The Ultimate Android Smartwatch for kids (not Wear OS) - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I just bought my son a dokiWatch S.: https://www.doki.com/dokiwatchs/
It runs Android 4.4 and their launcher Doki something.
I will be honest, the UI and responsiveness is CRAP, but it's to track my son with special needs, and it can do regular phone calls (their VOIP app is also CRAP). The specs show the device runs 4GB storage and 512MB ram. If we could get away to install Google DUO or Messenger Kids, this would be a VERY CAPABLE little device for video call, messaging, Google Trusted Contacts and Google Map (the device has it own GPS).
Any ideas ?

Related

Android Apps vs Web Apps ??

How do the various Android Apps compare to just using the Web App versions of the same thing in a browser like Dolphin HD or Firefox for Android ?
For all those tiny screened phones, the Android Apps compensate for the lack of space, but given that the Nook Color has 1024 x 600 resolution, it seems that you could just use the same web apps that one uses with a laptop.
Examples:
- Gmail
- Yahoo Mail
- Youtube
but I'm sure there are more (certainly everything Google does is accessible through a browser, otherwise the Chrome OS would not work).
What is your experience ?
The Android apps for Gmail and YouTube are much better IMO. In both cases, everything is more "fluid" and responsive in the native application. I'm guessing this is because the frames and pictures don't have to be loaded and rendered with each click. Also, the text reflow and window sizing for both is perfect with the android app, while the web app can be a bit finicky.
In the case of YouTube, the Android App has MUCH better playback, and the navigation is much more intuitive for a touch device with no hard keys. Also, the buffering in the Android YouTube seems to be optimized for a portable device, while the web version is all over the place.
Hope that helps!

More About How Miracast Works on Android

http://ausdroid.net/2012/11/17/lg-australia-nexus-4-optimus-g-and-miracast/
Yes, the article isn't about N10 per se, but it has relevant info about Miracast that would translate to N10--whenever Goog can deliver on its claim of Miracast being a 4.2 feature rather than a phone-specific feature. Salient points from the piece:
"Both the Nexus 4 and Optimus G feature Miracast. On the Nexus 4, it’s supported through Android 4.2’s Secondary Displays...On the Optimus G, it’s part of the standard OS and can be enabled with a tap on a dedicated toggle in the notification shade’s Quick Settings area.
"Josh’s demonstration included browsing a photo gallery in full-screen mode on the TV, playback of HD video (an MKV file, no less), web browsing, and a game of Angry Birds. The phone can send output to the Miracast display from an application – for example, a video – and continue to use the phone normally. Josh demoed this by playing a video on the TV while playing Angry Birds on the phone.
"Another quirk is that Miracast uses your Wifi antenna, so you can’t maintain a connection to your home network while transmitting and will instead be relying on mobile data. This is a definite drawback compared to competing systems like AirPlay, but it’s something that could be added or changed as Miracast evolves.
"Notably, the demo was performed on the Optimus G. There seem to be issues with the implementation on the Nexus 4 which should be sorted out with a software update. This seems OK, as no-one has Miracast-capable hardware at the moment."
One of the things I wondered about Miracast was how it can maintain two wifi connections with a single radio. If the above is true, then it can't, so you can't do something like streaming Netflix from online, through your device, to the TV. This would put a massive damper on Miracast's appeal if you can't access the net (via wifi) while using Mira... Hmm, may be that's why Mira isn't available on N10. It only has wifi.
Also interesting that Mira implementations are different on OptiG and N4.
ummm...
Well I can't wait for android to actually allow wifi streaming apps like 'MirrorOp Sender' apps (plenty more on the market) get root access to the 'screen image'.
That is the only issue I am having, I have successfully used the Nexus 7 as my PC monitor with 'MirrorOp Receiver' as well as actually controlling the PC (windows 7) from the nexus with the same app, however as soon as I try to connect my Nexus 7 to the Qumi projector it informs me that root access is required, and to be quite honest I am not at all interested on rooting the nexus, I believe Google should include these things on the OS as they announced they would on JellyBean 4.2... a bit disappointing it still isn't out!

