device..

I can see why you'd want a kill app.

Is the Droid OS a unix flavor?

 

[Greg]

That's a problem.. Vampire apps... Sucking the life out of your device..

I can see why you'd want a kill app.

Is the Droid OS a unix flavor?

Yes, it's based on a Linux kernel which means nothing to me, a Windows guy... :lol:

 

[dmc]

Yes, it's based on a Linux kernel which means nothing to me, a Windows guy... :lol:

If you could open a terminal you could do a "ps -ef" the kill the processes....

You should really try to get on the linux wagon... Windows as we know it is dying. haha

 

[WJenness]

It does have a way to kill tasks.

It's a but buried in the settings window, but you can force close things from there...

The task killer apps are a more elegant interface.

The biggest battery drain issue for me have been apps that keep the phone from sleeping... Some you can configure not to do that, some you can not (depends on how the app was written).

-w

 

[bvibert]

If you have it set to auto-kill anything, I highly suggest reading this: http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/

Task Killers are a bit of snake oil... Though they have their uses.

-w

Thanks for linking that. I've had ATK installed and running for a while now, mostly because it seemed very popular. I'm going to see if the phone runs any differently without it running for a while.

 

[Glenn]

Interesting that the same app (WeatherBug) has different features on different phone platforms. To those with animated radar...are you using the free version?

 

[bvibert]

Interesting that the same app (WeatherBug) has different features on different phone platforms. To those with animated radar...are you using the free version?

Yes, the free version, 2.4.449 for Android is what I'm running

 

[WJenness]

Huh, leave it to lifehacker to be topical:

http://lifehacker.com/5650894/andro...ed-what-they-do-and-why-you-shouldnt-use-them

-w

 

[dmc]

IPad WeatherBug... Love it...

 

[Glenn]

Yes, the free version, 2.4.449 for Android is what I'm running

Wild...guess it varies by platform. I know BB is usually low man on the totum pole due to the lower volume of apps. It may have something to do with how apps are written for the BB. That's a bit over my head though.

That's fraggin' slick on the iPad!

One think I really like about WeatherBug...whenever the NWS issues a warning, my LED will blink and I'll get a "!" icon over my WeatherBug icon on my home screen. It happens pretty much right as the warning happens. It's fun in the winter. 8)

 

[bvibert]

Wild...guess it varies by platform. I know BB is usually low man on the totum pole due to the lower volume of apps. It may have something to do with how apps are written for the BB. That's a bit over my head though.

That's fraggin' slick on the iPad!

One think I really like about WeatherBug...whenever the NWS issues a warning, my LED will blink and I'll get a "!" icon over my WeatherBug icon on my home screen. It happens pretty much right as the warning happens. It's fun in the winter. 8)

Yup, as I mentioned above I get the warning in my notification bar, and it'll play an audible alert too. I haven't had the phone through the winter yet, but it's actually kind of annoying when it's a warning for the high heat index (or whatever it's called) in the summer...

Hopefully the BB WeatherBug gets updated for you soon. The loop is invaluable for me.

 

[dmc]

That's fraggin' slick on the iPad!
)

Im diggin the IPad.. I did my first IPad only business trip this week.. Other then some deep into work intranet connectivity issues it work great - and saved my back from carting it around... and it became a tax writeoff... haha

 

[roark]

yup newer free weatherbug >>>> TWC app.

 

[severine]

I know BB is usually low man on the totum pole due to the lower volume of apps. It may have something to do with how apps are written for the BB. That's a bit over my head though.

You think BB is low on app totem pole--you should try Palm (web OS)! A lot less apps and the only Weatherbug version available on it is $1.99. A lot of apps that are available free on other platforms are only available for a fee on web OS (or just plain not available at all).

 

[Glenn]

That is true...Palm is certainly in an interesting position right now. That's crazy that they charge for most apps. That's kind of a bad business model.

The alerts can get annoying with the heat indexes and whatnot. It's a PITA when they keep updating the alert hourly. Although, the other side of the coin is the Winter Storm Warnings...and upgrading the snow totals. Wooo! :beer:

dmc,
Check out this Mossberg article on the iPad being a laptop replacement. It sounds like it does really well. As long as you stay away from heavy Excel work. Pretty cool: http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20100922/an-american-in-paris-says-au-revoir-to-his-laptop/

 

[dmc]

dmc,
Check out this Mossberg article on the iPad being a laptop replacement. It sounds like it does really well. As long as you stay away from heavy Excel work. Pretty cool: http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20100922/an-american-in-paris-says-au-revoir-to-his-laptop/

Cool... yes...
I chokes on advance excel... which does suck a bit...

But I've done word docs and powerpoints not problem..
In fact I presented with it using a projector the other day.. cool..

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

Free weatherbug on iphone4 has radar loop

 

[Glenn]

Oddly enough, WeatherBug just updated for my BlackBerry. The new version has animated radar...sweet. That really helps; especially today since the rain is tracking West. It's also got a new home screen icon, bigger font in the program and a few more options(pointing to your location on the map with an icon and current temp, overview section, and more detailed current conditions). Overall, a really really cool update.

 

[Nick]

Your favorite mobile apps

What are some of your favorite mobile apps?

I use (on Android)

• Google Maps
• Google Reader
• Cardio Trainer
• Kindle
• Google Voice
• Evernote
• Amazon MP3
• Tapatalk (for AZ browsing!)
• Seesmic (twitter)
• YouTube
• Wireless Tether (free tethering!)
• Key Ring (no more carrying 100 store loyalty cards)
• Weather Channel

I was trying to find some good Skiing ones but other than My Tracks (which I use for GPS logging of location) I haven't found anything all that great ... something with ski maps would be good, although touch screens + ski gloves don't work that well.