Hey guys, my old faithful rom was giving me problems last night so I decided to give cyanogen a try. Overall nice rom, very quick, I'm sure I'll like it, after I get some things figured out.
I never realized how much was sense on sense roms. Cyanogen is missing all those really handy widgets like email, people, and messaging. I'm slowly finding somewhat comparable widgets, but nothing solid yet.
What do you guys use for those basic widgets? Is there maybe a theme or something that has those, or should i keep looking on the market?
Thanks
I've been using GO Launcher EX and it's worked great in all the rom's I have tried.
I too gave CM7 a run but the biggest issue was that I could not get the auto backlight settings to duplicate the Sense rom's, and although minor to some people, this is a big deal with me.
LauncherPro Plus is personally my first choice. It's $3(?) and I have never found a launcher I like more. I actually think the "People" widget functions better than the sense one.
I don't use it but I hear launcherpro has some sense like widgets. And as far as the backlight settings, they are set lower than sense roms by default but you can just go into settings and bump the levels up a bit or search for settings other people have posted and use theirs as a starting point.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
Ok, well I just completed a nandroid backup of my cyanogen mod 7 rom. I'm gunna restore the incredibly re-engineered rom I had before cyanogen. I'm thinking I'll flash the incredibly re-engineered Z rom's /system and the incredibly re-engineered evo /data that is in my old backup.
I'll play with cyanogen a little more later, or hold out for the sense version. The widgets aren't the only thing bugging me, I can't seem to get the t9 phone keyboard for portrait mode, and to me, cyanogen is just not worth it at the moment.
Related
There are some things from Sense that I find myself missing. I am hoping that the masses can assist in getting my tweaking right. The reason I am really excited about it is the speed. It seems leaps and bounds faster than any Sense rom I have run.
I am currently running version v.0.12.11.1.
City ID: I assume this is what gives me the City and State info when a call comes through.
LauncherPro. I can't deal with the way MIUI does the home screens, and Launcher Pro seems to fit the bill for the most part.
Weather: I am totally in love with the weather widget in the clock on sense, how it gives you the weather effects over your home screen. Is there a way to get this without the clock? I am going for a clean home screen but would like that weather.
Facebook contacts:Whenever I tell facebook to connect with my contacts, and only with ones already in my phone book, it still adds people. I want it to import only with contacts already in my list. Is there a way to get this to work right?
The other MIUI features I guess are not a huge deal to me. The lock screen is pretty awesome, it comes with the FM radio app for my incredible which is great. I really hate not having the app drawer. Overall the speed is what got me.
Is there a fast sense rom out there I should use instead? I assume I could mod things like the dialer and lock screen if I wanted right?
Any opinions and suggestions are appreciated and welcomed. I just can't sit still on a rom!
Redemption 2.3 is a VERY nice Sense ROM
Shiftyshadee said:
Redemption 2.3 is a VERY nice Sense ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have used it before, but it just seems sluggish compared to something like MIUI. Could this be true?
Forgive the noobish questions, but are there different kernels you can run with a rom for more speed?
I believe MIUI is somewhat of an AOSP based ROM (someone correct me if I'm wrong) and Sense based ROMs will always feel slightly slower than those.
HeyItsLou has a few kernels that he made that work well with his ROMs try 'em out
I'm not trying to be lazy here, but due to being in school, two part time jobs, a family of four, etc...I was hoping to crowd source some recommendations or what to steer clear of for custom rooms and kernels for the Droid Incredible. I am rooted and have been for a while, and have attempted to do some custom cleaning up by way of root manager and titanium backup, etc., but to be honest, I don't have the time to get into the self management too much due to the life stresses I listed above.
Basically I am looking for something that is of good speed performance without sacrificing battery life and possibly improving it (I know, we don't live in a perfect world, but it's worth a shot) along with getting rid of the crapware that HTC shoves down your throat.
I am now on the stock froyo with HTC sense and of course I want good app compatibility too. I am also a sucker for eye candy, so it doesn't have to have the sense UI but I do like a bit of UI intuitiveness and pleasant to the eye.
