Concept multitasking wp7 - Windows Phone 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello everyone,
I went recently to a device and more specifically to a wp7 7 omnia,
I created this video concept on the management of a multitasking wp7 keeping the style of the loose tiles without too many effects, such as MS has created a minimalist.
It works like this:
holding down the "back" button for 1-2 seconds, under a bar will appear with your open applications represented with the same tiles, dragging down the application quits, while clicking on it opens the'applicazione selected.
What do you think?

I like the idea of dragging down to close the program

Just very nice concept, yes.

Thats very good!
Multitasking (or should I say 'appswitching') on iOS is, imo, worse than that on Android and winmo.
On iOS, hate how you have to first double click the home button, then hold on one of the background-running apps on the taskbar until it gives you the option to close it. I liked iOS before that implememntation, because the 'taskbar' just easily gets filled up with apps.
On Winmo, once you tap the taskbar drop down menu and the list of background running apps appear, you have an x right next to it already. Alot more efficient.

Nice Concept :] I would like that too

Too much like iOS. I am sure MS can come up with the nicer way.

digger1985 said:
Too much like iOS. I am sure MS can come up with the nicer way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, It is good, it doesn't interrupt your work and it's easy to use.

spippo said:
Hello everyone,
I went recently to a device and more specifically to a wp7 7 omnia,
I created this video concept on the management of a multitasking wp7 keeping the style of the loose tiles without too many effects, such as MS has created a minimalist.
It works like this:
holding down the "back" button for 1-2 seconds, under a bar will appear with your open applications represented with the same tiles, dragging down the application quits, while clicking on it opens the'applicazione selected.
What do you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it would be perfect if M$ do it like This way propose it to Redmond company

hd2leo_fusion said:
it would be perfect if M$ do it like This way propose it to Redmond company
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? M$? 1995 called and want their meme back!!

As someone in the UI design field, non obvious actions are actually bad design. Holding down a button for 2 seconds is not obvious, a simpler more intuitive solution would be to have an arrow (or icon) at the bottom to do the same.
Like the bars at the bottom tho, and the dragging down thing (also non obvious)

pillsburydoughman said:
As someone in the UI design field, non obvious actions are actually bad design. Holding down a button for 2 seconds is not obvious, a simpler more intuitive solution would be to have an arrow (or icon) at the bottom to do the same.
Like the bars at the bottom tho, and the dragging down thing (also non obvious)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so holding down the home button to voice command is also bad design???
You would prefer more icons on screen to do what a hard button can accomplish?

thank you all!
If you give the other suggestions I can make another video concept and maybe send it to Microsoft like an idea! What do you think?

I looks very nice, but the icons are too big.

pillsburydoughman said:
As someone in the UI design field, non obvious actions are actually bad design. Holding down a button for 2 seconds is not obvious, a simpler more intuitive solution would be to have an arrow (or icon) at the bottom to do the same.
Like the bars at the bottom tho, and the dragging down thing (also non obvious)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
holding down the start key for voice controls isn't obvious to users as well...unless they mistakingly do it, or read the booklet! Its fine! Humans are smarter than you think.

Seriously, this is almost exactly how iOS's appswitching works. And it's not a bad thing.
But probably Microsoft wouldn't use that layout for obviously reasons.
Android switcher sux. I would like to see something as easy as iOS. This one is nice, though smaller icons would be better

What a nonsense. Don't forget in WP7 navigation looks like this:
- Open software1
- Navigate to software page1.
- Navigate to software page2.
- Press Win
- Open software2
- Navigate to software page1.
So, after last step, let's assume i switch app to software1, then press back 2 times, and after that if i press back one more time, where i will go?

In Android, if you press 'Back' several times it just takes you to Home launcher. Do the same here.

Good
my congratulations to spippo, this is the first video that I see on a WP7 multitaskink...
I hope that Microsoft may look and begin to think on it!!!!

I love your idea but i think, that multi tasking should look like the Zune HD's pin/history section where you swipe to the right and that pane come up.

