[Layout] Hubs- Now with in depth video tutorial

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fliparsenal

Senior Member
Nov 17, 2008
832
314
NewYork.apk
Hey guys, after countless of request, I've finally opened a thread for Prime. Enjoy!

http://imageshack.us


p20110814163434.png

p20110814163405.png

p20110814170003.png


(Seeing as there's no General Thread for tablets, I've re posted this here.)
Hey guys I finally ported my "hubs" set up to Android Tablets and I have to say its 10x smoother on our 1.0 ghz quad core device. The general idea of "Hubs" is to create a dedicated screen for each piece of media/productivity while providing a visual eye candy. "Hubs" is easy to emulate, and even easier to create your own style. Despite the lengthy tutorial, its actually easier than it seems. The fun part comes with setting up you layout!

What you'll need:
Main
Optional
Video Tutorial
Part I
Part II
FINAL

Misc.

ADW Launcher Users

-To remove top bar-Press and hold and empty area on your home screen then click on "Launcher Actions" > "Hide/Show Action Bars"
-Enable Widget Overlapping-"Menu"> "ADW Settings"> "UI Settings" > "Screen Preference"> Check "Overlap Widgets" in the Advanced Settings Tab
-Increase Retail Space on your screen-"Menu"> "ADW Settings"> "UI Settings" > "Screen Preference"> Increase the desktop "Rows" and "Columns" in the "Desktop Layout" Tab.

Launcher Pro Plus Users- while not optimized for 3.2, it still runs perfect.
-Increase Retail Space on your screen-"Menu"> "Preference" > "Homescreen Settings" > Increase the "Number of columns/rows" in the Homescreen Grid.
-Remove Icons From Right Dock- Hold your finger on the icon you wish to remove> "change shortcut"> "Blank"

*You may add screen transitions for each launcher if you wish, however my advise is to leave it at default as you can set transition for Multi Live wallpaper. Doing both launcher and MLW will make your screen look "too busy" IMO.

To set the "Bars" (Titles for "Home", "Music", "Movies" etc.)
Minimalistic Text
-To set title- Press and hold a free space on the screen > "widgets" > "Minimalistic Text" (size may vary per style however I use either 4x2 or 6x1 as long as its horizontal > ensure that "background color" is checked > "Predefined Layout" > "Custom" > "Custom Layout" > Click on the plus sign > "Misc" > "Static Text".
-Black Bar Tutorial click here

ISSUE: You may experience widget being placed "behind" the black bars. If so try this method provided by user SwiftLegend
1. Put the widgets/icons you want on TOP of the blackbar FIRST. You need these before anything.
2. Select a Minimalistic Text Widget, I usually use 1x1. Clear out the text options (Predefined layout > Custom, delete all of the things there)
3. Once you're back at your homescreen and see the MT Widget, just long press and re size it to your liking.
You HAVE to make sure that whatever you want on TOP of the blackbar is put on the screen FIRST. Anything put on after will go underneath.

ISSUE 2: Users have reported that Minimalistic Widget refuses to post/ show up on the homescreen.
1. Turn your tablet into portrait mode.
2. Add the widget whilst staying in portrait mode as you apply you designs.
3. Rotate back to landscape.


Wallpapers

-Set up - Load up your wallpapers on your sd card/internal memory and placing them into seperate folders and name them based on the images (ex. Music, Movies, Games etc)
- Long press an empty screen on your homescreen > "Wallpapers" > "Live Wallpapers"> "MultiPicture Live Wallpaper"> "Settings"
- For each "Screen _ Settings" Select the picture source as "Picture Folder" and navigate it to point to your corresponding homescreen.
- Additionally you make select the screen transition here that reflects your particular taste. You may also set a default wallpaper for your lockscreen.

Despite the dozen of widget on the homescreen and live wallpaper, battery use is minimal.I have provided wallpapers below to help you get started.

here's the original layout from the nook color if you guys are interested on putting this on your homescreen HERE

and here it is in action HEREhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8DxCVzARfE&fmt=38

my wallpapers can be found here


UPDATE 9/20 NAVIGATING BETWEEN HUBS

There are two methods in which you can navigate to each individual homescreen.

Method one
: Prior/Alternate way for navigation text was achieved using this methodby trekkie0927. Using invisible icons in tandem with minimalistic text can make it easier to flip to each hubs. Please rate/comment his video.

