WM6.5 Widgets. - Windows Mobile Development and Hacking General

The folks over at "Fuze Mobility" have put up a post about windows mobile 6.5's ability to use 'WIDGETS' which seem to be easy ways of showing info from different web services/sites.
They have made available 50!, yes 50 widgets for different mobile based sites along with a .cab to enable widgets. They have done this to introduce the idea of widgets to the masses, or more specifically the ones who could further develop widgets.
Here is the link for their selection of widgets: Clicky
The download link is at the bottom of the page, which is very long.
Others appear to be enjoying these widgets. Sadly I have not been successful in installing one yet, as it complains about not finding a component or a missing certificate
I hope to find a fix for this somehow.
So, please go and try out these widgets and report back with your experience.
PLUS: any developers out there who fancy looking more into widgets:
please make a xda-devs widget where you can browse the forums through a widget, or specify some sections (like a certain phone you like) so you can browse through the threads. This would be a temporary fix for the many people who dream of having a dedicated app for viewing this amazing site.

That message indicates that your ROM does not have the widgets engine installed- check your ROM package...you can install it separately if you look for it.
We are working on the widgets in the next few days and intend to re-release the package with added functionality (hopefully). there's no 'back' button to those widgets so we need to address that and I think it's something we can map but we're playing around with it now.

Thanks, Ive already put in a request on the ROMs thread for a cab for my device.
Plus, as I said, a widget for xda-developers would be a great thing

