WP7 Fast App Switching [Concept] - Windows Phone 7 General

Hey everybody.
I was browsing the usual sites and on PocketNow they had a quick article and their take on the rumored Fast App Switching that might be included in the big January update.
*pocketnow.com/windows-phone/windows-phone-7-how-fast-app-switching-could-work
Personally, I found their take to be sort of ugly, but I was intrigued by the idea. So I had some free time on my hands and I decided to make a quick-n-dirty photoshop concept that I think may be plausible. Considering the Metro UI heritage from the Zune HD, I remembered the pin list that you could easily swipe to on the left side. Now I don't quite think that would work very well on WP7, but I utilized the same idea for my concept.
Picture 1 is a normal Start screen.
Picture 2 is an example of a switcher that pops-up and fades the main screen out (like on iOS).
Picture 3 is an example of an always-present switcher on the start screen.
Picture 4 is the same as 3, but the switcher icons are faded out (to make the screen look less cluttered).
1 - *i56.tinypic.com/2yovkac.jpg
2 - *i54.tinypic.com/fz5gup.jpg
3 - *i55.tinypic.com/dqn4pi.jpg
4 - *i51.tinypic.com/2wfltoo.jpg​
I don't have that much time today to expand the concept further, like behavior in apps, gestures, etc. But I thought this would be a cool thread to share ideas and concepts. Tell me what you think, good or bad.
EDIT: I forgot to mention closing apps. I don't have anything made yet, but it would either be a drag-off-the-screen gesture (like WebOS) or a hold-and-close action (similar to editing tiles).

