Hi, I use Stardock Fences on my desktop computer and it really cleans up the screen. For those of you that don't know about it, I highly recommend giving it a try - it's freeware.
Anyway, for those that like to have apps on their home screen(s), it makes things much quicker for launching those frequent apps. However, the screen gets really cluttered, really quick.
All of that screen real estate is precious and could be cleaned up really easy, leaving all your app shortcuts intact.
My idea is for an app that, upon tapping twice in a blank area on the screen, hides/shows all of your app shortcuts. If you need the apps shown, just like normal, you can then double tap in a blank area to restore all of the shortcuts. For those of us that like a minimalistic screen, in the meantime, the app shortcuts can be hidden with a double tap. Widgets can stick around so you see all your clocks, feeds, etc.
Let me know your feedback and, devs, feel free to run with this.
Here is the link for Stardock Fences for your reference:
http://www.stardock.com/products/fences/
Cheers!
Related
Hey guys,
I love the slide2unlock app. It's much less fiddly than the standard lock app, and it lets me play music with the device asleep. Winner.
The only thing that annoys me is the rest of the interface that it comes bundled with. I like turning my phone on and seeing my today screen at a glimpse.
I'd prefer if either:
1. The rest of the app disappeared, so only the bar remained, thus covering only the bottom bit of my screen; or
2. the whole app was transparent so I could see my today screen; or
3. It'd be AWESOME if someone could make the bar into a today screen plugin! If I had the technical knowhowI'd certainly give it a stab!
Any ideas anyone?
mike freegan said:
Hey guys,
I love the slide2unlock app. It's much less fiddly than the standard lock app, and it lets me play music with the device asleep. Winner.
The only thing that annoys me is the rest of the interface that it comes bundled with. I like turning my phone on and seeing my today screen at a glimpse.
I'd prefer if either:
1. The rest of the app disappeared, so only the bar remained, thus covering only the bottom bit of my screen; or
2. the whole app was transparent so I could see my today screen; or
3. It'd be AWESOME if someone could make the bar into a today screen plugin! If I had the technical knowhowI'd certainly give it a stab!
Any ideas anyone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i would love to see this as well
As would I, prefer just to see the home screen/widgets I've spend ages tweaking rather than the duplicated S2U2 version of battery and appointments etc.
For anyone who would love to increase our joy in using Android by allowing us to multi-task more seemlessly and dynamically, as well as help Android keep up with next-gen multi-tasking platforms such as webOS, here are some ideas:
Here is a method of graphically presenting a task switching application. Imagine presenting thumbnail screenshots of all open application, lined up in a row, being zoomed out to take up about half the normal space on the screen, to be scrolled through with a flick of a finger. Think switching between windows in Steel (after tapping the window button which displays all of your open web pages in a row).
Now, the method for bringing up these apps to be scrolled through gives room to a bit of creativity as well. One could give the option to simply press the camera button (a la Task Switcher). Another option, should one not want to monopolize the camera button, would be to long-press the trackball. still, a more creative method would be this; the user gives the handset a quick shake, and BOOM, the current app zooms out and the other apps appear in line to the left and the right. Of course, games and apps that use the accelorometer would be given priority, requiring the user to pause the game or go to the menu screen before shaking the device to bring up the app switcher (something that makes sense anyway. You wouldn't want to leave a game in progress).
Hope someone somewhere likes this idea, finds it feasable and can invest their time and programing skills (of which I have none personally) into enhancing our Android experience this way.
Thanks!
I dont know what this has to do with multi-tasking as its only a visual aspect of it... but have you ever tried holding your home button? Voila a task switcher
like there isnt 1/2 a dozen ways to do this?
download task switcher, it uses the camera button to bring up a nice visual task switcher.
of course i should point out that android by default comes with a task switcher, just hold down the home button. also you can set up quick lauch shortcuts for apps. i dont see how it can get any better then that.....
I wouldn't mind if they were to put the apps that are running on the notification bar.
rogro82 said:
I dont know what this has to do with multi-tasking as its only a visual aspect of it... but have you ever tried holding your home button? Voila a task switcher
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that a list of the last 6 recently used programs instead of currently running programs?
jaroque i think it depends. that IS the list of the last 6 used programs, however the way android works is it closes programs only when it needs memory so a lot of times some (or all) of the programs in that list are still indeed running because they dont require too much memory.
I just want to start a thread on what people genuinely think about the adjustments Microsoft© have made for the Windows Mobile 6.5 beta which was leaked everywhere.
Please dont just come on and say you hate it or just start complaining.
Just balanced and constructive suggestions. (could admins plz remove single minded complainst etc..)
Microsoft© wont ever learn anything about what people really want if there is nowhere that people can collate their ideas about improvements.
Please just state what device you have and which rom, then your point/s.
Ill start it off:
Im running wm6.5 (pdaviet rom) on my Elfin.
1) When i lock my phone, it hangs for a couple of moments before locking. Its only very short, but its still annoying. So, that could be faster.
