Develop Bugs

Rant about hardcore users, productivity and the Sense launcher

There are some things I can't get my head around.
From the screenshots of all the cool user ROMs and themes available it's clear they've been designed by clever people who use their phones a lot. So why does it appear from these shots they use the Sense launcher, and their default home screen has a big Sense clock and hardly any apps?
Presumably, like me, these people are pulling their phones out their pocket and putting them back there many times a day. Presumably also, like me, these people use a number of apps and widgets in a day that hits two figures. With this in mind, I want to be able to get to those apps and widgets easily and quickly. I.e., with as few swipes/clicks/screen presses as possible. I'm sure these people do too, right?
So that rules out the Sense launcher doesn't it, with its 4x4 grid limitation and non-resizeable widgets. Not to mention its time-consuming spin-in carousel effect every time the phone's security screen is unlocked. I haven't found anything useful the Sense launcher does that another launcher can't, at least after downloading other apps.
Furthermore, who really keeps that big clock on their home screen, when 1. you probably wear a watch; and 2. you can see the time on the top right. It seems like a silly amount of screen 'estate' to use.
Or is it that these people in fact have a more practical default home screen and it's just tradition to post the screenshots they show?
Finally, why do so many of these otherwise brilliant ROMs not mod the battery icon to show how much battery is remaining, percentage-wise? Appreciate this can be modded using the kitchen website. But surely everyone wants this info from the off, so is it not included?

Well, I'd never call myself a hardcore user - although I believe that term should be defined too, because I'm not sure it's interpreted the same way by everyone. That aside though, here's what I think on tinkering with the launchers. You buy an Android phone - be it of any manufacturer. In general, and especially considering the top level models, it can be said that there isn't much diversity hardware-wise. What does make a difference is the UI, the services integrated and how the phone handles them. (And let's exclude synthetic benchmarks for now, I don't believe they represent real-life scenarios.) So, someone knowledgeable going for an HTC device (meaning it's not chosen because of price or because of how "pretty" it is), imo, means they're attracted to Sense: those little nuances that do make the difference. Ditch the launcher and you've pretty much ditched at least about half of what Sense - of what HTC is about. But then, why did you go for HTC in the first place? And the same can be said with Samsung and SE as well, those who quite heavily modify the Android UI. Sure, you can do it, you can dump the whole customized everything...but can doesn't mean that you should: if you're a "hardcore user", however we define the rest of it, you know you'll have an easier life with a phone that runs stock Android, there's no point in choosing something customized (read: more complicated), with risk of locked bootloaders and whatnots.
And you're right: you can get the puzzle pieces from the Market (or elsewhere) to create a Sense-like experience. That's because Sense offers so many good things in one package that ppl are aiming at re-creating it, but ask this: if you want to re-create it, why not spare yourself the hassle and use the real thing right out of the box?
As for the clock: I haven't even owned, much less worn a watch for at least about ten years, nor do I feel the need. Actually they seem pretty redundant now that mobiles have become as complex as they are and being carried everywhere. But as for the battery percentage - I couldn't agree more, I wish I knew why HTC itself doesn't make it available at least as an option.

In addition to the great points made by breathlesstao, I'll add the following:
Many devs concentrate on performance, stability and removing bloat when developing their ROMs, so if you want UI mods like battery percentage etc then the option is there for you to do it yourself. It would be nice if HTC could add percentage but they do have a battery widget that shows it.
As for on screen icons, I suppose many people like a sleek looking interace with not a lot of clutter. Plus, the more you have on the homescreens the more likely you are to experience lag when scrolling between the screens. Personally I have every app I use often on one of the 7 screens and if I need anything else it's only a few presses away in the all apps menu. I like it to be set up with each page having similar types of app, so on one I have music / media related stuff, another tools / settings type stuff... etc. See my helicopter view screenshot below for an example. My screen aren't crammed, but then they're not too sparse either.
I actually like the flipclock as it integrates local weather and just generally looks cool... I also haven't had a watch since the 1990s.
Choice and the ability to customise things are part of the many joys of Android, you set it up your way and use it your way.

The replies are right in. As for the launcher I have people coming to me all the time cause their phone is slow and lagging and whenbi unlock screen they have dozens of shortcuts all over the screen. Of course its gonna be slow when it need to reload a the launcher and all those Widgets. I swear some look so much like an icrap with all the shorcuts when I see it I have to double check. Lmao
As for the battery icon, you have to edit the coding for the file to add the extra 150 images that make up the % battery and charging icons and the bigger the file......
Now the clock well to be honest I remove the clock from the top bar any chance I get as I see it as pointless. We have Widgets for that.
As for sense it has its pluses like everything is prebuilt in. Social networking (not sure as I don't use FB at all) built into contacts and all the other handy apps that it comes with. I mostly run a senseless Tom my self but that is only due to it be long a resource hog. But the contacts and dialer work so well together that I have not found a better dialer/contact combo. The sense 3 lockscreen is just too good. I have widget locker but prefer the sense lock screen

Some very good replies, and here is my take, i've been modding my phone(s) now for a few years now (Since the Windows Mobile 5 Genre) and I would say function is not the only thing i look for. I want "coolness", "graphics"... I love the way the flip happens when you unlock a Sense ROM ..I strive to make it smoother !
Having said that I do resort to simplicity at times however, and you can too. have a look at Cyanogenmod and get Launcher Pro.. Ain't nothing simpler than that with the most "Function".
The ROM above will satisfy anyone who loves Function over Heavyness and also it has the option of showing percentage battery amongst plethora of other customizations neatly laid out in the settings menu.
But sometimes that just isn't enough for me..I want a ROM with More......Sense framework is probably the best Integration of everything I've ever seen. Yes its huge ! But then...this phone ain't that weak either...It is a beast
That is why you have an "option" my friend...an option to choose non-sense ROM or a Sense ROM. You could go for a Sense ROM (if you like all the integration of sense) and get yourself a different launcher from the market if you choose..customize it with the battery percentage mod.... yourself... The Dev's like to leave the option customize some aspects of their ROM's to the users... mostly because its personal preference.
The Sense Rom cooks, mostly, give u the most basic thing... A highly optimized ROM with a stock-like UI. You can choose to customize it the way you like ! After all thats what XDA is all about ..do it youself modding..

