Are you liking Sense 3.0? - HTC Sensation

I am not super impressed with Sense 3.0. I was using Launcher Pro on my HD2 (CM7) and really liked how much I could customize the screens. With S3.0 it seems like icons are spaced too far apart and customizing is really weak. I tried Launcher Pro on the Sensation but it stuttered too much (!?). Then..........
I tried SPB Shell 3D and WOW!!!! Took the plunge paying the $15 and don't regret it one bit! It is running smooth and it looks fantastic! Adding SwipePad (adding MorePads and WidgetPad - totally worth it!) and this machine is unbelievable. Shell 3D really takes advantage of the horsepower that the Sensation has and makes for an insanely nice user experience.
Has anyone else tried Shell 3D on it?
Update: Darn, sorry, there is a thread just a few below mine that discusses Sense 3.0. I looked but didn't see it earlier! Mod, you can delete this or move it to the other thread if you want.

I've been using Launcher Pro on all my android devices but Sense 3.0 has been the first stock UI that I've really liked. The HTC widgets are pretty cool too. I've ditched Tweetdeck in favor for Friendstream too.

Sense 3.0 is great IMO, I'm liking the new rosie launcher quite a bit.

I have used LauncherPro for a long, long time and I honestly like sense a lot, I'm just so sick of seeing the loading screen and/or the white HTC screen when I hit the home key. Is this happening to anyone else as well?

Jason Syn said:
I have used LauncherPro for a long, long time and I honestly like sense a lot, I'm just so sick of seeing the loading screen and/or the white HTC screen when I hit the home key. Is this happening to anyone else as well?
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I get this if i use another launcher and switch back to Sense. But if Sense is loaded and pressing the home key u should only get the popup of what launcher to use if u haven't set a default one.

Related

What does everyone think about HTC sense?

I just was curious to see what you all thought of the sense integration with android. I have had many android phones, this is my first HTC phone. Whenever I got a new android device the first thing I would do is customize everything to the way I liked it. This always started with a Google search on rooting it to get a custom rom. Mainly cause I could and I liked the differences.
I have to say that I am happy with this phone. I have been using it the way it came out of the box. I think that the sense has made the already good android system even better. Perhaps its gingerbread doing its work as well for a good experience. This phone plain and simple just works. Multi tasking is very reliable unlike most of my expierences with other android devices (COUGH...G2x...COUGH) No issues to date. The phone and the phone interface is excellent IMO. I don't even think I will root it when its able to be done. Perhaps only to have recovery option available. Thumbs up too HTC!!
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
hate it. ADW launcher FTW.
I like sense, but it seems really resourse intensive, pretty sure u can achieve the same eye candy less power hungry. Still need root, to remove the crapware that came with the phone.
Sense 3.0 is a LOT better than previous versions, only other launcher worth looking at is LauncherPro IMO
Sense suxs for me...like other launchers much better!
I like certain aspects of Sense like the text app, contacts app and clock app but I think HTC is going in the wrong direction with its UI. They are digging further into Android and in my opinion, adding to much eye candy.
I never though I'd say it but Samsung is moving in the right direction with Touch Wiz by minimalizing the nonsense animations and adding slight improvements to Android.
I loaded ADW onto the Sensation and haven't looked back. It made this phone faster than my G2X.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App
I like Sense 3.0 though I do wish they would optimize it a bit.
i like the way sense works. I had a galaxy s 4g for a little and i didn't like the interface as much as sense. Only thing i liked better was the better looking messaging app. The htc one looks so cheap and boring.
I really like sense and I wouldnt buy an android device without it at this time.
I believe that sense will get better with time and with the fact that HTC in releasing the sense SDK
I like sense~~~beautiful!!~
but seems that it has a big power consumption
Personally, I don't like Sense. It's the biggest reason I want a custom rom on this phone. I agree with jrwingate6's comments on TouchWiz, but I'm an AOSP guy.
Sense 3.0 is definitely an upgrade. With previous versions of Sense, I couldn't use them on my HD2 because of the pocket call answer / decline problem (I would always decline calls because my leg would slide up on the screen when I pulled the phone out). I like the Sense lockscreen and the widgets, however, I'm using LauncherPro Plus right now. I can't deal with the inability to resize widgets and not set the number of rows / columns on each screen. Running LauncherPro also seems to have sped up the phone considerably.
I am not a fan of sense, though I do like the lock screen, app draw and running apps in the notification. I find that the additional animations sounds and other beauty aspects really hinder the performance of the phone. I am currently using golauncher.
Can't wait for root to de-bloat and remove a good portion or all of sense.
After never having an android phone that had sense on it, I have to say I like it. It's different sure, and it might be a little over the top, but I still like it. If you're going to have a skin on your phone i'd choose skin over any other in a heart beat. That's just my opinion though.
I love the aesthetics of Sense but it is too much of a resource hog and apparently very glitchy. I like what HTC did with the mail client, SMS application, weather and a few other standout features but the UX overall just doesn't seem optimized for the dual-core processors.
I also notices something today...I replaced the stock keyboard with another one I found on the market and guess what, the scrolling speed has dramatically improved! I use ADW launcher and now my app drawer and home screens scroll just as smoothly as my HD2 with Hyperdroid android 2.3. Go figure.
For the most part I really like sense. The weather clock, the contacts widgets, the notification tray with quick settings and running programs. The camera ap. The contact/social networking integration. Much of the skinning they do. Features like putting the phone face down to turn on the speaker phone. Adjusting call volume in/out of the pocket, when th ephone is moved, etc. All that I really like.
The sound fx for the weather I hate. I also hate they waste screen real estate with the stupid "customize screen" button. Just let me long press on the screen if I want to add an icon or change the wallpaper. I'd love to be able to use that button for something else. I much prefer the customization that I can get from a 3rd party launcher like ADW Launcher.
I just wish I could use Sense widgets on ADW Launcher and I would be happy.
I like it, but I think it's waaaaaay too much. You can see this by the lag (I have it, sadly )
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e
I'm missing my MIUI from my Nexus one, the 5-way lockscreen on MIUI is pretty awesome.
On principal I like Sense 3.0 as it does look good and would be great if it wasn't such a hog. I'm more a minimalist though and obviously Sense 3.0 is the complete opposite.
I have disabled just about every sense feature i could and removed all sense widgets except for the weather as that is kinda cool looking if nothing else.
I have always loved the eye candy of sense but never used it on any of my phones because I like my phone to be as snappy and fast as possible and sense always seemed to bogg the phone down. In fact, this is the longest I've gone leaving sense on a phone. Usually right out of the box I root it and install a non sense rom. I really am liking sense 3.0 I think it will be better once they get the kinks worked out of it. It still is a resource hog but my phone doesnt appear as laggy as older sense versions/phones. While I cant wait until we get root and s-off to install a non sense rom/kernel I think I will miss 3.0 a bit. I've tried using adw ex on my sensation (used it on all my phones and tablets and LOVED it) but I keep going back to the eye candy of sense 3.0
This time even with s-off and rooted I might stay with a sense 3.0 rom and just overclock that *****
graffixnyc said:
This time even with s-off and rooted I might stay with a sense 3.0 rom and just overclock that *****
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Nice!!
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App

