Database Users

[Discussion] Sense Builds vs. Non-Sense Builds

I'm actively experimenting with newer builds everytime they come out. But I can't help to experience some sort of slow-/sluggyness with Sense builds?
It also seems that the Sense builds aren't that highly customizable as non-sense builds are? I might be just not that much of a sense-fan (however I really liked it under WinMo), but since I see lots of phones, in the screenshot topic, running sense builds, I was wondering if I might do something wrong ()?
Sense over non-Sense:
[+] Nice HTC Widgets
[+] Nice Clock/looks
non-Sense over Sense:
[+] Highly Customizable (especially with ADW.Launcher)
[+] Seems faster (to me that is, subjective of course!)

SENSE FTW!
i've tried non-sense (not nonsense though, just personal preference) builds b4, but i couldn't get pass the plain contacts which can't really link from here to there.
the HTC People seamlessly links your contacts to emails and facebook and twitter and whatsapp accounts, and the ability to view the facebook albums using HTC gallery as though the pictures were in the phone.
Plus the decently nice weather widgets, friends stream widget, and the multilanguage supported keyboard with handwriting tools for Chinese input, etc etc.
I vote for Sense because it makes Sense!

I'm pro sense, because of its contact manager and dialer.

I don't like sense builds. But non-sense builds freezes will kill me..

I've came across some weird crashes with Sense builds. Sometimes SetCPU would crash, or even Sense would crash and reboot.
I also like the fact that in non-Sense builds it is possible to change the DPI, probably also possible in Sense builds but I haven't found out how yet..

I cant use sense builds. Id prefer them but every single one I have tried has a screwed up contacts directory. Every contact is duplicated about 6 times.
Saying that I do love the non sense and the amount I can customize it. There are things I like and dislike about both

Below are my conclusions regarding sense vs non sense
Disadvantages of Sense are
[+] Have a nice looking of "Sense"
[-] Camera only 3M,if there's 5M,it usually have camera premature
[-] Unreliable connection and most of all PPP based
Disadvateges of Non Sense (CM Based) are
[+] Stable connection of data,usually use RMNET
[+] Good camera (dont have premature flash)
[-] G-Sensor dont working very well,sometime freeze
[-] Cant use automatic backlight because light Sensor not working well

non-sense builds!
i started using android with sense-builds. after some times i got tired of switching from one screen to another, so i reduced ist to only 4, 3 and so on.
now i'm on a non sense build with adw-launcher. i can use more shortcuts, use other apps and have all i want in 3 screens.
adw-launcher is awesome, very stable and gives you so much possibilities!!

Well I'm for sense i guess, used both and come to the conclusion that I bought the HTC HD2 for the look of the GUI, and i can't draw myself away from it, its pretty customisable and the build I'm currently using it brilliant, no lag, no sod, superb!

I love the sense widgits and UI and such, but I absolutely hate the Sense dialer and contacts setup. I much prefer AOPS or Wysie's contacts and dialer setup, and if I could figure out how to get them working in Sense, I would totally have the best of both worlds.

Does it matter which is better? We as HD2 users have the liberty of choosing between many different builds and that is what makes it the best phone ever.
For the record, I use both.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

sense with no sense
I´m also experiencing overall slowdown when using sense, particularly in desktop swipeing. But on the other hand sense brings good keyboard, dialer, sync and widgets.
So I decided to go the "Darkstone"-way - using sense ROM with LauncherPro as desktop UI. SenseUI does not even load which saves up good memory.
My experience with that combination is very good.....

psykick5 said:
Does it matter which is better? We as HD2 users have the liberty of choosing between many different builds and that is what makes it the best phone ever.
For the record, I use both.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, it doesn't matter at all. I just wanted to discuss the pros and cons of both UIs. It's nice to have a discussion about it, so people can read up and have a decent overview of the differences between the two type of builds.

WoutH said:
Nope, it doesn't matter at all. I just wanted to discuss the pros and cons of both UIs. It's nice to have a discussion about it, so people can read up and have a decent overview of the differences between the two type of builds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I enjoy having both hand generally use the one that gives better battery life.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

I started out with non-sense builds, but I find the sense ones to be a little more stable (They're the ones where the compass works well and freezes are minimal). I don't really like the Sense UI though so I run ADW on top of it.

