This is why manufacturers put custom skins. - General Topics

I just used the galaxy nexus for the first time and I am shocked to find out that there is no way to rearrange the app drawer to make the latest installed applications appear at the end. To have alphabetical order as the only order seems laughable to me.
It is a feature I absolutely need so my point is why should I buy the galaxy nexus when the first thing I'll be doing is finding the right launcher that would probably significantly change the look?? Why shouldnt I get galaxy S2 instead which offers much more customization out of the box? It would eventually get ICS and would retain anything that touchwiz offers but ICS doesnt.
When customization is the holy grail of android it seems very puzzling why google continues to leave out such essential features. It only invites other manufacturers to implement these things themselves. If I was a person with suitable authority working in a company making android phones, I certainly would want this feature to be modified on my company's phones.

This whole rant over an alphebetized app drawer? Thats the only arrangement that makes sense anyway? Go ahead buddy, enjoy your bloatware.

lowandbehold said:
This whole rant over an alphebetized app drawer? Thats the only arrangement that makes sense anyway? Go ahead buddy, enjoy your bloatware.
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Funny, isn't that the very mentality you mock WP7 users for?

z33dev33l said:
Funny, isn't that the very mentality you mock WP7 users for?
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What are you even talking about here? WP7 doesnt have an app drawer?

lowandbehold said:
What are you even talking about here? WP7 doesnt have an app drawer?
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"That's the only arrangement that makes sense anyway." Okay, so it's the way you feel is most logical and thus it's the only way it should be implemented? You just blow up on anyone here who doesn't share your endearing adoration for android and it's sad. His point is certainly valid, and he didn't address it in an aggressive way.
To OP, I completely agree. I don't think I used the default launcher after launcher pro, and then ADW Launcher came out. It does tend to destroy the whole point of buying a phone without the, "bloatware."

z33dev33l said:
Funny, isn't that the very mentality you mock WP7 users for?
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The Android Market is full of different launchers. Contrary to WP7, we can run pretty much whatever we want, instead of being limited to what the vendor serves us.
And congratulations on staining yet another thread with WP7 stuff.

Gusar321 said:
The Android Market is full of different launchers. Contrary to WP7, we can run pretty much whatever we want, instead of being limited to what the vendor serves us.
And congratulations on staining yet another thread with WP7 stuff.
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For real, no one was even talking about WP7.

Gusar321 said:
The Android Market is full of different launchers. Contrary to WP7, we can run pretty much whatever we want, instead of being limited to what the vendor serves us.
And congratulations on staining yet another thread with WP7 stuff.
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Blah blah blah, won't run as smooth, blah blah blah, unbearable lag.
We've done this dance before and I don't intend to watch a couple of people who base their points on, "I can't see it, it's not there." attempt to piece together an argument against the fact that android still cannot get a hardware accelerated UI after all this time, and won't be able to without a ground up rewrite. Issues won't be resolved until they're addressed by the general populace.

z33dev33l said:
Blah blah blah, won't run as smooth, blah blah blah, unbearable lag.
We've done this dance before and I don't intend to watch a couple of people who base their points on, "I can't see it, it's not there." attempt to piece together an argument against the fact that android still cannot get a hardware accelerated UI after all this time, and won't be able to without a ground up rewrite. Issues won't be resolved until they're addressed by the general populace.
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Umm, thats great z33, but in this thread we are talking about Android and Android OEM's. Not IOS, not WP7...Android.
To the OP, it is your choice. The same reasons you like touchwiz are the same reasons some of us enjoy AOSP. That is the beauty of Android though, right? The choice.

lowandbehold said:
This whole rant over an alphebetized app drawer? Thats the only arrangement that makes sense anyway? Go ahead buddy, enjoy your bloatware.
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Click to collapse
To you it makes sense not to me, there is a reason why pretty much all non-nexus android phones have alot of options in the app drawer. Giving an option does not in any way hamper the experience for those who will stick with the default option.
Ofcourse the nexus is not an iphone or windows phone and you can always install launchers but that completely destroys the "pure google" experience.
And the bloatware you talk about is often quite useful just that it is not always best optimized and can hamper performance but the example I gave the galaxy S2 has one of the best stock launchers on any android phone.
I mean I hardly use much of the google services in a nexus phone except for gmail and search, should I call all the other stuff bloatware as well? Bloatware is subjective.

z33dev33l said:
Blah blah blah, won't run as smooth, blah blah blah, unbearable lag.
We've done this dance before and I don't intend to watch a couple of people who base their points on, "I can't see it, it's not there." attempt to piece together an argument against the fact that android still cannot get a hardware accelerated UI after all this time, and won't be able to without a ground up rewrite. Issues won't be resolved until they're addressed by the general populace.
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WTF has this to do with the topic of this thread? Dude, seriously?

Gambler_3 said:
To you it makes sense not to me, there is a reason why pretty much all non-nexus android phones have alot of options in the app drawer. Giving an option does not in any way hamper the experience for those who will stick with the default option.
Ofcourse the nexus is not an iphone or windows phone and you can always install launchers but that completely destroys the "pure google" experience.
And the bloatware you talk about is often quite useful just that it is not always best optimized and can hamper performance but the example I gave the galaxy S2 has one of the best stock launchers on any android phone.
I mean I hardly use much of the google services in a nexus phone except for gmail and search, should I call all the other stuff bloatware as well? Bloatware is subjective.
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Don't mistake your terms. The GSII does not use a "stock" launcher. It uses a touchwiz launcher. The term "stock" refers to the AOSP launcher. Vanilla is an acquired taste...it is not for everyone.

