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I love trying out different ROMS, but it has always been a pain to reconfigure things (after wiping).
Titanium backup makes life easier by backing up/restoring apps/data/system settings, but the one thing I'm struggling with is backing up the home screen layout (which takes at least 10 minutes to reset up).
I can use Titanium to back up the data of HTC Sense - and when I restore it, my layout will return. The problem is that the data also includes something regarding HTC widgets. If I try using the HTC Sense data of one ROM with another, I'll end up not being able to add HTC Widgets. The only fix is to "clear data" of HTC sense, but then.. the layout is lost.
Has anyone figured out how to backup/restore sense layout?
I would also like to know how to backup my layout.
+1 bumpola
+1 bump here too.
Is there anyway to back up a Vanilla layout?
Is there anyway to back up a Vanilla layout?
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i would like that as well
I do this, and very rarely do I have the HTC widgets get lost. When it happens what I do is just use root explorer to go to \system\app and reinstall the htc widgets, then put them back where I had them. Thats all. Other than that most of my other widgets go back perfectly fine using titanium backup.
Hi folks, I'm looking for what I'd call a "launcher". But I DON'T want a Sense-Replacement like ADW, SPB Shell or things like that. I'm looking for a WIDGET that allows me to place app shortcuts. Like Multicon. Unfortunately, Multicon has only 1x1 to 1x4 vertical widgets, but no horizontal ones. I need a horizontal one because I want to be able to put more apps on the screen - on a Sense-Screen, there's only 16 shortcuts possible, but you could easily fit 25 with even larger icons. Can you recommend any widget? Performance is quite important for me. Don't need background picture and scrollable content or stuff like that. Just a plain launcher that allows for more icons than Sense would. And the icons have to be large enough - 1/4th of the normal icon size is too small.
Have you looked at circle launcher
I might have the wrong idea, but maybe elixir (in market) may be useful. Has a range of sizes (1*4, 4*1 etc.) allowing for a large number of apps/switches to be placed on home screens.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e
Wave launcher is awesome imo. I use it daily and I use it with all launchers (I swap launchers). It takes about a week to get used to. But after that, It's smooth sailing.
You say you don't want a Launcher
Even though you say you don't want a Launcher, you should look at LauncherPro... I use it with 9 down by 5 across easily (Could probably do 6 across) which gives my 45 icons on one screen. Isn't that what you are looking for? You just choose the number of rows and columns you want in the options.
I turn off labels since they aren't needed.
Wave launcher for me also
jersey_609 said:
Have you looked at circle launcher
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Yes, and I think its quite good, but it doesn't allow for very many icons. 8 will still look fine, but that's about the upper limit. Plus, its cumbersome that you have to tap twice - once to open the circle and once to select the app. It doesn't react instantly.
melloyello said:
I might have the wrong idea, but maybe elixir (in market) may be useful. Has a range of sizes (1*4, 4*1 etc.) allowing for a large number of apps/switches to be placed on home screens.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e
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Click to collapse
Yes, but Elixir has like ten thousand other features that I don't need/want, so it's like Bloatware in my case. I had tried it weeks ago, but I don't think the icons were any good at all. Too small. Maybe I missed something?
Thanks also for the suggestions about WaveLauncher. I tried that, but it doesn't really work well for me. When I'm on the homescreening, I'm always turning around the Sense screens instead of opening the wave.
Any other suggestions?
try wave, circle launcher, quickdesk, widgetlocker (set it as longpress search key), swipepad, powerstrip, more icons... those come to mind.
Hope that helps.
Hi Firefall
I'm in the same situation as you! The one I'm using now (after some searching) is Launch-X. They have the free and paid version. If aesthetic is not key, and you don't need more than 5 shortcuts per roll (this is ideal I think, not too small, but better than 4 per roll which I think is too sparse), free version is good enough I think.
In fact, Launch-X can go to the next 5 shortcuts (it comes with left-right buttons). If used on launcher which allow scrolling, you only need to swipe.
I combine it with Folder Organiser (this type has aplenty to choose from) which can group various apps into a folder (e.g. System, Apps, Games, Multimedia, etc.). So, now I have 5 folder shortcuts (in Launch-X) on my Sensation desktop, and each shortcut opens up another 10-20 apps. I find this two steps acceptable for a clean desktop.
