TL;DR:
Recently I have been working to get my homescreens a little cleaner. I started using a tool called DesktopVisualizer. It allows for "Tiles" or "Icons" to be placed as shortcuts instead of the icons you normally use. It allows for a cleaned up WP7 look. The one major drawback is you have to download "tile packs" or make them yourself. The app is great, but the problem is in our gallery app.
OUR STOCK GALLERY SCANS AND LOADS ALL THE 300+ TILES/ICONS IN TO MY GALLERY! I could not stand this! I started looking into how to hide stuff from the media gallery.
Hiding Folders: "." Folders and ".nomedia" Files:
Turns out they built a neat function into android that allows for hiding things from the gallery: a .nomedia file. Placing a blank file with that name into a directory (or root directory) causes the STOCK GALLERY to skip over the folder. So, if you are like me and have some naughty pics of your g/f, ALBUM COVERS, or other misc pics you dont want to see in the gallery; drop that little file in there and it will skip it.
Another way to accomplish this is to stick a . in front of the folder name. If you have a folder called "Pr0n" change it to ".Pr0n". This will do the same thing as the nomedia, however some apps/file explorers cannot see these guys as this is the "hidden attribute" for the folder.
The problem with the Atrix, and other devices that have custom galleries, is they scan EVERYTHING. You can place nomedia files in, periods, anything, they still come parading in to the gallery. "What the hell can I do", you ask? Well, we put in a nice new gallery.
Gallery3d.APK:
Ok, so I have attached the AOSP type of gallery from CM7. I think I "heard" some place that the CM7 gallery is tweaked a little, however I didnt notice any differences. So, download and install as normal, sideload it, whatever. Once its on, you are good to go. The only problem, if you freeze the 2.3.4 gallery from Moto, the camera app wont pull your pics. Everything in the cam still works as far as functionality to take pics. The problem is when/if you click on the small pic in the corner of the view finder(your gallery), it will give some error about "No gallery installed". I'm sure there is a way around this, but for now I just have both installed and use only the 3D gallery. Using LauncherPro I hid the other icon to keep "phone handlers" from going through my UBER gallery when they pick up my phone to play with it. This way I get the nice gallery3d, but still get the full sharing functionality of the moto gallery should I want to share straight from my camera.
There you have it. I have given you the the gallery apk, pros and cons, and how to hide folders. Knock yourselves out. OH! If you happen to get the cam to work with the 3D instead 2.3.4, please post a how to in here as well.
Recently I have been working to get my homescreens a little cleaner. I started using a tool called DesktopVisualizer. It allows for "Tiles" or "Icons" to be placed as shortcuts instead of the icons you normally use. It allows for a cleaned up WP7 look. The one major drawback is you have to download "tile packs" or make them yourself. The app is great, but the problem is in our gallery app.
OUR STOCK GALLERY SCANS AND LOADS ALL THE 300+ TILES/ICONS IN TO MY GALLERY! I could not stand this! I started looking into how to hide stuff from the media gallery.
Hiding Folders: "." Folders and ".nomedia" Files:
Turns out they built a neat function into android that allows for hiding things from the gallery: a .nomedia file. Placing a blank file with that name into a directory (or root directory) causes the STOCK GALLERY to skip over the folder. So, if you are like me and have some naughty pics of your g/f, ALBUM COVERS, or other misc pics you dont want to see in the gallery; drop that little file in there and it will skip it.
Another way to accomplish this is to stick a . in front of the folder name. If you have a folder called "Pr0n" change it to ".Pr0n". This will do the same thing as the nomedia, however some apps/file explorers cannot see these guys as this is the "hidden attribute" for the folder.
The problem with the Atrix, and other devices that have custom galleries, is they scan EVERYTHING. You can place nomedia files in, periods, anything, they still come parading in to the gallery. "What the hell can I do", you ask? Well, we put in a nice new gallery.
Gallery3d.APK:
Ok, so I have attached the AOSP type of gallery from CM7. I think I "heard" some place that the CM7 gallery is tweaked a little, however I didnt notice any differences. So, download and install as normal, sideload it, whatever. Once its on, you are good to go. The only problem, if you freeze the 2.3.4 gallery from Moto, the camera app wont pull your pics. Everything in the cam still works as far as functionality to take pics. The problem is when/if you click on the small pic in the corner of the view finder(your gallery), it will give some error about "No gallery installed". I'm sure there is a way around this, but for now I just have both installed and use only the 3D gallery. Using LauncherPro I hid the other icon to keep "phone handlers" from going through my UBER gallery when they pick up my phone to play with it. This way I get the nice gallery3d, but still get the full sharing functionality of the moto gallery should I want to share straight from my camera.
There you have it. I have given you the the gallery apk, pros and cons, and how to hide folders. Knock yourselves out. OH! If you happen to get the cam to work with the 3D instead 2.3.4, please post a how to in here as well.
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