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Hi!
I am looking for an easy way to customize the today screen to my wishes (add app/folder links, change number of calendar entries displayed maybe add rss feeds and so on), the same with the start menu (add folders instead of programs, ignore the limit of entries that can be added etc.), and finally I would like to arrange the PROGRAMM, SETTINGS, and GAMES folders as I like it.
I know that there are several ROMs out there and I tried some, but there was nothing I found suitable for my needs and in most cases I encountered problems that have not taken care of. So I don't want a ROM, I don't want SPB or sthg. like that (it slows down the system considerable), I just want a tool that allows me to do the modification I described above.
Any suggestions or ideas besides "do it yourself"?
thanx and regards loc
Click on the "Panels" Button .... :-D
Actually I've found the Sony Ericsson Panel quite useful...
It has RSS feeds, various calendar and clock settings, shows you the weather information, shows your appointments and tasks, has some really good shortcuts for airplane mode, wifi, bluetooth and ring settings. Besides you can add shorcuts to the programs, contacts and files that you want.
For the today screen there are a lot of plug-ins, but honestly I haven't tried any since I alwas use the SE Panel. I'm sorry for not being of any help there.
You want to organize your progams list, right?
I think I can help you there.
Just go to the File explorer and search the "Windows" folder, in there go to "Start Menu" and then "Programs", there you'll have all the shortcuts that are in your program list, and you can arrange em as you wish (move them, add new folders, etc).
Is there a way to install folders? In other words on the home screen, you have the tiles , thats great , move to the left and you have a line of a thousand apps, would be nice to be able to make folders , that way I can move all my utilities to a folders, and have sub categories for all the apps, just curious! It would be easier to get to the stuff I need right now!
at present, no. maybe it would be good to take a look at the pinned threads in this section first as it will give you better insight into what is there and what isn't, and perhaps if work arounds exist yet.
I'm not sure why you'd need folders, the app list works very well with its SPIN-STOP-TAP numminess. Folders would just add extra taps and complications.
I personally use the app list very rarely because my most-used apps have tiles on the start screen. If you're using the app list much, consider adding your commonest apps as tiles.
Yep, the alphabetical list seems to work surprisingly well (and notice how people aren't complaining about it, while there was lots of talk about it before real devices got out).
Also, there are some folders. They are called hubs. Games, Office, Pictures, Music+Videos contain links to all relevant applications. That, and pinning most frequently apps to Start Screen, does a good job organizing things for me.
Custom/additional hubs could be a nice addition, though I'm not sure how that should be implemented.
Im not complaining at all , I love the ui , but I think folders should be available , not just HUBs , with a hub you have set apps for the hub , now if you had a folders you could add the apps you want to those folders , If I had a folder called Utilities ,I could add Registry Editor, settings, accent changer, samsung tools, diagnosis, one for Mail, add all my emails and mms ,sms , just thinking it would be easier to group certain items and be less cluttery! Sure scrolling is nice and easy, but like on my desktop , I group programs and it makes it easy to get to them!
a small correction, there aren't set apps for hubs, app devs can make their app associate with the hub, for example third party app that does this which isn't made by an oem are Fantasia Painter, Apict, and Lyrics.
I too want folders. I have a lot of apps and scrolling can be long and tiresome. A grid would be better as more icons per page could be shown. I don't want to add lots of apps to the homescreen because then that will become a long list too!
I would love folders like Travel, Fun, Utilities, System, Audio, Video, Photo etc.
There has to be a reg tweak somewhere....
tboy2000 said:
I too want folders. I have a lot of apps and scrolling can be long and tiresome. A grid would be better as more icons per page could be shown. I don't want to add lots of apps to the homescreen because then that will become a long list too!
I would love folders like Travel, Fun, Utilities, System, Audio, Video, Photo etc.
There has to be a reg tweak somewhere....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
eww, grid? No thank you, don't want my phone to be an iOS ripoff (I'm looking at you, Android). Customizable folders would be awesome. Long hold on start screen, create new folder option, name folder, drag apps to folder, choose hub background pic, done. That'd be wicked. I'd love to create a Business folder with MS Office, Notes, stocks, realtor.com, handyscan, financial calculator etc.
eternalemb said:
eww, grid? No thank you, don't want my phone to be an iOS ripoff (I'm looking at you, Android). Customizable folders would be awesome. Long hold on start screen, create new folder option, name folder, drag apps to folder, choose hub background pic, done. That'd be wicked. I'd love to create a Business folder with MS Office, Notes, stocks, realtor.com, handyscan, financial calculator etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Erm hello? What are you talking about? The old windows microsoft OS (5 and up) had the grid system layout before IOS so how could a grid system layout be a rip off of IOS?????
