Related
I find myself using the internet to read the news mainly on my XDA Orbit. but the IE browser sucks real bad. does anyone know of a good mobile browser.. i would like to be able to scroll by dragging the screen with my finger... i tend not to use the stylus for anything nowadays... but scrolling with my finger nail proves dificult sometimes..... tabbed browsing would be nice but not essential
how about Opera?
or theres minimo: http://www.mozilla.org/projects/minimo/
opera seems perfect thanks
anyone know a opera hack when you open a new tab that it goes to that tab, instead I want it to stay in the current tab, also is it possible to make the scroll bar on the left as im left handed
cheers
Pete
Try
shift + ctrl click the link
Thats the way for big windows opera anyway.
dont know how to do it on pocket version
//Clanman
Hi folks,
I'm looking for an programm launcher like the programs tab in TF3D, but I'd like to have multiple pages, as the 24 places in the tab are way to few.
Else I want to assign it to an hardware key, so I need an application, that is not integrated in TF3D.
Does anyone know a good app for this purpose ?
I guess someone already made something like that, but google and the forum search didn't bring it up.
Sounds like a job for Wisbar Advanced Desktop, I have 8 tabs on the main screen, 20 more fading in with one finger gesture, or configure a mainscreen tab to directly open a launcher page with 20 tabs per page, where tabs can also be a Inbox, URL or shortcut to opening a program with a given file. Then switch between unlimited launcher pages with one finger gesture per page.
^^ can you please tell me what part of wishbar advance i have to activate to make my screen look like that??
Look at MortScript and Mort Buttons You can add the buttons to start menu, Today screen or to the TF3D Programs page. each button has a full page or even multi-pages you can add apps, commands or scripts to. Really handy!
Psygnosis84 said:
^^ can you please tell me what part of wishbar advance i have to activate to make my screen look like that??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its not Wisbar Advance (Task), but Wisbar Advance Desktop
http://www.lakeridgesoftware.com/products/pocketpc/WisBarAdvanceDesktop/
Then you need to install Sergej's free Blackberry Theme to the themes folder of WAD, and activate it as your default portrait mode theme.
http://www.lakeridgesoftware.com/forum/showpost.php?p=93399&postcount=11
The earth background pic is attached here
that looks really nice ... but how does is look in landscape mode? does it support landscape? if yes, i'll give it a try
Dont use landscape, but the program differentiates between those two modes, so you could just re-arrange the dock and tabs to fit your landscape preferences. For me the key feature was to be able to show unlimited appointments on my main screen.
already tried yota center?
Me I use UltimateLaunch that I looove with Yota
See Screen Caps
Lucas0511 said:
Sounds like a job for Wisbar Advanced Desktop, I have 8 tabs on the main screen, 20 more fading in with one finger gesture, or configure a mainscreen tab to directly open a launcher page with 20 tabs per page, where tabs can also be a Inbox, URL or shortcut to opening a program with a given file. Then switch between unlimited launcher pages with one finger gesture per page.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi Lucas,
the first image you attached is your today screen? we can set wisbar advanced dekstop as our today screen?
Yes indeed, but as a today screen where you have full control of what to put on it!
Lucas0511 said:
Yes indeed, but as a today screen where you have full control of what to put on it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how to set the WAD as today screen? by disable the TF3D only?
last time i did try WAD, but, i didn't set it as today screen, i need to launch it as other program to get WAD work.
so, everytime you soft reset or wake up your HD, you will see WAD in your today screen?
Just disabled TF3D, started WAD installation, and WAD came up as today screen automatically. Yes, WAD is full today screen, but you can choose if you want to keep the Start and taskbar on the top of the screen, or have it disappear. Most standard Today plugins work from inside the WAD today screen, too.
Lucas0511 said:
Just disabled TF3D, started WAD installation, and WAD came up as today screen automatically. Yes, WAD is full today screen, but you can choose if you want to keep the Start and taskbar on the top of the screen, or have it disappear. Most standard Today plugins work from inside the WAD today screen, too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks a lot Lucas, i will try.
Thanks for the ideas.
I'm already using Yota Center and its a nice program.
The only thing is that I'd like to have more pages, cause 24 places is too few.
I'll try Mort Buttons, looks interesting though.
have you tried launchmanager ? it's not free though ...
http://www.fantasticbytes.com/products/launchmanager
Lucas0511 said:
Its not Wisbar Advance (Task), but Wisbar Advance Desktop
http://www.lakeridgesoftware.com/products/pocketpc/WisBarAdvanceDesktop/
Then you need to install Sergej's free Blackberry Theme to the themes folder of WAD, and activate it as your default portrait mode theme.
http://www.lakeridgesoftware.com/forum/showpost.php?p=93399&postcount=11
The earth background pic is attached here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks just one more question. When launching the Music player or Photo Viewer etc, are they the normal HTC ones or are they customized now?
Are they still easy to use?
Also does all your programs work normally? And if you don't like the WAD, you can easily delete it?
Psygnosis84 said:
Thanks just one more question. When launching the Music player or Photo Viewer etc, are they the normal HTC ones or are they customized now?
Are they still easy to use?
Also does all your programs work normally? And if you don't like the WAD, you can easily delete it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, they will not be the HTC apps embedded in TF3D. You will set up each icon to open up your own apps. I haven't heard of anyone being able to use the HTC player or album yet as stand alone apps.
Yes they are very easy to use!
WAD will not affect the way your programs run. It is simply a launcher program (one of the best that I've seen yet).
Yes, you can easily uninstall WAD by going to remove programs and uninstalling it from there...although I have a feeling you won't want to after you get the feel for what it can do to your today screen!
Thanks that was a great explanation
just one more question for example do you mean it won't have a built mp3 player or something like that but you have to download a 3rd party one and assign it?