Method two: I found a great alternative to Minimalistic Text in terms of using the text buttons to jump from one screen to another called Simple Text. Since it's only an icon and not a widget, it consumes no memory and provides a great minimal look.

p20110912230552.png


User AcIdC0R3 has posted a great tutorial. (Please thank him!)​

  • Make sure you have ADWLauncher EX
  • Go to the market and install Simple Text
  • Long press on the screen and select 'Custom Shortcut'
  • 'Pick your activity', select 'Launcher Actions'
  • Choose which screen you want, 1 - 5 or 1 - 7 if your using seven screens
  • Click on the picture of the 2 screens side by side
  • Select 'ADWTheme IconPacks' and select 'Simple Text'
  • Select the grey box named 'Simple'
  • replace the word 'Simple' with whatever of your choosing like 'Video' for your video hub or 'Social' for your social media hub and so forth
  • Adjust your text size, Y and X coordinates, your shadow settings etc.
  • Click the little blue 'A' in the top right side of the screen and select your font (more on fonts further down)
  • You also have the option to select the color wheel next to the 'A' and adjust your text color
  • Select the menu icon on the task bar at the bottom and select 'Save Style' if you want to keep what you created for later use as well.
  • Click 'Save Icon' which will create your icon for you
  • Back at the black edit screen remove the text from the text field and click OK
You should now have a custom text icon that will activate whichever screen you chose for it. You can click any app icon on your screen and follow the same procedure for your apps so all your apps also have text icons.

[FONTS] In a file manager go to /sdcard/Simple Text/ and create a folder named 'fonts' (that is plural with an 's' at the end). Next go to somewhere like dafont.com and download you some kewl fonts and place them within that 'fonts' directory you just created. Now when you go into Simple Text to do your editing you will have more fonts to choose from.

That's all there is to it.

P20110920154653.png


P20110920154602.png

You can also work with layers within the creation of your Simple Text. Notice below where I created a new layer, rotated my new text layer and intersected where both words have the letter 'E'.

P20110920165536.png


P20110920165654.png

However you may notice that simple text does have it's limitations:
  • Icons can only be 1x1
  • Works best on adw
  • No way to resize; it is only an icon after all.

p20110917181350.png


p20110917181146.png


p20110917181252.png

Other Users take on "Hubs":

vrundmc​

attachment.php

attachment.php


"Hubs Remix by CinderWild "

and lastly hubs for different devices! Make sure you check each thread as people have different ideas that works on all devices. Wished Xda had a tablet general forums.

special thanks to AhmazinSKM
special thanks to 00McD00 for the banner
sepcial thanks to AcIdC0R3
 
Last edited:

redphx

Retired Recognized Developer
Aug 3, 2010
91
483
codekiem.com
Hi there,
This is a great post, and thanks for mentioning my app, Simple Text. But I want to add some info that Simple Text now has supported widgets, so If you want icons bigger than 1x1, you can use it. Currently it only has 1x1, 1x2, 2x1, 2x2 widgets but I'll add more sizes soon.
 
  • Like
Reactions: just4kix

Kur0saki

Senior Member
Sep 16, 2010
220
22
Hey,

This will take forever, cant you just upload your backup of this? in the adw ex launcher?

on before hand thanks:)
 

VivianC

Senior Member
Mar 12, 2011
94
10
Chicago
Hi there,
This is a great post, and thanks for mentioning my app, Simple Text. But I want to add some info that Simple Text now has supported widgets, so If you want icons bigger than 1x1, you can use it. Currently it only has 1x1, 1x2, 2x1, 2x2 widgets but I'll add more sizes soon.

Hi redphx,

Can you tell me where simple text stores the graphics it creates? I don't want to have to create the same icon for each page.

Thanks!

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
 

slayer69

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2009
1,866
648
San Diego, CA.
Op,

Thanks for posting this....one note though...your wallpaper link does not work because of where its hosted.....there are a few of your wallpapers I would love to add to my desk top that I have not been able to find too. If you need a place to host them I have plenty of space on my drop box if you wanted to send them to me.......

PM me if you would like that.
 

NickMc53

Member
Feb 22, 2012
7
0
I too would love it if you uploaded your entire theme.

In the meantime, how'd you change the font for your icon labels in the video? That's not a simple text thing is it?

Edit: I've decided to go the simple text with no icon route, so scratch that question.
 
Last edited:

GatorsUF

Senior Member
May 22, 2009
1,571
121
Sarasota, FL
Android Wear
OnePlus 8
So I just got my HUBs setup done and I love it, however now that the TP is unlocked I will want to start flashing ROMs.

If I flash a ROM and wipe data/cache how easy is it to restore my HUBS?

It took me a couple days to complete the setup and if the adw restore feature doesnt restore it well, I will be dissapointed....

