Related
Hi All
Since getting a Touch HD iv'e been trying to make some of my favourite programs look ok with the WVGA Resolution.
Here are 3 skins i have either made or modified that work well all keeping the Touchflo 3D Theme.
The first is an S2u2 theme (just copy the gfx folder to the s2u2 dir) and use the clock dir
Second is a quick basic Launch manager theme (copy the defaultwvga dir into the skins dir of lm
last is a Pocketcm theme , This is not my theme but i adapted to work on WVGA , The theme was created by Oumpahpah called Dark Diamond II - 2, I just resized some graphics and made the buttons work on the contact details page, I also edited the ini file to resize some of the screen placings.
There i 1 small glitch which i have yet to iron out on the sms page but it does not interfere with the working of the sms page it just bugs me its there (a white line around the SMS box)
you need to extract both the zip and the dir into the pocketcm dir and choose the
Modified Dark Diamond II 0.25c VGA theme
Also check here for a nice TF3d calendar mod
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=423647
It works great and ive also managed to move the tab using the diamond TF3D editor
also from a diamond thread ive managed to change the calendar link from the homepage to thumbcal and the all people shortcut on the contacs page to pocketcm
I just wish HTC would allow us to show more Appointments on the home screen it seems a waste of the lovely screen not to fill it up
Hope these help
Edit Fixed the SMS glitch Ver2 uploaded of teh PocketCM Theme
Edit Added Thumbcal Skin (skin.diamond_WVGA.zip) just put the zip into the Thumbcal Dir
the other skins work ok but i noticed that the lines were not even on the vga Skin so this fixes that along with the images are now the correct size
New Calculator SKin
Found a great VGA Calc Skin by L.Sylvain but i admended it for WVGA
Install the L.Sylvain cab file then extract the SpbCalc_P_VGA.png file from the SpbCalc_P_VGA.zip and copy it into the windows dir
Edit 20-11 Resized the Landscape too - copy both files into the Windows Dir
Edit 21-11 Small update to the Calc Skin - Changed the pressed keys to Green which is more in line with the Touch HD Theme
08-12 removed the original calc skin as there are better versions now
The final skins are later in this thread
Calc with Grey Pressed buttons SpbCalc_P_WVGA_grey_Final.zip
calc with Green Pressed Buttons SpbCalc_P_WVGAgreen_Final.zip
Both have a condensed but i think easier layout on portrait
and a full layout on landscape
Wow, the calendar and it's tab looks VERY nice! It's late now, but I'll definitely give this a try tomorrow..thanks!
hi machmandp
do i get it right?
I can get the calendar tab in tf3d on the touch hd following the instructions given on the link you supplied?
Do I loose any other tab of the original tabs by performing thid modification?
Thanks in advance for your replies!
Ascenca
Hi
I can just give my experience and i lost no tabs when i added it
I dont use the stock tab which is why it's missing from my setup but it's available (i tried it)
Machmandp - you are an absolute star! I piddled around with the dark diamond skin when I got my HD and got so far with it but then got stuck. I've been hoping someone would sort this out as it is a very appropriate theme for the HD. Limited testing so far and although I can see your (very minor) issue on the SMS screen, everything else looks very good...so many, many thanks. I'd be interested in any further tweaks you make to this skin.
I might pick your brains on linking to different calendar/contact apps, but I'll try searching again first.
Thanks again
I put it on and took it off again because I did lose a tab - programs. I don't have time to play with it right now. It also seems to be static - in other words you get a tab displaying a calendar page but you can't actually do much more than look at the dates. You can't open and interact with the calendar for example.
Mind you that's on a very limited try and I'm happy to be corrected.
machmandp - did you by any chance slot your version into where the stock tab would have been? Also, what do you do with the locale file - I was getting IDS_Calendar_... in front of everything. Can you do more with the calendar than just look at it?
If you get a second, can you point me in the right direction for the diamond tweaks for calendar and contacts - I'm drawing a blank so far
Cheers
Hi
the link for the editor i used for the contacts and calendar links
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=407777
make sure you read the whole thread as it has info for the touch HD later in the thread
I did put the calendar where the stock tab used to be but i have enabled the stock tab and it still shows so i have lost no tabs at all.
