A few android question - Android Software Development

Hi,
I've been with WinMo since 2001 until about a week ago when I switched to andriod. I have many questions and was unsure where to turn to. I will try here. If there is a better place, please let me know.
I have a Desire Z that I got with ATT 3G bands. I have successfully rooted the device, overclocked it, and installed Cyanogen 6.
1) When I hit the power button, I still have to swipe my finger across the screen to unlock. How do I make it so I don't have to do this?
2) I had some difficulty upgrading to Cyanogen 6 and was unable to get 7 to work. IfI want to mess around further with roms, is there some way I can backup EVERYTHING so if I screw up, I can make my phone exactly the way I have it now without a whole lot of work re-installing stuff, etc.?
3) The link to the phone, app, and browser are all stuck on the bottom of the phone. Can I get rid of this?
4) When laying apps out on the home screen, there seems to be some kind of grid that they are locked into that makes it hard to move them exactly where I want them. It will let me lay them so they overlap each other, but not very close to each other. Is there some way to overcome this?
5) I can't seem to arrange apps close to the top of the screen because the garbage can overlay slides down and when I move the app near the top it thinks I am trying to throw it away.
6) Is there an app that will show both the current weather and an icon for the weather conditions in the status bar?

Wow, a lot of questions...
1, Go to Settings->CyanogenMod Settings->Input Settings and select Trackball wake/Trackball Unlock or Menu Unlock and after that you will be able to select Disable Unlock Slider
2, Try Titanium Backup (https://market.android.com/details?id=com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup)
3, As far as I know CM6 uses ADW.Launcher as default launcher. You can change it to LauncherPro (https://market.android.com/details?id=com.fede.launcher) which is fully customisable
4, There is a grid which can't be changed
5, LauncherPro has the trash icon at the bottom
6, Sorry, I didn't find any

Try beautiful Widgets for the weather
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

TheRedDrake said:
Try beautiful Widgets for the weather
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't display conditions in the notification bar, but otherwise it's one of the bests
Sent from my GT-I5700 using XDA Premium App

Hello Everyone.
I went and found some of these answers on my own. I also was able to upgrade to CM7.
1) I found an app for it but will try PsHeger's solution.
2) I found that the bootloader/Rom manager do a good job of this, too.
3) I was able to remove it in the app launcher rather than using pro.
4) This absolutely pisses me off. I have a Winmo 6.5 phone that lets me have a nice, organized home screen. I can't believe there isn't a better solution to this. Good lord.
6) Go Weather App does this.

if you set your grid settings to 10x10 rows and columns in launcher pro, you can put the icons and widgets pretty much anywhere.

kevin2516 said:
if you set your grid settings to 10x10 rows and columns in launcher pro, you can put the icons and widgets pretty much anywhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try this, but you will need to buy a pro key for laincherpro to strech the widgets or they will look really stuid
Sent from my GT-I5700 using XDA Premium App

I found that the auto stretch check box pretty much solved the problem with layout.

synpax said:
I found that the auto stretch check box pretty much solved the problem with layout.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't know it works without pro key

