Horizontal seperator lines on Today screen… - JASJAR, XDA Exec, MDA Pro General

Is there any way to get rid of them or to make them transparent?

Something I have tried time and time again to find out. There was a program called Pocket Facelift, which either got rid of them or cloned the today screen and superimposed an image over the top without the lines. I've searched for registry entries, hacks and cracks. Everything. Never been able to find it.
I still wish someone would produce a low memory footprint version of a screen that say the later Nokias and Samsungs have, where all the information about the phone is held in the corners (battery, SMS, signal, etc), leaving the rest of the screen for the picture (without lines).
Cheers
Ant

Anton.Valleyman said:
Something I have tried time and time again to find out. There was a program called Pocket Facelift, which either got rid of them or cloned the today screen and superimposed an image over the top without the lines. I've searched for registry entries, hacks and cracks. Everything. Never been able to find it.
I still wish someone would produce a low memory footprint version of a screen that say the later Nokias and Samsungs have, where all the information about the phone is held in the corners (battery, SMS, signal, etc), leaving the rest of the screen for the picture (without lines).
Cheers
Ant
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks...

Anton.Valleyman: when you say "low memory", I guess WDA is out of the question
I hadn't seen Facelift before. The page seems to suggest that Facelift may be a replacement Today plugin host:
Today screen scrolling is fully supported. The today screen plugins are resized in order to avoid covering information by the scroll bar.
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Click to collapse
Resizing Today plugins requires some messy coding or hosting plugins yourself. That might explain how they get rid of the seperator lines - if you host the plugins yourself, you obviously don't have to draw the lines... that's just a theory though!
still wish someone would produce a low memory footprint version of a screen that say the later Nokias and Samsungs have, where all the information about the phone is held in the corners (battery, SMS, signal, etc), leaving the rest of the screen for the picture (without lines).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My unreleased VJEphemeris is entirely skinnable, and I'm trying to design it around a thumb friendly design. I want to use the corners in the way you described... but your idea is a good one, a nice clean full screen today plugin just showing basics, operator logo and a wallpaper is a nice idea...
For the lines, I just suggest you choose a color similar to your background. I use a plain white wallpaper, so easy for me
It might be feasible to do some hairy hacking to subclass the today screen and intercept the line drawing function, but I don't recommend it as an easy solution :shock:
V

Related

Registry hack to get the clock back?