Related

Android Apps for the Vogue Port

It was suggested that we start a thread specifically for the apps that run well on the Android port to the HTC Touch/Vogue. I personally own an (Sprint=CDMA) HTC Touch Diamond, but upon seeing the maturity level of Android running on the Touch, I immediately went to eBay and picked up the Touch handset...and I am glad I did. The only reason I boot back to winmo is for work calendar (Lotus), Skype (iSkoot kinda sucks), and Podcasts (hopefully we getting DoggCatcher soon).I've found that battery life with Togga on to be about 8-10 hours which I can live with it, but it's a pain to keep toggling if you really need to conserve (but it could be worse )I plan on posting more battery data soon, but need a few more days of collection. Hopefully we can find a more permanent way of managing the data connection with balance for battery life.
You can find many apps on http://slideme.org/, AndAppStore (both have phone clients - very market-like) and by searching ".apk" on 4shared.com
The apps I have found to run well on my CDMA with dzo/f00bar's (much respect) latest files:
-Scoreboard - I'm not that big of a sports fan, but this app is slick!
-aLastFM - Just got permission to post the link from the developer. Thanks Oleg!!
-Stocker - Simple but effective stock app, but no graphs. If someone could find a better one...
-Weather - Simple, but effective. Multiple Cities, current and forecast, with menu link to detailed outlook including radar from Undergroud Weather.
-AnyCut -Great for making shortcuts to just about any screen in the OS, especially useful for Battery and Sounds&Display
-TextEasy - for sending a text to multiple contacts, until someone can get a hold of ChomperSMS or K9SMS (K9Mail I have not gotten to work either, we need a better mail app, the native client doesn't even recognize URLS, wtf?!)
-OIFileManager - It's the only one I've tried, so can't comment on the others, but there are several out there. UPDATE: I tried out Astro and Glance. I liked Astro, but after a day it stopped working for me and gives me a force quit. I prefer Glance over OI FileManager, it's on 4shared I believe.
-OIFlashlight - amazing how handy this comes in
-OINewsReader - No frills RSS aggregator
-ShopSavvy - Did you say "We'll match any price"?...but be fast with your fingers, camera is not fine enough to capture the barcode
UPDATE:
I wanted to add SMS PopUp as another great app. You can find it along with a bunch of other APKs here. One of the G1 owners that grabbed all of the apps and is hosting them for download.
WANTED:
-DoggCatcher - for my daily podcast fix
-A true Skype client
-HEADPHONE SUPPORT!!
Please post replies with your own favorite apps that run well on this port (with links, please!)
Cheers!
Wow, no replies?!
I'm looking for SMS PopUp if anyone can post a link.
Cheers!
The Meebo app is well worth a look - look for it on 4shared.com. Lets you IM on just about any IM network (Yahoo, MSN, AIM etc). IMs appear in the notification bar while you are in any other program. Great stuff.
I believe im the only person hosting the meebo.apk at the moment.
Meebo Instant Messenger:
http://jonsingh.com/android/files/meebo.apk
I did recieve the "ok" from the meebo!
thanks
Jon
steve98 said:
The Meebo app is well worth a look - look for it on 4shared.com. Lets you IM on just about any IM network (Yahoo, MSN, AIM etc). IMs appear in the notification bar while you are in any other program. Great stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i installed and signed into my MSN account, however, just a white screen shows up. No list of contacts, etc. No menu options other than to add another account or sign off. Not exactly useful (at least this version). Is anyone using this successfully?
EDIT: I received a chat, and that gave me a buddy online, maybe no one on my list was signed on at the time I first checked.
Also, it doesnt remember your username and password, which is annoying because it randomly closed on me after tapping the notification in the bar during a chat session today. I'll keep looking for a better app or updated version.
Ideal2545 said:
I believe im the only person hosting the meebo.apk at the moment.
Meebo Instant Messenger:
http://jonsingh.com/android/files/meebo.apk
I did recieve the "ok" from the meebo!
thanks
Jon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you might be the only one who got the 'ok' from meebo but as i said, it can be found on 4shared.com also.
What about an updated version of Shopsavvy. Mine keeps saying there is a new version, but of course we can't update off the marketplace.
I'm looking for the Locale application. Even though we don't have GPS running, Locale still alows profile switching based on time and days of the week, which would be useful for office vs. non-office settings. If someone could post this I would appreciate it!
how do i install apps i have them saved to the storage card i just dont know how to load them up, sorry if this is a dumb question
thoughtlesskyle said:
how do i install apps i have them saved to the storage card i just dont know how to load them up, sorry if this is a dumb question
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If they are in the AndroidApps folder then they should be installed already. I found that sometimes icons don't show up to launch the program, however. This is where AnyCut comes in handy. Use AnyCut to search in "Activities" to find your app. If you are not seeing it in this list then you may have to "manually" install the app. Open a file browser such as OI File Manager or Glance and navigate to your AndroidApps folder. Click on the .apk file and it should launch teh app installer.
Hope this helps.
Any word on aLastFM?
etx said:
Any word on aLastFM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See the update first post.
Scoreboard.apk
I am very interested in the Scoreboard app, I got it running fine, but the other day the game I added to my favorite never really gave me updates until the game was over by a few hours.
Isnt this application able to provide real-time results?
I am having more success simply by going to www.nhl.com :-S
Thanks for aLastFM!
I was looking around and found another 4shared user with a bunch of APK's!
http://www.4shared.com/dir/11234070/20e0c1f0/sharing.html
Someone in the main topic said something about an ebay app. What is it and is it any good? Is it secure? It'd be nice to have for me.
There's been a couple apps I liked that didn't fit our screen plus having to reinstall android files often I lose all my saved info so it doesn't work out for me. Sprint needs to hurry up with an HTC Android phone.
Maybe a stupid question, not sure... Why can't someone extract the android market application from the G1 to be used on other phones? Seems a bit odd of Google to limit the market to only a specific phone.
There is a discussion about the marketplace on the big long forum. The marketplace is not open source. They're talking about the commands and encryption and such for it. I'd think it's not open because they plan on having pay for apps but I could be wrong
G1 Central
This is a must have for any one with a Grand Central account- G1 Central
http://evancharlton.com/projects/g1central
Allows you to place calls and check voicemail for your GrandCentral account. Pretty much allows for unlimited free calling. Works great on my friends G1.
Still missing a few features.. like the ability to call contacts that are only in your GC account, but still very good.
Heres the problem.. it crashes when trying to dial out on the Vogue!!! Ahhh!
So close to beating the telecoms... If anyone knows anything about error codes or how to get this working, I might have a GrandCentral account invite...
megalewis said:
I am very interested in the Scoreboard app, I got it running fine, but the other day the game I added to my favorite never really gave me updates until the game was over by a few hours.
Isnt this application able to provide real-time results?
I am having more success simply by going to www.nhl.com :-S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed this also. i resolved by changing my time zone in settings. Only problem is that this then modifies your "synced" time with your carrier, it adjusts + or - according to your time zone, so you have to comensate...each time you boot. Not by any means an elegant solution, but if you need realtime scores this is the answer. Probably better off sticking with NHL.com
aven_soulgazer said:
Someone in the main topic said something about an ebay app. What is it and is it any good? Is it secure? It'd be nice to have for me.
There's been a couple apps I liked that didn't fit our screen plus having to reinstall android files often I lose all my saved info so it doesn't work out for me. Sprint needs to hurry up with an HTC Android phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried the "Ebay.apk" from 4Shared, but it doesn't display properly. The tabs extend all the way to the bottom of the other screen which is a common problem for us vogue port users.