Gambler_3 said:
but that completely destroys the "pure google" experience.
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Why does a "pure Google" experience matter? Android gives you the possibility that if you don't like a component you replace it. To me that's a lot more important than some supposed "pureness".

Please, do feel free to post something on topic. You're the only one who has yet to thus far. I feel it has everything to do with the thread. Samsung's "bloatware" on the gs2 created the first remotely smooth android experience due to being the first with a stock hardware accelerated browser and a UI that was accelerated in some areas. If the bloatware improves android, the only reason to go stock is the updates.

lowandbehold said:
Don't mistake your terms. The GSII does not use a "stock" launcher. It uses a touchwiz launcher. The term "stock" refers to the AOSP launcher. Vanilla is an acquired taste...it is not for everyone.
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It uses the stock samsung launcher, it is "stock" for that phone. When I talk about stock I mean something that is there out of the box.

z33dev33l said:
Please, do feel free to post something on topic. You're the only one who has yet to thus far.
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My comment about alternative launchers was fully on-topic. Your WP7 stuff wasn't, it was pure flamebait. Well, congratulations, you hooked me.

Gambler_3 said:
It uses the stock samsung launcher, it is "stock" for that phone. When I talk about stock I mean something that is there out of the box.
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So it pains you to put a third party launcher on a nexus, but not to use a third party launcher on your GSII because that's the way it came out of the box?

Gusar321 said:
Why does a "pure Google" experience matter? Android gives you the possibility that if you don't like a component you replace it. To me that's a lot more important than some supposed "pureness".
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It is one of the key selling points of a nexus phone.
And as for custom launchers I would like to point something out. I tried launcher ex on the xperia play but for some reason the app drawer just didnt have nearly the same butter smoothness as the sony launcher which rivals iphone smoothness to me. Whereas on the galaxy S1 I felt the launcher ex improved the smoothness.
Question is will other launchers compromise the smoothness on the nexus? That would be really annoying.

So really, a pure google experience offers nothing remarkable aside from updates, Samsung and other companies create launchers with many benefits.

lowandbehold said:
So it pains you to put a third party launcher on a nexus, but not to use a third party launcher on your GSII because that's the way it came out of the box?
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Well obviously this thread is talking about the out of box experience. Plus there arent that many launchers that work well with ICS right now anyways.
Plus why is samsung a third party when it is the one making the phone?

