I would like to make my homescreen look like the one attached.
This is a little mockup I have made. Even if I can get the shortcut list going on the side would be nice. I'm not so sure about the tiles after I finished drawing it.
Any ideas on widgets/launchers is appreciated before I have to actually code something myself. I have been trying to look for widgets etc. that can help me but have come up empty.
Things like this have been done before. Search Android Phone 7. I've never seen one with that app list sidebar. That may be a little hard to recreate but it isn't impossible.
Things you'd need: Icons, Desktop Visualizer, ADW EX or Launcher Pro Plus (Plus is needed for resizing widgets) Minimalistic Text, maybe Phantom Music Control. For the icons like "Games" or "Utilities" you may be able to link the DVR widget to an app called Folder Organizator. Or you could use a widget called SiMi Folder, which would make a shortcut on your homescreen that is like the iPhone's folder thing. You could make the icon of the SiMi Folder transparent.
This is going to take A LOT of resizing, which can get really boring. To avoid headaches, plan everything out before you start. If you want a widget above another widget, the widget you want on the bottom (background) needs to be placed BEFORE the widget you want in front (foreground). You are going to have to resize it over the other widget, not place it on top.
That's all I can think of for right now. The left side should be pretty easy. The right side on the other hand will be a little challenging. My best advice would be to start by making a big plain minimalistic text (MT) widget, then add each app name as a MT widget with a blank background (option is in the MT widget configuration menu) For some help, try the Hubs layout in the Asus Transformer Theme and App section. We have a nice thread there with a similar idea and people there will be more than willing to help. They are a lot better at home screen customization than me.
Anyways, awesome idea! If you make the icons, I'll be happy to help you recreate it!
Thanks for the reply. I've played around with Minimalistic Text and it looks promising, thanks. I had noticed it several times before, but it does not mention it can function to create normal shortcuts too.
Just buying ADW Launcher EX (first purchase, borrowing a debit card now), as I have been using the free version for a while. Will post an update when it goes through and I can play with resizing the widgets.
I am currently playing with Minimalistic Text and I have the text on the screen, but when I assigned the proper functions I found they overlap each other...
Anyone know how to avoid this? (They are created using 5x1 horizontal widgets)
BeaverusIV said:
I am currently playing with Minimalistic Text and I have the text on the screen, but when I assigned the proper functions I found they overlap each other...
Anyone know how to avoid this? (They are created using 5x1 horizontal widgets)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Resize the widgets. I dont know how its done in ADW but i think you can do it by long pressing them.
I have, they are the smallest they can go. The resize outline box is 1 unit high, but when I push the 'button' it shows a 2 unit high selection box...
I'll see if I can get a s/s of each box...
Edit: Nope, too tricky to get the timing.
reminds me of wp7
if you wanna something like that try Launcher 7
https://market.android.com/details?id=info.tikuwarez.launcher3
else you can use desktop visualizer (like mentioned before)
i am using desktop visualizer,too.
but i noticed when you have to restart your phone it takes a while to reload the widgets
How ever it's still fine
I used to use DVR when I first got my phone. The tile layout on the left was an experiment, I don't think I'll use it. The main thing was the right hand side; the list of shortcuts.
Well I worked around the overlapping issue by reapplying them in a different order so they underlap instead.
Now I'll work on another layout I like for the rest of my icons, thanks guys
PS: @restarting phone: Who does that?
Edit: For anyone who cares:
Use MT to make a 5x1 widget, use the vertical top alignment and both horizontal ones right.
Don't show background.
Choose custom layout and remove the three existing sections and add a 'static text' one from under Misc.
I choose normal (not default) text and change it to 30dip (that fits my applications nicely on my 800x480px screen).
Choose launch another application and choose the application you want to launch.
Start from the bottom of the screen and work your way up, placing the background last.
BeaverusIV said:
I used to use DVR when I first got my phone. The tile layout on the left was an experiment, I don't think I'll use it. The main thing was the right hand side; the list of shortcuts.
