Less Homescreen options & customizations for Nexus running ICS :(

cdf3

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I'm wondering if there will be less home screen options for the Nexus running Ice Cream Sandwich.

For previous versions of Android, when I press and hold the homescreen I'm presented with quite a few options to choose from. I can create Shortcuts, Custom shortcuts, Widgets, Folders, & Wallpapers.
With ICS Widgets are now added by going to the tab within the app tray. Folders are now added by dragging an icon on the homescreen on top of another icon. Adding wallpapers has not changed.
Pressing and holding the homescreen in ICS will only give you a menu of Live Wallpapers, Pictures, & Wallpapers. What about shortcuts & custom shortcuts? I didn't see a custom shortcut option in ICS for adding Direct Dial & Direct Messaging to contacts, Custom Bookmarks, Custom Shortcuts of features within apps, etc.

Adding Widgets to the homescreen is one thing, but not being able to add custom shortcuts is something totally different. For instance I have a Bookmark app that will allow me to add it's Widget to the homescreen. The Widget will display all Bookmarks, but if f I choose a Custom shortcut for the same app, I can choose to add a particular bookmark or certain folders containing bookmarks to the homescreen.
There are quite a few apps I have where as the Shortcut features are not the same as the Widget of that same app.
I don't see this as an option based on the videos of Ice Cream Sandwich I've seen thus far.
 
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MowDownJoe

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Re: Less Homescreen options & customizations for Nexus running IC

For previous versions of Android, when I press and hold the homescreen I'm presented with quite a few options to choose from. I can create Shortcuts, Custom shortcuts, Widgets, Folders, & Wallpapers.

You've been using ADW too much. "Custom shortcuts" have never been a part of stock Android. And you can still add contacts to the home screen, though I haven't used it myself, so I don't know how that works.

And there won't be less options. Folders work differently, in that you don't create the folder before-hand and start dumping stuff into it, but rather just pile icons on top of each other. Widgets have their own tab in the app drawer now.
 

cdf3

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OK. Thanks. Guess I've gotten used to the overlays on Android, and not pure Android.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
 

CynicX

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Re: Less Homescreen options & customizations for Nexus running IC

This is something I think that will surprise a lot of GN owners. There isn't much and a lot of manufacture ui's and launchers are very useful in this aspect.

I bet we will see a lot of "why did they remove X" threads once the device is out from people not realizing it was a function of the skin they claim to hate so much.
 

exempli_gratia

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Re: Less Homescreen options & customizations for Nexus running IC

This is something I think that will surprise a lot of GN owners. There isn't much and a lot of manufacture ui's and launchers are very useful in this aspect.

I bet we will see a lot of "why did they remove X" threads once the device is out from people not realizing it was a function of the skin they claim to hate so much.

Yep, folks tend to overlook a lot of genuine pluses from the manufacturers' skins (like "new" panorama camera mode in ICS, that's been on Moto's and Samsung's for a while). Hopefully "pure" Android has better performance, but functionality wise a lot seems to be catch-up to the 3rd party skins/launchers.
 

Gdwheel

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Re: Less Homescreen options & customizations for Nexus running IC

This is something I think that will surprise a lot of GN owners. There isn't much and a lot of manufacture ui's and launchers are very useful in this aspect.

I bet we will see a lot of "why did they remove X" threads once the device is out from people not realizing it was a function of the skin they claim to hate so much.

It is the only thing that concerns me about the GNex
 

cdf3

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Yep, folks tend to overlook a lot of genuine pluses from the manufacturers' skins (like "new" panorama camera mode in ICS, that's been on Moto's and Samsung's for a while). Hopefully "pure" Android has better performance, but functionality wise a lot seems to be catch-up to the 3rd party skins/launchers.

