Currency Meter ..............again

[smedly]

This popular gadget has stopped again after a recent windows update - tried some very radical moves to get it working again but although I had it running for a couple of days it stopped updating again - I gave up on the gadget solution and removed it completely, too much time spent while MS seems determined to block it.

 

So I took a completely different approach

 

Since everything being offered by gadgets is easily provided on my android phone with various apps and widgets hassle free and stable I decided to explore using an android emulator and loading the widgets I use on my phone - sort of similar to having a gadgets area on my desktop, I started with an emulator call "andy" as it seemed to be the most functional for what I wanted and included the ability to use widgets, it is working very well indeed 

 

I used the same apps I have on my phone and loaded them through PS onto the emulated phone - I use an app called "Currency Pro" which allows you to put currency widgets on your phone homescreen and is working great, I also loaded several other apps that I use and it is all working swimmingly 

 

So I now have a small window on my desktop a bit like gadgets showing me all the information I want to see 

 

So far so good 

 

here is a screenshot of the actual emulator on my desktop, you can load anything you want on there from the playstore just like you would on your android phone and it works pretty much 100%

[stephenterry]

For Forex I use Myfxhelper on my phone, and for everything you need to know about currencies on my computer, https://www.tradingview.com/markets/currencies/rates

[smedly]

1 hour ago, stephenterry said:

For Forex I use Myfxhelper on my phone, and for everything you need to know about currencies on my computer, https://www.tradingview.com/markets/currencies/rates

I'm not talking about actively looking for stuff anyone can do that, I'm talking about having live updates for things on my desktop which currency meter did very well - but being a gadget it is now blocked deep inside windows security layers which are very difficult to find and change 

 

I don't want to be going to websites to see data that I want to see constantly

[stephenterry]

Maybe you should look at my suggestions before jumping in with a negative response. How many times a day do you actually need this screen detail?  

 

As for me, having a constant open 'window' on my laptop screen is a ridiculous waste of view and obscures other needed information. If I want to check on currency, it only takes  a few seconds to flip the screen.  

 

 

[Susco]

2 minutes ago, stephenterry said:

Maybe you should look at my suggestions before jumping in with a negative response. How many times a day do you actually need this screen detail?  

 

As for me, having a constant open 'window' on my laptop screen is a ridiculous waste of view and obscures other needed information. If I want to check on currency, it only takes  a few seconds to flip the screen.  

 

 

It is about convenience.

 

Currency meter doesn't obscure anything, as it is covered by your browser or windows explorer tabs, you just have to highlight the aero tab on your desktop to have a quick glance. All other times it is invisible

[smedly]

10 minutes ago, stephenterry said:

Maybe you should look at my suggestions before jumping in with a negative response. How many times a day do you actually need this screen detail?  

 

As for me, having a constant open 'window' on my laptop screen is a ridiculous waste of view and obscures other needed information. If I want to check on currency, it only takes  a few seconds to flip the screen.  

 

 

I have full access to the internet and I am not being negative at all I am simply explaining that I prefer not to go looking for something when I can have it on my 4k desktop sitting there on display like a wallpaper or a clock

 

sorry if you don't quite get that - many others do

 

but thanks for your input to the topic much appreciated 

 

best regards

 

 

[smedly]

9 minutes ago, Susco said:

It is about convenience.

 

Currency meter doesn't obscure anything, as it is covered by your browser or windows explorer tabs, you just have to highlight the aero tab on your desktop to have a quick glance. All other times it is invisible

you don't really need to activate anything - it is there chomping away with up to date data you can see at a glance - it is like a desktop widget that is on display all the time and in my case down the right hand side as shown in the picture I posted - my desktop extends way beyond that to the left - the pic was only a crop of printscreen showing about 10% of my full desktop width 

[Susco]

2 minutes ago, smedly said:

16 minutes ago, Susco said:

It is about convenience.

 

Currency meter doesn't obscure anything, as it is covered by your browser or windows explorer tabs, you just have to highlight the aero tab on your desktop to have a quick glance. All other times it is invisible

you don't really need to activate anything - it is there chomping away with up to date data you can see at a glance - it is like a desktop widget that is on display all the time and in my case down the right hand side as shown in the picture I posted - my desktop extends way beyond that to the left - the pic was only a crop of printscreen showing about 10% of my full desktop width 

Isn't that exactly what I wrote?

[smedly]

I posted this to offer alternative options to those that are interested in having the gadgets type of desktop info which I always found useful - others may not and that is entirely up to them 

[smedly]

1 minute ago, Susco said:

Isn't that exactly what I wrote?

555 - I don't know what an aero tab is 

[Susco]

4 minutes ago, smedly said:

555 - I don't know what an aero tab is 

https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/p/peek.htm

 

Aero Peek, also called Show Desktop, is a feature introduced in Windows 7, and available in Windows 8 and Windows 10. It allows the user to view their desktop by placing (and not clicking) their mouse over Aero Peek in the far right-side of the taskbar.