Related

[req] Samsung S Launcher

ok... here is the link to download.. http://www.mediafire.com/file/nynnnu0mjnn/Galaxy%20S.apk
I don't see it was on app section... Now, we can resolve the graphics issue??
So, I want to do a theme rom (for cyanogen 6) with Galaxy launcher, widget.. etc... someone want to help me??
p.s. **** all the people offend other people... if you don't like samsung galaxy S launcher go away from this 3d... open your door an go to walk in the street.... your life can be better...and your lard can go away....
p.p.s. I'm italian...so.. sorry for my poor poor english....but I know..you've understand...
Hi,
can someone port the launcher of Samsung S to our G1??
here is a link for the desire http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=710951
or..if someone can say to me how do, I try to port..
dude just use ADW launcher and enable horizontal drawer
Ultima94 said:
dude just use ADW launcher and enable horizontal drawer
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I'm just using adw... I want the samsung S launcher for the backgrounds of the icons...
if adw in future release add this function would be cool (more that is now..)
I love ADW, but I want Samsung S launcher....or ADW with this mod (the icon)
personally i hate ADW i think its performance is subpar. launcher+ is a very very quick home but slightly lacking in features, why dont the XDA community trow together our own G1 optimized home app the way the people want it, Oh and yes we need a port of that Galaxy home.
sabianadmin said:
personally i hate ADW i think its performance is subpar. launcher+ is a very very quick home but slightly lacking in features, why dont the XDA community trow together our own G1 optimized home app the way the people want it, Oh and yes we need a port of that Galaxy home.
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ADW suffices. Anyone who "hates" ADW or thinks it's "sub-par" is not smart enough to explore all the settings. One checkbox could literally make the biggest difference. It has almost everything the touchwiz offers other than all the icons being iPhone like. With all these phones coming out, ive chosen to look forward, my g1 did me well but i'm actually getting a samsung vibrant because even though all these new things are constantly being ported to our G1's, it doesn't change the fact that the processor and hardware struggle to run it. It seems like an extensive metamorph to ADW would actually get you what you're looking for, so maybe learn how to make themes? Requesting this isn't a quick tedious task, if someone did take this challenge on it would end up being an extensive project before it was 100% stable.
sabianadmin said:
personally i hate ADW i think its performance is subpar. launcher+ is a very very quick home but slightly lacking in features, why dont the XDA community trow together our own G1 optimized home app the way the people want it, Oh and yes we need a port of that Galaxy home.
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Click to collapse
Please elaborate on what you mean "our own"? and I wish it was as easy as "...trow together..." [sic]
AnderWebs has been really great with taking input from the community and created a respected and very useful launcher.
If you got the skills, by all means, make some competition. If you don't, be grateful for what has been developed in the community ( what was not provided by AOSP)
joe.kerwin said:
ADW suffices. Anyone who "hates" ADW or thinks it's "sub-par" is not smart enough to explore all the settings. One checkbox could literally make the biggest difference. It has almost everything the touchwiz offers other than all the icons being iPhone like. With all these phones coming out, ive chosen to look forward, my g1 did me well but i'm actually getting a samsung vibrant because even though all these new things are constantly being ported to our G1's, it doesn't change the fact that the processor and hardware struggle to run it. It seems like an extensive metamorph to ADW would actually get you what you're looking for, so maybe learn how to make themes? Requesting this isn't a quick tedious task, if someone did take this challenge on it would end up being an extensive project before it was 100% stable.
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Click to collapse
Oh screw you, i voice my opinion and you basically call me an idiot? typical. this is why i dont come here that often. its performance IS subpar when you look at something like launcher pro, which is lightning fast you wonder why developers arnt spending more time working on getting the core of the application functioning at optimal performance before adding as many features as they can to it. i know every in and out of ADW i am currently running it at the moment, im also running the Galaxy S home app and even that is better than ADW on the G1. Ive been in software development for a number of years and im the kind of person who writes intuitive user interfaces that little pups like you use so dont even consider telling me im "not smart enough" when im coming to the table with experience under my belt. This god complex that people around here seem to have needs to end. Custom rom development is supposed to be fun and a hobby. its totally unimportant in the grander forum of life and you need to remember that. Thank you to the developers who spend their free time making our toys and gizmos more fun to use.
cal3thousand said:
Please elaborate on what you mean "our own"? and I wish it was as easy as "...trow together..." [sic]
AnderWebs has been really great with taking input from the community and created a respected and very useful launcher.
If you got the skills, by all means, make some competition. If you don't, be grateful for what has been developed in the community ( what was not provided by AOSP)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i ment take an existing open source home application and optimize it to our platform and add features that the people want rather than it being delegated by one person. Democratic development. (sorry for my rant by the way i was just getting tired of all the sycophants lording it up in a custom rom development forum, its just sad)
what you COULD temporarily do is turn on all of the screens for ADW Launcher place all of the apps on the homescreen and set the default to the first one? Idk I think it would somewhat match the look but not sure if it would suffice...
Here's some screenshots of what I mean:
Personally I find samsung's custom UI a hindrance to otherwise good hardware, and it's the thing that turns me off to the galaxy line of phones, but to each his own. I believe there are various themes that you can download to change the look of the icons out there and some tweaking plus that should do the trick.
On a sidenote I don't notice any real lag or slowness from ADW. There is sometimes a hickup when closing a big program and going back to the home screen or during an initial wakeup after being asleep for a while or when I'm heavily multitasking while using swap, but that's something I've observed in my g1 since we stopped getting officially supported updates and it happens whether I'm on launcher pro or adw or the stock launcher.
jv2k said:
Personally I find samsung's custom UI a hindrance to otherwise good hardware, and it's the thing that turns me off to the galaxy line of phones, but to each his own. I believe there are various themes that you can download to change the look of the icons out there and some tweaking plus that should do the trick.
On a sidenote I don't notice any real lag or slowness from ADW. There is sometimes a hickup when closing a big program and going back to the home screen or during an initial wakeup after being asleep for a while or when I'm heavily multitasking while using swap, but that's something I've observed in my g1 since we stopped getting officially supported updates and it happens whether I'm on launcher pro or adw or the stock launcher.
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I definitely agree, most home replacements these days run just fine when set up correctly and the Samsung Galaxy S set up requires that many more swipes to get to what I need but this just shows the extent of the customization behind ADW.
sabianadmin said:
Oh screw you, i voice my opinion and you basically call me an idiot? typical. this is why i dont come here that often. its performance IS subpar when you look at something like launcher pro, which blah
blah
blah
blah
be fun and a hobby. its totally unimportant in the grander forum of life and you need to remember that. Thank you to the developers who spend their free time making our toys and gizmos more fun to use.
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LauncherPro, for one, is not "lightning fast", on my G1 anyway. Takes nearly a minute to set each shortcut? With ADW you just click and drop. All of them may have their weaknesses here and there but my ADW is always lightning quick on any 2.1 ROM i use. And typically, people that have been in software development for YEARS and YEARS tend to develop what they want to meet their needs, not take part in a thread asking for someone to take their time and do it. I for one have not been in software development for YEARS and YEARS, so I just appreciate what's given to me. That's all, not flaming. Well kinda.
joe.kerwin said:
LauncherPro, for one, is not "lightning fast", on my G1 anyway. Takes nearly a minute to set each shortcut? With ADW you just click and drop. All of them may have their weaknesses here and there but my ADW is always lightning quick on any 2.1 ROM i use. And typically, people that have been in software development for YEARS and YEARS tend to develop what they want to meet their needs, not take part in a thread asking for someone to take their time and do it. I for one have not been in software development for YEARS and YEARS, so I just appreciate what's given to me. That's all, not flaming. Well kinda.
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even your quote in the response was ignorant and now you look stupid, anyway its all personal preference. go back and test launcher pro because its the fastest one out there and it includes all the shortcuts that i want fron the get go, i was not offending you so you had no right to be offensive to me, if you're a prick people will be a prick back. you dont deserve a phone and i wish famine upon you.
sabianadmin said:
i ment take an existing open source home application and optimize it to our platform and add features that the people want rather than it being delegated by one person. Democratic development. (sorry for my rant by the way i was just getting tired of all the sycophants lording it up in a custom rom development forum, its just sad)
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Anderwebs took the aosp launcher and added the features the peoploe want. Its 100% open source and anybody can send source code pull request (cyanogen does it for example) or ask him for features (he added the real cool features after I forced him to)
Adding different home icons is 5 minute work. You wont eaven need source... Learn to do it yourself!
galaxy s launcher isn't hvga, so it's virtually impossible to port.
The only current samsung phone that IS hvga AND has that launcher is the samsung wave, which isn't even android.
Both the samsung acclaim and the sprint intercept have the stock-ish android launcher... no cool app drawer.
sorry folks.
Actually, is it possible to modify the build.prop on a rom and run at wvga? hm.... ima try.
TouchWiz
Never the mind
Im confused, dont we already have this in the app section ?
Link
Im, referring to the OP.
this thread is kickass!
personally i think that anderwebs (the creator of the Android Open Source Project, AOSP, as well as the ADW module for it) is a pretty cool guy. But this thread is about the Samsung S Launcher.
Well done that it isn't meant for our screens and would be almost impossible for the layman (but not anderwebs because he was co-founder to Android) to port. But OP I don't think this is gonna happen. I know I think the Samsung launcher is one of the ugliest things I've ever seen and I don't think I'm alone as there's very little interest atm.
LauncherPro is a cool guy but the dev doesn't share his work so automagically disregard that thought.
Ander webbs (ADW) is making the new version of his launcher right now. It will support theming and it will include a couple themes (most of the nice ones are going to be donate themes) but im sure a little after he releases it people will come out with some pretty cool themes for it and you might end up liking it better who knows? He said it would be out really soon so maybe tonight idk.

