Develop Bugs

[Mango] Making Transparent Lockscreens

As i am sure many of you know you can force Windows Phone 7 to use transparent lock screens.
How you do it is you send the image to yourself in a email, open the image and tap "use as Wallpaper". You can not send it over Zune because Zune does not currently see .png files.
But since Mango people have been having trouble with transparent lock screens, it glitches, it loops.
The main thing is that these glitches are predictable and with a bit of thought you can still make some pretty decent transparent lock screens. Now im sure more creative people then i will make better use of this but there are two main set ups i have found to make good Mango transparent lock screens.
Note: All images shown are mock ups, it is faster for me this way then it is to load them and take pictures off the phone or emulator. Your results may very, and your final result maybe different for i did not test this with Zune cover art, or anything that used the top of the lock screen like media players.
One is the vertical loop, best used with logos or vertical repeating text or whatever you don't mind repeating vertically. Since the Rangers are going to the World Series(and will win) and i am a big Texas guy i will show you using the Texas Rangers logo, what you do is generally block off and fade out the top third of the screen and the bottom 8th or so.
Here you see the transparent image, the white is the transparency to save space:
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You do not make it white, you use png transparency, it is white for illustration purposes.
Left is when locked :: Right is when tapped
Keep in mind this of course is not the only way to do it. By covering all the way across the top forces the loop to repeat down. By covering the top 1/3 helps keep it from looping the date and time, and if i remember the bottom section keeps it from looping the notifications and battery at the top.
Now that's all fine and good but logos and repeating it like that can be boring, so what else can you do? Well with a bit of thought and creativity (or lack of) there are more designs you can do.
Basically you take this looping idea and view it as the back ground and take a focus image to the left side. You use the left side to cover the time and data messages. I have done some where it creates the mirror look as above, also where i tried to make it create an illusion, or where i separated the side to make it loop like it was snowing.
These follow this outline where you still take block out the top and bottom but now the left as well:
This is a outline so your sizes will change.
Here are a bunch of them, these are ideas so nothing is finished. So in other words dont email me if these specific ones don't work for you, use them as ideas, make them your self and make them your own. Though if you make any cool ones let me know.
Sorry, but not really, that all but like two of these are anime based.
Rangers:
Windows Phone:
Asuka:
Rei:
Portal 2:
Portal:
This one i tried to make like a sword has cut it when tapped:
This one i tried to use her arm to look like its her other arm, even though i know its kind of backwards:
This one i lined it up to where the snow would loop:
Perfect Blue:
Evangelion Logo:
Nerv logo:
Laughing Man:
Rena:
See transparency is not so hard, and i am sure with more creativity then i have some one will come up with some awesome designs.
Oh if you want to get the images i listed here you can find them here: http://www.rklenka.com/software/winphone7/transparent/
Or i can post individual links, or zip them all up, the point is to get your creative juices going

thanks, works great. Using your Portal example now.

testing it now..
UPDATE : works , video below

Actualy does not work properly.

mrdaco said:
Actualy does not work properly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you have to send the png to yourself

If you Download one of the photos mentioned above and follow his instruction you will find it works brilliantly.
You send the image to yourself in a email, open the image and tap "use as Wallpaper". You can not send it over Zune because Zune does not currently see .png files.

I am glad you guys like it, i have lurked around here for years so its nice to be able to contribute. In fact i had to go around and make 8 random posts just so i could make this one with images.
I know with my lock screens i made above are not %100 perfect, especially when you start using the Zune player with the lock screen or with notifications. But im sure the more creative ones here will take the idea and run with it.
Thanks for the feature on your blog theOne

Nice, good job

Sweet, think you could make one with the wp logo?

