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How hard will it be to Make Desire Stock?

I'm an AT&T subscriber and i've been waiting on the Nexus one or compatible device.
I really don't know which is better between the nexus and the desire, but I know I do like the Physical buttons and the optical trackpad on the desire. I'm just not sure I want the Sense UI over Android.
Does the Sense UI still allow animated backgrounds and have all the features that vanilla Android has?
My main concern is the fact that it seems to take manufacturers with UI over Android a while to upgrade to the latest Version of Android.
So what do you guys think the best choice will be? And how hard will it be to remove Sense off the Desire and make it Vanilla Anroid? Will it then get the OTA updates just like the NExus One?

elijahblake said:
I'm an AT&T subscriber and i've been waiting on the Nexus one or compatible device.
I really don't know which is better between the nexus and the desire, but I know I do like the Physical buttons and the optical trackpad on the desire. I'm just not sure I want the Sense UI over Android.
Does the Sense UI still allow animated backgrounds and have all the features that vanilla Android has?
My main concern is the fact that it seems to take manufacturers with UI over Android a while to upgrade to the latest Version of Android.
So what do you guys think the best choice will be? And how hard will it be to remove Sense off the Desire and make it Vanilla Anroid? Will it then get the OTA updates just like the NExus One?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes someone can make a stock android 2.1 rom for the desire. HTC SENSE UI has everything that stock android has except (correct me if I'm wrong) the new launcher.
In every htc sense device you can just turn off sense and just use stock android so no problem there.
The device won't get major updates from google (like OS upgrades) but it might get minor updates (like 3G fixes, bug fixes, newer flash)
Just so that you know Sense UI is android except with a skin, like sense on the hd2.
I would get the Desire (you get both stock and sense ui, the desire has more RAM then the nexus one, the desire looks much better and sleeker.)

Agreed. Couple points:
1. I own a Nexus. It's very good. I'm a WinMo guy and it was good enough to convert me to a phone with no keyboard.
2. I'ld get the desire. Its almost like a 2nd gen N1. Takes away most common faults: bad network coverage, problems with capacitive buttons, vanilla interface.
3. Furthermore, Sense is great. Coming from an HTC WinMo phone I reeeaeaally missed Sense. Android clocks look cheesy while sense looks classy. There is now a dedicated phone button on the screen. My number one complaint was I hate the way iphones find contacts to call them. It's like 4 clicks and a ton of scrolling. Android is like that. But with Sense on, Sense dialer is a smart dialer. Just start typing their name on dialpad (dad = 323) and it quickly finds the number.
4. Although sense can be turned off, its not "just" a launcher. Its also a dialer, a contact app, an entire new homescreen with 7 screens and specialized htc widgets preprogrammed into them, with saveable custom homescreens called "scenes." New weather app, new app drawer with no 3d effects. Also, Sense ("Rosie") is said by Rom chiefs to be built deep into the "framework" of Android, which is why they sadly havent just ported the apps to stock yet.

thanks guys, Looks like the Desire is the best choice then... Now I just hope that it really comes to AT&T. And SOON!!!

i wonder if at&t will screw up the desire like they did with the backflop?

Brickflop, you mean. But I wouldn't be surprised if the Desire gets the same treatment.

Do you hate or like mySense?

So, what do my fellow MT4G'ers think of mySense? Love, hate, indifference?
Coming from TouchWiz, I must say I deplore mySense. I seriously don't understand why people rag on TouchWiz and claim Sense is amazing -- my experience says otherwise: I absolutely loved TouchWiz. Then again, most of this is subjective to personal preferences; so cast your vote and let us know how you feel!

Can you add an option for "I haven't seen it since day one"?
Sense was great on WinMo because the alternative was horrid. I'm not a fan on Android, but I have to say the day I got it I played with it and it's not as bad as full blown Sense IMO.