Related

[Q] [Req] Homescreen Switcher + several questions

Hey mates,
i have this friend (he's the typical iDork) who keeps annoying me with comments about how ugly he finds my homescreens...
i used to have only one scene (The Sense HD remix scene in minimal grey).
now i'd like to install launcher pro and make it look awesome, custom icons, everything designed as minimal as it gets.
only problem, every time i hit "home" my beloved desire asks me what homescreen it should return to. i know i can make it remember one of the two, but if i want to change then, i'd have to work through the settings and options...
so, here's my request:
a SIMPLE, SEXY WIDGET, that can instantly change the launcher assigned to the home button. i think it's not much work to do, if the API allows apps to change settings (not sure about that).
I'm a C++ programmer with zero experience in java, so i can't do it myself.
finally, i'd like to know how i can mod the launcher pro in the ways seen around on this forum (e.g. Mnml Icons as buttons etc.)
Thanks for your time,
Max
PS: does anyone know a widget for email/sms with a minimal style, such as Cal Widget with transparent background.
Settings > Applications > Manage Applications > LauncherPro > Clear Defaults.
Do you need a widget for that? ..
this isn't my point
i want to be able to switch between two launchers FAST, so i have, let's say a private and a business launcher, one designed for usability, and the other for style.
i don't want to reassign the home button everytime i want to switch, thats why i wnat a widget, or a shortcut, which i just touch once.
but since it seems like i'm the only person here switching frequently between launchers, i guess i'll have to code something myself.
anyway, thx for your time.
Oh.
Not a bad idea.
Good luck.
maxupp said:
Hey mates,
i have this friend (he's the typical iDork) who keeps annoying me with comments about how ugly he finds my homescreens...
i used to have only one scene (The Sense HD remix scene in minimal grey).
now i'd like to install launcher pro and make it look awesome, custom icons, everything designed as minimal as it gets.
only problem, every time i hit "home" my beloved desire asks me what homescreen it should return to. i know i can make it remember one of the two, but if i want to change then, i'd have to work through the settings and options...
so, here's my request:
a SIMPLE, SEXY WIDGET, that can instantly change the launcher assigned to the home button. i think it's not much work to do, if the API allows apps to change settings (not sure about that).
I'm a C++ programmer with zero experience in java, so i can't do it myself.
finally, i'd like to know how i can mod the launcher pro in the ways seen around on this forum (e.g. Mnml Icons as buttons etc.)
Thanks for your time,
Max
PS: does anyone know a widget for email/sms with a minimal style, such as Cal Widget with transparent background.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is an app on the market that can do that.
TheRedDrake said:
There is an app on the market that can do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HomeSwitcher.
Works from 1.5 - 2.1, I think.
Certainly doesn't support 2.2
zHk3R said:
HomeSwitcher.
Works from 1.5 - 2.1, I think.
Certainly doesn't support 2.2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No,not home switcher. It was called easy switcher or something like that, can't say for sure. It supported widgets for quick switching also. I found several with similar function Launcher switcher/Home manager/, don't know if this one has widgets.
thanks mates,
homeswitcher does indeed not support android 2.2.
anyway, i found "Launcher Switcher" BUT:
- doesn't provide a widget
- sends me to the android settings screen, when i want to re-bind the home button
so, i stiiiiiiiiill haven't fouuuuuuuuund, what i'm looking foooooor....
Cleardefaulthome
It takes you straight to the current launcher info page where you press clear defaults, then press home and select the one you want. Its the best option atm.
Sent from my HTC Desire

Widget Positioning

Hi,
I am fairly new to the Android world and I have some questions for you guys.
So as I said the Atrix is my first Android phone I've already rooted it and done all the modification we, bell users, can do.
There is one thing that I think is really weird and its the widget positioning. Why do all widgets have 1/8 of free space on top, on bottom and on the side? And why is there already "pre-designed" area to put you widget in? It feels to me like I can't place them like I want... Am I doing something wrong or is there an option somewhere to remove that?
I tried searching Google for that but wasn't able to find the right word so I can get relevant results.
I am currently using Go Laucher.
Thanks for you help and sorry if there is some english mistake, english isn't my first language.
It is like a fixed grid, but you can have some more freedom/customization using apps like luncher pro
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
I'll try Laucher Pro then!
Thank you!
suleiman.aql said:
It is like a fixed grid, but you can have some more freedom/customization using apps like luncher pro
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
or using go launcher create a 5x5 grid, or use desktop visualizer to use custom icons all over, etc etc
LauncherPro Plus allows widget resizing. Get it if you dont already have it.
Stick with Go Launcher because 1) it's free and 2) it allows widget resizing without paying (ala Launcher Pro Plus).
Set your grid to 4x5 tight or 5x5 extra tight and you will have barely any margins on the sides.
I changed to 5x5 and it helped a lot!!
Thanks to everyone!
I've got a question slightly related, is there a way to set up the original homescreen launcher to come up when I press the home button because I got Go Launcher and pressing home only seems to go there and I have to kill it to get back to the original screen.
Shadohw said:
I've got a question slightly related, is there a way to set up the original homescreen launcher to come up when I press the home button because I got Go Launcher and pressing home only seems to go there and I have to kill it to get back to the original screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
settings/applications/manage applications/go launcher/clear defaults
Thanks for the reply, I already did that but i can set the default for the home button as as the original launcher as long as I have other launchers installed, the original just doesn't show up in the list of choices. I have Launcher Pro as well as I was testing which I would like better but when I press home the list comes up with only Go & Pro launchers, I guess I'll just have to go with a third party one then it seems the default launcher doesn't get it's own app or whatever.
just uninstall them if you dont want to use 3rd party launcher....its that simple
Shadohw said:
I've got a question slightly related, is there a way to set up the original homescreen launcher to come up when I press the home button because I got Go Launcher and pressing home only seems to go there and I have to kill it to get back to the original screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
get home switcher from the market its free i have like four dif ui on my atrix

