Hello, After trying out some of the Spb software I want to purchase some of the applications, however I have some questions first.
This are the applications I want to get:
GPRS Monitor
FS Keyboard.
Phone Suite
Mobile Shell
Time
Weather
Pocket Plus
Now the thing is some of these applications overlap, and provide the same or very similar functions.
For example, Pocket Plus, Mobile Shell, and Phone Suite.
In pocket plus I only use the Close button alteration to be able to configure behavior depending on application.
So buying the entire Suite seems silly.
On Mobile Shell I use the Application Launcher and Photo Dialer.
I want to get the Weather and Time application seperatly, so will not use the built in function.
Although I do use the integration of them to have them on the tab, So to see current weather on the Tab.
Last is the Phone suite, on that I use everything except the Photo Dialer since it is built in to Mobile Shell.
But as far as I can see it, buying the pocket Plus and the Mobile shell, seams silly both in terms of Memory usage and Price, when I only use 1 or 2 features of it.
For example I could drop Pocket Plus, if some other application provides the Close button alteration.
Click to Close, Gesture to minimize, and Click and hold for advanced options/Application Switching, and individual settings for applications.
I could use the Phone suite Photo Dialer, but I still use the Tabs from Mobile Shell to integrate Application Launcher/Battery indicator, Time and weather.
I really don't like the type of tabs Pocket plus gives, I like much better the way Mobile Shell does it, with auto hiding and Icons.
Well do you guys have some nice suggestions?
Regards.
Brian.
Well off the top of my heap I can't think of any applications apart from Pocket Plus that offers the close button alterations to the level that you are talking so it’s a very hard one, it's just whether you are willing to pay the extra for a few more features which will make your device extra user friendly. I will see if I can find anything else, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
Well, that feature of SPB plus is really nice.
I have some experience in programming in VB, but never for Pocket PC, so was thinking about making one my self if none exists.
But then again I have not used Windows on my Desktop since Windows XP SP2 came out.
And I'm not sure if it is possible to develop Pocket PC applications on Linux.
But I keep my hope up that someone out there has already made an alternative.
I find it really strange that for so long, MS has not implemented it them self, I really sometime wonder if they even use Windows Mobile them self.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=283658
Is the HTC X-button app which does the close function correctly. Comes as standard on the Artermis and a few others, but HTC have released this as a seperate app.
Hope this save you some cash as it is also free !
I know the HTC app, However it is far from Advanced enough.
The HTC app changes so that when using the button it closes app instead of hiding.
you can also configure that it closes when push and hold and minimize when only short tap.
However the Spb hack makes it much more advanced.
Tap=Close.
Drag down=Minimize.
Push and Hold=Open a menu to choose what to do (including swithing between applications.
Additionaly it has a very nice feature where you can tell it to always minimize certain applications, instead of closing them.
I use this for Messenger, Core Player and Skype.
Very handy.
Version 1.5 of X-button does all that, you set it up so that you get;
tap = minimize
tap & Hold = Close
Menu on today screen allows for task switching and closing of apps without going into them.
Settings allow for identifying applications which are excluded from x-button.
Also check out the new Version of HTC Home. I used spb mobile shell and phone suite and weather, now I just use this one application, with considerably less of a memory footprint. This is also Free.
Spb software used to be great, but they are lagging behind now in my opinion, and need to stop charging for multiple applications that do overlapping tasks.
HTC Home here
X-Button 1.5 here
Thanks, I will try and have a look at them.
Btw, the link for HTC Home did not work, but found it by doing a search.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=314241&highlight=HTC+Home
SPB Phone Suite has two major advantages to me: 1. Phone Profiles (switch to vibration while on the meeting and at night) and 2. Photo Dialer.
It does not seem like HTC Home plugin covers those areas.
I wonder if there is another app which can possibly do these two native phone functions better than SPB Phone Suite. So far I don't see alternatives
Well, after some searching I found Photo Contacts PRO 5 http://www.pocketx.net/products/photocontactspro_ppc/index.html but somehow I don't like how it looks. And also it takes too much space of my Today screen which I don't like. Probably I'm going to keep SPB Phone Suite.
Konstantin
konste said:
SPB Phone Suite has two major advantages to me: 1. Phone Profiles (switch to vibration while on the meeting and at night) and 2. Photo Dialer.
It does not seem like HTC Home plugin covers those areas.