I had a Samsung captivate on att. It had touchwiz 3.0. I found it to be very usable... particularly because of how well it mimiced iOS which I just switched from. I liked the slide contact to call feature. And although the samoled was rich, I find this screen to be sharper... almost on par with iPhone 4.... but definitely washed out. I am surprisingly liking he UI on this phone. I haven't even bothered to perm root it yet. I like the fact that it all just works.
On the captivate I ran launcher pro. On this phone I have no real desire to change launchers.... and the sense clock and weather widget is frikkin sweet.
I don't find the UI to be intrusive and some of the added features are the best I have seen on a phone... in particular the copy context menu where you can look up anything your browsing is better than iOS. Hands down.
My smartphone acquisition disorder has been quelled.... for the moment.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

I saw on your "what rich colors" thread you mentioned your love for touchwiz.
I think if manufacturers were to make their UI an app instead of implementing it on their devices it would speed the updates. And they could sell them on the market for $2 make some money and please a lot more people than they are now. Just my opinion.

I'm impartial, would prefer Vanilla android though.

mySense is growing on me, I'm starting to love it.

I like it so far..
Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk

Adw launcher + mysense framework = bliss
Sent from my anti titanic

Only thing I can say I TRULY hate about it is the blocks around the icons on the desktop and in the application drawer...
Other than that I have no problems with it!
I've used vanilla 2.2 (N1) and TW (Vibrant) and I can say that MySense isn't bad at all... do away with those blocks and it's golden - definitely better than TW.

Been using it for about 20 mins now and HATE it. Theres a reason my buddies on the Hero and Aria (that i flashed with cm6) dont miss that crap, because its just that, crap.
I'll pray every night for a vanilla rom until its available.

I have been a vanilla android user since my G1 (then N1). The mysense is starting to grow on me. There are some good functions that aren't on vanilla android.

thelamacmdr said:
Adw launcher + mysense framework = bliss
Sent from my anti titanic
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i just downloaded ADW from the market and im deff loving my phone more with this launcher, altho i must say, its a bandaid fix at best.
Im a Keep It Simple STUPID!!!! type of guy and dont like the thought of one launcher overlayed over the sense launcher thats running in the background.

only used sense for the first day then downloaded and upgraded to launcherpro plus!! amazing!!!!

I'm gettin use to it. used launcher pro plus for a min, but came back.

DarkAgent said:
So, what do my fellow MT4G'ers think of mySense? Love, hate, indifference?
Coming from TouchWiz, I must say I deplore mySense. I seriously don't understand why people rag on TouchWiz and claim Sense is amazing -- my experience says otherwise: I absolutely loved TouchWiz. Then again, most of this is subjective to personal preferences; so cast your vote and let us know how you feel!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is tmobile version of sense....not a true rep of the HTC sense~
it's ok to me...coming from a vanilla G1 and vanilla G2

Up in the air
I'm not sure what to think about the UI. There's elements of Sense that I like and there are those that I could do without.
I wish I could have the ADW Launcher with the Sense widgets since I hate the boxes around every icon and the mySense Launcher is kinda weak.
The theming idea is cool for those that don't want to run custom ROMs... maybe CM will port some of the goodies over.
What I would REALLY want is the ability to use HTCSense.com... Here's to the Sense port team!!!

It's ok with me for now. The MT4G has more than enough memory to support it, so the whole "slow" factor is irrelevant really. If it had a proper bluetooth stack so I could use my wiimote I would be much happier.

I like it better than vanilla Android but not a big fan of the launcher or app drawer
I'd like the original Sense UI personally
- White MyTouch 4G -
Permaroot + S=Off

I thought it ran pretty good! Installled launcher pro after a day. I just like the look alot better now.

Its not true sense but espresso or mysense or whatever they are calling it. I really don't like it tbh. I hate the fact that I have to choose a theme, which I think all look like crap. I love Launcher Pro and that gets rid of most of the sense ui. Just waiting for CM6.1.

SGS II regret................

Hi Guys
I bought the SGS II but i started to regret this decision after a couple of days
Everyone wants something out of a phone and Sensation might be a perfect fit for one person, while the SGS II for another
I owned the desire HD before and I really appreciated how smooth the interface was, and the number of business widgets readily available with sense (email, calendar, people, friend stream). I also appreciated how social networking is integrated into sense
In all honesty SGS II is a beast when it comes to speed, but it UI is way behind sense. Out of the box it does not offer the widgets i want,and 3rd party widgets are not as good or do not offer functionality or integration with sense
Amazingly, SGS II UI also becomes laggy when you fillout 7 screens with widgets. I had 7 screens of widgets on the DHD and the scrolling was very smooth
SO MY QUESTION IS
is this smoothness retained in sense 3.0. Do they still have the same nice sense widgets integrated with the system and is sense still smooth even after you fill out 7 screens with widgets ?
Thx