Hi all,
Your responses are appreciated and it's nice to have a polite conversation about this!
You're right breathlesstao, what the hell's a hardcore user. I just meant anyone who'd flash a ROM, root their phone, perhaps mod some element themself.
So I guess many of you - suprisingly for me - are happy to swipe between screens to get to their apps or widgets. You like what less clutter for doing this. Can see your point of view! I don't experience any lag though, zelendel, for packing my homescreens.
I suppose it was assumed that if you're more knowledgeable you'd be aware of apps and widgets with more options and functionality than the Sense launcher and its own widgets, and choose to use the former instead.
To be clear, I do like using other HTC features such as their contacts and dialler. It's just the homescreen layout I'm ranting about.
In particular for me, a good GUI, as well as looking pleasant, is as simple and quick to to use as possible. So when, for example, I'm going for a lunchbreak at work it's satisfying to be able to put my music or podcast-player on in a second without having to hunt it down.

i keep meaning to try a non sense rom but i like virtuous unity 2.39 sense 3.0 rom so much i´m loathe to part with it.
i know it only takes twenty minutes to go back to it but i just find it does everything in such a pleasant manner.. its smooth fast responsive and most of all it looks the buisness. plus as others have said you dont have to use all that sense stuff if you dont want to.
for music i do tend to use the stock player but i have been playing with other ones of late same with video but things like the clock and weather widgets for me are much more polished on the sense versions than anything comparible available from the market. plus i´ve not had any problem running low on ram or anything, the dhd is more than capable of handling sense 3.0 and whatever else one cares to throw at it without any hiccups

Circle launcher 1x1 widgets are the best
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda premium

killersloth, thanks for the heads up - it looks very useful.
ponk2k, you know I also use VU (2.39) but with Launcher Pro - have uninstalled the Sense widgets that aren't connected to anything else. You probably think what's the point! To answer my own question, I wanted a custom ROM for things like battery life optimisation, and the VU team's branding has seemed more user-friendly to me than the non-Sense ROMs. Though maybe I'll try one soon. While I've got you though, can I ask if you have a problem with the brightness dimmng slowly on command in most scenarios with that ROM version? More info in my question here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1292894

Capys runny 1.5 is perfection
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda premium

killersloth said:
Capys runny 1.5 is perfection
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
100% bug free? I was thinking of trying it.

CitizenLee said:
100% bug free? I was thinking of trying it.
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Just a fair warning man. No rom will be 100% bug free. That is what the stock roms are for. The roms here are for learning and trying new things. So there will always be bugs that need to be fixed. Plus some things that one person may see something a a bug while another sees it as a feature.

zelendel said:
Just a fair warning man. No rom will be 100% bug free. That is what the stock roms are for. The roms here are for learning and trying new things. So there will always be bugs that need to be fixed. Plus some things that one person may see something a a bug while another sees it as a feature.
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Thanks lol.
&by 'perfection' I definitely don't mean bugfree but it is everything I expect in a good rom. From the improvements to audio, the good battery life, and now decent skins too...
If it was bugfree what would be the fun in developing with it ?
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda premium

zelendel said:
Just a fair warning man. No rom will be 100% bug free. That is what the stock roms are for. The roms here are for learning and trying new things. So there will always be bugs that need to be fixed. Plus some things that one person may see something a a bug while another sees it as a feature.
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Click to collapse
I meant with the basic day to day phone functions and stuff like WiFi, video playback etc. To me that's an expected level of functionality for any non beta ROM. I've flashed and tested many over the last 2.5 years of owning Android handsets so my standards are quite high

CitizenLee said:
I meant with the basic day to day phone functions and stuff like WiFi, video playback etc. To me that's an expected level of functionality for any non beta ROM. I've flashed and tested many over the last 2.5 years of owning Android handsets so my standards are quite high
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Click to collapse
It is fully functional. I believe there is the bug in camcorder still where you have to watch play.the video in the same orientation you recorded it.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda premium

I haven't had any problems with vu dimming slowly no. I do find that the dimming settings on the ROM are a bit brighter than on the stock ROM though but with no noticeable battery drain incurred.

Thanks will have to investigate further.

zelendel said:
Just a fair warning man. No rom will be 100% bug free. That is what the stock roms are for.
Click to expand...
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...aaaand potentially not even those. I mean, they're made by humans as well, and humans are bound to make mistakes, aye? It happens.

The most productive thread i ever encountered !!! Thanks to OP

Will google learn from the devs?

Does any one else think that Google should be spending a lot more time here on xda and learning from the devs?
Just little features like being able to hide and unhide the nav bar, and edit the buttons of the nav bar...
Getting the smoothness of the stock launcher sorted once and for all that some custom rooms have managed...
The few extra targets on the lock screen.
You get the idea. Just little tweaks that are missing from stock that I feel should have been added from the start.
A company that large with that much resource should surely b thinking of these things before Joe bloggs comes along and adds it for them.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA

zolah said:
Does any one else think that Google should be spending a lot more time here on xda and learning from the devs?
Just little features like being able to hide and unhide the nav bar, and edit the buttons of the nav bar...
Getting the smoothness of the stock launcher sorted once and for all that some custom rooms have managed...
The few extra targets on the lock screen.
You get the idea. Just little tweaks that are missing from stock that I feel should have been added from the start.
A company that large with that much resource should surely b thinking of these things before Joe bloggs comes along and adds it for them.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
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If I recall correctly some of the new features in ICS from the Cynogenmod team (the only one that I can recall is the swipe away notification menu list).
But yea I agree, those little tweaks that you mentioned would be sweet to have in future releases of android...and who knows maybe they are paying attention and in the next (major) update of theirs we might get new features.

Yes/No.
I'm sure some Google employees might check sites like this from time to time, but more often than not they're aware of bugs before most of the XDA population notices them. Legitimate issues will be reported to their bug tracker quickly I'm sure.
People may get impatient waiting for a fix, thinking, the Big G is oblivious, but the majority of the time they're a few steps ahead of most users here and a fix has been in the pipe for a while. I'm sure it's someone's, or someTHING's job, to harvest pertinent info; Google is in the information biz after all. I doubt any Google (or AOSP) presence would ever be officially declared here; I can't picture that going well.