The current windows phone 7 list view shows 9 and a half applications per screen view. If you had a grid layout you could get anywhere between 12 and 18 app icons per page view. I thought the whole point of the WP7 marketing system was to spend less time on your phone. Who want to spend ages flicking their thumb up and down to get to applications when you could tap and maybe scroll once or twice if the apps were in a grid layout. Surely that would be a more time efficent layout. I love the OS but wish the app list view could be better.
create new folder option, name folder, drag apps to folder,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly!
I too love the home screen the way it is , but if I had the folder system I could employ a utitlities folder on the home screen , drag an app, drop it , pinning is fine too , I like to keep the homescreen limited to apps i use frequently!
The grid system would be a killjoy. It would require more hunting. With multiple apps in line you are not only reading the first letter as you are with WP7, I can scroll through my apps, see the letter and stop, with android I had to scroll through my apps, see the letter, read through the next 2 rows to find it... with WP7, much quicker. Plus it would just make it uglier.
A grid wouldn't serve many of us. With them ou need to keep looking for icons instead just the application names as in WP7 applications list.
Folders should be a neat addition. You have a folder in there, TAP and then a list like a contextual menu appears and TAP the app. This, without living the applications list would a be a great addition.
Also, adding search capabilities to the list is a much needed feature.
It has been a long time since I posted here, because I sold my Windows Mobile Smartphone and gotten a Blackberry. Right now, I have a few features I would want Microsoft to add in the next major update of windows Phone, because I'm tempted to return to the Windows Phone party soon.
1. Home Screen Notifications
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
I have this idea that when you swype from the left of the start screen, the notifications appear like in Windows8.
2. Notification when in Hubs/Apps
This pull-down notification bar (a la android) can be featured in the Hubs and applications which uses both the leeft and right swyping gestures. This allow quick access to the important informations without returning to the start screen.
3. Custom Start screen background
This allows users to add a custom background to the start screen, making the whole look of the OS more appealing.
4. Live Lockscreen
This allows users to see inportant informations on their lockscreen, and the lockscreen wallpaper changes according to current weather reports.
THATS ALL FOR NOW, I WILL ADD MORE WHEN I HAVE MORE SUGGESTIONS
I love the idea of the lockscreen wallpaper changes depending on weather, I already really love it displaying pictures of the current artist playing, I think they really need to consider this route.
As for custom backgrounds, I wish I had a custom background but I can see why they've avoided it so far. Windows mobile is about simplicity of the display, having a white or black background draws attention straight to the live tiles and makes them look powerful. However, it couldn't hurt to give us the option could it?
I'm not a fan of the notification hub ideas. I kinda like them with android but me and android have never gotten along. I think all the info that you could display can be represented by live tiles, that way you only see the information you want to. If you did have a hub that comes from the side, I think it would steal a bit of the glory from the live tiles, after all, that is one of wp7s strongest points. I know iPhone fanboys who drool everytime they hold the phone, telling me how much they wish that the iPhone interface was as nice and as informative as the homescreen on wp7. But once more, it couldn't hurt to have the option. The question is, are we getting a brand new OS (ie windows 8) to have this feature, or will Microsoft just give us a further update to bring the features?
One feature I'd really like to look forward to is built in Skype support (which should come eventually). I want it to be part of the operating system, so I don't need to open an app to receive a call. Just like the Facebook messenger built in.
After all, you know what's more powerful that the 'there's an app for that' statement - you want to Skype someone? 'You don't even need an app for that!'
wow.. weather idea super.. I saw a link somewhere in this forums to tell wishlist to MS. good idea to post there if they consider.
Not sure how much I'd support that live lockscreen for weather idea. I'd love to see a metro-ish idea, such as a small text-like icon next to the time, sort of the like the alarm icon. That weather is too Android-like and exactly why I hate Android. The wallpaper is live already in relation to Zune too.
