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dxTop, aHome, or Open Home? Which To Choose!
Alright well, I've been messing around with all 3 since their appearances in the market, but yet to pick up a copy of a full version yet before I pick one to stick with.
dxTop:
- I like the idea of how the screens move, but I do really like the idea of static pages.
- Can't really use skins on them yet, so that's another deterrent.
- Supports icons with bettercut
aHome:
- I do like its widget styles, but it has no support with bettercut, so thats my number one con.
- I like the idea of up to 10 screens, but as of right now it doesn't arrange icons automatically, so when you download new apps they will be out of place...screw reorganized 50 icons just to get 1 in there.
Open Home:
- Now this one I'm really starting to like. They give a simple way to install some of the greatest themes from our beloved developers here at xda, and my favorite, mannyb
- Has 6 screens (and im going to guess that an option will be added later on to include more)
- Has auto-rotate enabled by default, another nice addition.
- supports bettercut
As of right now I'm for Open Home, even though its only in beta right now so I'm excited to see the additions of the pro version. What are the rest of your thoughts? Maybe some of you know more about some of these apps if you're running the pro/paid version.
I have paid for 2 and ran all 3, open home all the way man! They have done it the right way, 6 screens, numbered, skins by theme developers on xda and bettercut! Oh and it remembers which screen you set as main one. For instance i set all my main icons-apps and clock on screen 2 and every time i leave it on screen 2 to go browse when i come back to home goes right back to screen i had left it on. So as far as wallpaper is concerned works perfectly, simply pick which screen wallpaper looks best on and make it your home page. Plus no scrolling up and down just side to side, auto rotate.
Ryanmo5 said:
I have paid for 2 and ran all 3, open home all the way man! They have done it the right way, 6 screens, numbered, skins by theme developers on xda and bettercut! Oh and it remembers which screen you set as main one. For instance i set all my main icons-apps and clock on screen 2 and every time i leave it on screen 2 to go browse when i come back to home goes right back to screen i had left it on. So as far as wallpaper is concerned works perfectly, simply pick which screen wallpaper looks best on and make it your home page. Plus no scrolling up and down just side to side, auto rotate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I'm with ya man, open home all the way thus far. How did you set the "home" screen number? Mine was just 2 by default, how do I change it? I didn't really see a preference or option for it.
Ok edit i see what people are saying in market, it should have option to save a certain page as main. Mine started on 2 when i rebooted, kind of annoying not to be able to set main page as wallpaper looks funky on page 2. Have you been able to change icons with bettercut successfully yet? When im using open home it just deletes icons doesnt change them
I just got the new update, noticed they have 7 screens now, and my default is 4 now (middle). Booyah, just what I was looking for
Hell yeah me too, this is awesome!!!
So open home is all side scrolling? No up & down like dxtop? And it allows you to set which screen is the home screen?
Beast84 said:
So open home is all side scrolling? No up & down like dxtop? And it allows you to set which screen is the home screen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure about setting the home screen, by default now it is the middle screen. I don't know about changing it.
Its side scolling, they set screen 4 as default so now there is a fixed default screen. If your on screen 7 and want to go back to main u swipe up or down and it goes back to main. Im talking with author about bettercut it seems to delete icons when u try and change them with open home
open home "lite" means demo or just light?
After reading this thread I immediately decided to try it. It is not bad, but the "themes" are misleading. The only thing that gets themed is the app drawer handle, and widgets (clock and search). I was hoping for a notification theme without a flash. I will see how this app progresses and keep it in mind with the other 2 home screen replacements.
Dxtop : that tab bar just the reason make me not using it.
Open home : Like the idea but the theme? cmon u can change the top bar, which is the main idea.
So im going with Ahome. i personnally like it, love the dock, and not seeing the tab bar is the deal for me. (I dont use alot of app so it a very good idea for me)
Well seriously, i think here is the perfect app for homescreen :
- 4 screen, diamond shape ( similar to Dxtop )
- No tab bar, but u still can go to tab bar by the original way (pull up from the bottom) u just dont see the bar thingy anymore.
- Both widget from ahome + dxtop put together and have to be free
- "iphone style" dock, for 4 app (similar to ahome)
- Work with bettercut!
If there is the app like this, i willing to pay up to 15$ for it for real even that is alot money for me lol
thulinhlun said:
Dxtop : that tab bar just the reason make me not using it.
Open home : Like the idea but the theme? cmon u can change the top bar, which is the main idea.