Konstantin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm, think you should look again, my HTC Home has a home tab, with the clock and missed messages / calls indicators/ buttons, a favourite person tab with space for 9 photo contacts, a weather tab, an application launcher tab, and a phone profile tab with selectable profiles of normal- silent - vibrate only- and automatic (vibrate in meetings)
OK, So I tried t install HTC Home and the HTC X-Button 1.5.
Well the Home plug-in looks very nice!, unfortunatly my device slow with this version.
My rom already has the HTC TaskManager v1.5 which, from as far as I can see on screenshots, have the same functionality as the X-Button 1.5.
But I can't find anywhere to set individual application preferences, and also not the minimize on geasture thing.
But in lack of other, For now, I will proably go with the HTC Taskmanager.
Together with Spb Phone suite and Spb Mobile Shell, at least there is discount when buying multiple products.
Thanks for the advice guys.
Longtime winmo user with t-mobile since mda vario so have gotten used to tweaking the registry direct and finding/installing ARM cabs off the internet, but as Android seems to be the way to go i feel now is a good time to take the plunge, so just a few noob questions about android to make me feel at ease
#1 Can you save direct from the browser files such as mp3s zips rars etc to be viewed later? having used a friends iPhone i noticed it streamed music and video files rather than a save as option.
#2 Do you have control of the directory structure eg a form of file explorer,so you can rearrange where things are located on your device or card.
#3 given I'm not very likely to mess around with roms and the like, and this phone has htc's sense front end, will I find the migration from the HD2s interface to the sensation easy? i love all the Facebook, YouTube and twitter integration so I'm hoping it will all be there in some form or another.
I realise a lot of this is subjective and rather depends on the individual, but I would appreciate feedback on these less techie issues, as im more likely to base my upgrade on functionality than specification.
cheers!
major_otaku said:
Longtime winmo user with t-mobile since mda vario so have gotten used to tweaking the registry direct and finding/installing ARM cabs off the internet, but as Android seems to be the way to go i feel now is a good time to take the plunge, so just a few noob questions about android to make me feel at ease
#1 Can you save direct from the browser files such as mp3s zips rars etc to be viewed later? having used a friends iPhone i noticed it streamed music and video files rather than a save as option.
#2 Do you have control of the directory structure eg a form of file explorer,so you can rearrange where things are located on your device or card.
#3 given I'm not very likely to mess around with roms and the like, and this phone has htc's sense front end, will I find the migration from the HD2s interface to the sensation easy? i love all the Facebook, YouTube and twitter integration so I'm hoping it will all be there in some form or another.
I realise a lot of this is subjective and rather depends on the individual, but I would appreciate feedback on these less techie issues, as im more likely to base my upgrade on functionality than specification.
cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) yes
2) yes (Astro File manager works very well)
3) you shouldnt have a problem making the transition.
I'd like to add in a questions since I'm doing the exact same thing (MDA>Tilt>TP2>HD2).
Is there any way to backup my text messages to my PC & read them from there? I currently use Jeyo Mobile Extender to back up my HD2s texts to Outlook & can read them there.
Also, I use Outlook to sync my calendar & contacts, is it an easy transition from this to using Google? I've seen how you can use the HTC Sync program to sync with Outlook but that doesn't look as easy as using Active Sync/WMDC
When I used WinMo/Outlook last (2008), I imported my contacts directly into Google. A search will get you multiple ways I'm sure.
Handcent is widely considered the best replacement SMS client on Android, and it offers some cloud features for SMS.
Alternately, you could port your number to Google Voice or simply use Voice for all of your SMS needs so it's all managed withing the Android app and available on the web.
There are many SMS backup app utilities also.
Ok more questions.
-How easy/hard is it to change the various icons & stuff in Android. I currently use DINIK's custom just about everything on WM6.5 & would like to do something similar in Android.
-Can the camera timestamp pics on the image like in WM?
-If you add a birthday to a Contact & sync does it automatically add it to the Calendar (& put it all the way back to the year) like in WM?
I may have more. Also, sorry OP for hijacking your thread.
I've never seen a reason to change any of the icons in Android. The stock Android icons are just fine, and Sense might change that. Can't answer that one.
I'm not sure why you'd want to put a timestamp on the actual photo. All of that information is in the EXIF data embedded in the .jpg. My Nexus One has no apparent means of adding the timestamp, but there are many, many camera applications available and I'm sure it's a feature elsewhere. Also, the Sensation might not use the Android camera, and that feature could be present in an HTC camera.