You're right. Some of the new features have been around for a while in various apps and overlays.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
 

cdf3

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I'm now able to add navigation shortcuts on my home screen. Not sure how I will be able to do that with Ice Cream Sandwich. I tried adding a shortcut from Google Maps, but didn't find any options for that feature. Therefore, without being able to press and hold the home screen for additional options, I may end up loosing that feature.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
 

dsignori

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Re: Less Homescreen options & customizations for Nexus running IC

I'm now able to add navigation shortcuts on my home screen. Not sure how I will be able to do that with Ice Cream Sandwich. I tried adding a shortcut from Google Maps, but didn't find any options for that feature. Therefore, without being able to press and hold the home screen for additional options, I may end up loosing that feature.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk


You can execute all of the home screen additions (previously accessible via home screen long press) from the Widgets section. See below. He blows by it fast , so you might need to pause to see all the shortcut options from the Widget section of the app drawer...


ICS Widget shortcuts
 

WaistDownUnder

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Re: Less Homescreen options & customizations for Nexus running IC

You can execute all of the home screen additions (previously accessible via home screen long press) from the Widgets section. See below. He blows by it fast , so you might need to pause to see all the shortcut options from the Widget section of the app drawer...


ICS Widget shortcuts

I pulled these from the ICS emulator:

AL8Q0.png

6aqaI.png

XdUP0.png
 

jerrod6

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Re: Less Homescreen options & customizations for Nexus running IC

I use ADW on my OG Droid and I know I will miss the use of themed Icons... and screen transition effects....but....at least I want to start off with the basic system not one that comes with a cartoon like UI that cannot be uninstalled. This gives me the ability to use another launcher if I choose to and revert back to stock if I want to.

I am sure the themer developers will be all over ICS and we will see their enhancements to it.
 

qnet

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Re: Less Homescreen options & customizations for Nexus running IC

It looks like you can do a lot of the same things, just in a different way. I like ICS in the way it adds some things I like about launchers & overlays but, it's still pure android. There have been always specific things I wanted out of third-party launchers without wanted the whole launcher.
 

YourMobileGuru

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Re: Less Homescreen options & customizations for Nexus running IC

Yep, folks tend to overlook a lot of genuine pluses from the manufacturers' skins (like "new" panorama camera mode in ICS, that's been on Moto's and Samsung's for a while). Hopefully "pure" Android has better performance, but functionality wise a lot seems to be catch-up to the 3rd party skins/launchers.

I personally think most of the people who say they hate OEM skins do so because someone told them they should.
 

qnet

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Re: Less Homescreen options & customizations for Nexus running IC

I personally think most of the people who say they hate OEM skins do so because someone told them they should.

I don't agree. Most people don't even know the difference. The people who do know the difference and, say they don't like OEM skins, really don't like them. Your assumption is way off, extremely way off IMO.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate OEM skins, they're are some things I like about them but, they take over too much.
 

YourMobileGuru

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Re: Less Homescreen options & customizations for Nexus running IC

I don't agree. Most people don't even know the difference. The people who do know the difference and, say they don't like OEM skins, really don't like them. Your assumption is way off, extremely way off IMO.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate OEM skins, they're are some things I like about them but, they take over too much.

Regular consumers don't but those who frequent sites like this surely do, and I wasn't talking about you specifically.

People read this site and and other and are told such things as "motoblur sucks" and they believe it even before trying it. They see lag where none exists because they are told that it lags. How many of us have even USED stock Android since the original Droid? (and I don't mean playing with the Nexus S in the store, or custom roms made from the AOSP). I mean actually used stock android on a device that was designed for and optimized to use it? Watching videos on YouTube doesn't count either.
 

SoulWeaponry

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Re: Less Homescreen options & customizations for Nexus running IC

I'm genuinely wondering: why do people hate oem skins in the first place? Is this the cool new hivemind mentality or are there really that many people who have tried a vanilla device and liked it enough to vow off skins forever? I know some like to blame skins for lag, but we're getting to a point where these phones' power outnumbers the amount of lag these skins can weigh it down with.