Yes everything is integrated very well. So far no lag with filling 7 screens with widgets

idesmond said:
Yes everything is integrated very well. So far no lag with filling 7 screens with widgets
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here. 7 Screens filled. No lag
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e with my finger using telepathy

Went from Desire HD til Sensation, and I am very pleased.
The form factor of the Sensation, although the difference is not huge on paper, is all in favour of the Sensation. It's much more manageable, and feels better in my hand.
The build quality is better, and to me it feels like an "improved" Desire HD, where all small quirks have been fixed (like battery and Sim card covers, and power/volume buttons)
In short the Sensation feels like a better quality device.
I have always liked Sense, and Sense 3.0 is a very good improvement, with nice new features. (I used Sense 3 addons on my DHD, and I would never go back to Sense 2.1 now)
It is to early for me to conclude battery performance, since the battery only have 2-3 cycles completed, but I have complaints on performance so far.
Speed of dual core is also hard to comment, as my Desire HD ran custom ROM, so it was fast. The Sensation does not feel slow at all, but about the same as the single core 1Ghz DHD. My guess is that when HTC opens the bootloader and custom ROMs are created, it will be noticably faster!

To be fair, I wouldn't be surprised if Sense 3.0 is ported to SGS II and TouchWiz 4.0 is ported to Sensation
I've always said I don't really mind what software the phone is running (as long as it's Android!) because I or another dev can port the software I'd like

i personally hate widgets and sense. So on my sensation I went with launcher pro and like 2 widgets. I dunno its just personal preference i guess everything is.

redbullcat said:
To be fair, I wouldn't be surprised if Sense 3.0 is ported to SGS II
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should be surprised if that happens, because Sense has never been successfully ported to a non-HTC phone. Mildly functional versions have made it to the original Motorola Droid and some Galaxy S variants, but they have never been daily drivers. There are just too many proprietary HTC bits for developers to reverse engineer.

karnovaran said:
You should be surprised if that happens, because Sense has never been successfully ported to a non-HTC phone. Mildly functional versions have made it to the original Motorola Droid and some Galaxy S variants, but they have never been daily drivers. There are just too many proprietary HTC bits for developers to reverse engineer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was all before HTC opened the DEV Center for Sense, it may get quite a bit easier to work with Sense.

karnovaran said:
You should be surprised if that happens, because Sense has never been successfully ported to a non-HTC phone. Mildly functional versions have made it to the original Motorola Droid and some Galaxy S variants, but they have never been daily drivers. There are just too many proprietary HTC bits for developers to reverse engineer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Always time for a first, though

So, who want's to see some Sense 4.0 with ICS

http://www.slashgear.com/htc-ville-caught-on-video-with-sense-4-0-31211379/
I don't like it. HTC must have been high out of their minds to take Sense this far. The animations are unnecessary.

I agree, Im not really liking it. The dockbar, IMO, looks like garbage. All those animations seems like it lags the UI as well

the animation is nice. but i don't like the launcher, sense's 3.xx launcher is better that.

I like the animations. The dock and the actual device are ugly. Sucks. HTC messed up on this one. For sure il be getting the amaze instead now. I rather have sense 3.0 on android 4.0.

coupetastic-droid said:
I like the animations. The dock and the actual device are ugly. Sucks. HTC messed up on this one. For sure il be getting the amaze instead now. I rather have sense 3.0 on android 4.0.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why if you can just root it an hopefully downgrade lol

i honestly do like thgis sense. i mean sure the launcher is a bit iffy but i like it and if it gets ported to our phone i wont mind using it as a DD

O__o what happened????
Software: it doesn't even look like Sense anymore...
i agree, the animations, while nice, look like they hog a bunch of memory, and aren't necessary... if it lags on a device like that, imagine how it would run on our Glacier..LOL
Hardware: reminds me of the Galaxy Nexus, specially from the side lol
it doesn't look as pro and nice as the Sensation... i mean.. wow.. single LED light? the Sensation has two...
much rather get the Sensation instead.
quite disappointed... hope HTC changes it before the official release.

