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Hi wanted to create my first program..
right now Im trying to make a unit converter that is finger friendly..
so far I've tested it and here is what I have so far..
any suggestions? regarding the buttons positions, the interface, etc?
thanks
Hi Providense,
Looks good so far.
Do you have a development schedule as to what it will convert?
Keep it up.
John
Provedence,
It seems that some people like to have a configuration facility.
So perhaps some suggestions:-
Favorites so that the list can be tailored to favorites for that person to save a more compact list of 'things to convert'
I would be happy to have any theme for now but cooks may prefer to add there own theme.
I have used this type of function with calculator type programs but they can become unweildy so one that is specific would be usefull.
Thanks
John
thanks Johny1fin
as of now these are the things i've done
Temperature:
degree Celsius
degree Fahreheit
degree Rankine
degree Reaumur
kelvin
Acceleration: (still doing it right now)
centigal
centimeter/square second
decigal
decimeter/square second
dekameter/square second
foot/square second
g-unit(G)
gal
galileo
gn
grav
hectometer/square second
inch/square second
kilometer/hour second
kilomter/square second
meter/square second
mile/hour minute
mile/hour second
mile/square second
milligal
millimeter/square second
still a long way to go. But the Acceleration should be done by today.
Then I'll add Area, Date/Time and etc
I like the idea of favorites. I'll see if i can implement that. Im still a beginner at programming. Using VB.net 2003 right now
oh by the way. Here's the main menu, where I will put all the buttons
providence said:
Hi wanted to create my first program..
right now Im trying to make a unit converter that is finger friendly..
so far I've tested it and here is what I have so far..
any suggestions? regarding the buttons positions, the interface, etc?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Providence,
It may be a limitation of the APIs but could the vertical scroll buttons be next to each other horizontally rather than vertically as this may produce larger buttons?
John
Look nice.. however, on the finger friendly issue, you may want to avoid the scroll list (on your first screenshot) and have another screen for the choice of (say) different temperature units. Something like, making a screen (of your second shot) for temperature units. If you get what i'm trying to say
thanks for the feedbacks i've changed how the scrolling works. Now im using a custom button for that.
Looking good providence
I am not sure if you like this idea, but I think it will be more useful if you can add:
- Currency converter
- Currency quick view (to view several currencies at once)
There is an example of a very nice and complete project with source code here:
http://www.codeproject.com/netcf/PocketCurrency.asp
Add option to have automatic currency update as well
[ x ] Update when connected to ActiveSync
[ x ] Automatic update every X hours
hi, well the main idea was to create a finger based Unit conversion program. To add Currency Converter would be a challenge for myself.
Since first of all, Currency changes daily, so there must be a way to update it. Secondly, im still learning how to program by self teaching myself on my free time.
By the way, Here's the latest screenshot of the program.
I fixed the buttons so its easier to use.
unfortunately, this will only work on PDAphones and not on smartphones. Since you'll need to use the touch screen as input method.
Here is an idea, as mentioned by one of the post above, instead of stacking your scroll button up and down, it may save you that more space if you were to stack them left and right.
From what it seems, the < and > , are buttons, which you use it to 'affect' your lists. If you were to (example) sandwish your list in between these two buttons, you would save like another 2 button height. Example.
Currently, you have the layout
Code:
. item1 <
. item2
. item3 >
. item4
if you can just do this (which is possible in VC, not sure about VB), instead
Code:
< .item1 >
.item2
So, instead of 4 item height, you are now only left with 2 items height.
ahh i see..
I tried doing it
< item 1 >
item 2
but i find it harder to navigate, since when you go back you have to drag your finger across the other side of the screen. And while doing that, you are blocking the item list with your finger.
I dont need to save space, i think i got everything in there..
by the way, here's the test i took
then again, if i put them on the sides, it makes easier for those who are left handed as well
The spaces you save, may able you to bloat up the keypad below.. from what it seems, now they are on the 'flat' side of it.
If you think the "left-list-right" is not very finger friendly, you can try the "list-left-right"? That is
.item1 < >
.item2
Hi thanks for the suggestions..
right now here is what i have, and will probably be the final change in the button positioning..
i got big fingers and I can use them without stylus.
Should have a pre-alpha version ready soon. As of now I've done temperatures and acceleration.
Will add more soon
My beloved o2 mini was having a few 'issues' - dropping calls, bad battery life, periods of no network - it was time for an upgrade.
So I bought a Telstra branded touch dual off ebay from a company called 'viper technologies'. I discovered why it was called that when the parcel arrived with 'Mike Metcalfe' in the 'from' section - Mike Metcalfe was Tom Skerritt's *real* name as the head instructor of 'Top Gun', otherwise known as 'Viper'.