/facepalm TouchWiz why do you fail me so?

So...
TouchWiz is terrible.
Exhibit A: You cannot choose specific groups in your Google Contacts. I have so many contacts in my phones that I just do not want, but since the Contacts app in Touchwiz sucks so much, hooray?
Exhibit B: I set locations in my Calendar, but they arent usable. Meaning I cannot click it to jump into maps for navigation (which doesnt really work either). It even shows me a fantastic map and a tick where my location is...WHY CANT I CLICK IT?!?!?! Things I expect to work...epic fail.
Exhibit C: The overlay sucks. Nuff said there.
Anything I'm missing? Probably alot. Any suggestions on work arounds until we see a Cyanogen?
One word:
LauncherPro
Adminkiller said:
One word:
LauncherPro
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What he said.
Launcher Pro won't fix his problems.
There's a couple of problems, but plenty of nice features as well
Swipe the notification for brightness, Swipe contacts for messaging/call, turn bluetooth/wifi/silent/vibrate in the notification bar. Not all bad. Make LP or ADW the launcher, and I think good outweighs the bad for me at least.
I guess I should have prefaced that with I am using launcher pro. Whoops
I agree with eman. I think all the very nice features of touch wiz outweigh the negatives. I would like to see the ability to select which google contact groups get synced. I how the add that in the future.
I've been pleasantly surprised with Touchwiz. Sure there are features that I would like to see implemented, but on the whole I like it. This is surprising to me given all the naysaying from the Android elitists.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Touchwiz on the Captivate sucks bawlz.
Can you say "product maturity issues"
God, how I wish it had Sense. I actually wake up at night wishing for that.
You're complaining about issues that other android phones also have. You may not like the Touchwiz interface, but you can always buy a different phone.
djgleebs said:
You're complaining about issues that other android phones also have. You may not like the Touchwiz interface, but you can always buy a different phone.
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As far as I know, these things are possible on stock 2.1. Correct me if im wrong?
As this is my first android powered phone, I am afraid I do not know.
To reiterate points previosly made by other posters. It's all about Launcher Pro. This is the beauty of Android. KTHXBYE
djgleebs said:
You may not like the Touchwiz interface, but you can always buy a different phone.
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OK, Steve Jobs
novaIS350 said:
To reiterate points previosly made by other posters. It's all about Launcher Pro. This is the beauty of Android. KTHXBYE
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And once again, Launcher Pro wont fix the problems he has with the phone.
Sent from my Samsung Captivate

iOS5-like Notifications?

