Initial Enthusiasm for Development

If you just want to see the app then skip through to the end.

For a long time I had been wanting to teach myself the art of Android App development. Not being new to programming (previous VB6, VB.NET & C# .NET experience) I decided to finally give it a go.

Now to say this was my first attempt would be a small lie, quite some time ago I got the relevant development environment setup (Eclipse, the SDK, AVD etc….) but got fed up. It seemed that rather than spending time learning the language (Java) and about Android generally, I spent most of my time troubleshooting Eclipse IDE problems, which seemed a mile away from Visual Studio! After a couple of weeks I grew tiresome of Eclipse and the AVD for testing.

So what changed this time round?

Firstly I stumbled across this Google+ post, which renewed my enthusiasm. The key things I extracted were:

- Avoid using the emulator (AVD) and use a real device for debugging.
- Try a different IDE other than Eclipse such as IntelliJ.
- Use android libraries that are available to you.
- Build your app in small pieces and don’t try to run before you can walk.

Secondly, Google have really improved the overall look of the Android UI from 3.0 and up (especially 4.0+) which can only be a good thing when trying to develop an application that looks aesthetically pleasing.

Thirdly, the platform is far more mature than the last time I tried.

Development

Before jumping straight back into using Eclipse I decided to give IntelliJ a glance, whilst it looked excellent I decided that it would be far easier to learn using Eclipse which most tutorials are based on (such as adding 3rd party libraries etc….). Once I got Eclipse up and running I was pleasantly surprised to find that a number of the Android App wizards had been hugely improved since I last used it, which filled me with confidence that the process had matured.

I decided to make a fairly simple app to enable users to set their Microsoft Exchange Out of Office reply without logging into OWA. For me it was the perfect “starter” app, I only really needed one main activity for the main UI and one for settings. Having such a basic app meant that being overwhelmed wasn’t going to happen this time round. A 3rd party library would also be used to provide connectivity to Microsoft Exchange.

Having started using Android 1.5 (HTC Hero) and now 4.2 (Google Nexus 4) I was very keen to provide compatibility to older devices. Whilst this can be a minefield (won’t go into this here), there are a number of great libraries available to help bridge the API differences between versions. Such as ActionBarSherlock which provides the action bar part of the UI introduced in Android 4.0. I decided initially that whilst I would learn how to implement ActionBarSherlock for compatibility, I would still target 4.0+ for initial launch.

I won’t go into much more detail here, but these are a few key points that helped me along the way:

- Always test on a physical device where possible, if not use the x86 emulator images.
- Learn how to deal with screen rotation from the outset and don’t cheat.
- Stackoverflow.com is your best friend for finding examples and solutions to problems.
- Learn how to use basic layouts and controls, this will come in handy later.

The Result

One brand new app called Out of Office (Exchange) made by myself.

Ironically we use Google Apps here at ProCo IT. A similar app is in the works but in the meantime try out:
Vacation Responder (Gmail)

Over these past few months we’ve been working hard to release our Outlook add-in for Google Apps, after a beta testing we have deemed the product ready for release and today we are proud to present version 1.0.0.

The final release includes Out of Office functionality but we are planning to add some cool new features such as “attach with Google Drive“.

To download the trial or purchase a copy please visit https://out-of-office-google.proco-it.com/

Update – Google Apps Tools for Outlook has been officially released!

To download the trial or purchase a copy please visit https://out-of-office-google.proco-it.com/

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Note the Google Apps Out of Office Beta (v0.7.0) expired on the 1st of June 2012. I’ve uploaded an extended beta which will run until the 10th June 2012. After that the full version will be available at a small cost.

v0.8.0 is available for download from here.

I recently stumbled across an offer on twitter for some free keyword research in return for a little blog post (truth being I needed to post something new anyway!) Having been something I’ve done myself in the past (kind-of) I thought I’d let an expert give me the low down. Gareth from Clickwork Media is someone I’ve heard nothing but good things about, SEO pro for those in the know or keyword & search engine optimiser for everyone else who wants to be found online.

You can find out more about the offer here.

Update – Google Apps Tools for Outlook has been officially released!

