So here I am, 5 yrs a RIM BB client, now holding in my hand a beautiful device called the dell streak. When I was with BB, I always had the most up to date firmware, months before Telus would drop them. I modded my system first to look like an iphone and then to look 'androidy' and 'linuxy'...
well, now I begin my search to perfect this device. I have a few questions and I hope I don't offend the 'experts' as a noob but I have an unlocked Streak running Froyo. While playing with it I have noticed that the page that is set as my home page when I click my home button is a series of apps recently opened. I would much rather have this be set to programs that do not refresh, call it my top 10 list.
I would also like to view, add and test themes, skins etc... that add more functionality to this phablet, tabone, or whatever the word is for this giant AND AWESOME device.
I want to create backgrounds with my daughter, my bike, my logo all my things...
I have tried to go through the 'settings' but honestly, it seems really limited.
I have read around the forums here, but most of this stuff seems advanced (which I will get to) but is there a noob guide somewhere?
The apps list you describe sounds like a Stage widget. Long press on it and it will change shape and a trash can will appear, without letting up on it drag it to the trash can. That's how you remove the stuff you don't want to make room for what you do. Some not Streak specific info.
You can add shortcuts and widgets to an empty area of a screen by holding your finger on that area until a menu pops up.
You can also put a shortcut to an app on the screen by opening the app tray and long pressing on the app icon you want on the screen. The app tray will disappear and you can drop the icon where you want.
When in doubt tap the menu key again. There may be another layer of options.
The Home key takes you back to the home screen from an app, but in some apps what happens in the background is different than what happens if you leave the app by pressing the back key. Leaving with the home key usually means that when you go back to the app you'll be at the same place.
Long pressing the Home key brings up a list of recently used apps. You can use this to quickly switch between apps or to get back to an app after a phone call or other activity.
A home replacement app changes the way your phone looks and the way you interact with it. The two favorites for the Streak are LauncherPro and ADW launcher.
How to change defaults apps/keyboards.
Other suggested sites:
Streak Smart (make sure you check out the forum)
Streak area on MyDellMini
Live wallpapers you may be interested in:
Multipicture Live Wallpaper
WallStreak
to set wallpapers all you need to do is transfer or take a picture of your daughter or bike etc and go into your menu, gallery, open the image then click on menu and Set As wallpaper
i prefer to call my streak perfection because it does everythign i ever wanted and more
if you have the ADW launcher you can download some themes from the android market you might be able to find more on the web using google not 100% sure if the dell UI does themes yet
the launcher pro for ssome of its features you have to pay so i dont really use that one myself
I suggest launcherpro
I have mine set so when I hit home, it opens apparently drawer and in apparently drawer I hit home it goes back to default home screen.
Also like it because you can have 5 shortcuts and make them also a swipe gesture to do something else.. making them 10 items....
Example....
Normal click- direct dial wife cell phone
Swipe- direct dial wife work phone
You can have multiple docks as well by swiping.
Other recommendation is to download and install dialer one..
That has a t9 dial keys which guesses your contact list.. kinda like the bb
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk
Hi,
where can i download the Tapatalk? is it free or paid
and the xda messenger?
Thnx in advance
Related
Just installed Froyo 2.2 yesterday and so far i like it aside from a couple things i miss but its sooo much faster!
Anyways somehow made my bottom bar disappear and now i have no idea how to get into my application page. I'm talking about the bottom part with the Phone icon, Application Icon, and Browser Icon. I think i might have held it to long while i was messing around and it went down and now its gone. Been trying to bring it back for awhile now and cant find out how.
p.s. I tried to post a screen shot of my phone but it wont let me due to being a new user.
Froyo has the ability to hide the app drawer bar and notification bar by swiping up or down on the home screen go to your home screen and swipe down like you are browsing a website should pop back up.
Sent from my HERO200 using XDA App
awesome! thank you so much for the quick response!
