I am still catching up on android, but as I see it there is not a real smart way of using widgets. those passive ones, ok. but I have about 20 widgets on one side of launcher screens. they show news, clocks, stock market. they update often. But what for? I only visit their launcher pages two times a day for an hour or so.
next to it I have social page. showing all social streams but the same, I go there few times a day.
I was searching for two solutions, but found none.
1) widgets would freeze until their page in launcher is visited.
2) I would have separate platform, where I would place those widgets and access it through shortcuts from launcher.
I would be thinking that having secondary launcher with them which doesn't run without starting manually, would solve it. but no. widgets are registered in system once installed and will just stupidly requesting system attention 24h a day.
So what to do? best would be if widgets would communicate with launcher. second is to implement refresh settings into widgets. (update rate if program was accessed recently, different rate if not)
or at last, make widget separate from main app. so it will run faster, take less ram, get not kicked out of it after every update.
Please take this in consideration when creating apps.
Questions or Problems Should Not Be Posted in the Development Forum
Please Post in the Correct Forums
Moving to Q&A
I think the best option is more options. LIke you said, refresh interval settings, or even an option to update on screen wake/disable background updating.
Don't some widgets already have these options? I only use MT so others would have to chime in on this..
I like the idea of widgets only refreshing when they're visible. If it is even possible, it would be something to suggest to the developers.
My solution would be to put all widgets on manual refresh, and just refresh them when needed. Clocks won't have this option, but generally clock widgets don't use too much battery or resources. Social, news, weather, etc should have manual refresh options. You can use those options and just refresh when needed.
Sent from my Evo + MIUI using Tapatalk!
plainjane said:
I like the idea of widgets only refreshing when they're visible. If it is even possible, it would be something to suggest to the developers.
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Click to collapse
yes. that's why I posted this to developer's forum.
Shouldn't use rhetorical question as an subject I guess. My msg was trashed before being understood for what it was
This is an issue actually. The system is only as good as it would work for average user. And he might fill he screen with widgets. It doesn't take much. Only couple of non efficient apps and the whole android get laggish. He wouldn't understand what caused it and will just get annoyed and switch over to iPad.
manual refresh - mm, I don't like the idea too much. maybe on some widgets. but for me widget is something to just catch its info and not really use it.
update on screen wake - please no. to use user present and connection change calls is just another way to kill the device's power. Once I press the standby button, or connect to internet, I do it because I want to do something with the device right away. I don't want to wait for ten application actions to race for processor power right in that moment.
yes some have update speed, but that's not the perfect solution for all widgets, is it. Say I want to kill an hour of my life by worthless online socializing, I want those widget to update on one or two minute basis. But once I go away, I don't want them to do so anymore. hour is enough.
as I wrote on start about communication between launcher and widgets.
User would stop over one launcher screen and it will start to call updates on it's widgets one at a time.
And with combination that launcher will report which screen is/recently was active and widgets would consider this info in update schedule. This would be better option for informative widgets and those updating longer.
Related
I spent at least one day trying to find some apps that give me some very basic and easy functions and seems they doesnt' exist!!!
Just some examples:
- I want that on my homescreen there is a widget where I can see the latest/newest items in my google reader feeds/account.
I downloaded at least 10 different rss readers apps but NO-ONE has a widget that displays 2-3-4 or more lines with the newest titles The most near is a widget that show a 3x1 square with ONE line with the newest items switching between them every few seconds. I missed something? there is something like what I ask?
- I want that on my screen there is a widget where I can see what is appening in my facebook account. The FB for android widget shows only one/last post. The HTC FB widget shows too many things and you cannot use if you are using a non-sense rom or if resized it look really bad. The only alternative I found is the FB widget included in the LauncherPro... but what if I dont like LauncherPro?
- I want that on my homescreen there is a widget showing me my exchange/gmail mailbox: just sender: mail_object. Can be done with a very simple widget in the market for gmail, but not for exchange. To do this I had to pay and install a different mail client (Moxier) that has a widget like this...
I'm just wondering I will start to lear java to start developing my own apps
rafpigna said:
I spent at least one day trying to find some apps that give me some very basic and easy functions and seems they doesnt' exist!!!
Just some examples:
- I want that on my homescreen there is a widget where I can see the latest/newest items in my google reader feeds/account.
- I want that on my screen there is a widget where I can see what is appening in my facebook account.
