Root CM7 vs. Sense roms

[MikeAce00]

So I'm coming over from a DX and have no experience with Cyanogenmod or Sense. I'm familiar with the basics of rooting & romming available to the X and am looking forward to the greater freedom on HTC.

The Thunderbolt will be my wifes phone which will limit my ability to experiment with it. Can somebody please share with me some of the differences between Sense roms and Cyanogenmod, maybe a list of pros and cons. I'm hoping some of this preliminary information will help me get on a slight fast track to setting up her phone in a way I think she'll enjoy the most.

Thanks Guys!

Mike

 

[yohobojo]

So I'm coming over from a DX and have no experience with Cyanogenmod or Sense. I'm familiar with the basics of rooting & romming available to the X and am looking forward to the greater freedom on HTC.

The Thunderbolt will be my wifes phone which will limit my ability to experiment with it. Can somebody please share with me some of the differences between Sense roms and Cyanogenmod, maybe a list of pros and cons. I'm hoping some of this preliminary information will help me get on a slight fast track to setting up her phone in a way I think she'll enjoy the most.

Thanks Guys!

Mike

Sense roms have sense on them while Cyanogenmod will have stock android experience

 

[MikeAce00]

Considering the growing community around this phone I thought I'd get more help than this... Perhaps my question is unclear... Or maybe you feel it can only be learned by experiencing each ROM...

I'm asking the question here because it seems like this is where the action is. Possibly this would help not just myself but other users new to HTC as well. If I'm wrong, I'll repost in the Dinc Forum where maybe I can get some answers from people who have experienced both Roms.

If my question was unclear, then please allow me to clarify.

People say they hate blur... Well it took me about 5 months to learn what Blur actually meant. I could now say I like the Blur Gallery and Blur Camera but generally dislike most of the Blur widgets. Even deciding what widget was Blur and what is AOSP took a while...

I'm trying to avoid or at least slim down that 5 month learning curve by learning from people here that have their own experiences they wouldn't mind sharing.

People seem to generally enjoy Sense... WHY? What does Sense have that is not native to AOSP?

Regarding CM7... I do not agree this is an AOSP experience. It has at least 6 custom features per their website--> http://www.cyanogenmod.com/about/features but I believe there is more.

I've looked at the video tour but I don't see a video--> http://www.youtube.com/cyanogenmod

So my question is what do you love about Cyanogen? Does it have better battery? Run smoother or quicker?

and my last question-

Is this a 1 or the other scenario? Or will CM7 keep some of the Sense features intact? (Similar to Apex and Blur for those of you familiar with the X)

 

[Papadroid]

Though you are correct that CM is not stock android yohobojo put it right. CM is a stock android experience. Yes they have added features to android but it's not a custom UI like Sense. The problem with UI's are that they typically slow a phone down and take longer to recieve updates because the UI has to be redesigned around the new software version. IMO what Sense offers over other UI's is their widgets. To me they are second to none. But there are many features in CM that I miss such as having certain settings in the notification pull down bar. I'm looking forward to trying all roms once they are available to see what run's best on my phone.

 

[LeoD]

There is another choice, some run what we call senseless. It is still a sense rom however they are stripped down versions. Usually increases speed and makes the rom run smoother. Really though so many here will tell you they like their roms one way or another it will probably leave you worse off from where you started. You did say this was for your wife to use though. In that case to make it easier for her and you I'd suggest staying away fro the AOSP roms. IMO they are more for techies that like to play and work around issues that usually pop up. Hope this gives u some needed insight. GL

 

[nateap87]

mmmm i miss the power widget in the pull down menu why did they put recents apps there? that's what holding down the home button does! However, if it's your wife's phone, don't mess with it! i feel bad for giving my gf my old rooted droid because it's very confusing. with the adw launcher and all. it's probably very overwhelming for her.

also i never realized how confusing android can be for some until she downloaded a hello kitty clock skin and was upset that she had to buy the main app that utilized said skin.

 

[WormDoes]

mmmm i miss the power widget in the pull down menu why did they put recents apps there? that's what holding down the home button does! However, if it's your wife's phone, don't mess with it! i feel bad for giving my gf my old rooted droid because it's very confusing. with the adw launcher and all. it's probably very overwhelming for her.

also i never realized how confusing android can be for some until she downloaded a hello kitty clock skin and was upset that she had to buy the main app that utilized said skin.

The power widget in the pulldown was a mod made by an xda member, it didn't come stock on android at any point. HTC thinks they are being creative by adding it, they are really very far behind. I'm sure said developer is busy at work recreating the power widgets as we speak.

AFA the clock skin, usually they say in the info section before downloading that you need x y or z installed before using the skin

 

[scotty85]

There is another choice, some run what we call senseless. It is still a sense rom however they are stripped down versions. Usually increases speed and makes the rom run smoother.

well,to say it is still a sense rom is not completely accurate-unless you just mean that roms are based on stock roms and frameworks. a truly "senseless" rom is missing the sense launcher/interface completely,requiring the use of a different home launcher like launcher pro or adw.

all other things may still look like sense- the icons,the menus,even the built in apps like messaging,contacts,etc. also all sense widgets will be missing.

personally the only sense widget i care for is the clock/weather widget,and there are ones in the market that come close enuff to satisfy me on that

 

[bjanow]

....

personally the only sense widget i care for is the clock/weather widget,and there are ones in the market that come close enuff to satisfy me on that

Yeah, me too. But Fancy Widget Pro did the trick even better than the sense one and the GB clock skin is perfect for me. Other than that there is really no reason to keep sense imo. Other than widgets and overhead what does sense give? I've yet to figure that out. I strip sense interface immediately with ADW EX anyway.