The new rom works really great and I wouldn't wanna change back to the old one, but I really miss having the clock in the title bar.
With Pocket plus, Agile Messenger and Pocket player there really isn't enough space left and the date/clock just takes up too much.
Is there really no way to get the clock back in the title bar? It would be much appreciated.
Or does anyone have another solution? Eg an analog or digital clock icon that can be used with pocket plus.
Qtek 9100 + miniSD 1Gb
Levenum's clock/date project will put a clock on the taskbar and reduce the date/time space to one line
here http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=45084&highlight=
Thanks, I'm trying it out now. Though I would rather have the clock only in the taskbar but this is still an improvement.
Or you could get Wisbar Advance which will remove the battery icon and replace it with date / time. I really don't know why more people don't mention this program. Its really amazing.
rumpnet said:
Or you could get Wisbar Advance which will remove the battery icon and replace it with date / time. I really don't know why more people don't mention this program. Its really amazing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably because it does more than just that - it's an entire task bar replacement. To some that's great, to others - well, they may want to stick to the original or whatever other third party taskbar enhancement.
Think of it like this - somebody puts a sticker on your red car, and apparently you can't easily remove it. You could wait for something to come along that makes it easy to remove, or you could paint red over that small sticker, or you could paint your entire car green. If you wanted a green car anyway - go for it
( p.s. I hate car analogies %) )
Well I managed to minimize another program a little so everything fits now when the date is only on one line. Good enough for now... but I would still rather have the clock in the taskbar where it takes up no space at all.
I agree with you, at least I would have removed that stupid battery indicator, it only shows 3 stages. 100%, 60% and 20%. How stupid is that.... Any way to get rid of it? I like the SPB pocketplus battery indicator on top of the taskbar, looks more like a regular phone battery indicator.
Daddy_Spank said:
Any way to get rid of it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only in AKU2.2 - Microsoft acknowledged that many people preferred the clock (though even more people preferred a battery meter - they don't understand why the battery meter was made with such 'low granularity' by the developer either though).
Other option (if you don't have AKU2.2 yet, which is very possible as it's only been sighted on the O2 Atom) is to read up on some of the clock threads - one of them places a clock over the battery icon (and the volume icon - volume's still tappable though).
There is an interesting article that can be found here on the topic
http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2006/04/28/586453.aspx
Pardon my ignorance but I notice this is a very "flammable" topic but I can't figure out what exactly you are all trying to do..
Are you just trying to get the clock back in the title-top bar on the Today Screen? I'm asking because I'm running the IMate 2.17 ROM and I have the clock in my title bar at ALL times except when on the today screen.
Don't see the issue there either because in the Today Screen it's available as a Today plug-in.
I'm probably missing it but I still don't get the big deal...
mobilehavoc said:
I'm probably missing it but I still don't get the big deal...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are what the MSDN Mobile blog guy would probably call "A battery person" Or an agnostic.
It comes down to personal preferences, for the most part. Some people simply -prefer- to see the clock there, instead of a battery, for whatever reasons. You may or may not agree with those reasons
Here's some factual bits, though...
the clock
Microsoft replaced the clock that was always visible in one fixed location with another element (the battery) when on the Today screen
This in and of itself isn't a good development. Again, here's a simple analogy - you have a wristwatch, and if you need to know the time, wherever you are, you need only look at your wrist. Now you get home, and *poof* your wristwatch is gone. Strange? Yes.
Microsoft provided no method to let the user change this behavior.
