Attempting Android setup perfection - I ask your suggestions for improvement

[Aardvarks]

I am attempting Android setup perfection - therefore I ask for your
suggestions for improvement...

As an experiment, today I reset my ancient S3 not-rooted Android phone to
factory defaults, and reinstalled all the previously existing apps from the
flash card (all without Google Play, the cloud, or a computer).

Here is a screenshot of the near-perfect desktop:
http://i.cubeupload.com/FDrkG8.png

Most apps seem to work just fine without a Google Play account:
http://i.cubeupload.com/TUcOci.gif

I ask for improvement suggestions in the following three areas:
- Either improvement in organization
- Or improvement in missing apps
- Or further improvement in eliminating Google altogether

In a nutshell, here is what I did:
1. I reset the phone to factory defaults.
2. I installed the old apps from APKs on the sdcard.
3. Almost all the apps work just fine without a Google Play account!

The AppDrawer contains these 112 apps (some are T-Mobile required):
1) http://i.cubeupload.com/a9pq83.png
2) http://i.cubeupload.com/10PUFW.png
3) http://i.cubeupload.com/8kwCAX.png
4) http://i.cubeupload.com/bqA8GT.png
5) http://i.cubeupload.com/WkHNno.png
6) http://i.cubeupload.com/LACM69.png

The single desktop is set up with three goals in mind:
A. Pyramid shape, most used apps on top, left to right.
B. Apps never more than 1 or 2 taps away (most used are 1 tap)
C. Folders organized with most used apps left to right.

Note 1: Unused or rarely used apps remain in the app drawer.
Note 2: App icons can (and should) be in multiple logical places.
Note 3: The "Google" folder exists to test for spyware logins.

I'm constantly improving with the goal of the perfectly organized Android
mobile device, so that's why I outline the setup for you to help me improve
with your comments.

Here is the organizational tree as of this moment.

The top of the pyramid is the phone app (it is a phone after all!) while
the bottom dock is useless in a single desktop setup - it's just the bottom
row of the desktop pyramid:
- phone (top of pyramid)
- recorder (bottom of pyramid)
- sms (bottom of pyramid)
- camera (bottom of pyramid)
http://i.cubeupload.com/2FkLuw.png

The folders (in pyramid location) are:
a. *todo* http://i.cubeupload.com/5dayFF.png
b. *communicate* http://i.cubeupload.com/U1RwzI.png
c. *image* http://i.cubeupload.com/p1iDmw.png
d. *audio* http://i.cubeupload.com/JSsFcm.png
e. *video* http://i.cubeupload.com/y9Xhws.png
f. *browser* http://i.cubeupload.com/Y5FixO.png
g. *roadmap* http://i.cubeupload.com/rytr0A.png
h. *outdoor map* http://i.cubeupload.com/C5w9E5.png
i. *buy* http://i.cubeupload.com/r8Omha.png
j. *files* http://i.cubeupload.com/hsrbfN.png
k. *google* http://i.cubeupload.com/pxtfs9.png
l. *network* http://i.cubeupload.com/Zwpxlu.png
m. *system* http://i.cubeupload.com/zUOXcg.png

Since the goal is near perfection, I simply present to you what I've set up
in a few minutes, and ask what you might suggest by way of material further
improvement toward the goal of perfection.

[pf...@aol.com]

On Wednesday, August 10, 2016 at 12:34:12 PM UTC-4, Aardvarks wrote:
> I am attempting Android setup perfection - therefore I ask for your
> suggestions for improvement...
>

Given your past, nothing we suggest will be 'perfect'.

With that in mind, do it yourself, and report when you reach perfection.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[Rheilly Phoull]

Probably if he got out a bit more might help with such a momentous endeavor.

[burfordTjustice]

On Wed, 10 Aug 2016 09:33:46 -0700
Aardvarks <aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

> Here is a screenshot of the near-perfect desktop:

Only by your standard...

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 11 Aug 2016 08:12:41 -0400, burfordTjustice wrote:

>> Here is a screenshot of the near-perfect desktop:
>
> Only by your standard...

Do you really think I'm the only one on the planet who organizes things by
the standard of "A place for everything & everything in its place"?

Really?

Only me?

What's your standard?

[burfordTjustice]

Do you think anyone really gives a rats ass
about your phone? How fucking big headed of you.