Is there anyway to add icons to that? I noticed that if i hide that then i can put icons on the bottom but is there a way to add icons directly to that "drawer" as u called it
Of course. Just go to the app drawer and select an app. Keep hold of the app like you would to put it on the home screen and drop it down on the bottom bar. I believe you can scroll through the bar as well. I know for sure you can on Launcher Pro because that's what I use primarily.
Sent from my FroyoEris using XDA App
rosie684 said:
Just installed Froyo 2.2 yesterday and so far i like it aside from a couple things i miss but its sooo much faster!
Anyways somehow made my bottom bar disappear and now i have no idea how to get into my application page. I'm talking about the bottom part with the Phone icon, Application Icon, and Browser Icon. I think i might have held it to long while i was messing around and it went down and now its gone. Been trying to bring it back for awhile now and cant find out how.
p.s. I tried to post a screen shot of my phone but it wont let me due to being a new user.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you have discovered is the new scrollable dock bar in ADW. It freaked me out the first time I opened it. By default, it is accessed by swiping up on your screen. This action is very buggy and only works seldomly.
How to change it - go to ADW Settings > System Preferences > Swipe Down Actions > Open/Close Dockbar. Now from your homescreen you can swipe down any where below your notification bar and access this scrolling dockbar. You can drag and drop unlimited apps in it. When you want your normal dockbar back just swipe down again on your screen.
Hope this helps.
Sent from my nonsensikal froyo using XDA App
After I upgraded to Steve's 1.6 and lost my settings for the Stage UI I finally took the plunge and got AWD Launcher EX. Haven't regretted it, works great. Love the general ability to customize and unlike Stage UI it doesn't crash.
I cannot, however, find an option to increase the number of screens, is there one? The standard 5 are not quite enough, and while I have increased the number of icons per column to 6, this looks awful in portrait mode. There is another thought for the future, it would be great to be able to set the number of rows and columns for each screen separately, I would prefer to have more items on my home screen and less on the other screens.
Just hit menu button while on the home screen. Then "edit".
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
That was quick, easy, and painless. A rather unexpected place -- I was desperately trying to find a "number of screens" or similar setting.
push menu ---> edit ---> push "+" and u will be able to add or delete pages
These apps make the streak performance and daily use better for me.. Maybe they help you out.
1. Menu Unlock
https://market.android.com/details?id=teamdouche.kmobs.unlock&feature=search_result
Need Root, an application that allows you to unlock the phone by clicking on the menu button, no need to slide if you do not want to.. Use this when in the car mount and difficult to slide.
2. Turn Silent -
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.sebster.android.turnsilent&feature=search_result
Flip the phone on its face to make a different profile.. Silent. Vibrate..etc. Haven't had any issues with this on 2.2.1.
free version can be found here.... not sure how it works though.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.zosqlabs.android.flipsilent
3. Spare Parts -
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.androidapps.spare_parts&feature=search_result
Allows me to speed up animations and transitions, making using the phone much more responsive and faster to use.
4. Copy Paste it
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.edwardkim.android.copyscreentextfull&feature=search_result
Think of snagit for the android.. though what you snagged gets converted into text pretty well.
5. Log2Calendar
https://market.android.com/details?id=be.hcpl.android.backup&feature=search_result
Logs all calls and sms if you want to your google calendar... Very useful as a log to remember who called when and at what time.. Works very well for work purposes.
6. Power Control Plus & Quick Boot
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.siriusapplications.eclairwidgets&feature=search_result
allows you to place a "widget" in the notification bar to enable disable things like wifi, bluetooth etc... they key here is that it displays what is on and what is not and you can control these things from any applications.
7. Wifi file explorer
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.dooblou.WiFiFileExplorerPRO&feature=search_result
Makes your android into a wifi web server where you can easily upload and download files from your pc via wifi. Currently using this and swiftp as well for these purposes.. but very crucial to have when you don't have a stinkin wire.
So there you have it.. Those are my crucial apps that make using my Streak even better.. These I would call utility apps.
If anyone has any other apps that are like this that make life easier, post them.. I am always looking for something new.
My list must start with tasker. Automate anything. Including the face down scenario you mentioned.
