Database Users

Why Sense 3.0? (and Sense in general)

Hey guys, just wondering why some of you sware by sense. I am currently on Unity and the only thing I really use is the weather lock screen. I had to switch to Launcher Pro due to the lag of the stock launcher. I love eye candy but not at the cost of speed. Sense has always kind of been associated with the word lag it seems. So what do you guys like most about Sense and what you keeps you from moving away from it? What am I missing about these Sense ROMs?

Notification bar offer the last used applications and you can switch view to rapidly disconnect your Wifi, GPS, etc.
It's Eye-candy,the camera app contains lots of effect, you can locate your phone via htcsense.com, etc.
Also when you plug the phone to your computer you have a better interface with a lot of options like hotspot, internet computer->phone, internet phone->computer to PC AND Mac OS x.

It's awfully purty...
Sent from my T-mobile G2

Im on the awesome mexdroidmod rom, but I do miss a few aspects of sense. The lock screen is amazing, but what I really miss is the dialer and camera. I have tried many replacement apps for these but haven't found anything that suits me. I also seem to get better facebook and hotmail contact integration on sense roms. Still the speed of the non sense roms is more important to me.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

I swear by sense because it is exactly what I am used to. I used the HTC touch pro using sense for winmo and now sense for android. I like the feel and integration HTC has done for their UI.

I don't really use the Sense 3.0 (or Sense 2.0 for that matter) weather app at all.
What I do like about Sense is that it has the wifi hotspot available out of the box; no need for any extra apps to get that function.
Sense 3.0 camera also comes with the panoramic function which I think is quite handy.
I also like the quick settings available after dragging down the notifications tray. Not too sure if that's from Sense 3.0 or is it an added feature of Unity though, but it's handy and saves me from having to install the toggle widgets.

I like sense because it has the extra conveniences just like everyone likes using. I like the integration of FB contacts with the contacts. I really love how you can launch apps in the lock screen with 3.0
I dont like using the weather that much either, but the overlay is just very very pretty. Htc sense is one of the reasons android is better than iOS.

i'm on MIUI now, love MIUI's notification settings toggles, way better than sense 3.0... any way to import MIUI notification bar to non MIUI roms??
not much to complain about MIUI, some gps problems tough :/
Senses dock is so nonfunctional :/ only 3 shortcuts, and 2 of them are "useles". no need to keep customize button available @ dock. And then the appdrawer button, like to use launcher pros swipe up to open appdrawer.
I like sense too because it gives selection of usb connection types, MIUI only asks if i want to mount sdcard. for internet share, need to go though all the settings.

I'm on Unity now as well, and the Sense 3.0 launcher actually feels less laggy than past versions, especially considering all the animations. But you're right in alternate launchers are still faster/smoother, and also much customizable. I'm using ADW EX. People often ask, why use Sense if you aren't using the Sense launcher. But there is actually a lot to Sense, besides just the launcher.
The Sense camera continues to completely pwn the stock Android one in layout, looks and features. I also prefer the HTC dialer and keyboard over stock Android, although many of the differences for those are aesthetic, and its just a matter of personal preference. Of course Sense 3.0 has "trace" on the keyboard, but Swype is still better at this style of text input.
The notification area (with quick settings) and lockscreen (with fast launching of your favorite apps) on Sense 3.0 are quite nice. The HTC stock and weather apps are pretty nice too. Nothing special that can't be matched or beat by Market apps. But its nice to have apps that are integrated with the general theming of the ROM, no ads, etc.
Agree with above comment that the Sense dock is pretty useless. It takes up a lot of space for so little functionality. HTC actually added the ability to customize the dock apps for the version of Sense on the Flyer tablet. Hopefully, this is a feature they bring to the phone version of Sense.

one more thing, i like senses web browser app, it's great, is there a standalone app for nonsense phones?

Almost There Sense
For me, the things I like about sense are the social (wish tweeter and facebook were separate) and weather widgets, the lock screen and the overall look and feel.
Things that keep me on CM7 (with launcher pro) are: configuring of the dock, scrollable widgets, speed and free memory, no "The application HTC Sense (process com.htc.as) has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again" messages.
If the dock on the Sense ROM was more configurable (may have 5 icons instead of 3) and scrollable widgets, then Sense might become my DD.
On a side note, I haven't tried Launcher Pro with Sense, so maybe there is something to try. Curious how many people use Sense with non-sense launchers.
-brad

I use sense with laucherpro. Main reason for me to use sense are the following:
-Smart Dialer
-Email app (unified mailbox)
-Contact list
-Calendar (like the way how it looks)
You probably can get these options by downloading some other apps, but i like to keep my phone as stock and functional possible.