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 useing xda premium
 

fliparsenal

Senior Member
Nov 17, 2008
832
314
NewYork.apk
I haven't followed the following procedures as of yet, but a number of users have reported the following as one way to preserve your hubs so you mileage may vary:

1.) In adwex settings scroll to the bottom and hit both options to save your layout.

2.) Using titanium backup adwex

Restoring :

1.) Ensure that you have the Widgets installed first

2.) Restore with TB

3.)restore layout from adw ex

If that doesn't work this method at least saves your layout sans the widget which you'll have to try to apply again. Folders, simple text icons will remain in tact. If you use minimalistic text you can save those too through the settings.

Good luck, hoped it worked

Sent from my T959 using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:

pyro6128

Senior Member
Nov 21, 2010
396
84
Thanks a lot for figuring this all out and taking the time to post instructions for everyone. I used your instructions in the nook color forum when I set up my prime and I love the way it looks. Really creative use of the apps.
 

BKBUDDHA74

Member
Jan 5, 2012
17
2
Noob Question

Love the way this looks ,but I have a simple question.. How in your video do you have 7 Screens? Mine only has 5..Is there a setting to increase the number of screens?
 

pyro6128

Senior Member
Nov 21, 2010
396
84
Love the way this looks ,but I have a simple question.. How in your video do you have 7 Screens? Mine only has 5..Is there a setting to increase the number of screens?

You need to edit the screens by using the adw bar at the top of the screen. Add the launcher action to the desktop and tap it to make the bar appear/disappear

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
 

GatorsUF

Senior Member
May 22, 2009
1,571
121
Sarasota, FL
Android Wear
OnePlus 8
Ok so I CANNOT get the blackbar (Transparent Bar) to stay behind the icons (SimpleText) on my homescreen. All the other 6 screens are find, but the homescreen seems to no like it.

If I remove it and readd it, it will work like it should. Then if I rotate the screen or turn it off it puts the bar in front of the icons again.
 

Genobee

Member
Jan 11, 2012
13
3
Needs a better launcher than adw & pro. They both just feel like HC launchers and not ICS launchers like Nova.

I started mine with adw, but scroll-able widgets wouldn't work, kinda gave up after that. Adw needs to be optimized for ICS.

Until then, am just gonna wait for a better launcher.
 

irishtexmex

Senior Member
Sep 27, 2010
399
56
Austin, TX
Needs a better launcher than adw & pro. They both just feel like HC launchers and not ICS launchers like Nova.

I started mine with adw, but scroll-able widgets wouldn't work, kinda gave up after that. Adw needs to be optimized for ICS.

Until then, am just gonna wait for a better launcher.

What are some of the other benefits Nova offers over ADW aside from scrolling widgets (which I desperately want)? I feel like ADW is about as customizable as it gets--far more so than any of the competition.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
 

ajamils

Senior Member
Sep 10, 2010
1,537
108
Houston, TX
What are some of the other benefits Nova offers over ADW aside from scrolling widgets (which I desperately want)? I feel like ADW is about as customizable as it gets--far more so than any of the competition.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk

Customizations of ADW are the reason why I'm still sticking with it. Otherwise, I would have preferred Nova or stock ICS launcher.
 

1Shotwonder

Senior Member
Jul 21, 2009
159
29
Kissimmee
great post been wondering what I could do to make the rest of my screens useful and this is definitely a creative way to do so and amazing look if I say so my self good job on the how to vids. now I am going to spend a few hours trying to perfect a layout on my tfp
 

Ultrastigi

Senior Member
Dec 20, 2010
200
15
Levittown, PA
Ok so I CANNOT get the blackbar (Transparent Bar) to stay behind the icons (SimpleText) on my homescreen. All the other 6 screens are find, but the homescreen seems to no like it.

If I remove it and readd it, it will work like it should. Then if I rotate the screen or turn it off it puts the bar in front of the icons again.

Same here. It never stays so I just did away with it. Very frustrating

Sent from my XT875 using XDA App
 

vlefevre86

Senior Member
Apr 8, 2010
89
3
Paris
Hi guys. Awesome concept, thanks =)

But, with MegaUpload closed (shame...), anyone would mind reupload the wallpapers somewhere else? Please :)
 

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  • 12
    Hey guys, after countless of request, I've finally opened a thread for Prime. Enjoy!



    (Seeing as there's no General Thread for tablets, I've re posted this here.)
    Hey guys I finally ported my "hubs" set up to Android Tablets and I have to say its 10x smoother on our 1.0 ghz quad core device. The general idea of "Hubs" is to create a dedicated screen for each piece of media/productivity while providing a visual eye candy. "Hubs" is easy to emulate, and even easier to create your own style. Despite the lengthy tutorial, its actually easier than it seems. The fun part comes with setting up you layout!