Notification bar

Is there a widget or something to customize my homescreen? Seeing how on android and BB phones they have a super notification panel that displays Facebook notifications and instant messages the user recieves, I'm just wondering if there a way to do this on my Maple's homescreen. Is there a program out yet that makes this possible? A homescreen plug-in, widget, anything! I know this isnt so much to expect so im wondering if something like this exists! Thanks in advance
it really depends on what you want to do exactly. to start off, you can customize the homescreen with CHome Configurator. If you want to go further, you can install a custom ROM such as those proposed on this forum.
Are they able to sync with your social networking sites? I never seen a custom rom that can do this. All im saying is that most android phones and blackberrys can do this and winmo still hasnt implemented it. Which is why I was wondering if there was a plugin or widget that could do this.
Aricrj said:
Are they able to sync with your social networking sites? I never seen a custom rom that can do this. All im saying is that most android phones and blackberrys can do this and winmo still hasnt implemented it. Which is why I was wondering if there was a plugin or widget that could do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is a facebook app available on the windows marketplace, but i don't know how the notifications are implemented in there since i don't use it. you should just try it out, but as for notifications, don't expect it to be better than android, after all it's win mo...
Aricrj said:
Are they able to sync with your social networking sites? I never seen a custom rom that can do this. All im saying is that most android phones and blackberrys can do this and winmo still hasnt implemented it. Which is why I was wondering if there was a plugin or widget that could do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes and no. It can be done if you edit your xml files. Any static information can be displayed.. even Facebook and Twitter. I have my twitter displayed in one of my panels on my home screen (its done via rss feed) and it updates once every 15 minutes. CHome Config will do most of the work for you but you will have to tweek it. You could also create a widget (there are tutorials for widgets online.. google is your friend here) a widget is just a web page in effect, compressed into a small package that PIE an open and display. You could also use Mortscripts to pull the info you want and display it.
There are options, you just have to educate yourself on them. WinMo has always been a "do it yourself" OS, I like it because of that.