AndLock - Lock away those sensitive apps
Quick Settings - LED flashlight works
fbReader - great ebook reader imo (long press on word brings up Color Dict)
Color Dict: offline / online dictionary
Taskiller
Quicksettings
Handcent
StreakLED
XScope Browser
Launcherpro
Widgetlocker
Poweramp
Font Changer
Droidwall
Games:
Comic Reader Mobi
Fruit Ninja
Game Dev Story
Gameboid
Gensiod
Hex Defence
Monopoly Classic
Radiant HD
PSX4Droid
Speedx 3D
Zenonia (and Zenoia2)
They Need To Be Feed
PewPew
Pinball Delux
Pottery
MiniSquadron!
Defensoid
N64oid
Cordy
Cyberlords
Qbism HD
Can Knockdown2
StarPagga
Illusia
(I like gaming on my Streak )
undrwater said:
My list must start with tasker. Automate anything. Including the face down scenario you mentioned.
AndLock - Lock away those sensitive apps
Quick Settings - LED flashlight works
fbReader - great ebook reader imo (long press on word brings up Color Dict)
Color Dict: offline / online dictionary
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you share your tasker settings please.
You can export the settings
I was going for utility apps that open functionality. I got another 20 or so regular apps i cant live with out.
Sent from my Dell Streak
Auto Ring - it's one of those apps that you set up and forget. It's used to create a whitelist of people who can 'ring through' even if your phone is on silent.
I cant say there is anything that i couldnt do without. I'm finding most android apps are just lacking. I dont know if its the lack of integration with android system or the lack of innovation with the developers.
That said Loving log2calendar. Thanks Krad.
Edit I also use menu unlock.
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk
Have to say go launcher is the best launcher I've used. Was using launcher pro N then someone said try go launcher ex... it's a lot better. Now I can't think why I didn't try it before. If there was just more themes for it then it would be even better
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
my best app
the app that makes the Streak easier for me to use and customize is the SYSTEMAPP REMOVER. with this app, i can un-install some of the bloatware either installed by DeLL or my Carrier. you have to be very careful when using this app. it does require ROOT.un-installing some of the bloatware will give you better performance. i un-insatlled all the Dell stage widget and some un-wanted rubbish like swype keyboard. like i said, do be careful when you use the app. am running the official 2.2 update from O2 and i am loving it.
nightworker-nn11 said:
Have to say go launcher is the best launcher I've used. Was using launcher pro N then someone said try go launcher ex... it's a lot better. Now I can't think why I didn't try it before. If there was just more themes for it then it would be even better
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am a fan of go launcher as well...but still use launcher pro because it has a few more options that I havent been able to let go of yet.
For me, the apps that take the streak to the next level are:
Desktop Visualizer - It allows you to make icons of different sizes and use them as shortcuts to apps, bookmarks, contacts, etc
Tasker - I use it to shut off data at night to save battery, bring up a list of music apps when I plug in headphones, and other simple automations
Simi Folder - to create popup lists of apps (I use it in conjunction with desktop visualizer to have good looking shortcuts
Widgetsoid - to create custom power controls that do more than the stock power control widget and can be themed to match my current phone theme
Apps I can't live without:
Pure Calendar / Smooth Calendar: I set one of my homescreens to my agenda, and it keeps me on track. It is like having an old-school PDA again. Love it. My week at a glance. And it syncs with Outlook calendar, so no matter if I am staring at my Work PC, my Home PC, or on the go, I never miss an appointment. I put everything in the calendar, too. Haircuts, bills to pay, doc appointments, work schedule, etc, etc, etc. Everything goes in, and everything gets done.
APNdroid + Data Counter = keep track of data usage. I am on a limited data plan, but I am close to many WiFi points. So, I keep the data off most of the time, and only turn it on when I need it. APNdroid does this nicely, with a little on/off toggle widget. Then Data Counter keeps track of my monthly useage and resets for each billing cycle.
Free Power Widget - just some generic toggles (Wifi, Vibrate, GPS, etc) that sit on the homescreen, unobtrusive.
