Locale beta expired

[MarkHirt]

I'm thinking this will turn into an "alternatives to Locale" thread.

Check out Setting Profiles. I'm testing out the lite version now if it works I'll gladly pay the $2.95

 

[takuya]

This Setting Profiles app looks pretty dang good. I think I am going to test it by setting up all the profiles I want and individually see if they work.

It doesn't appear to have as nice a calendar integration as Locale. Locale's is very simple where you just check off the meetings you want the profile to apply to. This app requires the entry of keywords, that I assume it looks for in your calendar entries....I say 'assume' because every time I try to add a keyword, it crashes on me....more details as I test it out.

 

[djharrison]

I was tired of Locale after they changed from beta to paid. It also seemed to randomly kill my battery.

I'm using Manners (it is 1/10 the cost too) instead. It does not have all the features of Locale, well actually it only has one. But, it is the single feature I used Locale for anyway. It places the phone in vibrate mode based on location.

 

[mattbooty]

Does timerrific or Setting Profiles (or tasker once its available) support having different ring volume/vibrate settings for calls and notifications? One thing I really used a lot in locale was this feature, when I'm at work I like to keep the call ringer volume on vibrate only, but I need to keep notification volume at a normal level so I know when emails and calendar reminders come through.

 

[CriticalCritic]

I was also POd about the surprise this morning. I have already heard people suggesting Timeriffic to take care of time-management of ringers and wifi and stuff. But, just in case anyone else was also into the Astrid+Locale combo, there used to be a free app on the market called Openloopz. I still have it on my phone, though I can't seem to find it in the market right now. Anyways, Openloopz allows you to create task lists, and reminder notifications are triggered by time or location.

On a side note, I went ahead and purchased the new Locale this morning as a test run (with every intention of getting a refund if it sucked). And I gotta say, I'm not disappointed. I mean, I hate that I can't disable the damn taskbar icon, but the network location (with GPS disabled) feature now nails my position perfectly (within 20ft). Whereas the beta version always placed me about 1/2 mile north east of my correct location.

The scheduled ringer setting was buggy when I first ran it, but now it seems to be working just fine. I would say that, once you utilize the multi-apt easteregg, it functions just as well as Timeriffic... except it costs $10.

Overall, I think I'm going to keep the new program. Sure the dev was underhanded. And when I e-mailed them a question about a plugin, their response was short and rude. But I have gotten accustomed to the Beta's the functionality. Looks like they got me

 

[mihalich]

Settings Profiles seems to be a really good alternative to Locale. The only thing it doesn't have is the ability to turn vibration on and off for notifications. it can only turn vibrate on/off for the ringer.

This is acceptable to me, since I used Missed call for phone/sms notifications.

This is the problem with these applications. Nobody has yet provided a complete implementation. Settings Profiles is close. All it needs to add to be complete for me is this:

1) Vibration support for notifications.
2) Repeatable alarm notifications (allowing you to set the LED, and repeat patterns.

You need both of those. Then I can remove Missed Call.

Settings Profiles allows you to turn on/off wifi, bluetooth, phone; set volume for ringer & notifications; turn vibrate on/off for phone; set LCD brightness; and set the screen timeout for turning off. These are just the features I used. There's a couple of other things in there too.

You can setup rules based on time, location, calendar, incoming calls, missed calls, etc.

Location based stuff seems to be available only in the full version. Everything I've said other than location is in the free version.

-Joe

 

[pavirotten]

It was good while it lasted. Que cera cera.

 

[MarkHirt]

It look like Setting Profiles does

Does timerrific or Setting Profiles (or tasker once its available) support having different ring volume/vibrate settings for calls and notifications?

 

[UncleMike]

I managed to get a copy of Tasker (directly from the developer's site) and installed it. I really like it so far. It's extremely flexible, and consequently takes more effort to setup, but I now have a widget on my Home screen setup to toggle between vibrate and ring. I'll definitely be snapping up the next version once the download links are restored.

For the record, I don't begrudge the developer of Locale making money, but pulling the rug out from under users certainly won't do much for their reputation.

 

[Mipmap]

Man, screw the dick that made Locale.

As others have said my major disagreement:

-Beta was promising but not perfect.
-The beta was terminated without warning.
-The app costs 10x the price of almost any other paid app.
-New reviews in the market state the new version is drastically different in a negative way than the beta was and are openly asking for the beta back.
-It was deceptive to allow us to install something that does something as important as scheduling OFF times for ringers and then killing the app.

I'm all for people trying to make a living, but I don't like being given free candy in the way of something to make my life easier and then having the rug suddenly pulled from under me to try to shock me into paying for the most expensive app I've ever seen on the store.

I'm never buying Locale and I'll go back to keeping my phone on vibrate 24/7 to avoid school mishaps until I can find a reliable alternative to Locale.

 

[UncleMike]

...I'm never buying Locale and I'll go back to keeping my phone on vibrate 24/7 to avoid school mishaps until I can find a reliable alternative to Locale.