As regards to the local file you just need to download the lacales.zip from the thread and put the correct locale file into the windows dir (mine was en-us)
yep it's very static at the moment but as the page evolves i figure that it's a good thing to have it working and then i'll just have to replce the actual manila files without having to edit any again, also it's still pretty good as a quick veiw calendar
I am working on the Pocketcm skin so hopefully i'll get rid of that glitch soon
Thanks
Fixed the SMS glitch in PocketCM Theme
Version 2 uploaded in the main post
and better more detailed instructions on changing the links can be found in this post
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=444297
machmandp said:
Hi All
Since getting a Touch HD iv'e been trying to make some of my favourite programs look ok with the WVGA Resolution.
Here are 3 skins i have either made or modified that work well all keeping the Touchflo 3D Theme.
The first is an S2u2 theme (just copy the gfx folder to the s2u2 dir) and use the clock dir
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, in anticipation of getting hold of my Touch HD (when mobiles.co.uk eventually ships it on O2!) I'm been tinkering around with my Hermes.
I love the look of your S2U2 skin. I've tried to replicate it on my Hermes back down to 320x240 screen.
All seems to have worked ok except I can't get rid of the coloured overlay that S2U2 puts behind the clock. I've changed the background picture to be the one that I use across all devices (the nice blue sunray looking one from Windows 7) but it ends up with this semi-translucent bar with the clock figures and date in across the top half.
Which image file do I need to make transparent to make that go away?
Hope my post made sense.
I'll try and get some screen shots up to show what I mean.
machmandp said:
Fixed the SMS glitch in PocketCM Theme
Version 2 uploaded in the main post
and better more detailed instructions on changing the links can be found in this post
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=444297
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are an absolute toff sir!
Owe you one, many thanks.
dom_mitchell1 said:
Hi, in anticipation of getting hold of my Touch HD (when mobiles.co.uk eventually ships it on O2!) I'm been tinkering around with my Hermes.
I love the look of your S2U2 skin. I've tried to replicate it on my Hermes back down to 320x240 screen.
All seems to have worked ok except I can't get rid of the coloured overlay that S2U2 puts behind the clock. I've changed the background picture to be the one that I use across all devices (the nice blue sunray looking one from Windows 7) but it ends up with this semi-translucent bar with the clock figures and date in across the top half.
Which image file do I need to make transparent to make that go away?
Hope my post made sense.
I'll try and get some screen shots up to show what I mean.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try this one, its the one i used on my Kaiser
machmandp said:
try this one, its the one i used on my Kaiser
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that; after a bit f hacking around in photoshop I've got the look I wanted.
I've attached a .rar of my modified gfx folder along with a screenshot if anyone wants to use it.
Many thanks to both who helped me in this thread. Just got to do it to my HD when it arrives now!
gfx.rar available from my Skydrive:
http://cid-b6b1a627fbae21e5.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/gfx.rar
More Daft Questions...Sorry!
@machmandp - I have a little more time now so I'm going to have a play.
First off, I'm going to follow the Calendar hack to set up PI. Seems simple enough from the links you provided.
Then I'm going to look at linking PCM Contacts to the People Tab. How does that work for you? When you tap the contact picture does it link to the correct contact in PCM Contacts? Do the links to call or send SMS under the picture still function?
Lastly, I might give the Calendar Tab hack a go again. I followed the instructions quite carefully and am bothered that managed to lose my Programs tab. Did you copy the XML straight out of the original post? Did you mess around with the Page Order at all? Were you able to use the built in tab configurator to manipulate the tabs including the new calendar tab?
Hugely appreciate all your help so far - you've already made my day today with the fix for the PCM Contacts skin - and I'd immensely grateful for any more guidance you can offer.
Hi
Yes i copied the xml from the page but with the HD having an extra tab i put the number of the calendar page as 11 not 10
As regards to moving the tabs i had to use the diamond TF3d Configurator from the diamond forum, This works fine.
