Root any benefits to de-sensing?

[scotty85]

Hey man, just thought I'd ask your opinion on something since you are also using Newts one xxx. I'm liking the ROM and have mostly sorted out my power issues, but I have one thing nagging at my mind. I don't use the sense launcher so it is listed as a cached background app in manage apps. Do you think that uses any battery? And what does it mean to desense? Is it just ROMS with htc launcher and widgets/apps removed, or does it also re-skin the device back to AOSP?

The reason I ask is I wonder whether I would get any significant power savings trying out a senseless ROM or not. I know it must seem like I'm harping on battery, but I use my phone for work as a newspaper reporter and can't afford to have my battery dying when I don't have access to the charger. I may just keep newts and spring for the 1920 maH battery. Don't want the 4000 maH "Godzilla" battery, LOL.

i honestly have no idea if the cached sensed launcher is contributing to extra battery drain. i dont believe so,or if it is,i wouldnt think it to be a significant amount. but i definatly could be wrong.

sense is htcs user interface. they pride themselves on it,as it gives users of htc devices a unique user experience,and it is more than just a skin,its pretty far woven into the rom. its not really possible to desense to a point that all you have left is google code.

to desense,means simply to remove as much of the sense ui as possible. the senseless roms that you see on xda are often also themed to look like AOSP,but you can desense your own roms by freezing/deleting things with titanium backup(or equivalent). you can remove the launcher and keyboard,as long as you have replacements installed. if you browse your phones file system with titanium,root explorer,youll see alot of different things that say "htc" in front of them. alot of them can be eliminated without issue,some are important to various phone function. if you wish to start slimming down your own rom,make sure you freez first to see if the absense of the frozen apps has any impact on anything else. after a couple days,go thru and delete frozen apps,freeze some more. doing it in small stages will make it easier to trouble shoot if you delete something you shouldnt along the way. also,its a good idea to make frequent backups. that can save you alot of hassle if things go haywire

this actually is what i typically do. ill repalce the launcher and keyboard,and start slimming down as much stuff as i can,with keeping certain things working. best example is my verizon. alot of senseless roms it doesnt work,so i try and keep the files needed for it(so i can see my 4 line minute useage).

alot of things like skins,wallpapers,etc,language files,etc. will slim down your rom.

the bigger the roms foot print in available memory,and the more complex the framework, the harder it will be for the rom to be fast and smooth. this why typically AOSP roms will work better once they are as functional and polished as factory roms.

the rezound,and other newer htc phones have a fair amount of ram,and do seem to run the big sense roms really well. its hard to say wether youd notice any substantial benefits from using a slimed down rom. id like to think so. make a backup,give it a shot you can always revert back to where you are if you dont like the results

 

[obscuro]

Thanks for the answer Scotty. I have frozen some more HTC stuff I don't use. Sharing my current main home screen as a tease to get GB ppl running an ICS Rom. Screen features Nova Launcher Prime, Fancy Widgets with MIUI inspired weather graphics. The two browsers in that folder are Chrome (yeah, the real deal: superfast with all kinds of screen effects ) and Boat Browser, which is pretty snazzy on ICS too and has flash.

Can't remember if that is an HTCsense.com wallpaper or a stock phone wallpaper. I have a collection of HD wallpapers bundled with premium phones that I will share here soon. Course its great to have good ol' Wallpaper Wizardrii to make those hd walls look awesome!

Why not follow one of scottys guides and install an ICS Rom today??

 

[obscuro]

My multimedia screen, perfect for showing off my Rezound's 720p, 325 dpi display

My system/tweaking home screen. Top widget is actually Power Controls from market, since I am going sense-free. Other widgets are Juice Defender (bottom left) and WiFi Manager from market.

And yes, I purposely changed the wallpaper between screens just to give them some variety.

 

[scotty85]

thanks for sharing. i especially like the multimedia screen