I always did like the birthday thing in WM, and I've not fiddled with it enough to see if that's a feature that has been retained. The stock Android calendar widget is crap, as it's only one event per day, so perhaps Sense and/or a Calendar app, of which there are many, can facilitate this.
(As I said, I've used WM6 in the past, but it's been a while. My Herald with WM6.5 was okay, but the last time I used it as a primary phone was November 2008 on the MDA.)
I understand all the info in in the EXIF data, but I do like having the timestamp so I can see the date of the pic right away.
So the stock Calendar app kinda sucks huh? Hmm I'll have to look in to that when I get this phone. I rely on this app a lot for reminders of birthdays, bills, tasks, etc.
As for the icons, I'm just curious. WMs icons sucked (as everyone knows) so of course everyone wanted them changed. I'd just like to know that the option is there for Android in case I want to do it.
Fair enough.
The calendar app is decent, and you can set alarms and notifications with ease. One of the greatest things about the Google integration is that your changes done on the device or web are synchronized, which I'm certain you're aware of.
The Calendar widget is my complaint. You can have 10 events happening on a day and it'll only display one of them. Not two, or an indicator that there are more events to be seen. One.
There are other free and paid calendar widgets that make this much less an issue.
Google app icons are, like most things Google, simple and effective.
kampf said:
The Calendar widget is my complaint. You can have 10 events happening on a day and it'll only display one of them. Not two, or an indicator that there are more events to be seen. One.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ah ok, thanks for the clarification. Sadly WM is the same way but the mod Cookie's Home Tab was able to fix that & let's you decide how many to show. I guess I'll have to find a replacement.
I'm actually shocked people still use winmo on HD2. Android is a breath of fresh air.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
I tried it once, couldn't get the MMS settings to stick & just forgot about it. I like WM6.5 but I'm ready for an OS that still has support for new stuff.
Another question: my girlfriend has the MyTouch4G. I've noticed the screen doesn't turn on when receiving a text message. Is this standard on Android? Is there anyway to fix that?
Also, for the MMS settings on hers, there's no way to choose how to download the pic. With WM on my HD2 it gives you the option of original resolution & other, smaller ones. Is there a way to do that in Android as well?
The MT4G has some serious tweaks to it, but the SMS behavior is probably normal. I recommend Hancent again because not only does it wake and notify, but you can send a reply without unlocking the screen, though it does not unlock the device.
MMS saving is pretty much save-what-you-get, which sometimes is not that large. There are also MMS-saving apps.
xnifex said:
I tried it once, couldn't get the MMS settings to stick & just forgot about it. I like WM6.5 but I'm ready for an OS that still has support for new stuff.
Another question: my girlfriend has the MyTouch4G. I've noticed the screen doesn't turn on when receiving a text message. Is this standard on Android? Is there anyway to fix that?
Also, for the MMS settings on hers, there's no way to choose how to download the pic. With WM on my HD2 it gives you the option of original resolution & other, smaller ones. Is there a way to do that in Android as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If she is on stock? The stock screen turns on briefly then turns off. The mms setting is weird it took me awhile to find out how to do it. You don't click the picture you click and hold slightly above it and then there is an option to save.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA Premium App
MaxReality said:
I'm actually shocked people still use winmo on HD2. Android is a breath of fresh air.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty much a stickler for stock roms. i know, call me old fashioned but I'm probably going to mess about with my HD2 once it isn't my only phone
major_otaku said:
I'm pretty much a stickler for stock roms. i know, call me old fashioned but I'm probably going to mess about with my HD2 once it isn't my only phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fair play. what got my goat, was windows mobile has been out for a looong time. And it didn't really change much. then iphone came along, with a million quality apps, and nothing really changed with winmo. and then Android came along with a million free apps, and after a while in the UK we got the Marketplace in the UK with, erm about 8 apps, and then they charged you like £20!
After playing with these other phones, as soon as a reliable android rom became available, I gave winmo the 2 fingers. I've used them for 10 years, so have a right to be miffed. But yeah, roms not designed for the device were flakey. and like you I prob won't mess with my next phone.
Was just shocked that people stuck to winmo, with there being an alternative, - unlimited amount of android fun.
