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Do you want an additional 'THREE' customizable homescreens on your Hero? Well, there's an 'app' for that! HA!
First, I'm not sure if doing this has any bugs or inherent problems, and I am not responsible for any problems you may encounter doing this! BUT, I haven't experienced any so far myself.
Anyway, I stumbled onto this by using the Home Switcher app. When I saw how it launched the original Android Home app, that gave me an IDEA.
Using an application called 'Bar Control', I setup a Taskbar ICON to launch the native Android 'Home' application which, if you ask me, 'extends' the Hero with an additional three homescreens. I simply pull down the Taskbar and tap Home to launch the original Android Home app which gives me access to three more homescreens. AND, a simple tap of the Home button takes me back to HTC Sense.
So, I now have TEN (10) homescreens!!!!! These additional native Android homescreens are where I put some Android widgets (non HTC Sense widgets of course). And get this, the two Sprint widgets, NFL Mobile Live and Sprint TV, are available too! The Hero uses the same Wallpaper for both HTC Sense and Home, but it unlocks the native Android wallpaper gallery too.
Steps I did:
1. Downloaded Bar Control from the Market.
2. Launched Bar Control and waited for it to scan all the programs.
3. Scrolled down to the app called, 'Home' and selected it.
4. Selected an ICON of choice. (I used the same home ICON)
5. Pulled down my Notification Bar, tapped 'Home, and WALLA!
Simply hit the Home button to return to HTC Sense.
Note: To get rid of this Home ICON in the Notification Bar, simply perform the first three steps above again which will remove it.
OK, now can anyone tell me of a simple shortcut app that can be set to launch the native Android Home app without having to go through the Taskbar via the Bar Control app in my example above?
So, I believe this is the GREATEST HERO HACK so far!
When two unused screens just aren't enough lol, nice find.
Not really an hack if you ask me... why don't you install a few extra homescreen replacement apps (like openhome) so you'll even have more homescreens
this is not a hack at all. installing apps and using them as intended is as far away from a hack as could be. please change the title, this is so lame...
btw, i would love to have my homescreens scrolling "round", meaning if i swipe screen #7 (the most right one) to the left i want to go to screen #1 (the most left one). anybody know if this is possible?
kendong2 said:
btw, i would love to have my homescreens scrolling "round", meaning if i swipe screen #7 (the most right one) to the left i want to go to screen #1 (the most left one). anybody know if this is possible?
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I would like to know this as well, I sort of wonder why htc didn't design it like that.
DaWeav said:
5. Pulled down my Notification Bar, tapped 'Home, and WALLA!
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Click to collapse
[PEDANTRY-MODE]
It's "Voila" not "Walla"!
[/PEDANTRY-MODE]
Sorry, couldn't resist - to me, it's like fingernails on a black board!
Regards,
Dave
lol, the same happens when you install any theme app such as open home, dxtop, etc...
What happens is, the default for the home button is cleared of it's default (HTC Sense) giving you the option which home screen you want to fire up after holding down the home button.
You could probably just clear the default yourself in App settings, limiting the need for another app all together.
Downloading a home screen app equals hacking your phone?
give him a Break it was his first post.He was over zealous on his find..LOL
well atleast he let us know about his find.sum peeps probably wouldnt had even shared..thx DaWeav
Yup, just to elaborate on what N0J mentioned:
menu/settings/applications/manage applications/HTC Sense
tap "Clear defaults"
Now, every time you push your "Home" button you will be presented with the options "Home" and "HTC Sense." As long as you don't check the default box you will always have a two-touch access to either interface.
Alternatively, for those that prefer vanilla Android to Sense, check the default box and hit "Home." Your phone will no longer load the Sense UI. This can be reversed by going to Home in manage applications (above) and again clearing defaults.
cgraunke said:
Yup, just to elaborate on what N0J mentioned:
menu/settings/applications/manage applications/HTC Sense
tap "Clear defaults"
Now, every time you push your "Home" button you will be presented with the options "Home" and "HTC Sense." As long as you don't check the default box you will always have a two-touch access to either interface.
