AppleBerry 2.0 - Coming Soon! Preview below. 1/28/2010
Hey all, so as you are all probably aware, I have been working on a new version of AppleBerry for a few months and will be promoting it to version 2.0. This update will not be free, but previous users (including those who donated originally) are eligible to get the update for $3 directly from MobiHand.
Customers who purchased
on or after January 17th, 2010 will be eligible for a free upgrade to version 2.0
Release Date: January 31st, 2010 Product Tour - AppleBerry Theme Suite 2.0 - Storm 1 / 2
AppleBerry 2.0 is not designed to be a "revolutionary" upgrade from the original. AppleBerry has been so successful because it was designed with ease of use in mind, and this update is mostly cosmetic, although there has been much work done behind the scenes. I didn't want to alienate loyal users with major changes, so instead I made things more consistent, sharper, clearer, and more vibrant right across the board. The end result is what I believe to be the cleanest and most polished theme on the BlackBerry platform, period.
Starting with the homescreen, you will see that the basic functionality of AppleBerry remains very similar to the original. Stacks is here to stay, this time around the icons have been reduced by 9% in size to accommodate the significantly larger date and time when compared to AppleBerry Glass. I made sure to include the Profiles icon in the banner as well. Again, this update is designed to improve usability so that you can access what matters quickly. By popular demand, I have implemented the "blue ring" highlight feature on the dock. This was extremely popular on AppleBerry Dark, so I wanted to make sure it was here for 2.0.
You can see when an icon is highlighted that a mouse cursor appears over the icon, this is the case for any icon in the Stack. There will be no doubt in your mind as to whether or not the desired icon is highlighted, even third party icons.
The Profile icons have all been updated, I kept the traditional volume indicators on the profile icons so that you don't have to adjust if you're coming from the default theme. Volume is important on your device, so it's important that you can quickly glance at your homescreen and know whether you're going to disrupt that important meeting, lecture, or funeral. =P
Navigating from the homescreen to the application screen results in a "slide" transition from the right. In fact, the transitions were designed to be rather logical. Going from the homescreen, to the application menu, to your messages folder, and to a message results in the screen sliding from the right to the left each time. Going back results in the screen sliding from the left to the right each time. The end result is very user friendly, quick, and fun. The animation is very smooth on the Storm 2, and there will be a version for the Storm 1 without transitions for those worried about lag.
The application screen has been cleaned up, the top bar is consistent throughout the theme, you can see the "alarm" indicator beside the time. In addition, I have increased the vibrancy and sharpness of these icons by roughly 25%, they really look fantastic on the Storm. And yes, finally, the folder icons are skinned by default, and are all uniquely identifiable without having to read the title underneath. Virtually ever icon in version 2.0 has been updated, including the games, even Word Mole.
This gives you a good idea of what the menu looks like, I brought back the popular pinstripes and cleaned up the menu's a bit. The highlight graphic is crisp and clean, good for long term use. The menu will slide upwards (transitions) when you press the BlackBerry hardware key.
Here you can see the new dialog boxes that I have designed. I realize they're extremely similar to the original AppleBerry dialog boxes, but I assure you they were built pixel by pixel and are much cleaner this time around. The buttons are obviously a huge improvement as well. They are a lot more "gel" like, and light up to a more aqua blue when they are being clicked. I increased the size of the buttons by about 10% in physical size so that they are more finger friendly.
The lockscreen is gorgeous, a nice big reflective lock greets you as it sits on the same dock that your icons once did on your homescreen. Lots of room for a security message as well, although it is not shown there.
This is the landscape homescreen, a new feature for version 2.0. There are some limitations to having a landscape homescreen, the biggest of which is my inability to add another SVG file without causing bugs on the Storm 2 with the latest OS. As a result, the landscape homescreen does not feature Stacks, although I do have a version waiting in the wings should the situation ever improve.
You can also see the customized notifications in this screenshot. I have superimposed them in this instance, whereas normally they would have the number indicating how many of each message you have. Very crisp and clean, I was hesitant to get rid of the default notification icons but I believe these are much nicer.
This is the application menu in landscape, pretty self explanatory. (=
Again, self explanatory. The landscape lockscreen!
So that's it for now, I haven't decided exactly how many versions I will be releasing as part of the suite, but expect the usual abundance of choices.
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