How customisable is the stock firmware? - Galaxy S I9000 General

I was in in the o2 store and I got to play with the Galaxy S, and I have to say wow...the screen is amazing!
Considering I have been completely convinced on buying a Desire for the past two months, its a complete shock to me that I now really like a Samsung phone (after 8 years of detesting them).
The only 1 thing that the Desire has over the Sammy for me is the user interface.
The Galaxy S still shouts out to me "SAMSUNG", with its Icons, and basic functions like going into the contacts, etc.
I am a XDA member, and have experience flashing windows mobiles, but promised myself to stick to a stock Android phone (rooted at most).
So my (longwinded) question, is....
Is it possible to make the UI less samsung looking , whilst maintaing the stock firmware?
Simple things like the contacts tab, and txt messaging would be a start..
I upgrade my phone in 8 days so all feedback is welcome!
p.s Swype is amazing.

yes to all of the above.
i was in the same boat, i came from Desire to SGS
i picked up my HTC Desire after like 2 months of research and planning, and quite ironically the same day i pick up the Desire i come across this video of "HTC Desire vs. SGS i9000" when trying out the phone.... and boy o boy i couldn't run fast enough back to the store to return it
quite an irony eh? LOL
the SGS i9000 was not available yet, but it was comming next week, that was 2 weeks ago
but when they arrived they only had the 8 GB version, the 16GB version was delayed, but finally got it at last.
you can remove the build in launcher, and use LauncherPro, and for the same look and feel of the HTC Desire use the Fancy Widget, HTC actually send the developer a cease and desist to remove the Fancy Widget software from the net, because it was too identical to the real thing.
funny enough they didn't do the same for Beautiful Widget which is very similar to Fancy Widget, but you get to choose from 2 different type of home screen, Android classic like, or HTC like.
there already many Custom ROMs available, lots of tricks to speed up your phone even more.
tons of good apps and games available
the amount of toys available for this phone is limitless

AllGamer said:
yes to all of the above.
i was in the same boat, i came from Desire to SGS
i picked up my HTC Desire after like 2 months of research and planning, and quite ironically the same day i pick up the Desire i come across this video of "HTC Desire vs. SGS i9000" when trying out the phone.... and boy o boy i couldn't run fast enough back to the store to return it
quite an irony eh? LOL
the SGS i9000 was not available yet, but it was comming next week, that was 2 weeks ago
but when they arrived they only had the 8 GB version, the 16GB version was delayed, but finally got it at last.
you can remove the build in launcher, and use LauncherPro, and for the same look and feel of the HTC Desire use the Fancy Widget, HTC actually send the developer a cease and desist to remove the Fancy Widget software from the net, because it was too identical to the real thing.
funny enough they didn't do the same for Beautiful Widget which is very similar to Fancy Widget, but you get to choose from 2 different type of home screen, Android classic like, or HTC like.
there already many Custom ROMs available, lots of tricks to speed up your phone even more.
tons of good apps and games available
the amount of toys available for this phone is limitless
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks AllGamer, much appreciated.
Fancy widget / Beautify Widget look like good alternatives to the Sense clock / weather, and definitely something I would get.
LauncherPro also looks to be a great mod, however would adding the like of this not make the phone slower v stock firmware? I know historcially for Win Mobiles having something cooked in is generally faster than applying a ".cab" file.
One postive thing is that it can be changed though!
Reference "Contacts" , "Email" & "Text" fuctionality.
Can these be changed in reference to layout and looks? Also does changing them via an app create issues with speed or stability?

Coming from winmo I had the same concerns. But I recently installed adw launcher, widget locker, beautiful widgets and quick desktop on top of my stock firmware and everything is still silky smooth.
However I have rooted the phone so that autokiller can do its magic.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

No problem =)
The "desktop" in Android (the Samsung's interface for example) is just an Application like another. If you use for example LauncherPro (which is excellent) instead, Samsung's TouchWiz interface will not stay in memory... So, the phone is MORE fast with launcherpro.
djglenn1337 said:
Thanks AllGamer, much appreciated.
Fancy widget / Beautify Widget look like good alternatives to the Sense clock / weather, and definitely something I would get.
LauncherPro also looks to be a great mod, however would adding the like of this not make the phone slower v stock firmware? I know historcially for Win Mobiles having something cooked in is generally faster than applying a ".cab" file.
One postive thing is that it can be changed though!
Reference "Contacts" , "Email" & "Text" fuctionality.
Can these be changed in reference to layout and looks? Also does changing them via an app create issues with speed or stability?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Take a look here to check out some of the customization that is done, mainly by changing the launcher and adding widgets.
As for Contacts, email and text functionality, there are loads of options on the market that replaces the stock applications.
Personally I find the stock contacts app decent enough, but have changed the email client and text application. Using K9 Mail and Handcent SMS. No issues with speed or stability.
The stock email client is ok, I've used it without trouble against the Exchange server at my work.