Anything else is just nice to have, but these are essentials that make my life easy. And they get used multiple times throughout each day. Without them, my phone just isn't as good as it is with them.
Swipepad is great!
Sent from the almighty Dell Streak 1.9.0
borijess said:
Swipepad is great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I couldn't agree more - I use it all the time! but I'd forgotten what it's called and went to the market to find it... DUH
Adw launcher ex
fancy widget pro
go sms
system panel
ive downloaded a lot of the apps everyone has recommended so id just like to say thanks
Ah, I forgot one.
Root Explorer - One of a very small list of paid apps that are actually worth the investment. On a rooted phone, it gives you a true file explorer that can do anything from anywhere. None of this "can't save" or "can't edit" stuff. It is the easiest to use; the most like a PC file explorer I've used.
borijess said:
Swipepad is great!
Sent from the almighty Dell Streak 1.9.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thumbs up on the swypePad and the Addon
This is my list in order of priority:
Zeam launcher
MultiLing Keyboard - Gingerbread keyboard but better. I had the Steven Lin one before but got rid of it. Even if you don't use multi-languages, check it out. This is customizable to increase the keyboard size, in Portrait gives you choice of QWERTY, T9 or SureType (12 key) and it has a cursor keyboard with arrows, Home, End, Cut, Copy & Paste buttons
Handcent
Widgetsoid
Dialer One - Enables Smart Dial
CalWidget - Let's me see my agenda on the home screen
Llama - Changes profiles based on location and time (and other things but I only use those two). This one is awesome.
arcMedia - To watch Divx movies
YouVersion Bible App - Good reader and has many free languages and translations of the Bible
Bluetooth File Transfer - Does exactly what the name implies
Application Protection - Let's me lock specific apps and requires a pin code to access the app. Only problem is that the pin code screen is portrait only but I can live with it because it's free and there is no limit on the number of apps to lock
Advanced Telephone - Gets rid of the slide to answer and replaces with big buttons to receive or reject calls. Also has function to automatically send an SMS to the caller if you reject the call. Only problems are that you still see the slide momentarily before it gets replaced with the buttons and there is a delay where your phone will ring but the screen will be black with no buttons. The delay happens if your phone display is off and is about 1 second long.
EZ Phone Tool - I use mostly for connection notification where the phone vibrates when a call connection is made (when it actually starts ringing because sometimes there is a delay) and also when the call disconnects whether the person hung up or the call got dropped. It also allows Shake to Answer and Flip to Silent. Has function for SMS auto reply for rejected calls but I found it didn't work properly as it sent an SMS even if the person hung up and before I answered. I use Advanced Telephone above for this function.
Missed Call - Gives reminders if a call is missed. Can also set for other missed events like unread SMS
I am looking for an app that will automatically put my phone on Vibrate when my calendar shows that I'm in a meeting. I tried Ringer Genie but that didn't work very well. I'm thinking about Vibrate During Meetings. Has anyone tried it? It's only 99c but figured if it didn't work, no reason to throw away a buck.
I've just started using tasker......fan..blooming....tastic. I now have a very automated phone. I can't recommend it enough.
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk
add Audio Manager to the list... replaces timerrifiic for profile changing.
frankquattrone said:
This is my list in order of priority:
Zeam launcher
MultiLing Keyboard - Gingerbread keyboard but better. I had the Steven Lin one before but got rid of it. Even if you don't use multi-languages, check it out. This is customizable to increase the keyboard size, in Portrait gives you choice of QWERTY, T9 or SureType (12 key) and it has a cursor keyboard with arrows, Home, End, Cut, Copy & Paste buttons
Handcent
Widgetsoid
Dialer One - Enables Smart DialCalWidget - Let's me see my agenda on the home screen
Llama - Changes profiles based on location and time (and other things but I only use those two). This one is awesome.
arcMedia - To watch Divx movies
YouVersion Bible App - Good reader and has many free languages and translations of the Bible
Bluetooth File Transfer - Does exactly what the name implies
Application Protection - Let's me lock specific apps and requires a pin code to access the app. Only problem is that the pin code screen is portrait only but I can live with it because it's free and there is no limit on the number of apps to lock
Advanced Telephone - Gets rid of the slide to answer and replaces with big buttons to receive or reject calls. Also has function to automatically send an SMS to the caller if you reject the call. Only problems are that you still see the slide momentarily before it gets replaced with the buttons and there is a slight delay where your phone will ring but the screen will be black with no buttons. The delay is maybe 0.5 second long and I've never missed a call because of it.