Well I worked around the overlapping issue by reapplying them in a different order so they underlap instead.
Now I'll work on another layout I like for the rest of my icons, thanks guys
PS: @restarting phone: Who does that?
Edit: For anyone who cares:
Use MT to make a 5x1 widget, use the vertical top alignment and both horizontal ones right.
Don't show background.
Choose custom layout and remove the three existing sections and add a 'static text' one from under Misc.
I choose normal (not default) text and change it to 30dip (that fits my applications nicely on my 800x480px screen).
Choose launch another application and choose the application you want to launch.
Start from the bottom of the screen and work your way up, placing the background last.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OO thanks! I'll wait til you finish the whole thing to try it out but it looks like its going to be awesome.
I'll post a new thread when I've accomplished it
Hi
is there any progress on this topic? is the new thread already open?
It's 12:40am here. A new thread will be made tomorrow after I've finished the homescreen.
Related
it's amazons free app of the day. pretty neat function, im using it to replace the long press for multitasking. runs smoothly
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
I thought about posting this too when I downloaded it earlier today. But then I tried it out and found that its really not for me.
Agreed, I looks like a great idea, but doesnt function as good as it could. Not for me either.
I downloaded Wave Launcher and I'm attempting to make use of it. My current setup is ADW.Launcher EX, Folder Organizer, and Beautiful widgets. I really liked this setup, but I'm looking for a new look for my phone. Having five Folder Organizer widgets on the desktop is pretty sweet. I can get to the 20ish programs I use all on one home screen via the folder organize widgets.
I was hoping to use Wave Launcher to re-do my setup so make the home screen more "empty" and clean.
The app is very easy to setup, but its use seems a bit limited. I was hoping to be able to have multiple Wave Launchers so that if I swiped from the left side of the screen it would like X apps, if I swiped from the right side of the screen it would display a different set of Y apps, and if I swiped from the bottom it would bring up a different set of Z apps. Unfortunitally, the app only allows for one swipe location and one set of apps to launch.
I am going to keep it installed, and I am going to try to make it work for me. I can free up some screen real estate via Wave Launcher, though I'm not sure what to launch with it. Should I put in my most used apps? It does make them a bit harder to launch versus having links on the screen or a Folder Organizer widget on the scren. So should I put some apps I don't use often into the wave launcher so that they don't use screen real estate as either links or a folder organizer widget.
Long story short... this launcher seems to be a great idea. A swipe motion brings up a "waved bar" with links on it. However, those links are harder to "choose" since you have to slide your thumb / finger into the right place, so folders might work better. However folders take up screen real estate. So... its a good idea, and it might work out for me. I wish that there were more options like the ones lacking that I listed above.
We'll see what I come up with over the next few days.
DK
SwipePad is A LOT better!
https://market.android.com/details?id=mobi.conduction.swipepad.android
I too got this from amazon but while I was playing angry birds it kept popping up alot and pissed me off so... I uninstalled it for now!
I just keep forgetting it's there. until it comes up at the worst possible moments.
facetubespam said:
SwipePad is A LOT better!
https://market.android.com/details?id=mobi.conduction.swipepad.android
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 it was slow to start but they keep making it better with the add-ons and speed increases
Sent from my GreyBlurred Bell Atrix
+1 for swipe pad, nothing comparable so far.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Swipepad drove my cpu usage up to 100%, ive been using wave launcher and it has been working fine. I really like how it looks like the palm os wave which is what i came from. Pretty nifty.
this app was making Contacts appear when I clicked PowerAMP. Had to uninstall Wave Launcher then reboot phone so PowerAMP operates properly.
Sent from my Motorola Atrix 4G using Tapatalk
Wave Launcher
mario925 said:
this app was making Contacts appear when I clicked PowerAMP. Had to uninstall Wave Launcher then reboot phone so PowerAMP operates properly.
Sent from my Motorola Atrix 4G using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can customize the size and location of Wave Launcher's gesture-area, try "Bottom Left - 20%" in the "Gesture-area presets" setting.