I'd done some prereading at xda developers and discovered the Telstra version is the 850, which is the NEON and not the NIKI. On the upside the 850 apparently has a larger battery, the ability to work on Telstra NextG, an FM radio, and the power button is in a different place (the same as the o2 mini fortuitously)On the downside it has the telescopic stylus, which is fine because I tend not to use it much. I found that the fact that it was in the bottom right corner took more getting used to than the fact that it was telescopic.
Anyways. First, that telstra branding had to go. I found the right spl uploader at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=377260>, and installed version 1.06.841.4 ROM on it.
The only issues with the flashing was that I missed a crucial step of unplugging and replugging the cable, as per the instructions (in capital letters even) in the aforementioned thread.
I made my own little startup splash screen to replace the windows mobile one and stuck it in the windows directory by making a 240 x 320 pixel jpg in photoshop and naming it 'welcomehead.96.png'.
Before that, of course I had to discover that ActiveSync 4.5 is the latest version for XP, and will always be, because Vista now has some other sort of thing to transfer to mobiles. ActiveSync 4.5 has behaved itself quite well for me, much better than I remember 3.7 ever doing with the o2.
I decided to make a partnership without syncing any data at first, because I knew I'd be connecting and disconnecting and didn't want to always wait for it to sync hundreds of files before it let me do anything. At this juncture the little rubber USB port cover on the bottom first began to annoy me, but more on that later.
OK, it was time to try and make this little fella do everything the o2 could - and more. Familiarising oneself with the new WM6 was fun - the o2 ran 2003 and while they haven't changed much, there were a few things that needed getting used to.
HTC HOME VS CLAUNCHER
My thinking usually centres around getting things done efficiently. And whilst it looked so cool, I came to the realisation that HTC home had to go. The clock? Too much screen real estate (and I have a watch anyway). The message/call/appointment notifiers? I wanted to see the actual appointments written there. The launcher? Only NINE programs? Please! The weather? Firstly I didn't seem to be able to get it for Australia, and secondly... I actually realised that I don't really care about the weather that much! Ringtones? Don't use 'em. Right.
So I stumbled upon a program called clauncher, which it turns out is incredibly cool and efficient. You can just load it up, select it as a plugin and then click and hold on the empty space to access a huge variety of settings. It comes with 8 tabs for categories, like Main, Tools, Comm, Games etc etc. One of the excellent things about clauncher is that you can just import your start menu folder into an empty category and then just cut them out into the right ones. It's easy to move them with a multiple selection function and 'move up' and 'move down' buttons.
I found that keeping the icons at their native 32 pixel size looked nicest, and it's also about the right size for a thumb. I gave them a 3 pixel space between them but then I put a large right margin of 12 pixels, because clauncher has a cool feature which flips icon screens when you touch the blank part. You can also set the total height. So the sizing above gave me five icons in two rows, with a blank portion on the right to thumb to the next page. I discovered also that you can get more screen space (and a neater look) by hiding the tabs altogether.
Earlier on I'd discovered a terrible problem with clauncher - The pop down keypad would only type the first letter or number in the boxes! So I had named the second tab '2' and moved on. The lack of keyboard became an issue when I wanted to add manual shortcuts etc. Luckily I stumbled upon the fix for it. Instead of press and hold for the settings, if you access them via the 'today items' control panel, it gives you the softkey bar at the bottom, and hence your keyboard options back again.
Currently I've got four screens - my most frequently used (vaguely) apps, less frequently used apps, communications stuff and then games.
All I need to find out now is how to anchor it to the bottom part of the screen.
I noticed that WM6 no longer puts your messages on the today screen - 'no unread emails' or whatever. But a shortcut to messaging was an easy fix with clauncher.
HARDWARE KEYS/LONGPRESSENDKEY/SLIDEACTION
The lack of hardware keys was something I didn't realise I'd miss so much. The o2 had phone buttons, volume slider, camera button, the normal nav buttons PLUS appointment, contacts, and voice recorder buttons. I used to run buttonmax on my o2 which let me map press, double press and long press to each of the extra buttons.
I thought I'd found a solution in AEbuttonplus - it was free, it let me map buttons - but the only buttons I could really map were the phone ones.
So I mapped a double click on the green button to close a window (when I'm thumbing around it's actually easier to get to the bottom part of the screen, particularly when using the sliding keyboard). It was working great - until I got a phone call. The green button seems to change purpose depending on what's going on. I had mapped its usual use to 'phone', but that didn't seem to cover 'answer call' or even 'send call' - I had to use the on-screen softkeys. I'd installed 'slide action' software which had been working great, but I realised it must simulate a 'press green button' or something, because it stopped working for phone functions too. So AEbuttonplus had to go.
