Beautiful Widgets getting taken off the market...

messenger13 · Dec 16, 2009

I totally understand where HTC is coming from ... but it still sux. So I bought it just now because ... well, why not?

What I don't understand is people that want a refund. Really??? A whole whopping buck fifty! Hilarious!!!

Neverendingxsin · Dec 16, 2009

Honestly this is ridiculous.
If anything they could just make the app free to download. that way nobody is profiting off of it.

jmccarthy14 · Dec 16, 2009

sooper_droid12 said:
There really isn't much value added by Sense UI. It's a glorified widget skin. Anyone who tries to convince you otherwise is drinking too much of the HTC Kool-aid. The skin itself hordes 100mb of memory and is running virtually all the time. Once you get over the novelty of the animated widgets and some of their proprietary apps, it's just window dressing. Which is why, $1.50 widget app is threatening to HTC. Because, what's the point of buying an HTC phone that gets loaded down by the UI? Hey, there's a reason why the Google Phone created by HTC does NOT have Sense UI on it.

I do hear the keyboard is better though, and that is one of my few gripes with android so far

numus · Dec 16, 2009

iPhoneMilk said:
But Da Drooid Thread is Da Cooooolllllleeessttt thread!

We're the cool kids table

More like the "cool" kids who sit at the back of the shortbus!!!!!

As for SENSE being only window dressing.. this isn't exactly true.. the mail upgrade is actually really nice along with some other tweaks and features (this compared to vanilla of the same OS build) but not enough to justify buying inferior hardware... It is sad that it took how long?!? to replicate the HTC "trademark sense ui widget"!!!!

jmccarthy14 said:
I do hear the keyboard is better though, and that is one of my few gripes with android so far

http://randomtechinfo.com/?page_id=114
How to install the HTC Hero Virtual Keyboard ...

(on samsung moment)..
Commence drooling

sooper_droid12 · Dec 16, 2009

messenger13 said:
I totally understand where HTC is coming from ... but it still sux. So I bought it just now because ... well, why not?

What I don't understand is people that want a refund. Really??? A whole whopping buck fifty! Hilarious!!!

They'll argue that its the principle of the matter, but yeah, $1.50... I guess they can by that Sunday Newspaper they've always wanted. Big Gulp perhaps? Beautiful Widgets, IMO, is sufficiently different from the HTC widget that I don't see the why a C&D letter was even issued. Whatever, HTC just stomping on the small guy developer: mimickery is the highest form of flattery.

vincentp · Dec 16, 2009

I'm guessing if Beautiful Widgets had been free, this would not have happened. Just a hunch. Regardless, I backed it up and will be keeping the app around. This just gives me another reason to dislike HTC.

Guess I'll have to give Weather Widget a try, too, just in case.

jmccarthy14 · Dec 16, 2009

numus said:
More like the "cool" kids who sit at the back of the shortbus!!!!!

As for SENSE being only window dressing.. this isn't exactly true.. the mail upgrade is actually really nice along with some other tweaks and features (this compared to vanilla of the same OS build) but not enough to justify buying inferior hardware... It is sad that it took how long?!? to replicate the HTC "trademark sense ui widget"!!!!

Samsung Moment – Random Tech Info
How to install the HTC Hero Virtual Keyboard ...

(on samsung moment)..
Commence drooling

Guess you Just missed the short bus eh? )

Anyway I've seen you can install the keyboard but it barely works if at all on our highres screen )

jeepguy_1980 · Dec 16, 2009

messenger13 said:
I totally understand where HTC is coming from ... but it still sux. So I bought it just now because ... well, why not?

What I don't understand is people that want a refund. Really??? A whole whopping buck fifty! Hilarious!!!

Not that I'm necessarily asking for a refund in this instance (though I do wish I had held of on purchasing it by one day so I had the option), but why should the purchase price determine the refund policy or deter someone from pursuing a refund?

sooper_droid12 · Dec 16, 2009

numus said:
As for SENSE being only window dressing.. this isn't exactly true.. the mail upgrade is actually really nice along with some other tweaks and features (this compared to vanilla of the same OS build) but not enough to justify buying inferior hardware... It is sad that it took how long?!? to replicate the HTC "trademark sense ui widget"!!!!

