Android apps by Chislon Chow

Lockscreen Policy

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 18:29:40 +0000

Disable widgets and/or camera access on the lockscreen under Android 4.2.

★ As featured on Android Police

* Does not work on TouchWiz Android 4.2.x firmware (such as Galaxy S4).

Known issue under 4.2.2 with widgets disabled:
With the clock hack disabled, the clock widget toggles between the bold hour clock and the non-bold hour clock every other unlock.

If your device is rooted, you can use the clock hack to get the device to consistently display the non-bold hour clock. Otherwise, there isn't anything I can do for you immediately. Sorry for the inconvenience, but I had no control over this.

Meanwhile, there is a bug file for this to Google: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=48164

Usage Instruction:
1) Run application
2) Make selections, and press activate
3) In the 'Activate device administrator' screen, choose 'Activate'
4) Turn off undesired features using the toggle switches. Changes are made instantly. Make sure your lockscreen is enabled to see the results.

Clock Hack for Rooted devices only:
For users running Google firmware, you can now disable the bold-hour lockscreen clock with 'Clock Hack', accessible via the action bar menu even with widgets disabled in the lockscreen.

To undo or revert this, simply rerun 'Clock Hack'. You will additionally have to manually remove the clock widget and readd the desired one for changes to take effect if your lockscreen widgets are on. Note that this setting persists even if you deactivate or uninstall this application. (Can take a couple of screen locks/unlocks to take effect)

There are several downsides to using this hack. You will also lose access to the same widget from your homescreen. This alternate clock also will not launch the alarm app on click, nor does it display your world clocks.

Uninstall:
To uninstall, uncheck the application from the 'Device Administrator' list under 'Security' in your 'Settings' application on your device.

Caveats when disabling widgets:

Enabling this will force the lockscreen to use a 'default fallback widget'. On Google builds, the default is the stock DeskClock digital clock widget (with bold-hour style). This behavior cannot be changed.

The bold hour clock only affects official Google builds, and is part of Google's proprietary firmware.

The rooted method implements the following method from XDA,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=34561693&postcount=35

The music controls will still appear as a new page when active, even with the lockscreen policies in place. Google would have to update the API to control that.

Privacy:
I do not collect any personal information with this completely free application.

No permissions other than device administrator required.

Additional Notes:

Allowing widgets and/or camera access might be a security concern for some users, because they can be accessed before unlocking the device. This application is a workaround for that, at the cost of removing those features.

This application maintains device administration policies for the lockscreen, introduced in Android 4.2.

I did not create this functionality by myself. Google already provisioned the API to make this possible. However, the only way to use this was to write an app for it, as I had done.

Implements Stericson's RootTools from http://code.google.com/p/roottools/

Keywords:
Jellybean, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, LG Nexus 4, ASUS Nexus 7, Samsung Nexus 10

Recent changes:
v1.2
* 'Clock Hack' feature for rooted devices only - disable bold-hour lockscreen clock on Google builds when lockscreen widgets are disabled (access from menu)

v1.1.1
* tablet detection logic fix
* camera toggle unhiding menu option fix (for custom firmware support)
* deactivate device admin menu option
* xxhdpi icon for Nexus 10

Legacy Launcher

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:17:51 +0000

Legacy Launcher for Android is a free open-source replacement home screen application. It is built on top of the last version of ADW Launcher Free (from the open-source Cyanogenmod 7 branch), and most of the functionality comes from there.

This launcher is similar to old ADW Launcher Free before its major update in October 2012.

# Notices

**Passwords set in this application are not designed to be secure. It is recommended that you do not set your common password in this application.

Source code: https://github.com/chislon/LegacyLauncher

For help, take a look at the built-in 'Guide'.

This application is not currently in active development. If you see a bug, you can file it to the project's GitHub.

Before you update, it is recommended that you back up your settings: 'Launcher Setup->More->Backup and Restore', choose 'Backup settings' and 'Backup desktop icon placement'.

See the ADW Guide for more help:
http://code.google.com/p/adw-launcher-android/wiki/CompleteGuideToADW

# Features
Key features of ADW Launcher Free present in Legacy Launcher:
* customizable number of desktop home screens
* customizable drag&drop action buttons
* ADW themes (can be a bad idea on low RAM devices, but looks are important too)
(See the webpage for a more complete list of features. Note that some features have been removed, such as the hidden dock bar.)