This in general is just silly, as they could have easily anticipated from trial runs that a subset of users, even if it is a relative minority, would prefer the clock there. Microsoft have corrected this for AKU 2.2.
the today item
Microsoft did, however, add the time to the 'Date' Today Item on the Today Screen.
Given the behavior of the clock disappearing from the Taskbar when on the Today Screen, it seemed like a good idea to add the time to the 'Date' Today Item instead. And yes, you are right, that's where a user can look instead. Back to the analogy though - instead of looking at your wrist, where you can always expect to find the time, you now have to look at the clock on the wall. It's more of an annoyance than anything.
This in itself added a new qualm, however - a lot of people did not like the fact that the new 'Date and Time' item takes up 2 lines of Today Screen space (again, no way to switch back to just the Date on 1 line). Some users have an overly full Today Screen as it is, or would just prefer that other items have more space. Many have found solutions to this in one of two new date/time Today Items whose coders have created threads on this forum.
For AKU2.2, this will be even sillier, as users may use the registry tweak to get the Clock back on the Taskbar - but then they'll have the clock on the Taskbar -and- on the Today Screen. Again, those users can use one of the two third party Today Items, but it's silly that they would have to.
the battery indicator
Microsoft added a Battery indicator that cannot be removed
Okay, so now we have a Battery indicator that could be displayed on all screens. However, you may already have a Battery indicator that does this - either using the same type of method (an icon), or by ways of a graphical bar (Batti), etc. Now you have 2 Battery indicators, but you -can't- remove the Microsoft one. So you're stuck with 2. Again, AKU2.2 at least resolves this by switching back to the clock.
Microsoft added a Battery indicator with too low granularity
You might wonder why somebody wouldn't just disable their third party Battery indicator, then. The reason is simple, and the MSDN Mobile Blog guy even agreed: the MS one is horribly low in granularity. What is meant by this, is the following: there are only 3 states. 2 bars, 1 bar, no bars for 60% and 20% thresholds. Not only is this non-linear and non-obvious, for most people this is simply not enough distinction. Even the most humble $25 pas-as-you-go mobile phones have 4, 6 or even 8 bars, as does the MS SmartPhone WM5's battery indicator (also in the taskbar) So even "the battery people" aren't all happy with this switch from the clock to the battery, as the battery indicator is less-than-optimal.
Now for perhaps the silliest thing of all:
There was no need whatsoever to replace the clock with the battery - they could have lived side-by-side.
There is ample space on 240x240 and 240x320 (and certainly the 480x480 and 480x640) devices for extra icons. For example, currently I'm showing 'new message / missed call', [G], 'signal strength', volume and the clock. There is room for at least 3 more icons to the left, although they would be obscuring the application title. This already applies, however, as even this low amount of icons obscures a good portion of longer titles.
Alternatively, there is room to the right on the Today Screen as well, as there is no OK/Close button. When on the Today Screen, the battery indicator could have been placed there, leaving the clock intact. Depending on the user's "Show clock in all applications" setting, either the battery indicator would then be gone in all other applications (if the aforementioned setting is set on) or it would simply slide over to where the clock would otherwise be (if the aforementioned setting is set off). This is a less elegant solution, however.
Zeboxx,
Excellent explanation. I couldn't have said it better myself! That about sums it up.
In my today screen I have Ilauncher so I can start my favorite programs really fast, Pocket Breeze so I can see my upcoming appointments and "to-do's", the controls to an mp3-player and a profile program so I can change the ring tone and vibrator settings swiftly.
This setup is perfect for me and I've even downloaded a program to map the device lock function to a button so I don't have to have it on the today screen. My today screen is packed and I don't want to lose any more space.