To download the trial or purchase a copy please visit https://out-of-office-google.proco-it.com/

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UPDATE

Note the Google Apps Out of Office Beta (v0.7.0) expired on the 1st of June 2012. I’ve uploaded an extended beta which will run until the 10th June 2012. After that the full version will be available at a small cost.

v0.8.0 is available for download from here.

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Version v0.7.0 has been released, Buttons and menus are now in the same locations as if Outlook is connected to an Exchange account.

Please see my previous post for full details or just dive straight in and download the time limited beta.

To be keep up with the latest releases follow our development on twitter @ProCoIT_dev

Update – Google Apps Tools for Outlook has been officially released!

To download the trial or purchase a copy please visit https://out-of-office-google.proco-it.com/

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UPDATE

Note the Google Apps Out of Office Beta (v0.7.0) expired on the 1st of June 2012. I’ve uploaded an extended beta which will run until the 10th June 2012. After that the full version will be available at a small cost.

v0.8.0 is available for download from here.

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Detailed in my previous post I am currently looking for beta testers for an Outlook Add-in I’ve been developing which will allow you to set your Google Apps Vacation Responder / Out of Office directly from Outlook (a must have feature for Exchange & Outlook fans).

UPDATE 08/04/2012

Version v0.6.0 has been released, now with support for Outlook 2003. Any experimental features have been removed for the time being to focus on Out of Office / Vacation Responder only.

Please see my previous post for full details or just dive straight in and download the time limited beta.

To be keep up with the latest releases follow our development on twitter @ProCoIT_dev

Update – Google Apps Tools for Outlook has been officially released!

To download the trial or purchase a copy please visit https://out-of-office-google.proco-it.com/

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One of my major gripes with Google Apps sync for Outlook is not having the ability to set an out of office message or vacation response directly from Outlook. A light-bulb moment encouraged me to develop an Outlook Add-in to bring back some of the missing functionality. See below for more details:

UPDATE

Note the Google Apps Out of Office Beta (v0.7.0) expired on the 1st of June 2012. I’ve uploaded an extended beta which will run until the 10th June 2012. After that the full version will be available at a small cost.

v0.8.0 is available for download from here.

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UPDATE 16/04/2012 - Version v0.7.0 - has been released, Buttons and menus are now in the same locations as if Outlook is connected to an Exchange account.

Feel free to try the time limited beta available from here - note only Microsoft Outlook 2003/2007/2010 is supported with a Google Apps Business account. If you have any problems, please leave a comment below or use the support email provided from within the application. We would love to have some feedback – good or bad!

Download v0.7.0 - please uninstall any previous version before installing.

How to install/troubleshooting PDF

Please note the current Google security model only allows Administrators to change email settings, which is why an administrative account is required in the options screen. Then end user cannot change the user email without knowing the administrator password.

Release History
0.7.0 - Buttons and menus are now in the same locations as if Outlook is connected to an Exchange account – 16/04/2012
0.6.0 – Support for Outlook 2003. Removal of experimental features to focus on Out of Office / Vacation Responder only - 08/04/2012
0.5.0 – Initial open beta

To be keep up with the latest releases follow our development on twitter @ProCoIT_dev

Screenshots

First things first, this post is related to “true” Android tablet applications that were designed for Honeycomb or Ice Cream Sandwich. There aren’t any games on the list this time round, perhaps I’ll cover that another day. Feel free to comment with your own favourites.

Most of the below are available on the Android market er…oops I mean Google Play Shop or Store in the USA (apparently we don’t understand the word Store here in the UK).

Thumb Keyboard

I immediately stumbled across this app when I bought my first Tablet, unlike a lot of other keyboards it has the option to split the keyboard in half making the most used keys easily accessible. It doesn’t suffer from typing delay like some of the alternatives and the auto correction is pretty good too.

IMDB

Being an avid Film and TV fan I like to be able to look up reviews, trailers and general information about cast members etc… It houses all the information available on IMDB.com inside an excellent tablet layout which is easy to navigate.

Movies by Flixster

Although IMDB can provide all of the information available in Flixster Movies, this is great to see new movie releases and their trailers at a quick glance.