[Q] App to lock individual home screen

I have one homescreen that has my emails and calendar. I would either like it hidden or with its own look screen. is there an app or a launcher that does that. i apologize in advance if this is the wrong place to post.
I'm a little shaky on understanding what you mean. Are you trying to ask if you could have different wallpapers for each home page? Can you elaborate a bit more?
Protocol 7 said:
I'm a little shaky on understanding what you mean. Are you trying to ask if you could have different wallpapers for each home page? Can you elaborate a bit more?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have 3 homescreens. 2 are general, roughly divided by activities and contain and have no easy access to sensitive information. The third homescreen has my emails, my calendar, office access and has widgets to have the information visible on the homscreen. I don't want everyone who has access to the table to have access to those accounts.
When I am working on my tablet i like these things to be there and easily accesbile to me. Therefore, I would like to be able to either hide this homescreen - not accessible by casual presses or swipes, or separately lockscreen it. so even if the tablet is unlocked and active, say I hand it to a colleague, if they scroll through the homescreens, this one either wouldn't show, or would have a second lock screen, without showing the content of the real homescreen.
you can password protect individual applications. http://www.android-password.com/
I Know I can do that, but what i want to do is hide one of the homescreens that has widgets to those apps open.
killersnowman said:
you can password protect individual applications. http://www.android-password.com/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I know what deecee52 is asking for, and I don't think it's possible, But I'd really like to thank you for that link
Not sure if it will help but you can simply install a second launcher and set it up with the widget/app you want to hide and create a invisible shortcut (in the corner of a screen or something).
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
or use Regina 3D Launcher
- Secret workspaces where you can hide some of your app shortcuts and widgets for your privacy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
swee08315 said:
I think I know what deecee52 is asking for, and I don't think it's possible, But I'd really like to thank you for that link
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats why i gave the link and the alternate idea, because at this time i dont think you can lock an entire home screen without that functionality being built into the launcher itself
Thanks for the suggestions. I like the idea of Regina 3d, although it doesn't seem to be on the market anymore.
I've thought of two browsers and widgetlocker, not sure if it will work. Hoping one of our crack devs might look into this for one of the launchers
Hi,
you might have some luck looking into the hide calls/sms/apps on the market to see if they have a setting that would allow you to do what your looking for. there are several ones that you could try but please read them carefully because i do know that with some if you lock something (say a photo) this way and forget the password you will not be able to access your information/pics/sms files etc you've locked. all of these are avail in the market & range from free-$12 (loky)
extreme call blocker, lock, secrets, horizon, secret phone settings & loky
not sure if any of these will do what you want but what your asking for to my knowledge can only be done with Regina 3d as meantioned already...which is a great app btw​
Also take a look into child protection type apps. I did come across Smart lock 2.0 which seems rather close to what you had described.
tittieslover said:
Not sure if it will help but you can simply install a second launcher and set it up with the widget/app you want to hide and create a invisible shortcut (in the corner of a screen or something).
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah...! This ll definitely help...
Sent from my GT-S5830 using XDA Premium App
@htccraze
thanks for the child safe approach. As I said the Regina Launcher is very attractive and the separate workspaces get pretty close to what I would like. It does not yet play well on tablets as it is only in portrait mode. I will definitely report back when I have had time to play around with some of these ideas.

