The Official Android Thread, V2.0

[ryanrich]

Haha cool Ett, very clean indeed, spotless in fact. I much prefer icons myself and would go crazy like that, but nicely done none the less...

Mine is messy at the moment, need to clean up my most used apps and organise them into folders, have been lazy though, and busy trying out many ROM's to find the perfect blend.



So far this specific release by the OpenDesire guys is so good though, really fast and stable, and the best battery life I've yet seen on any ROM, so I'll be sticking with this until the official release is out and some really good ROM's start coming our way. If you decide to load it use the link I posted, because there are other OpenDesire ROM's out there, without Sense I think...

LauncherPro Plus looks interesting, I would definitely use the calendar widget as that's something I've been missing from Sense. Haven't tried out any of the others...

[DeathStrike]

Ryan i prefer your messy layout. i like having shortcuts to all my favourites than having to search through my phone to get to something.

hmmm wow you guys seem to know quite a bit so I thought I'd ask here, I read above that death strike had trouble with Android on a WinMo device and well I was considering converting my SE X1 onto Android. Just a simple question then, is this a good idea or not? Also what are the chances someone can point me in the direction of the ROM to use?

I haven't tried to load android on my phone yet. i would like to, but i need my phone to work still and i don't think they have made a rom that will have all the features running. particularly like my garmin maps. i'm lost with out it. (CSI ad break)

[DAE_JA_VOO]

Permanent recovery isn't quite my gig

Say what now? Care to elaborate for us n00bs?

Man, that's totally my bad. I thought that link was to a permanent recovery, and it totally isn't

I haven't used UnrEVOked, as my phone's rooted already, but I'd say go for it. It seems to be working for the masses

Haha cool Ett, very clean indeed, spotless in fact. I much prefer icons myself and would go crazy like that, but nicely done none the less...

Mine is messy at the moment, need to clean up my most used apps and organise them into folders, have been lazy though, and busy trying out many ROM's to find the perfect blend.

You see, that set up of yours would drive me nuts! I mean, do you really use the flashlight, goggles, and barcode scanner apps often enough to have them on your desktop? That's my logic behind a homescreen: If I'm not using it every single day, I don't want it here Of course, this is all personal preference, though

Anyway, I installed that OpenDesire that you linked to last night. It's a little too soon to tell, but so far I can say this: The battery life is certainly better. I did MUCH more web stuff on my phone this morning than I usually do, about an hour's worth, and my battery is at about 90%.

By the way, Ryan, you know that you can backup your launcherpro configuration, and just import it on the new ROMs you try, right? Trying a new ROM is actually MUCH less work for me now, because I have the following stuff exported:

Bookmarks
LauncherPro configuration
HCT_IME Keyboard configuration, AND dictionary!
FolderOrganizer Configuration

Essentially, once I've imported all of this stuff (which is quick), all I need to do is sign in to all my serves/apps. All my apps are installed before I even start using the ROM because they're on the SD-EXT partition, so I never need to install these apps.

[ryanrich]

You see, that set up of yours would drive me nuts! I mean, do you really use the flashlight, goggles, and barcode scanner apps often enough to have them on your desktop? That's my logic behind a homescreen: If I'm not using it every single day, I don't want it here Of course, this is all personal preference, though

Yup. I add/remove them as I use apps, I was using those for playing around with lately, but I've already changed that screen to only apps I use daily now like Engadget, XDA, Photo's, some others...

Anyway, I installed that OpenDesire that you linked to last night. It's a little too soon to tell, but so far I can say this: The battery life is certainly better. I did MUCH more web stuff on my phone this morning than I usually do, about an hour's worth, and my battery is at about 90%.

Yup, it's much metter, during standby over night mine loses very little as well, perhaps 1 percent every 2 hours, with the phone/data active, in airplane mode it would use very little.

By the way, Ryan, you know that you can backup your launcherpro configuration, and just import it on the new ROMs you try, right? Trying a new ROM is actually MUCH less work for me now, because I have the following stuff exported:

Bookmarks
LauncherPro configuration
HCT_IME Keyboard configuration, AND dictionary!
FolderOrganizer Configuration

Essentially, once I've imported all of this stuff (which is quick), all I need to do is sign in to all my serves/apps. All my apps are installed before I even start using the ROM because they're on the SD-EXT partition, so I never need to install these apps.

Yup, I have mine the same. Flash new ROM then restore everything as it was. The full version of Titanium Backup was really a great purchase, the batch restore of all apps and data is invaluable!

