posted Jun 6, 2010 10:41 AM by Bo Wang
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updated Jun 6, 2010 11:30 AM
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I think Android users will understand what does this screenshot mean :) 
It's called Power Strip, part of what I mentioned in January, check it out Future updates will bring something even more exciting, I have played with them in the last few months :) -- I finally get time for some Home++ updates, and I'll keep it a free app forever -- I'm so glad seeing that launcher+'s opening up helps the growth of home application community -- Start using http://intuitit.blogspot.com which is more like a blog than this one |
posted Apr 8, 2010 4:47 AM by Bo Wang
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updated Apr 8, 2010 4:55 AM
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posted Apr 7, 2010 6:02 AM by Bo Wang
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updated Apr 7, 2010 6:32 AM
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posted Mar 11, 2010 9:28 PM by Bo Wang
There are two types of exception dialogs you might have encountered: one with a single "Force close" button telling you the application is crashed, and the other with an extra "wait" button telling you the application is not responsive.
In Home++, most first type exceptions are invoked by the the "bitmap out of memory" issue. Users with smaller screen seldom meet this, but Droid users, whose wallpaper is almost 2 times larger than Dream's or Hero's, are more likely to be annoyed. As I said in 0.8.0.7.15 update, it's difficult to get rid of it without support from wallpaper manager, which is absent in Android 1.6, the system Home++ is building on. I'll try to solve this as soon as I get my 2.0+ device.
The second type is kind of my bad, and I'm working on it. I know, though clicking "wait" will let it pass, it's annoying. |
posted Mar 11, 2010 8:00 PM by Bo Wang
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updated Mar 12, 2010 5:51 AM
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As many of you have seen, Home++ 0.8.0.8 came to the market. This might not be a big leap you were looking forward to, but I do introduce something new: scrollable widget support.
More precisely, it's list view widget support, which means now widget developers can put a scrollable list view in their widget to hold informations from data providers, like calendar, messenger, bookmarks, songs etc.
To show how it works, I put a demo on market (QR code below) and Google Code. Moreover, the dev page has some basic instructions. and I would like to give my special thanks to Francois DESLANDES, the developer of those great Pure widgets. He gave me a lot of advice in developing this new feature. |
posted Jan 6, 2010 12:28 PM by Bo Wang
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updated Mar 24, 2010 4:24 AM
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Most home applications consist of two parts: a workspace and a launcher. The first one embraces a set of shortcuts to your interested destinations (widgets are shortcuts as well: shortcuts to your interested information), while the later one holds access to the complete set of available applications/resources. We need faster access to entries in the workspace and as much information as possible in the launcher. However, as the number of installed applications on one's phone is exploding (future systems are going to support installing applications in your external storage), it would be hard to achieve either of them in the way we are binding these parts now: basically, it's a waste of time and resources to load the whole set of applications and associated labels/tags (planned feature to help you organize your applications) when you just need a quick access. So separating them is what I'm working on. By doing so, I hope both parts will serve their purposes better in future. BTW, to remind myself, "Stopping coding and grab some food!" I made a little timerittimer(Android 1.5+ compatible). It has a knob for setting timers and a list for saving them. You may like it market link |
posted Jan 6, 2010 11:57 AM by Bo Wang
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updated Jan 6, 2010 3:38 PM
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The major change is wallpaper manager compatibility. WallpaperManager was introduced to Android 2.0 to handle wallpapers within the system instead of applications, for the old way of loading wallpaper and drawing it in the back would easily run out of memory on large-screen devices: most "force close" exceptions I get from analytics are of this kind. Moreover, they also apply a different set of window transition animations, the zooming in/out you saw in the stock home, to applications using Theme.Wallpaper.
However, it's a non-trivial work for Home++. First, it has to be compatible with 1.6 devices which have no wallpaper manager at all. Second, wallpaper scrolling in the wallpaper manager manners is not suitable for workspace looping.
Somehow, I finally work them out, at least you won't feel any difference on surface. But there is something underneath I would like to clarify (and it's only for 2.0+ devices which have wallpaper manager).
"Wallpaper scroll" and "Workspace looping" are two preferences having effects on wallpaper manager's behaviors. If you have both of them on, Home++ will still load the wallpaper in and draw it above the system's wallpaper, and it's just like how Home++ was working before. Otherwise (other 3 on/off combinations of these 2 preferences), no wallpaper will be loaded into Home++: you may get less "force closes", and might be able to enjoy the new "live wallpaper" in 2.1 (just a guess, I never have a chance to test that).
EDIT: the screen transition could be much slower after the update on 2.0+ devices. 1.6 users will not have problems with the update. |
posted Dec 20, 2009 7:25 AM by Bo Wang
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updated Dec 20, 2009 7:31 AM
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For people who just want more screens in their stock launcher, here comes the Launcher+ beta (for Android 2.0+ only). It's the base of future Home++ 1.0, keeps all the simplicity the stock Launcher has, and provides configurable number of screens. Check it out lp.intuitit.mobi |
posted Dec 19, 2009 8:23 PM by Bo Wang
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updated Dec 19, 2009 9:07 PM
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Managed to wrap some features I'm working on into a new update. - Preferences rearranged. To make it more clear, hierarchy is adjusted.
- Wallpaper is aligned with the top of the screen instead of the bottom of system status bar when its display is toggled
- Link clock widgets to other applications in preferences. Basically, define a shortcut.
- Browser button in power strip. The link is also configurable in preferences.
- BACK key screenshot for HTC magic users. You may need to set it up in the preferences->graphics
- Quick screen switcher with thumbnails: long press the MENU key
Happy holiday! |
posted Dec 14, 2009 3:33 AM by Bo Wang
I cannot figure out why it didn't work in some phones, so I just add a safe mode and leave it to your own judge. If you have a problem with listing apps, just go to the preferences page and turn it on (will shut down Home++, you need to start it by pressing home key).
I'll keep trying
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