Tips to make your Android feel new and fresh again

We all love our Android phones, but if any of you are like me I occasionally find myself wanting to change things up a tad. Most of us have the same phone for around 2 years while we are on contract, but if you’ve wanted some change in your Android world then I have a few tips to keep things fresh. From the obvious like new wallpapers, to changing the entire lockscreen and more so check it out below.

On Android the world is endless with possibility. From simple widgets to crazy custom roms, themes and more the options really are endless and you could tweak and change your phone weekly and probably never see the same thing twice. I just thought we’d share a few tips that here at Android Community keep our phones feeling new and fresh.
Wallpaper

Now this one is extremely obvious as everyone changes their wallpapers, I do this on almost a daily bases, but I’m worse than others. I’d highly recommend the application Backgrounds or the ever popular Backdrops by interfaceLIFT.com as they have some of the best wallpapers around.  My personal favorite still has to be Vortex Galaxy for phones and tablets.
Launcher

The option to install 3rd party launchers that will change the entire feel of your homescreens and main interaction on Android is a unique feature that many love. I’ve been a huge fan of ADW for a long long time and currently use ADW EX. Launcher Pro is highly popular, and GO Launcher has been picking up steam lately and is another great alternative. This is also an excellent way to get rid of HTC’s Sense UI if you’d like to try something else and will make your phone feel new. Same applies for Moto BLUR and Samsung’s Touch Wiz. With custom launchers we can change icons, application tray look at style, add gestures and all sorts of other visual changes. Launcher Pro has awesome widgets that makes it one of the best options around.

Widgets

Widgets are just one of many unique features that make Android great. Being able to instantly enable Wifi, Bluetooth, set phone to silent, launch youTube or my music client and more all without going into the app list or fumbling through settings sure makes things simple and easy. Widgets can also change the entire look of Android and that is why it’s made this list. Options such as Beautiful Widgets or HD Widgets will give you more customization then you can possible imagine. I change my weather widget almost every other week or so, giving me something new and unique often.

There are hundreds and thousands of different widgets available in the market, from clocks, weather, settings, apps and more. Give any of them a try and clutter up your homescreen and try something new.
Lockscreen

If that plain and boring “slide to unlock” or pull down feature from Sense UI is getting a bit old and repetitive we have something for you. Check out Widget Locker for just $1.99 in the market. Widget Locker will allow you to change the entire look and feel of your lock screen. Give it that stock Android look, change the way Sense UI works, and dare I say it – you can even make the slider appear like the iPhone and iOS although I’m not sure why anyone would possibly go that route. Widget Locker also allows for multiple sliders and custom widgets right on the homescreen. Instead of sliding to unlock and finding the camera app, just throw it right on your homescreen and it’s one click away without unlocking the device. Same applies to text apps, the browser or anything else you can imagine.
Custom ROM

With all these changes and tweaks under the lockscreen or pretty live wallpapers Android is Android. The only way to really change everything at its core is a custom ROM. My personal favorite of all-time must go to CyanogenMod – with MIUI coming in as close second. Things don’t stop there, we have literally hundreds and hundreds of custom ROM’s for every Android device made just head down to XDA Developers and find your device. A custom ROM will change everything from the visuals, performance, features, options, battery life and more — this is truly where Android shines.
This is just a very small story, only touching the tip of the iceberg regarding Android and all the different options and customizations available. The few things outlined above are some of the quick and easiest ways to keep things unique, new, and fresh for your Android and we highly recommend you give them all a try. If you have any questions on what you’ve seen just drop us a line in the comment section below.

Read more »

HD Widgets App: Made for Honeycomb and look amazing

I don’t know about you guys but I’m constantly changing my widgets and live wallpapers on my Android devices. When we have all these different options to choose from why not right? Today we have a set of amazingly awesome and beautiful new widgets designed specifically for Android tablets. HD Widgets brings crisp, clear, and truly HD quality widgets to your homescreen and is available right now in the Android Market.

I went ahead and bought the app to give them a try and so far I love all the options and sizes available. Don’t mind the 110° weather I have here in Vegas today, it was like 114° earlier. Oh and in case your wondering what my awesome live wallpaper above is, you can get that here. Back to the widgets, here we have a few screenshots of HD Widgets by cloud.tv and if you’ve been looking for a nice new set of widgets for your Honeycomb tablet then look no further.

The photo above is a little extreme but that is just a small example of the hundreds of possible choices you have with HD Widgets. They offer so many sizes, color options, background choices, clock styles and colors and more that you will almost certainly find something you like. More will be added soon but with this initial release you get 13 widgets, including 3 over-sized large “tablet only” widgets which look great and span almost the entire length of a 10″ display. The rest are slightly smaller so you don’t have to use all that real estate if you don’t want to, but still want your widgets looking amazing and HD.
I’m sure you’re all excited to give these new widgets a try so be sure and head over to the market to download them by clicking here. For now they are only $0.99 cents as an introductory price so hurry and snag em while they’re hot. Click the photos below to see them in their full size glory.
)

Read more »