Database Users

How can you add icons to the today screen?

Hi,
I have been using my vario II since December and intend to get rid of it when i can upgrade as windows mobile is really poor. I mean windows is bad enough on a pc let alone a phone!
Anyhow i just want to do something really simple, I would like to add large icons to my today screen for some programs i use a lot like IE and Salling clicker (so i dont have to keep going ot start). Am I missing something really basic or do i have to go through a load of tweaks to do it.
This is why windows mobile is so poor becuase it shouldnt be this difficult to do something basic.
Thanks

WM itself cannot do that. You'll need to install some other software. Try cLaunch.. if you are more adverturous try rlToday.

that is why i hate windows mobile, its not user friendly at all. I mean i just want to add some icons to my today screen, the problem with windows mobile it may offer extra features but its at the expense of ease of use.
e.g. phone profiles, silent etc if i want to activate them on a nokia i just press the on-off button
never mind, i knew what i was getting into when i bought a windows mobile device, when my upgrade comes around i will just get a normal phone and use the vario II as a bluetooth remote control.

Well, you may want to try using the SmartKey, which takes the left key, if you were to press and hold it, it will open the 'Start Menu', and using your D-pad, it is easy enough to open programs.
As for phone profiles, you can press and hold your 'Communication manager' button and it will go into silent mode. If rather than having 2 phone, you may want to try other programs like.. er.. the.. SPB Shell, that makes WM phone looks like normal phone.

to be fair i know i know how to use the phone, i mean all i want to do is change the icons on the today screen so i can just tap on them and load them! I mean its all well and good having 100s of functions but if you cant access them easily what is the point?
I really think people are crying out for devices which are easy to use and ready to go our of the box, not one where you have to make endless tweaks! Windows mobile is certainly not that, perhaps the new iphone will make a difference.

Well, for one thing, WM device has this 'Today' screen which is one of the unique thing that, other devices (e.g. Palm, iPhone) doesn't have. From my point of view and my usage pattern, I'd much prefer the Today screen than a launch pad.

SPB pocket plus or Mobile Shell will let you add icons to your today screen

hi thanks
i have downloaded spb pocket plus and it has allowed me to add the icons, can you just tell me what is better the shell or pocket plus and what are the drawbacks of pocket plus ? it reminds me of norton i.e. it has a massive footprint and wants to take over your whole system! I have tried to reduce it as much as i can.
I used the gprs monitor a few months back and it slowed my system and effected battery life.
thanks for your help though

cLaunch is less fancy, and small. . and free.

HTC home pluginn
The HTC home plugins (the one from the touch and the one from Kaiser) are not exactly what you are looking for but also can help you.
Those plugins change your today screen and add a TAB where you can put 9 favorite applications and launch them by a simple click on the screen, also gives you a contact tab that is usefull ...you can search for those pluggins in the WM6 section... for me it has worked fine.
Regards

the HTC home plug in is god awful ugly tho.

I thought the HTC Home plug was beautiful. I like the new one even more that has a tab for photo contacts! However, I don't use it on my phone because it seems to make everything take twice as long. Uninstalled it and my phone was zippy again. I use SPB Pocket Plus for icons on today screen and SPB Photo Suite for contacts on the today screen.

chaz_redux said:
to be fair i know i know how to use the phone, i mean all i want to do is change the icons on the today screen so i can just tap on them and load them! I mean its all well and good having 100s of functions but if you cant access them easily what is the point?
I really think people are crying out for devices which are easy to use and ready to go our of the box, not one where you have to make endless tweaks! Windows mobile is certainly not that, perhaps the new iphone will make a difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
keep in mind that even with the advanced amount of funtions, they need to be organized somehow.
You also may want to look into PHM Tray Launch. You can have smaller icons placed in the system tray so access your favorite applications. (PM me if u want it, I can't upload it cause of the file extension)

Today Shortcuts (iLauncher type tools)?