Upcoming version of Wave Launcher will allow 3rd party apps to disable / enable Wave Launcher. (Currently supported by the upcoming version of WidgetLocker) It will also include a quick disable/enable option via the notification bar.
DeathKoil said:
I downloaded Wave Launcher and I'm attempting to make use of it. My current setup is ADW.Launcher EX, Folder Organizer, and Beautiful widgets. I really liked this setup, but I'm looking for a new look for my phone. Having five Folder Organizer widgets on the desktop is pretty sweet. I can get to the 20ish programs I use all on one home screen via the folder organize widgets.
I was hoping to use Wave Launcher to re-do my setup so make the home screen more "empty" and clean.
The app is very easy to setup, but its use seems a bit limited. I was hoping to be able to have multiple Wave Launchers so that if I swiped from the left side of the screen it would like X apps, if I swiped from the right side of the screen it would display a different set of Y apps, and if I swiped from the bottom it would bring up a different set of Z apps. Unfortunitally, the app only allows for one swipe location and one set of apps to launch.
I am going to keep it installed, and I am going to try to make it work for me. I can free up some screen real estate via Wave Launcher, though I'm not sure what to launch with it. Should I put in my most used apps? It does make them a bit harder to launch versus having links on the screen or a Folder Organizer widget on the scren. So should I put some apps I don't use often into the wave launcher so that they don't use screen real estate as either links or a folder organizer widget.
Long story short... this launcher seems to be a great idea. A swipe motion brings up a "waved bar" with links on it. However, those links are harder to "choose" since you have to slide your thumb / finger into the right place, so folders might work better. However folders take up screen real estate. So... its a good idea, and it might work out for me. I wish that there were more options like the ones lacking that I listed above.
We'll see what I come up with over the next few days.
DK
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can also use it for:
direct-dial contacts.
Any Android shortcut, not just apps.
Show recently-used apps
Show its built-in app-drawer (by swiping or by long-pressing the gesture-area
I'm response to LoirG I use the wave launcher to open folders from folder organizer which helps open space on NY homescreen. Wave launcher is one of my more valuable apps. It has a learning curve but the limits are almost endless
Sent from my rooted 1.8.3 Honeyglow themed Gingerblur Atrix
So far I love the phone. This is the only phone I've had in a long time where I haven't wanted to load a custom rom the day I got it. There's just one thing I don't know if there's an option for, and something else I'd like to change that I hope it easy being rooted.
1. Is there a way to make the vibrate patterns apply to text messages? So far they only seem to apply to incoming calls.
2. The little dots on the bottom that show what page I'm on. Can I get rid of those or move them to the top of the screen?
ok, there's a 3rd I guess. The green phone icon, is there an EASY way to change that? Not thrilled about a couple others either like the contacts one. Don't know if there's a simple way to go in and swap out the image file for a different one or not. On my Galaxy tablet I was able to go in and create custom icons on the computer and use a program on the tab to select what program I wanted it to open, but that was a long time ago and I forgot how to do it, or what programs I used. If that's what it comes down too though, guess that's what I'll have to do. Just wanted to know if there was an easier way. I don't mind the icons themselves, just the colors. Not a fan of green or orange. Blue would be nice.
Thanks in advance for any help on these. Besides this stuff, absolutely LOVE the phone...
hope this helps...
1. I don't see any place in the touchwiz messaging app's settings to customize the vibrate pattern for texts... some possible solutions would be a custom ROM with the stock google messaging app rather than the touchwiz app, or somewhat less extreme would be to install a 3rd party texting client from the play store and see if that setting is present in that app.
2. I'm not sure if the touchwiz launcher allows you to hide or remove those little indicator dots, but you can open up a million options for homescreen launcher settings by installing a 3rd party launcher from the play store like Nova Launcher or Apex Launcher. Currently I'm using Apex and it is great (still rocking the stock experience until CM9 gets a stable release).