Related

Incredible has leaked 2.2 with everything working w/Sense

Now I know they don't have 4G but everything works with Sense. Can we get this ported?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Is it really nessecary? Ava-FroyoV2 already has Sense and everything but BT and 4G working. I would expect it to be more work to port this than just have Ava fix BT and have basically the same.
Given the similarities between the Evo and Inc, the 2.2 update should be right around the corner. Also remember that Verizon is notorious for long testing before a software update.
Having said that, I'm sure a Dev will figure out a way to port this over.
But we already have CyanogenMod with everything but 4G working.
-------------
Sent from my HTC EVO 4G using Tapatalk Pro.
The advantage of using the Incredible's 2.2 over the current 2.2 Sense that we have is that it will work better with what we have. The other one we have is for the Desire. So, for instance, the camera may work better. If it has a newer kernel we may be able to use that, etc. So, yeah, I'd say it would be worth porting over. Either way, I'm sticking with CM6 as I have missed Cyanogen since my days with the G1.
Well I suppose we'll have to wait again for the new kernel's source code, hopefully it doesn't take as long this time.
There is more issues with that rom then those listed, for example exchange doesn't setup correctly
trogdor182 said:
Is it really nessecary? Ava-FroyoV2 already has Sense and everything but BT and 4G working. I would expect it to be more work to port this than just have Ava fix BT and have basically the same.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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I would like to see a port of it. I like the Stock look with the speed under the hood.
Is it an unpopular opinion to actually like SenseUI around here? I vastly prefer Sense over the stock UI, TouchWiz and MotoBlur.
Unfortunately, since CyanogenMod has just about everything working, the only real improvements for the EVO that could be pulled out of the Droid Incredible's code is the FM radio, assuming they're even the same chip(which, without doing some research, I highly doubt).
From what I have seen and played with Sense is pretty nice, but I really like the look/feel of ADW.Launcher and Stock apps myself.
To each their own.
Although an official HTC Release of 2.2 would be interesting to see performance wise.
I like sense as well but I am not married to it, but I don't see why all the hate
Loading.........
Sense has some really good apps like music and email. Don't argue with me about music app. It is by far the smoothest and streamed lined music player for android. Even froyo music is a piece of crap. Google really need to work on the music players for Android. iPhone and.most likely the Zune based Windows Mobile 7 music player are/will be vastly superior.
Sent from my PC36100
Sense isn't bad, but it's not as useful for me. There are maybe one or two widgets that I'd like to have, but with all the other bulkiness it's not worth it. Like the 3 button dock. I'd much rather have the ADW where I can put 4 shortcuts plus the drawer. Once I tried CM6, I don't think I can go back to Sense.
It's all about preference.
The only thing I liked about Sense was the Mail/Exchange app. At least it gave me the option to select and delete multiple items at a time. With the current e-mail app (Froyo) i have to "tick" each e-mail, kinda tedious when you have over a hundren e-mails you want to delete at a time.
I don't plan on flashing a 2.2 rom until I know 4g works. I'd rather be able to use the service I'm paying for.
cosine83 said:
Is it an unpopular opinion to actually like SenseUI around here? I vastly prefer Sense over the stock UI, TouchWiz and MotoBlur.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sense is just a pretty pointless bit of eyecandy that vastly slows down updates received by HTC phones. It is completely tangled up in the OS, and it just slows things down and provides very limited customization due to its closed-source nature. AOSP Android is extremely fast and smooth, and you are free to add all of the eyecandy and additional apps you want.
TheBiles said:
Sense is just a pretty pointless bit of eyecandy that vastly slows down updates received by HTC phones. It is completely tangled up in the OS, and it just slows things down and provides very limited customization due to its closed-source nature. AOSP Android is extremely fast and smooth, and you are free to add all of the eyecandy and additional apps you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I do agree with you, I really wish there were Marketplace equivalents of some of the HTC widgets (Email, Bookmarks, and NewsReader in particular). Pure Messenger is the closest I've found to the HTC email widget but after spending an inordinate amount of time trying to get it set up the way I like, I gave up. And, don't get me started on my K9/Exchange integration issues.
And, I'm a geek! I can only imagine the frustration the average non-techie, Android owner without a Sense phone goes through.
okolowicz said:
While I do agree with you, I really wish there were Marketplace equivalents of some of the HTC widgets (Email, Bookmarks, and NewsReader in particular). Pure Messenger is the closest I've found to the HTC email widget but after spending an inordinate amount of time trying to get it set up the way I like, I gave up. And, don't get me started on my K9/Exchange integration issues.
And, I'm a geek! I can only imagine the frustration the average non-techie, Android owner without a Sense phone goes through.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well final-damn-ly, somebody without their head stuck up their ass realizes this lol. But really, they did a good job with the widgets and to me are worth more than the hassles i have to put up with. And don't forget copy/paste; stock google's is the most godawful take on copypasta i've ever seen. While I've gotten used to launcher pro plus, returning back to sense would definitely be a welcome home for me.
I agree that Sense, although a resource hog, has the best widgets. Just wish I could use wiimote.
Sent from your moms house

CM6/AOSP has really helped me appreciate Sense!