EDIT: I just bought it and installed the Blueberry theme but doesn't show up properly, i wonder why. I'm missing the clock, the calender and whenever i press the box on the right side, a empty grey box opens.. weird.
EDIT: Fixed it up by selecting Wishbar Desktop rather than HD BlueBerry, weird. some parts are still German even after applying eng buttons.
Psygnosis84 said:
Thanks that was a great explanation
just one more question for example do you mean it won't have a built mp3 player or something like that but you have to download a 3rd party one and assign it?
EDIT: I just bought it and installed the Blueberry theme but doesn't show up properly, i wonder why. I'm missing the clock, the calender and whenever i press the box on the right side, a empty grey box opens.. weird.
EDIT: Fixed it up by selecting Wishbar Desktop rather than HD BlueBerry, weird. some parts are still German even after applying eng buttons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can set it up to use Windows Media player if you want to, otherwise a third party app is what you will need. CorePlayer or PocketPlayer are a couple to check out.
I haven't installed the Blackberry theme for WAD yet but I do no if you don't have the icons installed in the correct places the theme will not show properly. I ran into this same problem when installing Mallmans Vista theme. As soon as I went back and followed his instructions perfectly, the theme was correctly displayed.
I'm not familiar with setting up different languages so I'm afraid I won't be of any help to you there. You may check out the Lakeridge WAD forum for that.
Here is how I have my WAD looking right now, a tweaked version of Mallmans Vista theme!
Hi Guys, not even sure if this is possible, but can the WiMo scroll bars be skinned? I'm referring to the arrows and the bar itself.
I notice that the 6.5 scroll bars and arrows are different to 6.1, but is this "controllable" and can we change it ourself? If it is possible, what files would I need to change?
already tried such a way and there is no easy path about it. meaning there is no software or whateverware that allows you to do such thing. the only option available today is the one of changing system colors (you know like in normal pc's window background etc) and it does not even work well. I guess that a small proggie that behaves like fingermenu would do the trick...
crashDebug said:
already tried such a way and there is no easy path about it. meaning there is no software or whateverware that allows you to do such thing. the only option available today is the one of changing system colors (you know like in normal pc's window background etc) and it does not even work well. I guess that a small proggie that behaves like fingermenu would do the trick...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, I didn't think there would be a software program to do it, was wondering if there's any .dll to embed the images or reg key to change it... Similar to how programs like KiteOS can change the scroll bars on desktop Windows to look like the Aqua theme bars...
Then again, given that TouchFLO is supposed to be usable instead of the scroll bar, I could just set the width to zero in registry and be done with them...
tried aswell but unfortunately this is not the best option... you will actually needed those sucky things sometime (for dropdown menus mainly, if the amount of choices is more lines than displayable, scrolling to the end is a difficult task...)
Post Cabs And Tweaks for the new Official AT&T Tilt 2 Rom That works and have been tested
RUU_Rhodium_S2_Cingular_US_2.10.502.4_Radio_Rhodium_4.49.25.95_Signed_Ship
"Only For HTC Tilt 2 Users"
INFO Link Here!
Example:
Name: Switch OFF GPRS (MoDaCo NoData).cab
Description: Disable the data/gsp, Switch OFF GPRS - MoDaCo NoData.cab
Name: 16 Quick Links 1922_R2.cab
Description: Increase the quicklinks on the home tab from 3/9 to 4/16
Name: People tab 4x4 WVGA v2.cab
Description: Increase the contact tab from 9 to 15
Name: Disable_Flip_WVGA_2.5.cab
Description: Disable the flip clock
This Thread Is only for Listing Cabs And Tweaks. Do Not Ask Question or Post Unrelated items. Start a new Thread for that Please. Thanks.
The latest version of .NET Compact.
Call history tab (turn off HTC Sense before installing)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=281163&d=1266226588
These reg tweaks should work.
here
I followed the new facebook tab directions and used the manually method and it works perfectly.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=651007
So I am running the new AT&T ROM with the:
facebook tab added
call history tab added
manila TV Tab added
I added the anastasia icons for the taskbar and the slider (had to mod one file because the slider overlay doesnt look right out of the box)
I played with cookies home tab 1.7.1 but its chewing up 5MB of ram so I am going to look at taking it apart and getting just what I need out of it.
CABS:
.Net framework 3.5 ( will use 3.7 next time from above)
HTC CAB task manager
Slide to shutdown
swype
rhodiumkbdcontrol
QM_TP2_Battery_Update_T-Mobile_USA
All in all VERY close to the cooked ROM I have been using and 80MB free RAM so its quite snappy.
I will post back the info to add the tabs later with a copy of the manila layout file for each one and combos.
hx4700 Killer said:
I played with cookies home tab 1.7.1 but its chewing up 5MB of ram so I am going to look at taking it apart and getting just what I need out of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you figure out how to get two calendar rows and a notification bar on the home screen let me know.
robseargeant said:
If you figure out how to get two calendar rows and a notification bar on the home screen let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will do. Right now I am looking at cooking in all the apps I mentioned above in to the stock AT&T ROM and making the settings changes I referred to as well as XDA_UC/mortscript.
For the cookie stuff I'm sure it will come down to modifying the script so that it ONLY does what I want with no variables read from the registry. Ideally it will be the "mini" (I think its called) flip clock with weather, notification and calendar.
I played with Just the 4x4 shortcuts fix and my ram useage went up 1.2MB just from that change. Cookie was actually eating up 7 MB I hadn't waited long enough after the reboot to let it settle.
hx4700 Killer said:
I played with Just the 4x4 shortcuts fix and my ram useage went up 1.2MB just from that change.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you saying that this new ROM has 3 icon columns and not 4 as my current stock ROM does? Why would AT$T do that?
Earlier I promised the manila layout files for the 3 tabs I added. Manila TV, Recent Calls and Facebook.