Barbbachello said:
I like the idea of dragging down to close the program
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This works in WebOS and Blackberry Tablet OS because those systems use a gesture to "minimize" the application to a card that can be swiped up to be closed. WP7 doesn't do this. Apps are full screen. If I'm in Twitter, 50 results down in my feed; you want me to go all the way to the top so that I can drag the program down to close it? How exactly will I drag this program down to close it? What's wrong with an X in the upper right corner to close it, or simply backing out of it?
I think pre-emptive Multitasking has its usage, especially for stock applications. But I think the need for them in third party applications is limited to some pretty obvious use cases and Microsoft should be uber strict when it comes to allowing applications to do it.
Tombstoning + Push Notifications should be the de facto standard for third party applications, IMO.

Related

Is Touch Flo3D silly junk?

I disabled touch flo 3d right away because it seems like pointless eye candy. It seems like a sloppy rough integration that is a greater impedance than an assistant. Or is it just me
Have you modified it with the tweaks to enhance the performance? All it is is really just another shell, your preference there.
its the first thing i disabled. in my opinion its pretty darn ugly...except for the weather thing, its kind of cute. but i like having all my stuff on the home screen where i can see it all at once
As you can see, you are clearly outvoted. They had the same poll over at ppcgeeks (How many are still using TouchFlo3D) and of the 320 people who participated,80% were still using it.
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?p=482651
TF3D brings an essential level of style to Windows Mobile.
Surur
Style, schmile!
If I wanted style I'd have the Jesus phone that Apple makes - with one of the great cases from Vaja.
Instead, I want to look at my screen and gain information. On my day, on the stock market, on the weather and on the number of messages I am currently blowing off.
I too liked the weather bit. I also appreciated that TF3D goes a good job at memory management. Maybe when I get the time to learn how to customize it, I'll return to TF3D.
For now, though it is back to WinMob running Pocket Breeze in full screen mode with panels for pA and Pocket Weather.
I really like it. It gives me access to what I need to see when I glance at the screen (except tasks) and finger-touch access to programs.
It does screw up maybe once a day though requiring a soft reset. I applied the mods recommended and they made my TP freeze a lot so I changed them back to default.
It's actually a great enhancement to WM. almost everything that needs to be readily accessible is "touchable" no need to get irritated and use the tip of my nail to make sure I press it just right. Even the corner X close button works almost flawlessly because the screen touch area is now flush.
I know there has been some whining but this really is the best match, easy touch interface for the simple phone stuff, and the ability to use a keyboard and a stylus for things that just aren't feasable to use efficiently with a finger on a touch screen.
I'm a very happy camper with the Fuze... well except for that ****ing GPS crap.
I'd also like to add that I think most of us really created and adapted ways to be able to not use the touchscreen for a lot of things, and with good reason considering how much I hate using a stylus to navigate a UI. So I think a ton of us bring a certain baggage about using our fingers because it just really did always suck that bad. Which thanks to HTC it really doesn't now. Plus this screen may not be like the capacitive Iphone but man it's definitely a lot smoother, the word "silky" comes to mind with how it feels compared to my Tytn.
I'm not sure which one of the 2 voting options is meant to be good
Some people are just afraid of change. As there still millions of windows 98 users out there. LMAO, people need to move with the times
Touchflo3d is indeed the most beautiful interface I've ever seen. It remained for about one month on my mobile phone. After that I still installed pocket plus (the program who puts icons dirrectly on screen and used only one tab in which I put all my programs).
Reason 1: functionality. It takes several moves in TF3D to do simple tasks. For example if I am in the home screen I cannot start with a single click an app. I have to scroll (and be quite carrefull to go in the desired position) and after that start a program etc. Imagine if in Windows you would be forced to use start, programs every time if you wanted to use an program...it'll kill you. That's why we activate programs by clicking the icon on the screen after all...it's the fastest way. All in all, to be clear, if it would be a contest between a TF3D and a Pocket Plus-type of program, everytime the pocket plus device will "click" the application faster, while in TF3D depends on where TAB are you..