The link to Pocketcm is only for the All people softkey and not for any of the contacts but i find this works well
Hope that helps
machmandp said:
Hi
Yes i copied the xml from the page but with the HD having an extra tab i put the number of the calendar page as 11 not 10
As regards to moving the tabs i had to use the diamond TF3d Configurator from the diamond forum, This works fine.
The link to Pocketcm is only for the All people softkey and not for any of the contacts but i find this works well
Hope that helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes thanks, all begins to make sense now and I have the PI hack working nicely now. Did you remap the All People Softkey through SSMaPa too? Replacing POutlook.exe?
Where did you guys get that slide to unlock application with the HTC colours? is it in the skin imbeded?
The app is s2u2 by A_C (brilliant by the way)
the skin is from the first post of this thread for s2u2
iain.fraser said:
Yes thanks, all begins to make sense now and I have the PI hack working nicely now. Did you remap the All People Softkey through SSMaPa too? Replacing POutlook.exe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep poutlook.exe exactly the same way
Small update in the first post
Thumbcal WVGA Skin
Updated first post
calculator Skin
TouchFlo Detacher is yet another way to simultaneously have TouchFlo 3D and the regular Today screen. Previous excellent solutions include SecondToday and ManilaControl.
Description
So what makes it different? Well, this app is actually very similar to MastSogo's ManilaControl. The main difference is that the author plans to actively develop it for a while, whereas ManilaControl has been a bit frozen in development for a few months. It is also open source, licensed under the Ms-RL. The program is on CodePlex, so download speeds should be much better than the average rapidshare link. Finally, it is in English and not Spanish. Other than that, it's just another solution for the same problem!
See it in action on the YouTubes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk0xWm8PMGQ
Download the CAB and source code here: http://www.codeplex.com/TFDetacher
Installation
As explained on CodePlex...
1. Install the CAB
2. Run the configuration app
3. Enable all the standard Today Items you want to use
4. Do not re-enable TouchFlo 3D in the Today items (if you do, it will undo all your other Today plugins)
Requirements
Windows Mobile 6.1
.Net Compact Framework 2.0
A device that runs TouchFlo3D / Manila
Current features
- Free up your Today screen by hosting Manila outside of the Today screen! TouchFlo Detacher can launch/show/hide/close Manila independent of any other Today screen settings. Now you can have your TouchFlo cake and eat it too! The most obvious use is to assign a soft key to toggle between seeing TouchFlo and seeing the regular Today screen.
- Service runs as a background application (in your StartUp folder) for maximum speed when toggling Manila modes.
- NO ANNOYING SPLASH SCREEN when application launches.
- Service is 100% idle when not receiving messages or controlling TouchFlo, so no CPU is wasted! (Just a tiny bit of RAM)
- Configuration application allows modifying manila.exe location, manila window class, and more, so that this utility can (presumably) be used with other manila versions (such as TouchFlo 2D). This is untested. Out of the box, it supports TouchFlo 3D in its default configuration as seen on the Diamond/Pro/HD.
- Configuration application can clean out the ManilaActivateToday.exe from the notification queue. (That app can interefere with TouchFlo Detacher's operation.)
- Shortcuts to start/show Manila, hide Manila, and close Manila. These can be assigned to hardware buttons (if your device has them) or virtual hardware buttons through the use of 3rd party applications such as AE Button Plus.
- Configuration application can customize the softkeys in both Today and TouchFlo's Home tab. You can use it to not only assign TouchFlo Detacher operations (show/hide/close), but any other application on your device.
I want only to say many thanks for that cab it works very good on my Touch HD ... Great App cardefbel
THE best piece of software I've downloaded. Used it on both Touch Diamond and Touch HD and love it!
Perfect - thanks
Thanks for this awesome app....
Would I be correct in thinking that with your app I can go all out on WAD2 or something and still be able to switch back and forth between WAD2 and Touchflo without all the hassle?
Thanks. Downloaded, installed, and be able to switch between TF3D and my old style today with Spb Diary.
jacklam said:
Would I be correct in thinking that with your app I can go all out on WAD2 or something and still be able to switch back and forth between WAD2 and Touchflo without all the hassle?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not my application, but I realy love it and would share it with y'all.
