xScope

Spent 2 weeks poking around Android SDKs and sacrificed last two weekends and finally managed to get a relatively stable version today. Named 'xScope', I did put a $2.99 price tag tough if you please excuse me. I need to buy a bird for this thanksgiving and wife kept bashing my development effort for not doing any housework in the past weeks. The browser is not full blown but works great for simple surfing. Happy holidays and have fun!

demarco5

what do you mean by not full blown

xScope

It doesn't have many options. The only option you have right now is setting a home page, where you can set favorite links. I am going to shoot a video on how it works. Thanks

xScope

xScope

New Update:
1. Added customizable home page and most recent histories.
2. Video support.
Please note: it does NOT collect any user data, nor using any third party servers. The pinch-zoom is truly gradually scaled.

Attached Images

	home2.png (48.4 KB, 90 views)
	show2.jpg (29.4 KB, 101 views)

bobohood

Is the new update, the version up right now on Android market?

xScope

Yes. Search xScope.
The pinch-zoom functionality should be the best so far (11/29/2009) in the current android market. Other products in the market zoom either 1.25 or 0.8 from center of your screen (same as default zoom buttons). xScope zooms from the middle of your two spots and scales smoothly based on the finger span.
With the 24 Hours return policy, you can always download and try first. If not satisfied, return and get 100% refund with a click a button.

xScope

A Lite version has been released as free app.

xScope

New video:

lumnative

try the Dolphin Browser, it is a full version & free. I've been using it for a week now and love it. There is so much more you can do with it than the default browser. Pinch zoom works great!

iamkewl

Way to take over the devs thread...

On the actual topic.. xscope is nice man! bought it and use it regularly.

Dragoro

That does look pretty nice

lekky

Lol, nice. Will take advantage of the trial to give this a go now.

Edit, is it still on the market, if so any chance of a QR code as I can't find it.

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Last edited by lekky; 12-08-2009 at 05:51 PM.

Droidn00b

This looks like a great app! I'll be giving it a try and will probably buy it if it works as well as your videos show. Thanks!

xScope

12/15 update:
New GUI (forward and favorite buttons are included);
More robust zoom.
This is a transitional update. Tab support is coming soon on the next update.
Thank you for your support.

glentendo

fantastic browser! loads pages faster than the default browser.

Ive noticed on my droid's keyboard, hitting enter/return after entering text in the address bar, tabs down the page. Is this on purpose?

Thanks

vincentp

I'll give it a shot and let you know what I think. I tried Dolphin's pinch zoom and was totally unimpressed. If you've managed to make it work effectively I may be willing to switch from the default browser for certain things. I'm not a big fan of pinch zoom for all purposes and websites, but if it works well, what the hell.

phwaap

This shows a lot of promise. The pinch zoom is flawless and seems to be pretty snappy loading pages. Is this the only browser that hides the home notification bar? The default browser and dolphin don't seem to by default at least.

Frankly I'd like to be able to quickly slide the browser notification bar in and out as well to use as much screen real estate as possible. I keep hoping for some sort of transparent overlay with the standard browser commands, e.g. back, forward, home, bookmark, refresh, stop, new tab, that would otherwise be hidden.

When I type in a URL and hit the arrow it always goes to google? I don't quite get that. Is there some other way to go to a URL directly besides the home page?

Anyhow, I hope you continue to make this more robust.

What's the list of features the full version has that Lite doesn't?

xScope

Thanks glentendo.
There is an update to solve it at about 3:00PM. You probably need to search with a different keyword, such as 'xscope zoom', to clear android market's cache to get newer version.
Tabs should be hidden at this point because they are not fully implemented yet. The reason behind having tabs is that sometime we just need to open links in new windows.

xScope

It is indeed tough to decide on what to show in a so small screen. I like your ideas of handling notifications. I will think about how to implement it.
The browser tries to mimic google's Chrome, where you can simply type in some keywords in the textbox and let google handle the rest of it. I need to work on a good parser to recognize URLs to directly visit.
Full version allows more histories and bookmarks right now. There will be more features for the full version, such as tabs.

Last edited by xScope; 12-15-2009 at 03:43 PM.

xScope

Have you tried 'Pin Zoom'? Basically, with one finger, 1. tap the screen, 2. quickly press the same spot second time only not to release it, 3. drag/sweep right to zoom in and left to zoom out. I find it very convenient.

glentendo

I would also love to see something like this, maybe instead of a transparent overlay, magnified glass button could be used to put the browser in "fullscreen mode" much like pressing F11 on modern browsers.

xScope

Great idea! Something in the right corner to either make it full-screen or windowed. Thanks guys!

lekky

Do you have a QR code, I can't find it, unless its not available to the UK

phwaap

What got me to thinking about this was how it covers the notification bar (which I like.) Exactly like F11. What would be useful in that mode would be to have the nav buttons easily fade in or out without switching modes. Something like the default picture Gallery does. Or perhaps (forgive me for mentioning a competitor xScope) a small corner button like dolphin that could be pressed/swiped out and, instead of gestures, just buttons and maybe the location box that would disappear when clicked.

