Database Users

"Fuzzy" icons

So, I'm noticing (and it really bothers me) that many of the icons for apps aren't as crisp and clear as others. Some that I've noticed aren't very good looking are:
Blow Up (Lite)
Engadget
Jewels
Groupon
SNesoid Lite
The Weather Channel
Texts from Last Night
Useless Facts
Weather.
Does this have to do with the image file they're using for the icon? Is it just designed for the lower res phones? And most importantly, is there anything I can do about it?
One of my homescreens is just apps that I use frequently, and these "fuzzy icons" are driving me nuts.

Pretty sure the icon resolution is up to the developer.

Jye75 said:
Pretty sure the icon resolution is up to the developer.
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So this is just part of the "fragmentation" thing that everyone hates about Android?

If by "fragmentation", you mean, "openness and non-standard", then sure.

Jye75 said:
If by "fragmentation", you mean, "openness and non-standard", then sure.
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No, I mean having a device with a higher resolution than others being stuck with a low rez icon. Subtle difference.

wrxlvr said:
No, I mean having a device with a higher resolution than others being stuck with a low rez icon. Subtle difference.
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Yeah, same difference. Can always ask the developers of the above-mentioned apps to include higher res icons for the higher res screens.

icons made for devices like the G1 don't look good on our screen

wrxlvr said:
So this is just part of the "fragmentation" thing that everyone hates about Android?
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no, the fragmentation is all the phones out there not running the same os version and most importantly lastest market version

mrono said:
icons made for devices like the G1 don't look good on our screen
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That's what I was afraid of.

[REQUEST] Galaxy S Vibrant/Captivate build?

I hate to start a new thread, but I'm sure I am not the only one that wants to request a Galaxy S build. Preferably Vibrant, but Captivate would work too.
I hope devs look into this as IMO the Vibrant's Touch wiz interface would give everyone something different to look at. I personally like it over Stock, and MOST definitely over Sense.
Just a thought...

I'm hoping that there will be an end to the many slightly different versions of sense and hope we will see galaxy s, droid, streak builds looked into soon.
Sent from my Desire HD2 using XDA App

Hmm!
I think that we may not need a build for this but an .apk for Touchwiz that we can install over a Clean Stock Rom.
I noticed one on the forum a while ago.
If this is of course what you are meaning:I never had a Galaxy S before and don't know what else it got.

ForceField said:
Hmm!
I think that we may not need a build for this but an .apk for Touchwiz that we can install over a Clean Stock Rom.
I noticed one on the forum a while ago.
If this is of course what you are meaning:I never had a Galaxy S before and don't know what else it got.
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it was an incomplete .apk which only gave you the launcher

JJbdoggg said:
it was an incomplete .apk which only gave you the launcher
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I do remember it was only about 2 ~ 3 mb and considering the size maybe a lot of things where removed to make it compatible with other devices.
Ok,I will Google a little to see what's the Galaxy S got
[EDIT]
Found
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTQVRCC8xiA

why do you prefer the Samsung software over the all mighty sense UI !!!

al mighty? the sense ui is hideous. For me personally, i cant stand having a 240dpi on a 4.3" screen. Even though 180 sounds worse, thats the setting we change it to for icons to seem like the actually fit on the screen.
Also, why do we need 10 versions of Sense? Why not have the option for the TouchWiz interface. It's fresh and something new to look at. Plus, there are little things like the lockscreen, when if you have missed calls or messages, you drag a puzzle piece into the blank spot that matches what you want to instantly view when you unlock it.
their widgets are also very nice. anywho, i would just enjoy something different. And others would too.