Related

Zoom Bar Hacks Wanted

I'm assuming that the zoom bar is just an extension of the resistive touch screen beyond the visible screen, so what are the chances someone will make a program/hack that will let you use it for other functions, like a dpad and a mouse?
TD2 users already have it sort of working as a scroll wheel.
I've been watching the M900 on Pocketnow, and while I'm not swayed, the potential of the navigation functions of the biosensor do wow me. It'd be a welcome addition I think. I'm new to xda-dev, but whenever I've come across the name/link, it's always with effusive praise and admiration. I figure if anyone will, it will be someone here.
Bump for this one!!
As soon as I saw the zoom bar on the TD2 and TP2 and the limited functionality of usage only in messaging, web browsers and pictures, it just screamed hack hack hack
I was also thinking gestures like the Palm Pre...
ooooh... I'm intrigued! I'd like to see what some developers can put together for this. That would be a sweet feature to hack.
evojulz said:
As soon as I saw the zoom bar on the TD2 and TP2 and the limited functionality of usage only in messaging, web browsers and pictures, it just screamed hack hack hack
I was also thinking gestures like the Palm Pre...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. The zoom bar seemed like a good idea when I first read about it, given the multitouch zooming was a no go with the resistive screen. But then in the reviews, it just seemed so under-utilized.
I'd love to have a configuration utility that let you use it in different ways in different applications, kind of like some screen rotating apps let you set up rotation differently for different apps.
Or like the Jog Dial on the hermes. (only wished the TP2 had that, and it would have been perfect. One handed control of the device...). But it will have to be pretty precise, and it isn't yet.
If it can register touch pressure (tapping) I would like 2 see 4 sectors (up down left right)
quarintus said:
Or like the Jog Dial on the hermes. (only wished the TP2 had that, and it would have been perfect. One handed control of the device...). But it will have to be pretty precise, and it isn't yet.
If it can register touch pressure (tapping) I would like 2 see 4 sectors (up down left right)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
D2 Zoombar as buttons request asks for 3 buttons. Hopefully someone will do more.
Would LOVE to see 3 or 4 buttons on the zoom bar!!
(And maybe sliding button 1 to the right or button 4 to the left still means scrolling)
Bright.Light said:
Would LOVE to see 3 or 4 buttons on the zoom bar!!
(And maybe sliding button 1 to the right or button 4 to the left still means scrolling)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The main screen can tell the difference between a press and a flick, so I imagine the zoom bar could have assigned buttons and still scroll.
Hi All
For my TP2, i'd really like to have Zoom Bar that zooms ....everything!!
I would like to just zoom the screen (any screen) to a larger size. I did kinda think (or at least hope) that it was what it was going to do anyway, not just zooming pictures, browser etc.
I would like the simple (??) funtion of being able to zoom any app, any screen, anything - to be able to read stuff maybe a little more easier.
I do use glasses for reading only and it is a real drag to have to get them out to read a text clearly, or see whose calling or just to get a better look in daylight etc.
A zoom 'anything' or 'any screen' would be really awesome and a supremely useful utilisation of something that is already there. Then you couild just drag the screen around to get to what you want to see better (yes, just like a picture, so basically i guess, the current screen becomes like a picture).
The other ideas of buttons, d pads and so on all sound great too, but this would probably benefit so many people get better use out of their devices.
I wonder if it can be done...????
Cheers and happy TP2ing.
Jabberoo
jabberoo said:
I would like to just zoom the screen (any screen) to a larger size. I did kinda think (or at least hope) that it was what it was going to do anyway, not just zooming pictures, browser etc.
I would like the simple (??) funtion of being able to zoom any app, any screen, anything - to be able to read stuff maybe a little more easier.
I do use glasses for reading only and it is a real drag to have to get them out to read a text clearly, or see whose calling or just to get a better look in daylight etc.
A zoom 'anything' or 'any screen' would be really awesome and a supremely useful utilisation of something that is already there. Then you couild just drag the screen around to get to what you want to see better (yes, just like a picture, so basically i guess, the current screen becomes like a picture).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably better than just magnifying the screen, for readability in text heavy apps at least, would be setting font sizes to the zoom bar--zoom up, Font Sizes get larger, zoom down, they get smaller. I think that might actually be enabled in some text apps already, but I'm not sure. The touchpad on my Acer Aspire One does this in some word processors.
For things like Caller ID, a screen magnifier would be needed. I'm guessing you'd need a resident program to be able to do this anywhere and everywhere.
Thx fortunz
All true, but wouldn't the simple 'magnify the whole screen' thing be a really (really) good thing to have - and logical too. Just an extension of the way it works for images. Just seems like something that it should do.
I did notice on the HTC Manila 2.5 demo video from Germany, in the Settings area, under 'Other', there was a setting for 'HTC Magnify'.
Uncertain of any further details, but it could be just what i am talking about, maybe!
Cheers to all
Jabberoo
jabberoo said:
Thx fortunz
All true, but wouldn't the simple 'magnify the whole screen' thing be a really (really) good thing to have - and logical too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't disagree at all.
zoom as scroll and on manila start screen not only inside
I just wish the zoom ball zommed in on pictures (going towards center of picture) rather than how it works in opera (the upper left corner)
Bump...
Anybody anything?
i would be interested to know if this is possible too.
I would luv the zoom bar to wash my car and mow the lawns for me... any chance?
....LOL....
Yeah, the zoom bar is really under-utilized. I often forget it's there and go to screen -> larger text to increase my fonts... Guess it's because it only works in a few apps. Without realizing, I've gone to settings -> screens before I realize I have a zoom bar...
Would love to see some gurus here hack this to a mini d-pad, or at least and up/down arrow. Currently, I have the vol up/down to do this using AEB.
i agree with all of these .. we need a genius programmer to make some kind of super aeb where you could have different button profiles and set a shortcut to profiles on the homescreen .. my perfect setup would be to have zoom be able to switch open applications and somehow map the back conference mute thing to play/pause in music player .. or have zoom button be able to switch songs for you (like with screen off/lock on) and hold for running applications list ... then have it all skinned pretty like some translucent palm pre thing .... lol .. just dreaming..
games
they can also utilize in racing games like as steering wheel instead of touching the screen

[UPDATED] WP7 LATEST BUILD OS Walk-through Video [UPDATED with NYC 23/06/2010 Demo]