Notification idea is a great and sought after idea. Though, the way I think Microsoft sees it is that most app with notifications will be pinned to the homescreen or should be in their minds, which is why they didn't even touch the system. They figure your homescreen is your notification screen. But swiping the other way, or going up would be a great idea. Maybe if you drag the screen it'll drop a volume-style drawer with notification alerts.
And ew to the custom homescreen background lol. I think the tiles work best without a background.
FiyaFleye said:
Though, the way I think Microsoft sees it is that most app with notifications will be pinned to the homescreen or should be in their minds, which is why they didn't even touch the system. They figure your homescreen is your notification screen.
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Click to collapse
Then why did they bother implementing toast notifications as part of the OS?
But even with that aside, the problem with the "start screen as notification screen" idea is that even with flippable live tiles, they only display the most recent notification. Anything older than that is lost. And, of course, many (most) 3rd party apps don't display text at all on their live tiles, just tickers and images.
FiyaFleye said:
And ew to the custom homescreen background lol. I think the tiles work best without a background.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't like it? Don't use it. Many people would love to have a splash of color behind their live tiles.
I like those pictures, however I think the notifications are fine the way they are, I still manage to keep up with all the notifications in my apps by using the start screen. I also agree of the idea that backgrounds will distract from the live tiles.
First off, good work on the presentation.
I don't like the notifications idea. The way I'd like to see it implemented (which I've already voiced, loudly, to the team) is to simply have them aggregated in the notifications area of the "me" tile. It's the perfect spot for archived toasts and it would quickly give you an indication on what's happened using the "me" live tile.
Secondly, I don't see a need for a separate "notifications if in app/hub" system. If you're already using the phone when a toast comes in you'll have seen it at the top of the screen. If you're not [actively] using the phone, you're not in an app anyway so the "me" tile takes care of you. Just have certain on-device events toastable (such as email received) and you're good to go. Even without all events coming in as toasts having them all aggregated in "me" would work due to the fast-app-switching.
In addition, allow a certain number of apps to register for "on-lockscreen" capabilities. Where it would add an icon, counter and/or message to the lockscreen.
As for the customizable backgrounds. I'd probably not use it myself as it takes away from the live tiles and the way they pop out on a completely white background, but I can definitely see most people wanting this feature.
emigrating said:
I don't like the notifications idea. The way I'd like to see it implemented (which I've already voiced, loudly, to the team) is to simply have them aggregated in the notifications area of the "me" tile. It's the perfect spot for archived toasts and it would quickly give you an indication on what's happened using the "me" live tile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The "me" tile is a social networking tile. Many of the toasts from 3rd party apps have nothing to do with social networking. It would feel awkward to me to put them there.
emigrating said:
As for the customizable backgrounds. I'd probably not use it myself as it takes away from the live tiles and the way they pop out on a completely white background, but I can definitely see most people wanting this feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know that I would use it either, but having the option would be a good thing.
good idea :X
RoboDad said:
Don't like it? Don't use it. Many people would love to have a splash of color behind their live tiles.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was giving my opinion, don't like it, don't respond to it, I never said not to implement it. Im really beginning to regret every time I see your name and still read your post. I feel bad for RoboChildren and RoboWife
Sent from my HD7 using Board Express
FiyaFleye said:
I was giving my opinion, don't like it, don't respond to it, I never said not to implement it. Im really beginning to regret every time I see your name and still read your post. I feel bad for RoboChildren and RoboWife
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you didn't say not to implement it. But your post came across slightly condescending, as if anyone who would like that feature just doesn't "get" WP7.
And for the record, I really don't appreciate you making any comments about my family. That is the type of schoolyard taunt that a 10-year-old throws around.
Some thoughts on my own
I also think that the main menu needs some coloring.