These instructions are provided as is. I take no credit for "figuring anything out" I am just reposting from my experience here for the benefit of others.
Go and download the following:
Facebook: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=5959226&postcount=1
Scroll down and get: MeltwaterFbTabv1.5Release15July2010.zip (he has a GTX skinned one if that is your preference)
Manila TV: [urlhttp://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=534185][/url]
It has a cab file for "Cookers" I can attach what I have but I don't have permission. I unpacked that stuff with WinCE Cab Manager (30 day trial)and added "USA" streams I got out of the thread so I can just copy some files, delete a couple things that get recreated (more on that later) and its running fine.
Recent Calls: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=5464566&postcount=2 Scroll to the bottom for DL links, Again I used WinCE Cab manager to extract and all I had to do was copy. I hated the way it looked though so I then extracted file from a cooked ROM that I liked the look of and copied out all the manila files with the same name to my phone and it looks nice now.
Download the above and the appropriate manila layout file below. Turn off Sense, copy the files to your device then delete manilafull.xml in the windows folder and the ENTIRE reg key HKLM\Software\HTC\Manila\Configuration (The configuration key). Restart manila and the tabs should show up.
Anyway, here are the manila files for the tabs just remove anything int he name past the DASH and the .TXT at the end too! (DISCLAIMER!! ONLY FOR THE NEW AT&T Sense 2.5 ROM I guarnantee NOTHING outside of it):
Miami_Son said:
Are you saying that this new ROM has 3 icon columns and not 4 as my current stock ROM does? Why would AT$T do that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is no different than an energy "standard" rom. The home screen is 3 X 3 on the quicklinks.
hx4700 Killer said:
It is no different than an energy "standard" rom. The home screen is 3 X 3 on the quicklinks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, I'm not talking about the Quicklinks, that's a Sense 2.5 feature. I'm talking about the Start menu arrangement. In an earlier screenshot it showed the icons in 3 icon columns, not 4, which is what I have now.
Also, you said in your previous post to remove everything past the dash in the filenames. What you really mean is everything after the underline. A dash=this -, an underline=this _. Don't want anyone to be confused.
Miami_Son said:
OK, I'm not talking about the Quicklinks, that's a Sense 2.5 feature. I'm talking about the Start menu arrangement. In an earlier screenshot it showed the icons in 3 icon columns, not 4, which is what I have now.
Also, you said in your previous post to remove everything past the dash in the filenames. What you really mean is everything after the underline. A dash=this -, an underline=this _. Don't want anyone to be confused.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, tired. I just re-read your post. Yes the start button is 4 columns.
I meant the DASH... the word manila is after the underline and needs to be there
Holy CRAP... I have the stock rom stripped of all AT&T parts except 1 and I am running 50% ram utilized in the ROM I just built and it HAS Sense 2.5!
No offense intended to the other chefs out there but how the EFF... can a joe schmoe like me, on my first day cooking a ROM achieve this and the roms out there are running 60% to 70% ?!?! I even cooked in Resco 10 (I own it) and the HTC task manager!
I HAVENT even stripped out the devices and services that I normally would! When I do that I get 48% RAM used or 98MB Free?!
EDIT: Changed type of sense 6.5 to 2.5
hx4700 Killer said:
Holy CRAP... I have the stock rom stripped of all AT&T parts except 1 and I am running 50% ram utilized in the ROM I just built and it HAS Sense 6.5!
No offense intended to the other chefs out there but how the EFF... can a joe schmoe like me, on my first day cooking a ROM achieve this and the roms out there are running 60% to 70% ?!?! I even cooked in Resco 10 (I own it) and the HTC task manager!
I HAVENT even stripped out the devices and services that I normally would! When I do that I get 48% RAM used or 98MB Free?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You obviously have access to a Sense version no one else has.
Attached the Dutty's task manager that so many recommend (and then didn't point to).
I did the regedit to re-enable tethering on the MEdia net plan I'm grandfathered into:
HKLM\Comm\InternetSharing\ForceCellConnection change to "MEdia Net"
--haven't tested thoroughly yet to make sure it stays connected and doesn't change on reboot.
(I installed Total Commander for regedits, you want the ARM version, by the way--anytime you get a choice like that.)
Those have been good improvements, though just putting task manager into the quicklinks and using it to 'end all' once in a while also works fine (as opposed to Dutty's, which gives you back the menu in the upper right to close/switch between things). I also put Contacts into quicklinks and turned off the people tab.
I was new to the quicklinks and it took me forever to figure out how to get rid of icons I didn't want (like facebook), till somebody pointed out the MENU softkey (probably where contacts used to be) at the bottom of the screen. Also lets you remove tabs you don't want (like ATT and Twitter). I also changed the background to get rid of the weather BS (hit animated backgrounds, then album, there was a black diamond plate one in there I used, but you can browse to anything if you switch album to all).
The disable clock flip cab, disable SMS sent notification cab, and then installing .net (then reboot) then installing and running crud scraper were other critical improvements I've made. The 16 quicklinks cab was also nice to have (shrinks the quicklinks to show 4 on home page, 16 if you slide up). These files are all linked in the first page of this thread I believe.
One more tweak I find essential is making it so you can record a voice memo (where I parked, for example) by pressing and holding the PTT button (the otherwise useless to most button under volume rocker on side). You can do this in File Manager or Total commander, go find record.lnk in \Windows (will take a minute to open this location, there's lots in there) and copy it to \Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Tools. Once it's anywhere in the start menu you can assign it to the PTT in the standard 'buttons' control panel. Press and release launches Notes (to play back voicenotes), press and hold records as long as you hold.
Also guys, is there a way to keep this thread as clean as possible so that people just wanting to update from stock to a better stock and then fix a few things don't have to wade through pedantic conversations about Sense versions, etc? Not to be *****y, just trying to keep it as noobie friendly as possible in this one thread.