I loaded CM6 when the nightly was first posted and had been loving it. I thought it was awesome that it was pure Android with all of the proprietary HTC stuff stripped out. I was sure that AOSP was the way to go and hadn't looked back until yesterday when I loaded AvaFroyo-V3. Not using Sense for a while has really made me appreciate the aesthetics and usability that HTC has put into their devices. I can see why they keep it so locked down because it really does make their devices stand out amongst the other Android hardware, especially to the majority of their users who could care less about rooting, open-source, etc. Who knows what I'll be running next week but I'm going to stick with Sense for now.
Really? It makes me realize how bloated and completely unnessecary Sense is, but that's just me... Personally, I don't have any problem with taking the time to download my own widgets and apps so I can customize everything exactly how I want it.
Sense is a bloated pig but to each his own.
Almost every sense widget has an equal replacement in the market if you know where to look. Launcherpro plus, fancy widget and others come to mind.
Aridon said:
Sense is a bloated pig but to each his own.
Almost every sense widget has an equal replacement in the market if you know where to look. Launcherpro plus, fancy widget and others come to mind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only one I couldn't seem to find was a replacement for the favorite contacts slider. Which also happens to be the one I use the most.
cosine83 said:
Only one I couldn't seem to find was a replacement for the favorite contacts slider. Which also happens to be the one I use the most.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.launcherpro.com/?p=130
cosine83 said:
Only one I couldn't seem to find was a replacement for the favorite contacts slider. Which also happens to be the one I use the most.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LauncherPro Plus has the contacts widget.
PFx00 said:
I loaded CM6 when the nightly was first posted and had been loving it. I thought it was awesome that it was pure Android with all of the proprietary HTC stuff stripped out. I was sure that AOSP was the way to go and hadn't looked back until yesterday when I loaded AvaFroyo-V3. Not using Sense for a while has really made me appreciate the aesthetics and usability that HTC has put into their devices. I can see why they keep it so locked down because it really does make their devices stand out amongst the other Android hardware, especially to the majority of their users who could care less about rooting, open-source, etc. Who knows what I'll be running next week but I'm going to stick with Sense for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is it that you like about Sense?
I think most people like Sense cause it looks good out of the box, the iPhone type users like Sense a lot. Those of us that like customizing our phones usually hate Sense, because it's bloated and HTC disallows uninstalling programs until rooted.
A week or so ago there was a 'scrollable contact widget' in the market that worked great. It was free too. Maybe HTC C&D'd them too.
Yea it was called mecontacts I have it but it is no longer on the market, at least not for me
firemedic1343 said:
What is it that you like about Sense?
I think most people like Sense cause it looks good out of the box, the iPhone type users like Sense a lot. Those of us that like customizing our phones usually hate Sense, because it's bloated and HTC disallows uninstalling programs until rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love sense and customizing my phone. And i am not a Iphone type user.. You shouldnt really categorize people. it just boils down to the old saying "to each their own"
CM6 + Launcher Pro blows sense out of the water...
No bloat + more options
It takes some time to set up, but once you figure out what you are doing Sense will be a thing of the past.
CM6 + Launcher Pro FTW!
firemedic1343 said:
What is it that you like about Sense?
I think most people like Sense cause it looks good out of the box, the iPhone type users like Sense a lot. Those of us that like customizing our phones usually hate Sense, because it's bloated and HTC disallows uninstalling programs until rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm all for customizing but I like for my phone to have a consistent look and feel between all of the widgets too. Like I said, it took not using sense for a while to appreciate this.
xero187 said:
CM6 + Launcher Pro blows sense out of the water...
No bloat + more options
It takes some time to set up, but once you figure out what you are doing Sense will be a thing of the past.
CM6 + Launcher Pro FTW!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No doubt that there are more options and, with some effort, you can get close to the same experience. I thought CM6 and Launcher Pro was the way to go until yesterday. Now I'm torn.
xero187 said:
CM6 + Launcher Pro blows sense out of the water...
No bloat + more options
It takes some time to set up, but once you figure out what you are doing Sense will be a thing of the past.
CM6 + Launcher Pro FTW!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's getting really, really, really hard for me to pick between froyo+sense and cm6+launcher pro plus (which I recommend every true lover of launcher to get; support your devs!!!).
Pros for sense: Widgets-Bar none, the implementation htc has with sense's widgets are just plain awesome, I mean friendstream, bookmarks, messaging, mail, everything is right there and accessible from the get-go.
Cons for sense: Slow as balls, no customization, gives me some weird purplish tint on my nova,slow, has those stupid sprint apps, slow, aaaand did I mention slow?