Alternatively, you can consider Swipepad, which I'm using for quick access (esp to switch off my Sensation) in whichever app I'm currently running. Another alternative you can consider is Smart Taskbar.
Didn't Folder Organizer do this? You can also do it with Extended Controls.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G
TheBiles said:
Didn't Folder Organizer do this? You can also do it with Extended Controls.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G
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Good point.. I think for such nested folder feature, you need the paid version of Folder Organiser. I haven't tried it yet.
If you're looking for a very simple launcher, You can download this :
simplehome
it was on the market, I worked on it for translation.
Here is a screenshot
apk is just right here
mrassol said:
If you're looking for a very simple launcher, You can download this :
simplehome
it was on the market, I worked on it for translation.
Here is a screenshot
apk is just right here
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Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for the APK, I couldn't find it on the market. I will try it soon. It takes up the whole screen though, right?
Folder organizer also looks somewhat useful, but I'm not sure if it is what I want. Will also try that. Extended controls doesn't really look like a launcher from the market screenshots, do you actually use it as a launcher?
@leyvatron: I've tried SwipePad, that's not what I want, it should be on the homescreen as a widget. PowerStrip seems to be similar to it. The QuickDesk concept however looks interesting. Thanks for that! Also, WidgetLocker MIGHT be a good alternative for the Sense lockscreen.
@Sian: Thanks for sharing your experience with Launch-X. I tried it and it seems quite good, the free is too limited in my opinion. But it comes closest to what I'm looking for so far when configured appropriately.
Personally I just create a folder on my homescreen using GoLauncher, works great for the task you are trying to accomplish!!
i, a newbie and cant find anything on how to install a launcher, no matter what i do it goes back to sense, im swithing between using home switch.....help please.
i just got my new sensation as a free upgrade cause they could not fix my desire hd........much better phone
Go clear the defaults associated with HTC Sense or try Home Switcher.
how do i clear the defaults on sense when i cant get an option??????
donaghb said:
how do i clear the defaults on sense when i cant get an option??????
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settings/ applications, sense launcher, Clear defaults
and thanks for replying
No problem bro
I tried searching the forums and found nothing...
Like a lot of others, i dont like most of the applications that come bundled on my phone and like to get rid of most of them. I cant seem to figure out what .apk file to remove to get rid of the "Kidzone" application. Any ideas?
If any root-level file explorer works, download Absolute System from the Market. It's about two bucks but it's worth it. You can use it to remove any bloatware from your device.
blackknightavalon said:
If any root-level file explorer works, download Absolute System from the Market. It's about two bucks but it's worth it. You can use it to remove any bloatware from your device.
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Not in this case. We do not have S-OFF.
Freezing the apps with titanium backup lasts between reboots, luckily. Won't remove them completely but they will be prevented from running or showing in the app drawer.
Only problem is I'm having trouble finding the package names of a couple bloatware apps, namely kidzone, highlight, friend stream and t-mobile mall. If anyone could find the names of those packages it would be great. I'll look up the names of the apps I did find in a little while and post them for you.
vimk said:
Freezing the apps with titanium backup lasts between reboots, luckily. Won't remove them completely but they will be prevented from running or showing in the app drawer.
Only problem is I'm having trouble finding the package names of a couple bloatware apps, namely kidzone, highlight, friend stream and t-mobile mall. If anyone could find the names of those packages it would be great. I'll look up the names of the apps I did find in a little while and post them for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download Absolute System from the Market.
Sent from a Western Union telegram.
vimk said:
Freezing the apps with titanium backup lasts between reboots, luckily. Won't remove them completely but they will be prevented from running or showing in the app drawer.
Only problem is I'm having trouble finding the package names of a couple bloatware apps, namely kidzone, highlight, friend stream and t-mobile mall. If anyone could find the names of those packages it would be great. I'll look up the names of the apps I did find in a little while and post them for you.
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I cant figure out what process is Kidzone either, but i think the T-Mobile mall was called "AppPack" (MallLite-4.0.92.apk)
Gumpo10k said:
I cant figure out what process is Kidzone either, but i think the T-Mobile mall was called "AppPack" (MallLite-4.0.92.apk)
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also tried removing the app pack, and it does not remove "kidzone"
Kidzone appears to basically be a locked down version of the home screen that only lets you turn on Youtube, Internet, Bejeweled, and T-Mobile TV from that screen. It requires you to setup a password for the lock screen. It appears to be built into sense. It's not really an application. Mostly a replacement lock screen. There's nothing "kid" about it honestly.