3. As for changing icons like the phone, calendar, calculator, etc. This is another thing that can be customized using a launcher like Apex.
ShawnDobie said:
So far I love the phone. This is the only phone I've had in a long time where I haven't wanted to load a custom rom the day I got it. There's just one thing I don't know if there's an option for, and something else I'd like to change that I hope it easy being rooted.
1. Is there a way to make the vibrate patterns apply to text messages? So far they only seem to apply to incoming calls.
2. The little dots on the bottom that show what page I'm on. Can I get rid of those or move them to the top of the screen?
ok, there's a 3rd I guess. The green phone icon, is there an EASY way to change that? Not thrilled about a couple others either like the contacts one. Don't know if there's a simple way to go in and swap out the image file for a different one or not. On my Galaxy tablet I was able to go in and create custom icons on the computer and use a program on the tab to select what program I wanted it to open, but that was a long time ago and I forgot how to do it, or what programs I used. If that's what it comes down too though, guess that's what I'll have to do. Just wanted to know if there was an easier way. I don't mind the icons themselves, just the colors. Not a fan of green or orange. Blue would be nice.
Thanks in advance for any help on these. Besides this stuff, absolutely LOVE the phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Have heard others complain of this issue, so I don't believe that there a way to do it. Don't use that feature myself so...
2. Again, I'm not sure, but I think you're stuck with them. You could use a launcher that allows more customization. I like apex.
3. Download an app called "icon changer" and a icon pack or theme with the icons you would like to use. You can then open the application and select the app you want to change the icon of and pick a new icon. It will create a shortcut of the app with the custom icon on your home screen. Great for changing icons on your home screen if you want to remain using TW. If you decide to use an alternate launcher like apex this feature is already integrated and you have the ability to switch the icons within the app drawer as well.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Thanks for the quick replies. Trying to stay away from a custom rom on this phone. There's just nothing I'm really unhappy with that much. There's always something that goes wrong when I load one. Not saying there's ANYTHING wrong with the roms themselves, there's just not that much on this phone I'm not happy with, unlike phones I've had in the past. I'm coming from a Desire.
Thanks for the Icon Changer app also. Changing them on my tablet was a pain in the butt, this was nice and simple. Any way you know the dimensions of the icons though so I can create some of my own?
Hello
I'm not sure if this will work and need some help how to solve this issue. First i'm sorry if my English is a bit rusty!
Anyway i have made a design i'm pretty satisfied with. I want the above part to be fixed (Non scrollable) its there i want to place
the UCCW information as battery info, Free memory, Weather and so on.The lower part i made as tabs. 6 pictures with each tabs showing.
Best would be if i can get it to look like in a browser when switching tabs !
Now to the part where i'm stuck! I don't know how to make the tabs working without moving the UCCW widget with all info
i just want the lower part to be move able. Will try to show with a picture
Thewiruz said:
Hello
I'm not sure if this will work and need some help how to solve this issue. First i'm sorry if my English is a bit rusty!
Anyway i have made a design i'm pretty satisfied with. I want the above part to be fixed (Non scrollable) its there i want to place
the UCCW information as battery info, Free memory, Weather and so on.The lower part i made as tabs. 6 pictures with each tabs showing.
Best would be if i can get it to look like in a browser when switching tabs !
Now to the part where i'm stuck! I don't know how to make the tabs working without moving the UCCW widget with all info
i just want the lower part to be move able. Will try to show with a picture
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I used UCCW, which is already some time back, you had to (?) create 6 home screens with the top of each home screen the same (your battery indicator etc.) and the lower part changing, with in this case your tabs. Then in the launcher (e.g. I use Apex) you can switch off the home screen scrolling animation or reduce the time for the animation to 0 so that it looks like you are switching tabs.
