PockeTwit - Twitter client with GPS support (Updated 8-24) - Windows Mobile Development and Hacking General

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See it in action here.
I admit it, I'm a bit of a twitter addict. And like my MPD client, I just couldn't find a twitter client that I liked. So I had some spare time today and whipped up my own. So far it does the basics -- shows the timelines, lets you set your status, and let's you reply to tweets. Of course there's a lot more to be done like showing user info (besides their icon), direct messages, and dealing with URLs in tweets.
It uses the same kinetic list code that I used in the MPD client, so it's kind of fun to scroll up and down and view the menus on the sides.
If you're a twitter user, you can try get my client from the google code site. Let me know if you have anything to say about it.
Current Version: v.52

I use tinyTwitter which works really well on my diamond

kimusan said:
I use tinyTwitter which works really well on my diamond
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Umm, yeah. . . that's great you already have one you like. Keep right on using it . But like I mentioned, I never did find one I liked. Even more importantly, I never found an open source one that I could contribute to. So I made my own.
This version probably won't work out too well on a VGA screen. I took some shortcuts with sizing some info. VGA-pretty will have to wait for a bit.

This client has some real potential! I have been using ceTwit, but its slow load time, (seemingly) heavy battery drain, and lack of kinetic scrolling were all shortcomings. I am looking forward to further development especially direct msgs and twitpic support.
The UI took a bit to figure out but is slick and fun once you get it.
Thank you for putting this out.

Updated with some new features:
Direct messages
URL shortening with http://is.gd
Clickable @names and URLs in tweets
Bigger user images.
If you had a previous version installed, you may want to delete the cached profile pics so it'll get the bigger ones. Just delete Program Files\PockeTwit\ArtCache and run again. It'll re-fetch all the bigger images automatically.

Looks good. I have been trying every twitter client under the sun and cannot find one I am happy with. In particular I have been looking for one that supports GPS for location based messages.

mikebphoto said:
Looks good. I have been trying every twitter client under the sun and cannot find one I am happy with. In particular I have been looking for one that supports GPS for location based messages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been trying to think of something to do with GPS. I think twinkle is doing something with their own webservice to find users located near you -- I don't have those kinds of resources. But I could do something more basic, like posting your current location. I've got a great idea for a location-aware component, just no apps that need to know my location
There's a crash bug that pops up occasionally in my last release--that's still my first priority. And I think the code I wrote to parse out the clickable words is slowing things down a bit too much. But despite both of those, I'm proud of how well it's going so far.
I'm definitely looking for suggestions on what features to implement next, so I can surpass the other apps that are out there.

my UI suggestion is to right justify the timeline links on the left side of the UI, so that way you don't have to side scroll all the way across to click on one (Like on the right side ...but backwards) Also this may just be a user training issue, but I have a hard time side scrolling far enough that it doesn't auto reset back before I can make a selection.
Also maybe a tap and hold menu on the user picture for @ and D replies? Finally the clickable text is a bit, umm, sensitive? I don't know if it is just me, but my feed is littered with @replies so that makes scrolling down a landmine trying not to flick across a link.
Does it have, or is there plans for an auto-update of the friends timeline?
just got a crash while attempting an update, I think the URL link was tapped by accident. still not quite sure how that works yet.
I know people like features and not everyone wants the same features, but keep in mind that light and fast is a feature in itself, I like the fact it loads quickly and has a smooth interface. Great work!

mikebphoto said:
Looks good. I have been trying every twitter client under the sun and cannot find one I am happy with. In particular I have been looking for one that supports GPS for location based messages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SO this would inbed your GPS coordinates into twits? is that a desired feature? I just can't imagine that would be more effective than just saying "corner of 6th and Red River" ... unless the coordinates were clickable to say google maps, but then that is still an extra step. hmmm ... my phone doesn't have GPS so I never think what it's advantages are for these types of apps.

Thanks for the thoughtfull reply chuque. You made some great points.
The auto-update is probably what made it crash! I forgot and made a UI call from another thread. I'll try to fix that up in the next build.
I think I have a way to make the clickable text less sensitive too. I'll just make them react if you aren't scrolling. That should help.
I like the idea of right-justifying the left menu, but I'm not sure how easy that will be. I'll try it out though.
What advantage would a tap+hold menu have over the right menu?
Thanks again for the feedback, I really appreciate it.

Dromio said:
What advantage would a tap+hold menu have over the right menu?
Thanks again for the feedback, I really appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None really, just another path to the same result. Right now, (and I am still in the learning curve) it feels like more work to have to highlight a twit, side scroll, click D, while thinking wouldn't it be easier if I could just click on the icon and go from there? ... I guess one is just more intuitive to me over the other. Given another few days I am sure it'll be second nature, so by no means consider it a highly desired request.
Also updates say "from web" instead of listing the client, I hope that changes as well, this is a good WM client already and could use the free advertisement.

chuque said:
SO this would inbed your GPS coordinates into twits? is that a desired feature? I just can't imagine that would be more effective than just saying "corner of 6th and Red River" ... unless the coordinates were clickable to say google maps, but then that is still an extra step. hmmm ... my phone doesn't have GPS so I never think what it's advantages are for these types of apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree I would not want to see lat. and long. coordinates. I think something more like what you said, "corner of 6th and Red River". I have looked at apps that do something similar to this (where.com & loopt.com) but they do not support Windows Mobile. My current device is my first with GPS and I must say it is a lot of fun. Like you I had no desire for it ... until I had it. Now that I have had it I will not buy another device without it.
Dromio, one of the things that bugs me the most about other Twitter clients is the UI. They are stereotypical Windows Mobile looking. Why should iPhone have all of the cool looking apps? The only other Twitter client that I used that had an almost good looking UI was quakk. It is simple and easy to look at and I think has some potential, but progress seems halted. How interested are you in the UI of TinyTwit? I would not mind lending a hand myself, but I do not want to intrude either.

Another update this morning. Nothing major, just some bug-fixes and cleanups.
No more crash on auto-update.
Lots of fixes dealing with clickable text.
Some UI cleanups.
mikebphoto: Yeah, my main problem with the other clients was the "feel" too. Just so utilitarian. I'll admit I'm a bit jealous of all the fun the iphone folks seem to be having and I want to give us WM folks some of that same feel. I know my UI takes some getting used to, but the fun I get out of it makes it seem worth it to me. I hope others feel the same way.
Quakk looked nice, but scrolling did a wierd refresh thing every time. If you haven't seen Twitula, it's UI was pretty smooth too, but I had other problems with it. I know there are a bunch of clients out there (and the mobile web site is plenty useable too), but I was able to whip something up in a few hours using existing components and decided it was worth sharing.
And unlike the others I've seen, it's open source. Anyone can see how it all works and anyone is welcome to submit code to help out. I know my code is messy and can be tough to read, but I'm not too embarrassed to share.

I know I must sound like a total fanboy by this point, but I think this app is almost easier to use, and certainly more fun that the website itself.
Both the right justification and the linked text changes work well.
Next suggestion (I am almost starting to feel you are building this just for me) maybe add a setting for how far back it pulls twits? say 20/50/75 newest twits? or something like that. I am not a high traffic user but as I get more and more into this app I can see me relying on the sms forwards less. and it seems most my friends are west coast and ***** twit on their way home. So I get a lot of twits in a short period.
Thank you again for all the hard work.

The twitter library I used is already starting to hold me back. It doesn't support:
1. Follow/unfollow/block
2. Fetch more than one page of tweets
3. Set favorite on/off
4. Probably a bunch more I haven't looked at.
It's very very bare bones, but it was the only one I could find the source for and convert to fit the compact framework.
Looks like the fun development has to slow down while I work on adding features to the library itself

yet another (hopefully easy) suggestion from the peanut gallery. In mid twit today I wanted to flip over to opera to look something up, and realized there was no minimize option anywhere, and as it is a full screen app, didn't have access to the top bar, and had to get creative to do it. So maybe changing the right (or left) exit to a minimize button?

chuque said:
yet another (hopefully easy) suggestion from the peanut gallery. In mid twit today I wanted to flip over to opera to look something up, and realized there was no minimize option anywhere, and as it is a full screen app, didn't have access to the top bar, and had to get creative to do it. So maybe changing the right (or left) exit to a minimize button?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another good idea, but I'm embarrassed to admit I don't know how! I've just spent 10 minutes trying to figure out how to make the application go to the background and come back the next time it is run in CF.NET and I've gotten nowhere!
To contrast, I was able to add a feature to automatically check for upgrades in 30 minutes (to be in the next build).
I feel silly

Ok, finishing up "fun development" on the weekend and have to start "pay my bills development" again on monday. I squeezed in a few more features though:
1. Can make a tweet "favorite". I use this to go back and follow URLs once I'm on a PC
2. Can Follow/Unfollow users
3. All timeline updates happen in the background so the UI doesn't pause while updating
4. Automatically check for new versions and upgrade
I think the next step will be storing tweets locally and only fetching new tweets since the latest stored one, to make it more friendly to the servers and able to display a longer list. But for now, I have to do my real job

I'm watching the download count grow on the homepage, and my excitement is tempered by the fear that the auto-update has gone out of whack and is re-downloading the application for someone over and over again.
Is the auto-update working ok? Should be up to v.09 now.

Shouldn't you be coding for food right now?
It updated just fine for me from .08 to .09 yesterday. closed itself launched IE D/L the .cab etc ... however nowhere does it say .09 (ie: no about or version in the remove program area)
also still listing as "from web" I guess the twitter folks are slow to trun around the client request form.
Had a random crash, and then when I reloaded it the top bar was still visible (cutting off the top line of txt in the time line) ... rebooted phone all is well. is there any type of log or anything I can send (assuming it would be helpful; and not jsut a random glitch as I was running a couple other apps at the time. I am running on a sprint ppc-6700 running one of the cooked up 6.1 upgrades)

Related

Such a let down..