Ilauncher, as well as other similar programs like Pocket Plus, provides a battery meter at the top of the display that spans the entire screen and is a thousand times better than the new battery meter and it's full/half/empty status.
Personally when I hear that folks hardly use the today screen it feels like they haven't yet understood the full potential of the phone. I'm continuously trying to make improvements and tailor it to my demands.
AKU2: Date overwriting battery ind./sig strength
Hi all,
I've been searching all over for this, so please bear with me.
Posts regarding the AKU2 battery icon have revolved around how to remove it. I mistakenly set Tweaks2K to display the date, and now have either that overwriting the battery ind/sig strength, OR when I set Tw2K to not display the Date/Time, a blank spot overwrites the battery/part of the sig strength.
Any ideas on how to get rid of the blank patch?
Thanks,
paul
Re: AKU2: Date overwriting battery ind./sig strength
fuzzyclam said:
Any ideas on how to get rid of the blank patch
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You probably just need to set it back to just the clock?
Try the registry tweak "Change the display of the clock in the taskbar" in http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=WM5_Tweaks_Other
JNGold said:
Zeboxx,
Excellent explanation. I couldn't have said it better myself! That about sums it up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This sums it up very well, however there is one explanation that has been overlooked. What if you were the owner of a huge money grabbing organisation who wanted to ensure that certain elements of software were unhackable? A small test item would do the trick. Something that was small but very annoying, like a very poor battery indicator that wouldn't look out of place on a zxspectrum?.......
If there was a way then some fine forum member would have done it by now! And it is almost certain that said organisation would be avid readers of sites such as this to chart the progress!
Next stop microsoft WORLD MOBILE DOMINATION!!!!!! :evil:
Come on guys there has to be a way.
NOTHING IS UNHACKABLE! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
There's already many parts in WM5 that are 'unhackable' unless you want to go around replacing binaries/editing binaries. There's no need for Microsoft to 'experiment' with this battery/time issue for that.
Microsoft simply got word from their OEMs that their clients wanted a battery meter on the taskbar that could be displayed at all times. A developer at Microsoft added the battery meter, replacing the clock with it, and the thing was OK'd. Whether the Microsoft Windows Mobile QA team did a particularly good job of reviewing this change before OKing it is another matter entirely, but it would be highly unlikely that they explicitly made this change, in this manner, just to irk 'hackers'.
As for nothing being unhackable - true. But some things are as easy as a registry change, while others require a binary file change, and yet others take so much effort that it takes weeks just to figure it out (see SIM unlocking the various branded HTC Universals for example - and that is still on-going).
Given that users can...
A. deal with it
B. get one of the clock replacements that will overlay on the battery
C. get or wait for AKU2.2
...I don't think you'll find many developers willing to spend a lot of time on trying to hack this around anymore. If it were simple, it would've been done already.
JNGold said:
Zeboxx,
Excellent explanation. I couldn't have said it better myself! That about sums it up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This sums it up very well, however there is one explanation that has been overlooked. What if you were the owner of a huge money grabbing organisation who wanted to ensure that certain elements of software were unhackable? A small test item would do the trick. Something that was small but very annoying, like a very poor battery indicator that wouldn't look out of place on a zxspectrum?.......
If there was a way then some fine forum member would have done it by now! And it is almost certain that said organisation would be avid readers of sites such as this to chart the progress!
Next stop microsoft WORLD MOBILE DOMINATION!!!!!! :evil:
Come on guys there has to be a way.
NOTHING IS UNHACKABLE! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
dupe post? Read up
Icon gone?!
Try this one