[Q] Android as a desktop operating system

I was thinking of the coolness factor of just having one device, a phone, to which you could connect an external display and have an extended desktop. I am not finding any reference to this on Android (only the MS Surface). From what I have been reading, and remember/understand (may be confused), Jelly Bean brought the ability for windowing apps. However, the apps have to be coded for the capability, unless you root your phone and installed an app that provided windowing for all apps. Also, I have not heard of the possibility of having an extended desktop in Android.
I would like to ask WHY? Why not have windowing and the ability for an extended desktop, on an external display? A bluetooth keyboard and mouse just follows. Does google have to play nice with the manufacturers that stand to loose from people only needing one device? Is there a reason I'm not thinking of? Most phones are fast enough for this these days.
At the turn of the century, I was running GPS software Deluo Routis on a Sony Vaio 505 Pentium 200Mhz laptop running Win98. The 2-D graphics were smooth even while playing mp3's through the car speakers. The mapping software showed the map clearly, and effectively gave me navigation. People have lost sight of how much you can do if you give up the bloat and bling.
Also, I am pretty confused with the merging of Android and Chrome. I never liked Java to begin with; my experience with it is in MS Windows, and it runs slow as molasses. I believe my phone would run much faster if they had not chosen Java. I understand this to be because you have an operating system running on top of another operating system. It just makes more sense to me to have less layers and run apps natively, for better performance. I thought maybe they chose Java for its level of security. Is the screening process for Google Play not foolproof enough?
I like the philosophy of Google better than Microsoft**, so if one of them is going to win, I hope it's Google. I'm hoping Google won't end up with a convoluted Android/Chrome operating system because Lawyers forced them to (the idea I get based on the latest news). I don't understand: do they want to keep their OS architecture simple, but are being forced to make the OS complex for different reasons?
**Apple doesn't even want to compete. They have never wanted to dominate, just make huge profits. Unless they break up the marriage of hardware and software, they won't win. Then again, if Samsung keeps dominating, there may not be much hardware diversity?
Oh, and my main question was: "Why not have windowing and the ability for an extended desktop?". Wouldn't that be a big deciding factor for anyone that wanted to simplify and just have one device?
Anybody? Tell me I'm crazy at least. There has to be a strategic reason, that Google does not introduce full windowing and extended desktop support.
Its coming eventually. though you could do it right now. Motorola tried something like this with their atrix lapdocks.
Sent from my Samsung i437p using Tapatalk and CM 10.2
E_Phather said:
Its coming eventually. though you could do it right now. Motorola tried something like this with their atrix lapdocks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you do it right now with any android device having a video port?
Well lets look at how we could achieve this with todays technology.
Input:
Bluetooth Mouse & keyboard.
Output:
Wireless display with support for older displays using something like Chromecast.
Graphical User Interface:
A secondary Launcher/Application (Which could potentially see companies like MS & Canonical developing their own UI's and Charging for them if required).
Home & Office use with one device:
Home would be the default UI, but when your device has used NFC to log into the office it would automatically enable your Office profile/UI for a certain length of time (requiring you to log back in after a set time or manual log out via another NFC tap).
This would be very useful as it would enable you to take your "desktop" environment anywhere with you and connect to any HDTV with Wireless display/Chromecast support.
Applications:
So if like me you are finding your phone to become ever more a better solution to your digital needs and you only require your desktop for apps which work better with larger displays (Videos & certain games) you will find this very useful.
Games:
Now games could become ever more better as they could be controlled using standardised control inputs (game controllers could use standardised input methods allowing you to select any compatible controller to best suit your needs) or even a driving game could allow you to see the game on a HDTV yet be controlled with the accelerometer for steering and the right of the devices touch display would be the accelerator and the left of the display would be the brakes for example.
More Business Solutions:
If you could wirelessly connect to the office display then show a powerpoint style presentation that would be great because the very device which stores the file would also be your controller to move to the next/pevious slides.
Media:
Music could possibly be stored in the cloud so when your on the move you can listen to your music as many of us do now, but when connected to a large display it could utilise the large display and speakers to show a music video too!.
Photos could be viewed on the large screen and the next one to be displayed could be select on the device (allowing the use to avoid showing anyone pictures which they don't want other to see - ie: pitcures of you and your friends whilst your parents/grandparents are in the room...).
The TV Guide:
The TV Guide would become a very interactive thing which allows you to see what is available on other TV channels without other people in the room being limited to viewing the content they are trying to watch in a small box in the corner of the display...