Launcher Pro, LAGGY?! ROOTED

Hey guys, I was wondering if anyone else was having trouble with other launchers? I got Launcher Pro, and froze sense and sense desktop in Titanium. Phone is much laggier than with just sense going. I thought by freezing sense, the phone should be better? Is there any other part of sense that needs freezing?
Matt
mrg02d said:
Hey guys, I was wondering if anyone else was having trouble with other launchers? I got Launcher Pro, and froze sense and sense desktop in Titanium. Phone is much laggier than with just sense going. I thought by freezing sense, the phone should be better? Is there any other part of sense that needs freezing?
Matt
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Click to collapse
I never thought of freezing sense when using LP. In my experience you just leave the root OS there and use LP as a replacement launcher. I never "froze" MIUI when I had that and was laggy, I just used LP as a launcher addition.
Hmmm....It just seems so much worse than Sense 3.0. It seems to stutter an awful lot and whatnot. I tried with and without freezing.
Matt
It seems like the experience with launchers is pretty random. Some people say their favorite launcher runs great, while someone else will say the exact opposite. My advice: try a different launcher. It shouldn't be laggy but who knows.
Got SPB Shell 3d, ad launcher ex, launcher pro plus, none of them lag to be honest m8, not sure why yours is? Maybe it's a widget based ting?
dladz said:
Got SPB Shell 3d, ad launcher ex, launcher pro plus, none of them lag to be honest m8, not sure why yours is? Maybe it's a widget based ting?
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Click to collapse
Haha, very odd! Everyone seems to say Sense 3.0 is laggy and complains of so many problems. I havent seen ANY of these laggy problems at all.
Oh well...
Matt
sorry to resurrect, but I was about to start a new thread and this one popped up in the search...
I don't know what it is about LP, but I can't get it to run smooth on this phone - never problems with any previous, and I've owned a LOT. It's gotta be a memory management issue, b/c if I load up CM7, it runs like butter (I've never tried any other ROMs, just rooted stock and CM7). It's mainly in the app drawer - opening/closing stutters/jerks like crazy, then moving through the app drawer is jerky too. The homescreen seems to run normal, however. It's very odd. Wish I could figure it out... I like running rooted stock for the lack of bugs (though CM7 alpha is pretty darn good), but prefer LP as a launcher.
go launcher is much smoother than launcher pro
Kurisu87 said:
go launcher is much smoother than launcher pro
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I know, at least on this phone, and ADW runs great as well... it's just odd to me that the Sensation is the only phone I've ever had this issue with (and some others, too, it seems). I've had a Thunderbolt, Inc2, Inc, DX, DX2, and D1, and LP was perfect on all of them.
jntdroid said:
sorry to resurrect, but I was about to start a new thread and this one popped up in the search...
I don't know what it is about LP, but I can't get it to run smooth on this phone - never problems with any previous, and I've owned a LOT. It's gotta be a memory management issue, b/c if I load up CM7, it runs like butter (I've never tried any other ROMs, just rooted stock and CM7). It's mainly in the app drawer - opening/closing stutters/jerks like crazy, then moving through the app drawer is jerky too. The homescreen seems to run normal, however. It's very odd. Wish I could figure it out... I like running rooted stock for the lack of bugs (though CM7 alpha is pretty darn good), but prefer LP as a launcher.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. I'm running stock with Launcher Pro and its just not as smooth as say my MyTouch 4G, especially the app drawer.
And let me take this opportunity to ask: why is this phone so freaking laggy? I it should not lag because the hardware is there, but how could HTC release software that is so laggy? I notice especially that when scrolling up and down menus it stutters a lot. This really pisses me off. I'll root eventually and I know it will unleash the true power of this phone, but really how could HTC let this pass?

