Android Got a Transformer Prime.

[Rydian]

So after doing a lot of reading around, I decided this was the one for me.
No dock, don't have the money to spare for it just yet. XD
Loving the design, but of course I'm new to tweaking out android.
The installed version is 4.0.3, and I'll make a list of my main intentions, complaints, and curiosities.

• Rooting.
  The rooting method using SparkyRoot seems to have been fixed (I updated before remembering about rooting and the update fixed the exploit, my bad), is there a way other than unlocking the bootloader to put on a custom ROM? I do not want to lose the warranty on this expensive thing, so if there's no method that keeps the warranty I'll just go without rooting it for now since it seems less important than it used to be.
  
• Keyboard.
  The sound for the default keyboard is weird, can I change it? Also I'm not fond of the ASUS model keyboard that came preinstalled, what other keyboards are recommended? Is the default the most workable?
  
• Ad-blocking in the browser.
  Any suggestions? Willing to pay a buck or two since it's sort of a service (a subscription to updated filters). I don't want just HOSTS stuff.
  
• Alternative browsers.
  Anything magically-delicious available, or could I stick with the default? I like the default's ability to only load plugins on-demand when I click on their designated area (something I use plugins for in my desktop browsers), if that's available.
  
• Video playing.
  The included player is nice in it's ability to read the MKV container and such, but it can't play the MOVs from my camera, or some older AVI anime rips I have so I think it's a codec issue because they show up but as blank icons... what's the recommended player?
  
• Google Talk
  I want my tablet to NOT involve me in google talk, but still do my email and google account and such, how do I do that?
  
• IMs
  What's a decent multi-network messenger program (like trillian or pidgin) for android? I mainly need yahoo, msn, and aim. Skype I can use the dedicated app for I suppose.
  

More questions likely to come as I [strike]rub it on my nether regions[/strike] play with it more.

 

[Anfroid]

So after doing a lot of reading around, I decided this was the one for me.
No dock, don't have the money to spare for it just yet. XD
Loving the design, but of course I'm new to tweaking out android.
The installed version is 4.0.3, and I'll make a list of my main intentions, complaints, and curiosities.

• Rooting.
  
  The rooting method using SparkyRoot seems to have been fixed (I updated before remembering about rooting and the update fixed the exploit, my bad), is there a way other than unlocking the bootloader to put on a custom ROM? I do not want to lose the warranty on this expensive thing, so if there's no method that keeps the warranty I'll just go without rooting it for now since it seems less important than it used to be.
  As of now there is no way of unlocking while keeping the warranty, which sucks

• Keyboard.
  
  The sound for the default keyboard is weird, can I change it? Also I'm not fond of the ASUS model keyboard that came preinstalled, what other keyboards are recommended? Is the default the most workable
  I personally haven't used the stock keyboard at all, i use and recommend swiftkey for tablets.
• Ad-blocking in the browser.
  
  Any suggestions? Willing to pay a buck or two since it's sort of a service (a subscription to updated filters). I don't want just HOSTS stuff
  As you said you were rooted, so go get Adfree android(i think thats what its called) it works great.

• Alternative browsers.
  
  Anything magically-delicious available, or could I stick with the default? I like the default's ability to only load plugins on-demand when I click on their designated area (something I use plugins for in my desktop browsers), if that's available.
  ICS Brower+ or Overscreen are pretty great. in my opinion.
• Video playing.
  
  The included player is nice in it's ability to read the MKV container and such, but it can't play the MOVs from my camera, or some older AVI anime rips I have so I think it's a codec issue because they show up but as blank icons... what's the recommended player?
  I use MX player pro for most my videos, if for some reason some video wont play right i go to dice player. Both are great, they have hardware acceleration, subtitles, high compatibility, and are really simple to use.
• Google Talk
  
  I want my tablet to NOT involve me in google talk, but still do my email and google account and such, how do I do that?
  I dont see anything wrong with google talk but im pretty sure as long as you dont open it and accept the permission it wont involve you at all, or you can use titanium backup to uninstall it(if its a system app)
• IMs
  
  What's a decent multi-network messenger program (like trillian or pidgin) for android? I mainly need yahoo, msn, and aim. Skype I can use the dedicated app for I suppose.
  That, i cant help you with.

More questions likely to come as I rub it on my nether regions play with it more.