Updated ADW EX for tablets

You have to check out the new adw ex which is optimized for tablets. It is simply awesome especially the main dock
Screenshots below ...
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk
works great.
Can the bar being themed easily ?
DannyBiker said:
Can the bar being themed easily ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it can.
Cool ...i run into my market !
Liking it...mostly.
Adds a new dimension to wallpaper wonkiness, unfortunately.
My wallpaper (via wizardrii) is not properly centered in landscape mode. Have not fiddled with it yet.
Anyone have any tips?
I will definitely be purchasing this for my girlfriend's 10.1.. thanks for the tip, it looks great!
Am loving it just make sure if your rubbish bin bar is located at the bottom you enable auto scaling of desktop when bin bar is used, otherwise you won't be able to add icons to the docking bar !
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Mine works well for an hour or so, then takes an age for an app to return to the launcher. Only way to fix is to reboot the tab. Anyone else seen this?
Is there a light or trial version that I can try for free? I can't find one in the market.
TabGuy said:
Is there a light or trial version that I can try for free? I can't find one in the market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Buy it from android market and you will have 15 mts to refund. I know not much you can do in 15 mts, but something better than nothing.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA Premium App
Pottsy said:
Mine works well for an hour or so, then takes an age for an app to return to the launcher. Only way to fix is to reboot the tab. Anyone else seen this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got the same problem, when i exits some app the screen goes black and nothing happens for a long time and then the desktop appears.
/qsec
Sent from my GT-P7500 using Tapatalk
Wallpapers aren't rendered properly, and my dock bar just disappeared on mine. Still has a ways to go on tablets.
Dock bar going away is a common "problem" with ADW. Turn off hidden dockbar in the settings, turn off gestures.
I went ahead and set mine up without a dockbar, and with just the ADW settings menu item in the top right. Removed the trash bin as well (long-press then Remove from the desktop works just fine).
"Endless" page scrolling, page-turn animation of Tilt, 350 turn speed, 15 desktop bounce, and a theme that has a transparent top menu bar. Desktop has 9x7 columns/rows, icons scaled to 95%, density hack off. App drawer is 6x6, in 4D vertical scroll.
Basically, it looks pretty much like Honeycomb at a glance, but without the one-inch "tap space" wasted on the left and right screen edges. It's much faster and smoother. About the only performance issue I've had is that it doesn't handle "card" widgets like YouTube, Market or News360 as smoothly as stock, when you go to "fling" a card away.
Maybe I'm just getting old and simple, but I don't really see the point of having the excessive customization of ADW on a Honeycomb tab. I have my homescreen setup with two widgets and about 12 regular icons, then the next screen over has some lesser used stuff. If I need any other apps I just open the app drawer and easily locate them. I mean, it's neat to make things whiz-bang and all, but from a usability perspective there's already so much overkill built in to Honeycomb that ADW doesn't seem worth the time.
On my phone, ADW is great, however. Now get off my lawn.
burhanistan said:
Maybe I'm just getting old and simple, but I don't really see the point of having the excessive customization of ADW on a Honeycomb tab. I have my homescreen setup with two widgets and about 12 regular icons, then the next screen over has some lesser used stuff. If I need any other apps I just open the app drawer and easily locate them. I mean, it's neat to make things whiz-bang and all, but from a usability perspective there's already so much overkill built in to Honeycomb that ADW doesn't seem worth the time.
On my phone, ADW is great, however. Now get off my lawn.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't have to use the power of ADW, it's just there waiting to be harnessed if you want it.
In fact, you can use ADW to simplify it, for example you can delete unused home screens, unlike stock Honeycomb. Doing things like adding widgets or changing wallpapers is also cleaner and quicker than the flashy Honeycomb interface. It's simpler.
I'm a card carrying member of the Curmudgeon's Club of Canada, by the way.
burhanistan said:
Maybe I'm just getting old and simple, but I don't really see the point of having the excessive customization of ADW on a Honeycomb tab. I have my homescreen setup with two widgets and about 12 regular icons, then the next screen over has some lesser used stuff. If I need any other apps I just open the app drawer and easily locate them. I mean, it's neat to make things whiz-bang and all, but from a usability perspective there's already so much overkill built in to Honeycomb that ADW doesn't seem worth the time.
On my phone, ADW is great, however. Now get off my lawn.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So... You are saying that you need adw
I like simple too, and adw help me doing that.
I mean, I do not need the 3d cubic scrolling effects, neither than the futuristic widget selection screen, or the quick search bar at the top.
I didn't choose to display the dock too in adw.
And it is so fast, close to the ipad smoothness.
Croak said:
Dock bar going away is a common "problem" with ADW. Turn off hidden dockbar in the settings, turn off gestures.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is not a problem but a feature hehe. If you slide one the dock, it disappear. I you slide again it appears. I think you can disable somewhere that movement.
ADW still sucks on the Tab..not only are the card/live widgets like Youtube slow to flick like someone said, but the worst thing is that for certain widget, like the Digital Clock stock Tab one...it looks fine when using the Tab landscape at first, then every single time I rotate to portrait view, the widget re-draws for new orientation and both left and right sides of the widget are not cut off. This does not adjust/fix itself instantly like stock launcher does and the only way to really fix it is to re-add widget or sometimes turn screen off and on.
I like the smoothness of the launcher/drawer but I aint dealing with this **** where a widget gets screwed up every single time....too annoying to deal with. Why is this such a hard thing to get right?? Is there a fix for this or no? I am not resizing the widget to begin with btw...just adding it as normal size. The homescreen size I use is 8 columns and 7 rows btw, just like stock.
Oh and why in the app drawer, the the top still unmatching/not dimmed like the rest of the drawer below it? Looks so stupid. They should dim it too and still keep the buttons in the top right corner, ughh.
EDIT: Here, compare landscape to portrait when flipped. Not only does that Digital Clock widget get cut off, but also look at the Wireless Widget..it looks ridiculous now.
EDIT2: I unchecked the ADW option for resizing widgets to fit blah blah but the same thing still happens where the Clock widget, for example, gets cut off after going vertical.. although the Wifi Widget looks a little less ridiculous now when turning. Anyone know about the widget issue though??
TabGuy said:
Is there a light or trial version that I can try for free? I can't find one in the market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 15 minute refund policy really sucks, especially for apps like ADW EX where you really need some time to get a feel for how you like it and check out all the customizations. To get around it you can always buy it, pull the apk from /data/apps (requires root), refund it, and re-install the program using the pulled apk file. This way you can take your time to play around with the app before deciding if you want to keep it. If you do go ahead and re-buy it from market. If you decide not to buy it do the honest thing and uninstall the program.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using XDA Premium App