The original ADW Launcher was developed by Anderweb and a team of developers:
http://jbthemes.com/anderweb/category/adwlauncher/
http://code.google.com/p/adw-launcher-android/
https://github.com/CyanogenMod/android_packages_apps_ADWLauncher

# Permissions
These permissions were retained from the original ADW source code and have not been significantly changed, and are standard for Launcher applications.

# Notes
If your installed ADW Theme looks weird, make sure you have not selected 'Override Colors' in the drawer and application tray.

To have create the effect of hiding apps in the app tray, you can enable categories from the 'Launcher Settings'. Then open the app tray, and hit the 'Menu' button to bring up the category settings. Simply create one category with all the desired applications. Then you can return to 'Launcher Settings' to turn off the 'all apps' category.

If you would like to install a theme with a custom dock background, remember to unhide the dock background.

If you have an extra high resolution device, this launcher will not look optimized for your device. The original application was originally made for 800x480 screens and lower, so there is little I can do to make things work better for you since the graphical resources are raster image files.

# Compatibility
* Samsung Galaxy S Infuse has a different data layout on some stock firmwares. As a result, backup/restore will fail. I cannot fix this as I do not have access to the device. If you know how to fix this, feel free to send me a patch.

Recent changes:
0.39.11
- Fix crash in non-spread previews as reported by user
- Minor tweaks to dock and app catalog

0.39.8
- New: Supports 4 icons in dock (please consider adding a new shortcut to open the app drawer)
- Fix layout issues when dock has 3 icons
- Fixes for app catalog navigation button with 1 or 3 in dock icons

0.39.7
- Fix in app catalog
- Fix for app drawer on devices with hardware keyboards
- Launch activity from desktop action

Blank Lockscreen Widget

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 02:29:23 +0000

This is a blank, transparent lockscreen widget without any functionality. Use it to fill up pages on your lockscreen. A very simple widget that doesn't use up unnecessary resources.

To use this, just add 'Blank' from the new lockscreen widget dialog.

You can do the same thing with UCCW, but this one should be less resource heavy.

Only for Android 4.2+.

Recent changes:
First version

Plane Mode Tweaker

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:23:29 +0000

Use this tool to take control of your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when airplane mode is on.

If you hate it when your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth get disabled by turning on airplane mode, here your fix!
Reduce unnecessary radiation exposure and use your Wi-Fi in airplane mode!

Completely free with no ads

Once the settings have been applied you can safely remove this application.

There is a known issue on Android 4.2 under investigation. This app is not properly supported past Android 2.3.x.

# Warning
May not work on all devices!

Some manufacturers have locked down some of these settings, rending this application useless in some cases. I have no way around this, nor can I tell which devices specifically with which firmwares do not support the functionality in this app, unfortunately.

# Permissions used
* write system settings - that's what this app does...

# How to use this app
Choose the options you want enabled or disabled in this application. Your changes will take place immediately.

You can view the changes in Android's settings application, typically under 'Wireless Settings'. Wireless settings can be launched directly from the bottom item in this application for your convenience.

Example Use Case 1:
Allow toggling of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when airplane mode is enabled, but still have airplane mode toggle Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off ->
on, on, on, on

Example Use Case 2:
Make Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggling independent of airplane mode ->
off, off, on, on

Example Use Case 3:
Don't let Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggle when airplane mode is enabled, and toggle them off when airplane mode is enabled ->
on, on, off, off

When launching wireless settings, your changes may not be visible right away. In this case, hit the 'Back' button on the device or kill the 'Settings' app with a task killer. Your changes will be reflected upon a new restart of the wireless settings task.

# Support
I pledge no support for this application. I don't think this application can 'break' your device, but use at your own risk.

# What this does
When airplane mode is enabled, the default behavior is to disable the 'radios' on the device. That would include your cell radio, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.

A good app to go with your backup Android device to reduce cell radiation.

Using hidden functionality built into Android, this application does one of two things:

1) Prevent airplane mode from toggling your Wi-Fi or Bluetooth radios.
(This also has the effect of allowing your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to stay on after reboots when airplane mode has been enabled.)

2) Allow Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to be toggled when airplane ode is enabled.

# More Notes

Your settings should persist after you reboot your device. Feel free to remove this application to free up some space when you are done with it.

The default manufacturer setting varies depending on the device. As a result, this app may not prove to be of use to every device.