Guys,
Do we have a CAB file for either iLauncher (http://www.sbsh.net/products/ilauncher/index.php?page=summary) full version or something similar that will allow us to create our own shortcuts on the today screen?
Control your Pocket PC using the all new iLauncher, packing together the most important set of utilities to better manage your Pocket PC!
iLauncher is an all-in-one application that brings the most powerful utilities that are missing from the Pocket PC operating system to your Pocket PC device in one package. These include: A tab-based launcher Today screen plugin with various information widgets such as battery and memory meters, speed dial shortcuts, screen capture utility and more; A task manager context menu that allows you to track and control the current active applications; A true 'X' button functionality that really shuts-down running applications as opposed to simply minimizing them; A safe-mode protection utility that makes sure your device will always initialize correctly and much more!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hawk

yes, wisbar advance desktop
its amazing, and does exactly what you want, also has the option to add meters such as battery or ram and other great stuff, including today plugins, except calendar. Can also be made to look like an iphone [like mine]. It has unlimited possibilities and you can do whatever you want with it. And the best bit, only 10 usd (5gbp) amazing i know! screenshots of mine if you really need them!
http://www.lakeridgesoftware.com/products.php?prod=WisBar+Advance+Desktop
rory
x

oh yeah, its a great plugin. Well worth the money.
Don't warez.

never seen this before, looks almost identical to spb pocket plus today screen

pff pocketage or WAD(or both)

Recomended
Use Claunch, very similar to iLaunch, only free. Sorry no link, just have to google it.

I have used Claunch for several months om WM5 and it was perfect, but after upgrading to WM6 i'm having some troubles with it. it for sure will not work together with HTC taskmanager 2. it would be very nice if they came up with a stable WM6 version

It is stable for me, now that I use WA3, it sometimes would not appear on my today screen without a refresh before I moved up to WA3, never liked the htc taskmanager much, there are so many taskmanagers, wisbar is the king in my book.

PointUI HOME application

Have any of you guys given this a go yet? http://www.pointui.com/
Its a major improvement over the Standard windows mobile home screen and gives an easier to use interface with your finger.
No ROM cooking involved just install over the top of windows mobile 5 or 6. Its kinda like an improved today screen.
I downloaded it today and I have to say its made me alot happier using the phone without a stylus.
It has just been released and is free to use on any windows mobile device.
Take a look...
http://www.pointui.com/Home.aspx

But it doesn't support VGA devices?? - Mike

Shame it doesnt support true vga 96 dpi......however its really nice looking and i like imput/design ui a lot, wallpaper and color scheme should be user defined.

it does work in 96dpi, kind of, I think we need to resize one or two of the backgrounds to make it work well.
not gone through the jif files yet, I'm presuming it'll be one of those.

they got a fix for that now, a temporary one on their website

Hi,
I have installed this application but I didn't really like it the way I was expecting it to perform. The problem is, I can't get rid of it now. I have removed the program from remove program but it still shows the 'Home' option on the task bar.
Can anyone help me to remove this program?
Regards
SS

sachdes said:
Can anyone help me to remove this program?
Regards
SS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go into the program - run 'Update' and one of the options is to remove. Arse about face I know but...

Hi
I am usining it on 128 and 96 dpi
Works fine but when putting in pin for fone the buttons have all tobe touched to see them and then use clear and then enter the pin as u can now see the buutons ???
Any way to fix this ???

good stuff, i like it here ,works good with my HTC PPC 6800

I think once finalized, this could indeed be a killer application for the Athena as it encompasses all areas usually only accessible through the native WM O/S, but in a much more stylish and finger touch pleasing way.

HomeScreen ++ on Touch HD

Does somebody know why I cant get HomeScreen ++ started on Touch HD? The Installation works great but after this I cant activate HomeScreen ++ in settings->today->elements. Always when I check it and then press OK it wont save the settings. I am also not able to open the option menu of HomeScreen ++
HomeScreen ++ Version is: 1.06.347 build 0347
Does somebody know another app to display the battery status in percentage on the today screen?
Ascenca

Does somebody know another app to display the battery status in percentage on the today screen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IIRC SPB PocketPlus does that [displays battery life in % terms on today scr.] may be worth a go.
Whilst I seem to recall reading somewhere on here that someone had tried that prog. on the HD successfully, I have to admit I've not personally tried that particular prog. to see if it works, so can't vouch for it (SPB MobileShell *doesn't* work properly, that much I do know, so I'm a little retiscent to buy any more SPB stuff until they up their game. I would email SPB for some clarity, but from prior experience that achieves a deafening silence...)