Eww ugly
I'm a Rom Flip Flopper

I was concerned that Sense 4.0 would look too much like previous versions and not allow enough of ICS' great UI to show through. The leaked video was a pleasant surprise!
I like the new status bar, clock/weather widget, and dockbar. All three are a nice change from previous versions which were pretty close to identical going from the Cupcake version of Sense that came out on the Hero all the way up to Sense 3.5 on the Runnymede and Rezound. Finally something different!
Like most people I did not at all like the needless animation in the Settings window, but I'd still be interested in running 4.0 on the MT4G or any future device.

Not a big fan of Sense in general, but it does seem HTC has gone overboard with this one. The phone itself looks pretty sleek though, wonder how cool it would be running AOSP ICS.

I haven't seen the video yet, I'm throttled, but judging by the comments. It's possible that it's just a beta or something, I'm just guessing.
If I helped, give thanks, if you please.
........Death before dishonor........
Team MS

I actually like it, it sure looked like a beta to me. There is no way HTC is going to release something that laggy
Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda premium

I think it looks pretty good. I definitely like the new launcher. I hated the rosie dock.

I thought it looked pretty cool. Cant wait to see a finished product

I could care less about the lag; it's the UI itself that annoys me. This has resource hog written all over it. And, Sense got uglier. All this resource rape is unnecessary; people have made exact replicas of Sense using images and other widgets, and it uses a ****lot less resources than Sense's framework (not to mention, the framework is modded to hell). HTC is just getting unnecessary now.

I think HTC should of just watered it down, a lot. Keeps beats and add universal support. Animations are nice so keep those, and have HTC Widgets, and apps and that's it. Stock ICS with minor tweaks.
sent from my Virtuous Unity

GazaIan said:
I could care less about the lag; it's the UI itself that annoys me. This has resource hog written all over it. And, Sense got uglier. All this resource rape is unnecessary; people have made exact replicas of Sense using images and other widgets, and it uses a ****lot less resources than Sense's framework (not to mention, the framework is modded to hell). HTC is just getting unnecessary now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm gonna have to disagree with that. Sense has so many little touches are throughout the UI...far too many to list. There's no way to replicate the Sense experience with themes and widgets.
It's sort of like generic cola...it tastes ok and a little like real Coke, but there's no way to duplicate genuine ice-cold Coca-Cola Classic (or Pepsi ).

TeeJay3800 said:
I'm gonna have to disagree with that. Sense has so many little touches are throughout the UI...far too many to list. There's no way to replicate the Sense experience with themes and widgets.
It's sort of like generic cola...it tastes ok and a little like real Coke, but there's no way to duplicate genuine ice-cold Coca-Cola Classic (or Pepsi ).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+100%
you're absolutely right.
people may have made "replicas" of it, but nothing beats the real thing.
just like how those people in China make those fake Android phones/iPhones and sell them

Looks great, but I'll always trade the looks of sense for the responsiveness and better battery life I get from an AOSP or CM build.

After looking at this, if sense REALLY turns out to be that way, I'm hoping some smart guy will make a rom for it without all the needless animations and resource hogging things.
I was really dissapointed that Touchwiz phones were more popular than Sense phones for 2011. I thought HTC would learn from that, but it seems they've gotten worse. I've been kind of excited for a Sense 4.0 rom but now im just probably gonna use my core droid 3.5 rom til my contract is up. If a nexus phone doesnt come to T-mobile... I will be forced to buy the only thing i see good enough....... a galaxy S 3 phone.
btw: I just saw this video today so im late XD.

[Q] Questions about Sense and Android 4.0

Hello guys,
I've just recently got the One S on contract from Netcom and coming from a Samsung phone this really has been a new experience for me all together. But I have a problem. The phone itself works flawlessly and lags nothing compared to the HTC One X - but I really, really, really HATE SENSE.
I just can't seem to get used to it and since I've pretty much done custom flashing on my old Galaxy S since the very start, I just can't wait to replace SENSE as soon as possible - in the mean time, would it be possible to just unlock the device and put a STOCK version of ICS on it? Like one for the One S so that I get to keep stuff such as the HTC browser and maybe the custom Alt+Tab kind of thingy they put on?
Personally would like to build my own custom ROM with some mixed ingredienses but I wouldn't know where to start.
Any ideas? Or do I just have to wait and stick to this in the mean time?