How difficult would it be to do notifications like those shown in iOS5 (http://www.apple.com/ios/ios5/gallery.html#video-ios)?
They sure look good from a UI standpoint (I never found the stock Android notifications bar very elegant, or useful (it gets too cluttered).
If someone can build this into a ROM or a launcher, it would make many of us very happy.
No it wouldn't.
To me it looks like ****.
Pure copy of Android.
Only real difference I can tell is that the notifications are separated instead of all running into each other. Mail is under the mail title bar, messages is under the messages title bar, etc.
They do look quite nice. Apple always seem to get UI design looking good
voodooboy3000 said:
They do look quite nice. Apple always seem to get UI design looking good
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I'm gonna pretend I never heard that.
Just get yourself a iPhone and you can get it
MacGuy2006 said:
How difficult would it be to do notifications like those shown in iOS5 (http://www.apple.com/ios/ios5/gallery.html#video-ios)?
They sure look good from a UI standpoint (I never found the stock Android notifications bar very elegant, or useful (it gets too cluttered).
If someone can build this into a ROM or a launcher, it would make many of us very happy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App
Yes, but notifications have nothing to do with the launcher! They are included in the ROM itself.
No hope to find an app for that!
Making it would be easy, but finding someone that is willing to do it is harder
I could probably do it, but who wants it anyway?
Most people here are Apple haters.
voodooboy3000 said:
They do look quite nice. Apple always seem to get UI design looking good
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Not really? They're just squares.
I don't like Apple but i would like to see this running on our device.i mean really they copied the notification idea from android
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App
Why would you want something like that? Apple does many things but none of it is done properly.
Multitasking - its actually just alt + tab, apps do not run in the background, they are paused, that totally contradicts the term multitasking.
Browsing - wow I didn't even know they do not have text reflow, omg so lame, they just included it in this new update. It also doesn't have flash and the speed can't match android.
What UI? Oh you mean the app drawer, yeah it looks...limited. No scrollable wallpaper and no widgets, just a bunch of apps without any type of organization. I laugh at iFans telling me that they don't need widgets. Actually if you show off with some of the android exclusive features they say they do not need it, but once it's introduced in their crapOS they think its the best thing ever invented.
I'm only looking forward for the next android version which brings hardware acceleration, iOS will totally be left behind.
raymond4 said:
I don't like Apple but i would like to see this running on our device.i mean really they copied the notification idea from android
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App
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Click to collapse
Oh great, lets pull the "patent" card. Samsung must of copied iOS by making their TouchWiz launcher appear as iOS.
Regardless of whatever someone suggests, Android is all about openness and options. If a dev wants to do it, go ahead. If you don't like it, then don't go in their threads bashing the idea.
The idea for Android is all about options, some you may like, some you won't. Move on.
The notification system actually came from a developer from the Cydia store. Apple hired him and he made their notification system.
Proof: http://www.gadgetera.in/apple-hired...ogether-a-better-ios-notification-system/834/
My bad bro i didn't mean to bash anyone of the idea of them doing this.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App
profete162 said:
Yes, but notifications have nothing to do with the launcher! They are included in the ROM itself.
No hope to find an app for that!
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detailed its a part of the systemui.apk and it would not that hard, but look at MIUI! Miles better than the apple crap
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App
I like the feature of having sliders on the lockscreen for all the different types of notifications which unlocks the phone and immediately opens up the corresponding app. That's a very nice addon.
I cant believe the ignorance of this OP, "iOS5-like notifications" more like android like notification + weather it justs adds clutter to the importantance of notificaions i think just a degree # would be it maybe in a miui rom or somethin
This is true. iOS is a really aesthetically pleasing UI. Android just feels bare bones. I personally own an iPad and I was playing around with some Android tablets at the store and boy were they ugly. I don't know, it just seems so bad.
Why can't we have nice apps like Apple?
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
fraspas said:
This is true. iOS is a really aesthetically pleasing UI. Android just feels bare bones. I personally own an iPad and I was playing around with some Android tablets at the store and boy were they ugly. I don't know, it just seems so bad.
Why can't we have nice apps like Apple?
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can agree that Apple's apps are somehow better than Android. But I can assure you that, Android is growing ridiculously fast Probably just another few months, you will see that APPLE Android's will be equally good than Apple!
You say they are ugly? I can assure you that just searching around this forum, you can find theme and wallpaper and icon pack that is amazingly astonishing
meetagrawal said:
I like the feature of having sliders on the lockscreen for all the different types of notifications which unlocks the phone and immediately opens up the corresponding app. That's a very nice addon.
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We already have this feature via an application called WidgetLocker. And it is very nice, but apple is quite a but behind the 8 ball on this one. I have been running this feature via this app for at least 6 months now!
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
This is off topic, but watching that video just made me angry. Is apple seriously that arrogant? "iOS is the world's most popular gaming platform". Are you serious? I can hear Gabe Newell laughing from here...

Multitasking: how bad is it?

