Is UCCW only for skilled designers...?

DJ...

DJ...

Banned
Joined
Jan 24, 2007
Messages
70,285
Reaction score
3,556
Location
Gauteng
I was playing around with this yesterday and managed to create a nice text clock, but to be honest anything more than that and it becomes nigh on impossible to make anything look half decent with my limited design skills.

I'd love to be able to create something like this:

morangeuiscreen_original.jpg


or this:

Taking%20Notes_original.png


But I am hopeless at it. I can't even resize images correctly to have them display without being stretched. So as far as I'm concerned, UCCW is awesome, and actually quite intuitive, but you still have to be a pretty skillful designer to get anything half decent imo.

The types of additions also seem quite limited imo and it appears you have to install various fonts and other addons to get anything more than a fancy clock on the thing. :D

Anyone not in the design game had luck with this app or willing to share your thoughts if you've tried it?
 
Last edited:
I think that the actual application that allows such awesome screens, is the Desktop Visualizer app. But yes, UCCW is no picnic to deal with.

I think that Dom1n8tr1x is pretty clued up with these things, perhaps PM her?
 
Haven't heard of Desktop Visualizer before. Seems to do the same thing as UCCW. Seems my lack of design skills are going to be the sticking point here regardless. I'd imagine there'd be a helluva market for packaging these sorts of skins and selling them, as opposed to providing the bare minimum info and boasting about it.

Maybe I'm just jealous...:D
 
UCCW can be a bit intimidating at first, but it's easy to use once you get the hang of it and then the possibilities are endless.

Love the first example you posted, going to try it on my Note 2.
 
DJ... said:
Haven't heard of Desktop Visualizer before. Seems to do the same thing as UCCW. Seems my lack of design skills are going to be the sticking point here regardless. I'd imagine there'd be a helluva market for packaging these sorts of skins and selling them, as opposed to providing the bare minimum info and boasting about it.

Maybe I'm just jealous...:D
Click to expand...

This is why I love and hate going to mycolourscreen.com... Just bums me out seeing all that beauty and wondering if I can match that... I do think it is laziness though, fiddling with Minimalistic Text can become a bit much at times...
 
Minimalistic Text is a pain. I got fairly proficient in it at one point but then moved on from customisation. Since I saw Mycolourscreen though I'm quite inspired to give it another bash.
 
Maverick Jester said:
This is why I love and hate going to mycolourscreen.com... Just bums me out seeing all that beauty and wondering if I can match that... I do think it is laziness though, fiddling with Minimalistic Text can become a bit much at times...
Click to expand...

I spent an hour working out UCCW. I figured out the text clock bit, added some shapes, shaded the text all artsy-fartsy, added some awesome looking designer-esque bits and pieces, aligned them all correctly, chucked in some transparency on certain parts...then stuck it on my homescreen and realised just how absolutely pathetic I am at this...:o
 
Thanks for this, I had never heard of the app before and am keen to try my hand at creating a homescreen that suits me.
 
Dom1n8tr1x said:
Sure I will post all the details and files. It might only be later tonight since I'm back at work today after a nice long vacation. :(
Click to expand...

If it comes with a how-to-guide, I will allow you to take as much time as you need...:D
 
That's incredible. You're showing off now, but it's warranted. Will it be possible to change the bottom menus later down the line (music, voice search, games)?
 
Ok here it goes.

You will need the following apps:

Apex Launcher - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.anddoes.launcher
UCCW - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.vineetsirohi.customwidget
Desktop Visualizer - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.co.bii.android.app.dskvzr
Colored Jelly Bean 4.2 Clocks (or any clock you like) - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.calsto.clocks.jb42

One of the following (or anything that you prefer):

BeWeather - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bellshare.beweatherfree
Eye in the Sky - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.citc.weather

Setting up Apex Launcher: (Use the following settings)

Homescreen Settings:

Portrait grid - 10x10
Horizontal margin - None
Vertical margin - None

Wallpaper mode - Single screen (non-scrolling)

Hide notification bar - Ticked
Hide icon labels - Ticked

Dock Settings:

Number of dock pages - 1
Number of dock icons - 5
Horizontal margin - Medium
Vertical margin - Medium

Advanced Settings:

Resize any widget - Ticked
Overlapping widgets - Ticked
Widgets in dock - Ticked

Wallpaper, UCCW files, Blank Icon & PSD file - https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dqzcigz01143vpr/jkB_JGqBOq/MorangeUI?lst

I'm just going to give you the basics, otherwise I'll be typing the whole night.

After you have set up Apex Launcher you can set the wallpaper (I included the PSD so you can edit it)

Set the bottom icons (camera, gallery, my games, my music, voice search) using Desktop Visualizer.

Add a new 1x1 widget (you can resize it later)
Tap the new icon, a new screen will pop-up.

Select Icon - Use the blank png icon provided
Select Action - Select the app you want to use
Clear the Label
Touch Effect - None (or whatever you want)

Resize icon

For the Dock Icons you just edit the Icon and replace it with the blank icon provided.

UCCW:

Import the two UCCW files into UCCW by going Menu -> Open/ Import/ manage skins,
then "Import Skins" and locate the two UCCW "UZIP" files on your device.

Add the two widgets by selecting 5x1, resize them until they fit the screen.
For the "Notifications Widget" I added two Hotspots, one for Gmail and one for Messaging. For the Hotspots to work you have to enable Hotspots by going Menu -> Hotspots mode -> On

You will have to select your Gmail Account on the Notifications Widget (do this before you enable the Hotspots)

Tap on the Notification widget and go SELECT OBJECT -> Gmail 1
Swipe Controls # left until you reach Controls # 5
Press Account and select your Gmail Account
Press Label and choose your desired label (All email, Inbox exc.)

Lastly you can add your Weather and Clock widgets.

The end result should look something like this, remember that you may have to adjust some UCCW elements to fit your screen resolution.

931bH.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X