4 ms·

Locale

57 points by Straubiz 15y ago

lautis 15y ago
Locale sounds pretty sweet. I wish my iPhone would be able to do this too, but it is probably a bit too much of configuration for Steve. Also, depending on your configuration, it could lead in breaking the semantics of the physical ringer switch. For Mac OS X, there is an app which does pretty much what Locale does: MarcoPolo. I found it very useful when I needed to change SMTP server based on where I was.
- iaskwhy 15y ago
  Any idea about Windows? Because it seems it doesn't even let you manage network settings by location like OSX does...
warwick 15y ago
I wrote an OS X app to do this sort of thing a few years ago. At the time, I just used MAC addresses of routers to determine location. I wish I could write it for the iPhone, but it's above and beyond what's allowed by the rules. The holy grail for a laptop was switching your SMTP settings, since a lot of people use different ISPs at work and at home. That problem goes away with a phone, but ringer volume seems like a similar level issue for phones. I could also see doing things like reducing your notifications or changing your lock settings. (If you're interested in my software, you can find it at http://codehackers.net/locations/ http://codehackers.net/locations/)
judofyr 15y ago
Llama is a great free alternative: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.kebab.Llama https://market.android.com/details?id=com.kebab.Llama
- bhousel 15y ago
  Thanks for that! I think paying $10 for Locale seems a bit much.
  - webwright 15y ago
    Really? How do you feel about buying a $10 movie? Or a $10 bottle of wine? That was my initial reaction as well, but then I felt pretty sheepish. Here is an app that people clearly love (low risk) that speaks to a pain point I have (my phone behaving in a certain way regardless of context) and I'm really waffling over $10?
  - georgieporgie 15y ago
    I had the same reaction, then I realized that, as a software engineer, I know full well that it's a very fair price for the functionality provided. At the moment, I have no need for it, but I can see how this is a 'killer app' for many, many people. Then something else occurred to me: I had a coworker who would regularly leave his mobile phone on his desk, with the ringer set to maximum volume. He'd be gone at meetings, or to lunch, and the entire room would be disrupted repeatedly by phone calls (it seems he was a popular guy). In a case like this, I would gladly pay $20 to provide Locale-like functionality on another person's phone. Maybe there's a clever way to market apps-for-other-(annoying)-people.
    - bhousel 15y ago
      Really, you'd pay $20 to install a ringer quieting app on another person's phone in the same room, rather than just walking over and turning it off or talking to the person? wtf, people.
      - georgieporgie 15y ago
        rather than just walking over and turning it off or talking to the person? Yes. First, I wouldn't turn off someone's ringer. Do you want people feeling that they can just pick up your personal property? I don't. Second, having dealt with several coworker issues like this in the past, the way people respond can vary wildly. Some people simply realize that they were unaware, and adjust their behavior accordingly. Others will rationalize it as you being the troublesome complainer, not noticing the glares from the entire room (that's what happened in this case, and his behavior only changed once he complained and noticed that everyone else supported my position), these people require overwhelming social pressure. Others, like another coworker at this place, will become instantly angry at anyone who dares 'impose' their will on them. Since this particular tech company valued skill over all other aspects, there was a higher than normal concentration of antisocial types. Anyway, my point was simply that this app represents something which may be of far greater value to someone other than the user.
nuclear_eclipse 15y ago
I've been using Locale since it was first available for my G1 over two years ago, and it has never let me down. It's quite honestly the killer app for Android as far as I am concerned, not only because it's extremely useful, but because it embodies everything that Android is capable of that Apple has refused to allow in iOS. The best part though is that you can download apps from the market that do nothing but add even more conditions and settings to Locale, such as: headphones plugged in or not; whether the phone is on a car dock; launching other programs; lockscreen passwords; and many more. As an example of what it does for me: Default settings: Wifi off, Ringer volume 85%, Media volume 70%, Password Lockscreen on. At home: Wifi on, Lockscreen off At work: Wifi on, Ringer volume 0%, Vibrate on At night (10pm-7am): Ringer volume 0% Headphones plugged in: Media volume 20%
- nuclear_eclipse 15y ago
  Shameless plug: I ended up writing a full blog post about the topic, and included more detail and some links to the Locale plugins that I use. http://noswap.com/blog/locale/ http://noswap.com/blog/locale/
- smhinsey 15y ago
  It can do some really impressive stuff. During my "office hours" mine turns on BT and pairs to my BT speakerphone and sets a particular ringtone. Off-hours, it unpairs the device and sets a different one.
michaelcampbell 15y ago
No mention of Tasker? It does some bit more than Locale, I believe, and can even run Locale plugins. Not free, but worth it if you're into phone micro-management.
- CrazedGeek 15y ago
  Tasker is quite a bit more difficult to set up, though. I say that as a happy user- it's just not the world's nicest interface. Locale wins in that regard.
- nuclear_eclipse 15y ago
  My biggest complaint with Tasker is that it has no concept of default settings. I've tried Tasker on multiple occasions, and every time I come away with two frustrations: a) it's way too complex to navigate and configure, and b) I always end with my phone in some weird configuration state that I don't want it in, because Tasker doesn't let me set default values.
brlewis 15y ago
I couldn't tell from the Locale web site whether it lets you turn photo geocoding on/off based on location. My photo sharing site has this ability server-side, but I've always thought it would be better built into the phone.
- nuclear_eclipse 15y ago
  By default it does not, but if outside applications have access to change your camera app's settings, then it should be rather straightforward to create a plugin for Locale that adds a new setting option to handle that.

