Trying to create a seamless Cell Phone Layout

[Guest Photle]

A little background first. I've owned a Xperia X1 for a year, and changed over to the Omnia II just a week ago.

During this time, I've always felt like there are aspects of the phones that I do not like, and therefeore I turn to these forums (Modaco and XDA).

I've probably done more searches to count, all to find different new 3rd party programs to change what I don't like, registry changes to change aspects of the phone which are bad, and all different aspects of tweaking.

Now I'm not hugely experienced in this, but enough to be able to implement all of this stuff.

Onto the topic: How to create something new, that is also seamless?

All the while, I've never been able to create something that fits my criteria of a seamless cell phone.

Examples are things like, installing 3rd party sms programs, and even though you do fixes in the registry to try an make the phone use that program all the time, sometimes you still get the sms program of SPB shell, or the sms program of samsung, or the basic sms program of WINMO, basically, creating something totally seamless seems like an almost impossible task, at least to me.

Other examples are things like, when I finally managed to get one of the icons on SPB shell to open in my 3rd party sms software, the loading screen would be totally bugged, probably because two different loading screens where showing at once or something like that, again, creating a less complete phone.

Now, when you get a new cell phone, it's usually completly seamless. Be it an Omnia, a iPhone etc, one program for each application of the phone, and seamless transitions between the different environments.

When I create something customized, it usually turns out something like Frankensteins Monster. It looks good on the outside, until you see that it's all stitched together rather haphazardly, and the stuff that was there when the phone was new, is shining through every now and then (ok maybe Frankenstein wasn' the best analogy, but still).

The purpose of this topic? Yea I'm starting to doubt it myself. What I'm really asking for is help. How can I create something seamless, with only one application for each function, no frankenstein mentality, and no 1st and 2nd party programs triggering every now and then?

Currently I have an Omnia II with SPB shell, SMS-Chat, and some different unrelated programs.

Hope I'm not making a totally unrelated topic, sound off your advice and flames! :)

[Guest Snow02]

It's called cooking. Take a ROM, take out the stuff you don't like, put/leave the stuff you do. If you really want to make your phone "yours" and 100% "seamless", you can learn to do this.

I haven't had any experiences with unwanted programs popping up where they're not wanted, and I've installed several different add-ons and tweaks, so you may also want to look at your installation procedures and habits to see if you can rectify something there.

Otherwise, and you said it, there's really nowhere to go with this thread as the scope is a bit too broad. If you're having problems with a specific program, I'd recommend addressing that. Try to resolve any issues you're having one at a time.

[Guest Photle]

Indeed, it seems like my first post/topic on this forum was kind of a self-destructing one.

I guess my procedures might be the ones to blame for this, never tried ROM cooking as it seemed too "hazardous".

Guess I just need more hard resets, and better procedures. But having 3 programs handling sms on the same phone can be a pain :).

[Guest Ender Psp]

Indeed, it seems like my first post/topic on this forum was kind of a self-destructing one.

I guess my procedures might be the ones to blame for this, never tried ROM cooking as it seemed too "hazardous".

Guess I just need more hard resets, and better procedures. But having 3 programs handling sms on the same phone can be a pain :) .

You can ask for assistance from one of the experience cookers, y'know. But I suggest you get a clear idea of what you're trying to do, apps you want things and their places etc first.

[Guest Snow02]

having 3 programs handling sms on the same phone.

That's what I like to call "asking for it".

[Guest Photle]

Hehe indeed. Don't know excactly how to get around it though.

I want to use sms-chat exclusively, but the default WinMo program kicks in once in a while cause that's what SPB shel wants to use, and the Samsung sms program kicks in once in a while if I use the wrong menu option.

Then when you get certain triggers, like new sms etc, it can also trigger another program, even though I set sms-chat as the default one in the registry. So trying to make everything seamless is like trying to herd cats or something

[Guest dgmorland]

"Making everything seamless" is one of the good features of iPhone OS and perhaps some other OS. It is more of a "get it and go" experience without the need to customise which is the way a lot of mobile users like their phone to be.

Unless you like the standard UI and set of apps that come on your Windows Mobile, you end up customising it and then, as you say, you can end up with a mish-mash of all sorts of apps and an inconsistent look and feel. I think the majority of people that visit these forums actually like being able to customise everything though.

I have played around with all sorts of apps but for now I like the consistency of using the Samsung dialer, contacts, SMS, diary, touch player, settings, Samsung lockscreen and Samsung Today screen. Others might not agree but I think they have done quite a good job with these apps (especially the way they look on the AMOLED screen). I will probably change my mind soon though and mess with some other apps :)