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I really like the vanilla version of Android with nothing skinned or running on top like Sense UI or TouchWiz. Just wanted to get a sense of what prospective buyers think about it.
Edit: This might give the devs an idea of what people want on their phones, if given the choice.
From what I've seen of TouchWiz, am looking forward to it. Am kinda bored of Sense now.
I actually like the customizable horizontal app list, even if its a copy of the iphone's menu.
The only thing I dislike about it is that you get the little square of colored background behind each application, instead of just black, it just feels wrong. Rest of the touchwiz looks ok.
Didn't try stock android yet (using HTC sense on Desire atm), but I presume you can use an alternative launcher to get it working?
I really like stock, but Sense UI is even nicer sometimes but not always, I prefer the white in the Stock with the orange.
However, the dialer and contacts are nicest on Sense UI, especially the dialer, and also the Keyboard.
I really like what I have seen from TouchWiz so far and I am really looking forward to it, I like the additions they added and I prefer a lot more a horizontal menu over vertical where I get lost quickly in the Sense UI (on my magic).
TouchWiz looks well optimized, however I read that many Singaporeans are experiencing a bit of slow launch when launching applications but other than that it's very smooth they say. I even noticed in the videos it takes time to quit or open some applications. But it can be fixed.
I must say i'm a bit shocked at the results so far, however few there are. In my experience with TouchWiz I've only had headaches. Again that is my personal experience.
When this phone goes out to the masses I'm sure there will be development to suit all our tastes. Looks like I'll be rooting for the CyanMod port lol.
Lenovo Lephone looks nice too >_>
hehe yeah not many have that.
Either way, are you going to sell N1 or keep it when you get the sammy?
I never tried Touchwiz btw, many said that before it was bad but in this new galaxy S it's much better and smoother... but arrg people are having problems in Singapore with cameras not launching lol "memory error" problems.. wow.. very sad..
Maybe that's the beginning of headaches?? such a powerful phone with a very nice camera, I hope it comes out optimized since they have until the 17th of June.
Not to mention,users are having major problems in syncing the phone to pc and especially on macs. That is one major issues considering that you have some 13gb of storage on the phone.
If the Galaxy S comes to Tmobile I will try it out for a bit since I'm up for an upgrade, so I'll be selling either one when I find which i'll be happier with. hopefully it comes out to 200 on contract.
As a side note, the Motorola Extreme is looking very nice, just wish it wasn't on Verizon, expensive plans.
Its About the content :
Widgets + Icons = Sense UI
Gallery + Menu + Launcher = Vanilla Android
Music Player + Social = Sony's X10 UI
TouchWiz have nothing expect the gesture (if you slide a contact right you'll make a call , left to message) , i hope i get the option to turn it off like Sense
Touchwiz looks like a hybrid between iphone UI and android UI and what i liked about it is that it did toke the most notable advantages of both
and if you look closely at the UI you'll see that it's not just UI be it is packed media player and photo Gallary so it's a whole package
I've ordered this phone because the TouchWiz adjustments look minimal.
The only huge difference i can see is the program launcher and the docked bar.
Obviously other things are going to be slightly different but things that are already good in Android are still there, for example the Picture gallery is pure Nexus One.
As i see it TouchWiz just wanted to be Android from the start, a widget based homescreen interface, and because of that the Galaxy S just becomes Android with some improvements. And if thats not true then a flagship phone is bound to get some developers working so there are going to be options anyway!
In terms of the feature tweaks of TouchWiz (stuff like horizontal app launcher scroll, slide left/right on contacts to call/text, etc) I pretty much like everything Samsung's added/changed with TouchWiz. But in terms of pure aesthetics and graphical style, it is simply not nearly as polished as HTC's Sense or Vanilla Android.
hmm i'm considering getting this for as my first android phone but the touchwiz interface doesn't really appeal to me. I'd rather use the Sense and its widgets. Tried a htc desire and thought it was really nice
I do not appreciate TouchWiz,it looks uncomfortable and not very convenient ！！！ that is my personal experience.A plain android is OK ！and I can use the launcher application to change the UI whenever I like！！but if anyone who can develop a UI which is more beautiful，I will have a try！！！
Can't you install something like launcher pro to have an original like launcher?
nomedor said:
Can't you install something like launcher pro to have an original like launcher?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes we can (according to users who have the phone and have tried to..)