That that i am doing requests but here you go

If your open to requests ide love a Phoenix coyotes transparent wallpaper with their logo.
Sent from my HD7 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

Hello,don´t know wether this thread is in any actuality but i wanted to send them to me and save as wallpaper,seems that it won´t work after all,yes i´ve send it to me,and tapped save as backscreen ,the next problem i´m having is to create new ones,so how did you done them,i have paint,but i don´t know how to create a working one

[Theme Keyboard] Make your own themed HTC IME Keyboard

Hey y'all. just reaching out to all the HTC IME fans out there, i recently switched to it as my go-to keyboard bc of its fluidity, gestures, and customizability but i never really liked the white and gray look of it, esp on our SAmoled screens. so i did a quick google search and I stumbled upon this:
Please keep in mind this is a somewhat BASIC theme maker
ALL CREDIT GOES TO gIMpSTa for creating this super, super simple online kitchen
Originally from: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=6014597#post6014597
gIMpSTa said:
The reason I've been slower at posting requests lately is about to come clear!
I have created an "online kitchen" of sorts for creating custom skinned, signed, HTC_IME high and low res apk files. This means you guys can very easily create your own skins and customize the ones I've created!
What is this?
A website you can visit on your computer or directly from your phone that will let you a> create a custom skinned keyboard based off of any of the images currently in the library (various colored keys, backgrounds, etc) with whatever text color you want and b> customize existing "skins" (will be known as "presets") however your heats desire.
Currently, it should be considered very beta. All the features that are here should be working 100%.
Why beta, that sounds scary?
It's beta for a couple of reasons, 1 because it's currently UGLY as sin (concentrated on features and back end first) and 2 because I'm actively working on it which means it could break at any time.
What is the point of this?
Besides the fact that you can now customize the hell out of the way your keyboard looks, it drastically reduces the amount of work I have to do in the future. Currently, i'm uploading 46 pre-themed apk files for every single update. While this isn't really a big deal since I automated the process, it slows down how quickly I can put up updates. With this new method, all I have to do is upload the original unthemed keyboard apk and classes.dex for each new version and my work is done!
Everything else:
If you select a preset, you will still be asked to choose each portion of the keyboard (background, buttons, text color etc). The image with the yellow border around it (you'll see what I mean) is the default "piece" for the preset.
One last thing, depending on server load it could take anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes to generate the keyboard. Most of the time I suspect it will be < 1 minute tho.
I don't mind if you use this to generate a keyboard and include it with something (theme/morph) or post it somewhere, just give due credit
URL for HIGH RES online kitchen: http://www.gimpsta.com/themer/
URL for LOW RES online kitchen: http://www.gimpsta.com/themerlo/
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Current feature list / changelog:
Start from a "preset" (any of my current themes) and change any component of it.
Choose any of my current backgrounds
Choose any of my current primary/function key styles
Choose any of my current "symbol sets"
Choose any of my current space bar logo/images
Upload your own spacebar logo
Choose any color text for letters and alternate characters
Built in bug reporting/feature requests (for new image sets, for example)
Choose any color for background image
Preview keyboard before generating it
Option to see/reuse all skins you have generated
Option to see/reuse last 25 skins anyone has generated
Choose any color for symbol sets
Added lowres kitchen
Added option to choose between 1.5 only and 1.6+ low res versions in low res kitchen.
Added v25 froyo version.
Added all v26 versions to kitchen!
Added all v27 versions to kitchen!
Added v27-froyo lowres version to kitchen!
New option: Create your own primary/function keys is FINALLY here!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Links are in the quote, but i'll put them out here bc i know most ppl will be intimidated and skip over it
URL for HIGH RES online kitchen: http://www.gimpsta.com/themer/ <--- i used this one. cant vouch for the other
URL for LOW RES online kitchen: http://www.gimpsta.com/themerlo/
Yeah it says its a BETA, yeah its in the Nexus One thread, and yeah you have to register first (one of the simplest registrations ive ever seen), but i just created my own theme and its working perfectly! When i made my theme, i selected "v27-froyo high res" (its default)
You will need Clicker.apk
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16210550/Clicker.apk
Installation steps:
1) Create your theme on your computers browser
1b) DL to your phone via any QR Scanner
--OR--
1) Create your theme right from your phone!
2) Extract the zip
3) Install the apk (both keyboard + clicker apks)
4) Settings>Keyboard>Enable HTC IME Keyboard
5) Settings>Keyboard>Set Input method to HTC IME Keyboard
Done
IF YOU ALREADY HAVE THE KEYBOARD INSTALLED you have to uninstall(or remove from system/app) the original HTC_IME_mod.apk or else it wont stick after you reboot.You might as well make a backup of your original apk, just in case.
FYI, im running Calk's v1.1 and am not experiencing any problems, whatsoever.
ENJOY
Edit: after rebooting/killing the keyboard none of my settings are sticking.. -.-' --FIXED. just make sure to install the Clicker.apk link above (link from VeNuM's Black theme thread)