I agree to what he said

agreed it would be a nice change of pace, always good to see something new.
just my opinion...
plus i know the vibrant has an incredibly high frame rate

well.. i had a galaxy S... the first thing done was to use launcherpro and get rid of that hideous touchwiz!
check the forums of those devices... people are asking for vanilla or sense roms

I had a Vibrant, touchwiz was the laggiest piece of software I've used and changed the whole android experience.

i want this cant wait to somebody pull this out there hats

Does anyone have a copy of the touch whiz .apk
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

callmecooper said:
al mighty? the sense ui is hideous. For me personally, i cant stand having a 240dpi on a 4.3" screen. Even though 180 sounds worse, thats the setting we change it to for icons to seem like the actually fit on the screen.
Also, why do we need 10 versions of Sense? Why not have the option for the TouchWiz interface. It's fresh and something new to look at. Plus, there are little things like the lockscreen, when if you have missed calls or messages, you drag a puzzle piece into the blank spot that matches what you want to instantly view when you unlock it.
their widgets are also very nice. anywho, i would just enjoy something different. And others would too.
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To be fair on both sides , the new Sense on Desire HD has lower dpi for menus, etc so it looks much much cleaner ... and since HTC seems to have recognized that aspect I am sure in future the launcher and widgets will also be improved

+1 , i would deffinatly donate, the main reason i want a captivate/vibrant rom is for the video player! my friends vibrant video player plays a 480p .avi video flawlessly, while my hd2 plays it terribly while looking all blurry, but on my friends vibrant its sharp, i know theres a screen size diffrence but still it shouldnt make the movie look that much worse.
and im thinking the problem may be the media player cuz the ones ive tried dont go full screen like the vibrants

I sold my galaxy s for my hd2 and am so pleased I did as I now get to run sense ui or nexus builds. touch wiz was terrible iphone like and laggy. you can download some of the widgets from the galaxy s forum section but they are not a patch on htc sense widgets. The only good thing about the galaxy s build was its camera app

[[ Cold ]] said:
well.. i had a galaxy S... the first thing done was to use launcherpro and get rid of that hideous touchwiz!
check the forums of those devices... people are asking for vanilla or sense roms
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Exactly, once you actually use it, its terribly laggy and not very well put together. I can't blame you for wanting something new but I think everyone would get sick of it quick.

jivany said:
Does anyone have a copy of the touch whiz .apk
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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Some launchers I've collected from users here on XDA. The "Launcher2" is the 7-homescreen T-Mobile G2 launcher....exactly like the Nexus One launcher but with 7 screens instead of 5. You will need to remove the cooked-in launcher to install all but the TouchWiz launcher. Using Astro file manager, nav to the "System" > "App" folder and locate the launcher and delete it. Then do a reboot. *You will need to install Launcher Pro in the interim to have a launcher at bootup.*
You will want to make a backup of the whole Android build prior to deleting the cooked-in launcher in case the chosen one doesn't install.
The LG zips contain various widgets which will install even if the launcher doesn't.

i dont get it. lower dpi makes it crisp?!
less pixels per inch = better image?
im really confused.

malaeus said:
i dont get it. lower dpi makes it crisp?!
less pixels per inch = better image?
im really confused.
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Click to collapse
The below explanation is based on what I was able to recall from good ol college days
WVGA Res - 480 pixels x 800 pixels
Screen Size - Whatever the HD2 has (too lazy to check )
Anyways the above 2 are fixed parameters. Now what dpi means literally is pixels per inch (lets not go into more details here)
So if you fit more pixel in a single inch of screen, effectively your widgets get less space on the screen to fit into. (DPI 240)
And if you put less pixels, the same widgets fit in less amount of space in screen so it looks like a higher res (DPI 180/200)
I hope I was able to convey what I meant

Color depth on 2.1 update.

SE docs said 2.1 update only has 65k color, but colors are so much more vibrant now that i can't help but think we got 16 mill colors for read...
Anyone else agree?
Sent from my X10i ulsing XDA App

No 16m Colors they just changed the Colors to look better

Yeah, the coler look much better with 2.1.
Now some widget like Power Widget can show its full power, haha

dundun1701 said:
Yeah, the coler look much better with 2.1.
Now some widget like Power Widget can show its full power, haha
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We are still on 65k no diffrence here

Nope we haven't. Horribly deformed gradients still visible on few images I have :S

It's true, colors look much better now.
Don't really care about the number of them actually, as long as my screen looks good, and it does!