I hope that helped

 

[notmeanymore]

If I remember correctly, Firefox for Android has addons, one of them being Ad Block Plus.

As you said you were rooted, so go get Adfree android(i think thats what its called) it works great.

Apparently you don't have any idea how Adfree Android works. All it does is redirect HOSTS which is what he said he doesn't want.

As for IM, I find it funny that you mention Trillian, as Trillian is available for Android. Perhaps not ICS yet though.

 

[The_Dragons_Mast]

• Rooting. Last I checked there is no easy rooting for the latest update but better go check in xda forums they should tell you for sure .

• Keyboard. The keyboard can be easily changed but I use a hardware keyboard so no suggestions.

• Ad-blocking in the browser. There is an add on for dolphin & firefox to do that .

• Alternative browsers. There are many but I have mainly used dolphin.

• Video playing. I believe its moboplayer at least thats the one I got . Its free & ran everything I ever threw at it so give it a try .

• Google Talk Not sure so I will leave it for now .

• IMs There is android version of trillian that is pretty good give it a try .

 

[ProtoKun7]

You could just sign out of Google Talk (but I use it so you wouldn't be able to talk to me - instant disadvantage).

Also, I wanted to get a Transformer Prime; still do but I don't know whether to get that or the Transformer Pad Infinity.

As for ad blocking, AdFree Android worked in the past, but I use AdAway now.

 

[Originality]

To get a PadFone, Transformer Pad 700 or Transformer Pad 300? They're all coming out later, so I still get plenty of time to think about it.

Btw, I use Dolphin most.

 

[Rydian]

Tried out Chrome and Firefox, I like the default browser more... haven't tried the others yet.

As for IMs I saw the IMO has an android version as well, and I used it on IOS just fine so it looks like that'll work for me.

I'll check out the video players and keyboards later.

 

[SifJar]

Just weighing in on the rooting/custom ROMs part: Even if it was possible to root, you can only install a custom ROM if you unlock the bootloader. Custom ROMs require unlocked bootloader, whereas root can often be achieved without such drastic measures through an exploit of some sort. On some devices, unlocking the bootloader will require you to root first. On others, the manufacturer may allow unlocking in return for voiding warranty. Not sure what the deal is with the Transformer Prime.

But on a related note, it seems the mempodroid exploit may work on this device on 4.0.3; It's mentioned in the readme here - https://github.com/saurik/mempodroid

Dunno if there are multiple builds of the stock ROM all based on 4.0.3 in which case this information may no longer be valid.

Anyway, hope that has helped a little at least. Note that I have no experience with that device, I just have a bit of knowledge of Android and experience with other devices.

On the topic of keyboards: I hear good things about SwiftKey X and Swype. Personally I quite like the HTC keyboard that came on my phone, but I'm not sure if there's some way to install that on other devices or not.

 

[Quietlyawesome94]

Opera is also worth checking out. I personally use ICS browser+.

BTW I would check out Cyanogenmod 9 when it gets a stable release. Dalingrin, the guy mostly responsible for getting stuff working on the HP Touchpad, has a Transformer and is probably one of the best ROM developers out there. He'll probably contribute quite a bit to the Transformer

I also use MX Player and Dice Player. Both great apps.

Here are a few novelty apps that I would recommend too.

Sixaxis Controller: Title says it all, it allows you to sync a sixaxis with your Android device. Has features such as Touch emulation, which makes the device think it is being touched when a button is pressed.
Also has USB Gamepad spoofing where your tablet thinks a USB gamepad is plugged in when actually your sixaxis is synced over BT. A must if you plan on playing Shadowgun, GTA3, or emulators.

Network Spoofer: An ARP poisoning app that lets you redirect traffic of other people's devices to other sites and whatnot. Great for trolling.

Splashtop THD: A Tegra 3 optimized verison of the Desktop Streamer. If you have a NVIDIA GPU on your PC and a decent Internet connection you can play Skyrim on your tab.

I would recommend the following keyboards: Swiftkey Tablet X, Thumb Keyboard, and TouchPal Keyboard.

 

[Rydian]

• Rooting.
  Latest update patched the core exploit all these things are using, so I'm giving up for now since I value my warranty more.
  
• Keyboard.
  Trying out swiftkey and swype for now, seeing which of the three (including default) I like the best. Swype can take a bit of getting used to so I may just touch-tap since this thing is a decent size.
  
