Related
[Congrats, the hater made me raise the price from $20, to $40] - Goal is to replace Sense dialer with stock dialer/calllog/contacts from an AOSP 2.1 rom.
I hate SenseUI. Not Really, but the way the dialer/contacts work, is just one of my biggest problems with Sense.
So, when I get this phone, my only reason to root, is if I can replace my default phone/contacts APK.
I haven't used a Sense rom on any phone for over an hour, simply because I can NOT stand the dialer/call log and such.
Any suggestions? Please?
Im familiar with ADB, and will have no problems/regrets/worries about rooting, as I treat my phones like a first born, and dont let them get near harm.
But if there is no real hope for me replacing the Call Log/ Dialer/ Contacts part, with the style from 2.1 N1, I might as well go get my deposit back.
Anyone? First person with step for steps gets $40 donated/paypal'd/ whatever works for you
thanks for not flaming, im sure others will be pleased if this information is made simple-and-clear.
docsparks said:
I hate SenseUI. Not Really, but the way the dialer/contacts work, is just one of my biggest problems with Sense.
So, when I get this phone, my only reason to root, is if I can replace my default phone/contacts APK.
I haven't used a Sense rom on any phone for over an hour, simply because I can NOT stand the dialer/call log and such.
Any suggestions? Please?
Im familiar with ADB, and will have no problems/regrets/worries about rooting, as I treat my phones like a first born, and dont let them get near harm.
But if there is no real hope for me replacing the Call Log/ Dialer/ Contacts part, with the style from 2.1 N1, I might as well go get my deposit back.
Anyone? First person with step for steps gets $10 donated/paypal'd/ whatever works for you
thanks for not flaming, im sure others will be pleased if this information is made simple-and-clear.
--
Kinda curious if LauncherPro will function correctly aswell, but i can atleast live with the Sense Launcher/drawer, but would be way happier knowing in advance that I could run some form.. Helix1/2, LauncherPro, ADW, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well first off you gotta root it first, after that i'm not sure.
Edit: i'm retarded, gotta read the title of stuff before I post.
Ha. I woke up to the sweet sound of my email sound on my N1, hoping someone responded, read it.. came to the computer, to see you corrected yourself, and I dont have to be bitter.
Yes. I will root, as long as I know I can do this.
Thanks again though. .
..4 more hours.. till Tmobile can suck it.
docsparks said:
Ha. I woke up to the sweet sound of my email sound on my N1, hoping someone responded, read it.. came to the computer, to see you corrected yourself, and I dont have to be bitter.
Yes. I will root, as long as I know I can do this.
Thanks again though. .
..4 more hours.. till Tmobile can suck it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry your best bet is to wait till the cusom roms start coming out, senseUI stuff will go away real fast then. But I agree with you, i'm not a fan of it either.
The problem with Sense UI is the deepness of how it is built into the system. Technically you could push an ASOP .apk of Contacts, but you would more than likely still default back to the Sense version anyway.
Your best bet is waiting on a full ASOP or ASOP-esque build that will remove Sense for the most part. $10 dollars please!
Come on.. there isnt a way I cant also have my contacts/phone dialer/call log as a seperate APK and not over-write the sense stuff? like just have both installed on my phone?
On modaco fourms a while back, in a sense rom they said that was an option, i cant find the original thread for the life of me right now..
kyleblakepeters said:
Technically you could push an ASOP .apk of Contacts, but you would more than likely still default back to the Sense version anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I said it.
I still have not found an acceptable solution to this.
Im intending on giving this a full week, before I just return my phone.
I dont mind so much, if it doesnt straight up REPLACE my standard call/contacts/call log, if I can include the stock APK from AOSP 2.1, that runs coexsistant with the current setup, that will be fine.
Someone? Anyone? ill raise the price to $20 if someone can find me an acceptable solution.
Is it not possible for this to just turn into a simple app, like Dialer One basically remade the Sense dialer/contact lists into an app?
every single person that doesnt have htc smart dialer wants it, and you that have it wants to get rid of it, htc dialer > android dialer, sorry but you're truly being a big baby, just return the phone someone will make better use of it.
aLdaRiS said:
every single person that doesnt have htc smart dialer wants it, and you that have it wants to get rid of it, htc dialer > android dialer, sorry but you're truly being a big baby, just return the phone someone will make better use of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ha, you sirrrr are out $20
You do realize, what Im asking isnt too far fetched.. considering this is a forum based off of doing things to the phone that were never originally intended for it right?