I've had this phone nearly a month now and it's been pretty rubbish! It's done a couple of cool things, but nothing has been great. There's been bugs in absolutely everything. I'm on T-mobile (MDA Vario II) and running the 1.21 ROM Version.
Firstly, the active sync is rubbish! On Windows XP. It's extremely tempremental.. Some days it'll work fine and connect, others (most days!) it won't work. Windows will make the "doo-doo" noise to say that a device has been connected, but active sync won't connect. What rubbish.
It decides to not receive messages, until I open the Messages app. Also, it sometimes likes to send a message, then when I open the Messages app later on, it'll resend the last sent message and notify me.
MSN Messenger. Buggy! I hate the fact it tells me whenever someone comes online, flashes up while I'm in the middle of typing and I have to click Ignore to get it to go away. But there's no way of turning this off (to my knowledge!). Also, it sometimes likes to randomly open the on-screen keyboard, or only show messages in a tiny amount of the screen.
The camera is disgraceful. It's so slow that its basically un-usable. You have to point it at the object and wait quite a while for it's sensor to pick up the light, and most of the pictures come out over-exposed anyway! Also, the lag on the photos is so long most photos blur or the subject has moved by the time it takes it!
Sounds. The fact that I can't have it not beep every time I send a message, but have it so it makes a sound when my alarm clock goes off! That's stupid. Also, it's rather difficult to hit the button to bring up the box for changing the volumes. And why isn't there a seperate ringer volume and a phone volume? I'd like it so I can have a low volume when I'm playing games like Worms, but still have an ok ringer volume!
It likes to randomly connect to GPRS. Good thing I have unlimited data usage!
Today Screen. I can't really put anything on it. It's decided it won't let me put much on it except Calendar, Tasks and a couple others. Why can't I put Pocket MSN back on the today screen?!
It's stupid that to actually make this a decent product, you have to use so much 3rd party software! spb pocket plus sorts quite a few issues with the phone out, and gives a much more usable today screen, but I really don't want to pay 20 dollars for it! (But I guess I'll have to..)
The phone needs so much work on the software to get this up to a good standard. It has the hardware there, just wm5 for it is rubbish!
Sorry about my incredibly grumpy post. I'm just a bit annoyed with my phone today! Am I actually able to upgrade the ROM Version to something higher (1.35?) but on a different network other than UK T-mobile and it'll still work alright with the sim card? I may try it on the next time active sync decides to work!
Then please get rid of the device and stop bugging us...
I'm very happy with my Hermes and I'm keeping it.
jamiepyrite said:
I've had this phone nearly a month now and it's been pretty rubbish! It's done a couple of cool things, but nothing has been great. There's been bugs in absolutely everything. I'm on T-mobile (MDA Vario II) and running the 1.21 ROM Version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow! It sounds like you're really having an awful time trying to keep up. It's really too bad the telco providers don't let you know the level of technical expertise you will need to be able to master the various devices out today. My Cingular 8525 does need some constant care and feeding, but being somewhat of a techie, I actually enjoy this kind of activity ... look at it as playtime, and wish I had more of it. I've looked through your previous posts, and I see that you haven't really been having any fun with your device. What a shame!
jamiepyrite said:
Firstly, the active sync is rubbish! On Windows XP. It's extremely tempremental.. Some days it'll work fine and connect, others (most days!) it won't work. Windows will make the "doo-doo" noise to say that a device has been connected, but active sync won't connect. What rubbish.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds to me like you have a bad sync cable ... at least that's the first thing I'd look at.
jamiepyrite said:
It decides to not receive messages, until I open the Messages app. Also, it sometimes likes to send a message, then when I open the Messages app later on, it'll resend the last sent message and notify me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm. I've had mine for about two months now. It's my first PDA device since a PALM V about eight years ago. I have never experienced this. Might be due to some conflict between apps you might've installed/uninstalled, or other toying around with things that are not completely understood. Maybe it's time to do a hard reset (hold down left and right softkeys and press the stylus into the hole on the bottom, then open the slideout keyboard and press R and then SPACEBAR) and see if that fixes things. Then read the manual, and be very careful about what changes you make and software you install.
jamiepyrite said:
MSN Messenger. Buggy! I hate the fact it tells me whenever someone comes online, flashes up while I'm in the middle of typing and I have to click Ignore to get it to go away. But there's no way of turning this off (to my knowledge!). Also, it sometimes likes to randomly open the on-screen keyboard, or only show messages in a tiny amount of the screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't say I actually played with Messenger that much. I must admit that I LIKED when it told me that a friend had logged-in, but I guess this is a subjective thing. There are other options to using the installed MSN Messenger, though. You can use one of the online versions and see if those are more to your liking, or you can DL several other options. You just need to look around the Internet. There are free ones and ones you need to pay for.
jamiepyrite said:
The camera is disgraceful. It's so slow that its basically un-usable. You have to point it at the object and wait quite a while for it's sensor to pick up the light, and most of the pictures come out over-exposed anyway! Also, the lag on the photos is so long most photos blur or the subject has moved by the time it takes it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well ... yeah .... it's a 2MP phone camera. As you can see in my signature, I typically use a digital SLR for serious photos, so I didn't expect much from the onboard one. Still, using some common photography techniques and a bit of practice, I thought the darned thing did pretty well ... better than an old Oly digital I used to use.
jamiepyrite said:
Sounds. The fact that I can't have it not beep every time I send a message, but have it so it makes a sound when my alarm clock goes off! That's stupid. Also, it's rather difficult to hit the button to bring up the box for changing the volumes. And why isn't there a seperate ringer volume and a phone volume? I'd like it so I can have a low volume when I'm playing games like Worms, but still have an ok ringer volume!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine doesn't beep when I send messages, and DOES make sounds when I set my Alarm Clock. It even reminds me to turn up the volume if it happens to be off when I set the alarm. Again, maybe it's time to hard reset, or maybe look through the manual.
jamiepyrite said:
It likes to randomly connect to GPRS. Good thing I have unlimited data usage!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, Unlimited Data Plans are great with these phones, especially for when the phone automatically determines that it can give you a high-speed connection and seamlessly turns those connections on for you. If you don't like this feature, there are FREE programs you can get from this very site that lock you into GSM mode.
jamiepyrite said:
Today Screen. I can't really put anything on it. It's decided it won't let me put much on it except Calendar, Tasks and a couple others. Why can't I put Pocket MSN back on the today screen?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see how this relates to the phone, frankly. This is WM5, and ANY phone sporting that OS is going to be the same story. Maybe you'd prefer something Symbian, or maybe something more RAZR'ish. But the beautiful thing about WM5 is the fact that you can add on other apps to configure it the way you choose, which is more difficult in Symbian, and impossible with RAZR's.
jamiepyrite said:
It's stupid that to actually make this a decent product, you have to use so much 3rd party software! spb pocket plus sorts quite a few issues with the phone out, and gives a much more usable today screen, but I really don't want to pay 20 dollars for it! (But I guess I'll have to..)
The phone needs so much work on the software to get this up to a good standard. It has the hardware there, just wm5 for it is rubbish!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, yeah ... hmmm, you might have to pay for some of the nice add-ons. I guess PC's and laptops are also guilty of this, in that, if you don't like the way they come out-of-the-box, you MIGHT need to buy something else.
In my own opinion (not that it matters much), I plunked down $499US on the phone, which represented a significant markdown because I agreed to have it sport Cingular logos. If I could afford such a device, paying $20.00US for a decent piece of software to go with it isn't going to kill my budget. It's one of the things that should have been considered prior to purchasing the phone, I guess.
jamiepyrite said:
Sorry about my incredibly grumpy post. I'm just a bit annoyed with my phone today!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seeing your posting history, it seems that this forum is the one you dump on whenever you're having a day like this. Maybe you should email HTC, T-Mobile and M$, instead, since they seem to be the source of your wrath. The folks on this forum attempt to help people (and very often succeed beautifully). They don't make the devices, the plans, nor the OS's that seem to be giving you problems.
jamiepyrite said:
Am I actually able to upgrade the ROM Version to something higher (1.35?) but on a different network other than UK T-mobile and it'll still work alright with the sim card? I may try it on the next time active sync decides to work!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jamie ... no offense, but if you can't figure out how to make your alarm clock make sound, I don't think you should be toying with upgrading the ROM stuff just yet. Maybe, as I said earlier, this just isn't the device for you. RAZR's are really cool looking, and you can probably find some games and ringtones for them, if you're willing to pay some $$$.
Kindest regards,
I've had this phone nearly a month now and it's been pretty rubbish! It's done a couple of cool things, but nothing has been great. There's been bugs in absolutely everything. I'm on T-mobile (MDA Vario II) and running the 1.21 ROM Version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've also got a Vario II and I'm running the same ROM and Radio it came with.
Firstly, the active sync is rubbish! On Windows XP. It's extremely tempremental.. Some days it'll work fine and connect, others (most days!) it won't work. Windows will make the "doo-doo" noise to say that a device has been connected, but active sync won't connect. What rubbish.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ActiveSync has always worked fine for me.
It decides to not receive messages, until I open the Messages app. Also, it sometimes likes to send a message, then when I open the Messages app later on, it'll resend the last sent message and notify me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never happened to me. I receive all my messages perfectly normally.
MSN Messenger. Buggy! I hate the fact it tells me whenever someone comes online, flashes up while I'm in the middle of typing and I have to click Ignore to get it to go away. But there's no way of turning this off (to my knowledge!). Also, it sometimes likes to randomly open the on-screen keyboard, or only show messages in a tiny amount of the screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The contact online alert is annoying, I agree there but as for the random opening of the keyboard and it showing messages on a tiny amount of screen...well it's never happened to me and I use it all the time.
The camera is disgraceful. It's so slow that its basically un-usable. You have to point it at the object and wait quite a while for it's sensor to pick up the light, and most of the pictures come out over-exposed anyway! Also, the lag on the photos is so long most photos blur or the subject has moved by the time it takes it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True...although HTC aren't known for their cameras.