And an app grouping will be great
Tried to recreate it with HTML and javascript, you can check it out at: hxxp://blog.conquex.com/wp/ (can't add external link sry)
Bluetooth FTP , Full Unlock from buy(so you can native code on it) and a file explorer that was it
I would like the ability to go to notification directly from the lock screen and the lock screen should show 3rd party app notifications not just windows
Sent from my T8788 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
RoboDad said:
The "me" tile is a social networking tile. Many of the toasts from 3rd party apps have nothing to do with social networking. It would feel awkward to me to put them there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But that's only because of it's current implementation. It should really be a "me" tile rather than a "social" tile. IMO anything "me" related should go to it - including app toasts as well as missed calls, messages etc.
emigrating said:
But that's only because of it's current implementation. It should really be a "me" tile rather than a "social" tile. IMO anything "me" related should go to it - including app toasts as well as missed calls, messages etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. The "Me" tile should show all the notifications for the phone. If they are on the start screen, I have the option to go directly to the app, or I can go to the "Me" tile and get a link directly to the certain part of the app that the notification was about. For example, on words by post, if I get a toast notification saying another player made move, I can go to the "Me" tile, and a link should take me directly to the game so I can make a move, not just open the app so I have to navigate to my game.
But to me (no pun intended ), that is still a social notification, in that it affects my ability to interact with other people. I don't think a notification about a weather forecast, or a stock market alert, or an upcoming episode of a TV show, fit the same criteria.
Microsoft made it a Social Network tile, because they didn't want to handle more panes in the People Hub for it. Android (TW 3.0) fixes that by putting your "Me" Hub under a menu. WP7 takes the easier route and just makes a tile for it.
Fussing over what the Me Tile is gets us no where.
The issue is what should be discussed, and it's obvious. The notification system in WP7 is bad. It's way too fragmented and it's much too tedious. A Notification cache is needed. This isn't a feature phone that gets hardly any pushed updates. It's a smartphone and every smartphone OS that has grown a healthy app market and embraced PUSH Updates and Notifications without one has run into issues and eventually (like Apple) had to implement one.
1. Allow Apps intelligent use of the LED Notification Light (Different Colors for Notifications, etc. similar to Blackberries)
2. Global Notification Cache - Swipe Right on Home Screen to get to it (Similar to iOS, but Notifications instead of Search, before someone says anything... swiping down has already been dong, as has swiping up in addition to other gestures... Not much choice, it just needs to be done.).
3. Zune Social... Where is it? They missed the ball on this one... It had potential in WP7, but I think it may be a bit late to try to resurrect it, now.
4. Flash LITE, or the ability to stream Flash Video in the video player. Show the boxes, and let it open up in the player like on YouTube. Don't care about Ads, Navigational Elements, or Games. Just the video.
5. Bluetooth File Transfer - at least Contact Info, Multimedia, Office Documents. Don't care about file explorer. It can add them to the necessary hubs by file type.
6. Video MMS/Email.
7. Video, and Voice Clip transfer for WLM.
8. Video Chat for WLM - Back and Front Cam (obviously 1st gen devices would default to back cam, new devices can switch). Skype won't do. Most consumers don't even care about Skype unless they use it for calling. They just use WLM or some other IM service like FB or Yahoo! instead.
9. Delivery Confirmations and/or S/D/R in Windows Live Messenger (Similar to BBM/Kik).
10. Facebook Offline Messages and Twitter Direct Messages pushed and integrated into one of the Social or Email Hubs (Probably Me) - with Toast Notifications.
11. Official Support for External SD Cards - Obviously they won't be Hot-Swappable...
12. Hand-Off GPS Navigation.
13. Integrate Zune and Windows Phone services with Windows Media Player. Shouldn't need to install Zune. Mac Users don't need to install iTunes to manage their iDevices. Never understood the need for this redundant piece of software, especially when it's Audio/Video Playing features are so terrible compared to WMP or iTunes.
14. Software EQ built into WP7.
15. Integrated DLNA functionality (at least for WMP/WMC/XBox360).
16. Ability to set different Notification Tones for Notifications in different Apps.
There's more
N8ter said:
Microsoft made it a Social Network tile, because they didn't want to handle more panes in the People Hub for it. Android (TW 3.0) fixes that by putting your "Me" Hub under a menu. WP7 takes the easier route and just makes a tile for it.
Fussing over what the Me Tile is gets us no where.
The issue is what should be discussed, and it's obvious. The notification system in WP7 is bad. It's way too fragmented and it's much too tedious. A Notification cache is needed. This isn't a feature phone that gets hardly any pushed updates. It's a smartphone and every smartphone OS that has grown a healthy app market and embraced PUSH Updates and Notifications without one has run into issues and eventually (like Apple) had to implement one.