Is it also possible to have TF3D together with SPB today screen combined whit SPB mobile shell?
Hi Guys,
i add a screenshoot just to share with you the result of this great app.
i have one question, maybe someone of you have the same problem.
i am running the "non TF3D" screen with Resco today plugin and launcher.....if i try to put a background (via setting Today, use picture as background...) no matter which kind of picture i choose, they are opaque.
cant figure out a solution.
thanks and Ciao!
that app is very great. but i got ine problem that the home icon button dont's work, it just has the force feedback.
giangishanghai said:
Hi Guys,
i add a screenshoot just to share with you the result of this great app.
i have one question, maybe someone of you have the same problem.
i am running the "non TF3D" screen with Resco today plugin and launcher.....if i try to put a background (via setting Today, use picture as background...) no matter which kind of picture i choose, they are opaque.
cant figure out a solution.
thanks and Ciao!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey guy,
can you share with us how you achieve your today screen as you attached?
it is nice.
Sounds great, will keep an eye on this one!
giangishanghai said:
Hi Guys,
i add a screenshoot just to share with you the result of this great app.
i have one question, maybe someone of you have the same problem.
i am running the "non TF3D" screen with Resco today plugin and launcher.....if i try to put a background (via setting Today, use picture as background...) no matter which kind of picture i choose, they are opaque.
cant figure out a solution.
thanks and Ciao!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look at the this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=468215&highlight=today+background+transparent
It solves your problem.
cardefbel said:
Look at the this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=468215&highlight=today+background+transparent
It solves your problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks cardefbel !!!
i can tell that this is the best suggestion i have never got in this forum.
you have got the point at the first shot!!!!!! and i have my second today with a brilliant background.
of course thanks to chaosdefinesorder that playing with the device have found out the problem.
for those are asking about my second today:
Resco today plugin
Resco explorer 2008
that's it.
ciao!
Looks great!
I have tried WAD2 and Spb Mobile Shell and I like many of the things that those things bring that TF3D doesn't. I like them both, but I have not been able to break away from the TF3D which is one of the major factors I purchased the phone. Now I can have my cake and eat it too. We'll give it a shot! Thanks.
Update - I loaded it and it seems to work great. I loaded back my Spb Mobile Shell and seems to be working nicely between. It did take a few tweaks, but it is running fine. One thing however is that when I am back in TF3D my hard home key doesn't work to bring me back to the TF3D home. Any ideas?
Thanks for the program cardefbel but I am having a problem with it....notice that if I'm using the SPB screen it won't go back to TF3D after 15mins.....if I want my TF3D i need to reboot it.....but if I on the TF3D I can swap to SPB anytime.....
absolutely excellent, having my appointments on the screen with a 1 button press to TF3D is awesome
WingZer0n said:
Thanks for the program cardefbel but I am having a problem with it....notice that if I'm using the SPB screen it won't go back to TF3D after 15mins.....if I want my TF3D i need to reboot it.....but if I on the TF3D I can swap to SPB anytime.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you using SPB mobile shell or SPB pocket plus. I tried to reproduce it with SPB mobile shell, but the switching to TF3D worked for me after 15 mins.
BTW, it's not a program I wrote, found it on the net and realy liked it.
I have a problem with WEATHER page
I have started the program
il works perfectly BUT
if i go in the weather page, under TF3D, he changes automatically to today.
Any idea ????
mikeputich said:
One thing however is that when I am back in TF3D my hard home key doesn't work to bring me back to the TF3D home. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same issue here .. If anyone has a key..
I prefer to have this button for TF3D Home instead of going back to Today
I've been toying with the idea of changing to a WM6.5 based ROM, either Miri's or Davideuck's, but I'm so happy with Dutty's Xtreme ROMs that it's going to be a wrench if I do. I love the functionality of TF3D but find it annoying that you have to have a 3rd party UI running on top of Windows just to get a reasonable-looking and easy-to-navigate interface.
The thing that bugs me is the whole Titanium vs Manila thing. Personally, I can't see the point in having both TF3D and the Titanium home screen installed on the phone at the same time.