It looks to be coming along very nicely indeed. Seems much faster and smoother than the build shown at the MIX event some months ago...
http://www.clubic.com/smartphone/wi...remix-2010-premier-contact-windows-phone.html
UPDATED
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cj7LPsd6M8
Looks slick
UPDATED 23/062010
This is the best video yet, which shows a nice example of the deep integration that can be found on WP7. Oh and its even faster, smoother and more responsive than the build shown above.
Nice video. It looks extremely smooth. Even as good as the iphone to me. I can't wait to get one in my hands.
Defiantly faster and has promise but I am not feeling the boxes. It makes the display look thrown together. With both Android and the iPhone providing more vibrant today screens I hope the final release version allows for background images, transparency on tiles and program shortcuts and things of that nature.
Jokes On You said:
Defiantly faster and has promise but I am not feeling the boxes. It makes the display look thrown together. With both Android and the iPhone providing more vibrant today screens I hope the final release version allows for background images, transparency on tiles and program shortcuts and things of that nature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
possibily more vibrant, but the live tiles brings more usefulness to the wp7 homescreen.
More usefulness than the iPhone springboard maybe, but certainly a lot less usefulness than the Android homescreen.
And I'm not even sure whether it's more user friendly than the iPhone, because you only get to see 8 tiles without scrolling. With most applications only being representated by icons and not displaying any information, this is a huge waste of space. Normal application icons should only be as big as one quarter of a tile, instead of taking one eighth of the whole home screen.
The Android home screen clearly is a much better concept, with the ability to mix icons and widgets, so that every element on the home screen only takes as much space as it needs.
gom99 said:
possibily more vibrant, but the live tiles brings more usefulness to the wp7 homescreen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the current market this can be a detriment to windows. You cant give functionality and usefulness lessons in a 15 second commercial so what the users see must be something that grips them and doesn't let go. I personally dont think this homescreen does that.
shaundalglish said:
More usefulness than the iPhone springboard maybe, but certainly a lot less usefulness than the Android homescreen.
And I'm not even sure whether it's more user friendly than the iPhone, because you only get to see 8 tiles without scrolling. With most applications only being representated by icons and not displaying any information, this is a huge waste of space. Normal application icons should only be as big as one quarter of a tile, instead of taking one eighth of the whole home screen.
The Android home screen clearly is a much better concept, with the ability to mix icons and widgets, so that every element on the home screen only takes as much space as it needs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That Android method sounds like it can lead to a "cluttered" look if all items would vary in size. I haven't used Android so I dont know its functionality but I definitely agree that the WP7 functionality can be improved.
Well, there is a grid (4x4), the items can't take any size and position.
Also, whether it looks "cluttered" is up to you. If you like, you can place icons only, like on the iPhone, to have it look that clean, or you can arrange icons and widgets in a pattern, or you can mix them... you're free to customize it any way you like.
I agree that the tiles could result in cleaner look, which is good, but not at the expense of functionality. Unfortunately, developers can't choose what size their applications should be on the home screen (the choice between an icon that's a quarter of a tile, a whole tile or a double-wide tile would make sense).
Again, I'm a fan of clean looks, symmetry and not too many colors, but that must not come at the expense of functionality.
shaundalglish said:
I agree that the tiles could result in cleaner look, which is good, but not at the expense of functionality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you say functionality what do you mean? What functionality does the WP7 screen offer that the others don't?
That's the issue. It does have a cleaner look, but lacks functionality that would make it more user friendly, like e.g. Android's home screen. I think the clean look should not come at the expense of functionality. They must think of ways to have both, e.g. making icon-only tiles smaller and allowing developers to choose from different sizes.