There is a gerrit for code submissions. If they are not submitted, good luck in seeing them considered for implementation.
However, devs like us tend to introduce problems as well. Unless it can fit into the master branch for all supported AOSP devices and appears to not cause issues with other items, it will be immediately thrown out.
Ever read rom threads? At least half the posts stem from problems that were created from tampering with code/adding features.
..and I don't want to hear "insert rom" is bugless, because it is not true for any rom.

adrynalyne said:
There is a gerrit for code submissions. If they are not submitted, good luck in seeing them considered for implementation.
However, devs like us tend to introduce problems as well. Unless it can fit into the master branch for all supported AOSP devices and appears to not cause issues with other items, it will not be immediately thrown out.
Ever read rom threads? At least half the posts stem from problems that were created from tampering with code/adding features.
..and I don't want to hear "insert rom" is bugless, because it is not true for any rom.
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Click to collapse
Good point for sure. I definitely do not want my phone to ship with the instability custom ROM lol.
And people won't be satisfied either way. They're gonna ROM their phone anyways, not all of these things need to be included in the shipping software.

Um...Google knows man. Come on, they are the largest search engine in the world. They know what CM team has added, they know what people dislike about their products, they know EVERYTHING.
I'm sure they are learning from the devs, also have to realize a lot of the things CM adds and the fact Google doesn't include a lot of the stuff is good for the mass, a lot of my friends have a Android phones.
I always root their phones and add toggles and the extra features and they don't even realize or use them because they don't care, but I'm sure they know what people do want and what people don't based on their search histories.

I thought about this the other day...
If any of these ROMs and Kernels were actually significantly better without compromising stability then the Google devs would be out of a job pretty quickly.
I think the main advantages of custom ROMs and kernels are:
- customization above and beyond standard - but Google wants too keep a uniform ICS theme.. and adding too much detracts from this... not to mention over complicating menus and settings
- performance from overclocking - again something Google doesn't want to do for stability and hardware reasons
- getting new releases and sources before OTA updates - for the phones that are Samsung controlled which have to wait ages for them.. and you can flash a stock image for this anyway.
So custom ROMs don't really add that much that Google would want in its stock builds

[Review] Sense4a - The joys and gripes of running HTC made software

So now I am running the TSM UltimateKangBang made possible by Nitsuj17 and the deluge of other people whose work is ingrained into the 0's and 1's that is currently making my phone's MSM8255 chip brim with life! Previously I ran the stuff from the good people behind TeamKang and their AOKP - essentially Android 4.0 as Google envisioned it with a little spice and Unicorn Porn! (Trust me, there is an app called that on AOKP, but it isn't what you may think it is ) Since this is a review, expect a fair share of biased opinion being present and categorical truths about Sense4a and the AOSP design! You've been warned.
I am not all in for the Spartan and frankly "cold" and unfriendly feel that Google went for on the ICS.. It seems too clinical, too sterile. Nevertheless, I do like it over previous iterations and I love the fact that there seems to be a level of consistency in the UI.
On the other hand, I love the feel of Sense4. It is cheerful and friendly-looking AND at the same time looks smart and professional, a feeling that I didn't get during my brief experience with a Honeycomb Samsung Tablet. On the flip side, the Sense4 apps seem to lack the same ease of use and simplicity that Google's vanilla version has. For instance, even though it has been sometime since I used the Email app on AOKP, I know exactly where each button is and how to go about the app. The Email app on Sense4, not so much.
The Good:
Let us get down to it. Things that are nice about Sense4 are the animations. Many are subtle, but the best is the most conspicuous animation of them all - the screen unlock. The little metallic ring zooms out of the screen in a magnificent way. Also, if you randomly touch the lock screen, the ring jitters with a forceful smash on the ground-like effect, causing ripples to emanate from it. I say, cool
The whole ensemble of animations makes the phone super smooth and slick. I had issues with animations and screen transitions on AOKP, on a regular basis. But on this ROM, I have yet to experience one, and I have installed ALL my apps to the point where I ran out of internal space to install apps! And still, the OS is smooth. At one point, I was contemplating the possibility of buying a new phone as my DInc2 with AOKP was not smooth enough, leading me to believe that it must be the poor hardware. Well, with Nit's Sense4a ROM, I am happy to note that that is simply NOT the case. Well, for once I am pleased with the outcome of a skin made by a manufacturer. It means a lot when a not-so-average Android phone user, like me, says "Well, HTC, your skin is *not* the worst!"
HTC also did a pretty good job with the lockscreen. The missed calls, messages, calendar events, etc. appear prominently on screen. I like the alarm and timer events too. And then to activate any app or action icon, you need to drop it into the ring. Neato! A constant issue I had with AOKP and I believe CM9 was that after locking the device with the power button, when I turn on the screen with the power button, the phone momentarily displays the app/homescreen I was viewing before realizing that the phone is actually "locked" and then showing the lockscreen. No matter what setting I changed, this issue didn't go. Thankfully, however, this is not a problem on the Sense4's lockscreen which does what it should and not reveal my secrets unauthorized, even for a moment!
The widgets are nice as well. I've been dying to find a Calendar widget that works as well as the one on Sense, and now I have it. The email, music and weather widgets are great too. However, I am a bit disappointed that the homescreen is a 4x4 grid. That is a waste of screen real estate, but unfortunately I was unable to use HTC widgets on a third party launcher (bummer). I also do not like Google's decision OR HTC's to make the app drawer have horizontal pagination. That is a major PITA and slow. A vertical scroll is so much faster to make you reach the last app... On the plus side, it has tabs for frequent and downloaded and you can sort apps alphabetically or date used or installed (I didn't figure that out).
The annoying:
However, it is not all rosy, even for rosie. My main gripe is with the design decisions that HTC made with their apps. Many of those decisions seem to add to the time needed to use the app and makes it cumbersome.
Let's start with Music. To go from Now Playing to the music on the phone, I need to press the back arrow (on the top) and choose "My phone". And then to flip through songs/albums/artists etc., I have to use a drop down menu. Meanwhile, Google Music lets you swipe the lists horizontally to change them. And it always seems to take a moment to load the song list or album list etc.
Next offender, the Email app. Its faults include needing to use a drop-down menu to choose folders that in turn brings up a list of folders to choose from. Google's email app does it better. Also, I need two button presses to go from an email to the next or previous compared to one button on Google's email app, though the AOSP Email app should have been made consistent with the Gmail app where you can swipe to the next or previous email . Nevertheless, it has the ability to show emails in threads, good support for Exchange email.
The phone app also hits a nerve. I believe Google's implementation is pretty much perfect and HTC's doesn't add anything new, excepting annoyances. All you get when you open the app is a dial pad and a list of names. I need to go to a menu to see call history and my phone book. Well, why not just add tabs like Google? The "People" app is basically what I am talking about. If you simply added a 4th tab in that app with the dial pad, that would be a perfect phone app. :disapprove:
Now the camera app is good except for one teeny problem (and I am nitpicking here) which is I need to go to settings to change the camera from back to front. But otherwise, that is well laid out. In fact it is better than Google's in terms of looks (I was always of the opinion that Google's ICS Camera app was made by someone who couldn't make small graphics and so chose plain colors to make the UI. Something I would've done) and also because you can either take a photo or video by just changing the button you press unlike in AOSP where you need to go through some button presses before that happens.
At this juncture, I'd like to note that I <3 the Camera on TSM ROM! It works! 720p video and panorama mode and the many other modes (except slow motion capture, which recorded at normal pace)! And no tearing in Camera360 or other apps! There are still some glitches with the app and the framerate of the 720p doesn't seem smooth, but that is understandable given that we are working with leaks only! So you heard me folks! If you want a proper camera on ICS, this Sense4 ROM should do the trick...​
Back to taking a swing at Sense4!
Now comes the notification panel. There are way too many icons on the top bar, especially when I listen to music. There are a total of 3 icons telling me I am listening to music: The headphone icon (thanks, but I jolly well know there are headphones attached to the phone, mainly because I put it there!), the beats audio icon (I believe this is a product placement decision. It is obvious that HTC is making a ton of money simply due to that software redundancy...) and of course the "play" icon of the music player. I also don't like that there are no notification toggles that can be hidden/shown as one pleases like on CM9 or AOKP (activating it in the tweaks causes it to show ONLY the toggles and no other notification when I have no notifications that can be cleared, even if I have notifications that CAN'T be cleared... )
Frankly I don't care for the "Beats audio". It may work better with some beats audio hardware in the phone and may be the actual earphones themselves, which I can't be bothered to buy. But I liked Google's MusicFX app... It gave me a nicer sound. At times I feel the beats audio sounds richer and more even, but the volume is low to appreciate the whole dynamic range... I heard louder sound at the same volume on AOKP.
So there you have it. My impressions on Sense4. The central theme behind the shortcomings of the HTC apps seems to be the usage of the drop down menu rather than using the more accessible tabs available on most default google apps.
But still, I must admit I like how the whole interface feels. I find myself unlocking my phone, swiping through screens and then simply relocking it as I have nothing to do! I can't take my eyes off of that gorgeous interface... As and when more tweaks become available, rectifying the shortcomings of Sense4, I'll be deeper in love with it.

