Custom Homescreen require rooting or ROM?

[Corbula]

I've been looking at some of the designs for homescreens in the 'Show us your Homescreens' thread. I think some of them look great, in particular the minimalistic and clean ones.

I've got a stock HTC Desire on Orange network with android 2.2. To be able to get these sort of homescreens do i need to root the phone or flash a custom ROM?

I've not looked all the way through that thread as it's a huge thread now, but there was a couple i like but this one is the only one i can find now.

How much work goes in to these homescreens? What i mean is all of the icons, has he had to make, or install them himself or something? Thinks like that or is a lot of it come from various apps?

I have a couple of questions about this but i will leave it at this for now.

Thanks.

 

[Rastaman-FB]

this guy is using miui which is a custom rom so that would require rooting.

however you can use custom launchers like launcher pro and go launcher ex (i use the latter) to customise your home screen.

 

[ardchoille]

I've been looking at some of the designs for homescreens in the 'Show us your Homescreens' thread. I think some of them look great, in particular the minimalistic and clean ones.

I've got a stock HTC Desire on Orange network with android 2.2. To be able to get these sort of homescreens do i need to root the phone or flash a custom ROM?

I've not looked all the way through that thread as it's a huge thread now, but there was a couple i like but this one is the only one i can find now.

How much work goes in to these homescreens? What i mean is all of the icons, has he had to make, or install them himself or something? Thinks like that or is a lot of it come from various apps?

I have a couple of questions about this but i will leave it at this for now.

Thanks.

It doesn't require much work, or root. Visit the android market and install a home screen replacement app, sometimes called a Launcher. Search for Launcher in the market.

Some of the popular ones are LauncherPro, ADW, ADW EX, Go Launcher, dxTop, Zeam, aHome, Open Home, Panda Home.. there are lots of them. Some of the ones that offer a lot of customization are LauncherPro, ADW EX, Go Launcher, aHome, Open Home, Panda Home and I'm sure there are others.

Once you find one you like you can begin customizing it to your needs.

 

[SUroot]

Like rastaman says, there are a lot of custom launchers out there to improve your look which you dont need root for. However the look you posted is specifically for Miui (custom rom) which you need to be rooted for.

You could probably replicate the icons and the weather widget is available (miui weather i believe) but for the status bar, you're not going to be able to change anything without root.

 

[Corbula]

Ok thanks guys.

I've installed Go Launcher Ex (and home switcher), got a few wallpapers, now for the widgets.

Does anyone know what the time widget is on that screen? I'm thinking of having that and some minimalistic text to display days of the week.

Also what widget is used to display the battery percentage in text? is that minimalistic text as well?

Thanks

 

[Deleted User]

Try Digital Clock Widget, i like that one

 

[SUroot]

The battery percentage is a custom battery icon from the Ultimate Online Theme kitchen. Another thing you can only add if rooted.

There are apps to put in the status bar, but then you have 2 battery icons instead of one.

 

[Corbula]

Thanks ajh94, that's great.

SUroot, i didn't actually mean the battery percentage in the status bar of the screen above. I meant on some other screens i've seen where it will say 'Seventy four' or something. Like you can with minimalist text.

EDIT: Is there anyway in minimalist text to have a widget bigger than either 1 high or 1 across. What i mean is you can have 1x1 or 1x2 or 2x1 but i can't find a way to get 4x4. I want to display information close to each other on the screen instead of it being spread out but the widget blocks, if that makes sense.

 

[DNick]

Thanks ajh94, that's great.

SUroot, i didn't actually mean the battery percentage in the status bar of the screen above. I meant on some other screens i've seen where it will say 'Seventy four' or something. Like you can with minimalist text.

EDIT: Is there anyway in minimalist text to have a widget bigger than either 1 high or 1 across. What i mean is you can have 1x1 or 1x2 or 2x1 but i can't find a way to get 4x4. I want to display information close to each other on the screen instead of it being spread out but the widget blocks, if that makes sense.

Try Batt Stat for the battery on your screen.

 

[Hadron]

EDIT: Is there anyway in minimalist text to have a widget bigger than either 1 high or 1 across. What i mean is you can have 1x1 or 1x2 or 2x1 but i can't find a way to get 4x4. I want to display information close to each other on the screen instead of it being spread out but the widget blocks, if that makes sense.

Minimalistic Text offers a 4x2 option, and you can put several lines of text in a single widget (font size permitting - I just tried it with the default size and it would display up to 5 lines).

Some custom launchers offer different grid sizes, which will reduce the spacing between widgets.

 

[Corbula]

I'm trying to get this kind of effect.

Also, in minimalistic text you can display the days of the week, but only the short version i.e. Mon, Tue. Do you know how to display the full day names and it highlight the day your on.

 

[SUroot]

Thanks ajh94, that's great.

SUroot, i didn't actually mean the battery percentage in the status bar of the screen above. I meant on some other screens i've seen where it will say 'Seventy four' or something. Like you can with minimalist text.

EDIT: Is there anyway in minimalist text to have a widget bigger than either 1 high or 1 across. What i mean is you can have 1x1 or 1x2 or 2x1 but i can't find a way to get 4x4. I want to display information close to each other on the screen instead of it being spread out but the widget blocks, if that makes sense.

Sorry, thought you were refering to the images posted.

I also use Batt Stat

 

[Rastaman-FB]

I'm trying to get this kind of effect.

Also, in minimalistic text you can display the days of the week, but only the short version i.e. Mon, Tue. Do you know how to display the full day names and it highlight the day your on.

that my friend is 1 widget and its called Typoclock

 

[Corbula]

Yes, i've found that out in my search to find minimalistic widgets.

I've installed typoclock (from xda) but i can't open it. The app doesn't appear in my app drawer, when i installed the app via an apk in astro, the open button was greyed out but the un-install button wasn't.

Does anyone know why it isn't working?

 

[SUroot]

Thats usually what happens if its a widget. You cant "open" widgets. You have to add them to your homescreen.

 

[Corbula]

Ah, stupid me. I assumed it would of appeared in the app drawer like minimalist text does so you can configure it.

I've got typoclock working, i've got battstatt and also the weather from minimalist text. Now i want some sort of calendar and power widgets (wifi, 3g, bluetooth and such).

Can anyone recommend any that would fit the other widgets style?

 

[Rastaman-FB]

read the customisation thread backwards
you will find some awesome stuff mate seriously were not all going to do the searching for you. there are things there to be had and so many apps its unreal

 

[Corbula]

I know people aren't going to do the searching for me, i was only asking in case someone knew already.

 

[Rastaman-FB]

yeah but there are loads and that type of thing is to personal taste