Sweeter Home Beta 2 – NEW BUILD
There is a new beta build now up that contains bug fixes and a couple of small feature additions.
PLEASE UPDATE TO THIS LATEST VERSION:
Sweeter Home 2 BETA [UPDATE] Download
This build contains many bug fixes, more improved image handling and caching, better pixel grading on rounded corners, the option to turn off portrait mode, and hierarchy in Springboards (closing parent closes children).
Important info:
- Please ensure you download and install the correct build for your phone (1.5, 1.6 or 2.0+).
- If you experience bugs or crashes please log them!
- Remember this is a BETA with all that beta means and entails.
If you’re new to Sweeter Home:
- On starting the app create an account and log in
- Sweeter Home Forums
- Sweeter Home Documentation (work in progress)
- More!!!
Sweeter Home 2 beta – NEW BUILD
January 22, 2010 by Lemon · 3 Comments
There is a new beta build now up that contains many bug fixes and several security fixes.
And oh yes, there’s a 1.5 version too!
PLEASE UPDATE TO THIS LATEST VERSION:
Sweeter Home 2 BETA [UPDATE] Download
This build contains over 40 bug fixes including but certainly not limited to widgets updating and blurry icons. Depending on performance in the wild there may be another close release to address memory issues.
Important info:
- Please ensure you download and install the correct build for your phone (1.5, 1.6 or 2.0+).
- If you experience bugs or crashes please log them!
- Remember this is a BETA with all that beta means and entails. Crashes, lag and slowdown are an unfortunate part of the beta process. With your help and patience the developers can continue to improve the app.
If you’re new to Sweeter Home:
- On starting the app create an account and log in
- Sweeter Home Forums
- Sweeter Home Documentation (work in progress)
- More!!!
Friday Feature!
January 20, 2010 by Lemon · 4 Comments
Starting this week – every Friday I’ll be featuring a Sweeter Home theme from you readers out there. The theme must be live and downloadable from the Sweeter Home theme list, or the SLX must be available online.
The best place for you to show off your themes is in the Themes Forum, but I may find themes from browsing other Android forums, or in the SH theme list itself. We want you to SHARE!
I’ll be picking themes that use custom content, or inventive layouts, or clean, beautiful design – OR a combination of all these.
So for consideration post your theme previews up for all to see!
Community
Since the launch of the Beta there are thousands of users building theme’s with Sweeter Home, and hundreds of themes have been shared to the Sweeter Home server.
A vocal and helpful community is developing too, so here’s some more places you can go to talk to others other Sweeter Home:
Here! sweeterskins.net!
- Subscribe to my RSS feed so you don’t miss out on news and fresh info
- Follow me on Twitter
- Check out the #SH2tips hashtag. Use it to add your own tips.
- Connect with other users, ask questions and share your themes in the Forum
- Read through the Documentation (work in progress). You can add docs through this topic.
There are several Android forums with great Sweeter Home topics right now. The most vibrant are:
There is one particular situation where Sweeter Home needs community feedback desperately. A small number of Droid users are reporting a boot hang after a crash where the screen appears stuck on the Red Eye. While there are a couple of quick fix workarounds, what we really need is is a logcat of the boot process. If you have experienced this (or are experiencing it right now) please READ THIS HELP PAGE. With your help we can fix this experience for all Sweeter Home Droid users.
Running Android 1.5 and can’t install the beta?
January 13, 2010 by Lemon · 70 Comments
At the moment the developer is considering releasing a 1.5 build but he’s not sure if the effort is worth it or not. To this end, please comment here with your request that Sweeter Home be released for you guys on 1.5 as well! The louder and better your argument the more chance there is.
Use your voice!!!
UPDATE: Android 1.5 Build now available!
Sweeter Home 2 – Public Beta
January 11, 2010 by Lemon · 28 Comments
You’ve been such a patient bunch and now the wait is over!
SWEETER HOME 2 PUBLIC BETA IS LIVE!
This release is a public beta and is not available on the Android Market.
You will not automatically receive updates.
Subscribe to this blog here, or follow me on Twitter here.
A few important notes from me:
- READ all the notes on the download page. THEY ARE IMPORTANT!
- DOWNLOAD THE CORRECT FILE. Are you on Android 1.6 or 2.0+?
- Create an account and sign in. Tag Trays make things so much easier and the syncing is automatic as long as you’re signed in.