Just tossing some stuff out there.

xScope

Added 'Toggle Fullscreen' option in the menu for a quick work around temporarily. Meantime, the 'Add Favorite' option is removed from the menu.
I hope you won't be annoyed by the update again.

dasudevil

I am unable to fomd the app. Searched xscope xscope zoom. Am I messing something

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xScope

I sometimes couldn't search it either. I am baffled sometimes because Google is supposed to be very strong at searching.
Try 'Zoom Browser'?

lekky

is it only available for 1.6+ or something?

glentendo

I for one don't mind the updates one bit. It is actually pretty awesome watching this app develope. Cheers to you xScope for keeping an open mind!

dasudevil

I have 1.6 and still nothing.

xScope

lekky and dasudevil,
It is compiled as 2.0 app. That might explain why you can't find it. I don't think the android SDK 1.5 or 1.6 support multitouch. However, I will compile a version 1.5 or 1.6 supporting pin zoom in the future.

thenapolitan

I love this!

droiiiiid

So as a Dolphin browser user, I've jumped over to xScope because:

1. Seems faster
2. Cleaner interface
3. More attractive
4. Smoother loading / rendering
5. Smoother pinch to zoom

You just got my 3 bucks about 40 minutes ago.

As you handle feature requests, try to maintain those 5 characteristics because right now it's what's making it so appealing.

Might I suggest as a logo that you use a lens with a faint x on it?

I think you could have a real winner here if you continue development with an eye towards reliability, simplicity of aesthetic, clean and intuitive UI. But what do I know? Nothing. Keep doing your thing.

Lancedroid

This thing is really starting to look good. I love the pinch and touch zoom! I just need a better way of making favorites and a way to make a shortcut of a favorite.

Can you make a new home screen or is it always set to the favorites list?

Also, the buttons on the top bar are pretty small. I have a hard time hitting them accurately.

Last edited by Lancedroid; 12-16-2009 at 12:46 AM.

nobiggie

pretty new droid owner here, and i'm a real big fan of that tap&drag-zoom ability. wasn't impressed with dolphin's pinch.

fwiw, congrats on creating the first app i paid anything for

Last edited by nobiggie; 12-16-2009 at 03:06 AM.

glentendo

This is my second paid for app. I think its money well spent concidering the browser choices out there, I've tried everything else and this is the only one I didn't uninstall after 30 seconds.

Verio

How do I set Xscope Browser to be the default browser?

lekky

Yeah 1.5 with the hero here. The 1.5 SDK does support multi-touch. I have multi-touch using the dolphin browser.

xScope

You know, both user's supports and critics are critical. Big thanks to you guys!
We are on the same page regarding those 5 characteristics. I spent all my weekends just to experimenting what size of button is right, what buttons should be on the screen, what colors ...
I will redesign the logo and publish it with next update. Or anyone want to help design one

xScope

thank you.
I usually hold my device with one hand and use my thumb to navigate. In this case, the tap&drag zoom is handy and I can't use 'pinch zoom' because it requires two fingers.

xScope

I will dig deeper. The multitouch support for pre 2.0 might be from third parties (non standard SDK libraries). I had read the MotionEvent document and couldn't find the functions.

xScope

Verio,
I will make this as a user's option in the future.

xScope

The home screen will be redesigned in the future update. The screen itself is actually an HTML file. So we have plenty of room to make it nicer

detroid

Def. going to DL this soon

smacinskyjr

well im sold im uninstalling dolphin browser and buying your full Version. The free version works much mor seamlessly than dolphin. This is money well spent in my opinnion. keep up the good work, and by the way im going to change my rating on dolphin and change my comment to endorse xscope.

smacinskyjr

I feel stupid for asking this, but i have forgotten how to do it! Can some one please remind me how to set this up as the default browser?

droiiiiid

There's not currently a way to do that. It's part of what the dev is working on for the next version.

droiiiiid

Awesome. Keep up the good work.

As for the logo, here's kind of what I had in mind:

Paint.NET/Contents/Tutorials/RoundGlassButtons - Wikibooks, collection of open-content textbooks

But instead of it being green with a chunky x, it'd look like glass and have a very slender x that followed the same contour as the lens, like it was etched in.

It's good because lens = zooming, clarity, focus; glass= smooth, simple, classic, elegant; and x = target, precision. It also fits your name, of course.

The one thing I don't like about what I've linked to here is that it's a straight-on view. It'd be better if it were seen from a slight angle.

Just tossing some stuff out their. Anyone with photochops want to try to mock something up for our dev friend?

Or as an alternative, go for a glass-looking lens/globe thing. The map of earth is a ubiquitous browser icon, so it'd be good their. Then add a glint of light in the shape of an 'X'. I might actually like that one better.

Last edited by droiiiiid; 12-16-2009 at 03:38 PM.

droiiiiid

And one more thing, pin-zoom might be worth trying to patent. It's a brilliant way to do zoom on a mobile where only one hand is available.