Team news

Hi, all our users.

Today we have excellent news - we have our new web-site - jqsoft.ru (it's supported English and Russian languages). Now there's only MySettings page and a page of our new app - Tie Deluxe. In near time we will have all pages for our software.

Thanks :)

MySettings

Current version: 1.7.0
Price: Free or Donate ($1.99)
Available: SlideMe, Android Market

Do you often change different frequently used system settings? Then, MySettings is for you.

It’s beautiful tool that allows you quickly enable or disable different settings (ringer mode, brightness, gps, wi-fi, bluetooth, unlock pattern, autorotate, screen timeout, auto sync etc).

What's new in 1.7.0:

1. Battery drain screen has added (using touch on battery info button)
2. A bug in Unlock screen settings on older firmware versions (below 2.2) has fixed
3. A bug in Chinese translation has fixed
4. A Japanese language without errors has added (thanks to those  users who helped to translate)

What's new in 1.6.4:

1. FC on 1.5 devices fixed
2. Spanish language added
3. Show HTC Flashlight instead white screen if you have it on your device
4. Now MySetting is visibled on your devices on Android Market with 1.5 version and greater
5. A feature of SD Card installation
6. New view for top info panel (sd-card, internal memory, battery)

What's new in 1.5.2:

1. German and Chinese (traditional) translations
2. Add Google Analytics, that requires Internet and Network State permission (only on free version)
3. One bug was fixed for 4G phone

What's new in 1.5.1:

1. UI support for WVGA-devices (Nexus One, HTC Desire, Acer Liquid, etc).
2. A little updated icons and new notification icon.
3. An Exit button was deleted.
4. Run MySettings using hardware Search button.
5. A brightness and flashlight were fixed for Sony Ericsson X10
6. An auto-brightness was added (use long-touch on Brightness button).
7. An Unlock Pattern setting was fixed for 2.2 (Froyo)

What's new in 1.4.0:

1. New UI Style was added (Green).
2. Some bugs (with hide the notification) were fixed.

What's new in 1.3.4:

1. Nag screen time increased (5 sec instead 3 sec) for free version.
2. New main icon added.

What's new in 1.3.3:

1. Bluetooth bug (long touch) fixed for 1.5 devices.

What's new in 1.3.2:

1. Crash Reporter added

What's new in 1.3.1:

1. Force close on 1.5 devices fixed

 What's new in 1.3.0:

1. Support for 2.x devices (bluetooth and autosync fixed)

What's new in 1.2.1:

1. A bug after reboot (force close) fixed.

What's new in 1.2.0:

1. Big UI optimization, now app size descreased on ~90 Kb (earlier - 309 Kb, now - 222 Kb)
2. Landscape mode added
3. New settings - Notification Bar Shortcut - 3 modes (no show; show, but hide icon; show with icon)

What's new in 1.1.4:

1. New main icon and notification icon
2. More contrast enabled icons.

What's new in 1.1.3:

1. Ads (no Internet required) was added for countries, that have a chance for a donation.

What's new in 1.1.2:

1. A bug with little pictures for 1.5-devices was fixed

What's new in 1.1.1:

1. Show titles setting returns back
2. Old big icon for HVGA-devices.

What's new in 1.1.0:

1. UI supports QVGA-devices now
2. Russian language have added
3. Many UI improvements and bug fixes.

Android App Surgery: "MySettings" by Reto Meier

Reto Meier is an Android Developer Advocate for Google in London. He's also the author of Professional Android 2 Application Development.

MySettings is a relatively simple app that displays a single screen of shortcuts to some of the most commonly used system settings and toggles.

I’m actually really glad this was one of the most popular nominations last week because it lets me talk about some common UX stuff that I'd like to cover.

User Experience

The overall UX is pretty good - the layout is simple and intuitive, it looks good and works well in both landscape and portrait orientations on both HVGA and WVGA devices. In particular I liked that it featured:

• optimized layouts for landscape and portrait views (how-to).
• screen size and resolution independence with optimized high-res assets (how-to).
• support for trackball navigation (hopefully using StateListDrawables).
• A PreferenceScreen to implement "standard" application preference screens.