This was posted in the alt keyboard thread but its cool that it has its own thread as its such a valuable tool, thanks for creating the OP!

[TUTORIAL] How to fit wallpaper correctly

I see wallpapers asked for a lot so I figured I'd write up a easy tutorial for people on how when they find great pictures to properly frame it out to work as you imagined it. I think among those less tech savvy and familar with image editing struggle with this so I'm going to attempt to help them here. We all know the built in wallpaper functionality of Android isn't exactly the greatest thing ever and usually does a better job of frustrating you more than it does actually getting the wallpaper you picked framed how you imagined it.. There are two great apps in the market that help makes this easier. Simple Image Wallpaper and MultiPicture Live Wallpaper...The problem with both is that they are basically cropping it for you to the correct aspect ratio using a center average. This means unless the wallpaper you picked out has the `cool part' dead center, it will still probably look terrible. For this demonstration I will be using Simple Image Wallpaper.
Secondly you're going to need a paint program that allows you to set custom aspect ratios with the selection tool/crop tool. Since this is a demonstration for the general public we're going to do this with a free program anyone can download. Paint Dot Net.
Recap.. Items needed
1. Simple Image Wallpaper
2. Paint Dot Net
3. Wallpaper
I linked an example wallpaper I will be using in this demo in recap item #3. Below is what this wallpaper looks like using Simple Image Wallpaper without any cropping.
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As you can see it cropped the center portion for you. You could go into any paint program and just cut out the glass and plop it on your screen but the problem is that it probably still won't fit how you imagined it because you cut the picture in an aspect ratio that is incorrect for the Nexus 7 (or any device) screen and the program will still have to stretch it and squeeze it onto the screen. So.. Assuming now you installed paint.net open it up and load the wallpaper I provided. Once it is opened select the rectangle tool, then change it to fixed ratio and enter in 800x1280 as shown here.
Now using your left mouse button click and drag on the image. The size you make this rectangle doesn't matter since it is always in the correct aspect ratio for your Nexus 7 screen. This will translate to your screen EXACTLY as you see it inside this rectangle. You probably tried a few times to perfectly draw out the rectangle to surround the glass perfectly but don't worry it doesn't even matter if you drew it off the glass.
Let's say this is what your screen looks like.
To `fine tune' this select the `Move Selection tool"
With this tool selected you should see dots appear around the rectangle. These are `drag points'.. Shift-Click, drag, and it will re-size the rectangle while keeping the correct aspect ratio. You only want to use the corner drag points for this to keep the aspect ratio correct. You can also click and drag inside the rectangle and position it around. Once done you should be able to perfectly frame the glass. Once you are done crop the photo, save it, copy it to your device and load it up in Simple Image Wallpaper in the Portrait selection.
Perfection
Use the same concept to now do your landscape picture (the image selection that is above Portait in Simple Image Wallpaper) except instead of cropping to 800x1280, you are now going to crop 1280x800.
Enjoy!