The Titanium home screen is simple and elegant but links to standard naff-looking WinMo apps (calendar, photos) whilst TF3D has eye-candy aplenty and quite usable and functional manila apps built-in like the calendar, weather and contacts browser (especially in the newest, prettier versions). I'm aware that we can run certain HTC apps within Titanium (Calculator/Album/Camera/etc), but the experience then feels disjointed and not cohesive at all.
So my question (and point for discussion) is this: Can we ever envisage a time when HTC's (or whomever's) bolt-on UIs are not required? Will MS ever produce a UI that is pretty and easy to navigate? Or will we always have to rely on 3rd party apps just to make our phones usable without the need for a stylus?
I quite like the new titanium, don't miss manila at all. Using Miri's 7.2 standard.
I think it will be WM7 that should/will get rid of the stylus once and for all.
The new start menu is more aesthetically appealing, but i find it less functional than the new start menu in manila, my issues w/ the new start menu in manila, is that noone has made a background for all cabs for this version yet, and htc should really have included this by default, seems kind of dumb to me to have only wallpaper support for the home tab.
I've found that even though its monochromatic, i prefer tf3d v2 and its new notifications, context menu's and additional tabs on tf3d more than i prefer what MS has done w/ wm 6.5.
What i like about wm 6.5 is that it gives the visual impression that you have more screen real estate due to the transparent top & bottom bars, but sadly that's only on the start bar & today screens. I also like the new lock screen, and the icons throughout the system, smoother, better antialiasing.
I also miss the ability to select multiple files in file explorer, but i find that functionality has been gone for a while, once the kinetic scrolling was introduced, the ability to block select multiple files was lost. I know that other 3rd party file managers have the functionality built in, but you lose the visual cohesivehness with the operating system.
even though they take up the whole screen and are again monochromatic, i don't know why but i prefer the htc context menus to the wm 6.5 one's, i'm not sure if its the font type or size which could be part of it, but i think the wm 6.5 context menus looks less visually cohesive, even though it shares the theme of the OS.
I honestly am glad that HTC put out the tf3d v2, i wasn't particularly impressed by v1, and took it off the device as soon as i got it, resigned to have to deal w/ wm's ugliness, and millions of menu's, but i think v2 is a noble effort, they've certainly made me enjoy my Touch HD more. a
whole lot more.
Also prefer the HTC calculator, and HTC dialer to the stock MS one's. I'm just over the moon w/ tf3d v2, and i'm also running Miri's rom.
DRTigerlilly said:
The new start menu is more aesthetically appealing, but i find it less functional than the new start menu in manila, my issues w/ the new start menu in manila, is that noone has made a background for all cabs for this version yet, and htc should really have included this by default, seems kind of dumb to me to have only wallpaper support for the home tab. ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is background for all tabs available. mun_rus works great for me and there is another cab available to have both the old start menu and programs tab.
Quite so, but the BG for all tabs doesn't extend to the new Start Menu.
Ive been using Onkolos light WM 6.5 since friday and love it. I havnt used Manila as I like the new Titanium but I have installed Yota contacts and dialer as I dont like the windows contacts and the dialer is faster.
Downside is they dont work in landscape mode but Im using changescreen at the moment to experiment getting windows to rotate but not dialer & contacts. I would prefer to use flip it but didnt know what to enter for windows rotation.
I prefer touch flo and the way htc have tried to hide the boring style of the windows interface. I love all the new htc menus, skins, finger friendly apps etc.
I tried 6.5 but after a while reverted back to manilla because in 6.5 it was still the old interface below. Only the home page and menus had changed. I also tried 6.5 with some htc updated replacement skins and apps but did not like the mix of two styles and preferred to have a consistant theme throughout.
Am using the new topaz manilla 2 - davideuck v5 and am very happy with it and sticking with it. Manilla all the way...