Pros for launcher/adw/whatever's not sense: Customization is AWESOME, can do whatever I want, from changing the app drawer opening time to the color of my task bar (cm6), if I see it I can change it.
Fast as HELL- Pretty much gives you a brand new phone; really makes it feel worth the $350 I paid for it on launch.
Cons For launcher/adw/whatever: Customization- Some people really don't want the hassle of having to set up EVERYTHING to their liking, sense really simplifies the overall experience.
Widgets-While there are competitors out there, I've yet to find widgets that truly replace some of the htc widget's for me. And I can use my yahoo mail account with sense so that's definitely a factor to me lol
At the end of the day, it really is up to personal taste. After all, this is android and android DOES everything you want it to. What's great is we're given so many awesome choices; and even when finding flaws in both their still better than anything else you can find on the market. To me, the real winner is the evo+the supporters that have made this phone what it is today-awesome.
p.s-I hope this thread doesn't turn into a pissing ground against sense or people who choose something different than what you have; it's called an opinion and everybody's is different, grow up if you can't understand that.
To be more specific about what I like ... and remember this is personal preference with zero effort to setup:
Clock - Sure clock widgets are a dime a dozen but I've become accustomed to the Sense's clock and weather. You can use beautiful/fancy but neither have the full screen weather animation (which serves no purpose but I think its pretty cool).
Copy and Paste - I love that copy and paste functionality is built in across all applications. I use this most in the web browser. I'm not a fan of the select text feature.
Keyboard - I like the haptic feedback when I type, I also like having the arrow keys (both took a while to grow on me). Plus, the keys seem a little bigger so its easier for me to type on. I was using various keyboard mods but they stopped working on CM6
Touch to focus camera I never really knew how much I missed this until now. Such a handy feature. Hopefully they'll get this working when a new kernel source is released.
Facebook Contact Integration Sure you can load a hacked .apk but I also think HTC's integration is a little better than stock. Especially how they pull other peoples' pictures into the gallery.
Dialer- Was using Dialer One, but still like the look and feel of HTC's better. Also, the contact pictures that are synced from Facebook are much higher quality.
Calendar Widget- I never really found a good free replacement for the HTC Calendar Widget. Several people have recommended a paid calendar grid app.
4G Toggle Widget- Never really looked for an alternative but missed it when it was gone.
Radio- I never used this but thought I'd throw it in the list.
HTC Sync- This is the only option to get my work calendar on my phone because Google sync doesn't work with Office 2010 and Windows 7. There are 3rd party applications but I don't want to load them on the secured network at work.
Other Misc Widgets These are kind of useless to me but still nice to have options that are skinned to match perfectly - Music, Friend Stream, Day in History, News, Weather, Etc.
Don't get me wrong. CM has an awesome ROM that I'm sure I'll go back to at some point but I'm lovin' me some Sense right now.
edtate said:
It's getting really, really, really hard for me to pick between froyo+sense and cm6+launcher pro plus (which I recommend every true lover of launcher to get; support your devs!!!).
Pros for sense: Widgets-Bar none, the implementation htc has with sense's widgets are just plain awesome, I mean friendstream, bookmarks, messaging, mail, everything is right there and accessible from the get-go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I liked Sense when I first got the Evo (new to Android) I think your pros pointed out exactly why I sought out and found LauncherPro so quickly. I don't use any of the Sense widgets! the first thing I did was remove friendstream, book marks, messaging and mail widgets.
In any case, Sense UI is a good UI for people who take advantage of all the widgets but others may see it as 'bloated' if they don't. I like paring down my screen real estate and LauncherPro allows me to do that easily. But it does take up time and effort to set things up just so.
kong97 said:
Yea it was called mecontacts I have it but it is no longer on the market, at least not for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is still there. I just did a search for it.
Both have thier pros and cons. I personally love sense. The only things I wish it had is the normal bluetooth stack so that I could run wiimote and then I wish sense would go into landscape. And also I like the 3D app drawer.
Does Launcher Pro allow you to sync your contacts Facebook info (pics, statuses, birthday, etc) like in Sense? That is invaluable for me.
akarol said:
Does Launcher Pro allow you to sync your contacts Facebook info (pics, statuses, birthday, etc) like in Sense? That is invaluable for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That has nothing to do with LauncherPro. You do that with the Facebook app.
akarol said:
Does Launcher Pro allow you to sync your contacts Facebook info (pics, statuses, birthday, etc) like in Sense? That is invaluable for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Facebook will link some of that information to your contacts by default but that function is broke in 2.2 right now. There is a hack that you can run in the shell to fix it or search for the hacked .apk on these forums.

