Database Users

Android 2.1 Wish/Looking For List

Hello!
I've just moved to Android 2.1, coming from WinMo (HD2 Flashed WM6.5.x). I spent many long hours, tweaking just about everything in order to get the look I wanted. I was told by many, that I would have no problem doing all the same on the Evo and even much more. So I'm in love with my Evo experience so far and have no plans to go back to WinMo even though I was happy with it.
All weekend, I've searched high and low. Ran through nearly a hundred apps out of a list of 150 and growing. Yet here I am still trying to find a few types of apps and mods.
IS THERE:
1. An app like ListPro which is the best Windows Mobile general list keeping app ever made. I'm looking for an app to create general lists of all types, with custom fields and so on. And furthermore, having a desktop app that syncs with it, is also high on the list. Being able to enter data on a desktop and sync it all with great ease, to a matching mobile app, is something I would pay dearly for.
2. On the HTC Evo, the Sense home screen is okay but could really use a touch of xda Co0kies Home Tab. Looking, but can't find any such app. Recently, I downloaded nearly 200 analog clocks for the HD2 Sense home screen. Where are the Android custom analog clocks?
3. Is it possible to change the color of the top status bar of Android? And also how about the bottom bar? Can we not have wallpaper that extends the entire screen so that the bars match the wallpaper?
4. Can the slide to unlock bar be disabled? Pressing the power button is hard enough to not have to worry about the screen being on when not wanted.
5. How about an on-screen power/sleep icon/button? It would be nice to be able to put the phone to sleep without having to reach for that little power button.
6. What is up with the wallpaper??? At first I thought, well since I love my HTC HD2 wallpaper so much, why don't I just transfer it to my Evo. Sure thing but it ends up being cropped and stretched, no matter what I do. I've read page after page and tried a few different things and can't seem to get it right. I tried using a png image that was 960x800 after first trying the 800x480. I tried holding my finger in the crop screen and sliding the selection area but it will not allow me to select the entire image size. So the Evo Sense has 7 screens but why not just one image displayed in full screen, on each screen? What was Google/HTC thinking?!?!?!
I've searched many forums and I just can't seem to find the answers to these questions so far and so I figure it can't hurt to ask around.

Thanks to jmxp69, an answer for number 4: Freeware app called No Lock in the Android market does the trick. Installing it and then activating it will turn off the slide to unlock screen. Furthermore it makes the volume up/down buttons wake up the Evo, the same as the power button does. So far it looks like it does not effect any of the 4 cap buttons.

You can install Menu Unlock form market [donate] or find it on xda for free. It works for me(I removed HtcLockScreen). I'm not sure I like No Lock yet. It works but it seems like it can be too much. Meaning I don't want it to wake and unlock, just wake from the volume buttons then slide or menu to unlock the screen.
That said I'm trying to get something like trackball wake going that will let the phone just be woke from sleep then you'll need to slide or tap menu.
The other thing I'm looking forward to is full display out on the HDMI. I want to see the home screen and games and anything else on the display.

Thanks but now I'm trying to find a way to only disable the lock screen on wake up and only have it show up when the phone rings. Still looking and hoping to find a way to do this.......

Manually launching Car Dock?

A coworker showed me earlier that he has an icon on the Droid to launch the car dock manually. There is no such launcher for the Atrix.
Is there a way of creating one?
Coming from wm I find it odd that there is no obvious way to create a shortcut in the filesystem and I gather that rooting it wont change that. Then again, if it was that easy we'd already know how to launch the Webtop mode without a dock...
It is frustrating seeing the car dock listed under running apps but notbeing unable to launch it. I already have a decent universal phone mount in my car (vent mounted) so I don't particularly care to purchase a new one which likely wouldn't be as convenient.
Note: this is my first android phone so treat any silly questions accordingly.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

I know, my friends Droid X does this, and my atrix doesnt. Pretty lame!!! I'd rather not buy the car dock, but I want the car dock mode.

I just bought the car dock for $30 at local retail store. To me, it seems pretty good. atrix has nice user interface when it is in car mode and has 3.5 mm jack which you can use car's aux port to use audio instead of phone's speaker. It just shame that dock does not include usb charger (usb cable is included with audio jack attached to it).