Touchwizz
touchwizz with ics look for sgs2 port xxlph for galaxy s
It's funny how in the forums you always see people complaining about TW and yet the poll shows that it is favoured over sense.
Anyway, comparing the ICS roms and stock Samsung roms I've used, I do like many aspects of touchwiz, like the notifications controls and the custamizable app drawer.
KnightMAREcrow said:
I really like the vanilla version of Android with nothing skinned or running on top like Sense UI or TouchWiz. Just wanted to get a sense of what prospective buyers think about it.
Edit: This might give the devs an idea of what people want on their phones, if given the choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sony erricsson interface
I've been playing with a few different ROMs lately and one thing that I keep coming back to is "why?". Realistically, I like some of the things that come with sense (the dialpad, friendstream, gallery) but I can replace those with market apps.
Is there really a reason to not have sense if you can remove the apps you don't like? I can get really good quadrant scores on both, but I've learned that doesn't necessarily mean great performance. All I really care about is if the phone feels snappy and works like I want it to.
I use launcherpro so the appdrawer and quicklaunch buttons dont bother me at all, which is the majority of what I dont like about sense. I can remove all the other apps I dont use or want, so is there a distinct advantage to using a vanilla rom over a sense one other than personal preference? I keep bouncing back from SR vanilla to Ruby and even Virtuous ROM now and all of them are very awesome. Sorry if this has been asked, but I couldnt find any clear reason why someone would want a pure vanilla ROM over something like SR3 that has most of the crappy stuff from sense removed already.
I believe it truly is just personal preference. What you like, how you want it to look, the widgets you want to use. A big plus to me with Sense was the lock screen controls. But now with ihtfp69 and getting the rotary vanilla lockscreen with music controls on it, I prefer vanilla over sense. But thats me.
I prefer vanilla over Sense also.
The more stripped bare, the better for me.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
I like the vanilla, im running the sr but just tried the sr sense and i got a huge score on the q of 1478!!! Im getting around 1330 on vanilla, I like the layout of vanilla
For me the best advantage of an AOSP rom vs. a Sense/de-Sensed rom is the phone answer screen. With a sense rom I would always accidentally answer the phone when taking it out of my pocket when it was ringing. With AOSP roms the answer slider moves left/right so I never have this problem. I've also noticed that I have a lot more free memory at boot with an AOSP rom then even a de-sensed rom. The stock browser also allows many more simultaneous open windows then a sense based rom, which is limited to 4 windows total.
I just recently switched to Ruby 1.1.1 with the radio layer and bluetooth patch and have been loving it.
For me, you have a few categories.
-Sense
-Sense light (e.g. Best of both worlds)
-AOSP
-MIUI (I know this is an AOSP, but really stands out)
I love the feel off the AOSP ROMS. The dialer and contacts have larger buttons, the answer slide sideways, the messaging, etc. Like you, I use LP, so the Sense widgets are out the door anyway. I kept tasting the new sense roms because of three better continuity of appearance, however. Also, Sense handles the mms apn stuff better. But then MIUI came along. I'm not sure why it's classified as AOSP, when it is really an impressive overlay of android, much as sense is. I don't really knower what I'm talking about, but I can tell you that MIUI changed me. I feel like it is giving me the best of both worlds, and I could go on and on about the little features that make it truly unique and powerful.
Boils down to preference. Try MIUI if you haven't already. Be sure to use v0.3. The newer v0.4 has some kinks.
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
I mean, what will I lose if I choose to use a rom without sense?
Do I get less battery drain?
you'll lose:
Sense Launcher, Sense Widgets - this can be fully replaced by Launcher Plus Pro, or, if you don't like the look of Sense Widgets by ADW.Launcher
Sense programs, like mail, calendar, ...
FM Radio
HTC Sync - you won't be able to sync your Desire calendar with Outlook directly any longer. You'll have to buy third party software to do this via the Google cloud or you use an Exchange Server.
Because the HTC Froyo source got released now, as it seems, you'll also be able to undervolt Sense ROMs now.