Hi folks
I'm still on the edge between an iPhone and a HOX. Could someone please discuss the state of the multitasking issues on the AT&T HOX and summary of fixes?
Specifically my question is this: there are some services that always need to be running to get notifications, like free texting apps or skype. Some services upload photos in the background, like Dropbox. Is it true that these services get killed by the multitasking as well on stock?
I've heard that Dropbox does get killed. I've never heard anything about skype and similar apps that need to sit in the background listening, so I imagine they are working fine on stock Sense?
pausaniasx said:
Hi folks
I'm still on the edge between an iPhone and a HOX. Could someone please discuss the state of the multitasking issues on the AT&T HOX and summary of fixes?
Specifically my question is this: there are some services that always need to be running to get notifications, like free texting apps or skype. Some services upload photos in the background, like Dropbox. Is it true that these services get killed by the multitasking as well on stock?
I've heard that Dropbox does get killed. I've never heard anything about skype and similar apps that need to sit in the background listening, so I imagine they are working fine on stock Sense?
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Click to collapse
When I was on Sense roms with stock multitasking, I never had issues with long-running background services being killed. It was only things like the browser being killed and having to reload and other apps that have their front end killed.
Can't really comment on the services you mentioned, but just some general observations about multi-task:
Some people have complained that during games, if you do something else, like say someone sends you an SMS and you respond, that when you go back to the game, your progress will not have been saved. I don't have time for games these days. So I can't personally comment on that.
Really, it depends on how you use your phone. For some people, the multi-tasking behavior is a deal breaker. For me, I'm fine with it. I mostly only notice it when leaving the browser. It will almost always have to reload the webpage you were looking at.
Have you actually compared the iPhone and the One X in person? There really is no comparison between the two. The huge gorgeous screen of the One X makes the iPhone look like a toy.
You're worried about multitasking but you're willing to go iPhone? Lol hox will be fine
Sent from my Xoom using xda premium
Well the iPhone is going to get a bigger screen. The PPI and brightness are almost the same between iPhone and HOX.
And iphone doesn't kill your game progress and clear your text entry fields when you switch apps. And it doesn't silently kill Dropbox while it's uploading (it does kill it, but gives Dropbox a chance to notify of that first).
The jailbreak tweaks for iPhone are for my purposes completely on par with android.
My only reasons for considering switching is that the iPhone is going to get harder and harder to jailbreak (I'm expecting a 6 month wait this time). plus lose google maps which is a huge debacle.
I'm open to HOX but would need a fix to the multitasking issues.
pausaniasx said:
Well the iPhone is going to get a bigger screen.
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Click to collapse
That's just a rumor, and its been the same (incorrect) rumor for the last 1-2 iPhone versions, at least.
My bet is on the screen size of the iPhone is not changing any time soon. If they make the screen much larger, and keep the resolution the same, it will look like crap. If they change the screen resolution, they fragment the iOS that they have keep pretty much unified for 5 years. People keep talking about the "iPad Mini" (something around a 7" iPad), but my hunch is that is not going to happen either, for the same reasons of not fragmenting iOS. But those are just my personal gut feelings.
And seriously, if you haven't held a One X in person, do it. The screen size is gigantic compared to the iPhone. You have to see it to believe it. My previous phone was a Desire Z, which had a form factor not much different from the iPhone. When I go back to it (pulled some files off it), I can't believe I ever used a phone with a screen that small. Similar feelings when I pick up my wife's iPhone.
pausaniasx said:
I'm open to HOX but would need a fix to the multitasking issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There has been some fixes to multi-tasking, both available as a stand-alone mod, and on custom ROMs. So check out Development, and read more on it if nobody chimes in about those here. As I mentioned, I've been fine with multitasking. So I haven't tried any of the mods.
Also, the Asia 2.23 firmware makes changes to both the multitasking (how aggressively idle processes are killed) and free memory at boot (how much memory Sense takes). A new AT&T firmware (2.20) is just now rolling out OTA as we speak, and likely has the same tweaks. So that in itself might fix what you want. But like I said, I don't game these days, so I can't say.
pausaniasx said:
Well the iPhone is going to get a bigger screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it's going to be 4.7" big. That's quite a shoe to fill. PPI is less of an issue for both the phones. Unless you have amazing vision or whip out a magnifying glass, you can't even see individual pixels. A higher PPI is usually a better thing, but beyond a certain point, it becomes indistinguishable.
pausaniasx said:
And iphone doesn't kill your game progress and clear your text entry fields when you switch apps. And it doesn't silently kill Dropbox while it's uploading (it does kill it, but gives Dropbox a chance to notify of that first).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At least with an HTC One X you can control how the multitasking behaves. However, I do want to address two issues: 1) the clearing of the text boxes has more to do with the apps you're using than the multitasking itself and 2) unlike the HTC One X, apps like Dropbox can't just linger in the background and upload new images as they're taken. I ran into that limitation quite a bit back when I still had my iPhone.
pausaniasx said:
The jailbreak tweaks for iPhone are for my purposes completely on par with android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this may sound like blasphemy in this community, but I wouldn't ever recommend buying a phone simply based on what you can do after you root/jailbreak. Usually you can reasonably expect a method for root/jailbreak to come alone, but you can never guarantee it. Always pick a device based on how it suits your needs and desires without any extensive modifications.
All of this being said, even with multitasking being as it is on the HTC One X, I'd still recommend it over an iPhone. As previous users have mentioned, the effect of the stock multitasking setting is only visible on things like web browsers and some games. If you go under the system settings and modify its behavior, you'll probably achieve the desired effect. If you don't feel like tweaking system settings, you can always install an app like SMS Popup which lets you quick-rely to messages without ever leaving your current task.
One thing I do pride Android on is the ability to have background tasks for applications. With my iPhone I would find that (aside from default apps like Mail and Messages) certain apps wouldn't provide notifications when they should have. For example: if I hadn't launched Words with Friends since a reboot, I'd never get notifications from it. Same thing with uploading images from Dropbox.
The other thing that persuaded me to switch to an Android device was the ability to customize and personalize out of the box. On an iPhone, the most you can do is change backgrounds/sounds/icon arrangement. On an Android device you have full control over your home screen. You can manipulate icons arbitrarily (putting gaps between them, skipping pages, remove icons without uninstalling the app, etc), you can install widgets to quickly access information/settings/apps at a glance, live wallpapers, and even make shortcuts (such as a one-click "Directions to get Home" and "Sound Settings"). Heck, you can even install custom keyboards.