These are just some ideas of what is possible, but I know that you could do so much more with this and with 64-bit technology coming to many mobile devices soon that will make it so much easier for devices to process all of this data at once without any serious lag!.
I would love to see a group of developers on XDA team up on an open desktop (secondary) launcher to run alongside the users primary (phone) launcher. if there was a project like this with an open framework to develop apps for I'd be happy to start developing apps for that or separate UI's to run alongside my current (Phone/Android) apps UI's.
Edit:
Also remember that this could be utilised in other ways too eg:: connecting your device to your car and your device could deliver your navigation & music to your vehicles display whilst getting important traffic/weather news using your devices network connection!.
Isn't this exactly what the Ubuntu phone intends to do or have I got the wrong idea?
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Yes, but with Android already having a large ecosystem it would make a lot of sense to build upon that.
Chromecast is not "open" to third party apps. http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/...eeds-to-Tread-Lightly-With/8/28/2013/id/51502
Do they have a displayport version of Chromecast? *cough*
quote from: http://www.tested.com/tech/set-top-boxes/457036-testing-google-chromecast/
"Chromecast is also not a particularly good desktop mirroring option, either. It actually can't do full desktop mirroring, and instead works solely with the Chrome browser. In beta right now is Chrome tab streaming, which sends to Chromecast everything that can be rendered in a single Chrome tab, including web pages, flash embeds, and even full-screen MKV video files if you have VLC installed. I like that Chrome tab streaming works independently of what's showing on your laptop or desktop's screen--like with YouTube and Netflix, you can multi-task and switch to other tabs or windows while one tab is being streamed. The only thing that matters is the window size and screen resolution. Chromecast will automatically scale the aspect ratio of your window to fill up your TV screen, adding black bars on the sides to avoid stretching. A full-screen resolution of 1440x900 looked good on a large 1080p TV, but streaming from a 2560x1600 monitor at full-screen made the text unreadable on my 70" TV."
Wow... I thought only displayport was capable of 2560x1600 (edit: hdmi v1.3 brought this). Even if I hook it up to my 2560x1600 monitor, it won't really display anything but entertainment. Chromecast doesn't seem to be a way to have a monitor, to use your Android phone as a PC replacement.
AllCast !!!
http://www.geek.com/android/chromecast-reject-becomes-allcast-public-beta-now-available-1578674/
However, I still need to add some kind of wifi enabled device to my 30" lcd monitor (like with chromecast). Really, I don't mind a cable connection from my phone to my monitor, if that was an option. If Google continues to be closed like this, then I would go for Ubuntu phone.
Displayport:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MyDP#SlimPort
Any phones have this besides the Google Nexus 4? Actually, I'm not getting a new phone until I know what the hell will happen with Android / Chrome OS
Quote from: http://www.tested.com/tech/android/457205-mhl-vs-slimport/
"SlimPort's support for the DisplayPort standard--specifically Mobility DisplayPort--means it can output video at the same 4K resolution as MHL, though not via HDMI (yet, anyway). And here SlimPort hasn't really made good on its potential, yet; though it's based on the flexible DisplayPort standard, the only SlimPort adapters currently available are for VGA and HDMI connectors. The upshot is that you won't be plugging a Nexus 7 into a 1440p DisplayPort computer monitor anytime soon." http://www.slimportconnect.com/
Chromecast May Get Screen Mirroring With Android 4.4.1
Evidence in Android 4.4.1 indicates that screen mirroring is coming to Chromecast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/chromecast-google-screen-mirroring-kitkat-android,25345.html
It could start with mirroring a primary display, but gradually result in mirroring something that a GPU has rendered for a secondary display.
A dock from Samsung Galaxy phones. Has USB ports, HDMI, and audio.
http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones-accessories/EDD-S20JWEGSTA
mraeryceos said:
A dock from Samsung Galaxy phones. Has USB ports, HDMI, and audio.
http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones-accessories/EDD-S20JWEGSTA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried that myself with my previous Galaxy S4 (i9500), It was a great dock and when I connected my wireless KB & Mouse USB dongle & connected the HDMI to my PC monitor it was a good experience when doing things like playing GTA3 on the bigger screen (it was better than the windows version in some ways).
But the device just needed a separate home screen UI to be output to the PC screen to look perfect and to work better with the KB & Mouse input type.
It shouldn't be too difficult to make a UI that simply changes the size of some buttons to a smaller size, enabling more widgets to fit on the home screen and if they could simply force the apps to run in either windowed or full screen that would enable better multi-tasking, then the browsers would just need a small update to detect if the device is running in Desktop Mode if so, then simply zoom out of the page a little to emulate the desktop browser experience.
Just a few ideas... If Google's Android team are reading this, I would recommend that you get that dock to experiment with for future Android builds.
Especially now that OS' like Ubuntu Phone are looking at going down this road of the one device fits all computational needs.
Rather than creating a new thread I thought that it would appropriate to bring this topic back up after the recent announcements that several OEM's have made, that they will be releasing desktops with Android as their Primary/Secondary OS.
I hope that this pushes Google into creating a dedicated desktop UI in the future.