Reason 2: familiarity with Windows way of activating programs. As I said before it's more simple for me to simply activate the icon on screen and not bother with some paradigm of displaying emails or SMS (and related to that, do you want to be able that someone can take a look at your info by simply scrolling to that tab? I don't)
Reason 3 -not quite a reason, but a proof that this a better interface in my opinion: the simple-icon-on-display type of interface is actually validated by the Iphone which we all know as a beautiful device at least.
I like Touchflo3d, but I missed my usual today screen setup.
The easy answer is to use secondtoday, that way I get the best of both worlds, one tap on the screen switches between them.
Gigs said:
Touchflo3d is indeed the most beautiful interface I've ever seen. It remained for about one month on my mobile phone. After that I still installed pocket plus (the program who puts icons dirrectly on screen and used only one tab in which I put all my programs).
Reason 1: functionality. It takes several moves in TF3D to do simple tasks. For example if I am in the home screen I cannot start with a single click an app. I have to scroll (and be quite carrefull to go in the desired position) and after that start a program etc. Imagine if in Windows you would be forced to use start, programs every time if you wanted to use an program...it'll kill you. That's why we activate programs by clicking the icon on the screen after all...it's the fastest way. All in all, to be clear, if it would be a contest between a TF3D and a Pocket Plus-type of program, everytime the pocket plus device will "click" the application faster, while in TF3D depends on where TAB are you..
Reason 2: familiarity with Windows way of activating programs. As I said before it's more simple for me to simply activate the icon on screen and not bother with some paradigm of displaying emails or SMS (and related to that, do you want to be able that someone can take a look at your info by simply scrolling to that tab? I don't)
Reason 3 -not quite a reason, but a proof that this a better interface in my opinion: the simple-icon-on-display type of interface is actually validated by the Iphone which we all know as a beautiful device at least.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pocket Plus sound like exactly what I need!
nuke1 said:
I'm not sure which one of the 2 voting options is meant to be good
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bunk = bad and handy gooey is handy GUI or handy Graphical User Interface
migsims said:
It's actually a great enhancement to WM. almost everything that needs to be readily accessible is "touchable" no need to get irritated and use the tip of my nail to make sure I press it just right. Even the corner X close button works almost flawlessly because the screen touch area is now flush.
I know there has been some whining but this really is the best match, easy touch interface for the simple phone stuff, and the ability to use a keyboard and a stylus for things that just aren't feasable to use efficiently with a finger on a touch screen.
I'm a very happy camper with the Fuze... well except for that ****ing GPS crap.
I'd also like to add that I think most of us really created and adapted ways to be able to not use the touchscreen for a lot of things, and with good reason considering how much I hate using a stylus to navigate a UI. So I think a ton of us bring a certain baggage about using our fingers because it just really did always suck that bad. Which thanks to HTC it really doesn't now. Plus this screen may not be like the capacitive Iphone but man it's definitely a lot smoother, the word "silky" comes to mind with how it feels compared to my Tytn.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe thats why I'm having so much trouble with the touch screen. I tap something,,,, wait 5 seconds,,, tap again,,,, wait 6 seconds then give up and get out the stylus. Maybe I should re-enable touchflo to stop this problem
surur said:
As you can see, you are clearly outvoted. They had the same poll over at ppcgeeks (How many are still using TouchFlo3D) and of the 320 people who participated,80% were still using it.
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?p=482651
TF3D brings an essential level of style to Windows Mobile.
Surur
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats interesting. Thanks for the link. Maybe I should give touchflo 3D a another shot.
chetmichaels said:
its the first thing i disabled. in my opinion its pretty darn ugly...except for the weather thing, its kind of cute. but i like having all my stuff on the home screen where i can see it all at once
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me too. Thats why I copied and pasted the links that are in folders within the program folder back up to the program folder. I like having everything in 1 spot. I wish it was alphabetized though.