So im going with Ahome. i personnally like it, love the dock, and not seeing the tab bar is the deal for me. (I dont use alot of app so it a very good idea for me)
Well seriously, i think here is the perfect app for homescreen :
- 4 screen, diamond shape ( similar to Dxtop )
- No tab bar, but u still can go to tab bar by the original way (pull up from the bottom) u just dont see the bar thingy anymore.
- Both widget from ahome + dxtop put together and have to be free
- "iphone style" dock, for 4 app (similar to ahome)
- Work with bettercut!
If there is the app like this, i willing to pay up to 15$ for it for real even that is alot money for me lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, that's funny because the absense of the app drawer is the dealbreaker for me!
I have like 60 apps installed because I symlinked /data/app so it's near impossible to find what I'm looking for. I think that they should make the app drawer still there, but invisible like some of the themes here.
I LOVE Open Home. I have tried all 3. dxTop is alright. I tried it when it was in demo (when if first came out) but it was too confusing. Plus I worked really hard to find the theme that I really liked (fade to blue). aHome was alright... but I have over 150 apps installed so that was an issue. Open Home is perfect because it's simple that expands the 3 screens to 7 and supports the hard work of the theme developers. Let's be honest. I would be a little upset if I worked for countless hours to develop an awsome theme lke fadetoblue so an "perfect" home screen substitute can come along that everyone downloads and find that no one uses the theme anymore. Kudos to the developer! Now let's see some widgets!
Maybe just a thought for the developer though. I would like it if it could go from screen 7 back to 1 by going right. 1>2>3>4>5>6>7>1>2>... etc. Just a thought.
i think i prefer dxtop- i like being only 1 swipe/action away from any screen. i have tried open home and would like it more if there was a shortcut to jump to certain screens. i think 7 would get to confusing remembering where i was and where i was going....
i think there is a place for all 3- they r all different enough to each have their own following and be successful.
aHome for me....i love the feature of your top 4 apps scroll with any screen you are on.
3 screens, enough for me.
weather widget, LOVE it.
ive downloaded all 3 and use all 3..i like a little variety so i swap them up every now and then..i like all 3 apps, they all have something different. to me it seems DxTop loads and refreshes the home page faster than all the others.. i do like the docked 4 icons from aHome and the widgets are nice as well. and the theme support from Open Home is nice as well. personally i prefer DxTop since it does load faster than the other 2, and 1 swipe away from everything is nice. aHome just takes way too long to load the home page and force closes when the back button is used..ohh..and no bettercut icons is a downer also..fix the speed of loading, the force closes, and BetterCut usage on aHome and i think it would easily be the best on the G1 to date.
Im stuck between Openhome and DXtop. DXtop because of the widgets and the up and down action. But openhome has themes and 7 screen.
dxTop, definitely for me. The other two are basically iphone rip offs and I'm a firm believer that it's silly have your phone look like something it isn't. Besides, why anyone would want 10 pages of icons comepletely confounds me. I love how dxTop is compeletely "out of the box" thinking. It's simple in concept and executed well. I do wish it had better widgets though. Really? 10 pages? I have about 100 apps installed and I have about 8 or 9 that I need/want on the home pages... the iphone paradigm is SO cluttered looking. blech.
dxTop FTW!
sorry i love dxtop, i can get to any of my four screens in ONE swipe of the finger, two desktops were enough for me before but i decided that is i was gonna pay for an app it would be one developed my a fellow XDA member. i love having wo menu tabs, one full of programs run since last boot, and the rest of my apps.
i have 85 apps installed, i can't find a damn thing on my regular tab, and my folders are set up and when i boot i just run the programs out of the folders till the regular apps i use get into the other tab. PLUS dxtop color coordinates the runing apps vs. the apps in background vs. closed apps. i love being able to see what is running at any point in time, the second tab is like a task manager.and i have Close Everything installed so i can just shut down apps when i need to. there is no need for more tha 4 desktops till more *free* widgets come out.
Hey guys,
Just wanted to know if you guys would mind sharing your settings on ADW? I just got my Gtab a few days ago and I'm running Calkulin's G-Tab v1.1, love the rom. Thanks ahead of time
Settings? Like visual preferences or functional stuff?
adampdx said:
Settings? Like visual preferences or functional stuff?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both I would say...
Well I'm a fan of the minimal home screen. I only have one, and it has a few icons, a search bar, and the GV widget. So, I chose to go with only one icon on the dock bar and that is just for the app drawer. I switch back and forth between screen transition effects, but right now I'm using effect number 6: rolling slide. My app tray is semi-transparent and I have my desktop bounce set to 49. Fancy backgrounds are enabled and I've chosen a semi-transparent gray. Oh, and before I changed all of that stuff, I installed the ADW Honeycomb theme and I use theme icons.
