Apollo UI attempt - Windows Phone 7 General

Hi guys,
I thought some of you might enjoy the Apollo theme I've created on my Omnia 7 with the help of the Screen Capture, Supreme Shourtcut and Advanced Config homebrew apps.
The only editing I've done here is replacing the people tile to protect my privacy All the pictures have been taken from my phone.
You'll notice I've sacrificed having a live Call tile. Since you get an readout of missed calls on the lock screen I didn't consider it that great a loss.
Let me know what you lot think...
EDIT: Just noticed that the screen capture for some reason hasn't captured the dark purple I have set as the home screen menu background Well anyway, that's there!

First look - messy
But then I think actually using it on a phone wouldn't be that messy.
My reaction towards this is neutral.

Takes away all of the aesthetic appeal of wp7.

I think it looks great!
Microsoft reallllllllly needs to allow more customization with colours in Apollo. In the worst way.

They need to change how notifications are displayed. The notification bar sucks right now. And i hate the fact that it disappears and there's no way to make it permanent.

Related

Zoom Bar Hacks Wanted

I'm assuming that the zoom bar is just an extension of the resistive touch screen beyond the visible screen, so what are the chances someone will make a program/hack that will let you use it for other functions, like a dpad and a mouse?
TD2 users already have it sort of working as a scroll wheel.
I've been watching the M900 on Pocketnow, and while I'm not swayed, the potential of the navigation functions of the biosensor do wow me. It'd be a welcome addition I think. I'm new to xda-dev, but whenever I've come across the name/link, it's always with effusive praise and admiration. I figure if anyone will, it will be someone here.
Bump for this one!!
As soon as I saw the zoom bar on the TD2 and TP2 and the limited functionality of usage only in messaging, web browsers and pictures, it just screamed hack hack hack
I was also thinking gestures like the Palm Pre...
ooooh... I'm intrigued! I'd like to see what some developers can put together for this. That would be a sweet feature to hack.
evojulz said:
As soon as I saw the zoom bar on the TD2 and TP2 and the limited functionality of usage only in messaging, web browsers and pictures, it just screamed hack hack hack
I was also thinking gestures like the Palm Pre...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. The zoom bar seemed like a good idea when I first read about it, given the multitouch zooming was a no go with the resistive screen. But then in the reviews, it just seemed so under-utilized.
I'd love to have a configuration utility that let you use it in different ways in different applications, kind of like some screen rotating apps let you set up rotation differently for different apps.
Or like the Jog Dial on the hermes. (only wished the TP2 had that, and it would have been perfect. One handed control of the device...). But it will have to be pretty precise, and it isn't yet.
If it can register touch pressure (tapping) I would like 2 see 4 sectors (up down left right)
quarintus said:
Or like the Jog Dial on the hermes. (only wished the TP2 had that, and it would have been perfect. One handed control of the device...). But it will have to be pretty precise, and it isn't yet.
If it can register touch pressure (tapping) I would like 2 see 4 sectors (up down left right)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
D2 Zoombar as buttons request asks for 3 buttons. Hopefully someone will do more.
Would LOVE to see 3 or 4 buttons on the zoom bar!!
(And maybe sliding button 1 to the right or button 4 to the left still means scrolling)
Bright.Light said:
Would LOVE to see 3 or 4 buttons on the zoom bar!!
(And maybe sliding button 1 to the right or button 4 to the left still means scrolling)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The main screen can tell the difference between a press and a flick, so I imagine the zoom bar could have assigned buttons and still scroll.
Hi All
For my TP2, i'd really like to have Zoom Bar that zooms ....everything!!
I would like to just zoom the screen (any screen) to a larger size. I did kinda think (or at least hope) that it was what it was going to do anyway, not just zooming pictures, browser etc.