DHD or Nexus S

After using HTC Magic for 1.5 years I'm seriously considering getting a new phone. My two main options are Nexus S and DHD.
How are your phones treating you guys? Would you recommend going with a DHD or the S?
Sent from my Gingerbread on Sapphire using Tapatalk
You asking this in the Desire HD forum, what kind of answer do you expect?
Go with the Desire HD of course lol
I've thought about grabbing a nexus but there it's just too little going on in their development thread to make me want to. I'm wondering if, in these challenging economic times, a lot of devs are sticking with the nexus one. After all the nexus s is only a small jump ahead in spec.
The worst thing about the nexus s is that there are no sense roms. I've come to the conclusion that sense is just better. I mean vanilla aosp doesn't even include a fm radio and this is 2011. What are you thinking Google?
Someone swyped my idea.
By using default Sense as your launcher you gain two things:
1. HTC Widgets
2. General integrity with your phone UI
Main downsides of Sense:
1. Application space in home screen dock, you cannot add any application to Sense dock
2. Missing eye candy: e.g. home screen transition effects
3. General smoothness. Sense is actually very unsmooth. You might not realize this if you haven't used LauncherPro, which is the smoothest launcher at the moment
Only real thing I lose by not using Sense are HTC widgets. But I've found a corresponding replacement for every HTC widget I want. Even the lovely "Sync All" widget.
So basically if you look at the pros and cons of Sense UI, it really makes me laugh when people say "Sense just makes sense"
Fihlvein said:
By using default Sense as your launcher you gain two things:
1. HTC Widgets
2. General integrity with your phone UI
Main downsides of Sense:
1. Application space in home screen dock, you cannot add any application to Sense dock
2. Missing eye candy: e.g. home screen transition effects
3. General smoothness. Sense is actually very unsmooth. You might not realize this if you haven't used LauncherPro, which is the smoothest launcher at the moment
Only real thing I lose by not using Sense are HTC widgets. But I've found a corresponding replacement for every HTC widget I want. Even the lovely "Sync All" widget.
So basically if you look at the pros and cons of Sense UI, it really makes me laugh when people say "Sense just makes sense"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny you say that. I find launcher pro to be slow and a bit buggy at times. Everytime I have flashed a aosp rom, I have always gone back to stock HTC sense. I find it better and has a nice UI and integration.
As for the question, having asked in the desire HD forum, your going to get a biuased lean towards the desire hd of course. Having said that desire HD ftw .
A few weeks ago I was due an upgrade so was in a similar position - DHD, Nexus S or Galaxy S. On paper each one had things I liked so I did a few weeks worth of reading reviews, checking out videos, checking them out in a shop, looking at development progress on XDA etc.
In the end I went for the DHD, mainly down to:
1/ Build quality. HTC build some very nice phones, the DHD being no exception. It has a nice weight to it and feels like the expensive piece of equipment that it is. The SGS and Nexus S on the otherhand, felt like cheap iPhone copies. Really quite plasticy and flimsy looking.
2/ Sense UI. It's what sold me on HTC phones in the 1st place and I love how it integrates with the phone. I've always dabbled with other ROMs and launchers but in the end I'm back on Sense. It's not perfect but using a custom ROM like Android Revolution HD you can get it super smooth and if transition animations are your thing then you can add those too... along with most other mods and customisations.
3/ RFS, GPS issues and lag. Go check the SGS section for details.
4/ Samsung seem to release phones and then stop supporting them, whereas HTC seem to be a little bit better at this.
That's probably as unbiased as I can be... so go buy a DHD and well see you back here soon
The NS has got week specs..... its just a N1 with a samoled screen and a SGS inside lol
CitizenLee said:
4/ Samsung seem to release phones and then stop supporting them, whereas HTC seem to be a little bit better at this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the NS has nothing to do with samsung after it leaves the factory, its the official google developer device, so all updates and support come straight from google.
AndroHero said:
the NS has nothing to do with samsung after it leaves the factory, its the official google developer device, so all updates and support come straight from google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was generalising about the very similar situation I found myself in. See 1st paragraph
CitizenLee said:
I was generalising about the very similar situation I found myself in. See 1st paragraph
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
duh sorry mate i was speed reading lol
AndroHero said:
duh sorry mate i was speed reading lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha... no worries, it's easily done.
If I had a £1 for every post I've misread I could buy us all a new DHD
Tbh Sense was the thing that got me sold on HTC phones in the beginning, now after 3 different HTC phones and more experience with flashin and other apps I defenatly cant say i have not found any better launcher app than ADW EX, its so many custom ways to use it, including expanding number of apps on homescreen, dock layout of choice etc, the best is if you get yourself Beautiful widgets or simular and other cool stuff, you can match HTC widgets easy, the thing i miss is really the deep integration with the apps and OS none other has managed.
DHD without a doubt. I find HTC kit extremely reliable. I think the nexus S looks too plasticy.
I had 4 nexus s phones and all had faults... in the end I gave up and got a wonderful HD.. best move ever... The nexus s is the sexiest phone in the world, but performance wise it isn't a scratch on the HD. Of my 4 nexus s, 3 had weird colour changes on the screen due to the curved glass and one had really poor wifi, the weird colours was strange, one had a piss green hue, and another had a purple haze, not at all like the cool blue of the Samsung galaxy s. But my 4 phones was from the first batch The DHD is a 9/10 and the nexus s is a 7/10. And the 7 points is because its the prettiest phone in the whole universe
JD
Sent from my Ginger Garnished HTC Desire HD
Rosjer said:
Tbh Sense was the thing that got me sold on HTC phones in the beginning, now after 3 different HTC phones and more experience with flashin and other apps I defenatly cant say i have not found any better launcher app than ADW EX, its so many custom ways to use it, including expanding number of apps on homescreen, dock layout of choice etc, the best is if you get yourself Beautiful widgets or simular and other cool stuff, you can match HTC widgets easy, the thing i miss is really the deep integration with the apps and OS none other has managed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
spb are working on mobile shell for android, i got my beta testers email the other day i think this could be the first sence beater

Am I the only one who enjoys motoblur?