However, non Sense ROMs are lighter, more customized and contain some essential features which I miss on Sense ROMs: Bluetooth HID support.
Why get rid of sense?, its amazing!!!
you will also loose htc dialer and htc contacts
I love sense because of the widgets I keep it for that.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Agreed. I love everything about sense. It makes the phone great. If I wanted senseless I could have bought an N1.
Sense is the reason desire is the best smart phone! I would not dream having a smartphone without it...
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Sense is very nice but I see that there are many roms that don't contain it. So, I was wondering if it realy is neasecery, or what is better in a non-sense rom, and if a non-sense rom is less hungry for battery
I have two Desires - one has a Sense ROM and the other is running CyanogenMod. There are one or two small things I prefer about the CyanogenMod ROM, but a great deal more I prefer about Sense, but there are others on this forum who will tell you the opposite, and be equally correct because it is just an opinion.
One thing I will say though is that you will often hear that non-Sense ROMs are "faster" than Sense ROMs. In my experience, if there is a speed difference, you can only really tell in benchmarks - in general use I feel my Sense phone is every bit as fast as my CyanogenMod phone. The same is true on battery life - both seem to sip about the same amount of power.
I don't think there is any real alternative other than trying out a non-Sense ROM for yourself and making your own choice.
Regards,
Dave
You can undervolt Sense roms of course. Also now with S-Off you can remove the Sense apps you dont need easily from the phone.
After playing with a non-Sense rom I am back to a Sense one mainly because I cold not live with the battery drain and I can now customize the Sense apps.
On Alex 1.7 and with light use I can almost go 3 days on a battery... with a non-Sense rom I could barely make 24-36h (wipe before flash and few apps installed, no sync), so it's clear in my case which rom type drains more battery.
Also this Alex 1.7 Sense rom is smooth as silk and I never get any apps or the whole phone crashing (daily occurence in aosp rom for many people?).
Aosp roms are great if you like messing around with your phone all the time, but you cant get away with the fact that Sense roms just work.
Respect to all the rom makers Sense or non.Sense.
Thanks for all the responses, you helped a lot =]
Nutsonfire said:
After playing with a non-Sense rom I am back to a Sense one mainly because I cold not live with the battery drain and I can now customize the Sense apps.
On Alex 1.7 and with light use I can almost go 3 days on a battery... with a non-Sense rom I could barely make 24-36h (wipe before flash and few apps installed, no sync), so it's clear in my case which rom type drains more battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mhh, something wasn't working properly then. With very light use I can also get 3 days battery life.
Else it's difficult to compare, because it heavily depends on how you use the phone. Playing around, surfing, ... drastically reduces battery life.
However, at the moment I use DeFroST 5.0 with HAVS kernel and the battery life looks perfect to me.
Nutsonfire said:
Also this Alex 1.7 Sense rom is smooth as silk and I never get any apps or the whole phone crashing (daily occurence in aosp rom for many people?).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should be fixed now. AOSP roms had a few issues, but at it seems as if they're ironed out.
Nutsonfire said:
Aosp roms are great if you like messing around with your phone all the time, but you cant get away with the fact that Sense roms just work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Somehow true, sometimes, but sense roms also have bugs often, and a not working revision, which gets fixed in the next release.
So if you want a stable ROM use the stock. If you want some customization, use a custom sense rom. If you don't use sense features, replaced it with other apps/widgets/tools, and need some AOSP rom features, then get an AOSP rom.
i dont have a Desire atm, but i plan on getting one soon (or possibly the DHD). I like sense, especially the new one which allows you to theme it. But something i've noticed with sense compared to stock is that HTC have removed a lot of animations. Like when opening an app or closing it. It instantly opens or closes with no animation. Stock android has a sort of zoom in zoom out animations.
From what i understand, HTC have set the options to "Some animations" in the settings by default. Could someone here go into Settings, Sound and Display, Animations, and set it to All Animations and report here if they see any changes?
htc contacts, gallery , dialer , camera and video , radio, weather ,friendstream are light years and galaxies far away from the aosp android ones...
