Database Develop

Novice Wing Modder with Some Questions....

Hey folks, I got my Wing a couple of weeks ago and I love it. I had a treo before, and this makes me much happier. I had gotten into modding the UI a bit and playing around with the best combos of third-party software on my old treo, so I started playing with my Wing. Well, I've gotten probably mid-level with my technical modding competency thus far. I'm comfortable with most progs and mods I've found below actually flashing the ROM, and I'd think about that too, but I've gathered that most of the TF roms out have trouble on the Wing. So far, I'm overclocked to 260, tweaked some stuff in the registry, installed the HTC Touch UI minus the cube and all that, but I'm not quite happy. So, I have some questions:
On the HTC Home 5 tab skin:
1. Is there any way to put custom icons in the launcher area? Not just style-wise(though that would be good), but that link to things that aren't on the list? I'd really love to but a button that would take me to "settings" in there, like the one that takes you to "programs". I have a few other ideas too.
2. On the weather tab, I know there is a way to add cities to the "select city" list by getting the city code off of accuweather.com and changing the registry, but I can't figure out how to get the code for my city when I look it up on the site...I search it, and it comes up, but where is the code?
3. I put the HTC black theme on here, but I wondered, are there any others available? I know I've seen a blue one, and I think I've seen pictures of an HTC Touch that had a red theme....
Other Stuff:
1. I tried to up my page pool to 6mb like it says in the "all you need to know" thread, but the preparation app wont work....I install it, but nothing happens after that....I can't find it to open or anything else...Is installing it enough?
2. Is there any way to keep wm6 from putting the recently used programs on the start menu?
3. Is there any way to change the two links on the bottom bar that the soft keys are mapped to? Not change what the keys are mapped to, but like, change "Calendar" to "Settings" or "Contacts" to "Messaging", for example?
4. Is there anything out there that would let me navigate my phone with my finger? I know certain programs have this capability, like Opera Mobile's latest beta and PocketCM(which I use), but I'd like it on all windows that require scrolling....
Apps:
1. Anyone know the best app to use to stream radio and/or tv on my phone?
2. What's the best way to watch youtube? I wouldn't ask, but I've found like three or four different threads/articles on ways to do it, and I don't know which I should use. I prefer to use Opera as my browser, but I can use PIE now and then, if the process actually lets me watch it in my browser....
3. Can ya suggest any good games?
Well, thanks in advance for any help you can give. I've been trolling here for a while, so I know there are some very smart people here and I have faith. Sorry for asking so much, and forgive me if I should have broken this up a bit into different threads, but I'm trying to perfect my phone, and this was basically what was left on my list....Any other tips on how to achieve my goal of making a nice, clean, finger-friendly UI and putting the picking the best apps would be appreciated too.
Peace.

Ok, I figured out the HTC weather thing, and the today softkey thing, so I'm good there. Any help on the rest?

I can cover a few for you but any more's gonna cost ya....
flash your phone with either of the touch roms out right now and you will be able to finger scroll in nearly all applications.
try avotmv, or search using google for similar programs for streaming videos(avotMv includes youtube as well as google).
Many streams to tv stations can be opened with WMP directly which makes it alot easier to connect to them by saving them as PIE favourites. You just need to find 'em first, I would suggest doing that from your computer first.
I've recommended Flux Challenge before, ill do it again...apart from that I don't run too many games from my pocket pc. Seal Volleyball is kinda fun too.
Maybe some others can assist you with the rest
cheers

Wing help needed, please help

I just recently upgraded to the wing. So far...........it's had it's ups and downs with me. As with any phone, there are somethings I like, and other's I don't.
I wanted to ask a few of you a couple of questions. Before asking, I know others have asked some of these questions on here already, but I wanted to ask them from a n00b's pov. I haven't modded squat with this phone yet and don't really know much about it to be honest. I did successfully mod the living daylights outta my V3r, so.........I know how to follow directions lol. But as far as being directed to a website to download.............won't exactly work lol. Anywho, here are my questions:
1) How do I increase program memory?
2) I had a video file on my phone that played smoothly. I had some issues with the wing (long story), but long story short, I had to do a hard reset. I've only had it like 5 days (TMo 3rd level tech support told me to reset). Ever since that reset (and having to reput that exact same video with no changes made), the video now plays choppy on the phone. Any idea why?
3) Are there any programs that I can remove without damaging any of the system files?
4) For the life of me, I never have understood why phones come prestocked with those goffy photos, gifs, and other garbage. Is there a way to remove these?
5) Is there a way to increase the size of contact pictures when they call?
6) I was also reading that there's supposed to be some kind of "update". What will it do and does anyone know when it's coming out?
I appologize for asking some questions that have already been asked, but I really need someone to walk me through "step by step", especially considering how much this phone costs. I DEFINITLY don't wanna mess it up. If someone, ANYONE, can help, I'd be greatly appreciative.
Oh yeah, one more question. Any tips and/or tricks that the phone does that the manual doesn't tell you?