Sounds. The fact that I can't have it not beep every time I send a message, but have it so it makes a sound when my alarm clock goes off! That's stupid. Also, it's rather difficult to hit the button to bring up the box for changing the volumes. And why isn't there a seperate ringer volume and a phone volume? I'd like it so I can have a low volume when I'm playing games like Worms, but still have an ok ringer volume!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't get any beep when I send a message and my alarm goes off fine. And maybe I've misunderstood here (sorry if I have) but there are two seperate volume controls...one for the system and one for the ringer and you can set their levels individually. Sometimes the program takes over all of the volume controls together...but's that's a gripe with the program not the device.
I always keep my system volume low but my ringer volume on medium.
It likes to randomly connect to GPRS. Good thing I have unlimited data usage!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only time it has ever made a connection whatsoever is when I have told it so through my Google Mail account retrieval settings. Otherwise mine has no reason to connect and doesn't.
Today Screen. I can't really put anything on it. It's decided it won't let me put much on it except Calendar, Tasks and a couple others. Why can't I put Pocket MSN back on the today screen?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No idea but it all works fine for me.
I love my baby...
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Your points are well made.
What I like about this forum is that folks who disagree with another poster, take the time to to explain why they disagree. Of course the original poster was good enough to go into detail about why he was feeling "grumpy" today.
Keep it up guys. It gladens my heart to see how much more civilised, we are, compared with the drivel I see on some other sites.
Mike
Jamie, there are lots of people on here ready and willing (and some even able) to help you sort your machine out.
What I would suggest, is that you do a hard reset to get back to a clean machine, and then every time you get a problem, search this forum to see if it has come up before. If not, or if you're not sure on the solution, post up and people will help you. I know it's a bit of a pain if you were hoping for an 'out of the box' fully functioning machine. PPCs are just not like that, but they are incredibly versatile and powerful, there's just a learning curve to them.
Start again.
I have a Vario II with the same rom and my experience with the phone is exactly as per Athiqueahmed's post. I haven't experienced the problems you have at all and I have had my phone several months now.
The only time my phone has gone wrong is when I have decided to 'tweak' things with my limited tech knowledge and ultimately done it wrong or installed buggy 3rd party software
Assuming you are operating the phone correctly and not creating these issues yourself by adjusting registry settings etc.. then, if a hard reset does not solve the problems, I would suggest that you get T-mobile to look at it to see if it's faulty and do it quick because as far as I am aware T-mobile UK do a straight swap within 30 days if your phone is faulty, after that it is standard repair service.
I'm not going to list all your complaints but I can say that the Cingular 8525 I have has a really impressive camera for a cell phone!
Not that I think that's the most important feature for a phone. It just happens to be the best one I've seen to date.
And I've had tons of fun looking for and installing all sorts of Apps. I do like this phone.
Wow, thanks very much all of you for the excellent responses! This really is an incredibly helpful and friendly forum here
Reading back on what I said, I think I came over rather harsh about the device. I do love it to pieces and it's a fantastic piece of equipment, I'm just having a bit of a hard time adapting to it from being so used to Nokia Symbian.
I've now got spb pocket plus 3 and it's great. It's making me much happier about the phone, being able to do everything I want from the today screen!
About the alarm clock, etc. problem: When I go into Settings>Sounds & Notifications, the third tick box down is Notifications (Alarms, reminders). If I have this unticked, it disables sound for when it says "Message Sent" but also disables the sound for the alarm clock. I just tried disabling it then going onto the alarm clock and checking the ringtone for the alarm clock and it said it won't sound unless Notifications is enabled. But, if you go into the Notifcations tab, there isn't an option to change the tone for Text Message Sent. Only MMS Message Sent.
I'll look into 3rd party applications more when I have the time, I'll also try a different USB cable to see if it makes a difference
And as computer illiterate as my first post makes me sound (I'm quite good with computers, honest!) I can manage flashing the ROMs. I've done it alot with my iriver H320 I'm just curious as to whether it's ok to use a ROM that isn't made by T-mobile with the T-mobile SIM. Flashing a fancy Mp3 Player is a bit different!
Thanks
Thanks for the advice guys. It's a great help!
Before you purchase a new cable, you might want to try Activetweak, a free application, which, amongst other things will entirely stop activesync processes and then start them again. This seems to have resolved my occasional sync will it/won't it problem.
I noticed that if I soft reset the device, and rebooted the pc, waited for them to 'settle down' and then sync'd it would always work. The above app means I don't have to do that anymore.
If you don't mind losing the message sent notification altogether, the Wiki page has instructions on how to do this <<<Click Here>>> (you might want to read through the Wiki, it has lots of good tweaks etc.. on it which might interest you)
I find having delivery reports switched on, so I get a text when it has reached the recipient, is all I need. I don't need or miss the 'Message Sent' notification at all.
Hope this helps
The most useless phone I have owned
Hi Have to say I am hugely dissappointed withthe Hermes.
I have the Vodafone version (V1605) and it is totally useless.
If I am on a call and get another incoming call it freezes.
Worldmate Pro cannot connect tot he internet but TrafficTV and IE can.
My computer cannot use it as a modem.
It frequently freezes.
Is it just me?
Robin
Robster said:
Is it just me?
Robin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep!
sorry, couldn't resist...
From a previous post a few weeks back,
smads said:
I use my TyTN every day.
I have a HTC644 which is rid of the SA issues
I use the Dan Herrero Bandwidth switch which stops it serching for 3G signals.
I get at least 2 days out of the unit.
I have push email which works flawlessly.
I take about 2hrs of calls a day.
I use Pocket Informant 2007 which is excellent and work well in the project managment job that I have.
I use Listpro for my project lists
I use eWallet for all my sensetive data
I use PocketIE for Traffic updates while on the road in the UK but I have Opera if I want a more rich internet experience.
I use Coolcamera which has improved the out put of the camera no end and photo blog to my splashblog account.
I use resco pocket radio over wi-fi for internet radio.
I use Resco audio recorder for meetings which stores audio on the storage card.
I log into my home system with Logmein, and control the device while docked though active sync using SOTI pocket controller.
This is without doubt THE most versatile phone I have ever had and I could not live without it... ok I could but I'd really miss it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My JASJAM is by far the best phone I've had so far. Wait a minute! I said that also about my previous phone, the P990i. And I kept it only three months. I better keep this one longer, otherwise dishum-dishum from my wife . . .
The worst one was probably the Siemens MC60. What a piece of trash!
Robster said:
Hi Have to say I am hugely dissappointed withthe Hermes.
I have the Vodafone version (V1605) and it is totally useless.
If I am on a call and get another incoming call it freezes.
Worldmate Pro cannot connect tot he internet but TrafficTV and IE can.
My computer cannot use it as a modem.
It frequently freezes.
Is it just me?
Robin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Robin,
I have to admit that I have had my share of glitches and things not working right, but I don't agree with your overall assessment, and am loving my 8525.
But as this is my first PDA phone, Maybe it's my own ignorance that gives me this bliss.
From my experience, which compares this phone to a bunch of crappy Motorolas that couldn't do more than act as a phone (and sometimes failed at THAT), my device plays music, gives me 800-900+ KBps throughput on the Internet (unless I click it into wi-fi, where I get 1.6 MBps) ...and this is full Internet ...not some cheesy t-zones type of sub-sub-subset. I can get maps and directions, take and view photos and videos, attach to my desktop and laptop computers, configure almost anything I want on the UI, create, edit, view and share Word, Excel, text and other types of documents, retrieve and organize email from all of my accounts, play games, manage my contacts and my calendar, and it seems, a gazillion other things. This is all not even mentioning it's use as a phone/speakerphone.
All this, and a zippy processor, in a package that fits in my hand or shirt pocket, I find astonishing!
If this is 'the most useless device you've ever owned', I for one would love to hear about the devices to which you are comparing it!?!?!
Anyway, that's just my $0.02.
Best regards,
Well I am glad other people are having a better experience.
But my K-JAM seemd far more stable, never once froze on me when I got a second call and actually felt faster than this phone!
Unless I have a dud?
Robin
4 Marissa
marisa4755 said:
Before you purchase a new cable, you might want to try Activetweak, a free application, which, amongst other things will entirely stop activesync processes and then start them again. This seems to have resolved my occasional sync will it/won't it problem.
I noticed that if I soft reset the device, and rebooted the pc, waited for them to 'settle down' and then sync'd it would always work. The above app means I don't have to do that anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try the fit4cat hermes tweaker. You can disable the msg sent notification with this app, and not do a manual regedit.
Hope this helps,
jamiepyrite said:
Wow, thanks very much all of you for the excellent responses! This really is an incredibly helpful and friendly forum here
About the alarm clock, etc. problem: When I go into Settings>Sounds & Notifications, the third tick box down is Notifications (Alarms, reminders). If I have this unticked, it disables sound for when it says "Message Sent" but also disables the sound for the alarm clock. I just tried disabling it then going onto the alarm clock and checking the ringtone for the alarm clock and it said it won't sound unless Notifications is enabled. But, if you go into the Notifcations tab, there isn't an option to change the tone for Text Message Sent. Only MMS Message Sent.
I'll look into 3rd party applications more when I have the time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are always welcome! In regard to your trouble with alarm software, you may consider checking out WAWA alarm software from noviimedia - this application does really a lot, but it's main and unusual feature is to let your handheld turn on your home theater (TV, DVD-player, etc.) to wake you up in the morning. (http://novii.tv/pocketpc/wawa) I purchased it yesterday and now I recommend it to anyone - it's great!
AggravatingSync
To be fair, ActiveSync is a Micro$haft application, I have the same problems. My best luck occurs when I launch AggravatingSync, right click on the icon in the lower right hand corner of your Windows PC, click Connection Settings, uncheck the Allow USB Connections (so as to not allow them), then click OK.
Then, unplug your USB device from the computer, wait 5 seconds, plug it back in, wait 5 seconds, right click on the icon in the lower right hand corner of your Windows PC, click Connection Settings, check the Allow USB Connections (so as to allow them), then click OK.
That has worked for me so far when AggravatingSync is on the fritz.
I am T-mobile US customer but I supercid/unlocked the phone and run the HTC 2.05 rom. I would recommend unlocking the phone (I have the Cingular 8525 flavor as T-mobile US does not have the Vario II).
Good luck.
jamiepyrite said:
Firstly, the active sync is rubbish! On Windows XP. It's extremely tempremental.. Some days it'll work fine and connect, others (most days!) it won't work. Windows will make the "doo-doo" noise to say that a device has been connected, but active sync won't connect. What rubbish.
It decides to not receive messages, until I open the Messages app. Also, it sometimes likes to send a message, then when I open the Messages app later on, it'll resend the last sent message and notify me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your PC has Bluetooth, try ActiveSync over BT - that way, you might be able to isolate whether it's an ActiveSyns issue, a Hermes issue, or a sync cable issue.