I've used CM6 and CM7 and I always end up back on a Sense ROM (lately, Sense Unity), for several reasons:
1. Camera - the stock (and CM) camera experience is ABYSMAL. Completely terrible. The Sense camera app has so many more options and just gives a MUCH better experience.
2. Sharing - this is hard to explain, but in AOSP-based ROMs, when you click to share something, the intents menu that pops up ISN'T scrollable - that means, if you have lots of apps that tie into that menu, it may crowd out the one you want to use. In Sense ROMs, this submenu is scrollable, so I can access EVERYTHING on that list.
3. Exchange mail - the Sense mail app has several improvements in functionality over the stock one, including the ability to subscribe to folders (so they automatically update), an integrated inbox with all your subscribed folders, etc. It also looks MUCH better.
4. The Sense 3.0 lockscreen is freakin amazing. Anything prior to Sense 3.0, CM7's is actually better
5. Settings - Sense has the extras that let the ringer mute itself when you pick up the phone, switch to speakerphone by putting it face-down, etc etc. I *believe* the later versions of CM7 have that as well, but it wasn't commonplace until recently.
I use LauncherPro Plus, and have on all my phones, regardless of the ROM. The customization options and lower memory profile make it a slam-dunk. I don't use Sense Launcher and I don't use ADW, so all my Sense benefits are on the backend.

I haven't used the ROM's stock launcher since my HTC Hero running 1.5. My current choice is GO Launcher EX with the paid version of Colorize Widgets or the free GOWidgerts. I would love to figure out a way to run the Sense 3.0 widgets with a third-party launcher.
As many people have already mentioned, the Sense 3.0 weather lockscreen is great. I also love the "cylinder tumblers" style of setting date and time values. I hate having to click + and - buttons. The only way it could be better is if tapping on the value allowed you to type in the number, like in stock Android. Check out the implementation in the Sense Calendar app... it has click-stops every 15 minutes.
I tend to use 3rd-party replacements for everything else (dialer, SMS, keyboard), although the camera app is quite nice. If it were possible to get just the Sense 3.0 lockscreen (with wake/sleep-on-trackpad), I'd probably go back to running CM.

Launcher Pro + Cyanogen VS. LP + MIUI

Just my personal $.02 from having used a couple of different ROM setups in the last month or two:
It seems to me that Launcher Pro works much better with Cyanogen than with MIUI. I originally ran MIUI with LP, but ran into some problems:
- LP would freeze on startup quite often. Problem could be fixed by 'force closing' LP, or giving it a long time for bootup. But still kind of annoying
- Occasionally my LP applications pane would lose all the apps. In other words, when you went to open up your applications list, it would be empty. A hot reboot would fix this. Again, annoying.
Because of these LP issues (minor but a hassle), I stopped using LP and set up the MIUI launcher to run the way I wanted to:
- put all the apps into a couple of folders to clean things up
- used Beautiful widgets & folder organizer same as I did in LP
However, I just don't like the MIUI launcher as much:
- Only allows 4 launcher icons on the bottom of the screen
- No secondary action on icons at bottom (cannot swipe icons for secondary action)
- cannot customize icons at bottom of screen
- cannot 'loop' screens around
So, I switched to Cyanogen to get back to LP. Voila - day 2 (yes its early), and it seems to work great. no bugs with LP yet, and super fast smooth. I really like using LP, and based on that preference, I have to give it to Cyanogen. There are things I miss from MIUI (hot reboot, great toggles on drop down), but some things that are better about Cyanogen (can turn off swipe when I have the pattern lock enabled).
But overall, my personal experience is that Cyanogen and LP Plus run better together than MIUI and LP Plus.