I see all the hate on this forum about motoblur and how crappy it is. I seem to be the only one who likes it.
I've used TouchWiz, Sense, Stock and MotoBlur, and Moto is probably my favorite! Sense comes in second, Touchwiz can go die.
Why all the hate on Blur?
Ya not a fan of motoblur at all when I get this phone I'm going to be running launcher pro plus on this for sure might give blur five minutes of my time but that's it....
yes u are the only one
I like Blur better than sense and definitely touchwiz, but I think most people prefer the speed that the "vanilla" experience android delivers.
I have not owned a Motorola phone since the Verizon Moto Q, so I cannot say Blur is terrible or good, but from the looks of it the only thing I dislike is the blue and green call/contacts button. If I end up hating it I will just load up Launcher Pro or hopefully I will see some custom roms with stock at some point in the future.
I don't like blur but I can live with it. I find it better than HTC sense and the like but at least give us an option to turn it off like seriously Motorola.
PixoNova said:
I see all the hate on this forum about motoblur and how crappy it is. I seem to be the only one who likes it.
I've used TouchWiz, Sense, Stock and MotoBlur, and Moto is probably my favorite! Sense comes in second, Touchwiz can go die.
Why all the hate on Blur?
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That's how I feel as well, although I do prefer "vanilla" over all...
I can see why some people might prefer the vanilla/stock android experience. But I always hear how Blur can be laggy on phones and such. I haven't experienced any lag (Moto FlipSide)
I do kind-of like Sense. Only if it's on a nice sized screen, unlike the Aria. But I most likely will be keeping Blur, as I like all the widgets available.
YES!!!!
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
I have tried droid x. Blur sucks. Even with the latest update the system was laggy. However it will work great sometimes but had sudden lags in launching browser. Sometimes it would hang and take a few seconds to go back to home screen. I returned it and will be getting thunderbolt when it comes out. I went back to att for 2-3 weeks until thunderbolt comes out. i will be porting my number back if I decide to get thunderbolt. I like htc sense specially the newest version that is in the inspire 4g and will be on the thunderbolt as well. It is snappy as hell. It might have to do with the second gen snapdragon processor.
I haven't used it yet, but the only thing I can see hating about it is the contact button (along with only having a three icon dock, but I could deal with that). Why the hell does there need to be a contact button? If you open the phone app you can go to your contacts right from there. I'd much rather see messaging or the browser. Some kind of central messaging app that pulled in all of one's SMS, emails, facebook, twitter, etc would be cool, I suppose. Better than contacts, at least.
That's a damn good idea a centralized notification button... But I guess it would have a big similarity to the notification bar tho. Still think that's a good idea tho
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
At first I was OK with blur but once you try out other options like Launcher Pro or ADW you might change your mind. Granted, Blur does have decent widgets to supplement it but it left me wanting more.
Now I'm using Launcher Pro + Beautiful Widgets and am loving it.
johnnydeathmatch said:
I haven't used it yet, but the only thing I can see hating about it is the contact button (along with only having a three icon dock, but I could deal with that). Why the hell does there need to be a contact button? If you open the phone app you can go to your contacts right from there. I'd much rather see messaging or the browser. Some kind of central messaging app that pulled in all of one's SMS, emails, facebook, twitter, etc would be cool, I suppose. Better than contacts, at least.
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Blur contacts works differently than standard android contacts, as it integrates with the social networking. I'd give more detail, but I haven't touched my backflip in a month and haven't had it on a stock ROM since ~november so I don't remember all the specifics. (Used a "deblurred" ROM someone at M3 cooked up till I got a free Aria)
The messaging app does provide a universal inbox. the one one my backflip would pull everything but my gmail into it, and I'm sure I could have set it up so that it pulled that too.
PixoNova said:
...Moto is probably my favorite! Sense comes in second, Touchwiz can go die.
Why all the hate on Blur?
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thunderpack said:
I like Blur better than sense and definitely touchwiz...
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Okay please state why you like Blur better. I've never used it but am trying to keep an open mind. I just love Sense and as of now am not sure I can function without it so lets hear it. Obviously it's a personal thing but is there anything in particular...?
lol
yes you are
looks so simple and ****ty
opensourcefan said:
Okay please state why you like Blur better. I've never used it but am trying to keep an open mind. I just love Sense and as of now am not sure I can function without it so lets hear it. Obviously it's a personal thing but is there anything in particular...?
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Pretty much the style. I don't hate Sense, like I said, it comes second IMO. Overall, through general usage, that's how I determine if I like it or not.
As far as moto blur is concerned, IMO it works just fine as a launcher.
So here are the Pros and Cons as I see them
Pro
Simple Layout
Decent Widgets
Unified inbox
Motoblur.com (find my phone, contacts back and edit, remote wipe etc...)
Cons
Does not have a polished look or feel like stock or Sense
I feel like it was an interface designed for teens
Cannot customize the shortcuts on the launch bar
Only 3 shortcuts on the launch bar
Occasional lag when launching apps (this could be that I have only used blur on low-end to mid-level android phones)
No option to bypass motoblur account setup
Overall, it comes down to personal preference and how you feel about it. You won't know until you try it. So far, I have used launcher pro on every android phone I have ever owned, but I always started with the out of box experience before I made the switch each time. I like that LP is customizable, and fast, and you can make just about any device look similar to stock/vanilla android id you want. The only problem with LP is that when I tried it on the Inspire 4G it disabled all of the kick butt HTC widgets, but there are alternatives such as Beautiful Widgets.
My nervousness falls around the screen resolution. I tried Laucnher Pro on my galaxy tab. and it didn't look right with that screen resolution. The resolution on the tab is high enough to have 5 shortcuts on the home screen side by side, and LP only has 4 so things looked oddly proportioned and stretched...
Blur itself has some good features - namely remote wipe and the news widgets that you can set to sync over wifi only - if you want.
If you are really into account integration you get to mix them all into one interface...
twitter, myspace, facebook, photobucket, linkedin, picasa, etc.
I prefer to just use the apps for these products and not do the MotoBlur integration - and you can do this - just don't set them up in MotoBlur. If you don't use Motoblur widgets, then you never really see MotoBlur. Change the launcher to ADW and you are done.
Compared to the captivate and Touchwiz, Motoblur is a lot less intrusive. Calendar, Contacts and Email work the way they are supposed - and are easy to use. I bought my captivate for specs, but the software mods on calendar and email suck.
The only MotoBlur thing you can't turn off is the sync of contacts and settings that are done on the phone. So if you create a new contact on the phone it is also created on the Blur server as backup - you can't turn this off.
On the good side, if you wipe your phone and you have to set it up from scratch, using the same blur account, it recreates most of your settings and widgets and email accounts.
As for Lag - people complain about it, but I have had Droid X and Bravo and they run fine. But, again, i only use the news widget and no social network accounts.