kareem9nba said:
Have you modified it with the tweaks to enhance the performance? All it is is really just another shell, your preference there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Performance wasn't really the issue for me. It just seemed like pointless eye candy.
James, you'll really find SPB Pocket Plus really nice. The thing with it is to remove all the tabs, as they really only generate useless clicks to navigate where your program is, and in final squeeze in one tab only the icons you need. I have 3x5 icons(with no text and large size enabled) and if I really think some of them I don't really need - like powerpoint and so on.To give an exameple this is what I consider usefull:Comunication Manager, Resco Explorer, HTC Album, Igo, Camera, Excel, Word, Coreplayer, sms, activesync,radio, opera, 1-calc (a very nice calculator) and notes. And supplimentary I have enabled the calendar and date plugins in today screen. This is a very nice setup - eficient - and if you set a non transparent background, very nice, kinda stylish look. Now, I have seen that you complained about precision of tapping - beware that in the margins and corners of display you'll have sometimes to get out the stylus. Give that pocket plus a try.It really made my days.
kareem9nba said:
Have you modified it with the tweaks to enhance the performance? All it is is really just another shell, your preference there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Care to share those kareem?
jamespaulritter said:
I disabled touch flo 3d right away because it seems like pointless eye candy. It seems like a sloppy rough integration that is a greater impedance than an assistant. Or is it just me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely NOT at all. We must be on different spectrum of the universe. I like TF3D a great deal, make navigating the phone intuitive and seamless. It is just you.
Without TF3D, my Sprint TP would just be any other run of the mill Win Mobile big screen phone. My 39 cents.
TF3D is totally kickass! I love it for everything. Althought I do wish they had the map intergration that they have in TF2D. I also want the stocks tab and am waiting for the hd manilla to be perfected . Other than that, the original htc theme, with q-style font, my personalized background, tweaks from diamond config, and stock fuze rom, it runs pretty darm fast. Only did a soft reset once and that waas because I was attempting to run a qvga application and it crashed.
Gigs said:
James, you'll really find SPB Pocket Plus really nice. The thing with it is to remove all the tabs, as they really only generate useless clicks to navigate where your program is, and in final squeeze in one tab only the icons you need. I have 3x5 icons(with no text and large size enabled) and if I really think some of them I don't really need - like powerpoint and so on.To give an exameple this is what I consider usefull:Comunication Manager, Resco Explorer, HTC Album, Igo, Camera, Excel, Word, Coreplayer, sms, activesync,radio, opera, 1-calc (a very nice calculator) and notes. And supplimentary I have enabled the calendar and date plugins in today screen. This is a very nice setup - eficient - and if you set a non transparent background, very nice, kinda stylish look. Now, I have seen that you complained about precision of tapping - beware that in the margins and corners of display you'll have sometimes to get out the stylus. Give that pocket plus a try.It really made my days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. Let's not turn into a bunch of iPhone cattle. They stick to their phones like cult even when plagued with numerous problems.
Get SPB mobile. It blows TFTD out of the water.
dgduris said:
Style, schmile!
If I wanted style I'd have the Jesus phone that Apple makes - with one of the great cases from Vaja.
Instead, I want to look at my screen and gain information. On my day, on the stock market, on the weather and on the number of messages I am currently blowing off.
I too liked the weather bit. I also appreciated that TF3D goes a good job at memory management. Maybe when I get the time to learn how to customize it, I'll return to TF3D.
For now, though it is back to WinMob running Pocket Breeze in full screen mode with panels for pA and Pocket Weather.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't know the Lord makes phones
Back to the subject, it's all a personal preference. I think it's great, and makes the phone a lot more fun and a little easier to use, you don't, but nobody is right or wrong on this one.
ababrekar said:
Care to share those kareem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are stickied in the Raphael subforum
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=413562
BTW I have been using TFL3D since when I got my TP in August. SPB Shell seems outdated now but I have it installed anyway, accessible via Second Today