[nospam]

In article <noi1r0$1n64$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

>
> >> Here is a screenshot of the near-perfect desktop:
> >
> > Only by your standard...
>
> Do you really think I'm the only one on the planet who organizes things by
> the standard of "A place for everything & everything in its place"?

what you don't get is that everyone has a different notion of where to
put stuff.

there is no one single way to organize things.

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 11 Aug 2016 10:37:40 -0400, burfordTjustice wrote:

> Do you think anyone really gives a rats ass
> about your phone? How fucking big headed of you.

I'm amazed that you actually think that I already thought of *every*
generally useful app that goes on the typical Android cellphone.

I was pretty sure that I must have been missing some apps, since I
generally pick only the best of the best free apps to do the jobs that I do
on a cellphone.

But I can't be the only one who has the brains to find the best apps for
the job, can I?

I mean, you don't have a *single* app on your phone that you find useful
for your purposes that I don't already have?

That you even imply that is amazing - because I'm not actually *that*
smart. Really.

I'm amazed that you can't offer a *single* improvement.
Not one?

I'm that good?

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 11 Aug 2016 10:40:16 -0400, nospam wrote:

> what you don't get is that everyone has a different notion of where to
> put stuff.

Of course I get that notion.
That's exactly *why* I'm asking the two questions.

> there is no one single way to organize things.

I'm glad at least you *understand* that fundamental concept!

That's exactly why I asked the people here two fundamental questions.

1. How do *you* organize your desktop (screenshots would be useful)?

2. What apps do you find are the best freeware apps that I haven't thought
of yet?

The point is that I can't be the only one on this planet who has an
organized desktop containing only the best apps for Android.

Can I?

[burfordTjustice]

On Thu, 11 Aug 2016 08:16:50 -0700
Aardvarks <aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

> From: Aardvarks <aard...@a.b.c.com>
> Subject: Re: Attempting Android setup perfection - I ask your
> suggestions for improvement Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2016 08:16:50 -0700
> Newsgroups: comp.mobile.android,sci.electronics.repair,alt.home.repair
> Organization: Aioe.org NNTP Server
>
> On Thu, 11 Aug 2016 10:37:40 -0400, burfordTjustice wrote:
>
> > Do you think anyone really gives a rats ass
> > about your phone? How fucking big headed of you.
>
> I'm amazed that you actually think that I already thought of *every*
> generally useful app that goes on the typical Android cellphone.

No one said that but you.

You avoided the question again:

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 11 Aug 2016 07:58:19 -0700 (PDT), trader_4 wrote:

> It sure doesn't look anything like my phone, I'm very happy with
> how mine is organized, and would not want the organization A has,
> that's for sure.

There were two questions, where you can help me *improve* my Android setup.

1. How do *you* organize your phone?
a. What philosophy do you use?
b. What categories do you use?
c. Do you have a screenshot?

2. What apps do you find are *best*?
a. I only choose the best of the best free apps.
b. And I only choose them for what "I" do.
c. But I pretty much do what everyone else does.

I find it surprising if I really have found all the best free apps for each
purpose on a cellphone.

In fact, I'm sure I'm not that smart.
There's no way I have thought of everything.

Someone here must have either a category of apps that I entirely missed
that is generally useful, or, someone here must know of a great free app of
general use that I haven't tested and decided upon already.

So the two original and fundamental questions remain unanswered:
a. What organization category is missing from my desktop?
b. What best-of-the-best free app is missing from my phone?

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 11 Aug 2016 11:20:31 -0400, burfordTjustice wrote:

> You avoided the question again:

You avoided the question (and, in fact, you avoided the topic).

Organizing a phone is no different than organizing a toolbox.
It's no different than organizing a closet.
No different than organizing a kitchen utensils drawer.

A place for everything, and everything in its place.

Given that, I'll repeat the two simple questions here:

1. How do *you* organize your phone?

2. What apps do you find are *best* for what you do?

Specifically:

1. How do *you* organize your phone?

(Please show a screenshot so that we can learn from you.)

2. What apps do you find are *best* for what you do?
(Please suggest a best-of-the-best Android app for what you do.)

Thank you for your kind advice.

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 11 Aug 2016 16:36:56 +0100, David Taylor wrote:

> Do you mean you don't have any paid-for programs?