EZ Phone Tool - I use mostly for connection notification where the phone vibrates when a call connection is made (when it actually starts ringing because sometimes there is a delay) and also when the call disconnects whether the person hung up or the call got dropped. It also allows Shake to Answer and Flip to Silent. Has function for SMS auto reply for rejected calls but I found it didn't work properly as it sent an SMS even if the person hung up and before I answered. I use Advanced Telephone above for this function.
Missed Call - Gives reminders if a call is missed. Can also set for other missed events like unread SMS
I am looking for an app that will automatically put my phone on Vibrate when my calendar shows that I'm in a meeting. I tried Ringer Genie but that didn't work very well. I'm thinking about Vibrate During Meetings. Has anyone tried it? It's only 99c but figured if it didn't work, no reason to throw away a buck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow good collection of some free apps.
Regarding ur question at the end - try tasker. ( Pricey but really worth it )
The x10 mini pro has a "two-level" home screen:
the "top" hold the clock, and widgets.
the "bottom" holds the application icons.
Since there are many applications installed, the home screen extends beyond the screen width, which results in "windows", and so it is necessary to scroll left and right to see all the different "windows" and the icons they contain. When pressing the "home" button, the phone will bring up the last viewed "window" of the home screen.
Is there a way to make the "home" button always show the first (left most) "window" of the bottom home screen, namely, the left most window of the icons?.
TIA,
Mike.
In a way, yes...and in a way, no.
The screen(s) with all your apps in is known as the "app drawer". The stock launcher for the X10 Mini Pro will always do what you say, it will always go to the last viewed page of the drawer when you open it.
In theory, you could dig deep into the code of the SemcHome app and make it do what you want. I've no idea what you'd need to do, but it's theoretically possible.
The easiest way is probably just to install a different launcher. Have a look on the Market. I'm using Go Launcher Ex which does the same thing but it does let me put more app icons on one screen (I've got 16 instead of the stock launcher's 9) and you can group apps into individual folders. Or you can just hide the ones you don't need.
So this won't do exactly what you asked for, but it might give you a decent alternative.
Thanks.
Is it possible to place applications and shortcuts icons on the "top" home screen, say in the same screen as the clock?.
Thanks,
Mike
Yes, bascially. Although, again, you'll still need a different launcher for this.
A lot of phones will let you do this from stock but, because ours has a smaller screen, we can only put stuff into the four corners. Download a new launcher and you can cover your screen with app's and shortcuts as much as you want!
You can add shortcuts to the homescreen by long holding an App in the app draw and dragging away from its location to the Homescreen
Thanks all for replying.
ryant: The long press and drag method isn't working on my x10MP with android 2.1 .
I can move the app icon around in the app drawer (left and right screens), but not "up" to where the clock and other widgets live. Have you tried this on an x10MP with a stock launcher?.
Also, I've now found the "multicon" app which allows to place multiple widgets on screen, which is a good enough solution for me.
I'm not sure if it is possible but I have an idea of a widget:
It's a widget that contains another widget that will auto after a specific condition (perhaps with llama/tasker?)
Examples:
hide music widget of choice if there's no music playing or headset plugged in.
Hide (school) timetable if you're not at that location.
Show GPS/traffic widget if not at home/school/work.
You might think of another great use yourself.
This is just an idea, and since I'm no app developer myself, (at least not yet) I hope one of the great android developers that are on these fora will take an interest in this project.