- I want that on my homescreen there is a widget showing me my exchange/gmail mailbox:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
use any of the android builds that say Sense. HTC Sense on these ROMs have all of the above functionality for your homescreen.
ndn715 said:
use any of the android builds that say Sense. HTC Sense on these ROMs have all of the above functionality for your homescreen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can I use the HTC sense widget also if I use a different launcher?
rafpigna said:
Can I use the HTC sense widget also if I use a different launcher?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know, as soon as you disable the sense launcher bar and use a different one such as Launcher Pro Plus you lose all the Sense widgets so the answer would be no you cant.
Mark.
mskip said:
As far as I know, as soon as you disable the sense launcher bar and use a different one such as Launcher Pro Plus you lose all the Sense widgets so the answer would be no you cant.
Mark.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right.. this was what I experienced.
I dont want to use Sense widgets because
1) I setted up my dpi resolution to 180 to have a "bigger" homescreen
2) I use launcherpro plus to have 6 rows x 6 colums on every home to insert more widgets
In this way I just power up my phone from standby and I see:
1) hour and day
2) weather
3) news from my choosen keywords
4) calendar with the upcoming events
5) what is happening in facebook
So my question still remains... we have the market full of useful apps that do anything.. but no app to do really easy things like show on an homescreen some datas...this is incredible for me...
I have to do them by myself
I just enclosed a screenshot of my Home Screen.. I know, is not "cool" but it's working for me and give me all the informations I need at a first look without having to scroll in different homescreens
But could be better if there were some better widgets available
You know what pisses me off, there is not even a reliable alarm clock app for android. All of them may let you down in a very critical time. But it is very good thet we can find 1000+ apps that does nothing!!!
baybenbey said:
You know what pisses me off, there is not even a reliable alarm clock app for android. All of them may let you down in a very critical time. But it is very good thet we can find 1000+ apps that does nothing!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what you means for "non reliable" ?
I mean alarm apps work most of the time but somettimes they do not. It causes you to be late for your schedule. I tried many apps. "Alarm Klock" is doing okay but still it fails to ring sometimes.
Also there are so many apps which only does one single simple thing. It is like you have 2 different apps for volume up and volume down. That fancy android market is empty in reallity.
So, I've seen that there are a few nice widgets that allow you some control over the design of the widgets. BITS is very very customizable, Zoom looks amazing, so does Widgetsoid, and Beautiful Widgets are indeed beautiful.
I'm looking for one that allows a specific thing, though, and I'd rather not go through what I did with Beautiful Widgets (installing it, being very disappointed, uninstalling, finding I'm just a few minutes beyond the refund time period, emailing the very-helpful developer and asking for a refund anyway, and they're very nice people by the way).
Also, please be understanding; I've had a migraine coming and going for a week and a half, and I'm trying my best to distract myself from it. So this info is probably available but I just can't *find* it. I can't manage to brain properly, I just can't. Please excuse the rambling...
So. I like the size and look of the HTC Sense clock on my Sensation--the one that takes up half the screen but is very large and has nice contrast--and also the location/temperature/high-low predictions on it. I *love* the BITS ability to stick anything anywhere in the widget, and to have an app or shortcut launch from the anything.
Is there a design-your-own-widget that is as pretty as the Sense clock, with the same location/weather info, but will let me stick battery indicator and shortcuts all over it? And make, say, the location launch Maps, and the date launch my calendar, and so on? It doesn't look like I can manage that with Widgetsoid or BITS, Beautiful Widgets won't let me show all the info I want to show at the same time, and Zoom is just plain intimidating. I'm sure there are more make-your-own-widgets but these are the ones I've found so far.
Is this out there? Can it be done?
Thank you!
elfchick said:
So, I've seen that there are a few nice widgets that allow you some control over the design of the widgets. BITS is very very customizable, Zoom looks amazing, so does Widgetsoid, and Beautiful Widgets are indeed beautiful.
I'm looking for one that allows a specific thing, though, and I'd rather not go through what I did with Beautiful Widgets (installing it, being very disappointed, uninstalling, finding I'm just a few minutes beyond the refund time period, emailing the very-helpful developer and asking for a refund anyway, and they're very nice people by the way).
Also, please be understanding; I've had a migraine coming and going for a week and a half, and I'm trying my best to distract myself from it. So this info is probably available but I just can't *find* it. I can't manage to brain properly, I just can't. Please excuse the rambling...
So. I like the size and look of the HTC Sense clock on my Sensation--the one that takes up half the screen but is very large and has nice contrast--and also the location/temperature/high-low predictions on it. I *love* the BITS ability to stick anything anywhere in the widget, and to have an app or shortcut launch from the anything.
Is there a design-your-own-widget that is as pretty as the Sense clock, with the same location/weather info, but will let me stick battery indicator and shortcuts all over it? And make, say, the location launch Maps, and the date launch my calendar, and so on? It doesn't look like I can manage that with Widgetsoid or BITS, Beautiful Widgets won't let me show all the info I want to show at the same time, and Zoom is just plain intimidating. I'm sure there are more make-your-own-widgets but these are the ones I've found so far.