Hi, i searched all over... some1 said to me that DeFrost would never likely be on the same ROM as Sense UI as they cancel each other out, I`ve found threads on here sowing the changelogs/bugfixes etc of DeFrost but what are all the PROs / CONs to Defrost ?
whats it got that renders sense UI uselss
thanks
The fact that there is no sense ui in Defrost. But just take a look at the defrost thread, all you need to know about, what it is and what it contains can be found there.
i moved from leedroids to defrost and have to say im impressed, support is amazing, its lighting fast and battery is also great, sense only takes up space and slows down the system.
I currently use defrost and it is fast. Alot faster and smoother then leedroid, however i think im going to go back to a sense rom.
This is for a number of reasons but mainly because of all the widgets and apps and extensions of sense. Once you try to get some of the functionality back that sense offers the rom starts to become as bloated anyway.
It you want sense use a sense rom, if not use a AOSP rom. TBH it is best to try them both out and see which you prefer.
I find that defrost is much faster, assuming you're using launcher pro, its more responsive to the touch... in my case anyway. the only downside to defrost i think is the camera skin... its ugly as hell. I love the camera interface on sense, although the video recording (720p) is much better on defrost.
anddd you can flash so many different kernels to your different needs on defrost, personally i like HAVS 1113 mhz BFS 875mA the best.. but thats only cause my desire can handle the low voltage
DeFrost is better in battery live and speed (of course it is a non-Sense ROM).
Sense ROMs (like LeeDroid) is according to my taste more beautiful and it is somehow like a birthmark of the Desire. The new Sense (HD or Z porting) is even more awesome than the ordinary Sense.
But of course, Sense will drain your battery and resources more than without Sense.
That is why I find it hard to decide which ROM I should use.
I am now on Z ROM...but dunno how long this will last...
I'm not trying to be lazy here, but due to being in school, two part time jobs, a family of four, etc...I was hoping to crowd source some recommendations or what to steer clear of for custom rooms and kernels for the Droid Incredible. I am rooted and have been for a while, and have attempted to do some custom cleaning up by way of root manager and titanium backup, etc., but to be honest, I don't have the time to get into the self management too much due to the life stresses I listed above.
Basically I am looking for something that is of good speed performance without sacrificing battery life and possibly improving it (I know, we don't live in a perfect world, but it's worth a shot) along with getting rid of the crapware that HTC shoves down your throat.
I am now on the stock froyo with HTC sense and of course I want good app compatibility too. I am also a sucker for eye candy, so it doesn't have to have the sense UI but I do like a bit of UI intuitiveness and pleasant to the eye.
Obviously I am on a Droid Incredible, rooted with stock froyo and sense UI, as I've already said.
Recommendations are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Roger
Well, there really isn't anything to "steer clear" of. What I would recommend is trying a few sense roms, AOSP roms, and MIUI.
If you like sense roms, I would recommend
Warm 2.2 if you like the theme (though if you like MMS there's a problem about mms and wifi)
Uber Z if you like Z roms (pastel button in bottom right, also faster)
Nothing Special if you want to stay stock
Ziggy's 1/21 kernel with BFS (note that he makes new ones quite frequently)
If you like AOSP, I would definitely only recommend CM7 (CyanogenMod 7) with the stock kernel. I haven't tried any other kernels but I've found the stock kernel gives very smooth and snappy performance but still has good battery.
If you like MIUI, I would recommend the "real" MIUI. It's updated very frequently. I can't really recommend a good kernel because I don't like MIUI much (personal preference, some hate it but some like it). Just use your favorite AOSP kernel because MIUI is just a themed AOSP rom.
Hope this helps
Thanks for the insight.
I am thinking an AOSP, as you recommend Cyanogenmod 7, because I am interested in trying some different UI flavors. As I said, I am a sucker for eye candy, so if there is something really dazzling then all the better; however, my main concern is hopefully a little battery improvement, and getting rid of all the crapware bloat that they hold you hostage with. I don't Facebook AT ALL, I very seldom look at Twitter, and I could give a rat's ass about City ID, or Footprints, or Foursquare, and whatever else there is. I don't knock any of them and I know many do use them, but my theory is, if I want it then I'll install it, otherwise I want it the hell out of sight and out of mind! LOL
While I do agree the HTC Sense UI is the better of the market options for smart phones, but I've also heard from Leo Laporte that the straight Android OS features are also nice and allow for better streamlining, and I know there are others here too. So as I said, I'm always up for a new paint job on the Ole Hot Rod, but not if it is gonna make it where I can't pass a gas station anymore.