Revisions: -
Fixed accidental instruction typo & picture in step 1 - Fixed ratio / Not fixed sized (Sorry, used to using Photoshop :laugh
Removed instruction to disable scrolling wallpaper.. Just a habit of mine. I always forget it's a live wallpaper even though I've been using it forever.

Cool, fancy sharing your wallpaper?

Thanks for pointing me towards that app. I hate how Android handles wallpapers and it's always been one thing that bugged the hell out of me. I used Multi-wallpaper app in the past to mitigate the problem by only setting a single wallpaper but it was slow to load, especially during changing wallpaper rotates and such so I stopped using it all together with Jellybean 4.1.2. Simple Image Wallpaper solves these problems though and I love the way you can assign different wallpapers for portrait and horizontal modes with no lag in between.

[GUI][APP] Instapaper for Windows 8

Hello! I'm a designer who loves Metro. I'm tired of seeing the lackluster Metro app design currently plaguing the Windows Store. While there are some fantastic designs, many apps are just boring or don't fit in well with the Metro design language.
I'm here to help. I'm offering my design skills at no cost, all I ask for is one line of credit in the app's About page.
This is my first design. It's a complete GUI for Instapaper. It's very clean, modern, and most certainly Metro. It's extremely simplistic, but still has everything you could want from an Instapaper app. This app rivals even the official Android and iOS Instapaper apps. The design is based around the Bing News app and the People app. If you're interested in developing this app, I feel you could charge at least $3 in the Store, and make a good profit, which I would want no part of.
Below are some images. I have PSDs of every interface from the log in to creating a new folder. If you're seriously interested in developing this app, either send me a message or post below.
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This is really awesome sir,Im sure someone would be interested in developing such a great design

Aaaagh... don't quote huge OPs like that, please! Just hit Quick Reply and don't use the "Quote message in reply?" option. It just makes the page really long and makes it hard to find the breaks between posts...
To the OP: looks very nice. I hope you find a dev to work with. A few things to keep in mind:
1) Different resolutions, and scaling between them. What looks great on the Surface's 1366x768 will look pretty bad on my desktop's 2560x1440.
2) Different aspect ratios. Tablets in particular are sometimes used in portrait aspect ratio. It would be great to have a good UI for using the app like that too; not enough Store apps handle that well.
3) Snapping the app to one side or the other. This makes it much thinner and also removes the ability to open the App Bar (right-click or swipe in from top/bottom) and Charms bar for that app, so if it's going to be useful in the snapped view it should offer the most critical controls directly to the user in this interface. Skype, Xbox Music, and even Mail do decent jobs of this, although they aren't necessarily pretty.

GoodDayToDie said:
Aaaagh... don't quote huge OPs like that, please! Just hit Quick Reply and don't use the "Quote message in reply?" option. It just makes the page really long and makes it hard to find the breaks between posts...
To the OP: looks very nice. I hope you find a dev to work with. A few things to keep in mind:
1) Different resolutions, and scaling between them. What looks great on the Surface's 1366x768 will look pretty bad on my desktop's 2560x1440.
2) Different aspect ratios. Tablets in particular are sometimes used in portrait aspect ratio. It would be great to have a good UI for using the app like that too; not enough Store apps handle that well.
3) Snapping the app to one side or the other. This makes it much thinner and also removes the ability to open the App Bar (right-click or swipe in from top/bottom) and Charms bar for that app, so if it's going to be useful in the snapped view it should offer the most critical controls directly to the user in this interface. Skype, Xbox Music, and even Mail do decent jobs of this, although they aren't necessarily pretty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Post edited....

I do have designs for every view/position (I haven't done anything about scalability, but I have ideas on how to work with that). I only posted the two main views in dark/light varients to make sure people could get a good solid understand of how it will work and function. I have PSD's for almost everything that's needed. I've found someone who says they'd like to work on it.

Its looks very nice... and clean...:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

You should undertake overhauling a well known open source windows software. Most of them dont have a metro counterpart. Just pick anything, i can see you have a pretty functional design understanding.