I would like the simple (??) funtion of being able to zoom any app, any screen, anything - to be able to read stuff maybe a little more easier.
I do use glasses for reading only and it is a real drag to have to get them out to read a text clearly, or see whose calling or just to get a better look in daylight etc.
A zoom 'anything' or 'any screen' would be really awesome and a supremely useful utilisation of something that is already there. Then you couild just drag the screen around to get to what you want to see better (yes, just like a picture, so basically i guess, the current screen becomes like a picture).
The other ideas of buttons, d pads and so on all sound great too, but this would probably benefit so many people get better use out of their devices.
I wonder if it can be done...????
Cheers and happy TP2ing.
Jabberoo
jabberoo said:
I would like to just zoom the screen (any screen) to a larger size. I did kinda think (or at least hope) that it was what it was going to do anyway, not just zooming pictures, browser etc.
I would like the simple (??) funtion of being able to zoom any app, any screen, anything - to be able to read stuff maybe a little more easier.
I do use glasses for reading only and it is a real drag to have to get them out to read a text clearly, or see whose calling or just to get a better look in daylight etc.
A zoom 'anything' or 'any screen' would be really awesome and a supremely useful utilisation of something that is already there. Then you couild just drag the screen around to get to what you want to see better (yes, just like a picture, so basically i guess, the current screen becomes like a picture).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably better than just magnifying the screen, for readability in text heavy apps at least, would be setting font sizes to the zoom bar--zoom up, Font Sizes get larger, zoom down, they get smaller. I think that might actually be enabled in some text apps already, but I'm not sure. The touchpad on my Acer Aspire One does this in some word processors.
For things like Caller ID, a screen magnifier would be needed. I'm guessing you'd need a resident program to be able to do this anywhere and everywhere.
Thx fortunz
All true, but wouldn't the simple 'magnify the whole screen' thing be a really (really) good thing to have - and logical too. Just an extension of the way it works for images. Just seems like something that it should do.
I did notice on the HTC Manila 2.5 demo video from Germany, in the Settings area, under 'Other', there was a setting for 'HTC Magnify'.
Uncertain of any further details, but it could be just what i am talking about, maybe!
Cheers to all
Jabberoo
jabberoo said:
Thx fortunz
All true, but wouldn't the simple 'magnify the whole screen' thing be a really (really) good thing to have - and logical too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't disagree at all.
zoom as scroll and on manila start screen not only inside
I just wish the zoom ball zommed in on pictures (going towards center of picture) rather than how it works in opera (the upper left corner)
Bump...
Anybody anything?
i would be interested to know if this is possible too.
I would luv the zoom bar to wash my car and mow the lawns for me... any chance?
....LOL....
Yeah, the zoom bar is really under-utilized. I often forget it's there and go to screen -> larger text to increase my fonts... Guess it's because it only works in a few apps. Without realizing, I've gone to settings -> screens before I realize I have a zoom bar...
Would love to see some gurus here hack this to a mini d-pad, or at least and up/down arrow. Currently, I have the vol up/down to do this using AEB.
i agree with all of these .. we need a genius programmer to make some kind of super aeb where you could have different button profiles and set a shortcut to profiles on the homescreen .. my perfect setup would be to have zoom be able to switch open applications and somehow map the back conference mute thing to play/pause in music player .. or have zoom button be able to switch songs for you (like with screen off/lock on) and hold for running applications list ... then have it all skinned pretty like some translucent palm pre thing .... lol .. just dreaming..
games
they can also utilize in racing games like as steering wheel instead of touching the screen

[UPDATED] WP7 LATEST BUILD OS Walk-through Video [UPDATED with NYC 23/06/2010 Demo]

