CM7 Rookie: Help me make it Wife-Usable

spedinfargo · 07-10-2011, 03:50 PM

Just picked up a Nook Color for my wife because I knew it would be an awesome little tablet for her. Of course I also wanted to root it so I could get her set up with better apps, etc.

A couple of questions:

1) What's the best way to make this a very usable Nook Reader while keeping it in CM7? The dual-boot thing isn't really an option - I don't want to have her mess with that. Do people just download the Nook android app? Does this work with things like the Read To Me books and other kids apps you can buy from B&N? What about being able to see her bookshelf, etc? There are some things from the unrooted (un-CM7'd) Nook Color that are nice for a non-Android person.

2) What is a good launcher or theme for me to install for her? She hasn't used the stock Nook Color very much yet so she's not too hooked on how it looks and feels, but I can tell for sure that she'll be as intimidated as hell by the way CM7 looks and feels right out of the box. Any ideas on how to make this thing... pretty? More easy to use?

Thanks for any answers to the rook questions...

jasoraso · 07-11-2011, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spedinfargo

Just picked up a Nook Color for my wife because I knew it would be an awesome little tablet for her. Of course I also wanted to root it so I could get her set up with better apps, etc.

A couple of questions:

1) What's the best way to make this a very usable Nook Reader while keeping it in CM7? The dual-boot thing isn't really an option - I don't want to have her mess with that. Do people just download the Nook android app? Does this work with things like the Read To Me books and other kids apps you can buy from B&N? What about being able to see her bookshelf, etc? There are some things from the unrooted (un-CM7'd) Nook Color that are nice for a non-Android person.

The "read to me" children's books are NOT supported in the Android Nook app. Lame. The iOS (apple) nook app has been updated to support them, but not the Android app. Lame. It has been updated to support magazines.

Otherwise, the Nook app for Android works very well. Some people actually prefer it to the customized nook app that comes on the NC. I believe it has more options for fonts etc, supports landscape mode (which the NC B&N app doesn't do), and can even have animated pages turns, if you are into that sort of thing.

The Nook for Android app doesn't have as much support for shelves etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by spedinfargo

2) What is a good launcher or theme for me to install for her? She hasn't used the stock Nook Color very much yet so she's not too hooked on how it looks and feels, but I can tell for sure that she'll be as intimidated as hell by the way CM7 looks and feels right out of the box. Any ideas on how to make this thing... pretty? More easy to use?

Thanks for any answers to the rook questions...

You might try the honeycomb theme on CM7 (I haven't tried it).

If you get the file types registered right, you can also put shortcuts to the books she is reading straight on the desktop.

You also may want to download "lcd density" and play around with different screen densities. The default is 161. A density of 181 gives a little bigger icons, w/o messing up the overall scheme. An even bigger density (201 or 220) will give even bigger icons, but may mess up the bottom bar.

taosaur · 07-12-2011, 03:29 PM

As jaso said, if the "read to me" function is important to you, you may want to consider something like rooting the stock OS, though there's every possibility it will be included in a future version of the app (the fairly recent inclusion of magazines suggests to me that eventually it will).

I can't say I've explored a lot of launchers and themes, but there's quite a bit that can be done to prettify and simplify the ADWLauncher that comes loaded on CM7. The simplest is, change the wallpaper. The rippling water live wallpaper that comes with CM7 is very soothing.

Next, remove almost everything from the main home screen. A time-and-weather widget and a link to one reader (I like Aldiko) is about all you need. You might include a Wi-Fi toggle widget if you think the notifications bar will be too much for her.

Drag more relevant apps onto the dockbar, and play with the dockbar settings to get the behavior you think will work best for her.

Set up the home screen to the left with a grouping of social/web shortcuts like Facebook, Gmail, Gmaps, and bookmarks to her favorite news/gossip/etc sites. For Facebook, just make a browser bookmark shortcut and edit it with the Facebook icon--the actual site is a lot more usable than any of the apps. I would make a separate grouping on this home screen for web stores like the Nook and Kindle apps, the Amazon app store, and the Android market.

