mikejeep Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Hello all, I have been visiting S4GRU for quite some time, and one of the most common issues I see popping up is confusion from users--especially when they first get 4G LTE devices and/or LTE service--regarding their signal strengths. For some reason, the signal bars on many devices do not display what most users expect them to display. It seems strange that we have to enter special dialer codes just to see what our LTE signal is! With that in mind, I started creating an Android app from scratch. I had never created an app before, so it took a few months before it was ready for the public, but its time has come. Robert and a few others have been beta testing it for me since October, and I recently released it onto Google Play. Robert gave me the go-ahead to give it a mention here on S4GRU, so here goes.. It's called SignalCheck, and it is available on Google Play here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Blue+Line+Computing The "Lite" version is free; the "Pro" version has a small one-time fee but includes a bunch of extras, including signal bars in the notification area, a widget, the ability to alert a user when they pick up an LTE or 800 SMR signal, one-button instant connection reset, the street address of the connected 1X site, and menu shortcuts to some screens that are usually only accessible with dialer codes. I intend to offer S4GRU Premier Sponsors special benefits in the near future, as soon as I figure out a feasible way to do that.This is the first app I have ever developed, so I'd appreciate any and all feedback, both positive and negative. I have been trying to educate myself as much as possible regarding cellular technologies, as I didn't know much before I started this project. My goal is to make this app as accurate and useful as possible for all the "nerds" on here.. myself included!I intend to continue squashing bugs as they are reported, and adding features as they are requested. As I learn more about Android programming and cellular technology, I'll improve things. Please let me know what you would like to see, and I'll do what I can. My "Beta Crew" helps test out the app before public updates are pushed out. Membership is by invite only but anyone is welcome to join in our discussions or get a sneak peek at what is going on (see thread here). Links: SignalCheck Help / FAQ | Change Log | To-Do "Wish" List | Known Issues | SignalCheck on Google Play -Mike Here are some screen shots from a previous version.. there have been tweaks since this release, but this is basically what you get:http://www.bluelinepc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/SignalCheck-2.0-main-168x300.png http://www.bluelinepc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/SignalCheck-2.0-menu-168x300.png http://www.bluelinepc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/SignalCheck-2.0-advanced-168x300.png http://www.bluelinepc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/SignalCheck-2.0-pulldown-168x300.png 31 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rukin1 Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Very nice. hmm, should seperate the difference of eHRPD and EV-DO. I'm in the middle of having all of the towers upgraded around me and right now they are upgrading the tower i connect to most of the time when I'm at home. I can't wait till they switch it to network vision . I think the app needs a tiny bit of work. Love it. I think the meter should be a speedometer. That' be awsome xD red all the way to the left, yellow middle fading to green. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imex99 Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Nice, I'll test it out... Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digiblur Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Nice!! I was looking to do something very much like this! Any possible way to do what Sensorly did and get the LTE Cell Identity working on some phones? I've also been reverse engineering how some the ##DEBUG screens work on the Note2 as the 1X PN and other info would be VERY helpful as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommym65 Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Lite version: Sent you a crash report: I get 4gLTE only intermittently on my stock JB 4.1.1 GS3, and when I do, the app consistently crashes. Seems OK when LTE is not present. Now if Samsung would only update to a release that allowed access to the Sector ID info . . . And, thanks for this, it will be very useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kckid Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Agree with both on adding Cell ID for LTE. Nice App! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejeep Posted January 19, 2013 Author Share Posted January 19, 2013 I actually added LTE cell ID info to version 2.08, which I released late last night.. I suspect that is what is causing the crashes, since this is a brand new problem. Any chance anyone with Jelly Bean got any cell ID info on LTE? Or anyone with Jelly Bean have it not crash while on LTE? I also saw some crash reports come in for some of the shortcuts on the Advanced menu. I'll check everything out this afternoon. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digiblur Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Lite version: Sent you a crash report: I get 4gLTE only intermittently on my stock JB 4.1.1 GS3, and when I do, the app consistently crashes. Seems OK when LTE is not present. Now if Samsung would only update to a release that allowed access to the Sector ID info . . . And, thanks for this, it will be very useful. The sector info is there but not by a normal api. You have to request it from the baseband then parse it out. -- "Sensorly or it didn't happen!