Editing icons...

[Tamasabian]

Hi. I was wondering if there is a way to edit the text below your icons. For instance I would like my Handcent icon to instead say "messages" below it. Can I do that and if so how?

Also on a side note, could someone enlighten me as to what all this UI business is about? Some people talk about using "sense" and some people use something else. What exactly do these user interfaces do and how do people change them?

Thanks in advance for your help.
Novice in Ohio.
-Cheers

 

[andrizoid]

Hi. I was wondering if there is a way to edit the text below your icons. For instance I would like my Handcent icon to instead say "messages" below it. Can I do that and if so how?

Also on a side note, could someone enlighten me as to what all this UI business is about? Some people talk about using "sense" and some people use something else. What exactly do these user interfaces do and how do people change them?

Thanks in advance for your help.
Novice in Ohio.
-Cheers

to change icon names you have to be rooted which takes you into a whole new realm of confusing.

the UI....Sense is the stock UI. its what HTC put on it. including things like the HTC widgets, the curved phone icon bar at the bottom of the screen etc...
there are a ton of other UIs available. UI is also known as a home screen so if your interested you should check out that thread. it will explain the differences a little better. its the "which homescreen do you use" thread

 

[adrenalinerush12]

As far as changing names of apps on your Home screen, you can get an application called Better Cut. It's a few bucks in the Market. It lets you change the names and icons with downloadable icon packs too.

UI stands for user interface and to switch between Sense UI (default on a Droid Eris), go into settings, applications, manage applications, and scroll all the way till you find HTC Sense. Go into that and scroll down and tap clear defaults. Then hit your Home key on your phone and select Home.

There are also lots of Home replacements on the Market such as HelixLauncher, dxTop, Home++, etc.

 

[Tamasabian]

to change icon names you have to be rooted which takes you into a whole new realm of confusing.

the UI....Sense is the stock UI. its what HTC put on it. including things like the HTC widgets, the curved phone icon bar at the bottom of the screen etc...
there are a ton of other UIs available. UI is also known as a home screen so if your interested you should check out that thread. it will explain the differences a little better. its the "which homescreen do you use" thread

What's "rooting" and is that a safe thing to do with your phone?

 

[jxnrxy]

the easiest way is just to spend 1.99 and get Better Cut.

BetterCut for Android - Tools

it's quick and easy and you can also use it to change the icon picture

take note that this only changes on the home screens not the entire phone

 

[andrizoid]

What's "rooting" and is that a safe thing to do with your phone?

rooting is the jailbreaking equivalent on android phones.
rooting is relatively safe as long as you
1. know what you are doing
or
2. follow explicit instructions from someone who does know.

check out the "all things root" thread at the very top of the page if you want to know more.
root is unavailable to me (leaker) so i cant give you too much info on it

 

[Tamasabian]

rooting is the jailbreaking equivalent on android phones.
rooting is relatively safe as long as you
1. know what you are doing
or
2. follow explicit instructions from someone who does know.

check out the "all things root" thread at the very top of the page if you want to know more.
root is unavailable to me (leaker) so i cant give you too much info on it

Ok. So is it pretty much a process of gaining access to all the things the phone manufacturer didn't want you to be able to control? Like some sort of modification assistant?

 

[andrizoid]

Ok. So is it pretty much a process of gaining access to all the things the phone manufacturer didn't want you to be able to control? Like some sort of modification assistant?

pretty much. gives you total control over your phone allowing you to flash custom ROMS, overclock the processor, use ROOT only applications, use wifi tethering much easier etc.

are you still running 1.5? if you are then ROOT is still possible for you. check out the ROOT thread, it will explain a lot and give you a glimpse of all the things that you can do after.

my personal fav is the custom ROMS. there are some pretty awesome ones out there.

 

[Tamasabian]

Thanks for all the help Andy. Can I call you Andy for short?

I'm presumably still running 1.5. I just bought the phone a few days ago and I am just diving headfirst into this whole DROID customization world.

Note - This is also my first smartphone device. Hence the noobiness.

 

[andrizoid]

Thanks for all the help Andy. Can I call you Andy for short?

I'm presumably still running 1.5. I just bought the phone a few days ago and I am just diving headfirst into this whole DROID customization world.

Note - This is also my first smartphone device. Hence the noobiness.

haha. call me ken if you have to
its no problem. im not super tech savy but i know enough to get what i need done, done.

lemme break down the little civil war going on in the Eris community. there are 2 main sides. The leakers, like myself who are running the updated version of the android os that is "supposedly" coming out soon. unfinished versions of this 2.1 OS have been leaked, prompting some to go for it, giving us new features like google navigator, live wallpapers etc., speeding up the phone a little bit, and working out many of the bugs from 1.5.
lots of people are worried however that once the official OTA update comes along that they wont be able to upgrade after already installing the leaked 2.1. something to do with kernel numbers, way beyond my realm of understanding.

the other side is made up of those who waited and rooted the 2.1
if your looking to enhance your phone a bit, rather than being stuck with the stock 1.5, then thats the path i personally would choose. it opens up so many new possibilities, overclocking-which is speeding up your processor a LOT- free simple wifi tethering, multiple new apps, custom ROMS-which are amazing, you should youtube "eris running custom ROMS" and see what comes up.

and then there are those who are waiting till they get the official update from verizon.
i say play around with your phone a little while. if you like it as is then there is no reason to change. if however you arent quite satisfied with 1.5 look around, youtube some videos to see the differences between the ROOTed users and the leaked users. make your own decision and stick with it. as of now there is no way to go from the leak to root, so those like me are stuck. dont jump the gun. make sure you know what you are doing first

 

[Tamasabian]

I would like th Eris to run a little faster but I also feel like the official 2.x update should be here soon so I will probably wait and see.

Plus I would hate to brick the phone I just bought.