Just got a T-Mobile HD2? Read Jamie’s "New to WinMo and absolute newbie tweak guide"

Just got a T-Mobile HD2? Read Jamie’s "New to WinMo and absolute newbie tweak guide"
I wanted to write this guide due to the number of “THE HD2 SUCKS!” threads I’ve seen floating around. Guys, what did you think you were getting into here? This phone runs Windows Mobile. The very core of running this OS involves tweaking it beyond recognition, but, however, once you do that it can run quite beautifully. I wrote this guide to appeal to beginners. I try to avoid things like, "Oh, edit this registry value...What does it do? No clue, but it saves battery life." Those types of tweaks are for a different guide.
About the phone and Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is old. Really old. Try ten years old, and, sometimes, it really does feel like it's age is apparent.
The phone crashes. A lot. Get ready to soft reset a lot. Turning off Sense can help with the crashing, though.
The interface is called Sense. You can turn this off and revert back to Titanium, the default Windows 6.5 theme.
The HD2 is not like an iPhone. Get an iPhone if you want an iPhone. Apps that run on the iPhone do not work (and probably will never be ported) on Windows Mobile.
Yes, the screen is glass. It's scratch resistant, not scratch-proof. I hear mixed opinion on whether you can get away without using a screen protector, and plenty of people complain about how easy it is to scratch. It's your call, but keep in mind that glass is 6-7 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. Hardened steel is 7.5. Your keys will scratch the absolute hell out of it. Some partials of sand and grit can scratch it, keep that in mind. And a drop from only a few feet will completely spiderweb the screen. Don't drop your phone.
The phone ships with two browsers: Opera 9.7 and Internet Explorer. Yes, that is an older version of Opera, but I feel it works fine. Opera 10 does not support pinch-to-zoom, and to my knowledge there are no tweaks to enable it.
The HD2 comes with Voice Command. To activate it, hold the green call button until it beeps at you. Then speak your phrase. A guide to using it can be found here. Your phone can read your SMSes to you.
Don’t like a tweak or application you installed? Uninstall it, and it reverts back to how it was originally.
Please see the Flashing Rom section on the different versions of Windows Mobile (6.1, 6.5, 6.5.3, etc)
Contrarily to the desktop version of Windows, hitting the X button does not exit a program, it just minimizes it. Please see the section about task managers.
WAIT ONE MINUTE
Wait! Hold on. Before you complain about ANYTHING (especially about messaging, lag, a pink camera hue, etc.), please make sure you have the newest stock ROM. To check, slide all the way to the right to Settings, then to About Phone, then to Software Information. What does it say under ROM version? Does it say 2.13.531.1?
If it doesn’t, you owe it to yourself and your sanity to flash to the new ROM. It’s real easy, too. Just go here and follow the instructions. http://dl.htc.com/ruudownload/t-mobileUS/DeviceDownloads.aspx?pid=leo
If you notice some weird-ass screen sensitivity issues (I never did), you should try installing this cab. Hey, it’s the first sticky; you should know this.
How to install a .CAB (You’ll be doing this a lot): First, download it from wherever. DO NOT EXTRACT THE CAB. Connect your phone via Activesync (Or Windows Mobile Device Center) . Drop the file onto your phone somewhere. Open File Explorer on your phone, run the file and install it to the device or storage card. I normally install to the device because you have plenty of storage, and if you connect the phone via disk drive to your computer, you temporarily won’t have access to any programs on the phone if they are stored on the card. If you need more instruction on installing cabs, please see my post here.
Killer Apps (That means required)
Cookie’s mod: This is my favorite tweak for Windows Mobile, especially more so now that version 1.8 is out. Install Cookie’s mod and it makes your whole life easier. What is it? It contains a bunch of features, but its main feature is to customize your home screen. By default, it makes it looks kind of iPhoneish, but I don’t think that is a bad thing. You can edit the home screen with more icons, widget things like toggles and an MP3 player, different types of adjustable (in size and layout) clocks including analog ones, and so forth. But, the cool part is that if you swipe up on the home screen, it turns into this iPhone-like icon grid interface--actually--more like an amalgamation of the iPhone and Android. You can scroll left and right to access more pages. Fill up the 3+ pages with applications, contacts, toggles, widgets, and you have the easiest and most convenient way to launch them. You could fill up an entire page about Cookie’s mod, though, and it’s important to download the editor for the program. Without the editor there won’t be much editing going on.
Check out this picture for a basic example of what you can do with cookie's mod. Note: The top picture is what you switch to when you swipe down on the main home screen; the bottommost one is when you swipe up on the home screen, left screen is a swipe to the left, and so forth. That was kind of hard to explain. Please see the thread for all of the features, customization options, etc. This is what Sense should have been like from the start.
Any task manager: Okay, you really need a task manager to make multitasking useful while not slowing your phone down to a crawl. Touching the X on a program does not actually exit a program, it just minimizes it. Map one to a specific part of the screen or a button, and easily switch programs. Hey, it’s you real advantage over the iPhone here; stream some Slacker radio or Grooveshark while you edit that Word document. Personally I use Arkswitch, but there are other great ones like Duttys. Hell, here's another one. At least add the default Windows Mobile task manager to a quick link at the very least.
BSB Specific Tweaks
Okay, so you have the newest official ROM and Cookie’s mod and you still think this phone is a piece of junk? Don’t fear yet. My next recommendation is to install BSB Tweaks. Download it here. What is it? Basically a bunch of settings you can modify that you normally can’t edit without a registry editor. This program is literally a godsend as it allows you to change, like, 50 popular settings that you couldn't do easily.
Don’t like lock screen and wish you could turn it off? Slide the off switch on “Auto Lock”.
Want to access the Windows settings through the Start Menu? Slide “Windows Settings” to on.
This is my opinion, but you can turn off “HTC Vibration” to make typing on the onscreen keyboard a bit more accurate, and you probably save battery life, too.
If you don’t like the phone’s screen turning on whenever you get a text message, slide “SMS Wake Up” to off.
I recommend turning on “Album Close,” because I don’t see the need to always have it running in the background.
Do you feel that the back button is a bit too stiff, and backing out of texts with it is a little uncomfortable? Turn on “Manila Send Butt.” to get a nice graphical send button, and it changes the left softkey to “back”. Very handy if you’re a big texter.
I recommend adjusting the LED notifications to however you see fit. Personally, I like having it flash for SMSs, but not anything else. Your opinion obviously differs.
I hear turning on “Wifi N” apparently helps improves, well, everything. I’ve heard, “Oh man, it’ll load pages instantly,” “You’ll get a wifi connection faster,” and other stuff, but I haven’t really noticed a difference. But I hear enough clamor that it probably doesn’t hurt to turn it on.
I highly recommend turning on "Opera Tabs". By default, you are limited to 3, which is laughable.
You can tinker with the other settings. A lot of them are a matter of personal taste.
Touch Tools Specific Tweaks
You might be asking why you need two tweaking programs that are 90% similar, and the answer is that Touch Tools does some stuff that BSB Tweaks doesn't See this post for the differences. Beware that Touch Tools is a lot more powerful and not as user friendly.
Slim Volume Tweak : Like the volume bar you get in apps like Youtube? You know, that transparent one that doesn't completely obscure whatever you're doing? Go into the Touch Tools folder, go to Slim Volume, hit Add, open the app you want to change the volume bar in, and shake your phone. I like doing this to whatever plays music.
Battery Life Tweaks
Tweak #1: Okay, I have no idea why, but the battery on this phone doesn't last very long. I recommend turning the backlight off automatic mode and setting it to a nice low, barely visible percent. Hey, you got to make it through the day, right? To do this, mosey your slider all the way over to settings, then to Sound & Display, then to Backlight. Joking aside, I feel it is perfectly readable indoors at 20%.
But there is a problem: once you go outside into the sunlight (the light, it buuuurns), your phone’s screen is nearly unreadable. Now you could take the time to crank up the backlight or turn it back to auto, but an easier way is to install this cab, map it to a Quick Link, and bam, you can quickly switch the auto backlight on and off.
Tweak #2: Turn My Location off. I have no idea why, but turning this off helps greatly--apparently it uses the data connection too much.. To do so, slide the slider to settings, and then click on Location. Make sure you turn off Location Service Settings and not AGPS.
Tweak #3: Turn off the various data synchronization. This phone can sync with various emails, Outlook, Twitter, the weather, your medical records, Facebook, the monolith, Youtube, and probably some others I am missing. Turn them to manual or put them to sync every couple hours to save battery. NOTE: It is extremely annoying to turn Facebook on and off (contacts pictures vanish, etc) so I recommend against turning it off.
Tweak #4: Web browsing takes a truly crazy amount of power. If you are going to do a lot of browsing, enable WiFi instead of using 3G, but be sure to turn off the WiFi if you're not using it, however. Also consider using Opera Mini 5 to browse the internet if battery is a concern. It uses less resources (bandwidth, processor, etc) than Opera Mobile 10.
Other tweaks: If you turn off Sense (Settings Tab > Right softkey > All settings > Today > Items) you’ll gain a huge battery life increase. I, however, feel that turning off Sense goes against the spirit of the phone. I like the Facebook integration and all the eye candy. And most of the tweaks have to do with Sense.
Useful Tweaks
HTC Flashlight: For whatever reason, the stock flash light does this stupidly infuriating demo where it scrolls through the flashlight settings. I have no idea why it does this; it conveys no useful purpose. It feels like this takes an eternity to do when you’re just trying to find something under your bed. Download this to fix that problem.
Lock Screen Icon at the Middle or Bottom: Okay, so our phone has a giant screen. I have pretty small hands and it was a bit of a reach to unlock the phone when the icon was at the very top of the phone. Install one of these and you can have it at the respective location. Very…handy. See what I did there?
4 Row Start Menu: By default the phone’s start menu ships with 3 rows. In my opinion, this is a huge waste of screen real estate. Install this CAB to fix it and make your Start menu so much more useful.
Power off icon: Want an icon to turn the screen off that you can put in the Quick Links? Check out post #3 here.
Turn off Weather Animation: Holy crap, it must always be cloudy in Kentucky or something as my home screen was always filled with clouds. A bit of a roundabout way to turn these animations off is to click on an empty Quick Link square, and pick "Weather Animation On/Off shortcut". Now you have a nifty icon to toggle the clouds (maybe sunlight in your case) on and off, and maybe even save some battery. Want less clouds? Install this .CAB. Wait, you said you want more home screen animations that aren't weather related? Bam and bam.
Is Activesync or WMDC annoying the absolute hell out of you by popping up on your computer? If you want to charge your phone via USB and you turn the phone's screen on for any reason, it starts syncing which can lag both the phone and computer. The simplest way to fix this is to start up Activesync on your phone (it's probably in your task manager already, damn thing's like a zombie) without it being connected to a computer, and then hit the Menu softkey, and then go to Connections, and unclick the check box for "Synchronize all PCs using this connection." Yeah, your computer beeps whenever you turn the screen on, but you won't get the annoying pop up.
A word about the WiFi's Power Save Mode (Com Manager> Wifi > Advance > Power Mode): Yeah, it probably does save you battery, but it does this by limiting your download speeds. I don't like slow page loads so I recommend setting it to performance, but the call is yours. I just don't think sacrificing page load times for battery is worth it.
If you hold down the red end key for a while, a handy menu pops up with some options. Make it even more useful with this thread. It adds a bunch more features like the option to restart Sense.
Mimic an iPhone or Android device when browsing. Guys, like mobile sites? Yeah, not many support Opera 9.7 and if you go to the m.website.com, you usually get the mobile website designed for your "niece's ****ty eight-year-old Boost mobile phone". An easy way to get the more feature rich website is to trick sites so it thinks you have an iphone or Android browser. I recommend doing this for Android because there are many Android devices that support 840x480 while the iPhone does not and many websites appear kinda busted.
To do so, fire up Opera. In the address bar type only "about:config" (not http://about:config) sans quotes. Scroll down to User Prefs and go to Custom User-Agent and type in whatever one you want. I recommend using the Nexus One user agent, even if the iPhone usually has better mobile page support.
Nexus One:
