"Dock Mode" is virtually useless -- Possible to customize?

**roark1138** · 07-29-2011, 04:59 PM

So I've got my ridiculously overpriced ($50) HTC EVO 3D Dock here on my desk at work.

The EVO's in Dock Mode.

It's virtually useless.

I don't seem to be able to access any common functions, like pulling up the phone, the contact list, my email, etc.
Cannot get to the app list, that I can tell.
I cannot seem to customize anything on the dock, like add an app shortcut, change the clock, add a widget, etc., etc.

I'm at a loss right now. What am I missing here? Is there a way to customize that I'm missing?

I'm beginning to think this dock was a huge waste of money. It's overpriced, it doesn't include any special "outs" like an HDMI, and the dock mode is beyond crap.

What am I missing?

**MultiMatt** · 07-29-2011, 08:35 PM

Hey,
I was just about to post a similar question about the car panel when I saw your post. I would imagine the experience is similar, though I certainly hope the desk dock isn't bringing up Footprints, Navigation & View Map buttons! Logic would have it that the pin configuration would be different on the two...

Anywhoo, I too, am looking for a way to override the Car Panel that pops up. Especially since it's not one bit configurable.

I await someone's input right along with you!

Matt

Sent from my Galaxy Tab via Tapatalk

**MultiMatt** · 07-29-2011, 09:10 PM

Update: I found a car panel replacement in the Market! It's called Custom Car Home and it is nicely customizable. As soon as I set it up and plugged it in to my car dock, I got the "Set as Default" option & chose it over the crappy stock one.
Still early to tell, but I think this is going to solve it for me. There's got to be something similar for a desk dock option for your situation.

Matt

Sent from my Galaxy Tab via Tapatalk

**Instigator187** · 07-29-2011, 10:49 PM

I like to use an app called "lightning bug" in dock mode, if you like rain sleep machines its a great app, shows time and weather also if you want, u can make it your default dock mode app also

**LilTmac2003** · 07-30-2011, 03:38 AM

Yeah. I would also like to have it totally customizable.

Going into settings is does "virtually nothing" as well.

**hchavarria** · 07-30-2011, 09:30 AM

I like it, when I have it docked I have no plans on using it.

**roark1138** · 08-01-2011, 02:26 PM

I tried out LauncherPro, which is pretty decent and has a good landscape mode, but I found it completely consumed the battery.

The battery percentage was ticking down @ 1% per minute when running it, even after a reboot of the phone. As soon as I uninstalled LauncherPro, my battery went back to normal.

**DrAndroid** · 08-01-2011, 08:09 PM

Funny, I just posted a similar question. I bought the Seidio dock and the docked screen sucks. I have a car dock and that is much more useful than the desk dock screen. I'm going to check out that lightning bug app...

**casiouser** · 08-01-2011, 08:38 PM

I also worry about screen burn-in.

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**jondevere** · 08-01-2011, 11:05 PM

I still havnt found another dock app that I really like. I do use lightning bug now tho when I sleep. I just turn the screen off tho... no need to have it on and waste battery etc

**scaryhumor** · 08-03-2011, 08:46 PM

Originally Posted by casiouser

I also worry about screen burn-in.

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

You can't burn-in the screen, as you can with plasma or CRT (tube) tv's.

**sdhebert** · 11-15-2011, 02:45 PM

I've found that WaveLauncher works great for the Dock. It allows me to drag up from the bottom of the display and a fish-eye style launcher appears above your finger.

This works equally well for the desk dock and car dock modes.

I suppose if you don't like WaveLauncher outside this context, you could use something like Locale to toggle it when in and out of dock mode.

**ITSec_Guy** · 02-06-2012, 06:59 AM

Originally Posted by scaryhumor

You can't burn-in the screen, as you can with plasma or CRT (tube) tv's.

I was actually wondering about burn-in as well, so thanks for clearing that up for me

**prlundberg** · 02-06-2012, 03:13 PM

Originally Posted by ITSec_Guy

I was actually wondering about burn-in as well, so thanks for clearing that up for me

Just to clarify, it is not an issue with the LCD screen on the EVO 3D. Phones with AMOLED screens do have that issue.

**XandroidX** · 02-27-2012, 11:27 AM

Anyone testing ICS know if the Dock Mode has changed? As others have stated above the current HTC desk Dock Mode is not very customizable and being that the desk docking cradle is now 14.99 on radioshack.com I purchased 3 of them.

Also, has anyone found a good home dock replacement app in the Market?

**XandroidX** · 02-28-2012, 05:11 PM

I just downloaded and installed Wave launcher from market after reading sdherbert's post using it to improve the dock mode and yes I highly recommend it. Will make dock mode much more useful because you launch any app and the coolest thing I have ever seen in an app, Wave launcher will place any widget you want floating on the dock mode screen!