Sent from my SHV-E160L 32GB with XDA HD
But why hide the widget? That space where the widget that hid the other widget is still unusable because the widget can become transparent, but it can not remove itself from the home screen and then put itself back, since adding widgets is a system level command. And if it could do what I just said it can't, what if you put apps/shortcuts/widgets in its place, where would they go? I might be over thinking this whole idea a little but that's just my two cents. I do have a similar idea now that I read this, though. Use Tasker to restore backed up Nova/Holo/Adw/Apex/Etc, settings and home screen layouts based on what you said in your first post. That is probably going to take way longer to do, but it get the same effect and could probably save battery that way too. I mean, if I make a Tasker profile set up so that whenever I connect to my schools wifi, that it restores a previous backed home screen and settings layout. My phone always dies at school, so my home screen would become blank, with no dock or status bar, and just have gestures set up so that I can still get to my apps (swipe up for drawer, down for notifications, two fingers up for phone app, and two fingers down for messaging). With nothing on my home screen, I save battery because the Launcher does not have to load any thing. Android itself might be a limitation for what we're saying here, but maybe Key Lime Pie could bring us closer to that.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2
Thanks for the reply!
PenguinxEnjoi said:
But why hide the widget? That space where the widget that hid the other widget is still unusable because the widget can become transparent, but it can not remove itself from the home screen and then put itself back, since adding widgets is a system level command. And if it could do what I just said it can't, what if you put apps/shortcuts/widgets in its place, where would they go? I might be over thinking this whole idea a little but that's just my two cents.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the reply, PenguinxEnjoi
I can see now that my idea can be a bit confusing.
I just had the idea to hide the widget when I don't need it so it doesn't clog up my lock/home screen.
If it means turning it invisible I'd like that just as much as removing it. I just don't want to see it.
PenguinxEnjoi said:
I do have a similar idea now that I read this, though. Use Tasker to restore backed up Nova/Holo/Adw/Apex/Etc, settings and home screen layouts based on what you said in your first post. That is probably going to take way longer to do, but it get the same effect and could probably save battery that way too. I mean, if I make a Tasker profile set up so that whenever I connect to my schools wifi, that it restores a previous backed home screen and settings layout. My phone always dies at school, so my home screen would become blank, with no dock or status bar, and just have gestures set up so that I can still get to my apps (swipe up for drawer, down for notifications, two fingers up for phone app, and two fingers down for messaging). With nothing on my home screen, I save battery because the Launcher does not have to load any thing. Android itself might be a limitation for what we're saying here, but maybe Key Lime Pie could bring us closer to that.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this is possible it would totally be an option. Especially since I'm using widgetlocker and nova launcher.
This will probably be done using intents (if it's supported) but I've only begun using tasker (after llama) so I'm still not sure how they work.
Have you found the way to auto hide widgets for example with Tasker?
extension!?
I have been trying to find a way to recreate a menu pop down resembling the app drawer menu on my desktop and yes...there are many hurdles to be made through an auto hide feature. Why there cant be an app writin that works along with zooper pro or uccw (or done internaly themselves) that can acknowlege a widget name and link it to a static bitmap/icon within another widget as in a"press on" action is beyond me. I know that is probably the last thing those two companies wanna do but it would really make it fun for the average joe just trying to create something fresh and different for their own pride and joy. I havent had much luck getting any reaponse on this. Lol obviously due to a lack reason. And no im not talking about the chocolate covered carmel candy. Bit if any of you developers out there want to take a stab at it. Looks like there is a code writtin in a somewhat similar context that i believe could work. In the end. Its us vs. Them. Hope to see something more happen with this.
And of course..i am mot allowed to copy and paste outside links yet. Thanks XDA. but if you type in."auto hide widget" in google it should be the second link you see. Hope someone makes this a reality. Will be watching for developments.:silly:
Pop up widgets from the developer of the sslauncher. Does the trick nicely. Also you can use swipepad with the widgetpad addon. Works nice for me. Widget here, widget gone
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
tie7 said:
Have you found the way to auto hide widgets for example with Tasker?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you could use overlays (paid version) which integrates in tasker (free version does not)