WP7Android UI - UPDATE 6.1: WP7Contacts 1.1 Update

Introducing, the Windows Phone 7 Android Project!
This project was launched by mobile enthusiasts to combine the ultimate mobile experience. The freedom of Android and the grace and elegance of Windows Phone 7. Anyone that has not used Windows Phone 7 is missing out on the sleek and beauty of the OS and the style of the applications. However, on the other hand, those that have used it will also notice the limitations and lack of apps that everyone is used to using.
With the WP7Android applications, you can pick and choose how much WP7 that you want on your device. This is not an all or nothing solution. You can show off your "WP7" device and wow everyone with how much freedom you have and access to ALL of the android applications!
There will be a total of 9 applications in the package that you can chose from.
*Launcher - A Metro UI launcher written from the ground up to ensure that the ENTIRE WP7 experience can be utilized. Not just a skinned or tweaked existing launcher, this is the real deal!
*Dialer - Integrated with the stock Android contacts app or the WP7 contact app, this launcher will look and feel the way it is supposed to. With enhanced Facebook integration to just stock settings.
*Contacts - Full contacts support with Facebook integration. You can scroll through your contact list and also view their updates and other status changes. Evert hing you need in one app to stay connected!
*Mail - Manage all your mail accounts through one sleek interface.
*Message - WP7 Message app with thread view
*Browser - WP7 Browser and extra features
*Camera - WP7 Camera
*Gallery - WP7 Photo/Video Gallery
*Zune-Player - All of the look and feel of the Zune music player, None of the restrictions! You can view, play and see all of your media, no matter where it is!
For XDA users 3 apps will be free(Users who donated or Devs who brought some real contribution will get all packs for free). Not all apps will be available at first. Also the apps will be closed-source and paid on the market(somebody requested that I say this clearly). If you have any comments I would love to hear them!
UPDATE 6.1: The Contacts App has been updated to version 1.1. Known issues have been fixed. This version should work without problems on Xperia X10 and Eclair. Also the Zune Player has been updated as well. Known FC's have been fixed. Buyers PM me, donators download from third post.
Attention!!!: Please note that some parts of the site are still in construction including the Shop. After you buy send a Private Message here on XDA with your email so I can send the application. If you won't I will send it only to the PP mail address.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1)Apps review - Second Post
2)Apps download and extras - Third Post
Official Site:http://wp7android.com/
My Twitter Page: http://twitter.com/#!/TheRedDrake
IF YOU SUPPORT THIS PROJECT PLEASE DONATE OR JUST VOTE TO FRONT PAGE
P.S Thanks to all who donated. Their contribution brings this project to life
Apps review + Planned Versions and Updates + Order of Releases
Contacts App:
You can:
-Sync contacts from SIM and Gmail
-Add new contact or edit existing one.
-Search contacts by clicking search button. If one contact remains swipe up or click for edit contact.
-Sort contacts by clicking all under people. You can sort by phone or email
-Chose own picture by clicking on the picture under the All/With Phone/With Email
-Quick search by letter by clicking blue letters. This opens the WP7 full onscreen Search Keyboard
-In Edit Contact: Swipe left for Call, right for Messaging
-Login to Facebook and Wall Post
Launcher App
You can:
- Add static, live & custom tiles. Live tiles like weather and slideshow need there corresponding aps to work.
- manage tiles & uninstall apps
- QTA (quick tile access) - give access to extra features on pinching on tiles. Only messaging tile & slideshow tile do things on QTA for now
-Tile Preview - gives the user the ability to only show tiles by category in the tiles view. It's activated by pinching on different tiles.
- change fonts - this change will apply to the most part of the launcher. Fonts are loaded from a folder on the SDCard
- tile notification for messages and missed calls
- lots of options in the launcher menu & more to come
- support for Wallpapers & Live Wallpapers
- widget support
- Live folder tiles support.
- theme-able (subject to improvements)
- add postit like tiles
- contact tiles (you must pin them from the contacts app) with quick call and sms features
- minor battery impact
- ... maybe other features that I'am missing right now
To do:
- interface improvements
- animations
- more live tiles (once everybody - or most of them- are content with the launcher)
- maybe animated tiles
- full integration with the other apps in the project
Music Player(Aka ZPlayer)
You can:
- As with the Zune player, this player will save a play history of the music you listen to, save favourites and also display newly added tracks to the home screen of the player.
- The home screen will have 3 sections: home, history and new.
- The radio player works using the Android mediaplayer API and streams MP3 music from internet radio stations.
- users can save radio stations as favourites and easily jump to their favourite stations.
To do:
- interface improvements
- implement color preferences to match colors of the other apps in the project
- animated activity switching
- homescreen widgets
- last.fm integration for scrobbling
- high resolution images for background images.
- playlist and genre section under "music"
Extras:
WP7Notifications:http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11620804/Update-WP7Notifications-signed.zip