My rezound has none. No lag. I mean...despite the 0.1 second lag my new buddy in the other thread gets with his, this phone has been buttery smooth and everything htc sense brings is actually pretty awesome. The widgets, the lockscreen, the calender, etc.

I can understand some people using sense or touchwiz on their phone for the past year or 2 and getting sick of them, but thinking a bare bones vanilla UI is better? Hmm...i like the way the nexus flows but there's really nothing special about it unless you're going in it hating an alternative
 

qnet

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Re: Less Homescreen options & customizations for Nexus running IC

Regular consumers don't but those who frequent sites like this surely do, and I wasn't talking about you specifically.

People read this site and and other and are told such things as "motoblur sucks" and they believe it even before trying it. They see lag where none exists because they are told that it lags. How many of us have even USED stock Android since the original Droid? (and I don't mean playing with the Nexus S in the store, or custom roms made from the AOSP). I mean actually used stock android on a device that was designed for and optimized to use it? Watching videos on YouTube doesn't count either.

Fair enough, it just seems like your making a lot of assumptions and sweeping generations. I had a long response typed up but realized, it's not really worth getting into a back and forth debate about, not over a phone. I know what I want and, will be glad when this phone is released so, we can all talk about how cool it is or, how it may suck ( I know there will be a few).
 

qnet

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Re: Less Homescreen options & customizations for Nexus running IC

I'm genuinely wondering: why do people hate oem skins in the first place? Is this the cool new hivemind mentality or are there really that many people who have tried a vanilla device and liked it enough to vow off skins forever? I know some like to blame skins for lag, but we're getting to a point where these phones' power outnumbers the amount of lag these skins can weigh it down with.

My rezound has none. No lag. I mean...despite the 0.1 second lag my new buddy in the other thread gets with his, this phone has been buttery smooth and everything htc sense brings is actually pretty awesome. The widgets, the lockscreen, the calender, etc.

I can understand some people using sense or touchwiz on their phone for the past year or 2 and getting sick of them, but thinking a bare bones vanilla UI is better? Hmm...i like the way the nexus flows but there's really nothing special about it unless you're going in it hating an alternative

I can only speak for myself but, it's not because of lag that I don't want it. The HTC sense looks nice on the rezound from what I've seen. What I don't like is the way it takes over the whole system. There were things I liked about Gingerbread that you can't even use anymore. This is something I noticed when I had the Bionic.

There are some things I like about the Ui's but only certain things and, I wish I could isolate them but, you can't without rooting I guess. This is just my personal preference and, it comes from my experience with the Nexus one and, the Nexus S. I like using all the Google services and, from my experience with the Mytouch 4G; the phones with OEM skins don't perform as well with these services.

For example, if I added a contact on my Mytouch, it wouldn't always sync with my Google account. Another example is on the Bionic, the lowest email checking interval you could set was 15 min, on Android 2.3 (which is installed on the Bionic) you can set the interval as low as 5 min. It's like they're trying to make it too much like the iphone. These may not mean a lot to some but, for me it did. I use my phone for business and, it's nice to have these things working properly and the way I want.

I know some of these things may have improved but, I still prefer the stock Android experience. There are also a lot of things I see in ICS that I think I will really like.
 

SoulWeaponry

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Re: Less Homescreen options & customizations for Nexus running IC

I appreciate you trying to explain it qnet.I don't quite understand the email interval thing. You must be using something other then the Gmail app for email right? Because that's push. And every android phone I've ever had has synced contacts and calender events with my Google account, so I'm not sure what you mean about the other.

I think if a major supplier like HTC listened to their customers and said "we want to give you the best android experience as we can with sense and we work hard to differentiate ourselves from others. But if for any reason there's something you don't like, you can disable a specific app or go back to vanilla completely".

This would be huge. And it only takes one manufacturer to start this as a trend. Imagine booting up your new phone and upon setup being greeted with that message saying something like "we would love it if you tried sense, click here for sense or here for vanilla".

I think only a minority really care, but for those, this would be a great business strategy to get customers