The small consolation came with the 'longpressendkey' setting somebody thoughtfully put in the ROM - I can at least set my phone to vibrate with one key, which I could never do easily on the o2. I'd love to see 'longpressendkey' set up to allow any customisable link, and while they're at it, make BOTH the green and red keys mappable for single, double and triple press as well as long press. That would give six extra hardware key options and make up for the lack of them elsewhere. Anyways.
ACTIVESYNC/MACROREADER/CEREGEDITOR
Dang it, I stuffed around for a LONG time trying to solve this. On my o2 I had a hardware macro (double press contacts key) which would start activesync, and then another activesync specific hardware macro (hold contacts key) to connect bluetooth and start synchronising. And then to disconnect, I was running the Magic Button task manager and a tap on the X would disconnect and close activesync.
How to do it? I didn't have hardware keys, I didn't have macros, OR didn't I? I ended up discovering a little piece of software here:
http://vitotechnology.com/en/products/download.php?ID=1645&BID=23
in what seemed to be the VITO 'boneyard' where they keep all the seconds and dodgy stuff - I couldn't find a link to it on the main site. It was called 'MacroRecorder' and it comes with no manual or other information. But it works if you just want to record a tap-based macro. Next problem then - how to make a tap for starting Activesync always be in the same place?
You gotta love those registry hacks. I found a program called CERegEditor which lets you connect up the phone, and then edit the registry on your PC. Sure beats keying in all the weird info on the tiny screen using the tiny buttons.
I remapped the bottom left softkey to ActiveSync using the Key 112 registry entry, and now I had my solution to making a tap-based macro. MacroRecorder isn't that tricky actually - you just start the exe, click the okay screen, do your thang, and then press the little red square which has appeared in the middle of the screen to finish. It asks for a name and then creates a file in the same folder as the exe, which you can put wherever. I created an entry for it in clauncher, gave it the activesync icon (Windows\repllog.exe) and now I can start activesync and connect via bluetooth with one press!
While I was there in the registry I did a few other tweaks like making the scroll bars 15 pixels wide (the widest you can make them whilst keeping the 'settings' screen three icons wide) and making the date one line instead of two. There's a list of registry tweaks here:
http://www.ppcsg.com/index.php?showtopic=50029&st=0
Getting activesync to close and disconnect in one action was a bit trickier. None of the task managers I tried would close activesync down altogether, like magic button used to do on my o2. I found some trial software which advertised the ability to 'close activesync on disconnect', which it DID... but the only problem was that it wouldn't OPEN it again when you reconnected.
Given that WM6 now gives you the option of the OK button actually closing things rather than minimising, Magic button sadly had no use anymore. Goodbye, trusty software.
So it seems I've gained a step in making Activesync connection a one-click process... but I've lost my one-click disconnection. Oh well. There's some software which people talk about which was supposed to be able to automatically schedule bluetooth connections, but it sadly seems to have disappeared.
CONTINUED IN PART 2
PART 2
MS READER
I had been using MS reader for my ebooks and it worked fine on my o2, but for some reason it seemed to be painfully slow on the dual. I ended up converting my .lit files using 'convertLit' and downloading Mobipocket to read them. It's not quite as pretty as MS reader, but it's definitely faster to load, and it takes you to your last read book straight away instead of having to go through all the intro screens. Second shortcut in clauncher, then!
TOUCHFLO
Well that cubey thing is super cool - so I spent considerable time trying to get it to have the elusive fourth face. BUT then I asked myself, 'what does touchflo do that I can't do with one press in clauncher?'
About this time I had to hard reset and rebuild everything because I'd added in some irrepairable registry stuff and the cube was whacked out completely.
I left it as three sides, then. Now - it's not immediately obvious, but the 'quicktasks' screen that comes up when you open the slider is actually part of the Touchflo 'family' and it's settings are in the same place in the registry.
So it was relatively easy to replace the 'Email' on the third side of the cube with 'new email' from the APlauncher screen, 'SMS' with 'new SMS', 'Notes' with 'new note' and 'calendar' with 'new appointment'. That way the icons matched up just great.
The problem is that now that I've figured out the shortcuts, it's probably just as easy to put an icon in clauncher for them! So rather than 1. turn on, 2. swipe up, 3. swipe across, 4. press icon; you could eliminate the swipes...
I'm finding too, that new things involving contacts (SMS, MMS, email, phone calls) are best handled by sliding out the keypad, typing the first few letters, click down to them with the navigation keys and press the centre key. Then you get a screen with options to call any of their numbers, text them or email them.