Akujin said:
Kidzone appears to basically be a locked down version of the home screen that only lets you turn on Youtube, Internet, Bejeweled, and T-Mobile TV from that screen. It requires you to setup a password for the lock screen. It appears to be built into sense. It's not really an application. Mostly a replacement lock screen. There's nothing "kid" about it honestly.
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Is there a way to remove the shortcut from the app drawer?
electro_chef said:
Is there a way to remove the shortcut from the app drawer?
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Click to collapse
I second that request!
I made a thread in "themes and apps" about cleaning up bloat - still no luck on kidzone though.
I am fiddling around with dumping sense now, that will probably do it. I'll post back here if I can figure out how to make kidzone go away.
Meantime - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=16739548#post16739548
okay - sorry to post after myself but I got rid of kidzone.
First, I restored a CWM backup I made right after root/busybox installation.
So, my phone state is fresh S-OFF/Root with SU & busybox installed.
It may be important to note that I did a factory reset to my phone just before S-OFF/Root & had a freshly formatted MicroSD card.
I then installed ADW Launcher from the Market, and hit my "home" key. Selected "Use Default" and chose ADW Launcher.
Now my phone defaults to ADW as it's launcher.
I then installed "Absolute System" from the Market, and used it to remove "HTC Sense"
Closed out Absolute System, then scrolled between all 5 ADW desktop screens, powered down the phone, then powered up again. (*NOTE fastboot = off)
Booted fine, was able to ditch sense without issue, and KIDZONE IS GONE!
As always, make sure to do a fresh system backup before messing with anything like this, but Kidzone is linked to sense, and replacing sense with another launcher will remove it.
HTC Sense was the only app removed from the phone, and I haven't checked everything to make sure it works yet, but no HTC crash report to send, and no force close issues. (yet - to be determined)
I've been itching to ditch sense since I got the phone, and this was my first quick test at it. Works good so far.
Edit to add:
Checked the "personalize" option at the top of the "settings" list. This just brings you back to the main desktop, doesn't throw an error.
I knew this one thing would be messed up somehow after ditching sense, but the fact that it doesn't make a problem and just closes the menu is fine by me.
I'll spend the rest of the day testing out my phone without sense to see how it runs. I'll post back how it went tomorrow.
Edit - 11/01/2011:
When I said "without sense" I meant without the sense launcher. I expanded on and clarified that in another thread (that app thread) but never cleared it up here.
To fully remove sense is one heck of a project, and will take much more then just switching your launcher.
This is great info - but with this last method - can you still use the stock/factory camera app? Is the camera fully functional, it might not be a big deal to some but would be cool to retain full factory camera functionality.
Wow, feels like going back in time -
Yep, stock camera app works fine.
It's tied to sense, and there is no true AOSP ROM out there yet, so pretty much no matter what you do you should keep stock camera functionality.
Actually, keeping the stock camera functionality/app is the main reason why there is no AOSP ROM yet, it's been generally decided that losing that would be...undesirable.
Kidzone is part of Rosie.apk, which is the Sense launcher. You lose it once you switch to another launcher (adw, go, etc...) and uninstall rosie.apk
Blue6IX said:
Wow, feels like going back in time -
Yep, stock camera app works fine.
It's tied to sense, and there is no true AOSP ROM out there yet, so pretty much no matter what you do you should keep stock camera functionality.
Actually, keeping the stock camera functionality/app is the main reason why there is no AOSP ROM yet, it's been generally decided that losing that would be...undesirable.
Kidzone is part of Rosie.apk, which is the Sense launcher. You lose it once you switch to another launcher (adw, go, etc...) and uninstall rosie.apk
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Click to collapse
Exactly.. + 1 for blue.
Sent from my Senseless Doubleshot using xda premium
Ok, so I've been really getting into theming my Transformer Prime, and like most people I think, get frustrated when I have to redo things after flashing a new ROM. I find using Nova Launcher to be pretty spot on with backup then restoring settings which, most times, will get all your widgets working correctly with little configuration needed from there.
So the only thing I'm really left with is a good way to change, backup and restore app icons. Nova launcher is good at restoring the icons for the home screen, however I'd like something that would change the default app icon for installed apps.