On the home screen to the right, group shortcuts for the video player, audio player, picture gallery, and downloads folder (in case she downloads any files from the browser), as well as any streaming or media discovery services she uses. In a separate grouping on the same screen, set up shortcuts to any games she likes.

Even with the farthest right and left screens blank, your home screens should have more open space in the middle than space taken up by shortcuts.

In the category of un-F***ing it before she A's the Q:

*Find a browser you think she'll like and set up a desktop User Agent to prevent her getting directed to mobile sites.

*Set up the Nook Tweaks app to improve the audio output.

*Break it in: follow all your shortcuts to make sure defaults are set up properly, accounts are registered, and settings are right.

Hopefully that gives you some ideas.

07-10-2011, 03:50 PM	#1
spedinfargo Groupie Posts: 155 Karma: 106422 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: none	CM7 Rookie: Help me make it Wife-Usable Just picked up a Nook Color for my wife because I knew it would be an awesome little tablet for her. Of course I also wanted to root it so I could get her set up with better apps, etc. A couple of questions: 1) What's the best way to make this a very usable Nook Reader while keeping it in CM7? The dual-boot thing isn't really an option - I don't want to have her mess with that. Do people just download the Nook android app? Does this work with things like the Read To Me books and other kids apps you can buy from B&N? What about being able to see her bookshelf, etc? There are some things from the unrooted (un-CM7'd) Nook Color that are nice for a non-Android person. 2) What is a good launcher or theme for me to install for her? She hasn't used the stock Nook Color very much yet so she's not too hooked on how it looks and feels, but I can tell for sure that she'll be as intimidated as hell by the way CM7 looks and feels right out of the box. Any ideas on how to make this thing... pretty? More easy to use? Thanks for any answers to the rook questions...

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07-12-2011, 03:29 PM	#3
taosaur intelligent posterior Posts: 1,562 Karma: 21295618 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Ohiopolis Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2, Samsung S8, Lenovo Tab 3 Pro	As jaso said, if the "read to me" function is important to you, you may want to consider something like rooting the stock OS, though there's every possibility it will be included in a future version of the app (the fairly recent inclusion of magazines suggests to me that eventually it will). I can't say I've explored a lot of launchers and themes, but there's quite a bit that can be done to prettify and simplify the ADWLauncher that comes loaded on CM7. The simplest is, change the wallpaper. The rippling water live wallpaper that comes with CM7 is very soothing. Next, remove almost everything from the main home screen. A time-and-weather widget and a link to one reader (I like Aldiko) is about all you need. You might include a Wi-Fi toggle widget if you think the notifications bar will be too much for her. Drag more relevant apps onto the dockbar, and play with the dockbar settings to get the behavior you think will work best for her. Set up the home screen to the left with a grouping of social/web shortcuts like Facebook, Gmail, Gmaps, and bookmarks to her favorite news/gossip/etc sites. For Facebook, just make a browser bookmark shortcut and edit it with the Facebook icon--the actual site is a lot more usable than any of the apps. I would make a separate grouping on this home screen for web stores like the Nook and Kindle apps, the Amazon app store, and the Android market. On the home screen to the right, group shortcuts for the video player, audio player, picture gallery, and downloads folder (in case she downloads any files from the browser), as well as any streaming or media discovery services she uses. In a separate grouping on the same screen, set up shortcuts to any games she likes. Even with the farthest right and left screens blank, your home screens should have more open space in the middle than space taken up by shortcuts. In the category of un-F**ing it before she A's the Q: Find a browser you think she'll like and set up a desktop User Agent to prevent her getting directed to mobile sites. Set up the Nook Tweaks app to improve the audio output. Break it in: follow all your shortcuts to make sure defaults are set up properly, accounts are registered, and settings are right. Hopefully that gives you some ideas.

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