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; en-us; Nexus One Build/FRF91) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1
iPhone:
Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/1A543 Safari/419.3
Hate mobile sites with a bloody passion and would prefer the desktop version no matter what? Try using the desktop firefox user agent:
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2.6) Gecko/20100625 Firefox/3.6.6
Commonly Asked Questions
I want to enable pinch-to-zoom in X program: BSB Tweaks can enable a few programs to work with pinch-to-zoom. You can also add your own application, but the caveat is that it literally zooms onto the screen like a magnifying glass. Not too useful in my opinion.
How do I take a screenshot of the screen? BSB Tweak can do this, too. Just go into Menu, pick screenshots, and shake your phone whenever you want to take a picture. Very handy....literally.
I am going out of the country. How do I easily disable data? BSB Tweak.
I want to add rotation to X program: BSB Tweak.
How do I change the softkeys: BSB Tweak.
How do I increase the number of tabs in Opera? BSB Tweak.
How do I watch flash videos? Internet Explorer has Flash, Opera 10 has a setting to enable it, too, but I recommend using the Skyfire Browser to view Flash Content.
Wait, what is the best browser then? Oh boy. It depends on the person. Why not try them all? I primarily use Opera 9.7 (the phone ships with this), and it does a great job of rending pages accurate and relatively quickly. Opera Mini 5 uses server-side page compression so pages load extremely fast, but you get some screwy pages (Engadget), and pages aren't fluid. Skyfire also uses server-side compression, I think the interface is god-awful, and I do not like how it renders pages. However, it has excellent Flash support. There are other browsers like older versions of Opera, Bolt, and Uzard--which I think has great potential if it would actually work. I recommend sticking with the first three.
Awesome Applications
First off, we have a subforum dedicated to Windows Mobile Apps and Games. You won't find the cool programs on the Windows Market Place; they're here on XDA. Another site with a huge repository of software is www.freewarepocketpc.net. It's hard to find the real gems. It seems like half of the programs are high schooler's computer app projects or something. What follows are my recommended programs. I mean, you have this nice phone and you need some applications you can show off, right?
Slacker Radio: One of my favorite music applications, which comes with the phone, however, you probably need to update the software anyways. So make an account and enjoy streaming internet radio. It actually has, you know, working buttons unlike the Pandora application.
SciLor’s Groovemobile: This is an interesting one. Typing in the name of a song and it starts playing. Ridiculously cool. Guys, I promised myself I wouldn't post any registry edits as I feel they are beyond a beginner's level, but the music stops playing when you use the hardware key to turn the screen off. For people who know how to edit the registry, follow this post to keep the music playing in standby until I can find a .CAB for this.
Bing: So HTC finally decided to start making phones where the GPS actually works (I did a side-by-side comparison with the Touch Pro 2 and I felt like crying for the TP2). Take advantage of this with free turn-by-turn navigation courtesy of Microsoft.
Opera Mini 5: Yes, the phone comes with the full-fledged Opera Mobile 9.7 which I like a lot, but Opera Mini is ridiculous with how fast it loads pages. Very useful when you’re on an Edge connection, or if you want to web browse for a few hours because it is much less resource intensive.
Deluxe Moon: Want an application full of eye candy that you can show off like all those annoying-ass iPhone users? You want this. It shows the phases of the moon. It has very good aesthetics.
FpseCE: The famous PS1 emulator. While it only runs about half of the games I throw at it, nothing will wow people like playing Metal Gear Solid on your phone. Snake? SNAAAAAAAKE. Though, you have to donate to get the better version with multitouch for the HD2.
Morphgear: Not a fan of the PS1? Want to emulate nearly everything else? Download this modular emulator to get started. By default it only plays SNES games, and you have to pay for the other modules to emulate other system. It can get rather expensive, too. It is also a little difficult to set up. Check this post for a how-to.
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"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
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Sporty Pal: While I advise against bringing your HD2 cycling or running, this is an extremely nifty application to play around with. Walk around your neighborhood and it’ll give you a map of the area with a line of where you walked, various stats like top speed, and so forth.
MyMobiler: Install on computer. Hook up phone via Activesync, control phone from computer screen. Pro Tip: Select “zoom 50%” to actually have it fit on your computer screen. This makes texting your girlfriend with the slide-out qwerty keyboard soooo much easier.
My recommended MP3 player: I still haven’t found one that is as good as the iPhone’s. iMulator comes close to its feature set, but it crashes a lot for me. Yes, Sense does come with a built-in music player, but I think it is pretty terrible. Tweaks for this is for another episode--guide, I mean. Another great one is Nitrogen, which I tried out due to a suggestion. It is incredibly finger-friendly, but finding that one song you want to hear can be a chore. I also keep hearing this clamor for Pocket Player, but it is not free. I took that trial for a spin and it performed admirably. Finding a specific song was a breeze too. Lastly, don't forget that Windows Media Player does come with the HD2, and it's not that bad, honestly. You have to tell it to cache your library, but it performs rather well. It even works with voice command and all that cool stuff.
Dude, my phone still sucks. It lags, freezes, whatever.
My last suggestion is to flash a custom ROM. These are where people pretty much customize their own ROMs with newer builds of the default software, programs they personally like, their own tweaks, etc. You’ll find a lot of these are much more stable and responsive than stock ROMS. However, there is a small chance of bricking your phone, and it voids your warranty (although you can flash "to stock" and no one is the wiser. Get started reading about it here. And I mean read the damn thing. Don’t flash the wrong thing to your phone, brick it, and then make a new thread talking about it. If your SOP is to glance over the red, bolded text, maybe flashing ROMs isnt' for you? It really isn’t that hard if you just carefully read the directions, though. I guess there is always the option to wait for Android to be ported over.
Just for your information, the HD2 ships with Windows Mobile 6.5. There are newer versions out, namely 6.5.3 and 6.5.5, and these pretty much make the OS more finger-friendly (but you are using Sense which also tries to correct this). 6.5.3 has the bigger, more finger-friendly buttons and the remapped Start button. See this page for a picture. Personally I like this layout better, but it involves flashing a custom ROM to get. You also have your people who prefer 6.1, a really un-finger-friendly version of Windows Mobile.
I need more tweaks and applications!
Check out these threads here and here.
Part 2: Custom ROMs.
I really wanted to stay with the stock ROM, I really did. It worked pretty damn well out of the box. It was miles ahead of the Touch Pro 1. I appreciated nearly everything working without me having to immediately flash ROMs. I, however, began to get fed up with it more and more, mainly with the keyboard. As always, it just didn't seem to be able to keep up with me. Plus, the phone was freezing now and then. So I finally broke down, hard SPLed my phone, and flashed a new ROM only because I saw that a new version of the soft keyboard was much improved. And you know what? The keyboard finally worked how I wanted it to work. So on that reason alone it was worth flashing a new ROM. But there is another thing about flashing custom ROMs:
They fix things but break others.
Yeah, you'll hear people say nothing is wrong with their ROMs, but I think that is always nearly a lie. When I flashed that ROM a while ago I had several other weird bugs pop up. Like, if I received a text while in Opera, the keyboard would pop up with no way to remove it from the screen. Yeah, it seems like bugs are just the norm with Windows Mobile. It would also freeze frequently, sometimes several times a day, and picture messages would work with one build, but not the other. It seemed like community efforts to get MMS working completely failed. I flashed a few more ROMs, some older, some from different people, but I have finally settled on one I really like.
The newest ROMs seem to fix most of the freezing issues due to that new Tilt Sense version. I recommend getting one with that. Eventually these chefs will put newer Sense and Winmo builds in that are prone to freezing. That is nature of ROM flashing--you have to do it until you find a good one. I still have to put up with the keyboard popping up in Opera, but it's worth it to having a fast keyboard and it not freezing all the time. If I flash a new ROM, it may fix that, yes, but it will probably break something else.
Afraid to flash?
Yes, it does void your warranty. Yes, you can brick your phone. Yes, you can end up with a ROM that may be more buggy than you were led to believe. You, however, have been gifted with the ability to read and comprehended. It really isn't that hard if you read the instructions on how to do it. The T-Mobile USA specific ones.
I reccomend Nitrogen for playing music. Runs perfect on my HD2 running Energy Rom, with no stutters or skipping, or stopping once the screen turns off.
http://nitrogen.wmskins.com/
For some reason, unlike the older versions of Windows Mobile where you could have the option to make hitting the X-button permanently closing the program, Stock 2.13 only minimizes it. So I think you should either make it a good hint for people running stock to add the Task Manager to the shortcut on the homepage to check it from time to time.
Cheers.
PoisonWolf said:
For some reason, unlike the older versions of Windows Mobile where you could have the option to make hitting the X-button permanently closing the program, Stock 2.13 only minimizes it. So I think you should either make it a good hint for people running stock to add the Task Manager to the shortcut on the homepage to check it from time to time.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 on that, esp for people new to the phone
This is still a great guide Jamie, thanks for the effort! Maybe we can get it stickied, or at least added to the "start here" list already at the top of the forums.
Stickie
sirphunkee said:
+1 on that, esp for people new to the phone
This is still a great guide Jamie, thanks for the effort! Maybe we can get it stickied, or at least added to the "start here" list already at the top of the forums.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I 2nd that!
awesome!!!! great post.
It's stuff like this that makes me really appreciate this forum. Thanks!
Absolutely brilliant post!
great post.
that's all.
This thread saved my life
I just bought my Tmobile HD2 on craigslist everything was fine until i rebooted it. I had never seen an HD2 lag the way it did like i mean where is the snapdragon when u need it my friend's HD2 on the other hand ran circles around mine. I don't think i've ever had a more painful experience of htc sense but thanks to this thread i found the answer to my problems it was running the older version of the stock rom
SD Card
For those people having lag problems with the HD2. Try formatting your SD card i noticed a great difference in speed when i formatted my card then did a hard reset also i would advise you to get a better memory card like a class 6.
Thank's very helpful and excellent tuto.
thanks
thanks very informative but I still dont know what to do with this phone
Thank you for taking the time to make this, its very informative, and a fun read.
super helpful post! thanks a million!
hmm
Quick question, (I apologize, I am new to the HD2 and winmob)
I have installed and set cookie + editor along with bsb tweaks and noticed that while texting, I dont have the ability to rotate the phone into landscape mode, in other applications (photos for instance) it works just fine.
I've looked over both tweaks a few times to see if I missed anything and cant seem to find the reason why.
Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Robbie
QUICK FYI for you all. I just tried to download and install the RESET BUTTON...ranster_reset file downloading off of rapidshare. Sent my firewall virus program and about every other red flag jumping off my PC screen saying the file is infected with a trojan virus.
FWIW
BatVette said:
QUICK FYI for you all. I just tried to download and install the RESET BUTTON...ranster_reset file downloading off of rapidshare. Sent my firewall virus program and about every other red flag jumping off my PC screen saying the file is infected with a trojan virus.
FWIW
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I removed the link until I can investigate further.
Edit: okay, so I found the .CAB here, a bigger tweak guide for the HD2.
Edit 2: Okay, I ran the file through http://www.kaspersky.com/scanforvirus and it came up completely clean. I also ran it thorough 19 scanners here and it totally came clean: http://i49.tinypic.com/2wd3n9s.jpg. I honestly have no idea why it tripped. Can you share more details?
In conclusion, Anyone who is using it is probably safe. Check it out yourself, it's been in another guide forever. I think someone else would have said something about it if it really is a virus. Maybe the advertising on rapidshare tripped your scanners? Anyone else is free to try and verify, however.
I'm new to the T Mobile HTC HD2 phone how do I download the apps onto to my phone? I can't seem to figure it out