Alternatively, for those that prefer vanilla Android to Sense, check the default box and hit "Home." Your phone will no longer load the Sense UI. This can be reversed by going to Home in manage applications (above) and again clearing defaults.
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Click to collapse
Well said and thanks for the detailing the steps out for me!
Dang. I thought this was actually going to be some useful information that could lead me to getting rid of the 4 unused homescreens
This isn't a hack and not much of a discovery but if it makes you happy...
Would be kind of cool if Sense had 10 screens of its own.
nice find! But yes, 7 home screens is a little much. until we find some better widgets.
kendong2 said:
this is not a hack at all. installing apps and using them as intended is as far away from a hack as could be. please change the title, this is so lame...
btw, i would love to have my homescreens scrolling "round", meaning if i swipe screen #7 (the most right one) to the left i want to go to screen #1 (the most left one). anybody know if this is possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GDE Home Screen does this
edit: by the way this is a dumb "hack"
I'm assuming this works for vanilla android as well? One of the most annoying things about my Moment that my Hero does is only having 3 screens.
Does anyone know how to REMOVE any of the homescreens from sense?
My hero is so slow!
I really hope that as part of an update to Sense that they make it so you can have any number of screens so long as it's 2X+1. (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11)
Personally, I only really use 5, so I would just drop the last 2 screens and have the little indicator get a tiny bit larger.
There seems to be a quite nice lockscreen app on the market - Lockbot Pro which costs $3.5! It has several lockscreen styles that
you can use and it includes the iphones as well. Quite amazing! But.. while most of the feedbacks are great but some say it breaks
the notification bar and lags when locking or does not lock at all(mostly on G1 and Droid.).
So if anyone here actually tried it on the Desire please tell me how it performs. very much appreciated!
I've tried the free version and its pretty good apart from one major issue.........the Home button is still active!!!
When the phone is locked the Home button will wake the phone up without a lock screen. Once this has been fixed then it will be well worth $3.50
I have the Lockbot Pro 1.3 on my HTC Desire and it works fine but you can´t disable the home button ;(
I tried it, and here's my take:
Full lock replacement, lots of looks and plenty of themes. Choose your own background image. You can choose weither or not to have the notification bar on lockscreen, and if you do you can access it the same way as when you're in home.
The lag is there, but nothing major. Basically if you lock and unlock within half a sec, you'll notice the lag. As long as you lock, leave it, and unlock later (normal usage) there's no problem.
I don't think it shows album info, sms or even alarms on the lockscreen.... But I didn't really pay attention to this because:
My biggest issue is that its an app, not a lockscreen, so it gives you NO security at all. The main reason why i do not use lockbot is that I need a security pattern.
This one bypasses androids security lock, but has its own built in version which is ok. You can choose either code or pattern.
BUT the problem is that you can hit home and you bypass all security! Whats the point of security if you can bypass it??
Hit home and lock gone, security or not.
Also another issue is that security pattern delay app doesn't work. I want security to kick in after 30 min...
You can wake screen with all buttons, which is nice, but no exclude function. (I dont wanna wake it with volume buttons..)
If lockbot adds security delay timer and makes sure you cannot bypass it no matter what, and also adds an option to chose which buttons to wake screen with, it would be the best app out there.
ATM i think it stinks (reason: security), but thats just my 2 cents
newest
I just tried the newest version. I think they fixed the home button thing. But it's kinda hard choosing a background for it. (and it's not so smooth as the default lock)
Home button bug is finally fixed.
But it really sucks that I'm in a country where I can't dowload paid apps. Is there any other lib where I can BUY! it?
Anyone who knows if I would be able to download it if I would go to the Netherlands?
simonthor said:
I just tried the newest version. I think they fixed the home button thing. But it's kinda hard choosing a background for it. (and it's not so smooth as the default lock)
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Click to collapse
for me its very smooth. the background choosing sucks really. but you do that once in a while.
lockbot pro works very well
the only disadvantage is that its not locking on incoming call
snudel said:
the only disadvantage is that its not locking on incoming call
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second that! great app, but this is something that should be fixed!
anybody know how to reach the developer to check if this is planned or not?
