iWizard

Privacy Policy

2024-02-13T07:10:00.003+05:30

Effective Date: 01/01/2020

WizardWork ("we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you download, install, or use our mobile application available on the Google Play Store.

Information We Do Not Collect:

We want to assure you that our apps do not collect any personally identifiable information from you when you use our mobile application. We do not gather information about your device, location, or any other personal data.

Permissions:

Our app may request certain permissions on your device for optimal functionality. However, it is important to note that we do not misuse or collect any personal information through these permissions.

Third-Party Services:

Our app may utilize third-party services or libraries for enhanced features. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of these third parties. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any services integrated into our app.

Changes to This Privacy Policy:

We reserve the right to update this Privacy Policy at any time, and we will notify you of any changes by updating the policy within the app or through other reasonable means.

Contact Us:

If you have any questions or concerns about our privacy practices related to our apps, please reach out to us using the contact options provided in the apps.

Migrating from LastPass: 1Password vs Bitwarden; Pros & Cons. Quality of Life Feature Comparison.

2023-01-04T23:57:00.004+05:30

Password managers are the topic of hot debate right now; thanks to LastPass debacle. It's been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently. Last year LastPass put several free features behind paywall; including limiting the use to just one device type. (BTW, there's a workaround for that. Keep reading till end if you wanna know.) And then this year, the news of users' password vaults being captured by hackers. I too finally seriously started looking for alternatives.

The two most recommended alternatives are 1Password and BitWarden. I did a whole bunch of Google searches to see feature comparisons. But those comparisons didn't quite tell me what I was looking for. Didn't quite tell me what unique features or quirks they have or what important feature is missing from them etc. I had to learn those by installing / using those myself. So, now I'm writing this post so that other users are better informed than I was.

Cost of Entry

👎🏼 1Password: Biggest drawback of 1Password (for me) is the lack of any free tier whatsoever. All their plans are paid subscriptions, even if you are just an individual user. There is a 14 day trial available, but afterwards you have to pay $3-$5/month. But there's some hope. If your workplace has a 1Password Business subscription, then you can get a complimentary 1Password Family account for your personal use by connecting your personal 1Password account to your workplace business account. Details here.

👍🏼 Bitwarden: Biggest draw of BitWarden is that it has the best free tier. Unlimited devices and entries; with good set of features. And if you do decide to subscribe, it costs $10/year which is pretty cheap.

Data Types

👍🏼 1Password: Similar to LastPass, 1Password supports a wide variety of data types like logins, secure notes, cards, bank accounts, passports, memberships, licensees etc. So, all your LastPass entries would have corresponding home in 1Password. (Note that there's no "medical insurance" type in 1Password. There's a "medical records" type, but that's for visits to medical facilities, and not for noting down your insurance details.

👎🏼 Bitwarden: Sadly BitWarden supports only few - Logins, Card, Identity, Secure Note. So if you have LastPass entries of other types, those will get imported as secure note, with the data of each entry being dumped as a single text block in the notes field. You'll then have to spend some time editing each such note to make it more readable.

Data Import / Export

😐1Password: 1Password supports importing data from some of the major password managers, including LastPass. So, it is fairly easy. Surprisingly, they don't support import from Bitwarden directly. If you try to import csv exported from BitWarden, you'll have to manually select which row is of which data type and which column corresponds to which field. I kinda messed that up and then had to spend hours deleting blank fields from my entries.

😐 Bitwarden: Fairly straight forward as they support all major password managers. Only issue being the data types I mentioned above.

Also, when exporting data from BitWarden, it exports only logins and secure notes; and does NOT export identity and cards for some reason!!

Login

👎🏼 1Password: 1Password Desktop app supports Windows Hello authentication and thus you can unlock it using biometrics or PIN etc. But there's a catch. Every time you restart your PC or restart the app, you have to login into the app using your full password first. Only after that you can use the Windows Hello feature.

👍🏼 Bitwarden: Unlike 1Password, BitWarden desktop app supports Windows Hello from the very start. You won't need to type the full password to login into the app after you finish the initial setup.

Browser Integration

👍🏼 1Password: The Chrome extension connects with the desktop app and can unlock accordingly. You won't need to unlock it separately.

👎🏼 Bitwarden: The Chrome extension has an option to connect with the desktop app so that you don't need to unlock it separately. But it hasn't worked for me. It keeps throwing "Browser integration is not set up" error for me. (Yes, I have enabled the options in the apps.) And apparently it's an old issue which hasn't been natively solved yet.

Browser Extension Permissions

👎🏼 1Password: 1Password's chromium extension has a much larger list of permissions than that of 👍🏼 Bitwarden's Chromium extension.

1Password completely hijacks Chrome / Edge's built-in password managers and disables that. There's no option to let that stay enabled in parallel. Bitwarden provides you that option.

Autofill Method

😐 1Password: Whenever you are at any login page, clicking on the username / password fields shows you dropdowns with matching entries from 1Password. You can click them to fill. But it lacks right-click context menu options. In LastPass, right-click context menu also shows you matching entries. But 1Password doesn't do that.

😐 Bitwarden: BitWarden does the opposite. It shows matching entries in right-click context menu or on clicking the extension icon in browser toolbar. There's no Bitwarden icon in the username/password field itself AND clicking on those fields doesn't show any dropdown with matching entries from Bitwarden.

Saving new logins / Updating existing logins

👎🏼 1Password: When you are logging into a site which is not saved in 1Password, if you want to save it in 1Password, you have to do that before you click the login / sign-in / signup button. Because after you log in, 1Password doesn't ask you whether you want to save this new site's login details in 1Password; like EVERY other password manager does. Similarly, if you go to any already saved website and change its password at the site, you have to save it in 1Password before you click submit at the site. If you don't, 1Password won't ask you whether you want to update the existing password in your vault.

👍🏼 Bitwarden: Bitwarden doesn't have this problem.

2FA Codes

👍🏼 1Password: The login entries have a button that enables you to "scan" and save 2FA secrets. You can take a screenshot of the 2FA QR code from any website, click the "scan QR code" button in 1Password and it'll detect the secret and save it. You don't need to have camera for it. Or you can simply copy paste the text secret.

😐 Bitwarden: You get this feature if you subscribe to premium. You can copy paste the text secret. But there's no option of "scan QR code" in the Desktop app.

Tags vs Folders

👍🏼 1Password: In 1Password, you can add multiple tags to each entries and that's how you group them.

👎🏼 Bitwarden: In Bitwarden, you can put entries in individual folders. So, one entry can't be in multiple folders.

Match Detection

👎🏼 1Password: 1Password uses the usual domain name matching to find matching entries in the vault.

👍🏼👍🏼 Bitwarden: Bitwarden allows you to set matching method for each entry. In addition to the usual domain name matching, you can set to match with host, "starts with", regular expression etc. This comes very handy where different websites use the same base domain for their sites. For example, if you have accounts in 3 different library's Overdrive websites, "domain" matching will show you all 3 entries from your vault, but "host" matching will show you only that one site whose page you are currently on. Another use-case - Workday sites for different company's job application portals.

This is one killer feature I wish others had.

Update - Just now I learnt that 1Password has also added a feature similar to this in their beta. It lets you match either based on just the domain or the entire host.

Master Password Re-prompt Option

Not all sites are of equal importance and equally sensitive. I want to secure certain sites' login details more than others; like banking sites or tax filing sites etc. 👍🏼 Bitwarden allows you to set "Master password re-prompt" for sites, and thus whenever you are trying to login into those sites or try to see details of those sites in your vault, it'll prompt you to enter the master password again; providing an extra layer of security. (Do note that there's no "do not prompt for next X hours" option is not there, like LastPass has.)

👎🏼 1Password doesn't have this option at all. Once your vault is unlocked, all entries are treated the same.

Password Strength Indicator

👍🏼 1Password has them, 👎🏼 Bitwarden doesn't.

Password Reveal Annoyance

👎🏼 1Password: On the desktop app, when you are in any logins entry page, the password fields only have a "copy" button as quick action. If you just want to see the password, you have to click the dropdown button and then click the "Reveal" button. Not a big deal, but a little annoying. (Web vault doesn't have this problem. There's both copy and reveal button.)

👍🏼 Bitwarden: Bitwarden has 3 quick action buttons - reveal, copy and "check if it exposed". Much quicker and better, imo.

Extra Goodies in 1Password

Related Items: You can link one entry from another. For example, under you bank's login entry, you can link you bank account details entry and your debit / credit card entry.

oAuth Logins: For sites where you use 3rd party provider's oAuth login like "Sign in with Google" or "Sign in with Facebook" etc, you can save even those with 1Password. No other managers provide this facility.

Secret Key for login: In addition to requiring password and 2FA code, you also need a secret key to login into 1Password; thus providing an added layer of security. More about it here.

Passkeys: Passkeys are supposedly the "future" and password killers. 1Password has already started working on it.

Conclusion

If you are looking for free option, nothing beats Bitwarden. But if you are able to get the complimentary 1Password Family subscription, that is a very good (imo, better) option. Just see the pros and cons as described above and see which ones are fine by you.

Let me know in the comments if you have spotted any feature that you used in LastPass but is missing from 1Password or Bitwarden. Or if you spotted any unique feature in these that are not available elsewhere.

P.S. LastPass Trick

If you still want to stick with LastPass for whatever reason, there's a way you can bypass the "just one device type" limitation. On your android phone, make sure the LastPass app version is not higher than 4.11.18.6150. If it is, uninstall that and then install version 4.11.18.6150 from reliable apk sites like apkmirror. That or older version doesn't have the required check to enforce that policy. So, you can keep using LastPass on your phone, in addition to using it on desktops.

Best Photo Gallery App for Android - Alternative to QuickPic

2016-05-16T06:37:00.001+05:30

If you had asked anyone last year "which is the best gallery app in Android, chances are they would tell you QuickPic. It was lightweight, fast and versatile app. Everyone's favorite. But then the developer sold it to the most hated publisher Cheetah Mobile, who are known for bloating all their apps with adware / junkware. It didn't go down well with the community. Everyone was worried that the lightweight QuickPic will also get bogged down with adware / bloat now. The dev kept reassuring everyone that nothing of that sort will happen and he personally will keep improving the app, while he works at Cheetah. But alas, how can you trust the integrity of someone who says "Cheetah Mobile has contributed a lot to Android and fixed many issues that Google and many smartphone companies could not." During last week of March 2016, "Mobile themes" popped up in QuickPic in two different places. Their justification - "we made only a little promotion for our sister team, CM Launcher. CM Launcher is one of the best launcher in the whole Android World". On top of that, they added a service that starts at boot and they added a permission for drawing overlays on top of other apps, which can be used for hijacking your taps. Welp, I've had enough. I was officially moving on.

I started looking for alternatives and used several of them for some time. Piktures, Focus, Easy Gallery, LeafPic. But the one that I have finally chosen to be my daily driver is -

F-Stop Media Gallery.

1. Organize photos the way you want -
It supports showing folders (i.e. scans your storage and shows all folders that have media) and nested folders (if you have several photos and other sub-folders, it shows them like a file browser). Or, if you don't have your photos organized in folders, you can create albums inside F-Stop without physically moving the photos to different folders. You can also create smart albums by filtering photos using metadata like time, tags, location etc. In short, you can organize them anyway you want.

2. Tags and ratings and favorites -
I've got ~1000+ photos on my phone. No matter how well I organize them, I will get lost in that heap. With F-Stop, I can add tags to the photos (so that I can quickly see all Puppy photos), mark some as favorites (so I can quickly see my crush when I'm missing her) and add ratings to them (quickly see all 4* pics which are good but not the best.). So, in addition to Folder view and Album view, I've also got Tags view / Ratings view and favorites. It also has Maps view, if that's what you want.

3. Bookmarks -
As if all of that wasn't enough, you've got bookmarks. You can bookmark any tag, rating, folder or album and they will show up in the navigation drawer. You don't have to keep jumping between different views after that.

4. Other must've things -
It has the include / exclude option to search for media only in the directories that you choose, instead of searching the whole storage.
It has option to protect folders / pictures with passwords, not just .nomedia, which is very insecure.
It's got light / dark theme with option to change primary / accent colors.
It's got fast global search. I can search using filename, tags etc.

Shortcomings

1. No cloud support -
It doesn't support any cloud galleries like Flickr, 500px, imgur, onedrive etc. That is, I can't browse my photos saved on those services, via F-Stop. That's what I miss most from QuickPic. I reached out to F-Stop team and they assured me that they've "recently started work on adding cloud services". So, hopefully we'll see that soon.

2. Paid -
Some of the features are paid option; like seeing your pictures on a map, editing metadata, custom sorting of photos, customizing navigation drawer etc. Depending on how you see things, that is actually good. This way you know how the developer is making money. QuickPic was free and in order to make money, the dev had to sell it to CM and see how that went. None of the features that require the paid unlock key are absolutely essential but nice to have. So, you can support the dev that way, if you want.

Other honorable mentions

Focus - Made by Francisco Franco, the developer of franco kernel. It also supports adding tags to photo, locking gallery with password / fingerprint, Prevents others from swiping when you're showing them a picture. This also has IAP to unlock features.

Piktures - Users love it for its UI; specially the blurred banner image at the top of each album. This app's USP is protecting photos with PIN, Calendar view, resize pictures before sharing. No rating or tagging though.

Easy Gallery - This is in alpha stage of development right now and looks very promising. It's super lightweight and has cloud support via a plugin. And it also supports adding tags to photos. But everything is quite buggy right now. I'm keeping a close eye on this one.

LeafPic / Picnic - Two more lightweight and barebone gallery apps.

So, which Gallery app you are using? Do you have any other gallery app recommendations? Let me know in the comments.

Alternatives to popular Xposed modules | Prepare for Android Lollipop / ART

2014-11-12T13:12:00.002+05:30

Android 5.0 Lollipop's public release is imminent. People with Nexus devices and possibly other flagship devices are going to start receiving the OTA updates soon. Lollipop brings a huge amount of visual and backend changes with it; switch from Dalvik to ART runtime being one of the biggest of them. This particular change has left many Android enthusiasts in a limbo - whether to upgrade to Lollipop or not; because their beloved Xposed framework doesn't support ART and supposedly won't for a long time. I myself am on that boat. I love xposed and several of its modules. Upgrading to Lollipop will mean we won't be able to use those anymore. Still, Lollipop is so tempting that I won't be able to stop myself from flashing it the minute the factory images drop. Hence, I'm trying to find out replacements for the several xposed modules I and countless others use. Here are the alternatives that I've found.

If you don't know what Xposed frameowrk is and what it does, you can read about it here or watch this video.