GMail

Quite simply this is the best client for Google Mail available and of course Google Apps for business. However if you are a Microsoft Exchange user all is not lost, the built email client in Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich has excellent Exchange support.

Chrome Beta

Whilst Google Chrome is still in beta form and is only available for devices running Ice Cream Sandwich I have to give it a mention. In tablet form it looks almost identical to the desktop application we are all used to, it offers bookmark sync, page sync across devices along with a fantastic feature named link zooming (probably not its official name). When I tap on links I quite often end up hitting the wrong one. This is what link zooming solves. Put simply the specific area is enlarged allowing you to be more accurate with your fingers. NOTE: The Beta really is a beta, it has a number of problems such as hanging at the moment!

GoLauncher HD

You may or may not be familiar with the term “launcher”, in simple terms its manages your home screen and applications menu. GoLauncher has been available for phones for some time but only recently has a tablet version been released. Fresh out of Beta and now on v1.0 it has a custom dock for your most used applications and a fantastic screen to add/remove shortcuts and widgets. It is also far smoother than the stock Honeycomb/ICS launcher. Currently available from the developers website.

AntTek File Explorer

Does what it says on the tin. It’s a file manager but with a difference, using fragments it allows document previews such as TXT, PDF’s and various image files. It also has full network support for accessing files on shared storage. Unlike other file managers it has drag and drop support – a Marmite feature in my view.

We’ve all accidentally deleted or changed a file that we couldn’t get back, either we haven’t got a backup or the scheduled backup ran before the file was created.

You can use the recycle bin to recover documents but Previous Versions can do far more including:

Recover files that have been permanently deleted

Recover entire folders that have been permanently deleted

View and restore files that have been changed or saved over

I want to recover a file

Lets do it. In this example we are going to recover document that has been saved over by accident. The document lives in the My Documents folder and is named Letterhead.docx.

Firstly click the Start Menu and open your Documents folder.

Once open locate Letterhead.docx and right click it.

Listed on the menu will be an item named “Restore previous versions“. Click this and you will be presented with a list of all of the versions that are recoverable.

Not seeing any recoverable items?

Follow this video to make sure you have System Protection turned on.

At this point you can decide which version you want to open, restore or copy.

Open will allow you to view the file in its application (Microsoft Word in this instance).

Copy will prompt you to save the file in a new location.

Restore will overwrite the latest file (once you have confirmed).

This feature is also available for files stored on servers – talk to us if you’d like to know more.

Another useful tool for recovering files is Recuva made by Piriform. It is especially useful for recovering files from external storage such as USB drives and memory cards.

BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP
Whilst the previous versions function is quite powerful it does not replace the need for backing up your system. Backups provide protection from issues such as hardware failure whilst the previous versions function cannot.

There are many backup options available nowadays, we can help you find the perfect fit to your business.

So you may or may not have heard of the term defragmentation or defragging before. Over time files on your computers hard disk become widely spread apart and as a result applications and documents take longer to open. You will often hear the technical term as ‘fragmented’ or ‘fragmentation’. Defragging in simple terms is a process carried out that aligns all of your software & files back together again, ultimately returning performance lost over time.

Common Scenarios

If you have Windows 7 or Vista, defragging is automatically scheduled for 1AM every Wednesday but who has their computer on at that time? If you were to start it during your working day it would severly impact the performance of your PC whilst trying to work.

Windows XP user? There is a built in disk defragmentation tool but unlike the above it is not automatically scheduled.

So how do I go about defragmenting my hard drive?

I normally suggest running a scheduled job once a week but the key thing to remember is that it will impact the performance of your computer whilst it is running. If you take a lunch break at consistent time or you make dinner for the kids in the evening – this is the time when the defrag job could start.

I personally like to use a piece of software called Defraggler – made by Piriform. In my opinion it works far more efficiently than the software built into Windows and it has far more configuration options when scheduling jobs. Such as shutting down your PC when the job has finished.

Whilst all the above should improve PC performance in most scenarios, it is only one piece of the puzzle!

Note: If you have spent the money to have a Solid State Disk (SSD) installed in your PC then defraggler will automatically notify you that defragmenting the drive will reduce it’s lifetime. In this case uninstall defraggler and don’t worry!