Obviously I am on a Droid Incredible, rooted with stock froyo and sense UI, as I've already said.
Recommendations are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Roger
Well, there really isn't anything to "steer clear" of. What I would recommend is trying a few sense roms, AOSP roms, and MIUI.
If you like sense roms, I would recommend
Warm 2.2 if you like the theme (though if you like MMS there's a problem about mms and wifi)
Uber Z if you like Z roms (pastel button in bottom right, also faster)
Nothing Special if you want to stay stock
Ziggy's 1/21 kernel with BFS (note that he makes new ones quite frequently)
If you like AOSP, I would definitely only recommend CM7 (CyanogenMod 7) with the stock kernel. I haven't tried any other kernels but I've found the stock kernel gives very smooth and snappy performance but still has good battery.
If you like MIUI, I would recommend the "real" MIUI. It's updated very frequently. I can't really recommend a good kernel because I don't like MIUI much (personal preference, some hate it but some like it). Just use your favorite AOSP kernel because MIUI is just a themed AOSP rom.
Hope this helps
Thanks for the insight.
I am thinking an AOSP, as you recommend Cyanogenmod 7, because I am interested in trying some different UI flavors. As I said, I am a sucker for eye candy, so if there is something really dazzling then all the better; however, my main concern is hopefully a little battery improvement, and getting rid of all the crapware bloat that they hold you hostage with. I don't Facebook AT ALL, I very seldom look at Twitter, and I could give a rat's ass about City ID, or Footprints, or Foursquare, and whatever else there is. I don't knock any of them and I know many do use them, but my theory is, if I want it then I'll install it, otherwise I want it the hell out of sight and out of mind! LOL
While I do agree the HTC Sense UI is the better of the market options for smart phones, but I've also heard from Leo Laporte that the straight Android OS features are also nice and allow for better streamlining, and I know there are others here too. So as I said, I'm always up for a new paint job on the Ole Hot Rod, but not if it is gonna make it where I can't pass a gas station anymore.
I appreciate the recommendations, and I'm probably gonna attempt this later this afternoon or this evening, so any other suggestions in the meantime are greatly appreciated. I just don't have the time to endless hours flashing and testing, and re-flashing and testing, blah, blah, blah.
Thanks Again,
Roger
ROMs
Hello, I am pretty new to ROMs however I have just started and am currently running warm z twopointtwo and so far I love it. The only problem I have had so far is not being able to set up the HTC account to see the new download options with the new sense. Other than that it is fast and smooth. I love the upgrade from sense 1.0.
I have also tried CM7. It was nice and smooth and fast, however at the time I was still in the mind set of loving the sense UI. I have also tried incredibly re-engineered. That was very nice as well but to me it wasn't a big enough change.
If some one can tell me how to get an HTC account for the warm z twopointtwo I would ukky recommend that. As far as installing ROMs I have done it through Rom manager and found it to be easy. I would recommend doing it through clockwork however as some roms didn't act right through a Rom manager install. Just make sure the Rom does not specify a different file for the different clockwork versions. In the case of warm z there is two versions to choose from depending on which CWM you are running.
Have fun
Edit: also do a Google search for incredible roms. There was a page that had a list of roms and mods and such. Something to look into.
Try warm z or inc re-engineered
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
what do you like the most about sense? You can get most of the features from sense via Widgets if you look hard enough. I initially had trouble switching to an AOSP rom until I found the stuff to replace what i missed from sense.
I think what I like most is the extra widgets. For instance the calendar widget that is 4x1 i use on my home screen for a quick glance at what I have next on my schedule. It's not a feal breaker by anymeans. And the more I look at aosp roms the more I consider them.
Actually I don't use all the widget junk from the sense UI, like twitter and people and such. I guess what I meant was the phone dialer and multiple home pages, and in that sense (no pun intended) I could really stand to see a little better integration and design of the contacts portion.
However...aside from not being a Facebook'er, I would love to be able to utilize some fancy widgets if i were to be lucky enough to fall onto a rom and kernel that drastically improved on the existing sucky battery life.
