HTC HERO ECLAIR 2.1
written by MysteryHero
After the success of HTC Hero's debut, it is time that we are all getting ready to update our beloved device. HTC Hero will become one of the very first Android phones to power the new 2.1 Android firmware. HTC Hero has truely made it's debut unique through proudly presenting the features such as the new Sense UI from HTC, but you may be wondering what has actually changed in this new firmware update? So let's begin and take a exclusive preview on the upcoming features.
This post will be updated regulary and you can even re-post this article with my authors credit.
Futhurmore if you wished to contact me, please PM me via XDA-Developers Original topic at: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=5080445#post5080445
Please note that all this information is gathered from the Lox v1.4 rom which can be found at HTCpedia, information may change while the article develops.
Bluetooth submited by habibas
You may now send files to other phones but this is restricted to the type of file your media is.
Browser
The browser hasn't been updated alot, but there has been a few tweaks that make it easier to use. Firstly the navigation tab above is now attached to the top instead of overlaying the top page. This has solved the annoying google problem where you would not be able to select the navigation links under the overlay for example, On Google's homepage you couldn't select the mail/news/images link until the page fully loaded.
Another minor UI change is featured in the loading bar, the input url box will now feature a sparkling green bar which will fill up as the page loads, this has removed the thin green loading bar below the screen in 1.5.
One final change which will effect the HTC browser is that the Google search in landscape mode will now function correctly. That's right folks! no more bouncing keyboard.
It seems the Flash has been improved, don't hold my word on it but it seems like it's running Flash 10? The lite version before didn't let me load Imeem's flash player but it seems like it's running like a charm now, Youtube desktop version also worked. Maybe not at it's best but it works.
Google Navigation
Googles GPS has finally arrived onto HTC HERO. You will ofcourse need to hack the application if you're from United Kingdom (Which works with Lox 1.4) You need to install the Voice data/ Nav Launcher and ofcourse the Maps 3685 (?) build? (I opted for non-rotted apk)
Home
The highly rumoured Landscape Rosie has been introduced, you can now rotate your Hero sideways. The clock, application short cuts will be left intact, and usable. Although phone panel on the right is not finished, the icons aren't properly positioned, but this should be fixed by HTC in a more recent build.
You can now pinch zoom the home screen and be welcomed by an overview of the seven different states. You can tap a screen to quickly change state which may come handy if you don't want to slide through multiple states.
Icons
New icons are presented in the Application menu:
Google Talk
Youtube
Maps
Market
Call History
Calculator
(HTC icons seems to be unchanged)
Loading
While the device loads, there is now a new spinning spindle. It looks alot better even if it is a small touch but makes it very nice.
Market
Updated to the new market, you can now see top paid, top free or all. It's more organised and the usability has improved overall. Expect to see a more friendly version of Googles Market.
Settings
The new settings menu have been organised into more precised catergories. This change was seen on the Droid and will be in 2.1. You can navigate through the settings easier and will be able to select some new options.
Sync
RRS Reader is inbuilt and you can read RRS feeds without installing any applications. You can also sync to Flickr and Google. HTC has also newly added sync options for Plurk, Exchange Active sync and Htc Facebook (Revised?).
Text-To-Speech
Text-to-Speech added, Google Navigation anyone? Yepp Text-to-speech is the library that is used with Google Navigation. You can now type text and it'll speak it out. You can also change/install new languages.
Weather Animation
Weather Animation makes a return in this new firmware. The removed feature in the revised 1.5 rom disappointed alot of users but it's now made it's return. The animation effect is basically a home screen effect inwhich when you greeted with weather animations occuring on your home screen which occurs if it's raining/snowing/lightning etc. Eye candy.
Notification Bar
There is a new icon for SD card, this will be shown once a memory card is inserted/loading/removed.
(Recent) The background of the Notification pull down is transparent, you can see through the overlay.
Messages
The Messages application has now been slightly updated, the text is larger. Although the people application isn't correctly working for me, I'm unsure wither it's actually for the better or worse since the text was completely fine before. Let's hope the final smooth build will fix some of the small problems introduced in this update.
Wallpapers
You can now select Wallpapers from your Home Gallery which includes all the original wallpapers in the default Android Gallery + the ones you add. You can also choose the Rosie wallpapers which have been left intact.