Mail is handled by pushing it to a widget. Twitter works by pushing it to a widget. The whole concept of Sense is to push things to the surface and not just have another icon on the page because it is "so simple, it makes sense" (according to HTC) to have them there to personalize your space. Even looking through your contacts is a push to widgets that pulls information from all the accounts you have sync'd. Is it innovative? No. HTC has borrowed a lot of ideas and concepts already floating around on other SmartPhones. They just put it together and labeled it Sense UI. But at the end of the day, it's a widget skin.

Is the keyboard better? Sure. But again, it's just a skin. HTC made it easy by putting it all on a 100mb application that's shipped with their phones. The DROID doesn't have these things because DROID was designed and sold to be a "Google Experience" phone, although not in the truest of senses. So, much of its UI is native if not all, otherwise, we'd see MotoBlur on the phone. But even that's a widget skin. The difference is, Motorola ain't calling it something that it's not.

rumdood · Dec 16, 2009

sooper_droid12 said:
They'll argue that its the principle of the matter, but yeah, $1.50... I guess they can by that Sunday Newspaper they've always wanted. Big Gulp perhaps? Beautiful Widgets, IMO, is sufficiently different from the HTC widget that I don't see the why a C&D letter was even issued. Whatever, HTC just stomping on the small guy developer: mimickery is the highest form of flattery.

It's not an issue of $1.50 to HTC, it's an issue of selling $450 phones. If one of your main selling points is the improved, customizable, whiz-bang UI and people are using that UI on phones that make you no money, then it certainly can be a threat.

If someone REALLY wants the SenseUI and can get the same thing on any other Android phone, then they won't necessarily buy an HTC Phone. If they can only get Sense elements on HTC hardware, then they're far more likely to buy the HTC handset.

Those of us in this forum can stomp our feet all we want about "Well then I won't buy an HTC device" but we've already made the choice to not buy an HTC device. HTC isn't losing our business for at least 2 years.

As for selling their widgets and making money that way, HTC is like Apple: a hardware company that makes some spiffy software. Apple uses OSX to sell Mac hardware that you pay a lot of money for, and they vigorously pursue anyone with the gall to try and run their software on non-Apple hardware because THAT is where they make their money - on the hardware.

Which is also why when people compare OS upgrade prices between Windows and OSX the OSX upgrade price is so much cheaper. Apple makes their money off of the hardware, the software can be a loss-leader because they'll make it up elsewhere because they have a captive audience.

vincentp · Dec 16, 2009

jeepguy_1980 said:
Not that I'm necessarily asking for a refund in this instance (though I do wish I had held of on purchasing it by one day so I had the option), but why should the purchase price determine the refund policy or deter someone from pursuing a refund?

Because it's just... scummy to demand a refund on something that was a buck and a half. A friend of mine called a retailer once and reamed out some poor employee over a 2 dollar discount of some sort that he didn't receive. I wanted to kick his teeth in. Not to mention if you've used the program, and the issue with the product is really out of the provider's control, why ask for your money back at all?

sooper_droid12 · Dec 16, 2009

But that's the point... Sense UI can't be fully replicated with all the numerous widgets and applications it incorporates. This is just a flip clock THAT DOESN'T EVEN FLIP! The argument is obviously "slippery slope." The "HTC sucks" comments are just initial emotions related to HTC taking away something that we've bought. Again, IMO, BW is sufficiently different to have avoided the C&D, but HTC, being the big company that it is, can push around the BW crew and the two apps they sell for $1.50.

sooper_droid12 · Dec 16, 2009

jeepguy_1980 said:
Not that I'm necessarily asking for a refund in this instance (though I do wish I had held of on purchasing it by one day so I had the option), but why should the purchase price determine the refund policy or deter someone from pursuing a refund?

You know GM discontinued Pontiac. I guess those owners deserve a refund for any Pontiacs bought and paid for.

Icedemon · Dec 16, 2009

It may "look" like HTC but it performs different. There isn't a wiper when it rains (I'm in Washington State). The animations don't stop which I like.