SpacemanGep said:
I started out with non-sense builds, but I find the sense ones to be a little more stable (They're the ones where the compass works well and freezes are minimal). I don't really like the Sense UI though so I run ADW on top of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you don't like the Sense, why did you buy the HD2? That was the main selling point of this phone when released, the ease of use and beauty that sense provided!
But I do agree with you that sense builds are a little more stable and freeze free when it comes to the build I'm using, I can honestly say hand on heart, for two weeks now I've had 0 freezes!!

burpingboy said:
SENSE FTW!
i've tried non-sense (not nonsense though, just personal preference) builds b4, but i couldn't get pass the plain contacts which can't really link from here to there.
the HTC People seamlessly links your contacts to emails and facebook and twitter and whatsapp accounts, and the ability to view the facebook albums using HTC gallery as though the pictures were in the phone.
Plus the decently nice weather widgets, friends stream widget, and the multilanguage supported keyboard with handwriting tools for Chinese input, etc etc.
I vote for Sense because it makes Sense!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything you stated is incorrect right down to the weather widget.
I know you didn't do it on purpose but I have never seen a more blatantly wrong series of statements.
I use HyperDroid (Non-sense) and my contacts are linked to Facebook/Twitter etc, etc.
I actually have and use the same weather widget as sense BUT I can change my weather icons and it does more than just show me the weather.
Freinds streaming is certainly available also... I use the facebook widget. I dont know about chinese characters but i dont need them either. However there are other languages that are supported.
To each his/her own... but at least lets have the real info.
Cheers.

I'm using cyanogen builds hyperdroid1.6 and bangsters1.5. I have tried a lot of builds and cyanogen stuck out over sence aesthetically and was more stable. I did enjoy sence dialler until I discovered dialler one in the bangsters build. I'm not giving up on sence once a good one rolls out that can please my demands as good or better than cyanogen or stock froyo it will have a home on my SD
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

jmmmmm said:
Everything you stated is incorrect right down to the weather widget.
I know you didn't do it on purpose but I have never seen a more blatantly wrong series of statements.
I use HyperDroid (Non-sense) and my contacts are linked to Facebook/Twitter etc, etc.
I actually have and use the same weather widget as sense BUT I can change my weather icons and it does more than just show me the weather.
Freinds streaming is certainly available also... I use the facebook widget. I dont know about chinese characters but i dont need them either. However there are other languages that are supported.
To each his/her own... but at least lets have the real info.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, after reading your post, and experiencing unresolvable errors with com.htc.bgp force close due to HTC Facebook syncing, i've decided to give non-sense another try. This time it's bangster 1.5, still downloading.
Cheers!

seems like this has been dormant for quite some time...
After using bangsters 1.5 for like 2 weeks, i've decided to switch back to M-deejay's evo sense 1.8 revolution with the latest Hastarin 7.6 kernel to try again.
Some of my findings:
Sense wins in terms of:
Facebook link to contacts:-
Sense: manual linking is alot more simple and user-friendly
Non-Sense: have to rename contacts to be exactly same as facebook, otherwise manual linking is possible but very tedious: contacts, settings, edit contacts, join, find facebook contact, confirm, back, back, back, and if any mistakes, have to separate and re-join.
Dialer:-
Sense: predictive t9 + phone no. dialer showing facebook display pictures fine
Non-Sense: default phone dialer no predictive t9, but shows facebook pics; Dialer One with predictive t9, but no predictive phone no., and facebook display pictures does not show
Default email app
While there are dedicated email apps for Gmail and Yahoo Mail, the default email app on Non-Sense builds is really restrictive, you cannot move mails between folders, you can't even retrieve your mails that you accidentally deleted but still in the trash folder. But these could be solved by 3rd party apps like K9.
but Non-Sense wins in terms of:
Customizability:-
Non-Sense: Best part of Non-Sense is its customizability. From changing LCD density, and choosing one out of so many launchers, customizing the themes and looks of your phone, no. of rows and columns, smooth transition from portrait to landscape, setting soft buttons, shortcuts, folders, drawers, etc.
Sense: somehow most of the sense widgets (weather, email, sms, friendstream, news) are oversized, takes up a full page, and cannot customize the size.
Alot of other things like camera 5mp, overclocking, battery, screen freezes, sods, etc are dependent on roms, builds and kernels, so i won't use those as a comparison between sense and non-sense.
Both are good in their own way, and i'm just glad that i'm using a HD2 which allows me to experience the best of both worlds!