    What you'll need:
    Main
    Optional
    Video Tutorial
    Part I
    Part II
    FINAL

    Misc.

    ADW Launcher Users

    -To remove top bar-Press and hold and empty area on your home screen then click on "Launcher Actions" > "Hide/Show Action Bars"
    -Enable Widget Overlapping-"Menu"> "ADW Settings"> "UI Settings" > "Screen Preference"> Check "Overlap Widgets" in the Advanced Settings Tab
    -Increase Retail Space on your screen-"Menu"> "ADW Settings"> "UI Settings" > "Screen Preference"> Increase the desktop "Rows" and "Columns" in the "Desktop Layout" Tab.

    Launcher Pro Plus Users- while not optimized for 3.2, it still runs perfect.
    -Increase Retail Space on your screen-"Menu"> "Preference" > "Homescreen Settings" > Increase the "Number of columns/rows" in the Homescreen Grid.
    -Remove Icons From Right Dock- Hold your finger on the icon you wish to remove> "change shortcut"> "Blank"

    *You may add screen transitions for each launcher if you wish, however my advise is to leave it at default as you can set transition for Multi Live wallpaper. Doing both launcher and MLW will make your screen look "too busy" IMO.

    To set the "Bars" (Titles for "Home", "Music", "Movies" etc.)
    Minimalistic Text
    -To set title- Press and hold a free space on the screen > "widgets" > "Minimalistic Text" (size may vary per style however I use either 4x2 or 6x1 as long as its horizontal > ensure that "background color" is checked > "Predefined Layout" > "Custom" > "Custom Layout" > Click on the plus sign > "Misc" > "Static Text".
    -Black Bar Tutorial click here

    ISSUE: You may experience widget being placed "behind" the black bars. If so try this method provided by user SwiftLegend
    1. Put the widgets/icons you want on TOP of the blackbar FIRST. You need these before anything.
    2. Select a Minimalistic Text Widget, I usually use 1x1. Clear out the text options (Predefined layout > Custom, delete all of the things there)
    3. Once you're back at your homescreen and see the MT Widget, just long press and re size it to your liking.
    You HAVE to make sure that whatever you want on TOP of the blackbar is put on the screen FIRST. Anything put on after will go underneath.

    ISSUE 2: Users have reported that Minimalistic Widget refuses to post/ show up on the homescreen.
    1. Turn your tablet into portrait mode.
    2. Add the widget whilst staying in portrait mode as you apply you designs.
    3. Rotate back to landscape.


    Wallpapers

    -Set up - Load up your wallpapers on your sd card/internal memory and placing them into seperate folders and name them based on the images (ex. Music, Movies, Games etc)
    - Long press an empty screen on your homescreen > "Wallpapers" > "Live Wallpapers"> "MultiPicture Live Wallpaper"> "Settings"
    - For each "Screen _ Settings" Select the picture source as "Picture Folder" and navigate it to point to your corresponding homescreen.
    - Additionally you make select the screen transition here that reflects your particular taste. You may also set a default wallpaper for your lockscreen.

    Despite the dozen of widget on the homescreen and live wallpaper, battery use is minimal.I have provided wallpapers below to help you get started.

    here's the original layout from the nook color if you guys are interested on putting this on your homescreen HERE

    and here it is in action HEREhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8DxCVzARfE&fmt=38

    my wallpapers can be found here


    UPDATE 9/20 NAVIGATING BETWEEN HUBS

    There are two methods in which you can navigate to each individual homescreen.

    Method one
    : Prior/Alternate way for navigation text was achieved using this methodby trekkie0927. Using invisible icons in tandem with minimalistic text can make it easier to flip to each hubs. Please rate/comment his video.

    Method two: I found a great alternative to Minimalistic Text in terms of using the text buttons to jump from one screen to another called Simple Text. Since it's only an icon and not a widget, it consumes no memory and provides a great minimal look.