Now that I think about it, there is a lot to customize with ADW. I have a few more changes but I can't think of them off the top o' my noggin.
adampdx said:
Well I'm a fan of the minimal home screen. I only have one, and it has a few icons, a search bar, and the GV widget. So, I chose to go with only one icon on the dock bar and that is just for the app drawer. I switch back and forth between screen transition effects, but right now I'm using effect number 6: rolling slide. My app tray is semi-transparent and I have my desktop bounce set to 49. Fancy backgrounds are enabled and I've chosen a semi-transparent gray. Oh, and before I changed all of that stuff, I installed the ADW Honeycomb theme and I use theme icons.
Now that I think about it, there is a lot to customize with ADW. I have a few more changes but I can't think of them off the top o' my noggin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a similar settings but I use 3 icon dock and I have it set to random screen effects. What do you have your Desktop Columns/Desktop Rows size set to?
Desktop layout is eight columns, seven rows. And I turned off the horrible indicators and the trash can. But in my drawer I have six by six in landscape and four by ten in portrait. What about you?
adampdx said:
Desktop layout is eight columns, seven rows. And I turned off the horrible indicators and the trash can. But in my drawer I have six by six in landscape and four by ten in portrait. What about you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had mines on default which I didn't like at all, so I'm trying your setting... Thanks
You're welcome. ADW EX is great and super versatile. Happy customizing!
I have my settings set based on performance. Not many animations going on and things like swipe speed are set very low. I'm on my phone right now but maybe I can upload my personal setting (not homescreen layout though --that wont do u much good) . I definitely have spent a lot of time customizing adw ex.
Hopefully ill remember to upload the settings XML tomorrow, I guess it can't hurt for u to try that way.
ralexand said:
I have my settings set based on performance. Not many animations going on and things like swipe speed are set very low. I'm on my phone right now but maybe I can upload my personal setting (not homescreen layout though --that wont do u much good) . I definitely have spent a lot of time customizing adw ex.
Hopefully ill remember to upload the settings XML tomorrow, I guess it can't hurt for u to try that way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be great, thanks either way...
These settings are a bit outdated from what I'm running right now. But, my GTab just went haywire on me (forcecloses everywhere, can't run a thing -- good excuse to switch to the Vegan 7 experimental, though).
ONE IMPORTANT NOTE: You will need to change the extension to XML - I cannot upload XML files. It should read "adw_ex_settings.xml"
Just drop this in the root of your GTab and "Restore settings" in ADW. I'd suggest copying your current settings to another folder in case you don't like mine.
Thank a lot man, side question... Do any of you guys had a issue with no audio on Calkulin's G-Tab v1.1 using Clemsyn's latest kernel? I ask on the rom thread but haven't gotten a response.
I've had an audio problem with. VEGAN 5 but haven't tried another rom recently enough to tell if its the rom or my hardware.
my audio cuts out a couple of minutes into YouTube videos, or any other media for that matter. Do u get no sound at all or does yours cut out like mine?
I just flashed vegan 7 so ill be able to tell if its something to do with my model if my sound problem persists
ralexand said:
I've had an audio problem with. VEGAN 5 but haven't tried another rom recently enough to tell if its the rom or my hardware.
my audio cuts out a couple of minutes into YouTube videos, or any other media for that matter. Do u get no sound at all or does yours cut out like mine?
I just flashed vegan 7 so ill be able to tell if its something to do with my model if my sound problem persists
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would work than just cut out and I have no way of getting it back besides re-flashing the ROM again, I have even tired different kernels and no luck.
Thats a lot worse than I have it. I'm able to just reboot and I can get my sound back, albeit only for a little while. Ill let you know how vegan 7 treats my speakers.
ralexand said:
Thats a lot worse than I have it. I'm able to just reboot and I can get my sound back, albeit only for a little while. Ill let you know how vegan 7 treats my speakers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I plug in a headphone worked but I have to keep doing it as my sound keeps going out :-(, sucks but will have to do for now..
I choose other wallpaper but it seems wallpaper being zoom in and upper notification block won't be covered by wallpaper. anybody knows how to adjust wallpaper fit the screen?
I was running CM7 -197 build on SD card with ADW Launcher EX. Due to the know Market issue, I would change the LCD density to 160 dpi to regain the Market. Each time that I would do this, my screen would squeeze all the icons into the middle 3/4 of the screen leaving a gap at the top and bottom where no icons could be located. If I returned the resolution to 161, my full screen would return and my icons would be spaced correctly. This morning I loaded the -200 build which has the 160 dpi built-in and I am back to all my icons crowded into the middle of the screen.