One thing I have to say about the dialer is that full sense 4 is more like the sense 3.5 dialer where it has the people app included in the dialer. Sense 4a is more based on sense 2.1 where it didn't have this feature.
Sent from my KangBang'd out vivow

Thanks for the review. I was running MIUI weeklies from about July 2011 until a couple weeks ago. If we didn't get stuck with no new stable builds after 1.12.09, I probably would still be running it. But I wanted to go back and try something else anyway. MIUI customization is second to none, so maybe I'll go back to ICS MIUI as Nits does amazing work.
As of a week ago, I'm running TSM Sense 5.01 M. It runs incredibly smooth and stable on my phone, and everything works.
With the increasing stability of ICS roms, I'm thinking of trying one out. TSM UKB seems to be the ICS rom of choice for many. I appreciate your feedback, and may jump to UKB in the next couple weeks. One thing you didn't mention was battery life. How does it compare to stock, or other roms you've tried? I've been through the rom thread, but since you gave a thorough review of the rom, I thought I'd ask.

ttupa said:
Thanks for the review. I was running MIUI weeklies from about July 2011 until a couple weeks ago. If we didn't get stuck with no new stable builds after 1.12.09, I probably would still be running it. But I wanted to go back and try something else anyway. MIUI customization is second to none, so maybe I'll go back to ICS MIUI as Nits does amazing work.
As of a week ago, I'm running TSM Sense 5.01 M. It runs incredibly smooth and stable on my phone, and everything works.
With the increasing stability of ICS roms, I'm thinking of trying one out. TSM UKB seems to be the ICS rom of choice for many. I appreciate your feedback, and may jump to UKB in the next couple weeks. One thing you didn't mention was battery life. How does it compare to stock, or other roms you've tried? I've been through the rom thread, but since you gave a thorough review of the rom, I thought I'd ask.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh battery life is superb.. refer to this post I made: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=27465676
That is the battery life with just stock battery!!!
Sent from my vivow using XDA

litetaker said:
Oh battery life is superb.. refer to this post I made: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=27465676
That is the battery life with just stock battery!!!
Sent from my vivow using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent! This one sounds very promising, and I will probably make the leap when I've got some time.

Indeed battery is great. I took 29 photos today while at a job site and have been using my phone since 7:30am (now 6:33pm) and battery reads 58%. Skyraider hated when I took photos. It had great battery life, but camera would eat it up. UKB does not. Fantastic ROM. I do not foresee myself changing ROMs until I change phones at this point.
Sent from my Droid.

ttupa said:
Excellent! This one sounds very promising, and I will probably make the leap when I've got some time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery is great on ukb. I left for work this morning at 5am. I work in a poor reception building...the signal is constantly at 1 or no bars and switching between 3g and 1x. After 13 hours at work my battery is at 52%.
Sent from my vivow using XDA

I figured I'd ask here instead of the dev thread, but does the hot reboot option not work for anybody else on UKB 3.5?
Sent from my vivow using XDA