Ideas for Multi-Tasking: Method Explained

For anyone who would love to increase our joy in using Android by allowing us to multi-task more seemlessly and dynamically, as well as help Android keep up with next-gen multi-tasking platforms such as webOS, here are some ideas:
Here is a method of graphically presenting a task switching application. Imagine presenting thumbnail screenshots of all open application, lined up in a row, being zoomed out to take up about half the normal space on the screen, to be scrolled through with a flick of a finger. Think switching between windows in Steel (after tapping the window button which displays all of your open web pages in a row).
Now, the method for bringing up these apps to be scrolled through gives room to a bit of creativity as well. One could give the option to simply press the camera button (a la Task Switcher). Another option, should one not want to monopolize the camera button, would be to long-press the trackball. still, a more creative method would be this; the user gives the handset a quick shake, and BOOM, the current app zooms out and the other apps appear in line to the left and the right. Of course, games and apps that use the accelorometer would be given priority, requiring the user to pause the game or go to the menu screen before shaking the device to bring up the app switcher (something that makes sense anyway. You wouldn't want to leave a game in progress).
Hope someone somewhere likes this idea, finds it feasable and can invest their time and programing skills (of which I have none personally) into enhancing our Android experience this way.
Thanks!
I dont know what this has to do with multi-tasking as its only a visual aspect of it... but have you ever tried holding your home button? Voila a task switcher
like there isnt 1/2 a dozen ways to do this?
download task switcher, it uses the camera button to bring up a nice visual task switcher.
of course i should point out that android by default comes with a task switcher, just hold down the home button. also you can set up quick lauch shortcuts for apps. i dont see how it can get any better then that.....
I wouldn't mind if they were to put the apps that are running on the notification bar.
rogro82 said:
I dont know what this has to do with multi-tasking as its only a visual aspect of it... but have you ever tried holding your home button? Voila a task switcher
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that a list of the last 6 recently used programs instead of currently running programs?
jaroque i think it depends. that IS the list of the last 6 used programs, however the way android works is it closes programs only when it needs memory so a lot of times some (or all) of the programs in that list are still indeed running because they dont require too much memory.

How would you improve wm 6.5?

I just want to start a thread on what people genuinely think about the adjustments Microsoft© have made for the Windows Mobile 6.5 beta which was leaked everywhere.
Please dont just come on and say you hate it or just start complaining.
Just balanced and constructive suggestions. (could admins plz remove single minded complainst etc..)
Microsoft© wont ever learn anything about what people really want if there is nowhere that people can collate their ideas about improvements.
Please just state what device you have and which rom, then your point/s.
Ill start it off:
Im running wm6.5 (pdaviet rom) on my Elfin.
1) When i lock my phone, it hangs for a couple of moments before locking. Its only very short, but its still annoying. So, that could be faster.
2) When locked, It would be easier to use if you had the button at the top and have to move it down (or visa/versa) possibly an entry in the settings menu for editing the location of where you want the button to start and end to unlock?
3) I find if a problem when scrolling through the start menu and it stops after four lines of links. I think it would be much easier to remove this limit and let it scroll freely. The user can then stop it where they want.