Has anyone else encountered this? If so, is there something that I can do to fix or correct? I have looked at all the ADW Launcher EX settings but see nothing that helps.
As a side note, I can run the ADW Launcher that comes with CM7 and everything is spaced correctly at 160 dpi. I do, however, prefer the icon and icon text settings that the EX version allows and would like to run it if I can get it to work correctly.
Thanks, in advance, for any help.
this may be a long shot but try changing your columns and rolls...
fix
Menu
More
ADWSettings
UI Settings
Icons
Uncheck Density hack
Done!
I can't explain how long it took me to find that...
Thanks for these suggestions. I had not tried either one until now. Unfortunately, neither suggestion worked for me. I tried a reboot after unchecking the density hack but my screen is still showing the icon rows and columns in the middle 3/4 of the screen.
If I cannot find a solution I guess I will just stick with the regular ADW Launcher. I just wish there was a way to get the icons to be a little bigger. Maybe I will just step up the power of my reading glasses.
I have the same issue. I also believe it is caused by the screen layout, not dpi. My setup is 7 rows x 8 columns (looks better to me when switching back and forth between portrait and landscape). No change when I change lcd density, but if I add more rows, the gaps disappear.
btw, I've had density hack unchecked the whole time.
I don't mind it so much because my screen is pretty full anyway, the gap is a nice visual break.
Might try unchecking compatability mode.
DizzyDen said:
Might try unchecking compatability mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've always had that unchecked as well. The only thing I've changed that successfully gets rid of the gaps is having at least 8 rows.
hikersc, how many rows and columns do you have?
tyderian said:
I've always had that unchecked as well. The only thing I've changed that successfully gets rid of the gaps is having at least 8 rows.
hikersc, how many rows and columns do you have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have 5 columns and 7 rows. As mentioned, I like to increase the size of the icons (and icon text).
I looked but could not find a setting for "compatibility mode". Could someone let me know and I will try that?
Thanks for everyone's help.
I would guess he means the compatability setting in Spare Parts.
I have the same issue. I have tired all of the above fixes... None of them have worked except changing the DPI, but that removes the market apps.
I am on Cm7 nightly 206 with the most up to date version of ADW ex. Does anyone else have any ideas? Even with more rows and columns there is still a gap of about 3/4 of an inch on both sides, or top and bottom depending on orientation.
Solved... sorta
The issue is definitely with ADW EX and the new fancy-pants dock bar.
The good news is that you can easily get your screen real estate back, the bad is that until ADW fixes this you wont be able to have your familiar 3-5 icon dock, you'll have to make the new "hidden" dock your primary
UI Settings
Main Dock
Main Dock Style
None (expand desktop)
The new bar is still persistent when you scroll across all screens... I'll get used to it... heck, I might even learn to like it.
mborzill said:
The issue is definitely with ADW EX and the new fancy-pants dock bar.
The good news is that you can easily get your screen real estate back, the bad is that until ADW fixes this you wont be able to have your familiar 3-5 icon dock, you'll have to make the new "hidden" dock your primary
UI Settings
Main Dock
Main Dock Style
None (expand desktop)
The new bar is still persistent when you scroll across all screens... I'll get used to it... heck, I might even learn to like it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow!...Thanks! This does, indeed work. I would prefer the old dock or at least an option to have the old versus the "fancy pants" new one but at least I can adjust the icon and icon text size and not have the big gaps at top and bottom (or worse...a crippled Market).
To tell you the truth, I have been looking at the regular ADW icons for so long I might just stick with that. None the less, thanks for coming to the rescue. I had tried a number of different things but never found the solution. Great Job!
mborzill said:
The issue is definitely with ADW EX and the new fancy-pants dock bar.
The good news is that you can easily get your screen real estate back, the bad is that until ADW fixes this you wont be able to have your familiar 3-5 icon dock, you'll have to make the new "hidden" dock your primary
UI Settings
Main Dock
Main Dock Style
None (expand desktop)
The new bar is still persistent when you scroll across all screens... I'll get used to it... heck, I might even learn to like it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much! I have been pounding my head trying to get this to work.
I was going to simply add to the themes thread that is a sticky but the title of that thread doesn't really capture what I wanted to talk about.
So I am starting this new thread devoted to cool customized "Hub" home screens on our gTabs. "Hubs" as in a screen for Music, Video, Games or any other topic you want to dedicate a home screen for.