Like a lot of apps they've implemented some custom UI behaviour.

One of the beauties of Android is the freedom to do whatever you like when it comes to UX, but with freedom comes risks.

• The app is presented in a partially transparent floating window. That's pretty unusual and I found it a little off-putting. I've seen this before, but more commonly only when the app is launched from a widget.
• The custom menu. Pressing the menu button brings up a menu, but rather than the standard menu mechanism they've implemented a totally custom UI. This introduces some potential UX issues:
• It's unexpected and unfamiliar. I know what to expect when I hit menu, a custom menu makes me stop and think about what I'm looking at and how to use it.
• It doesn't include the text labels I'm expecting, and it doesn't use the standard icons I'm expecting (particularly for accessing settings).
• It doesn't support trackball navigation.
• The regular menu is modal, this one isn't.
• The menu has an "Exit" Button. Thanks to the Android application lifecycle there's no need for it - pressing "Back" will exit the app just as effectively.
• The "About" dialogue doesn't derive from Dialog and pressing back exits the app rather than closing the dialogue. An alternative is to use the AlertDialog and completely replace its UI. It's also good practice to let the Activity handle the Dialog lifecycle.
• The standard behavior for a long-press on Android is to display a ContextMenu. In this app a long-press performs an alternative action (opening a contextual settings screen). While useful,  overloading an existing UI metaphor is risky.
• Enabling or disabling WiFi and Bluetooth doesn't provide any feedback on what's happening. They could use Toasts to provide updates. The system broadcasts Intents that announce changes to both WiFi and Bluetooth device state.

Android Features

I thought the (optional) ongoing notification as a shortcut to the app was clever, and I loved their use of Intents to open specific system preference screens.

What might be nice additions are a Live Wallpaper and a some Widgets.

A Live Wallpaper is fully dynamic and interactive, so you could implement the entire UI as one, though with homescreen real-estate being crowded as it is, a widget might be better.

I'd love to see them include a widget that looks just like one of the settings buttons. It could use a configuration Activity that lets users select which of the settings buttons they'd like it to represent. Then you could add multiple, different, settings shortcut buttons to the homescreen.

Stability / Performance / Risks

The app stability is great (I got no crashes) and it's nice to see that no unnecessary Services are being created.

One thing that worried me a little is that the app is directly toggling some system settings. Earlier releases have moved some of these toggles (notably GPS) into the read-only secure settings table. It might be worth confirming the settings are directly modifiable, then falling back to open the right page in the System Settings if they aren't.

Hopefully you guys found that useful

Original article - http://blog.radioactiveyak.com/2010/05/android-app-surgery-mysettings.html

Thanks for the review, Reto Meier.

Training Timer

Current version: 1.1.0 

Price: Paid ($0.99) or Free (with ads)

Available: Android Market

Training Timer is beautiful simple training timer, that allows you to set the number of rounds, time for preparation, work and rest.

Has Sound/Vibrate option for alarm. Supports for all types of devices (QVGA, HVGA, etc). Beautiful color screens (portrait/landscape support) and great for any sports.

What's new in 1.1.0:

1. New launcher icon
2. Set alarm sound option added

MyTasks

Current version: 1.9.2 
Price: Free or Donate ($2.95)

Available: Android Market

MyTasks is a beautiful and easy-to-use to-do manager that has following features:

- Create, edit and delete your tasks
- Add Notes to your tasks
- Set Due date to your tasks (with notifications)
- Set Priority of your tasks
- Sorting your tasks
- Batch deleting your tasks
- Change View Mode
- Backup/Restore your tasks

UnlockPattern Toggle

Current version: 1.0.1
Price: Free or Donate
Available: SlideMe, Android Market 

UnlockPattern Toggle is a simple beautiful widget (1×1), that allows you enable or disable your Unlock Pattern Screen using one tap.

What's new in 1.0.1:

1. Simplified and traditional Chinese language added