djwill13 said:
I just recently upgraded to the wing. So far...........it's had it's ups and downs with me. As with any phone, there are somethings I like, and other's I don't.
I wanted to ask a few of you a couple of questions. Before asking, I know others have asked some of these questions on here already, but I wanted to ask them from a n00b's pov. I haven't modded squat with this phone yet and don't really know much about it to be honest. I did successfully mod the living daylights outta my V3r, so.........I know how to follow directions lol. But as far as being directed to a website to download.............won't exactly work lol. Anywho, here are my questions:
1) How do I increase program memory?
2) I had a video file on my phone that played smoothly. I had some issues with the wing (long story), but long story short, I had to do a hard reset. I've only had it like 5 days (TMo 3rd level tech support told me to reset). Ever since that reset (and having to reput that exact same video with no changes made), the video now plays choppy on the phone. Any idea why?
3) Are there any programs that I can remove without damaging any of the system files?
4) For the life of me, I never have understood why phones come prestocked with those goffy photos, gifs, and other garbage. Is there a way to remove these?
5) Is there a way to increase the size of contact pictures when they call?
6) I was also reading that there's supposed to be some kind of "update". What will it do and does anyone know when it's coming out?
I appologize for asking some questions that have already been asked, but I really need someone to walk me through "step by step", especially considering how much this phone costs. I DEFINITLY don't wanna mess it up. If someone, ANYONE, can help, I'd be greatly appreciative.
Oh yeah, one more question. Any tips and/or tricks that the phone does that the manual doesn't tell you?
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Click to collapse
1.) At the moment keep it clean, there was a thread on here a while ago where someone (moneytoo?) was tweeking his to run better but I dont remember what the last update was. Keep the memory clean and you can run things until we get more updates or a cooked fix.
2.)Not sure what would cause the vid file to be choppy unless you are running too many things at the same time, whats the specs on the vid, and what player are you using to watch it? If its the built in WMP then thats most likely your issue.
3.)Yeah, depends on what you want to remove?
4.)Yes, open the pictures & Videos, right soft key number 4 delete.
5.)Not that I know of, but I would bet you can go into the phones system files and pull the incoming c all display file and tweek it to be larger. Mine is something around half screen by default I think, never paid attention to it really...
6.)I heard that it was late March to April(most likely late April) but that could change.
Theres a lot that the manual does not tell you, you can go into the regestry to change your start menu look, you can open the home page XML file and redesign it for your personal tasts(IE on the nice HTC home screen you can have a start menu and other stuff) Just depends on what type of things you want to do with it.
This is my first smartphone and I am still learning, there are a lot more inteligent people on here than I and I am sure they will chime in with their tweaks and stuff, or correct my mistakes if I had some. I was pretty wary at first since it was such a different platform to me, but after about a month I got to know it and since I know computers so well did not mind playing in the registry and so forth. Just back up your ROM before you tweek in case you do toast something.
Enjoy the phone and welcome

10332007 said:
1.) At the moment keep it clean, there was a thread on here a while ago where someone (moneytoo?) was tweeking his to run better but I dont remember what the last update was. Keep the memory clean and you can run things until we get more updates or a cooked fix.
2.)Not sure what would cause the vid file to be choppy unless you are running too many things at the same time, whats the specs on the vid, and what player are you using to watch it? If its the built in WMP then thats most likely your issue.
3.)Yeah, depends on what you want to remove?
4.)Yes, open the pictures & Videos, right soft key number 4 delete.
5.)Not that I know of, but I would bet you can go into the phones system files and pull the incoming c all display file and tweek it to be larger. Mine is something around half screen by default I think, never paid attention to it really...
6.)I heard that it was late March to April(most likely late April) but that could change.
Theres a lot that the manual does not tell you, you can go into the regestry to change your start menu look, you can open the home page XML file and redesign it for your personal tasts(IE on the nice HTC home screen you can have a start menu and other stuff) Just depends on what type of things you want to do with it.
This is my first smartphone and I am still learning, there are a lot more inteligent people on here than I and I am sure they will chime in with their tweaks and stuff, or correct my mistakes if I had some. I was pretty wary at first since it was such a different platform to me, but after about a month I got to know it and since I know computers so well did not mind playing in the registry and so forth. Just back up your ROM before you tweek in case you do toast something.
Enjoy the phone and welcome
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your answers, they're greatly appreciated.
2) It's the built in wmp. How do I remove it and what do I replace it with? Furthermore, what do I need to install new software?
3)I'd like to remove stuff I don't use. I'm talking about where you go to remove programs. I've got Microsoft Live Search, T-Mobile Email Wizard 1.0 (don't even use my phone for emails), OZ communications OZ IM (not sure what that is), and Winwap Technologies Oy t-zones (not sure what that is or does either).
4) All those pics are saying that they're .sys files, and I don't wanna mess up the phone by deleting them (will it?).
New question, how do I back up my ROM?