[smedly]

7 minutes ago, Susco said:

https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/p/peek.htm

 

Aero Peek, also called Show Desktop, is a feature introduced in Windows 7, and available in Windows 8 and Windows 10. It allows the user to view their desktop by placing (and not clicking) their mouse over Aero Peek in the far right-side of the taskbar.

555, have enough room on my 65" 4k desktop not to need it and besides running apps windows etc disappear when used 

 

cheers

[sammieuk1]

You need an app with a lot more zeros for the pound ????

[KhunHeineken]

A sad day.  I referenced the desktop gadget Currency Meter a lot. It was very handy to have sitting on the desktop.

 

I have recently done a fresh install of Windows 10 and lost the currency meter.  It was working on my laptops at the time and I tried everything to copy over the gadget to the fresh install, but couldn't do it.  Now, there seems no point.

 

I Googled around for an alternative, and www.xe.com offer an app.  Their android app works great, and I was expecting the same of their Windows app, except for it not being on the desktop.  The XE app for Windows isn't working either.  I read a forum where it was suggested they haven't updated their API, or whatever.  

 

I have bumped a thread I started a long time ago about this.  A solution was provided back then, and has worked ever since, up until the last couple of days. 

 

Hopefully a solution, workaround, or alternative can be found this time around also. 

[smedly]

2 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

Hopefully a solution, workaround, or alternative can be found this time around also. 

The solution I offered above is 95% there, the nice thing about the android emulator is that you can access google playstore and download all the apps you want just as you do on a mobile device, and the emulator is registered as a device on google with your google account, it is quite interesting - it is like having a fully functioning android phone wallpaper on your desktop, download and try it

 

The picture I uploaded is a slice of the RHS of my desktop even though it is in the shape of a phone - it isn't, the actual emulator can be seen if you look closely - my desktop and the emulator both have a black wallpaper which might be confusing

 

PS - XE android app also has widgets you can put on the homescreen of the emulator - in the photo there are 7 widgets in total - I might try XE at some point to see how it looks

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by smedly

[smedly]

just put XE on there to see what the widget was like, you can see it bottom left of the android screen

 

I dragged the emulator to the middle of my desktop - it can be resized as you want but you get the idea.

 

There are 8 widgets on that homescreen all other apps are on the screen to the right just like a normal phone homescreen

 

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by smedly

[stouricks]

9 hours ago, Susco said:

https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/p/peek.htm

 

Aero Peek, also called Show Desktop, is a feature introduced in Windows 7, and available in Windows 8 and Windows 10. It allows the user to view their desktop by placing (and not clicking) their mouse over Aero Peek in the far right-side of the taskbar.

That must save about 20 milliseconds of time, not having to click!   PML

[smedly]

35 minutes ago, stouricks said:

That must save about 20 milliseconds of time, not having to click!   PML

and that post must have taken you about 20mins to process and type LMFAO 

[stouricks]

23 minutes ago, smedly said:

and that post must have taken you about 20mins to process and type LMFAO 

LMFAO??? What does that mean please?

[smedly]

24 minutes ago, stouricks said:

LMFAO??? What does that mean please?

take you all of 20 milliseconds to find out - right ?   

[KhunHeineken]

12 hours ago, smedly said:

The solution I offered above is 95% there, the nice thing about the android emulator is that you can access google playstore and download all the apps you want just as you do on a mobile device, and the emulator is registered as a device on google with your google account, it is quite interesting - it is like having a fully functioning android phone wallpaper on your desktop, download and try it

 

The picture I uploaded is a slice of the RHS of my desktop even though it is in the shape of a phone - it isn't, the actual emulator can be seen if you look closely - my desktop and the emulator both have a black wallpaper which might be confusing

 

PS - XE android app also has widgets you can put on the homescreen of the emulator - in the photo there are 7 widgets in total - I might try XE at some point to see how it looks

 

 

 

I have been using an android emulator on my laptop for a long time.  I mainly use it for the free TV sport streaming apps that work on android, when I am traveling.  

 

I always knew one of the currency apps on the emulator was an option, but it doesn't load and sit on the desktop at startup, like the old windows desktop gadget used to, and to load the emulator takes some time, and hardware resources.  I know it can be loaded and minimized, and checked with a couple of mouse clicks, but sitting on the desktop was very convenient.  I'm not sure how resource hungry leaving the emulator always running would be.  I guess this can be checked in the Task Manager.  

 

If using the emulator ends up being the only option, then I will do as you have done, but probably use XE, as their android app is very good.  Being one of the more well known currency apps on the market, I have no idea why they appear to have stopped support for Windows 10.    