The official Surface Duo's ringtones ?

Hi!
I'm wondering of someone reading my post is having Surface Duo emulator installed and running.
Can anyone extract the ringtones out of it's OS image and put them here ?
JakeCherry97 said:
Hi!
I'm wondering of someone reading my post is having Surface Duo emulator installed and running.
Can anyone extract the ringtones out of it's OS image and put them here ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have it installed and it's basically just stock Android with a custom launcher for now.
Not Allot but fun to play with.
There is not much to see in the current version of the Duo EMU, As was already said, it seems to be for the most part the base Android experience with the ability to play with the UI in it's native layout (Dual Screen) it's plain but you can bring files over from your host environment like wallpapers and such, it may be possible to side load apps to see how they act in the environment. idk if you could sideload the play store and load up you favorite apps to try and get a solid feel. I like playing with it to sandbox stuff and just get myself used to the form factor and over UI (Coming from a long line of Samsung Note's). Here is the factory app list according to the MS Duo Page:
Microsoft built-in applications:
Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Office Lens, PDF Reader, and more
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft OneDrive
Microsoft Edge
Microsoft OneNote
Microsoft To Do
Microsoft News
Microsoft Authenticator
Microsoft Bing Search
Intune Company Portal
LinkedIn
Microsoft Solitaire Collection
Surface Audio
Microsoft Surface Duo UI core features:
Dual screen windowing
Adaptive modes
App Groups
Microsoft 365 Feed
Dynamic dock
Universal Search
Adaptive Camera
Microsoft SwiftKey Adaptive Keyboard
Your Phone Companion - Link to Windows
Other preinstalled apps:
Google Search
Google Assistant
Google Calendar
Google Drive
Google Duo
Google Photos
Google Play Movies & TV
Google Play Store
Google Maps
Chrome
Gmail
YouTube
YouTube Music
Contacts
Messages
Phone
Files
Clock
Calculator
Sound recorder
Spotify (Unlocked)
HBO MAX (AT&T)
AT&T TV (AT&T)
My AT&T (AT&T)
Call Protect (AT&T)
Amazon Shopping (AT&T)
NBA (AT&T)
Operating System: Android™ 10
I can not do that. dźwięki na telefon polskitones are great I used and listened to often.