You just mad you dont have one? Who knows.
We dont need you, or your god damned negativity.
**** it. $40 on the table.
I already got my evo and don't need your chump change, I had a mytouch3g and a nexus one and always wanted to have the HTC smart dialer and now that I have it , I see a retard trying to get it off his phone, anyway on topic just wait till they root and release an eclair build or a froyo build.
-------------------------------------
Sent from my HTC Evo via the XDA Tapatalk App
Really man just wait there will be roms where you can choose which dialer or contacts you want
-------------------------------------
Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App
You , aldi, arent seeing the point here. So go play somewhere else
Stop wasting my ****ing time. You obviously dont know what is and isnt possible, and its that whole "oh just wait until its out" type of mentality that doesnt motivate anyone, to make things happen.
Please, jump out of this thread, and **** yourself.
Then do something about it get the phone apk from the nexus one dump and try to push it to the evo be creative you're just a retard trying to get things handed to you I don't see why a dev trying to get froyo on our device would stop doing that so just one guy could get Android dialer on his evo, you're just plain stupid really.
-------------------------------------
Sent from my HTC Evo via the XDA Tapatalk App
Dude if I had time, I would, otherwise I wouldnt be offering money to people.
Devs that are working on Froyo, im not asking them to do anything different.
but there sure as hell are enough people on here, that have a better understanding of android coding than I currently do, and obviously im not the only person with an interest in this.
Please, im not intending to make this thread a argument between you and me.
Get something to say to me? Then message it, stop cluttering this ****.
I know $40 isnt even an hours worth a work when compared to the price I charge people for IT work, or hardware diagnostics.
If there has to be a higher price to make it happen, ill be paying it, Not you, and everyone else will benefit.
So stop crying about me wanting to put money into the hands of somebody that may need, or want the cash flow.
It's not the giving away money that bothers me its just the fact that you want to dumb down your phone that I cannot comprehend anyway good luck but like they said sense seems pretty deep into the OS so it might not be such an easy task
-------------------------------------
Sent from my HTC Evo via the XDA Tapatalk App
Here's an UNTESTED thought:
I downloaded another Rom from the Hero forums that should have the AOSP dialer and yanked the phone.apk file from the v2.5.3 download (it should be attached below, there's a newer one up there too if you want to try that instead)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=663366
The idea is that if you install it and then press the phone button, it should prompt you for which dialer you want to use and if you select "Contacts", it should drop you into the AOSP dialer. You might need the "contact.apk" file as well on further research...but no harm in trying, right? If it fails, just uninstall and it should drop you back to normal.
If it works, I nominate the money goes to toast and/or flipz...because I love toast and flipz's work since my hero days.
HINT: NO SYSTEM RW ROOT AT THIS TIME, meaning until we get that you cant replace any of the system apps.
-------------------------------------
Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App
Worth mentioning, is that I did pull the Contacts.apk, contactsstorage.apk, and Phone.apk, directly off my N1,
and while I tried to install all of them, in the end it doesn't allow it to happen.
this was a common knowledge move to me, as I assumed this wasn't going to work, before mrono and thecodemonk posted it.
I had to leave for the redbull air races before I could post that i tried directly that, to no avail.
but, the lack of System RW root, was the type of explanation i was looking for, as to why it didn't work.
thanks again, when we further this, Ill spread $ to the right directions, if not put some towards the proper Dev's now anyway.
If you root using toasts method and have rw permissions in recovery. Try this while in recovery
adb remount
adb push Phone.apk /system/app
Try a few different phone apks from nexus or cdma hero darchdroid or any other 2.1 AOSP rom.
Sometimes just installing apps wont work. And it should ask you to replace the htcdialer when pressing the phone icon. You dont have to have rw while in android for this to happen. Its something included in all android phones. Just like if you install a launcher from the market, you dont have rw permissions but it will still ask you if you want to switch launchers when you press home. If it doesnt ask then try to go to Setting>applications>manage apps> htcdialer and then see if you can select "clear default"
EDIT: im going to post an aosp phone.apk from an htc rom that that someone put together.