 

If you look in the other thread, from memory, the work around was to replace Yahoo Finance data in the gadget with Google Finance data, as Yahoo no longer supported the supply of this data.  I'm surprised Google has stopped, if that is the issue.  

 

Anyway, thanks for the thread and the information.  

 

 

Edited June 29, 2020 by KhunHeineken

[KhunHeineken]

20 hours ago, Susco said:

https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/p/peek.htm

 

Aero Peek, also called Show Desktop, is a feature introduced in Windows 7, and available in Windows 8 and Windows 10. It allows the user to view their desktop by placing (and not clicking) their mouse over Aero Peek in the far right-side of the taskbar.

I use aero peak.  It's handy, but is only a view of the window at the time it was minimized.  If you wanted regular and up to date exchange rates, you have to open the window. 

 

I have tested this with an internet clock.  The time is frozen in the aero peek window, when you open the window again, it jumps to the correct time.

 

If you don't minimize the window, the clock keeps running, as would the currency rates, but it may be inconvenient to have to always have this window open, but it is an option. 

[smedly]

5 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

I have been using an android emulator on my laptop for a long time.  I mainly use it for the free TV sport streaming apps that work on android, when I am traveling.  

 

I always knew one of the currency apps on the emulator was an option, but it doesn't load and sit on the desktop at startup, like the old windows desktop gadget used to, and to load the emulator takes some time, and hardware resources.  I know it can be loaded and minimized, and checked with a couple of mouse clicks, but sitting on the desktop was very convenient. 

 

If using the emulator ends up being the only option, then I will do as you have done, but probably use XE, as their android app is very good.  Being one of the more well known currency apps on the market, I have no idea why they appear to have stopped support for Windows 10.    

 

If you look in the other thread, from memory, the work around was to replace Yahoo Finance data in the gadget with Google Finance data, as Yahoo no longer supported the supply of this data.  I'm surprised Google has stopped, if that is the issue.  

yes I has the modified JS script file working using google sheets as data source for ages but it stopped working, I am not 100% sure why but I believe a microsoft update was to blame - I have spent too much time keeping it working and trying to get it working every time it stops so I have given up and removed gadgets completely from my system

 

not all emulators allow widgets - the andy emulator does but I am currently keeping an eye on it as there are report of crypto miners and stuff being installed with it, I have noticed sometimes my cpu usage goes up to 30% associated with the andy install and I am working my way through it now and getting rid of stuff like bonjour that was installed with it 

[Susco]

2 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

I use aero peak.  It's handy, but is only a view of the window at the time it was minimized.  If you wanted regular and up to date exchange rates, you have to open the window. 

 

I have tested this with an internet clock.  The time is frozen in the aero peek window, when you open the window again, it jumps to the correct time.

 

If you don't minimize the window, the clock keeps running, as would the currency rates, but it may be inconvenient to have to always have this window open, but it is an option. 

Not sure what you mean there, since currency meter can't be minimized to my knowledge.

 

I also just tested it, and however there are no currency rates anymore, the app still refresh every 10 minutes and shows the time of the last refresh at the bottom.

 

Just hovering over the aero peek tab shows the currency meter, and displays the latest update time at the bottom

[smedly]

1 minute ago, Susco said:

Not sure what you mean there, since currency meter can't be minimized to my knowledge.

 

I also just tested it, and however there are no currency rates anymore, the app still refresh every 10 minutes and shows the time of the last refresh at the bottom.

 

Just hovering over the aero peek tab shows the currency meter, and displays the latest update time at the bottom

when mine stopped last week I did manage to get it working again by creating a new excel sheet and updating the url in the js script file but it only lasted a few hours and shut down again - I have read that google might be blocking continuous access to sheets recently and adding limit counts so apps like currency meter will be blocked after so many reads

[MikeWill]

To my big surprise, I just found that the old currency gadget is working now. Maybe, not well (with delays, etc), but working nevertheless. Check it out.  

[smedly]

4 hours ago, MikeWill said:

To my big surprise, I just found that the old currency gadget is working now. Maybe, not well (with delays, etc), but working nevertheless. Check it out.  

555 I discovered that too but was so small on my 4k screen I couldn't read it lol

[Trillian]

I like the real-time data feed here: https://www.poundsterlinglive.com/data/currencies/gbp-pairs/GBPTHB-exchange-rate/

 

Just add or subtract 60 satang to the price and you've got the banks exchange rate in Thailand.

 

Set it to whatever update frequency you want to see....it works for me.

[MikeWill]

Miracle! The Currency Meter start working AGAIN.

[smedly]

39 minutes ago, MikeWill said:

Miracle! The Currency Meter start working AGAIN.

when did yours stop

 

update in a week or so please, maybe the issue was google sheets

Edited July 11, 2020 by smedly