Test SnapPea! New desktop PIM for Android

[klukoff]

SnapPea just launched in Beta and we want feedback from the Android Central community. SnapPea's an easy way to manage Android from your desktop.

FREE DOWNLOAD: SnapPea.com
Requirements: Android device, Windows OS

SnapPea has two functions: PIM and content downloads (apps + videos). For Android geeks, it's a nice way to install APKs.

Desktop software is often clunky, but we're striving to keep SnapPea simple and elegant. We'd love feedback on both the functions and design: hello@snappea.com

 

[Rayz321]

This is a long like wondershare MobileGo except it seems a lot cooler and much less buggy!
I'm going to try it out and give you some feedback later this week

 

[StevenX]

It looks very nice and works pretty well, however personally I don't see the point in these kind of apps.

They all let you send and receive texts from the app - but everyone uses WhatsApp or Viber or something else anyway.

They let you sync music, when a lot of Android users are going to have it synced via Google Music.

They let you edit contacts - which are already coming from GMail, Facebook, Twitter, etc. as it is, and they look all messy in the app because they're not all smartly linked up (in the SMS part of the app, a lot of the numbers don't even have names associated with them!) - what's the point?

They let you transfer photos - which a lot of users will have set to automatically upload to Google+ (or maybe Dropbox - I believe some HTC phones even have this as a default option) as it is.

They let you install apps from the Play Store - what's wrong with using the Play Store on the device? Or if you really must do it from a desktop, the Play Store website pushes apps to the device anyway. You list one of the pluses of the app as being that it can save your data plan as it can download apps on the PC. Surely the PC is going to be connected to the internet, and quite probably over WiFi - why wouldn't the phone be over WiFi too!? And you say it's a convenient way to sideload apps - frankly, I can think of more convenient ways.

Sorry to be harsh, but I've never seen the point of apps like this. Without tying into new cloud-based services which people are moving to (like WhatsApp, instead of SMS for example), their functionality is so limited and antiquated, there's just no point. These kind of apps are like having Palm Desktop HotSync (or whatever it was called) around again, if that's all they're going to do. As a company, you should think about that I think - especially as it's not clear how you're monetizing your business if you have 90 staff (!). Maybe it's working out for you already and there's a large majority of Android users who do want to indulge in this kind of old-fashioned manual management of data, but I just don't see the demand or need for this myself to be quite honest.

 

[klukoff]

@Rayz231 Thx, would love to hear from you!

@StevenX Appreciate your feedback. In our experience, it's a strong need for a select group of Android users: users who want instant access to their phone's content in one place on their PC, users who want to save their data plan (WiFI), or users who want to backup and restore.

In our usability testing, for instance, we found many Android users aren't sure how to save a picture from their phone to their PC. The most common way is not Dropbox or Google+, it's actually just emailing the photo to yourself. Google's suite of desktop + web products (like Picasa Desktop) aren't nearly as popular as Apple's (e.g., iPhoto etc.). These are basic Android functionalities we can make a lot easier for some people.

I'd love to hear about your biggest pain points with Android--what problem would you like to have solved? We move quick and are always looking to make the product more useful.

 

[cole2kb]

Looking forward to trying this out. I'll be sure to post back later on.

 

[cole2kb]

I can't seem to locate the Android counterpart in the Play store.

 

[klukoff]

@cole2kb
Right now SnapPea is only available from SnapPea - Android's Best Friend
Download the Windows version and connect your Android phone to your computer. It'll automatically install the mobile app, but for now the app is really only to connect your phone to the desktop software.
I look forward to hearing your feedback!

 

[cole2kb]

It seems that it doesn't want to work with my phone, nor is it in the list of compatible devices. I have an LG Optimus V. I get stuck when it asks me to enable USB debugging. I enable it, and it still tells me that I haven't enabled it yet. I try again, and SnapPea goes back to trying to install the drivers again. This could just as easily be a problem on my end, so who knows.

 

[klukoff]

@cole2kb
You're right: we must not have the drivers for that model. I'm looking into it right now and we'll add it ASAP.
In the meantime, you can go to m.snappea.com on your phone and download the Android app. That'll also allow you to connect to SnapPea.
Sorry about the added exertion--we're eager to hear your feedback.
Cheers,
Kai

 

[cole2kb]

This is a great tool. I can recognize why the poster a few above mine doesn't think it has it's uses, but I tend to accomplish all of the tasks of this one program using MULTIPLE applications, and an all-in-one solution is very nice.

The only thing I'd like to see added, is settings to dictate how often the content is refreshed, or even if it's possible, have the Android app detect push notifications and send them to the PC instantly. Example: when I get a new text message, I don't want to have to hit 'Refresh' in the app.

I -love- the built-in SD card browser. Saves me multiple steps trying to grab files off my phone.

Long term, I'd love an 'advanced' mode enabler, to allow me to issue ADB commands and manage system apps through the Windows program also, but this may be too difficult / not possible for an app to access. I'm not a developer, so my knowledge is nonexistent.

Anyway, thanks again for this, I'll be using it daily.

 

[klukoff]

Thx @cole2kb! Yes, we envision SnapPea as one easy place to instantly access everything on your phone.

I'll look into the issue of refreshing text messages: we want that to be instantaneous insofar as possible. That's actually one of the features I use the most myself. If I'm at my computer, it's just that much more convenient than reaching for my phone.

ADB commands are too advanced for 98% of our users, so that's a feature we'll hold on. Nor do we have plans to build an emulator at present.

We're most eager to hear feedback on the downloads section: other than Google Play, where do you download content for your phone? Video sites? Podcasts? We hope to work with many different content partners.

 

[cole2kb]

I generally only like to get apps from the Play store. To be honest, I haven't explored the downloads section of the app at all. :-\ As far as podcasts go, something built-in to grab RSS audio / video feeds would be pretty cool. I don't put video on my phone. I use Google Music specifically for my tunes.

 

[Rayz321]

Okay I've been loving this app lately!
One thing that is kind of annoying is that even after you exit snapea on desktop it still says connect to wifi on the android app and then you have to close it manually.
Another thing is that occasionally(I don't know exactly when) Snapea(on android) says I'm connected over wifi when I'm plugged in through usb.

I had a few suggestions but I can't remember any at this moment. I'll post back more when I think of them

Edit: oh and another bug is that if you're connected via usb and you unplug(and then snapea automatically connects to wifi) the notification bar still say connected via usb even though the app says wifi.

 

[klukoff]

Thanks @Rayz231. I'll make sure we adress we address those bugs.
Ping me anytime you have further suggestions.

 

[im42n888]

Is it possible for 2 users, with 2 different Android phones, to use the same PC and NOT get their PIM data and apps merged?

 

[klukoff]

Hi im42n888
YES! 2 different users can use 2 different Android phones on the same computer in SnapPea. Your PIM data and apps will not be merged.

Additionally, if you're concerned about security (if the computer is a public one at an Internet cafe, for instance), chose the "Don't Link" option the first time that you open SnapPea. That way, your data will not be cached to the computer.

 

[klukoff]

Also, SnapPea is now available on Google Play:
https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...re/apps/details?id=com.snappea&token=Et9G6ZUi

We love your feedback!