I found this thread on StackOverflow that states that you can change the app icon by just replacing the image for it -without- unzipping the apk. This is great in theory, however when you update the app to a new version you'll loose that customization obviously.
I'm looking for an app, that when run, will present a list of all installed apps, let you choose it, then pick a custom icon. The app would then change the apps -default- icon, meaning that change would propogate everywhere in Android, so you wont have to mess with setting different icons for your launcher, and launcher X widgets, and drawer would also get changed.
When you update your apps and run the app icon themeing tool then it would, again, present you with a list of installed apps and you could just choose the newly updated apps and change the icon again( or better yet the app would do that for you! ).
Anyways, I have no idea if this is possible. I'm not sure if the icon in the apk for an app are all standard named, if it is, this seems possible. If it's not, then if it's in the apks manifest file then you could extract the name of the icon, and copy the new one in it's place under the same name.
If either the icon names are always the same( doubt it ) or if it's in the manifest file this seems pretty doable to me.
What do you all think? Have you seen anything like this app out there? What do you do to change / restore app icons( system wide preferably, not just in a particular launcher ).
Vote above and if it gets enough traction maybe we can convince a dev to look into it. Obviously you'd have to be rooted, but I think most everyone would be ok with that
EDIT: I did find this thread, with a windows tool to do kinda what I'm talking about. If it had / has backup, restore for when you update apps then it would be perfect. Would prefer an on device app, but I'll take what I can get.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=890876
Really, no input here? Am I the only one wishing we had this?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
RubenRybnik said:
Really, no input here? Am I the only one wishing we had this?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
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your not alone, I've been looking for exactly that for a long long time. please pm me if you do find it.
Hello. I have a HTC Sensation 4G on T-Mobile rooted with OrDroid on it. OrDroid releases New updates VERY frequently. I have my homescreen customized to my liking.... (widgets, shortcuts, folders, etc.) And I was wondering if I could somehow save my homescreen layout so I don't have to spend a lot of time changing it after I do a clean install of an update. It is really frustrating customizing my home screens several times per week. Is there some file on the phone that contains the positioning of the items on the homescreen that I could back up?
Thanks, and pardon my noob-i-ness... This is my first post.
michaelgcarro said:
Hello. I have a HTC Sensation 4G on T-Mobile rooted with OrDroid on it. OrDroid releases New updates VERY frequently. I have my homescreen customized to my liking.... (widgets, shortcuts, folders, etc.) And I was wondering if I could somehow save my homescreen layout so I don't have to spend a lot of time changing it after I do a clean install of an update. It is really frustrating customizing my home screens several times per week. Is there some file on the phone that contains the positioning of the items on the homescreen that I could back up?
Thanks, and pardon my noob-i-ness... This is my first post.
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Click to collapse
well, what i do is, making a full backup in recovery, full wipe, flash the new ordroid, after that, make an advanced restore, and only restore data from the backup i previously made. that restores my ROM just the way it was before flashing, all apps, home screen layout, launcher, settings, messages, and contacts. everything. although, make sure you fix permissions in recovery after that as well.
or, you can use titanium backup, backup all system/app + data, then restore all after flashing.
those two should work just fine.
Simplest way is to use Titanium backup. "HTC Sense [Desktop]" saves your sense desktop configuration/layout.
Rumball said:
Simplest way is to use Titanium backup. "HTC Sense [Desktop]" saves your sense desktop configuration/layout.
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arabology said:
well, what i do is, making a full backup in recovery, full wipe, flash the new ordroid, after that, make an advanced restore, and only restore data from the backup i previously made. that restores my ROM just the way it was before flashing, all apps, home screen layout, launcher, settings, messages, and contacts. everything. although, make sure you fix permissions in recovery after that as well.
or, you can use titanium backup, backup all system/app + data, then restore all after flashing.
those two should work just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the Sense version changes or the tweaks applied change, there will be lots of force close issues.
michaelgcarro said:
Hello. I have a HTC Sensation 4G on T-Mobile rooted with OrDroid on it. OrDroid releases New updates VERY frequently. I have my homescreen customized to my liking.... (widgets, shortcuts, folders, etc.) And I was wondering if I could somehow save my homescreen layout so I don't have to spend a lot of time changing it after I do a clean install of an update. It is really frustrating customizing my home screens several times per week. Is there some file on the phone that contains the positioning of the items on the homescreen that I could back up?