I hate the style of WP7 i prefer android or windows mobile 6 series
Well that's a matter of taste. I'm a fan of "clean" looks. Nevertheless, user friendliness and functionality are more important and WP7 unfortunately lacks both. The Android home screen is much more user friendly/functional.
I love the clean look of WP7.
Although, to me, iPhone OS may not have the "at a glance" info, it (and android) look way more polished to me.
That said, being able to choose the colour of tiles, a choice of background, and a choice of transparency for the tiles would probably help a great deal.
One more thing:
YESSS!! They've finally made the Internet Explorer tile icon white!!
It looks so much more in tune with the rest of the OS now.
looks good, I thing WP7 would be being awesome with a wheel like HTC Tilt or something similar. Would make things so much easier scrolling about the screen so you don't always have to touch the screen to do what needs to be done
~style1~
I wish that guy would keep his hand still! lol. It gets very distracting!
I see the tile background for pictures and the music and video are different on this guys phone. So that leads me to believe that we'll at least be able to customise those
I think the blank spaces (where a user removes a tile) are strange though. I would have expected that the tiles below would shift up to fill the space cos it just looks odd.
Casey
P.S. Need to brush up on my French!
Casey_boy said:
I wish that guy would keep his hand still! lol. It gets very distracting!
I see the tile background for pictures and the music and video are different on this guys phone. So that leads me to believe that we'll at least be able to customise those
I think the blank spaces (where a user removes a tile) are strange though. I would have expected that the tiles below would shift up to fill the space cos it just looks odd.
Casey
P.S. Need to brush up on my French!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those tiles actually show you the last image shown/last song played.
Btw, being a french speaking guy, the developer of the game said that it will be ready for a "October" launch...
Dunno the validity of that date though...
I can't watch this video. That guy's right hand is driving me insane.
weird people about, forget the guys hand. a lot of people are physical speakers that naturally make gestures as they speak. its hardly even worth commenting on being this is a thread about the phone and all
~style~
style1 said:
weird people about, forget the guys hand. a lot of people are physical speakers that naturally make gestures as they speak. its hardly even worth commenting on being this is a thread about the phone and all
~style~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you'd be surprised. I'm not criticizing what he is doing. I understand a lot of people do that. But it's literally making me uncomfortable and borderline nauseous. No kidding.
shaundalglish said:
Well that's a matter of taste. I'm a fan of "clean" looks. Nevertheless, user friendliness and functionality are more important and WP7 unfortunately lacks both. The Android home screen is much more user friendly/functional.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I find the UI very functional and user friendly. Its clean, fluid, fast and the idea of grouping 3 different apps into a single hub is brilliant. With this idea, the 8 hubs could actually give you access to 24 different applications.
I currently own a HTC Desire and to watch a video i have to go into an app for it, then to play music its another app and then the radio is another app. On WP7 its all in one place, one hub, one icon instead of 3 and thats just one example of many possibilities.
I find Android home screens aren't very intuitive when it comes to arranging widgets/programs its extremely clunky and can be very frustrating.
It's not one Icon instead of three. You have to ho into the hub, then into Zune or radio or... That's at least two clicks.
How many clicks until you're in an app in Android? Maximum two.
And instead of grouping apps into a hub, you can group them into a folder on Android. Or onto one homescreen (like a "music" screen, a "pictures" screen and so on). Or place widgets.
All the things in WP7, you can have them on Android, but better.
Tiles are like widgets, but widgets are better.
Hubs mean integration, but the integration posibilities on Android are much greater. You don't need Hubs, because Android already gives lots of integration possibilities, much more than WP7.
You can have information, shortcuts, favorites on your home screen, but you can have more on Android...