All-in-all it took me about a week to get used to how Android does things, but whenever I play with my old iPhone (my girlfriend uses it now), things just don't feel quite right. The best way to describe it is that on my HTC One X, I get to make the rules. I get to decide how things look and feel and how the system responds to my actions. Playing with my iPhone I feel like I'm not making any of my own rules. Sure, I can change some settings, but compared to Android it feels like a thin veil over how Apple things I should use my device.
Get everything you want now, or wait for a possibility.
Btw multitasking never kills any of those things mentioned. Drop box never stops during uploads.
Android> iOS
Sent from my HTC One X
Thanks for the replies. I have spent about an hour playing with HOX in store and tons of time researching whether it can suit my needs.
Franklly it has been hard to track down android equivalents of everything I can do on jail broken iOS. For reading full emails without unlocking the device it looks like a combination of widget locker and a few widgets can do it, but it just feels a bit hacked together and not as polished as Lockinfo on iOS, which is a one-stop solution. And there doesn't quite appear to be any replacement for Activator, which is a unified gesture framework where you can do things like turn on the flashlight by pushing both volume buttons at the same time and bring up the previous app with a slide on the status bar. Now I know if I look hard enough something similar for android will turn up but will it be as well supported as these iOS tweaks with hundreds of thousands of users? not so sure.
In the I think the iPhone is under appreciated here in terms of how professional the jailbreak community is and how it can easily match android for power and tweak ability. The main issue is that apple is hiring the jailbreak developers and jail breaking itself will be incredibly hard as time progresses because it relies on patching binaries and finding vulnerabilities.
The multitasking seems to be improved in the 4.0.4 update.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
pausaniasx said:
Thanks for the replies. I have spent about an hour playing with HOX in store and tons of time researching whether it can suit my needs.
Franklly it has been hard to track down android equivalents of everything I can do on jail broken iOS. For reading full emails without unlocking the device it looks like a combination of widget locker and a few widgets can do it, but it just feels a bit hacked together and not as polished as Lockinfo on iOS, which is a one-stop solution. And there doesn't quite appear to be any replacement for Activator, which is a unified gesture framework where you can do things like turn on the flashlight by pushing both volume buttons at the same time and bring up the previous app with a slide on the status bar. Now I know if I look hard enough something similar for android will turn up but will it be as well supported as these iOS tweaks with hundreds of thousands of users? not so sure.
In the I think the iPhone is under appreciated here in terms of how professional the jailbreak community is and how it can easily match android for power and tweak ability. The main issue is that apple is hiring the jailbreak developers and jail breaking itself will be incredibly hard as time progresses because it relies on patching binaries and finding vulnerabilities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android as a whole is much better than ios. I owned four, yes four iterations of the iPhone and jail broke them all. I have also owned 2 android devices. Take it from someone who has owned and rooted/jail broke both. Android is better.
Sent from my One X using xda premium
Hey, if the man wants to create an android vs iPhone thread, then state he wants the iPhone, who are we to correct him. He's not going to change his mind and never had any intention of doing so. Just let the sheep be.
I think you should just get the iPhone.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Some of the people here may say its not that bad, but trust me dude compared to other android phones its pretty damn bad, bad enough for me to get rid of the phone. Ie, if you are listening to music and browsing. Go change the song and come back to be greeted by the web browser reloading the WHOLE PAGE over again.
Really go play with one in the store before you make your decision id say, as a poster before me mentioned one of the gleaming features of android is its ability to multitask amazingly, if thats absent then its terrible. Imo the multi tasking on the hox is below even that of the iphone. Just really play with it before you make a decision, with that said i wouldnt necessarily say the hox is a worser phone than the iphone even, it isnt. Its a great phone and is still imo better than the 4s today.
I REALLLLY do miss my hox sometimes though, the amazing build quality. and the display really owns anything else on the market right now.
unleashed12 said:
Some of the people here may say its not that bad, but trust me dude compared to other android phones its pretty damn bad, bad enough for me to get rid of the phone. Ie, if you are listening to music and browsing. Go change the song and come back to be greeted by the web browser reloading the WHOLE PAGE over again.
Really go play with one in the store before you make your decision id say, as a poster before me mentioned one of the gleaming features of android is its ability to multitask amazingly, if thats absent then its terrible. Imo the multi tasking on the hox is below even that of the iphone. Just really play with it before you make a decision, with that said i wouldnt necessarily say the hox is a worser phone than the iphone even, it isnt. Its a great phone and is still imo better than the 4s today.
I REALLLLY do miss my hox sometimes though, the amazing build quality. and the display really owns anything else on the market right now.
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Click to collapse
Pretty sure that only happes with the stock browser... So that's a pretty damn bad example.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
ECEXCURSION said:
Pretty sure that only happes with the stock browser... So that's a pretty damn bad example.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
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Click to collapse
Nope, i used chrome actually. Also happens with tons of other apps, used to redraw my sms app all the time too.
Doesn't Android have some kind of popup that you can use to control your music without having to leave the app?
unleashed12 said:
Nope, i used chrome actually. Also happens with tons of other apps, used to redraw my sms app all the time too.
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Click to collapse
Alright, just tried both the stock browser with Pandora and the stock browser with google music player.... The page will not reload if I switch apps and change a song. So either you're lying or aren't using HTC's latest code. This is on CleanROM 4.5.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
ECEXCURSION said:
Alright, just tried both the stock browser with Pandora and the stock browser with google music player.... The page will not reload if I switch apps and change a song. So either you're lying or aren't using HTC's latest code. This is on CleanROM 4.5.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
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Click to collapse
You're not honestly promoting the stock One X's multitasking ability, are you?
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA Premium HD. In between FCs.
Well, the new recent update made multitasking a LOT better. As in it doesn't suck.
Vendetta-NY said:
You're not honestly promoting the stock One X's multitasking ability, are you?
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA Premium HD. In between FCs.
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Click to collapse
redrubberpenguin said:
Well, the new recent update made multitasking a LOT better. As in it doesn't suck.
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Click to collapse
Correctamundo... I was referring the very well documented multitasking woes on 1.73 and 1.85. But from all I've read, the new update goes a long way to fix multitasking. Looking forward to getting it! I really love this phone, even if I do stick to only the stock ROMs.