If we could shrink the clock and add a second line in the calendar on the sense home page this would be perfect. Either way I am still using it.
With stock Sense (Facebook tab added) I can boot it up, lock it, open HTC Messenger, open opera, open calendar, then run cleanRAM and be at 60%. Thank you.
robseargeant said:
If we could shrink the clock and add a second line in the calendar on the sense home page this would be perfect. Either way I am still using it.
With stock Sense (Facebook tab added) I can boot it up, lock it, open HTC Messenger, open opera, open calendar, then run cleanRAM and be at 60%. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I am working on that soon. I want the cooke home tab basics withot the bloat too. probably keep in a 4 x 4 shortcut menu too.
I have been spending my time learning about and building my own ROM based off of this with the apps *I* want in it and without AT&T's wasted space stuff. Google maps, shake & save, resco explorer, resco photo manager, swype, ,net 3.5, slide to shutdown, facebook tab, recent calls tab, manila TV tab! .... too long to list, about 15 apps. I have the recent docs tab working and I want to get the erader going correctly and perhaps tackle footprints before finishing adding to manila.
I know you post on NRG's threads as have I. The fact is the guy writes for a LEO, doesnt even own a rhodium device, and while I LOVE his ROM I hate the fact that my phone runs like a turd with it. Having stripped down this ROM of AT&T bloat and done some memopry tweaking out of the box it boots to 92MB free. Configured its in the high 80's. If I scroll through all the sense tabs from there its around 68-72 MB free. It is SMOOTH. It may not be the latest and greatest but it is stable as hell, doesnt freeze and isnt flakey at all, everything works!
I have just been going through fixing the things I have added to clear up some graphics issues because the add ins overwrite some manila or DLL files.
I even have the Anastasia (dinik on NRG ROM) slider and taskbar. However I learned with NO taskbar icons I save nearly 10MB. so I am going to compare to stock icons and see if I can optimize the gfx for size to make it smaller and trim that space used down some more.
I don't know if you read my post on the NRG thread but there is a way to clear out the start menu itsms and their icons/PNG files that make them look nice and I had at one point unconfigured 109MB free!! Yes, more FREE ram than USED! It was outragious to me that it was even possible.
Which version of TotalCommander is the right one for our phones ?
BSB Tweaks is a Must! Need Net CF with it to work..on first page.
Along with google maps and maybe youtube.
I like MSN Instant Messaging, which isn't on the stock Windows Live, but on this one.
First off; I love Android. I think that Ice Cream Sandwich has led to a greater harmonisation of the Android operating system and adds a bit of polish to something functional. Google's apps are starting to feel like they belong together, rather than giving a sense that they're being produced by different teams who have little contact.
However, I'm no fanboy. I don't buy a product and deny that it has flaws just because a certain company produced it *ahem *. So here it is; one humble man's opinion on what's wrong with Ice cream Sandwich.
1. Blue theme.... really? There's a reason that designers avoid blue-on-black. It offers poor contrast, and looks cheap; much like the Geocities sites of the 90s. The blue taskbar and app icons used in ICS just don't go with... well... anything. It's all well and good being able to customise your home screen, but when anything except a blue background clashes it's all a little redundant.
2. The stock icons themselves are disgusting. We all knew this from the leaked screenshots, which forums were praying were fake. Mostly, they just don't look like they belong to the same set. There's no consistency. Half are blue, half are not. Some are three dimensional, and some are traditional, flat icons. Some are different sizes. They just don't work. They look cheap, childish and don't match the 'magazine' style of the UI overhaul. It's like someone realised at the last minute that they'd forgotten to redesign icons, so just did a Google Image search and used the first of each that they found.
3. Google Plus pages won't open in the Android Browser. This one is just plain embarrassing. Google's flagship device can't view Google's new hub outside of the restrictive app? The browser just panics and shuts down with no option to report it. Did no-one test this?
4. Google Talk isn't in the sharing options. That's right, click on the share icon within an app and it'll show you every way of sharing except Google Talk. Following the above, it seems like Google is boycotting their own services.
5. Speech to text for UK language setting is insane. After a few words, it seemingly switches to using your contacts directory as a dictionary, rather than real words. You end up with a full sentence made entirely of surnames and forenames. I cannot believe that no-one tested this.
6. Removing the search key doesn't just remove the ability to search from some apps; it means that you can no longer assign functions to long press, or use voice command from any app. You have to return to the home screen each time. This is a huge step backwards.
7. Similarly, this has led to a non-removable search box on the home screen. Not only does it take up space, but the white icon doesn't work on a light background. The customisability of Android has just been taken down another notch. Sure, you can use a 3rd party launcher, but with no search button, you need the box there for searches.
8. A minor point, but Android can't seem to decide if going for a futuristic hologram look, or the Windows Phone 7 style magazine layout. It's like Mathias Duarte turned up, and they said “Make our OS beautiful... but it still has to look like ugly old Honeycomb (TRON)." All in, it just feels a bit cheap and confused.
9. The soft keys which Google has opted for in ICS are not well positioned. The home key is far too close to the space bar, which is infuriating when typing.
10. The action bar is horrific to use. It means that the menu and search keys jump around the screen. So you're in the Facebook app and want to see the menu. Where is it? Well it's not where it used to be and there's no action bar. Oh wait, three dots have appeared in the soft-key bar. Ugly and inconsistent, but OK.
Switch to messaging. Where the heck is it? Ah it's in the top right now! The little scamp.
Now you're in Gmail. Where is the menace? I know you're here somewhere... Ah, there! In the action bar in the bottom right. Android Market: back up top! There is just no consistency and it makes everything feel disjointed and unpredictable.
The action bar essentially negates the large screen on the Galaxy Nexus. The row of soft keys, plus the action bar actually leads to a lower proportion of screen space for the app than on previous versions of Android.