djwill13 said:
Thanks for your answers, they're greatly appreciated.
2) It's the built in wmp. How do I remove it and what do I replace it with? Furthermore, what do I need to install new software?
3)I'd like to remove stuff I don't use. I'm talking about where you go to remove programs. I've got Microsoft Live Search, T-Mobile Email Wizard 1.0 (don't even use my phone for emails), OZ communications OZ IM (not sure what that is), and Winwap Technologies Oy t-zones (not sure what that is or does either).
4) All those pics are saying that they're .sys files, and I don't wanna mess up the phone by deleting them (will it?).
New question, how do I back up my ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem
I never removed my built in WMP just in case and its taking up no space, but I use two players at the moment, TCMP (I think I have an older version since it wont support quad pixel mpeg4 for some reason, but its the only version I can find) and Core Player. Both will play just about everything out there. TCMP works best (that I have found) on our phones because you can tell it to play at medium quality a full size file so you dont have to convert your media (most of the time) and it wont lag. Core Player was good, but seems to lag every now and then (most likely from the lack of proper video codec on the s730) but since it will play FLAC audio I kept it installed.
You can do it from the phone itself, go into your start menu, settings, more, top option remove programs, this usually will just be for what you have installed. Optionally you can connect it to your computer and explore through active sync and remove the data, icons and folders for what you dont want. I personally am not sure how one goes in and removes the preinstalled software for sure.
The pictures with a .sys sound like they are for icons, your menu's and other images that you might want to keep. The junk pictures that are pre loaded should be in .jpg, .bmp, doubt it but .png extensions.
I have not backed mine up yet but theres a tutorial in what you need and what you need to do stickied at the top of this forum, flash sspl and hardspl, I dont remember for certain but I think somewhere in there is the way to back up your settings, dont quote me on that though...

Flash ROM or Not?

I've had a Wing for about a year now (t-mobile). During this time I never really read much about modding the phone and such. However, it is a bit plain and very slow if anything is open.
I've been reading a lot and recently changed the pagepool size and am now working on using PocketMechanic to move stuff to the flash card. I do however have a couple questions:
Should I flash my wing or just optimize how it is now? What is a good home screen I can download that doesn't kill my battery life? What will I be losing if I flash? Do all the ROMs kill my battery life? How can I choose the right ROM for me? I can't decide after reading over a lot of them.
I know someone is going to say use the search. I have and have been reading for hours lastnight. If someone can just help a bit I'd be much appreciated.

i would definatly flash your rom, i would use one of the open touch roms they all have good battery life. flashing your wing is like optimizing without having to take the time to find the programs and do the registry tweaks. a good homescreen i think is spb mobile shell, just make sure you disable smart gestures, i usuall can go around 2.5 days without charging.

Downside?
Are there any downsides to doing this?

Cant think of any downsides, its all for a good cause, oh one downside, you might lose your applications you've downloaded if any. Other than that its WAY better that the original T-Mo ROM

You've been wasting your time using the original stock rom. Flash a new rom (I reccommend ITJE or ASERGs) and you're going to see a 2 fold improvement on your phone immediately.

the one downside is that if you dont follow the directions you could brick your phone

So I tried a number of ROMs today:
-Papa
-Multiple versions of the Open Touch ROMs
Here is my conclusion and thoughts. Perhaps you guys can guide me a bit to a final solution.
They all look beautiful without a doubt. I didn't have any initial problems loading or using any of them except the lock program wasn't locking the volume control. However, just do perform quick tasks like I normally do to lock the phone or go to the comm manager felt like a chore to do. They looked nice, but I had to go through a lot to do anything. The Open Touch ROMs with Throttle Launcher were annoying when viewing mail because you could only quickly see 1 at a time with the large mail that pops up when you click the icon.
I really like the look of the SPG Shell Theme they have right on their homepage, but it's not free. Any of you guys have advice? I use this for work a lot so the mail / calendar / tasks view are really beneficial for me to be viewable at all times like the default theme. This is why I was saying SPG looked nice with whatever theme it is they have on their site.
I will try an Aserg on my phone tomorrow as it looks similar to the default.
Anyways, thanks in advanced for all of the help so far. I really appreciate it.

