I want to get started with developing apps for phones and tablets. It is a very general idea, rather open ended.
To have tangible results, I want to make a trivial app and publish it in the official Google Play store: Just Roll One Die.
A stretch goal, and an actual request from a family member, is to develop a 3D building instructions app for Minecraft, similar to LEGO MINDSTORMS 3D Builder.
Optional topics to explore:
- scripting: Ruby, Python
- letting kids code
- Bluetooth (to interface with Lego Mindstorms)
Looking for hackers with the skills:
This project is part of:
Hack Week 15
Similar Projects
Backfire TV - Take back control of your Firestick by andreabenini
Take Back Control of Your Amazon Firestick.
Tired of Ads, a cluttered launcher, and buttons you can't change? BackFireTV is a project to liberate your Firestick from Amazon's walled garden and make it truly yours. They call it the firestick. To fight fire with fire, you need a backfire.
That's the soul of BackFireTV. To truly liberate it and return back to its core capabilities this project uses a linux script, one Android app and ADB access against Amazon's restrictive policies. We leverage these internal tools to create a "backfire" against the incessant ads and locked ecosystem, transforming your Firestick back into the useful, customizable device it was always meant to be.
The Problem
The Amazon Firestick starts as an excellent, affordable streaming device. However, Amazon's
aggressive Ad policies and restrictive ecosystem have turned it into an increasingly annoying
and a less useful device. It comes with frustrations:
- Messy interface. The less the better was probably the best slogan for the early device,
its interface is now cluttered and chaotic when you probably need just a couple of buttons
for starting your favorite applications.
- Constant Ads. The default launcher is filled with commercials and sponsored content.
- Bloated Interface. A cluttered and slow home screen you can't customize.
- Locked Buttons. Dedicated buttons for services you don't use (like popular streaming
providers) that can't be easily changed.
- Lack of Control. A closed ecosystem that limits what you can do.
I could overlook them all if the device was provided for free. But since you pay and you own it it should be legit to do whatever you please in your personal device and network.
The Solution: BackFireTV
BackFireTV hacks your Firestick to give you back control. It uses a clever system of DHCP hooks
and ADB (Android Debug Bridge) commands to remotely manage your device, block annoyances and
customize your experience from the moment it connects to your network.
The dhcp lease action starts a nohup command on the firestick and forgets about it, the daemon
then manages running programs, hacks remote control features and keys. It can be paused or
resumed, no rooting required.
Create an Android app for Syncthing as part of the Syncthing Tray project by mkittler
Description
There's already an app but code/features already in Syncthing Tray could be reused to create a nicer app with additional features like managing ignore patterns more easily. The additional UI code for the app could then in turn be re-used by other parts of Syncthing Tray, e.g. to implement further steps in the wizard as requested by some users. This way one "UI wrapper codebase" could serve GNU/Linux, Windows and Android (and in theory MacOS) at the same time which is kind of neat.
Goals
- DONE: Learn more about development for Android and development of UIs with Qt Quick
- DONE: Create an experimental app reusing as much existing Syncthing Tray code as possible
- DONE: Build Syncthing as a library also for Android and use it in the app (already done but needs further testing and integration with the rest of the app configuration)
- DONE: Update the Syncthing Tray website, documentation
- DONE: Extend the app so it has at least a start page and an import
- Update forum thread
- DONE: Upload an experimental build on GitHub
- Extend the Syncthing API to download single files on demand (instead of having to sync the whole directory or use ignore patterns)
- Bring back parts of the newly developed mobile UI back to Syncthing Tray on the desktop to fully benefit from the cross-platform development
- Add UI to add/edit folders and devices in desktop tray app
- Add UI to show out-of-sync items in desktop tray app
- Create an alternative "AppWindow" tailored for desktop platforms reusing UI components developed for the mobile app
Resources
- Android SDK/NDK and emulator
- Qt Quick