If you go the 'new message' route, you have to access the contacts list in a far more cumbersome manner - smaller type entries which are harder to click with your thumbnail and that you either have to scroll to or type an exact match for it.
I've also found the following when using the touchflo features:
* to get the touch cube every time, start at the htc logo and sweep up with the thumbnail.
* you don't have to be 'twitchy' with the photo gestures. A slower and deliberate circle or half circle tends to make it do what you're asking a lot better - more nail, less finger for the photo stuff too.
* for scrolling, press quite firmly, and use a lot of finger surface area. Too much nail tends to make it click. I imagine I'm smudging stuff off my finger and that seems to work well. For long scrolls do a finger 'flick'.
THAT RUBBER COVER
After only a few days of activesyncing, I noticed the rubber cover on the USB port was starting to not close flush anymore. A bit of research turned up that it was an extremely common problem. So I bit the bullet and cut it off, but I cut it in a way that I could put it back on if I wanted, by slitting through one of the sections that anchors around the little pin, leaving the rubber in a hook shape to hold it in when needed. I tried putting it in the freezer for a time, but that seemed to have no effect, and I was already sick of pulling it off everytime I plugged it in to charge or whatever. So I trimmed that baby off, right next to the middle section, so that it was still held in at two points, but so that the USB port was now exposed. I then took the remaining bit and trimmed it right close to its anchor thing, and slotted it back as well. So now the USB port is exposed but none of the ugly holes which the rubber thing slotted into are. I shouldn't have to worry about wear (because I'm not taking it off all the time) or expansion bulging (because it has one free edge), and because of the way the curves sit it looks like a nicely recessed USB port. I'm not certain the tiny little piece will stay put, but if it falls off (and I can still find it) I could easily put a spot of glue on it - it doesn't look too bad without that little bit anyway. If I did it again I'd probably leave a little bit more rubber on the side closest to the centre, so that the USB port looks better centred in the hole. (see attached pic)
CLOSING THE CAMERA/ALBUM
I found that pressing the X on the camera only minimised it. Fortunately there's a registry tweak called ok_minimize which you can change to make it actually close the app.
IE
Internet explorer is a dog for scrolling big pages. Replace your webview.dll file and it's much better.
.lnk FOR 'PROGRAMS' FOLDER
If you make an .lnk to the programs folder normally, it opens in a file explorer window - not cool. The solution is to make it point to the HTC app 'folderview.exe' and it works a treat. 'Settings' is not so simple though. You can map to individual control panels but not the main one with them all in there. A bit of a weird one.
Anyway, all in all I can't wait to put my dual to work now that it's been primed and readied - my wishlist at the moment would be:
* map double/triple/hold functions to the phone keys
* get slideclose to send a 'close current app' command rather than just go back to today screen
* align clauncher to the bottom of today screen (easier to thumb, and looks neater)
* figure out an .lnk file for the 'settings' control panel (this seems surprisingly difficult - in fact I installed some software that remapped the start menu and I couldn't get into 'settings' to remove it!)
* find a taskmanager or utility that actually kills activesync while it's connected
* to get faster at typing with the dang half-qwerty keyboard!
* I reckon a taskswitcher that used the touchflo 'across' gesture to scroll between open apps would be really cool.
There you have it - hope some or all of that is actually helpful! Thanks to all you guys out there cooking ROMs, writing software and thinking outside the box.
Cheers
jbng
jesus christ are you competing for the longest post of the year award??
holy crap !! i read it from the very beginning and never read such a post before ..... well done dude !! and keep up posting ;-)
re : * find a taskmanager or utility that actually kills activesync while it's connected
i searched such a tool a long time ... never got something which lets me charge niki without syncing on the pc.
workaround: i placed the network connection of my niki on my xp taskbar . when i want to sync then i enable network connection - if not, disable . not the best solution , i know , however - it works and since then i got used to it.
cheers
I take my hat off for these post's! Great job man!
nice post, even better to know there are people out there that search for answers before posting question after question
jbngar said:
I found that pressing the X on the camera only minimised it. Fortunately there's a registry tweak called ok_minimize which you can change to make it actually close the app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you try changing the setting in settings -> task manager -> button -> to end program by tapping x, works ok for me
WEEK 2
Week 2 of touch dual has been a whole lot of fun. I'm still looking for an absolute 'killer' of an app that will make anyone and everyone go 'oooh, aaaaah - that's SO much better than your o2 mini could ever do'... but I'm yet to come across it. The most impressive thing is the voice activation, but whenever I show someone and tell it to 'play track twenty' it always seems to try and 'ring jack henty' or something like that.