I appreciate the recommendations, and I'm probably gonna attempt this later this afternoon or this evening, so any other suggestions in the meantime are greatly appreciated. I just don't have the time to endless hours flashing and testing, and re-flashing and testing, blah, blah, blah.
Thanks Again,
Roger
ROMs
Hello, I am pretty new to ROMs however I have just started and am currently running warm z twopointtwo and so far I love it. The only problem I have had so far is not being able to set up the HTC account to see the new download options with the new sense. Other than that it is fast and smooth. I love the upgrade from sense 1.0.
I have also tried CM7. It was nice and smooth and fast, however at the time I was still in the mind set of loving the sense UI. I have also tried incredibly re-engineered. That was very nice as well but to me it wasn't a big enough change.
If some one can tell me how to get an HTC account for the warm z twopointtwo I would ukky recommend that. As far as installing ROMs I have done it through Rom manager and found it to be easy. I would recommend doing it through clockwork however as some roms didn't act right through a Rom manager install. Just make sure the Rom does not specify a different file for the different clockwork versions. In the case of warm z there is two versions to choose from depending on which CWM you are running.
Have fun
Edit: also do a Google search for incredible roms. There was a page that had a list of roms and mods and such. Something to look into.
Try warm z or inc re-engineered
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
what do you like the most about sense? You can get most of the features from sense via Widgets if you look hard enough. I initially had trouble switching to an AOSP rom until I found the stuff to replace what i missed from sense.
I think what I like most is the extra widgets. For instance the calendar widget that is 4x1 i use on my home screen for a quick glance at what I have next on my schedule. It's not a feal breaker by anymeans. And the more I look at aosp roms the more I consider them.
Actually I don't use all the widget junk from the sense UI, like twitter and people and such. I guess what I meant was the phone dialer and multiple home pages, and in that sense (no pun intended) I could really stand to see a little better integration and design of the contacts portion.
However...aside from not being a Facebook'er, I would love to be able to utilize some fancy widgets if i were to be lucky enough to fall onto a rom and kernel that drastically improved on the existing sucky battery life.
Smooth calendar is free and gives you the same functionality. More customizable as well. I used it until I realized I never have anything on my calendar. I live through outlook at work and outside of work I dont really operate on a schedule.
Like I said, there are plenty of Widgets that will give the same function of any of the sense widgets. I've seen way, way better battery life out of cm7/incredikernel
rcklesslydriven said:
The only problem I have had so far is not being able to set up the HTC account to see the new download options with the new sense. Other than that it is fast and smooth. I love the upgrade from sense 1.0.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should be able to set up an HTC account in setup. That's what I did.
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
As far as aosp, I believe Evervolv is a solid option. Not sure if its still actively being developed but I ran it for awhile not long ago and it seemed solid
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
I've found this to be a pretty sufficient replacement for sense on AOSP:
Sense = AOSP + Lense or Rotary lockscreen + CM7 Sense Theme + ADW Sense Theme + Fancy Widget Pro + Smooth Calendar + Pure Calendar + Pure Grid Calendar + Pure Music (when it starts to work on CM7) + Phantom Music Control (until Pure Music is fixed) + Pure Messenger + Dialer One.
Quite a list. Some of the Pure widgets can be skipped if you don't use them (probably only choose one of the calendar widgets, maybe even neither if you like smooth calendar more for example). All in all this combo takes maybe half an hour to set up and costs a few dollars but all in all IMHO time and money well spent.
Stability is key
I'm big fan of constant flashing. It's hard to ever just choose one, but in the end battery life and stability is key. Eye candy is also a good thing. If you like Sense UI I would recommend Incredible Re-Engineered, it's a great little ROM, although it has some MMS issues, but that may be GVoice based and nothing more. Magnolia is also stable and I find myself constantly going back to it because of that.