Try this View attachment Phone.apk
Love this site, have tried almost every rom out there. Here is what I would like. Basic froyo, dont need sense but also dont mind it. wifi tether, mms with pics both ways, good internet, pdf, office, camera with video capabilities, sync with ms outlook, google maps and nav. Basically a smartphone rom. I dont do music on my phone as I get that in the car and home, I dont do much video as I have a wdtv player and membership to a good site. I need smartphone stuff, not media stuff. I dont know if it is possible to strip a rom down and then let people install what they want, im not that smart, lol. I got this phone to replace my last 2 htc windows phones in which I also got alot of roms here. I dont know if it can be done, i here so many people complaining about their youtube or pandora not working, well I am a business man and could care less about that stuff. I want basic SMART ROM. Can it be done?
I'm a bit confused about what you want. It sounds as if you just want a stock ROM. Which means you should either get the Leaked OTA, or Virtuous.
You did mention stripped down though, so I would point you towards Feather or Stripped Froyo.
Are you SURE you've tried every ROM?
I do want stripped down. apps can be installed later if you need them. Just lookign for the basic of the basic. Do need a camera, like pic mms to work, could not get anywhere with the 2 you mentioned. dont need sense, although it is nice since I come from htc windows phones. I guess I dont need all the crap. facebook, youtube, pandora, etc........ most can be accessed from the internet anyways. I want fast internet, good smartphone stuff. If I had the time and the wife wouldnt shoot me for just playin with the phone, I would love to try it, but, alas, I have to work to much. I am in insurance and use my phoen for internet, tethering, email, camera, pdf, and basic stuff. This phone is great, I think if it had a basic rom, with the options to put other apps on, it could smoke even faster. dont know if that helps ya or not. but thanks for the reply man, preshe8it
fyi, i have found redemption roms to be the fastest with the best battery life for the way I use the phone, alot of internet, email, tethering. not alot of music or videos. It is the closest to a smartphone rom that I think there is. If he removed alot of the extra apps, that thing would smoke.
Yeah your wanting to try the feather rom. Everything has been taking out. And if you want to add anything, its right there for the mods. Its up to you what you want to add back. It has the bare essentials for the rom to run. You want barebones I point you in this direction. Hopes it helps. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=809541
First of all, let me apologize for being very ignorant about most of the stuff on here, even though I am very interested. I have looked and can not find a definitive answer, although I believe I should have antivirus, I have no idea what to use. I have Norton Systemworks on my PC. I also want to root my phone to be able to get rid of some of the factory installed garbage on it. I have been told that it is not wise to delete some of the installed apps because android uses parts of some to make others work. Is there anyway to do a total recovery image of my stock phone so if I totally screw it up, I can fall back on it? I think so, based on what I have read here---but honestly, I got a headache yesterday reading on here and trying to learn. I am not a super-techy guy, I just want my phone to do what I want it to, and none of the extra crap that I don't want. And lastly, should I wait to root my phone until Gingerbread comes out, or will it really matter? While I do know what a rom does and is, I do not understand kernels or most of the other things on here, so i actually need 'hand-holding' through some of this. Thank you for your help...anything you can tell me will help out.
hey man. i am willing to help you thorugh this entire thing. pm me for any more questions, but here is a start. it seems you have a baisic computer working knowledge, so this wont be too hard. first, a kernel is the scripts that let the hardware communicate with the software. the nice thing about this is it can easily be modified and built upon. a few devs have added scripts and stuff to the stock kernels to make them much more powerful and battery efficiant.
this recovery image you are talking about wont fix you phone if you screw it, but it will take you back in time to when you made the backup. you can also unroot to take off any mods you have applied. always remember to MAKE A NAND BACKUP WHENEVER YOU DO ANYTHING WITH YOUR PHONE THAT COULD REMOTELY BE CONSICERED A MODIFICATION. otherwise, you can end up with a very expensive paperweight.
there are partitions on the phone's memory. there are things like userdata and cache, but there are three main ones that we will mess with: system, recovery, and hboot. system is the rom of the phone. it is the software. it si obvious why this would be altered: to get better, more efficiant, or cooler software. then, we have the recovery. this is a factory tool for resetting and manual updating. this is packed with security, but there is no security that keeps us from changing the recovery. get where i'm going? if we change the recovery to one that has been heavily cracked and maybe built from scratch by a very talented dev (i reccomend amonra's recovery) then we can make the phone believe it is being updated when we are really modifying it.