AlarmClockPlus

This module tells you the time and date, every time you snooze your alarm; so that you don't have to look at your phone to determine if you can snooze one more time.

This can be done with Tasker. Trigger can be - Event -> Date/Time -> "Alarm Done" and the task can be a variation of "Talking Clock" task as created here.

Amplify, Wakelock Terminator

Put simply, with these two modules, you can prevent any particular app from waking up your device when you are not using it and thus prevent draining the battery unnecessarily. Very handy if some rough app is wrecking havoc.

Alternative for these two modules are - Greenify, Wakelock Detector, Better Battery Stats; to some extent. Greenify prevents your chosen apps from starting up on their own, after you've closed them. The other two apps don't provide any automatic ways to prevent wakelocks but they do show you which apps kept your device awake while you weren't using it. You can then either Greenify those apps or uninstall them.

AppOpsXposed, XPrivacy
These modules allow you to deny certain permissions to certain apps. For example, if you don't want Facebook to have access to your SMS, you can deny that permission here.

Alternatives - App Ops, if it works or a much better LBE Security Master. This is in Chinese. English translated version available at XDA.

BootManager
With this module, you could prevent selected apps from running on system startup. Run only the apps you want at system start. Thus you can have faster boot and less load on RAM / Battery / CPU.

The aforementioned LBE Security Master also has a boot manager. Otherwise, Battery Doctor also has a Autostart Management feature.

Complete Action Plus, CustomShare
Do you want to have one-click "Complete action using" dialog? Do you want to change layout to List or Grid? Do you want to hide Apps in list or put your favorite at the top? These modules can do all of that and more.

Alternative - Better Open With is a great option. Otherwise, there's Andmade Share.

CrappaLinks
Tapping short links in Twitter clients, Facebook, Google Plus, and Reddit first opens a web browser. The browser then immediately redirects you to your selected default native application. CrappaLinks saves you from this ordeal by expanding short URLs and opening the proper native application directly.

Alternative for this is - Unshorten. It does exact same thing as the xposed module. (Thanks /u/alphabet0 for the tip).

MinMinGuard
This is an Ad Blocker which prevents ads from showing up inside apps and websites on your phone.

Alternative - AdAway

Native Clip Board
This module adds clip-board functionality to the text selection menu.

There are several clipboard manager apps in Android. The best I've found is Clipper. And if you need something much more fancy with lots of bells n whistles, there's Type Machine.

Statusbar Gestures
This Xposed module allows you to add various gestures to your statusbar. You can either launch an app or a shortcut.

Even though there are no direct / exact alternatives to this module, there are several apps that somewhat can mimic the functionality. Most of the custom launchers like Nova / Apex etc provide gesture settings, which can be used to launch an app or a shortcut; difference being, instead of the statusbar, these gestures will work only from the homescreen of those launchers. Alternatively, there's GMD Gesture Control, which allows you to control your device with gestures, system wide.

Statusbar Scroll to Top
This module allows you to tap the status bar to scroll to the top of any lists / page. No more scrolling / flicking endlessly to reach the top of the page.

Found this alternative - OneClick Scroll - in the Play Store.

Tinted Status Bar
This module tints your status bar according to the currently shown activity of the app you are currently using. Thankfully, there's no alternative needed. Lollipop has this baked in. Woo hoo. Of course, app developers have to support it. Those who don't - WHY...!!!??

Xposed Macro Expand
This module enables Macro / Text expansion. i.e. short key sequences to be transformed into other, usually more time-consuming, sequences of keystrokes. This means that frequently used or repetitive sequences of keystrokes can easily be automated. It works with all factory and third party keyboards.

If you are going to use the stock Android keyboard, that already has text expansion built in. Go to keyboard settings > Text correction > Personal Dictionary. Add any word / sentence and its shortcut there. But if you use any thirdparty keyboard like Swype or SwiftKey, this won't work there. In that case, you can use EverClip, which enables text expansion, system wide. And this app also acts as Clipboard monitor; so it's killing two birds with one stone.

Instagram Downloader / Vine Downloader
As the names suggest, these modules add an option to download the photos / videos from the Instagram / Vine app. InstaGetter and vDownloader are the non-xposed alternatives, respectively.

WhatsApp Mods
Allows you to remove the voice and/or camera buttons from the conversation view and gives the ability to keep the contact list in your history, so when you launch a conversation using it and then press the back button, it doesn't skip straight back to the main conversations list.

Even though not the same functionality, if you are looking for customization in WhatsApp, there's WhatsApp Plus.

Wow. So, quite a few xposed modules have non-xposed alternatives. Now, here are some modules whose alternatives I couldn't find.

Do you know any apps which can act as alternative to these modules? Do you use any other module whose alternative you've found or not found? Leave a comment.

Tasker Profile: On Demand Talking Clock

2014-07-08T12:31:00.001+05:30

Most of the days, traffic noise wakes me up early morning. But since the alarm hasn't gone off yet, I don't know what time it is. Who the hell wants to open eyes and look at the blindingly bright phone screen to check the time? I hope my smartphone was smart enough to just TELL me the time, without me having to open my eyes. Well, now it can; thanks to tasker.

If you want to know what tasker is and what can be done with it, check out this beginner's guide.

Easily import Talking clock profile
Download this file to your sdcard. Then open tasker and long press on the "Profile" tab. In the menu that opens, tap "Import". Locate the downloaded xml file and tap it. The Talking Clock profile will be imported and ready to use.

OR Setup Talking clock profile yourself

On the tasker's profiles tab, tap the + button at the bottom right. Give a name to the profile. I gave "Talking Clock".
Next select the trigger event State > Display > Display state. Make sure it says "Is On". Press back.
A task selection list will pop up. Tap "New Task" here. Give it a name. I gave "Announce Time".
In the task edit page, tap + at the bottom center > tap "Audio" > tap "Silent Mode". Set it to off.
Back in the task edit page, tap + at the bottom center > tap "Variables" > tap "Variable Split". Set Name as %TIME and Splitter as .
Back, + to new task > tap "Variables" > tap "Variable set". Set Name as %TIME1 and To as %TIME1 / 1. Enable "Do maths" here.
Back, + to new task > tap "Variables" > tap "Variable set". Set Name as %TIME2 and To as %TIME2 / 1. Enable "Do maths" here.
Back, + to new task > tap "Variables" > tap "Variable set". Set Name as %TIME1 and To as 12. Add If condition %TIME1 = 00.
Back, + to new task > tap "Variables" > tap "Variable subtract". Set Name as %TIME1 and value as 12. Add If condition %TIME1 > 12.
Back, + to new task > tap "Variables" > tap "Variable set". Set Name as %TIME2 and To as O clock. Add If condition %TIME2 = 00.
Back, + to new task > tap "Variables" > tap "Variable set". Set Name as %TIME2 and To as O %TIME2. Add If condition %TIME2 < 10.

Back, + to new task > tap "Alert" > tap "Say". Put this in Text field - %TIME1, %TIME2, %BATT %. Change Pitch and Speed if you want.

Back, + to new task > tap "Audio" > tap "Silent Mode". Set it to on.

Switch to profiles tab of tasker. Tap the "Talking Clock" profile and then long press the "Display State On" trigger. Tap "Add" and then "Time". Set the time duration you want this profile to work. For example, I set it to work between 4 AM and 8 AM; so that it doesn't start vocally announcing time every time I turn the screen on.

You tasker profile is now ready. It will TELL you the time every time you turn on the screen between the set time. You just gotta pick up the phone and press the power button - both of which can be done with your eyes closed. Video Walkthrough

Tasker profile: Better Battery Log

2014-06-28T10:45:00.002+05:30

Do you ever unlock your phone, look at the battery % and go "Holly hell, 30%...! Was it this low when I locked it last? How much battery did drain since I last used it?" Sadly there's no stock/easy way of knowing for sure. The stock battery usage graph shows battery usage since last full charge, which doesn't help.

I want to check my battery drop since last I used the phone. So, I created a tasker profile that writes the time and remaining battery percentage to a file every time I turn the screen off. This way, when I turn the screen on after some time, I can check how much battery was lost while the phone was idle. If I see any drastic drop, I would know something is going wrong and investigate.

If you want to know what tasker is and what can be done with it, check out this beginner's guide.

Create empty log file
Using any file browser app, create an empty text file on your sdcard. For example, I created /sdcard0/BatteryLog.txt

Easily import Battery Logger profile
Download this file to your sdcard. Then open tasker and long press on the "Profile" tab. In the menu that opens, tap "Import". Locate the downloaded xml file and tap it. The Log Battery profile will be imported and ready to use.

OR Setup Battery Logger profile yourself

On the tasker's profiles tab, tap the + button at the bottom right. Give a name to the profile. I gave "Log Battery".
Next select the trigger event State > Display > Display state. Make sure it says "Is Off". Press back.
A task selection list will pop up. Tap "New Task" here. Give it a name.
In the task edit page, tap + at the bottom center > tap "File" > tap "Delete file".
Tap the search icon at the right end of "File" and browse n select the BatteryLog.txt file.
Tap "If" bar. Set condition %BATT > 98. Press back.
Tap + at the bottom center > tap "Task" > tap "Wait". Set how much time you want to wait before noting down the battery. Then press back.
Tap + at the bottom center > tap "File" > tap "Write file"
Tap the search icon at the right end of "File" and browse n select the BatteryLog.txt file.
Tap on the text field and enter "%DATE - %TIME - %BATT - MEMF" without the quotes. You can also tap the variable selector at the right end of this and enter other variables if you want.
Enable the append and "Add newline" options. Press back.

You tasker profile is now ready. It will note down remaining battery percentage every time you turn off the screen. And every time the phone is fully charged, it will purge the record and start a fresh log.

Video Tutorial

WizardWork launched - Theme Apps Giveaway

2014-04-25T04:49:00.001+05:30

Hi Guys. I'm now officially announcing the launch of "Wizard Work" in the Google Play Store. "Wizard Work" is the home to best Android themes, icon packs and uccw widget skins. If you love customizing your Android device with icons and widgets, you have come to the right place.

As a token of appreciation for all the support that all of you have shown me in past couple of years, I'm running a Giveaway now. These are the details -

Number of winners: 10
Prize: Choose any one of my apps and you get it for free.
Runs from: 24th April 2014, 00:01 AM
Runs till: 30th April 2014, 11:59 PM

This is what you gotta do. (Read carefully. Not meeting the criteria will disqualify your entry.)

Tweet about this giveaway. See the widget below.
"Like" the WizardWork page on facebook. See the widget below.
Leave a comment below, telling me which app you want to win. Doing only this step doesn't get you an entry.
Share the WizardWork link or the link of the apps you like on social networks. Make sure to include #WizardWork #Theme and #Android hash-tags in your tweet/post and make sure it is publicly visible. You can do these once every day to increase your chances.
- Go to the Wizard Work's play store page. Click on any app that you like. You'll reach that app's page. You'll see a Google+ +1 button on the right side. Click that. In the pop-up box, add some comment including the 3 hash-tags. And click the "Share" button. Now go to your Google+ profile. What you just shared should be topmost there. Right click the timestamp there and click "Copy link address". Click the Google+ entry (4th from top) in the widget below, paste the link in box and click "Enter".
- Go the Wizard Work's play store page. Right-Click on any app that you like and click "Copy link location". Now share this link on your Facebook / Twitter. Copy the link of the post it creates. Click the Facebook / Twitter entry (5th from top) in the widget below, paste the link in box and click "Enter".
- Share this link - http://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Wizard+Work - on your Google+ / Facebook / Twitter. Copy the link of the post it creates. Click the 6th option in the widget below, paste the link in box and click "Enter".

Each task completion earns you one entry in the draw. But if you do only the "leave comment" task (3rd in widget), your entry gets disqualified. You can come back tomorrow (and everyday till giveaway ends) and enter once more for last three options. This giveaway is open from now till 30th April 2014, 11:59 PM. After that, I'll select 10 lucky winners. They'll each get a free copy of whichever app of mine they want. Get clicking. All the best. :) a Rafflecopter giveaway

Play Store Developer Issues and How To Fix Them, Google.

2014-04-06T00:40:00.003+05:30

Just when I thought I was recovering from loosing my Play Store developer account, I saw this on the Google+

That's Jeppe Foldager, aka Black Bear Blanc, aka BBB; one of the most respected themer on Android. When I had bought my first Android phone (Galaxy Nexus) and had joined XDA-Developers forum, BBB, Pooley, Slymobi - works of these people inspired me to get involved in Android theming. I found my passion. I made one theme after another, one widget skin after another, used uccw widgets to entirely change the look of phones. And within a year, I had 50+ apps in the play store. I liked spending time on creating and maintaining those. The thing I liked most about development was the interaction with the community. Communication with other developers and the users. Yes, the money was good too. But more than that, I took pride in being an Android developer. More than my day job, making apps made me feel like I'm accomplishing something in my life. And then Google yanked it away. Just like they did with Jeppe.

Fact is, yes, we both might have (unknowingly) violated some play store developer policy. But Google doesn't help us understand those. This is how the entire thing goes down.

App publishing and suspension

When you join the developer program, you are presented with the developer policy, which tells you what you can and can't do w.r.t. your apps. It has bullet points and slightly vague descriptions.
You go through the policies, think you understood them, make some apps, publish them on play store, get some/many downloads/reviews/ratings.
When Google decides that any of your apps is violating any policy, it straight-away suspends your app and sends you a mail telling you that your app is suspended for violating so n so policy. For example, I had received 2-3 app suspensions, which were attributed to "Impersonation or Deceptive Behavior". The mail doesn't say anything beyond that. You are left wondering which part of your app violated that policy. (Unless of course you did that knowingly, in which case, shame on you).
Second line in that mail, below the reason, says "You may revise and upload a policy compliant version of your application as a new package name. Before uploading any new applications, please review the Developer Distribution Agreement and Content Policy." i.e. Google is telling you to forget that you had that app in the play store and forfeit all the ratings/reviews that app had garnered. And to hell with the people who had bought that app. It is telling you to upload a new version of the app with a new package name. And, oh; don't forget to make sure it is policy compliant. But how do I do that if I don't know what violated the policy in the first place?
Anyway, there's also an appeal process. It says "We will only reinstate applications if an error was made, and a re-review finds that your application does not violate the developer terms." i.e. if Google thinks your app did violate any policy (which it of course does), they won't give you a chance to fix it. You submit your app reinstatement appeal in case you feel Google made a mistake or request them to lift the suspension so that you can correct the mistake you understood. But in either case, Google doesn't give a fuck; unless you are a big-shot name. For others, that appeals form is a black hole. When you submit your petition there, you get an automated receipt acknowledgement mail and after days or weeks, get another automated mail saying "We have reviewed your appeal and will not be reinstating your application."
So, even if you understand later what violated the policy, there's no way to fix it other than uploading new version of the app and starting from scratch. You lost the reviews, rating, good will. And those who had bought the app got screwed over.
There's no telephone support. There's no way to communicate with the play store team other than the above mentioned appeals form if you are a developer. Unless of course you are Koush famous and know people in the team. Then those people help you get everything back even if you were knowingly flouting a rule for over 2 years.
Anyway, once you have a few app suspensions under your belt, one fine day, Google sends you an account termination mail; letting you know that they have crushed your dreams and passion. No amount of logical argument, promises, begging works. Once your account is gone, it's gone. And you can't create a new account either; even if you use new email id, new bank account, new IP; Google somehow deduces it is you and suspends that account too. You are banned for life.
And they suspend your Google Wallet account too. But that's a different ballgame altogether. At least that has telephonic support, Google products forum support and you can actually talk to a human being.

