
Introducing Cover - timdorr
http://coverscreen.tumblr.com/post/64965314790/introducing-cover
======
fidotron
This is a neat idea, however, I fail to see either why it requires so much
funding ($1.7m according to TechCrunch) or any server backend whatsoever.

~~~
fbnt
I could build you one of those without privacy intrusion, and add the ability
to switch from home/work/car automatically using GPS.

I'd be happy with 1% of what they raised , anyone interested? :(

~~~
bitsweet
We could do it all together on assembly - I can fast track through to
assemblymade.com/ideas

(Disclaimer: founder)

~~~
fbnt
Dude, can I just say I wanna make love with the idea behind assembly? I just
saw the website and video and it makes so much sense!!

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cik
This terrifies me. There's an instant problem of paranoia, and trust here. I
would never be okay with the idea of an application monitoring what I'm doing,
in order to reorder itself. Mind you, I say all this without knowing if it
requests network access.

How do I know you're not sending my usage patterns upstream to CoverCorp? How
do I know that you're not reading the Android Music Provider database, and
sharing my data back?

~~~
tene
So, let's say your worst fears are true, and it's sending up a log of every
app you use. What happens then? What's the harm? I'm not being rhetorical, I
really don't follow what the fear is here. I can't imagine how my life would
be any different if some company knows that I launched chrome at 12:22, then
hangouts at 12:30, then some half-assed game at 12:35.

~~~
grimtrigger
Just because its fun to play "worst case scenario"...

An actuary finds a link between late night cell phone usage and mental illness
X. They determine that given your cell phone usage pattern, you have an 50%
chance of illness X. Such information is sold to insurance companies,
employment background check companies, yada yada

~~~
k-mcgrady
>> "An actuary finds a link between late night cell phone usage and mental
illness X. They determine that given your cell phone usage pattern, you have
an 50% chance of illness X. Such information is sold to insurance companies,
employment background check companies, yada yada"

What scares me about this is that there is a place in the world having an
illness affects your employment prospects and costs you money (insurance).

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zmmmmm
So how does it work with a PIN / pattern lock?

The problem with most lock screen enhancements is that anything you put there
is outside your phone security "firewall" and available to anybody who picks
up your phone. The 4.2 lock screen widgets work fairly well with this (eg: you
can open the camera app without unlocking the phone, but attempting to swipe
over the gallery forces you to unlock). However they are (I assume) using the
core framework APIs to do that and I presume support for it is coded into the
apps, while this seems to be doing it for any app.

~~~
radley
It sounds like they're avoiding the issue for now by only allowing non-locked
users:

> When you send them your email address they ask if you use a lock screen.
> (re: @ev9)

~~~
GoldStarBrother
Actually, their F.A.Q.[1] says that they do support this feature:

>Is Cover compatible with a security code? (passcode, pattern, etc.)?

Yes. Cover is compatible with both PIN codes and security patterns. When you
have a security code set, Cover’s “peek” feature is disabled. The app icons
will slide across the screen, the security code screen will appear, and then
the app will launch. In order to use peek, we recommend that you configure
your security code not to take effect immediately. For example, if you set it
to a 1-minute or 5-minute timeout, you’ll be able to use peek without
sacrificing much security.

[1]: [https://www.coverscreen.com/faq](https://www.coverscreen.com/faq)

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nl
Wow, so much negativity!

What happened to the dreams of a computer in your pocket that knew what you
wanted to do?

All anyone can think of is to complain about privacy? Really?

I once did a brainstorm session with a facilitator who taught me a great
technique. Whenever someone suggests something you aren't allowed to so "No"
or "But" \- instead you should say "Yes" or "And".

