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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.
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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?
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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.
Call me picky but, I just couldn't seem to find a theme that I really liked. Android 2.0 comes close but I liked the red of the blur ROM - so, wanting a red-ish theme and a smaller app drawer at the bottom, I decided to make my own theme.
I also seem to be a bit of a rarity in that in the main, I actually like the default status bar icons so I don't feel it necessary to make the battery round or android shaped or anything. So, on mine, the battery looks like a battery...I dunno, seemed kinda logical to me ;-) I added a little touch of colour to some of them but nothing OTT I don't think (I really like my 3G activity icon now - reminds me of an old modem with status LED's
There are a couple of things that I pinched out of other people's ROMs (gmail icon from djengiz), widget background from ZilverZurfarn's melange theme but most of it has either been replaced or re-coloured by me
Thanks to everyone I've nicked stuff from and anyone else I haven't "credited".
And, of course, a big thanks to Cyanogen for his awesome ROMs
It runs OK for me - I've only got a G1 so use it on anything else at your own risk.
Guarantees :
1) I will mysteriously disappear should this break everyone's phones.
2) I probably can't fix it if it doesn't work (mention it anyway though)
3) That it will not work on your Nokia N95
4) Or your Sony Ericsson C905
5) That I've not finished tweaking it
Todo list:
=======
*** Status bar background - re-thinking the brushed metal look - let me know what you think about this
*** Power widget background (still using ZilverZurfarn's but want to get my own there ASAP)
* Browser link shortcut icon needs re-colouring (forgot for this one)
** Analogue Clock Widget
* App drawer handle needs "tidying" - I'm not as happy as i could be with it
Hope you like it - let me know how it works out for you.
http://www.lordsmiff.nl/downloads/Lordsmiff_III.zip
Cheers,
Smiffy.
Update to 4.2.5
============
I've re-done most, if not all of the icons that I just pinched from the blur ROM and I've been a bit more selective of the stuff that I've recoloured as I thought it was looking a little too dark previously. I've also taken out a lot of the un-used png's that have been hanging around as the ROMs have developed.
I initially used the Android 2.0 theme as a template for mine and there were a few files in there that could come out and some from the blur ROM that I'd copied over and weren't used on the G1. Oh, and I've also deleted all thumbs.db files in all my drawables folders - so it should be a little smaller now and putting less un-needed crap on your phones.
I've been using this myself for a couple of days now and not had any FCs at all so I think you're good to go
Theme-porn follows:
I do love the design of the power widget, I may have to steal that for my alienaqua theme, it has similar colors.
Really nice choice of colors, great job on this and reading the post made me laugh. Thanks for sharing, keep up the great work.
This looks real stylish.
A lot of nice details and as prash said: the power widget is beautiful.
that lock screen is sick. one of the best i have seen !
Edit: just realised it was from the 2.0 theme lol. but nice the anyways
hey what lockscreen is that?
I just downloaded this theme, and the app drawer tab for me is still the same as cyanogen's stock one that he had and not like the android 2.0 type tab you have in the screenshots. any thoughts on how to get it to look like that?
It includes both the Advanced Launcher and the standard one - if when you press the home key, it doesn't give you the choice, use the application manager to remove the default setting (you can switch back if you don't like it).
I originally wasn't going to used the advanced launcher but it is much more stable these days and I haven't had any problems or slow down with it.
It's the only one of the two that I have skinned so far - I will update it in the next day or two so that they are both skinned
Thanks for the positive comments everyone This was only something I was doing for myself but like someone mentioned above, it's in the details and I wasn't happy with only doing a few bits and pieces so I went further and reached a point where I was happy to share it with others.
There's still a few things I want to do yet but I'm having the weekend off and will get back to it on Monday
If it i can leave it alone for that long... ;-)
Cheers,
Smiffy.
great looking theme!
lockscreen looks good but dont function nicely
I am not too crazy about the red but otherwise this is a really good looking theme. It's very fast and stable.. no force closes or other crashes yet. Great work!