Why my HD2 will be my last windows phone

Last November I ordered my new HD2 with excitment, finally an potential iphone killer was on the market. After weeks of reading reviews and watching youtube un-boxings I cancelled my order for the Touch HD and got the HD2 instead.
Initially i loved the phone but i have to say that i have grown to dislike it, due to software issues. Here are the reasons why
1. When I close and application I want the application to actually close, not hang around in the backgound making the phone sluggish and unusable. Skype and Goolge maps are the worst culprets for this. My T-Mobile Vario allowed me close application done by holding the 'X' for a few seconds. Why cant the HD2 / WinMi 6.5 have this feature.
2. When i want to reply to an SMS message, i want to start typing right away. If there are more than a couple of messages in the thread i dont want to have to sit an wait 5 minutes until it will allow text input.
3. Market place no longer works
4. When i put my username and password into the facebook app, ans select "save details" why can it not actually save the details. Did MS / HTC actually test this feature before the app was released.
5. I cannot select items in the facebook app as it was not designed for device without the D-Pad....lots of point it being on the HD2 them..
6. The youtube player complains about "storage full" at start up and then just close for no reason. Another useless app. other phone have no problem playing you tube video.
7. There is just not enough memory, take a few photos and a couple of video, thats it the phone is full. I had to mess around trying to figure out how to save things to the memory card by default. Why cant windows support more storage, Apple manage it!
8. Alarm Clock. You turn off the alarm and it still sounds at the set time, you change the time of the alarm and it still sound at the original time, even though thats not the time that sense tell you that it set to. Again did no one actually test this before shipping?
9. Windows Phone 7 looks aweful and is still the same old WinCE 5 with a different interface. Microsoft should have done something spectacular, instead they are shipping the same old pig in different lipstick. Why can't Microsoft not get mobile right?? Just a phone that works would be a great start. No wonder there are no so many HTC android devices.
Just my thoughts, please feel free to tell me that I am wrong.
Vertuas said:
Last November I ordered my new HD2 with excitment, finally an potential iphone killer was on the market. After weeks of reading reviews and watching youtube un-boxings I cancelled my order for the Touch HD and got the HD2 instead.
Initially i loved the phone but i have to say that i have grown to dislike it, due to software issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firstly, what ROM do you have?
What version of HD2 do you have? (TMobile US or other?)
1. When I close and application I want the application to actually close, not hang around in the backgound making the phone sluggish and unusable. Skype and Goolge maps are the worst culprets for this. My T-Mobile Vario allowed me close application done by holding the 'X' for a few seconds. Why cant the HD2 / WinMi 6.5 have this feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This should work as you hope, does it keep all programs open? If not, maybe it is a program setting rather than Windows.
I have WKTask running on mine, so can't check, I would recommend this, but add the exclusion for the start menu if you decide to use it.
2. When i want to reply to an SMS message, i want to start typing right away. If there are more than a couple of messages in the thread i dont want to have to sit an wait 5 minutes until it will allow text input.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This goes back to my original questions, this was solved for me with a 1.72 ROM update from O2, try checking the HTC website for an update. (back up your settings first!)
3. Market place no longer works
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a bit too vague to help, but try looking for an update for the Marketplace app, from memory there was one only a couple of months back.
4. When i put my username and password into the facebook app, ans select "save details" why can it not actually save the details. Did MS / HTC actually test this feature before the app was released.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, there are updates for this, would recommend sorting out Marketplace first.
5. I cannot select items in the facebook app as it was not designed for device without the D-Pad....lots of point it being on the HD2 them..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know which app you're using but the one shipped with mine is designed for touch screens. has it not got a slider on the right hand side to scroll with?
6. The youtube player complains about "storage full" at start up and then just close for no reason. Another useless app. other phone have no problem playing you tube video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This may be due to lack of onboard storage, try looking for PMClean, it should give you an idea of whats using it up, and let you remove pretty much all temp files.
7. There is just not enough memory, take a few photos and a couple of video, thats it the phone is full. I had to mess around trying to figure out how to save things to the memory card by default. Why cant windows support more storage, Apple manage it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll admit there isn't much going for the onboard storage, but changing the photos/videos to storage card is a couple of taps...
8. Alarm Clock. You turn off the alarm and it still sounds at the set time, you change the time of the alarm and it still sound at the original time, even though thats not the time that sense tell you that it set to. Again did no one actually test this before shipping?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never had this, but can't check if its a regular thing as you've not mentioned your ROM version.
9. Windows Phone 7 looks aweful and is still the same old WinCE 5 with a different interface. Microsoft should have done something spectacular, instead they are shipping the same old pig in different lipstick. Why can't Microsoft not get mobile right?? Just a phone that works would be a great start. No wonder there are no so many HTC android devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am still in two minds about WinPhone7, not sure if I like it, but I thought it was based on a newer kernel. I'll have to look into that.
Vertuas said:
please feel free to tell me that I am wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your wrong
1. I've had 10 apps running before and not had any slow down. You can set the registry to close apps on X, and it's probably a nice easy tick box in one of the many tweak apps.
2. I've got SMS conversations going back months and can type straight away.
3. Which one? MS Market place? Works fine for me.
4. Again, not a problem here with mine.
5. See 4.
6. Youtube works for me and others. Starting to think there's a problem with your phone, are you running the latest stock ROM?
7. Mine saves to the SD card by default.
8. My alarm works great, if I untick the box or unhighlight the day it won't sound, getting the feeling you're running a custom ROM.
9. WP7 is unfortunately not just a vaneer on top of WinCE 5.0, if it was our old apps would be compatible. It's based on the Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 kernal.
If you're running the latest stock ROM, then I'd suggest doing a hard reset (backup your data first!) and then see how it goes.
If you still have trouble then contact HTC and submit a warranty claim.
Vertuas said:
Last November I ordered my new HD2 with excitment, finally an potential iphone killer was on the market. After weeks of reading reviews and watching youtube un-boxings I cancelled my order for the Touch HD and got the HD2 instead.
Initially i loved the phone but i have to say that i have grown to dislike it, due to software issues. Here are the reasons why
1. When I close and application I want the application to actually close, not hang around in the backgound making the phone sluggish and unusable. Skype and Goolge maps are the worst culprets for this. My T-Mobile Vario allowed me close application done by holding the 'X' for a few seconds. Why cant the HD2 / WinMi 6.5 have this feature.
2. When i want to reply to an SMS message, i want to start typing right away. If there are more than a couple of messages in the thread i dont want to have to sit an wait 5 minutes until it will allow text input.
3. Market place no longer works
4. When i put my username and password into the facebook app, ans select "save details" why can it not actually save the details. Did MS / HTC actually test this feature before the app was released.
5. I cannot select items in the facebook app as it was not designed for device without the D-Pad....lots of point it being on the HD2 them..
6. The youtube player complains about "storage full" at start up and then just close for no reason. Another useless app. other phone have no problem playing you tube video.
7. There is just not enough memory, take a few photos and a couple of video, thats it the phone is full. I had to mess around trying to figure out how to save things to the memory card by default. Why cant windows support more storage, Apple manage it!
8. Alarm Clock. You turn off the alarm and it still sounds at the set time, you change the time of the alarm and it still sound at the original time, even though thats not the time that sense tell you that it set to. Again did no one actually test this before shipping?
9. Windows Phone 7 looks aweful and is still the same old WinCE 5 with a different interface. Microsoft should have done something spectacular, instead they are shipping the same old pig in different lipstick. Why can't Microsoft not get mobile right?? Just a phone that works would be a great start. No wonder there are no so many HTC android devices.
Just my thoughts, please feel free to tell me that I am wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, just wow. You've had the phone for 8 months and this is your first post? Definitely not a WinMo power user.
1. Many different task managers on here to choose from, including the htc default one, free for download. Might try searching.
2. Have you done any of the available updates for the phone? Besides complete ROM updates, there have been hotfixes for sms. I'm guessing you haven't taken the time.
3. WM Marketplace works, Omarket works, Handango works.
4. Facebook saves my login fine after every flash, not sure what your problem is. I'm guessing it has something to do with you not updating your phone.
5. ??? Never needed a dpad on this phone. Not sure what facebook app you are using.
6. Sounds like you need a memory cleaner. I would start with cleanRAM and clearTEMP. Once again, google is your friend. I'm guessing your youtube, album and internet caches have taken over all free memory. Might be time to clean house.
7. Did you try reading the manual? Or pressing that little sprocket looking thing when you open the camera to see what was inside?
8. Never had any problems with the alarm clock, so can't help you.
9. You are just completely clueless aren't you???
http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/04/windows-phone-7-based-on-a-hybrid-windows-ce-6-compact-7-kerne/
There's a reason that none of our current programs will be backwards compatible.
I hope you didn't pay full price for your HD2 because you have not come close to realizing its potential. Maybe an iphone is what you need?
Every one of the problems can be solved by using the 'search' button on this site.
I do agree that WinMo7 looks awful, but if microsoft are smart, they will leave it an open system like previous versions of WinMo. This would mean that some of the geniuses on here can make it an outstanding operating system.
This phone was designed for use with a removable microSD card, which is a whole load better than the fixed memory type (iPhone and HTC Diamond).
1. It's called multitasking and dont slow the phone down for me.
2. Not a problem with my Dutty CDLC v8 ROM.
3. Works fine for me.
4. and 5. I don't use Facebook because i actually got a life ;-)
6. Get a bigger SD card.
7. Get a bigger SC card to save stuff on, and that will also solve #6. Many users want it to save photos and videos internal as default.
8. Use S2U2 as lock app.
9. If you don't like Windows Phone 7 then don't use it.
I really think you crying. Try to go to bed a little early because it will sure help.
You can still close apps properly by holding the X. If you just tap x, is will stay in the background. If you press and hold, it will close properly.
My advice: Learn how the task manager works
madindehead said:
It's people like you, who give HD2 users a bad name...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Indeed, the OP obviously needs help, his phone is not behaving as it should, and he isn't aware of some of it's capabilities.
The last thing he needs is posts like erikvario's.
Be sure you always installs the hotfixes and latest ROM's.
And to close applications, then use Dutty's taskmanager.
Then you get a icon at the upper right corner, you tap it, and you see the list of running applications.
Vertuas said:
Just my thoughts, please feel free to tell me that I am wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And you think we are fools to keep a device like that.
And yes you are dead wrong.
I have,actually, we have no issues such as you have mentioned (we have 2 HD2s at home).
madindehead said:
It's people like you, who give HD2 users a bad name...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed and it's also the reason he will be absent for a while!
Mike
In all honesty you didn't give this phone the attention it deserves. I have only found success using windows after I put a good deal of thought into properly flashing a radio and a rom. The effort is worth it for me. My dual booting, over/underclocked HD2 is more capable than any Iphone.
mikechannon said:
Indeed and it's also the reason he will be absent for a while!
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hehe was about to write him a warning, like usual you beat me
LOL @ ban. Much deserved
polo753 - snap on the setup!
HTC HD2
2.12.50
Energy 23678
shubCRAFT 1.4d
After three days of Android - and still occasionally popping into WM for TomTom/book reader (still not found anything that beats AlReader2) I'm confident Android will be my next phone, despite not being a huge giving-Google-my-data fan. Wm6 is dead - and WM7 looks a (slight) mess (I'm already bored of the interface following a years-worth of screenshots), although I'm happy to change my mind when I eventaully get to play with one.
Hello Again Everyone,
First, Thanks to all the helpful people how have given me usuful tips and solutions. I will try an check some of them out and see what can be inproved. As it happens i checked market place and it actually connected 10 minutes ago for the first time in about 6 weeks.
As for all the people flaming me......no i've not gone away for a while
If i went out an bought a new car i would expet it to be working as normal 9 months down the line other wise i would be might unhappy.
The HD2 is my third WinMo phone and it the first one that frustrates me. The hardware and HTC sense are awesome it just niggly annoying things that should just work.
As for Apple, i would not own an Apple product if you payed me to take it away!!!
For interested in being help full, the phone has the HTC rom and not a network specific one. Rom version : 1.43.405.1 (70124) WWE
As for me giving the phone a bad name, I know my way around wondows mobile and if i have a problem i know where and what task manager is, i can close stuff. Where the phone get a bad name is from the lesser technical and informed people went out and bought the HT2. Propobly 90% of consumers of the handset as not techically minded and how no idea when is going on that making windows run slow. These are the people that will say that the phone is no good, with out actually knowing what they are talking about.
These are the people in the street who are seeing the issues with the phone and writting it off and migrating to handsets by companies named after frui,t because they "Just Work"
The phone should work, 99% percent perfectly, update for new features i can live with, but the feature on the phone should work. without me searching forum for answers.
Yeah to be fair I love my HT2, its like a girlfriend. Its great to have around, but it annoys the crap out me sometime
madindehead said:
You can still close apps properly by holding the X. If you just tap x, is will stay in the background. If you press and hold, it will close properly.
My advice: Learn how the task manager works
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I opened up excel mobile.
i held the close ('X') in the corner for ten second, it highlighted but did not close until i let go.
open up task manger....excel still running!!!!!
go figure!
Vertuas said:
For interested in being help full, the phone has the HTC rom and not a network specific one. Rom version : 1.43.405.1 (70124) WWE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
1.43 is the original ROM, give this one a try:
http://www.htc.com/uk/SupportDownload.aspx?p_id=297&cat=2&dl_id=856
Don't forget to back all your stuff up first (contacts, etc)
Vertuas said:
Last November I ordered my new HD2 with excitment, finally an potential iphone killer was on the market. After weeks of reading reviews and watching youtube un-boxings I cancelled my order for the Touch HD and got the HD2 instead.
Initially i loved the phone but i have to say that i have grown to dislike it, due to software issues. Here are the reasons why
1. When I close and application I want the application to actually close, not hang around in the backgound making the phone sluggish and unusable. Skype and Goolge maps are the worst culprets for this. My T-Mobile Vario allowed me close application done by holding the 'X' for a few seconds. Why cant the HD2 / WinMi 6.5 have this feature.
2. When i want to reply to an SMS message, i want to start typing right away. If there are more than a couple of messages in the thread i dont want to have to sit an wait 5 minutes until it will allow text input.
3. Market place no longer works
4. When i put my username and password into the facebook app, ans select "save details" why can it not actually save the details. Did MS / HTC actually test this feature before the app was released.
5. I cannot select items in the facebook app as it was not designed for device without the D-Pad....lots of point it being on the HD2 them..
6. The youtube player complains about "storage full" at start up and then just close for no reason. Another useless app. other phone have no problem playing you tube video.
7. There is just not enough memory, take a few photos and a couple of video, thats it the phone is full. I had to mess around trying to figure out how to save things to the memory card by default. Why cant windows support more storage, Apple manage it!
8. Alarm Clock. You turn off the alarm and it still sounds at the set time, you change the time of the alarm and it still sound at the original time, even though thats not the time that sense tell you that it set to. Again did no one actually test this before shipping?
9. Windows Phone 7 looks aweful and is still the same old WinCE 5 with a different interface. Microsoft should have done something spectacular, instead they are shipping the same old pig in different lipstick. Why can't Microsoft not get mobile right?? Just a phone that works would be a great start. No wonder there are no so many HTC android devices.
Just my thoughts, please feel free to tell me that I am wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
first of all, the following paragraph is not intended to flame you or anything such...just something i found odd...
you've started a new thread...its title suggests its another one of those "i hate my HD2 and never getting a WM phone again" threads...then you list all your problems...but no details!!! honestly, nearly ALL your problems are fixable! like you mentioned, nearly ALL of them are software problems! and you can tell they are fixable by the suggestions people are giving. i now see in your second post that you have finally mentioned some much needed information.
so, nearly all your problems are fixable...and you say you are familiar with WM...but you've just GOT to at least try a hard reset...better yet, try one of the newer official ROMs...they were released for a reason! the 1.43 ROM you're using is ANCIENT...its like complaining about an iphone4 that you're using with version 1 of the iOS. best suggestion from me is to try a custom/cooked ROM...they are da bomb!
1. almost all custom ROMs include one (or two...or even THREE) task managers. the energy ROM i am using includes "arkswitch" (tap top-left corner to bring up running applications list) and "ameba" (lets you configure and fine tune the behavior of the X button)
2. the energy ROM i am using completely does away with the HTC messaging client. if you have used WM phones before, you will find yourself more comfortable with the DEFAULT WM text messaging client. the energy ROM i am using integrates the DEFAULT WM text messaging client quite nicely. its speedy, to the point, and very much more compatible with backup programs like pimbackup and MS's myphone.
3. the MS market place app gets updated every now and then. still, a hard reset should get it going.
4. don't use facebook at all so can't help you there...but if it worked before, it truly sounds like a hard reset should get it going again.
5. don't use facebook at all so can't help you there.
6. this happened to me from time to time when i was using the stock ROM. never happened again on the energy ROM i am using. moreover, you can always install the official youtube app direct from google.
7. in EVERY WM phone i have owned, one of the FIRST things i did after booting up for the first time was to set the camera to store to the storage card...make a habit of it! apple is able to manage it because the iphone has BUILT IN storage (non-expandable! yuk!) so there is NOTHING to configure in the first place!
8. use G-Alarm! fantastic alarm application. search for version 1.5.1 which was the last FREE version. works fine on the HD2.
9. WM7 is truly many steps backward for the geeky users like us but it will probably allow MS to take many steps forward by attracting the non-power users currently being drawn to the iphone. as much as i hate the fact that MS seems to be abandoning the requirements of the power user, i take comfort in knowing that at least apple won't get the whole pie
to be honest since purchasing the hd2 a few months ago you realise this phone is not for everybody it does not work straight out the box like the iphone you have to spend some time to tweak/customise the phone to make it perform to its full potential personally i enjoying this aspect if it thats why i love the hd2..re the points you made i havent come across any of these and im confident they can be rectified

