My Android Applications
 | Ping & DNS is a network diagnostic tool for ICMP ping, DNS and reverse DNS lookup, Traceroute, Whois queries and HTTP ping |
 | Styled WikiNotes is a note-taking app that optionally supports text styles with a wiki-like markup |
Ping & DNS
Not the first such app by a long shot, but Ping & DNS combines the features I needed for some basic network diagnostics:
- ping a server,
- look up DNS records for a domain (also includes city/country lookup of the IP address),
- reverse DNS lookup,
- perform traceroutes,
- inspect HTTP response headers,
- and query WHOIS records.
Version history
1.2 adds a setting for Ping TTL and fixes Android 1.5 compatibility
1.2.1 fixes all reported issues and adds more settings (like an adjustable font size)
1.2.2 improves auto-complete for partial host names (it matches the input anywhere, not just at the beginning of the host name)
1.2.5 fixed crashing exceptions; new app icon by lynk
1.2.6 shows the IP address of the DNS server being used
1.2.7 improved selection of DNS server; longer Ping and DNS timeout intervals for 3G; no longer caches DNS results;
better handles switching between 3G and WiFi
1.2.8 added option to use HEAD instead of GET, thereby decreasing data traffic; fixed crashing exceptions
1.3 adds a home screen Live Folder that lists the 20 most recently used servers/IPs (with an option to list them
alphabetically); fixed crashing exception; explicitly shut down connections to avoid leaks
1.4 adds WHOIS queries
1.4.1 fixes a crashing exception
1.5 reorganizes the way options work for Ping, DNS and HTTP: through a long-click on the "Go" button. That way it's
easier to change them for individual requests. It also adds HTTPS, port number and redirect options to the HTTP header lookup.
1.5.1 adds an option for broadcast pings. Remember to use the broadcast address (which ends in 255).
1.5.2 fixes two issues in landscape mode (an invisible "Go" button and a messed up Ping options dialog),
and the HTTP Show Long Headers option.
1.5.3 adds an option for a wait period ("-i") between pings
1.5.4 fixes a bug that caused the font size selection not to be stored correctly
1.5.5 adds an option to set the packet size ("-s"), and integrates the DNS record type selection
into the DNS options dialog (some folks seem not to have noticed it where it was).
1.6 adds reverse DNS lookups, and fixes a problem with the menu selection
1.7 adds Traceroute
1.7.1 enables App2SD and makes several smallish UI improvements
1.7.3 adds an option to keep the display scrolling as new results come in; this is useful particularly
for Ping and Traceroute. Also new is an option to display ping times for each hop of a traceroute.
1.7.4 better supports long-running pings (they can be stopped by putting the app temporarily in the background),
and adds an option to display a running average of the last 10 ping times
1.7.6 uses a numeric soft keypad for numerical input fields. Host names are no longer looked up during traceroutes
if the corresponding option is unchecked; previously this would just suppress the output of the host name. This saves
on roundtrips to the DNS server.
1.7.7 better supports large screens (like tablets).
1.7.8 can copy the results to the clipboard upon a long-click, and has an option to stop long-running Pings if the screen goes dark.
1.7.9 restores Android 1.5 compatibility, better handles IP geo lookups containing umlauts,
shows the complete the Ping options dialog on small screens, and has an option to track the location during long-running Pings.
1.7.10 removes the requirement for the network location permission, automatically attaches KMZ files to emails if one exists,
and uses different-color pins in KMZ files for different ping times.
1.7.11 fixes an issue with malfunctioning Live Folders and added a nicer-looking icon for Live Folders.
Styled WikiNotes
WikiNotes is a sample app from Google that shows off some
Android capabilities. It's a bit limited, though, and lacks some features one would like to see for actual use.
Styled WikiNotes is my attempt to fill in some of the gaps. In particular, it adds
- a preference for setting the font size used for displaying notes; this is remembered between app invocations
- a way to set a different font size for individual pages
- some basic text styles that any wiki would offer, like bold, italic, underline,
strikethrough, monospaced, centered text and bullet lists
Version history
1.2 adds an option to keep existing notes during an import (i.e., only notes of the same name are overwritten,
all others are kept intact)
1.2.1 fixes an exception that force-closed the application
1.2.2 improves soft keyboard behavior during editing, enabling the user to scroll the text
1.3 supports a Live Folder of all notes for the home screen, adds a search menu button (the device search button
was working already), and adds an option to list notes alphabetically (instead of most recently modified first, as it was before)
1.3.1 integrates the Quick Search Box with the application's internal search. If you want to get search results from
StyledWikiNotes when using the Quick Search Box, you need to enable this under "Settings -> Search -> Searchable Elements".
1.3.2 adds an option to set the font size used while editing notes independently of the font size used for displaying notes.
There's also an option to hide the Confirm/Cancel buttons on the edit screen; this is useful for saving space on small screens.
In that case, those functions are invoked via the menu.