4) seriously, make some new interface for the basics like the callendar app. They are always included, but it seems pointless making a more usable interface overall when you have to pull out the stylus the second you get into a default, simple app. Many people nowadays are simply resorting to 3rd party apps with better interfaces. (I have actually made my own design rework of the callendar app)
5) The menu given for start menu items needs to be extended to having an option for moving an item around. This should either have a selection of "move (up, right, left, down)" or you should be able to drag icons around.
6) The titanium today screen needs more options which should be customisable from the settings menu. This is what people on this forum have been doing, so i think it should be there by default with the ability to add more simply.
(This could possibly attract a little bit of attention from developers?)
7) Create a view for the contacts app where you simply scroll through a grid of the pictures associated with contacts. This would only be used by people who have pictures, but if this feature was available, it would prompt people to get pictures of the people in their phonebook.
8) Solitare - Make it look better. New backs for the cards? Better ending when a game is won - possibly more similar to the latest desktop version?
9) Make it easier to turn on/off/connect with bluetooth and wifi. I dont know too much about any other connections, but with these two, its more hastle than it should. What i currently have is an icon in my start menu. One with the bluetooth logo, the other with the wifi logo. These simply start and stop them. Also, when you connect to a bluetooth device, it would be nice if it displayed a menu of things you could continue to do, like "send (contact, file, etc)
10) Include a better way of turning the phone off or soft resetting it. Having to hold down the power button or poking the little hole with the stylus is reminiscent of having to hold down the power button on a PC when it crashes. A software alternative to this, included with windows mobile, would be well recieved.
11) some form of backup/restore solution. This would help reasure users that might be afraid of loosing their contacts or other data.
12) after going through the start menu into an program, or further into the settings and into a setting app, it would be nice to go back to the start menu upon closing the program. Its annoying when your altering all your settings and each time you go through a bunch of settings, you have to go through the start menu again to find the next lot of settings.
13) final thing: the scrolling is nice and smooth, but this added ease to scroll up and down seems to have sacrificed being able to select things easily. It takes several attempts to go into folders in the file explorer without scrolling up or down.
Positive things about 6.5:
The honeycomb menu makes the start menu easier to poke at.
The swiping between tabs in programs, and pictures in the "photos and videos" app is handy.
The enlarged menu lists are much more finger friendly (but the large buttons at the top and bottom hinder them slightly.)
Titanium is fun simply because of the three different ways of moving between tabs (its a simple thing, but it keeps me happy)
The calculator looks very nice
The little curves on the tabs is a nice change, more smooth looking
The whole UI looks better
I was a bit dubious of the start button going strait into the programs menu, but it grew on me very quickly and now i think its great.
Please add any ideas you have.
I hope Microsoft looks at this and takes the ideas people put into consideration before the official release.
I wish 6.5 have:
- A completly renewed UI that is really FINGER FRIENDLY in all aspects and in all menus, not just on the today screen...
- Totally removed the super ugly honeycomb
- A really noticeable better performance
Come on folks! give some more ideas!