Anyone not used these android phones will be blown away with the amount of free useful and gimmicky apps.
kampf said:
MMS saving is pretty much save-what-you-get, which sometimes is not that large. There are also MMS-saving apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it sucks. I'll send her a pic from the HD2 & when she gets it it's been shrunk down a lot. When she sends me a picture it's still fairly big because of the setting on WM.
Killbynature said:
If she is on stock? The stock screen turns on briefly then turns off. The mms setting is weird it took me awhile to find out how to do it. You don't click the picture you click and hold slightly above it and then there is an option to save.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's not the saving that I'm worried about, it's the fact that pics that I send her that should be a lot bigger are shrunk down in size. If someone sends me a pic, I want it to be as big as possible & not be messed with before it gets to me.
major_otaku said:
I'm pretty much a stickler for stock roms. i know, call me old fashioned but I'm probably going to mess about with my HD2 once it isn't my only phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, I like stock ROMs. The 3.14 ROM is nice & I have it set up perfectly with CHT. I'm going to do the same thing tho with my HD2 once I get the Sensation.
There's no good reason to use MMS between you two. Get Dropbox accounts and share a folder. Upload photos there and they're full size and accessible anywhere.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
yeah but there's still a reason to MMS between me & my mother/sister/brother/buddy/friends that don't have Android phones.
Your reasoning is kinda like the reason Apple kept MMS out of the iPhone for so long: they thought it wasn't needed because you can just email it. Sorry but MMS will be around for a bit.
Oh man, good on you for reminding me of how Apple resisted MMS for so long. Heck, most people forget that the iPhone HAD NO APPS for a year after it was released.
@OP
Are you looking about upgrading to the Sensation, or is this about android on the HD2
If it isn't about the sensation, do you mind if I move this to HD2 Android.
I am planing to get HTC titan in few weeks and I want to ask few questions:
1. Can you turn off threaded messeging? I just want normal messeging dont want FB and other messages to mess with my text messeging.
2. I heard in win mob 7 you cant forward messeges? True or anything to do about it?
3. My country (Cyprus) isnt supported in xbox live etc does that mean I cant buy games from the market but only free ones? Any workaround that?
Thanks
1. Sorry, threaded messaging is what is there in every Windows Phone.
2. Of course you can forward.
3. I'm not so sure about this, but I'm sure you'll still have games to download even without Xbox Live.
Sent from my Samsung Focus Windows Phone using Board Express
So I cant have a conversion over text message with someone without having facebook and any other **** cramed inside the chat and making me confused?
Wow I thought turn off option wasnt that hard for a giant like Microsoft.
I guess no windows phone for me.. I had win 6 on hd2 and had the option to turn off threaded messeging LOL...
You don't have to have facebook chat turned on. Keep yourself signed off.
How is it confusing to keep your messages from somebody in the same thread from different sources? If you'd rather go back and forth between different apps to converse with the same person feel free.
Hi,
I am unsuccessfully looking for an app that works kinda similar to the HTC dock mode app, however I want it to display unread email and text notifications. I dont really need the mp3 player, or the other bells and whistles, just a clock and the notifications as if it was the lock screen witht he addition of preventing the phone going to sleep. I guess weather would be nice too, but no big deal. Does anyone know of anything like this homebrew or otherwise?
Thanks in advance
There's an app that dynamically updates the lock screen with that kind of thing (recent messages, weather, etc.) called LockWidgets. However, I don't know of a similar app that doesn't use the lock screen at all.
GoodDayToDie said:
There's an app that dynamically updates the lock screen with that kind of thing (recent messages, weather, etc.) called LockWidgets. However, I don't know of a similar app that doesn't use the lock screen at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks GoodDayToDie, I was trying to get the phone to prevent locking whilst on charge. I know its not possible to happen automatically without the resistor mod on the cable, but I dont mind starting the app manually. Ive used LockWidgets, its good but not quite what I want here unfortunately.
I dont know anything about programming, but theoretically can an app access the unread message counters?
TIA
Cheebs
Theoretically, of course one can. There's no official API for it that I'm aware of, but there obviously is *some* API or the current lockscreen app couldn't do it.
Practically, I don't know if anybody has done so yet. They might just be stored in the registry, like so much else. Alternatively, you could use the MAPI (Mail/Messaging API) to query the message stores directly.
Thanks for your help. Maybe its time to look into this a bit deeper.