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WiWavelength Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 I am very curious what total set of info is accessible by this API or what additional info can be readily fished out the baseband, as digiblur notes above. I am not sure that a single third party app can ever replace the internal debug/engineering screen apps on some handsets. But those debug/engineering screens are being removed from many more recent devices on many carriers -- Sprint seems to be the holdout thus far, thankfully. Regardless, it would be quite nice to have a third party app that could provide at least as much detail as the debug/engineering screens. Then, the exclusion of debug/engineering screens in a handset (e.g. Nexus 4) would not be a deal breaker. I have much knowledge of CDMA service options, PN offsets, channel assignments, neighbor lists, carrier bandwidths, UARFCNs, etc. My full assistance is at your disposal. AJ 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4ginnc Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Just got the Pro version and will give it a shot. Not much LTE in the Raleigh/Durham area yet, but that's why this app will be nice to have so I can tell when I hit a 4G connection. Great job, will let you know if I find any issues. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4ginnc Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Crashes on my S3 when I go to Advanced.. Battery Info, and also Advanced.. Radio Info. I reported one of the crashes from my phone just in case it gives you any useful info. What are the "Field Trial" and "EPST" options? Field Trial says it's not available on my device and EPST is greyed out. Can't wait to test out when I get a chance to visit where some of the completed RDU towers are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommym65 Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 The sector info is there but not by a normal api. You have to request it from the baseband then parse it out. That sounds easy . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomerbubba Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 The sector info is there but not by a normal api. You have to request it from the baseband then parse it out. The LTE sector IDs are available in the Jellybean 4.1.1 API. But according to what the devs at Sensorly say, so far there are few devices that populate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacinJosh Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 The LTE sector IDs are available in the Jellybean 4.1.1 API. But according to what the devs at Sensorly say, so far there are few devices that populate it. Then it sounds like it was blocked in the programming on many devices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomerbubba Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Then it sounds like it was blocked in the programming on many devices. I doubt that it is blocked, exactly. More likely many OEMs just failed to implement all the Jellybean API. I have read that implementation of the whole Android telephony API was imperfect in earlier versions, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kckid Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Did you add it to the lite version also. I am running 2.08L on and EVO LTE with 4.1.1 and do not see it. Run's great, no crashes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digiblur Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Couple of ideas. Configurable notification when going to 4g. Notification when going to 22xxx SID for 800smr. Widgets? -- "Sensorly or it didn't happen!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Han Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Donated! Keep up the good work. Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WiWavelength Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Ec/Io is also missing a decimal point. Measurement lower limit is -31.5 dB. AJ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milan03 Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 What an awesome app! This is exactly what i've been looking for! One suggestion, RSRP/RSRQ reading in the notification instead of RSSI, for LTE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremyandrew Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 This is a sweet start, and it's so clean. Does the API provide active and neighbor PN's for 1x and DO? If you can get them in there, I'd definitely get the full version. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mc_gusto Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Crashes on my S3 when I go to Advanced.. Battery Info, and also Advanced.. Radio Info. I reported one of the crashes from my phone just in case it gives you any useful info. What are the "Field Trial" and "EPST" options? Field Trial says it's not available on my device and EPST is greyed out. Can't wait to test out when I get a chance to visit where some of the completed RDU towers are. Worked the first time for me. Looked nice. Now crashes on my s3 every time. Even after a reboot. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremyandrew Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Worked the first time for me. Looked nice. Now crashes on my s3 every time. Even after a reboot. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2 Works like a charm on my rooted S3 with a stock ROM. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BossDre05 Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Great app!!! I just bought the pro verison. Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejeep Posted January 20, 2013 Author Share Posted January 20, 2013 Crashes on my S3 when I go to Advanced.. Battery Info, and also Advanced.. Radio Info. I reported one of the crashes from my phone just in case it gives you any useful info. What are the "Field Trial" and "EPST" options? Field Trial says it's not available on my device and EPST is greyed out. Can't wait to test out when I get a chance to visit where some of the completed RDU towers are. Thanks for the report. It appears that many Samsung devices either do not have these screens, or do not allow access to these areas by third-party applications. I have improved the error-checking routines in the latest version (2.09, should be available on Google Play within the hour) to handle this. Field Trial and EPST are diagnostic screens normally accessible by entering special dialer codes, at least on HTC devices. I intended to allow these shortcuts to save people the hassle of knowing the dialer codes, or possibly accessing these screens on devices without a dialer (such as a tablet). If the function is not supported by a device, there is not much I can do. This part of my app is meant to provide a shortcut to pre-existing screens, not create new functionality. -Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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