Porting Bottom Start button from WM6.5 to WM 6.1

Hello, guys!
You all are professionals and know almost everything about different versions of WM. I have one very important question: is there at least minimal possibility to port somehow this WM 6.5.5 feature - bottom start button to the old WM 6.1 firmwares?
Thank you very much in advance and sorry if this question is a foolish one
It's sort-of possible but would take a little work. Why not just use a 6.5 rom instead?
I think the greater challenge would be resizing the top bar (smaller) and the bottom bar (larger).
Thanks for the answer!
littld said:
It's sort-of possible but would take a little work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I even can't imagine how it could be implemented... Don't you know if there already was some work for achieving it?
littld said:
Why not just use a 6.5 rom instead?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because it seems more slow to me. Official WM6.1 is very fast and simple as I see, faster than 6.5. I've tried a lot of 6.5 builds. But what I really miss in WM6.1 - is this bottom start button. If it be there - it would be the best firmware for all people like me, who like simplicity and usability instead of these huge slow animations and pictures.
littld said:
I think the greater challenge would be resizing the top bar (smaller) and the bottom bar (larger).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it's useful too. Would be nice if somebody experienced considered this interesting and made some investigation...
it's easy to erase the Start menu link from the top bar. you can just overwrite the WindowProc and replace/enhance the WM_PAINT method and here you go.
It's no problem to launch the start menu. But changing the bottom bar is a *****! You could just overwrite the paint method as well. But this is not the full truth. The problem here is that every window got it's own bottom bar. So first you'd have to go through list of all windows/processes, retrieve it's menu bar and from there finally replace the window proc. Then you need to watch out and terminate your window proc if the application closes. And of course you also need to know if a new program is starting up. A nice-to-have feature of this solution would be that you can explicitely tell what happens when you hit the X button (hide or close) and don't need another hack for it.
Thanks a lot for your explanation, RAMMANN. It's very clear.
I can't do it by myself due to lack of experience. Well, the thing left is to wait if somebody experienced wants the same
Well it's a project that probably involves A LOT OF soft resets during development. I was originally planning to make the WM 6.5.x bottom bar look like PHOTON (the WM 7 that got abandoned) but when I figured out it's not THAT easy I postponed the idea for the time being, and will rather start with a smaller project (enhancing bottom bar of WM 6.5 start menu). But I reckon this might still be a very interesting project! hmmmm
RAMMANN said:
Well it's a project that probably involves A LOT OF soft resets during development. I was originally planning to make the WM 6.5.x bottom bar look like PHOTON (the WM 7 that got abandoned) but when I figured out it's not THAT easy I postponed the idea for the time being, and will rather start with a smaller project (enhancing bottom bar of WM 6.5 start menu). But I reckon this might still be a very interesting project! hmmmm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha - that's exactly what I'd been doing years ago. I abandoned it as well, probably for the same reasons.
I think a decent compromise would be to set the Start menu in your left bottom bar on the Today screen (pretty easy to do, just registry change) and use a button assignment for other programs. If you install one of the start menu replacements (Green software) you can overwrite the start icon with something blank.
RAMMANN is right - a lot of work to repaint all those application windows!
littld, thanks for your answer too.
littld said:
set the Start menu in your left bottom bar on the Today screen (pretty easy to do, just registry change) and use a button assignment for other programs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you please give some links to these tweaks? Thanks in advance!
littld said:
Haha - that's exactly what I'd been doing years ago. I abandoned it as well, probably for the same reasons.
RAMMANN is right - a lot of work to repaint all those application windows!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I didn't give up yet. I didn't even start dev for it. I just coded few lines to print something like "Hey your bottom bar is hacked!" in the Manila and start menu bottom bars. This is a very interesting project and has potential to allow a lot of things like Photon style or even an Android style bottom bar and I mean not only a standalone app like Androkkid but a full system replacement. I'm still looking around for an efficient way to realize this project and first things first so I'll be doing a start menu enhancement to warm up
J-Pro said:
littld, thanks for your answer too.
Could you please give some links to these tweaks? Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have the links but you can search. You want an app called VJKeypress - one of the keypresses will launch the start menu for you. Make a shortcut (.lnk file) for it. Search for how to change the left softkey text and program (somewhere in registry) to the new VJ link.
Thanks for your answers, guys.
RAMMANN, when you have some progress on this project, please, update this thread. I think people would appreciate it.
Thanks again!
RAMMANN said:
it's easy to erase the Start menu link from the top bar. you can just overwrite the WindowProc and replace/enhance the WM_PAINT method and here you go.
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I know this is an old post i dug up here, but i was wondering how i would go about earasing the start menu link from the top? i'm using 6.5 and i want to totaly dissable the top start soft key. thank you

