Android News
Apps: Open Home bulks up home screen
March 9, 2009 | by Andrew Kameka
Android Apps
Google Android fans who want to give their phone a new look and more space have a new tool in Open Home Lite. Made by the same people who brought you BetterCut, Open Home Lite creates an alternate home screen that adds several new features to an Android phone.
Open Home Lite offers:
- Six (6) home screen panels instead of the default three.
- Skinning of folder icons, clocks, and widgets
- Auto rotate between landscape and portrait views
Open Home Lite can become your “default” home screen and will appear whenever the “Home” button is pressed on the G1. It will then apply themes created by members of XDA Developers, however, it does not apply themes to the notification bar just yet. Up until now, only G1 phones with root access could skin apps, so that may explain why the notification bar may pose a problem.
Since “Lite” is in the title, I’m assuming a more robust, fully-featured Open Home is forthcoming. Below are screenshots of the themes and a video tutorial of how to install the themes that are downloaded from the Android Market.
I have recently purchased "Open Home" based on good reviews and I have had nothing but trouble with my phone (Verizon Motorola Droid) since I installed it and I am thinking of biting the bullet and "Uninstalling" it and taking the loss. It seems, without any exaggerating, my phone crash's 3 – 4 times out of 5 with these "Force Stop" errors and no one an explain why. I installed the latest updates to no avail… buyer beware…