[THEME] Opulence - One-Click Downloadable Home-Screen

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PrecieUX: Opulence is a one-click-applicable home screen decoration pack for BuzzLauncher users. Even if you have never used BuzzLauncher before, you can easily apply this beautiful home screen on your own device (whichever phone it may be) with a few clicks. If you do find it appealing, how-to-apply procedures are prepared for you at the bottom of this post.
Before moving on, please watch the teaser video I've prepared for you. I took time and care producing this video, so please watch in HD!
As the video read, certain privileges are available to only a number of special people. . . people like you. Opulence will bring the luxurious life-style that you deserve to your phone.
Ground up photoshopped matching pixel-to-pixel accuracy, tile-icons boast elegant details in even the phones with the highest resolution available in market today: Full HD (1920 x 1080). Designed and developed using Samsung's flagship Galaxy S4, Opulence is compatible with devices with other resolutions such as but not limited to HD (1280 x 720) or WVGA (800 x 480). Do not worry whether Opulence is going to look the same on your phone, because BuzzLauncher will automatically adjust layout and size of icons for your phone, whichever screen-size or resolution it may have.
Opulence is composed of 3 tabs: Main, Media and RSS. When you're in each of the three tabs, bottom of the tab you're in will glow to indicate the tab you're in. To switch to a certain tab, simply touch the tab you wish to switch to. Switching tab-to-tab is simply gorgeous: it feels like turning on a light-bulb by pressing on it.
The first tab of Opulence is "Main". Graceful widgets intuitively deliver to you information regarding date, time, your schedule, location and the weather. It has never been easier to see the important information so conveniently and so tastefully. Bottom third of the screen has short-cuts to the most necessary functions of your smartphone: downloading new applications, contacting your friends through social network services (folder containing short-cuts to different apps) and using your telephony services. The bottom dock is constant in all 3 tabs. Left tells you the percentage of battery you have left, and right tells you the time. Pressing the "Apps" icon will summon your phone's app-drawer that has all of your applications.
The second tab is your playground. It is worth a lot to live up to tight schedules, but sometimes you should enjoy good music or watch sensational movies. A big album-art of the album you're listening to decorates your second tab, so this tab will be automatically personalised to you individually according to the music you prefer. Without having to leave your home-screen, you can control your music player using the stylish control-icons already prepared for you. The Internet icon connects you to Google Chrome (but the short-cut can be directed to another application if you prefer another browser), and the Multimedia icon is a folder that contains apps most frequently used when listening to music or viewing your pictures and videos.
The third tab, as its name implies, has a gigantic RSS reader widget. Just pull out your phone from your pocket and unlock; the information you want to read will be updated and ready for you. (Press the bottom right corner of the RSS widget to add/remove RSS feeds). If the website you like does not support RSS, you can also choose to make bookmarks to your favorite websites and store them in the Bookmarks folder on the same screen.
To have PrecieUX: Opulence as your home-screen, please follow these steps:
* for convenience, you can choose to access http://www.bluepremium.co.kr/entry/PrecieUX-Opulence-Global. Then you can simply press on the following links.
1. Download and install BuzzLauncher by Buzzpia. Link: http://goo.gl/zSTxU
2. Access PrecieUX: Opulence homepack page: http://goo.gl/THRmS
3. Press "Download"
4. After applying Homepack, you can apply icons as you wish by downloading the icon pack for Opulence from the following link: http://bluepremium.co.kr/attachment/[email protected]
5. If you like Opulence, please take a minute to press the "like" button on Buzz Launcher. I've thoroughly explained the process in the following link.
http://bluepremium.co.kr/236. 1 minute you spare for me will mean a lot to me. Thank you.
Thank you, and enjoy your opulent life-style.

Thanx dude...
Btw, what about porting your leeche style theme also??

Looks very promising mate. Keep up the great work
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app

nice thanks.