As a stop-gap measure, you could install another launcher. I did this on the HTC Sensation for awhile before we started having either the non-sense options or true AOSP builds like we have now. From my limited experience, this is a flagship device and developers and users and documentarians will show up. The Sensation has a pretty rich community of both sense and AOSP builds now. One cautionary note though. On my Sensation running a modified version of CM9 there are things still being fixed. You may find early versions of ICS will have a variety of issues as developers get things solved. Its particularly hard before source gets released though. Its like peddling a bicycle backwards in a dark tunnel when its raining.

As mentioned above, install Nova launcher for now.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1389071
Sent from my HTC One S using xda premium

ok thanks guys. will have to settle with it for now I guess.
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA

Au Contraire!
I am going with the One S because it runs Sense 4 ( best android overlay)
I was going to go with Samsung Galaxy S2 but my friend showed me his, everything about TouchWiz was unappealing from the large text the stale interface.

AndroidBlizzard said:
Au Contraire!
I am going with the One S because it runs Sense 4 ( best android overlay)
I was going to go with Samsung Galaxy S2 but my friend showed me his, everything about TouchWiz was unappealing from the large text the stale interface.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess each one has it's own taste
My gripe with sense is just what you describe as appealing.. the small black text on white background in most of the interface is killing my eye-sight at night. Guess I have been used to the Android 2.3 experience for too long and as much as Sense 4 works wonders - it just not my cup of tea. This could of course be fixed if there was a "black" skin that could be applied. Preferably with as little bright colors as possible (I know, may sound boring but will eventually save a few hours of battery in the long run due to the AMOLED display running "less hot" )

I'm in the same situation as the OP, really enjoyed ICS on my Desire until the display broke (got slammed display first into table... IKEA > HTC)
Anyways here's hoping that I understand these nuggets correctly: "MoDaCo Custom ROMs are based on official ROMs - either shipping or leaked."
"Stock style and Vanilla (ICS) style prebakes will be available as the ROM takes shape."
Source: first post in [ROM] 11 Apr - MoDaCo Custom ROM for the HTC One S - Sense and Vanilla styles in the One S Development forum http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1592126
So hopefully Paulobrien just removes Sense etc from an official ROM. Not sure whats up with the cooking lingo though, maybe there is a dev-chef-lingo dictionary somewhere on XDA!
Also I second your request for where to start learning to build your own ROM! Should post a Q in the noob-friendly thread here.

aureleuz said:
I guess each one has it's own taste
My gripe with sense is just what you describe as appealing.. the small black text on white background in most of the interface is killing my eye-sight at night. Guess I have been used to the Android 2.3 experience for too long and as much as Sense 4 works wonders - it just not my cup of tea. This could of course be fixed if there was a "black" skin that could be applied. Preferably with as little bright colors as possible (I know, may sound boring but will eventually save a few hours of battery in the long run due to the AMOLED display running "less hot" )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps you are right
Looking at sense 3.0 interface , the black blackground is weird, sense 4 with white background for settings seems much more natural. I have spent quite some time around my friends who have EVO 3D and Sensation, and I have to admit I will miss the eye catching animations and the easy access carousel function. Of course this is will be my first HTC phone so I can see how people hate the white look of settings. Coming from an iPhone with white settings too, it will be a similar transition for me. Sense just seems to have so much depth and much to explore compared to other Android Overlays. Having ICS along with it just makes the experience much smoother and sweeter.(Pun partially intended )

So... can anybody tell me if the Stock ROMs that have been cooked for the One S recently work good enough to run for production (i.e. HTC camera, launcher, weather widget)
I really would like to feel that AOSP experience again just like on my old Galaxy S. But I don't want to loose any functionality

aureleuz said:
So... can anybody tell me if the Stock ROMs that have been cooked for the One S recently work good enough to run for production (i.e. HTC camera, launcher, weather widget)
I really would like to feel that AOSP experience again just like on my old Galaxy S. But I don't want to loose any functionality
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try Black Dragon 3.8 Rom. Very stable and keeps all functions working.

LikeaG2root said:
Try Black Dragon 3.8 Rom. Very stable and keeps all functions working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kthx.
Does that include the HTC ImageSense chip-drivers? I really like the way the camera snaps those pics in a fraction of a second!