57 points by Straubiz 15y ago

Locale sounds pretty sweet. I wish my iPhone would be able to do this too, but it is probably a bit too much of configuration for Steve. Also, depending on your configuration, it could lead in breaking the semantics of the physical ringer switch. For Mac OS X, there is an app which does pretty much what Locale does: MarcoPolo. I found it very useful when I needed to change SMTP server based on where I was.

iaskwhy 15y ago
Any idea about Windows? Because it seems it doesn't even let you manage network settings by location like OSX does...

warwick 15y ago

I wrote an OS X app to do this sort of thing a few years ago. At the time, I just used MAC addresses of routers to determine location. I wish I could write it for the iPhone, but it's above and beyond what's allowed by the rules. The holy grail for a laptop was switching your SMTP settings, since a lot of people use different ISPs at work and at home. That problem goes away with a phone, but ringer volume seems like a similar level issue for phones. I could also see doing things like reducing your notifications or changing your lock settings. (If you're interested in my software, you can find it at http://codehackers.net/locations/ http://codehackers.net/locations/)

judofyr 15y ago

Llama is a great free alternative: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.kebab.Llama https://market.android.com/details?id=com.kebab.Llama

bhousel 15y ago
Thanks for that! I think paying $10 for Locale seems a bit much.
- webwright 15y ago
  Really? How do you feel about buying a $10 movie? Or a $10 bottle of wine? That was my initial reaction as well, but then I felt pretty sheepish. Here is an app that people clearly love (low risk) that speaks to a pain point I have (my phone behaving in a certain way regardless of context) and I'm really waffling over $10?
- georgieporgie 15y ago
  I had the same reaction, then I realized that, as a software engineer, I know full well that it's a very fair price for the functionality provided. At the moment, I have no need for it, but I can see how this is a 'killer app' for many, many people. Then something else occurred to me: I had a coworker who would regularly leave his mobile phone on his desk, with the ringer set to maximum volume. He'd be gone at meetings, or to lunch, and the entire room would be disrupted repeatedly by phone calls (it seems he was a popular guy). In a case like this, I would gladly pay $20 to provide Locale-like functionality on another person's phone. Maybe there's a clever way to market apps-for-other-(annoying)-people.
  - bhousel 15y ago
    Really, you'd pay $20 to install a ringer quieting app on another person's phone in the same room, rather than just walking over and turning it off or talking to the person? wtf, people.
    - georgieporgie 15y ago
      rather than just walking over and turning it off or talking to the person? Yes. First, I wouldn't turn off someone's ringer. Do you want people feeling that they can just pick up your personal property? I don't. Second, having dealt with several coworker issues like this in the past, the way people respond can vary wildly. Some people simply realize that they were unaware, and adjust their behavior accordingly. Others will rationalize it as you being the troublesome complainer, not noticing the glares from the entire room (that's what happened in this case, and his behavior only changed once he complained and noticed that everyone else supported my position), these people require overwhelming social pressure. Others, like another coworker at this place, will become instantly angry at anyone who dares 'impose' their will on them. Since this particular tech company valued skill over all other aspects, there was a higher than normal concentration of antisocial types. Anyway, my point was simply that this app represents something which may be of far greater value to someone other than the user.

nuclear_eclipse 15y ago

I've been using Locale since it was first available for my G1 over two years ago, and it has never let me down. It's quite honestly the killer app for Android as far as I am concerned, not only because it's extremely useful, but because it embodies everything that Android is capable of that Apple has refused to allow in iOS. The best part though is that you can download apps from the market that do nothing but add even more conditions and settings to Locale, such as: headphones plugged in or not; whether the phone is on a car dock; launching other programs; lockscreen passwords; and many more. As an example of what it does for me: Default settings: Wifi off, Ringer volume 85%, Media volume 70%, Password Lockscreen on. At home: Wifi on, Lockscreen off At work: Wifi on, Ringer volume 0%, Vibrate on At night (10pm-7am): Ringer volume 0% Headphones plugged in: Media volume 20%

nuclear_eclipse 15y ago
Shameless plug: I ended up writing a full blog post about the topic, and included more detail and some links to the Locale plugins that I use. http://noswap.com/blog/locale/ http://noswap.com/blog/locale/
smhinsey 15y ago
It can do some really impressive stuff. During my "office hours" mine turns on BT and pairs to my BT speakerphone and sets a particular ringtone. Off-hours, it unpairs the device and sets a different one.

michaelcampbell 15y ago

No mention of Tasker? It does some bit more than Locale, I believe, and can even run Locale plugins. Not free, but worth it if you're into phone micro-management.

CrazedGeek 15y ago
Tasker is quite a bit more difficult to set up, though. I say that as a happy user- it's just not the world's nicest interface. Locale wins in that regard.
nuclear_eclipse 15y ago
My biggest complaint with Tasker is that it has no concept of default settings. I've tried Tasker on multiple occasions, and every time I come away with two frustrations: a) it's way too complex to navigate and configure, and b) I always end with my phone in some weird configuration state that I don't want it in, because Tasker doesn't let me set default values.

brlewis 15y ago

I couldn't tell from the Locale web site whether it lets you turn photo geocoding on/off based on location. My photo sharing site has this ability server-side, but I've always thought it would be better built into the phone.

nuclear_eclipse 15y ago
By default it does not, but if outside applications have access to change your camera app's settings, then it should be rather straightforward to create a plugin for Locale that adds a new setting option to handle that.