Sense and Launcher Pro

Was wondering if this was possible on our hd2s?
I like all the htc skins parts in android (dialer, text, browser, general theme) but want launcher pro instead on the sense home screen.
I use taskiller but the sense stuff always comes back. I did a search and found this on the evo forum. Sounds good, would it mess the phone? Or not work at all?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=769525

worst case scenario is that you have to start your android build again.
no danger of bricking the phone anyway......
id try it but id want sense back after 10 mins.....
what im wondering is why dont you just run a non sense android build?

was trying to get it working, but unsure how to run it? its a zip file which contains loads of other files that i cant run?

I use ADW launcher with MDJ Froyo 1.1 Matt with no problems as my default launcher and that is a sense build, it actualy runs a little smoother in my opinion.

I use Launcher Pro on top of Sense (see my build and pic below). It is fantastic. I recommend purchasing the full, as well as purchasing Beautiful Widgets (both from the market).
Fantastic custom screen and faster movement.

woks well, but with froyo I am always fighting for a bit of ram. If froyo is your type of build then launcher pro is recommended. You can still launch the radio via programs

Install your launcher of choice from the market/apk and when you click the home button you'll get a pop-up asking which one you'd like to use (sense/your other launcher). click the box saying "always use this choice" and select your launcher. Sense will close, your launcher will open and that's it, done.
You can change your option later if you regret it in your system settings.

So, what your saying is that it doesnt matter? Its just when using taskiller i see the services restarting all the time...

I'm not saying it won't stop the services from starting all the time (there's probably a way round that as well, although I've not bothered looking) but the services shouldn't use much ram anyway, and they're responsible for other background tasks, not just the graphical front end.

Yeah, I dont want to stop it all...just certain parts. Im unsure how to run the file which i posted up on the original post...any ideas? I would like to try it as it sounds ideal (you might like the sound of it yourself)

I don't think I would run that file with these builds. Go download a Nexus build if you really want no Sense. Otherwise, some files run, but take so little space it is incidental.
For example HTC Sense takes a several MB's when running as your home screen. Using Launcher Pro as default home causes that number to drop to 48kb...almost nothing.
And I would get Home Switcher from the market in case you change your mind later or need to access Sense.

So...just to confirm I cannot get rid of the sense launcher...but keep:
taskbar
dialer
skinned browser
general theme throughout
It it honestly just me that wants this haha!

fracmo2000 said:
So...just to confirm I cannot get rid of the sense launcher...but keep:
taskbar
dialer
skinned browser
general theme throughout
It it honestly just me that wants this haha!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would be nice to know how to flash that file uploaded in the evo forum..
Anyone knows how to dit it and ill give it a try

I tried, but dont know how...can any expert look at my original post and see?
Other parts of the xda forum ask for this...but here im told to use either sense or froyo...i want the best of both.

HTC - Explorer/Camera/Camcorder/Mail App - is it possible to export these?

Hi guys,
Sorry if this seems like a silly question, but the mail app, camera apps, and customised explorer are the ONLY parts of the official Sense builds I'd actually miss.
The answer may be around somewhere, but I haven't seen it yet; is it possible to get these apps by themselves for use on a NON-SENSE ROM. So for example if I was to go to Oxygen, I'd get all the benefits of an AOSP ROM and the additional speed, but retain the customised camera, internet and mail app.
Honestly everything else I use can be downloaded from the market, its just these apps I miss when I move away from HTC/Leedroid, infact Im quite happy with Zeam as a launcher.

this has been asked and answered a million times already...
you cant run sense apps on an aosp rom - they require the sense framework to be running, which doesnt exist on a rom that doesnt include sense.
you can run a launcher such as zeam on a sense rom though, and the htc apps should work (dont think the widgets will)

[Q] Help choosing a ROM

Hi Chaps,
I'm getting pretty fed up with crashes, performance and low space on my Orange Hero w/2.1, as well as still being miffed by Orange screwing up everything with their tinkering of 2.1, sooooo, I'm going to flash.
But, I need some help, 'cause I think I'm just getting too old for all this tinkering lark and I'm reading up on a lot of ROMS and just can't choose - I'm reading, but nothing is sinking in!
So, I like Sense, or at least I think I do. What I actually like is contacts / Facebook integration, 7 pages of home screen and the HTC weather clock and the weather animations when I unlock the phone. I like the threaded SMS.
I DON'T LIKE: Orange screwing up the speed dial widget, running out of space, the fact that the default camera apps photos have gone 'stripey' since 2.1, (other cam apps are fine). A lot of complete hangs and force closes, including lately, something.htc.bgp force closing several times a day.
I use GPS a lot (CoPilot, Cardio Trainer, Latitude, Maps) and listen to music. The std music player is average and slow, but has some good features (headphone out pause, album art, lock screen control).
So, a lot of requests there, but I think it boils down to me needing: performance, apps2SD and reliability, and compatibility with a wide range of apps. Root not essential, since I run all the apps I need to, but I guess it comes part and parcel with flashing a new ROM. I have already installed and rooted with universal Androot.
Any help for me?
Thanks,
Rich.