TL;DR - The way Google handles app suspensions is broken. The developer support in general is broken and it needs fixing asap. Developers will keep repeating mistakes unless Google fixes it.

Fixing Google Play Developer Program
Here are the things that Google should do.

Google should review an app before accepting it in the play store. Apple does it, why can't Google? When the developer uploads an app via the developer console, Google should run some scans to make sure that it is policy compliant. Something like the bouncer thingy Google has for detecting malware / threats etc. This will save both Google and the developer headache in future. Plus you won't have a whole lot of angry customer in your hand.
If something is detected to be in violation later on, send a warning mail to the developer instead of suspending it immediately; without giving the developer a chance to fix it. No, "upload a new policy compliant version" isn't a good option. Unless it is security risk, give them a few days' time to fix the mistake in the original app itself.
Also, try to pin point what part of the app violated the said policy. Apps name? Logo? Description? Keyword? Code? UI? Something else? More often than not, pointing to the name of the policy-part doesn't help and we are left wondering how in the hell the app violated that. Developers are left guessing and might repeat same mistake in future.
When a developer submits an appeal, automated bot replies are fine to start with. But if the developer is not getting a satisfactory answer and is replying to those mails asking for further details/assistance, get a human involved. Bots can't know/understand everything. Let the developer communicate with a real human being who can see logic.
On that same note, start a telephone line for support. Google wallet has it, app buyers have it; why not developers? It is pathetic that developers, who bring users to Android, have no form of solid support from Google. Google takes 30% commission from our earnings and still doesn't support us.

Take a stand. Make them take notice.
But will Google listen to these suggestions? In recent years, Google seems to have abandoned their "Do no evil" motto and running with a "My way or the highway" approach. We, the developers need to take a stand now. We can't let Google walk all over us like this. It happened to us today, it will happen to you tomorrow. It's high time that we make Google listen. I have an idea if you want to take part in it. #DevsTakeAStand

If you are a developer, unpublish all your apps from play store for one day, or one week.
Announce your stand. Announce the reason you unpublished your apps on your website/community/page.
If you are a user, Chat, email or call Google asking about the app you had bought that got suspended.
Tweet / Share / +1 this article on all your social networks. Use hashtag #DevsTakeAStand

I hope other tech blogs / websites pick up this news and run it. Hope Google sees this and makes some improvements in the way they treat their developers. And no other developer has to see their dreams getting crushed.

15 must-have apps for Android devices

2013-12-28T01:44:00.001+05:30

A lot of "Best apps to download on your new Android devices" posts are doing the rounds right now, hoping that people with new devices will bring traffic to those sites. Some of those are helpful advices; some are just common sense / well known apps. You might have already read some of those posts. So, I won't be bothering you with another one of those lists; telling you what you should install on your device. I'm going to tell you about the apps that are MY daily driver. Apps that I find most useful in my everyday life. If you find any of these useful for yourself, I'll be glad to have introduced that app to you.

Nova Launcher

First thing I do after getting a new device or flashing a new ROM - install Nova launcher on it. The stock launcher is very limited for my taste. Nova Launcher gives me the freedom to arrange apps the way I want. I've divided my app drawer into 3 tabs - Games, Google, All Other (+ widget tab which is there by default). The "All" tab has two folders. "Icons" has all the theme related apps in it and "Rarely" has apps that I rarely use. I chose to put them in a folder instead of using "hide apps" feature; so that I have easy access to them when I want to uninstall them. On the homescreens, I have 3 screens. One screen has 16 of my most frequently used app icons. Second screen has a full page Google Keep widget and the third page has a few apps sorted into folders like "Finance", "Entertain", "Photo", "News". I've assigned "Play Store" to the App drawer icon's swipe action. So, when I need to open play store, which is quite often since checking for app updates is my obsession, I just swipe up on the app drawer icon and that opens the play store app. If nothing else, one reason to use a custom launcher - you can apply custom icons.

AppDialer

Everyone obviously has their most frequently used apps on their home-screens. But what about apps which didn't make that cut but you still use them now n then? Even though the app drawer is alphabetically sorted, finding that one app in it takes a little time. I use AppDialer to get to that app faster. I've placed AppDialer icon in my dock. One tap on that icon launches the T9 dialer of the app and 2-3 more taps on the characters fetches the app I want. AppDialer has a T9 dialer widget too; which saves you the initial tap to launch the dialer. I wish it provided a floating icon which could be accessed from any screen and floats on top of other apps. Since it currently doesn't, I'm using it in conjunction with Toucher.

Circa

When I have a little free time during lunch break or similar, I like to catch up on some news. I've tried Flipboard and Feedly before and still have them installed on my device. But I like Circa more than those. Because Circa is not just an aggregator of articles from different websites. It has well curated articles in short and precise form. I get important parts of a news presented to me in snippets. Also, no longer I come across same news from different sources over and over; which is a common problem in Flipboard / Feedly (or most other news reader apps). I can even "Follow" a news article to stay updated. Whenever there's a recent development related to that news, Circa updates me. That itself makes it the best news reader app.

Cliffhanger

I'm a TV show buff. I have a handful shows that I watch but never on original air date. I use Cliffhanger to keep track of what I've watched and which episodes are pending to be watched. It has very intuitive UI with three tabs - Upcoming, Recent and watchlist. And it shows notifications when a new episode is about to air. I would have liked if I could delay that notification (like, "new episode of HIMYM aired yesterday"); an option which is available in another app called "TV Series". But other than that one shortcoming, Cliffhanger is my Go-to TV show manager app.

FolderSync

This is one of the "Must MUST have" app on all my devices. Dropbox, Drive, Copy - all these cloud storage apps have one major and shocking shortcoming. None of them sync with your mobile devices' sdcard content; other than syncing photos maybe. I use FolderSync to keep certain content synced across all my devices. On my computer, I have folders for "Mobile Downloads", "Pictures", "Music", "Video", "Ebooks". All of these are synced to "Copy" cloud storage. Now, on my android devices, I have those cloud folders mapped to sync with respective folders on my sdcard; via the FolderSync app. So, whenever I have a new content on any of device (Computer, Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 5), those instantly become available on all other devices. Those who are thinking "Upload it to dropbox and be done with it".... remember that you will need internet connection every time you want to access those content; while Foldersync will download those content to your device so that you have offline access. That's what I want.

Greenify

One of the most common gripes of any mobile device users is battery drainage. When you exit out of any app, it might still be running in the background and sipping battery juice. Even if you "Force close" them, rogue apps might start up again without your notice. Greenify helps in that department. It puts apps running in the background into hibernation mode if you ask it to do so; so that they don't startup on their own in the background. It saves me some battery daily.

Moola

I want to keep track of where my money is going. But I don't want to give some app access to my checkin/credit accounts. I use Moola instead. Yes, I have to manually enter a transaction detail into it every time. But I'll choose that over having to handover my bank account passwords. It has a slightly dated UI, but I'm still using it because I haven't found any other app which supports multiple accounts without requiring passwords. One shortcoming - it doesn't support multiple currency type. Wish they will add that feature and update their UI.

Pocket

If I come across a short article while browsing through my feedreader on my computer, I save it in Pocket; to read it later on my mobile device. Similarly, if I come across a long article or article with heavy images/video while browsing through my Flipboard/Feedly/reddit etc on my Nexus, I save it in Pocket; to read it later on my computer. Quite handy and indispensable. A lot of people swear by Instapaer. But that is a paid app and Pocket is totally free.

PushBullet

If you need to send something like a url, files or note from your computer to your mobile device or vice versa, the easiest way to do that is PushBullet. It even works for Mobile to mobile transfer. It doesn't get any easier than this. And with recent versions, it also mirrors my phone notifications on my computer; so I instantly know whether I need to unlock the phone and tend to it or it can wait. If only the developer makes an iOS version, using my iPad won't be such a PitA.

Quickpic

The stock gallery app is garbage. It scans your entire phone and displays every single image file it comes across. Even different png/gif images it finds in different app folders. There's no way to hide any folder/album (.nomedia doesn't always work) and shown albums aren't sorted alphabetically. I just hate it. The best alternative I've found is Quickpick. It allows you to pick which are the folders it should show pictures from. It allows you to pin protect + hide certain albums. And it remembers the last folder you were in or last photo you were viewing.

Solid Explorer

I have no idea why the stock android doesn't come with a file browser app; which is quite essential. So, 2nd thing I do after installing Nova launcher is install Solid Explorer. This file browser has the best UI imo. It has a 2 pane layout, which is quite handy. I keep required sdcard folder open on left pane and my cloud storage folder open in the right pane. It supports Dropbox, Box, Drive, Copy and other cloud storage systems. Hence, I don't need to install any of those apps; solid explorer is enough to upload stuff to them. I've tries ES Explorer quite a few times. But I always come back to Solid.

Titanium Backup
If you are a rooted user, I don't even need to write anything about this. Still, if you want me to - it backs up all the apps and their data and you can either restore them after a system wipe or you can restore them on a totally new / different android device too. i.e. you can transfer saved games from one device to another too. You can uninstall system bloatwares that OEMs force install on your device. You can freeze any app temporarily. You can move apps from internal storage to sdcard. It's got other great features too. Just read them on the app's play store page and download it already.

UCCW

It is primarily a clock widget app with massive amount of support from theme developers. Basically, you install this app and other uccw skin apps that you like. Then you place a uccw widget on your screen and apply any of those skins to this widget. Essentially, you can have a different clock on your screen everyday. Most of these skins are editable too; so that you can change their color to coordinate better with your wallpaper. Apart from clocks, you get date, weather, battery, missed calls & texts etc related info too. And it does much more than that. UCCW widgets have something called hotspots, which act as buttons to launch apps of your choice. You can assign the apps you want to these hotspots. This feature is known to have launched many a theme packs. There are uccw theme packs which can totally change the look of your Android device. You can make your device look like iOS, Windows, Ubuntu or like your favorite apps like Flipboard etc. You can create your own widget skins and themes too. UCCW essentially is the most used app on my phone.

Wally

An essential part of theming is using the right wallpaper. Even if you are not changing your homescreen layout every few days, you can just change the wallpaper and make your screen look a little different than yesterday. Wally comes handy there. It has the best wallpapers imo. There are other alternatives like Zedge, 500 Firepaper etc. But I like this one. And the beautiful material animation used in this app are added bonus.

15th App?
If I count correctly, that's 14 apps so far. Where's the 15th Must-Have app??
I'm leaving that up to you. According to you, which is that one more app which should be in this "Must-Have" list? Let me know in the comments. Also, if you have any alternative app which are better than the ones I mentioned above, let me know that too. Happy Holidays from iWizard, friends. :-)

Giveaway - AndiOS7 - THE iOS7 theme for Android

2013-06-26T09:11:00.002+05:30

Hi Guys. Whole of this past week, I've been busy making this new iOS7 theme for the Android devices. Named it AndiOS7. (Android + iOS7. You get it. :) ). It came out pretty cool and I can proudly say that this is the best iOS7 theme for Android. Compare screenshots of my theme with the actual iOS7 screenshots on apple's website and tell me if they are not the most accurate representation. (well, not 100%. But best in the market). And yeah, I'm not just bragging. Android users are voting with their devices. The theme is currently at #23 on the "Top new paid apps" list and at #42 on the "Personalization" category, in Android play store.

Download

To celebrate this ranking, I'm rolling out this giveaway. I'm giving out 10 free copies of AndiOS7 - THE iOS7 theme for Android. This is what you gotta do. (Read carefully. Not meeting the criteria will disqualify your entry.)

Go the app's play store page. You'll see a Google+ +1 button on the right side. Click that. In the pop-up box, add some comment. Make sure to include #iOS7 #theme and #Android hashtags in it. Make sure it is shared to "public". And click the "Share" button. Now go to your Google+ profile. This post should be topmost there. Right click the timestamp there and click "Copy link address". Click the Google+ entry in the widget below, paste the link in box and click "Enter".
Go the app's play store page. You'll see a Tweet button on the right side. Click that. In the pop-up window, add some comment. Make sure to include #iOS7 and #AndiOS7 hashtags in it. Post it. Now go to your Twitter profile. This post should be topmost there. Right click the timestamp there and click "Copy link address". Click the 2nd entry in the widget below, paste the link in box and click "Enter".
Tweet about the giveaway. Click this option the rafflecopter widget below and then click the tweet button. Paste the tweet link in box and click "Enter".
Become a fan of iwizard on facebook.

You must complete the first task to unlock the other three tasks. First task completion earns you two entries. Next three tasks earn you one entry each. You can do the first task, plus any or all or none of the other tasks. You can come back tomorrow (and everyday till giveaway ends) and enter once more for tweet, everyday.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is open from now till 6th July, 12:00 AM. After that, I'll select 10 lucky winners. They'll each get a free copy of the AndiOS7 theme pack. Get clicking. :)

Winner PickedThe contest is now over and winners are picked. If you had participated and if you won, you'll see a mail from me in your inbox. Instructions on how to claim your freebie is mentioned there. If you didn't win, there's always a next time. All the best. :)

Note for almost everyone who participated - Almost none of you had all required hashtags in your tweets. So, those have been disqualified. Similarly, some Google+ posts are disqualified. Among all who clicked on "Facebook like" entry, I found only one person had actually clicked like on the facebook page. So, all other facebook like entries are also disqualified. I hope for a better participation next time. Cheers. :)

AndiOS7 - Complete iOS7 theme for Android

2013-06-22T10:22:00.002+05:30

Android+iOS = AndiOS; pronounced like Adios, but with a ‘n’ in it.