My_Immortal said:
It's true, colors look much better now.
Don't really care about the number of them actually, as long as my screen looks good, and it does!
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+1 on that one

I don't know what SE did for the screen, but the contrast and level of detail is quite amazing for a TFT-screen on a handheld device... Definitely didn't expect it to look this much better, I did a quick comparison against the Galaxy S screen and the difference really wasn't that big anymore.

Please discuss this in the 2.1 after effects thread

[Q] [NAND] Pixelated graphics and widgets in all NAND roms. (Banding)

Hello xda,
Im currently using the rom on my signature which runs close to perfect. But I want to know why and how can I fix the ugly pixelated graphics and widgets in the rom. Is not a specific rom issue since all NAND roms i've tried have that problem. Back in SD this issue was fixed and graphics looked perfect. How can I achieve that sharp and nice look?
Thank you all, this community is amazing.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

do you have a screenshot at all to show us? Maybe a photo of the screen from another camera if that is easier?

Here's a screenshot with music and calendar widget.
Notice the ugly pixels and blocky look.
Edit. Actually don't know why drocap won't show it. But all of you who have nand open those widgets and you'll see what i mean

sorry dude... it looks normal... and looks totally fine on mine, I have a Telstra HD2 (512ROM) tried the CM and Desire and MIUI based ones, they all work great on mine, no odd looking pixels

Pens and DreamS said:
Notice the ugly pixels and blocky look.
Edit. Actually don't know why drocap won't show it. But all of you who have nand open those widgets and you'll see what i mean
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Click to collapse
Maybe that issue caused by image compression ... I think.

The rendering of widgets can be affected heavily by the launcher. I've heard suggestion that Launcher Pro will get rid of that problem. Worth a try since you just uninstall it if it doesn't fix it.
If it is down to the launcher, there's not going to be any fix for you, other than hope that there's an update to the launcher you use, that addresses the issue.

Thank you all for your answers. Will try another launcher and see.

I installed launcher pro (free) and tried it in the beginning with MDJ 2.6 G-bread nand version... I noticed pixelated widgets but kind of did not care. I also installed bunch of things after 1st boot and started using the phone. Among other apps it was ADWlauncher EX which I paid... I rebooted after that once for different reason and once it booted up again I literally noticed huge bump in how smooth and fluid motion was with this launcher - pixelation was also gone and I do not know whether it was launcher that made it that way - but I definitely love it

I know what he is talking about. I try to avoid widgets with that ugly looking thing. Which is why I'm currently using transparent widgets.
These screenshots have been taken with this app called "shoot me" As you can seen, they look perfectly fine
But, now look at these pictures taken with my digital camera

hello00 said:
I know what he is talking about. I try to avoid widgets with that ugly looking thing. Which is why I'm currently using transparent widgets.
These screenshots have been taken with this app called "shoot me" As you can seen, they look perfectly fine
But, now look at these pictures taken with my digital camera
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Looking at the pics you posted I believe this is the banding problem alot have referred too caused by the 65k limitation on the screen.. Yes it is capable of 262k but the devs haven't figured out how to unlock it yet.. Winmo say it's a software limitation.. Hope this is a lil explanation.. The reason your screen shot doesn't show it, is cause android itself isn't limited to 65k colors only the screen is (currently)..
Swyped from my desire hd2

squish099 said:
Looking at the pics you posted I believe this is the banding problem alot have referred too caused by the 65k limitation on the screen.. Yes it is capable of 262k but the devs haven't figured out how to unlock it yet.. Winmo say it's a software limitation.. Hope this is a lil explanation.. The reason your screen shot doesn't show it, is cause android itself isn't limited to 65k colors only the screen is (currently)..
Swyped from my desire hd2
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Click to collapse
Thanks for your explanation. This doesn't bother me at all. Just wanted to post some ss's so you guys could have an idea what the OP is reffering to.