Is this out there? Can it be done?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would recommend Minimalistic Text. I'm not sure it will do *exactly* what you're asking it terms of design (but the possibilities are truly endless). There's a slight learning curve if you've never used anything like it, but once you get it figured out... you're likely to never look back.
Also, it's been a while since I've used it, but have you tried Fancy Widget? Back in the day it was a mirror image of the Sense flip clock, but it's come a long way... it was pretty customizable last I checked. Both apps have a free and paid version in the Market. Good luck.
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions Thanks
Moving to Q&A
Well, hey, I didn't know that was what Fancy Widgets was That looks like it *almost* can manage everything I want. So very close, terrific! It only has fixed info it can display, but it can start any application I want from the info it does have.
I've edited one of the backgrounds to stick icons next to the places where I've selected them to start, and that'll do for now. Thank you so much!
Minimalistic text definitely didn't agree with the on-again-off-again migraine, though Maybe I'll futz with it again some other time. I'd really like a pretty 4x2 clock that also has actual shortcuts with relevant icons embedded in it.
I wish the battery indicator on Fancy Widgets stood out a little more, even were just a different color of text. I wonder if that's possible.
So, I like Sense 4. It's a lot more trimmed down compared to previous versions, and IMO 2nd only to Sense 1.0 (which ran like a champ on the OG EVO). But, it still has some issues, and I think we've all come along them. The point of this thread is to figure out ways which these issues can be fixed. Please, submit issues you have with sense. Here is what I have encountered so far.
1. Widget browser - Long pressing a screen will bring up the widget browser, which is very similar to Honeycomb. This is very clunky, and you have to scroll through page after page to find and add a widget. This is very annoying, and cumbersome.
What should happen: Long pressing on a screen should bring up the wallpaper chooser. To add a widget, the app drawer should be combined with the widget drawer like stock ICS/JB.
2. Multi-tasking - We all know that Sense's multi-tasking sucks. Not only the memory values, and the extremely conservative memory management which kills apps only a few seconds after you leave it, but the look. In stock ICS/JB, you can see and easily swipe away about five applications, instead of having a full screen, almost app in itself.
What should happen: Stock ICS/JB multi-tasking. This was implemented in the Charmeleon ROM, but that hasn't been updated in some time. Would be worth contacting the devs to see how they got the stock multi-tasking into Sense.
3. Overall memory usage - Sense uses much more memory than stock ICS/JB. Often free memory can get down to <100MB, which can hamper the overall speed of the launcher.
What should happen: Memory usage should be scaled down, using the already implemented memory tweaks, removal of un-needed services and applications, and more liberal task management settings.
So, feel free to submit any other problems you have with sense, and submit suggestions on how to practically fix it.
yankeeboy254 said:
So, I like Sense 4. It's a lot more trimmed down compared to previous versions, and IMO 2nd only to Sense 1.0 (which ran like a champ on the OG EVO). But, it still has some issues, and I think we've all come along them. The point of this thread is to figure out ways which these issues can be fixed. Please, submit issues you have with sense. Here is what I have encountered so far.
1. Widget browser - Long pressing a screen will bring up the widget browser, which is very similar to Honeycomb. This is very clunky, and you have to scroll through page after page to find and add a widget. This is very annoying, and cumbersome.
What should happen: Long pressing on a screen should bring up the wallpaper chooser. To add a widget, the app drawer should be combined with the widget drawer like stock ICS/JB.
2. Multi-tasking - We all know that Sense's multi-tasking sucks. Not only the memory values, and the extremely conservative memory management which kills apps only a few seconds after you leave it, but the look. In stock ICS/JB, you can see and easily swipe away about five applications, instead of having a full screen, almost app in itself.
What should happen: Stock ICS/JB multi-tasking. This was implemented in the Charmeleon ROM, but that hasn't been updated in some time. Would be worth contacting the devs to see how they got the stock multi-tasking into Sense.
3. Overall memory usage - Sense uses much more memory than stock ICS/JB. Often free memory can get down to <100MB, which can hamper the overall speed of the launcher.
What should happen: Memory usage should be scaled down, using the already implemented memory tweaks, removal of un-needed services and applications, and more liberal task management settings.
So, feel free to submit any other problems you have with sense, and submit suggestions on how to practically fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with all of these but I really want the Stock ICS multitasking style.
"Widget browser - Long pressing a screen will bring up the widget browser, which is very similar to Honeycomb. This is very clunky, and you have to scroll through page after page to find and add a widget. This is very annoying, and cumbersome."