blackb1ade said:
IIRC SPB PocketPlus does that [displays battery life in % terms on today scr.] may be worth a go.
Whilst I seem to recall reading somewhere on here that someone had tried that prog. on the HD successfully, I have to admit I've not personally tried that particular prog. to see if it works, so can't vouch for it (SPB MobileShell *doesn't* work properly, that much I do know, so I'm a little retiscent to buy any more SPB stuff until they up their game. I would email SPB for some clarity, but from prior experience that achieves a deafening silence...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With TF3D running, no other today plug in can be run, unless you use an application called secondtoday. This allows you to have a second today screen and hence allows you to have all your standard today pluggins running along side TF3D. If you install secondtoday and then add Homescreen ++ within the second todat application. it will work. THis is the exact setup that i am currently using.

ardsar said:
With TF3D running, no other today plug in can be run, unless you use an application called secondtoday. This allows you to have a second today screen and hence allows you to have all your standard today pluggins running along side TF3D. If you install secondtoday and then add Homescreen ++ within the second todat application. it will work. THis is the exact setup that i am currently using.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for the answers!
Well then I think I will go with this solution (secondtoday).
Any help how to install it? (order in which the programms have to be installed)
Thanks in advance!

Use gestures!
I am not certain that second today is prerequisite for SPB Mobile Shell 2, since this can be invoked by making use of gesture. By installing SPB and calling it with gesture, it should work just fine. I have not tried on HTC Touch, as I am awaiting mine, but did ty on other HTC models.

carola said:
I am not certain that second today is prerequisite for SPB Mobile Shell 2, since this can be invoked by making use of gesture. By installing SPB and calling it with gesture, it should work just fine. I have not tried on HTC Touch, as I am awaiting mine, but did ty on other HTC models.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Appologies, i was answering the question raised in the first post. I have no experience with mobile shell.

Yes of course - the SPB shell/plus progs involve the ditching of the TF3D option (which in truth I'm not that keen on anyway as it never really worked/performed that well on my Diamond [clunky and clumsy] - although....it does run considerably better on the HD I have to confess)
I know you just said so, but just to clarify, on both my Cruise and Diamond SPB MobileShell ran perfectly well without the need for any further program support - for some reason it doesn't on the HD, no idea why though (you lose anything on a 'drop-down' menu/option - so you cannot customise beyond the default settings.
Think I'll look into the setup just mentioned (secondtoday + homescreen++) - Cheers!

Just tried to install the "secondtoday.cab" but as soon as I click on it it says that the installation has failed. Do you know whats wrong? Did I miss something?
I used the last version of it.
Ascenca

SPB vs TouchFlo 3D

I'm seriously thinking about flashing my HTC Touch HD with the basic WM6 ROM (without TF3D) and using the various SPB products to provide me with the interface I need.
The way I see it, the SPB products will probably be faster than TF3D (I've got my HTC Wizard running pretty quickly this way), more stable and they offer more variety (TF3D tabs are very limited in what they can do and hard to customize)
Has anyone done this? Can you tell me about your experiences?

You don't have to completely install a TF3D-free ROM. You can simply go into Settings > Today > Items, uncheck TouchFLO 3D and check your replacement UI.
That's what I did when I wanted to try the new PointUI Home 2 on my Touch HD.

Zaza le Nounours said:
You don't have to completely install a TF3D-free ROM. You can simply go into Settings > Today > Items, uncheck TouchFLO 3D and check your replacement UI.
That's what I did when I wanted to try the new PointUI Home 2 on my Touch HD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah yes! I forgot about that
What's PointUI and is it any good?