So, apple finally made the iOS look like Android. It might look as cool as Android, but it still doesn’t have the power Android wields. How? iOS users will get this new look AFTER Apple releases the iOS7 to public later this year. But Android users can get the same look RIGHT NOW. The irony is killing me… :D

Use this theme pack to make your Android device look like iOS7; BEFORE actual iPhone / iPad users can..!! Show it off (or rub it in their faces if you want :P) and enjoy the bragging rights, all thanks to Android’s customization prowess. Change the look of your entire device. Both lockscreen and homescreen. It’s not only icons & wallpapers, like other iOS7 themes floating around.

More screen showcases below

FEATURES

Get the iOS7 Notification center look on one of your screens.
Get the iOS7 Control center look on another one of your screens; including widget for power control.
You can change icons too, to look like those of iOS7.
Yes, you get custom made HD wallpapers too for all screens.
iOS7 lockscreen clock and unlock slider.
A full page weather skin, like the iOS weather app. i.e. an entire homescreen will show weather.

Compare screenshots below with actual iOS7 screenshots shown in Apple website and then tell me if this is not the best reproduction of that.

Read Before Buying
This is NOT a ROM theme. And not a stand-alone app. Downloading it won't automatically make your android look like iOS7 and it's not a one tap apply. This pack contains widget skins, wallpapers, icons and other stuff. You have to follow instructions mentioned below to setup the theme. Everything that this theme pack does - is shown in the screenshots.

What this theme doesn't do -

Change the look of your apps. i.e. when you launch any of your installed apps, they won't look like iOS. This theme ONLY changes the look of your homescreen and lockscreen.
It won't change the look of your notification tray. And you can't '"swipe up from bottom" to get the control center. Both of these are part of your homescreens in this theme. One screen will look like notification center and another screen will look like control center.
In the statusbar shown in the screenshots - the signal strength, wifi and bluetooth are static images. They are not actual indicators of their status. Only Time and Battery are realtime there.
The power 'toggle' icons in the control center page are shortcuts and not actual toggles. Tapping on them will take you to their settings page directly and you can turn them on or off from there. Also, these icons' colors don't change depending on your status.
Lockscreen's "slide to unlock" currently doesn't have a camera shortcut. I might add that in future, if I figure out how.

Attention Nexus users (or if your device has on-screen navigation bar) - you must be on a custom ROM like AOKP, Paranoid etc. Or must be rooted to use apps like Hide Softkeys, FullScreen. You'll need to hide the onscreen navigation bar.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Leave a comment below or click the "Contact me" button at the top of this post.

Now that these are clear, let's get to theming.

Read Before Buying.
Entire instruction in Video.
Apps you'll need.
Launcher & ROM settings.
Set wallpapers.
Install the uccw theme.
Setup Screen 1.
Setup Screen 2.
Setup Screen 3.
Setup Screen 4.
Setup LockScreen.
Editing and Fine tuning.
Troubleshooting / Tips.
Screenshots.
My other themes.

Video of setup instructions

Easier on Buzz Launcher

Setup Instructions
Apps / Stuff you'll need -

AndiOS7 Theme Pack
Custom launcher - Nova or Apex launcher.
Ultimate Custom Widgets (UCCW)
Transparent Calendar Widget
PowerAMP for the transparent music widget. Or any other music app that provides transparent widget.
MultiPicture LWP.
WidgetLocker lockscreen - if you want to have the lockscreen look. Jelly bean 4.2.2 users can use the lockscreen clock, but not the slider, without WL.
iOs/iPhone 7 theme OR ios7 HD theme iconpack.
Nexus users - must be on a custom ROM like AOKP, Paranoid etc. Or must be rooted to use apps like Hide Softkeys, FullScreen. You'll need to hide that navigation bar.

If you bought the app from Amazon App Store; please forward me the purchase receipt that Amazon must have mailed you. I'll mail you other required wallpapers, icons, Widget Locker sliders etc.

Launcher settings -
Giving directions for Nova launcher. The launcher you use must also have similar options, even if in different path.

Go to Nova Settings > Desktop. Set these values - Desktop Grid = 6x4. Width margin = None. Height Margin = None. Home Screens = 4.
Go to Nova Settings > Dock. Set these values - Enable Dock, Dock Pages = 4, Dock Icons = 4, Width Margin = None, Dock Height = Large, Uncheck/disable these - Small Icons, Show scroll indicator, Show divider, Dock as overlay.
Go to Nova Settings > Look and feel. Uncheck/disable "Show notification bar".

If you want the dock pages to be tied to homescreen pages, so that when you swipe homescreen page, their respective dock page stick to them, there's a little different launcher setting. Watch the instruction video, starting from time mark 35:32.

ROM settings -
If you are not using a Google Nexus device (Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4 etc) and you don't have onscreen navigation keys (Home, back, recents etc.), you can skip this step.

Giving directions for AOKP ROM. The ROM you use must also have similar options, even if in different path.
Go to android settings > ROM Control > Navigation Bar and set these values -> "Hidden NavBar Enable" - check, Drag handle Opacity - 0%, Drag Handle width - 80% (or whatever you are comfortable with).

If you are not running a custom ROM or if your ROM doesn't have option to hide NavBar, please use apps mentioned before.

Get your screens ready -

Take a backup of current homescreens if you want and then remove everything (icons, widgets) from your homescreens and docks.
Long press on your homescreen > tap "Wallpapers" > tap "Live Wallpapers" > tap "MultiPicture Live Wallpaper" > tap Settings...
Tap the plus button next to "Add individual settings". You'll get to select screen number here. Select 1 and tap ok.
Tap "Screen 1 settings" > Picture source > Single Picture. Browse to the location where you had saved the wallpapers and select "AndiOS7-Wall-1.jpg".
Similarly add "Screen 2 settings" and apply AndiOS7-Wall-2 to it, add "Screen 3 settings" and apply AndiOS7-Wall-3 to it, add "Screen 4 settings" and apply AndiOS7-Wall-4 to it.
When all 4 are set like this, tap back to reach the screen where you had tapped "Settings...". Tap "Set Wallpaper". All 4 screens will now have required wallpapers.

Install the AndiOS7 UCCW theme pack -

Download and install the theme pack.
Installing this won't create an icon in your app drawer. This simply adds a bunch of uccw skins, which will be accessible to you as mentioned below.

Setup Screen 1 -

Place a UCCW widget of 4x1 size at the top of the first screen. You can do so by dragging the uccw widget from app drawer or by long pressing homescreen to pull up widget menu and tapping UCCW.
This will open the skins list. Skins downloaded from play store will show up ONLY HERE.
Tap on "AndiOS7-Header-1" skin and it'll be applied to the widget.
Place a UCCW widget of 4x3 size below that and apply "AndiOS7-DateWeather" skin to it.
Place a UCCW widget of 4x1 size below that and apply "AndiOS7-Calendar" skin to it.
Place a "Transparent calendar widget" widget below that. It's 3x1 size by default. Long press and drag it to the right side of the screen.
Screen 1 should use Dock page 1. Since all your dock pages are currently empty, you don't have to do anything to your dock here.
Screen 1 is now done.

Setup Screen 2 -

Place a UCCW widget of 4x1 size at the top of this screen too and apply "AndiOS7-Header-2" skin to it.
Apply the "iOs/iPhone 7 theme" OR "ios7 HD theme" iconpack through your launcher's theme manager ONLY. DON'T OPEN THE THEME APP ITSELF.
- Go launcher -> Go to home screen > tap menu > themes > Installed > iOs 7 > Apply. (If this changes the wallpapers, re-apply them as before)
- Nova launcher -> Nova settings > "look and feel" > "Icon theme" > "iOs 7
- Apex launcher -> Apex settings > "theme settings" > "iOs 7". Make sure only "icon pack" is checked. Tap apply.
Drag icons from your app drawer to this screen.
Swipe to dock page 2. Place 4 app icons here. You can use the same apps as shown in the screenshot above
All icons on homescreen and dock might not change to this iOS look. Watch the video starting from 10:53 to see how to handle that.
Screen 2 is now done.

Setup Screen 3 -

Place a UCCW widget of 4x1 size at the top of this screen too and apply "AndiOS7-Header-3" skin to it.
Place a UCCW widget of 4x2 size below that and apply "AndiOS7-Shortcuts" skin to it.
Place a PowerAmp widget of 4x2 size below that. From the dropdown list at the top, select "Minimalistic 1". Then at the bottom half, swipe from right to left to reach "OTHER" tab, tap "Icons" button to select color and pick a dark blue color. (If you are not sure how to pick color, I will make a video soon).
Drag the Opacity slider to the right end (i.e. 100%), Tap OK > Done.
Place a UCCW widget of 4x1 size below the PowerAmp widget and apply "AndiOS7-Bar" skin to it.
Swipe to dock page 3. Place 4 app icons here. The zip I'll mail you has these 4 icons - Torch, Browser, Calculator, Camera. So, you can place corresponding apps here. If you want some other app, mention that in your mail and I'll see if I can make icons for those.
You'll need to replace default icons of these 4 apps with the blue icons in the zip. Here's how to do it -
- Long-press the icon and tap 'Edit'.
- On the 'Edit Shortcut' pop-up, tap the icon.
- Nova 2.1 & higher users - swipe to the leftmost page (Tab name - Gallery). Apex launcher users - tap 'Select picture'.
- Tap on your file browser here and browse to the location where you had saved the icons from the zip. Tap on the relevant icon.
- Nova 2.1 & higher users - On "Crop image" window, crop the image appropriately. Default should be fine in most cases. Apex users won't need / get this step.
- You'll be back on the 'Edit Shortcut' pop-up. Apex users tap OK here. Nova users tap the checkmark at the top left corner.
  Screen 3 is now done.

Setup Screen 4 -

Place a UCCW widget of 4x3 size at the top of this screen and apply "AndiOS7-Weather-Top" skin to it.
Place another UCCW widget of 4x3 size below that and apply "AndiOS7-Weather-Bottom" skin to it.
Screen 4 should use Dock page 4. Swipe to dock page 4. It should be left empty.
Screen 4 is now done.

Setup Lockscreen -

Launch WidgetLocker Lockscreen from your app drawer. Remove existing widgets and unlock sliders from the WL screen.
Tap the settings icon at the top right and then make following settings -
WidgetLocker Enabled - Checked.
Go to "Buttons & Inputs" and enable "Allow Interactions".
Go to "Look & Feel" and enable "Alternative Wallpaper". Tap "Select wallpaper", tap your file browser and browse to the location where you had saved the wallpapers and select "AndiOS7-Wall-Lock.jpg". Select the entire image while cropping.
Set Background tint to 0. Tap layout and set it to 6x4. Drag the anchor here to the bottom of the example screen shown. Save.
Hide Notification bar - enabled.

Now go back to WidgetLocker main window. Long press, tap widgets, tap uccw and place a UCCW widget of 4x3 size at the top of this screen and apply "AndiOS7-Clock" skin to it.
Long press, tap "Custom Slider", tap the "Theme" dropdown and select AndiOS7 from there. Tap "Done" at the top left corner.
Lockscreen is now done.

If you are not using WidgetLocker but you are on a Jelly Bean 4.2.2 device, you can still place the clock widget on your lockscreen. This is not ideal, but here it is -

Lock your phone and then press the power button to reach the lockscreen.
Without unlocking it, swipe from the left edge of the phone to right. Keep doing this till you see a big + button. Tap it.
Tap UCCW 4x3. Tap on "AndiOS7-Clock". The clock will be placed at the center of the page. You can leave this page here. Next time you reach lockscreen, you can swipe to this page to see this clock. OR..
Long press this page and drag it to the extreme right side. The clock will be place towards the top half but will be shrunk. And stock android notification bar will still be visible.

Editing / fine tuning
At this point, all screen look like iOS7 screens. But to make them work fully, you might need to edit apps assigned to uccw widgets' hotspots.

How to edit hotspots in uccw-

After applying the skin as mentioned above, launch UCCW app from app drawer. Tap Menu, tap "hotspot mode" and tap 'OFF'. UCCW will exit.
Now tap anywhere on the uccw widget. It'll open in uccw edit window.
Scroll through the components in the bottom half of the screen. You should see "Hotspot 1", "Hotspot 2" etc. depending on how many hotspots that particular skin has.
Tap on them, tap the relevant hotspot type and then tap whatever you want to assign to that hotspot.
You can change color, format etc too (optional) in this window.
When done, simply tap back to exit uccw and your changes will be applied to the skin.
Tap next skin to open it in uccw window and make similar changes there.
When all done, tap Menu, tap "hotspot mode" and tap 'ON'. UCCW will exit. And now when you tap on widgets, they'll do the task assigned to them.

Hotspot types and actions/apps for them -

Troubleshooting / Tips

If the "Install" step fails; go to Android settings > Security and make sure "Unknown sources" is enabled. This is required because Jelly bean encryption had broken theme apps download from play store. This is the workaround fix for that. Google "Jellybean encryption issue" to find out more.
To change temperature unit between Celsius and Fahrenheit -> Launch UCCW app itself. Tap Menu, tap settings. Here, if "Celsius" is marked, temperature will display in Celsius. If unmarked, Fahrenheit.
If weather info is not displayed/updated, Launch UCCW app itself. Tap Menu, tap settings. Tap "Weather provider" and make sure OpenWeatherMap is selected. Tap Location and make sure "Auto location" is selected.
If you are loosing too much battery, launch uccw, tap menu > settings > Update interval. Set it to some higher value (2 hour / 3 hour etc instead of 30 minutes). And make sure "Force widget update" is unchecked.

Mail me if you have ANY issues.

Some of my other works

Three mistakes of Google and now Wallet

2013-05-15T10:11:00.003+05:30

Google is slowly going bonkers. I used to think that it listens to users feedback and complain. That it is a "people's company". They were the nice guys. "Do no evil". But in past few months, Google's been doing crazy stuff that is changing that perception. It is slowly adopting Apple's policies, I guess. My way or highway. Examples? Here -

1. Google Reader killed. They are planning to shut it down. Even after petition against it crossed 100,000 mark. (yes, yes; they are not obliged to honor that. But look at that number). People are not using it? Google is not able to make profit from it?? What-a-Joke. So many people are against it, but Google doesn't care. Reader's going down.

2. New compose window in GMail.

Instead of the full page compose window that we have now, GMail will have a mini chat-like mail compose window, as shown above, going forward. Formattings and other actions that you can do with one click right now, will need multiple clicks in the new window. And we are composing mails, not chatting for god's sake. Endless number of people opposed this. But Google is still going ahead with this.

