Doesn't Android already have a "profiles" mode so you can switch between multiple app layouts and configurations?
Introducing Cover
41–50 of 99 posts
Re: Introducing Cover
#42My initial reaction to this is nothing but love.
I hate the idea it needs all sorts of server connections for their business model. I don't know a way around that, but if they or another company figure out how, that's what people will gravitate toward. Especially given the paranoid climate.
Re: Introducing Cover
#43This terrifies me. There's an instant problem of paranoia, and trust here. I would never be okay with the idea of an application monitoring what I'm doing, in order to reorder itself. Mind you, I say all this without knowing if it requests network access. How do I know you're not sending my usage patterns upstream to CoverCorp? How do I know that you're not reading the Android Music Provider database, and sharing my…
So, let's say your worst fears are true, and it's sending up a log of every app you use. What happens then? What's the harm? I'm not being rhetorical, I really don't follow what the fear is here. I can't imagine how my life would be any different if some company knows that I launched chrome at 12:22, then hangouts at 12:30, then some half-assed game at 12:35.
Presumably it's also sending up a log of exactly where and when you used them, too, so it's basically your full high-res location history if you're as smartphone-addicted as most people in the tech industry are these days.
Re: Introducing Cover
#44This is a neat idea, however, I fail to see either why it requires so much funding ($1.7m according to TechCrunch) or any server backend whatsoever.
I could build you one of those without privacy intrusion, and add the ability to switch from home/work/car automatically using GPS. I'd be happy with 1% of what they raised , anyone interested? :(
Judging by the reaction here, I think people would.
Re: Introducing Cover
#45This terrifies me. There's an instant problem of paranoia, and trust here. I would never be okay with the idea of an application monitoring what I'm doing, in order to reorder itself. Mind you, I say all this without knowing if it requests network access. How do I know you're not sending my usage patterns upstream to CoverCorp? How do I know that you're not reading the Android Music Provider database, and sharing my…
> I would never be okay with the idea of an application monitoring what I'm doing, in order to reorder itself.
Oh boy, how will you survive the next 20 years? Saying "I will never touch a computer" 40 years ago would have had the same effect.
Re: Introducing Cover
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Right, and... what would the harm be there? Is that just a fundamental value for you?
> Right, and... what would the harm be there? That's a little too obvious to state so I won't pretend there's people here that haven't figured that out yet for the sake of overly-pedantic or naive arguing. You're moving into "nothing to hide, nothing to fear" territory. > Is that just a fundamental value for you? Yep. It's in my country's constitution and protected under various laws.
You probably mean bill of rights. The US Constitution has no wording expressing any concerns over an American's privacy.
Re: Introducing Cover
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree with you. I like the idea and concept, but I prefer that apps like this actually let me do some of the teaching manually. Perhaps try to define the apps I want to appear at certain times of the day. One of the reasons I stopped using Aviate was that I felt like their scenes just didn't really match what i was doing at the time.
I'd assume you prefer to do it yourself is because you haven't found a system that does it well enough for you to let go of control? Or are you just the kind of person who tends to like to do things the harder way? I wouldn't blame you for being the latter - it's kind of like people who prefer to drive a manual transmission to automatic.
Or perhaps it's faster, easier, and more accurate to place your own five icons that to wait for an algorithm to try and figure it out.
Re: Introducing Cover
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
The real product here is almost certainly an analytics service. From Cover's privacy policy at https://www.coverscreen.com/privacy : Cover records the following items: The list of apps installed on your phone, including which apps are on your homescreen and dock The number of times you run an app, including the time and place where you ran it (specifically, the cell tower or wifi network you were connected to, or tha…
I'd suggest that a portion of the funding go towards a re-write of the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. I'm by no means an expert, but I'm not one to mess with having holes in legal documents that could later bite me in the ass. It's glaringly obvious they did not hire a lawyer to write their Privacy Policy or Terms of Service. I understand they mention "human readable" in the beginning of the Privacy Policy, but…
Hold up in court to what?
Re: Introducing Cover
#49wow, beautiful device... anyone know which is it?
Re: Introducing Cover
#50On a semi-related topic, is it really possible for an app to properly replace the Android lockscreen? I haven't found any way to do it. As far as I can tell, all the "lock screen" apps use a hack where they disable the stock lock screen and then emulate a lock screen by asking you to make the lockscreen app your default home screen and then launching your "real" home screen when you "unlock" them. I've seen it said t…
There are some other alternatives. HTC had a lockscreen API for a while. Similarly, generic Android has started supporting widgets on the lock screen, basically. One of the evangelists even has a popular widget lockscreen with extensions called DashClock that many people are writing for. Lastly, I haven't tried it, but I suspect replacing the Android Launcher would also let you do it. This is the method Facebook used…
> Lastly, I haven't tried it, but I suspect replacing the Android Launcher would also let you do it. This is the method Facebook used for putting their talking heads in every app.
The talking heads overlay doesn't require replacing the Launcher. Installing just the FB Messenger app will get you that feature too.
AFAIK, it uses the "Draw over other apps" permission (android.permission.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW) to achieve this. Here's a library that does the same: https://github.com/pingpongboss/StandOut/