As for an AOSP ROM I've never had much luck with any CM version, however UltimateDroid is nice and flashy and very customizable. It has some minor stability issues with data connections, but I've found that with most AOSP builds. I can't speak about the MIUI ROMs as I'm not a fan of the Apple interface, so I don't bother to test out the iDroid ROMs.
In the end, honestly their is no real winner because every phone is different. Your best bet is to use some prebuilt lists such as Android Candy or The Incredible List. ROMs and Kernels are ever evolving and the only one to find what works best is you. So spend an hour downloading ROMs one night and flash one a day and see what works best for you.
Well...looks like CM7 & Incredikernel are the show winners.
I'll be even more impressed when I can open &/save pics and attachments from my yahoo mail app.
In the meantime...this is pretty slick, the new UI and features are almost like getting a new phone. If I had the 4.3" screen then I would almost consider relinquishing my wife upcoming upgrade back to her. Lol
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
I installed incredibly re-engineered 2.3.2 last night and I love all the tweeks. But, I still prefer the launcher pro launcher. Would I be better off going with a AOSP rom like CM7? Was thinking if I'm going to use the vanilla style launcher anyway it might be a better fit. Went with Incredibly Re-Engineered because of stability and speed. Have never had a vanilla rom installed so not sure what I'd get into. First flash went seamlessly so feeling a bit curious to try some more things out.
kylemert said:
I installed incredibly re-engineered 2.3.2 last night and I love all the tweeks. But, I still prefer the launcher pro launcher. Would I be better off going with a AOSP rom like CM7? Was thinking if I'm going to use the vanilla style launcher anyway it might be a better fit. Went with Incredibly Re-Engineered because of stability and speed. Have never had a vanilla rom installed so not sure what I'd get into. First flash went seamlessly so feeling a bit curious to try some more things out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can desensitize (there's a script somewhere) the rom so that you can use Launcher Pro with the Sense overall feel.
I too love Incredibly Re-engineered. For eye candy, AOSP ROMs have always struck me as barren. Not to mention quirky. I've yet to lay finger on a version of CM that wasn't overtly quirky... kinda like a BlackBerry OS. And the concept of going stripped AOSP then spending time and MONEY to get it where a sense ROM is seems... senseless? If you've got a Ti Backup you'd like to restore whole or in part, plus just logging in, arranging your desktops, and tweaking setting, you're already putting in a decent time investment I know I don't relish repeating trying to find a ROM I like.
Gotta remember too that there are oodles of good kernels (and some real lousy ones) out there that can make a tight sense ROM as fast or faster and as good or better on the battery as an average AOSP ROM. Good choices, even with a stock ROM, would be Lou's, Chad's, Ziggy's (if you don't mind stupid-slow wake-up speeds), and my personal favorite, the Hydra Kernels.
You could also do something like ADW EX from the market. That's what I do because most of the time I prefer sense. Then there is the times I want to theme my phone and have more settings. That's where ADW comes in. Just a thought.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA Premium App
IncrediblyRe-Engineered v-2.30 leave the kernel it comes with been through many this ones fastest and everything works for me its a Sprint-Evo port for Inc love the free hotspot feature and lots of different themes etc though blacklist on the boring cm7 is great if you've got creditors after you MIUI is awesome too especially if you like the iPhone display though charging your battery becomes all to frequent
So...I'm really liking CM7 with the different and extensive UI features, and though I'm not getting the battery life I thought I was, Incredikernel is alright, I suppose...at least there isn't any performance degradation.
Something that's got me confused though...I never paid any attention before, until I started playing with all this hacking, but everything, including the Rom and apps and everything is going onto the SdCard and I'm running out of storage after I download a couple podcast, let alone that I obviously want to keep exploring new apps.
I was under the assumption that all "installs" of any kind would hit the internal storage first by default and then the SdCard was just extra storage for the most part. Especially since I'm always seeing folks wanting to move an app to the card. Nevertheless, its an 8gb card so I wouldn't have thought it would fill that fast anyway.
So am I missing something here, or is there maybe a hiccup in something I've done? I have been searching the threads for some storage issues I seen when I first started lurking around here, but now of course I can't find them to save my life, and I unfortunately don't have the time to read threads for days on end. Can anyone point me in thebright direction?
Thanks,
Roger
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App