Try it for a second:

This application tries to predict what you will need when you pick your phone
up. Currently it uses serverside processing to help with that. _Yes, and
imagine what else it could do with that serverside power! No battery
constraints to worry about!_

Privacy problems are a great way to kill good ideas. Put those concerns aside
for a minute and imagine the portability of handheld devices merged with the
power of always-on servers.

~~~
huxley
Yes and privacy problems are still real issues especially as privacy rights
are continuously eroded every single day.

Just because you wanted something in your pocket to solve all your problems,
doesn't mean everyone else did. Many of us wanted a great tool, not a buddy or
advisor or mind-reader.

Every technological development has many possible routes it can follow, it
can't follow them all. And you will inevitably be disappointed at some of the
routes it takes.

Can you imagine what it must be like to be Richard Stallman or Ted Nelson with
a clearly articulated vision of the future but so many things go the other
way?

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jackbewley
The Android app SayIt has a widget that does something similar to this. It
learns purely from usage/recency and is generally very good at presenting you
with the apps your most likely to launch. All of the analysis is performed on
the device so no information is shared with 3rd party servers. It also sports
very fast voice based app launching. No affiliation just use it.
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rn.sayit](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rn.sayit)

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chrisrh
Looks like to be in competition with Aviate:
[http://getaviate.com/](http://getaviate.com/)

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rcthompson
On a semi-related topic, is it really possible for an app to properly replace
the Android lockscreen? I haven't found any way to do it. As far as I can
tell, all the "lock screen" apps use a hack where they disable the stock lock
screen and then emulate a lock screen by asking you to make the lockscreen app
your default home screen and then launching your "real" home screen when you
"unlock" them. I've seen it said that they do this because it isn't truly
possible to replace the lock screen. The problem is, of course, that this hack
sometimes doesn't work or produces weird results often enough to discourage me
from using any custom lock screen.

~~~
lnanek2
There are some other alternatives. HTC had a lockscreen API for a while.
Similarly, generic Android has started supporting widgets on the lock screen,
basically. One of the evangelists even has a popular widget lockscreen with
extensions called DashClock that many people are writing for.

Lastly, I haven't tried it, but I suspect replacing the Android Launcher would
also let you do it. This is the method Facebook used for putting their talking
heads in every app.

~~~
antrix
> Lastly, I haven't tried it, but I suspect replacing the Android Launcher
> would also let you do it. This is the method Facebook used for putting their
> talking heads in every app.

The talking heads overlay doesn't require replacing the Launcher. Installing
just the FB Messenger app will get you that feature too.

AFAIK, it uses the "Draw over other apps" permission
(android.permission.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW) to achieve this. Here's a library
that does the same:
[https://github.com/pingpongboss/StandOut/](https://github.com/pingpongboss/StandOut/)

------
27182818284
My initial reaction to this is nothing but _love_.

I _hate_ the idea it needs all sorts of server connections for their business
model. I don't know a way around that, but if they or another company figure
out how, that's what people will gravitate toward. Especially given the
paranoid climate.

~~~
ghiculescu
They could charge money for the app? It doesn't say anywhere, but I'm guessing
it's going to be free given the analytics business model.

~~~
i386
Mobile users don't expect to pay for apps, ever. Even if people are willing to
pay, there isn't any recurring revenue unless you charge for upgrades and the
upgrade would have to be to be significantly better than the version they
already own. So the question is, how much could you improve a product like
this, over the course of life time of the business?

Not to mention that mobile users generally feel entitled to free upgrades -
TapBots are having this problem right now with TweetBot.

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pc86
Got my 5S in the mail last week.

This makes me want an Android. Great job, guys!

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PhasmaFelis
I was excited for about five seconds, and then I realized that this thing is
way the hell more complicated than I need.

All I want is a way to put the current weather on my lockscreen under the
time, and to put immediate access to camera, flashlight, and Google Now there.
Everything else I'm perfectly comfortable doing myself. Any suggestions for an
app that does that?

~~~
bergie
Weather and time on lockscreen is easy using one of the widgets that can be
placed into an Android lockscreen, for example DashClock:
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.nurik.roma...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.nurik.roman.dashclock)

Shortcuts... edge swipe from bottom on my lockscreen gives Google Now (after
asking for the security code). On my Nexus 4, edge swipe from right brought
the camera, though that doesn't seem to be working on the Nexus 7 I have now.

For flashlight you could maybe add this extension to DashClock:
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fleckdalm....](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fleckdalm.dashclockcustomextension)

Note: this is assuming that you have a stock Android 4.x lockscreen. No idea
whether these things work on one of the custom vendor lockscreens.