WP7Ringtones:http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11620804/Update-WP7Ringtones-signed.zip
WP7 Theme for GO SMS: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13428027/GOS...mpleBlueW7.apk
*Credits for this go to lucas.scott and sualfred*
WP7 Theme for HTC Keyboard: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=942743
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Videos:
Video Review of the Apps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIMpAga1hkg
Messaging app Alpha:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPDdBUsh_cY
lol
So let me get this straight you want programmers, designers and beta testers. So where do you come into all this lol? This sounds more like to me your asking people to do the job you cant
TheRedDrake said:
I would like to start an project to port the Windows Phone 7 UI to Android(Including Launcher and some basic utilities like mail/dialer/contacts/music/etc.), not just a theme using LauncherPro or ADW Launcher. Everybody can contribute to this in any way possible. So let the work begin and hope to see your contributions to this one as soon as possible.I will keep updating this thread every day in order to keep things in order. Good Luck!
What do I need?
1) Programmers
2) Designers
3) Beta testers: atomfix, JKshowman, Sellitus,MStott
P.S. Remember all who choose to contribute to this project please P.M me or post what are you willing to do in order to assign task based on your current skills.
Nexus One Thread:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=8792774#post8792774
Desire Thread:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=8792538#post8792538
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can help for designing & graphic
We need the devs to crack the bootloader first before you can do anything on this project.
TheRedDrake said:
I would like to start an project to port the Windows Phone 7 UI to Android(Including Launcher and some basic utilities like mail/dialer/contacts/music/etc.), not just a theme using LauncherPro or ADW Launcher. Everybody can contribute to this in any way possible. So let the work begin and hope to see your contributions to this one as soon as possible.I will keep updating this thread every day in order to keep things in order. Good Luck!
What do I need?
1) Programmers
2) Designers
3) Beta testers: atomfix, JKshowman, Sellitus,MStott
P.S. Remember all who choose to contribute to this project please P.M me or post what are you willing to do in order to assign task based on your current skills.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Zune player on Android, i say YES! and compatibility with Zune software for synchronizing music-video-images with it!
But the bootloader blocked all issues to do it...
SEMPITERNAL said:
I can help for designing & graphic
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Finaly someone willing to help.
P.S. I am going to do a launcher with some apps that will have the UI and functionality of WP7. I am designing the apps, I need help with the Launcher
Nankov said:
We need the devs to crack the bootloader first before you can do anything on this project.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
Nankov said:
We need the devs to crack the bootloader first before you can do anything on this project.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You wouldn't need the bootloader cracked if this is a launcher replacement.
I.e. equivalent to ADWLauncher.
I dont want to start the 2.1 debate again (theres another topic for that) but we may need the upgrade before we can make a better home replacement app. (LauncherPro requires 2.1 for example)
I'll be interested in testing this though, should the project come to something
JahmanSoldat said:
Zune player on Android, i say YES! and compatibility with Zune software for synchronizing music-video-images with it!
But the bootloader blocked all issues to do it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I started on a Zune player for android a while back, had a few screens transfer over/layout and whatnot.. just needed to add the code from the old player.. I may just revamp up this project again
I'm in for testing and perhaps some dev work. I am a software engineer but haven't gotten in to android sdk much yet
Sent from my R2-D2
xastey said:
I started on a Zune player for android a while back, had a few screens transfer over/layout and whatnot.. just needed to add the code from the old player.. I may just revamp up this project again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers bro! Hope you will contribute
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
It's interesting... Good luck with it. I don't have developer skills, so I can't help you.
But if you manage to do it, I will give it a tray. Hope to see something soon.
Id Love to be a beta tester, I love blowing up phones with new tech LOL j/p
But beta tester for sure
androidfanboi said:
So let me get this straight you want programmers, designers and beta testers. So where do you come into all this lol? This sounds more like to me your asking people to do the job you cant
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
androidfanboi don't be rude and arrogant... if you check, TheRedDrake is listed as a programmer
wow...nice to hear that...i wanna be tester too...
Would definitely test on dx and help with any audio related needs. Also can put me down for a massive donation if this thing takes off. Was planning on two hundred going to a wp7 device but doesn't look like Verizon will have it for a while. If this is legit... more than happy to give it to you guys.
If you guys can do it, ill beta test it
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
7years photoshop skill is ready to help with design and graphics !

