I am Ashley Elsdon

someone who's doing some things

Tag: Android

Google’s mobile operating system and the stuff I do or try to do with it. A lot of the time it’ll be either music or automation related.

Some things I’d like to see happen, some time soon …

Posted by on in Stuff

Here’s my little app wishlist so far …

  1. I’d like to see the IFTTT (iTunes link) app go universal and work properly on the iPad as it just doesn’t cut it running it in 2x mode.
  2. I’d also like to see IFTTT come to Android as well, as I think it’d be an interesting way to cross platforms and automate from iOS to Android and into the real world etc.
  3. I can’t wait for the next version of the Editorial app for iPad. I mentioned this only a few days ago as an app that I’m already very impressed with. I’m looking forward to seeing the workflow directory directly in the app itself, that’s going to be so useful.
  4. Whilst on the subject of the Editoral app, I’d like to see it go universal and come to the iPhone as I think it would be amazingly useful.
  5. Continuing with apps, one of the best email apps for iOS (iPhone, not universal) is Dispatch (iTunes link) in my opinion, and I’d love to see it go universal as I think it would work brilliantly on the iPad, especially the iPad mini.
  6. Finally, I’d like to see Zapier bring their service to iOS as well. Even though it’s more business focused than IFTTT I think it would be useful.

So that’s my little list for now. I wonder what I’ll get from that list?

Android Inventor 2 has arrived

Posted by on in Tech

I’ve messed about with Android App Inventor since it’s very early days, when Google brought it out and made it available to the public. Then of course it moved off to MIT who’ve done a great job with it so far, and now it’s finally done away with the download and files you need to install. It’s now all in the browser at last. I’m looking forward to trying it out at last.

The only downside is that at the moment there’s no easy way to port projects from App Inventor ‘Classic’  to the new version. Still, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

So here I am with Android 4.4

Posted by on in Tech

IMG_0771

So I’ve upgraded my little old Nexus and so far I’m not noticing anything amazing with it. No incredible improvements in performance either. So, what’s the big deal then? Did I miss something?

So, where next for my Pebble?

Posted by on in Wearable Computing

IMG_8462

I haven’t really used my Pebble smartwatch for about two months, possibly a bit less. Anyway, it’s just been sitting on a shelf for a while now and doing very little, which is a shame as it’s a lovely piece of technology. However, to be honest, I haven’t found a real use for it as yet sadly. I toyed with different faces for it, which was fun, and the notifications stuff was cool, but I never found it entirely compelling.

In many ways I’ve been struggling to find a real use for the technology, and it seems strange to try and find a use for something that’s meant to be useful straight away.

One thing I keep wondering is whether there’s a way to make the thing more useful in making music, but it doesn’t seem that this is being taken on board by developers really, or likely to be in the near future. My other main problem with it is that it isn’t particularly well supported by third party developers on iOS, whereas that’s not the case on Android. Now in part I expect that this is because Android is more open and developers are able to support lots of different integrations and features, such as Tasker support, which could make it very useful indeed.

But this doesn’t really work for me sadly as I don’t have an Android phone. However, I do have an cheap Android tablet that I’m starting to use more for bits and pieces, so my next step is to see what else I can use Android for and just how useful my Pebble will be connected to a tablet.

I’ll let you know how I get on.

Tasker for Android update reveals the sad state of iOS automation

Posted by on in Tech

I saw the new version of Tasker for Android today. It really is very cool stuff, but it also serves as a constant reminder that iOS has very little at all in the way of automation applications or functionality. I’ve mentioned drafts and launch center pro before, but neither of these are a patch on Tasker. It’s a real shame as it’s a gap in the market which I’m sure would be filled if Apple would let developers make something like tasker, but that’s not going to happen for a while yet I think.

Pd on Android

Posted by on in Tech

Getting Pd up and running on an Android device. Good to see it running, but I do wonder what I’ll do with it next.

A brief look at Samsung’s Galaxy SIII

Posted by on in Tech

I visited the O2 store and had a little play with Samsung’s SIII. My first impression was that it was very big, very big indeed. In fact, my iPhone 4 only just covers the screen of the SIII. But that sort of put me off a bit. It was so large that I wasn’t sure if I actually would get used to it.

Aside from size it has a very nice feel to it, but of course it is Android, and I’m still very much on the fence about a jump from iOS to Android. Of course, that could all change when iOS6 gets announced on Monday, we’ll have to see.

Further thoughts on a move to Android

Posted by on in Tech

I was thinking about moving to Android again. Weighing up whether I should move off iOS or not. One thing that I hadn’t thought about was which OS works best with the Pebble smartwatch. Whilst the smartwatch works with both operating systems, notifications work with Android, and not currently with iOS.

Of course, that could change, even next week at WWDC, but it does add another dimension to the question.