Remove Sense UI

[smccloud]

Ok,

I disabled Sense UI today and my Hero screams now. My question is, if I remove Rosie.apk & Rosie.odex am I going to be searching for a replacement calendar, etc... since the Hero doesn't have the default Android calendar app.

 

[smccloud]

anyone got an answer?

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

You can remove Rosie, but you can't remove the HTC framework from /system/framework/.
Dialer, keyboard and calendar will work fine.

You also cant remove the clock or weather widgets/apps or your alarm won't work.

 

[pjwatson104]

I'm running PandaHome as my home screen and Sense isn't running with this. The calendar, clock (not HTC Hero clocks though) and alarms all work.

 

[GolpherZX]

I'm running PandaHome as my home screen and Sense isn't running with this. The calendar, clock (not HTC Hero clocks though) and alarms all work.

Did you see any battery life improvements there?

If you don't mind me asking, what was the reason for going away from the Sense UI? I'm a little new to the platform yet, but quickly learning...

 

[pjwatson104]

Did you see any battery life improvements there?

If you don't mind me asking, what was the reason for going away from the Sense UI? I'm a little new to the platform yet, but quickly learning...

I like the features of pandahome, it has slide out dock bars and great customization. I did see some battery improvement, but I also have a couple fewer widgets running.

For me, at least, I have seen a great increase in the speed and responsiveness of my phone with panda or with sense disable. I like sense, but I like how I have my phone set up now.

I am new as well, but learning a lot....especially from these threads, so you're in a good place.

 

[w1kk3d]

Hi everyone. Long time lurker, first time poster. I actually downloaded an app called homeswitcher which allows you to disable Sense UI. I like sense but other than a few widgets and the 7 screen screens of real estate rather than the default 3 that Android comes with, I see no difference. Where I do see a big difference is in the performance. Apps are more responsive, little to no lag when texting or dialing, and battery life has been noticeably longer.

I didn't want to screw around removing files since Sense is so intertwined into the framwork of the phone and I don't have the balls to root my phone. I also love the phone but hate that it hangs but I found happend to find out about this app on another forum and decided to give it a try. Sense seems to eat up what little memory the phone comes with and I can tell you that the phone performs 100% better than before.

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

I'm running PandaHome as my home screen and Sense isn't running with this. The calendar, clock (not HTC Hero clocks though) and alarms all work.

Hi everyone. Long time lurker, first time poster. I actually downloaded an app called homeswitcher which allows you to disable Sense UI. I like sense but other than a few widgets and the 7 screen screens of real estate rather than the default 3 that Android comes with, I see no difference. Where I do see a big difference is in the performance. Apps are more responsive, little to no lag when texting or dialing, and battery life has been noticeably longer.

I didn't want to screw around removing files since Sense is so intertwined into the framwork of the phone and I don't have the balls to root my phone. I also love the phone but hate that it hangs but I found happend to find out about this app on another forum and decided to give it a try. Sense seems to eat up what little memory the phone comes with and I can tell you that the phone performs 100% better than before.

Sense is running whether you have the UI active or not. If you are seeing a performance increase, it's not from running a different home.

If you really remove sense, you also lose the dialer, SMS/MMS, Email, keyboard, calendar, contacts, browser, flash lite, the clock, the alarm, the lock screen (and functions), the leds, the trackball lighting, the camera, wireless (WiFi and bluetooth), ambient light sensor, and LCD backlighting.

Sense does not sit atop the default Android system. It replaces it.

 

[w1kk3d]

My understanding is that Homeswitcher disables, not removes Sense UI. It disables everything but the basic functions freeing up valuable resources.

All I know is that since downloading the app, I have seen noticable a performance increase without changing any of the widgets or apps that were running before Homeswitcher.

I can only hope that the 2.1 update with Sense will fix this as it will more than likely address these issues because I still have to wait a while until I am eligible for an upgrade and don't want to pay full price for the new EVO.

I appreciate your comments and although I am a tech hardware fanatic, I know little about the development/programming side. Maybe you can share with me your theories on why I am seeing better performance.

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

Three MAJOR reasons the Hero runs slowly -

1. This probably applies here - Android 1.5 has a serious bug in the location services. If more than one application uses it, it duplicates the processes running, and these duplicates never close. Example -
Maps is running and using location.
@ Noon, HTC location tries to update your clock and weather.
Android suddenly takes those two processes that need location, and turns them into four. And they never quit.
3 hours later, when HTC tries to refresh the weather, it turns into eight.
Then sixteen, thirty two, and so on until the processor finally becomes so bogged down it starts to affect performance.

To fix it, disable all location (GPS, Network and wifi) then re-enable. Or reboot the phone. Do it once a day and you won't be affected too much. This affects every 1.5 user, but folks using sense see it twice as fast. It was fixed in 1.6

2. Sense framework depends on more free RAM. The sense framework is actually much faster than stock Android, but only if it has enough empty RAM to do it's job. That threshold is somewhere around 35-40 MB free. Anything lower than that, and it can't buffer in RAM correctly, will try to use the SD card (Rosie Scroll folder) and perform poorly. Big problem when the next issue is considered

3. Android is still using memory management designed for old software and old phones. It has never been changed since it was written in 2008. The way it stands now, it will only try to maintain 20 MB free while the system is in use. Rooted phones can get around this, then the problem disappears, and Sense is amazingly fast as long as you remember to toggle your location on and off once a day. This WAS NOT fixed in 2.1 on any current Android device.

Holler at me if you decide to root your phone and try to correct these. I can help

 

[pjwatson104]

Sense is running whether you have the UI active or not. If you are seeing a performance increase, it's not from running a different home.

If you really remove sense, you also lose the dialer, SMS/MMS, Email, keyboard, calendar, contacts, browser, flash lite, the clock, the alarm, the lock screen (and functions), the leds, the trackball lighting, the camera, wireless (WiFi and bluetooth), ambient light sensor, and LCD backlighting.

Sense does not sit atop the default Android system. It replaces it.

I did not know that... Why do I lose the HTC widgets then?

 

[dwaynewilliams#WN]

Why would anyone want to remove sense UI? It is amazing.

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

I did not know that... Why do I lose the HTC widgets then?

The widgets only work with the Sense launcher, just like aHome widgets only work with aHome. They have dependencies that the launcher provides.

Why would anyone want to remove sense UI? It is amazing.

Personally I agree. Sense is the reason I went Hero vs. the Moment. But to each their own.

 

[loveacm]

I think you should open home and remove sense with uninstall 2

 

[microdot]

Three MAJOR reasons the Hero runs slowly -
--------

3. Android is still using memory management designed for old software and old phones. It has never been changed since it was written in 2008. The way it stands now, it will only try to maintain 20 MB free while the system is in use. Rooted phones can get around this, then the problem disappears, and Sense is amazingly fast as long as you remember to toggle your location on and off once a day. This WAS NOT fixed in 2.1 on any current Android device.

Holler at me if you decide to root your phone and try to correct these. I can help

I am rooted also running fresh2.0d. What can I do to get around this? I haven't seen anything on it before.

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

Someone familiar with the ROM will have to chime in, but he includes an app that does it for you. Just not sure of the name lol.

Find it, set it for aggressive memory killing and try it out. You can do more, but it requires a customized boot image and some scripting.

 

[microdot]

Someone familiar with the ROM will have to chime in, but he includes an app that does it for you. Just not sure of the name lol.

Find it, set it for aggressive memory killing and try it out. You can do more, but it requires a customized boot image and some scripting.

Ah ok its AutoKiller i have that set up already lol.