Database Develop

Which Home App Do You Use? (if any)

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.

How Can I Change the Amount of Home Screens?

I've installed new themes on my G1, and some of them come with 5 screens. I prefer the default 3. Can someone tell me how to change that?
Please & thank you.
aBeautifulStory.

aBeautifulStory said:
I've installed new themes on my G1, and some of them come with 5 screens. I prefer the default 3. Can someone tell me how to change that?
Please & thank you.
aBeautifulStory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately unless the theme comes with the Advanced Launcher you can't do it very easily. You could always push the advanced launcher to the phone, but you would lose all of the themed images in the launcher unless you move them over and resign the apk.

If your theme DOES include the advanced launcher and you have 5 screens, you can change it like this:
Menu button>More>Extended>Home screens
You can change it that and select which screen you want to set as your actual home screen as well.

Might I suggest an easier, much more obvious solution..
Use only 3 screens? Just thinking out loud here.
I have 7 on mine and only use 3-4 tops.
Are you getting slow downs or something like that?

knowfear said:
If your theme DOES include the advanced launcher and you have 5 screens, you can change it like this:
Menu button>More>Extended>Home screens
You can change it that and select which screen you want to set as your actual home screen as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much, I have AdvancedLauncher, but I just couldnt find where it was, your answer worked! Thanks again! (I dont need 5 screens, lol 3 is just fine..).

crypysmoker said:
Might I suggest an easier, much more obvious solution..
Use only 3 screens? Just thinking out loud here.
I have 7 on mine and only use 3-4 tops.
Are you getting slow downs or something like that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, I only wanted 3, but some of the themes I had come with 5 screens and I definitely don't need that many. Thanks for thinking out loud, though. =]

Add apps next to launcher icon

hey again...i swear i'm going to suffocate these boards with 'how to's, hehe
i searched and couldn't find a way to "add" apps next to the launcher/app drawer on the bottom of every screen
can we do this in metamorph? is there another general way of doing it?
thanks!

truthlesshero said:
hey again...i swear i'm going to suffocate these boards with 'how to's, hehe
i searched and couldn't find a way to "add" apps next to the launcher/app drawer on the bottom of every screen
can we do this in metamorph? is there another general way of doing it?
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
refer to this, unless you were joking considering how obvious the thread is and searching it would not be hard at all.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=645550

the problem is that I ONLY want to add the apps, idon't want to change anything else...

truthlesshero said:
the problem is that I ONLY want to add the apps, idon't want to change anything else...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then I'd start learning how to code. It's not something a metamorph could fix easily (Can't just replace a png or something like that).

truthlesshero said:
the problem is that I ONLY want to add the apps, idon't want to change anything else...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You cannot do that with standard android launcher, you'll need a custom one like gde,helix, launcherpro, pandahome, etc

adw LAUNCHER (FROM ANDERWEBS) LETS YOU CHOOSE OPTIONS FOR DOCKBAR ON/OFF, LEFT OR RIGHT TAB OR BOTH, TINT OR NO TINT ETC. FLASH FROM ZIP AND ACCESS ADW SETTINGS IN THE HOME SETTINGS TAB.

as an FYI....it just says to flash the file..
so if it works like a rom, i have a telus milestone, which cannot be flashed for roms...
so am I SOL?

[Q] how to make go launcher icons bigger?

how to make go launcher icons bigger in the dock?
thanks.

You cant, at least not yet.
If you have an example of something, or know what go-theme does do something your looking for,post the name of it- ill let ya know whats up

Yup...got the same issue...the icons are pretty small...I guess by their size, they must have been meant to be used on Android phones...
Cheers,
Giz

Last two versions of Go launcher ex has this option.

yken said:
Last two versions of Go launcher ex has this option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AhAh! that explains it...
I think I got Go Launcher from somewhere and it was not the latest version...must check the Android Market website
Thanks bunch!

yken said:
Last two versions of Go launcher ex has this option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, I have go launcher 2.69 and I can't seem to find the option. Do you know where the option is located in the menus? I might have tried it by accident going through all the settings, but I never saw a change in my icons on the desktop or dock.
Thanks for your time.

ansar99 said:
Hmm, I have go launcher 2.69 and I can't seem to find the option. Do you know where the option is located in the menus? I might have tried it by accident going through all the settings, but I never saw a change in my icons on the desktop or dock.
Thanks for your time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It makes all icons bigger, menu>preferences>visual settings>icons>icon size
Edit: the 2.70 beta has the option to change just the dock icon size

Re: how to make go launcher icons bigger
I was able to find the menu setting. However,when I change the icon size to "large" Go Launcher changes it right back to "custom". Any ideas?

Go Launcher Dock Icons
I have sent numerous emails to their developement team requesting this option...and never hear back from them. If you have only 4 icons, the auto adjust makes them the same size, but not with 5 icons. There has to be a way to go in on a rooted phone and tweek their code, or something. I tried ADW since they have this option, and gave it an honest try...had it for a month or so, and just could not resist going back to Go Launcher. For me, this is the only improvement I would want at this point. I think it's a great customization tool, as well as stable. If anyone has any suggestions...please let me know.