[IDEA] Creating a simple app that grabs info from website/server.

I am in no means a proficient programmer. I have done some programming though. I know the most extreme basics.
I had a eureka moment today at work. We have typhoons here and we readily check the current weather conditions. Well, the local weather website is slow and the main means of communication is a Facebook fan page.
I was wondering how hard would it be to have an app grab info from a server and just display it. That's about it. Maybe some polish and fancy animations.
I don't think it would be much more than a few lines.
Thanks in advance.
Edit: Or open a .com and make a simple, secure form that let's you selection from options that forwards that info to the app.
inifekt said:
I am in no means a proficient programmer. I have done some programming though. I know the most extreme basics.
I had a eureka moment today at work. We have typhoons here and we readily check the current weather conditions. Well, the local weather website is slow and the main means of communication is a Facebook fan page.
I was wondering how hard would it be to have an app grab info from a server and just display it. That's about it. Maybe some polish and fancy animations.
I don't think it would be much more than a few lines.
Thanks in advance.
Edit: Or open a .com and make a simple, secure form that let's you selection from options that forwards that info to the app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this has been done. its called an rss reader
Well... if you want to get technical. Most apps do this that connect to the internet.
I'm not looking for a RSS. I'm just looking to display a very specific string of text that would be very useful to the residents of the island I live on.
inifekt said:
Well... if you want to get technical. Most apps do this that connect to the internet.
I'm not looking for a RSS. I'm just looking to display a very specific string of text that would be very useful to the residents of the island I live on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seriously I would consider RSS, even if it is a widget which gets set to a single rss feed. It is what RSS was designed for, chances are the info you are after is available as RSS, otherwise it is very easy to create & host one.
The alternative is nasty if you end up parsing a site, since a single change to the site and the app is dead. Plus it would be a lot of work for something which can be very simple.
Hmm. Fair enough. Can you do widgets on the iphone? I was going to port it there too.
I just need to post a tccor and sea condition.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
inifekt said:
Hmm. Fair enough. Can you do widgets on the iphone? I was going to port it there too.
I just need to post a tccor and sea condition.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've not done any android widgets or iphone. But if you are lucky you might find some suitable code somewhere for a basic RSS widget, RSS is quite a common way to do things (since you download a single file and parse the xml).
You may even find there are already apps out there which allow you to set a single rss feed for displaying in a widget. But I guess you are after something you can put in the market yourself.
The RSS feed itself is easy:
There are site which will do it for you:
i.e. feedweaver.net
There are some which will monitor pages for changes too, depending on what you need.
Otherwise you can diy, Howto Create an RSS 2.0 Feed - http://www.petefreitag.com/item/465.cfm and host the file yourself (i.e. dropbox public links or FileDen, anywhere which hosts a file with direct links).
I would recommend using Google Feedburner to set your rss feed address and then link it to your file (this means you can move your file around without requiring the feed link to change).
Of course if you can find the info already available as an RSS feed, then you can re-feed it through Feedburner so you have control of it (if it changes you can change your links without changing your app).
You might also want to check out the word-of-the-day widget in the Android SDK. It grabs very specific information from a dictionary web site and displays it using an app widget.
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2009/04/introducing-home-screen-widgets-and.html