Slide2Gesture?

Maybe this has been discussed before but no one tried to develop the idea.
well instead of S2U, i prefer to have a gesture that i choose to unlock the device... so no one can unlock it other than I... if im dont have these programming skills
anyone is able to do it?! it can be a modified version of A_C's S2U2...
karim099 said:
Maybe this has been discussed before but no one tried to develop the idea.
well instead of S2U, i prefer to have a gesture that i choose to unlock the device... so no one can unlock it other than I... if im dont have these programming skills
anyone is able to do it?! it can be a modified version of A_C's S2U2...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahaha! Shouldn't that been called Gesture2Unlock?
johanromijn said:
Hahaha! Shouldn't that been called Gesture2Unlock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
whatever G2U ...
I like the idea of this
Cool thinkin...
No passworded needed, just a gesture.
Someone needs to copy the Microsoft Origami thingy where you unlock by tapping a certain sequence on a picture of your choice, with more security gained by moving to a smaller grid size.
ell, honestly, if you delete the images from your S2U2 directory, that should accomplish the same thing. You would just have to remember where to slide from. Or use your DPAD.
lawmangrant, i think you're missing a handy side-effect of having G2U: you can still view the today screen. I imagine that you can view the today screen, but not be able to do anything until you gesture. If anyone uses PointUI, it's kinda like the builtin lock. You see the main screen until you tap, upon which the lock screen comes up. It's pretty nice (personally use s2u2 instead) but G2U has potential uses.
It's a good idea, especially if you don't have the instructions right on the screen, it's a good locker to keep people out of your phone.
It should be Gesture2Unlock (or G2U for short) and it was discussed in the Kaiser forum here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=362231&highlight=gesture
A_C, the author or S2U2 was contacted, but he didn't think he could do it, as you can see from the thread...
I still like the idea.
I have a program in mind that does exactly what you want...
hm.. not exactly...
you have to tap to 4 or 5 different points on your touchscreen to unlock your phone...
but I don´t know the name at the moment....
I´ll try to find it....
This is a great idea.......
strange !!! walking down the street today i had this exact thought
may be some day!!!!
This was good, but doesnt work anymore...
http://softava.com/archive/pp/otp_features.html#
interesting. Would be very similair to taking a biometric of a persons signature. presumably tho one wouldn't want the signature to be drawn as you gesture2unlock, but instead "draw" onto an invisible notepad.
its no easy process (have researched biometrics) as the important part if the learning/recognition algorythm which will probably involve some neural network coding (ouch but fun).
What you need is something like this!!!
http://bip.golana.pub.ro/~mmihai/sign/index.html.
I've emailed Mihail about this (the author), pointing him to this post. I will post his reply as soon as it arrives.
Here's my email:
Dear Mihail,
I came across your website whilst looking for clues as to how we might implement a fellow forum contributor’s idea on xda-developers.com (here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=370632&page=2)
His idea was to unlock a pda using a gesture on the touch screen. To my mind that mean signature which lead me to search for some algorithms on the net. Your implementation was particularly interesting as it seems quick to operate, has low memory footprint and could work on a low spec machine (such are many pda’s).
I was wondering if you implemented such a system, or if the algorithm you have developed has been release for others to use, commercially or non-profit.
Your input into the discussion would be highly valuable.
Best wishes
Sean
lawmangrant said:
ell, honestly, if you delete the images from your S2U2 directory, that should accomplish the same thing. You would just have to remember where to slide from. Or use your DPAD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Azimuth21 said:
lawmangrant, i think you're missing a handy side-effect of having G2U: you can still view the today screen. I imagine that you can view the today screen, but not be able to do anything until you gesture. If anyone uses PointUI, it's kinda like the builtin lock. You see the main screen until you tap, upon which the lock screen comes up. It's pretty nice (personally use s2u2 instead) but G2U has potential uses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see pluses and minuses to this approach as opposed to using s2u2 with the deleted slide graphics.
If you want true privacy when someone picks up your phone, you wouldn't really want them to see your today screen especially if it contains appointment and tasks info, etc. That's where I think using a modified s2u2 would be better.
If you don't have appointment info on your screen or nothing that is "dynamic" or constantly changing except the clock, then you could skin s2u2 to "match" your today screen and place the clock exactly where it is on your today screen. For example if you have HTC home as your today screen, you can skin s2u2 clock to match the position and font as HTC home and then take a screenshot and modify it to a wallpaper, cutting out the clock par. The tricky part is the missed call and sms counter. S2u2 has the potential to disply that info but to replicate that look of htc home would require major changes, probably requiring A_C's help?
Of course if our devices had the horsepower, we could modify s2u2 to just take the screenshot of the today screen and load it as a wallpaper everytime it starts up, maybe a mortscript, but it would probably would be too slow realistically.
Im glad that u liked the idea... A_C said that he doesnt have the skills to do it.. but im sure he can help...
i don't mind if the appointments info appears on the screen, but i prefer no one can access all other applications... typing a password takes time... especially when activated side by side with S2U2...
Why a signature recognition? How about a gesture system like the one found in firefox plugins:
https://addons.mozilla.org/pl/firefox/addon/39
https://addons.mozilla.org/pl/firefox/addon/12
They're based on eight directions - four sideways and four diagonal.
Directions are defined as:
U - up
D - down
L - left
R - right
7 - up/left
9 - up/right
1 - down/left
3 - down/right
So to program a gesture you just need to input the directions of strokes it consists of.
For example URDL would mean drawing a rectangle starting from bottom left, and then going up, right, down, left. You can also describe more complicated gestures that way - R2D1L7U9R would mean drawing a circle starting from its top point and moving right.
In my opinion biometric algorithms don't make much sense, since they would need a styluys to work - try to draw your signature using a finger
Simplified gestures should work with finger as well as stylus, and should still provide more than enough security.
Great minds think alike.
What I wanted was a way to use touch to unlock the device very easily without it being easy to copy. I also wanted data to be safe should the device be reset.
I thought of using the standard S2U and just using a skin which didn't make it clear how to unlock so as to deter casual snoops.
There must be a way to do this! If no-one comes up with something soon then I'll dust off my programming books and give it a try.
the new Ftouch Flo a.k.a FtouchSL has some new gesturing features ( like corners )..maybe this would be useful