carlbettag said:
Just my personal $.02 from having used a couple of different ROM setups in the last month or two:
It seems to me that Launcher Pro works much better with Cyanogen than with MIUI. I originally ran MIUI with LP, but ran into some problems:
- LP would freeze on startup quite often. Problem could be fixed by 'force closing' LP, or giving it a long time for bootup. But still kind of annoying
- Occasionally my LP applications pane would lose all the apps. In other words, when you went to open up your applications list, it would be empty. A hot reboot would fix this. Again, annoying.
Because of these LP issues (minor but a hassle), I stopped using LP and set up the MIUI launcher to run the way I wanted to:
- put all the apps into a couple of folders to clean things up
- used Beautiful widgets & folder organizer same as I did in LP
However, I just don't like the MIUI launcher as much:
- Only allows 4 launcher icons on the bottom of the screen
- No secondary action on icons at bottom (cannot swipe icons for secondary action)
- cannot customize icons at bottom of screen
- cannot 'loop' screens around
So, I switched to Cyanogen to get back to LP. Voila - day 2 (yes its early), and it seems to work great. no bugs with LP yet, and super fast smooth. I really like using LP, and based on that preference, I have to give it to Cyanogen. There are things I miss from MIUI (hot reboot, great toggles on drop down), but some things that are better about Cyanogen (can turn off swipe when I have the pattern lock enabled).
But overall, my personal experience is that Cyanogen and LP Plus run better together than MIUI and LP Plus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have a few facts wrong about miui.
1. I've had 6 icons on the bottom dock with miui
2. You can customize the icons, use theme manager.
Just wanted to make sure you're aware of these features!
Sent from my HTC Incredible

lpp is my choice.miui doesn't have 3 scrollable docks. I love the lpp widgets for easy productivity and lpp uses themes and can change icons on home if needed. I use cm7 themes from market which also makes me content for app drawer icons

Something else to note is that Widgetlocker now works very well with android 2.3.5 (presented in latest versions of MIUI and CM7)
some screenshots of it while using CM7 attached
---
Little more back on topic, MIUI is better for those who like more theming options.
CM7 isn't as great in that area, but for my tastes I've customized my phone to where I don't have any need for additional theming options since CM7 + LPP provides a pretty decent amount of ways you can customize the looks.

not a fan of miui lock but I do like agile for sense 3.0 lock for cm7

There are a ton of MIUI lockscreen themes including sense 3.0 ones, if you're into that kind of thing
Lockscreen theming is a big reason MIUI>CM7 for me, including how you can mix and match theme elements and customize basically everything.
And TheWhiteBandito is right, you can have up to six icons in the dock and you can use whatever icons you like. I'm not sure why the OP had issues with LP+MIUI, I can't personally speak to it but I know many people use alternate launchers (including LP) on MIUI without issue.

big thanks to TheWhiteBandito and k_nivesout for correcting me on the six icons & also changing the icons themselves.
There are several subtle things that work better for me with CM7 & Launcher Pro. Generally my perception is that it's faster & more stable.
Since I use the security lock pattern, the theming of the lockscreens is not so useful to me because I'd rather bypass that entirely & just use the security pattern instead of having 2 screens to go through to unlock my phone.
At any rate, it probably comes down to exactly how you use the phone & your personal preferences. But I stick with my original point - if you are a big fan of Launcher Pro, I think it works better with CM7 based on my experience with it on both ROMs.
Lastly, don't get me wrong - I think MIUI is a GREAT ROM, and I've installed it both on my phone and some of my friends phones, and I'd happily use it again.

I would tend to agree that it does come down to how you use your phone. CM7 has some advantages, and so does MIUI, just depends on your preferences and needs. It's good to see open discussion on pros and cons of roms without the "my rom is better than yours" element being part of it.

Just moved back CM7 after flashing MIUI to give it a try. It seems to be a very well built ROM, fast and stable. The one thing that did MIUI in for me was that I couldn't get swype to work. The installer couldn't license the app correctly, I attempted a few suggested solutions but ultimately gave up when I read a post on the swype website stating that it will not license. other than swype, I'd say that MIUI is one of the best ROMs that I have flashed (right up there with CM7).

gio2005 said:
Just moved back CM7 after flashing MIUI to give it a try. It seems to be a very well built ROM, fast and stable. The one thing that did MIUI in for me was that I couldn't get swype to work. The installer couldn't license the app correctly, I attempted a few suggested solutions but ultimately gave up when I read a post on the swype website stating that it will not license. other than swype, I'd say that MIUI is one of the best ROMs that I have flashed (right up there with CM7).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MIUI is definitely a top ROM. Very unique and at this time it's pretty stable too.