One feature that seemed amissed was the missing option of choosing a Rosie wallpaper for your lock screen, well good news! You can now select a Rosie wallpaper with a few simple clicks.
Widgets
There seems to be a new option to get more HTC widgets in the widget panel. This could be updates to the current widgets in the future or new skins (clock) or brand new widgets like the power control.
There is a new power control widget that can be added to your home screen. This widget is basically a quick switch for turning on/off the following: WiFi, Bluetooth, Mobile, Sync. You can also switch different brightness levels through the last button. (Dimmest, Normal, Brightest)
Untouched submited by JBNAquatics
Music Application
Calender
Slightly Modified submited by JBNAquatics
The call settings now have a "Silent" and a "Speaker" button that you can press directly like the Sprint Hero
Gmail appearance has been slightly modified but there are no new features
Camera and Camcorder has a slightly new appearance modification to match Donuts, but no new features
Rings extended (app) finally works on this ROM
You can now choose to link which accounts you want (Google, Facebook, or both)
Ask a Question!
Ask a question if you are interested in a certain feature or function above. Ask anything! (Related to the Subject Topic)
Last updated @ 08:02 PM 6th December 2009
when will it be available for download?
blitz89 said:
when will it be available for download?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the Lox ROM is already available, in fact you can download it at HTCpedia, but be warned as the ROM is not complete and it's not a final build. A more recent rom has been leaked by Kingklick but is only available for G1/Magic 32B.
Here is the link to Lox Rom 1.4: http://htcpedia.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1417
Will the newer rom leave me with less usable memory on the device?
Pete
you forgot to mention the bluetooth has been enabled to send and recive files
but the type of the files are limited to the media only that's disappointing
Can you please explain what you mean by this??
"
Weather Animation
* Weather Animation makes a return in this new firmware. The removed feature in the revised 1.5 rom disappointed alot of users but it's now made it's return. The animation effect is basically a home screen effect inwhich when you greeted with weather animations occuring on your home screen which occurs if it's raining/snowing/lightning etc. Eye candy.
"
Is there now weather animation under the clock?? Or do you mean there is animation when you are using the weather application?
Thanks
NewYorkLaw said:
Will the newer rom leave me with less usable memory on the device?
Pete
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I believe I only had around 100mb when I first upgraded the firmware. However this might change as this is not the final build.
habibas said:
you forgot to mention the bluetooth has been enabled to send and recive files
but the type of the files are limited to the media only that's disappointing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will add that, thank you
bunt83 said:
Can you please explain what you mean by this??
"
Weather Animation
* Weather Animation makes a return in this new firmware. The removed feature in the revised 1.5 rom disappointed alot of users but it's now made it's return. The animation effect is basically a home screen effect inwhich when you greeted with weather animations occuring on your home screen which occurs if it's raining/snowing/lightning etc. Eye candy.
"
Is there now weather animation under the clock?? Or do you mean there is animation when you are using the weather application?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just fired up my nandroid build and saw that the widget on the home screen can reproduce the same weather animation, therefore I think it's just an option to switch the animations on and off. However, the clock widget isn't really working, therefore there still could be hope.
The Bluetooth and Browser sections are somewhat mixed.
Alright here's what I've gathered from the posts on HTCPedia and from my own user experiences:
-Rings extended (app) finally works on this ROM
-You can now choose to link which accounts you want (Google, Facebook, or both)
-Music player is left untouched
-Camera and camcorder are left untouched (they do not have the "new" 1.6 Donut look)
-Calendar is also left untouched
-Gmail has a different look to it but virtually untouched
-The call settings now have a "Silent" and a "Speaker" button that you can press directly like the Sprint Hero
WPA2 Enterprise
Are WPA2-Enterprise Certificates supported in 2.1? I am wondering, because it was already built into 1.5, but when hitting the button "add certificate" it wouldn't work (Settings > Wireless > WLAN > Advanced > Security Certificates). This was obviously a bug. Does this work now, or was it removed?
what about the rumours that eclair will support 262k colors, and enhance the onscreen colors of the hero from 65k to 262k. can anybody confirm that?
