It’s time to register

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

Delays

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.

Sharing and Tag Trays and more!

Today you get some news about Sweeter Home! Firstly, the “preview” suffix is gone: this new release will be known as Sweeter Home 2! And you’ll be very pleased to know that, all going well, a public beta will be available for you to download in the next several days.

Now to some information I haven’t been able to share with you until this week.

Sharing

Previously I’ve mentioned that ‘sharing is much improved’ in Sweeter Home. The whole app has been rebuilt since Preview 1 and this means that things like saving and sharing themes is contained, solid and simple. When saving a theme everything, including images, is packed into the .slx (theme) file. This can be saved to your SD card (and emailed to friends or hosted on your blog etc), or it can be uploaded to the Sweeter Home server for sharing with all Sweeter Home users. When browsing for themes you can access an entire list from the Sweeter Home server and apply any theme to your phone with one click of a button! You can also rate themes you’ve tried out to let others know whether it’s worth a download or not. It’s simple and easy and means you now have a central point to check out what other people are building. It’s like I’ve said from the beginning: share your themes!

Tag Trays

New in Sweeter Home 2 is Tag Trays. A Tag Tray is a categorised tray that populates with apps that match that category. For example you might have a games tray. If you have apps installed that most other people have categorised as games then that tray will automatically populate with those games. If the majority have it wrong in your eyes, then you can drag that app to any other category – your selection will always override to be the default on your phone. This means 2 things. Firstly, any theme you first apply in Sweeter Home that uses Tag Trays will automatically populate those trays. You don’t have to spend time setting up the trays; over time the defaults will do the hard work for you. Secondly, once you have your tray set up the way you want they will always populate with the apps you’ve selected. No matter how many different themes you apply from different authors, your apps will always be right there and ready to use. No more long pressing or dragging to set up every new theme!

Stay tuned here, or follow me on Twitter. I’ll be posting an alert when Sweeter Home 2 public beta is available for download.

Shhh

Yes, I am still alive – and so is Sweeter Home

Hi all. Things have been quiet here while we wait for Preview 2 to drop. Well, the developer kindly sent me a snapshot preview build of Sweeter Home Preview 2. Check back soon for news on what’s changed while I get to grips with all the new features. I can tell you after a half hour of playing that the new editing features are excellent (no more resize, drag, resize, drag) and sharing is going to be fantastic.

Check back for more soon.

Android Network Awards

If you don’t often keep up with the Android blogosphere and news sites, then it’s time for you to get involved! The Android Network Awards was spearheaded by a group of Android dedicated sites (there’s list in the comments below, get reading) to initiate community voting on the best apps out there. The purpose is to highlight great applications for current users as well as serve as a handy resource for new users (MyTouch, Hero, Galaxy) to find good apps quickly!

Voting is open so head over and cast your votes. 

Sweeter Home is listed in the Home Replacement category so if you feel it’s the best for you, VOTE BELOW!

The future is almost here!

Hi all. Was chatting with Kioma, the developer of Sweeter Home, yesterday and came away from it feeling very excited. A closed beta of Preview 2 should be distributed soon-ish, and from that point it won’t be long till it’s released. Rest assured, once I get my hands on it I’ll be working on porting all my Preview 1 themes over to P2 including some small updates. I may also have a theme or 2 come pre-installed with Preview 2 but we’ll see how that pans out.

Among many things to look forward to at first are an improved editing system with deeper menus and possibly a preview to see how your edits effect the layout, improved stability, and with better stability will come a much easier way to save and share your themes, including ratings and commenting etc!

I’ll be posting video and screenshots of the closed beta as soon as I get my hands on it so you’ll get a first look not long after I do.

Stay tuned. AND remember to follow me on Twitter @sweeterskins

WTF (where the f…)?

Hey, people. Apologies for not posting much this week. Still trying to get on top of things at work and running slower on the Sweeter Home front until Preview 2 drops. Rest assured that when the closed beta of Preview 2 is out I’ll be posting impressions (and screens and vid if it’s OK with the developer) to let you guys know what’s in store. Once a stable version drops on the Market I’ll be working on converting ALL my themes to Preview 2 format. So it may be quiet right now, but it’s calm before the storm.

I’ll also slowly be working on a theme idea (making use of the movement in the scrolling between screens) but it might take me a bit to flesh it out. And I’m hoping to get Guzumo Comics on board for a theme soon too!

In the meantime head over to Android and Me’s new forums. They’re shaping up very nicely with some great content already, as well as a few developers on board in the conversations.