Hi All
Been a regular reader but just joined now.
Anyway I've been trying a few custom ROMs out on my rooted HTC Hero (GSM)... many have some very good things, but many of the 2.2 ones don't have some of the features or apps I loved from 2.1, especially some of the HTC sense, or some of the apps.
So, I was wondering if anyone can recommend a custom ROM that can do/has the following:
- Based on Froyo 2.2 (want to try out the supposed performance improvements, new UI, later version of flash, etc)
- Needs the Apps2SD functionality (I believe all 2.2 based Roms have it)
- I really like the HTC flip clock/weather widget, with the animated weather as in 2.1..but haven't seen it in 2.2. Is it not available anymore? Anyway it could manually still be added?
- The 2.1 weather app.. where you can add multiple locations. 2.2 only seems to have weather/news which I dont like as much.... the option to see weather in different locations just by scrolling down was great. No other options in the market seem to do this as well, either
- In fact - most of the original HTC widgets available of on the Hero I would still like
- The 'Stocks' app found in earlier versions is missing in 2.2. I really like this app, as it's the only one I have ever found that you can add many quotes, and will work well with non-US countries (like Australia/NZ sharemarkets for example). But, it's not in found in the market and doesn't seem to be featured in 2.2?
- I also liked the way that when looking at 'people', it would summarise 'events' like birthdays and give me a taskbar notification. The 2.2 Roms I have tried so far, don't seem to have this same function anywhere..is it still available?
- I also liked the previous 'my contact card' where I could store my own details. I cant see this in 2.2 either is nit now gone? Would still love that.
Anyway, maybe I'm asking too much, but is there any custom ROM anyone can recommend, that is based on 2.2 but still has those 'good' bits from 2.1 or earlier?
Or, is there anyway I can add them myself??
I have checked out this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=889299
and others, but so far haven't found anything that quite has the above...
For the Flip Clock, you can search for Fancy Widget. In the current version, the autohor redesigned ist, but with you can find the older version here on the forum -and it looked exactly like the Sense flip clock! (what also explains, why that version was removed from the market by htc) As a bonus, I find it less laggy than the original one -therefore, it replaced HTC's flip clock on my homescreen
For the rest, I think, you need a ROM with Sense, as Sense Widget don't work on non-sense Roms...
I use fancy widget as well, glad I saved the .apk file
as for the sense like widgets you are better of doing a market search you might find some similiar to them.
or just go install the custom sense froyo roms although the camera or some hardware aint working on them
Thanks, I found the older fancy widget apk so I will give that a try.
I guess I'm asking too much for a custom ROM based on 2.2, with all the HTC Sense stuff still working... will have to comprise somewhere.
I really wanna give 2.2 a decent try but a lot of the stuff I liked from 2.1 isn't there anymore in the ROM's I've seen.
Anyway thanks for the replies!
Chikara71 said:
Thanks, I found the older fancy widget apk so I will give that a try.
I guess I'm asking too much for a custom ROM based on 2.2, with all the HTC Sense stuff still working... will have to comprise somewhere.
I really wanna give 2.2 a decent try but a lot of the stuff I liked from 2.1 isn't there anymore in the ROM's I've seen.
Anyway thanks for the replies!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the fact is mate you want HTC Sense on 2.2 (or sounds like that), which isn't a 100% stable port on the Hero (GSM) so you can have 2.2 working perfectly and use 3rd party apps like everyone else to get the same effect, or you can use a buggy 2.2 port of HTC sense, and live with it until someone makes a good port.
Yeah I wasn't too sure what ROM's were available and what they all could or could not do, hence asking for recommendations.
Anyway I'm trying out a number of differnet ones until I find the best one for me.
Think you're right though, 2.2 with Sense isn't really available/stable yet so I think a non-sense 2.2 with addons is the way to go at this stage.
Cheers
Hi,
I trye different ROM and i think a non-sense 2.2 whith an other launcher (like LauncherPro) is better than Sense...
The ROM TastyFroyo is the faster ROM but the screen resolution is not compatible with BeautifulWidget. (2.2 non-sense)
And the FroyedVillain is awesome too and full stable! (2.2 non-sense)
The ChocolateFroyo is a 2.2 with sense but i dut test it...
You have the rom in 2.3 too!!!
Elinux ROM and TastyGinger are great but still in beta...