[DAE_JA_VOO]

I used Titanium a while ago, but I hated how it restored. That drove me nuts What did it cost you, Ryan?

Anyway, the Nexus One pouches I ordered arrived just now. Have you received yours yet Ryan?

So, Anakha, your pouch is here! Send me your shipping address

[DeathStrike]

For those that like to have control over their pc.

Would you like to play media files or use your PC by remote control? Here’s how you can turn your Android phone into a remote control with GMote 2.0.

What You’ll Need:

* GMote Server software installed on your Computer.
* GMote app installed from the Android Market.
* Windows, Mac, or Linux computer.
* A WiFi router. You can use GMote over your 3G connection, but it will require you to forward port 8889 on your router.

Source

[ryanrich]

I used Titanium a while ago, but I hated how it restored. That drove me nuts What did it cost you, Ryan?

Anyway, the Nexus One pouches I ordered arrived just now. Have you received yours yet Ryan?

So, Anakha, your pouch is here! Send me your shipping address

Hmmm I'll have to check, but it wasn't very much at all. Yeah I hated the one by one verify when you restored, but now with the paid version it's really quick and does the installs automatically, so all my apps are back in like a minute or two!

My pouch hasn't arrived yet, blah! My screen protectors did arrive today though...

Now to see how many it takes me before I get it perfect...

[Anakha56]

Man, that's totally my bad. I thought that link was to a permanent recovery, and it totally isn't

I haven't used UnrEVOked, as my phone's rooted already, but I'd say go for it. It seems to be working for the masses

I am in 2 minds about it, as I was trawling the thread for info a couple of people posted that you need to have root access in order to use it . So I have no idea what the point is of this app if you still need root access...

BTW I hate the both of you right now . More so ryan because I just love the look of his screen and now I really want to load that ROM...

[ryanrich]

Thanks man! Well the ROM didn't add any of that stuff, it's all apps, widgets and launchers that I installed and customised. I don't think you need root to install LauncherPro and all those widgets. The only think you definitely need root for is loading the circular battery MOD...

Perhaps DAE knows? I rooted my phone before doing anything, so I have no idea...

The only thing with using a custom launcher is you can't use the Sense widgets anymore, but I never did anyway, there are replacements that are better.

[DAE_JA_VOO]

For those that like to have control over their pc.

Tried it. There was something that put me off immediately

Yeah I hated the one by one verify when you restored, but now with the paid version it's really quick and does the installs automatically, so all my apps are back in like a minute or two!

Oh my gosh, that's AWESOME! Man, that changes everything!

Thanks man! Well the ROM didn't add any of that stuff, it's all apps, widgets and launchers that I installed and customised. I don't think you need root to install LauncherPro and all those widgets. The only think you definitely need root for is loading the circular battery MOD...

Perhaps DAE knows? I rooted my phone before doing anything, so I have no idea...

That's just about right. You don't need root access to do what you and I have done, in terms of out home screens. All those docks, widgets, etc are usable without root.

Like Ryan said, though, if you use a different launcher, you can NOT use Sense widgets anymore, which is a total deal breaker for some, but I couldn't care less. Sense is slow and laggy, and that's the last thing I should be feeling on a 1Ghz phone.

[ryanrich]

Yeah I also couldn't care about Sense. The only thing I quite like is the Phone app...

How is that ROM going for you DAE, battery life and all?

That AdamG, who is behind OpenDesire, makes some awesome ROM's. Doesn't add any nonsense (bloatware), which I like, keeps it simple and close to OEM.

Today I'll be testing out his newest release, OpenDesire v2.2...

Some nice features, not to mention auto overclock to 1.113 GHz...

[DeathStrike]

nice. i like that battery mod. i have a skin on my winmo phone that displays a big battery icon and % life. i assume by the images that the circular battery mod is displaying the % life also.

@DAE yes i totally agree. a 1GHz phone should not be laggy at all. i get so irritated by my phone when it lags to display samsung's customised main menu that i stopped using it. i'm using the plain old windows start menu. unfortunately that requires the use of a stylus.

is there any need for a stylus on the Desire?

[DAE_JA_VOO]

Yeah I also couldn't care about Sense. The only thing I quite like is the Phone app...

See, this is why I NEED Sense, though. I don't care for the widgets, but the Phone, Dialer, and Calendar apps are VASTLY superior to the default Android versions.

How is that ROM going for you DAE, battery life and all?