I'm likely decades older than many people here, so I started at a time
before computers and cellphones existed in common use; therefore, I am very
experienced at freeware and organization on all platforms.

I have asked before and nobody can come up with much that is worth paying
for that we can't easily find freeware that does the same job.

In fact, there is almost nothing that you can do with payware that you
can't do with freeware.

The only advantage of payware is that it's easy to find good payware.
Very easy.
All it takes is money.

In contrast, it's hard to find the best freeware.
It takes brains.
And effort.

So, to be clear - there *is* a cost to freeware.
The cost is the sometimes immense time it takes to find the best freeware
apps.

Luckily I've done that already, for all the functional things that "I" do.

But I'm always open to better freeware.
If you have suggestions for better freeware than I already have for the
purposes that I already outlined, that would help everyone.

I already listed all the apps I use most (in the original post).
And I already outlined all the functional categories I perform.

I'm wide open.
Rarely can people teach me new things - but I am *always* on the lookout
for that special person who knows more than I do.

I want to learn from he who knows more than I do about these three topics:
a. Getting rid of Google (I seem to know more than anyone here, sadly)
b. Functionally organizing a phone (we all do essentially the same things!)
c. Best freeware for what it is that we do (the cost in freeware is finding
the best for what you're trying to do).

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 11 Aug 2016 11:45:27 -0400, nospam wrote:

> not only that, but he doesn't get apps from the play store, foolishly
> thinking that google won't know which ones he uses.

I would love to learn from you - but you have to have *some* substance.

Without a Google Play account, and without the requisite Google frameworks
running, and without ever logging into anything, and ignoring the Google
apps (which, of course, phone home), how is Google going to track what
non-Google apps I use?

Remember, the best freeware:
a. Works totally offline (if possible)
b. Which goes without saying that I *never* log in (if it can be helped)
c. And, there is absolutely no Google account in existence
(that's why I have an entire google folder - to ensure none have an
account)

How is running a non-Google app offline going to tell Google anything?

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 11 Aug 2016 08:51:58 -0700 (PDT), trader_4 wrote:

> Best apps? You hardly have anything there that's an actual app.
> I see Todo, whatever that is. Roadmap, which appears to be Google
> Maps renamed? And the stock Android Browser.

Those are the "functional categories" of the things everyone does on their
phone. People will name them different things, and people will split them
up differently, but that's the first question.

Q: What functional categories do you organize your phone by?
By way of example, here are mine: http://i.cubeupload.com/2FkLuw.png

For my list of best-of-the-best freeware apps for each of those functional
categories, what you need is the second level, which was in the OP, but
which I reproduce here.

a. *todo* http://i.cubeupload.com/5dayFF.png
b. *communicate* http://i.cubeupload.com/U1RwzI.png
c. *image* http://i.cubeupload.com/p1iDmw.png
d. *audio* http://i.cubeupload.com/JSsFcm.png
e. *video* http://i.cubeupload.com/y9Xhws.png
f. *browser* http://i.cubeupload.com/Y5FixO.png
g. *roadmap* http://i.cubeupload.com/rytr0A.png
h. *outdoor map* http://i.cubeupload.com/C5w9E5.png
i. *buy* http://i.cubeupload.com/r8Omha.png
j. *files* http://i.cubeupload.com/hsrbfN.png
k. *google* http://i.cubeupload.com/pxtfs9.png
l. *network* http://i.cubeupload.com/Zwpxlu.png
m. *system* http://i.cubeupload.com/zUOXcg.png

Q: What best-of-the-best free apps in those functional categories did I
miss?

For example, in the "todo" category, I haven't yet found a best-of-the-best
freeware app that did what I need, which is:
1. I start the todo app
2. I speak
3. It does what I need

What I need is usually one of three things at that moment:
A. I might want it to add a line to an existing file (e.g., a buy.txt file)
B. I might want to add an appointment to my calendar (e.g., call mom at 5)
C. I might want it to remind me to get milk only when I am near the store.

Do you know of a todo app that can do those three things well?

[nospam]

In article <noic8n$8gk$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

> In fact, there is almost nothing that you can do with payware that you
> can't do with freeware.

bullshit.