• Ad-blocking in the browser.
  Still haven't found anything that really works, since modifying HOSTS needs root. I did find one proxy program that doesn't need root, but it lacks a filter set and I see no way to download one.
  
• Alternative browsers.
  Chrome's lack of flash irks me. Firefox's left tab space usage thing irks me. ICS+ doesn't really offer anything I need. Dolphin's kinda' nice, but I'll likely stick with the default.
  
• Video Playing
  Trying out MoboPlayer and MX Player. MoboPlayer's interface annoys me... while MX Player's interface is nicer, it seems to have a speed issue where when bringing up the overlay the video temporarily slows down, and then while removing the overlay the video catches back up to where it was. Might be because the video I was playing (MOV from camera) was done in software mode and I might need to install the codec (it looks like ARMv7 is the codec I need) for hardware acceleration. Gonna' check that out now.
  
• Google Talk
  It's not that I don't want to use google talk at all, it's that I don't want my tablet signing me into it constantly in the background. If I want to be on IMs, I'll open up an IM app.

I am having one major problem though. I cannot download APK files from most websites. To clarify; the file downloads, but is then deleted at the end and the OS tells me it "failed", even though I watched it download. From what I've googled this was introduced in 2.2 and is a form of anti-piracy, by not letting APK files download from a site unless the site sends certain headers related to APK files (and filesharing sites of course don't send these headers). The problem is 99.999%+ of websites on the internet don't send these headers (as they're not even officially-registered MIME-types).

So is there a browser or addon that does NOT send the download to the OS? All the browsers I've tried (stock, ICS+, chrome, dolphin, etc.) feed the download to the OS, which filters it. I did manage to find one app that actually downloads files itself (ByteTornado), but it's a phone app so it's stretched and ugly and slow and buggy and the zoom is fucked up and all sorts of stuff, so for the times I need to download an APK through a browser, I'd much rather find something else (like a download manager that ACTUALLY WORKS by leeching the download from the browser).

 

[Jakob95]

Rydian I never had that problem that you are having and I am running a HTC Incredible 2 on 2.3.4, I download the .apk and it automatically works. Same goes for my Acer Iconia A100 running Android 4.0.3. Maybe the APK's you are downloading are bad/broken ones. Try to download them from 4shared.com usually works for me. Anyways as for installing custom ROM's I can tell you right now that you really shouldn't, and just be on your stock ROM while being rooted at the same time. Custom Rom's tend to not be as stable as the official ones, and yeah they can be flashy or be even more upgraded version of Android but they still won't be ever as stable as the official ROM. Only ROMs that tend to be are usually ones that are based on the stock ROM, and they just install some tweaks into the ROM which you can really do yourself in some cases.

 

[SifJar]

You could try Easy Downloader: https://play.google....mRvd25sb2FkIl0. I haven't tried it on my Android phone yet, but I have it sideloaded on my BlackBerry PlayBook (it can sideload Android apps and run them, albeit not excellently) and it seems to work nicely. Dunno how well it plays with browsers though, PlayBook Android support isn't great, apps don't always interact properly with each other.

EDIT: Looks like the "Pro" version of the app is free as well, probably want that one over the link above: https://play.google....mxvYWQucHJvIl0.

 

[notmeanymore]

I am having one major problem though. I cannot download APK files from most websites. To clarify; the file downloads, but is then deleted at the end and the OS tells me it "failed", even though I watched it download. From what I've googled this was introduced in 2.2 and is a form of anti-piracy, by not letting APK files download from a site unless the site sends certain headers related to APK files (and filesharing sites of course don't send these headers). The problem is 99.999%+ of websites on the internet don't send these headers (as they're not even officially-registered MIME-types).


So is there a browser or addon that does NOT send the download to the OS? All the browsers I've tried (stock, ICS+, chrome, dolphin, etc.) feed the download to the OS, which filters it. I did manage to find one app that actually downloads files itself (ByteTornado), but it's a phone app so it's stretched and ugly and slow and buggy and the zoom is fucked up and all sorts of stuff, so for the times I need to download an APK through a browser, I'd much rather find something else (like a download manager that ACTUALLY WORKS by leeching the download from the browser).

Download to PC, transfer to phone via Dropbox app.

I haven't seen the error you're having on my HTC, but then again, I had to be rooted before I could install external apps of any sort, because AT&T blocked sideloading.