When I ran MIUI, it was very stable until I'd flashed about 20 new releases without wiping caches even, (including making the transition from FroYo to GB) and I loved the themes. Then I went to CM7. WOW. I last tried it at 7.0.4, 7.1RC1 is so much faster for me than MIUI OR CM7.0.x. It aslo seems a bit more stable, and everything just works. I use GO Launcher EX, and it seems a bit faster on CM7 but I am running CM at 1GHz, MIUI I UC'd to 806 MHz

gio2005 said:
Just moved back CM7 after flashing MIUI to give it a try. It seems to be a very well built ROM, fast and stable. The one thing that did MIUI in for me was that I couldn't get swype to work. The installer couldn't license the app correctly, I attempted a few suggested solutions but ultimately gave up when I read a post on the swype website stating that it will not license. other than swype, I'd say that MIUI is one of the best ROMs that I have flashed (right up there with CM7).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can understand not being able to tolerate a ROM if Swype won't work. I run MIUI and have Swype running; followed the steps here:
http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/how-to-generate-license-for-swype-3-0-beta-on-miui-android/
..to get it working.
The only thing that I "don't like" about MIUI is that it doesn't support scrolling widgets (Pure Messenger).

how can i change home page scrolling on touchwiz?

hey guys, i've been looking for ages but can't find what i'm looking for, was wondering if anyone knows where i could find a mod, to replace the touchwiz home screen's carousel effect with the new s5/old icecream sandwich "card stack?" effect without using another launcher, i'm looking for a flashable zip or a xposed framwork module that can be used on touchwiz, sumthin like this must surely exist?
thanks

hey guys, i've been looking for ages but can't find what i'm looking for, was wondering if anyone knows where i could find a mod, to replace the touchwiz home screen's carousel effect with the new s5/old icecream sandwich "card stack?" effect without using another launcher, i'm looking for a flashable zip or a xposed framwork module that can be used on touchwiz…
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wanam offers three minor tweaks to TW launcher (among many other valuable phone tweaks):
1 – infinite scrolling on/off
2 – wall paper scroll with pages on/off
3 – dock icon labels on/off
sumthin like this must surely exist?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I’m not so sure. Using Xposed to tweak the stock launcher seems like unnecessary overkill (considering the huge doorway into your phone's security that you give to every dev who's module you install). People who want to customize launchers generally go with alternate launcher. Then you don't even have to reboot to try out changes (like Xposed would have to). Nova would be my recommendation. I know it’s not the recommendation you’re looking for but you got it anyway.

electricpete1 said:
Wanam offers three minor tweaks to TW launcher (among many other valuable phone tweaks):
1 – infinite scrolling on/off
2 – wall paper scroll with pages on/off
3 – dock icon labels on/off
I’m not so sure. Using Xposed to tweak the stock launcher seems like unnecessary overkill (considering the huge doorway into your phone's security that you give to every dev who's module you install). People who want to customize launchers generally go with alternate launcher. Then you don't even have to reboot to try out changes (like Xposed would have to). Nova would be my recommendation. I know it’s not the recommendation you’re looking for but you got it anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is exactly what i figured, i found those options in exposed but not quite what i'm lookin for.
i used nova launcher on my s3 for a year and loved it, i just want to keep my high def lookin stock touchwiz icons since the nova launcher icons look like they belong in the 90's, i seen a stock touchwiz icon looking pack for nova launcher but they didn't have that "high def" look/feel to them (no shadows/reflections? or bad shading? on the icons, i dunno they just look bland compared to stock icons where they feel kinda 3d)
the reason i don't wanna use nova launcher is because if i do use nova launcher and go back to that stock android feeling i midaswell be on stock android itself, GPE or Cyanogenmod and it feels to bland which is why i'm on a touchwiz based rom.
i'm just kinda hopeing someone will come along with an idea of how i can impliment this without removing touchwiz launcher, ORRR maby get the real stock touchwiz icons (the acual stock ones, not just look alikes) into nova launcher.

[Q] Touchwiz features on Google Edition ROM

Hi all,
I really want to use the Google Edition ROM on my i9505 - but a couple of things keep me on the bloaty Touchwiz ROM.
1) Touchwiz Camera
2) Touchwiz Video Player
There are other things, but if these 2 were working on Google Edition I would be there in a flash.
Does anyone know if these are working?
The other alternative is to get Google Now 'OK Google' working with my Nova Launcher .... but looks quite far off.
I recently updated to the S5 video player and that works perfectly on the S4.
Any help appreciated.
Many thanks.