I am looking for translations and better instructions for this application. Contributions are welcome.

# Keywords
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, airplane mode, flight mode, system tool

Recent changes:
Drop Android 4.2 support for now. Future versions will require root permissions for Android 4.2+.

FontUp

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:17:20 +0000

Increase (or decrease) your system font size to make it easier (or more difficult) to read.

Free with no ads whatsoever, no need for internet access.

Root access required for Android 4.2 and up.

Choose a font scaling size between 55% and 145% (increments of 15%). The effect of this may be limited depending on your firmware. It is not recommended to choose a size larger than 130%.

For reference, the Android AOSP 'Huge' font size setting is 130%. Stock Android selectable settings are: 85% (tiny), 100% (normal), 115% (large), and 130% (huge).

Some manufacturers have removed this from their firmware because of limited system support. Examples of this include all implementations of HTC Sense 3.6 on the EVO 3D, Android 4.0 on the Samsung Galaxy Note.

If you happen to have a HTC phone, you may not notice a difference in your stock launcher and settings, because HTC broke this functionality in their some of their Android builds.

Compatible for Android 4.0+

Permissions:
Requested to make changes to system settings, nothing more.

Notes:
For some applications to update the chat font size (such as WhatsApp), you may need to close the application and run it again for changes to be applied.

On Android 4.2 and up, FontUp will try to obtain root access on first load, and will take longer to start than usual as a result.

Development Notes:
Makes use of RootTools from http://code.google.com/p/roottools/

Keywords:
Change and set font and text size

Recent changes:
Icon change, support for Android 4.2 with root, small improvements to design on high density devices such as tablets

No Long-Press Call

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 21:24:39 +0000

Disable your hardware call button long-press action.

This overrides the call button long-press action, such as Voice Dialer, with a task that has minimal overhead.

Should also work for bluetooth headsets.

Completely free with no ads.

# Instructions
1) Perform a long-press of the call button
2) In the 'Complete action using' dialog, check the 'Use by default for this action' checkbox, and select '! No Long-Press Call'
3) Your call long-press should now effectively do nothing.

# Details

Includes a long-press call button manager.

In technical terms, this overrides the intent action for 'VOICE_COMMAND'. If this intent is not triggered when you perform a long-press of the search button, this application does nothing for you.

This application is useless on the following devices:
* Other devices that do not broadcast the intent for 'VOICE_COMMAND'
* Devices without a call button

# Permissions
Used to clear default actions for Android 2.1 and below. Does nothing for Android 2.2 and up.

# Notes
I had trouble getting this to work in the Android 3.x and 4.x emulators. The Android API documentation does not tell me that the intent would be disabled in those versions of Android, so I have elected to allow for these users to download this application even though it may be untested for their devices. Please report back to me if you find that it does not work on your device.

Tested for Android 1.6-2.3.

Keywords:
Voice dialer, long-press call

Recent changes:
Exclude from recents

No Long-Press Search

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 21:21:09 +0000

Disable your hardware search button long-press action.

If you do not have a search button mapped on your device, this application does nothing for you.

This overrides the search button long-press with a task that has minimal overhead.

Completely free with no ads.

# Instructions
1) Perform a long-press of the search button
2) In the 'Complete action using' dialog, check the 'Use by default for this action' checkbox, and select '! No Long-Press Search'
3) Your search long-press should now effectively do nothing.

# Details

Includes a long-press search manager.

In technical terms, this overrides the intent action for 'SEARCH_LONG_PRESS'. If this intent is not triggered when you perform a long-press of the search button, this application does nothing for you.

This application is useless on the following devices:
* Devices running Droid X stock firmware
* Devices running MyTouch4G stock firmware
* Other devices with 'Genius button'
* Other devices that do not broadcast the intent for 'SEARCH_LONG_PRESS'
* Devices without a search button

# Permissions
Used to clear default actions for Android 2.1 and below. Does nothing for Android 2.2 and up.

# Notes
I had trouble getting this to work in the Android 3.x and 4.x emulators. The Android API documentation does not tell me that the intent would be disabled in those versions of Android, so I have elected to allow for these users to download this application even though it may be untested for their devices. Please report back to me if you find that it does not work on your device.

Tested for Android 1.6-2.3.

Keywords:
Voice search, long-press search

Recent changes:
Made it available for versions greater than Android 2.3, allowing for installs for more devices with physical search buttons. Please report issues.