litetaker said:
So now I am running the TSM UltimateKangBang made possible by Nitsuj17 and the deluge of other people whose work is ingrained into the 0's and 1's that is currently making my phone's MSM8255 chip brim with life! Previously I ran the stuff from the good people behind TeamKang and their AOKP - essentially Android 4.0 as Google envisioned it with a little spice and Unicorn Porn! (Trust me, there is an app called that on AOKP, but it isn't what you may think it is ) Since this is a review, expect a fair share of biased opinion being present and categorical truths about Sense4a and the AOSP design! You've been warned.
I am not all in for the Spartan and frankly "cold" and unfriendly feel that Google went for on the ICS.. It seems too clinical, too sterile. Nevertheless, I do like it over previous iterations and I love the fact that there seems to be a level of consistency in the UI.
On the other hand, I love the feel of Sense4. It is cheerful and friendly-looking AND at the same time looks smart and professional, a feeling that I didn't get during my brief experience with a Honeycomb Samsung Tablet. On the flip side, the Sense4 apps seem to lack the same ease of use and simplicity that Google's vanilla version has. For instance, even though it has been sometime since I used the Email app on AOKP, I know exactly where each button is and how to go about the app. The Email app on Sense4, not so much.
The Good:
Let us get down to it. Things that are nice about Sense4 are the animations. Many are subtle, but the best is the most conspicuous animation of them all - the screen unlock. The little metallic ring zooms out of the screen in a magnificent way. Also, if you randomly touch the lock screen, the ring jitters with a forceful smash on the ground-like effect, causing ripples to emanate from it. I say, cool
The whole ensemble of animations makes the phone super smooth and slick. I had issues with animations and screen transitions on AOKP, on a regular basis. But on this ROM, I have yet to experience one, and I have installed ALL my apps to the point where I ran out of internal space to install apps! And still, the OS is smooth. At one point, I was contemplating the possibility of buying a new phone as my DInc2 with AOKP was not smooth enough, leading me to believe that it must be the poor hardware. Well, with Nit's Sense4a ROM, I am happy to note that that is simply NOT the case. Well, for once I am pleased with the outcome of a skin made by a manufacturer. It means a lot when a not-so-average Android phone user, like me, says "Well, HTC, your skin is *not* the worst!"
HTC also did a pretty good job with the lockscreen. The missed calls, messages, calendar events, etc. appear prominently on screen. I like the alarm and timer events too. And then to activate any app or action icon, you need to drop it into the ring. Neato! A constant issue I had with AOKP and I believe CM9 was that after locking the device with the power button, when I turn on the screen with the power button, the phone momentarily displays the app/homescreen I was viewing before realizing that the phone is actually "locked" and then showing the lockscreen. No matter what setting I changed, this issue didn't go. Thankfully, however, this is not a problem on the Sense4's lockscreen which does what it should and not reveal my secrets unauthorized, even for a moment!
The widgets are nice as well. I've been dying to find a Calendar widget that works as well as the one on Sense, and now I have it. The email, music and weather widgets are great too. However, I am a bit disappointed that the homescreen is a 4x4 grid. That is a waste of screen real estate, but unfortunately I was unable to use HTC widgets on a third party launcher (bummer). I also do not like Google's decision OR HTC's to make the app drawer have horizontal pagination. That is a major PITA and slow. A vertical scroll is so much faster to make you reach the last app... On the plus side, it has tabs for frequent and downloaded and you can sort apps alphabetically or date used or installed (I didn't figure that out).
The annoying:
However, it is not all rosy, even for rosie. My main gripe is with the design decisions that HTC made with their apps. Many of those decisions seem to add to the time needed to use the app and makes it cumbersome.
Let's start with Music. To go from Now Playing to the music on the phone, I need to press the back arrow (on the top) and choose "My phone". And then to flip through songs/albums/artists etc., I have to use a drop down menu. Meanwhile, Google Music lets you swipe the lists horizontally to change them. And it always seems to take a moment to load the song list or album list etc.
Next offender, the Email app. Its faults include needing to use a drop-down menu to choose folders that in turn brings up a list of folders to choose from. Google's email app does it better. Also, I need two button presses to go from an email to the next or previous compared to one button on Google's email app, though the AOSP Email app should have been made consistent with the Gmail app where you can swipe to the next or previous email . Nevertheless, it has the ability to show emails in threads, good support for Exchange email.
The phone app also hits a nerve. I believe Google's implementation is pretty much perfect and HTC's doesn't add anything new, excepting annoyances. All you get when you open the app is a dial pad and a list of names. I need to go to a menu to see call history and my phone book. Well, why not just add tabs like Google? The "People" app is basically what I am talking about. If you simply added a 4th tab in that app with the dial pad, that would be a perfect phone app. :disapprove:
Now the camera app is good except for one teeny problem (and I am nitpicking here) which is I need to go to settings to change the camera from back to front. But otherwise, that is well laid out. In fact it is better than Google's in terms of looks (I was always of the opinion that Google's ICS Camera app was made by someone who couldn't make small graphics and so chose plain colors to make the UI. Something I would've done) and also because you can either take a photo or video by just changing the button you press unlike in AOSP where you need to go through some button presses before that happens.
At this juncture, I'd like to note that I <3 the Camera on TSM ROM! It works! 720p video and panorama mode and the many other modes (except slow motion capture, which recorded at normal pace)! And no tearing in Camera360 or other apps! There are still some glitches with the app and the framerate of the 720p doesn't seem smooth, but that is understandable given that we are working with leaks only! So you heard me folks! If you want a proper camera on ICS, this Sense4 ROM should do the trick...​
Back to taking a swing at Sense4!
Now comes the notification panel. There are way too many icons on the top bar, especially when I listen to music. There are a total of 3 icons telling me I am listening to music: The headphone icon (thanks, but I jolly well know there are headphones attached to the phone, mainly because I put it there!), the beats audio icon (I believe this is a product placement decision. It is obvious that HTC is making a ton of money simply due to that software redundancy...) and of course the "play" icon of the music player. I also don't like that there are no notification toggles that can be hidden/shown as one pleases like on CM9 or AOKP (activating it in the tweaks causes it to show ONLY the toggles and no other notification when I have no notifications that can be cleared, even if I have notifications that CAN'T be cleared... )
Frankly I don't care for the "Beats audio". It may work better with some beats audio hardware in the phone and may be the actual earphones themselves, which I can't be bothered to buy. But I liked Google's MusicFX app... It gave me a nicer sound. At times I feel the beats audio sounds richer and more even, but the volume is low to appreciate the whole dynamic range... I heard louder sound at the same volume on AOKP.
So there you have it. My impressions on Sense4. The central theme behind the shortcomings of the HTC apps seems to be the usage of the drop down menu rather than using the more accessible tabs available on most default google apps.
But still, I must admit I like how the whole interface feels. I find myself unlocking my phone, swiping through screens and then simply relocking it as I have nothing to do! I can't take my eyes off of that gorgeous interface... As and when more tweaks become available, rectifying the shortcomings of Sense4, I'll be deeper in love with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This rom really is awesome. Nits has given a gift to the dinc2 community and I still can't help but feel satisfied with this rom (havent switched roms after I used ukb 3.5!!!
But you have an error. The droid incredible 2 has an MSM8655 chip (same as the HTC Thunderbolt)
Also, my only gripe with the rom is the music when you're using headphones, earphones, etc. The volume goes to its max when you raise or lower the volume once. Raise and lower it again and the volume becomes either lower or a little quieter. That's pretty much it. Doesn't bother me too much, but it can get tiring at times. Doesn't change how much I enjoy using this rom as my DD. I'd give this rom a 10/10 for its awesomeness.
AJGO23 said:
I figured I'd ask here instead of the dev thread, but does the hot reboot option not work for anybody else on UKB 3.5?
Sent from my vivow using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hot reboot doesn't work in the rom. Hope this helped.
Sent from my Galaxified ICS phone!!! Don't be hating bro!!!

