Questiin about Gingerbread

[capone24]

So i just recently did the GB update on my TB and honestly ita not what i expected my roommate has the droid boinic which is also on GB but our phones look totally different, why is that? Wasnt the GB updatr suppose to change the SMS/MMS, the way the icons on the notification bar look, and the camera app? And other things? I was under the impression that with this update the TB would look almost identicle to the way the boinic looks, to me i dont see any major change at all in this update, maybe im wrong or my update went wrong so someone please chime in, thanks

 

[natehoy]

All the stuff you are talking about has a lot more to do with the UI than the underlying kernel. The UI was upgraded from Sense 2.0 to Sense 2.1 - and you won't see a lot of differences on the front end from that teensy upgrade.

The big changes were in hardware support and memory management and the underlying stuff that's not so visible. The camera libraries got degunked and fixed so we have front-facing camera support in a lot of apps now, but it didn't change those apps themselves. The kernel was upgraded from Froyo to Gingerbread so you got better memory management, better battery management, a more efficient and modernized codebase, better hardware support, better multitasking. All of those will make your phone work better, but don't change the look all that much.

You can change the UI easily, though. Just download a different launcher - I use Go Launcher but there are a few free ones that add a lot of extra fit and polish to the visible bits and a few paid ones too. There are tons of third-party camera apps that add new sexiness to the UI and work just as well or better than the native one. Music players, photo gallery managers, etc can all be replaced with apps.

You can't easily change the notification stuff, but at least your icons and home screen will look snazzier and you'll have more customization options than Sense 2.1 offers, and you're still taking advantage of all the Gingerbready "man behind the curtain" goodness.

 

[capone24]

Ty for the indebth reply i have one more noob question, what is the best root out right now for the TB? Also is the different sms/mms that the bionic jas apart of the different UI it comes with?

 

[FrankXS]

So i just recently did the GB update on my TB and honestly ita not what i expected my roommate has the droid boinic which is also on GB but our phones look totally different, why is that?

Because he has the Bionic and you have the Thunderbolt Seriously.

-Frank

 

[capone24]

Because he has the Bionic and you have the Thunderbolt Seriously.

-Frank

Yeah no duh, but i thought since they both had GB that the UI would look the same, as well as the sms.

 

[natehoy]

Ty for the indebth reply i have one more noob question, what is the best root out right now for the TB? Also is the different sms/mms that the bionic jas apart of the different UI it comes with?

I can't answer the first, I'm running stock unrooted and quite happy getting my UI jollies with Go Launcher.

But, yes, SMS/MMS apps are part of the UI that each phone has chosen. If you don't like the native SMS/MMS app in Sense, there are TONS of SMS/MMS apps, and many are free.

The beauty of Android is that, by and large, it's modular. HTC chose a bunch of apps for you and built them in, but that does NOT mean you need to use them exclusively.

The SMS/MMS libraries behind the scenes are separate from the application you use to get to them. So just go find an SMS/MMS app you like better and start using that. HTC focused on fixing the underlying problem of SMS/MMS being sent to the wrong person in this release - so you can focus on finding a UI that looks nice.

Same with the camera app - HTC added support in the OS for the front-facing camera and fixed up the messed-up camera libraries. If you don't like the native camera app, download one you DO like and put its shortcut where the camera shortcut is now.

I'm using Go Launcher for my main launcher, QuickPic for my gallery management, and a few other apps to replace apps that I don't like as much from HTC. You're free to do the same and make the phone look how YOU want it to look, no root or custom ROM required.

If you want to start changing things like notifications and deeper parts of the OS, or remove apps that HTC or Verizon have forced on you, or stuff like that - then you can look into rooting.

But don't forget - once you've gone custom ROM, it's YOUR responsibility to look for security updates and apply them as needed. And that usually means a complete wipe of the phone and a reload of a new ROM. Verizon is currently doing all that work for you. Don't minimize the amount of effort involved in doing that yourself - it's an ongoing undertaking. In return, you get complete control over your phone and the ability to customize anything you want. Even to the point of breaking your phone if you mess it up.

Honestly, I'd encourage you to start with non-root stuff if you're just looking to update the look and feel of the phone. Try out Go Launcher. Load a different keyboard (I use Thumb Keyboard 4 with a very colorful skin to make it look all snazzy). Get a new camera app. Try out a different SMS/MMS app. Get some neat backgrounds. Add a better weather app like BeWeather. You don't need root for ANY of this, and most of it is free.

 

[capone24]

Will do, thanks for the help! Really appreciate it

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

A good rule of thumb is to compare the UI of other phones by the same manufacturer. Of course, most new HTC devices running GB have Sense 3.0, so I guess that doesn't even work in this case.