Thanks, and pardon my noob-i-ness... This is my first post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simplest way to do this is change the default launcher to some other launcher that will let you save your settings (search; I know only of Go Launcher).
Backup the data for this launcher using Titanium backup before switching ROMs & then after switching back, change the default launcher again & restore the settings.
Although doing this will mean you cannot use tweaks on Rosie.
kgs1992 said:
If the Sense version changes or the tweaks applied change, there will be lots of force close issues.
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i know that, but he said he will be only using OrDroid so
---------- Post added at 03:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:03 PM ----------
kgs1992 said:
Simplest way to do this is change the default launcher to some other launcher that will let you save your settings (search; I know only of Go Launcher).
Backup the data for this launcher using Titanium backup before switching ROMs & then after switching back, change the default launcher again & restore the settings.
Although doing this will mean you cannot use tweaks on Rosie.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that actually might not work...as there might be different widgets he's using as well. for example, i'm using Nova launcher, and when i only restore it from titanium backup, i only get the wallpaper, and few "system" icons, and widgets i had. and even if i restore the apps that i previously had widgets of on my home screen, it will end up empty, and i'll have add each widget individually....which turned out to pretty hard each time, since my layout is uniquely done. so ever since OrDroid 3.**, i restored Data, and never had a force close what so ever
Rumball said:
Simplest way is to use Titanium backup. "HTC Sense [Desktop]" saves your sense desktop configuration/layout.
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Click to collapse
+1 takes 15 seconds and I've never had issues, after restore my layout goes to just how i had it
Sent from my sensational sensation 4g
arabology said:
that actually might not work...as there might be different widgets he's using as well. for example, i'm using Nova launcher, and when i only restore it from titanium backup, i only get the wallpaper, and few "system" icons, and widgets i had. and even if i restore the apps that i previously had widgets of on my home screen, it will end up empty, and i'll have add each widget individually....which turned out to pretty hard each time, since my layout is uniquely done. so ever since OrDroid 3.**, i restored Data, and never had a force close what so ever
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I might have been wrong then, sorry.
kgs1992 said:
I might have been wrong then, sorry.
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Click to collapse
no need the OP now can see what method suits him best and try depending on his situation.
yahhboy said:
+1 takes 15 seconds and I've never had issues, after restore my layout goes to just how i had it
Sent from my sensational sensation 4g
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Same here, never had an issue, even my folders are the same.....
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using xda premium
arabology said:
well, what i do is, making a full backup in recovery, full wipe, flash the new ordroid, after that, make an advanced restore, and only restore data from the backup i previously made. that restores my ROM just the way it was before flashing, all apps, home screen layout, launcher, settings, messages, and contacts. everything. although, make sure you fix permissions in recovery after that as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This method is the simplest BUT if the ROM base change you must NOT do an advanced data restore. Neither with Titanium Backup. When the ROM base change the best thing to do is to restore all manually, it doesn't happen frequently that ROM base changes so once in a few we must do our layout settings manually.
eg of ROM base incompatibility : Sense 3.6 to Sense 4, GingerBread to Ice Cream Sandwich, etc
Hope it helps!
Lucky Thirteen said:
This method is the simplest BUT if the ROM base change you must NOT do an advanced data restore. Neither with Titanium Backup. When the ROM base change the best thing to do is to restore all manually, it doesn't happen frequently that ROM base changes so once in a few we must do our layout settings manually.
eg of ROM base incompatibility : Sense 3.6 to Sense 4, GingerBread to Ice Cream Sandwich, etc
Hope it helps!
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Click to collapse
Correct. And shnizlon does change his ROM base often.
Note to OP since he'll be using OrDroid: when the first number in the version name changes, means that a new base is used. Or, you can check the changelog, and see if the ROM base is changed.
This thread has come from a simple layout backup, to a full backup discussion lol
Saving home screens
You can use the previously suggested backup in titanium backup, however, as an OrDroid user I know the base changes quite often so be careful because this can cause force closes, if the base remains the same it should be fine
Rumball said:
Simplest way is to use Titanium backup. "HTC Sense [Desktop]" saves your sense desktop configuration/layout.
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Click to collapse
Thank you so much for the tip, works great for my HTC One S - ViperC2 5.1.0 - HTC Sense 5.0
Tested also with Rom Toolbox, the concept is the same for any backup app. It's useful mostly because 90% of my apps are in SD and apps links get lost every time I reboot. Thanks again
ludo