Additional Home Screen Live Tile Page(s) - Windows Phone 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I searched and surprisingly found nothing on this. Live tiles are great and everything but the home screen can get clogged if you add too much. The new adding categories through live tile pictures is great but still results in lots of swiping. Anybody found a registry setting that allows extra pages?

this is not a way to add a new start screen but might help you organize the stuff on there : http://www.1800pocketpc.com/2011/06/01/categorize-windows-phone-home-screen-tiles.html

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[APP] mClock,v2.2 released

I uploaded my digital clock widget, mClock. I plan on adding more styles and/or options. Let me know what you think, what you would like to see as far as options go and whatever else.
I've attached the QR code and screenshots.
For the fonts in the screenshot I just grabbed some off the web and put them on the sdcard.
Fonts: 1979, Acens, Colwell, Orbitron-Medium, and the built in fonts.
Report bugs: http://bitbucket.org/knoxcoder/mclock/issues
Xml help http://www.maroonedsoftware.com
Templates (skins) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=9856429
There is also a donate version, mClock.donate
Looks great so far!
I have some suggestions though,
First of all, I really want a real 24 hour clock instead of the 12 hour clock available.
4x2 widget would be awesome.
Perhaps custom date formatting, for example, I cannot currently do "Sunday, November 7". The default android formatting options would be nice i.e "EEEE, EEE, HHHH, MMMM, d and so on."
Perhaps click to open application..
Maybe shadow options?
Larger font size than 100px? I currently use 128px which perfectly fits my screen from side to side.
Separating different lines would be awesome, for example, I might want month and day number on one row and weekday on another.
24 hr clock: I have the code almost ready for that
4x2 widget: Easy to add
Date format: Sunday, November 7 is already supported. You can turn off the year portion on any of the date formats and change the separator to ,(Space).
Click to open app: I've been thinking of a good way to handle this. I also need to allow clicking to open the options page. I've thought about dividing the clickable area to allow different launch options. If you have a good idea I'm all ears.
Shadow options: The blur effect overwrites the shadow. I haven't figured out a way to get both to work. I may settle for toggling between shadow or blur. But I did have the shadow working on a test build so it's doable.
Larger fonts: Easy to change
Different lines: That's where the different styles/formats come into play. Those take a bit more work but I do plan on providing that sort of thing.
Update to 1.3. Includes 24 hr clock, 4x2 widget and increased font max size
Exellent app mate! Congratulations! I m using it whole evening! So good, so far! I have no further wishes about this app! Loving it!
About the click to open app, why not a application in the launcher for the settings?
24 hour clock option should disable AM/PM automatically?
Still not seeing 4x2 widget?
I like shadow because it can act as both solid blur, shadow and the color is configurable.
Blur seems cut off at top and bottom at big font sizes?
I know it's a hassle for almost no difference but perhaps render it as text instead of a bitmap?
I know I sound whiny but this app has so great potential and is already better than the rest of the clocks, simply awesome work. Love it.
New update fixes the 4x2 issue. I forgot to add it to the manifest file... Also I disable the am/pm if 24 hour mode is on.
As for the shadow, I'll work on it next. Hopefully should have it ready tomorrow night. I have code already that allows you to select the shadow color, x & y offset and the shadow size. It should just be a matter of getting it all in shape and tested.
For the app launch. Do you mean put a item in the configure screen that will launch the app?
The blur getting cut off is a side effect of the clipping, I have an idea of how to solve that but I'm going to delay the fix for now.
I don't mind the suggestions, I like to know what can be improved.
Seems the update service crashes(or simply doesn't start) a lot on 1.3.1 with the 4x2 size?
Text won't fill the 4x2 widget correctly, fonts seem limited to a too small size(only 24 hour clock, won't fit width)?
Another suggestion of mine, 24 hour clocks usually display a leading zero when the hour is a single digit?
What I meant with app launch was to have a normal app (the ones that show up in your app drawer ^^) for configuration and launch custom apps with the widget.
Right now I have no clue why 4x2 doesn't work. It works on the emu but not on the device. The other sizes seem fine though. I'll look into it tomorrow.
Very cool looking digital clock widget! Great design.
My new favorite clock app !
What I really like about it is the way you can change colors.. gradient is a nice option.