Major_Sarcasm said:
Quite so, but the BG for all tabs doesn't extend to the new Start Menu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what you do is that you set the background wallpaper for the "today" screen as the same background wallpaper for your tabs, and it will be the same. An extra step, I know, but this also extends to your WM6.5 lock screen as well.
skulk3r said:
what you do is that you set the background wallpaper for the "today" screen as the same background wallpaper for your tabs, and it will be the same. An extra step, I know, but this also extends to your WM6.5 lock screen as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Major_Sarcasm & myself are referring to the new htc start menu in wm 6.1 not wm 6.5
Having tried various flavors of it, I don't give a bean about Titanium (MS in general); I find it cumbersome. TouchFlo to me is simple and efficent enough. Now, if there is a Zune phone (with at least 120 gb), that will be the day.
aabye said:
Having tried various flavors of it, I don't give a bean about Titanium (MS in general); I find it cumbersome. TouchFlo to me is simple and efficent enough. Now, if there is a Zune phone (with at least 120 gb), that will be the day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
manila unfortunately comes with a price.....major hi-jack of memory.
no a problem for me,remember we had pda's before manilla ...
Hi, I have bought pocketshield and found it doesn't work in all applications as manila is set as part of my start process. To make all apps work with pocketshield, am I safe removing manila - sorry to be dim but what is it giving me that touchflo doesn't..?
YES, PointUI
I have to say I'm in the Manila camp. Especially the latest versions of Manila from custom ROMs.
It's good looking, and functional.
And with each new version it goes deeper and deeper into hiding the ugly WinMo interface, which is a big plus for me. Also, I have to say that Manila has been surprisingly solid when it comes to speed and stability, especially for someone like me who's constantly digging around the _manila files and playing with them
The biggest minus for me personally is that HTC didn't take in account that people may want to change the colors and graphics, so visual customization is major PITA.
band27 said:
manila unfortunately comes with a price.....major hi-jack of memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no more than 20-30% free memory, and my device is very fast and stable. Memory is there to be used, why else did you pay for it?
vangrieg said:
I have no more than 20-30% free memory, and my device is very fast and stable. Memory is there to be used, why else did you pay for it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I couldn't agree more. I don't see a point in saving up free memory. As long as I can run 2-3 large applications simultaneously and still be able to answer a call or read an SMS, I'm perfectly happy with my device.
Zepiii said:
YES, PointUI
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. It's amazing what it can do
I'm the biggest fan of it
HastaSSSS
im not a fan of the titanium in 6.5 , i like manila better, but i like pointUI even better as the same for ms3 wich i use the most
I rather quite like touchflow as it give you all of the main features of a phone such as the touch HD without the need to run different apps (ie can view newest text messages without running the ms messaging app).
as for if MS will ever make a really nice UI, i think by winmo 7, MS will have to hav made a new UI (because of pressure from iphone OS) and then, as a major release, all the regular apps (windows media player, album etc) will also get a facelift, with the former already having been confirmed for a new release.
thats what i think anyway...
Manila
No Manila
Just out of curiosity to see what you guys are using.
I personally dont use manila, with the default home screen i see everything im interested in on the main screen.
i use it and like it
now i wait for a final version of manila 2.6
wah im surprized haha,, i actually thought everyone would be using the default home screen!
Woaaaah, why would you buy an HTC device if you shut down the main reason of it? TF3D makes WM so much easier and it's the biggest reason why I bought a HTC TD2. But to answer the poll, I sometimes turn of TF3D and use the normal home screen with some plugins like SPB News, SPB Weather and SPB Wireless Monitoring.
I started off with manila in Wm6.1
But when i went to WM6.5, Titanium looked a hell lot better than the normal today screen.. and it took up a lot less resources. (I found manila to run pretty slow.. random split second halts and judders here and there)
Manila
had a BA earlier.. had winmo 6.5 with titanium on it. Now i'v switched to Blackstone..
still have the default ROM wid winmo 6.1 n manila 1.3xx version i m liking it over titanium on BA
thinking of flashing soon so that i can compare titanium and manila on my blackstone
I think manila/htc sense is not just the best UI on wm devices, but also the best UI on all phones. I think it's far better than the s-class UI on LG devices and much, much better than the touchwiz interface on samsung devices.
i do agree that it makes everything so much easier, but what kills me is the warp, like Nickch said, the split second, while scrolling from side to side, and then without u wanting it you've stopped at the music tab, and you cant go on cause the phone takes a mini time to load ur music files,.. i hope in the HD2 is much smoother!