11. Cut, Copy & Paste: What the hell were they thinking?! This doesn't just jump around based on app, but depending on which page of an app you're in. And even then, the buttons are different every time.
Take Gmail for example. Copying text from the body of an email: a menu appears in place of the action bar at the bottom. However, in the 'compose' screen this menu appears at the top, but with different icons. Another 'paste' button (but not using the paste icon) also appears above the selected text, but no cut or copy buttons. If you try and make a selection from a link, a long press summons a pop-up dialogue where paste is an option. That is four ways of pasting, just within the Gmail app.
Not to mention, that they've opted for icons with no words. Unless you're accustomed to using old Windows machines, this may as well be code. It's like it's intentionally trying to confuse you.
12. Relationships with app vendors must be non-existent. If I was releasing an update to a platform which relies upon people being able to install apps, I'd make sure that the most common apps work on the new platform before release. This could involve providing phones and assistance to the big names. As it stands, neither Facebook nor Whatsapp (two of the top 5 most downloaded apps) work. Both of these are communications related. I feel cut off from the world. I'm sure this could have been sorted before release. Swype is another big name that doesn't support the screen resolution.
Google launched the Galaxy Nexus weeks ago. Facebook was initially unusable due to the absence of a menu button. The app was updated today to a version akin to the iPhone. However, the drag-to- refresh animations don't work as they should, and the damn thing will alert you of 'new messages' every 30 minutes if you have any unread, regardless of whether or not they are new. Atop this, Facebook will still not sync with official Google devices as Facebook does not properly use Google's contact API. Rather than being stubborn, Google should be helping Facebook, or seconding engineers, as they know full well that the majority of their users will require his service.
I appreciate that a lot of this is out of Google's hands, but this is just a warning to early-adopters – be prepared to lose the services you use most.
13. The browser is still useless with forms. Try entering text in a field. It'll type past the edge of your viewport and you can't scroll to the cursor. The viewport should follow the cursor. You can't zoom in and out because you can't get 'hold' of the web page due to the full-screen text entry field.
14. Horizontal lines everywhere. Did I mention that text fields are now horizontal lines? Text boxes are indistinguishable from divides and text doesn't sit on the lines so you never know where one ends and the other starts.
As I said, all in, it is an improvement. However, there is a heck of a lot of room for improvement. There is still a feeling that things aren't really designed, or connected; just a bit haphazard. I'm just hoping Cyanogen pulls something wonderful. For the standard consumer, the experience aspect is still playing catchup with Windows Phone and iOS.
I agree with most of what you are saying... nothing makes me angrier than trying to use google search on android's mobile browser, and not being able to add additional words onto the end of my search string because I can't Freaking scroll the text over to enter it in. (I do think this is a webpage issue possible though, because it happens on iphone as well)
I think they should have gotten rid of the flip button (task switcher button) and have that be the settings button, then just have the HOME button be a long press for task switching.... simple, effective, makes sense.. consistent. I guess having settings in the app allows developers to have more control, but I think consistency would be better.
mike freegan said:
First off; I love Android. I think that Ice Cream Sandwich has led to a greater harmonisation of the Android operating system and adds a bit of polish to something functional. Google's apps are starting to feel like they belong together, rather than giving a sense that they're being produced by different teams who have little contact.
However, I'm no fanboy. I don't buy a product and deny that it has flaws just because a certain company produced it *ahem *. So here it is; one humble man's opinion on what's wrong with Ice cream Sandwich.
1. Blue theme.... really? There's a reason that designers avoid blue-on-black. It offers poor contrast, and looks cheap; much like the Geocities sites of the 90s. The blue taskbar and app icons used in ICS just don't go with... well... anything. It's all well and good being able to customise your home screen, but when anything except a blue background clashes it's all a little redundant.
2. The stock icons themselves are disgusting. We all knew this from the leaked screenshots, which forums were praying were fake. Mostly, they just don't look like they belong to the same set. There's no consistency. Half are blue, half are not. Some are three dimensional, and some are traditional, flat icons. Some are different sizes. They just don't work. They look cheap, childish and don't match the 'magazine' style of the UI overhaul. It's like someone realised at the last minute that they'd forgotten to redesign icons, so just did a Google Image search and used the first of each that they found.
3. Google Plus pages won't open in the Android Browser. This one is just plain embarrassing. Google's flagship device can't view Google's new hub outside of the restrictive app? The browser just panics and shuts down with no option to report it. Did no-one test this?
4. Google Talk isn't in the sharing options. That's right, click on the share icon within an app and it'll show you every way of sharing except Google Talk. Following the above, it seems like Google is boycotting their own services.
5. Speech to text for UK language setting is insane. After a few words, it seemingly switches to using your contacts directory as a dictionary, rather than real words. You end up with a full sentence made entirely of surnames and forenames. I cannot believe that no-one tested this.
6. Removing the search key doesn't just remove the ability to search from some apps; it means that you can no longer assign functions to long press, or use voice command from any app. You have to return to the home screen each time. This is a huge step backwards.
7. Similarly, this has led to a non-removable search box on the home screen. Not only does it take up space, but the white icon doesn't work on a light background. The customisability of Android has just been taken down another notch. Sure, you can use a 3rd party launcher, but with no search button, you need the box there for searches.
8. A minor point, but Android can't seem to decide if going for a futuristic hologram look, or the Windows Phone 7 style magazine layout. It's like Mathias Duarte turned up, and they said “Make our OS beautiful... but it still has to look like ugly old Honeycomb (TRON)." All in, it just feels a bit cheap and confused.
9. The soft keys which Google has opted for in ICS are not well positioned. The home key is far too close to the space bar, which is infuriating when typing.
10. The action bar is horrific to use. It means that the menu and search keys jump around the screen. So you're in the Facebook app and want to see the menu. Where is it? Well it's not where it used to be and there's no action bar. Oh wait, three dots have appeared in the soft-key bar. Ugly and inconsistent, but OK.