Nice work mate !
Upload the APK please
Could you please attach the APK file here for the comfort of downloading?
It would be a great help.
Thanks
Arindam
Added the apk file to the original post.
New release now has shadows, more layout options, another clock format and some bug fixes. However I wasn't able to figure out the 4x2 widget issue so it's disabled for now.
looking awesome.
Good luck on the 4x2 widget.
Figured out the 4x2 issue. Still trying to get a good design on handling the app launch feature. One problem is you can have multiple widgets so if I disable the tap to config then you'll have to delete and re-add to change options. One idea is to have a popup that you either choose the app or the config, not as great as just tap to launch.
Awesome...The best clock widget till date...works great on my xperia x10.
Sent from my X10i using XDA App
The clock seems kinda small, seems there is a lot of space to spare. See screenshot, bottom is the size I would want(Self-made clock widget), top is current size.
Awesome update man, 1.5 is simply awesome.
There's something "wrong" with the 1.5 version (market update)..
I've downloaded and installed your attached 1.4.1 file in first post just to be sure my eyes were ok..
When I set clock colours (white 100% and white 50%), the gradient is not as smooth as it used to be on 1.4.1
For the size not being as large as you want, try bumping up the font size and turning off clipping. Set the date's vertical alignment to bottom and the clock's to top. That should give you what you're looking for. And if the font size is maxed let me know and I'll increase it.
For the gradient issue. I know exactly what why it happens. I could go into tech details but basically to get the 4x2 working I had to reduce the rgba depth. I'll go back and increase it for all the smaller sizes.
Yeah, font size was maxed out. Perhaps make that setting a text input, shouldn't have any limits and be precise enough then.
Hey knoxcoder, I LOVE your widget, but as Poodlemastah points out, there's this major drawback of not being able to launch our app of choice when tapping it. This is a must have for all clock widgets.
Most of us like to set our alarms by just tapping on the clock widget, and right now I find myself using TWO clock widgets because of this... yours because it's the best looking, and another one in the adjacent home screen just to launch the alarms app... lol.
Even if it means having to re-add the widget once you add this feature, I still think it will be worth it in the long term... it's just a must-have for most people.
As Poodlemastah has suggested, I think the behaviour most of us would expect is:
Both the "add -> widget" option from the home screen and the icon in the app drawer will take us to the config screen. There, we can set all the parameters as we want them (including which app to launch).
Now, as you've said, there can be multiple instances of the widget, so maybe the ideal setup would be being able to "save" different clock configs from the settings menu (without necessarily applying them to any instance), then choosing which one of them to apply at the moment we add the widget to a homescreen. That way, it wouldn't be such a hassle to re-add them everytime, because the config would be saved.
It would be a matter of making the user conscious of this change by just re-arranging the settings menu: when we open it, it shows the options "Create new clock...", "Edit existing clock...", etc. That way, they would realize each clock is saved independently, and they would be asked for a name first of all, so that they would actually remember what it was called when they want to load it up.
Example:
· I open mClock settings
· I'm presented with 3 options: "Add existing clock to home screen"; "Create new clock..."; "Edit/delete existing clocks...".
· I choose "Create new clock..."
· I'm asked for a name, I name it "My clock".
· I'm then presented with the clock settings screen, which I procceed to adjust to my liking.
· At the bottom, I see 2 buttons: "Save" and "Cancel". I click "Save".
· After that, I'm taken back to the settings screen.
· I now choose "Add existing clock to home screen".
· I'm presented with a list of the existing clocks already created.
· I choose "My clock".
· The clock is added to a home screen (the central one, I guess?), and I'm automatically taken there to see it.
Another way to add a clock would be to go to a home screen, choose the "add widget" option in the launcher, and choose "mClock", in which case I would be taken to the same settings menu as before. The only difference would be that the clock would get added to the same screen from which I called the "add widget" option.
I don't know if this would be such a big hassle to make, or if it's impossible at all, since I haven't done any Android development yet. I'm only talking from a usual programmer and UI designer point of view
Let me know what you think.

