chw42

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 18, 2013 -> 09:34 PM) Here's a look at my homescreen w/ Nova Prime: You should look into custom icon packs.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 18, 2013 -> 06:34 PM) I like Nova because it's a bit more like stock Android and I can squeeze more s*** onto each screen, plus the subtle things I can customize. I like the regular look of Androids (for now, at least) so I didn't feel like going for a launcher that had a totally different UI or anything. On that note, can someone tell me why I would want to root? I've read LifeHacker's rooting guide and "10 apps that will convince you to root" and I'm still unconvinced. While I love just playing with s*** like I did with my jailbroken iPhone, I like my phone as it is, don't think it's slow, am not angry about the bloatware (I use ATT visual voicemail). I also don't like how it is impossible to hide from the manufacturer that I did the root, which basically means the warranty is voided if I understand it correctly. Is there something I'm missing? You can get by without rooting, but there are some very nice perks that come with custom ROMs and kernels. I don't think I can own a phone that isn't rooted and without a custom ROM, I've just gotten acquainted to too many things from custom ROMs. Examples: 1. Custom quick toggles: Instead of the limited toggles Google includes the quick toggle drawer, I can have toggles that switch on/off GPS without having to go into the settings app. I can toggle sync, auto rotation, WiFi tether, torch, etc as well. You can even create your own custom toggles. 2. Navigation customization: I personally use custom buttons and I assign long-press actions to the navigation buttons as well. For instance, a long press of the home button will kill the current app and a long press of the back button will take you back to the previous app. Speaking of killing apps, that is another perk of custom ROMs. When you swipe the app card away in the multi-tasking pane, the app's process isn't actually killed. So when you really need to hard-kill an app, the only real way to do it is to actually kill the process. You can't do that on a stock device. There are also other cool ways to navigate your Android device. One of them is called PIE and they're basically an array of virtual on-screen buttons that auto-hide. Here's what it looks like. And a good FYI since you own a HTC One. You know that annoying bar with the menu button that pops up on the bottom of the screen for apps that aren't designed for Android 4.0 and above? You can get rid of that if you root and flash a custom kernel that allows you to map the HTC logo to an actual function (such as the menu). I would root and flash a kernel for that alone. 3. System-wide themes: not a huge deal, but there are some nice themes for CM and CM-based ROMs. 4. Custom lock-screen: you can change up the lockscreen wallpaper, change up the text color, display options (such as battery percentage), etc. Not so bad to have. 5. Custom LED notification colors: that notification LED is really useful, but it isn't all that useful if you don't know what apps correspond to what LED color. Well, custom ROMs allow you to change that. You can also set the length and interval of the LED flash. Really useful. 6. More battery life, faster performance: not all custom kernels are good, but the good ones do wonders for battery life and performance. If you know what you're doing, you can undervolt or do custom Hotplugs to take total control of your CPU and maximize battery life. Custom kernels also bring better frequency governors, I/O control, and overclocking, allowing for better performance. 7. Total control of your file system: want to pull an app you bought and back it up? Better root. Want to make a certain app a system app so you can get around MLB.tv blackouts? Better root. Want to uninstall annoying carrier apps forever? Root. 8. Lots of customization options: color of your battery, clock, etc, custom batteries that show percentages, and a bunch of other small things that more or less can help you complete the maximal Android experience. I mean, there's nothing wrong with going stock, especially if you have a Nexus device or any device with stock Android. But you're not getting your entire money's worth until you root.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jun 18, 2013 -> 06:01 PM) Apex or Nova, I use one of these two on every phone I've owned. It's the one w/ the white buttons on the bottom. EDIT: Nevermind, that was my dad's Nexus 7. I use LauncherPro on mine. Mine has less japanese text on it, and I use the MESSAGES icon in place of the VOICE feature. LauncherPro hasn't been updated in ages.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 17, 2013 -> 10:37 PM) Nova Launcher. Yeeus. I tell all my friends with Android phones to use Nova. It's well worth the 5 bucks to get the pro version too. You can get a transparent app drawer, hide icons you don't want, edit any app's name and icon, get extra transitions, etc. Apex launcher is also pretty good.