As if not listening to user feedback wasn't enough, Google is now shoving its unpopular services down users' throats. Google has 2 services which not many people are eager to use. Google Wallet and Google+. Google being Google, is making those mandatory in couple of places; knowing that people can't up n leave Google.

3. Play store app review only if you have Google+. If you buy an app from play store and you want to leave a review/rating, you now gotta have a Google+ profile. No other login options. Create Google+ profile or diddly squat. Now, I am fine by this. This eliminates anonymous troll comments. But of course, if you force people for something, they are not gonna like it. Most people are seeing it as Google forcing them to inhabit the barren land, that is Google+. Many swore that they will never leave a review on play store. Meanwhile, Google is going "I don't care. ILuvIt".

And now Google ~~Checkout~~ Wallet. Few weeks back, there was an uproar in cyberspace - "Google sends buyer's mail id to developers". "Ooooohhh... it's privacy violation. Developers will spam you" and what not. Microsoft even ran a version of this in their Scroogled campaign.

And it gave Google the perfect opportunity to push Google Wallet. Previously, all android developers had a Google checkout account. When users buy their app, that order detail comes to Google checkout. It used to look like this -

I could see the order number, buyer's name, what they bought, the time of transaction. If someone cancels an order, the 'charge' button changes to "Archive" and I can archive that transaction. That's how I can keep track of processed vs cancelled transactions. Click on any transaction and inside I could see the buyer's email id. This helps in providing support to the buyers. If a buyer sends an email to me, reporting an issue with the app and/or asks for support, I could simply search his/her email id in Google checkout. If he/she is a genuine buyer, his/her transaction will show up. Otherwise I'd know he/she hasn't bought the app and most probably is using a pirated version.

All that changed today. Google threw my Checkout account to Google Wallet. This is how this looks -
Here's why this new layout for Merchant account is totally useless and confusing.

Time stamp is removed from the main window. No easy way to know when was the last order processed. Every order shows date only. If you want to know the time, go inside each transaction.
Total number of orders is no longer displayed.
No longer have option to Archive cancelled orders. All orders ever processes/cancelled are in this never ending table, page after page. So, I can't quickly see a count of processed vs cancelled orders either.
The "Start-Previous-Next-End" navigation at the top right is replace by "Previous-Next" navigation.. It's "move one page at a time" navigation now.
Buyer name and email id is removed from order detail. When any user sends me a mail for support, I can't quickly verify whether he/she has actually bought it or not. I'll have to reply with a mail, asking them to send me the order number. Adds unnecessary extra step to the process. Buyers and developers, both are gonna get frustrated.

The "Payouts" page is another head-spin altogether. It is totally overwhelming and bewildering. I'm not understanding a single thing in that pge. In earlier UI, each day's total transactions used to appear in a single row. Date - Total amount of transaction - Refunds - Balance. Now, every day has 3 rows...!!?? And those are not clear what's what. Have a look -
What the hell is going on here? Anyone understood what's happening here? Enlighten me, please.

Google's Android developer support is crappy to the point of being non-existent. I had couple of worst experiences. In one case, someone stole my app's design, made a theme with it and uploaded this app on play store; then filed DMCA takedown notice against my app. Google suspended my app. Filing counter-claim, submitting proof of my app's originality and his thievery didn't do anything. Not even a reply from Google. In another case, me and few other developers had a theme app, which had icons inspired by MIUI x4 theme. One of the developer thought "Jeez, I'll claim copyright on it" even though he doesn't have copyright on it. He filed DMCA and Google suspended other two developers' apps, including mine. Same story.

So, I'm frustrated with Google as it is. This new checkout change on top of it..!! Sometimes I seriously contemplate closing my developer account. Android is what it is today because of developers. If we don't build awesome apps, no one will flock to Android. You'd think Google will treat us nicely. Instead, developers are treated like junk.

How has been your experience with Google?

Pages theme for Android

2013-02-13T11:04:00.003+05:30

Created a theme based on yihaomizhijia’s screen setup named “Rainbow”.
Default android screen full of app icons is too much to handle sometimes. Even if you place apps in categorized folders, you spend 3-4 (or more) seconds in locating that folder on screen when you need it. For a better screen management, check this out.

5 screens. Each screen dedicated to one category of apps. Favorites, Communication, Social, Media, Tools.
Each screen holds 4 app cards. 20 cards to choose from. Browser, Camera, Chat, Facebook, Files, Gallery, Instagram, Mails, Maps, Music, News, Phone, Settings, Store, Tasks, Text, Twitter, Voice, Weather, Youtube.
1 special screen to hold your other widgets.
Jump from any screen to any other screen easily by tapping the category buttons at the left of each screen.
No special wallpapers needed. Any white wallpaper will do.

Sounds good? Super good you say? Let's get to it then.

== INSTRUCTIONS ==
To use this skin, you have to install, apply and edit/assign hotspots to the skin.

INSTALL

You must have the latest version of Ultimate custom widget (UCCW) installed.
Download the Pages UCCW Theme app from Google Play Store or Amazon App Store.
If you downloaded the skin app from Amazon app Store and followed on-screen install instructions, you can jump to apply section below.
If you downloaded the skin app from play store, launch it from app drawer and tap "Install Skin" button in the app.
If your device is running anything below KitKat, it will ask you whether you want to replace the app. This step is replacing the skin installer with the actual skin. Tap "Ok" here. OR
If you are using a KitKat device, it will ask whether you want to update the existing app.
Tap "Install". When that finishes, tap "Done". Skin pack is now installed.

APPLY
Recommendation -

Use Nova/Apex launcher. Six screens. Grid size 8x5. Vertical (height) and horizontal (Width) margin = None. Dock as overlay and hidden. Top and bottom shadow - disabled. Widget overlap enabled. Solid white wallpaper.
On Galaxy S3, Nexus 4 etc high resolution devices - don't overlay/hide the dock. Instead, add a blank page to the dock and switch to that.
If the bars and cards are still not lining up properly, use different combinations of Vertical (height) and horizontal (Width) margin values.

Place Drawer and page jump shortcutsFirst thing you wanna do is place the "app drawer" and "Jump to page" shortcuts on all pages.

Long press on the homescreen > tap 'Apex/Nova Actions' > tap 'App Drawer'. Place the created icon at 2nd row, 1st column.
Long press on the homescreen > tap 'Apex/Nova Actions' > tap 'Jump to page' (only in Nova) > tap 'Screen/Page 1'. This will create a shortcut icon for jumping to screen/page 1.
Similarly create shortcut icons for screen 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Here's where on the screen to put these icons -
Screen 1 shortcut - 3rd row, 1st column
Screen 2 shortcut - 4th row, 1st column
Screen 3 shortcut - 5th row, 1st column
Screen 4 shortcut - 6th row, 1st column
Screen 5 shortcut - 7th row, 1st column
Screen 6 shortcut - 8th row, 1st column
Do all the above steps on all 6 screens.

Place side navigation bars Now you want to give all the icons the colorful background as see in the screenshots. The colored nav bar is made up of 2 Pages-bar skins.

Long press homescreen > tap 'widgets' > tap UCCW at the end > tap UCCW 1x4.
This will open the skins list. Skins downloaded from play store will show up ONLY HERE. Tap on any skin and it'll be applied to the widget.
List of which skin to select -
Screen 1 - Pages-Bar1a
Screen 2 - Pages-Bar1b
Screen 3, 4, 5, 6 - Pages-Bar1

We'll call this the top nav bar.
Then long press the widget > tap 'Resize' and resize them in a way so that the last 3 blocks of the "top nav bar" overlap the first three shortcut icons you placed previously. (i.e. app drawer, screen 1, screen 2). Watch the video starting from 14:08 to see what I mean.
If you can't see the white circular shortcut icons, long press the widget and tap 'Send to back'.
Place another 1x4 size uccw widget on the screen in similar fashion.
List of which skin to select -
Screen 1, 2 - Pages-Bar2
Screen 3 - Pages-Bar2a
Screen 4 - Pages-Bar2b
Screen 5 - Pages-Bar2c
Screen 6 - Pages-Bar2d
We'll call this the bottom nav bar.
Then long press the widget > tap 'Resize' and resize them in a way so that the entire "bottom nav bar" overlaps the last four screen jump shortcut icons you placed previously.
If you can't see the white circular shortcut icons, long press the widget and tap 'Send to back'.

If there's gap between the two nav bars, do this -
Go to Nova Settings > Dock. Make sure "Enable Dock" is checked and "Dock as overlay" is unchecked under Advanced. Make sure "Dock Pages" has value 3 or more. Also note the "Dock height" value from here. (Apex should also have similar settings.)

Now, go back to the homescreen. You'll now have a dock. (i.e. the bar at the bottom which contains phone, msg, app drawer etc icons generally). Swipe the dock left or right. You'll get to an empty dock page. This being transparent, you won't see the dock now.

Having this dock enabled should close the gap between the nav bars. IF there are still gaps, change the value of the Dock height.
You can also change Nova settings > Desktop > Height Margin at this point to see which one fits best.

Make shortcut icons transparent At this stage, all the shortcut icons you had placed are visible on top of the nav bars. Icon of each of these shortcuts need to be replaced with a transparent icon. Save this transparent png (mirror) on your sdcard.

Long-press the shortcut icon and tap 'Edit'
On the 'Edit Shortcut' pop-up, tap the icon
Nova 2.1 & higher - swipe to the leftmost page (Tab name - Gallery).
Apex launcher - tap 'Select picture'.
Tap on your file browser here and browse to the location of the transparent png. Tap on the transparent png.
Nova 2.1 & higher - On "Crop image" window, simply tap the OK button. Apex users won't need / get this step.
You'll be back on the 'Edit Shortcut' pop-up with the icon gone transparent. Apex users tap OK here. Nova users tap the checkmark at the top left corner.
Do this for all 6 shortcuts on all 6 screens.

Place app cards and widgetsFirst five of the six screens will have 4 app cards each. Each of these app cards will launch the assigned app. Sixth screen is for other widgets.

Place a UCCW widget of 4x2 size on the screen. Select any of the "Pages-*" skins. (other than Pages-Bar* )
This creates what I'm calling an app card. Place other app cards on all screens in similar way.
Place any other widgets like Gallery, YouTube, Play Music etc on the sixth screen.

HOTSPOTS
Assign apps to App cards

Launch UCCW app itself. Tap Menu, tap "hotspot mode" and tap 'OFF'. UCCW will exit.
Now tap anywhere on the app card. It'll open in uccw edit window.
Scroll through the components in the bottom half of the screen. There's only one hotspot in each of the app cards.
Tap 'hotspot 1' > tap 'Apps' > tap on the app you want to assign.
You can change shape colors and text colors from this window as well. This applies to nav bar skins too.
When done, tap Menu > "hotspot mode" and tap 'ON'. UCCW will exit.
Your changes will now be applied to the widget.

This completes the "Pages theme" setup. Here's the video showing all the instruction -

Here are some generic tips, troubleshooting steps and faqs.

Other awesome themes you might like -

Flipboard Theme for Android homescreens

2013-02-02T15:56:00.002+05:30

Do you like the social news reader Flipboard? It is one of the best looking app there is. The page flipping effect is what rally sets this app apart from all other similar apps in the market. I love it so much that I made a theme based on the looks of the Flipboard app. Here I'll show you how to set it up on your android device.

== INSTRUCTIONS ==
To use this skin, you have to install, apply and edit/assign hotspots to the skin.

Install

You must have the latest version of Ultimate custom widget (UCCW) installed.
Download the Flips UCCW Theme app from Google Play Store or Amazon App Store.
If you downloaded the skin app from Amazon app Store and followed on-screen install instructions, you can jump to apply section below.
If you downloaded the skin app from play store, launch it from app drawer and tap "Install Skin" button in the app.
If your device is running anything below KitKat, it will ask you whether you want to replace the app. This step is replacing the skin installer with the actual skin. Tap "Ok" here. OR
If you are using a KitKat device, it will ask whether you want to update the existing app.
Tap "Install". When that finishes, tap "Done". Skin pack is now installed.

Apply
Recommendation - Use Nova launcher. Grid size 11x6. Width and height margin = None. Dock as overlay and hidden. Top and bottom shadow - disabled.
If you use only Apex launcher, please check if it allows 11x6 grid.

Screen type 1

Place a UCCW widget of 3x3 size at the bottom left of the first screen. You can do so by dragging the widget from app drawer or by long pressing homescreen to pull up widget menu.
This will open the skins list. Skins to be applied will show up ONLY HERE. Tap on any skin and it'll be applied to the widget.
For now, tap on any "Flips-*" skin you want (other than Flips-Main-* and Flips-Tail-* )
Place another 3x3 Flips- widget at bottom right of the screen in similar fashion.
Next, place a 4x4 uccw widget on the screen and select any "Flips-Main-*" skin from the list.
Long press and resize this widget to 8x6, so that it fills rest of the screen.
Screen type 1 is now complete.

Screen type 2

Place a UCCW widget of 5x1 size at the top of the screen. Skin name is "Flips-Head". This skin is not included in the pack. Mail me to get the 100% editable uzip.
Place a UCCW widget of 5x1 size at the bottom of the screen and select any of the "Flips-Tail-*" skins.
Resize both these widgets to 6x1 to fill the width of the top and bottom row of the screen.
Place a 3x3 size uccw widget on the screen. Tap on any "Flips-*" skin you want (other than Flips-Main-* and Flips-Tail-* )
Place a total of 6 3x3 size widget in similar way.
Screen type 2 is now complete.

Screen type 3

Place a UCCW widget of 4x4 size at the top of the first screen. Tap on any of the "Flips-Main-*" skins.
Resize the widget to 9x6. Thus leaving 2 rows at the bottom of the screen.
Place a 5x1 size uccw widget at the bottom row now and select any of the "Flips-Tail-*" skins. Resize to 6x1.
Fill the remaining space with your app icons.
Screen type 3 is now complete.

Edit -

After applying the skins as mentioned above, launch UCCW app itself. Tap Menu, tap "hotspot mode" and tap 'OFF'. UCCW will exit.
Now tap anywhere on the uccw widget. It'll open in uccw edit window.
Scroll through the components in the bottom half of the screen. Assign apps to hotspots in this window. This IS a MUST.
You can change color of the text too (optional) in this window.
When done, tap Menu, tap "hotspot mode" and tap 'ON'. UCCW will exit.
Your changes will now be applied to the widget.

For Tips, troubleshooting steps and answer to frequently asked questions, visit this page.

Other apps I used in this theme -
UCCW, MIcons icons.