New app idea - looking for input / feedback.

Hi Everyone -
First off, I apologize if this is the wrong place for this message. If so please feel free to move it, mods
I own a Samsung Continuum. My wife is absolutely in love with the ticker. A couple days ago (while flying out for vacation!) she asked me if there were any widgets that function like the ticker, or if I could create one for her.
So I got thinking and I think it might make for a pretty useful widget. However, there are already a lot of "show sms/calendar/etc.." widgets out there, does the world really need another?. Also, there are things that the ticker on the Continuum can do that a widget can't, mainly Gestures.
Knowing all that, I still think an "information ticker" widget would be rather useful. Here's what I'm thinking -
Show events on the home screen (SMS, Email, low battery, etc) in a ticker like display (ie: every X seconds the ticker moves on to next item).
Group "like" items so you don't end up with 100 ticker items, meaning there is one view for SMS that can be navigated (maybe up/down arrows?)
Provide next/back buttons for navigating the different ticker items (since we can't have gestures in widgets)
Have default view which shows just a snap shot of events (how many SMS, etc), much of the view on the Continuum.
Provide a way for others to plug into the ticker and provide their own notification/views
I hide the notification bar on my home screen (LauncherPro). I would love to build the widget in a way that it can *almost* replace the notification bar. Since you can't actually intercept the notifications there is a limit to what can be done.
So that's what I'm thinking. I'm sure there's a bunch of other stuff that I could/should add to it. However I don't want to start building it out if there wouldn't be interest in something like this. And that's why I'm here, would you find a widget like this useful? If so, what would you like to see in it?
Many thanks in advance!
That's a great idea - I would prefer a NYSE/NASDAQ style ticker to the item-by-item widget you describe. Battery life is a big concern however... I had a similar idea to yours a few months back, but the battery life thing gave me pause.
But what have you got to lose? Code away, have fun and learn something in the process... do it before I outright steal the idea from you!
hey,
I think your ideas:
- Show events on the home screen (SMS, Email, low battery, etc) in a ticker like display (ie: every X seconds the ticker moves on to next item).
- Group "like" items so you don't end up with 100 ticker items, meaning there is one view for SMS that can be navigated (maybe up/down arrows?)
- Provide next/back buttons for navigating the different ticker items (since we can't have gestures in widgets)
- Have default view which shows just a snap shot of events (how many SMS, etc), much of the view on the Continuum.
- Provide a way for others to plug into the ticker and provide their own notification/views
- I hide the notification bar on my home screen (LauncherPro). I would love to build the widget in a way that it can *almost* replace the notification bar. Since you can't actually intercept the notifications there is a limit to what can be done.
are great!!! I am particularly, interested in the last one... replacing the notification bar with the ticker... I mean half the time i dont get notification so why not have the ticker instead... thts brilliant!!!
So when are you planning on putting the recommendations to action???? would be a revolutionary
cheers,
Sijju

[Q] Mango Pictures hub tile scrolling

I've noticed in Mango (7720) that the tile for the pictures hub has a scrolling effect, but ONLY if I allow it to choose the picture automatically.
If I manually set the background for the hub, the image on the tile is completely static.
I'm wondering if anyone knows how I can manually set the image but keep the scrolling effect. I think the animation adds a nice touch.
Thanks!
I'm afraid you have to add the pictures you want to use for background to "favourites" and set the background as "shuffle background" and choose this catalogue... I think that this scrolling effect works only if pictures in the background are changing - that's why you need at least two pictures...
Wheezle said:
I've noticed in Mango (7720) that the tile for the pictures hub has a scrolling effect, but ONLY if I allow it to choose the picture automatically.
If I manually set the background for the hub, the image on the tile is completely static.
I'm wondering if anyone knows how I can manually set the image but keep the scrolling effect. I think the animation adds a nice touch.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you have to pick more than one favorite, tap on a picture, tap on three dots, and add to favorites. It will then scroll through the ones you chose.
edit: kacper1275, must have been typing the same time . btw. I have not seen a shuffle option anywhere. I think you just pick more than one and you are set.
Interesting. Thanks, guys.
I made a copy of the picture and now have two identical imaged in my favourites, which has done the trick!

A few ideas. What you think?