SPB Mobile Shell 3.5 FTW
i usually install a manilla ROM but adding TFDETACHER to switch it to the classic today screen !
SPB 3 - best UI I've ever seen
Manila to me is better: I tried PointUI, SPB 3, Titanium (gastly!), standard home, widgets home and so on...
The only problem is the limited link personalization.
D'rath
I use Manilla - while it isn't as customisable as other shells, it is the most practical. You can see multiple appointments without hassle and has a favourite programs launcher =]. Another big plus is the Manilla Calendar app in v2.6 - the fact that Manilla even covers the ugly Windows Calendar app when you input a new appointment is awesome.
Tried SPB Mobile 3/3.5, but the widgets are just too ugly and i couldn't find widgets that I liked with the user-made ones
PointUI looks interesting, but i feel that it wouldn't provide /that/ much of an advantage.
Titanium is good looking and smooth, but impractical for appointments and the user-made plugins (e.g.: fav contacts, etc) are not refined enough to look that nice.
I swap quite regularly between Titanium and PointUI. I love both of them equally. I did really love TouchFLO for a long time, but found what other people have said - it's occassionaly laggy and/or slow, and sometimes doesn't even notify me of things like new texts or emails.
Looking forward to trying the latest Manila on my new HD2 next week. I reckon the 1GHz CPU should make a difference, maybe
SPB Mobile Shell 3.5
I was using Manila for couple of days and then I found SPB Mobile Shell 3.0. After this switching back to Manila (every time when I installed a new ROM), was a disappointment. Still completely faithful to SPB Mobile Shell, now in updated version 3.5
I tried them all for a while (SPB,Titanium, PointUI), forcing myself to like them, but in the end I ALWAYS go back to manila. It presents all the info nicely on the home screen, and allows a nice interface to see your sms and emails with just a tap on the slider. I love the way sms and emails appear in manila, instead of SBP using the standard windows mobile messaging thingie.
Now tf3d 2.5 or 2.6 watever it is rocks my pants off and to me is the best interface for the hd.
I love Manila 2.5, but it could be visually better with the Manila 2.1 "People" and "Email" Widgets...The cube-like slider columns and row isn't much of an eye candy! IDK..just my opinion...
I use Manila 2.5 and I have to say I'm impressed with it. I love HTC's additions to hide the base WM environment. I have tried Point UI, SPB MS 2/3/3.5 and a couple of others and the only other time I would use something that wasn't TF3D would be if I wanted simplicity and in that I would use titanium.
Manila for me wins hands down currently.
I don't like Manilla 2.5, it's just too slow. I like Manilla 2.1, which is a lot faster, but I'm sad to see that all the roms that come with manilla are full of bloatware
patcooke said:
SPB 3 - best UI I've ever seen
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+1
I am absolutely agree with you!
Hi everyone, I am a cooker ( doing great things, but mainly a noob one compared to some masters out there ) .
Cooking on the Omnia I900 & Acer S200 ( french rom only), these devices have low memory.
For example the acer S200 only has 256mb of ram, but mainly the same hardware than the powerful HD2(except ram....:-( )
Arto ( great cooker of the Acer S200 scene ) has found that removing the start menu completely gains 15mb Ram on our devices ( by fooling the system with empty .cpr grid, icons caches aren't generated.)
This can help people make really light roms!!! The main problem now is the we don't have here a real startmenu alternative, a eye candy one than keep the spirit of our devices... Quickmenu is functionnal but not too beautiful.
After many searches over xda, the only thing I found was Quickmenu and the sense Startmenu replacement ( I modded the kenia1234 startmenu replacement to give it 5 columns, here is the work : 5 columns start sense2.5 menu replacement )
I don't know why developper aren't interested in making a real , fast and beautiful startmenu replacement ( with full fonctionnality, at least control panel wikth .cpl files abilty, and even more folder architecture, fullscreen, lightweight ),
but here is the request or that, If others than me are interested, please reply and tell your needs, to help developpers...
Something like Panoramic Launchpad would be great!