AEBUTTON PLUS
I thought I'd try a trial full version of AEButton plus. I began by mapping a double centre-nav press for 'ok/close' and several other cool things to the left and right nav buttons. Worked great, for a time, until I tried typing. It turns out the 'enter' key on the slider does exactly the same thing as the centre press, and so every time I'd make a new paragraph I'd close the window! Not to mention all the weird and wonderful things that would happen when I went to correct a mistake. Click back... click back... click and hold... and the screen is rotating and all sorts of applications are launching!
So I realised the reason that most button mappers don't let you map the nav keys.
The camera button had issues too - even though it was mapped to let a single press do the default action, it wouldn't take a photo. No good.
The red button wouldn't work for some reason either, I can't remember why, but all I know is that I was left with my button mappings on the green button only:
single press = default action, double press = ok, triple press = switch application, hold = close application.
3G, GSM, INTERNET and MMS
The big news this week was the arrival of my 3G sim card. Both of them. I'd ordered one from Optus about a week and a half ago with the promise of '2-3 days'. It didn't come so I rang again and was told 'there's no record of you being sent one, we'll send you another'. And they both arrived on the same day - one at work and one at home.
Then I rang at lunchtime thursday to activate it, and then spent most of the rest of the day restarting the phone to see if it had provisioned in the '15 minute to four hour' window they gave me. I ended up slipping the card into an old Nokia 3200 when I got sick of waiting for the dual to boot up and hang when it was looking for the network. The Nokia flashed up a much more informative 'sim card not registered' message, which it continued to flash up until I gave up late on Thursday night. But in the morning, wonder of wonders, it was working! My family breathed a sigh of relief because they didn't have to listen to the dodgy Nokia startup tune any more.
The first thing I did was try the internet and it performed very respectably. But MMS messages refused to work.
I made a couple of calls to Optus to get the settings and was told 'you have to enter them manually'. So I faffed around with that for ages. The problem seemed to be that MMS would work if 'mms' was the default setting, but then internet wouldn't work. If I changed the default to 'internet', then MMS stopped working. Rah!
Then I discovered in the connections settings an icon called 'network wizard'. I thought it was for WiFi or something. But after clicking it, selecting the provider and restarting, everything worked just fine! Thanks for the heads up, tech support guys! I'll be sending them an email shortly.
3G tends to use more battery, so I tried a tool called bandswitcher to easily change between GSM and 3G, but it didn't help my config problems. And I thought that if I lock it to GSM, if someone tries to video call me it won't work; and if I lock it to 3G, if I go out of coverage it won't switch over. So 'Auto' it was.
BLUETOOTH RANGE
The bluetooth range seems to be a bit paltry on the dual. I tried switching off 'secure connection' and it was marginally better, but I couldn't connect from the next room like I could with my o2. Once the connection is established it seems to be better, but I have to say activesync via bluetooth has been flakier than I'd like - with lots of dropouts etc.
KEYSWOP
Try as I might, the shortcut path '\windows\poutlook.exe calendar -new' that was working for 'new appointment' on the touchflo cube would not map to the right softkey using the registry. So I found a free utility called 'keyswop' which makes .lnk files and helps you to map them to the softkeys. So everything in the software side of the touchflo cube is now in clauncher, a softkey or something else:
* New SMS/MMS/email - open keyboard, press first few letters of name, press 'send message'
* New appointment - press right softkey, enter details
* New note - open notes from clauncher, press left softkey
* IE/comm manager - clauncher icons
CLAUNCHER
Speaking of Clauncher, since last week I now have 15 icons (3 rows of 5) and less screens. It's very seldom that my appointments push it off the bottom of the screen, and if they do it's easily scrollable.
Further to my last investigations about needing to access the options via the today settings control panel to get the keyboard, I've found that you ALSO have to use the bog standard WM6 'keyboard' option - the other HTC keyboards will only give numbers. This seems to be the case in some other applications like Visnotes too. Visnotes is an awesome free application for storing encrypted numbers like bank accounts etc which uses an innovative 'password' - you press three times on a picture in preset places.
TYPING and XT9
I tried out an application called 'touchpal' which advertised itself as 'typing faster than a hardware keyboard'. But I think the dual's 2.6" screen is just a bit small for it to be effective. I've decided to stick with the half-qwerty keyboard and just keep practicing - and it seems to be paying off. My goal is to get to the stage where I can type without looking at the keys with either two hands or one.
XT9 is actually incredibly intelligent software. It uses complex algorithms based on what keys were near the one you actually typed, and combines them with its dictionaries to guess what you were trying to type. And it does very, very well. Anything that can guess the word 'friend' from the keystrokes 'ddeuabd' or 'thorough' from 'ggoedoujgg' is pretty darn clever.