 

[Rydian]

Rydian I never had that problem that you are having and I am running a HTC Incredible 2 on 2.3.4, I download the .apk and it automatically works. Same goes for my Acer Iconia A100 running Android 4.0.3. Maybe the APK's you are downloading are bad/broken ones. Try to download them from 4shared.com usually works for me.

It may be the stock ROM doing it then (which cements the notion that I need to keep downloads out of the OS's reach XD).

As for 4shared, I'm having various issues with their app/service right now, I'm unable to use it. I sent their support an email yesterday, waiting on a response.

You could try Easy Downloader: https://play.google....mRvd25sb2FkIl0. I haven't tried it on my Android phone yet, but I have it sideloaded on my BlackBerry PlayBook (it can sideload Android apps and run them, albeit not excellently) and it seems to work nicely. Dunno how well it plays with browsers though, PlayBook Android support isn't great, apps don't always interact properly with each other.

EDIT: Looks like the "Pro" version of the app is free as well, probably want that one over the link above: https://play.google....mxvYWQucHJvIl0.

At first read it looks like the main way to get downloads into that is via copying the link to the file, which isn't usable for filesharing sites... but it being a plugin for dolphin should work. I'll try that out, thanks.

Download to PC, transfer to phone via Dropbox app.

I need the ability to download apps outside the market outside of my computer being involved, though. For now I'm just sticking the APKs I download into a shared folder and using ES File Explorer to grab it since I'm still local (works pretty well).

 

[SifJar]

You could try Easy Downloader: https://play.google....mRvd25sb2FkIl0. I haven't tried it on my Android phone yet, but I have it sideloaded on my BlackBerry PlayBook (it can sideload Android apps and run them, albeit not excellently) and it seems to work nicely. Dunno how well it plays with browsers though, PlayBook Android support isn't great, apps don't always interact properly with each other.

EDIT: Looks like the "Pro" version of the app is free as well, probably want that one over the link above: https://play.google....mxvYWQucHJvIl0.

At first read it looks like the main way to get downloads into that is via copying the link to the file, which isn't usable for filesharing sites... but it being a plugin for dolphin should work. I'll try that out, thanks.

Have you tried Dolphin's built in download manager? It should stop files being downloaded by the OS.

EDIT: Yeah, I should read more carefully... Ignore this.

But I think any download manager (e.g. the one I linked above) requires you to long press the link and choose "Share Link" and then select the app, which I think won't work for file sharing sites.

EDIT: I found another download manager that might work: Download Blazer [https://play.google....ture=nav_result]. When clicking a download link in stock browser after installing that, it asked what app to use. I chose Download Blazer and it worked.

EDIT: Works for MediaFire downloads, assuming it works for other file sharing sites too.

 

[Rydian]

Yeah the whole issue of getting the file to the program in the first place is why I needed a download manager. I'm happy to report that installing easy downloader pro did it, it integrated itself with dolphin and launched when I tried to download an apk. I'm not fully happy with it since it won't open the APK itself (for some reason it tries to open it in the media player instead of package manager so I need to go to the file manager and browse to the location to install) and for some reason it forces portrait mode when it launches... but at least it's functional, and these are comparatively minor gripes considering nothing else worked at all. XD

Now my next task is to find a media player I like that works well... time to test some of the other suggestions.

 

[SifJar]

You could try Download Blazer from my previous post and see if it works out any better, seems to work nice enough on my phone, opens APKs in the package manager by default and works in landscape. Afraid I can't help with a media player, with my small screened phone all I need is music and HTC's stock music app does the job just fine for that.

 

[jalaneme]

• Rooting.
  The rooting method using SparkyRoot seems to have been fixed (I updated before remembering about rooting and the update fixed the exploit, my bad), is there a way other than unlocking the bootloader to put on a custom ROM? I do not want to lose the warranty on this expensive thing, so if there's no method that keeps the warranty I'll just go without rooting it for now since it seems less important than it used to be.
  
  imo rooting is not really needed on android, the OS is more or less open compared to IOS so you are not missing much, if you want customization try GO launcher HD for tablets, that is what i use.
  