- Please use the forums on Sweeter Home for discussing feature requests before logging a feature ticket. Your idea might already be in the pipeline or others might be able to expand and improve on your idea.
- If you log bug reports please be detailed. The devil is in the detail. Detail is ALWAYS good.
- Have fun.
- Share your themes!
Now go get it:
I’ll be uploading some help videos for the Beta tonight if I can. These will be an intro to break down the basics of how Sweeter Home is laid out, and then a second vid giving you some insight into a few of the deeper functions.
It’s time to register
January 10, 2010 by Lemon · 4 Comments
When you get the Sweeter Home 2 Beta, the very first time you use a theme that includes Tag Trays the App will prompt you to log in to Sweeter Home or to create an account if you don’t have one. Now, if you’ve already created an account on sweeterhome.com you’ll be able to use that log in to sign in to the app. Having a log in and being signed in allows your Tag Trays to sync every time you change or add/remove apps. It makes for a much more seamless experience and is highly recommended.
So in anticipation of the Beta being out shortly, now is a good time to register. It’ll make that first log in when you start up the app that much easier.
http://www.sweeterhome.com/account/register
Wave at each other
January 8, 2010 by Lemon · 9 Comments
UPDATE: The Wave is broken, too many messages LOL. Please visist the Sweeter Home forums instead.
I’ve started an experiment to see if this is something that everyone might find useful – it’s a public Wave for Sweeter Home 2 Questions and Answers. For now I’ll be answering any questions you might have, but when the Beta drops I’m really looking for you guys to all help each other. Info that ends up in the Wave may well be used for a getting started guide or a comprehensive FAQ, so jump in there.
If you don’t have a Wave account, please comment on the page with a request and we’ll sort you out.
How to get there:
- Visit this page http://sweeterskins.net/wave-discussion/ (Link just there on the right menu too)
- In Wave, search for this exactly: with:public “sweeter home 2″
And please keep things clean and tidy in there!
Delays
January 6, 2010 by Lemon · 7 Comments
Obviously there have been some delays in getting the public beta out. The dev has been off the grid for a few days but dropped me a line last night to give me an update. He’s currently waiting on a couple of sign-offs which are 1-2 days away. Once done we’ll get a final private build to check and as long as there are no glaring issues that will become the first public beta.
Thanks for your patience everyone. I know you’re itching to get your hands on Sweeter Home and I am itching to see what you all do with it! I’ll keep you up to speed if there are any further delays.
Coming up soon will be a rapid fire FAQ post to get you as up to speed as I can with info about using the new version, and then some videos after that.
Keep your Android phone running quick
January 1, 2010 by Lemon · 8 Comments
While we wait for the public beta of everyone’s soon-to-be favourite home replacement, let’s look at ways to speed up your phone. A lot of people experience lag when using Android, so here’s a few tips for keeping your phone light weight and zippy fast. (These are more for G1, Magic users etc – not so much for Droid and newer phones with those kick-ass processors.)
- Sweeter Home: Remove all icons and widgets from your stock home screen. The app Home Switcher makes changing between homes nice and simple.
- Backup then delete your SMS/MMS messages, often. Use SMS Backup or something similar to backup your SMS. Delete all threads. Do this every 1 or 2 weeks.
- Be careful with wallpaper filesize. The reason the android default wallpaper app puts horrible looking compression on your wallpaper is to keep the file size down. If you use a background app (like the excellent Wallpaper Set and Save) make sure your source files aren’t too big. Anything under 100KB should be ok.
- Those apps you don’t use? Delete ‘em. Keep your app drawer trim. That app you downloaded last month and thought it was cool but haven’t used since? Get rid of it. A particular app may be killing your battery usage or CPU also, so trial and error removing certain apps to see if your phone gets faster once it’s been removed.
- Those widgets you don’t use? Delete ‘em. Clock widgets are a particularly bad offender, often running in the background even if they’re not active. Only keep widgets installed that you actually run.
- Change update frequencies. Lengthen the time periods for RSS apps, Twitter apps, weather apps etc to update. No brainer.
- Use a task killer. you shouldn’t have to rely on this too heavily, but it’s handy once in a while. There are oodles of recommended free and paid task managers.
- Restart your phone. You should have done this with your dumb phone every few months anyway. try it every 1 or 2 weeks with Android.