Android Useful Apps

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wobbie

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Jan 10, 2013
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159
I downloaded Here into a Gobii II & it is probably the best off-line Gps I have found. Also put it into my Note 2.
I had been looking for ages for a decent 0ff-line GPS/Nav solution.
 
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CranialBlaze

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Jan 24, 2008
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OGroteKoning said:
Well ... I expected ... no, I hoped it would work as quite a number of other apps already do.
Click to expand...

Well its still in beta, so that was somewhat optimistic, with lollipops using ART instead of Dalvik, app compatibility has been broken far and wide, the ability to easily root a device is also at risk with V5, going to be some time,if ever, that we see a proper working version of XPosed. So the fact that a beta app does not work on the latest and unreleased version of Android should be no surprise.

As I understand it, going forward, at least for some time, there will be 2 completely separate versions of apps and once Lolipop is out, its possible we will see even more lolipop exclusive apps that will not even work on kitkat, we had that with a few apps, but that was to take advantage of new features, in this case its going to be because developers either do not have the time or simply do not care enough to maintain 2 completely separate versions of the apps. While ART is great for performance and security, I see some possible griping from the die-hard droid users old and new alike when apps start coming out for either 5+ or 4- and not both. If things like rooting become near impossible, or even impossible as as article hinted too on android police the other day. Manufacturers like samsumg, who most certainly do it, can enable the security features that would cause a device to be bricked if you even tried rooting, rendering your device useless.
 
OGroteKoning

OGroteKoning

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Apr 8, 2011
Messages
10,741
CranialBlaze said:
Well its still in beta, (1) so that was somewhat optimistic, with lollipops using ART instead of Dalvik, app compatibility has been broken far and wide, the ability to easily root a device is also at risk with V5, going to be some time,if ever, that we see a proper working version of XPosed. So the fact that a beta app does not work on the latest and unreleased version of Android should be no surprise.

As I understand it, going forward, at least for some time, (2) there will be 2 completely separate versions of apps and once Lolipop is out, its possible we will see even more lolipop exclusive apps that will not even work on kitkat, we had that with a few apps, but that was to take advantage of new features, in this case its going to be because developers either do not have the time or simply do not care enough to maintain 2 completely separate versions of the apps. While ART is great for performance and security, I see some possible griping from the die-hard droid users old and new alike when apps start coming out for either 5+ or 4- and not both. If things like rooting become near impossible, or even impossible as as article hinted too on android police the other day. Manufacturers like samsumg, who most certainly do it, can enable the security features that would cause a device to be bricked if you even tried rooting, rendering your device useless.
Click to expand...

(1) Yeah yeah ... I know ... :whistling:

(2) This would not do Android any favours! Do you really think that Dalvik and ART is so far apart that you can't combine the accessibility to the different layers of operating system in one app?
 
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CranialBlaze

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4,025
OGroteKoning said:
(2) This would not do Android any favours! Do you really think that Dalvik and ART is so far apart that you can't combine the accessibility to the different layers of operating system in one app?
Click to expand...

Not a developer myself, so I cannot answer that with any real level of certainty, but of the 3 or 4 article I have read coming fromt he guys who wrote super su and xposed, it seems like that is a real possibility. the reason apps dont simply work on lolipop is primarily because of ART. I am using omni-rom and if I try and switch to ART i get a message saying its not supported and if you change over, we will not help you if you have any problems.

XPosed guy says he is not sure of his time availabilities to actually try and update the app and v5 is still too actively being developed that the source code is not in a position for him to even try, with the incluse of SELinux, the security implication of the upgrade, however awesome for the every day users, make root apps and exploits like the XPosed framework exceedingly difficult, google has done a great job of plugging all the "holes" that allowed these things.

SU guys are saying much the same thing, the binaries or whatever is being used in the rooting process are in some form of locked partition effectively above the root level, so while they can flash in kernels and binaries, at this stage they will be reset on reboot. I think it was some form of MD5 type check run on boot for all core system files, any mismatch is instantly reset to defaults.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/1...ew-modified-kernels-may-become-a-requirement/

http://www.androidauthority.com/xposed-framework-lollipop-540928/
 
OGroteKoning

OGroteKoning

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Joined
Apr 8, 2011
Messages
10,741
CranialBlaze said:
Not a developer myself, so I cannot answer that with any real level of certainty, but of the 3 or 4 article I have read coming fromt he guys who wrote super su and xposed, it seems like that is a real possibility. the reason apps dont simply work on lolipop is primarily because of ART. I am using omni-rom and if I try and switch to ART i get a message saying its not supported and if you change over, we will not help you if you have any problems.

XPosed guy says he is not sure of his time availabilities to actually try and update the app and v5 is still too actively being developed that the source code is not in a position for him to even try, with the incluse of SELinux, the security implication of the upgrade, however awesome for the every day users, make root apps and exploits like the XPosed framework exceedingly difficult, google has done a great job of plugging all the "holes" that allowed these things.

SU guys are saying much the same thing, the binaries or whatever is being used in the rooting process are in some form of locked partition effectively above the root level, so while they can flash in kernels and binaries, at this stage they will be reset on reboot. I think it was some form of MD5 type check run on boot for all core system files, any mismatch is instantly reset to defaults.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/1...ew-modified-kernels-may-become-a-requirement/

http://www.androidauthority.com/xposed-framework-lollipop-540928/
Click to expand...

Yeah, I read the devs' comments and it will be difficult to run root apps as you said. But Google has also started to implement some of the popular features that were introduced by devs in either Xposed or straightforward root apps. I don't think their idea is to stop rooting or prevent devs to write apps that does require root. I think their idea is that they want the OS to be as secure as possible. Thereby some access to different layers of the OS would be restricted. Chainfire makes a lot of good points I never thought of. The unfortunate thing about not allowing deep root access, is that some devs will exploit this for revenue with their malware/adware that I don't particularly care for. Apps like Adaway still works, but if this kind of thing seizes to exist, I would certainly hate the fact that before you open an app you first have to close some ad. If Google can control this kind of thing, then I am all for the direction they are going into. I am no dev either, but I want to try and control my device the way I want to since I am the outright owner. From the root apps I have tested, most work well. I will miss Xposed if Rovo89 can't find a workaround - I love GravityBox and CrappaLinks and to a lesser extent others, but I can live without it should Google bring in more functionality from especially GravityBox
 
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