From sense to touchwiz

Always had HTC phones currently the desire HD,been waiting to see what they had to offer and have to say the x1 doesn't do it for me,so thinking of jumping ship and waiting for the SGS3.thing is I really like HTC sense.So to any former HTC user now with the SGS2 and touchwiz,how did you find the transition,can you get it set up to suit and what should I be aware of if making the jump once the SGS3 is out
sent from my leedroid powered Desire HD
Transition is pretty easy. I never found sense very useful (in a global way) but it's really pretty. I think touchwiz is the opposite. It's kind of ugly with all these shiny icons but it's discret and have a few cool features (especially around the notification bar).
Plus, TW is a lot snappier than sense used to be (didn't get to try newer HTC devices). I even find TW snappier than any launcher you can find on the market.
I moved from desire z to sgs2, and I must say that touchwiz was a big disappointment to me.
It's not hard to get used to touchwiz, but it will be hard to get used with the missing features, for me the most annoying thing was that the dial pad can not search after the second name, I mean if you want to search for "combat goofwing" and you type in the dial pad 4663 for "goof" it will not find anything.
Another annoying thing is that in the app drawer the apps are not sorted in alphabetical order, they are sorted in the install order, and you can move them around but I don't have the patience to move apps around, for me this makes apps harder to find.
I own this phone for a few mounts now and I used to it, but I still miss sense.
The hardware is great, I still can't believe how good the display is, everything works very smooth, but unfortunately touchwiz is light years behind sense.
Any way I'm sorry I didn't bought the sensation, but my next phone will definitely be a HTC.
You can always choose alphabetical listing option. Move to a custom ROM, the phone rocks.
Sent from my GT-I9100
ionut.micu said:
I moved from desire z to sgs2, and I must say that touchwiz was a big disappointment to me.
It's not hard to get used to touchwiz, but it will be hard to get used with the missing features, for me the most annoying thing was that the dial pad can not search after the second name, I mean if you want to search for "combat goofwing" and you type in the dial pad 4663 for "goof" it will not find anything.
Another annoying thing is that in the app drawer the apps are not sorted in alphabetical order, they are sorted in the install order, and you can move them around but I don't have the patience to move apps around, for me this makes apps harder to find.
I own this phone for a few mounts now and I used to it, but I still miss sense.
The hardware is great, I still can't believe how good the display is, everything works very smooth, but unfortunately touchwiz is light years behind sense.
Any way I'm sorry I didn't bought the sensation, but my next phone will definitely be a HTC.
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Ditto for me, I think I will go buy a One S or X; there are just so many little things missing from touchwizz compared to sense ( I don't mean just the launchers but all the apps htc and samsung, include or modify); don't get me wrong touchwiz is not bad at all, especially compared to stock android but it's just not as good as sense.
Used to have a htc desire before my SGS2.. the only things I liked about sense 2.1 was the lockscreen that gives the caller/texter name at the bottom, instead of a little numbered flagged like touchwiz (being honest I know I could get widgetlocker and get that back but don't mind the sammy lockscreen that much) and I liked the screen unlock weather animations (which I have on my SGS2 courtesy of Beautiful Widgets)
The rest of sense wasn't that great, the contacts app is a little more intuitive than SGS2's but not really an issue
Oh, the touchwiz launcher is pretty useless, but I've been using LauncherPro since day 1
Beautiful widgets' superclock is just annoying, I disabled the animations because you see them everyone time you unlock unlike sense where you will only see it when the widget is visible. Also better in sense : keyboard (best touchscreen keyboard), friends pictures in the gallery, friendstream, sense unlockscreen with shortcuts, dialer, app drawers.
i dont really care because when i get a phone i just put cm on it')
Sent from my SGS2 powered by cm9 love
I have an amaze 4g and my wife has the tmobile sgs2. We both are from the htc g2 running sense. She loves how simple TW is, but she says its missing quite a bit of things she liked, all little things but none the less missing them.
