In the moment all portable apps only availabe for the Windows OS. Is for the future planned, that portable apps can also be used for other OS? In particular, I've been thinking about mobile OS like Android.
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As Android can run any apps except Android and most folks use Android connected to the Google app store anyway (which keeps all their apps up to date), there's really no benefit to it. Add to that the fact that most people have one Android device and that the high-end Nexus Android devices don't support any sort of removable storage, and the point is really moot anyway.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I've bought a few days ago the smartphone Samsung Galaxy S III. But surely this smartphone has the same restrictions as the Nexus.
It does have removable storage. But, still, what would be the point of portable apps? Are you really going to remove your microSD card, plug it into one of the other devices that has a microSD, go into the OS and turn on "Apps from unknown sources" and then attempt to run an app off the microSD?
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Assume I will go into the Android OS and turn on "Apps from unknown sources". If I would then insert a portable app into the microSD card, could this app be processed by the Android OS?
You then need to have something installed in Android to launch an app from the SD card, if that is even possible (maybe a file explorer). It may not be possible by design.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
while older versions of Android can export large part of some apps to an external media, there will still be some part of the app located on the main media. The apps for Android has to be basically compiled on the particular device during the installation, so there are no finished plug and play apps for Android existing. The .apk files deliver just the components needed.
On recent versions if android, it is even less possible to run anything from external media as it is not recognized by the system as such and can be used only for storing some data.
The external storage as what they call it is not known to the os unless one does install some hacks which again is possible in general only after the device has been 'rooted'. Only then usual symbolic links pointing to such external device can be set up and os will treat such location as its own known place.
But natively, it is not meant to be used this way and that is probably why the slot for some external media is omitted in more recent models.
Otto Sykora
Basel, Switzerland
In some cases there are ways to simulate a cross-OS portable app.
I use different instances of KeePass Portable at work and at home, with the database held in a Dropbox folder so it syncs between both computers. I also use KeePassDroid and Dropbox on my Nexus 7 so I can access the same database on my Android device.
winterblood wrote ...
This fundamental and well-known feature of the synchronisation of files via the dropbox use I also since a longer time.
winterblood wrote ...
In this case you describe the usage of the Android App "KeePassDroid", which you have downloaded about the Google Play Store. By the way is Dropbox by default installed on my smartphone Samsung Galaxy S III.
But both answers deviate a little from my original question. Mainly I wanted to know, if it is possible that here at PortableApps.com developed portable apps possibly may be used in my smartphone Samsung Galaxy S III. But probably isn't it possible.
No executable will run on both Windows and Android, so we would have to create a separate Launcher for Android which defeats the purpose completely.
It is theoretically possible to install wine on Android and it has been done, but it is not an easy thing to do. I would not attempt it myself as it is more a proof-of-concept than an actual productive enhancement to an Android device.
Another well-known feature of the Dropbox is the possibility to increase the own storage space via the recommendation of a friend (500 MB per recommendation). But recently I discovered a hidden possibility, with which you can dramatically increase the storage space.
Suppose you have Dropbox installed on your computer, whereas you haven't changed the default preferences during the installation. After installation on Windows XP OS, a "My Dropbox" folder will be located inside your "My Documents" folder by default.
Now you create a new account for Dropbox on the same computer. Again you reinstall the Dropbox software on this computer with the particularity, that you now create during installation a custom folder "My Dropbox1" on that machine. Now you can switch between these two folders via the settings of the Dropbox (right click of the dropbox icon in the systray). By using this method you can create as many accounts as you like , whereas every account has a storage space of 2 GB.