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Jun

[Weekend Poll] Manufacturer UIs: Love 'Em Or Hate 'Em?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Devices By Manufacturer, Polls

Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Google Doesn't Allow Rooted Devices To Use Android Movies - What Are Your Thoughts?

Manufacturer user interfaces (UIs) can be a bit of a hot-button topic in the Android world. Some prefer vanilla Android, à la CyanogenMod. Others have no issue with them whatsoever, and even actively seek to restore some of the functionality. (Others still prefer to roll their own, or like the ability to switch at will... but I digress.) Further, your feelings on manufacturer UIs may depend on which manufacturer and which UI we're talking about.

May

ADW Launcher EX Gets Major Update: Theme Management, Honeycomb Support, And More

Posted by David Ruddock in Applications, News

It's been a while since the last ADW Launcher EX update, but it may just have been worth the wait. The author of ADW EX has implemented some major changes and fixes for version 1.3.0. Check out the change log below:

ADWLauncher EX v1.3.0

Changelog:

Completely redone the app drawers code from scratch to improve memory usage and scrolling performance, even with transparencies, live wallpapers, etc

Scroll snapping on the vertical drawer/4d drawer “a la launcher 2″. (option enabled by default)

“True” home screen looping (enabled by default) ported from ADW2.

New theme management screen with added functionality (and more will come)
Dock and dockbar background customization moved into the new theme management screen.

Mar

MIUI Weather Beta 1 Now Available For Download - And It's Every Bit As Beautiful As You'd Expect

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Development, News

Fans of ~~the iPhone~~ MIUI should be happy to hear that Beta 1 of MIUI Weather has been released to the public, and can now be downloaded in APK form. It looks every bit as beautiful as what we've come to expect from MIUI, and is done in a style to match other MIUI offerings (namely, the browser, ROM, and clock).

The app does have geolocation, but users need to download different APKs depending on their region - for example, there's an APK specifically for Europe, and there are 5 for the US (broken up alphabetically).

Mar

New Honeycomb-Inspired Live Wallpaper Is The Perfect Complement To Clock Widgets, Theme, And Boot Animation

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Development, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News

If you've been dying to imitate the Honeycomb UI on your device, things have certainly been looking up for you lately. First we saw the digital and analog clock widgets hit, and shortly after, Honeybread was released. Then, just a few days ago, the stunning Honeycomb boot animation dropped. Now, XDA members have come through again with a LWP inspired by the stock Honeycomb wallpaper.

Developers nemuro and Xaffron teamed up to create the LWP, and are offering it for free for the time being. The catch: it's essentially in trial form; some features will only work for a limited time.

Feb

Add Some Sense To Your CyanogenMod 7 With The NTSense Theme

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Development, News

As I've said before, CyanogenMod (CM) custom theme support is just plain awesome, and today's example is no different. It's called NTSense, and as you can probably guess, it's a Sense-inspired theme created by nhnt11. It's currently in beta and only supports LDPI and HDPI devices at the moment, but things look pretty good so far.

As it's still early in development, there are a few notable caveats. First, HDPI support isn't quite finished - there are still a few missing features (app icons don't change because he hasn't made them yet), and there are probably a few bugs lurking about.

Feb

Hands-On With The Honeybread Theme For CyanogenMod 7: It's The Bee's Knees!

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Development, Gingerbread 2.3, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News

Ever since the official Honeycomb video preview was unleashed at CES, the blogosphere has been aflutter with admiration for the update's stunning UI. It didn't take long for the developer and modder community to push out Honeycomb-like visuals, either - for example, the clock widget has been available for a few weeks.

Now there's an even better way to get that Honeycomb feel, at least for those running CyanogenMod 7 (CM7): Honeybread. I've been running the theme for the past few days, and I'm seriously impressed. (Side note: I had to flash CM7 to try the theme, and I'm hugely impressed with it, as well as Gingerbread.

Jan

Now THIS Is How Android Theming Is Done: Tron Legacy Pro Theme For ADW Launcher

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Development, News

Android is known for its customizability and freedom, therefore it's not a surprise that it supports a variety of theming methods. Unfortunately, the vast majority of themes are either low quality or incomplete, which is a natural side effect of what happens when everyone is given a chance to contribute. When a truly great theme comes along, one worthy of changing the default launcher, it needs to be given credit. And the Tron Legacy Pro theme by Mariux is definitely one of those themes.

The theme doesn't just change the wallpaper or a few icons - it is what the author describes as "ultra-detailed." What this means is Tron's infamous neon effect was actually studied by Mariux to match the movie, a ton of icons have been changed, including popular applications outside of what ships stock (Angry Birds, Aldiko, Foursquare, Facebook, Goggles, etc), and even widget styles match the overall theme.

Nov

Resistance Is Futile: Android Assimilates Your Gmail Inbox

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in News, Off-Topic

Small bit of news, but useful for those of us firmly entrenched in the Android fan club: Google has released an official Android skin for Gmail. Changes are light - mainly consisting of light gray circuits on a white background, and an infusion of green for highlights.

_{All your Gmails are belong to us.}

To select the theme, open up your Gmail on your PC and head to Settings (top right), then Themes. Then, select the Android theme - should be on the bottom row, third from the right.

I'm using the theme now, and it's surprisingly easy on the eyes - there's a lot less bright green than you'd imagine based on the above screenshot.

Oct

How To: Create A Customized Android Phone 7 Theme - Part 2

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Development, News, Tips & Tutorials

Yesterday, I told you how to use pre-made icons to create a custom Android Phone 7 theme. Today, I'll walk you through how to create your own icons in Adobe Photoshop. I'm going to assume you have at least a basic understanding of Photoshop.

Estimated time required: 15 minutes for the first icon, and 2 minutes for each subsequent icon.

Difficulty: Low if you've used Photoshop before.

What You Need

Adobe Photoshop
The .PSD templates (included in the full ZIP, linked)

Getting Started

Rally The Troops

Before we begin making the icons, you'll need to make a list of what Apps you want to have immediate access to.

Oct

How To: Create A Customized Android Phone 7 Theme - Part 1

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Development, Tips & Tutorials

Last Updated: November 7th, 2010

About a month ago, XDA-Devs member newone757 created a really great theme based on the one used in Windows Phone 7 - hence the name, Android Phone 7. He was kind enough to post the image files, a template image, and a short how-to, as well. I've taken the personalization a step further and created icons to fit my needs, and now it's your turn.

This theme was made for, and written using, a high resolution device (EVO 4G - 800x480). It hasn't been tested at lower resolutions, although it should work. For lower resolutions, you may want to consider using fewer icons on each screen or manually resizing them in Photoshop once Part 2 is available.