Picked up The Last of Us today. When I was checking out, I asked the cashier how the pre-orders were going for the Xbox One and PS4. He said the PS4 had far more pre-orders and that it was at least a 2:1 ratio.

QUOTE (jthunder93 @ Jun 16, 2013 -> 08:08 PM) ManbearPuig has been tearing it up. Hoping to see him play when they come down to San Diego. Ian Kennedy was super serial when he hit ManBearPuig.

Just gotta take one in Miami. Come on San Antonio, you can do it!

Just binge played Sleeping Dogs the last few days and finished it. It's such a fun game.

This team is f***ing awful.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 14, 2013 -> 10:56 AM) I can't remember if it's actually Chrome or Firefox that has this warning... it sounds like kind of a Google-y thing to do I know Chrome has it. The funny thing is that it jokingly said it won't protect you against secret agents monitoring your computer. Well, it turns out they have been this whole time. Maybe the Chrome team knew something we didn't long ago.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 13, 2013 -> 11:21 AM) The biggest group of people affected by the XBOX needing internet thing are college students. There are a lot of campuses that block connections by XBOXes to save bandwidth. You can usually get around it by bridging, but hardly anybody bothers with that and if you have a Mac computer it's ten times more difficult. And that is one of their larger demographics...good going Microsoft.

Did Shaw just say f***in'? Hahahaha

Holy s***. This is by far the best hockey game I've ever watched.

Holy s*** that was close. Centimeters away from a loss.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 12, 2013 -> 05:43 PM) An EQ is nothing special, though. I use PowerAmp on my Android phone. It's nothing special until the manufacturer deliberately sets a s***ty one as the default. There is no real difference between Beats headphones and a $80 pair you buy from Sony.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 12, 2013 -> 03:55 PM) Yeah, shopping for headphones is tough. I know Beats are overrated and there is some big markup based on name. Nonetheless, these are by far the best in-package headphones I've ever received. They kill the Apple ones I often suffered through when I didn't feel like spending money on headphones. These are good enough that I'm actually choosing to wear them around the house to enjoy my Google Play Music All Access. Beats headphones aren't awful, but it's not the headphones themselves that really make a difference. The Beats EQ is what makes a difference. HTC and HP purposefully program their devices with bad-sounding EQs. Then when you switch the Beats switch on, it gives you a much more rich-sounding EQ. Making you feel like there's some kind of magic going on.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 11, 2013 -> 10:10 PM) It is? I find it big brother creepy. I just don't trust one company with so much of my personal information, I guess for my own peace of mind I prefer spreading it out a bit, especially in light of the fact that they're seemingly giving it away when asked. At least if you spread it across Microsoft, Apple, Google, Yahoo and Mozilla they'll have to do a bit of work to piece together the puzzle. It's depressing, to be perfectly honest. It's 2013, 1984. If everyone is participating in PRISM, it really doesn't matter how you spread the data. But then again, do you have anything to hide?