Switch to messaging. Where the heck is it? Ah it's in the top right now! The little scamp.
Now you're in Gmail. Where is the menace? I know you're here somewhere... Ah, there! In the action bar in the bottom right. Android Market: back up top! There is just no consistency and it makes everything feel disjointed and unpredictable.
The action bar essentially negates the large screen on the Galaxy Nexus. The row of soft keys, plus the action bar actually leads to a lower proportion of screen space for the app than on previous versions of Android.
11. Cut, Copy & Paste: What the hell were they thinking?! This doesn't just jump around based on app, but depending on which page of an app you're in. And even then, the buttons are different every time.
Take Gmail for example. Copying text from the body of an email: a menu appears in place of the action bar at the bottom. However, in the 'compose' screen this menu appears at the top, but with different icons. Another 'paste' button (but not using the paste icon) also appears above the selected text, but no cut or copy buttons. If you try and make a selection from a link, a long press summons a pop-up dialogue where paste is an option. That is four ways of pasting, just within the Gmail app.
Not to mention, that they've opted for icons with no words. Unless you're accustomed to using old Windows machines, this may as well be code. It's like it's intentionally trying to confuse you.
12. Relationships with app vendors must be non-existent. If I was releasing an update to a platform which relies upon people being able to install apps, I'd make sure that the most common apps work on the new platform before release. This could involve providing phones and assistance to the big names. As it stands, neither Facebook nor Whatsapp (two of the top 5 most downloaded apps) work. Both of these are communications related. I feel cut off from the world. I'm sure this could have been sorted before release. Swype is another big name that doesn't support the screen resolution.
Google launched the Galaxy Nexus weeks ago. Facebook was initially unusable due to the absence of a menu button. The app was updated today to a version akin to the iPhone. However, the drag-to- refresh animations don't work as they should, and the damn thing will alert you of 'new messages' every 30 minutes if you have any unread, regardless of whether or not they are new. Atop this, Facebook will still not sync with official Google devices as Facebook does not properly use Google's contact API. Rather than being stubborn, Google should be helping Facebook, or seconding engineers, as they know full well that the majority of their users will require his service.
I appreciate that a lot of this is out of Google's hands, but this is just a warning to early-adopters – be prepared to lose the services you use most.
13. The browser is still useless with forms. Try entering text in a field. It'll type past the edge of your viewport and you can't scroll to the cursor. The viewport should follow the cursor. You can't zoom in and out because you can't get 'hold' of the web page due to the full-screen text entry field.
14. Horizontal lines everywhere. Did I mention that text fields are now horizontal lines? Text boxes are indistinguishable from divides and text doesn't sit on the lines so you never know where one ends and the other starts.
As I said, all in, it is an improvement. However, there is a heck of a lot of room for improvement. There is still a feeling that things aren't really designed, or connected; just a bit haphazard. I'm just hoping Cyanogen pulls something wonderful. For the standard consumer, the experience aspect is still playing catchup with Windows Phone and iOS.
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yawns, i respect your opinion. But i can list 15 things wrong with IOS5 as well. Overall ICS and android has matured over the few years android has existed. No product software/hardware is perfect. Most of the issues can be corrected with customization. Like i said i respect your complaints and opinions, but i just feel they are picky...Comparing the OS from my G1 to what android is now, i LOVE IT
Thanks for typing this up. While I still plan on buying it, I like to get a well-rounded opinion about the device and software. I have to agree with #12. Launching this device exclusively on one carrier and then delaying it is very embarrasing. I know, the better developers will have a Verizon account or buy the phone unlocked from an international dealer, but still not good. It makes it more difficult for app developers to work their apps for ICS.
I had to laugh at Eric Schmidt's thought that ICS will be #1 for development in 6 months. ICS wont be off exclusivity or on any other devices for at least 3 months.
First of all, the theme Android has used for Honeycomb and ICS - holographic, blue themes, etc. - is awesome. Everybody has their own opinion but for me it's no turn off.
As far as action button placement, Google's central idea on that is leave it to the developer to say where it goes - in the top bar? Bottom ribbon action bar? Wherever is more appropriate for the app design. Matias himself said he's pushing Android to a more unified UI style without straight-jacketing it (ala iOS).
As for apps being compatible with new releases, it's up to the developers to keep that up. Google is not responsible for if Swype or Facebook doesn't update their app before a new release.
And for saying Google should help Facebook, why should they? You realize Google has their own social network, don't you? It sounds like you do know that in the past Google has let Facebook basically hack their way into your contacts list separate from the Contacts API, but later blacklisted that because it didn't conform to their data exportability policy and API. "the majority of their users will require his [sic] service." Since the 2.3 update that cut out Facebook's hackish ways, customers who want Facebook integration in their Android phones should get something non-Nexus. That's why Google is advertising the deep integration with G+, not social media in general.
mike freegan said:
First off; I love Android.
- cut -
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Couldn't agree more. This could easily become the best Android phone I've bought (and I had them all), but at the same time it's the first one (and only one) I cannot stand because of the too many hiccups and bugs it has. Can you believe that I haven't put my main SIMcard in it yet? I keep playing with it at home, trying new roms and kernels, but when it comes to using it as my main phone... we're a long way from it!
- The Stock browser is not that good (have you tried to write something in a forum and then move the cursor back in the text to change a word? Good luck with that!!) and Dolphin Browser is not yet supported.
- As we know, Flash doesn't work yet (this is just hilarious).
- The stock Keyboard in the browser doesn't correct your mispelled words, and Smart Keyboard Pro doesn't work all the times.
- speakers are too quite, I have found a workaround using Volume + (but beware! The version available in the market is not working).
- if you try any animated wallpaper, UI will slow down painfully.