    p20110912230552.png


    User AcIdC0R3 has posted a great tutorial. (Please thank him!)​

    • Make sure you have ADWLauncher EX
    • Go to the market and install Simple Text
    • Long press on the screen and select 'Custom Shortcut'
    • 'Pick your activity', select 'Launcher Actions'
    • Choose which screen you want, 1 - 5 or 1 - 7 if your using seven screens
    • Click on the picture of the 2 screens side by side
    • Select 'ADWTheme IconPacks' and select 'Simple Text'
    • Select the grey box named 'Simple'
    • replace the word 'Simple' with whatever of your choosing like 'Video' for your video hub or 'Social' for your social media hub and so forth
    • Adjust your text size, Y and X coordinates, your shadow settings etc.
    • Click the little blue 'A' in the top right side of the screen and select your font (more on fonts further down)
    • You also have the option to select the color wheel next to the 'A' and adjust your text color
    • Select the menu icon on the task bar at the bottom and select 'Save Style' if you want to keep what you created for later use as well.
    • Click 'Save Icon' which will create your icon for you
    • Back at the black edit screen remove the text from the text field and click OK
    You should now have a custom text icon that will activate whichever screen you chose for it. You can click any app icon on your screen and follow the same procedure for your apps so all your apps also have text icons.

    [FONTS] In a file manager go to /sdcard/Simple Text/ and create a folder named 'fonts' (that is plural with an 's' at the end). Next go to somewhere like dafont.com and download you some kewl fonts and place them within that 'fonts' directory you just created. Now when you go into Simple Text to do your editing you will have more fonts to choose from.

    That's all there is to it.

    P20110920154653.png


    P20110920154602.png

    You can also work with layers within the creation of your Simple Text. Notice below where I created a new layer, rotated my new text layer and intersected where both words have the letter 'E'.

    P20110920165536.png


    P20110920165654.png

    However you may notice that simple text does have it's limitations:
    • Icons can only be 1x1
    • Works best on adw
    • No way to resize; it is only an icon after all.

    p20110917181350.png


    p20110917181146.png


    p20110917181252.png

    Other Users take on "Hubs":

    vrundmc​

    attachment.php

    attachment.php


    "Hubs Remix by CinderWild "

    and lastly hubs for different devices! Make sure you check each thread as people have different ideas that works on all devices. Wished Xda had a tablet general forums.

    special thanks to AhmazinSKM
    special thanks to 00McD00 for the banner
    sepcial thanks to AcIdC0R3
    8
    Here's the link to the layout .psd. I figured out why it was so large, and fixed that. It's now ~2MB.

    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4005000/hard_hubs_layout.psd

    A couple of notes.. Each navigation box (right hand column links) has two sub-groups.. "Active" for when you're on the active page (for me, books is on page one, so on page one, the Books navigation box would be active. On page two, it would be inactive), and "Inactive" for links to the other pages. The concept here is that you get the layout setup for that active page, then save it off as a .jpg, and re-do the next page, save that as a .jpg, etc.. This way you can easily go back into the layout file and swap backgrounds, change text, etc..

    You'll see the guide when you open up the PSD. Where your finger is going to hit the invisible icon is between those cyan/blue bars, so center your text around that.

    This is for a landscape, 10x10 grid. You're on your own if you want to go portrait or with another grid size.

    Hope that helps!

    If you've got some questions specific to that layout feel free to ask, but please don't start asking how to use layers or create text in Photoshop. There are plenty of tutorials out there for the basic stuff.

    Oh, I didn't include the font I used, I figured most people want to use their own. That may cause it to look funky when you first open it up. If you want to use my font, it's called 'Steelfish'.

    You can get it here. http://www.dafont.com/steelfish.font
    1
    Hi there,
    This is a great post, and thanks for mentioning my app, Simple Text. But I want to add some info that Simple Text now has supported widgets, so If you want icons bigger than 1x1, you can use it. Currently it only has 1x1, 1x2, 2x1, 2x2 widgets but I'll add more sizes soon.
    1
    Folder icons and stuff

    @Stunya I don't think there's a way to move the standard spot the folder opens at without downloading a 3rd party app which manages your folders. Most launcher open the folder near the icon itself or in the middle of the screen.

    @Attackapan You should be able to disable miniatures if you use ADW EX as your launcher, there's an option you need to disable in the settings called "Show contents". Here's a screeny of where you should find it:
    screenshot-1331274291283.png

    screenshot-1331274279120.png


    Also I advise populating your folder before you change the icon, ADW sometimes at randomly switched back to the stock/miniature view for some reason.
    1
    SSLauncher

    I built my hubs using SSLauncher and Multi-live wallpaper. But I do find multi-live wallpaper to be sluggish at times on my Prime. Like when going back to home screen, it turns black for awhile before it loads the picture. SSLauncher is not compatible (according to Play Store) with my Prime, so I downloaded it on my G-note, then saved the .apk file and emailed it to the prime and installed it. Works fine. The nice thing about SSLauncher is you can have layers and it's so easy to make the text (and unlimited number of pages) without special apps like Simple Text.