Other awesome themes you might like -

Ubuntu Theme for Android - Full Tutorial

2013-01-27T17:07:00.000+05:30

Are you a fan of Ubuntu OS? Then you must've heard that Ubuntu is coming to Android. But there's still a long time before you'll actually get your hands on it. And even then, it might be very complicated and difficult to setup. Want a quick fix? Here's Ubuntu theme for Android devices. Bring the looks of Ubuntu OS to your Android device using these stunning Ubuntu UCCW Skins.

== INSTRUCTIONS ==
To use this skin, you have to install, apply and edit/assign hotspots to the skin.

Install

You must have the latest version of Ultimate custom widget (UCCW) installed.
Download the Flips UCCW Theme app from Google Play Store or Amazon App Store.
If you downloaded the skin app from Amazon app Store and followed on-screen install instructions, you can jump to apply section below.
If you downloaded the skin app from play store, launch it from app drawer and tap "Install Skin" button in the app.
If your device is running anything below KitKat, it will ask you whether you want to replace the app. This step is replacing the skin installer with the actual skin. Tap "Ok" here. OR
If you are using a KitKat device, it will ask whether you want to update the existing app.
Tap "Install". When that finishes, tap "Done". Skin pack is now installed.

Apply
You must have the latest version of Ultimate custom widget (UCCW) app installed.
Recommendation - Use Apex or Nova launcher. Grid size 8x5. Five screens. Horizontal (width) and Vertical (height) margin = None. Disable icon labeling. Dock as overlay and hidden. Notification bar hidden.

Enable widget overlap. Go to Nova settings > Desktop > Advanced and make sure "Widget overlap" is enabled. On Apex launcher, go to Apex settings > Advanced settings > Widget settings and make sure "Overlapping widgets" is enabled. If you want the same wallpaper, mail me.

On Galaxy S3, Nexus 4 etc high resolution devices - try different combinations of Horizontal (width) and Vertical (height) margins. (i.e. none+small, small+small etc.) and enable the dock.

Screen 1

Place a UCCW widget of 5x2 size at the top of the first screen. You can do so by dragging the widget from app drawer or by long pressing homescreen to pull up widget menu.
This will open the skins list. Skins will show up ONLY HERE.
Tap on "Ubuntu2-Home" skin and it'll be applied to the widget.
Place 10 frequently used app icons below this.
Place two more 5x2 size uccw skins on the first screen. Skins are Ubuntu2-Calendar, Ubuntu2-Notification.
Screen 1 is now complete.

Screen 2

Place a UCCW widget of 5x2 size at the top of the first screen. Skin name is "Ubuntu2-Social".
Place 10 social app icons below this.
Place a 5x1 size uccw skin here now. Skin name "Ubuntu2-Contacts".
Long press > Widgets > Contacts > Select the contact. Resize the widget to 1x1 size. Place 10 contacts in this way.
Screen 2 is now complete.

Screen 3

Place a UCCW widget of 5x2 size at the top of the first screen. Skin name is "Ubuntu2-Entertain".
Place 10 game icons below this.
Place a 5x1 size uccw skin here now. Skin name "Ubuntu2-Video".
Long press > Widgets > YouTube. Resize the widget to fill remaining part of screen.
Screen 3 is now complete.

Screen 4 (left below)

Place a UCCW widget of 5x2 size at the top of the first screen. Skin name is "Ubuntu2-Media".
Long press > Widgets > Photo Gallery > Choose an Album. Resize the widget to 5x1.
Place a 5x1 size uccw skin here now. Skin name "Ubuntu2-Music".
Long press > Widgets > PowerAmp > PowerAmp 4x2. Set opacity to 0 and tap done. Resize the widget to fill remaining part of screen.
Screen 4 is now complete.

Screen 5 (Right above)

Place 8 app icons at the left most column of screen 5.
Place two 1x4 size skins there. Skin is Ubuntu2-Sidebar.
Make sure "widget overlap" is enabled in the Launcher settings > Advanced settings.
Resize both widgets in such a way that they are overlapping with 4 icons each.
Long press the widgets and tap "Send to back".
Place a "Minimal reader" widget in the remaining space on the screen. Long press > Widgets > Minimal Reader > MRP Scroll. Tap menu in the widget. Select your reading list; go to options; set widget background and header to transparent. Tap "Update widget"
Screen 5 is now complete.

If there's gap between the two sidebars, do this -
Go to Nova Settings > Dock. Make sure "Enable Dock" is checked and "Dock as overlay" is unchecked under Advanced. Make sure "Dock Pages" has value 3 or more. Also note the "Dock height" value from here. (Apex should also have similar settings.)

Now, go back to the homescreen. You'll now have a dock. (i.e. the bar at the bottom which contains phone, msg, app drawer etc icons generally). Swipe the dock left or right. You'll get to an empty dock page. This being transparent, you won't see the dock now. Having this dock enabled should close the gap between the nav bars. IF there are still gaps, change the value of the Dock height. You can also change Nova settings > Desktop > Height Margin at this point to see which one fits best.

Lockscreen

Open WidgetLocker Lockscreen app. Tap menu > Look & Feel > Layout. Set 8 rows, 5 colums.
Came pressing back till you come out of menus. Long press > Widgets > UCCW > 5x2 > Ubuntu2-Weather. Resize it appropriately.
Similarly place "Nexus 4 Digital 2" skin at the top of the lockscreen.
Lockscreen is now complete.

Here's a video of the entire theme setup process -

Edit -

After applying the skin as mentioned above, launch UCCW app itself. Tap Menu, tap "hotspot mode" and tap 'OFF'. UCCW will exit.
Now tap anywhere on the uccw widget. It'll open in uccw edit window.
Scroll through the components in the bottom half of the screen. Assign apps to hotspots in this window. This IS a MUST.
You can change color, format etc too (optional) in this window.
When done, tap Menu, tap "hotspot mode" and tap 'ON'. UCCW will exit.
Your changes will now be applied to the widget.

This is how it looks after the entire setup is done -

Other apps I used in this theme -
UCCW, MIcons icons, Minimal Reader, WidgetLocker.

Want some more of Ubuntu theme? Check this alternate Ubuntu theme out -

And this is how it looks when you put both these versions together -

Ultimate UCCW Skins for Android - Part 4

2012-12-09T04:55:00.002+05:30

Do you want awesome looking clock and weather widgets on your Android homescreen? Of course you do. Of all the apps that are available in Android play store, Ultimate Custom Clock Widget (UCCW) is one of the best. You can create any kind of clock you want. Apart from telling you the time, it also keeps track of weather, your missed calls, texts, mails, battery level etc. It completely changes the look of your smartphone. It can even make your device look like iPhone or Windows Phone, if you want. Such beautiful and sleek themes can be made out of this.

How to use these skins

Ultimate UCCW skins for Android - Part 1

Ultimate UCCW skins for Android - Part 2

Ultimate UCCW skins for Android - Part 3
AND

Gizmo

Cool looking Gizmo uccw widget skin for your android devices.

== FEATURES ==

App contains 3 versions of the skin. One with grey header bar, one with reddish orange and another with blue header bar.
All 3 skins show time in sleek and big fonts.
Header bar contains Current weather condition icon with current temperature and current date.
Bottom bar has 5 buttons. Home, Calls, Search, Text, Maps.
Missed calls and new text counts show up here. Your current location shows up above Maps button.
There are total of 9 hotspots in each skin. You can assign your favorite apps to these.
Tap the gear icon at the top right to edit the skin.

Ribbons

Minimal and yet stylish UCCW skins made out of Ribbons.

== FEATURES ==
Pack contains four uccw skins - Date, Time, Notification and Weather.
You can change the colors and formats of different elements of the skins; except for color of the ribbons.

Desk Clock 2

A simple and elegant desk clock widget for your android devices.

== FEATURES ==
Analog clock with sleek hour & minute hands. Along with current date.
2 Hotspot place holders. Assign your favorite apps to launch from them
You can change color and format of any part of the skin. (other than the color of the clock hands.)

Sense Analog Clocks

Love the beautiful HTC Sense ring, that they have on HTC devices' lockscreen? I do. So, I created Sense icon packs some time back using those rings.

But a theme is incomplete without a matching clock widget. Hence, presenting to you, Sense analog clock skins for UCCW.

This skin pack contains 5 different analog clock skins; one for each of the sense icon theme packs mentioned above. Each skin has a hotspot to launch the Android stock Clock app.

Banners UCCW Skins

Screen full of tiny button like icons is sooo passe. Jazz up your screen with wide app launcher banners.

This skin set contains 15 banner skins in total; every skin working like an icon to launch one app each. The skins are - Chrome, Clock, Contacts, Date, Facebook, Files, Gallery, GMail, Maps, Msg, Music, News, Phone, Settings, Weather.
Pick the ones you want and arrange them on your homescreen/lockscreen anyway you want.

Grid UCCW Skins

You are all too familiar with screen full of icons in grids. Or are you? Who knew icons in grid could look this beautiful. Crete separate pages with 3x3 grid of icons of same group of applications; adorn each page with calligraphy header and date/time widget.

== FEATURES ==
This skin set contains 22 skins in total; most skins working like an icon to launch one app each. The skins are - Calculator, Calendar, Calls, Chrome, Clock, Contacts, Date, Facebook, Gallery, Game, GMail, Maps, Msg, Music, News, Settings, Store, Time, Twitter, YouTube. +2 header skins.

All the tiles are editable. Change the color and format to match your wallpaper/needs.

Ubuntu UCCW Skins

Are you a fan of Ubuntu OS? Then you must've heard that Ubuntu is coming to Android. But there's still a long time before you'll actually get your hands on it. And even then, it might be very complicated and difficult to setup. Want a quick fix? Bring the looks of Ubuntu OS to your Android device using these stunning Ubuntu UCCW Skins. Setup the Ubuntu theme for Android.

== FEATURES ==

This skins pack contains 3 sets of skins + a mind blowing clock. The sets are
Favorite. Contains a header skin + 6 app skins - Facebook, Twitter, Game, Maps, News, Files.
Essentials. Contains a header skin + 7 app skins - Calls, Contacts, Text, Settings, Calendar, Play Store, Weather.
Media. Contains a header skin + 6 app skins - Music, Gallery, YouTube, Browser, Camera, Mails.
Plus a superbly beautiful clock.
Assign the apps you want to each of the hotspots. Total of 21 hotspots.
You can change color of the text and hour format of the clock too.

Candy UCCW Skins

Jelly Bean 4.2 brought Quick Settings panels to android. Swipe down status bar with two fingers and you've got several power toggles at your fingertips. But all the tiles there are black. :( What if you could have tiles looking like those in multi-candy-colors? And all over your device's screen; not only in statusbar, but wherever you wanted? Presenting - Candy UCCW Skins

== FEATURES ==

This is Jelly Bean 4.2 quick settings inspired theme. Contains 36 tiles/skins.
Alarm, Audio Manager, Battery, Browser, Calls, Camera, Chrome, Contacts, Date, Drive, Dropbox, Email, Facebook, Files Manager, Flipboard, Gallery, Gmail, Google Plus, IMDB, Locker, Maps, Music, Player, Search, Spotify, Store, Task, Temperature, Text, Time, Tumblr, Twitter, Voice, Weather, XDA, YouTube
You can change the background color and text color to anything you want, for each of the tiles. you can make them all blacks too, if you want. Your imagination is your limit.
Assign the apps you want to each of the tile hotspots. Each of the 36 tiles have a hotspot.

I'll add more skins in this post, as and when I create them. You can Like it's Facebook page to get notified when this post is updated. Drop me a line in the comment box below if you have any questions or if you want any other thing [icons, wallpapers etc] that goes with above skins. Or just to chat. :)

If you appreciate my efforts and would like to say thanks or show your support, you can always buy some of my apps from Google Play Store or Amazon App Store. Cheers.

Ultimate UCCW skins for Android - Part 3

2012-10-18T13:22:00.002+05:30

How to use these skins

Ultimate UCCW skins for Android - Part 1

Ultimate UCCW skins for Android - Part 2

AND

Windows Phone 8 (Now called - "Tiles UCCW Skin")-

Love the look of the Lumia 920 or Windows Phone 7/8 in general; but don't wanna give up your Android device? Now you can have best of both world. Bring the Windows Phone 8 (Metro) look to your Android mobiles and tablets.

This skins set contains 21 skins in total. More to be added. Skin sizes between 1x1 (mostly), 2x1, 2x2. Pick the ones you want and arrange them on your homescreen/lockscreen anyway you want. Create different looks. Each skin can launch one dedicated app. The skins are -

Skin/Function - Launches App
------------------------------
Battery Level - Battery Doctor
Missed calls count - Phone dialler
Camera - Camera Gallery
Chrome
Contacts
Date - Calendar
Dropbox
facebook
Gmail
Google Plus
New Text - Messgaing
Music - Google Play Music
Quickpic
Search - Google Search
Talk - Google Talk
Tasks
Temparature
Time - Stock Alarm
Twitter
Voice - Google Voice
Weather - Go WeatherEX
YouTube

The skin set is available in three colors. Blue, Green and Red. Check out all the screenshots here -

Get them directly from Amazon -

Blue

Green

Red

Here's how the screen looks when you use them all together -

Tiles UCCW Skins - Games Pack

Continuation of the Tiles UCCW Skins pack; this pack contains 54 skins in total; every skin working like an icon to launch one game each. Different varieties of games are covered, including latest games like -

Angry Birds Star Wars
Asphalt 7
Bad Piggies
Dead Trigger
Granny Smith
Jetpack Joyride
Need For Speed - Most Wanted
Rayman Jungle Run
Shadowgun
Subway Surfer
Zombie Swipeouot
and many more.

Tiles UCCW Skins - Google Apps Pack

This skin set contains 35 skins in total; every skin working like an icon to launch one app each. Almost all popular Google apps are covered. The skins are -
Skin/App - Size
-------------------------------
Analytics-1x1
Auththenticator-2x1
Books-2x1
Calendar-1x1
Chrome-2x1, 2x2
Currents-1x1, 2x1
Earth-1x1, 2x1
GMail-1x1, 2x1, 2x2
Google-1x1
Maps-1x1, 2x1
Movies-1x1, 2x1
Music-1x1, 4x2
Navigation-2x1
PlayStore-1x1, 2x1, 2x2
Google Plus-1x1, 2x1, 2x2
Talk-1x1
Settings - 1x1
Translate-1x1, 2x1
Voice-1x1
YouTube-1x1, 2x1, 4x2

Pick the ones you want and arrange them on your homescreen/lockscreen anyway you want.