1. Allow Apps intelligent use of the LED Notification Light (Different Colors for Notifications, etc. similar to Blackberries)
2. Global Notification Cache - Swipe Right on Home Screen to get to it (Similar to iOS, but Notifications instead of Search, before someone says anything... swiping down has already been dong, as has swiping up in addition to other gestures... Not much choice, it just needs to be done.).theres nothing wrong with the current notifications system. people need to stop complaining about it and just pin all those apps to the start screen I think that when all apps are updated for mango it will be easier to get the notifications.
3. Zune Social... Where is it? They missed the ball on this one... It had potential in WP7, but I think it may be a bit late to try to resurrect it, now.
4. Flash LITE, or the ability to stream Flash Video in the video player. Show the boxes, and let it open up in the player like on YouTube. Don't care about Ads, Navigational Elements, or Games. Just the video.
just use html5 it works great on YouTube,dailymotion and tube8. flash is dying out.
5. Bluetooth File Transfer - at least Contact Info, Multimedia, Office Documents. Don't care about file explorer. It can add them to the necessary hubs by file type.
I don't think I've ever used this or know anyone who has. never really worked that well when I tried it.
6. Video MMS/Email.
you can email videos.
7. Video, and Voice Clip transfer for WLM.
this is already present and it has already been demonstrated
8. Video Chat for WLM - Back and Front Cam (obviously 1st gen devices would default to back cam, new devices can switch). Skype won't do. Most consumers don't even care about Skype unless they use it for calling. They just use WLM or some other IM service like FB or Yahoo! instead.
9. Delivery Confirmations and/or S/D/R in Windows Live Messenger (Similar to BBM/Kik).
10. Facebook Offline Messages and Twitter Direct Messages pushed and integrated into one of the Social or Email Hubs (Probably Me) - with Toast Notifications.
I can receive some offline messages from Facebook in the current iteration, can't reply to them but I get them.
11. Official Support for External SD Cards - Obviously they won't be Hot-Swappable...
12. Hand-Off GPS Navigation.
13. Integrate Zune and Windows Phone services with Windows Media Player. Shouldn't need to install Zune. Mac Users don't need to install iTunes to manage their iDevices. Never understood the need for this redundant piece of software, especially when it's Audio/Video Playing features are so terrible compared to WMP or iTunes.
it takes up less RAM than iTunes and doesn't demand that u also have bonjour,QuickTime and safari installed (uninstall one of those and see what happens to ur precious iTunes)
14. Software EQ built into WP7.
15. Integrated DLNA functionality (at least for WMP/WMC/XBox360).
16. Ability to set different Notification Tones for Notifications in different Apps.
There's more
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my replies to the points I strongly disagree with are in bold.
Sorry buddy I can't read your posts.
Second Screen Custom App Icons & Widget Triggering through Tasker/Zooper/Popup Widget
Hi Guys
So I know this isn't earth shattering, but given we are all feeling a bit underwhelmed with the second screen theming options I thought I'd share. I was able to get Second Screen to recognize a custom APK installed through Tasker using Tasker App Factory. I used a combination of Tasker, Popup Widget, Zooper Widget, and Tasker App Factory for this. I'm one of those guys that bought Tasker pro a long time ago, made some basic stuff, and then gave up because easier options came along... kind of the same with Zooper Widget, but I think I might actually starting using it more (even though I believe ZW support is finished) because I barely use the second screens static app options right now, it's just easier to pop onto the homescreen and open whatever I need. I think taking this route will give you access to stuff you might not want on your main screen easily (for me, that's something like the weather channel app), and doing it in any app you're already in. Essentially you just hit the app icon and your widget pops up with the information you want it to show, my widget is interactive so from there I can click certain things on the widget and open them.
I just tried recording my screen to share but it didn't record the second screen, so I'll need to charge my other phone before I can show you what I'm talking about. I'll hopefully get some pictures or a video up shortly.
By the way, this works with Nova Launcher also... I've seen some other threads where you have to use LG Launcher to change your icon.
https://youtu.be/4_PtV7tvYrc
*credit to Jack Burnett in Zooper Widget G+ forum for creating the initial ZW.