i can't imagine this happening, but still wanted to ask
JBNAquatics said:
Alright here's what I've gathered from the posts on HTCPedia and from my own user experiences:
-Rings extended (app) finally works on this ROM
-You can now choose to link which accounts you want (Google, Facebook, or both)
-Music player is left untouched
-Camera and camcorder are left untouched (they do not have the "new" 1.6 Donut look)
-Calendar is also left untouched
-Gmail has a different look to it but virtually untouched
-The call settings now have a "Silent" and a "Speaker" button that you can press directly like the Sprint Hero
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will be adding your newly found experiences!
discostu105 said:
Are WPA2-Enterprise Certificates supported in 2.1? I am wondering, because it was already built into 1.5, but when hitting the button "add certificate" it wouldn't work (Settings > Wireless > WLAN > Advanced > Security Certificates). This was obviously a bug. Does this work now, or was it removed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They have removed this, or re-located it to somewhere else. I've tried finding it but no luck
Shahpur.Azizpour said:
what about the rumours that eclair will support 262k colors, and enhance the onscreen colors of the hero from 65k to 262k. can anybody confirm that?
i can't imagine this happening, but still wanted to ask
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought this was aimed specifically at XPERIA 10, but I've really not noticed other than the menu may seem a bit crisper than before.
Have they managed to fix the alarm in this buld?
There was a bug on the current build that stops the alarm from working correctly. You turn it on and the alarm goes off but it doesn't make a sound at all, or nothing happens when it is supposed to go off.
Official rom
Anyone have any information about when the official room with Android 2.1 wil be released?
naruc said:
Anyone have any information about when the official room with Android 2.1 wil be released?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, my pet wombat said it would be by wed this week.
habibas said:
you forgot to mention the bluetooth has been enabled to send and recive files
but the type of the files are limited to the media only that's disappointing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any idea which files? I asume jpegs and mp3s would be fine? Although perhaps I shouldnt assume anything!
The one thing I would like to see is the HTC slide to answer when receiving a call that was present on the Touch Diamond - slide left to answer slide right to reject!
Hi guys,
little offtopic question of you don't mind..
Can someone PM me what the normal price is for HTC Hero?
I'm using Kaiser and before Herald. but will switch
Thanks...
will htc hero eclair update provide the option to switch to standard android apps.
in example i think the default android calendar looks much much better than the htc sense calendar since htcs version has no week view and no timelines on monthview.
Is this possible? Or did htc at least add timelines to their calendar app?
I want rubber-band effect on all scrollable pages, e.g. settings.
another question:
will the 2.1 update swipe the old device again, like the first HTC Hero update did?
So this means setting up the phone completely from scratch again? Or is this an update which will keep the current settings/apps and so on...im afraid this is not the case
I just installed the Quantum 2.1 ROM on my Epic 4G, and the ringtones are very selective in which I can use as ringtones/notifications, as well as music. Most of the time, it just lags and crashes. And then the "Sounds & Display" menu in the settings crashes too. Am I missing something here? Did I do something wrong?
I have the Nexus S boot logo on my phone, and was curious if there's a way to get that slick lock animation like on the phone. You know, that white line thing?
Thanks everyone who would help.
Hi there,
Seeking some advice on a ROM. Hate the look of stock LG G2, just installed stock-like kitkat on my old GNex and saw the google experience launcher with transparent everything, DO WANT. However I'm afraid of losing some features of stock LG software. Maybe you guys can recommend some ROMs, or if it's best to stay stock to get all the features I want, recommend some mods that will give me all the ROM features I want?
Things I NEED
Knock On/ Knock Off (LG feature)
4.4 Stock "Look and Feel" (fonts, transparent bars all around, appearance of time and battery and notifications bar, black instead of white setting menu, etc, you get the picture)
Always listening on the home screen, possibly the lock-screen, pretty much anywhere I can have it all over the UI (as per 4.4, not LG)
Recent Apps button instead of a menu button (as per 4.4, not LG)
Open apps from the lockscreen with apps icons already visible when looking at lockscreen (not the style where you hold finger over lock icon to see a choice of apps in a circle, and then have to swipe a specific direction. I used to have that and didnt like it as much as I like LG stock way of actually showing icons without you touching anything, and you swipe the icons, not a lock towards the icons)
Circle battery type thing on status bar that shows percentage
Things I haven't tried/am not sure about but might want from stock LG software, and might not want to lose flashing to custom ROM
Better stock camera?