Chameleon UCCW Skin -

There's a new launcher in town - Chameleon Launcher. It is one of the best looking launchers with its own set of beautiful widgets. But sadly, it is only for tablets. But if you really really want it, you can have few widgets looking similar to those of Chameleon Launcher on your Android mobiles. Presenting Chameleon UCCW Skin. And if you don't have Chameleon Launcher on your tablet, you can still have that look using this skin.

This skins pack contains 4 individual skins. They are -
* Time - Shows current time. Tapping it will launch stock alarm.
* Weather - Shows current weather condition and Current/minimum/maximum temperature. Touch top right corner to update weather info. Hotspot for Go WeatherEX at center.
* Notifications - Shows missed calls, new text messages and battery level. Each has it's related app linked.
* Favorites - Quick shortcuts for 3 most frequently used apps - WEB=Chrome, PHOTO=Stock Gallery, MUSIC=Play Music. All have hotspots of course.
Pick and place any of these widgets any way you want on your home screen or lockscreen.

Glass UCCW Skin -

Sometimes some widgets are so beautiful that one screen is not enough for them. Presenting Glass UCCW Skins. A pack of 3 skins. Place one in each screen and keep swiping through them. Or place 'em all together on one screen.

== FEATURES ==
* Glass-Time: Minimal analog clock, digital time and date. Launch Alarm, Clock, Calendar.
* Glass-Status: Missed call, new text notification, Battery status. Launch dialer, messaging, GMail.
* Glass-Weather: Current weather condition, temperature, min/max temperature, weather forecast for 2 days.

DeskClock UCCW Skin -

Inspired by Dimas' clock design, presenting to you "DeskClock UCCW Skin". A simple clock skin, which can fit anywhere.
Contains -
Time, Date, Battery Level with a nice circle.
Hotspot trigger for Alarm, Calendar, Phone dialer, Play Music, GMail.

Shapes UCCW Skin -

Another play with sharp shapes. Triangles and Squares. In beautiful colors.

* Time, Date, Battery, Temperature, Weather conndition.
* Missed calls, new text count. Hotspot all + GMail.

Trays UCCW Skin -

I'm fascinated with different shapes coming together, I guess. This is my third UCCW skin that plays with different shapes.

* Time, Date, Battery, Weather conndition.
* Hotspot that launches Alarm, Calendar, Battery doctor and updates weather info.

Disk UCCW Skins -

Love minimal yet stylish analog clocks? Or maybe a mix of analog and digital clocks? Then this uccw skin is for you.

== FEATURES ==
* Pack contains three skins.
* Analog-Disk: Minimalist analog clock with three layers of disks. Outer white hand shows hour and inner grey hand shows minute.
* Digital-Disk: Hands are replaced by dots here. Outer grey dot show minute and inner white dot shows hour. Plus a digital clock at the center.
* For remembering easily - white=hour, grey=minute.
* Touching the clocks will launch stock alarm app.
* Disk-Weather: Will show current weather condition.

AND

Ultimate UCCW skins for Android - Part 4
You can Like it's Facebook page to get notified when new posts are updated. Drop me a line in the comment box below if you have any questions or if you want any other thing [icons, wallpapers etc] that goes with above skins. Or just to chat. :)

If you appreciate my efforts and would like to say thanks or show your support, you can always buy some of my apps from Google Play Store or Amazon App Store. Cheers.

Ultimate UCCW skins for Android - Part 2

2012-10-17T08:03:00.002+05:30

How to use these skins
Ultimate UCCW skins for Android - Part 1

AND

Rhombus -

I proudly present to you - Rhombus UCCW Skins. This is a set of FIVE individual skins. You can place them all together on a single screen and get the totally out-of-the-world screen setup, as shown in the first two screenshots. Or you can place them on per screen and ogle at them, no matter which screen you are on. The five skins are -

* Rhombus-Battery:
The skin at the top left of the 1st screenshot. Shows current battery level. Has a hotspot for Battery Doctor.
* Rhombus-Temperature:
The skin at the top right of the 1st screenshot. Shows current temperature. Has a hotspot for updating the weather info.
* Rhombus-Time:
The skin at the bottom left of the 1st screenshot. Shows current time. Has a hotspot for stock alarm app.
* Rhombus-Date:
The skin at the bottom right of the 1st screenshot. Shows current date. Has a hotspot for stock calendar app.
* Rhombus-Weather:
The skin at the center of the 1st screenshot. Shows current weather condition with a cute icon. Has a hotspot for Go WeatherEX.

Four Square -

Let's go back to basics. Shape - Squares. Colors - Grayscale. Simplicity is beautiful.

Time, Weather, Date, Battery, Temperature
Alarm, Go WeatherEX, Calendar, Battery Doctor, Update Weather - hotspot trigger targets respectively.

Texty UCCW Skin -

Love text only clock designs? Who says they need to be plain and bland? Check this out. Not my original idea, but my own implementation.
Skin includes hotspot trigger for Alarm, Calendar, Go LaucnherEX, Battery Doctor.

Original layout/design of the skin is the idea of KimboPrice. I just ported the design to UCCW. Design credit to him.

Mint UCCW Skin -

Here's some Minty cookies for your android devices.
* Pack contains three skins. Clock, Date and Weather. Arrange them anyway you want.

The skin is originally designed by Nikk, at MyColorScreens. The mint psd was provided by Pooley.

Want app icons to match the skin? Get them here - Mint Icons Pack.

Dashboard -

If clean, minimalistic text based clock widgets are your thing, then I'm sure you'd love this skin. Slap this at the bottom of your screen as a 5x3 widget or near top half of the screen as 4x2; it simply looks beautiful anyway you slice it.

Dashboard 2 -

Designed this skin for my phone's lockscreen. It's got the following -
* A simple clock, with hotspot to launch alarm.
* Missed call count, which launches the dialler/call history on touch.
* Unread text msg count, which opens the messaging app on touch.
* And a taskbar of frequently used apps - Camera Gallery, Music, Chrome, GMail, Play Store.

Dashboard 3 -

Designed this skin for my phone's lockscreen. This is my third Dashboard series of uccw skins. It's got the following -
* A simple clock, with hotspot to launch alarm.
* Current weather condition, showed by a cute icon. Hotspot for Go WeatherEX.
* Today's date, with hotspot to launch stock calendar app.
* Current temperature. Touch this area to update/refresh weather info.
* Current battery level showed via a cool barcode.
* Quick shortcuts for Dialler, GMail, Messaging.

Grey's UCCW Skin -

Looking for a minimalist analog clock? Look no further. Clock can't go minimal than this and still look amazing. This pack contains two skins -
* Grey's Analog - The analog clock. Blue dot represents the minute hand and the pink dot represents the hour. Touching anywhere on the clock will open the stock alarm app.
* Grey's Weather - The weather bar with Current weather condition, current/min/max temperature.

Stack UCCW Skin -

Pack of two skins. First skin is a stack of 3 layers, each having time, battery level, weather info respectively. The clock has a HTC sense look to it. Second skin is the simplest battery level & status widget there is. It fits perfectly at the bottom of your screen, just above the navbar. Check it out in the second screenshot.

AND

Ultimate UCCW skins for Android - Part 3

Ultimate UCCW skins for Android - Part 4

Drop me a line in the comment box below if you have any questions or if you want any other thing [icons, wallpapers etc] that goes with above skins. Or just to chat. :)

If you appreciate my efforts and would like to say thanks or show your support, you can always buy some of my apps from Google Play Store or Amazon App Store. Cheers.

Custom Launcher Icon Packs for Android - Part 2

2012-08-19T05:18:00.000+05:30

Part 1 of the series - here

How to use Icon packs

To apply the icon packs -

You must have any of the custom launchers like Nova, Apex, Action, Holo, Go, ADW etc installed and running.
Install the icon pack to your device.
Apex, Nova, ADW, Go, Action Launcher – Launch the icons pack app, tap “Apply theme” and tap your launcher icon.
Additional step for Go Launcher users – On the home screen, press MENU > Preferences > Visual Settings. Switch to “Icons” tab and disable “Show icon base”.
Holo Launcher: Holo Settings > Appearance Settings > Icon Pack. Choose the theme from the list and apply it.

You can even individually change each icon, the icons you don't like as follows -

Nova: Long press that app icon > Edit > tap the icon > Select from the several options you get. When icon is selected, tap the check-mark at the top left of the Edit Shortcut box.
Apex / Holo: Long press that app icon > Edit > tap the icon > Icon Pack. Select the theme from the list and from there, you can select any icon. Then tap ok.
ADW Launcher: Double tap that app icon > Edit > tap the icon > “ADWTheme IconPacks” > tap the theme name > Select any of the icon. Tap ok.
Go LauncherEX: Long press that app icon > Replace > Select theme from the top left corner dropdown > Select any of the icon. Tap ok.

Here's a video of the instructions -

Here are the first four Icon packs -
Lumino Square HD Icons Pack
White Picket Icons Pack
Mint Icons Pack
Sense Icon Packs
Evy Icons Pack
FleXn Icons Pack
Vibes Icons Pack

Lumino Square HD Icons Pack -

This is a pack of dark/unsaturated icons that give your device a sleek dusky look. All icons in square shape, with bright colored borders and gradients. Your device never looked better.

== FEATURES ==

All HD icons. Perfect for tablets. Looks brilliant on phones too.
~650 icons and growing fast.
Works with all popular launchers like Nova Launcher, Apex Launcher, Go Launcher, ADW Launcher and others.
Works on KitKat and Jelly Bean devices too.
Wallpapers included.
If you want to request any icon which is not present in the pack, mail me.

Download Lumino Square HD Icons Pack -

White Picket Icons Pack -

A home with a white picket fence - every human's dream. Why not the same white picket fences on your app icons? Change all icons in your app drawer and homescreen to your liking. Works on Jelly Bean too.

== FEATURES ==

More than 370 HD (136x136 px) icons and growing.
Works with Nova Launcher, Apex Launcher, Go Launcher, ADW Launcher and others.
Works on KitKat and Jelly Bean devices too.
Wallpaper included.

Download White Picket Icons Pack -

Mint Icons Pack -

Did you like the Mint UCCW Skins; the Minty cookie for you Android device? Now, that skin is incomplete without the matching app icons. Presenting to you, the Mint Icons Pack.

== FEATURES ==

Minimal beautiful icons. Almost every icon is available in 3 soothing colors. Total of 1000+ icons. Use whichever color looks better to you to match with your wallpaper / theme.
For apps whose icons are not explicitly present in the pack, even they will get the mint cookie shaped background; so even they get themed.
3 minimal wallpapers.
Works with Nova Launcher, Apex Launcher, Go Launcher, ADW Launcher, Holo Launcher, Action Launcher and others.
Works on KitKat and Jelly Bean devices too.

Download Mint Icons Pack -

Sense Icon Packs-

Love the beautiful HTC Sense ring, that they have on HTC devices' lockscreen? Now you can have similar rings around each of your app icons. Simply apply these icon packs.

== FEATURES ==

Every single icon in your device will be themed. 100% icon coverage.
No need to individually change icons.
Works with Nova Launcher, Apex Launcher, Go Launcher, ADW Launcher and others.
Works on KitKat and Jelly Bean devices too.
Wallpaper included.

Download Sense Icon Packs -

Click the banners to go to Amazon App Store pages.

Get the matching analog clocks here -

Evy Icons -

Ask anyone on XDA forum - "Who makes the most awesome icons?" and most of them will tell you it's s2w. His latest icons pack is next proof of that. You can get the icons in a zip on his tread. And if you want it in the form of an installable theme pack, download it from the link below. It is currently being polished. Have requested s2w for some template files and few icons. Once those are made, this theme will be more awesome. And once it is polished enough, I'll upload it on play store for free, so that you can receive updates without having to check back here manually.

Download Evy icons theme Pack theme for Nova / Go / Apex / ADW launcher -

FleXn Icons -

And the next icons pack from S2W. You can get the icons in a zip on his tread. And if you want it in the form of an installable theme pack, download it from the link below.

Note: This apk is making use of iconmask feature, which Go Launcher doesn't support properly. Hence this apk won't work for theming Go Launcher.

Download fleXn icons theme Pack theme for Nova / Apex / ADW launcher -

or COPY.

Vibes Icons -

The third icons pack from S2W. You can get the icons in a zip on his tread. And if you want it in the form of an installable theme pack, download it from the link below.

Note: This apk is making use of iconmask feature, which Go Launcher doesn't support properly. Hence this apk won't work for theming Go Launcher.

Download fleXn icons theme Pack theme for Nova / Apex / ADW launcher -

or COPY.

I'll keep updating this post, just like last time, with new icons theme packs. Keep watch. You can "Like" the facebook page to stay updated. Cheers.

Related Post ->

How to fix paid apps from Play Store on KitKat and Jelly Bean

2012-08-16T08:00:00.003+05:30

KitKat, the latest version of Android, and Jelly Bean, the version before that had implemented a security feature to thwart app piracy. Now, when you download any app from Google Play Store, it integrates a device id in the app before downloading/installing it at /mnt/asec on your device. This location is 'encrypted' and is different than the usual location /data/app. There are a few technical details but long and short of it is that those apps then don't work on Jelly Bean. Most of the users are reporting that this happens only for paid apps. But I saw this happening with my free apps as well. All my apps are getting a bad rep due to this. And I'm fielding a lot of refunds too.

I did a lot of searching and code troubleshooting since morning. Some reports said that Google has turned off this DRM 'feature' for the time being and that this problem is resolved for now. Well, doesn't seem to be true in my case. I found one workaround for this though. How to make paid/free apps, specially theme packs work on Jelly Bean when purchased/installed through Play Store? Read on to find out.

You need to have a rooted device with Titanium Backup installed on it.
Run Titanium Backup and go to "Backup/Restore" tab.
Scroll down the list of apps and tap the app which is not working after installing from Play Store.
Click "Backup". (Left screenshot below)
Tap the app again and this time click "Restore". (Right screenshot below)
When asked "What would you like to restore ?", press "App + Data".
Exit Titanium Backup. Your malfunctioning app will now be working.

==============================================
UPDATE - 4/16/2014
Users don't need to do this anymore for UCCW skins. Even though the issue is still existing in Android devices running Jelly Bean and higher, a workaround solution was provided by the UCCW developer Vin. The UCCW skin apps that you now download from play store come in the form of skin installers. That is, the UCCW skin apps are now wrapped inside another app, which helps to install the skin app. This is how this works -

On your Android device, go to Android settings > Security, and make sure "Unknown sources" is enabled. This is so that the installer app that you download from play store will be able to install the skin app that it is carrying inside itself.
Launch the installer app from app drawer and tap "Install Skin" button in the app.
If your device is running anything below KitiKat, it will ask you whether you want to replace the app. This step is replacing the skin installer with the actual skin. Tap "Ok" here. OR
If you are using a KitKat device, it will ask whether you want to update the existing app.
Tap "Install". When that finishes, tap "Done". The installer app is replaced by the skin app at this point and you're good to go.