Transparent Keyboard

Hi guys,
I just got an idea about keyboard for PPC... that will be more finger friendly, PLUS, screen friendly.
Would it be possible to build something like FULL SCREEN keyboard overlay the screen, but still able to see the running software and able to see words is inputting? Just like a transparent keyboard layout on the screen, but doesn't really eat up the screen space. Not sure if I describe well enough. What do you guys think?
I am not a programmer, so I can only hand off my idea and pass the development to any volunteer programmer who has the knowledge and ability to make it.
- andre
Sounds like a great idea
Post your suggestion on the PocketCM.com forum and maybe the keyboard over there could be adapted.
As many of the screens on WM6 are designed for the built-in kb, the dialogue boxes can get cut off if you use an opaque kb.
Thanks. I've done so. I hope to see something like this one day. =)
That is actually a very good idea. I wonder how difficult it would be to do? I know nothing about SIP programming, heh.
Unless I am mistaken, it's impossible to do that as WM6 does not support transparency or graphical layers
Ufufu said:
Unless I am mistaken, it's impossible to do that as WM6 does not support transparency or graphical layers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How the S2U2 volume is working? It's transparent if you wish
romualdrichard said:
How the S2U2 volume is working? It's transparent if you wish
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it is... All programs that appear transparent (and there are many, throttlelock, mortbuttons, s2u2 volume etc etc) just take a screenshot of the background and draw over that. Which means that they just appear to be transparent - if things change beneath, you cannot see them, what you see is the screen like it was when you launched the program.
I hope someone corrects me on that, but I am pretty sure it works like that
Ufufu said:
I don't think it is... All programs that appear transparent (and there are many, throttlelock, mortbuttons, s2u2 volume etc etc) just take a screenshot of the background and draw over that. Which means that they just appear to be transparent - if things change beneath, you cannot see them, what you see is the screen like it was when you launched the program.
I hope someone corrects me on that, but I am pretty sure it works like that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So make it take a screenshot every second or so...?(Dynamo 3 does that, not for transparency but for thumbnails, but it does that)
I don't know if it's doable. It's easy to get the current screen (what WM is currently painting), but not that easy to get a screenshot of a background program, or the desktop. Programs that do that (eg, CapSure) switch to the program you want to take a screenshot of first, so even if you could switch to the program, take a screenie, and get back to where you were in 1 second, the screen would "flicker" all the time.
About Dynamo, I didn't check the latest versions of Dynamo3, but maybe it takes screenshots of the running (front) program? And I don't think it takes screens every second!
Even if I am wrong (very probable), and it's doable, I don't think it would be very practical! For locking programs, this would totally ruin baterry life. For a "transparent" keyboard, 1 per sec would not be enough, and it would probably ruin responsiveness.
Then again, I never tried to play with screenshots and fake transparency for a WM program, so who knows! Maybe! O_O
I've tried to do that for ThrottleLock. My first choice was using the WM_PRINT window message, but it's not supported for windows mobile ... other choice was to send the WM_PAINT message or a refresh and trying to get the DC associated with the window to use BitBlt to copy it to a target Bitmap... Not luck as the window will not be painted while it's not visible... As far as I know it's not possible... If anyone figures out another way to get it please let me know
todaylife can do that all. fully transparent pngs over a changing background.look at my screenshots of my skins, everything is working in background. dont know how dazzlingdazz made it but its true.
In TodayLife, it's the app itself that's painting the background... So it's easy to paint other stuff on top and still show the main screen underneath. Unfortunately not the same thing we want other applications & wm interface to show beneath the transparency.
Android supports multi-layer drawing for applications, let's hope wm7 has it too.
Some 'marshall wait cursors' are transparent. But I don't know anything how they're working.
I had this idea myself about a year ago, but thought that it is impossible to make a transparent sip, because it is not displayed over a program. It's under it. I don't know how to say in English, but I thought the sip reduce the fullscreen-size.
But maybe someone can write a program that is no real sip but transparent over other programs.
I mean like the phone pad, it is no real sip but used as an input method.
Sorry for my bad english, I hope you can guess what I mean.
ReinerK said:
Some 'marshall wait cursors' are transparent. But I don't know anything how they're working.
I had this idea myself about a year ago, but thought that it is impossible to make a transparent sip, because it is not displayed over a program. It's under it. I don't know how to say in English, but I thought the sip reduce the fullscreen-size.
But maybe someone can write a program that is no real sip but transparent over other programs.
I mean like the phone pad, it is no real sip but used as an input method.
Sorry for my bad english, I hope you can guess what I mean.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Marshall waitcursors work with screenshots too.
The SIP doesn't reduce the screen size, some programs however can detect it and re-draw itself, making it seem like the screen size is reduced - but not all, it doesn't work like that I think
There are already fullscreen keyboards over other programs, that's not the problem, the problem is the transparency
excellent idea.
transparency is supported.
Look at RetroPPC clock. the only thing that I had to do to make my clock transparent, was to use PNG-24 format.
so the clock just revolved on top of the background even when it had to shift for the scroll bars.
in any case, the effect can be achived. what about a flash based keyboard?