You're doing it wrong. You can use the dropdown menu to select the app you want a widget of, which can be quicker than the stock method. And the stock method isn't too much different from scrolling in Sense, besides the fact that you see more widgets at a time stock.
I agree. I'm moving storage from my phone, to my sd card just now, and I go into setting to cut my bluetooth off, and my transfer stopped. It's becoming very annoying by the day.
I'm definitely an unhappy customer at the moment. My phone doesn't restart my UI as much. Because I don't have Sense anymore. Thank god, for the Apex launcher.
Something has to be done asap. HTC should at least acknowledge the problem. Give us some hope. And to think there are some people, saying these things, doesn't bother them.
edub186 said:
I agree. I'm moving storage from my phone, to my sd card just now, and I go into setting to cut my bluetooth off, and my transfer stopped. It's becoming very annoying by the day.
I'm definitely an unhappy customer at the moment. My phone doesn't restart my UI as much. Because I don't have Sense anymore. Thank god, for the Apex launcher.
Something has to be done asap. HTC should at least acknowledge the problem. Give us some hope. And to think there are some people, saying these things, doesn't bother them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They did framework mods that mess with multitasking and kill tasks far too aggressively, see the One XL forums for more info.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk 2
Hunt3r.j2 said:
They did framework mods that mess with multitasking and kill tasks far too aggressively, see the One XL forums for more info.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But didn't HTC fix the XL's multi - tasking issue with an OTA? And if so, I really wonder why our OTA didn't include that same fix?
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app
What about the horrid IMAP/POP/Exchange mail app? HTC really botched that one and has let it slide since people brought this up back in May.
Surely it's not too difficult to fix the "download images" option and apply smaller zoom/font sizes. No, K-9 is not the answer.
This has happened twice to me. My screen is all set up the way I like it and then all of a sudden all my widgets disappear. Then a pop up comes asking me to allow widgets and I do. This is very irritating because I dont want to keep making new widgets everytime.
kong_bong said:
This has happened twice to me. My screen is all set up the way I like it and then all of a sudden all my widgets disappear. Then a pop up comes asking me to allow widgets and I do. This is very irritating because I dont want to keep making new widgets everytime.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a terrible bug that we're trying to sort out. It should be sorted out soon, but for now it's best to export your theme (Themer Setting - Advanced - Export, then you can find it in the Export tab in My Themes) as this will backup your current screen. We apologize for the inconvenience.
ThemerSupport said:
It's a terrible bug that we're trying to sort out. It should be sorted out soon, but for now it's best to export your theme (Themer Setting - Advanced - Export, then you can find it in the Export tab in My Themes) as this will backup your current screen. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know you're on top of it. It usually only happens to me after a reboot. I usually remember to export before rebooting, but it just happened to me as I woke my device.. of course this was after spending an hour or so working on a new layout :/
ReelFiles said:
Good to know you're on top of it. It usually only happens to me after a reboot. I usually remember to export before rebooting, but it just happened to me as I woke my device.. of course this was after spending an hour or so working on a new layout :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't worry this bug is on our top priority list, we'll do our best to get the bug removed as soon as possible.
Apps and Widgets Still Disappearing
Hi - I see this is an old thread but I found it through Google, and I am a little surprised to see this has been an issue for so long. I am experiencing this very issue. Sometimes app icons and widgets will disappear even without me rebooting anything - just swiping through different homescreens. I have a Galaxy Note 4. Please let me know if there's possibly anything I can do to keep this from happening - I can't count the number of times I've re-created a widget.
Also, I was wondering - does Themer affect the default homescreen (TouchWiz in this case)? I had my TouchWiz homescreen set up the way I like with apps categorized into folders, but when I switched back to it, I see that apps and widgets have disappeared or moved around on TouchWiz as well. My suspicion is somehow Themer affected it.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Nuke.EXE said:
Hi - I see this is an old thread but I found it through Google, and I am a little surprised to see this has been an issue for so long. I am experiencing this very issue. Sometimes app icons and widgets will disappear even without me rebooting anything - just swiping through different homescreens. I have a Galaxy Note 4. Please let me know if there's possibly anything I can do to keep this from happening - I can't count the number of times I've re-created a widget.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same problem here. I use the Samsung Music widget, resized to show a bit of the playlist and it regularly disappears from my screen. very annoying!
Will this be fixed in 2015?
Also there is a regular hick-up in painting the home screen, like it's not loaded from memory. This really reduces the overall experience with this great launcher!
