B4A Library Tooleap Library - Floating notifications and miniApps




Tooleap Tutorials
Part 1 - Introduction to Tooleap
Part 2 - Introduction to Tooleap Development
Part 3 - Installation of Tooleap library and Application Setup
Part 4 - Creating a Tooleap Activity in B4A
Part 5 - Launching a miniApp
Part 6 - Other considerations
...more later

Tooleap Libraries
- All tooleap libraries are attached to the post including the sdk jar

Requirements
B4A 3.80
Android 2.2+

Samples and Demos
- Attached to this post
- NJDude's Sample: http://www.b4x.com/android/forum/th...cations-and-miniapps.41136/page-2#post-247534
 

Attachments

  • TooleapLibraries-0.9.4.zip
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  • TooleapSample_0.9.4.zip
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johndb

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Pardon my ignorance, does this library feature the same functionality as the StandOut library? Can someone point out the diference/s if any?
Pretty much the same functionality but with a few more bells and whistles. Tooleap is just a little fancier so I'm not sure what this fuss is about. You can do the same as Tooleap using StandOut without all of the product keys and restricted beta memberships. I use StandOut and have reviewed Tooleap so that's my take on it. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Are there are major advantages to using Tooleap over StandOut which, by the way is available as a B4A Library?
 
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Euxaes

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Thank you for sharing your insight and clarification. I have a project in mind that could possibly utilize this functionality. I shall look into which options are better to use, this or StandOut.
 

thedesolatesoul

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Pretty much the same functionality but with a few more bells and whistles. Tooleap is just a little fancier so I'm not sure what this fuss is about. You can do the same as Tooleap using StandOut without all of the product keys and restricted beta memberships. I use StandOut and have reviewed Tooleap so that's my take on it. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Are there are major advantages to using Tooleap over StandOut which, by the way is available as a B4A Library?
Thank you for sharing your insight and clarification. I have a project in mind that could possibly utilize this functionality. I shall look into which options are better to use, this or StandOut.

I disagree with johndb on his evaluation of Standout vs Tooleap. Here is mine:
- StandOut is a lot more flexible as you can create windows wherever you want. Tooleap has two objects: floating notifications and miniApps.
- StandOut requires a lot more code to acheive the same effect as Tooleap. Choose your pick on what kind of floating app you need.
- StandOut is a lot finicky, and requires some interesting workarounds to achieve simple things (like longpress). It requires you to get things right, the flags etc, otherwise it doesnt behave the way you want it to. It is hard to master. Tooleap on the other hand is ridiculously easy to code for.
- Finally, this pertains to both StandOut and Tooleap, they are both restricted in what they can do. There are some things I found I could not do with Standout which forced me to abandon it. There is no more active development on it, no new features can be added and no bugs can be fixed anymore. In Tooleap, while things are in the hands of the Tooleap developers on how they develop/restrict it, atleast it is in active development.
 

bluedude

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NJDude,

Testit it but it only works with a debug key. When using a private key I get a notification about missing key and then nothing happens.

Cheers.
 

Tooleap

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I disagree with johndb on his evaluation of Standout vs Tooleap. Here is mine:
- StandOut is a lot more flexible as you can create windows wherever you want. Tooleap has two objects: floating notifications and miniApps.
- StandOut requires a lot more code to acheive the same effect as Tooleap. Choose your pick on what kind of floating app you need.
- StandOut is a lot finicky, and requires some interesting workarounds to achieve simple things (like longpress). It requires you to get things right, the flags etc, otherwise it doesnt behave the way you want it to. It is hard to master. Tooleap on the other hand is ridiculously easy to code for.
- Finally, this pertains to both StandOut and Tooleap, they are both restricted in what they can do. There are some things I found I could not do with Standout which forced me to abandon it. There is no more active development on it, no new features can be added and no bugs can be fixed anymore. In Tooleap, while things are in the hands of the Tooleap developers on how they develop/restrict it, atleast it is in active development.

Hi everyone,
Very interesting discussion.
Just adding my opinion into the mix, although it's a little biased :)
Tooleap and Standout are basically two different multitasking solutions:

Always on top - In Tooleap, the only thing that is always on top, is the small floating bubble, which you can use to open a side-screen with mini app. With Standout, an entire window is always on top.
Notifications System - Tooleap comes with a built-in notifications system, which you can use as a replacement to standard android notifications. The user can view your app content with only a single click on the bubble, instead of two clicks (one click to open the notification drawer and another to open the notification). Standout does not have a built-in notification system.
Ease of development - With Tooleap, you only need to provide the SDK with a standard Android Activity, and we do the rest. Standout requires a lot of tinkering and coding to get results.
Customization - Tooleap main components are a floating bubble and side-screen with mini apps. All customization options revolves around that. As development progresses, we will add more customization options. Standout is an open source library, so basically you can add whatever customization options you like, if you have the time and skill.

With Tooleap, we tried to develop a multitasking solution which we feel is more suitable to a small device screen (although we do work on tablets). We think multi-windowed solutions (like Standout or Samsung Galaxy split screen) don't fit very well with smartphones screens, as every inch of the screen is important.