EDIT
You will need the Zooper Widget Template that was created by Jack Burnett, I got this off of Zooper Widget Google + Community because it was easier than creating my own. I did however, edit a lot of the components to make it more in line with what I was looking for. You can do that in Zooper Widget.
This is a static widget that stays on the home screen, but allows you to interact with various shown components.
Jack Burnett original post with widget - https://plus.google.com/+JackMcDonaldBurnett/posts/hJjejJEc1mE
Jack Burnett Template Download Location –
http://www.combathaiku.com/zooper/
In short, you can use this widget standalone and it will not have the Popup Functionality and will always be on the home screen. Clearly this does not help if I am trying to get it on the Second Screen.
Create your Zooper Widget or Import the Template from above.
Create a new Pop Up Widget, import the previously created Zooper Widget into your Pop Up Widget and Save it.
Open Tasker, New Task, + to Add Action, Plugin, Hit Pop Widget Action Plug In… When it opens hit the pencil and select your Pop Up Widget that contains your Zooper Widget. In the bottom right of the Task Edit Screen there will be an icon select button, you can choose your custom icon at that time.
When you are done and on the Tasks list page of Tasker you can long press your Tasker Task that contains your Pop Up Widget and Custom App Icon, you’ll hit the 3 button menu at the top right and select Export. Export it As App. ( You will need Tasker App Factory for this).
When you do that hit the Android icon in the bottom right and it will ask if you want to install the Application just like it does when you download from anywhere else.
You’ll hit install, it should install, hit Done.
Go to Settings, Second Screen, Show When Main Screen is On, App Short Cuts, Scroll down to your APK (make sure you named it in Tasker) and select.
It will add to your second screen and allow you to Use your Custom Icon to interact with your pop up widget options.
What is that widget?
TheRealKingSen said:
What is that widget?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here you go. @TheRealKingSen. It's actually pretty convenient
https://plus.google.com/+JackMcDonaldBurnett/posts/hJjejJEc1mE
I dont understand the problem, we can change the icons on the main screen and move the app to the second screen
melorib said:
I dont understand the problem, we can change the icons on the main screen and move the app to the second screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi - I'm not understanding your statement. There isn't really a problem. I'm not just changing the icons I am triggering a widget from the second screen that is actionable... We're adding our own Tasker APK to the second screen, which is clickable, and you can interact with the widget. Instead of keeping the widget on your homescreen taking up space, you can just use it whenever you want from the second screen without going to the home screen.. Like I said not earth shattering, but at the time the only changes I had seen regarding customizing second screen were changing icons, but people were saying you couldn't do that unless you used LG stock launcher..
I didnt realize it was about widgets, on the other hand, if you cannot see what is saying it doesnt make much sense, you might as well just have the app shortcut...
His option seems more about having a "peak" option so you can stay in-app.
Maybe a step-by-step guide would be great for us to actually try it out, or even placing other widgets onto it as well? Like Whatsapp, Facebook and stuff like that.
Hi Guys - that's exactly why I was putting it out there. I think the functionality is endless if you are good at creating zooper and popup widgets. I clearly am novice at zooper, popup, and tasker so this was my first go at it. However, I do believe it would allow you to create really whatever you want... I was trying to get a Social Widget created, so I'd hit the one icon and my facebook, instagram, tumblr, etc... would all pull up in one actionable widget window.... but I couldn't get the Popup Widget and Zooper Widget to play nicely in Tasker.
I can put together a guide on how it was done, but to answer the question above, my recording quality was **** but I can clearly see everything on the widget and it's large enough to select individual portions of the widget to open them... ie the wireless dbm monitor if I hit that it takes me to wireless settings, in the middle there's a small calendar square (not clear in the video), if I hit that I go to calendar. And I can do it in app due to second screen or if I am on snapchat and my videos are taking forever to load, instead of pulling down notification panel and long press wifi, I can just go to this popup widget and it shows my dbm and the network I'm connected to immediately without leaving snapchat.
I'll edit the original post so that it's more concise as to what exactly is going on. You can use a shortcut but what this method allows you to do is to create "short cut icons" for whatever you want, even if it's not provided as a typical shortcut, through your zooper widget and tasker.
