When I migrated from Huawei U8150 to HTC Desire Z I was spellbound by the sheer awesomeness of HTC "Sense" UI. Sense is HTC's way of enhancing the android experience. But as the hours passed and I stuffed my device with a plethora of apps and games, the Sense started to act more senselessly than even Amsterdam may have foreseen. Random hiccups while loading menus, insane loading times when accessing contacts / dialer or even settings. This is when I gave up on being sense-abled.
I was not new to Android hacking and had been using CyanogenMod 7(CM7) a gingerbread based Android ROM on my Huawei U8150, so I decided to bite the bullet and root my few days old Desire Z.
I was not new to Android hacking and had been using CyanogenMod 7(CM7) a gingerbread based Android ROM on my Huawei U8150, so I decided to bite the bullet and root my few days old Desire Z.
I downgraded > rooted > flashed
Lo and behold, the speedy , stable , efficient CM7 was now running through my device's veins. It was minimalistic , uncluttered and was totally sense-less. I used it for a couple of weeks and I submitted my will to the Cyanogen (all hail the CM devs !!!).
However, my road to smooth user experience on CM7 was not a very straight path.
- CM7 offered a very basic dialler with no T-9 contact lookup
- Rather flat looking UI (but very responsive)
- Stock messaging app sucked holy pot
- Calendar offered very basic functionality
- Stock gingerbread keyboard is rather ummm... lets just say "below par"
- No built-in notes
But at the same time, I had enough free RAM and free space to paint it my own way. So I decided to explore.
Here is a compilation of some software that I stuck to after exhaustive testing of gazillions of apps.
Predictive Dialer
Touchpal Dialer
Gallery App
QuickPic
The default gallery makes you wait ages before it can load images if you happen to have hundreds of them. Here is an excellent replacement app which IMO should be the default gallery for android.
Calendar
Jorte Calendar
With its simple and intuitive interface and ability to sync with google calendars and being absolutely free, this has to be the best calendar app on the market.
Messaging
Go SMS
Go SMS delivers a complete package for a messaging app very intuitive user interface, support for custom smily sets, emoji sets , themes ,threaded view, and is ultra responsive and is absolutely Free.
Notes
ColorNote Notepad
Color Note is a notepad app which give you a better note editing experience.
Color Note is a simple notepad app. It give you a quick and simple notepad editing experience when you write notes, memo, email, message, shopping list and todo list. Color Note makes taking a note easier than any other notepad and memo apps.
Well written :D
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