Seems pretty good so far. Yesterday I chowed the battery, but I spent a lot of time playing Radiant Today's a more regular day, so I'll see how it goes

That AdamG, who is behind OpenDesire, makes some awesome ROM's. Doesn't add any nonsense (bloatware), which I like, keeps it simple and close to OEM.

yeah, I saw that! That's what I love about this ROM - it doesn't have all the useless apps that other guys seem to cook into their ROMs.

Today I'll be testing out his newest release, OpenDesire v2.2...

Some nice features, not to mention auto overclock to 1.113 GHz...

An overclock is something that just doesn't appeal to me, for two reasons:

1) The phone is so fast already, I honestly can't imagine how I would notice a speed increase
2) More Mhz = More Power Used = More battery usage

So the overclocks never really appeal to me. Maybe I'll need to OC to have an edge on Android 3.0, but I'll let Future Ett worry about that

is there any need for a stylus on the Desire?

None whatsoever

[ryanrich]

Yeah I felt the same about overclocking, but I can't help myself...

1.113 is pretty mild compared to stock, so will see how it goes. It's quite nice having a stock Android ROM for a change from Sense...

[KillerByte]

dae YGPM

[ryanrich]

My word this ROM is fast!

Will report on battery life tomorrow...

For reference, my previous Quadrant score was 1250 or so...

[DarkStar]

RIght, I can get an HTC Tattoo for R1900 cash.

Question is: Is this device worth the money?

I supposed two of the main differences between this and the other HTCs is that it has a resistive touchscreen and a 240x320 screen rez.

[ryanrich]

2) More Mhz = More Power Used = More battery usage

That's not always the case, depends on how the overclock is structured. The kernel in this ROM is undervolted compared to stock, so battery life will actually be better than stock...

And you can ALWAYS use more speed...

[Mr_Norris]

Hello!

Silly question.

I get rooting, and trying out different ROM's.

But what on earth is the point of updating the radio?

I've never made sense / understood / saw the point of it, even with my brick.

[ryanrich]

Different baseband radio's utilise the voice/data network differently as advancements are made. With every firmware release they also update the radio, so for instance, you can't run any of the current 2.2 ROM's with a version 4.x.x radio, you need 5.x.x...

The current radio I'm using which is the latest 5 version contributes to the phone using much less power when on standby compared to the previous version...

[Anakha56]

But new radio's are backward compatible with older ROMS correct?

[ryanrich]

Not necessary, the phone may work but some apps may not. When I changed back down to a 2.1 ROM for some testing last week I kept the previous version radio to what I currently have, was 5.08 something, and my camcorder app kept crashing, then I had to downgrade the baseband back to a 4.x version before it worked perfectly again...

[Anakha56]

Aw Well I suppose one can always go back...

I think I will give that unrevoked a try: http://unrevoked.com/#desire tonight, see how things go. BTW ryan what was that ROM you are currently using? Oh and how can I back up my SMS's? The phone is linked to my gmail account, I just dont want to lose any sms data...

[ryanrich]

SMS Backup & Restore or AndroidBackup...

The ROM I'm currently using is OpenDesire v2.2, which is a stock Froyo ROM without HTC's Sense at all.

I've customised it to look like this for now, with a third party black taskbar and some other things:



Another ROM I think would be better for your first one is Official Froyo HTC Sense ROM v1.0c. It's by the same developer that made OpenDesire, and is much the same but also has the Sense UI. It has the legacy App2SD, which requires you to have an ext partition on your SD card where are the apps are automatically installed (this is what I'm using), or if you leave your SD card formatted as is you can use the Google Apps2SD which comes standard with Froyo.

This is the radio to use with it: 5.09.00.08

Give us a shout if you need any help or get stuck. Whenever loading a new ROM I do a wipe data/factory reset in recovery, load the new ROM and let it boot up the first time, reboot back into recovery and load all the additional *.zip mods like the new radio and any other mods like the super circular battery indicator etc, and then boot into the ROM, and Bob's your mothers brother...

For recovery tools (used to load ROM's, ZIP's etc) I use ClockWorkMod, which you install onto your SD card by downloading ROM Manager from the market and then running it and doing it through there...

[Anakha56]

Cool will give it a try but I first want to do rooting the old fashioned method, kinda wish I did not have to gold card because it means mounting the SD card through the phone in order to format the damn thing but such is life . BTW I installed LauncherProagain only to find A: My LauncherBar looks nothing like your one, where can I get that skin? B: Your clock widget? C: Weather widget and thats it .