Thx
B
I currently use WidgetLocker - it allows you to set different styled lockscreens (e.g. vanilla stock, vanilla rotary, etc) and even add widgets to the lockscreen.
Cool app imo
If I swipe right on a contact, make a call, but exit out of the call window and hit the dialer on screen, it doesn't show the current phone call. It just shows the default dialer. The only way for me to end a phone call is to use the drop down menu.
Basically, it is really annoying and I am wondering if it is just some small user error that I am committing.
I have been running LP since 30 min of getting the phone (couldn't stand TW interface) and almost a week with my phone here and no problems with LP at all. Try reinstalling the app or doing a master reset.
Mark271 said:
If I swipe right on a contact, make a call, but exit out of the call window and hit the dialer on screen, it doesn't show the current phone call. It just shows the default dialer. The only way for me to end a phone call is to use the drop down menu.
Basically, it is really annoying and I am wondering if it is just some small user error that I am committing.
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I noticed that earlier today when I was reading a tracking number to someone over the phone. It's such a pain. I just tested it today, went back and forth between Launcher Pro and TouchWiz. I hope it's not something that will be too difficult for the Launcher Pro devs to fix, and not some weird TouchWiz thing that can'e be worked around.
I have noticed the same issues with not being able to easily get back to an in progress call. If you press and hold the home button you can then tap on the dialer and get back to your call no matter what launcher your using. ADW does the same thing by the way. This is why I have not been able to jump to either alternative launcher.
I thought this happened because the dialer shortcut was linked to whatever action the pull down status bar icon was assigned to, but even if I create a home screen shortcut to the dialer, it still works the way it should while in TouchWiz.
I started a thread on the Launcher Pro forums. I copied and pasted the above onto it.
Edit: None of the Activies under either of the Dialer menus seem to work. I thought I could find whatever that static icon does and create my own shortcut.
ahorriblemess said:
I just realized... this is obviously because the static/unremovable dialer icon in the TouchWiz dock is linked to the same action as using the pull down menu and tapping the dialer icon. Still, I wonder if there's a workaround for this.
I started a thread on the Launcher Pro forums. I copied and pasted the above onto it.
Edit: None of the Activies under either of the Dialer menus seem to work. I thought I could find whatever that static icon does and create my own shortcut.
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The contacts for me does not work by default either. I had to replace their contacts shortcut by long pressing and changing shortcut with the application contacts stored in our phone. I am sure this has to be an easy fix.
Question for the Devs,
I have one thing that bugs me about Android: taking a ton of steps to get to places, so I had an idea, but I'm not sure if it's possible. It's a two - parter:
1) Is it possible, to put into the notification area a scrollable list of your currently running applications, or possible your most used apps? Kinda like holding down home, but it's not the same.
2) I had a program on my jailbroken iCrap back in the day: sbsettings. LOVED this program, gave me quick access to just about anything. It's kinda like the power widget, but it was accessible from sliding your finger accross the top of the screen from anywhere. Imagine having the power control widget in your notification area.
Are the two above possible, or are there limitations to what the notification bar can do. Obviously, I'd want it so that if I hit "clear" they'd still remain there. Also, I don't want just a link poining me somewhere else, I want the action to occur right from the notification screen:
I searched and searched but cannot find. Have I missed something?
Sorry if this is in the wrong thread, but I figured it does have to do with development, so there ya go... Thanks in advance!
For #2 use smartbar with quick settings checked in settings for notification. It might also have #1 but I don't really poke too much around in the settings.
I use Quick Settings, which will put a notification in the pull down task bar and you have access to a number of system settings.
jkAppSwitchEX works great as a sort of AltTab type thing and you can pin it to a long press of the search button. It also can be used as a task killer and can have a list of your favorite/most used apps for easy launch (and has a recent apps list). Plus, it can put a notification in the pull down task bar. There's also a free version on the market which just shows running apps.