[Q] graphical task switcher

Hey,
Looking for the good visual/graphical task switcher on the Note.
In IOS as used to have "Mutiflow" that was very good, but i cannot find any decent one on Android.
An advice ?
stylobic said:
Hey,
Looking for the good visual/graphical task switcher on the Note.
In IOS as used to have "Mutiflow" that was very good, but i cannot find any decent one on Android.
An advice ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Swipepad.
Really awesome. Its free but for the addons u have to pay.
This one worked perfect in sgsII and my dell streak.
However in note u have to take a little more effort to initialize the app. i.e u have to swipe real carefully. U will understand it once u install it.
Another one is taskchanger pro.... Lots of good reviews ,
Easy to initialise the app but however did not work well for me in note. I had some glitches like app , restarts and looses settings and so on.
Try swipepad first .
visual task switcher doesnt seem to work on the note since it doesnt support 2.3.
but smart task switcher works well enough. not as pretty as visual task switcher but it does the job.
Swipepad looks interesting and I will check it out.
For some time now (both on my previous phone and now on the Note) I've been using Perfect Task Switcher and am pretty much happy with it.
I checked swipepad, it's nice, but it's mainly a laucher...the task switcher is an paid option, unfortunately.
edit: Task Switcher wouldbe Perfect if we could assign the double press to home button to lauch the switcher
Well, i tryed a few apps for task switching, and i don't find nothing comparable to my IPhone. So, i can stick to a non graphical app.
in addition, I cannot find one lauched with double press home button.
any help ? because i already regret Ios, despite the small screen
stylobic said:
Well, i tryed a few apps for task switching, and i don't find nothing comparable to my IPhone. So, i can stick to a non graphical app.
in addition, I cannot find one lauched with double press home button.
any help ? because i already regret Ios, despite the small screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i dont think you'll be able to find one. i may be wrong, but iirc, double press home button is reserved by android. you cant really override it with software options. on my old atrix, i would just map the task switcher to the search button, but the note doesnt have the search button.
First of all - long home press = inbuilt task switcher. It's probably obvious but it took me a week and the manual to find that out, so chances are some people still don't know it.
For my own purposes I use Wave Launcher with recents on - this way I always have the access to all my most important apps + drawer + few last ones and this is spot on for me and works ALWAYS - no matter what app is in the foreground I naver had a problem of not being able to access Wave Launcher. I have been using PowerStrip for a long time for the same purposes but Wave is more natural.
The big advantage is the ability to access widgets this way - great if you need to for example change the screen brightness with SwitchPro while playing a full screen 3D game that hides the taskbar (so you can't use taskbar power controls). It works fine, apps don't crash.
I don't remember coming across any app similar to Multiflow but I must admit I was never looking for one because for me it beats the purpose - multitasking is all about efficiency, I need one gesture to access what I want. Double home + swipe + tap is too much work
Give it some time, it takes a while to find a perfect combination of apps to get that smooth user experience. I bet it took you a bit with iOS too.
pjm77 said:
First of all - long home press = inbuilt task switcher. It's probably obvious but it took me a week and the manual to find that out, so chances are some people still don't know it.
For my own purposes I use Wave Launcher with recents on - this way I always have the access to all my most important apps + drawer + few last ones and this is spot on for me and works ALWAYS - no matter what app is in the foreground I naver had a problem of not being able to access Wave Launcher. I have been using PowerStrip for a long time for the same purposes but Wave is more natural.
The big advantage is the ability to access widgets this way - great if you need to for example change the screen brightness with SwitchPro while playing a full screen 3D game that hides the taskbar (so you can't use taskbar power controls). It works fine, apps don't crash.
I don't remember coming across any app similar to Multiflow but I must admit I was never looking for one because for me it beats the purpose - multitasking is all about efficiency, I need one gesture to access what I want. Double home + swipe + tap is too much work
Give it some time, it takes a while to find a perfect combination of apps to get that smooth user experience. I bet it took you a bit with iOS too.
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Click to collapse
long press home shows you your recent task list. it doesnt tell you which ones are still running. you'd have to go into the task manager for that.
and task switchers like smart task switcher show you what apps, background apps and processes are running as well and give you a quicker way to close them.
while it might not seem useful to some people, i found it quite useful on my motorola atrix since it would allow me to free up more ram before multitasking. i find that my galaxy note with touchwiz doesnt manage the ram as efficiently, so if i dont free up some ram, it will close some of my active apps to free up ram for the game or browser or app in the foreground.
Ur right. But I was under the impression that the author of this thread was looking for an easy way to multitask rather than to know what is running or not or easy way of closing it. I might be wrong, it's not 100% clear.
yeah I could be more clear because you may not know Multiflow on IOS.
It takes over original multitasking (which is not real multitasking by the way) and lets you leave running in background some apps that you can recall easily by selecting the thumbnail in an additional graphic viewer.
I don't really need a similar design, but i need to open and leave some apps running, and switch between them.
Assigning to long/double press home button would be great !
swipepad could be ok because of the swipe action to open it, but the switching function is a paid option that i cannot try before, so i will not buy.
stylobic said:
...
I don't really need a similar design, but i need to open and leave some apps running, and switch between them.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, that's pretty much that Perfect Task Switcher enables you to do. Except that it's not bound to long home press, but just a single press.
So, here's how it works:
- when you install it you can configure in its settings (via the small gear icon that appears when it opens up) which is your preferred launcher;
- when you double-press the home button you jump to your home screen.
- when you single-press the home button the task switcher displays (in an overlay of whatever you are in at the moment) a graphical list of you currently running apps - you can switch between applications in this way.
hi 111bits
I tryed it already, but I don't get the same results as you.
I cannot make appear home screen by double click. nothing happens.
Then fo r the same effect, i have to click once, and touch home icon to do this.
why this double click dosn't work ???
And by the way, i have no preview in the multitask windows...

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