the hboot is a developmental factory partition that is used for total firmware updates and google/android development. removing the security from this is the first stage in rooting.
i would highly reccomend rooting, and would be happy to 'hold your hand' along the way. i hope this helps and does not just confuse you more.
dk
oh, almost forgot. dont wait for gingerbread. the devs will make some roms that will include gingerbread packed in. i actually reccomend you root before gingerbread so you dont have to wait for a root method for that.
lookout antivirus can be found in the market.
Guys no offense. My galaxy doesn't even have froyo so I have no room to talk but I wouldn't get to worried about gingerbread yet. LOL it hasn't even been officially announced
Sent from my SCH-I500-Fascinate using XDA App
ksizzle9 said:
Guys no offense. My galaxy doesn't even have froyo so I have no room to talk but I wouldn't get to worried about gingerbread yet. LOL it hasn't even been officially announced
Sent from my SCH-I500-Fascinate using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agreed. cyanogen will probably port it in about january or february. long time, no need to wait.
dkdude36 said:
hey man. i am willing to help you thorugh this entire thing. pm me for any more questions, but here is a start. it seems you have a baisic computer working knowledge, so this wont be too hard. first, a kernel is the scripts that let the hardware communicate with the software. the nice thing about this is it can easily be modified and built upon. a few devs have added scripts and stuff to the stock kernels to make them much more powerful and battery efficiant.
this recovery image you are talking about wont fix you phone if you screw it, but it will take you back in time to when you made the backup. you can also unroot to take off any mods you have applied. always remember to MAKE A NAND BACKUP WHENEVER YOU DO ANYTHING WITH YOUR PHONE THAT COULD REMOTELY BE CONSICERED A MODIFICATION. otherwise, you can end up with a very expensive paperweight.
there are partitions on the phone's memory. there are things like userdata and cache, but there are three main ones that we will mess with: system, recovery, and hboot. system is the rom of the phone. it is the software. it si obvious why this would be altered: to get better, more efficiant, or cooler software. then, we have the recovery. this is a factory tool for resetting and manual updating. this is packed with security, but there is no security that keeps us from changing the recovery. get where i'm going? if we change the recovery to one that has been heavily cracked and maybe built from scratch by a very talented dev (i reccomend amonra's recovery) then we can make the phone believe it is being updated when we are really modifying it.
the hboot is a developmental factory partition that is used for total firmware updates and google/android development. removing the security from this is the first stage in rooting.
i would highly reccomend rooting, and would be happy to 'hold your hand' along the way. i hope this helps and does not just confuse you more.
dk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like mhoodie, I, too, am a newbie in need of hand-holding. How do I make a nand backup? My EVO is rooted 2.1 with XDA- WiFi Tether, no 147.651.~.~. How to upgrade to Froyo and maintain root? How can a friend with brand new Evo root and load XDA- WiFi Tether? AFTER these I'd like to know how to flash a ROM. You can communicate with me through this forum or [email protected] or 908-251-3532. Of course I'll contact you any way you like.
Dsims6465
sounds good. i would love to help. i have finals coming up, so i might be a bit busy the next few days, but i will try to help as much as possible. gtalk seems like the way to do it.
these forums helped me when i was a noob, so i'm trying to help out now. next on to do list: pay back for all the roms. (i wish)
mhoodie said:
First of all, let me apologize for being very ignorant about most of the stuff on here, even though I am very interested. I have looked and can not find a definitive answer, although I believe I should have antivirus, I have no idea what to use. I have Norton Systemworks on my PC. I also want to root my phone to be able to get rid of some of the factory installed garbage on it. I have been told that it is not wise to delete some of the installed apps because android uses parts of some to make others work. Is there anyway to do a total recovery image of my stock phone so if I totally screw it up, I can fall back on it? I think so, based on what I have read here---but honestly, I got a headache yesterday reading on here and trying to learn. I am not a super-techy guy, I just want my phone to do what I want it to, and none of the extra crap that I don't want. And lastly, should I wait to root my phone until Gingerbread comes out, or will it really matter? While I do know what a rom does and is, I do not understand kernels or most of the other things on here, so i actually need 'hand-holding' through some of this. Thank you for your help...anything you can tell me will help out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't worry about using an anti-virus on android, they're pretty much useless and will do nothing but eat up your battery. Once you root you can install a custom recovery that you have to reboot the phone in and that can create backups of all your partitions. Those are called nandroids and are basically a snap shot of how your phone is set up at that moment. You must be rooted to do any of this though.