Digicrat said:
A coworker showed me earlier that he has an icon on the Droid to launch the car dock manually. There is no such launcher for the Atrix.
Is there a way of creating one?
Coming from wm I find it odd that there is no obvious way to create a shortcut in the filesystem and I gather that rooting it wont change that. Then again, if it was that easy we'd already know how to launch the Webtop mode without a dock...
It is frustrating seeing the car dock listed under running apps but notbeing unable to launch it. I already have a decent universal phone mount in my car (vent mounted) so I don't particularly care to purchase a new one which likely wouldn't be as convenient.
Note: this is my first android phone so treat any silly questions accordingly.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The easiest way to get the car dock (or desk dock) to work without actually using a dock is to use a 3rd party launcher (like ADW.Launcher or Launcher Pro).
Here's the steps for ADW.Launcher, I'm sure it's similar for Launcher Pro
1. Long press home screen and tap "custom shortcut"
2. Tap "Pick your activity"
3. Tap "activities"
4. Scroll down to "CarDock", tap to expand it and tap "CarDock(.main.CardockMainActivity)"
5. Rename the custom shortcut or just tap "ok"
Now you can launch the car dock from the homescreen. Like I said, it also works for the desk clock that is called "Desk Home".
Hope that helps!

You can do it with Any Cut too. Just make a shortcut to the first car dock on the list under activities.

Awesome find. Now if only I could put these shortcuts in a folder...
I also got a shortcut for the alarm clock interface, might have to sit down and make myself a bedside charging/alarm clock dock.

SG Pillar said:
Awesome find. Now if only I could put these shortcuts in a folder...
I also got a shortcut for the alarm clock interface, might have to sit down and make myself a bedside charging/alarm clock dock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem, just use Folder Organizer (combined with Launcher Pro or any other app that will make shortcuts from activities)
FO >> new Shortcut >> LP Activity >> CarDock.MainActivity
FO >> Tags >> Edit Items >> Add Shortcut >> [select previously created item]
From Home
Long Press >> Folder Org Item >> Tag containing the above

CAR MODE CONTROL app in market. It just adds a toggle to click car mode on. Works fine on my Atrix
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

fabrijack said:
CAR MODE CONTROL app in market. It just adds a toggle to click car mode on. Works fine on my Atrix
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Installed the app, it puts it into carmode just fine. Issue is that everytime I leave car mode and then hit the HOME button, it takes me back to car mode instead of the home screen. Anyone else getting this? I needed a restart to put it back to normal. Tried killing the dock app and the car mode app

@DT
Actually found out about folder org in the post your homescreen thread and stumbled on this myself. Thanks for the tut though, definitely will help anyone trying to do this from now on.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

Thanks. Both the ADW.Launcher and the AnyCut methods mostly work for me.
One caveat with either method, which will get annoying if I want to listen to music and use the GPS at the same time, is that hitting the home button will exit the car dock mode. The back button will take you back into the car dock, but doing so forces the navigation application to close. Pressing the home dock does not close it, but returning is tricky. Launching the Nav app from my home screen shortcut takes it directly back to navigation mode, but the shortcut in the car dock asks for destination again which needs to be dismissed by pressing the tiny (defeating the purpose of cardock) map button to return to navigation.
I tried ADW.Launcher first, but uninstalled it after realizing I didn't care for it's Apps menu (I keep dragging icons to the home screen instead of scrolling...), though I do like it's ability to sort apps into groups. An App menu with a look like the stock one but that adds the ability to filter by category (preferably by swiping horizontally) would be ideal. I guess finding an alternative will be my next search .. and probably a discussion better suited for another thread.

Update: I just tried the "Car Mode Control" application jiggytom suggested while writing the previous post.
Car Mode Control appears to be the best option for launching the car dock mode and remapping the home button.
To permanently exit the dock mode, you must select the "Car Mode" icon again. This can be done from the home screen after temporarily exiting the dock with the X, or within the dock by making "Car Mode" one of your shortcuts.

Digicrat said:
is that hitting the home button will exit the car dock mode. The back button will take you back into the car dock, but doing so forces the navigation application to close.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm, I don't seem to be having the same problems.
I typed in a location on my phone, Navigation opened up, got directions, and calculated my course.
I hit home, and it returned me to Car Dock mode. When I clicked on Nav, all I did was click my recent location, and it kept going where it left off.
After I posted this, I noticed my home button would keep taking me back into Car Dock mode. Strange.