Lockscreen help

Hey guys I need your help.
So far, I've been wanting something to the equivalent of CM7's lockscreen (because it has no "background" to it.) I want to change my LCD density so the screen is a 'higher' resolution, and the stock Droid 3 lock screen looks like crap when I change the LCD density. No I don't want to use CM7 right now (no offense Hashcode) I love CM7 but I need all my phones features. I would prefer to stick to a base lock screen and not use an add on app (for speed and memory usage.) So if anyone knows a .zip file that will take care of my lock screen, or an app that will replace my lock screen ( not cover it up) I will be very thankful.
Cheers,
Chaotic

just curious as to the point of a "higher density" look outside the native res?

640k said:
just curious as to the point of a "higher density" look outside the native res?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you asking what it looks like? I'm assuming you are, so depending on how low you set the density. (lower means higher "resolution" for some reason) I set mine to 190, stock is 240, and everything is crystal clear, no display problems, and the apps and widgets take up less space (more apps per page for me is a plus) I honestly love it, the only problem is the lockscreen background (slider and volume switch) doesn't match up at all.

ChaoticWeaponry said:
Are you asking what it looks like? I'm assuming you are, so depending on how low you set the density. (lower means higher "resolution" for some reason) I set mine to 190, stock is 240, and everything is crystal clear, no display problems, and the apps and widgets take up less space (more apps per page for me is a plus) I honestly love it, the only problem is the lockscreen background (slider and volume switch) doesn't match up at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haven't tried myself to rise the density. So I'm not sure if it works, but you can try with a third party lock screen, like widgetlocker, lockbot, or agile lock)

The Solutor said:
Haven't tried myself to rise the density. So I'm not sure if it works, but you can try with a third party lock screen, like widgetlocker, lockbot, or agile lock)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I've tried 2 of those. The only problem with that is those aren't built into the framework of the ROM. I want something that works 24/7, instantly after startup, screen lock, etc. I'll try agile lock as I havent used that yet. Thanks for the suggestions!

On HTC phones, the default lockscreen isn't built in to the framework too, i consider it a plus as you can get back the AOSP lockscreen just uninstalling the apk.

The Solutor said:
On HTC phones, the default lockscreen isn't built in to the framework too, i consider it a plus as you can get back the AOSP lockscreen just uninstalling the apk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm. Interesting.. Well the best lockscreen replacement app I've found is widgetlocker, because it uses root to actually "replace / remove" the stock lockscreen.

ChaoticWeaponry said:
Hmm. Interesting.. Well the best lockscreen replacement app I've found is widgetlocker, because it uses root to actually "replace / remove" the stock lockscreen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Surely is the one with the best features (eg. you can slide to unlock, or add a flashlight slider) lockbot is slow (at least it was when i tried it), agile is nice if you like the sense stile (and I'm not one of them), btw agile has a nice feature: it overcome one of the most annoying things on the default motorola home (unlike any other launcher app,if you install an alternate launcher you loose the ability to launch it)

how exactly did you change the density?
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App

blingchopr said:
how exactly did you change the density?
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can get apps off of the market, I use Rom Toolbox (got it off of the internet because I didn't want to pay) or you could search Density Changer. Theres tons of apps on the market, and don't set your density below 180 (at that point everything is too small to read). I use 190 - 200..

I found where the lockscreen background is located..
On /system/framework/framework-res.apk/res/drawable-hdpi.
Its called zz_moto_lockscreen_sd_door.png
and another with _land.png after "door".
Is there a way to remove this without destroying my phones integrity?

Open it up in Photoshop, GIMP, or any other image editing program that accepts transparent backgrounds. Then all you do is select it all, and erase it.

dpwhitty11 said:
Open it up in Photoshop, GIMP, or any other image editing program that accepts transparent backgrounds. Then all you do is select it all, and erase it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only problem with that is the fact that all the files are in the framework-res.apk file. I have no idea how to pull the file out and then put the modified file back in. I was using root explorer to find it..
Edit : Oh and root explorer only has the option to extract the file when I long-press it. No deleting or other options.

ChaoticWeaponry said:
The only problem with that is the fact that all the files are in the framework-res.apk file. I have no idea how to pull the file out and then put the modified file back in. I was using root explorer to find it..
Edit : Oh and root explorer only has the option to extract the file when I long-press it. No deleting or other options.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Copy the framework-res.apk and paste it in the root of your SD, then put it on your PC and unzip with 7zip. When you're done, Zip it back up and rename from .zip to .apk

Thank you so much! Haha I'm new to android so I have a pretty large learning curve from all the days of hacking my and my friends ipods/iphones.

Sorry, another question, would I have to use ADB shell to push the file back onto my phone, or is it safe to use root explorer to just put the file back into it's place?

Nevermind guys. I just flashed Liberty, and it has all of the stuff that I need. So if the mods want to lock this thread or leave it open for future purposes, its on you. Thanks for everyones help!
Chaotic