david_hume said:
This rom really is awesome. Nits has given a gift to the dinc2 community and I still can't help but feel satisfied with this rom (havent switched roms after I used ukb 3.5!!!
But you have an error. The droid incredible 2 has an MSM8655 chip (same as the HTC Thunderbolt)
Also, my only gripe with the rom is the music when you're using headphones, earphones, etc. The volume goes to its max when you raise or lower the volume once. Raise and lower it again and the volume becomes either lower or a little quieter. That's pretty much it. Doesn't bother me too much, but it can get tiring at times. Doesn't change how much I enjoy using this rom as my DD. I'd give this rom a 10/10 for its awesomeness.
Hot reboot doesn't work in the rom. Hope this helped.
Sent from my Galaxified ICS phone!!! Don't be hating bro!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh, I thought that Droid Incredible S and 2 had same processors... Whoops!

litetaker said:
Huh, I thought that Droid Incredible S and 2 had same processors... Whoops!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nah, the s has a different processor cuz it's GSM only.
Sent from my KangBang'd out vivow

[Q] Paranoid Android 2.99 Beta

I just went from BAMF to Paranoid Android 4.2 and for the life of me I can't figure out why so many people are talking up this ROM, could someone please explain it to me because I need to be missing something.
The only thing that looked interesting was the UI features which do not work correctly. The Opaque Statusbar and Taskbar do not work. Randomly they will go back to solid black then never goes back to Opaque. The Tablet UI seems awesome but the Taskbar buttons are way to small. So I figured I would change the DPI but it makes the Statusbar clock huge and the notifications area pop-up moves half-way off the screen rendering it unusable.
So after those features are taking away there really is no custom / developer settings on the ROM so it's pretty much pointless.

A lot of people like a tablet UI but don't like the smaller DPI or visa/versa et cetera.

Jubakuba said:
A lot of people like a tablet UI but don't like the smaller DPI or visa/versa et cetera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Tablet UI is awesome but very poorly implemented it seems.

Shuino said:
So after those features are taking away there really is no custom / developer settings on the ROM so it's pretty much pointless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I came from AOKP milestone 1 to PA 2.99.5 and while I like the 4.2 I'm thinking it might be time to go back to AOKP. I thought the Phablet UI was interesting but when I tried it... it didn't work correctly. I do like the per-app customization but I'd rather customize other areas of the phone with my time. Add I miss my integrated weather on the lockscreen.

illegalsmile said:
I came from AOKP milestone 1 to PA 2.99.5 and while I like the 4.2 I'm thinking it might be time to go back to AOKP. I thought the Phablet UI was interesting but when I tried it... it didn't work correctly. I do like the per-app customization but I'd rather customize other areas of the phone with my time. Add I miss my integrated weather on the lockscreen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are pretty much in the same boat am I. I was just hoping something happened during my install of Paranoid and that's why it wasn't working or features were missing or something. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this ROM is defiantly lacking.
I am staying hopeful though. Once they get this ROM out of beta maybe Tablet UI will be working, and they will include some basic customization.

I do not see any problems with PA 2.99.5 whatsoever.. It works perfectly fine..smooth, good battery life, no lags, everything works as it should.. Once again, it is a matter of preference.. You putting up this thread was a matter of preference.. But once again, it is advisable that you do not complain by making a new thread.. Just post in the PA thread.. Molesarecoming is always open to constructive criticism..Once again, the word is "constructive criticism" the diversity of ROMs in the Galaxy Nexus community is what makes many stick with the nexus. so before bashing other ROMs, please just remember you not liking it, doesnt mean it's the same for others. If you hate it so much twitter it or fb it or something. >.<

Leemur89 said:
I do not see any problems with PA 2.99.5 whatsoever.. It works perfectly fine..smooth, good battery life, no lags, everything works as it should.. Once again, it is a matter of preference.. You putting up this thread was a matter of preference.. But once again, it is advisable that you do not complain by making a new thread.. Just post in the PA thread.. Molesarecoming is always open to constructive criticism..Once again, the word is "constructive criticism" the diversity of ROMs in the Galaxy Nexus community is what makes many stick with the nexus. so before bashing other ROMs, please just remember you not liking it, doesnt mean it's the same for others. If you hate it so much twitter it or fb it or something. >.<
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not bashing anyone work at all, honestly I just wanted to know if I was missing something from the ROM since so many seem to use it. I have used it for 2 days now and none of the UI tweaks are functional, or do not work properly or are just way to small with no functional way to increase size. But the ROM is smooth and quick with insane boot speed.

Here is info on PA 2.99+ in a nutshell. First and foremost, you all downtalking tabletui need to realize that it does not actually exist in android 4.2, the paranoidandroid team found it deactivated by google in the code for 4.2 and they spent their time making it available again, it is in no way a finished product, if you want to see it work good then download a version of PA with an android 4.1x base ( i.e. PA 2.54 or before). Now onto people that cannot see the big deal, well anyone that tried the pre 4.2 PA knows that there is more customization available in PA than any other rom put together. Now PA 2.99+ are all AOSP based instead of CM based so they basically are building this rom from scratch to improve speed, performance and battery life for everyone, this means that a lot is not even integrated back into the rom yet. Simply trying out the newest PA will not give you a feel for why it is hands down the best rom out there. As for transparency, that only works on the homescreen and in order to properly utilize it you must A. be using a compatible launcher which has the homescreen backgrounds drawn correctly ( i.e. Apex, Stock or Holo etc, NOVA does not work) B. Choose a correct transparent hexcode or slide the transparency bar to where you would like it for that said Launcher in the "apps" section of paranoid preferences. I am on 2.99 Beta 5 and have full transparency with no issues that you speak of (Photo included as proof), in fact, Beta 5 has added almost everything I want back into the rom and fully functional, I can hardly wait for v3.0, seriously, I cannot see ever using another rom after using paranoidandroid, it just has the edge on everything else out there. AOKP and CM have nothing on it especially when it's at 100% again, which will be in the next couple weeks at the rate it's awesome devs work at!