Thanks really goes to XDA user fliparsenal who has a really cool thread in the Transformer themes and apps forum that has some seriously cool home screen customizations for you to check out. It's definitely worth a look for any tablet owner but I've got to tell you my gTab running FB 10.1 is looking really sweet right now.
Here's the link to fliparsenal's original thread in the Asus Transformer forums...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1218260
For my screens I used the three apps/widgets below but there are many more apps/widgets you can use to really create some truly beautiful home screens.
ADW Launcher EX
Minimalistic Text
Multi Live Wallpaper
And below are screenshots of my minimalist home screens. If you have a sweet home screen you've customized you want to share please post your screen shots here.
Well..
I was never able to get the damn MT black bar to stretch all the way across the screen...really annoying. Oh well. Here's my screenies that were inspired by your post and the linked thread. Using ADWex 10x10 columns/rows
Screen 1 is for work and has my work related links there
Screen 2 is for my video entertainment
Screen 3 has a hidden widget for Pandora by pressing the radio side, and a hidden widget for the clock/alarm by pressing the right side (i'd like to get a solid bar across the top for other music related apps, but I can't get it to stretch all the way!)
Screen 4 is weather
Screen 5 is gaming and has hidden folders embedded on each eye of the space invader with different games inside. (if I could get the MT bar to stretch all the way to the edge, I would have a title on this page, but alas...)
custom font's are from http://www.fontsquirrel.com/
wallpaper is from here
Skull:
http://www.skull-wallpapers.com/Artistic-Skulls/skull-tv-test-wallpaper/
Power:
http://www.ecardmedia.eu/r_black_and_white_photo_cards_26_power_wallpaper_black_symbol_78_50412.html
Clock Radio:
http://thelongbrake.com/photosforposts2009/111309_9thavenw/_wallpaper.jpg
(can't find the source for space invader, and sunset)
hey there
sjmoreno said:
below are screenshots of my minimalist home screens. If you have a sweet home screen you've customized you want to share please post your screen shots here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EDIT: evidently the latest version of ADWex doesn't allow you to use the full real estate of your screen.
I see you've got your black bars all the way against the left side of the screen..that would work for me! How did you get them that far over?
narddawg314 said:
EDIT: evidently the latest version of ADWex doesn't allow you to use the full real estate of your screen.
I see you've got your black bars all the way against the left side of the screen..that would work for me! How did you get them that far over?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They stretched all the way to the edge because it was created with the last version before the update. A lot of people have sent Anders an email about this and hopefully he will fix it on the next update.
Hi,
for some reason my stock Sammy clock does not look right... Ever since loading ICS mine has a black background, the font looks different (fatter) and the day/month/date is displayed at the bottom right instead of the bottom left.
Can anyone post their std clock apk?
Also, the original picture frame widget in HC was much nicer. It used tobe rectangular with a "play" button in the bottom right. Now it is either square or displays multiple images and has a "settings" type gear cog in the bottom right. Is this an irreversible change with ICS or would the old one still work and can anyone post that too?
Cheers.
Arghhhhh!!!! Now I have completely lost the widget! I have it in system/app/ but it doesn't appear in the list of widgets when I try to add it to a screen.
I don't think it it is the correct apk.
Could someone with the official ICS upload theirs?
Here's the stock clock widget that i have. http://db.tt/FAV0kukY
Sent from my GT-P6810 using xda app-developers app
Cheers! At least I have the clock back now, although it still doesn't look the same as previously...
Normal
Mine
Anyone got any ideas?
I'm also having this problem... the honeycomb clock looks nice, while the ICS one is horrendous. It shows up looking correctly in the widget picker, but its appearance gets ugly as soon as its on the home screen, without any options to tweak it.
Can anyone post a fixed version of this widget? I'd be willing to root my device just to get it back.
Clock Widget
Same problem here,the name of the day does not show there is only number instead.
I tried to swap the clock widget but it wont allow me to do so and I cant delete it either.
Iam new to this android stuff, does the tab need to be rooted and what program is best
to change sytem files ?
palexr said:
Cheers! At least I have the clock back now, although it still doesn't look the same as previously...
Normal
Mine
Anyone got any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this is dragging somthing back form the dark ages but does anyone who has(d) this issue know of a way of resolvinf this?
My screen just doesn't look the same anymore at... I used to be able to line up the clock and the weather app (stock) exactly under each other. Not possible anymore, there's a gap between the two.
Or is it just the way ICS is (if you use TW Launcher)?