2) When locked, It would be easier to use if you had the button at the top and have to move it down (or visa/versa) possibly an entry in the settings menu for editing the location of where you want the button to start and end to unlock?
3) I find if a problem when scrolling through the start menu and it stops after four lines of links. I think it would be much easier to remove this limit and let it scroll freely. The user can then stop it where they want.
4) seriously, make some new interface for the basics like the callendar app. They are always included, but it seems pointless making a more usable interface overall when you have to pull out the stylus the second you get into a default, simple app. Many people nowadays are simply resorting to 3rd party apps with better interfaces. (I have actually made my own design rework of the callendar app)
5) The menu given for start menu items needs to be extended to having an option for moving an item around. This should either have a selection of "move (up, right, left, down)" or you should be able to drag icons around.
6) The titanium today screen needs more options which should be customisable from the settings menu. This is what people on this forum have been doing, so i think it should be there by default with the ability to add more simply.
(This could possibly attract a little bit of attention from developers?)
7) Create a view for the contacts app where you simply scroll through a grid of the pictures associated with contacts. This would only be used by people who have pictures, but if this feature was available, it would prompt people to get pictures of the people in their phonebook.
8) Solitare - Make it look better. New backs for the cards? Better ending when a game is won - possibly more similar to the latest desktop version?
9) Make it easier to turn on/off/connect with bluetooth and wifi. I dont know too much about any other connections, but with these two, its more hastle than it should. What i currently have is an icon in my start menu. One with the bluetooth logo, the other with the wifi logo. These simply start and stop them. Also, when you connect to a bluetooth device, it would be nice if it displayed a menu of things you could continue to do, like "send (contact, file, etc)
10) Include a better way of turning the phone off or soft resetting it. Having to hold down the power button or poking the little hole with the stylus is reminiscent of having to hold down the power button on a PC when it crashes. A software alternative to this, included with windows mobile, would be well recieved.
11) some form of backup/restore solution. This would help reasure users that might be afraid of loosing their contacts or other data.
12) after going through the start menu into an program, or further into the settings and into a setting app, it would be nice to go back to the start menu upon closing the program. Its annoying when your altering all your settings and each time you go through a bunch of settings, you have to go through the start menu again to find the next lot of settings.
13) final thing: the scrolling is nice and smooth, but this added ease to scroll up and down seems to have sacrificed being able to select things easily. It takes several attempts to go into folders in the file explorer without scrolling up or down.
Positive things about 6.5:
The honeycomb menu makes the start menu easier to poke at.
The swiping between tabs in programs, and pictures in the "photos and videos" app is handy.
The enlarged menu lists are much more finger friendly (but the large buttons at the top and bottom hinder them slightly.)
Titanium is fun simply because of the three different ways of moving between tabs (its a simple thing, but it keeps me happy)
The calculator looks very nice
The little curves on the tabs is a nice change, more smooth looking
The whole UI looks better
I was a bit dubious of the start button going strait into the programs menu, but it grew on me very quickly and now i think its great.
Please add any ideas you have.
I hope Microsoft looks at this and takes the ideas people put into consideration before the official release.
I wish 6.5 have:
- A completly renewed UI that is really FINGER FRIENDLY in all aspects and in all menus, not just on the today screen...
- Totally removed the super ugly honeycomb
- A really noticeable better performance
Come on folks! give some more ideas!
Let me apologize in advance for this first post in this thread, I didn't want to create a bunch of separate threads for my opinion and experience with the G Tablet, and I didn't want a bunch of threads about my uses for the tablet and the apps I use. So instead, I'll first ask the original topic and then I'll give you some information about how I use the tablet and the widgets/apps/etc. that I use. Hopefully someone from Google will find this insightful, because I think my setup could be a great generic "spring board" for anyone who wanted to use this tablet for taking notes on images, and personalize it to their needs.
What are your favorite widgets?
Does anyone know of some widgets that do the following (screenshots are greatly appreciated as well!):
- I wouldn't mind a news reader that displayed more than just the first line of the news article and/or title. Currently I am using Express News, but it only does one line... it's better than the others I've tested, but it doesn't even automatically scroll the news. You have to tap left/right to make it change.
- Is there some weather widget that perhaps does 5 or 7 day forecasts ? I'm using Fancy Widgets right now, it says the temperature, the high and low, and the time. I dont really need the time, not a big deal since it already says it on the top right.
- I wouldn't mind a task management widget, a decent sized one would be nice.
Some other thoughts:
With the new G Tablet I got yesterday, I've quickly discovered the screen is quite HUGE (obviously). I have a Evo 4G, rooted since the day I got it, and I've got some favorite apps. But being a tablet, it has some different purposes that it works better at, than a phone.
For instance, as a bathroom reader, the tablet works great. The phone is kind of small, hard to read a lot at a time, constant scrolling, etc. The tablet also makes playing games like Slice It, a lot more fun.