[PRJ][21.09.2008]The Manila Interface of your dream PnP (pen-and-paper) ;)

Hello guys!
I think many of us came to the thinking that, though TouchFLO 3D is great UI, we should make something alternate, something that better fits our needs. And now, i think i'm ready to create one, but first we should decide how should it look like and how should it operate.
So, i propose a kind of "brainstorming contest" where you decide about the look of a new UI. But to avoid this turning into an annoying feature request list ("more tasks on today! please! please! please!" ), here are the rules:
- NO text-only suggestions - every post s/b illustrated with pen-and-paper drawing
- NO screenshots or photoshop cooks - only hand-drawings or something that look like em (yes, you can use digitizer tablet )
- drawings are NOT required to be professional - just something to illustrate you thoughts
- you are NOT required to develop the complete UI - you may just post suggestions about UI parts, but preferred things are unique navigation idea (try to forget about tabs), apps\tabs convergence, brand new useful apps/tabs
- best contributors ideas (possible with Manila API) will be implemented and their names will be listed in "About..." screen
Posts that violate rules (even best of them), will be ignored.
That's it.
maybe this is too open ended.. do you haev some ideas of your own that you might want to put forward?
omniwolf said:
maybe this is too open ended.. do you haev some ideas of your own that you might want to put forward?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm already implementing ideas of my own
I just wanted to know what do folks think/dream about
show us whatcha go then!
I think D-MAN666 doesn't want to influence people, this is a brainstorming If he starts with his idea, it is probable that nobody will post a completely different concept...
This might be a useful start for interface design:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=397220
One thing I would love to see is a radial menu:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_menu
Similar to tap-and-hold for a context menu, but instead of a list popping up, a radial menu appears. You could fit 8-12 options around the circle, which would cover TF3d's pages.
So in usage, tap for the popup radial menu, then:
- swipe up for Contacts
- swipe right for Music
- swipe down for Home
- etc
IMO, it's much easier to be accurate in swiping at different angles/directions than it is to be precise with the default TF3d slider tabs, so you could really speed your way through the interface. The same could apply elsewhere: tap and hold a contact, then swipe up to call, left to SMS, right to email, etc.
For other thoughts, here's a read on interface optimization (for the technically inclined):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts's_law
And maybe later if I'm bored I'll draw some mockups
http://microsoft.blognewschannel.co...bile-7-to-focus-on-touch-and-motion-gestures/
sorry for breaking the rules, but everyone else is lol...thats a link to the WM7 concept design...along with theoretical gestures...i really digg the battery bar on the bottom and the reception bar...
Ill be the first then...
A quick drawing i knocked up... manila stays very much the same but basicaly show page navigation on the manila both horizontal and vertical..
I hope its clear enough
2 ideas here
I am going to break the rules since I'ma t work and can't really be seen drawing lol.
Here they are:
- Make use of the touch capacitative ability of the the buttons panel. It's made up of three touch panels. Maybe a swipe from left to right to unlock and right to left to lock.
- Display applications within tabs. Ex: Being able to display Icontact when sliding to the contact tab.
And for UI inspiration, I would look here:
http://www.throttlelauncher.com/portal/setupsaskins/45-091setups/69-new-minimal-flow-theme
Ok, here's my concept
The general idea is to keep most of manilla look'n feel, just remove useless animations/transitions, and change the home screen.
Changes : on the right side of the screen, a scrollbar similar to the "contacts" one appears. It controls the content of the box under the clock.
On the left, a button to maximize (take the place of the clock) the box, and a fast vibrator/ring permutation button.
So, by scrolling the bar, the content of the box changes, could be call log, contacts, fast program launcher, music player, and so on.
The idea is to keep complex functionalities (camera, tv, etc) needing full screen accessible by the manilla bar, and quick&fast features such as logs, sms, player accessible on the main screen.
Nice idea, man
Hi there,
just a thought on a possible gui for the UI, instead of tabs, layers (don't know if that's possible, but it would be very cool imho)
you could have multiple layers, and have the layers in the backgound fade out and become smaller (perspective) and use a swipe up or down to navigate
Anything happening on here?
Just wondering
SinnerNL said:
Hi there,
just a thought on a possible gui for the UI, instead of tabs, layers (don't know if that's possible, but it would be very cool imho)
you could have multiple layers, and have the layers in the backgound fade out and become smaller (perspective) and use a swipe up or down to navigate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
great idea!
like the game u can get on Playstation 3... where u 'swim' around collecting stuff and going thru lvls....
I'm thinking that the Ximoon idea is quite good but one thing that should be included is landscape option and I'm not talking about TP version but one with the same functions like the portrait one
I like the idea of the circular menus...
well first of all thanks to you guys you are doing awsome work and its always funn spendin my free time in your forums
now to my idea
does anybody know the film : the lawnmower man? theres one scene almost at the end of the film where he tries to escape to the internet i think the idea is quite amazing movn in a bowl and havin litle windows to select.
what do ya think
this is the link to the movie scene just skip it forward to about 5 minutes
Edit: sry forgot the link :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doAnB5_eDnw&feature=related