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 11, 2013 -> 06:26 PM) I think he was talking about, when you get in your car, NFC or BT activates, and at that point, you cannot do anything BUT make calls, answer calls, dictate texts/send them, or have texts read to you. And probably mapping for turn by turn, I'd assume. I think that's what he was talking about...though IMO, that's a bit too big brother for my tastes. To be perfectly honest, I understand we both tend to "defend" our chosen platforms a bit, but all things considered, we probably aren't very far on most of the things we discuss here, depending on the platform. Whatever mobile OS I use, however, I don't want it messed with by a carrier, or a manufacturer if they're a 3rd party. If/when I get an Android phone, it will be an Android phone, not a TouchWiz Sense Pseudo Google version full of Verizon/AT&T/carrier spyware. It's one of the few reasons I lean toward iOS still, they're phone software is just cleaner in this regard, and they update. Microsoft is a bit too new to the game, with hardware I still find lacking in comparison to what you can find on Android/iOS, and they lack support...their updates are slow too arrive and few/far between, unlike both iOS and Android, which get frequent update love. The Nexus brand phones also fall short, IMO, as they're not flagship devices, and often purposefully gimped. For example, no LTE on the recent Nexus...that was annoying, purposeful garbage, and there was no excuse for it other than to make manufacturers happy. I'm very very happy for the upcoming Google edition GS4/One, however, those have to be bought at full price, which is a lot of cash up front. But all in all, in a legit conversation, I bet you'd find we agree on a lot more than you'd think. They only gimped it because of how awful Verizon was with the Galaxy Nexus. At that time, T-Mobile didn't have their LTE network up yet and it seems like T-Mobile is the only carrier Google wants to deal with right now. That said, the Google Experience phones should solve a lot of the issues you stated with the Nexus lineup.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 11, 2013 -> 06:07 PM) It does. Can't be done in any old car, it all goes through the cars speakers, mic, etc. You can do it with a Bluetooth headset also, the buttons on the headset control certain functions on the phone. I've never used it that way, though. I actually don't like it very much, I try to stay off my phone in the car these days. I think I misunderstood what Gage was talking about. I thought he was talking about how he can enable bluetooth + car mode in one action when you get in the car, which can be done through a single NFC tag action. He might have been talking about what you are talking about, which is pairing the phone with the car's bluetooth system.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 11, 2013 -> 05:49 PM) Can be done through Bluetooth already. NFC isn't necessary for this. Still can't stop a person from picking up the phone and using it, though, which was what he was posing the question as. When I get in my car, my phone auto connects to the cars Bluetooth, and I can make calls issue texts, etc, all with buttons on my steering wheel. Studies by the highway safety organizations show it's no safer than just picking up the phone, however. Hands free is plecebo, it's just as dangerous according to studies so far. Actually, how do you do all of that through Bluetooth? That has to be done through the car then, which means the car must have that function?

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 11, 2013 -> 05:58 PM) Only if you disable it, I leave it on. I toggle it off when I leave my car with my NFC tag. I like to save battery, even keeping it on won't drain much at all. And I also hate the Bluetooth icon when it's not connected.

http://jonyiveredesignsthings.tumblr.com/ That's a thing.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 11, 2013 -> 05:49 PM) Can be done through Bluetooth already. NFC isn't necessary for this. Still can't stop a person from picking up the phone and using it, though, which was what he was posing the question as. When I get in my car, my phone auto connects to the cars Bluetooth, and I can make calls issue texts, etc, all with buttons on my steering wheel. Studies by the highway safety organizations show it's no safer than just picking up the phone, however. Hands free is plecebo, it's just as dangerous according to studies so far. You have to enable the bluetooth first though.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 11, 2013 -> 05:40 PM) They did bring it to mobile, but I had a live wallpaper of water back when Vista came out. This whole issue of borrowing or copying stuff from other operating systems, especially mobile operating systems, is only relevant because Apple loves to claim others took what they made. Steve Jobs was once quoted as saying that he wanted to bring Android to the ground at any cost, because Android had supposedly ripped off every part of iOS. And then you have the whole Samsung vs. Apple ordeal where Apple wanted devices banned because Samsung devices had a system-wide search function. Apple sure as hell didn't invent system-wide search, but they might make get $1 billion out of it. So when Apple decides to borrow elements from competitors, critics take notice and they will look for even the smallest resemblances to bash Apple. And most of that is fair because if Apple gets to sue over a technicality, why can't you bash them over a glaring similarity? You can't have a double standard where everything Apple gets a pass for borrowing while the competition gets sued or criticized for borrowing.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 11, 2013 -> 05:37 PM) No they didn't, live wallpapers have existed for eons. As what, screen savers? I was too lazy to look through the Google results for live wallpapers. All of them are Android related.