I'll update what I can to make it more clear though. thanks for your feedback. Again I think It's more of a hey you can do this, someone who has awesome zooper/tasker functionality, roll with it type of thing.
melorib said:
I didnt realize it was about widgets, on the other hand, if you cannot see what is saying it doesnt make much sense, you might as well just have the app shortcut...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I did that you'd be limited to only the number of iapp spaces/shortcuts allowed on the second screen. In this instance, you can directly access Calendar, Clock, Wireless Settings, Settings, Weather, Battery, really whatever you want to add to the zooper widget interface by only taking up one App Icon Space in the second screen. I'm writing a more concise post now and will modify it. I added a screenshot of the widget below, it's legible.
:good:
Hi all, So i as usual installed Nova to use some of their gestures (such as bringing down status bar from swiping down anywhere on screen etc)
In the process i lost access to the google weather widget (as it isn't available through Nova launcher)
Any lightweight suggestions to replace it? or is there any way to get the google weather widget functioning on 3rd party launchers?
What about alternatives to google photos? To be honest i never really used photos , I'm going to try to start doing so but i notice that it doesn't even pick up all my folders such as facebook folder (pics downloaded from facebook).
How do i get it to recognize folders like this ? What other lightweight yet useful gallery app is out there? (not quickpic please that purple font is killing me)
Thanks in advanced!
quickpic version 3.4.9.1 doesnt have pink icons for me and its neutured down so no google drive, dropbox etc linking - just pure gallery.
virtyx said:
quickpic version 3.4.9.1 doesnt have pink icons for me and its neutured down so no google drive, dropbox etc linking - just pure gallery.
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Click to collapse
Got a trusted source for that APK?
I am seeing some of the benefits of Google photos though... wondering why i didn't use it sooner
Edit: found a trusted apk for quickpic.
How do I get google weather widget in nova
masri1987 said:
Got a trusted source for that APK?
I am seeing some of the benefits of Google photos though... wondering why i didn't use it sooner
Edit: found a trusted apk for quickpic.
How do I get google weather widget in nova
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i was about to upload
how do you find it? its slim, lightweight, fast - and gets the job done without any extra add-ins which is what i like, almost like the huawei launcher plus you can change the display and it recognizes ALL your images on your phone (im looking at you google photo)
masri1987 said:
Hi all, So i as usual installed Nova to use some of their gestures (such as bringing down status bar from swiping down anywhere on screen etc)
In the process i lost access to the google weather widget (as it isn't available through Nova launcher)
Any lightweight suggestions to replace it? or is there any way to get the google weather widget functioning on 3rd party launchers?
What about alternatives to google photos? To be honest i never really used photos , I'm going to try to start doing so but i notice that it doesn't even pick up all my folders such as facebook folder (pics downloaded from facebook).
How do i get it to recognize folders like this ? What other lightweight yet useful gallery app is out there? (not quickpic please that purple font is killing me)
Thanks in advanced!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too use Nova, for weather, I've been using Weather XL by exovoid for years, link
Action launcher has the Google widget and weather baked in. I switched from Nova to it years ago and while I'll go back to Nova briefly for change of pace purposes I never leave Action for very long. Once I got used to and understood the blinds and shutters features in Action everything else became dad's old launcher; including Nova. You can also set the Now page, assign gestures, all the usual staples of fully featured launchers.
I've used Piktures as my main gallery app for a few years. Great app.
NepoRood said:
I too use Nova, for weather, I've been using Weather XL by exovoid for years, link
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thanks, tried it out, looking for something a bit more lightweight, just for the purpose of widget use.
krabman said:
Action launcher has the Google widget and weather baked in. I switched from Nova to it years ago and while I'll go back to Nova briefly for change of pace purposes I never leave Action for very long. Once I got used to and understood the blinds and shutters features in Action everything else became dad's old launcher; including Nova. You can also set the Now page, assign gestures, all the usual staples of fully featured launchers.
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Click to collapse
So i installed action launcher and I cannot find the option to build out tabs or folders within the drawer itself? Also can't remove the multidot drawer icon and just use the swipe up feature by itself
Cool thing is it did import everything almost from nova
Fuzzy13 said:
I've used Piktures as my main gallery app for a few years. Great app.