I just installed this theme over CyanMod 4.2.4. It works well with no issues so far.
Well, there's a few new icons in 4.2.4 so I've updated my theme and played with a lot of the new stuff.
It's working OK for me with no FCs but caveat emptor and all that...
Thanks for all the positive comments. I've also gone back to the standard lock screen for the time being - as much as I didn't care about the stretching issue in landscape, I wasn't overly happy about nicking someone else's work so I may do my own in the near future.
Might not though so don't hold your breath or anything - in fact, I actually like this standard one...we'll see.
Oh, and about the analogue clock - I'm going to make it slightly darker but not do much more than that to it - do people even use it?
Cheers,
Smiffy.
Update to 4.2.5
============
I've re-done most, if not all of the icons that I just pinched from the blur ROM and I've been a bit more selective of the stuff that I've recoloured as I thought it was looking a little too dark previously. I've also taken out a lot of the un-used png's that have been hanging around as the ROMs have developed.
I initially used the Android 2.0 theme as a template for mine and there were a few files in there that could come out and some from the blur ROM that I'd copied over and weren't used on the G1. Oh, and I've also deleted all thumbs.db files in all my drawables folders - so it should be a little smaller now and putting less un-needed crap on your phones.
I've been using this myself for a couple of days now and not had any FCs at all so I think you're good to go
Cheers,
Smiffy.
I'm using the Espresso-style launcher for AdvancedLauncher on an AOSP 1.6 build. I'm noticing then when I touch the launcher button, the tray opens up and then when it nears the top it pauses for a second so that the up arrow on the launcher button can change to a down arrow, and then it continues opening up.
Now I'm fairly certain that this has nothing to do with the Espresso theme, but rather just the way the the launcher works. So is it possible to edit the Launcher so that the button changes from an up arrow to a down arrow after the tray is fully expanded? If so, does this already exist? If it doesn't exist could somebody put something together?
Thanks in advance for any help!
I think it's ment to be pulled up to the top by design which yeilds no stutter. I have the nexus style laucher with superE's 1.7 and it does the same thing where there is a breif stutter about half an inch when I press the laucher icon, but when I pull it to the top like I normally do, it is fine as it keeps the :::: icon to the top, then chages to the house.
Not a big deal IMO.
evilkorn said:
Not a big deal IMO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know it's not that big of a deal, but the whole point of making the phone as fast as possible is so that you can enjoy a smooth, seamless experience, right? The stutter is ruining my smooth, seamless experience!
Wow, simma da na, no need to get all emotional about it. We can all contribue but can also be self helpers. Play with the images, try some other things too, like keeping the same image, or reducing the size of the image. Then just resign and copy the new laucher to your phone, reboot and test it. Try settings like swap/cc and close all the programs.
I just told you I had the same "experience", it doesn't bother me so I won't try. All squeeky wheels don't always anoy the same people.
OptiPNG and zipalign are your friends
zimphishmonger said:
OptiPNG and zipalign are your friends
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't mean to come off emotional, I was just being ridiculous
To above quote: Thanks I'll check those 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.
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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've recently been trying many of the great themes for CM7 and one thing I notice that bothers me is a transparent notification menu. I strongly prefer a solid one.
This got me wondering if I'm the only one? For me it just seems cleaner, less distracting to have it solid. Since I can't interact with what's visible underneath what's the point in seeing it? Not saying it's wrong just a difference of opinion.
Anybody care to share your preference and why?
I've preferred the transparent forever but since gb the solid has grown on me some....
I really love the transparent drawer. I started on solid, but I literally won't change ROMs unless I can get a transparent notification drawer. It's just a cool aesthetic effect.
I must say that the transparent drawer did look "cool" even though it served no real purpose.
However, I am starting to get used to the dark, solid, drawer on CM7 Nightly's now.
Would be nice to have the option though.
I'm not sure if the option is still there, but it used to be part of the back ground color setting - just slide the alpha to the left...