Hello,
I have been playing around with Themer and the built in Zooper Widgets, and I made some adjustments to widgets that are in two different themes. I wanted to get them together into the same theme, so I did it by making room on the bottom half of the screen, creating a new widget and resizing it to the same size as the widget I want to copy from the other theme. I then loaded tapped the widget, which brought up the zooper config and opened the widget that was autosaved in the first theme. When it loaded, I noticed that everything was off. Everything was tiny and pulled away from the edges of the widget. I thought it wasn't a big deal, so I went in to change the overall widget scaling to make it fill the space, and instead it hit a point where instead of resizing, it started cutting off the sides of the widget. I tried manually changing the x and y locations of the widget items, and they just get cut off instead of expanding into the rest of the widget space.
Is there a way that I can force the widget to make use of the whole widget space instead of cutting off? I've attached a picture to show where there is the empty space on the sides of the widget. Please note that the "resize" option of the widget (when long pressing on the widget and getting the options to remove, resize or configure) shows the resize handles all the way to the left and right edges of the screen, yet the widget inside of it won't fill that space.
Or maybe I'm thinking about this the wrong way. Are there settings in themer that may be different from theme to theme that would cause this sort of thing to happen even when the widgets are being used on the same phone? I thought perhaps the desktop grid (which is 8x6 in these two themes) would do it, but that doesn't seem to matter in this case since they're the same.
Thanks for your help,
Jeremy
thinker5555 said:
Hello,
I have been playing around with Themer and the built in Zooper Widgets, and I made some adjustments to widgets that are in two different themes. I wanted to get them together into the same theme, so I did it by making room on the bottom half of the screen, creating a new widget and resizing it to the same size as the widget I want to copy from the other theme. I then loaded tapped the widget, which brought up the zooper config and opened the widget that was autosaved in the first theme. When it loaded, I noticed that everything was off. Everything was tiny and pulled away from the edges of the widget. I thought it wasn't a big deal, so I went in to change the overall widget scaling to make it fill the space, and instead it hit a point where instead of resizing, it started cutting off the sides of the widget. I tried manually changing the x and y locations of the widget items, and they just get cut off instead of expanding into the rest of the widget space.
Is there a way that I can force the widget to make use of the whole widget space instead of cutting off? I've attached a picture to show where there is the empty space on the sides of the widget. Please note that the "resize" option of the widget (when long pressing on the widget and getting the options to remove, resize or configure) shows the resize handles all the way to the left and right edges of the screen, yet the widget inside of it won't fill that space.
Or maybe I'm thinking about this the wrong way. Are there settings in themer that may be different from theme to theme that would cause this sort of thing to happen even when the widgets are being used on the same phone? I thought perhaps the desktop grid (which is 8x6 in these two themes) would do it, but that doesn't seem to matter in this case since they're the same.
Thanks for your help,
Jeremy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Jeremy,
Thanks for your detailed feedback. This is an odd problem, but that's what Zooper is all about.
This may be caused by a bug in Themer. Sometimes it says that the widget resize handles are touching the edges, when the truth is that the widget is still in the same place. Try adding it in on one side and see if the result is the same (or even multiple resize attempts). The reason I say this is because if the widget was truly the whole width of the screen - it would let you reposition the modules within the skin with ease. Let me know what happens.
Could you give me the name of both themes that you used, perhaps I could recreate the issue.
-Marco
ThemerSupport said:
Hi Jeremy,
Thanks for your detailed feedback. This is an odd problem, but that's what Zooper is all about.
This may be caused by a bug in Themer. Sometimes it says that the widget resize handles are touching the edges, when the truth is that the widget is still in the same place. Try adding it in on one side and see if the result is the same (or even multiple resize attempts). The reason I say this is because if the widget was truly the whole width of the screen - it would let you reposition the modules within the skin with ease. Let me know what happens.
Could you give me the name of both themes that you used, perhaps I could recreate the issue.