In the end, its all a matter of preference. We have a lot of respect for the Standout library, and we think it does an excellent job. We wanted to provide a solution that is easier to integrate, and fits better with small device screens.

Danny
 

bluedude

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Hi Tooleap,

Are you guys going to address the issue with Debug and Private key? Because this is bound to the IDE it is a small pain in the ass. Because Tooleap only works with the debug key I need to change my key all the time in the B4A IDE which is very inconvenient. As you probably know the key is bound to the IDE and not to a project in B4A. That means opening another project also means I need to switch from debug to private all the time.

I cannot get Tooleap to work with a private key without using an API key which I cannot get because I have not published my app.

Cheers.
 

Tooleap

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Hi Tooleap,

Are you guys going to address the issue with Debug and Private key? Because this is bound to the IDE it is a small pain in the ass. Because Tooleap only works with the debug key I need to change my key all the time in the B4A IDE which is very inconvenient. As you probably know the key is bound to the IDE and not to a project in B4A. That means opening another project also means I need to switch from debug to private all the time.

I cannot get Tooleap to work with a private key without using an API key which I cannot get because I have not published my app.

Cheers.

Hi bluedude,
Have you applied to our early access program?
Currently only members of our early access program can release apps with Tooleap.
After you are accepted into our early access program, you can use the Tooleap api key, and you won't need to switch between debug and private keys.

Danny
 

Euxaes

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Thank you for the replies everyone, I have decided to go with Tooleap since it fits better what I envision my app to be.
 

johndb

Active Member
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I disagree with johndb on his evaluation of Standout vs Tooleap. Here is mine:
- StandOut is a lot more flexible as you can create windows wherever you want. Tooleap has two objects: floating notifications and miniApps.
- StandOut requires a lot more code to acheive the same effect as Tooleap. Choose your pick on what kind of floating app you need.
- StandOut is a lot finicky, and requires some interesting workarounds to achieve simple things (like longpress). It requires you to get things right, the flags etc, otherwise it doesnt behave the way you want it to. It is hard to master. Tooleap on the other hand is ridiculously easy to code for.
- Finally, this pertains to both StandOut and Tooleap, they are both restricted in what they can do. There are some things I found I could not do with Standout which forced me to abandon it. There is no more active development on it, no new features can be added and no bugs can be fixed anymore. In Tooleap, while things are in the hands of the Tooleap developers on how they develop/restrict it, atleast it is in active development.

I am pleased that my comments started this discussion and thank you thedesolatesoul and Tooleap for describing this platform in more detail.
What is the business plan for Tooleap? When will this platform be made available to the developer community at large for publishable software, I'm assuming after beta? What are the anticipated costs for licensing? I have a number of apps nearing completion and some would be suited to this platform. Since they are not yet published I'm ineligible for the early access program.
 

Tooleap

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I am pleased that my comments started this discussion and thank you thedesolatesoul and Tooleap for describing this platform in more detail.
What is the business plan for Tooleap? When will this platform be made available to the developer community at large for publishable software, I'm assuming after beta? What are the anticipated costs for licensing? I have a number of apps nearing completion and some would be suited to this platform. Since they are not yet published I'm ineligible for the early access program.

Hi johndb,

We are still finalizing our licensing model, so everything I say may be subjected to changes. Basically, this is what we plan:
Independent app developers - You will get the SDK for free.
Companies, or apps developed for companies - We are still discussing the exact licensing model.

In the coming weeks we will post all the details.

Danny
 

bluedude

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Hi,

I don't want to release anything soon but need an easier way to test it. As said (again) the switching between keys is a pain. I got the impression it isn't easy to get into the early access program.

During a day I work on several Android projects and all of those projects use a private key, so practically seen using the debug key is a big pain.

Cheers.
 

DonManfred

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Have you applied to our early access program?
Currently only members of our early access program can release apps with Tooleap.
After you are accepted into our early access program, you can use the Tooleap api key, and you won't need to switch between debug and private keys.
Danny

I have applied to the early access program but it seems that it is not accepted. I did not get any logininformations.

But i got newsletters telling me about new release. Sadly i read this mail having no login :(
 

capisx

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Can we switch from mini app to fullscreen app and vice versa with Tooleap?
 

Tooleap

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Yes, something like that.

Actually we discussed among our team about his feature not a long while ago. We were just not sure if a lot of people wanted / needed it.
It's not the first thing on our todo list, but if more people asked for it, it will definitely move up the list.

In the meanwhile, you can just add a button in your Activity that removes the mini app, and starts the Activity regularly (in full screen). This way, you can achieve a similar effect.

Thanks for the suggestion! The more feedback we get, the better we can make Tooleap.

Danny
 

RAJAN MBA

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In the meanwhile, you can just add a button in your Activity that removes the mini app, and starts the Activity regularly (in full screen). This way, you can achieve a similar effect.
Good Idea.
Just a rant: I still don't like the search bar ;) It serves no related purpose. Hope option to hide/get rid of it is on top of the to do list:D
 

RAJAN MBA

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Yes. It uses the Tooleap sdk 0.9.4 version. Cleverly, they say they incorporate Google search too, but Google search is part of Tooleap ;)
 
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