Thoughts on Launcher 7

Just curious to see what people think of Launcher 7, for those who've tried it. I gotta say, I put it on yesterday out of curiosity, and was surprised by how much I like it. I love Android, and balked at Launcher 7 at first because it was a completely un-Android UI, but maybe it's because I've been on Android for like 2 years now, but I find it really refreshing. I like its simplicity, efficiency, and different sleek look.
I'm curious to see how it does with battery life. I used my navigation/GPS a lot today so my battery went pretty fast, not a good test of Launcher 7. I'm running it over Synergy (lightest Sense ROM I could find) and under battery use it's not even showing up so I'm guessing/hoping it doesn't have a big effect.
sunsean said:
Just curious to see what people think of Launcher 7, for those who've tried it. I gotta say, I put it on yesterday out of curiosity, and was surprised by how much I like it. I love Android, and balked at Launcher 7 at first because it was a completely un-Android UI, but maybe it's because I've been on Android for like 2 years now, but I find it really refreshing. I like its simplicity, efficiency, and different sleek look.
I'm curious to see how it does with battery life. I used my navigation/GPS a lot today so my battery went pretty fast, not a good test of Launcher 7. I'm running it over Synergy (lightest Sense ROM I could find) and under battery use it's not even showing up so I'm guessing/hoping it doesn't have a big effect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many home launchers don't use much power, i've used GO/LPP and both are normally floating around 1%. Now I used the L7 very long ago, back on my MT3GS, and it was pretty nice to have IMO, I did like the UI's feel overall. But at that time it was still buggy so I think that's why I had abandoned it. I'm a fan of eye-candy so I prefer something more flashy with fancy effects. Which is what GO gives me, it has this cool sphere effect for the app drawer.
Your biggest power drainers will be idle/standnby and Signal, and GPS.
Ace42 said:
Many home launchers don't use much power, i've used GO/LPP and both are normally floating around 1%. Now I used the L7 very long ago, back on my MT3GS, and it was pretty nice to have IMO, I did like the UI's feel overall. But at that time it was still buggy so I think that's why I had abandoned it. I'm a fan of eye-candy so I prefer something more flashy with fancy effects. Which is what GO gives me, it has this cool sphere effect for the app drawer.
Your biggest power drainers will be idle/standnby and Signal, and GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And screen if you're running a Sense ROM. I've always wondered why on a Sense ROM Screen will be like 70% under battery use, but on AOSP only like 5%. I mean, the same screen is being used on all these ROMS right? I've asked that a couple times but never found an answer. Oh well. I'm sure it has something to do with how the ROM is utilizing things, but who knows lol.
Yeah I've been a loyal LPP user for my 3rd party launcher for a while. Love the widgets and the customizable dock. My brother runs GO on his Samsung Galaxy S and is always telling me I should try it, haven't yet but it does look very cool. I've seen pics o that globe app tray thing, looks sick. Is it smooth though?
So far Luancher 7 has been VERY smooth and seems to have minimal battery influence, like you said about 2% I think it wound up being. More than if you weren't using it, but solid nonetheless. I'm doing a lot of driving to new places this week so I'll be using my GPS a lot, it's going to be hard to get an accurate guess of average battery life but as far as function/style I am a big fan.
I will say though that the strength of launcher 7 (simplicity) might turn out to be its ultimate downfall lol. I'm enjoying it now, but it's just been a couple days. I can certainly see myself getting bored with it after a while. It's very functional but there is certainly something to be said for style and flare, and that's one thing it doesn't offer much of.
As an add-on question along with what people think of Launcher 7 in general - I'm curious to hear from any users who are using the donate version - does it offer better performance and features? Or does it just remove the ad in the app drawer? I think it adds a folder feature, which is probably worth the $1.50 in itself, but curious what else it offers.
sunsean said:
And screen if you're running a Sense ROM. I've always wondered why on a Sense ROM Screen will be like 70% under battery use, but on AOSP only like 5%. I mean, the same screen is being used on all these ROMS right? I've asked that a couple times but never found an answer. Oh well. I'm sure it has something to do with how the ROM is utilizing things, but who knows lol.
Yeah I've been a loyal LPP user for my 3rd party launcher for a while. Love the widgets and the customizable dock. My brother runs GO on his Samsung Galaxy S and is always telling me I should try it, haven't yet but it does look very cool. I've seen pics o that globe app tray thing, looks sick. Is it smooth though?
So far Luancher 7 has been VERY smooth and seems to have minimal battery influence, like you said about 2% I think it wound up being. More than if you weren't using it, but solid nonetheless. I'm doing a lot of driving to new places this week so I'll be using my GPS a lot, it's going to be hard to get an accurate guess of average battery life but as far as function/style I am a big fan.