• Keyboard.
  The sound for the default keyboard is weird, can I change it? Also I'm not fond of the ASUS model keyboard that came preinstalled, what other keyboards are recommended? Is the default the most workable?
  
  you can't get better than go keyboard and what makes it a plus is that it's FREE, i tried the swift keyboard app and i disliked it becasue of the keyboard placement, give go keyboard a try.
  
  it has customization sounds, loads of themes and colours and comes in loads of languages too, direct link here:
  https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDkQFjAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fstore%2Fapps%2Fdetails%3Fid%3Dcom.jb.gokeyboard&ei=yj-cT8-ZC6rK0QXVten-Dg&usg=AFQjCNH5qZc7GQYxfrpyyf5rnIarlVM5gQ&cad=rja
  
• Ad-blocking in the browser.
  Any suggestions? Willing to pay a buck or two since it's sort of a service (a subscription to updated filters). I don't want just HOSTS stuff.
  
  dolphin HD browser has adblock built in for free, check the google play store just to confirm.
  
• Alternative browsers.
  Anything magically-delicious available, or could I stick with the default? I like the default's ability to only load plugins on-demand when I click on their designated area (something I use plugins for in my desktop browsers), if that's available.
  
  dolphin HD browser, i alternate between the stock browser and dolphin HD, chrome and firefox does not support flash so i haven't used those.
  
• Video playing.
  The included player is nice in it's ability to read the MKV container and such, but it can't play the MOVs from my camera, or some older AVI anime rips I have so I think it's a codec issue because they show up but as blank icons... what's the recommended player?
  
  mobo player, it's free and plays mov and mkv with subtitles, try it out:
  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.clov4r.android.nil
  
• Google Talk
  I want my tablet to NOT involve me in google talk, but still do my email and google account and such, how do I do that?
  
• IMs
  What's a decent multi-network messenger program (like trillian or pidgin) for android? I mainly need yahoo, msn, and aim. Skype I can use the dedicated app for I suppose.
  

answers in bold.
can't help you with other stuff as i don't do social networking, maybe someone else can help you with that.

 

[MelodieOctavia]

So after doing a lot of reading around, I decided this was the one for me.
No dock, don't have the money to spare for it just yet. XD
Loving the design, but of course I'm new to tweaking out android.
The installed version is 4.0.3, and I'll make a list of my main intentions, complaints, and curiosities.

• Rooting.
  
  The rooting method using SparkyRoot seems to have been fixed (I updated before remembering about rooting and the update fixed the exploit, my bad), is there a way other than unlocking the bootloader to put on a custom ROM? I do not want to lose the warranty on this expensive thing, so if there's no method that keeps the warranty I'll just go without rooting it for now since it seems less important than it used to be. You root it, you break warranty. Sucks, but that's the way it is.
• Keyboard.
  
  The sound for the default keyboard is weird, can I change it? Also I'm not fond of the ASUS model keyboard that came preinstalled, what other keyboards are recommended? Is the default the most workable? The Android Keyboard (Not ASUS) is pretty cool. Also, you may want to check out Swype, they have support for tablets now.
• Ad-blocking in the browser.
  
  Any suggestions? Willing to pay a buck or two since it's sort of a service (a subscription to updated filters). I don't want just HOSTS stuff. Honestly I don't know much about this.
• Alternative browsers.
  
  Anything magically-delicious available, or could I stick with the default? I like the default's ability to only load plugins on-demand when I click on their designated area (something I use plugins for in my desktop browsers), if that's available. Opera browser is pretty delicious.
• Video playing.
  
  The included player is nice in it's ability to read the MKV container and such, but it can't play the MOVs from my camera, or some older AVI anime rips I have so I think it's a codec issue because they show up but as blank icons... what's the recommended player? You might want to try Cube (listed as "3" in the app market)
• Google Talk
  
  I want my tablet to NOT involve me in google talk, but still do my email and google account and such, how do I do that? If it comes pre-installed with stock, you can always uninstall it if you're rooted. If you're running a custom ROM, it usually won't come pre-installed.
• IMs
  
  What's a decent multi-network messenger program (like trillian or pidgin) for android? I mainly need yahoo, msn, and aim. Skype I can use the dedicated app for I suppose. Trillian is on android also, if I remember correctly, but it's a paid app.

More questions likely to come as I rub it on my nether regions play with it more.

 

[notmeanymore]

When it comes to music, all I use is Google Play Music. Movies, I used QQ Player just because it was free and supported MKVs.

Spoiler

Though now that most anime fansub groups have switched to 10-bit encoding, I doubt the videos would work on my phone anymore.