I was wondering if you can run a tw launcher on the new comm rom call me weird but I like it better than the one in comm rom
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I don't see why not... If you're just wanting the look I know Go Launcher Ex from the market has a touchwiz theme that looks pretty accurate and neat.
tapatalked from my KangBanged Fascinate
Well I remember in the thread the said flashing it left some issues im using ef for now though comm rom and ota did this funky thing with my cantact pics where they flashed and went crazy
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hmm well a reflash and/or data wipe seems to fix a lot of bugs like that that I have with any rom im using... however I think one of the main reasons custom roms are made is to get rid of or modify stock touchwiz and the launcher. It might take a little extra work to get a touchwiz launcher to work with E.F. or ComRom, which I unfortunately can't help with. A theme seems like a suitable substitute that won't cause as many problems, so that's my recommendation
tapatalked from my KangBanged Fascinate
Supposedly FunkBot's TW 4.0 launcher has been updated to work with Comm Rom 2.0 (check his thread in Themes & Apps), but I've been having lots of crashes with it, particularly when trying to use my docks. If anyone has a link to a TW 3.0 launcher that works with Comm Rom, I'd love to hear about it; I like the debloat in Comm Rom, but the TouchWiz launcher design has grown on me quite a bit relative to the alternatives.
Can anyone tell me what the difference is between the ICS Launcher (by Syndicate Apps) and the ICS theme (by Sonny Sekhon). Are they both the same thing aesthetically or is one more accurate? I've never seen ICS so I don't know how to tell?
the ics launcher you mention is a port of the launcher for use on gb and lower has the looks and almost acts like stock ics (but buggy ), a theme changes the appearance of the launcher eg adw launcher , changes the looks of the apps , but does not act like the launcher eg widget in drawer etc ...
the launcher you mention and the theme are two different items , themes are more for getting the appearance opposed to the functionality of ics launcher , the launcher is almost fully like ics ,so maybe ure better of flashing a ics rom oppsed to using the launcher or theme the two are pretty mediocre opposed to the real thing in my opinion , i have a ics rom on my phone runs ok ...
Ok. Thanks. It's good advice to get a ROM but unfortunately none of them for my phone have a working camera and that's crucial to me. I'll stick with the launcher.
Long story short, about a year ago i got a Motorola Bravo (Android) phone for a few weeks but returned it because I couldn't really afford a data plan at the time. About a month ago I switched back to smartphones, this time for good, and now have a Samsung Galaxy SII.
The motorola phone had some AWESOME user-friendly features, such as resizing of widgets. Is this taken out because of Touchwiz or was that an older version of Android that's now obsolete? What all does Touchwiz take away functionality-wise? What does Gingerbread (2.3.6 to be specific) look like without Touchwiz?
I've yet to root my phone (the only reason I'd have right now is more battery life) but if I could reove Touchwiz and get some serious UI improvements, that'd definitely be a gamechanger for me
Motorola has Moto blur I think
HTC has sense
Samsung has TouchWiz
The clean Androind would be an AOSP based rom, like CM9/AOKP
I don't know if you understand me, I think I'm drunk or something right know can't remember
Oh
Galaxy Nexus is like what it looks witout the Touchwiz.
ScelestusAnimus said:
Long story short, about a year ago i got a Motorola Bravo (Android) phone for a few weeks but returned it because I couldn't really afford a data plan at the time. About a month ago I switched back to smartphones, this time for good, and now have a Samsung Galaxy SII.
The motorola phone had some AWESOME user-friendly features, such as resizing of widgets. Is this taken out because of Touchwiz or was that an older version of Android that's now obsolete? What all does Touchwiz take away functionality-wise? What does Gingerbread (2.3.6 to be specific) look like without Touchwiz?
I've yet to root my phone (the only reason I'd have right now is more battery life) but if I could reove Touchwiz and get some serious UI improvements, that'd definitely be a gamechanger for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure to go the MIUI route if you're on GB or go the AOKP route if you're on ICS. Those are good starting points if you want to see some nice UI improvements. If you decide to go AOKP make sure to mess around in ROM control.
AOSP stock apps on ICS (AOKP/CM9) are much nicer than touchwizz/samsung ics apps.