For a quick fix I would recommend Timeriffic (based on my brief use of it yesterday). If you want to duplicate Locale's time-based functionality with Timeriffic, you need to create two profiles - one to change the settings, and another to change them back - but that's the only real learning curve there is.

 

[InstantKarma]

For a quick fix I would recommend Timeriffic (based on my brief use of it yesterday). If you want to duplicate Locale's time-based functionality with Timeriffic, you need to create two profiles - one to change the settings, and another to change them back - but that's the only real learning curve there is.

No, one profile with two different actions. I like Timeriffic, but I'd like for there to be a quick way to toggle back to the default settings and back (for those times you're not actually following your schedule). But there isn't.

I downloaded Toggle Settings last night after reading about it in this thread. I like it, it's like the perfect blend of Quick Settings and Timeriffic.

 

[mattbooty]

It look like Setting Profiles does

I installed this morning and so far so good. Although like another poster mentioned can't set the vibrate for notifications, which was nice but not a deal-breaker.

The interface is definitely not as slick as locale was, and locale had a lot more options than this does, but fortunately I didn't use them yet so I don't miss them.

 

[david83]

when does locale beta stop working then? is it a specific date? ive been ignoring the upgrade notifications and im sure it was working fine last night (I have it put my phone on silent when im in bed).

 

[mattbooty]

when does locale beta stop working then? is it a specific date? ive been ignoring the upgrade notifications and im sure it was working fine last night (I have it put my phone on silent when im in bed).

Yesterday I went in to edit a rule, and it said it had expired and i couldn't use it anymore and booted me out, then last night my rules didn't run anymore. Previously like you it was only a warning that I should upgrade.

Maybe if you don't go into locale to edit a rule it won't actually disable it from running?

 

[david83]

Maybe if you don't go into locale to edit a rule it won't actually disable it from running?

Too late. I just went in and it kicked me out. Is that it then - no more Locale? I'll confirm tomorrow.

 

[mattbooty]

Too late. I just went in and it kicked me out. Is that it then - no more Locale? I'll confirm tomorrow.

It was for me. I was hoping that it would continue to work with the rules I'd already created, but last night I started getting audible notifications after 10:00 PM, a time that I had a locale rule set up to be silent and had always worked in the past.

So far I've only ever done time based rules, and Setting Profiles so far does most everything I did previously in locale (only exception is vibrate setting for notifications). I looked over tasker though and it looks slick, I like the idea of application specific settings as well (when in app x set screen timeout to x minutes sort of thing). I'm torn, if setting profiles continues to work I don't know if I should buy it or wait to see what tasker is all about. I wish we had a better idea of when his public beta would be available again.

 

[jamesdean]

I used locale to launch applications based on time of day. Is there a decent replacement available for that use?

 

[MarkHirt]

Setting Profiles can launch apps too

I used locale to launch applications based on time of day. Is there a decent replacement available for that use?

 

[jamesdean]

Thanks, checking it out now.

 

[takuya]

So far I've only ever done time based rules, and Setting Profiles so far does most everything I did previously in locale (only exception is vibrate setting for notifications).

Setting Profiles also has a weird calendar integration that I am not too fond of. I liked Locale where you just selected what calendar entries that you wanted the setting to affect. With Setting Profiles I need to have it look for specific words in my calendar entries...Its ok, but not nearly as slick and intuitive as Locale.

I wish I could get ahold of Tasker because I really want to move to another program soon, but don't want to do so until I have explored all the available options.

 

[mattbooty]

Even for $10 I think I would have bought locale if it wasn't for all the review saying that the paid version is worse than the beta. That just scared me off. Ironically, I would possibly end up buying if he had a free trial of the CURRENT functionality to see how much is different.

 

[square]

Even for $10 I think I would have bought locale if it wasn't for all the review saying that the paid version is worse than the beta. That just scared me off. Ironically, I would possibly end up buying if he had a free trial of the CURRENT functionality to see how much is different.

all apps essentially have a free 24 hour trial. if you choose to uninstall within the first 24 hours, you won't be charged.

i'm saying eff locale. the beta was nice...but there are very few apps worth $10, and this certainly isn't one of them.

 

[takuya]

all apps essentially have a free 24 hour trial. if you choose to uninstall within the first 24 hours, you won't be charged.

i'm saying eff locale. the beta was nice...but there are very few apps worth $10, and this certainly isn't one of them.

True. I LOVE this about the Android Market as opposed to the iPhone App Store. Apple would never give us our money back. Please note: You can only return the app one time. For any future purchases of the app, after you have returned it once before, the 24hour evaluation period is not available.

 

[mattbooty]

all apps essentially have a free 24 hour trial. if you choose to uninstall within the first 24 hours, you won't be charged.

i'm saying eff locale. the beta was nice...but there are very few apps worth $10, and this certainly isn't one of them.

24h just isn't long enough to fully test out something like that and know if its actually going to do what you need it to.