I'm a web developer and manager of a small team, so sometimes it's nice to be able to take screenshots of a site we're working on and add arrows and notes to it - the best solution I've found that lets you load images and write on them and save it, is called "Pocket Sketchbook Pro" - and it switches to landscape mode automatically THANK GOD! Honestly, one of the main reasons I bought a tablet is because I wanted to be able to sketch things on a "near" paper sized display, and then immediately share it via Bluetooth to my computer or Email it or print it. My printer is a HP Officejet Pro 8500A Plus, my point in telling you that is because it has its own email address. If I email my printer, it will print the email & attachment I send it. Very useful when I'm out with a client and I want to print off my notes or mockups, etc. so that I have it waiting for me when I get back.
Forgot to mention that I'm using Toshiba Home Launcher, on my phone I use LauncherPro (paid version) and I love both. They've both got their benefits, Toshiba Launcher is just amazing on a tablet. Vegan 5.1 Beta.
One of my few complaints (other than many apps not switching to landscape mode..) is that when I'm holding the tablet in portrait mode, sometimes my screen will turn off. I guess the power button is receiving enough weight/pressure on it that it's going off. And then sometimes it will reboot on me when I go to wake it up! How annoying is that?! I know that I could just switch the tablet upside down.. but I should be able to hold it any way I want.
Oh, and the Rain-X idea was great. Definitely fewer finger prints and my fingers seem to glide across the screen now.
Also, Multi Picture Live Wallpaper is great.. I was getting tired of seeing the scrunched/weirdly resized wallpapers!
Lastly, Dolphin HD with a few addons = awesome. Web2PDF so I can email the PDF to my printer, Screen cropper which lets me save as an image so I can write notes on it with Pocket Sketchbook Pro, and the Blue Theme make it really awesome.
Weather Widget
Weather forecast widget is free, but the text is too crumped together and the 4x1 just doesn't look right.
Then I tried "weather widgets", but it kind of sucked.
Then I found out that Fancy Widget has a Pro version which does what I need for $1.99 - works great.
Task Widget
Taskos looked very promising, as it syncs with Google Tasks and offers a 4x4 widget on the home screen - something I was excited about. What killed my excitement was placing the widget on my home screen and finding out that - yeah it's 4x4 alright, with only 2x2 actually having any freaking content!! The rest of it was black! On the phone it looks correct, so this is definitely a tablet issue. That sucks hard.
So finally I found one that actually works, it's called Ultimate To-Do List, the licensed version is $5 and it syncs with ToodleDo which costs $14.95/yr and up (if you require subtasks like me).
I haven't done any digging yet on a good news widget. With almost 100 page views I'm surprised nobody has any widgets they recommend
Scrollable news widget and a home launcher that allows you to change the number of rows and columns on your screen. I have mine set to 10 columns and 7 rows and I can make my news widget as large as I want and it will fill the Widgets space
Oh and springpad is one of the best to do lists ever with a very nice expandable widget as well
kpowr82 said:
Scrollable news widget and a home launcher that allows you to change the number of rows and columns on your screen. I have mine set to 10 columns and 7 rows and I can make my news widget as large as I want and it will fill the Widgets space
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LauncherPro lets you set your own # col/row and you can drag widgets to resize them on the screen, but I like the Toshiba launcher more because of the nice scrollable application list and they way they cleaned it up and put it at the bottom even though it's landscape mode - I love it. I can live with the defined # of cols/rows and screens, thats not a big deal. I know I'm limiting myself to just the widgets that exist that can take advantage of the tablet's size, but there has to be SOMETHING out there by now, right?
kpowr82 said:
Oh and springpad is one of the best to do lists ever with a very nice expandable widget as well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm I will check that out, thanks
For weather related Widgets I recommend this app:
Palmary weather app. Tried to paste the appbrain link here but my GTab wont let me!
Hi everyone, noob here.
I come to you for advice after exhausting my ability to Google properly.
I have an idea for a homescreen project and I will try to describe it as clearly as possible. I am running a Motorola triumph with cm7.
I saw a screenshot of someone's phone which I am hopeless to find again.
HERES WHAT I WANT:
On my main homescreen I want shortcut links to other homescreens that are organized by function (work, communication, social, gaming). I would like those shortcuts to be text-based, but larger than the standard icons.
As far as I can tell, only adwlauncher ex has shortcuts to other screens. I don't want to swipe, nor zoom out to a view of all screens to select.
The reason adw bothers me is that there is seemingly no way to change the size of icons. I downloaded desktop visualizer but it does not give me the option to choose one of adws "screen 1,2,3" shortcuts to configure.
In the simplest terms, I want adws screen shortcut links with the ability to resize or change them. Maybe I'm missing something simple (this is my first Android and I've only had it for maybe 45 days so that's probably likely), but I wanted to seek advice from the best forum for information.
Thank you for following my meandering mind, if you have any questions I will try to clarify.
James
I hope it's OK, I don't want to make a bad impression, I want to bump this thread.
Have you tried folders I have four system media tools games with hundreds of apps between them.
There's an app called smart shortcuts that organizes stuff all so.
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