------
radley
They're going to have the same problem as Facebook Home. They're essentially
doing an overlay activity like most of us do. It only works as they describe
provided the user keeps the device unlocked in the system. You can't bypass
the device lock screen without rooting the device.

~~~
smackfu
I thought the main problem users had with Facebook Home was "where did my
widgets to?"

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lurkylurk
This looks really nice UI wise and the video aesthetic is clean. Great job on
that.

Are those interactions simulated though? I'm not an Android user so when I saw
how thin the bezel was on that white phone they use I had to look it up.

Turns out it's the S4 Play Edition[1] without the Samsung logo. That bezel
isn't right though, I mean the S4 bezel is pretty thin but the video makes it
look razor thin. Also: I want razor thin bezels, let's get there.

[1] [http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/samsung-
galaxy-s4-google...](http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/samsung-
galaxy-s4-google/4505-6452_7-35761621.html)

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ejp
This looks really slick!

How well does it work with some kind of lock-screen security? The UX for that
is always a hassle, and I'd love to find someone who is doing it well.

~~~
ev9
I'd imagine they're ignoring lock screen stuff for the moment. When you send
them your email address they ask if you use a lock screen. I bet they're
filtering invites to those who don't. MVP, and whatnot.

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gameguy43
Interesting example of a useful smartphone extension that is Android-only
because of limitations in the access iOS gives 3rd party apps.

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wayward-yeah
I wrote an iOS speed-dial app that does the same sort of predication for
contacts that this does for applications. It's definitely an order of
magnitude less sophisticated, but I though it might be worth sharing:
[http://nate-at-lightspeed.appspot.com/swiftdial](http://nate-at-
lightspeed.appspot.com/swiftdial)

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jfaghm
I must've missed something because the site says "launched" but I can't find
the app on the site or in Google Play. Or is it only available for certain
devices? I have an HTC One Google Play edition.

~~~
scep12
The site's banner still says "Coming soon to Google Play"

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samstave
Heh. What the Facebook phone could never be; useful.

It would be good to be able to define actions based on location (either by
which wifi I connect to or GPS) - as well as time of day.

(I'd like to have my screen auto dim at 10PM)

~~~
explosivo2k2
Tasker
([https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.dinglisch....](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.dinglisch.android.taskerm))
is perfect for this kind of thing. There is a learning curve but it's worth it
- very powerful app.

~~~
lazylizard
and automateit, llama and even microsoft on x..

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orenbarzilai
Seems nice, I will definitely give it a try. Remind me of
[http://everything.me](http://everything.me)

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thoughtpalette
Doesn't Android already have a "profiles" mode so you can switch between
multiple app layouts and configurations?

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nathan_f77
Why does it need an internet connection? Why is it posting data to a server?

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kronbsy
Looks like a nicer version of aviate.

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rstevens11
this thing is slick! Great, thoughtful design that is making me want my
android back

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g3orge
wow, beautiful device... anyone know which is it?

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sscalia
Neat idea, elegantly executed. Exceeds the design standards typical of Android
apps.

I've never liked Android's implementation of home/app screens (widgets + some
apps, tap to reveal all your apps).

I guess if you want a lot of clocks, Android is great.

This adds another app/button layer...

~~~
what_ever
Hah, widgets is the feature which makes Android great for me. I don't need to
open each and every app every time to see the state and I can see multiple
things right on my homescreen at the same time. It's so much more than "lot of
clocks". In fact lock screen widgets are even better since I don't even have
to unlock my phone to see widgets and updates.

I suppose the app drawer concept is the same between iOS and Android and I get
an option - (which is important) if you don't like having multiple
homescreens, you can just disable it. I can arrange all work related apps and
widgets on left homescreen, all personal on the right. And all the other apps
remain in the drawer. On iOS, I don't get this option.

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unlogic
Right, unlocking the phone prior to opening apps is so hard and boring. Let's
just launch them directly from the lockscreen. Wait, apps are accidentally
being launched in my pocket. Can I have a lockscreen for the lockscreen?