I will say though that the strength of launcher 7 (simplicity) might turn out to be its ultimate downfall lol. I'm enjoying it now, but it's just been a couple days. I can certainly see myself getting bored with it after a while. It's very functional but there is certainly something to be said for style and flare, and that's one thing it doesn't offer much of.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think i read somewhere that you can change the autobrightness and stuff of the screen and that sense has theirs up more or something, i don't remember.
But i use adw launcher ex and never see it on my battery stats, so i'm guessing that's good. And it never lags for me either, smooth as butter.
sunsean said:
As an add-on question along with what people think of Launcher 7 in general - I'm curious to hear from any users who are using the donate version - does it offer better performance and features? Or does it just remove the ad in the app drawer? I think it adds a folder feature, which is probably worth the $1.50 in itself, but curious what else it offers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't really notice a difference with the donate version when i used it other than it looks alot better without the annoying ads.
I installed Launcher 7 and used it pretty exclusively for a while.
I got to really like how the UI operated, and found it very quick. But I eventually stopped using it and uninstalled it.
The idea, for me, was to get to a LiveTiles experience, where I could see at a glance how many new emails and social postings I might like to read, upcoming appointments, etc... without having to deal with the rest of the crummy WP7 interface. So I suppose my goal is probably different than many. But I couldn't get there with Launcher 7 (no surprise, since it's built - and named - as a "launcher").
As a simple app launcher, it was decent, for my most-used apps... though the second I needed to use less-used apps, I was somewhat disappointed/frustrated trying to find and run them.
That and, while I eventually understood it wouldn't take me all the way to LiveTiles, the fact that it didn't have (at the time) a clock/date widget that looked decent within the interface (seems like a stupid thing, but actually became a necessity for me) made me opt for something else.
Haha, yep - after about 4 or 5 days, I'm off Launcher 7. It WAS very good and functional, but as I predicted I got bored pretty fast. I play with my phone too much to not have something flashier and more interactive.
Wound up trying Go Launcher Ex, and have to say - it's way better than LPP! Loving it so far!
Question if you read this: how do I get that sphere app drawer thing? Can't find it?
EDIT: NM, I realized they only come up with horizontal app drawer, I had it set on vertical.
sunsean said:
Haha, yep - after about 4 or 5 days, I'm off Launcher 7. It WAS very good and functional, but as I predicted I got bored pretty fast. I play with my phone too much to not have something flashier and more interactive.
Wound up trying Go Launcher Ex, and have to say - it's way better than LPP! Loving it so far!
Question if you read this: how do I get that sphere app drawer thing? Can't find it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yup i used Go launcher Ex ever since i got this mt4g and i can say i like this a lot more than launcher 7 ( tried it for like 2 days and then i just got back to Go L Ex)
It sucks what wit the ad s to I rather use a theme for a another launcher like adw <-, best
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
sunsean said:
Haha, yep - after about 4 or 5 days, I'm off Launcher 7. It WAS very good and functional, but as I predicted I got bored pretty fast. I play with my phone too much to not have something flashier and more interactive.
Wound up trying Go Launcher Ex, and have to say - it's way better than LPP! Loving it so far!
Question if you read this: how do I get that sphere app drawer thing? Can't find it?
EDIT: NM, I realized they only come up with horizontal app drawer, I had it set on vertical.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look in the settings of Go launcher, look through all the settings, i've ended up on LPP again b/c it has the Sense3 widget skins, and appears to be running faster for me on miui. With GO I would get many fc's and it would lag sometimes, this started on the newer versions of GO though. Sphere is the app drawer effect, look in effects, when on home screen, press menu, goto preference, and look for effects. Sphere effect is with chariot, binary, random, and the other animations.
sunsean said:
Just curious to see what people think of Launcher 7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
having just recently moved from a WP7 to an Android phone Launcher 7 made me feel "back home" instantly. I like the WP7/Launcher 7 home screen with the big tiles; IMO it's a nice, fresh look compared to a large number of Android launchers or iOS. I never liked the 2nd page of the WP7 home screen - a one-column alpabetically sorted list of all installed apps? Boring and not very flexible.
I now use Go Launcher Ex and while I still like the look and feel of the Launcher 7 tiles, I do not miss it.