Smooth calendar is free and gives you the same functionality. More customizable as well. I used it until I realized I never have anything on my calendar. I live through outlook at work and outside of work I dont really operate on a schedule.
Like I said, there are plenty of Widgets that will give the same function of any of the sense widgets. I've seen way, way better battery life out of cm7/incredikernel
rcklesslydriven said:
The only problem I have had so far is not being able to set up the HTC account to see the new download options with the new sense. Other than that it is fast and smooth. I love the upgrade from sense 1.0.
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Click to collapse
You should be able to set up an HTC account in setup. That's what I did.
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
As far as aosp, I believe Evervolv is a solid option. Not sure if its still actively being developed but I ran it for awhile not long ago and it seemed solid
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
I've found this to be a pretty sufficient replacement for sense on AOSP:
Sense = AOSP + Lense or Rotary lockscreen + CM7 Sense Theme + ADW Sense Theme + Fancy Widget Pro + Smooth Calendar + Pure Calendar + Pure Grid Calendar + Pure Music (when it starts to work on CM7) + Phantom Music Control (until Pure Music is fixed) + Pure Messenger + Dialer One.
Quite a list. Some of the Pure widgets can be skipped if you don't use them (probably only choose one of the calendar widgets, maybe even neither if you like smooth calendar more for example). All in all this combo takes maybe half an hour to set up and costs a few dollars but all in all IMHO time and money well spent.
Stability is key
I'm big fan of constant flashing. It's hard to ever just choose one, but in the end battery life and stability is key. Eye candy is also a good thing. If you like Sense UI I would recommend Incredible Re-Engineered, it's a great little ROM, although it has some MMS issues, but that may be GVoice based and nothing more. Magnolia is also stable and I find myself constantly going back to it because of that.
As for an AOSP ROM I've never had much luck with any CM version, however UltimateDroid is nice and flashy and very customizable. It has some minor stability issues with data connections, but I've found that with most AOSP builds. I can't speak about the MIUI ROMs as I'm not a fan of the Apple interface, so I don't bother to test out the iDroid ROMs.
In the end, honestly their is no real winner because every phone is different. Your best bet is to use some prebuilt lists such as Android Candy or The Incredible List. ROMs and Kernels are ever evolving and the only one to find what works best is you. So spend an hour downloading ROMs one night and flash one a day and see what works best for you.
Well...looks like CM7 & Incredikernel are the show winners.
I'll be even more impressed when I can open &/save pics and attachments from my yahoo mail app.
In the meantime...this is pretty slick, the new UI and features are almost like getting a new phone. If I had the 4.3" screen then I would almost consider relinquishing my wife upcoming upgrade back to her. Lol
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
I installed incredibly re-engineered 2.3.2 last night and I love all the tweeks. But, I still prefer the launcher pro launcher. Would I be better off going with a AOSP rom like CM7? Was thinking if I'm going to use the vanilla style launcher anyway it might be a better fit. Went with Incredibly Re-Engineered because of stability and speed. Have never had a vanilla rom installed so not sure what I'd get into. First flash went seamlessly so feeling a bit curious to try some more things out.
kylemert said:
I installed incredibly re-engineered 2.3.2 last night and I love all the tweeks. But, I still prefer the launcher pro launcher. Would I be better off going with a AOSP rom like CM7? Was thinking if I'm going to use the vanilla style launcher anyway it might be a better fit. Went with Incredibly Re-Engineered because of stability and speed. Have never had a vanilla rom installed so not sure what I'd get into. First flash went seamlessly so feeling a bit curious to try some more things out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can desensitize (there's a script somewhere) the rom so that you can use Launcher Pro with the Sense overall feel.
I too love Incredibly Re-engineered. For eye candy, AOSP ROMs have always struck me as barren. Not to mention quirky. I've yet to lay finger on a version of CM that wasn't overtly quirky... kinda like a BlackBerry OS. And the concept of going stripped AOSP then spending time and MONEY to get it where a sense ROM is seems... senseless? If you've got a Ti Backup you'd like to restore whole or in part, plus just logging in, arranging your desktops, and tweaking setting, you're already putting in a decent time investment I know I don't relish repeating trying to find a ROM I like.