UI Ranking
#1 AOSP (AOKP,CM9) and MIUI [all ICS based]
#2 MIUI GB , Sensation ROM GB (Samsung based rom), AOSP GB (CM7) (LunarUI theme)
#3 Stock Samsung ROM or Stock CM7 [both GB based]
Recommend Choice is AOKP http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1574718
Just make sure you know what you're doing when you flash
You just need a different launcher. Try go launcher.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk
Biporch said:
Motorola has Moto blur I think
HTC has sense
Samsung has TouchWiz
The clean Androind would be an AOSP based rom, like CM9/AOKP
I don't know if you understand me, I think I'm drunk or something right know can't remember
Oh
Galaxy Nexus is like what it looks witout the Touchwiz.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yeah! Now that you mention it, i remember reading about Motoblur.
Cryosx said:
Make sure to go the MIUI route if you're on GB or go the AOKP route if you're on ICS. Those are good starting points if you want to see some nice UI improvements. If you decide to go AOKP make sure to mess around in ROM control.
AOSP stock apps on ICS (AOKP/CM9) are much nicer than touchwizz/samsung ics apps.
UI Ranking
#1 AOSP (AOKP,CM9) and MIUI [all ICS based]
#2 MIUI GB , Sensation ROM GB (Samsung based rom), AOSP GB (CM7) (LunarUI theme)
#3 Stock Samsung ROM or Stock CM7 [both GB based]
Recommend Choice is AOKP http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1574718
Just make sure you know what you're doing when you flash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are these custom Roms or just the normal Android OS without the company's additions to it? I have gingerbread atm (I'd rather wait for ICS until the official release from AT&T)
hobbs said:
You just need a different launcher. Try go launcher.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried Go launcher. I didn't like how it was basically an OS on top of the normal OS. They both were running at the same time and I had to rearrange my apps to make them the same as they were. I just want the Android OS without the stupid additions/subtractions from Samsung/Motorola/etc >.<
However I have to say, I do like how Go Launcher doesn't require rooting
ScelestusAnimus said:
I tried Go launcher. I didn't like how it was basically an OS on top of the normal OS. They both were running at the same time and I had to rearrange my apps to make them the same as they were. I just want the Android OS without the stupid additions/subtractions from Samsung/Motorola/etc >.<
However I have to say, I do like how Go Launcher doesn't require rooting
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do realize, right, that Touchwiz is a launcher too? And even vanilla Android builds use a launcher? When you use Go Launcher, it's not running "on top of" what's already there; it's replacing Touchwiz.
I'm sorry, but you can't have vanilla Android OS without installing it in the form of a custom ROM. Samsung makes their own builds of Android, which is what you have. If you want something else, somebody else has to build it...meaning the developers on this forum.
mattdm said:
You do realize, right, that Touchwiz is a launcher too? And even vanilla Android builds use a launcher? When you use Go Launcher, it's not running "on top of" what's already there; it's replacing Touchwiz.
I'm sorry, but you can't have vanilla Android OS without installing it in the form of a custom ROM. Samsung makes their own builds of Android, which is what you have. If you want something else, somebody else has to build it...meaning the developers on this forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe it just felt like that because I could cancel it at any time and go back and forth between normal touchwiz and Go launcher. I know this is a versatility feature, but I'd rather have that disabled, as crazy as it may sound.
But that's good to know. I didn't know a launcher was REQUIRED, just thought it was what most people did. I'll look into other launchers.
Is there still one where you can resize the UI elements and stuff like that?
ScelestusAnimus said:
Maybe it just felt like that because I could cancel it at any time and go back and forth between normal touchwiz and Go launcher. I know this is a versatility feature, but I'd rather have that disabled, as crazy as it may sound.
But that's good to know. I didn't know a launcher was REQUIRED, just thought it was what most people did. I'll look into other launchers.
Is there still one where you can resize the UI elements and stuff like that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As mattdm said, all Android builds require a launcher. Otherwise you'd have no usable GUI. When you were switching back and forth between GO and TouchWiz were you using a home/launcher switcher, or were you just using the default ui to choose one each time you went to your home screen?
You can have several launchers installed and use a switcher to make one "stick" until you decide you want a different look/feel.
Some prefer GO or LauncherPro. I use ADW EX and TouchWiz. ADW and LauncherPro are very configurable. VERY. Both have their ardent fans. I've not used GO.
PS: You do NOT want the ability to change launchers disabled. ;-)
ScelestusAnimus said:
Maybe it just felt like that because I could cancel it at any time and go back and forth between normal touchwiz and Go launcher. I know this is a versatility feature, but I'd rather have that disabled, as crazy as it may sound.
But that's good to know. I didn't know a launcher was REQUIRED, just thought it was what most people did. I'll look into other launchers.