[nospam]

In article <noici4$8ss$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

>
> > not only that, but he doesn't get apps from the play store, foolishly
> > thinking that google won't know which ones he uses.
>
> I would love to learn from you

bullshit you do.

anytime i or anyone else tries to explain anything to you, you go off
on a rant.

> - but you have to have *some* substance.
>
> Without a Google Play account, and without the requisite Google frameworks
> running, and without ever logging into anything, and ignoring the Google
> apps (which, of course, phone home), how is Google going to track what
> non-Google apps I use?

rather easily, and unlike your bogus claim, you *don't* want to learn
how.

every single time it's been explained, you keep insisting it can't be
done.

google makes money by tracking people, so they're not going to make it
easy to avoid being tracked.

the reality is that if you don't want google to track you, don't use a
google phone (nexus) or a google operating system (android or chrome).

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 11 Aug 2016 08:51:58 -0700 (PDT), trader_4 wrote:

> On my first page I have:

I agree we organize *slightly* differently in fundamentals:
a. You use "pages" (by design).
b. I never have more than a single page (by design).

But, that's just a philosophical difference.

I can justify my single-page system as being, on average, about 1/3 to 1/2
the number of taps it takes you to start an app - but that's about the only
advantage of my design over yours.

So your idea of using multiple pages is fine - the additional pages simply
add an additional one or two or three (or four or five, etc.) swipes to the
process of finding an app.

However, there are advantages to pages, e.g., you can trade your pages for
my folders, where the number of actions is the same if you *never* put
folders on your pages.

Once you put a folder on your pages, my single-page setup is *always* more
efficient than your multi-page setup (in terms of number of taps to start
an app).

That's why I never have more than a single page on any mobile device.

In summary the best efficiency you can accomplish with each is:
SINGLE PAGE - multiple folders: one or two taps, and you're done.
MULTIPLE PAGES - 0 folders: one or two or three taps, and you're done.
MULTIPLE PAGES - with folders: can *never* be as efficient as above!

I organize by single page for efficiency.

One additional efficiency difference between your multiple-page philosophy
and my single-page philosophy is that you *need* a dock. I don't.

Nothing wrong with needing a dock. I just don't need one because *all* my
apps are as available all the time to me as the dock apps are to you.

With a dock, you get instant view of your most common apps or folders,
whereas I *always* have instant view of my most common apps or folders.

But the two systems are, essentially equivalent.

I could argue that, in practice only, mine is fewer taps than yours, but at
best I can access my apps only two or three actions sooner than you can in
your worse case.

For example, in my worst case, it's:
[*] tap tap done

In your worst case (assuming, say, 3 screens & a folder), it's:
[*] swipe swipe tap tap done

So, I argue my single-desktop system is:
a. Harder to organize than your multi-page desktop system
b. But never more taps and most of the time about half as many taps

But, I agree, a multi-swipe system can be almost as efficient, so the
number of screens is not a big efficiency differentiator.

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 11 Aug 2016 13:45:15 -0400, nospam wrote:

> anytime i or anyone else tries to explain anything to you

Except that *you* have never explained *anything* you say.

You speak of the hairy blue monster in the closet, and you scream for your
Apple Marketing Mommy to *protect* you from your imaginary blue monster by
closing the door to make you feel safe (because *feeling* safe, is the only
thing that matters to you).

Yet, there is no hairy blue monster in the closet.
And I proved that with tremendous detail already.

I ask again...

Q: Without logging into anything, and without any google accounts, how is

[David Taylor]

I'll take that as "correct", then.

There are some paid programs for which there are no freeware equivalents
on my Android systems.

[Spurious cross-posting removed, again]

--
Cheers,
David
Web: http://www.satsignal.eu

[The Real Bev]

Actually, I was inspired to try doing that to my phone. I just have to
remember where I put certain things (some apps fit in several different
ones), but I suspect I'll figure it out. I've left some to stand alone
on the theory that either I'll want them instantaneously ("Find my car"
or I use them so often (ES File Explorer) that I don't want to waste
extra taps or brain-pixels.

--
Cheers, Bev
Self Test for Paranoia: You know you have it when you can't
think of anything that's your own fault.

[pf...@aol.com]

You are mud-wrestling with a pig. You are only getting dirty - and the pig enjoys it.