Tried PointUI
It's good - very fast and I like how colourful the interface is. It's still very limited though but hopefully that'll change in the future. It's definitely one to keep an eye out for
I'm installing the various SPB packages now and will report in a short while

Hmmm.. I'm torn about SPB
It's quite clearly a very good UI with a lot of capabilities but there's still something about it that I don't like
It has a weird sort of 'rigidity' which only allows you to do things the SPB way. I also don't like the flow from one screen to the next

Try spb mobile shell - the latest version and then install this free software from here http://www.imarche.net/omnia/index.php
Think you will be nicely surprised at what you can achieve....
regards
jpw

I really like the TF3D. It has a smooth design and runs pretty fast.
I also like the weather section and although there are some nice UI in the market i think i will stick with the TF3D.

JPW said:
Try spb mobile shell - the latest version and then install this free software from here http://www.imarche.net/omnia/index.php
Think you will be nicely surprised at what you can achieve....
regards
jpw
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm.. still too rigid for my liking.

i use spb software and have ditched touchflo, dont bother with mobile shell as it offers me nothing in function
i use the following:
spb pocketplus
spb phone suite
spb weather
also on my today screen i have owner info edited to display as follows:
Owner: MY NAME
Touch to contact
at the bottom i have rsshub on autoupdate (trailling spb insight but not sure about it
in the past i have used spb diary on the today as well, but find it can comprimise some confidentiality issues so dont bother, after all my diary is but one touch away
i save at least 3mb of program memory and subjectively id say my machine is faster for it.
i can access all my functions i use daily with one touch on the pocketplus screen (ive done away with all the tabs and just have the one screen with my program icons) switch profiles with a swipe of my finger and likewise wifi etc on/off
sure it doesnt look as glam as tf3d but it offers me so much more function
as for the rigidity of spb products... yes they do want to do things their way, but ive used their software for a few years now and its second nature to me

I found this thread when looking for replacements to TF3D on my touch pro. I've been using SPB mobile shell for a few weeks now, and would mostly be ok with it if it wasn't for the annoying notifications that force me to exit mobile shell, and clear from the normal today screen. Do any other mobile shell users have that problem, or have you figured out a way around it?

Take a look at yrgo you might like it. It is highly customizable. here is a link to its website
http://www.2daysoft.com/yrgo/videos-and-tutorials/

Switched to SPB
I'm using SPB Mobile Shell + SPB Weather + SPB Phone Suite instead of TF3D.
Never looked back. And with SPB MS 3.0 coming TF3D will be like a toy
http://www.spbmobileshell3.com/

brusko1972 said:
Take a look at yrgo you might like it. It is highly customizable. here is a link to its website
http://www.2daysoft.com/yrgo/videos-and-tutorials/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, that's one heck of a customizable desktop. Seems like it could be really good once I get used to the UI.

I like the shell3 alot and have the tf3d and titanium actually removed from the 6.5 custom rom I'm using. Works much faster that way anyhow and I was growing weary of the limited functionality eyecandy of tf3d. But got a question and didn't want to start a new mobile shell thread. Anybody using ms who's figured a way to change font color on the shell ui? I know there are apps that will do it on the today screen, but can't seem to do it on the shell interface itself. Anybody got any info? Thanks

I bought SPB Mobile Shell 3 due to the good reviews it has generally received. However, after a week solid of use, I found it to be sluggish, so I asked for a refund which they promptly provided
It definitely has potential, looking forward to seeing what the next iteration is like. I'm using Point2Home now - quick, finger friendly and just pleasant to use, although I really wish some of these would go deeper in re-skinning the windows interface.

i like spb mobile shell 3 , but there is something which puts me off it but i just cant put my finger on what it is (maybe lack of customization) but im led to believe its getting better

I tried SPB3 and after a few weeks, I went back to TF3D. SPB was sluggish and it just was not as smooth as TF3D. I love the concept behind it and it definitely makes getting to your functions much easier. It just needs a lot more refinement. Especially in the area of text messaging

I'm not having sluggish issues at all and think it to be quite snappy. So I'm not understanding those comments, but there are so many diff roms out there that surely that is the difference in alot of cases. I thought that tf3d was sluggish on the email opening especially it would really lag at times. Then I read that the 6.5 roms had that issue. I'm not getting email open lagging at all with ms3. To each their own.

Hi there...
I've installed SPB Mobile Shell 3.0.1 and I LIKE IT A LOT!
but does anyone know HOW to get the name of provider onscreen?? (lifestyle)
thanx!