tabUI is not existant in 4.2, what you see right now is raw honeycomb. if you want to see how good it was install 2.54, thats still based on 4.1. but right now i got to make my hands dirty with this. i know that on xda most people do not understand the difference between developing and kanging, and they wonder "why's this rom slower than others" but someones gotta do the dirty work and im okay if crackflashers avoid ours. they avoid cm for the same reason.
as for hybrid engine, i dont think you have understood it yet. it works flawless and it gives you more customization than all roms on xda combined, IF you can handle it. yes, you are able to make a button pink in this and that rom, but hybrid can transform thousands of apps and components to the better, with practical implications that are unheard of. the apps that are running on your huge 720p screen were not optimized for it, they're in the same layout that applies to pocketwatches or stone age miniature phones like the htc wildfire.
as for opacity, no app, obviously, draws underneath the bars - why would it. the launcher can do it, but again - not all do. nova has even a bug that offsets the wallpapers which leaves a black gap. our launcher works, apex works, holo works and perhaps a bunch of others. no rom does it differently, simply because its impossible.
the real difference is that we are producing features that push androids boundaries, we are sick of a homogen rom culture that hasnt really moved one inch for a couple of years now. all these roms are the same, do you realize that? kanging has produced one grey mass and nothing stands out. when we are done with our beta we will of course bring in all the essential features aswell, but new features have greater priority. and these blow everthing related to it clean out of the water.
compare build.prop hacks with hybrid engine, its like night and day. this is quite possibly the biggest rom scene improvement android has ever had.
compare rom scene color tweaks with per-app-color, its like night and day. normal roms are static, they give you one color and thats that. our colors shift from app to app.
compare extended desktop (which also came from us) with per-app-fullscreen
compare our recents with clearall implementations,
we had the most versatile toggles on android in 4.1 (right now we're implementing a new panel which will come in beta6)
etc.
but you got to understand that this stuff takes alot of time. i know i could just rename an open source rom, call myself "founder," post in 30 device forums and make craploads of money here on xda, but i chose not to and im happy i found a few guys that think in the same way. im content with the few people that use PA and the support i get from those, i dont see myself competing with any other rom for that matter. i dont feel like i have to stop all my work now just because this and that rom has a minor option that we dont have at the moment.

molesarecoming said:
tabUI is not existant in 4.2, what you see right now is raw honeycomb. if you want to see how good it was install 2.54, thats still based on 4.1. but right now i got to make my hands dirty with this. i know that on xda most people do not understand the difference between developing and kanging, and they wonder "why's this rom slower than others" but someones gotta do the dirty work and im okay if crackflashers avoid ours. they avoid cm for the same reason.
as for hybrid engine, i dont think you have understood it yet. it works flawless and it gives you more customization than all roms on xda combined, IF you can handle it. yes, you are able to make a button pink in this and that rom, but hybrid can transform thousands of apps and components to the better, with practical implications that are unheard of. the apps that are running on your huge 720p screen were not optimized for it, they're in the same layout that applies to pocketwatches or stone age miniature phones like the htc wildfire.
as for opacity, no app, obviously, draws underneath the bars - why would it. the launcher can do it, but again - not all do. nova has even a bug that offsets the wallpapers which leaves a black gap. our launcher works, apex works, holo works and perhaps a bunch of others. no rom does it differently, simply because its impossible.
the real difference is that we are producing features that push androids boundaries, we are sick of a homogen rom culture that hasnt really moved one inch for a couple of years now. all these roms are the same, do you realize that? kanging has produced one grey mass and nothing stands out. when we are done with our beta we will of course bring in all the essential features aswell, but new features have greater priority. and these blow everthing related to it clean out of the water.
compare build.prop hacks with hybrid engine, its like night and day. this is quite possibly the biggest rom scene improvement android has ever had.
compare rom scene color tweaks with per-app-color, its like night and day. normal roms are static, they give you one color and thats that. our colors shift from app to app.
compare extended desktop (which also came from us) with per-app-fullscreen
compare our recents with clearall implementations,
we had the most versatile toggles on android in 4.1 (right now we're implementing a new panel which will come in beta6)
etc.
but you got to understand that this stuff takes alot of time. i know i could just rename an open source rom, call myself "founder," post in 30 device forums and make craploads of money here on xda, but i chose not to and im happy i found a few guys that think in the same way. im content with the few people that use PA and the support i get from those, i dont see myself competing with any other rom for that matter. i dont feel like i have to stop all my work now just because this and that rom has a minor option that we dont have at the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wonderfully said.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

PA 2.54 on epic 4g touch
I just flashed to this rom yesterday and really like it so far. I am interested in flashing to the newest 2.99 version. Where I can get the correct download for my phone, and do I need to update my recovery and if so, where do I get the link for that?
Thanks

btvolta said:
I just flashed to this rom yesterday and really like it so far. I am interested in flashing to the newest 2.99 version. Where I can get the correct download for my phone, and do I need to update my recovery and if so, where do I get the link for that?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the new 4.2 based PA roms might only be available for the Nexus series phones and tablets currently since the developers have started over building it from the ground up using AOSP source instead of CyanogenMod. I am not certain if the code is out there for other devs to build on their particular devices yet though.

New Android feature suggestions...

Is there someplace people can go to make requests for new Android features? (Someplace were developers might actually see it and perhaps implement the requests?)
I have had ideas for several features that I think would make my Android devices (I have owned about 6) far better...
- One of my ideas was the ability for more than one Bluetooth device (ie: wireless headphone/earphones) to be able to connect to a single Android device at the same time. I go running, hiking, etc... When I go alone, I often listen to music. It would be great if when I run with someone else, if they could listen to the music I am playing on my Android device at the same time I am.
- I have changed ROMs many times, but when I do, it is always a pain to have to setup (or recreate) my music playlists on the new ROM. Many (not all) Android music players seem to allow users to import music playlists that have been created on PCs or whatever. None of the music players or the Android OS itself seem to allow me to save a music playlist as a file (ie: export) that I can reload later, use on another device, or give to someone else.
- None of the Android ROMs I have come across seem to provide a (relatively easy) way to change the the the resolution (LCD density) so that I can make images and text larger or smaller on my display. This is something that is very easy to do (change a setting and hit save/apply) on every PC I have ever owned, but the few ROMs that seem to allow this seem to have a complex procedure for doing it.
- Ability to put Widgets in folders (on the desktop). I like widgets. I sometimes even like the UI of a widget better than the associated app. (Sometimes widgets provides a nice condensed view of the information/features, or provide simple capabilities like a switch to turn on/off a feature without launching menus and digging through them.) Unfortunately the Android OS (or the "Home" apps that currently exist) does not (do not) allow widgets to be put into a folder on the desktop. I would like this feature for many reasons. 1) The folder could limit the widget from consuming battery or system resources until the folder was opened. That way widgets would not use up my battery or CPU cycles until I opened the folder and looked at them.
- It would be great to have a "magnifying glass" (zoom feature) that I could use to make any specific area on the display larger (so that if I'm having trouble seeing something small on the display, I can magnify it large enough to see it).
I have more ideas, but those are just a few of the things I think would make Android devices better. Feel free to add your own suggestions to this list.