SmartShare from the gallery app? (says it uses wifi/bluetooth to stream content to other devices)
Beam/DNLA/I don't even remember what it's called or what app I found it in?
Quickremote
You tell me please? I'm sure there's a bunch of stuff I've yet to discover that I might want (are any of LG's apps e.g. notebook useful?)
Things that are cool but not really necessary
Themes and a ton of extra features -- used to use AOKP and they had a decent amount of extra feature, not too few like CM, not too many like other ROMs where my head just starts spinning from all the features
Other
I'd really prefer not to have to wipe all the time, CM's OTA update feature was awesssooome when I had CM on my GNex, but CM is a little feature-lite for me, I mean it was good though, that's just a minor complaint. But if there's something better fitting my criteria above I'll put up with having to wipe to flash updates of the same ROM in the future if its necessary. I just never understood why OEMs can push OTAs to people and never make them wipe, but for custom ROMs (updating new versions of same ROM) I have to re-set-up everything every time
A lot of this stuff has been addressed already. Most ROMs have knock on built in, but not knock off. The work around is downloading an app that turns the screen off, and using a gesture control in another app (such as Nova Launcher) to double tap the home screen to turn the screen off. Though personally, I just have screen off set to my nav ring so I can access it from any page I'm on.
There's a flashable install here on the forums some where for Quick Remote. Works fine on AOSP ROMs.
As for 4.4 stuff, I have no idea.
Sent from CAMACHO, my Verizon G2 (VS980) running PAC ROM 4.3.
get an Iphone
Vepaot said:
Though personally, I just have screen off set to my nav ring so I can access it from any page I'm on.
How did you do that? I nowhere find a setting to change anything in the navigation ring.
Sent from my LG-V500 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi folks! I have upgraded my S4 to 4.4.2 KitKat, but when I lock my phone it has the new music controls on lockscreen with the terrible album cover full screen... is there any way to get back the samsung music widget with the fabulous list where you can quickly change track?
ineedandroid said:
Hi folks! I have upgraded my S4 to 4.4.2 KitKat, but when I lock my phone it has the new music controls on lockscreen with the terrible album cover full screen... is there any way to get back the samsung music widget with the fabulous list where you can quickly change track?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I say its "not possible". Unless someone ported from 4.3 and create an apk, or embedded on a ROM
Another vote for this. Not only picking track from the list but also enable/disable shuffle / repeat on lock screen. Hope someone will come up with a port soon!
I've been searching high and low for this, would love to have the exact music controls we had prior to the 4.4.2 update. I have found an alternative, but it involves using the Samsung Music Player (NOT the stock player we are used to). This music player can be accessed through the Samsung Hub, and you can add a specific shortcut to the music player on your home screen by pressing menu in the Samsung Hub app, and selecting shortcuts. I've tried it, but I don't like it - maybe because it doesn't work as fluid/well? It's worth a try, but I've resorted back to the stock music player.
Hi.
The stock music player has lockscreen controls accessible without tapping the notification bell, and the album cover appears as the lockscreen background.
However, these features are not available when using other music apps like Spotify and Pandora, which makes skipping a track very annoying since it requires tapping the notification bell. I could care less about the album art in the lockscreen, judt thought I should point it out.
Does anyone know a way to make the spotify or pandora act as the stock music app to get controls in the lock screen? Thanks.
mmamedov said:
Hi.
The stock music player has lockscreen controls accessible without tapping the notification bell, and the album cover appears as the lockscreen background.
However, these features are not available when using other music apps like Spotify and Pandora, which makes skipping a track very annoying since it requires tapping the notification bell. I could care less about the album art in the lockscreen, judt thought I should point it out.
Does anyone know a way to make the spotify or pandora act as the stock music app to get controls in the lock screen? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can wait for future update which should remove the bell as everyone hates it or use another app for locked screen.
The problem with using another locked screen is you end up with two locked screens unless you choose to disable the built-in locked screen.