It looks to be coming along very nicely indeed. Seems much faster and smoother than the build shown at the MIX event some months ago...
http://www.clubic.com/smartphone/wi...remix-2010-premier-contact-windows-phone.html
UPDATED
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cj7LPsd6M8
Looks slick
UPDATED 23/062010
This is the best video yet, which shows a nice example of the deep integration that can be found on WP7. Oh and its even faster, smoother and more responsive than the build shown above.
Nice video. It looks extremely smooth. Even as good as the iphone to me. I can't wait to get one in my hands.
Defiantly faster and has promise but I am not feeling the boxes. It makes the display look thrown together. With both Android and the iPhone providing more vibrant today screens I hope the final release version allows for background images, transparency on tiles and program shortcuts and things of that nature.
Jokes On You said:
Defiantly faster and has promise but I am not feeling the boxes. It makes the display look thrown together. With both Android and the iPhone providing more vibrant today screens I hope the final release version allows for background images, transparency on tiles and program shortcuts and things of that nature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
possibily more vibrant, but the live tiles brings more usefulness to the wp7 homescreen.
More usefulness than the iPhone springboard maybe, but certainly a lot less usefulness than the Android homescreen.
And I'm not even sure whether it's more user friendly than the iPhone, because you only get to see 8 tiles without scrolling. With most applications only being representated by icons and not displaying any information, this is a huge waste of space. Normal application icons should only be as big as one quarter of a tile, instead of taking one eighth of the whole home screen.
The Android home screen clearly is a much better concept, with the ability to mix icons and widgets, so that every element on the home screen only takes as much space as it needs.
gom99 said:
possibily more vibrant, but the live tiles brings more usefulness to the wp7 homescreen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the current market this can be a detriment to windows. You cant give functionality and usefulness lessons in a 15 second commercial so what the users see must be something that grips them and doesn't let go. I personally dont think this homescreen does that.
shaundalglish said:
More usefulness than the iPhone springboard maybe, but certainly a lot less usefulness than the Android homescreen.
And I'm not even sure whether it's more user friendly than the iPhone, because you only get to see 8 tiles without scrolling. With most applications only being representated by icons and not displaying any information, this is a huge waste of space. Normal application icons should only be as big as one quarter of a tile, instead of taking one eighth of the whole home screen.
The Android home screen clearly is a much better concept, with the ability to mix icons and widgets, so that every element on the home screen only takes as much space as it needs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That Android method sounds like it can lead to a "cluttered" look if all items would vary in size. I haven't used Android so I dont know its functionality but I definitely agree that the WP7 functionality can be improved.
Well, there is a grid (4x4), the items can't take any size and position.
Also, whether it looks "cluttered" is up to you. If you like, you can place icons only, like on the iPhone, to have it look that clean, or you can arrange icons and widgets in a pattern, or you can mix them... you're free to customize it any way you like.
I agree that the tiles could result in cleaner look, which is good, but not at the expense of functionality. Unfortunately, developers can't choose what size their applications should be on the home screen (the choice between an icon that's a quarter of a tile, a whole tile or a double-wide tile would make sense).
Again, I'm a fan of clean looks, symmetry and not too many colors, but that must not come at the expense of functionality.
shaundalglish said:
I agree that the tiles could result in cleaner look, which is good, but not at the expense of functionality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you say functionality what do you mean? What functionality does the WP7 screen offer that the others don't?
That's the issue. It does have a cleaner look, but lacks functionality that would make it more user friendly, like e.g. Android's home screen. I think the clean look should not come at the expense of functionality. They must think of ways to have both, e.g. making icon-only tiles smaller and allowing developers to choose from different sizes.
