Let’s Take A Walk Through TF3D…The TP2 Edition!

A while back we took a walk through all of the tabs and features of TF3D. That was a detailed tab by tab explanation of how each tab works and the features of the tab (some of which aren’t obvious on its face). Now that we have the Touch Pro 2 port of TF3D I thought it was time to take another walk. This one will be less wordy and have more photos though. It’s really meant to show anyone who has not tried this out what it looks like and what features it has. At the end I’ll have a brief Q&A to answer the questions that have been repeatedly asked about this. So, let’s go.

The Home tab is just like the home we’ve always known, except like all of the tabs it now functions in landscape as well. You’ll notice in this landscape picture all of the tabs are visible and in the other tabs just a small tab in the lower left corner is visible – pressing the small tab brings up the entire tab so the tab is hidden when not needed thus providing more screen space or expanded when you need it.

The clock and alarm settings have been revised to be more finger friendly and you can see the tabs at the bottom of the clock page as well. By the way it includes the white ‘flipping’ clock that is animated.

Next up is the People tab – the tab that has undergone the largest facelift. As you can see, within favorites a single button dials mobile, work, sends an email or sends a text to that contact.

The left soft key brings up ‘all people’ and there are tabs for favorites and call history as well within that page.

If you select a contact (either a favorite from the main People tab by pressing their picture or by going through ‘all people’)  you go to that contacts card which has all of their information (and pressing on it leads to the function so pressing ‘call work’ begins a call, send emails begins an email to them, etc). Each contact also has a text messages tab that shows you threaded texts with that person (and you can write/send directly from that tab), an email tab with all of the emails with that person and a call log specific to that person. This gives you a lot more control and functionality with each contact and finding information (like that email that they sent you the other day) becomes a lot easier.

Next up is the Email tab that is similar to the traditional TF3D tab.

This is followed by the Messages tab (which are your text messages).

The Programs tab is up next.

And the left soft key is ‘All Programs’ which is a finger-friendly ‘flickable’ list.

Next up is the Calendar tab.

Any date with the gray triangle has an appointment and pressing it brings up the day view. It’s all really fast and has some nice animation when switching views.

The Internet tab comes next but the “Push Page” is not functional yet. There is a search bar located at top. I scrolled up a little in the first pick to show you the text that was lower down.

Stock tab is next up.

You can add additional stocks, rearrange stocks and see the details here.

The Picture tab is the same as the old TF3D.

Music is also the same.

Weather now gives you the 5-day forecast on the main screen.

And the Settings tab has been expanded to have additional settings.

Sound settings are now more functional

You can toggle the gsen, rearrange or turn off Tabs (it restarts TF3D which takes about 10 seconds) and you can modify My Contact Card which is also in your People tab. This lets you have a vCard on your phone you can easily send to others.

What else can I tell you about the new TF3D? Well I think it’s a lot faster and more responsive than the traditional TF3D but let’s get to the Q&A.

Q: What phones can this be used on?

A: Any version of the Touch Pro/Fuze or the Diamond

Q: Where is the latest version of TF3D located

A: Here

Q: Do I need a custom/cooked ROM to use this?

A: No. While it is recommended it is not required. In fact, I am NOT using a custom ROM and it’s flying. A clean ROM (one that was recently reinstalled) is recommended.

Q: Do I need a certain build of Windows Mobile? I hear a 21xx build is needed?

A: NO. I have tested this on both the stock and leaked AT&T Fuze ROMs and both work (those are builds 19xx and 20xx). Having a higher build lets you add a few other applications that were also ported (menu and notification enhancements) but those are not a part of TF3D and are not needed to run TF3D.

Q: I heard there are some files I can add to Windows that will make my phone act like a 21xx build so I can install everything – should I try them?

A: NO. I had to hard reset my stock Fuze ROM and the leaked Fuze ROM after trying that. It doesn’t work and I don’t recommend trying it and if you don’t know what I’m referring to that’s probably a good thing:)

Q: My weather tab doesn’t work; my text messages don’t send; the people tab crashes; I can’t change my contacts photos – what do I do?

A: These have all been fixed in the latest beta version of TF3D and cab’s are provided in the fourth posting for any individual problems. If your Programs tab soft keys get stuck take a look here for Showaco’s solution.

Q: I can’t get the ‘programs tab’ to show

A: Install the ‘no programs’ cab in the optional cabs folder that comes with the download and it will show it.

Q: Can I uninstall this if I don’t like it?

A: NO. You will need to hard reset if you don’t like it. BUT the better alternative is to back up everything on your phone first (Sprite backup is already on your phone) and if you do not like it just restore your phone to its previous state.

Q: Do I need to slide the keyboard open to rotate the screen in TF3D?

A: No. This will work for the Diamond which lacks a keyboard. Just use the gsen application we discussed here to enable rotation in any/all of your applications including this version of TF3D.

Q: Is this a final release?

A: No, there are still some tabs being worked on with resizing issues and some functionality issues but overall I think it’s a keeper. If you require perfection then don’t try this. If you want a faster and more functional user interface and are willing to have a few new toys but some features don’t work you may want to give it a whirl, but back up your phone before you do this.

Q: Are any other major items in the works?

A: Yes. In fact a FaceBook tab is in the works (see here)

Q: I’m not willing to part with my FuzeBerry theme – will it still work?

A: Mobile Matt has released a new version just for this version of TF3D which you can read about here.

Q: When will the final version be released?

A: When it’s ready:) This is an extraordinarily difficult project and the fact that XBoxMod and his team even attempted it is amazing. They have been releasing incremental updates and we will continue to post major updates to the site.

Q: Can I install this to my storage card?

A: No. It will install to main memory and it takes up quit a bit so clear out some room (remove the bloat if needed) but by most accounts it’s worth it.

Q: Will it slow down my phone?

A: From my experiences I have no slowdowns at all and in fact I think everything is running better now. Not sure if it’s in my head but I haven’t had any stability issues since installing this or battery life issues and the in-use memory doesn’t seem to be impacted at all. The start-up time of TF3D seems reduced as well.

Q: I have a question about TF3D – where should I ask it?

A: Well you can always join in on the frenzy over at XDA or you can just jump onto our forums. I think all of us upgraded to this version of TF3D and we have different ROM’s so we can probably help you out or at least point you in the right directions. You can join us in this thread.

Q: Is it really that good?

A: This is a full user interface (unlike the user interfaces that are merely application launchers that some phones call a user interface). It’s fast, sleek and works well and really improves the ease of communications and everything you care about is just a flick away. Emailingtextingcalling has been simplified by enhancing the contacts management and finally it’s finger friendly and anyone can pick it up and learn to use it in minutes. It’s either that or I drank too much of the Kool-Aid:)

Q: The people who are porting these have spent a lot of time- can I support them?

A: Yes. They have a link (here) for donations. We are not in any way affiliated with them nor do we benefit from them. I just think they’ve worked really hard on this so a few dollars seems fair for extending the usefulness and life of my Fuze.