[Q] Multi-Window feature ??

Is there a multi-window feature MOD for the asus tf700 . It is a feature in Samsung Galagxy Tab 10.1 and newly implemented in the new update of the JB in galaxy S3. I flashed a MOD in my Galaxy s2 and the feature works just fine . So is there any MOD for this feature in asus tf700 ??
I really need it in my tab.
amqz2010 said:
Is there a multi-window feature MOD for the asus tf700 . It is a feature in Samsung Galagxy Tab 10.1 and newly implemented in the new update of the JB in galaxy S3. I flashed a MOD in my Galaxy s2 and the feature works just fine . So is there any MOD for this feature in asus tf700 ??
I really need it in my tab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, there is not, and there probably will not be. No non-Samsung device has ever been able to do it, so if this is mission critical for you, off to Samsung your dollars go.
MartyHulskemper said:
No, there is not, and there probably will not be. No non-Samsung device has ever been able to do it, so if this is mission critical for you, off to Samsung your dollars go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, what exactly is it that makes this specific to Samsung devices?
danger-rat said:
So, what exactly is it that makes this specific to Samsung devices?
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Click to collapse
The framework. There's another thread going on about this already. I'm not going into a fork here.
Also, keep in mind what happened to Overskreen. That makes it higly unlikely that anyone is going to invest the immense time and resources needed until Google's stance on the matters softens.
EDIT_BY_INTERJECTION: forgot to say it's in the CleanROM Inheritance thread, as a feature request. And a no-no.
To specifically answer your question, by the way: I guess Samsung feels large and powerful enough to go against Google. Their partnership might help, I dunno.
It's not a technical thing in itself, as we have developers aboard that could pull this off. Hell, we have devs aboard trumping the engineers of the manufacturers themselves, so that says something. It's politics.
So, maybe a link to the other thread would be a more useful and appropriate response?
From your response, it's still not clear what makes this specific to Samsung devices, since all ROMs I've worked on contain a framework, and it clearly isn't specific to TouchWiz.
I realize that Google has quashed attempts at this in the past, specifically Overskreen, but the fact that there are working options out there could be indicative of a change in philosophy, perhaps?
As far as the CleanROM thread, all I saw was sbdags ask for a link and then you (in typical fashion) insert your option in a less than helpful manner. Humble up. If you don't plan on helping, I don't see why you would take the time to be unpleasant...
I was brought up with the understanding that if you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all...
EDIT: one long reply with argumentation you wouldn't understand or accept anyway, I think. Thought the better of it. I'll take your post as a shining example of what a constructive post does not look like, stupid motto and such incorporated.
It is a touchwiz thing. Touchwiz is not just a launcher slapped on top it is built into the framework of Samsung firmware, much like sense is built into HTC frameworks. You can't use sense widgets on non sense ROMs and you can't use multi screen on non Touchwiz based ROMs.
I'm not even knowledgeable enough (yet) to concur with you (although I thought the same this morning, I'd dare not put that in writing for sheer terror of saying something so stupid I'd be a "Chinese volunteer" for the first no-return mission to Saturn). Thanks for chiming in, though.
sbdags said:
It is a touchwiz thing. Touchwiz is not just a launcher slapped on top it is built into the framework of Samsung firmware, much like sense is built into HTC frameworks. You can't use sense widgets on non sense ROMs and you can't use multi screen on non Touchwiz based ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks sbdags - I had pretty good idea of the answer, I was just wondering if Marty did...
A few people had Cornerstone running on the Prime earlier in the year, so I didn't think that dual screen was completely impossible, however the odds are stacked up against a daily driver right now...
danger-rat said:
Thanks sbdags - I had pretty good idea of the answer, I was just wondering if Marty did...
A few people had Cornerstone running on the Prime earlier in the year, so I didn't think that dual screen was completely impossible, however the odds are stacked up against a daily driver right now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have seen the concepts of Cornerstone. I would love to see that being imlemented in a ROM for or Infinities. I do use StickIT to be able to watch videos while still using the rest of the screen but a full on Multi Tasking feature would be awsome if possible. I know that the 1 GB RAM limit might hinder it a bit but who knows, mabey sbdags could look into it for a future feature in his CleanROM Inheritance ROM's.
danger-rat said:
From your response, it's still not clear what makes this specific to Samsung devices, since all ROMs I've worked on contain a framework, and it clearly isn't specific to TouchWiz.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sbdags said:
It is a touchwiz thing. Touchwiz is not just a launcher slapped on top it is built into the framework of Samsung firmware, much like sense is built into HTC frameworks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
danger-rat said:
Thanks sbdags - I had pretty good idea of the answer, I was just wondering if Marty did..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So may I conclude I had a better idea of what the answer was than you? I tell you it's a framework-dependent feature, you say it is "clearly NOT Tochwiz-dependent". Next thing, sbdags tells you TouchWiz is built into the framework, and then you say <chuckle> that you knew that all along, but was just wondering if I knew that. At least I had a good laugh: you twist and turn and twist a bit more. You can throw around your morals all you want, but on the technical side of things, it's either this or that, and there's not that much room to verbally wiggle into being correct. I'd say you have been corrected.
MartyHulskemper said:
So may I conclude I had a better idea of what the answer was than you? I tell you it's a framework-dependent feature, you say it is "clearly NOT Tochwiz-dependent". Next thing, sbdags tells you TouchWiz is built into the framework, and then you say <chuckle> that you knew that all along, but was just wondering if I knew that. At least I had a good laugh: you twist and turn and twist a bit more. You can throw around your morals all you want, but on the technical side of things, it's either this or that, and there's not that much room to verbally wiggle into being correct. I'd say you have been corrected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow... almost don't want to add anything to this flaming thread, but am also a user who is looking for some way to do this stuff on the tf700. Here is a thread that explains most of what the "framework" is and what it does. It is worth mentioning that things in android are already built for multiwindow interfaces but the options for the support are not turned on and some of the functionality is broken. The biggest hangup for this working is the app programmers, who have to make their apps compatible. Since google does not want to police what apps are and are not supporting the feature, they just blanket deny the ability.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1937270
or this for all apps http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1961813
jordanmw said:
Wow... almost don't want to add anything to this flaming thread, but am also a user who is looking for some way to do this stuff on the tf700. Here is a thread that explains most of what the "framework" is and what it does. It is worth mentioning that things in android are already built for multiwindow interfaces but the options for the support are not turned on and some of the functionality is broken. The biggest hangup for this working is the app programmers, who have to make their apps compatible. Since google does not want to police what apps are and are not supporting the feature, they just blanket deny the ability.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1937270
or this for all apps http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1961813
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually I am not sure if it has to do with the app programmers because on my note 2, with jedi x9 rom all apps do work on multiwindow. So all apps by default just resize. for me it is a matter of time before it becomes standard in some sort on the base google code since it is already there not just implemented on anything other than touchwiz. we can already see a bit with paranandroid stuff and the resizing between tablet and phone screen sizes. some apps (cant remember well) already do the floating. .. so guys patience or has someone said treat uncle sammy for the score and get one of those galactic phones. the thing I would want programmer to focus on is multiwindow and multi monitors outputs with my hdmi output on my tf700 or the airplay android equivalent around the corner.

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