I hate the style of WP7 i prefer android or windows mobile 6 series
Well that's a matter of taste. I'm a fan of "clean" looks. Nevertheless, user friendliness and functionality are more important and WP7 unfortunately lacks both. The Android home screen is much more user friendly/functional.
I love the clean look of WP7.
Although, to me, iPhone OS may not have the "at a glance" info, it (and android) look way more polished to me.
That said, being able to choose the colour of tiles, a choice of background, and a choice of transparency for the tiles would probably help a great deal.
One more thing:
YESSS!! They've finally made the Internet Explorer tile icon white!!
It looks so much more in tune with the rest of the OS now.
looks good, I thing WP7 would be being awesome with a wheel like HTC Tilt or something similar. Would make things so much easier scrolling about the screen so you don't always have to touch the screen to do what needs to be done
~style1~
I wish that guy would keep his hand still! lol. It gets very distracting!
I see the tile background for pictures and the music and video are different on this guys phone. So that leads me to believe that we'll at least be able to customise those
I think the blank spaces (where a user removes a tile) are strange though. I would have expected that the tiles below would shift up to fill the space cos it just looks odd.
Casey
P.S. Need to brush up on my French!
Casey_boy said:
I wish that guy would keep his hand still! lol. It gets very distracting!
I see the tile background for pictures and the music and video are different on this guys phone. So that leads me to believe that we'll at least be able to customise those
I think the blank spaces (where a user removes a tile) are strange though. I would have expected that the tiles below would shift up to fill the space cos it just looks odd.
Casey
P.S. Need to brush up on my French!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those tiles actually show you the last image shown/last song played.
Btw, being a french speaking guy, the developer of the game said that it will be ready for a "October" launch...
Dunno the validity of that date though...
I can't watch this video. That guy's right hand is driving me insane.
weird people about, forget the guys hand. a lot of people are physical speakers that naturally make gestures as they speak. its hardly even worth commenting on being this is a thread about the phone and all
~style~
style1 said:
weird people about, forget the guys hand. a lot of people are physical speakers that naturally make gestures as they speak. its hardly even worth commenting on being this is a thread about the phone and all
~style~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you'd be surprised. I'm not criticizing what he is doing. I understand a lot of people do that. But it's literally making me uncomfortable and borderline nauseous. No kidding.
shaundalglish said:
Well that's a matter of taste. I'm a fan of "clean" looks. Nevertheless, user friendliness and functionality are more important and WP7 unfortunately lacks both. The Android home screen is much more user friendly/functional.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I find the UI very functional and user friendly. Its clean, fluid, fast and the idea of grouping 3 different apps into a single hub is brilliant. With this idea, the 8 hubs could actually give you access to 24 different applications.
I currently own a HTC Desire and to watch a video i have to go into an app for it, then to play music its another app and then the radio is another app. On WP7 its all in one place, one hub, one icon instead of 3 and thats just one example of many possibilities.
I find Android home screens aren't very intuitive when it comes to arranging widgets/programs its extremely clunky and can be very frustrating.
It's not one Icon instead of three. You have to ho into the hub, then into Zune or radio or... That's at least two clicks.
How many clicks until you're in an app in Android? Maximum two.
And instead of grouping apps into a hub, you can group them into a folder on Android. Or onto one homescreen (like a "music" screen, a "pictures" screen and so on). Or place widgets.
All the things in WP7, you can have them on Android, but better.
Tiles are like widgets, but widgets are better.
Hubs mean integration, but the integration posibilities on Android are much greater. You don't need Hubs, because Android already gives lots of integration possibilities, much more than WP7.
You can have information, shortcuts, favorites on your home screen, but you can have more on Android...

