[HOW-TO] Honeycomb GUI on any ROM (stock, froyo, gingerbread)

dpakrr

Member
Feb 8, 2011
52
5
Personally I love the Honeycomb GUI. However, the Honeycomb ROM for the NOOK Color is still very laggy (even with the overclock and on the eMMC) and slightly unstable to be used as a daily driver. For those wanting the Honeycomb GUI on their non-honeycomb ROM, here is a simple guide which pretty much just involves downloading a whole bunch on apps from the Android Market.

Advantages:
- Honeycomb GUI!
- No lag (as almost all the ROMs apart from the Honeycomb one are lag free, with and without an overclock)

Disadvantages:
- Not the full honeycomb experience (no honeycomb lockscreen, limited to homescreen etc)
- No tablet apps. Having said that, follow this link for some great tablet apps ported from the notion-ink adam.
Notion Ink Apps ported for G-Tab any ROM (7 - apps + keyboard) (UPDATED) - xda-developers
And all the non-tablet apps I have tried so far (around 100) work full screen and look great, apart from an app called handyCalc.

Requirements (all to be downloaded via market:
- Honeycomb Wallpapers by GFX Android (Free)
- Honeycomb Clock Free by juliojs (Free)
- Optional: ADWLauncher EX for theme which includes Honeycomb Icons and Google Search (Paid launcher but free Honeycomb ADW Theme by GFX Android)
- Optional: Thumb Keyboard by Beansoft
- Optional: WidgetLocker Lockscreen

Directions:
Pretty straightfoward. If you don't want to spend any money, just get the wallpapers and the clock widget and align it the way you want on your homescreen. Have a play around by adding widgets etc to make it more Honeycomb like.

The ADWLauncherEX and theme give you a great set of icons and a nice Honeycomb like Google Search bar. Thumb Keyboard is a dream come true on tablets and way more intuitive than swiping on a 7" screen on landscape. It comes with a variety of themes including Honeycomb and different layouts including for 7" screens.

I am running Monster Rooted 1.1 and as you know the stock 1.1 has the status bar on the bottom which automatically gives it an Honeycomb like feel.

If you are on Nookie Froyo and want the status/notifications bar on the bottom, try this mod:
Status Bar Hack for Nookie-Froyo Updated: 3/26 - xda-developers

If you are on CM7 and want the bottom status bar, here you go:
[MOD][CM] Bottom status bar - updated 03/26 - xda-developers

If you are on any other rom apart from stock, you can easily download and choose Thumb Keyboard as your keyboard in Settings->Language and Input and enable it as your input method by holding down on an input box like a browser address bar etc.

If you are on stock, you have to download Thumb Keyboard. Make a backup using Titanium Backup or My Backups Pro. Move the backup to /system/app using Root Explorer or Astro. And then install the apk using NookColor Tools or direct through Root Explorer. Needs root.

WidgetLocker Lockscreen or anyother free lockscreen app should allow you to force the lockscreen to be in potrait or landscape, depending on how you want it (among other customization options)

Heres a screenshot from my Nook:
$screenshot_4.png

- Monster rooted Nook Color 1.1
- Honeycomb Clock Free by juliojs (middle)
- Honeycomb Wallpapers by GFX Android (Free)
- ADWLauncher EX with Honeycomb ADW Theme by GFX Android (for icons and Google Search bar on top left)
- Pulse Widget (large, to the left and right of the clock)

Please feel free to ask any questions :D
 
Last edited:

J515OP

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jan 6, 2011
5,172
899
Very nicely done. What are you using for the Android keys? I am guessing SoftKeys when you press the n button?
 

dpakrr

Member
Feb 8, 2011
52
5
@lschroeder - thanks mate!

Very nicely done. What are you using for the Android keys? I am guessing SoftKeys when you press the n button?

thanks man. lol i unistalled softkeys as soon as the rooting process finished. i dont like the thing on the screen you have to tap to bring up the keys. its tiny but still looks odd on the screen imo lol. i thought i could get away with using the keys on the stock nook status bar but it wasnt showing up in some apps like the nookcolor tools, so went ahead and installed button saviour. i like its UI as its barely noticeable.
 

J515OP

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jan 6, 2011
5,172
899
I looked for savior on the screen too but couldn't see the little arrow for it either. Did you map that to the home key?
 

dpakrr

Member
Feb 8, 2011
52
5
nah lol, got saviour just a few hours back. guide was done like a day back. i dont mind the saviour arrow but might just map it to the home key anyways :D

Edit: screens with button saviour

$screenshot_8.png$screenshot_9.png
 
Last edited:

RASTAVIPER

Member
Feb 21, 2011
329
21
How can I just get the nice icons of Button Saviour to my phiremod?
I dont need the rest of the HS.
 
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