-Marco
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Marco,
I was inserting a customized version of the bottom half of the "Woods" theme into a new screen on the "Glass" theme. I was using the one that was saved in my "Autosave" list rather than one I had manually saved. Also, I tried loading it into a regular Zooper Widget PRO widget within Nova Launcher. It took a time or two, but I was able to finally get it to work and it only required minimal tweaking to get it looking good again. What I may have done wrong was not resizing the widget to the correct size before loading a the saved contents into it. (Honestly I cannot remember for sure at this point since several days have gone by. ) For example, if the widget is supposed to be 6x4, I may have had it sized to 5x4 by accident first, inserted the widget contents from the autosave, and then tried to resize it to 6x4 after, causing the weird gaps.
If I see it happen again, I'll pay more attention to the specific circumstances and give better feedback.
Thanks again for the help,
Jeremy
thinker5555 said:
Hi Marco,
I was inserting a customized version of the bottom half of the "Woods" theme into a new screen on the "Glass" theme. I was using the one that was saved in my "Autosave" list rather than one I had manually saved. Also, I tried loading it into a regular Zooper Widget PRO widget within Nova Launcher. It took a time or two, but I was able to finally get it to work and it only required minimal tweaking to get it looking good again. What I may have done wrong was not resizing the widget to the correct size before loading a the saved contents into it. (Honestly I cannot remember for sure at this point since several days have gone by. ) For example, if the widget is supposed to be 6x4, I may have had it sized to 5x4 by accident first, inserted the widget contents from the autosave, and then tried to resize it to 6x4 after, causing the weird gaps.
If I see it happen again, I'll pay more attention to the specific circumstances and give better feedback.
Thanks again for the help,
Jeremy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Jeremy,
If that ever happens, you can always reload the skin within the Zooper Configuration Menu (instead of manually resizing everything), however this only works 70% of the time. You're welcome to watch some of our videos on the MyColorScreen YouTube channel, as there might be something to help you out there.
Regards,
Marco
So here is the idea, a X-Cross Media Bar (XMB) style interface launcher that can be used on android devices, phones or tablets, but I plan on using it on my N7 since I use a Bluetooth keyboard I use for remote desktop and chrome and a pc xbox controller for games from time to time I have been trying to figure out how to make a decent android home screen that interacts like the XMB controls wise but have come up short.
I have found quite a few threads and other pages for stuff like this that has moved nowhere in the past and was hoping you guys might be able to get something in some sort of solution to my desire for a clean interactive interface. The closest thing i have, thanks to one of my friends who first came up with the idea but I have obsessively been trying to find a way to perfect, is using Nova launcher with folders set to tap to open a set app and swipe up to open the folder and a custom icon based off a PS3 theme pack I took the images from all arranged in an XMB style (picture linked) with the Wave Life Wallpaper to give it that PSP/PS3 look.
Basically all I want is an interface that interacts like the XMB, can be controlled either with directional buttons or by swiping across the screen (or tapping the icon of what you want if possible). But the big kicker here is that it has to support each column set acting as a customizable folder, like in Nova, and a standard app drawer where you can see all your apps. I don't even care if this requires xposed, a different launcher, and widgets, I want it and have done everything short of trying to code it myself. (probably not a good idea, I'm a network guy, not a good programmer)
All the pages I have come across in search of the pot of gold:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1104989
http://home.gna.org/gp2xmb/
https://code.google.com/p/xpmb/
http://boards.dingoonity.org/jxd-devices/xmb-launcher-for-android-5891/
The second to last one was a launcher somebody made, and believe it or not runs on 5.0.2, but has some issues and does not really let you change anything. The last Link is an actually functional one but does not allow for much customization.
What I am thinking of is more of a launcher that allows you to create columns for certain things and select which apps fill them like a folder does, allows you to have whatever wallpaper (static, scrolling, live) and has customization options. If somebody out there can program this and get it working I would pay for it. It just seems like such a usable interface for when using a controller, keyboard, or even on a touchscreen as a way different way to have everything organised. Although a standard app drawer would still be nice to avoid having every app in a column and just the ones you frequently use (I basically want an XMB in place of multiple desktops on the home screen)
Just let me know if anybody can help me figure this out.