Nuke.EXE said:
Hi - I see this is an old thread but I found it through Google, and I am a little surprised to see this has been an issue for so long. I am experiencing this very issue. Sometimes app icons and widgets will disappear even without me rebooting anything - just swiping through different homescreens. I have a Galaxy Note 4. Please let me know if there's possibly anything I can do to keep this from happening - I can't count the number of times I've re-created a widget.
Also, I was wondering - does Themer affect the default homescreen (TouchWiz in this case)? I had my TouchWiz homescreen set up the way I like with apps categorized into folders, but when I switched back to it, I see that apps and widgets have disappeared or moved around on TouchWiz as well. My suspicion is somehow Themer affected it.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
It's a very complex bug to overcome, and we've eliminated it from almost every device. Soon this bug should be fixed on all devices. For now you can always use this quick fix:
1. Uninstall Themer.
2. Delete the /sdcard/MyColorScreen/ folder (Remove the Exported folder if you have saved any themes).
3. Reinstall Themer.
If the problem still occurs we recommend selecting the Save Theme option when you long press on the homescreen, as this will temporarily save that theme. Hope this helps!
- Marco
I'm having the same problem with disappearing widgets on reboot, but only with my LG G2 D801 (not as much of a problem, but also present, on my HTC One M7). The "problem" widgets are the non-Zooper widgets such as Digical+, Poweramp, Chronus, etc.
Hope it gets sorted out, because this launcher is superb (I'll keep using it, but would prefer the problem be eliminated).
Driving me nuts!
I spend at least an hour setting up Zooper and the rest of my widgets. Then something happens forcing me to reboot my phone. Poof! All my hard work is gone. This is 6th time this has happened on my unrooted Note 4! I love this launcher and have become quite used to the theme I've set up. Nothing I've tried works, exporting, saving, nothing. Please fix this! I'm seriously thinking I'll have to find another launcher if it happens again. It's becoming to time consuming.
I have a similar issue. I accidentally drug my widget too close to the dock, which crashed nova launcher. After nova restarted, my widget won't show on the screen, but when I go directly into zooper app, it still shows the widget active in screen?!?
Hello all!
Been using Themer for some days now, and it's just great compared to other launchers out there. I tried GO launcher but hated the ads and 'chinese style'. Tried Nova too, but it was too similar to TW in my use. Themer is both original and not-pushy.
I use the HUD theme, which looks great and keeps the kids away from my phone (because it looks so weird ). One thing I don't really care about is the weather. I have a weather app I use daily to check the weekly forecast, I go out a few times a day, I have windows in my house so I can check the weather by turning my head... I really don't need Themer telling me the wrong weather anymore.
So, my request: could someone swap the weather widget to show something else, like core temp? I know I could do it myself, but it would take weeks and most of you can probably do it in a few minutes.
acmer77 said:
Hello all!
Been using Themer for some days now, and it's just great compared to other launchers out there. I tried GO launcher but hated the ads and 'chinese style'. Tried Nova too, but it was too similar to TW in my use. Themer is both original and not-pushy.
I use the HUD theme, which looks great and keeps the kids away from my phone (because it looks so weird ). One thing I don't really care about is the weather. I have a weather app I use daily to check the weekly forecast, I go out a few times a day, I have windows in my house so I can check the weather by turning my head... I really don't need Themer telling me the wrong weather anymore.
So, my request: could someone swap the weather widget to show something else, like core temp? I know I could do it myself, but it would take weeks and most of you can probably do it in a few minutes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there!
Having something like core temp is a bit tricky, as the widgets we provide don't really include that option.
Have you tried going into Themer Settings - Weather - then changing your weather provider - this might fix your temp problem.
You could always post the theme's wallpaper (found in Themer Wallpapers in your Gallery) and we could try Photoshop the "temperature" text and replace it with something else instead?
Changing the provider doesn't help. It still shows 0 all the time.
I can't think of much else to fill the empty space with. While I was quickly checking how the themes are built, I noticed that there's a line in launchersettings.xml that looked weird:
Code:
<string name="com.mycolorscreen.themer.wallpaper_transistion">slide</string>
Is it really supposed to be 'transistion' and not 'transition'?
Anyway, onto the request again. I'm starting to feel OK with the weather filling the space. I think I have figured out something though: I have all my location things off, so it mught cause a problem for the weather widget. Ideally I'd like it to work so that you have an option to lock your location (just use the one it has now and lock it or type it in) and then it just regularly sends weather data on the same location to the widget. Now it seems to try to fetch your location, then send it to the weather service and that sends the data back to widget. I don't travel much so having a locked location would be a nice thing to have in the widget. Only time the widget has chances of updating the temp is when I go geocaching
Does it even work like that?