So I finally switched to CM... but I don't think for long...

Well, I must say... this ROM sure is customizable and quite the speedy one. I am having fun diving into the customization that Cyanogen provides. However, there are some things that I just can't get over:
1. The AOSP dialer is centuries behind that of HTC. You can get to your specific contacts way faster using HTC's and the integration with the contact's Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr information is much more seamless as well. Someone here told me about Dialer One, but it isn't working nearly as well as HTC's. It doesn't even show your Facebook pictures, etc. To sum it all up, is there any way one can get HTC's dialer working in CM? This might be a dealbreaker for me. =/
2. The gallery also doesn't come close? Any way of getting HTC's gallery working in CM. It's irritating how all my album art is showing on it.
3. I don't mind the camera much since I use Vignette, but the camcorder is atrocious. I don't even know if I'm recording 720P, but if I am, then there's something wrong as the images seem a lot more blurry than on HTCs.
Aside from that, its a great ROM. Just not nearly as polished as VP and many others I've seen/used around. And, honestly, VP is just as customizable and much more stable. =/
1. I despise the sense dialer
2. Gallery is fine, if you don't like it, there are plenty to download
3. It is not 720p, but in my experience and with others input, the CM video looks much clearer on 52" LCD than the sense 720 video.
Sounds like you already have your mind made up. The first line on CM clearly states "this isn't sense and never will be".
Yes, VP is a great sense ROM, CM7 is better for ME
akarol said:
1. The AOSP dialer is centuries behind that of HTC. You can get to your specific contacts way faster using HTC's and the integration with the contact's Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr information is much more seamless as well. Someone here told me about Dialer One, but it isn't working nearly as well as HTC's. It doesn't even show your Facebook pictures, etc. To sum it all up, is there any way one can get HTC's dialer working in CM? This might be a dealbreaker for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ill bite, but mostly because I'm curious about this point. Personally I can't stand the HTC dialer so I'm curious what about it makes it superior to you. The "Facebook integration" sounds more like a misunderstanding on how that's setup as that works flawlessly for me, and its just a "flick" over to contacts so I really want to know what shortcut HTC has that makes it quicker. I mean, the messy metatags in the notes section of all my contacts is appalling, heaven forbid I actually want to use that space in my google contacts.
Dialer One I didn't think lived up-to the hype either, but then my root "hate" that spans _every_ dialer I've ever used seems to be a more core Android short coming: it fails to recognize phone numbers and link them correctly. Man Android fails hard at that. My 10yr old blackberry did it better. GOOGLE: IT'S NOT A MAP COORDINATE JUST BECAUSE THERES AN EXTENSION ON THE END.
That and 3-way calling is needlessly complex on all android phones .... can't we just rip off Apple on that one?
Anyway, tell m the pros ... i may rom swap and play with it. I'm constantly looking for a dialer mecca and have yet to be happy with any of them ...
Quick call the cm fanboys...each rom has it's plusses and minuses, get used to that
What rom is vp?
Edit.... vaelpack? That rom is nice. I keep coming back to Destroyer 2 myself. Dialer one can be changed a bit through settings. I do agree that the sense dialer is the best, but a tweaked dialer one is good for me.
Sent from mah SuperEvO..
I have used CM for a while but went back to sense, just preference. I have a nand backup and if I feel the need to play an SNES emulator on a big screen to show off, then I can switch back and forth. That's what's great about android and xda!!
But as far as dialers try Go Contacts. It's the closest to Sense dialer that I have been able to find, not perfect with integration (still in the works last time I checked) but the smart dialer capability works great.
The problem I have with AOSP is this:
It starts off super fast and it should because its a bare bones ROM.
I spend all kinds of time looking for widgets that can do the same things as the ones in Sense do (News Feed, Calendar, Weather, Bookmarks, People, etc.). Yes I've heard and have bought launcher pro its not the same.
Then as I start loading up a AOSP with all the widgets I need it starts to run about the same (sometimes worse no fault of the ROM) as Sense ROMs.
So then I just go back to Sense and save my self the trouble. AOSP ROMs are awesome for phones that don't have Sense. I bought my HTC EVO because I wanted Sense. Its fun to play around with AOSP ROMs but in the end I always come back. If it wasn't for Sense I probably would have gotten an Epic.
Say what you want thats my opinion and I'm entitled to it.
It takes all kinds, for sure. I don't use many widgets, so I'm happy. Another phone geek buddy loves the friend stream widget, etc... So he sticks to Sense.
I am a flashaholic so I run everything for a day or three.
Sent from mah SuperEvO..
Hours...lol
I have one screen and it has beautiful widgets, that's it. No apps, but have the essentials in the hidden app drawer in ADW.
That's why i don't like sense, I don't use any of it.
@zone23 - glad you bought an evo
alaman68 said:
I have one screen and it has beautiful widgets, that's it. No apps, but have the essentials in the hidden app drawer in ADW.
That's why i don't like sense, I don't use any of it.
@zone23 - glad you bought an evo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just like it was said it takes all kinds. If you don't use any of the Sense widgets then there is no need to run a Sense ROM. I agree with that 150%.
and thanks I'm glad I did too. Love this phone and I'm sure I'm gonna love the EVO 3D even more. Hope you guys all come with me. heres to the EVOZone 3D if I can figure out how to make the 3D graphics. That should be fun.
So...this thread is for you to tell us that you don't like cyanogen 7?
Alright....
Wanna search your contacts? Hold "Menu" to have your keyboard pop up.
See my sig for Facebook pictures, it's REALLY simple.
QuickPic in the market is awesome. If you want to use the AOSP galley just add a .nomedia (I'm 99% certain that's right) file to the folders you want to ignore (This is an option in QuickPic)
The camcorder does not use 720p yet, it will "probably" be in 7.1
Look out the thread police just showed up..
zone23 said:
Look out the thread police just showed up..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
mattykinsx said:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the laugh man thats some funny **** right there.
Well, in Sense Dialer I can just start typing the name using the alpha numeric keypad, or the dialing the number and the list of results dynamically shows up top. Also, Sense Phone allows you to create a shortcut to the Call History (Call Log) on your homescreen (this might be doable in CM).
As far as the integration with FB and such goes, I like how the Facebook for Sense will synchronize your contacts birthday, photos, etc from within your phone application, calendar, etc. Didn't seem to be able to do that in CM. Peep will also do that for Twitter. I don't mind the official Twitter application and I know that it does sync over, but it also forces you to automatically sync on the background, where Peep can be synced automatically when opened.
Little things like that the keep CM away from being a daily driver for me.
comparing a sense based rom to a non sense based rom = LOL period
quickpic > 3d gallery nuff said
sorry i dont want 700 facebook contacts on my phone with HTC you have to take them all ( unless you use a rom like the inspire port )
OP.. Keep CM! It will grow on you, I promise.
Here's what you can do:
1. Download GO Contacts on android market and set it as your default dialer.
2. Download QuickPic on Android Market And set it as your default Gallery.
3. CM Camera does not record 720p yet. HOWEVER, the image and especially sound quality should be much. much better than sense. In the end, the not-quite-720p resolution being shot with CM7 ends up looking better than the regular 720p on sense, even upscaled.
BONUS: Download Go Weather if you miss the flip clock
BONUS 2: Download LauncherPro for butter smooth scrolling and app drawer.
Done! Now this is what it looks like!
+1 for quickpic. It isn't pretty but its spoon much faster than any gallery
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App