[DEV]Make a Form Slide

Hello,
I'm trying to make a little app made of several screens (say from 1 to 5).
When the application is launched, it will display screen 1, and users will be able to go to screen 2 by clicking on 'Next', then 3, and so on. They will also be able to go back.
To improve user-friendliness, I want to make those different screens slide. I saw some software doing it smoothly, so it should be possible.
So I tried to do the same, using a panel wider than the screen and changing his 'Left' attribute. But the result was very bad (it's CPU-killing and it's not smooth at all). I've enclosed the project if someone wants to have a look.
My question is: How I can get these screens slide smoothly?
P.S.: I saw two SDKs making nearly what I want (XFControl and SliderList), but it seems that one screen have to be parent of the other, and that's not what I want

[Q] The 4.65" AMOLED screen on Galaxy Nexus

I have switched from my Galaxy s2 to GN. I have few things not satisfy with the GN. First, the screen. I brought this phone, because it is 4.65", but the 3 buttons as the physical buttons, it appear all the time. These three buttons on home screen is fine, but it appear when web browsing, viewing document, photos....etc. it is the same size to g2. It is not true 4.65" it made me very unhappy. Why Google not design hide it when browsing, viewing docs, photos....etc. Second, the color not .good such as white, it seem to buff. If you compare g. Note. G.note much better. The os is slower than 2.3.6. Camera quality so bad. I really hope google will improve the above.
Soft keys disappear when watching a video, which is the only real time you need them to go (maybe a game as well).
If I want to see a photo full screen it goes on my PC
I think the soft keys are a brilliant idea. If the keys were to disappear when you're using the web browser, how would you get them back? ICS is faster than Gingerbread. There are a few little quirks with the GN but nothing is perfect at all.
Tbh, why didn't you look at reviews, both written and video.
Meaple said:
I think the soft keys are a brilliant idea. If the keys were to disappear when you're using the web browser, how would you get them back? ICS is faster than Gingerbread. There are a few little quirks with the GN but nothing is perfect at all.
Tbh, why didn't you look at reviews, both written and video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. How the hell would you navigate your phone if they were hidden during browsing?
The only few times I wish the black space of the keys would disappear is when playing a game or watching Flash video. If I'm using the full screen Flash player on a website, it should be as if I was watching a YouTube video. Not Google's problem as much as it is Adobe in this instance though.
I do enjoy the soft keys, but yes, I wish there was a way to make them "disappear" at certain times. For instance, while playing a game or a watching a video. I realize some apps such as 'MX Video Player' will go true fullscreen(as it was programmed to do so), but not all will as it's dependent upon the app. I think it would be cool if they added in a shortcut of sorts to make them disappear/re-appear. There's the screenshot VOL DOWN+PWR option, how about a VOL UP+PWR for the soft keys?
Google can make it hide when web browsing, gaming, viewing docs....etc. the softkey will appear again when you touch the screen. You also can return page. It should be better.
HTCHDHK said:
Google can make it hide when web browsing, gaming, viewing docs....etc. the softkey will appear again when you touch the screen. You also can return page. It should be better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would hate the phone if this became a reality. I definitely do not want the softkeys disappearing/reappearing constantly. Say I wanted to navigate back on a web page, I would have to touch the screen once to bring up the buttons, then touch the back button - no thank you! I think Google has it worked out perfectly. They are there when you need them, and disappear when you don't (which, like stated above, is only necessary when watching videos).
These threads are getting really old...
I think a double or maybe triple tap function that hid the status bar and soft keys could be cool
Sent from my Google phone
ChongoDroid said:
I think a double or maybe triple tap function that hid the status bar and soft keys could be cool
Sent from my Google phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A swipe up from the edge. On my tablet I have an app that hides the bar when you touch the middle of it(I use it a lot)
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
HTCHDHK said:
I have switched from my Galaxy s2 to GN. I have few things not satisfy with the GN. First, the screen. I brought this phone, because it is 4.65", but the 3 buttons as the physical buttons, it appear all the time. These three buttons on home screen is fine, but it appear when web browsing, viewing document, photos....etc. it is the same size to g2. It is not true 4.65" it made me very unhappy. Why Google not design hide it when browsing, viewing docs, photos....etc. Second, the color not .good such as white, it seem to buff. If you compare g. Note. G.note much better. The os is slower than 2.3.6. Camera quality so bad. I really hope google will improve the above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you trying to tell me that the scren magically shrinks down 0.35 inches because of some on screen buttons?