[nospam]

In article <noiia1$ht5$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

> On Thu, 11 Aug 2016 13:45:15 -0400, nospam wrote:
> > anytime i or anyone else tries to explain anything to you
>
> Except that *you* have never explained *anything* you say.

once again, you snipped to alter context.


here's the complete quote:

> In article <noici4$8ss$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks
> <aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:
> > > not only that, but he doesn't get apps from the play store, foolishly
> > > thinking that google won't know which ones he uses.
> >
> > I would love to learn from you
>
> bullshit you do.
>
> anytime i or anyone else tries to explain anything to you, you go off
> on a rant.

and you prove my point:

[nospam]

In article <noij3r$13b$1...@dont-email.me>, David Taylor

<david-...@blueyonder.co.uk.invalid> wrote:

> There are some paid programs for which there are no freeware equivalents
> on my Android systems.

just as there is on every other platform.

and when there is a free equivalent, it often is not as good.

[crankypuss]

On 08/11/2016 02:24 PM, The Real Bev wrote:
> Actually, I was inspired to try doing that to my phone. I just have to
> remember where I put certain things (some apps fit in several different
> ones), but I suspect I'll figure it out. I've left some to stand alone
> on the theory that either I'll want them instantaneously ("Find my car"
> or I use them so often (ES File Explorer) that I don't want to waste
> extra taps or brain-pixels.
>

I just put my most-frequently-used apps in the easiest-to-get-to place,
and when something gets used often enough to make accessing it an
annoyance, I promote it to an easier-to-access position. Duh?

--
http://totally-portable-software.blogspot.com
[Sat Mar 26: "Documentation and Portability"]

[crankypuss]

On 08/11/2016 01:05 PM, Aardvarks wrote:
> Q: Without logging into anything, and without any google accounts, how is
> running a non-Google app offline going to tell Google anything?

If you don't want google able to peek into your life, you also need to
not use google search, and not visit any websites that use google ad
services, and not do a whole bunch of other stuff, which you largely
can't avoid because when you visit some arbitrary website with a link to
some other arbitrary website, there's no telling in advance what
services any of them are using.

nospam's comment about not using google operating systems is mostly
spot-on, except that just about every maker (possible exceptions that I
know of being Moto and OnePlus) slams their own crapware into/onto
Android before it goes on your phone, and some might remove stuff Google
put there, but the bottom line is this: your OS is a crapshoot, unless
you personally review every line of code in the thing, you're trusting
someone, and the manufacturer (who orders the hardware from China)
doesn't give you the full source code for exactly whatever might be
installed on your phone by the time you gain possession of it.

You're in search of perfection. It's mostly been legislated out of the
realm of possibility due to cutthroat economic competition and a
consumer demographic that reads "mostly housewives and their hubbies or
their kids", ie "*not* computing professionals". If you really value
perfection, you'll find some way to facilitate it other than pissing off
potential friends by continually ranting about things that are totally
messed up; I know this from having been there. Put a cap over your rant
buttons, justified as they may be; remain in the part of the real world
that other people give a shit about, which clearly is not perfection:
Nobby Nobbs wouldn't know perfection if it bit him on the ass, and
probably half the readership here never heard of Nobby to begin with.

Paranoia is a good thing in a system security architect, but as a
consumer you're just pissing in the wind. So if you want perfection,
make your own. If you want to avoid people snooping into your real
life, don't ever enter a true fact about your life into any computer
anywhere. Good luck with that, it's about as useful as turning off
javascript (which imo is a low form of primordial excreta).

This is Earth, the world is fucked-up here, get used to it.

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 11 Aug 2016 13:45:14 -0400, nospam wrote:

>> In fact, there is almost nothing that you can do with payware that you
>> can't do with freeware.
>
> bullshit.

While there are things that exist only in payware, name a function that you
can do only with payware that I can't do with freeware.

I'm one of the most reasonable men alive - if you can name a functionality
that you have with payware that I care about having with freeware - I'll
already have the freeware to do it.

However, if I want to do it - and if I can't do it with freeware, then I'll
agree with you - but you just always say "bullshit" without backing up any
of your claims.

You never back up your claims.

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 11 Aug 2016 20:19:23 +0100, David Taylor wrote:

> There are some paid programs for which there are no freeware equivalents
> on my Android systems.

Like what?

[Chuck]

A few years ago an app. to access another computer using TS gateway
wasn't available for free on Android.

---
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