Uninstalling AND rebooting will undo the Home button stuck to Car Dock

I'm posting in this thread to hopefully get an answer for organization later down the road... All the apps I assume are:
Widget Dock
Car Dock
Webtop Dock
Desk Dock (Home)
HD Entertainment
Quick Office
Am I leaving any out? Please continue to update on decent launchers or other workarounds.

[Tip] Access CarDock and Desk Home with AnyCut

I have not seen this mentioned anywhere yet. If it's a re-post, my apologies.
I downloaded Any Cut so I could quickly and easily access the phones Test settings, instead of having to dial the *#*#4636#*#* every time I wanted to make changes.
I noticed that there were shortcuts available for Car Dock (3 of them) and Desk Home so I went ahead and added the shortcuts to these items. Both launched and ran just fine. I am glad to be able to use the car dock features of this phone now without having to actually buy a car dock. The Desk Home is great for use when the phone is sitting on the night stand.
If you'd like to give this a try:
1) Download and install Any Cut from the market
2) Launch Any Cut and select New Shortcut
3) Select Activity
For Car Dock
1) Scroll down to the first Car Dock listed and select it
2) Rename if you wish and/or click OK
For Desk Home
1) Scroll down to Desk Home and select it
2) Rename if you wish and/or click OK

Thank you for the tip, but Desk home does not have an icon.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

Negative. I believe it does not have an icon because it is not supposed to see the light of day. It is not supposed to be a user launched app and Any Cut does not assign a default icon to this application's type evidently.

Thanks for the tip! Although your method does not produce a shortcut with an icon (OCD sufferers beware) that fact is offset in that you now get to enter desk home mode without having to download Launcher Pro or ADW Launcher which will take up more memory than Any Cut.

Cool didn't know launcher pro plus cold do this thanks for the info guys

There is an icon for Desk Home in the Task Manager.
Not being a programmer (yet), and having a very mild case of OCD I'm in the process of finding a way to pull that into the Anycut shortcut.
If I do succeed I'll post a how to here.

Lol I dialed in that code and pressed talk and now my phone wont stop ringing. I dialed it again and now its ringing twice as much!
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App

Good find. Been wanting something like this.

Implementing the browser circle control into a rom

I think it would be bada** if someone implemented the browser circle control (the one where you drag your thumb or finger in from the edge) into a rom, for use throughout the whole system. Granted, it might only be useful for the back, menu, and home buttons, but am i the only one that thinks this would be awesome? instead of having to reach over and hit back every time, you could just slide your thumb in..I know that sounds incredibly lazy, but oh well..i still think it would be cool....i would use that rom just for this feature...Is it possible?

It can be done by loading a module, but someone need to code it.
Sent from my Transformer TF101

Wave launcher?

no wave launcher allows you to put certain apps in it like the palm pre. i'm looking to have that circle of controls in the browser be universal...for instance, when i am on the xda app, i keep sliding my thumb in to go back, but its not there...

I bought my transformer today after seeing this 'circle' functionality in a review, but can'tfind it?

You have to enable it in the browser settings.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App

Since I had no idea what it was I went looking and I just found it.
In the browser go to settings then to labs then turn on quick controls.
I am assuming this is it. I turned it back off instantly but maybe you will like it better than me.

Most important app! Dock4Droid

After using the Fire TV for a while I figured I would share my most inportant app. Its an app that I never really cared about using on other devices, but could not live without it on the Fire TV. Dock4Droid is awesome on the fire TV. Not only does it make multitasking funtional, but it gives you the ability to uninstall apps from anywhere. If you have an app open, just click the gear and the app info will popup and let you uninstall it. So you can uninstall several apps withing seconds without having to go all the to the actuall setting menu. If you have the app store apk that shows all your apps on the home screen you can simply open the app, hit the gear, delete the app, delete cache/data, and move on to another app. You can keep apps and shortcuts permanantly on the dock, so if you wanna do a fast reboot from anywhere, you can. It makes using multiple apps super fast. I have mine set to open apps with two finger so all I have to do is just put the cursor near the app and let go of the mouse button and it opens. I do not use the dock background, cause it looks horrible, but the color mist background looks great, and can be set to any color. The only problem is that it causes an artifact along the top and left side when the cusor passes over, but I have found that all apps that can be opened from an activation area do the same on the fire TV. Sidebar, Fancy Switcher etc all cause the same square artifact. Anyway, just thought I would share incase someone was looking for something to make their Fire TV a little easier to navigate through. Feel free to share other apps that are important to use on the Fire TV. No games or entertainment apps, just apps that make using the Fire TV easier or better.

porkenhimer said:
After using the Fire TV for a while I figured I would share my most inportant app. Its an app that I never really cared about using on other devices, but could not live without it on the Fire TV. Dock4Droid is awesome on the fire TV. Not only does it make multitasking funtional, but it gives you the ability to uninstall apps from anywhere. If you have an app open, just click the gear and the app info will popup and let you uninstall it. So you can uninstall several apps withing seconds without having to go all the to the actuall setting menu. If you have the app store apk that shows all your apps on the home screen you can simply open the app, hit the gear, delete the app, delete cache/data, and move on to another app. You can keep apps and shortcuts permanantly on the dock, so if you wanna do a fast reboot from anywhere, you can. It makes using multiple apps super fast. I have mine set to open apps with two finger so all I have to do is just put the cursor near the app and let go of the mouse button and it opens. I do not use the dock background, cause it looks horrible, but the color mist background looks great, and can be set to any color. The only problem is that it causes an artifact along the top and left side when the cusor passes over, but I have found that all apps that can be opened from an activation area do the same on the fire TV. Sidebar, Fancy Switcher etc all cause the same square artifact. Anyway, just thought I would share incase someone was looking for something to make their Fire TV a little easier to navigate through. Feel free to share other apps that are important to use on the Fire TV. No games or entertainment apps, just apps that make using the Fire TV easier or better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice find, porkenhimer. What are you using for a mouse? I own Dock4Droid, used it on my Samsung tablet for quite a while.
Would it work on the Fire stick?
Thanks.

I am actually using an offbrand keyboard with touchpad that I got new on ebay for around $5. To be honest this cheap ugly keyboard/touchpad has worked better than anything else I have used on the fire TV. This $5 keyboard has more features and runs better than my $50 dollar keyboard. Not bad for a cheap chinese made keyboard. I use it exclusively for the Fire TV now and it combined with Dock4Droid make my Fire TV amazing. I rarely use the remote unless I am using Kodi. With Dock4Droid I can just go from app to app without ever needing to go to the homescreen too ofton. Plus I can force close apps from anywhere with Dock4Droid, so if an app is acting up there is no need to go all the way to the manage apps screen I can just close it instantly with Dock4Droid. I can be watching something in Kodi and need to look something up on google, I just popup Dock4Droid and open the browser while Kodi still plays in the baackgroud for me to listen, which is nice., cause I do not have to use the home button. I am pretty sure it will work on the stick too.

porkenhimer said:
I am actually using an offbrand keyboard with touchpad that I got new on ebay for around $5. To be honest this cheap ugly keyboard/touchpad has worked better than anything else I have used on the fire TV. This $5 keyboard has more features and runs better than my $50 dollar keyboard. Not bad for a cheap chinese made keyboard. I use it exclusively for the Fire TV now and it combined with Dock4Droid make my Fire TV amazing. I rarely use the remote unless I am using Kodi. With Dock4Droid I can just go from app to app without ever needing to go to the homescreen too ofton. Plus I can force close apps from anywhere with Dock4Droid, so if an app is acting up there is no need to go all the way to the manage apps screen I can just close it instantly with Dock4Droid. I can be watching something in Kodi and need to look something up on google, I just popup Dock4Droid and open the browser while Kodi still plays in the baackgroud for me to listen, which is nice., cause I do not have to use the home button. I am pretty sure it will work on the stick too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply, porkenhimer, I really appreciate it.

I can't figure out how to get to the configuration options. I'm only able to get to the screen to turn it on and off.

Just go to manage all apps and open Dock4Droid.

I can open it but there is only around 4 options. I can't find any of the configuration options as shown in the YouTube video. There's a part at the bottom that shows Launchers, but it's empty.

Jedis said:
I can open it but there is only around 4 options. I can't find any of the configuration options as shown in the YouTube video. There's a part at the bottom that shows Launchers, but it's empty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check your inbox on here, cause I sent instructions to you.

I gave it a try. I guess if you are using a keyboard with mouse mode all the time it is handy. It would be more useful if the app bar would stay active after being clicked. I can only figure out how to select an item from the bar by keeping the mouse button pushed and scrolling around to highlight the app icon and letting go.
Unless I missed a setting somewhere ... I dont see how to be able to use the app without using both hands and multi-touch.

mscroggi said:
I gave it a try. I guess if you are using a keyboard with mouse mode all the time it is handy. It would be more useful if the app bar would stay active after being clicked. I can only figure out how to select an item from the bar by keeping the mouse button pushed and scrolling around to highlight the app icon and letting go.
Unless I missed a setting somewhere ... I dont see how to be able to use the app without using both hands and multi-touch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have it set to open apps with a finger up swipe then all you have to do is put the cursor anywhere in the area of an app that shows the label and let go of the mouse button. You do not really need to do a finger up swipe to open apps, just put the cursor in any apps area and let go of the button. The app that shows a label will be the app that opens. Also to get the dock to stay on screen all you have to do is set it to open apps with one click or two clicks and when you activate Dock4Droid it willl stay up til you click once or twice on the app. Some other settings I have set is making the icons 12pix, cause the icons become sharper the smaller they are. I also have my activation area set to the bottom at 100% with the smallest width and invisible, cause that way it does not interfere with anything else on the screen. All I have to do is put my cursor in the bottom right corner and press the mouse and it activates.

porkenhimer said:
If you have it set to open apps with a finger up swipe then all you have to do is put the cursor anywhere in the area of an app that shows the label and let go of the mouse button. You do not really need to do a finger up swipe to open apps, just put the cursor in any apps area and let go of the button. The app that shows a label will be the app that opens. Also to get the dock to stay on screen all you have to do is set it to open apps with one click or two clicks and when you activate Dock4Droid it willl stay up til you click once or twice on the app. Some other settings I have set is making the icons 12pix, cause the icons become sharper the smaller they are. I also have my activation area set to the bottom at 100% with the smallest width and invisible, cause that way it does not interfere with anything else on the screen. All I have to do is put my cursor in the bottom right corner and press the mouse and it activates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm Are you running this on a stick? I finally got it to basicallly work.. I was never able to get the bar to show without clicking the mouse and moving the cursor at the same time. My issues had to do with which keyboard I was using .. There were a bunch of settings I could not get to. I could scroll down a poage.. but no further... doing alt->down would bounce me to the bottom page, but I was never able to get to the pages inbetween. My ipazzport has a <<<<>>>>> bar on the touchpad that would let me get to the settings between the top page and the bottom page.. I was able to get some things set and then go back to my other keyboard. My normal keyboard mini BT keyboard has mouse buttons on the left and right side.. which makes the multi touch thing fairly easy. I will play with it and see how I like it over time.. On the surface, I think maybe the firedtv app might be a better fit for me.. as I dont always use the keyboard.

Jacksmyname said:
Nice find, porkenhimer. What are you using for a mouse? I own Dock4Droid, used it on my Samsung tablet for quite a while.
Would it work on the Fire stick?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
check out the FAVI Wireless Keyboard/Touchpad! This thing is great. I think someone posted a thread on it. Great reviews.
http://www.amazon.com/FAVI-FE02RF-BL-Wireless-Keyboard-SmartStick/dp/B0090BTY8Y

​
mscroggi said:
Hmm Are you running this on a stick? I finally got it to basicallly work.. I was never able to get the bar to show without clicking the mouse and moving the cursor at the same time. My issues had to do with which keyboard I was using .. There were a bunch of settings I could not get to. I could scroll down a poage.. but no further... doing alt->down would bounce me to the bottom page, but I was never able to get to the pages inbetween. My ipazzport has a <<<<>>>>> bar on the touchpad that would let me get to the settings between the top page and the bottom page.. I was able to get some things set and then go back to my other keyboard. My normal keyboard mini BT keyboard has mouse buttons on the left and right side.. which makes the multi touch thing fairly easy. I will play with it and see how I like it over time.. On the surface, I think maybe the firedtv app might be a better fit for me.. as I dont always use the keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All you have to do is hold the mouse button down while moving your finger up or down on the touchpad to move from the bottom or top of the screen. Also, there is a setting to make apps open with one or two clicks, if you set them to open with one or two clicks then you only have to click the activation area and the dock will popup and stay up til you click an app once or twice.