The colors are supposed to be realistic, Google made it this way, the screen on the Note is over saturated, which many people prefer (including me), but it's not a problem at all.
I agree that it's kind of laggy in 4.0.1, but the new patch fixed it, so your point is invalid.
I would like a auto-hide bar option. Obviously there are people that would not like it and people that would, so it should be an option. Think of Windows taskbar. If you want it always there, it is, but if not, you just move your mouse to the bottom of the screen and there it is. A simple swipe up from the bottom of the screen (sortof the opposite of opening your notifications) would be perfect... for me. Then it could auto-hide after say 3 or 4 seconds or whatever they choose, or make it user-changeable. Not only would this give you slightly more screen real estate, it would also help protect the screen from burn-in.
I worried they would be annoying and take up space I wanted at first too. Now I'm never going back. You're just having a knee jerk reaction to the change....itll get better, don't worry.
I imagine it costs about the same for adding buttons ot having a slightly larger screen ...so why not the screen? Makes sense, right?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
If you haven't tried the Labs features under Browser > Settings > Labs i would highly recommend it.
First, you can enable the quick controls from Honeycomb that makes it so you have to swipe in from a screen edge to reveal browsing options (tabs, url bar, seetings etc)
Also you can enable Full Screen which still keeps the 3 buttons but ditches the Notifications bar.
It would be nice to have Home and Back options on the Quick Controls if it meant we could lose the 3 buttons, otherwise having to refit the page so the bar could popup would be annoying
HTCHDHK said:
I have switched from my Galaxy s2 to GN. I have few things not satisfy with the GN. First, the screen. I brought this phone, because it is 4.65", but the 3 buttons as the physical buttons, it appear all the time. These three buttons on home screen is fine, but it appear when web browsing, viewing document, photos....etc. it is the same size to g2. It is not true 4.65" it made me very unhappy. Why Google not design hide it when browsing, viewing docs, photos....etc. Second, the color not .good such as white, it seem to buff. If you compare g. Note. G.note much better. The os is slower than 2.3.6. Camera quality so bad. I really hope google will improve the above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a question?
I do agree when it comes to screen size. They advertise a 4.65 screen so you would THINK it would be bigger than a 4.3 or 4.5 screen but it really isn't PLUS the fonts and icons are so tiny due to the higher res. I knew it going in, but it is a bit of fudging specs in the advertising. "Usable space" 99% of the time isn't near 4.65".
Nokia n9 ftw.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Meaple said:
I think the soft keys are a brilliant idea. If the keys were to disappear when you're using the web browser, how would you get them back? ICS is faster than Gingerbread. There are a few little quirks with the GN but nothing is perfect at all.
Tbh, why didn't you look at reviews, both written and video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could make them reappear by using the proximity sensor.
I hate the soft buttons too, waste of screen space and people are already getting screen burn in problems.
I hope they get rid of them eventually and go back to hardware buttons.
Why are people complaining about this? Don't buy it if that's going to bug you. As for advertisement purposes, it is 4.65 inches. Period. Also, we are able to customize the buttons because it's part of the OS. Just like the rest of the screen.
As for font being too small.. there's a setting for that.
would that cause more burnt in on that area since it is always there?
how about that, keep 3 spots on the same position, while the background changed from black to the same web browser content,,,
should be cool and avoid burning the image on the amoled permanantly.

Apollo UI attempt

Hi guys,
I thought some of you might enjoy the Apollo theme I've created on my Omnia 7 with the help of the Screen Capture, Supreme Shourtcut and Advanced Config homebrew apps.
The only editing I've done here is replacing the people tile to protect my privacy All the pictures have been taken from my phone.
You'll notice I've sacrificed having a live Call tile. Since you get an readout of missed calls on the lock screen I didn't consider it that great a loss.
Let me know what you lot think...
EDIT: Just noticed that the screen capture for some reason hasn't captured the dark purple I have set as the home screen menu background Well anyway, that's there!
First look - messy
But then I think actually using it on a phone wouldn't be that messy.
My reaction towards this is neutral.
Takes away all of the aesthetic appeal of wp7.
I think it looks great!
Microsoft reallllllllly needs to allow more customization with colours in Apollo. In the worst way.
They need to change how notifications are displayed. The notification bar sucks right now. And i hate the fact that it disappears and there's no way to make it permanent.

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