Other related articles -
Icon Packs.
Ultimate UCCW skins for Android.

If you appreciate my effort, please buy some of my apps from iWizard Store.

Keywords: JellyBean, PlayStore, Encryption, DRM, Titanium Backup

Custom Launcher Icon Packs for Android

2012-07-09T08:21:00.001+05:30

Part 2 of the series - here

How to use Icon packs

To apply the icon packs -

You must have any of the custom launchers like Nova, Apex, Action, Holo, Go, ADW etc installed and running.
Install the icon pack to your device.
Apex, Nova, ADW, Go, Action Launcher – Launch the icons pack app, tap “Apply theme” and tap your launcher icon.
Additional step for Go Launcher users – On the home screen, press MENU > Preferences > Visual Settings. Switch to “Icons” tab and disable “Show icon base”.
Holo Launcher: Holo Settings > Appearance Settings > Icon Pack. Choose the theme from the list and apply it.

You can even individually change each icon, the icons you don't like as follows -

Nova: Long press that app icon > Edit > tap the icon > Select from the several options you get. When icon is selected, tap the check-mark at the top left of the Edit Shortcut box.
Apex / Holo: Long press that app icon > Edit > tap the icon > Icon Pack. Select the theme from the list and from there, you can select any icon. Then tap ok.
ADW Launcher: Double tap that app icon > Edit > tap the icon > “ADWTheme IconPacks” > tap the theme name > Select any of the icon. Tap ok.
Go LauncherEX: Long press that app icon > Replace > Select theme from the top left corner dropdown > Select any of the icon. Tap ok.

Here's a video of the instructions -

Here are the first four Icon packs -
MIcons HD Icons Pack
Vexillum Icons Pack
Suave HD Icons Pack
Project Glass Icons Pack

MIcons HD Icons -

Coolest and most beautiful icons theme pack. Change all icons in your app drawer and homescreen to your liking. Works on all high res devices. Icons originally made by Mike P. from XDA-Developers.

== FEATURES ==

These icons look awesome on tablets and high-res mobiles.
More than 1500 HD icons and growing.
Works with Nova Launcher, Apex Launcher, Go Launcher, ADW Launcher, and others like Holo, Action etc.
Works on KitKat and Jelly Bean devices too.
Uses iconmask. So, ALL your icons will be themed. (Not for Go Launcher).
Wallpapers included.
If you want to request any icon which is not present in the pack, mail me.

MIUI version (.mtz) - mikep1993's xda-developers' thread

Nova / Go / Apex / Action / Holo / ADW version (.apk) -
Get the FREE version from my box stash.

If you appreciate my effort, please buy the paid version of the Icons pack from below.

Vexillum Icons Pack -

One of the biggest icons pack, with most number of icons - Vexillum. These are MIUI v4 style minimal icons. Hardly any icon will be left un-themed. Works on Kitkat and Jelly Bean devices too. Icons originally made by PhysX from XDA-Developers.

== FEATURES ==

~2000 icons and growing.
Works with Nova, Apex, Go, ADW, Action, holo and other launchers.
Works on KitKat and Jelly Bean devices too.
Wallpaper included.
If you want to request any icon which is not present in the pack, mail me.

Get the FREE version from my box stash.

If you appreciate my effort, please buy the paid version of the icons pack from below.

Suave HD Icons Pack -

This is a port of the most well know miui icon pack - Suave HD. Now you can apply the Suave HD icons to your apps in Nova launcher, as well as Apex launcher, Go launcher, ADW launcher and others.

== FEATURES ==

More than 1500 icons.
Works with Nova Launcher, Apex Launcher, Go Launcher, ADW Launcher and others.
Works on KitKat and Jelly Bean devices too.
Wallpaper included.

Download Suave HD Icons pack -

Glass Round Icons Pack (formerly Project Glass theme pack)-

Have you seen the Google Glass demo video when it first came out. The most beautiful thing in that video was the icons on the hud. Now, you can have those icons on your Android devices too. Presenting Glass Round icons, inspired by Project Glass.

== FEATURES ==

Change all icons in your app drawer and homescreen to your liking.
~200 icons. (Final version. No new icon will be added).
Works with Nova Launcher, Apex Launcher, Go Launcher, ADW Launcher and others.
Works on KitKat and Jelly Bean devices too.
Wallpaper included.

Download Glass Round Icons Pack -

Part 2 of the series - here

Ultimate UCCW skins for Android - Part 1

2012-07-08T07:07:00.001+05:30

Since I moved to a city near Seattle last year, I hardly find time to blog. More so, after I bought my first smartphone, the Samsung (Google) Galaxy Nexus. Now most of my free time is spent on reading android blogs and forums and playin with my cell.

Of all the apps that are available in Android play store, Ultimate Custom Clock Widget (UCCW) is one of the best. You can create any kind of clock you want. Apart from telling you the time, it also keeps track of weather, your missed calls, texts, mails, battery level etc. It completely changes the look of your smartphone. Such beautiful and sleek themes can be made out of this. This post contains Skins that I've created and awesome skins that I found on the xda thread.

How to use these skins

Gadgets -

This is by far my most favorite uccw setup. This entire screen is made up of 3 UCCW skins. There are slew of hotspots on the screen which will launch your favorite apps. Handle all important stuff from a single screen. Get the uccw skins here -

Blocks UCCW Skins -

The screen has 2 uccw skins - 'Blocks UCCW Skin' and 'Blocks Battery UCCW Skin'. Get the skins here -

Now UCCW Skin-

Bored of the same clock widget layouts? Try this vertical skin instead. All weather and time info in a neatly packed column. Place it on the side of your home-screen or at the center of your lock-screen and see your friends being amazed & asking where u got it.

Clean UCCW Skin-

Wanna have a cool and minimal clock on your android device? Slap this skin on your UCCW widget and show off your device to your friends.

Like the round icons? They are called "Glass Rounds".

Diagonal -

Tired of the same ol' clock widgets and skins? Give it a twist, literally. Sport this diagonal ultimate clock skin and listen to the oooohs and aaaahs. :)
* Time and Date
* Current weather and forecast for 2 days
* Hotspot trigger for alarm and weather update

Colors -
Splash some bright colors on your device's screen with this colorful uccw skin. Minimal skin with beautiful shapes and hotspots triggers.

Digital Eclipse -

And now you get two skins at the price of one. This pack includes "Digital UCCW Skin" and "Eclipse UCCW" skin. Check them out in the screenshots.

Cards UCCW Skin -

Came across this beautiful skin by xiangqianch at the mycolorscreen. Loved it and created this setup from scratch, by using his weather icon and speech bubble. Let me know how u like it.
* Date, Time, Weather, Temperature, Battery.

Wow UCCW Skins -

Rounded edges, subtle colors, sleek fonts - screen-full of 'em. Pack of FOUR uccw skins. Place them all together or one on each screen; looks fabulous any way. The skins contain -
* Wow-Time (4x1) - Current time, with hotspot to launch alarm.
* Wow-Weather (4x2) - Current weather condition, temperature, min/max temperature and location. Hotspot to launch Go WeatherEX and update weather.
* Wow-Date (4x2) - Current day, month, year; with hotspot to launch Calendar.
* Wow-Apps (4x1) - Hotspots for Dialer, Messaging, Gallery, Music. Plus Missed call count, New text msg count.

AND
Ultimate UCCW skins for Android - Part 2

Ultimate UCCW skins for Android - Part 3

Ultimate UCCW skins for Android - Part 4
Drop me a line in the comment box below if you have any questions or if you want any other thing [icons, wallpapers etc] that goes with above skins. Or just to chat. :)

If you appreciate my efforts and would like to say thanks or show your support, please buy some of my apps from Google Play Store or Amazon App Store. Cheers.

When Larry met Sergey – A Google Story

2012-01-28T08:08:00.002+05:30

Here's a nice slideshow of the history of Google; from its founding days to its current state.

Created by Online PhD

Hit "Like" below and share it with your friends. If you like this, you'd also like its Facebook page.

Firefox 4: Best features and "How to" tips

2011-03-23T15:42:00.007+05:30

After waiting for months, Firefox 4 is finally here. Even though the much touted features were already available via add-ons (described later), having them by default in a new and official, stable version of the browser is somehow feels right. :-) Also, there are some additional new features and performance enhancements. See a full feature list here.

Anyways, I won't get into the details of what's new and how it is better than other browsers. I'll just quickly tell you about some features that I find very useful.

App Tab:

There are some websites that I visit multiple times, daily; like Gmail, Facebook etc. So, instead of opening a new tab and entering the url (or rather, part of the url till the full url is suggested by the awesome bar), I can pin them as "App Tab". These sites will then have a permanent tiny tab in the tab bar, as seen in the pic and will open each time you open your browser, automatically. That is, say you start your computer, start you browser and lo-n-behold, Gmail and Facebook are automatically open on you Firefox.

How to: How to set a website as "App tab"? Just open the website on a normal tab. Then right click on that tab. The second option on the context menu is "Pin as App Tab". Click on that and you are all set.

Tab groups: Have you ever been caught "misusing company resources" or "wasting company time"? Or in simpler terms, have your lead/manager ever caught you browsing Orkut/Facebook or any other non-work related sites while in office? Well, there is a solution for you in the form of "Tab groups" in Firefox 4. What it does is, it allows you to group related sites together. Say, you can group GMail, Facebook, Orkut, Foursquare etc in one group and name it "Personal". Then you can group all other work related sites like your official web mail and other sites in another group and name it "Work". You can merely brows through Facebook and as soon as you see your manager walking by, you can switch to the "work" group of tabs and no one will be wiser. :-)

How to: On the right end of the tab bar, you should be able to see the "Tab Groups" icon. If you are not able to, just click the drop-down arrow and the top most option is "Tab Groups". Not getting it yet? Simply press Ctrl+Shift+E. That'll launch it. Now here you'll see all your open tabs in one single group, by default. To create a new group, double-click anywhere on the empty space. It behaves like opening a new Firefox window. Don't panic. Just open the "Tab Groups" again, as explained above. Now you'll see a new group window is there with "New Tab" written below it. Just drag the sites you want to group to this new group window and close the "New Tab" in it. When you are done, you can enter a name for the group at the top of the group window. You can create as many groups as you want in this way. When you want to switch to any one of the views, just click on any of the tabs within that group. Firefox will switch to that group of tabs and all other tabs will be hidden. Cool, eh?

Do not track: Many sites track your online behavior and sell that data to advertisers. If that makes you uncomfortable, Firefox lets you tell sites you want to opt out of behavioral tracking and keep your browsing habits private. (Copied from features page of Firefox).

Well, this might be a good feature; but as I read somewhere (most probably cracked.com) and twitted earlier - Telling websites not to track your behavior is like walking on streets at midnight with a "Do not Mug" sign hanging from your neck. LoL.

How To: If you wanna give it a try anyway, this is what you do. Go to browser option by navigating to "Tools > Options". Click on the "Advanced" button there. You should see an option for "Tell web sites I do not want to be tracked". Select that check box and click ok. You're done.

Others: I like the new Firefox button, which a> looks cool and b> de-clutters the menu bar. You can lots of options to customize how you want the first three rows of your browser to look. You could achieve the same features in older Firefox versions by using "Hide Caption Titlebar Plus".

If you like the old menu bar, you can restore it by clicking the Firefox button and going to "Option > Menu Bar". You should also switch to Tabs on top. Again, click on Firefox button and go to "Options > Tabs on top" to do this.

Firefox Sync is now installed by default. No more Sync Add-ons needed. If you already didn't know, you can sync your bookmarks, passwords, history, open tabs etc across multiple machines using firefox sync.

Well then. These are my fav features of Firefox 4. What are yours? Drop a comment and join the Facebook page.

Photon+ and other ISP in India

2010-12-18T19:35:00.002+05:30

I'm here to write about Broadband ISPs in India today. Well, it's not a review of them, per se. I'll just brush through some points.

Let's start with Tata Photon+ 'coz that's what I am using. I got the device along with my laptop and opted for the 15GB Unlimited plan. The plan description sounds contradictory, huh? Well, that's how ISPs are trying to fool consumers these days. The plan name says 'unlimited' but there's always some 'Fair usage policy' or 'Upper limit'. In this case, I will get 3.1 Mbps till 15GB and 144Kbps thereafter. As there was no one in the market who was really offering a TRUE unlimited usage plan, this is what I opted for. But even this didn't work out well.

I got good speed on the first month. But from the 2nd month itself, the speed went down the toilet; without usage reaching the upper limit. I am now getting 512kbps kind of speed most of the time. Only rarely do I get the 'upto 3.1Mbps' speed.

And that is not all. Let's talk about billing. I was supposed to get a Rs 200 discount for first 12 months as per the plan I chose. This is still displayed in their website.

But when I received my first bill, I didn't get that discount. On top of that, there was a service tax of 10%. Are you kidding me...!!! When I lodged a complain with Photon people, their response was "the discount for Rs.200 for 12months is not applicable for existing customer". WTF....!!! I wrote back to them

What do you mean by 'existing customer'? I mean, how are you classifying me as 'existing customer'? This 'Rs 200 discount' offer was in place since much before I got photon+ connection. So, when I got the Photon+, I was a new customer and I was entitled to this discount as per terms mentioned in your website.

Anyway, finally they blinked and confirmed to me that I'll get the discount from the next billing cycle. They didn't fix that very bill in question though. Anyway, I said ok.

But the story didn't end there. Now in this month's bill, I got a discount of Rs 146.67. Are they seriously trying to taste my patience or what...?? I again wrote to them. And know what they replied?

The discount for Rs.200 is activated with effect from 23-NOV-2010. Hence the bill has been generated in pro-rata basis.

That did it. I was writing back that I'm not gonna pay this bill and I'm gonna drag this matter to consumer court. I was totally pissed off. I mean, what kind of company is this? Shady dealings in each and every bill...!! They are just trying to extort money from consumers on some pretext.

Anyway, I've sobered down since then. Not going to raise a storm over Rs 60. But if this happens again, it's gonna be strike 3. And we'll see it then.

By the way, Tata Photon is not the only ISP with issues. Here's another issue my fellow blogger Sanjukta is having with MTNL.

Now, please cast your vote on the following poll. Bad customer care, slow speed, cheat billing system - anything can qualify an ISP for the 'worst' position.