Last week I started creating a startmenu alternative. It's very underdeveloped, and I have no idea when it's finished, but to give you an idea I attached two screenshots.
It still lacks a couple of features (if someone can point me in the right direction, please do so ):
- no control panel items yet
- no icon transparency (I got that working, but it was horribly slow)
- no background (because of the lack of transparency)
- no hook on the hardware windows key (like quickmenu)
- no hook on the software start button (like ameba does on winmo 6.5.x)
- if there's no png file attached to a link, no icon is displayed
But the other basics are working:
- starting programs by clicking (yes I know, very basic )
- flipping pages by swyping your finger (left->right, right->left, up->down, down->up)
- opening folders, and going back up one level with the left soft button (just like the usual start menu)
I actually started this because I'm not a fan of the hexagon grid styled start menu, not because of memory issues. I did take a look at the current memory usage of my start menu, and currently it is 1.41MB. But that will grow with more icons and transparency I guess.
If you're interested I can continue developing this startmenu.
The most important thing to me is ram usage, the lower it is the best it is,
the png file limitation to display an icon should be reconsidered, the ability to display native icon is much more important, or, much easily to program, you can make your app request the "HKLM\Security\StartInfo\Start\myprog.lnk" key to read the icon you should display, if nothing is entered, lets just start the native icon.
This is important to make your startmenu replacement user friendly. nobody likes assigning manually an icon to an app, having the ability to do it is good, but the most important for the users is that your program automaticaly displays the native icon like the start menu does.
To use cpl, you just have to use a ctlpnl.exe command line, like this :
ctpnl.exe mycpl.cpl
if cpl has multiple tab, ctpnl.exe mycpl.cpl,1 ( where the number is the tab you want to be open)
for cpl files, I thinks its the big part of the job :-(
What I meant with:
- if there's no png file attached to a link, no icon is displayed
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My program uses the icons set in HKLM\Security\Shell\StartInfo\Start, but if it's an older program, there might not be a high resolution icon, and in that case I won't display any icon. That's something I will fix ofcourse.
I'll have a look at the cpl files, and I guess google will help me there as well.
Also looking for a way to show my startmenu instead of the winmo startmenu, but no luck so far. If anybody knows how to catch when the winmo startmenu is activated in c#, please let me know.
Hi guys
Have you ever heard of iPhoneToday http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=633618 ? It's so light and configurable
XTask has a good looking, light start menu replacement.
If you leave out the start_icon.png's, then the native icons are used. The 6.5 start menu also slows down boot time dramatically. Just delete all the shortcuts, soft reset, and check the millisecondtoidlethread in hkcu/performance. Boot time may be 20-30 seconds faster.
vinvv said:
Last week I started creating a startmenu alternative. It's very underdeveloped, and I have no idea when it's finished, but to give you an idea I attached two screenshots.
...
If you're interested I can continue developing this startmenu.
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Click to collapse
This certainly looks very interesting! Please continue, I also hate the honeycomb (as many people around).
I like this
vinvv said:
What I meant with:
My program uses the icons set in HKLM\Security\Shell\StartInfo\Start, but if it's an older program, there might not be a high resolution icon, and in that case I won't display any icon. That's something I will fix ofcourse.
I'll have a look at the cpl files, and I guess google will help me there as well.
Also looking for a way to show my startmenu instead of the winmo startmenu, but no luck so far. If anybody knows how to catch when the winmo startmenu is activated in c#, please let me know.
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Hi m8
I also hate the startmenu but this is cose it eats arround 30mb of ram...
There is a way to disable the default startmenu ....
Look this post its working fine on Blackstone NRG roms.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=7911317&postcount=16270
I just dont like the replacement menu or the quickmenu
Your app can be assigned to startmenu button with ameba
If can i help with your project on this just let know
Also keep in mind that many shells (Throttle Launcher, Mobile Shell etc) read the data to load program shortcuts from the start menu, so that the replacement has to take care of that too.
what do you think about wisbar 4? would this be an alternative to quick menu? i was using this prog. a year ago and i was totaly impressed. now i use it again together with the new energy rom from august 28. after the replacement from the start menu i have real nice and fast blackstone