In the end as much as I love its gorgeous screen and huge potential, as things are now, I find it one of the most detestable phones out there.
Great job, Samsung/Google!
Nice write up....but so many of your complaints are just because you don't like them. Really your complaining about the color.... I'm sorry so much bothers you because honestly ICS makes Android and the Galaxy Nexus a great phone! Windows phone is a far cry from being compared to Android and IOS.
I'm all for putting out there the faults of devices but if you say I like Android -cut- I hate everything about it bla bla bla....um... how can you like it if you think another brand or device works better?? Wouldn't that mean you like _____ << insert favorite OS here??
Danny80y said:
Windows phone is a far cry from being compared to Android and IOS.
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But on my Lumia 800 I can write effortlessly on this and every other forum, and things just work well!
I agree, colour is generally subjective. But what they've gone for is almost universally accepted as a poor choice by designers.
And to the dude above: I know very well that I can patch around a lot of these issues. I mentioned that in the article. However, most users buy this phone, don't root and don't change much.
ICS is good. IT could have been great.
And saying Google shouldn't be concerned that third party apps don't work is incredibly ignorant.
I was just using Whatapp two days ago and it was working fine. Is there something specific you were having problems with?
Three words. Point Zero one.
jrl022 said:
I was just using Whatapp two days ago and it was working fine. Is there something specific you were having problems with?
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Mine FCs on startup. I think having group chats may kill it. I've read this in a few places.
All I see is waaah waah wahhh
I have to respectfully disagree with most of your observations.
I love almost everything about the redesign. I don't miss the search button at all. I love the color scheme, and don't really care about app incompatibilities because well, it's a Nexus device. It's a brand new OS version and really made for early adopters. Developers will work out the kinks and you'll see more ICS support for common apps in the next week or two, I'd guess.
I do agree with you about the inconsistent action bar. Google should put it in one place for all their core apps. 3rd party apps, you can't dictate, though. I don't mind the slight difference in look in some apps, though. I love the new People app and the way it's set up. But I don't think it fits in everywhere, so I'm glad they didn't force it in all over the place and try to look like WP7.
I can't comment on the UK speech settings, as I'm in the US and not using it. Really lame if it doesn't work, though. I also don't really mind the new text box look. It was a little confusing when I first saw it, but they're not that hard to recognize after you get used to it. I have mixed feelings about the permanent search box. I like it because it doesn't take a ton of space - especially with the 720p display. But I wish there was more customization.
All that said, I think the positives hugely outweigh the negatives. Most of what you posted is a little nitpicking. I don't blame you complaining about things not working as they should, but beyond that, I think the OS has come a very long way and looks amazing all around. Google has already said this is just the beginning of Android's design changes to make it more accessible and fun to use.
I can't wait to see Cyanogenmod's finished launcher. I know they made the search box removable, but we'll see. I do still love the stock launcher, too.
The ultimate question is:
Would you use another OS? I sure as hell would not! ICS is the best thing out there right now by far.
The ultimate question is:
Would you use another OS? I sure as hell would not! ICS is the best thing out there right now by far.
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agreed. i can't go back to either iOS or GB after using ics for the last 2
weeks
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
To add the injuries, here are some things that are bad in ICS:
1. Contact photo is still low resolution after synced with GMAIL Contacts. This issue has not yet been solved for years already! Why? Do you run out of storage space to hold high resolution images?
2. The app drawer icon position in the button bar cannot be changed. I hate that thing, because I can't put Phone app there.
Why? If the argument is to never loose the app drawer, at least give ability to change the position.
3. Request Desktop version on the web browser doesn't stick!
Grrrt...!
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
gogol said:
To add the injuries, here are some things that are bad in ICS:
1. Contact photo is still low resolution after synced with GMAIL Contacts. This issue has not yet been solved for years already! Why? Do you run out of storage space to hold high resolution images?
2. The app drawer icon position in the button bar cannot be changed. I hate that thing, because I can't put Phone app there.
Why? If the argument is to never loose the app drawer, at least give ability to change the position.
3. Request Desktop version on the web browser doesn't stick!
Grrrt...!
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
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lol. Grrrtt.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
To sum up your entire post: Nothing's perfect.
We know. But Google has done a superb job fixing many things, and hey will continue to improve in new updates to 4.0.
mike freegan said:
First off; I love Android. I think that Ice Cream Sandwich has led to a greater harmonisation of the Android operating system and adds a bit of polish to something functional. Google's apps are starting to feel like they belong together, rather than giving a sense that they're being produced by different teams who have little contact.
However, I'm no fanboy. I don't buy a product and deny that it has flaws just because a certain company produced it *ahem *. So here it is; one humble man's opinion on what's wrong with Ice cream Sandwich.
1. Blue theme.... really? There's a reason that designers avoid blue-on-black. It offers poor contrast, and looks cheap; much like the Geocities sites of the 90s. The blue taskbar and app icons used in ICS just don't go with... well... anything. It's all well and good being able to customise your home screen, but when anything except a blue background clashes it's all a little redundant.
2. The stock icons themselves are disgusting. We all knew this from the leaked screenshots, which forums were praying were fake. Mostly, they just don't look like they belong to the same set. There's no consistency. Half are blue, half are not. Some are three dimensional, and some are traditional, flat icons. Some are different sizes. They just don't work. They look cheap, childish and don't match the 'magazine' style of the UI overhaul. It's like someone realised at the last minute that they'd forgotten to redesign icons, so just did a Google Image search and used the first of each that they found.
3. Google Plus pages won't open in the Android Browser. This one is just plain embarrassing. Google's flagship device can't view Google's new hub outside of the restrictive app? The browser just panics and shuts down with no option to report it. Did no-one test this?
4. Google Talk isn't in the sharing options. That's right, click on the share icon within an app and it'll show you every way of sharing except Google Talk. Following the above, it seems like Google is boycotting their own services.