Ok, just because I do not quite understand....why is it that I do not need antivirus on my Evo since I surf the web, download apps, and open emails.....on a PC, the same things without protection against virus, trojans, etc... will get my pc and life screwed in a very short time? And, by 'screw my phone up', I mean if I delete something that I need.....can I just go back---also, is there anywhere a list of the apps that android uses to run other things. Specifically, I want to get rid of the exchange mail, amazon mp3,qik, peep, friendstream, nascar, stocks, news, news and weather. I have no need for these apps, and as most of you know for whatever reason, evo will run them whenever it wants.
i have no idea about antiviruses, but you can delete anything that is either a widget or an app in your launcher. everything else is proceed with caution.
definitely root...antivirus is a personal thing...I do use lookout and its free in the market.
after you root...I suggest using titanium backup to uninstall most if not all of those apps you mentioned.
you could also go the custom ROM route...most ROMs out there already have most of those apps removed already.
mhoodie said:
Ok, just because I do not quite understand....why is it that I do not need antivirus on my Evo since I surf the web, download apps, and open emails.....on a PC, the same things without protection against virus, trojans, etc... will get my pc and life screwed in a very short time? And, by 'screw my phone up', I mean if I delete something that I need.....can I just go back---also, is there anywhere a list of the apps that android uses to run other things. Specifically, I want to get rid of the exchange mail, amazon mp3,qik, peep, friendstream, nascar, stocks, news, news and weather. I have no need for these apps, and as most of you know for whatever reason, evo will run them whenever it wants.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Antiviruses being useless, so far, on android is just my opinion. If you feel better having one then by all means go for it.
There is a thread around here somewhere that has a list of all the apps you can safely delete, I don't have a link to it atm but you should be able to find it with a quick search.
Imo root now, nothing is holding us back with unrevoked forever, as for bloatware, have you tried flashing a rom? VirusRom Anthrax B4 is my poisen, and its bloat free¡
mhoodie said:
Ok, just because I do not quite understand....why is it that I do not need antivirus on my Evo since I surf the web, download apps, and open emails.....on a PC, the same things without protection against virus, trojans, etc... will get my pc and life screwed in a very short time? And, by 'screw my phone up', I mean if I delete something that I need.....can I just go back---also, is there anywhere a list of the apps that android uses to run other things. Specifically, I want to get rid of the exchange mail, amazon mp3,qik, peep, friendstream, nascar, stocks, news, news and weather. I have no need for these apps, and as most of you know for whatever reason, evo will run them whenever it wants.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me, personally, I never have and never will use antivirus programs on my computer. As long as you are knowledgeable, you shouldn't ever get viruses or anything. You just have to know what you are doing.
always willing to help
im no genius but i have been messing with rooting and android since the tmobile g1 and i had to learn all on my own. what everyone is telling u makes absolute sence but the main thing to stress is tell your friend to not update using sprints update firmware because all they do is patch the loophole to gain root access. dont wait for gbread. jump on team douche and cyanogen and enjoy the real power of android and the evo. any quetions [email protected]
Ok, so does it matter what procedure I use to root or do they all do basically the same thing, and then differences begin when I start changing the kernels and Rom around? I am going to try to root in a couple of weeks. Maybe next saturday, and I want to get as much understanding as I can before I jump in. I am sure once I play around with this for a bit I will have no problem, but I am very much a hands-on learner and its hard for me to learn something that is new to me just by reading, especially when most of what I am reading makes very little sense to me. So, thanks to everyone for their patience and help!