Android as Smart Panel

Hey guys,
I'm not really sure if this is the right place to post this question but as I don't really know where else in the web I could find help on this I'll give it a try
TL;DR:​Do you know any (and I really mean any - including writing an app or other hands on approaches) method to have a permanent (tabbed) navigation at the bottom of the screen to switch between apps or websites/PWAs?
The background of this question:​
I'm coming down a long road trying to hack together a DIY - privacy focused - smart speaker - mainly to switch lights and play some music. I started off back in 2018/19 and found snips.ai one of the most promising FOSS smart speaker projects for my plans and so I got me a Raspberry Pi 3b+ and a Matrix Voice board as foundation. Then half a year I later, when I found the time to put those together, I had to find out, that Sonos just bought snips.ai and their services were to be shut down...
Since then I had a long pause on this but always followed the development of FOSS voice projects including Mycroft (to expensive HW, to bloated, to tied to their web services IMHO), Sepia (to complicated to setup) as well as attempts on hacking OTS speakers like Alexa, Google Home, Sonos et al or combinations with web controllable wifi speakers like Teufel 3sixty (which is really a gold speaker but as tons of other radios has a frontier chip set with its awkward web interface) or even the awesome Squeezelite-ESP32 project. Lately I stumbled upon Rhasspy and got myself together to give my project a new try and was even kind of successful (got a self hosted voice assistant doing what I want - even if I had to learn and write some python here and there). But I figured out that 1) a smart speaker without a display is not really what I want and 2) I'm not really that kind of maker guy to 3d-print cases, plan and build circuitry and what not - or it's just missing me the time to do and especially experimenting on this
So I ended up with the idea of the software that I need (Rhasspy server side + a satellite app, Home Assistant, Logitech Media Server, Spotify/Tidal and maybe some others) and was then looking for some hackable device to serve as interface to that (display, speakers, microphone, wifi + maybe bluetooth). The Sonoff NSPanel Pro was a candidate but I didn't trust the quality of its speakers and read some reviews that were claiming a weak performance. Then I found the Lenovo ThinkSmart View that has all this and this XDA thread and immediately got me a new one for 60 bucks. Now I have a quality device better then I could ever make it with a blank(though not rooted) android, a Rhasspy Voice Assistant running on a local server ready to receive and send audio streams, a promising app to act as a Rhasspy satellite and some quality speakers to play music on. The last opponent I'm facing now is a nice UI on android that can bring all the bits together.
What I'm looking for now is a free (and ideally OSS) panel/kiosk solution with that I can seamlessly switch between Home Assistant (web UI), Spotify (web UI or their app) and some others like a self hosted Web music player. In my imagination I could switch between them with a permanent tab bar at the screen bottom but am open to other ideas. I'm not an Android developer but I consider myself a stable Java dev open to write an own app for this - I'd just need a starting point (read of Webviews, Custom Tabs, Trusted Web Activities but found them not really a solution to what I need - maybe is there some browser which's contents I can just include in an app?). Also I can write (progressive) web apps and do stuff with them but then AFAIK the only method to embed remote sites would be iframes which likely won't work with at least spotify).
I really do not want to bloat this forum with all that stuff - I'm just writing this in the hope that 1) someone is interested in this and maybe is on the same journey and 2) to give some context on my actual question above
Thank you very much in advance!
Just came across your post. I’ve been looking for something very similar and have also been considering the NsPanel pro. I don’t have as much concern for audio quality as I’m less likely to use it for playing music, just responses or notifications from Rhasspy. I have just ordered a Lenovo device as I’m sure I’ll have fun with it.
To answer your question above, I just found this in the HA companion app that might work for you: https://companion.home-assistant.io/docs/integrations/android-webview/#links It’s not perfect but could be used with a button or voice command to launch the app on the device. I’ve also seen other posts about using a key mapping app for using the volume buttons to do other tasks.
I’d be very keen to see what you’ve done for dashboards and how you’re using the Rhasspy app on your device. Has it been as responsive and accurate as you hoped?

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