Pretty good ideas as far as magnifying just pinch to zoom in that specific area or double tap. I believe there are apps to backup a music playlist the bluetooth idea is actually kind of cool
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app

mediawiz said:
Is there someplace people can go to make requests for new Android features? (Someplace were developers might actually see it and perhaps implement the requests?)
I have had ideas for several features that I think would make my Android devices (I have owned about 6) far better...
- One of my ideas was the ability for more than one Bluetooth device (ie: wireless headphone/earphones) to be able to connect to a single Android device at the same time. I go running, hiking, etc... When I go alone, I often listen to music. It would be great if when I run with someone else, if they could listen to the music I am playing on my Android device at the same time I am.
- I have changed ROMs many times, but when I do, it is always a pain to have to setup (or recreate) my music playlists on the new ROM. Many (not all) Android music players seem to allow users to import music playlists that have been created on PCs or whatever. None of the music players or the Android OS itself seem to allow me to save a music playlist as a file (ie: export) that I can reload later, use on another device, or give to someone else.
- None of the Android ROMs I have come across seem to provide a (relatively easy) way to change the the the resolution (LCD density) so that I can make images and text larger or smaller on my display. This is something that is very easy to do (change a setting and hit save/apply) on every PC I have ever owned, but the few ROMs that seem to allow this seem to have a complex procedure for doing it.
- Ability to put Widgets in folders (on the desktop). I like widgets. I sometimes even like the UI of a widget better than the associated app. (Sometimes widgets provides a nice condensed view of the information/features, or provide simple capabilities like a switch to turn on/off a feature without launching menus and digging through them.) Unfortunately the Android OS (or the "Home" apps that currently exist) does not (do not) allow widgets to be put into a folder on the desktop. I would like this feature for many reasons. 1) The folder could limit the widget from consuming battery or system resources until the folder was opened. That way widgets would not use up my battery or CPU cycles until I opened the folder and looked at them.
- It would be great to have a "magnifying glass" (zoom feature) that I could use to make any specific area on the display larger (so that if I'm having trouble seeing something small on the display, I can magnify it large enough to see it).
I have more ideas, but those are just a few of the things I think would make Android devices better. Feel free to add your own suggestions to this list.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great ideas. I use Google Music to set up my playlists with my music on my desktop at home. No matter if I'm at work, over a friends house, or switching roms on my phone, as soon as I download google music, all my playlists and music is right at my fingertips.
As far as resolution changing, I would suggest Carbon Rom as you can change your density in less than a minute, and that's mostly because you have to reboot twice, but there are no force close issues or any of that.
As far as features go, I would like to see recovery feature addition:
The thing I hate the most about switching roms is having to log in to 15 different accounts again. I wish TWRP would construct a feature that allows me to carry over my sign in information for standard apps (Facebook, Webex, GroupME, etc.) that most people use.
Or perhaps, a ROM that offered three different login slots that attempted to log into every app that I restore using those slots first and if login is unsuccessful, THEN prompt me to enter login information.
Just a suggestion that would allow the end-user to streamline setting up his/her rom. What do you guys think?
PS: I think the multi-bluetooth device feature would be sweet as well. I have a couple of computers at home that I use my Note to control, it would be nice to have the option to control any given device in an instance.

As for resolution, that's much more easier said than done, since some apps would have to be rebuilt from the ground, or at least would have to individually be written and flashed for said resolution.
However, if there are a few apps that you really want to change (like for me, G-Mail, Chrome, XDA, gReader, etc), you really need to check out XPosed, honestly, I don't know if I'll ever buy a device that doesn't support it or something similar. It features on the fly resolution/DPI adjustments per app, one of the greatest MODs ever brought to Android, hands down.

The Note2 does what I need it to once rooted. I would like to see better prices and data first. Why have the next great thing when you pay out the ass and don't have equal speed?
I would like to see Android updates that actually make me want them, like better codex, performance, UI functions, etc. Some updates don't really seem like updates, like when Ubuntu releases a new version but you do the same thing as before, and you are left wanting more.

daswahnsinn said:
The Note2 does what I need it to once rooted. I would like to see better prices and data first. Why have the next great thing when you pay out the ass and don't have equal speed?
I would like to see Android updates that actually make me want them, like better codex, performance, UI functions, etc. Some updates don't really seem like updates, like when Ubuntu releases a new version but you do the same thing as before, and you are left wanting more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree somewhat. However, I think that the 4.2.2 roms with Linaro are noticeably faster than other 4.2.2 roms without it. Carbon is much faster without me having to use apps like Pimp My Rom and Lag Reducer without compromising my battery performance.
Halo is also another great custom feature that may one day rival the stock multi-window feature.
I also like the profile triggers built into Carbon, bluetooth and wifi triggers are wonderful, hopefully we can get some GPS triggers, then we will really be in business lol.
All in all, I agree with you though, we need some REAL POWER behind these updates. But I'm sure devs would say "Let's get some real CASH behind the devs and you guys will see some POWER!!" **Gotta look at it from both sides**
Great input guys. Let's keep it going!!!

lightning launcher has the widget in folder capabilities. It's my daily launcher
just saying.....
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium

Need the Android equivalent to iMessage.
Desperately needed and no, Google Hangouts (in its current state ) is not the answer.
Sent from my SGNote 2!

[email protected] said:
I agree somewhat. However, I think that the 4.2.2 roms with Linaro are noticeably faster than other 4.2.2 roms without it. Carbon is much faster without me having to use apps like Pimp My Rom and Lag Reducer without compromising my battery performance.
Halo is also another great custom feature that may one day rival the stock multi-window feature.
I also like the profile triggers built into Carbon, bluetooth and wifi triggers are wonderful, hopefully we can get some GPS triggers, then we will really be in business lol.
All in all, I agree with you though, we need some REAL POWER behind these updates. But I'm sure devs would say "Let's get some real CASH behind the devs and you guys will see some POWER!!" **Gotta look at it from both sides**
Great input guys. Let's keep it going!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See I like Touchwiz and the stock UI bs and want more of these mods to make into a stock ROM, sometimes I wish Sammy read these types of forums.