Is there still one where you can resize the UI elements and stuff like that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uhh... touchwiz lets you resize certain widgets... (UI elements) pretty sure go launcher and adw ex do too...
Biporch said:
The clean Androind would be an AOSP based rom, like CM9/AOKP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM9 uses the Trebuchet launcher. as it has been hammered multiple times, all roms use some sort of launcher. I'm not sure what AOKP uses, but I'd wager its either Trebuchet, nova, or apex..
0p3nsrc said:
CM9 uses the Trebuchet launcher. as it has been hammered multiple times, all roms use some sort of launcher. I'm not sure what AOKP uses, but I'd wager its either Trebuchet, nova, or apex..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe it comes with both apex and nova. They are fairly similar but each have a few unique features.
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0p3nsrc said:
CM9 uses the Trebuchet launcher. as it has been hammered multiple times, all roms use some sort of launcher. I'm not sure what AOKP uses, but I'd wager its either Trebuchet, nova, or apex..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tasks came with trebuchet. I switched to nova and I'm fairly sure that apex came on it too.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium
ScelestusAnimus said:
Long story short, about a year ago i got a Motorola Bravo (Android) phone for a few weeks but returned it because I couldn't really afford a data plan at the time. About a month ago I switched back to smartphones, this time for good, and now have a Samsung Galaxy SII.
The motorola phone had some AWESOME user-friendly features, such as resizing of widgets. Is this taken out because of Touchwiz or was that an older version of Android that's now obsolete? What all does Touchwiz take away functionality-wise? What does Gingerbread (2.3.6 to be specific) look like without Touchwiz?
I've yet to root my phone (the only reason I'd have right now is more battery life) but if I could reove Touchwiz and get some serious UI improvements, that'd definitely be a gamechanger for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off, Welcome to Samsung!
A little background.
AOSP = Android Open Source Program. Meaning, a open source of code editable by anyone.
Touchwiz/Motoblur/Sense = Not AOSP, they were written as a launcher/GUI for each phone by their developer (Motorola/Samsung/HTC). On top of that, these GUI/Overlays have their fingers into everything on a phone, this is why updates take so long. Google creates a new version of Android and passes it to the phone manufacturer, they in turn need to take that new version and paste their GUI/Overlay on top of it, this takes time and money. Further, once the phone manufacturer finishes updating, they need to give the software to the vendor (VZW/AT&T etc) who add more bloat/custom crap to the software.
Custom ROM's, are and are not AOSP, Some are pure AOSP like AOKP or CM (Cyanogenmod), they are written by groups of people, all of whom work in concert to bring you the ROM. Then there are custom ROM's that are not in the realm of AOSP. For example, I use Phone Bricker, written by LilChris here on XDA. This ROM is not really Open Source as it's written by one person, the author may give out the source, I don't know.
So what would your phone look like w/o Touchwiz? CM9/AOKP is as close as you'll get. Those ROMs use the closest to stock version of Android.
To confuse matters even more, there are Launchers, Go Launcher/Apex etc. They operate as yet another GUI on top of a GUI, inside a ROM. So you could have a stock, unrooted Galaxy S2, with Touchwiz and Go Launcher, and customize it to make it look like you want it too. Or, you could root your phone, Update to CM9 (running Ice Cream Sandwich btw), and use the launcher that they have there, or change that to Go Launcher.
The options are endless, read read read. I am new to Samsung, I came from Motorola where things are done quite a bit differently. I can tell you this though, you are infinitely better off with a Samsung phone than a Motorola Phone. Not only does Motoblur blow chunks, but Motorola is a terrible company as far as software updates go. Toss in locked bootloaders... anyway, I hope the above answered your question.
Wink
Hello
I'm a big fan of Samsungs Hardware but never liked touchwiz. The hings that annoy me most are the launcher and the Email(Exchange) App.
Is there a way to use the Vanilla ICS pendants without switching completely to cyanogen (when it once will be available)? I would like too keep the few nice add ons by Samsung.
Thx for hints
You could try an alternative ICS launcher such as Nova https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.launcher&hl=en. Hope that helps some.
An alternative launcher will definitely get you away from much of the touchwiz experience but you will still be stuck with Samsung's email, calendar, etc apps. Take a look in the SGS3 Themes and Apps section. I believe someone there has created a flashable zip to replace the Samsung stock apps with the ICS ones.
Thanks both of you. Nova does the trick for now.
I also flashed the ICS Email but it did not want to work. Guess I'll wait for CM then.
cheers