SUGGESTION Android Custom Firmware

Hi everyone.
I was wondering if a developper (AND USER AS WELL) could be interested into making a Custom firmware for android that is made and give support for Anaglyph stereoscopy? You know those Red and Cyan Glasses!
on a PC I use IZ3D to make my Videogame 3d with proper Cyan and Red Glasses and was thinking how much It would be cool to get that on a Samsung Galaxy S phone or Even an Android Tab.
I've downloaded a video of 3d gaming and played id on my phone to see what it look like....AWESOME!!!!
And the desktop could be Anaglyph as well. Imagine an Anaglyph Live wallpaper that look like an endless corridor and use the motion sensor so when you move the phone it change the angle of the background so real that you could almost put you fingers inside loll
and when you slide the notification panel it really look like a panel in front of your endless background.
When changing between windows, the animation could give a 3d slide
Anyway there is a lot of possibility. On this mod it could be cool to shut down the anaglyphic effect with an on/off button as well.

WP7 Fast App Switching [Concept]

Hey everybody.
I was browsing the usual sites and on PocketNow they had a quick article and their take on the rumored Fast App Switching that might be included in the big January update.
*pocketnow.com/windows-phone/windows-phone-7-how-fast-app-switching-could-work
Personally, I found their take to be sort of ugly, but I was intrigued by the idea. So I had some free time on my hands and I decided to make a quick-n-dirty photoshop concept that I think may be plausible. Considering the Metro UI heritage from the Zune HD, I remembered the pin list that you could easily swipe to on the left side. Now I don't quite think that would work very well on WP7, but I utilized the same idea for my concept.
Picture 1 is a normal Start screen.
Picture 2 is an example of a switcher that pops-up and fades the main screen out (like on iOS).
Picture 3 is an example of an always-present switcher on the start screen.
Picture 4 is the same as 3, but the switcher icons are faded out (to make the screen look less cluttered).
1 - *i56.tinypic.com/2yovkac.jpg
2 - *i54.tinypic.com/fz5gup.jpg
3 - *i55.tinypic.com/dqn4pi.jpg
4 - *i51.tinypic.com/2wfltoo.jpg​
I don't have that much time today to expand the concept further, like behavior in apps, gestures, etc. But I thought this would be a cool thread to share ideas and concepts. Tell me what you think, good or bad.
EDIT: I forgot to mention closing apps. I don't have anything made yet, but it would either be a drag-off-the-screen gesture (like WebOS) or a hold-and-close action (similar to editing tiles).