[REQ] Help to create text and walk app

I am looking for some help from the many people on here more talented than me, I have very basic programing skills but am hoping to learn more though this process.
The plan : Create an app for winmo that can do similar to this http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/14/email_n_walk/ ideally for texting as well as email.
My ideas so far (very early stages):
1. Use the generic windows messaging screen and replace the white standard background with a transparent one, probably with shaded area for tx to make it readable, and call the camera app behind it.
2. Use the tf3d messaging screen and use something like MunBackground all tabs to again run the camera view instead of a static picture.
In an ideal world I would only like to use one of these methods meaning that text/email could be written with or without the camera app running.
I would appriciate any input and help with this, I am well aware this will be made more difficult with my lack of experience, but am hopful that the wealth of knowlege here can help.
Im sorry, i cant offer my help, but you have my support; this would be great, especially for wvga devices.
If I understanded, you want transparent screen to send messages?
I'd be willing to donate some money toward anyone who could create such an application.
I'm sure came across this before as an idea if i'm reading it correct, the problem being that when we walk we don't hold the phone up infront so we'd be viewing the floor infront of our feet
One way would be to take a picture every x ms and draw it and additional items like rectangles and text in the paint method of a panel control.
P.S.: How would it look like in manila? Remember this fake/bug live camera image in home screen?
bug description
stylez said:
I'm sure came across this before as an idea if i'm reading it correct, the problem being that when we walk we don't hold the phone up infront so we'd be viewing the floor infront of our feet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Possibly not completely upright, but maybe 45 deg, and would still stop you tripping over stuff!!
heliosdev said:
One way would be to take a picture every x ms and draw it and additional items like rectangles and text in the paint method of a panel control.
P.S.: How would it look like in manila? Remember this fake/bug live camera image in home screen?
bug description
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my head, it would ideally be a seperate way of opening/writing text/email to save battery life when not needed, and would probably be a video/camera image behind, with a semi transparent overlay/greyed out area where message text was typed to enable the text to be readable.
Will try out that diamond bug/fake

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