5. Speech to text for UK language setting is insane. After a few words, it seemingly switches to using your contacts directory as a dictionary, rather than real words. You end up with a full sentence made entirely of surnames and forenames. I cannot believe that no-one tested this.
6. Removing the search key doesn't just remove the ability to search from some apps; it means that you can no longer assign functions to long press, or use voice command from any app. You have to return to the home screen each time. This is a huge step backwards.
7. Similarly, this has led to a non-removable search box on the home screen. Not only does it take up space, but the white icon doesn't work on a light background. The customisability of Android has just been taken down another notch. Sure, you can use a 3rd party launcher, but with no search button, you need the box there for searches.
8. A minor point, but Android can't seem to decide if going for a futuristic hologram look, or the Windows Phone 7 style magazine layout. It's like Mathias Duarte turned up, and they said “Make our OS beautiful... but it still has to look like ugly old Honeycomb (TRON)." All in, it just feels a bit cheap and confused.
9. The soft keys which Google has opted for in ICS are not well positioned. The home key is far too close to the space bar, which is infuriating when typing.
10. The action bar is horrific to use. It means that the menu and search keys jump around the screen. So you're in the Facebook app and want to see the menu. Where is it? Well it's not where it used to be and there's no action bar. Oh wait, three dots have appeared in the soft-key bar. Ugly and inconsistent, but OK.
Switch to messaging. Where the heck is it? Ah it's in the top right now! The little scamp.
Now you're in Gmail. Where is the menace? I know you're here somewhere... Ah, there! In the action bar in the bottom right. Android Market: back up top! There is just no consistency and it makes everything feel disjointed and unpredictable.
The action bar essentially negates the large screen on the Galaxy Nexus. The row of soft keys, plus the action bar actually leads to a lower proportion of screen space for the app than on previous versions of Android.
11. Cut, Copy & Paste: What the hell were they thinking?! This doesn't just jump around based on app, but depending on which page of an app you're in. And even then, the buttons are different every time.
Take Gmail for example. Copying text from the body of an email: a menu appears in place of the action bar at the bottom. However, in the 'compose' screen this menu appears at the top, but with different icons. Another 'paste' button (but not using the paste icon) also appears above the selected text, but no cut or copy buttons. If you try and make a selection from a link, a long press summons a pop-up dialogue where paste is an option. That is four ways of pasting, just within the Gmail app.
Not to mention, that they've opted for icons with no words. Unless you're accustomed to using old Windows machines, this may as well be code. It's like it's intentionally trying to confuse you.
12. Relationships with app vendors must be non-existent. If I was releasing an update to a platform which relies upon people being able to install apps, I'd make sure that the most common apps work on the new platform before release. This could involve providing phones and assistance to the big names. As it stands, neither Facebook nor Whatsapp (two of the top 5 most downloaded apps) work. Both of these are communications related. I feel cut off from the world. I'm sure this could have been sorted before release. Swype is another big name that doesn't support the screen resolution.
Google launched the Galaxy Nexus weeks ago. Facebook was initially unusable due to the absence of a menu button. The app was updated today to a version akin to the iPhone. However, the drag-to- refresh animations don't work as they should, and the damn thing will alert you of 'new messages' every 30 minutes if you have any unread, regardless of whether or not they are new. Atop this, Facebook will still not sync with official Google devices as Facebook does not properly use Google's contact API. Rather than being stubborn, Google should be helping Facebook, or seconding engineers, as they know full well that the majority of their users will require his service.
I appreciate that a lot of this is out of Google's hands, but this is just a warning to early-adopters – be prepared to lose the services you use most.
13. The browser is still useless with forms. Try entering text in a field. It'll type past the edge of your viewport and you can't scroll to the cursor. The viewport should follow the cursor. You can't zoom in and out because you can't get 'hold' of the web page due to the full-screen text entry field.
14. Horizontal lines everywhere. Did I mention that text fields are now horizontal lines? Text boxes are indistinguishable from divides and text doesn't sit on the lines so you never know where one ends and the other starts.
As I said, all in, it is an improvement. However, there is a heck of a lot of room for improvement. There is still a feeling that things aren't really designed, or connected; just a bit haphazard. I'm just hoping Cyanogen pulls something wonderful. For the standard consumer, the experience aspect is still playing catchup with Windows Phone and iOS.
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1. Don't care .the only thing that is weird is white background in people app. I'd prefer it to be black like in missed call section.
2. Really? Icons brother you that much when you can change them?
3. The whole google isn't working properly in Android browser. Try searching for images in desktop view and tell my chow do you change to larger images ... this is issue that needs to be addressed directly to Google its not a browser issue
4. I presume you're an American. Here on the old continent we don't use gtalk. Well at least none of my friends is using this. We have things like Skype which is far more popular in EU
5. I'm guessing you're from Texas then . Well my accent isn't really British and everything I date 9 out of 10 times is spelt correctly. Ha I can even say that I use dictation more than actual keyboard. Its easier for me to say the text message then type it especially with my second language which Android keyboard does not have dictionary. So I can speak in either one of the two of my languages and its veeeeeeery accurate
6. Blame the developers not Google. They should be ready for new os
7. I love the search box its easy and accessible.
8. I love tron design. However I have to agree its a bit of hit and miss when it comes to design but colours can be changed in custom roms I bet that CM team will do it .
9. Wtf are you taking about. I'm typing this msg and didn't press home bar even once. Anyway try taping between space bar and home button .... it won't even work. Have you got arthritis?
10. Don't see problem here either.
11. Anything with action bar that you don't know what it does just press and hold on the icon there will be pop up window.
12. Again blame developers. Look at rovio. They could update their games at the same time for all devices and os but they choose not to. If the developer can be bothered to update his app in timely manner than who's fault is that?
13. agree with that.
14. Huh?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium