After two months with my Magician, I have come to the simple conclusion that the PocketPC gui sucks in many ways. It's a great system overall, it's just that the GUI leaves a lot to desire.
Specifically, it is horrible for one handed use. I rarely use the stylus. To start a program, you're supposed to click the tiny Start menu in the top left corner, then click Programs. And yet I normally have plenty of room for program icons on the today page!
To close a program, they expect you to click an even smaller X or OK in the top right corner.
Many people would suggest mapping hardware buttons to do these things, but the Magician doesn't really have an abundance of those.
I've seen screenshots of alternative GUIs. For instance, the Asus what's-its-name has a redesigned GUI that works with the hatch.
What have you guys done to improve one handed usage? What are the options?
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Work in progress
Something I'm working on, called VJEphemeris:
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Works well right handed, and surprisingly, also left handed...
V
Main Items i use to increase my one-handed use are found on this forum, which are Gabor Salamon's Blinkeys (Text entry)Blimkeys. and Mamaich's Phone Extension which adds a contacts button to the dialer screen Quick Dial.
both excellent add ons which should be implemented in future GUI's!! Other than that i use SPB pocket plus to clutter up my screen with items to tap on. Although Im starting to get drawn to wisbar. Only time I use my stylus is to reset my Magician when its locked up!
SpeedN
Related
The OS is WM2003SE. At present when scrolling through Programs Folder or Games Folder using the D-pad the cursor moves left to right & will not go down or up until you reach the last program icon on each horizontal line.
Does anyone know a reg hack or program that will change the cursor to move up & down freely.
Hope you can understand what I mean ! quite simple issue really but not so simple to put into words.
Many thanks.
I don't this is really possible normally because of the way the listview is implemented in Programs. However, if you use VJSmallIcons II it will let you change the way the icons are displayed, and it might work then.
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V
Yes your app will allow me to scroll through my programs using the "list view".
Thank you.
I'm sure I saw a reg hack to adjust the D-pad movement, have searched on here & with google.
Thank god for forums like this & trusty google, WM would be junk without 3rd party experts correcting annoying bugs/problems.
Well another problem I solved with MortScript.
Wrote a script that allows me to use button 1 & 2 to scroll through my program list just when Programs is active.
Not as good as the cursor movement in WM5 but damn close.
With a few tweaks 2003SE is as good as WM5 for stylus free use & has some other advantage too.
Hi!
I'd like to have a small icon in the lower part of my "today screen" (see picture), which switches between portrait and landscape view. I'm sure this is not a big deal, and there a plenty of apps for this purpose... but I haven't found them yet.
Any ideas?
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My suggestion, install PHM Tools for rotating, and use PHM tray launcher to stick an icon in the tray.
But there is a hack on the board to use the "proper" rotate screen service. It wasn't a particularly effective hack IIRC, but it was there. Can't remember how to find it now though!
V
vijay555 said:
But there is a hack on the board to use the "proper" rotate screen service. It wasn't a particularly effective hack IIRC, but it was there. Can't remember how to find it now though!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you mean this hack?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=890466#post890466
Sounds good, but doesn't work for me. I'll try again.
No, there was another hack specifically for Hermes. But again, IIRC didn't work for all.
V
u might consider to use ilauncher(sbsh.net) it has such a functionality. it works for my artemis and Universal
i developed that application many months ago because i didn't love HTC Plug of my p3600... the "secret" is ChangeDisplaySettingsEx API
Here's the thread I was thinking of, mysteriously hidden under the search "hermes rotate screen". Who'd of thought it?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=1098622#post1098622
Gives the "original" screen rotate icon.
V
Unfortunately, it's not working on my Charmer (I thought this is an wm-issue and not related to the device).
-> I'm gonna use one of the 3rd party apps. Thanks for the feedback!
// EDIT
The hack *does* work on Charmer. I did a small mistake... big impact.
Has anyone managed to get this running on a device other than a BA ?
http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/01/21/first-windows-mobile-65-beta-rom-leaks
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=474406
ported to raphael
not to artemis yet though
There's an interesting concept that I saw in this video that I have been thinking about myself lately on how to develop as a Today plugin.
For a future home/main screen I was imagining a Today screen that is more similar to a PC's desktop. You could have multiple objects open, sitting on the desktop. You would see this from an "eagle-eye's" view so everything is too small to use but big enough to identify which application the object represents. Then you would use an on-screen magnification device to "glide" over the "desktop" and enlarge objects in order to see them or launch them.
I see that this video of WM6.5 and other concept videos of WM7 strive to implement this technology primarily because hardware is able to handle more and more graphically heavy interfaces.
I might try my hand at some development concepts as soon as I free up some time from school and work... But this is a rough artistic render I put together.
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Cool... Everything look exactly the same:
- small selector buttons, tabs and start menu!
- Besides the finger scrolling, nothing new at all(??)
What's microsoft doing all the time? Sure as hell they're not improving a lot?
Microsoft is splitting off development time into finishing up 6.5, and rewriting WM7. Windows Mobile 6.5 will not be much different that what we've seen so far... Windows Mobile 7 will.
its to bad microsoft is laying people off (economy)... lets hope that doesn't effect there release date on this (not like they have ever been on time anyways)
Hi all,
I just want to change my bottom bar to which look like this:
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If the Start Menu button and Close button are re-positioned into the Bottom Bar, they could be easily pressed as our fingers can reach(I still wonder why Microsoft has such a stupid idea to bring those 2 button on the topmost)
Anyone have an Ideal of how to do it, please help me.
Thank u.
Anyone could help me?
Thanks in advance.
there's an app that moves your taskbar to the bottom.. i forgot its name. if i manage to recall it i'll tell you
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=428317
Really thank u.
I already tried it, and disappointed. It's has a lot of bug. The result is: I have to bring Taskbar back to it's nature position.
I'm trying active corner on FtouchSL, which can emulate two bottom corner as taskbar button with Press a' Hold. It's not what I really want, but satisfied by now.
Thank u for your answers.
ftouchsl + wm5NewMenu, works for me, I also have remapped the left soft key to open the start menu. but as I have wm5NM I don't use the start menu much.
Yeah, I use WM5 New Menu too. But it only works on Today Screen, helping me for opening new doc quickly. I like to make a interface that can be fully touch controlled ( 'cause some hard keys of my Prophet is going to break )
I don't understand, wm5NewMenu works anywhere not just the today screen.
Remember the good old days of qwerty keyboard phones? If yes then i'm sure you also remember the shortcut buttons that they had. Devices such as HP jornada 720, or nokia e90, they all had hardware buttons that allows you to jump directly from one application to another without forcing you to access the task manager.
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However, because qwerty keyboard phones are no longer produced, those buttons will never appear again.
But there is a way.
The NFC technology allows you to program a nfc tag to launch a specific application. So what I did was to get some nfc tags, take one, cut its anthenna, and stick a button on the cut, so the tag will only be activated when I press the button.
More details on how I did it here: http://simpledevices.blogspot.ro/2015/11/nfc-shortcut-button.html
The plan is to mount a similar button to the next of the nfc tags, and place them behind the silicon case of the phone, each tag will be programmed with a specific application, just like the shortcuts of the old devices.
I bought a couple of Dimple.io buttons which work in the exact same way (and really well I might add), but until I finally got them (ungh, Kickstarter), I had customized everything to my liking with Xposed Additions and had no more use for the physical buttons
This is a good idea.
Sent from my SM-N9005
this is awesome, there is a company that has 4 in one check it here http://dimple.io/
tigsandmitch said:
this is awesome, there is a company that has 4 in one check it here http://dimple.io/
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I've considered ordering these but not sure how i feel about stick on accessories.
Oh, this is good to know.
Great mod.. there is also a screen protector theu sell now with imaginary buttons at the top and yoy have to install their app to make it work like a physical button...