New & Upcoming in Homebrew: Active Home Screen, an App Installer, & a Fart App 45

by Dieter Bohn Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:25 pm EDT

We have some really good rumblings in the Homebrew scene. The most exciting is that forum member greg_roll is currently rolling up a desktop installer for Windows for installing apps directly. It's on version 0.8 now and coming along quite well. You'll still need to put your Pre into Developer mode to use it, but stay tuned as this one progresses. Also notable, dhMassacre has adapted greg_roll's app so it has a full Graphical User Interface.

Also progressing: Active Home Screen for the Pre. Forum member mapara, like many of us, wished the Pre had a Today Screen like Windows Mobile and Android. So he's started putting one together. There are currently Weather and News Widgets, links to apps, and a small Task widget working. This is still alpha, so no downloads yet, but the idea of making an app/card into a homescreen with its own widgets doesn't seem to shabby.

Finally, yes folks, there is now a Fart App for the Palm Pre in the Homebrew forums. If nothing else, it's yet another milestone in the Pre's trek towards completing the necessary steps of all new smartphones: Getting Rooted, Running Doom, Running Apache, Running a NES or MAME Emulator, and now the Fart App.

Catch some screenshots of Active Home Screen after the break! Update: We gave ya a screenshot of PreBrewFarts too.

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Apps

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45 Comments

Posted by jwdesselle on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:41 am EDT

All of this is so super sweet. Any ideas of what Palm/Sprint are waiting on to open up the Apps Catalog?

Posted by jonyah on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:45 am EDT

I think it's the lack of ecommerce for the app store. They don't have that ready to go, so it will hinder apps anyway until people can charge for them. Probably also waiting to open the sdk wide (I got my invite this last weekend, woohoo).

Posted by jonyah on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:43 am EDT

Wow, that active desktop looks awesome. Can't wait to get it available to install. I also like the ability to have more icons in the wave bar

Posted by lldsandsll on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:55 am EDT

active home screen isnt actually the home screen huh?

i would rather it be my home screen, not an app card.

Posted by theChrisLake on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:57 am EDT

I agree.

Posted by a dumb cat on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:59 am EDT

Does this desktop installer mean that we will no longer need to download/use the Mojo SDK? I am a noob when it comes to programming and sdk mumbo jumbo, and am afraid of messing with my Pre too much.

Can someone please clarify?

Posted by sacherjj on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 1:07 pm EDT

Yes. With the installer, all you will have to do is get into Developer mode on the Pre.

Posted by PreFix on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:59 am EDT

Outstanding work. This app looks absolutely incredible.

@lldsandsll I hear what you're saying, and I totally agree, but this is a GREAT start.

Posted by lldsandsll on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 1:54 pm EDT

agreed, wholeheartedly

Posted by arch3d on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:28 pm EDT

FINALLY, a fart app! I will be able to fart back at the iPhone! haha

Posted by Joad on Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:52 am EDT

Wow, a fart application. THAT's innovation. Now I can truly see (smell!) that PalmOS 5 doesn't live up to the beauty of WebOS...

Posted by Joad on Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:54 am EDT

I finally jailbroke my iTouch and have never looked back. You can either play in the playpen or take the risks to walk outside.

Posted by luigidk on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 1:37 pm EDT

Wow - the Active Desktop would be GREAT.... Wonder why WEBOS doesn't include it already? What else would be great would be to show the Active Desktop while 'docked' on my Touchstone!
I just love walking by my Pre while 'docked' and seeing any notifications and the time - but an active desktop would be even better!

Posted by Predator-1 on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 1:41 pm EDT

This thing is gonna be a BEAST in a couple of months! Patience everyone... The apps are coming. It's articles like this one that makes waiting all the more difficult but we see where things are headed. That home screen is gonna be the bizzness!!!

Posted by Joad on Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:57 am EDT

Yup, in 1-2 years WebOS should be ready for prime time.

Posted by lldsandsll on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 1:56 pm EDT

this made me realize how much i hate the fact that the desktop on this phone isnt really a desktop at all. even android has a real desktop.

this is making the iphone look dinosauric

Posted by ldudiaz on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 1:59 pm EDT

Cant wait for this thing to be available

Posted by gmleonar on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 2:32 pm EDT

so i understand that this is going to be a sweet azz application, however from what ive read its only going to be an application, and its not going to be something thats running full time? cuz when i overlooked this at first, it seemed as though this was going to be a program that would, how would i say this, "replace" the basic look of the operating system now on the phone... if anyone understands what im trying to say here...

Posted by Loogie on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 3:24 pm EDT

Man, I am SO pumped that the homebrew guys are brewing up such AWESOME apps! The waiting is painful, but this is EXACTLY why I went with the Pre over the iPhone. I love the ingenuity that the boutique programmers bring to the fold. Keep it up guys! You will be a big part of the success of this platform.
I'd rather wait for Palm to get the SDK right and have it be very successful than to rush it and bugger it up. You never get a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression!

Posted by redalert825 on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 3:56 pm EDT

looks nice, but the AHS screens look photoshopped. notice the wifi n reception bars fluctuate while the clock hasnt moved a minute. and the news ticker is in the same spot in screenshot 1 and 3. hmmm great concept tho.

Posted by chodaboy on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 4:57 pm EDT

The reception bar "fluctuation" lends credibility IMHO. Sure looks more like how my Pre behaves.

Posted by chodaboy on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 4:58 pm EDT

Should be "doesn't seem too shabby".

Posted by Ejaculatio Precox on Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:34 pm EDT

It's called design mockup, retard

Posted by iNime on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 5:43 pm EDT

This is a great idea, however, this seems redundant and is losing the point of the WebOS navigation / presentation layer all together. This will no doubt suck up a fair amount of memory and is in a sense a step backward from what WebOS is trying to bring to the table.

For weather, i just leave my accuweather card out, same for tasks, and any other app. You don't have to close your apps immediately all the time, leave em open, that's what multitasking is for ;)

When memory starts running low, one can kill off in individual app vs having to close the whole thing.

I would not want this to be part of the main desktop. What would be nice is if more apps started taking heavy advantage of the notification and dashboard features.

That said, however, great work and looking forward to seeing the process on this one.

Posted by TeckieGirl40 on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 6:01 pm EDT

this looks wonderful!!! but there is more coming and it going to make some of the competitors very sad. we have eome very talented folks out there. its only 2 more weeks :)

Posted by redalert825 on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 6:12 pm EDT

i wonder how much he has received from donations?? does the money get returned if the app never rolls out? makes me want to fake an app n ask for donations. =]

Posted by zexhexinferno on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 7:27 pm EDT

can there be a possibility of making like a Jailbreaker type for the Palm Pre like for the iPhones??

Posted by Stingray821 on Tue, 14 Jul 2009 3:37 pm EDT

This looks awesome guys. Great work!

Posted by 24kgem on Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:29 am EDT

Love the HomeBre Crew! Keep it up! Can't wait for this to be a reality!!!