I was in the same boat, would like a rom like cyanogenmod but I was to use features like gestures, air view etc and the camera app is way better than the stock app.
Anyway I installed Omega rom which is the same as the s4 stock rom with touchwiz but lets you deselect all the bloatware before installing, so I've got all the samsung features but without the crap. Also downloaded the google launcher which is nice

Thanks a lot. I've used the Omega ROM a while ago, but didn't think about it for this.
Does the Google Launchers allow you to change the grid layout on the home screen? I want 5 columns and 6 rows if possible.

barrygoddard said:
Thanks a lot. I've used the Omega ROM a while ago, but didn't think about it for this.
Does the Google Launchers allow you to change the grid layout on the home screen? I want 5 columns and 6 rows if possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could use Nova, looks like the Google launcher but way more customisable (you can change the columns/rows), dont think there google now integration on the home screen though.
Another couple of options are to try the AOSP themed touchwiz roms. You can keep all the touch wiz features and have the vanilla android look. Or you can also dual boot a touchwiz rom and CM11 to get the best of both worlds.

Thanks.
I'm already using Nova ... even paid for the extras. What I really want is Touchwiz with the 'always on' OK Google command.

Replace Touchwiz Launcher with Google Launcher

If like me, you dislike the look and feel of Touchwiz ... it is possible to replace at least the launcher portion of it with Google Launcher. This will make the Note look cosmetically similar to a Nexus device. The remainder of the Touchwiz interface will remain unaffected.
For those of us on JB 4.3
Download the zip file from this post (credits @geoworld_200)
Extract the 3 apks but copy only GoogleHome.apk to external storage
Install (requiring temporary disabling of the "unknown source" security block)
Run the app and it will invite use of GoogleNow which you can either accept or decline
Press the physical "Home" button and you can now chose to use the Google Launcher instead of Touchwiz
I've tried this on my (rooted and custom ROM) P605 and it works just fine with no FC or issues so far. But, per usual, YMMV. And it obviously won't get updates via Play.
Presumably the same could be achieved for KK using the more recent version of the apk found here. But I haven't tested it yet pending a 4.4 ROM release ...

rickinoz said:
If like me, you dislike the look and feel of Touchwiz ... it is possible to replace at least the launcher portion of it with Google Launcher. This will make the Note look cosmetically similar to a Nexus device. The remainder of the Touchwiz interface will remain unaffected.
For those of us on JB 4.3
Download the zip file from this post (credits @geoworld_200)
Extract the 3 apks but copy only GoogleHome.apk to external storage
Install (requiring temporary disabling of the "unknown source" security block)
Run the app and it will invite use of GoogleNow which you can either accept or decline
Press the physical "Home" button and you can now chose to use the Google Launcher instead of Touchwiz
I've tried this on my (rooted and custom ROM) P605 and it works just fine with no FC or issues so far. But, per usual, YMMV. And it obviously won't get updates via Play.
Presumably the same could be achieved for KK using the more recent version of the apk found here. But I haven't tested it yet pending a 4.4 ROM release ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or just use Apex or Nova - which will be updated in Google Play? My personal preference is Apex, and I also use the LG Lock Screen app on the Play Store too.
I'm rooted, so have removed TW Launcher via Titanium completely.
YmmV

I own NOVA launcher on GS3 and tried on P600 but I prefer Touchwiz ability to show unread FB notification count directly on icon. I didn`t find any replacement with similar feature.

kornelius1982 said:
I own NOVA launcher on GS3 and tried on P600 but I prefer Touchwiz ability to show unread FB notification count directly on icon. I didn`t find any replacement with similar feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just place the FB widget on the home screen, and resize to 1x1. Does the same thing. Then you can escape the lag that TW gives.

cdinoz said:
Just place the FB widget on the home screen, and resize to 1x1. Does the same thing. Then you can escape the lag that TW gives.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the solution, I`ll give it a try later, but to be honest, Touchwiz on KK isn`t as laggy as older one, at least I for me.
p.s. I just tried on GS3 but when I try to resize I get white little widget without any info on it.

I was excited about trying the Google Experience Launcher because it would respond to "OK Google" on any launcher screen.
However, I was extremely disappointed with the lack of ability to configure the launcher. No, that's too general. There's absolutely no configuration options at all.
One of the things I don't like about the TouchWiz and Google Launcher is that there's no way to control the number of rows/columns and the spacing between them. I use Apex where I can get a lot more rows and columns on the page. And I can control the spacing so I can get icons right up to the edge of the screen. In addition I can reduce the size of the icons for a better look.
It's not like I want to fill the screen with icons, on the contrary, I like to have the icons near the edges and out of the way so I can better see the wallpaper. The TouchWiz and Google launchers are pretty much an iPad launcher. No flexibility and no configurations.