I also believe Folder Organizer will put apps in the task bar, I have the lite version which doesn't do that (I don't think), but I don't really need it for that, so the lite version is fine for my needs.
I've also tried SmartBar, and it does have that functionality of swiping the screen and having access to programs, etc. But it wasn't what I had been looking for when I tested it, but worth checking out.
*off topic a bit*
Sorry but it's not Qeustion it is Question
Has anyone found a way to add the power control toggles to the notification screen as seen on the Galaxy S?
if your rooted cyanogen mod have the settings in the notification like the galaxy s or you can use a app call quickdesk you can launch quickdesk by long pressing the search button or double tap the home button in any program it has this thing call quick pannel that shows you your recently used apps and the apps thats running its really slick you can also swype up on any running apps to close them. theres also another app call itchingthumb that basically do the same thing but i like the simplicity of quickdesk more you should check them out. Theres also another app call smart task bar that can also do those thing it as the most options all you have to do is swype your finger at the side of your phone to launch it. Feel free to ask me any questions about them and I'll try to answer them. Oh yeah theres another one call power strip.
I found this thread and applied the mod to the HD ROM that I'm using, it works well.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=838013
My biggest actual usability issue with Nexus 7 is the home icons. It's too easy to swipe them during game play, especially annoying when you are trying to keep the kids busy. I'd like a mod with 2 options:
1. Drag it to the top (or the side?)
2. Even better, Make it go away until the table is "sleeped" and restarted.
Is there an simple option/rom that does these 2 simple things without tons of stuff I don't care about (that affect updates, etc)? If not, which mods do you recommend and feel good about that can at least do this?
Thanks
I'm not understanding what you're asking. How can you swipe away home screen icons when you are playing a game that takes up the whole screen? Using an alternate launcher from the market, like Apex launcher, will allow you to lock the desktop so that no changes can be made until you unlock it again.
When I play a full screen game I don't want to have any OS home/etc icons that can be swiped accidently. I just want to have to exit through a menu, or sleep the device (tap the power button) and wake it up again so the icons return (since not all games have an exit feature). Locking my home screen or desktop does me no good when I am in a game. I'll give apex a try, but it looks to me like it doesn't do what I want. I'm satisfied with the stock environment except for the one issue I describe. How many times have you accidently left a game?
easily_confused said:
When I play a full screen game I don't want to have any OS home/etc icons that can be swiped accidently. I just want to have to exit through a menu, or sleep the device (tap the power button) and wake it up again so the icons return (since not all games have an exit feature). Locking my home screen or desktop does me no good when I am in a game. I'll give apex a try, but it looks to me like it doesn't do what I want. I'm satisfied with the stock environment except for the one issue I describe. How many times have you accidently left a game?
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Click to collapse
I would say the best way to do what you're trying to do is to flash Paranoid Android or another ROM that offers what is called "expanded desktop mode".
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1800268
Basically "expanded desktop mode" is exactly what you are asking for. When you briefly hold down the power button in Paranoid Android (and this works in any app) a menu pops up that allows you to select "expanded desktop mode" which makes the navigation bar disappear. The navigation bar will reappear when you briefly hold down the power button again and select "expanded desktop mode again".
This feature may be part of other ROMs based on cyanogenmod but I'm not 100% sure. Maybe another member with more knowledge can weigh in on this.
Sent from my Paranoid Nexus 7
I used paranoid android on my htc sensation. It is a cool Rom with a lot of features!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Extended Desktop Mode will certainly do the job. But, I don't really want a major desktop redo (I know, that attitude isn't in the spirit of the great things the developers do here). Is there anyway to just install an extended desktop app?
It doesn't even need to be an extended desktop (the screen space isn't a big issue), Just a disabled home bar would do the trick.
Anyway to make a rom with just that feature? (I have some programming skills) Not sure where to start though. Just trying for a minimalist solution.
Thanks for helping. It's really appreciated. I learn a little more every day about what is happening here.