Pens and DreamS said:
Thank you all for your answers. Will try another launcher and see.
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Click to collapse
Hi, can you update us on whether this has worked for you?
I'm facing this problem too, and I'm still keeping the power control widget even though the pixelated one looks very ugly..

[Q] Ugly gradients in UI elements and apps

Hello,
I've run BiffMod-HD2 Vanilla Froyo and am currently running MDJ's CyanogenMod 7 Gingerbread on my HD2.
In both instances, UI elements and apps with gradients look low-quality and have step banding.
I think it may be only with PNG files used in backgrounds, buttons, and widgets etc. Anyway, its ugly. Does anybody know why this is and how to fix it?
I took screenshots, but they the gradients look perfectly smooth when I view them on my computer.

I'm having the same issue. It's happened on every ROM I've flashed. Hopefully someone will provide some insight here.

Does anybody know?

Same problem. I think, it happens because HD2 screen is 65k colours only, and Windows Mobile UI is adapted for this mode. But Android was designed for AMOLED screens with millions of colours...

wilderwind said:
Same problem. I think, it happens because HD2 screen is 65k colours only, and Windows Mobile UI is adapted for this mode. But Android was designed for AMOLED screens with millions of colours...
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Click to collapse
Yes the banding is due to 65K color limitation to the HD2 screen. I guess the banding disappears while using the Launcher Pro.

kundanjuit said:
Yes the banding is due to 65K color limitation to the HD2 screen. I guess the banding disappears while using the Launcher Pro.
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Click to collapse
Is it hardware or software limitation? Any way to unlock another color modes?

It is not hardware limitations. There is already another thread with a ton of info. If you want banding to go away, use LauncherPro WITHOUT a live wallpaper until a permanent fix is implemented.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=933444&highlight=banding

mayurolla said:
It is not hardware limitations. There is already another thread with a ton of info. If you want banding to go away, use LauncherPro WITHOUT a live wallpaper until a permanent fix is implemented.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=933444&highlight=banding
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Click to collapse
Thanks. I didn't think it was because of the screen's color limitations. If so you would see banding in JPGs and video. The banding only seems to appear on PNG files, which happen to be used in most graphical UI elements.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

Just tried Launcher Pro and I still have the same problem. I used to use Launcher Pro on BiffMod Froyo and the same thing. The problem presists with 2.2 Launcher, 2.3 Launcher, Zeam, ADW, and Launcher Pro.
And its not only in Widgets. It can be seen in most UI buttons, the call screen, and most predominantly in the voice command pop up. That thing looks like a coin would shoot out if Mario hit it with his fist.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

The banding remains elsewhere, but using launcherpro, the banding disappears on the widgets and wallpaper. AGAIN YOU CAN NOT USE A LIVE WALLPAPER with launcerpro or else banding will appear. Then under advanced settings, select high quality scrolling so you dont see banding while scrolling.
I'm using LauncherPro with PureGingerbread this works for me.

mayurolla said:
The banding remains elsewhere, but using launcherpro, the banding disappears on the widgets and wallpaper. AGAIN YOU CAN NOT USE A LIVE WALLPAPER with launcerpro or else banding will appear. Then under advanced settings, select high quality scrolling so you dont see banding while scrolling.
I'm using LauncherPro with PureGingerbread this works for me.
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I don't use live wallpapers. Still doesn't work for me. Oh well. Using Launcher Pro is really just. Bandaid anyway. The root of the problem is still unknown, at least to me and most people here.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

There is a thread about this and your answer you are looking for is post #10

hello00 said:
There is a thread about this and your answer you are looking for is post #10
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Awesome. Thank you.