You'll be very satisfied with Aserg's rom. I look foward to hearing what you think.
Keep in mind, any rom you flash, you'll have to set up a couple of things ... such as the device lock today plugin .. settings, etc ... don't expect a rom to fulfill ALL of your needs from the moment its flashed. When you get into a new car, you still have to adjust the seat, mirrors, steering wheel ..etc.. You can't decide to scrap one car because the mirrors weren't in the position you wanted them to be.

Is it ok that I'm completely overwhelmed?

I literally just bought my at&t tilt today, and when I bought it the guy I got it from suggested I come here to do some digging on modifying/personalizing my Tilt to my liking. Now, I'm somewhat of a computer nerd. I can work through most issues with my PC without having to call customer service or hit up forums or anything. I have no experience with pocket PCs or windows mobile however.
I've read the multiple notices here advising to read around first before asking dumb questions, but I have to say that I'm still completely lost and don't even know where to begin. I really don't have complicated intentions, I'm almost 100% satisfied with the phone as-is...regardless, I still just have no idea what to even start with, so I figured I would just throw that out there and hopefully get pointed in the right direction. Hopefully I'll be able to take it from there, but the tutorials, wikis, and FAQs that I was advised to browse through first (and I apologize if I'm just not seeing it, again I'm a WM noob) just aren't getting me there.
All I'm really interested in doing is changing my home screen. Other things I want to do I don't even know if it's possible to do so, or if I even have to download anything!
So maybe just one more shove in the right direction?

Try This
This is not going to change your rom......This will give a new look totally...I think you'll like it...Install it from your desk top
Peace
Mike

You should get a good start at the wiki here:
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Kaiser

IMO You can't beat SPB Mobile Shell even though you have to pay for it, it's well worth it.

deXtrous said:
IMO You can't beat SPB Mobile Shell even though you have to pay for it, it's well worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree here

pointUI
Wisbar advance (check out the skins for this app..)
If you know a bit of XML try RLtoday
oh, and search for "Ultimate launch" on the forum...

ummm check out the second link in my sig.

I'm in the same boat as you. There is so much information here, it's quite overwhelming. I want to get the most out of my device, but I just don't have he time to really get into it.

Well you have to start somewhere, so just say where you want to go.
Would you like to make the phone look different?
Would you like to add your own ringtones?
Themes?
gps stuff?
roms?
seriously look at the second link in my signature.

I suggest that you use it for a while to get used to it, then read, then try changing it. Just my 2 cents.

I'm guessing your question is more basic than the answeres provided. If you just want to change your today screen, check out the "Today" applet under "Settings" on the start menu. You can choose from a variety of default plugins, and some of them have options you can change (simply click the options button if it's enabled). As you install more apps, they may have Today Screen plugins as well.

DO NOT GO THROTTLE LAUNCHER.... i like the guy that developed it but it has become obsolete with manilla 2d, personally i stayed away from flashing for a long time but now that i have started i'm addictted it provides alot better preformance from your ppc, i would highly recommend it
my favorite rom right now is the garmin dk4 manilla just make sure you read up before, its not that complicated once you get the hang of it. biggest thing is make sure to flash hard spl before you flash anything else