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Click to collapse
Yeah i just discovered that app ,
I also discovered that any motion photo or any other like top shot (to show you the whole selection of photos taken) etc doesn't show up in 3rd party gallery apps
You just long press and drag the icon up and out, you'll see the remove label at the top of the screen, drop it there and it's gone. The rest will take a bit of reading as Action doesn't work the way normal launchers do so it takes some explaining. Before I do you can create folders in the drawer section of the home settings, it's under folders. I'm saying this because Action doesn't really work the way Dad's old launcher used to do and there are some new paradigms in play. Don't want to deal with that then just imagine the post ends here.
In action you don't really need to make folders in the drawer as it's laid out to use it's killer features, the covers and shutters. For covers you can drop a shortcut you tap as normal to open that app and then you can also swipe or tap the shortcut and it will open a folder with whatever apps you want inside of it. Those are created by dropping one app onto another to create a folder as with most launchers, open the folder you just created and tap the menu (3 dot), choose create cover and now you have it. Tap the first icon you placed and it will simply open that app, swipe it (or double tap if you select that as the opener) and it will open up the folder underneath. I'm not sure if there is an app limit for the folders, I've had 14 in one now. Using my setup for example I use Hangouts as my personal primary text and instant message app but I also use several others; I have a hangouts cover set in the dock, as its a cover I tap it and open hangouts in most cases. Because it's a cover I have the apps for texting that I use infrequently underneath that which I access by swiping the icon instead. This goes on for all the shortcuts I set in the dock. I use a 2 page dock which is all covers save for one which is a shutter and through those have quick access to 47 applications. Much quicker than finding them in a drawer, even when folder the drawer because you will need more touches to get to the app than with a cover.
The shutter is an app shortcut which you use to either open the app or by swiping it open one of that apps widget. An example would be Whatsapp is my work messaging app. I have the icon set and use it as a shutter. I touch it and go into the app as normal. I get a lot of junk messages though that really aren't for me so sometimes I'll swipe it and open up the unread messages widget. This allows me to skip straight to the more important messages first rather than sort through them all in the app itself. The menu(3 dot) when you first open up the shutter will allow you to select the widget you want to use.
Despite all that you can still access the built in long presses if the app/icon has them. What happens in all this is the app drawer itself becomes more of an initial setup bin where the apps are laying until you set your covers and on the odd occasion you go in there to open a seldom used app. In the rare cases you do need to get into the drawer the sea of icons pulled out of the bottom ala Pixel may look cool but it's slower than using the side drawer which I would highly recommend folks try. While not looking cool it's more efficient; particularly for those with many apps. Still want the bottom drawer pullout it's the default action, just get rid of the shortcut and it's there.
You're going to want to menu dive with Action because there is a lot more going on than meets the eye. You can have it match your wallpaper for the launcher theme in the quick theme section. In quickbar you have what amounts to the Goog searchbar with extra functionality that you can adjust. I don't use it as I find little need for it with all the different ways you can get to the search function and it takes up space which can be better spent showing off my carefully selected wallpaper. The icon pack section is self explanatory. Icon appearance will let you change functions and visual cues like notifications counts. App drawers is where you will decide on trying that side drawer and other related settings. Recommend if you do go to a side drawer to tell it to remember where you left it. Otherwise it will always default to the top of the alphabet. Desktop is where you will do the meat and potatos of setting your desktop, the grid, icon scale, scroll effects, infinite scrolling, etc. One thing of interest in the desktop section is it will allow you to create a quickpage. This is a page you can "pullout" from the side that is separate from simply the page to the right of home. I use it for my travel apps of which I have a fair few but only use during that time. Desktop shortcuts will take you to the settings for which functions will show up when long pressing the home screen out in the open. You'll be able to add typical actions like wallpaper, widgets and so on but also custom actions. Docks is where you'll set up the number of dock pages if any, style of dock, dock seperators (or not), etc. Folders and shutters will allow you to change functions there for those tasks. Shortcuts is where you'll define whatever gestures you want.
While all that seems like a lot when you start fiddling with it it'll start making sense. Sorry for the length of that and I hope it wasn't too boring for those that made it this far.
---------- Post added at 04:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:39 PM ----------
Oh, yeah... If you use a launcher that allows you to set custom action widgets (Nova, Action Launcher, etc.) you could simply install Action launcher, never use it but get use of the weather widget via custom action in Nova or any other launcher which supports that function.
Huge fan of Today Weather! Can choose which service to receive forecasts from and has a number of widgets.