Using Hubs and Plug-ins to Make WP8 a Dominant Alternative OS

Here’s the gist of a thread I started @ WPCentral that I wanted to bring over to XDA to get an additional perspective.(Let's be honest...XDA is a bit cooler than WP Central good )
How about allowing for users to create 2 custom Hubs? The Custom Hub would have two panes – the default being a notifications list, and the second being a list of all the apps added to that hub.
How about allowing Kids Korner to be a Hub where parents can add in apps and other educational stuff for the kids to look at (then at the bottom of Kid’s corner, put a menu option that allows the parents to put in a password to get into the rest of the phone)?
How about expanding the Lenses idea to give third party apps the option to pick one key feature of their app that gets integrated into a Hub?
How about tighter integration between Hubs? For example taking the option of in the phone dialer to hit the phonebook icon and get sent to the People Hub and using it this way…if I’m in the Calendar Hub and make a reminder note to meet with someone, or to call someone, that note shows up under that person’s name in the People Hub. If I want to edit that, when I am in the people hub I hit that note which sends me back to the Calendar to change it.
These are just some thoughts I had on how MSFT could flesh WP8 out and give it an edge. I think RIM is trying to do that in its BlackBerry 10 Blackberry Hub, but MSFT has more resources in WP8 to make things more seamless and less cluttered.
Here’s the link to the original thread:
http://forums.wpcentral.com/windows-phone-8/220854-hubs-over-folders-lenses-improve-core-apps.html
But I’d love to get feedback here on XDA.
HMm not so sure this is really worth it. Besides, to integrate an app with a specific hub is a specific job the developer needs to do. In order to integrate with the music+video hub, for instance, you need to do specific thing. Same goes for people/photo/whatever hub.
Having a custom hub is very difficult for the apps to integrate properly with it and sloopy developers might actually ruin the entire experience with poor integration.
While i see where you are going with this (notification center), the need is really not that big.
The kids corner is a completely different thing and is not similar to a hub in any way.
EDIT: the news/notification thing in the hub is something the apps do, and not the hub itself. The hub just centralizes them in a ... hub. In order for the hub to know what to centralize and from who, the apps must call specific APIs.
mcosmin222 said:
HMm not so sure this is really worth it. Besides, to integrate an app with a specific hub is a specific job the developer needs to do. In order to integrate with the music+video hub, for instance, you need to do specific thing. Same goes for people/photo/whatever hub.
Having a custom hub is very difficult for the apps to integrate properly with it and sloopy developers might actually ruin the entire experience with poor integration.
While i see where you are going with this (notification center), the need is really not that big.
The kids corner is a completely different thing and is not similar to a hub in any way.
EDIT: the news/notification thing in the hub is something the apps do, and not the hub itself. The hub just centralizes them in a ... hub. In order for the hub to know what to centralize and from who, the apps must call specific APIs.
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Click to collapse
Ok. I think I follow along with you comment.
But MSFT does have these some of these elements in play in the OS itself, so why not use them more effectively? I know Apple has a more stringent control of apps that get approved before going in the app store, so could MSFT enforce these add-ons?
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Microsoft regularlly provides the Options and in my experience developers will use them by themselves, simply because it increases the usability of their Apps a lot more than it adds required effort. It's rather a problem how to implement this in a way that does prevent a badly written App from affecting the system's Performance and stability.
That especially gets a Problem when Apps are allowed to surface data somewhere as could be seen by the problems Skype originally caused with the People Hub Integration.
I'm pretty sure Microsoft will add more Integration Points into the System with the next API update - let's just wait and see.
As for making usage of some of those Integration Points mandatory. I don't believe that to be a good idea. I also don't believe that it is necessary. Developers regularly complain that they can't integrate somewhere so I really believe that if they were allowed to do it they would do it by themselves. This is also necessary because the Integration regularly involves the Transfer of data to the invoked App (Images, Files, etc.)
Stevie, I think what you've said is fair. I suppose MSFT could just use their own apps like Photosynth and Skype as a way to sure more seamless integration instead of making that a mandatory process for all devs.
Do people even see the need for such integration in the platform going forward?
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In general I believe that it can make for a more fluid experience if there are well done Integration points. Camera Lenses or the Image editing capabilities are a great example for this. Another is the possibility to have an App specific contact store (like Skype does it now).
What I believe would greatly improve the concept would be Message Integration into the Messaging Hub and the ability to create an app specific calendar store that is also availble inside the Standard calendar App.
Also nice would be the possibility to register Apps for all filetypes. Currently you can only consume files inside your App that are not assigned to System Apps (e.g. MP3 or JPEG Images).
So in short: yes, those integrations can greatly improve the workflow and I'd love to see Microsoft in the end deliver on the promise of Hubs they gave when introducing them. When you want to do something with Images, open the Image Hub. If you want to message someone open the Messaging Hub, etc.
If it were up to me, here’s how I’d organize the Hubs in WP8. I’d love to hear other’s thoughts:
Store: Same. Just better Secondary links from the all the other Hubs. This and People Hub should be the two primary Hubs where all other Hubs have shortcut links to.
Photos: Same. Shortcut Links to Store, People, Search, Content Manager
Music and Videos. Same. Shortcuts to Store, People, Search, Content manager
Games: Same. Better shortcut links to Store. Also links to People, Search, Content manager
Productivity: Office + Calendar + Note Apps + Voice Personal Assistants here (allow Tell Me to be an app where you can add commands to it).
- 3rd party apps list include: any note, calendar, language, Office Assistant Apps.
- Secondary shortcuts to People (especially Rooms), Content Manager, Wallet, Store
Content Manager: Skydrive and a page showing list of downloaded content here...not a full file manager where you can move stuff around on the phone itself, but a general downloads folder.
- 3rd part apps include Box and other upload apps
- Secondary Hub links – Photos, Music + Videos, Office
People: You manage contacts and social media here.
- Me Tile: Notifications...and have the option to reply to an individual tweet or FB post or Skype message from a listed contact here.
- 3rd party apps include: All social media apps
- Secondary shortcuts: all the other hubs.
Messaging: Emails, SMS, Skype IM is here.
- 3rd party apps include all IM apps, FB messenger, shortcut to Skype.