Gotta remember too that there are oodles of good kernels (and some real lousy ones) out there that can make a tight sense ROM as fast or faster and as good or better on the battery as an average AOSP ROM. Good choices, even with a stock ROM, would be Lou's, Chad's, Ziggy's (if you don't mind stupid-slow wake-up speeds), and my personal favorite, the Hydra Kernels.
You could also do something like ADW EX from the market. That's what I do because most of the time I prefer sense. Then there is the times I want to theme my phone and have more settings. That's where ADW comes in. Just a thought.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA Premium App
IncrediblyRe-Engineered v-2.30 leave the kernel it comes with been through many this ones fastest and everything works for me its a Sprint-Evo port for Inc love the free hotspot feature and lots of different themes etc though blacklist on the boring cm7 is great if you've got creditors after you MIUI is awesome too especially if you like the iPhone display though charging your battery becomes all to frequent
So...I'm really liking CM7 with the different and extensive UI features, and though I'm not getting the battery life I thought I was, Incredikernel is alright, I suppose...at least there isn't any performance degradation.
Something that's got me confused though...I never paid any attention before, until I started playing with all this hacking, but everything, including the Rom and apps and everything is going onto the SdCard and I'm running out of storage after I download a couple podcast, let alone that I obviously want to keep exploring new apps.
I was under the assumption that all "installs" of any kind would hit the internal storage first by default and then the SdCard was just extra storage for the most part. Especially since I'm always seeing folks wanting to move an app to the card. Nevertheless, its an 8gb card so I wouldn't have thought it would fill that fast anyway.
So am I missing something here, or is there maybe a hiccup in something I've done? I have been searching the threads for some storage issues I seen when I first started lurking around here, but now of course I can't find them to save my life, and I unfortunately don't have the time to read threads for days on end. Can anyone point me in thebright direction?
Thanks,
Roger
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
From what I have read neither the camera, dialer, or EPST can be put on an AOSP ROM. Hoping someone can tell me this isn't so.
Any reccomendations?
(I tried 360 and vignette but was not happy with the lag on them. The closest dialer I found was dialerone but looking for something with a little more polished look.)
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App
???
Not quite sure where you are going here. If you are that in love with sense apps, why are you interested in AOSP roms? The way your question reads, it sounds like you haven't yet tried AOSP. That is the beauty of this whole process. Nand, try something out, and if you don't like it or it doesn't have what you were looking for, nand back!!
I've been rockin MIUI for 3 months and not missing sense one bit. The camera is AMAZING- better than sense and the market apps. Some apps do have nice effects and what not, but none of them can touch MIUI's camera as far as moving/action shots go.
Let me know if you need any more info regarding AOSP. Again, back up your stuff and go see for yourself. As long as you nandroid, you have nothing to lose!
I've tried MIUI, CM6, CM7, and one other GB ROM in addition to many sense ROMs. It's not that I'm in love with sense apps. I use ADW. Overall I prefer CM7 first and foremost and secondly MIUI. I put on almost 40k miles a year and use my GPS and bluetooth constantly and like to take lots of pics. MIUI has a great look and feel but the GPS takes longer to find locations than other ROMs and when using my bluetooth is incredibly unresponsive so those two things killed it for me. I never really played with it's camera. If I were a dev I'd take base my ROM on CM7, add MIUI menus, customizability options, theme manager and take the camera, dialer, and EPST from Sense.
Where I was basically wishing for is a way to put the Sense dialer, camera, and EPST on CM7. I should have said that Thanks for the reply though!
Hey guys,
So I'm getting a little impatient with waiting for Gingerbread on my DHD and was thinking of going to CM7 now that its Final. Previous Custom ROMS so far havn't really done it for me. I kinda like the reliablility and battery life etc of the stock build.
Has anyone tried CM7 on the DHD who could maybe give a little account of how it worked out (battery life etc)?