The issue I had was that the default keyboard kept going back to 'ABC' aka multitap. This was fixed by switching the registry key CarrierDefaultTextMode as outlined here:
http://www.ppcsg.com/index.php?showtopic=97265
A couple of other xt9 tips:
* I found I had to use thumbnails (not thumbs) for the keys to avoid double pressing etc.
* For two handed entry, the 'Alt' key is quickest to access numbers and symbols on the top of the keys. For one handed entry, pressing and holding does the same thing.
* every so often XT9 uses a strange default word. My issues were 'boy' for 'not', and 'st' for 'at'. You can fix this by typing and selecting the word you want three times in a row. This seems to 'teach' it and sets it as the first word it chooses each time.
* the first row of symbols can be quickly accessed by holding down * and the relevant number (e.g. *7 will give you a smiley).
I *wish* there was some way to change the symbol matrix. The first three in the first row are already on hardware keys (.,?!) and the next ones are smileys. I would like to at least put a hyphen in the top row so I could access it without leaving the hardware keyboard. I've found the easiest way to enter symbols is to scroll to the row and use their numbers.
ACB TASKMAN
This software tells you which actual PROCESSES you are running. Quite useful. I used it to close down AEButtonPlus when it was mucking up.
I think that's about it for now - the main outstanding issues are still a shortcut to the settings control panel, and a way to align clauncher to the bottom of the today screen.
Otherwise, enjoy!
PS. A fun app I found is called 'guesser' - it basically gives you random numbers for all sorts of things like heads/tails, yes/no, agree/disagree, A/B/C/D, alphabet, 1-100 etc. We were with some friends the other night and everyone picked a number between 1 and 100 and the winner was the first one to have guesser pick their number. Fun in a bizarre kind of way...
Blimey, Claunch is nice, but I swapped to Ultimate Launch, just for the Today plugins within Tabs and animations, plus lots of Icons for it. If you do swap, remove cLaunch first as it buggered up my UL when I removed it afterwards.
Hello guys!
I think many of us came to the thinking that, though TouchFLO 3D is great UI, we should make something alternate, something that better fits our needs. And now, i think i'm ready to create one, but first we should decide how should it look like and how should it operate.
So, i propose a kind of "brainstorming contest" where you decide about the look of a new UI. But to avoid this turning into an annoying feature request list ("more tasks on today! please! please! please!" ), here are the rules:
- NO text-only suggestions - every post s/b illustrated with pen-and-paper drawing
- NO screenshots or photoshop cooks - only hand-drawings or something that look like em (yes, you can use digitizer tablet )
- drawings are NOT required to be professional - just something to illustrate you thoughts
- you are NOT required to develop the complete UI - you may just post suggestions about UI parts, but preferred things are unique navigation idea (try to forget about tabs), apps\tabs convergence, brand new useful apps/tabs
- best contributors ideas (possible with Manila API) will be implemented and their names will be listed in "About..." screen
Posts that violate rules (even best of them), will be ignored.
That's it.
maybe this is too open ended.. do you haev some ideas of your own that you might want to put forward?
omniwolf said:
maybe this is too open ended.. do you haev some ideas of your own that you might want to put forward?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm already implementing ideas of my own
I just wanted to know what do folks think/dream about
show us whatcha go then!
I think D-MAN666 doesn't want to influence people, this is a brainstorming If he starts with his idea, it is probable that nobody will post a completely different concept...
This might be a useful start for interface design:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=397220
One thing I would love to see is a radial menu:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_menu
Similar to tap-and-hold for a context menu, but instead of a list popping up, a radial menu appears. You could fit 8-12 options around the circle, which would cover TF3d's pages.
So in usage, tap for the popup radial menu, then:
- swipe up for Contacts
- swipe right for Music
- swipe down for Home
- etc
IMO, it's much easier to be accurate in swiping at different angles/directions than it is to be precise with the default TF3d slider tabs, so you could really speed your way through the interface. The same could apply elsewhere: tap and hold a contact, then swipe up to call, left to SMS, right to email, etc.
For other thoughts, here's a read on interface optimization (for the technically inclined):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts's_law
And maybe later if I'm bored I'll draw some mockups
http://microsoft.blognewschannel.co...bile-7-to-focus-on-touch-and-motion-gestures/
sorry for breaking the rules, but everyone else is lol...thats a link to the WM7 concept design...along with theoretical gestures...i really digg the battery bar on the bottom and the reception bar...
Ill be the first then...
A quick drawing i knocked up... manila stays very much the same but basicaly show page navigation on the manila both horizontal and vertical..