I my self hate TW seems like a child's launcher in a way.
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using XDA App
I miss the dialer and contact screen from Sense. I can get everything else with some minor modifications and apps so it's not a big deal. Shame for the contacts and dialer though.
Touchwiz is fast, unobtrusive and smooth, but in stock form, very, very ugly and lacking in features.
Mind you I've always found HTC Android phones somewhat unresponsive and glitchy.
The only flavour of Android I get on with now is AOSP ICS. Its a big improvement to me. That said, my next phone might not be Android, I might give WP7 a go. I've had a few tries and it is starting to look like a fantastically polished OS, and flashing ROMs all the time is beginning to lose its appeal. It may not have the apps, or the flexibility, or capability, but it makes up for it in other ways.
I haven't seen or used sense, but I know how unfulfilling TW feels. For me, flashing and playing around with MI-UI did the trick. It's the perfect combination of neatness and usefulness. Combined with minor add-ons (such as a new keyboard, kernel, ...) it turns out to be the most stable and enjoyable rom I have ever used. Check it out (google miuandroid).
HTC all the way!
I had htc desire hd which i still have and love. I then got htc sensation and the missus got a sgs2 she hates the user interface and loves the htc user interface. If your looking for something that will in my opinion be comparable to the iphone then htc all the way.
malcovitch said:
I had htc desire hd which i still have and love. I then got htc sensation and the missus got a sgs2 she hates the user interface and loves the htc user interface. If your looking for something that will in my opinion be comparable to the iphone then htc all the way.
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Click to collapse
For an iphone-ish look I strongly recommend the previously mentioned MIUI rom.
For me, I don't know. I couldn't do Sense. I liked the graphics and what not - but I found the user-interface a bit stubborn. Touchwiz was clean and simple.
I have the desire s and SII, and I like sense better than TW.
Sense feels like it's more developed than TW.
For me software htc > samsung and hardware htc < samsung.
So SII with sense would be great for me personally.
ionut.micu said:
I moved from desire z to sgs2, and I must say that touchwiz was a big disappointment to me.
It's not hard to get used to touchwiz, but it will be hard to get used with the missing features, for me the most annoying thing was that the dial pad can not search after the second name, I mean if you want to search for "combat goofwing" and you type in the dial pad 4663 for "goof" it will not find anything.
Another annoying thing is that in the app drawer the apps are not sorted in alphabetical order, they are sorted in the install order, and you can move them around but I don't have the patience to move apps around, for me this makes apps harder to find.
I own this phone for a few mounts now and I used to it, but I still miss sense.
The hardware is great, I still can't believe how good the display is, everything works very smooth, but unfortunately touchwiz is light years behind sense.
Any way I'm sorry I didn't bought the sensation, but my next phone will definitely be a HTC.
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Click to collapse
Download appzorter from market. Rearrange apps alphabetically. Simples
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
Thx, unfortunelley "this app is not compatiblewith youre device" maby it's because I'm ussing LPH rom, but it's good to know.
And I forgot to say, I came from a long series of HTC phones (diamond, touch pro, touch pro 2, wildfire, desire z), all of them are still in use today and work great, guess wich phone needed to go to service becsause microusb port mallfunction after a few mount of use... exactly the sgs2.
Great feedback thanks,having seen the videos of the new HTC X1 now I may just stick with HTC still lots to look at
Thanks again
sent from my leedroid powered Desire HD
combat goofwing said:
Great feedback thanks,having seen the videos of the new HTC X1 now I may just stick with HTC still lots to look at
Thanks again
sent from my leedroid powered Desire HD
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I think it's a pretty tough choice between the X and S, they both have their pros and cons (S has the more powerful CPU(in spite of the 4 cores of the tegra3) and AMOLED; X the more powerful GPU, more storage and higher DPI)

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