Thanks
jamieboy88 said:
Hey guys,
So I'm getting a little impatient with waiting for Gingerbread on my DHD and was thinking of going to CM7 now that its Final. Previous Custom ROMS so far havn't really done it for me. I kinda like the reliablility and battery life etc of the stock build.
Has anyone tried CM7 on the DHD who could maybe give a little account of how it worked out (battery life etc)?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery life is superb on CM7 and much better than the Gingerbread Sense ROMs. I take it you have tried the latest Desire S builds? I recommend RCMix if you haven't. If you are wanting the pure Google experience though, you have nothing to fear with CM7.
Regards.
Stock rom offers a better connection between all the social networks, better stock widgets and htc sense camera app. hmmm i did have CM7 for while and i loved it but its just the camera app that did it for me, i guess im just too used to HTC sense !
I had no problems with CM7 either. Very nice rom. Camera App is nice. Audio is great. Having or not having HTC Sense is a big decision maker. Once or if you get bored of Sense, then you will really enjoy a rom like CM7 for all its other differences. If it could have the Sense Weather animations and clock, Touch Input keyboard and HTC Reader 2.0 - it could be my ideal rom at this point.
Although I'm a relative noob with trying the many Android roms.
Grant Barker said:
I had no problems with CM7 either. Very nice rom. Camera App is nice. Audio is great. Having or not having HTC Sense is a big decision maker. Once or if you get bored of Sense, then you will really enjoy a rom like CM7 for all its other differences. If it could have the Sense Weather animations and clock, Touch Input keyboard and HTC Reader 2.0 - it could be my ideal rom at this point.
Although I'm a relative noob with trying the many Android roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The clock, albeit not with the flip function, can be found all over the internet. Search for Fancy Widget (Sense Clock) to find it. If you can't and desperately need it, I will pm you the apk upon request, although will have to dig it out first. Keyboard? I'm confused as to exactly what you mean, but you can use the HTC keyboard on CM7 as well as numerous other replacements. HTC Reader??!! No way! Aldiko and Laputa both make HTC's attempt look poor. Not to mention Kindle.
Personally, the slight nuances of pure Android are what I find hard to resist. The transition animations, which were present on the Donut Sense UI but inexplicably left out since 2.1, are a big one. I know you can find ROMs which include the different animations or use Launcher Pro, but they never operate 100% and stutter/glitch at random moments. Even the way the keyboard bounces onto the screen rather than just "appearing" gives a more polished feel. The clean simple UI, which lacks the clutter and plethora of menu's that Sense incorporates is a dream to navigate, and the overall speed of the OS is unrivalled. I guess for the "average user", Sense is a comfortable, intuitive blanket which makes Android accessible for the masses. In the Windows Mobile days and arguably when Cupcake/Donut were still in use, it was a necessity. Since 2.1 however, I feel it is no longer needed as the Android UI has evolved to a point where it should appeal to anyone.
Regards.
EDIT: Just seen your website Grant! Forgive the app recommendations, I see you are already well versed in alternatives.
Thanks guys!!
Im still not sure! I wasn't the interface i was worried about! I've given the customs a whirl and its been more the reliability and performance that have brought me back to the stock ROM. I've downloaded the CM7 zip! might give it a chance over the weekend before the week starts over! Ill always have my back-up for when HTC decide to give us an official release of 2.3.3.
Maybe ill never go back once i try CM7!
cheers
if your a gameloft gamer, i suggest sticking with a sense 2.2 rom. if your a audiophile, cm7.
So using it now! Love the look and feel except I find that its a big sticky when swiping between homescreens. Any suggestions?
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
jamieboy88 said:
So using it now! Love the look and feel except I find that its a big sticky when swiping between homescreens. Any suggestions?
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try a different launcher. Launcher Pro is one of the smoothest.
Regards.
The Regina 3D Launcher is one I've only just heard of - thanks to Pocketnow.com.
For anyone who hasn't tried CyanogenMod 7 - there are some screenshots here.