I hope its clear enough
2 ideas here
I am going to break the rules since I'ma t work and can't really be seen drawing lol.
Here they are:
- Make use of the touch capacitative ability of the the buttons panel. It's made up of three touch panels. Maybe a swipe from left to right to unlock and right to left to lock.
- Display applications within tabs. Ex: Being able to display Icontact when sliding to the contact tab.
And for UI inspiration, I would look here:
http://www.throttlelauncher.com/portal/setupsaskins/45-091setups/69-new-minimal-flow-theme
Ok, here's my concept
The general idea is to keep most of manilla look'n feel, just remove useless animations/transitions, and change the home screen.
Changes : on the right side of the screen, a scrollbar similar to the "contacts" one appears. It controls the content of the box under the clock.
On the left, a button to maximize (take the place of the clock) the box, and a fast vibrator/ring permutation button.
So, by scrolling the bar, the content of the box changes, could be call log, contacts, fast program launcher, music player, and so on.
The idea is to keep complex functionalities (camera, tv, etc) needing full screen accessible by the manilla bar, and quick&fast features such as logs, sms, player accessible on the main screen.
Nice idea, man
Hi there,
just a thought on a possible gui for the UI, instead of tabs, layers (don't know if that's possible, but it would be very cool imho)
you could have multiple layers, and have the layers in the backgound fade out and become smaller (perspective) and use a swipe up or down to navigate
Anything happening on here?
Just wondering
SinnerNL said:
Hi there,
just a thought on a possible gui for the UI, instead of tabs, layers (don't know if that's possible, but it would be very cool imho)
you could have multiple layers, and have the layers in the backgound fade out and become smaller (perspective) and use a swipe up or down to navigate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
great idea!
like the game u can get on Playstation 3... where u 'swim' around collecting stuff and going thru lvls....
I'm thinking that the Ximoon idea is quite good but one thing that should be included is landscape option and I'm not talking about TP version but one with the same functions like the portrait one
I like the idea of the circular menus...
well first of all thanks to you guys you are doing awsome work and its always funn spendin my free time in your forums
now to my idea
does anybody know the film : the lawnmower man? theres one scene almost at the end of the film where he tries to escape to the internet i think the idea is quite amazing movn in a bowl and havin litle windows to select.
what do ya think
this is the link to the movie scene just skip it forward to about 5 minutes
Edit: sry forgot the link :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doAnB5_eDnw&feature=related
Hi guys,
I have released new yrgo 2.3 beta 5 so you can check it out on my forum here.
If you are new in yrgo - yrgo is highly customizable User Interface Shell written for Windows Mobile 5/6 Professional devices. It allows much more that any other Shell and goes more deep into the system - the memory footprint is also held low.
I highly recommend to see the presentation video (the video was recorded with older version - doesn't have as nice graphic as it is there now and it has much less functionality, but it is good to understand yrgo's concept).
So let me know what do you think .
UPDATED: There's a bug in the version I linked to my forum - it has only Czech version. Please scroll down the thread there, download English.zip a follow the instructions in the post to get the English version working. Sorry for that.
Regards,
Luky
Oh yes,
the gadgets for almost all resolutions are not arranged properly - it is still the beta version and I will work on this this week.
But you can of course easily re-arrange it however you want very easily (just check the video I have mentioned above).
Thanks.
Luky
it is really nice and fast. on start up there was too much gadgets on screen, I would say try to make the desktop really clean aligned properly on startup. but it's a good work you're doing.
I'm not sure if this is a bug: using the file manager to explore my windows directory seems to hang the app, or maybe my windows directory is just really big. after it hanged and I terminated it manually, the app still populated my top and bottom bar, and half my screen, I had to soft reset.
plus how to change background?
Hi,
thanks for your feedback. I'll check out the problem with Windows folder.
To change the background image, just find such image in the yrgo's file explorer and use Context menu and scroll down to get ability to use such image as a desktop background.
Regards,
Luky
I really like your app. your design mode is very innovative, resizeable icons, etc.
*why the "hide" button? after going deep in the settings and want to go back to the home screen I had to click back button all the way back to home. it is possible to make the hide button "home" button so one click will bring me back to home? I know I can click on an empty spot and it will bring me to home, but I don't think everyone will know that.
*when not in full screen mode some of the icons/info is cut off at the bottom because the icons\layout doesn't resize accordingly.
*is it possible to add the "running applications" button as a gadget?
*also could there be some transition effect from desktop to desktop?
know I'm asking for a lot but I wouldn't be saying anything if I didn't like the app.
Hi,
thanks for your feedback. It's ok, your questions are really relevant and helpful for me.
