Recommended Apps and Accessories.

[Guest Rico_89]

Anyone got any apps or purchased any accessories for their V5 that they think others would be interested in then please post them here.

Here’s one that I think is a must for the V5; Paragon exFAT, NTFS & HFS+, what this does is allow you to mount NTFS USB devices to your phone via otg.

While Fat 32 drives will work perfectly anything formatted to NTFS will produce a damaged usb storage error. However this app solves this issue perfectly and you don’t have to do anything except install it and then give it root access, so you will need to be rooted. I have tried other apps that are supposed to do the same thing but this is only that worked.

Here’s a pic of an NTFS formatted 500gb hard drive connected to my V5:

Edit: If you start getting random messages saying “Paragon has been granted super user permission” then Force Stop the app and then just run the app before you connect to an NTFS hard drive.

Edited August 18, 2013 by Rico_89

[Guest allanmac]

Another good accessory is a USB OTG cable. They're under $2 on eBay.

I'd be interested if anyone has used the V5's Miracast feature and if it's actually useful.

[Guest allanmac]

A couple more app suggestions:

• The new "Google Play Edition" camera app appears to work well on the V5! It allows you to select "8 megapixel" unlike the stock camera. You can also switch to the front camera to see just how frightening you look at 1.2mp. All I did was append a .bak to Gallery2.[apk,odex] and then installed the new camera .apk. So far it works... there is also a panorama mode. the Photosphere app also appears to work. There are many articles out there about what the new camera app looks like and how to install it (e.g. here).
  
• I uninstalled the PinyinIME.* apk/odex.
  
• I uninstalled SmsReg.apk/odex.
  

Edited August 19, 2013 by allanmac

[Guest allanmac]

I just cleaned up my ancient contacts list with the "Twitch" app. I am impressed! It is far more powerful than some of the other apps I tried like "Number Fixer".

[Guest Dan Mullen]

A couple more app suggestions:

• The new "Google Play Edition" camera app appears to work well on the V5! It allows you to select "8 megapixel" unlike the stock camera. You can also switch to the front camera to see just how frightening you look at 1.2mp. All I did was append a .bak to Gallery2.[apk,odex] and then installed the new camera .apk. So far it works... the Photosphere app also appears to work. There are many articles out there about what the new camera app looks like and how to install it (e.g. here).
  
• I uninstalled the PinyinIME.* apk/odex.
  
• I uninstalled SmsReg.apk/odex.
  

How did you get Photo Sphere working? I had it working on my old Galaxy S2 but it wouldn't work on my V5. The camera and gallery worked fine but there was no Photo Sphere option - I put it down to the compass being broken.

[Guest Rico_89]

A couple more app suggestions:

• The new "Google Play Edition" camera app appears to work well on the V5! It allows you to select "8 megapixel" unlike the stock camera.
  

.... you can select 8m with the stock camera app.

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If you’re looking for an over the ear headset then check out the Turtle Beach M5. The inline mic is really good and Chrystal clear and the sound is awesome for the price. The ear pads are covered in a breathable cloth so you never get sweaty ears, like you do with the leather or imitation leather covered headphones. Also they are super light and can be worn for hours without any pressure pain on ears from prolonged use and you get a gold plated TRRS cable adaptor in the box.

The only con I can think of is that they do leak sound, so if you have the volume turned up too loud then people sitting next to you might hear what you’re listening to.

Prices can fluctuate quite a lot, I got mine from Amazon for £14, and last week they were at £16 and now they seem to be up to over £18 so you might want to monitor the price to make sure you get the best deal.

Well check out some Youtube videos if you’re interested but I have to say I really like them.

http://www.amazon.co...turtle beach m5

[Guest allanmac]

How did you get Photo Sphere working? I had it working on my old Galaxy S2 but it wouldn't work on my V5. The camera and gallery worked fine but there was no Photo Sphere option - I put it down to the compass being broken.

I can select camera, video or panorama mode. I didn't do anything special in the install. Perhaps it's a matter of getting the proper .apk? I saw some other .apks that were smaller or were packed as .zip's. The link I included above is the one I used and was a simple install once the existing Gallery2.* was renamed (or removed).

.... you can select 8m with the stock camera app.

Odd, it was not an option in the Camera app on my V5 running the latest stock ROM. I think 6mp was the highest selectable resolution despite the "Hardware Info" app showing that 8mp was supported by the camera module.

Edited August 18, 2013 by allanmac

[Guest Rico_89]

You have select preview to 4:3 ratio and then 8m is available ..also for 1080 video recording you must set the quality to "Fine".

Edited August 18, 2013 by Rico_89

[Guest allanmac]

You have select preview to 4:3 ratio and then 8m is available...

Ah, that explains it! Thanks.

FYI, the new camera app mentioned above does reach 8mp (2448 x 3264).

Edited August 18, 2013 by allanmac

[Guest Dan Mullen]

I can select camera, video or panorama mode. I didn't do anything special in the install. Perhaps it's a matter of getting the proper .apk? I saw some other .apks that were smaller or were packed as .zip's. The link I included above is the one I used and was a simple install once the existing Gallery2.* was renamed (or removed).

Yes, I also get camera, video and panorama mode, but the Photo Sphere option is missing. It's down to the lack of a compass - Photo Sphere can't operate without the compass sensor. Shame - I made some great Photo Spheres and "Tiny Planets" with my S2!

[Guest allanmac]

My mistake. I was confusing panorama with Photo Sphere.

I hope you're right and Photo Sphere activates if/when the compass is fixed.

[Guest Rico_89]

I got the heads up from yahoo yesterday that their weather app is available for android and I have to say it is awesome.

Check it out; it has some really nice animations and widgets.

https://play.google....d.weather&hl=en

[Guest Northstandhero]

I've been using this for a couple of months and recently it's just had an overhaul, great weather widget and I've tried loads.

What other apps do people consider essential?

I always go back to Player pro for my music, Ubersocial pro for my twitter widget, Sky and BBC news for their widgets.

What do others use for football related news? have the BBC sport and Sky score centre but they're not brilliant. I just wish I could get Sky Go to work on the V5.