Interesting develpment, am I the only one?

So I just installed the new (official) 2.3.4 update released by Tmobile USA. When it started back up Sense was set back as the default launcher (boo!), but I must say it felt very smooth and quick. In fact, when I set Launcher Pro back as the default it seems as if Sense is actually faster. Has anyone else experienced this?
I would not say faster than LP... but it is a lot smoother than 2.3.3
I dont know, Sense does now feel very fast as much as I hate to admit it.
Even though I hate sense. It is pretty fast on the new update. For me though I need to be able to run 5 icon rows which sense does not let you do. Plus I still think the launcher looks outdated
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
Yep, I have to agree that the update made Sense run faster, but I still love my LP. I love how I can have 5 apps dock with gesture to open additional apps. Also, I hate how Sense's app drawer looks and controls...just awkward.
I totally agree. Sense really does suck in every regard, and I cant stand it. However, I must say that this newest upgrade has done wonders for it.

For the first time with ICS I think I like Rosie more than stock launcher...

After using the stock ICS launcher for a couple of hours to try it out, I have to say I actually think I like the new ICS Rosie launcher better than the stock Android launcher. Adding the new 5 icon doc bar is much improved. And the ICS google nav bar on every home screen just annoys me.
DeoreDX said:
And the ICS google nav bar on every home screen just annoys me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just fyi. You can disable it in the stock ICS launcher.
You Mad brah?
AOSP > Sense. By a mile, sense looks well out dated with all its gloss. It's all about the minimal and matte effect.
I was really excited when I saw ICS roms. Now that I tried them I 'm thinking to go back to Ginger Elegance.
ICS with Sense 3.5 looks exactly like GB. Nothing so special about the long awaited ICS. Nothing obvious at least.
I'm gona try Ultimite 1.0 as soon as it's online to get a real creamy taste and probably revert back to Elegance.
Of course I want to thank all chefs for their excelent work.
ratchetnclank said:
You Mad brah?
AOSP > Sense. By a mile, sense looks well out dated with all its gloss. It's all about the minimal and matte effect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, this is true. Sense looks so old and ugly now. ICS is all minimal, and Roboto...such a good font!
when i first rooted my Desire with CM5 (i thin it was 5), within a few days all i wanted was sense back...since then i've always chosen sense roms and i'm pretty sure i'll continue to...so i de facto agree with you
n7of9 said:
when i first rooted my Desire with CM5 (i thin it was 5), within a few days all i wanted was sense back...since then i've always chosen sense roms and i'm pretty sure i'll continue to...so i de facto agree with you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Think CM6 was first one for desire.
the stock launcher for ICS is annoying - it condenses all the information too much. For example, on the Sensation, adding a 4x3 Plume or APW widget gives you the same amount of space as a 4x2 widget on Rosie or any other launcher. Plus, while you can disable the search bar in the ICS launcher, there's still an unusable 4x1 blank space there. Plus, the side margins on the screen are far too wide.
I can understand why they're there on a large, high-resolution screen like that of the Galaxy Nexus, but it makes no sense on a smaller, lower-resolution screen.
I'm looking forward to seeing what the CM team comes up with for Trebuchet, but in its current state, it's still wasteful with space

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