Myn's WarmTwopointTwo
Hi there. I was in the same boat as you are. I learned all by trail and error and by reading forum after forum. There is a ton of info out there and it can be a little too much and there are a lot of contradicting statements... I just rooted about 3 weeks ago using unrevoked3. It's the easiest way to root your phone and the safest, at least I believe that. There are other ways, but it include using the command line and things like that. With unrevoked its a very simple user friendly, 3 step process. I would highly recommend rooting your phone, once you do you will never look back. It bring out the full potential in the EVO. The best thing I like about it is I can get about double the battery life of the stock version. Check this ROM out - although it is the only one I tried I am so in love with it, I have absolutely no urge to try another ROM. Here is the second release of this ROM - the third one is in beta testing, which I am doing right now and it is 100% amazing. In order to become a beta tester, all you have to do is donate, or wait until this friday when the final version is released - FOR FREE! Here is the link for the release #2: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=793471#. You can read the thread if you have any questions about it - I know there are 600+ pages. Check out the first page and all the features that are included in this ROM. All the bloatware you speak of are not installed with this ROM. You have the option to install them. Then the other thing is the kernel. With the release 3 of WarmTwoPointTwo it comes with an HTC kernel, which I found to actually be the best out there for this ROM. I have been getting about 29 hours with moderate use with a single charge on the battery!! Pretty good huh? Please let me know if you have any more questions....You can send me a private message if you wish...I'm here to help you. Everyone on this site has been great with helping me and it seems they are willing to help anyone. I hope this helps. Oh you I just remembered you might wait until saturday to root. If you do that, I would def. recommend release #3, but if I were you I would not wait that long!
Here's a screen shot of just my home screen. Notice how much you can customize EVERYTHING. I will post more screen shots when I get time tomorrow.
I am getting ready to root my phone and when I connected to the pc, it was the first time. Drivers installed except for ADB. Is this something that I should skip, or do I need to get a driver from htc for this?
adb is very neccesary. it is obtainable from android's dev page. sorry no link (ipad) just google android go to dev section and hit download sdk.
Hello, as of today, which is the best 3D launcher for the GNOTE PRO 12.2? I used TSF Shell and SPB Shell 3D on my Note 2. The transition effects looked very cool. However, they don't look good on my large screen Note PRO 12.2. Probably the effects were developed with small screens in mind. I tried Next Launcher 3D and EX, there seems to be a bug as my device got long pauses. On two occassions, I had to force boot my device.
petercohen said:
Hello, as of today, which is the best 3D launcher for the GNOTE PRO 12.2? I used TSF Shell and SPB Shell 3D on my Note 2. The transition effects looked very cool. However, they don't look good on my large screen Note PRO 12.2. Probably the effects were developed with small screens in mind. I tried Next Launcher 3D and EX, there seems to be a bug as my device got long pauses. On two occassions, I had to force boot my device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought SPB Shell over 3 years ago and it's been abandoned for well over a year now. Can NOT recommend using it. I've also bought TSF, and the others, and Next Launcher looks the best so far if you want a 3D'ish environment.
tdetroit said:
I bought SPB Shell over 3 years ago and it's been abandoned for well over a year now. Can NOT recommend using it. I've also bought TSF, and the others, and Next Launcher looks the best so far if you want a 3D'ish environment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, bought SPB years ago when it was probably the only 3D Launcher on the market. I think the company that developed it was bought out by Yandex because for a while they changed the name. I haven't checked out the Yandex Launcher in a while, it was the updated version of SPB.
Been using Nova launcher on all my devices and am really happy with it. Nice smooth effects and lots of customization available. Liked it so much I paid for it. Active development on it.
rhricik447 said:
Been using Nova launcher on all my devices and am really happy with it. Nice smooth effects and lots of customization available. Liked it so much I paid for it. Active development on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a question about that one for I've been thinking about installing it on my own Galaxy Note Pro because it looked like one a beginner with launchers can manage and not too heavy on resources - and it supports icon packs. Sorry if this 'should' be self-explanatory. The Nova website does not offer me even a FAQ, let alone a complete tutorial for beginners. I want to use my own wallpapers, not theirs and I don't want to be stuck with just a choice of ready-made themes. I just want to customize what I want where I want. Will the Nova launcher allow me to do this? I have spent the last 2 days with my search engines trying to get the answer to this one question, so I'm afraid to install any launcher at all until I know.
