Tag: Android

Tidying Up

Things I learned this week:

Windows

  1. Open Settings > System > Storage, and then click on Apps & Features.
  2. Under the Sort By dropdown, select Install Date.
  3. Go through and remove anything you don’t need. If an app is unfamiliar, search for it online to see if it’s something you need or if you can safely get rid of it. You can also search for it on Should I Remove It? (though we recommend skipping the Should I Remove It? application and just searching for the software’s name on the site).

This originated from Wirecutter’s post on 7 Steps to Tidying Your Digital Life

My favorite advice is to do one step and see what happens when you move forward.

Disclaimer: I did a couple of items.

Where did the Tidy Up vector lead? I learned how to actually delete other temp files on the same Storage Settings page and that would have been enough except that led me to notice an unchecked box labeled “Downloads Folder” and I wondered, when do I ever clean that out, and so I did a pretty good chunk and it reminded me that this process is one I used to do more frequently and like writing, just escaped me and now I turn back to it :)

Gapps Manager

Download the Correct GApps Fast and Easily with Gapps Manager

If you’ve ever used a custom ROM, you know that due to legal reasons, most of them are released without Google’s proprietary applications, simply known as GApps. Those packages can be a bit finicky, as every version of Android needs a particular package, so sometimes it’s hard to choose the correct file to download.

XDA Senior Member ebildude123 created a simple application to download the correct package directly to your phone or tablet, so all you need to do is to apply the package from the recovery of your device. The application supports every version of Android starting from Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread onwards. You can even download GApps compatible with the newART compiler introduced in KitKat. And if for some reason you are not sure of your Android version, Gapps Manager will let you know so you can pick your poison.

With Gapps Manager, you won’t spend any second longer than necessary when finding and sideloading GApps to your device! If you are looking for easy Gapps manager, you should visit the application thread and get this simple application a try. This comes with good timing, given the recent M2 release of CM11 for quite a few devices.

Network Discovery from F-Droid

I was migrating wireless APs from one network to the other and working on servers and everything was reset to DHCP.  All of a sudden I needed to know network information: IP Addressing, MAC addresses.  I fired up my Windows 7 based tools and then while waiting fired up Linux to use NMap; however, before I could reminisce about the Matrix and Trinity using NMap to hack into the power grid I thought about my Android phone.  I found Network Discovery in F-Droid worked extremely accurately and a great deal more quickly that my Windows PC and was just more fun to use.  It feels like a Tricorder which is so much more appropriate.