Here's some advice from someone who has had pocket pc's for a long time. I am also half a century old, so this advice comes from experience and not theory.
Keep your Kaiser/TyTN II/Tilt, whatever it is, as stock standard as possible. Do not flash new roms etc etc. This is the cause of most problems here unless you are really clued up on this, which it seems you are not at the moment. I won't even try it.
There are many third party apps out there and in here which will not affect the normal functioning and enjoyment of your device. Most of them are freeware.
Today themes are dime a dozen, heck, you can create your own with freeware apps like ThemegenCE (Desktop app which creayes the Tsk file for your device theme and even TKCreator which is a theme creation app directly on your device I (Also freeware and more basic than the former).
You need Total Commander, a freeware File Explorer much better than than one shipped wth the device. Quickmenu 2.7 makes using the device a pleasure and hardly requires the stylus. This provides a task manager, drop down menus, controls for device utilities like bluetooth, wifi, soft resetting etc. You also need Mortplayer which is the best MP3 player and is freeware and of course TCPMP with flashvideo bundle for video clips/movies/flash video from websites etc. This all for free. Heck, here are even freeware GPS apps for navigation out there, eg Amaze GPS and Nav4All, or just go full hog and buy the best like TomTom. TodayAgenda is a Today Plugin for calendar appointments and is one of the best and totally free. S2U2 developed by A_C from XDA is a cool screen saver/slide to unlock app which is free and highly customisable with animated gifs as wallpaper etc.
This would be a good start for you.
Regards,
MAC

MACkjam said:
Here's some advice from someone who has had pocket pc's for a long time. I am also half a century old, so this advice comes from experience and not theory.
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Click to collapse
I am also more than half a century old (now grand father !) and I agree with MAC advices !!!

Beginning to edit Music.apk? Advice requested.

So, I have absolutely no knowledge of any type of Android coding, but I'm hoping to learn through trial and error. I've always hated the native Music app -- especially its appearance, but also certain features here and there. My question is, how can I go about editing this?
I'm in the process of re-skinning the APK, basically replacing the old images with better ones. But how would I go about more substantive edits? Suppose I wanted to change the background color to white and the text to black, or the time-jumper at the bottom of the screen from orange, how would I go about that? There's some XML files in the APK, but whenever I open them, I get a bunch of odd characters that I can't really make sense of.
Am I correct in assuming that the source code is not available for Music.apk? If it is, how do I get it and where do I go from there?
Like I said, I'm an absolutely beginner at app creation/modding, but I'm usually a pretty quick learner. I went from zero web design experience to replacing my University's housing website with a brand new one in less than a week, so if I get a push in the right direction, I should be good to go. I did a site search for tutorials on modding a system app, but couldn't find anything.
Any help?
PS: Once I get some edits started (if I ever get that far), I'll definitely be sharing it with XDA. So, any advice you could provide could be mutually beneficial!

jay652 said:
So, I have absolutely no knowledge of any type of Android coding, but I'm hoping to learn through trial and error. I've always hated the native Music app -- especially its appearance, but also certain features here and there. My question is, how can I go about editing this?
I'm in the process of re-skinning the APK, basically replacing the old images with better ones. But how would I go about more substantive edits? Suppose I wanted to change the background color to white and the text to black, or the time-jumper at the bottom of the screen from orange, how would I go about that? There's some XML files in the APK, but whenever I open them, I get a bunch of odd characters that I can't really make sense of.
Am I correct in assuming that the source code is not available for Music.apk? If it is, how do I get it and where do I go from there?
Like I said, I'm an absolutely beginner at app creation/modding, but I'm usually a pretty quick learner. I went from zero web design experience to replacing my University's housing website with a brand new one in less than a week, so if I get a push in the right direction, I should be good to go. I did a site search for tutorials on modding a system app, but couldn't find anything.
Any help?
PS: Once I get some edits started (if I ever get that far), I'll definitely be sharing it with XDA. So, any advice you could provide could be mutually beneficial!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
android_source_root/packages/apps/Music
Not exactly a secret.
Why wouldn't it be available?

Ipod touch music player
not even kidding and all apple hatred aside, i've always wanted a ipod touch style music player on android! the touch music player is nice looking and very easy to navigate through. if you could make something like that, it would be PERFECT!

pbonello said:
not even kidding and all apple hatred aside, i've always wanted a ipod touch style music player on android! the touch music player is nice looking and very easy to navigate through. if you could make something like that, it would be PERFECT!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Something like that would be pretty simple cause its just list views that expand other list views.
As for starting to edit you can change most of the colors is the strings.xml and the layout xmls. For images make sure you dont replace .9.png with normal images. If you have the sdk setup use draw9patch in the tools folder.

lbcoder said:
android_source_root/packages/apps/Music
Not exactly a secret.
Why wouldn't it be available?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, that helps. I'll get started by taking a look at that.
I'm not sure why I thought it was unavailable. I mean, some of Google's other apps are close-sourced, thought I suppose those are all part of the Google Experience.
I guess I thought that if the source code was available, someone would have improved the Music app substantially by now. In my opinion, it's terrible and could use a lot of work.