- Shortcuts to People, Store, Phone
Navigation: All Maps and Transit apps here.
- Some of Local Scout functionality here (also accessible in the Search Hub).
- Secondary Shortcuts to Search, People, Store.
Search: Same, except adding one more page to list search related apps.
- Secondary short cuts to Navigation, People, Store, Content Manager
Phone: Skype (calling features, video chat) and Dialer are primary options here. Other apps that tap into this Hub (or get listed here) are 3rd party Video Apps
- Secondary shortcuts to People, Messaging.
Wallet: Holds Credit Cards and Financial Apps
- Secondary shortcuts to Search, Store, Productivity (in particular – calendar), People
Corporate: Same. Allow Corporate IT to do their thing. Better links to the Productivity, Office
Custom Hubs: Users are allowed to create only two. A two pane look – default page with app related notifications and a second page with the app list.
It is still a hybrid mix of hubs and apps – if you don’t want to use a Hub, don’t use it.
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My head hurts. It is just too complicated.
This implementation can go wrong in soooooooooooooooo many ways, it will be a wonder if a developer manages to get it right for every scenario.
I believe you're making it more complicated than it needs to be and a lot of what you are talking about is already there. I don't need an explicit link to go from Calendar to people. If I open an appointment and swipe to attendants I can tap on any of them to be taken to their contacts page inside the people Hub (as it should be).
It's a good idea to have those kinds of shortcuts around that are contextually aware but adding a load of Buttons to jump somewhere else is mainly getting the UI cluttered or getting confusing/annoying.
Some of those connections you mention are already there - e.g. Store in Music/Videos.
What actually would be a nice idea is to allow productivity Apps to tie into the Office Hub similarily to how it works with imaging Apps in the Pictures Hub.
Some of the other stuff you mention is also there. Cloud Storage applications can integrate themselves into the system for automated Uploads similarily to SkyDrive but currently limited to Pictures so it can definitely be improved upon.
TellMe is also extensible to allow Apps to tie into it and use voice command functionality. Audible would be one App that takes advantage of this. It doesn't really make sense for all Apps though. E.g. a picture taking App will require the ViewFinder etc. so it would not benefit that much from Voice Control (and it is quite a hazzle to implement this - especially if the App is getting localized in several languages).
As for search - if there would be something like a search charm on Windows 8 it should tie into the Bing App which already has a permanent shortcut in the search button.
I guess your idea would be to allow people to jump easily from Hub to Hub without going to the Homescreen. Having Links for this in every other Hub just isn't the way to go there. A possibility would be to add all the Hubs at the bottom of the Task Switcher Screen. So you would long press on the back button and would get the Thumbnails of running Apps and at the bottom the icons for People, Calendar, Messaging, Pictures, Music/Video and Office. I'm not sure if that would be an improvement over just going via the Home screen though.
So in short: more integration of Apps into the OS: yes, more context aware integration of Apps with each other: yes, adding loads of shortcuts: no
StevieBallz said:
I believe you're making it more complicated than it needs to be and a lot of what you are talking about is already there. I don't need an explicit link to go from Calendar to people. If I open an appointment and swipe to attendants I can tap on any of them to be taken to their contacts page inside the people Hub (as it should be).
It's a good idea to have those kinds of shortcuts around that are contextually aware but adding a load of Buttons to jump somewhere else is mainly getting the UI cluttered or getting confusing/annoying.
Some of those connections you mention are already there - e.g. Store in Music/Videos.
What actually would be a nice idea is to allow productivity Apps to tie into the Office Hub similarily to how it works with imaging Apps in the Pictures Hub.
Some of the other stuff you mention is also there. Cloud Storage applications can integrate themselves into the system for automated Uploads similarily to SkyDrive but currently limited to Pictures so it can definitely be improved upon.
TellMe is also extensible to allow Apps to tie into it and use voice command functionality. Audible would be one App that takes advantage of this. It doesn't really make sense for all Apps though. E.g. a picture taking App will require the ViewFinder etc. so it would not benefit that much from Voice Control (and it is quite a hazzle to implement this - especially if the App is getting localized in several languages).
As for search - if there would be something like a search charm on Windows 8 it should tie into the Bing App which already has a permanent shortcut in the search button.
I guess your idea would be to allow people to jump easily from Hub to Hub without going to the Homescreen. Having Links for this in every other Hub just isn't the way to go there. A possibility would be to add all the Hubs at the bottom of the Task Switcher Screen. So you would long press on the back button and would get the Thumbnails of running Apps and at the bottom the icons for People, Calendar, Messaging, Pictures, Music/Video and Office. I'm not sure if that would be an improvement over just going via the Home screen though.
So in short: more integration of Apps into the OS: yes, more context aware integration of Apps with each other: yes, adding loads of shortcuts: no
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Stevie, I like much of your suggestions. The goal here isn't to clutter the OS - if it were up to me I would use the contextual menus and a few other existing options in the OS to facilitate moving from Hub to Hub instead of adding extra buttons.
Based on how the OS is, there may not be a need to have list of all the hubs at the bottom. The goal is to jump from certain Hubs to each other based on "common user tasks that would involve multiple Hubs or steps that can be reduced". Now if you want to do things the current way, fine. More I think some would welcome more intuition.
I was just trying to describe a smoother way to leverage the existing strengths of the OS and to see where MSFT could make the quickest improvements. No question, the OS is smooth but if they build out these extensions, you can have an improved user experience. My apologies if my explanation was convoluted.
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Should MSFT eventually push an all Hub version of WP8?
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What do you mean by "All Hub"? The Hubs are a thematic grouping but I guess we will always have certain use cases that don't exactlly lend themselves to being integrated into one of those Hubs so putting everything into the Hubs probably isn't the best idea. Giving developers the integration points to integrate their data into the Hubs if it is suitable should be the priority.
I agree. Apps are mostly isolated programs running on their own. If apps could talk to each other more easily we can have more interesting behaviors and abilities that no other mobile os has. For quality control, just give the user a on off switch for each app just like the background task.

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