How to customize your Android phone
A while back when I first got my HTC Inspire, I shared with you all some of my favorite free apps for customizing your Android phone. But to be fair, that post was written shortly after I received my phone, so I haven’t really gotten the hang of everything yet (it helped that I did some research before hand though 
). But after almost 5 months, here is a more in-depth post on customizing your droid, as well as an updated peak at my phone 
from left to right: lockscreen - homescreen #1 - homescreen #2 - homescreen #3
You don’t have to root your phone to achieve this look
I thought rooting was the only way to go before, and while it certainly has its benefits, there are also risks1. But the truth is, with a custom launcher, a pretty wallpaper, some nifty widgets, a set of sleek looking icons, and a sense of design, your phone can look like it’s running a custom rom
You don’t have to spend big $$$ either
Asides from 2 of my apps/widgets, everything else was free. Even the ones that were paid, they were only around $2 each? You just really have to look around and you’d be surprised at what you can find for free. Some places I like to frequent are the Android Market and xdaDevelopers forum. You can find all sorts of Android related information and goodies there c: Wallbase and Smashing Magazine’s monthly calendars are good places to find quality wallpapers for your screen. As for icons, try various design blogs or this post from xdaDevelopers
Check out other screens for inspiration
I love visiting MyColorscreen to see how others customize their droids. What’s great about this site is that they often list out exactly which widgets they used, as well as a link to their wallpaper. That’s how I found out about a lot of the widgets I use on my current screen. I also downloaded some really nice wallpapers from there
If you’re interested, you can find a full list of the widgets/apps I currently use to create the above look via my MyColorscreen2. But here are a list of apps/widgets I recommend for anyone who’s interested in giving their Droid a new look:
- GO Launcher EX – Customize the overall look of your phone using different themes, or create a completely customized look with your own icons and wallpaper. Also allows for custom fonts!
- SwitchPro Widget ($0.99)- Adds a widget so you can turn on or off your wifi, bluetooth, etc right from your home screen. There are other free options out there, but I think this one looks the best
- WidgetLocker Lockscreen ($1.99) – Allows you to customize the look of your lockscreen. xdaDevelopers has a very nice collection of themes you can use with this app
- GO SMS Pro – Replaces the default text messaging app using different themes, or create your own theme from scratch.
- Minimalistic Text – Allows you to create text-based date/weather/time/etc. widgets.
- mClock – A time/date widget that allows for custom skins via XML.
- Executive Assistant – This is nice for those who want to use their phone as a personal planner. It syncs with your apps to lists out your daily agenda, to-do list, unread emails, new texts, etc. You can also use it to display your Twitter or RSS feed!
- Fancy Widgets – Really nice looking weather and clock widget that is also highly customizable.
- SiMi Clock Widget – Another clock/date/weather/battery/etc widget. Highly customizable.
You may notice that some of these are repeats from my previous post, which just means that 5 months later, I still think they’re awesome Some of the previously listed apps are also missing, which isn’t to say they suck, it’s just that after 5 months of usage, I don’t think they’re actually that great. Finally, to prove my point that xdaDeveloper is really a treasure chest of Droid goodness, here’s a comprehensive post on commonly used widgets
Happy customizing and and to everyone who’s celebrating Thanksgiving, an early happy Thanksgiving! Eat lots and shop lots!Error processing request