HTC can suck it as well!!!!

8-Bit-Soldier · Dec 16, 2009

Well that sucks. This was the first thing I planned on getting when I got my Droid.

Tabs · Dec 16, 2009

This is really serious BS especially when you consider the fact that HTC *massively* rips off elements of the iPhone with Sense itself. Look at the freaking keyboard in Sense - it's exactly like the iPhone's.

Perhaps we should all start informing Apple of this fact?

fam · Dec 16, 2009

My 1st car was an 88 pontiac 6000....maybe I should ask for a refund?

This widget app was the best widget app, and still is. I happy to have paid for it and will continue to keep it until something better comes out.

jeepguy_1980 · Dec 16, 2009

vincentp said:
Because it's just... scummy to demand a refund on something that was a buck and a half.

I've never claimed that it applied to this widget. But If I buy something from a store or online and it's broken or doesn't work, I'm going to return it. I can do so without reaming the the employee. That's a matter of tact. Whether your friend was yelling at the employee over $2.00 or $200, the price was not your issue, it was his manners.

sooper_droid12 said:
You know GM discontinued Pontiac. I guess those owners deserve a refund for any Pontiacs bought and paid for.

Clearly you're incapable of comprehending the words that read. I didn't ask for a refund in this case. I simply replied to a comment that said you shouldn't be entitled to a refund because it's only $1.50. Why not just let Bill Gates make the "refund limit." He might say no one needs a refund for anything under $1,000,000.

Stating whether or not a refund is warranted b/c of the items value is idiotic. Furthermore, a phone wipe or replacement can make the loss of this app a possibility. I'm not aware any possible way to lose complete access to a car (other than theft, an accident, repo, etc...). Sure there are ways to prevent the loss of the program, but they require more work than the buyer may have had in mind when the purchase was made.

DGalt · Dec 16, 2009

What I'm curious is whether or not they're going to do this to Weather Widget.

Howie · Dec 16, 2009

I'm wondering if the Google Market can pull apps from an Android device if it was given a D&C order. I know people above said no... but none of them know the official (behind the doors) abilities of what Google and the Market can/will do.

vincentp · Dec 16, 2009

jeepguy_1980 said:
I've never claimed that it applied to this widget. But If I buy something from a store or online and it's broken or doesn't work, I'm going to return it. I can do so without reaming the the employee. That's a matter of tact. Whether your friend was yelling at the employee over $2.00 or $200, the price was not your issue, it was his manners.

I understand that. As it relates to this specific issue, though, the widget is not really broken. Users are still able to use what they paid for, they're just not going to get any updates. I think it's more akin to, say, buying a product at a store; the product works fine, but the store suddenly stops selling or supporting it. I don't think many people would go back for a refund in this case if the product is still working as it's supposed to.

Tabs · Dec 16, 2009

Yeah, but it's highly likely a future OS/firmware update is gonna break something in the widget and then it'll stop working. There were issues even after the first minor update last week.

Howie · Dec 16, 2009

vincentp said:
I understand that. As it relates to this specific issue, though, the widget is not really broken. Users are still able to use what they paid for, they're just not going to get any updates. I think it's more akin to, say, buying a product at a store; the product works fine, but the store suddenly stops selling or supporting it. I don't think many people would go back for a refund in this case if the product is still working as it's supposed to.

Or the app disappear from the device. Whether it is an exchange, device wipe, or some other reason. You would no longer be able to use it. I backed mine up...

GreedyBird · Dec 16, 2009

Howie said:
I'm wondering if the Google Market can pull apps from an Android device if it was given a D&C order. I know people above said no... but none of them know the official (behind the doors) abilities of what Google and the Market can/will do.

But it could then come back as a non-market app from a source which they have no control over, right?

vincentp · Dec 16, 2009

Howie said:
Or the app disappear from the device. Whether it is an exchange, device wipe, or some other reason. You would no longer be able to use it. I backed mine up...

As did I. I'm still assuming it will come back in some form, even if the developer has to tweak the design.

Beautiful Widgets getting taken off the market...

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