S20 OLED image persistence

Is image persistence normal for S20's screen or OLED screens in general?
For example, playing a bright video game with black aspect ratio bars, leaves a lasting persistent image, where on dark pastel backgrounds you can clearly see where bars and game were.
Or writing a long article, leaves remnants of Android's nav. buttons, Chrome's address bar, and even keyboard visible, when tested on dark pastel backgrounds.
These persistent images gradually disappear, but it takes a long time to disappear completely. Do you experience something similar to this?
Thanks.
Scroll down for testing methods, post #5. Start by opening dark gray image, view full image, zoom in, do you see discoloration?
Image retention (persistence) is a somewhat common issue with all OLED. That said you shouldn't be experiencing it unless your constantly rocking your screen at 100% brightness, or near there, for hours on end.
I found this cNet article which explains it really well.
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/oled-screen-burn-in-what-you-need-to-know-now/
scaredy-cat said:
Is image persistence normal for S20's screen or OLED screens in general?
For example, playing a bright video game with black aspect ratio bars, leaves a lasting persistent image, where on dark pastel backgrounds you can clearly see where bars and game were.
Or writing a long article, leaves remnants of Android's nav. buttons, Chrome's address bar, and even keyboard visible, when tested on dark pastel backgrounds.
These persistent images gradually disappear, but it takes a long time to disappear completely. Do you experience something similar to this?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Galaxy S7 and S8 had issues with Screen Burn which Samsung improved going forward from the S9. If the ghost images gradually disappear it isn't Screen Burn which causes permanent discoloration. If under warranty you may wish to get the device replaced, it doesn't seem the problem will correct itself over time. The other options I would consider are uninstalling apps which you enabled just before the problem appeared or performing a Factory Reset.
if you're playing games and the background is constantly moving, then there should be little, or no image retention. However, if you are using Google Maps and high brightness and stationary for a long period of time (eg stuck in traffic) then I would consider some image retention could be present.
Thank you for your answers. Bold text for topics. Testing methods at the end of this reply.
Was not aware OLED screens' image retention is such a common issue, but I knew OLED screens are prone to burn-in, read about it online, and saw it on my relatives' older devices, so out of the box I turned on the dark mode and changed wallpaper to black.
I preferred regular Android's navigation buttons to gestures, because of ergonomics, due to phones center of mass (wish it was more bottom heavy), when using with one hand, balancing phone while performing gestures always feels like I'm about to drop the phone, I also find gestures to be slower, simple tap vs sliding your finger. And on top of that, I have carpal tunnel syndrome, so it's much easier to simply reach and tap. But now I started using gestures, as a burn-in preventative measure.
By the way, having Chrome open for around 20 minutes, and quickly switching to Display Tester's BurnIn detection, I can already distinguish Chrome's address bar section, and clearly see tab switcher button. This will gradually disappear, but the fact that afterimage appears so quickly and remains for so long is concerning, since I feel such image retention might indicate my display may be prone to burn-in, but of course, I don't know this for sure, just my uneducated guess.
Having dark mode keyboard open for around an hour, and I can see remnants of it even on grey backgrounds of folders.
Back to reply..
I never use my screen at full brightness, it's always set to somewhere around 50%, and as I said earlier, image retention starts to occurs in a matter of minutes. Images do gradually disappear, but it takes a long time, and when I use screen for hours with static elements, it felt like it took awfully long time to disappear, but to determine how long exactly it takes for them to appear and disappear, I need to do more thorough testing.
Yes, when playing games, indeed, a lot of things are moving, except for Heads-up Display, but I first noticed this image retention issue playing an older video game called "Super Cat Bros". That game is not optimized for such wide-screen phones as S20, so on each side you have a black bar, display is split into 3 sections - bar-game-bar. That game is very colorful and has lots of solid colors, so after I finished playing, in dark user interface backgrounds I noticed discoloration, later looking at solid color backgrounds l noticed clearly where each section was, so bar-game-bar. Because sides of a display were turned off, and all action happened in the middle, you can clearly see which part of the screen was the most active.
This is why I'm coming to conclusion, that dark mode alone is still only a small part in burn-in prevention, you should blackout everything, including websites (I remember firefox had plug-in like that, capable of replacing background and font colors), switch to a dim keyboard preferably without visible keys with orange-red colored font, download oled friendly icon packs, watch movies cropped in, so you're not left with permanent discoloration in place of "black bars", and play games full-screen, only then wear will be uniform. Seems like too much work. I wish micro-led displays would become widespread sooner.
I don't think factory reset or uninstalling apps will help, because it appears to be not software related.
At least not software user can update, such as display's firmware, but I don't know for sure just how independent display is from other phone's guts. Even then, I don't think firmware can fix this.
The phone is under warranty, since it's new, used for a few moths, and unmodified, but sadly is probably not an option, because in my country, gaslighting customers is fairly common. Service center will probably take it away for a few weeks, then return it scratched up, and say they didn't find any issue. So unless it's a serious burn-in, that's visible always and on every background, it'll be extremely difficult to make a return, and even then they'll probably tell it's normal wear, but then at least you can without explaining too much contact consumer protection and show them the problem.
Software used for discovery and testing:
• Super Cat Bros (video game)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.FDGEntertainment.SuperCatBros.gp
Play it for an hour (or more) and then test on solid darker pastel colors, do you see discoloration? Report for how long you played and how long discoloration was visible. Do not reopen game when retesting discoloration, because it may appear permanent. I know some people are not good at seeing minute differences in shades, but at first it should be very obvious which parts were black bars and part where game ran.
• Display Tester (app)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gombosdev.displaytester
Very good display tester, free, lots of features and tests, and works on wide-screen displays, enable "use immersive mode if possible" in the settings. I think default color in BurnIn tester is very good at revealing discoloration, but you can play with sliders, just remember position which reveals discoloration the best.
• I'll also attach solid color image, which works for revealing discoloration.
And another dark gray image, which also helps reveal discoloration, use in dark room at around 50% screen brightness (play around), no matter how much you zoom in or out, it appears like screen has gradient, notifications bar icons are also visible, not sure if it's temporary or a permanent discoloration. I recommend opening these images with a gallery app, set to full screen, or simply pinch to zoom, and tap screen one time to hide gallery's UI elements. Tilt phone left and right, move towards and away from yourself, do you see discoloration?
You can also open them up with browser, and examine your screen, but I found you can't hide all UI elements, so better use gallery or other image viewer.

Categories

Resources