Yes, you're right. It makes more sense to have button "Home" instead of "Hide". I'll change it.
I know about the problem when switching off the full screen mode. The previous version had auto-rearraning the gadgets but it made a big mess when you switched from landscape/portrait mode so I temporarily removed it.
Yes, running appliactions can be add to the desktop easily - as any other item in yrgo - just 'tap and hold' on the Running application icon a use "Add to desktop"
Yep, some transition effect would be nice - but at this moment it is not my priority. I need to release current 2.3 as soon as possible. After that I'll start to think about new feature.
Again, thanks a lot for your feedback- it was very helpful.
Regards,
Luky
Just tried Infinity v 0.2.8, I should say it feels better than old version and it feels much lighter than SPB Mobile Shell.
I love Infinity’s looking!
Infinity will be definitely my next UI I will use for my mobile devices if developers can add the following modifications:
1. please do not totally replace original WM top taskbar.
1% battery indicator, Phoneweaver profile’s indicator etc etc are all displayed in WM top taskbar, after launch Infintiy,they are gone,this means Infinity completely replaces original WM top taskbar.
If you cannot change this,at least design a nice 1% battery indicator. We cant live without this.
2. to continue point No 1, Infinity also replaces other program’s toolbars, for example, Resco Photo Viewer v6.33,the toolbar is gone! This toolbar (contains zoom button etc) is very important for me, allowing me to zoom pictures accurately and quickly, that’s why I will not use Resco Photo Viewer v7.0 or higher,because they don’t have this convenient toolbar. Resco Photo Viewer v6.33 is best for viewing pictures; Now Infinity takes away its toolbar, I doubt I can use Infinity like this.[IMPORTANT]
3. Infinity also replaces original “X” tap, in WM you can go to settings/system/task manager/button/enable the "X" button to end running/end programs by tapping "X". Yes, I want program to quit immediately after I hit “X”, but Infinity disables this,the program is still running in the background after you hit “X”,there is no option for you to choose as to end program or minimize program. [IMPORTANT]
4. pls design a nice task manager widget with the option to assign it to the right soft key. [IMPORTANT]
5. pls add an option to make the desktop only one page. With now 3 pages, you can slide to left or right,it’s fun,but if you accidentally slide the page to left or right,you have to slide to find out the right page where you put all the shortcuts, this is not productive, for most of people,one page of desktop is optimal.
6. cannot we just use any picture to be desktop background? This is a easy script for programmer to write,isn’t it? So pls add this option. [IMPORTANT]
7. at last, I think it’s nice if Infinity can backup all the settings. Adding a program’s shortcut to the desktop is not straightforward, for example, I want to place Phoneweaver in desktop, the procedure goes like this: tap the desktop for 3 seconds>click right corner + button>Shortcut>click this new shortcut icon in the desktop>Show widget options>Path>(find the Phoneweaver icon>ok> tap the desktop for 3 seconds to finish.
You can imagine how much pain and time you will go though if you reinstall Infinity,if you can backup all settings and restore in future, you can save lots of trouble.
These are not bugs,just improvements that one of users want our diligent Infinity programmers to consider. Thank you for this excellent software!
Please note Infinity is still under development, Infinity v0.2.8 is not yet a finished product.
A quote from the developer himself:
I've just uploaded v0.2.8
We have to be honest: we don't know when and if we can finish Infinity. You're right - there are only some small parts missing to make it more usable but we don't see a big future for it as WinMo 6.x dies and it definitely won't work on WP7 or any other platform.
That's why I just added some small functions (add/edit contacts) and fixed some bugs. I also removed the time limit as we really don't know if a new version will be released in a few weeks or in months.
I hope you understand that.
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Click to collapse
I don't have high hopes for this shell.
Link please?
meanvulcan said:
Link please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not very hard to locate -> http://forum.ageye.de/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=1369
All you had to do was change forums to www in that url that was linked and knock off the bit after the first / that follows the ageye.de and you could have found it. Think people, think.
hitekredneck said:
Not very hard to locate -> http://forum.ageye.de/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=1369
All you had to do was change forums to www in that url that was linked and knock off the bit after the first / that follows the ageye.de and you could have found it. Think people, think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know right? It's like when someone creates a thread for a product and asks for opinions... yet they don't provide links or details....
annoying right?
but yes, it looks like it will be outdated very soon.
spb mobileshell/mobilesense looks to remain very promising.
plus we know they have support and will continue to update.
its not free, but its worth it if u can find it.
i use it and it is everything i need.
To the OP, your comments would be better suited on the developer's site. Ageye has stated that further development of Infinity is unlikely since the current WindowsPhone OS will soon be obsolete. Too bad. I really liked this shell.