Best launcher for an 80 year old (so they can't mess it up)

Guys,
I need to set this up for a grandparent, and I need a launcher that has some "lockdown" mode, where you can set up like 10 buttons, and it can't be messed up. 5 website shortcuts, 3 online radio stations, couple more things, that's it. Grandparent with fat fingers/little knowledge, but very excited to use. Any ideas? Can't use a launcher that can be easily and accidentally changed (buttons dragged, deleted, screen altered, etc). I just need it like a kiosk - rock stable and little options...
Thanks for any ideas
Wp7 launcher might be best. Not sure if you can lock the homescreen. Windows phone seems to be for old people anyways.
Sent from my Sense 4.0 powered HTC Glacier
acsi007 said:
Guys,
I need to set this up for a grandparent, and I need a launcher that has some "lockdown" mode, where you can set up like 10 buttons, and it can't be messed up. 5 website shortcuts, 3 online radio stations, couple more things, that's it. Grandparent with fat fingers/little knowledge, but very excited to use. Any ideas? Can't use a launcher that can be easily and accidentally changed (buttons dragged, deleted, screen altered, etc). I just need it like a kiosk - rock stable and little options...
Thanks for any ideas
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AWD/EX has an option to lock home screens. Then has an option to remove the quick button for "unlock homescreen". It cost a couple bucks but might be the best option. and still leave the Android feel.
GO launcher has that option..
Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda premium
Easy to use launcher w/screen lock
Hi,
I've been researching this for my dad too and found the Nemus launcher. Haven't tested it out yet, but looks like it might fit your bill (large icons, can lock screens, can be customized to have only 1 home screen).
It's available via the Google Play store, just search "Nemus."
Good luck and hope I helped.
Big launcher isn't free, but it is designed for the elderly.
Wp7 launcher looks good, but I can't find any info on layout locking, which I need. Go is great, didn't know it had that - and I will look into ADW and the other one too-- thanks for the responses. You all did your part in (indirectly) helping an elderly person across the road today... Well done...
BIG Launcher
BIG Launcher is exactly what you need - you can hide dangerous apps and lock the settings by password. Also it offers the interface with simple design and large texts.
Possibly espeir(iOS) launcher people seem to think iPhone is super user friendly
Sent from my MyTouch 4G using XDA

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