I've only tried 3 Roms so far on Android. It would be nice to have an ongoing poll based on member's records or vote or something to see which ones are the most popular.
Grant Barker said:
For anyone who hasn't tried CyanogenMod 7 - there are some screenshots here.
I've only tried 3 Roms so far on Android. It would be nice to have an ongoing poll based on member's records or vote or something to see which ones are the most popular.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One thing I found missing is the ability to hide certain albums within the gallery. A nice feature when you've lots of crap on you SD card! Also having the GPS issue that seems pretty widespread.
Other than that, battery life = more awesome than Stock!
So, I've long been a Sense lover but I think I'm ready to CM7 but have a few questions.
Basically, what's the cons from switching from Sense to CM7? I know you don't have ESPT and 720p recording. What are some other differences?
You don't have any of the Sense apps. What you think of as stock is part of Sense, AOSP either doesn't have the app or has a different version. The phone, contacts, and sms apps are different. There's no social networking apps built in, you'll have to download them from the Market. You'll need to flash the gapps zip, which will give you the Google apps and allow you to sync your Gmail, contacts, calendar, etc and access the Market. The stock email app is different. I personally prefer AOSP over Sense, specifically MIUI, but a lot of people like the Sense apps and launcher.
As long as you do a nandroid backup, you can always get back to where you were on your current Sense rom if you don't like it.
Sometimes there's GPS issues with AOSP roms, if you have problems there are fixes available.
You asked for the cons, so that's what I gave you. But really, I like AOSP more. There are plenty of pros as well, just flash and see if it's for you.
Sent from my Evo + MIUI using Tapatalk!
AOSP Roms are known for having GPS problems. I loved cm7 but I could never get my GPS right. You can't use Sense widgets on cm7 obviously. There aren't many drawbacks to getting it to be honest. The only thing that ruined it for me was GPS. Tried every fix. I'm happy with MIUI now. 4g works fine so you're good to go with cm7. Just make sure you always have a backup.
PS person above me is a beast, just sayin'
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Thanks for your responses. I don't use widgets anymore which is why I figured I might try CM. Although I must admit I like the Sense messaging, e-mail, etc so that might take some getting used to. But I think I'm going to dive in and see what it's like so thanks again for the clarification.
BTW, I'm from Greensboro
Check out the thread below if you do decide to go with
I would also recommend launcher pro and handcent
Having trouble with AOSP? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1295702
Decks or eXplod IMO are better than cm, don't have the gps issues either.
My knocked up EVO
I use CM7 and my GPS works perfectly. The only widget I use is Widgetsoid. I love CM7 and I think it works great.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I am currently running cm 7.1,and i love it.no problems anywhere.....except batt.life is the worst ive seen with the cm dynasty.personally,cm 7.0.3.1 is the best one so far.it depends on preference as to what rom to go with
Used it for awhile. I didn't like the blandness of it and the fact that you basically need to theme it for any type of eye candy.
The other is that if you go back and look at all the unrecoverable boot loop/white screen of death posts, almost all were running CM7, which may be me being paranoid, but it was enough for me, personally, to not use it.
MIUI FTW!
I agree with MIUI. GPS is good.
Sent from my RED XDA.
I'm in agreement with the other posters. AOSP is where it's at. The only things I miss from Sense ROMs are the FriendStream widget and HTC's calendar. I used to miss the spit-and-polish from Sense, but the quality of themes available for MIUI have made that a non-issue. With the way you can mix n' match theme elements, I find I can put together something FAR more attractive than stock Sense. This may just be my experience, but themes for Sense ROMs seem to cause more aggravation than they are worth. I always seem to get some pretty erratic performance with any kind of theme applied to Sense.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium
ryan prevatt said:
I am currently running cm 7.1,and i love it.no problems anywhere.....except batt.life is the worst ive seen with the cm dynasty.personally,cm 7.0.3.1 is the best one so far.it depends on preference as to what rom to go with
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Click to collapse
What kernel are you using? I found that Savaged Zen with SBC off works like magic with my battery. I've been stunned at how much better my battery has been.