Just install it and try it. You're not going to hurt anything, and if you decide you don't like it, then uninstall it and you'll be right back where you started. Using a 3rd party launcher doesn't do anything different except change the look and feel of your device. It's not going to mess anything up, if you don't like it you can uninstall it to go back exactly like it was previously, but be sure you go through all of the settings and mess around with it first. Look and see exactly what you can do differently. Don't just install a launcher like Nova, come to the first screen you see, and then decide you don't like it. It's kinda like taking a car for a test drive before buying it. There are tons of launchers available today, probably 10 times as many as 2 years ago. I've tried many of them. Some people like certain effects, some people like a minimalistic launcher, some people like tons of widgets, different icons, etc. Everyone likes their launcher for different reasons, but like I said, I've used many, I still try something new if I see it, but I've always gone back to Nova.
Rolldog said:
Just install it and try it. You're not going to hurt anything, and if you decide you don't like it, then uninstall it and you'll be right back where you started. Using a 3rd party launcher doesn't do anything different except change the look and feel of your device. It's not going to mess anything up, if you don't like it you can uninstall it to go back exactly like it was previously, but be sure you go through all of the settings and mess around with it first. Look and see exactly what you can do differently. Don't just install a launcher like Nova, come to the first screen you see, and then decide you don't like it. It's kinda like taking a car for a test drive before buying it. There are tons of launchers available today, probably 10 times as many as 2 years ago. I've tried many of them. Some people like certain effects, some people like a minimalistic launcher, some people like tons of widgets, different icons, etc. Everyone likes their launcher for different reasons, but like I said, I've used many, I still try something new if I see it, but I've always gone back to Nova.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for such an encouraging message. (just got told I reached my limit for the thanks button today) If an experienced and knowledgeable user comes back to Nova so consistently, I feel yet more confident about trying it. I don't suppose there's any point in asking you, since you know that launcher so well, if you were able to use your own wallpapers? Because you're not going to tell me! :laugh:
I really do have to get over being a chicken about this and dive in. It's too easy to get into real states of apprehension when I spend all my time by myself on this mountaintop and have such a vivid imagination for disasters and doom - well, alone except for my dogs and cats, who've been thinking me an idiot already for years and won't offer me any advice.
My internet connection in this least-populated county in the state isn't stable or fast enough to deal with widgets that need to update online. I like looking at them but I can't run them, same problem with news feeds. I have the stock weather and still end up checking it on my phone mostly since that is faster. System widgets only tell me what it would be little bother to go check on myself. I even wasted my money getting windowblinds on my PC because I never remembered to use it much. I put weird icons on document files so I can find them when my eyes blur on text titles late at night; it's never just for looks. I change colors to relieve my eyes when I'm staying up on the computer and tablet too long, like now. I do like to be able to find things easily and put them where they're handy for that's what I do in my house too, so I can reach for them in the dark and grab them without mishap. So that's what I'll shop for in a launcher: compulsively neat organization for doomer hermits who already spend too much time looking at a monitor.
Yes, you can use any wallpaper you wish.
Rolldog said:
Yes, you can use any wallpaper you wish.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, dear. I installed Nova this morning. Now, I'd like to put another launcher on my Note 4, so I can learn about that one at the same time, perhaps something a bit lighter. Slowing down the operation of my phone could be considered more directly dangerous to my security out here than hanging up my tablet so I'll go for simpler there. Have you a recommendation? That CM Launcher advertises itself as 'light and fast' but it also comes laden with 'security apps' and cleaners that I'm not so sure I want to bother with. I don't do much online browsing with the phone, at least not for long and I don't use social media on it. I also never share my devices because there's nobody around for miles anyway. I'd rather a launcher just be a launcher.
One Launcher that I like a lot, I use it on my phone but it won't work on my tablet because I use my tablet in landscape mode, is Buzz Launcher. Using this Launcher, you can go into their Buzz Launcher themes and download from about 500,000 different themes that other people have created. You can have as many as 9 different screens, all with different themes, and you can use their layout, their widgets and/or icons, and customize it to work with your apps. So, if you download a theme someone on the other side of the earth developed, you click on the icons they have, and if they used an app that you don't have, like if you use a different browser, the after you press on an icon, you can select the browser you use. This way, you can customize their entire themes to work with your specific phone and your specific apps. I change my themes fairly regularly, since it only takes a couple of minutes, and I feel like I have a different phone everyday.