Hi there
If sense is a must, look at rcmix. 2.1 with sense.
If You would like to experiment a bit You can try some of the 2.2roms, ie floyo, villain 1.6 to name a few. But it is hard to find a good dialer, and Facebook integration is on much lower level than sense roms. They should be quicker, so depends on You hope this helps
Sent from my HTC Hero using XDA App

I'm not sure if Sense is a must actually... what does it give me? The 'skinned' buttons across the bottom of the screen i suppose (phone, apps and add), but there ae other apps that do this aren't there? (Launchers?). What else does sense actually do that I might miss if I don't have it?
Is Rcmix running android 2.1 as it's version number suggests? Is there nothing with 2.2 yet? I see Rcmix does appstoSD, and I think after the phone just running right, space is my next biggest issue, so I suppose it could keep me happy.

I extremely agree with you. You have just, like, took this out of my head and put it on the forums!
Except, for me, the most important thing is the facebook integration. Doesn't the actual Facebook app provide that outside of sense?
something.htc.bgp is the location service, I think. After that crashing, foursquare stops working properly. I can't live like this.

With the Facebook intergration, I just like the way my contacts show pics from Facebook, and I get the status updates from the contacts too.

I think I'm gonna try Cyanogen. It's the most popular, I don't think much can go wrong. Still, I'm massively scared, haha!

I agree RCMix along wit kimera2.1 are great choices wit flykernal 11c or bfs. Had both and rarely had issues. Biggest losses from not having sense is the weather clock and a decent dialer if u plan to try a 2.2 rom

This might seem biased, but if you try following the instructions from this thread you will end up with a very nice, speedy hero setup. It even has info in there of a very fast, usable dialler app, as well as an app to sync your facebook contact pics.
LauncherPro Plus has a Facebook stream widget built-in, and you can either use BeautifulWidgets or FancyWidget for the clock.
Should all be in the post! (Don't worry, it's not as complicated as it looks, and its a lot to read, but might be worth it for you).
Zeb

Well, I got Cyanogen Mod, and so far I'm very happy with it. Definitely will try out the widgets from above

Me too... went for Zebwen's suggestion above (Thanks!) and pretty happy with it. Took a bit of customisation to get it nice, but now I know how easy it is to flash, I'll probably try a few.
Am I right in thinking I can do as many Nandroid backups as I want, and later on, restore to any previous, full setup, including Apps and data?

Verified my own question on Nand backups.
I had a problem yesterday with the camera force closing... is this a known issue? Reboot seems to have cured it so far, but despite the rest of the ROM being fine, the camera does seem a bit 'iffy'. Exposure wouldn't adjust when using it with barcode scanner the other day.

I've lost interest in my phone - how can i make it more interesting?

I guess i lost interest about mid-december. I dunno why, but for some reason I've had it a year now and i don't bother with new apps or anything, the home screen sort of bores me, and I think i need re-integrating with the android world to find out what apps are good nowadays, what homescreens and i was wondering what ROMs people would recommend i use for revitalising my android experience?
Currently i'm using Floyo 1.1.9.
On my computer i generally use tumblr and twitter a lot, dunno if there's any new (or newly improved) apps out there for either of those, as an addition?

Get launcher pro and check out their transition effects http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIK9yBlWYt4
also beautiful widgets are nice as well
and there are lots of themes and icons in the market to beautify your phone check the themes and apps section in this forums
lot of people have posted they screenshots of their phone home screenshots
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=587964

Suggestion
Hi
I too had lost interest in my Hero, and still have to a certain extent.
I found that the Market had lots of apps, but many of them were too big/resource intensive for my lil' old Hero. Also that the memory size is so small on the Hero that I kept getting warnings saying that there was insufficient space for any new apps.
Here are my suggestions:
1. Flash the Elelinux gingerbread ROM v 1.1.1 (or whatever the latest version is). It is very nice, pretty stable and makes a nice change.
2. Play with overclocking apps, you might get a bit more performance out of the Hero
3. Go to the new Market web site. It is very cool. It allows the installation of apps from the web page straight to the phone. Much easier to navigate and mess about with.
That's pretty much it.
Hope this helps
Hamish