HTC Sense UI for tablets Walkthrough

Introduction:

Taking_ pride in producing a myriad of memorable looking smartphones and _continuing to set the bar high for itself, there’s no kidding that HTC’s_ brand recognition is esteemed highly throughout the industry. Some _would tend to agree that they’re regarded as being a top-notch _manufacturer in producing beautiful looking handsets, while others argue_ that they’re actually making more waves with their customized mobile _experiences. From their humble beginnings with their TouchFLO interface _running on top of Windows Mobile 6.1 to their latest Sense UI iteration,_ we’ve witnessed the evolution of their recognizable interface, but now _it seems to come around full circle with their tablet experience on the HTC Flyer. With that in mind, let’s place our attention on how HTC attacks the new product medium with its Sense UI for tablets.

Home screen, main menu and visuals:

At_ its core, Sense for tablets adopts most of the fundamental _characteristics and functionality that we’ve seen in use with previous _iterations of the customized experience – meaning, it’s distinguishably _Sense from the onset. However, there are plenty of eye-catching visuals,_ transitions, and 3D effects employed throughout it that truly highlight_ its polished form. In reality, the resemblance is undeniably familiar _to any other Sense device we’ve checked out, but the evolutionary _improvements help its presentation look and feel as though it’s _refreshingly new.

Luckily, the homescreen is_ well established to work in either portrait or landscape, but it _doesn’t look too different on the surface when it’s primarily used in _portrait. Meanwhile, landscape mode allows you to view some of the other_ nearby homescreen panels – with other panels appearing to be _translucent in the background. Furthermore, the 7 available homescreens _are positioned in a circular carousel, which is evident when you quickly_ execute a swipe gesture that makes the entire thing spin aggressively. _Adding more eye candy, most of the HTC widgets boast_ this layered 3D look as you swipe a panel towards the main one. _Naturally, these subtle graphical elements add a lot to the polished _form of the interface.

Executing a pinch gesture on the homescreen, we’re instantly presented with helicopter view that_ displays all the homescreen panels simultaneously – thus allowing you _to instantly jump into a particular one or rearrange them to your _liking. At the bottom edge of the interface is the dock that_ houses things like the app panel and personalization buttons, which _also surrounds three others that can be modified to your specification.


Getting into the app panel,_ icons are laid out in their general grid-like formation, but _highlighting a specific tab at the bottom left of the panel categorizes _items to things that are used most frequent and ones that are _downloaded.


Frankly, one of the other special highlights about the interface is the fact we’re treated to a modified lock screen that_ does more than what you’d expect. Specifically, the weather animation _commences and ultimately shows us some pertinent information like _temperature and condition. Also, you can instantly jump into any of the _four preset applications by essentially dragging and dropping them into _the ring.


Personalization has_ always been a core strength of Android as a whole, especially when _widgets seemingly beautify the interface, but Sense kicks it up a notch _by implementing various services to its set of widgets. Relying on the _ones offered by HTC, they now encompass the full area of a homescreen  _page as opposed to taking up a finite amount of space. Obviously, the _beauty in it all is that they still offer the usefulness of any widget, _but in addition to that, there is a uniform approach to their design _that makes everything seem so consistent with one another.