Finally a Swipe Keyboard for Windows 8 that works

I have tried swipe keyboards on my Lenovo Lynx Win8 tablet before
Before I bought the tablet I just assumed there would be some swipe functionality built into it. Then I discovered to my horror that not only was there no native swiping support in Windows 8, there were no keyboard apps at all!
Shocking, considering how many options you have on android.
Anyway, I tried out both the options that I managed to find, Touchpal and Inscribe, but neither of them worked properly, if at all. This must have been 3-4 weeks ago. So I uninstalled them and resigned myself to the old hunt and peck method.
Today, I decided to try Touchpal again. Maybe they would have an update out? Turns out they did!:laugh:
So I installed it, and to my surprise it worked!
This is the procedure I followed:
1. Uninstall any previous instances of Touchpal or Inscribe on your system.
2. Download the new Touchpal release from here: http://www.touchpal.com/en/downloadswin8.html
3. Unzip, then right click and run as administrator. Choose custom and tick the languages you want. (I just ticked English)
4. Once installed, restart your windows8 tablet.
5. The icon should be in your taskbar. Click on it and select the Touchpal keyboard.
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"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
6. Open Notepad or Word and try it out!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
7. It has an autocorrect option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
8. You can save (and restore) your custom user dictionary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Hmm, I tried this months ago and it was pretty horrible. You would swype a word and it would put in a completely different word, you could not even find your word in their suggestions list. I tried it again a couple of days ago, and still the same level of horrible.
It's too bad because windows NEEDS a better keyboard option, not only swype but they need voice input.
spinedoc said:
Hmm, I tried this months ago and it was pretty horrible. You would swype a word and it would put in a completely different word, you could not even find your word in their suggestions list. I tried it again a couple of days ago, and still the same level of horrible.
It's too bad because windows NEEDS a better keyboard option, not only swype but they need voice input.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I don't see why Microsoft can't work on something so basic and obvious as a swipe keyboard app themselves, even after having realized how important tablets are going to be in the post-pc world. Just another example of their short-sightedness and lack of vision.
To come back to your first point, in my case when I tried it sometime ago none of the swipe apps worked at all, so this time it was a huge improvement (it worked!!!)
At least someone is working on it. Hopefully they'll improve their accuracy and word-prediction algorithms as they come out with more (and faster) updates.
About voice input, doesn't windows already have voice integration since w7 and earlier? I remember having set it up on my desktop a couple of times, (to make it learn to recognize your accent etc) but never really used it for anything.
Though on a tablet it needs to be there as a button on the keyboard, or better still, as an always on feature like on the MotoX.
itsnotmeatall said:
Yeah I don't see why Microsoft can't work on something so basic and obvious as a swipe keyboard app themselves, even after having realized how important tablets are going to be in the post-pc world. Just another example of their short-sightedness and lack of vision.
To come back to your first point, in my case when I tried it sometime ago none of the swipe apps worked at all, so this time it was a huge improvement (it worked!!!)
At least someone is working on it. Hopefully they'll improve their accuracy and word-prediction algorithms as they come out with more (and faster) updates.
About voice input, doesn't windows already have voice integration since w7 and earlier? I remember having set it up on my desktop a couple of times, (to make it learn to recognize your accent etc) but never really used it for anything.
Though on a tablet it needs to be there as a button on the keyboard, or better still, as an always on feature like on the MotoX.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm do we have voice input? I'm used to seeing the microphone right on the keyboard in iOS and Android to enter in text via voice. I'd be curious if this can be done on my windows tablet as well.
spinedoc said:
Hmm do we have voice input? I'm used to seeing the microphone right on the keyboard in iOS and Android to enter in text via voice. I'd be curious if this can be done on my windows tablet as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, it's there. Can't say how good it is though, haven't really gotten around to actually using it ever. You have to read a bunch of sentences into it to train it and stuff. Set aside at least an hour to set up the thing, and then it'll learn your accent, preferences and so on as you use it more.
This was a feature in Windows before anyone even started working on Android 1.0, and Google has left them so far behind its not even funny.
itsnotmeatall said:
Yup, it's there. Can't say how good it is though, haven't really gotten around to actually using it ever. You have to read a bunch of sentences into it to train it and stuff. Set aside at least an hour to set up the thing, and then it'll learn your accent, preferences and so on as you use it more.
This was a feature in Windows before anyone even started working on Android 1.0, and Google has left them so far behind its not even funny.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool, I'll give it a try, thanks.
I'm often using my nexus as a Bluetooth keyboard with unified remote. A little bit battery consuming but better than the build in keyboard, and it allow me to swype. That's the better workaround for me...
Envoyé de mon Nexus 4 en utilisant Tapatalk
I followed the instructions in the OP. It said it installed, I restarted and nothing. No icon, no keyboard. Does this work with 8.1?
wifesabitch said:
I followed the instructions in the OP. It said it installed, I restarted and nothing. No icon, no keyboard. Does this work with 8.1?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only tried with 8, so I'm not sure. Their website says 'For Windows8.' I guess we'll have to wait for them to make a 8.1 version.
I got this working with the latest update.
It's better than stock but I still can't get the auto-pop up to work in desktop mode.
Does that feature work for anybody?
wifesabitch said:
I got this working with the latest update.
It's better than stock but I still can't get the auto-pop up to work in desktop mode.
Does that feature work for anybody?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It isn't a feature of windows 8 to have an auto pop up keyboard on desktop
I got this working on my Dell Venue 8 Pro Tablet. Thank you.
barakisbrown said:
I got this working on my Dell Venue 8 Pro Tablet. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Were you able to get it working so that the auto keyboard popup didn't come up in Desktop mode and you could bring it up on demand?
itsnotmeatall said:
Yeah I don't see why Microsoft can't work on something so basic and obvious as a swipe keyboard app themselves, even after having realized how important tablets are going to be in the post-pc world. Just another example of their short-sightedness and lack of vision.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although I'm glad Google have added swiping, they still took years after this was being done by 3rd party keyboards, and I don't think Apple have added it either (nor can you even use a 3rd party keyboard). So I don't think they're more short-sighted than anyone else.
One of the annoying things I find about larger tablets is that touchscreen keyboards start to become slower to use, because your finger now has to travel a greater distance, and swiping is affected more by this, because of the friction, so I can see why they first investigated alternatives (e.g., split keyboard) given Windows 8 initially being targetted at big tablets. Though it would be nice for them to add swiping anyway.
mdwh said:
Although I'm glad Google have added swiping, they still took years after this was being done by 3rd party keyboards, and I don't think Apple have added it either (nor can you even use a 3rd party keyboard). So I don't think they're more short-sighted than anyone else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah but Microsoft is late to the game. They should have learned from the others who came before them.
mdwh said:
One of the annoying things I find about larger tablets is that touchscreen keyboards start to become slower to use, because your finger now has to travel a greater distance, and swiping is affected more by this, because of the friction, so I can see why they first investigated alternatives (e.g., split keyboard) given Windows 8 initially being targetted at big tablets. Though it would be nice for them to add swiping anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right about the larger screen affecting speed, but there is an easy solution: Having the keyboard in a phablet-sized box on the bottom right of the screen, so that you can use the thumb that is already used to swipe-typing on the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
------
sav2880 said:
Were you able to get it working so that the auto keyboard popup didn't come up in Desktop mode and you could bring it up on demand?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually. I had to uninstall it because it was causing other weird glitches with my tablet.
Sorry, wrong forum, you show android. The Windows 8 app cannot be "detached". If you resize it, there remains a black strip over the full screen width.
*** Correction ***: one can detach it! However, swype does not work in Windows 8.1 (you can get the keyboard running by finding TPKeyBoard.exe in the Programs folder and starting it directly.
A beautiful addition to Windows, we will facilitate the writing ... Loading
Thank you for providing :good:
no worky, worky on Winn8.1 Pro
itsnotmeatall said:
I only tried with 8, so I'm not sure. Their website says 'For Windows8.' I guess we'll have to wait for them to make a 8.1 version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll add a second vote to the quote above.
Felt like I almost gad it there and working only to find I had wasted my time. BTW, works even less well (is that even a sentence) with a digitizer/pen combo. Found that what little I could get from it, only worked with my flesh and blood finger on the touch screen (I have a Sony flip which offers both if you chose to purchase the optional active digitizer pen--something I recommend highly even though it was less than useless with this even more less than useless app.).
I just don't get it, there should be a plethora of swipe type keywords out there for All versions of Win 8. Boggles the brain.
H. A.

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