Rolldog said:
One Launcher that I like a lot, I use it on my phone but it won't work on my tablet because I use my tablet in landscape mode, is Buzz Launcher. Using this Launcher, you can go into their Buzz Launcher themes and download from about 500,000 different themes that other people have created. You can have as many as 9 different screens, all with different themes, and you can use their layout, their widgets and/or icons, and customize it to work with your apps. So, if you download a theme someone on the other side of the earth developed, you click on the icons they have, and if they used an app that you don't have, like if you use a different browser, the after you press on an icon, you can select the browser you use. This way, you can customize their entire themes to work with your specific phone and your specific apps. I change my themes fairly regularly, since it only takes a couple of minutes, and I feel like I have a different phone everyday.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish I had seen your post before I got misled by all the complaining in the reviews for that one! In fact, they ought to be paying you to write about their app's features for you've done a much better job than they did at the playstore. There seemed to be an issue of things 'disappearing' for no good reason, themes and icons and such and people were annoyed after having spent hours to download them. Then, 'folder contents get changed every time the phone restarts.' And then there's the 'upsidedown heart butt' icon that apparently no one can get rid of that has caused some consternation, lol. Oh, and multiple 'crashes' too. As usual, few indeed even say what kind of phone they have. I'm inclined to try it anyway now, since you like it and I rather liked their community-based approach to begin with.
So, what I downloaded to the phone yesterday, just to check it out, was one I haven't seen mentioned yet, (maybe just because I don't know where to look) Microsoft's Arrow launcher. I won't mind the howls of laughter. Just plain curiosity, for I haven't tried any of their stuff for android. This is another one that will only work on my phone, not for tablets. I know how annoying they can be on PC's, like everyone else who spends a lot of time on one. They remind me of certain supermarkets that like to constantly rearrange things so that every time I go in, I can't find anything and we all know Microsoft plays the same game with every new OS. They don't really want us getting to know the guts of their systems too well, do they? I was interested in finding the launcher to be free, since their Office apps clearly are anything but and in seeing if they can build an android app that isn't a resource-hogging monster. We'll see.
I've never used Arrow, but sometimes, it's necessary to go into a widget that has been designed and change the settings to customize it to your layout, your location, your calendars, etc, and I'm pretty sure the people who complain get frustrated because they can't figure out how to scale the widget, customize the information, change the icons, update the location, etc, and then they just give up. I usually try to save a couple of homepacks with widgets I like, and then I might try combining them into my own layout and custom icons too.
Getting recommendations isn't worth much, most of the time you have to try it out for yourself. For example, if you asked someone about a new movie that was just released because they just saw it, they might say it was horrible. You might go see it anyway, you find out it's scary, you love scary movies, the person who's advice you got hates scary movies, so it boils down to personal opinion.
Rolldog, may I hear more about 'homepacks and widgets?' If you have a few widgets that you like, do you, and can you, generally keep them with most other launchers you try out? Something you said before, I think it was you, about, if I got tired of a new launcher, I could go right back to Touchwiz and find my widgets and layout just where I left them, stuck in my mind and has me wondering about that little detail: why wouldn't the widgets still be there anyway, no matter what launcher I used? I ought to know all that already but I've had some 'rural life' issues keeping me too busy to spend much time with my devices or even read about them online. But I sure did a lot of shopping on the playstore, paid apps too and pretties for Nova! I'll have to watch that; it's too easy to do when I have a card on file and my budget will suffer. I have managed to discover that the ads in 'free' apps were draining my resources much more than getting the widgets I would like so if I really want something, I support the developer and ditch the ads with the constant 'phoning home' they have to do.
That 'Next' launcher has some nice 3-D effects doesn't it? But it isn't cheap, I notice.
Hey guys, I hope I am not asking a redundant question; I did search. I am pretty convinced I'm ready to finally replace the ROM on my z1c. Much like with my last phone, I waited until it was driving me pretty nuts to finally get to this. Ironically, I have no real need for any new features like homescreens, camera; whatever. All I really want is the way apps used to work, where I could use e.g. a 3rd-party file or photo manager to manage my other apps' files. If having security updates won't slow down or drain my battery, then that would be goal #2. But mostly I just want the former, and a nice clean install. Can you guys recommend a ROM? Much obliged.