As much as I like how much thoughts that Google has put into making a better lockscreen with widgets,
I find it kinda taking up spaces and not as efficient as they thought it would be.
I always like a clean, neat looking lockscreen which Google got it on ICS. And that gave me a few ideas.
One thing that they got it right is the quick toggles pulldown. (Thank God, finally.)
And I think that is the direction they should be heading to: Pulldown panels.
Pulldown panel is one of many things that I love about Android.
It's useful and accessible anytime anywhere.
One for notification, one for quick toggles, and one for "quick widgets."
A quick complaint on the toggles:
Google, please make the tiles smaller.
And please revise it into how CM has implemented it.
One tap for on/off. Long press to go to its settings page.
Thank you.
Now, about the quick widgets.
This is what the fruit company initially and partially got it right.
This pulldown should be for weather, stock, NFL/NBA scores, current traffic, etc.
And a sync button to sync instead of having them running in background all the time consuming power.
And maybe for some ads too, like Amazon today's free app, Play today's free music tracks, etc.
And please make it interactive like notification panel. Or like the lockscreen widgets on 4.2.
Either pull it down or swipe it across to reveal more infos. Tap on it to go the full app.
These widgets are stationary, and can be added/removed in settings.
Lastly, make all pulldown panel pull-able even when there's a pin/pattern/password on lockscreen.
For privacy on notification, make it says: A has sent X messages, a missed call from B, C has X comments on your FB wall, etc.
Tap on it will prompt user to login before taking him/her to the full app.
This is another thing that the fruit company got it right.
The quick camera access is another one that Google finally got it right.
Again, fruity got it right first. (Argh!)
But please make it swipe-able back to the lockscreen. Thankyouverymuch.
Also, I hope they do some with the black status bar on lockscreen.
The lockscreen on MIUI, WP8, BB10, Sailfish looks really clean without that black bar.
Maybe they should make it transparent like MIUI.
And I hope they implement some gestures to hide the status bar + the navigation bar,
like pinch the screen from the top+bottom bezel into the screen,
so finally everything can be enjoyed in fullscreen and get some screen estate back, yet status bar + navigation bar still easily accessible.
The way CM does the hiding is not that efficient.
And save that AMOLED from burn-in.
I watched a clip of Sailfish OS. All the gesture is a bit confusing, yet it's interesting and inspiring.
jk0l said:
As much as I like how much thoughts that Google has put into making a better lockscreen with widgets,
I find it kinda taking up spaces and not as efficient as they thought it would be.
I always like a clean, neat looking lockscreen which Google got it on ICS. And that gave me a few ideas.
One thing that they got it right is the quick toggles pulldown. (Thank God, finally.)
And I think that is the direction they should be heading to: Pulldown panels.
Pulldown panel is one of many things that I love about Android.
It's useful and accessible anytime anywhere.
One for notification, one for quick toggles, and one for "quick widgets."
A quick complaint on the toggles:
Google, please make the tiles smaller.
And please revise it into how CM has implemented it.
One tap for on/off. Long press to go to its settings page.
Thank you.
Now, about the quick widgets.
This is what the fruit company initially and partially got it right.
This pulldown should be for weather, stock, NFL/NBA scores, current traffic, etc.
And a sync button to sync instead of having them running in background all the time consuming power.
And maybe for some ads too, like Amazon today's free app, Play today's free music tracks, etc.
And please make it interactive like notification panel. Or like the lockscreen widgets on 4.2.
Either pull it down or swipe it across to reveal more infos. Tap on it to go the full app.
These widgets are stationary, and can be added/removed in settings.
Lastly, make all pulldown panel pull-able even when there's a pin/pattern/password on lockscreen.
For privacy on notification, make it says: A has sent X messages, a missed call from B, C has X comments on your FB wall, etc.
Tap on it will prompt user to login before taking him/her to the full app.
This is another thing that the fruit company got it right.
The quick camera access is another one that Google finally got it right.
Again, fruity got it right first. (Argh!)
But please make it swipe-able back to the lockscreen. Thankyouverymuch.
Also, I hope they do some with the black status bar on lockscreen.
The lockscreen on MIUI, WP8, BB10, Sailfish looks really clean without that black bar.
Maybe they should make it transparent like MIUI.
And I hope they implement some gestures to hide the status bar + the navigation bar,
like pinch the screen from the top+bottom bezel into the screen,
so finally everything can be enjoyed in fullscreen and get some screen estate back, yet status bar + navigation bar still easily accessible.
The way CM does the hiding is not that efficient.
And save that AMOLED from burn-in.
I watched a clip of Sailfish OS. All the gesture is a bit confusing, yet it's interesting and inspiring.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty good. SHould get this out more
is the dream of every android user!! :laugh:

[Q] Mod challenge

Hey guys,
I have some mod ideas that would be really nice.
1) A menu button remap that by longpressing it, a screenshot would be taken
2)Adding a few shortcuts to the very top of the pull down menu. By very top I mean the area where the time and date are. For example how when you press the date it takes you to the calendar, being able to add custom shortcuts to the same area would be nice.
If this question is confusing, let me know and I can give some screenshots of where I'm talking about.
3)This one only applies to 4.2 roms. Add custom tiles to the quicksetting screen. For example; when I pull down the notification bar it only opens to quicksettings when there are no notifications. Is there a way to add a notification tile to the screen that once clicked, it then opens up all the notifications.
These are just some thoughts I had while messing around with Carbon ROM last night. These mods might be completely absurd, or other people might like them too. I'm just spitballing some ideas.
Thank you devs for all your awesomely hard work on cool new tweaks!

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