Yay! :D (hacked phone needed, for a summary in how to do it, scroll to the bottom of the post :P)

After a lot (a lot!) of trial and error, I finally figured out a way to get a Games folder with the proper icon on the 5800′s menu. It was a battle of googling, extracting then compressing files, messing with .svgs that do not open in computers and more.

It all started with Flahorn’s latest theme. Flahorn, being the awesome guy he is, created an icon set that follows the Ovi icons styling for use on S60v3 themes, and it included the Games icon. I installed it to see how it would look on my 5800, and editing the skin_id (I visited this before, wow that post is outdated!) for a folder that I created to a s60v3′s games folder id, the icon appeared.

But I didn’t want to use a theme to see the pretty icon, and if OPDA’s menueditor could change the icon, there should be a way! Using SisXplorer from Symbian Toys, I got to the .mif file inside the theme, and the packed .svgs. Of course the svgs are compressed (or maybe that’s just how SVG tiny works), so trying to view them in my computer didn’t work. I unpacked and sent all the 1000+ svgs to my phone, and it could open them!

I found the Games icon .svg there (try transfering it to your phone if you want to view it), but I can’t link appshelldata.xml to a .svg, only to .mifs. Found a Forum Nokia page explaining how to pack a .svg to a .mif.

But that wasn’t the end of it, to properly point the menu app to the right icon, you have to know the icon_id to fill in the appshelldata.xml. I tried lots of values, but no one worked. Finally, after a couple different searches, I learned that the first svg always has the icon_id set to 16384 (random value much?) in a Forum Nokia thread.

With that, I had my icon packed in a .mif, and all the values I needed. So my appshelldata.xml looked like this:

<appshell:folder positioned=”1″ title_name=”Games” long_name=”Games” short_name=”Games” applicationgroup_name=”games” icon_file=”C:\System\Games.mif” icon_id=”16384″ mask_id=”16385″ icon_skin_major_id=”101F86E3″ icon_skin_minor_id=”1977″/>

I threw the .mif in C:/System, and set the skin_ids to the games folder value so that they’ll change with themes. Uploaded the appshelldata, and it worked!

So, in conclusion, get this .mif, transfer it to somewhere safe on your phone, and edit your appshelldata.xml (found in C:\Private\101F4CD2\Content\). Copy and paste the block quote above to .xml, right after a “</appshell:folder>”, just changing the path to the .mif, reboot (or kill the Menu app) and presto! There’s your folder!

Yay another 400~ post about folders~

From CJ’s E75 review, comes screenshots of the second S60 phone in the market with Ovi icons, and guess what? It does have a GPS folder that’s not an application and has the Maps app inside of it!

It doesn’t have the Positioning Settings icon, however, but I’m sure doing an app that’s simply a shortcut to the appropriate pane in the Settings app would be a doddle (pheer my brit. informal skills). So pleeeeease Nokia! :P

This morning Nokia Conversations released a new theme for older S60 phones that want the new Ovi icons look. Being the icon nut I am, I downloaded to see if there was any new icons that would come in a future firmware update for the 5800. In a quick look I found those 6 new icons (excuse me if I missed any). I like the “new” Music folder icon, as I wasn’t too keen on the reflection effect of the Album cover like one, it seemed a little forced.

It also fixes a couple 3d-ish Nseries icons, and the Video Centre icon (which I knew didn’t look right in the first place). Although I did not get the new Share Online icon, weird because it did appear on my N95. I’d also change the dict icon, as ABC doesn’t represent translation that well, maybe a stylized globe?

Shame the Music Folder and Games and GPS folder on my N95 wasn’t changed, I really don’t like that Nokia is moving away from folders, but then again, I never like the default menu order.

And at last, I’ll leave a shout out for the 6600, as its theme app let you use the icons of one theme with the graphics of another, a feature that was cut and never came back sadly. Best mention of this feature I could find: A thread on AAS about how to replicate it on later S60v2 phones.

Update: Just notice the ringtones included in the theme are the same one I found here. :P

So with a less than official v5 Sports Tracker out, I finally gave in and made a GPS folder. As we still don’t have a MenuEditor for V5, or a suitable .mif file with cool icons, it looks like the standard new folder icon. (example.)

But I noticed that the “Location” application, simply links to other applications. You can notice the “link” because of the screen flash you see, that doesn’t happen when switching views inside an app. It links to the known Landmarks and GPS data apps, and the positioning pane in the settings app (let’s ignore that the positioning settings’ icon is the same as landmarks’, it’ll probably get changed for a “map with wrench” icon soon enough).

So, what’s the use of making it an app? A folder with those icons would be much nicer, as it would give people like me an opportunity to customize it, and it wouldn’t be any different for people that don’t mess with the original menu layout (therefore, saying this is anti-clutter is not an answer)

If it was a folder, it would give me a nice link, and stop me from having two levels of GPS-related apps.

I think the reason behind it is political, people often complained about S60′s menu having too many icons and being too cluttered (fools!). S60 just clumped stuff together in apps, as if they left it in folders the licensees could (and would) mess with them. (*cough* Nokia and Samsung *cough*)

I say this approach kinda worked on the communication apps (bluetooth, usb, etc) as those had redundant panes on the Settings app. I still think they should have gone the other way around, dumping every communication related app from the settings app and having a separate “Comm. Settings” app, but, oh well.

But it wasn’t well realized on the GPS-related apps, as there is still a redundant Positioning Settings pane in the settings app (Settings>Phone>App. Sett. > Positioning). Plus the two level thing if you wanna have everything related in the same folder (like me).

Changing this would be incredibly easy (literally just adding a folder + icon and editing those apps so they show in the main menu), but it’s the kind of thing I don’t expect to see changed in a while. Maybe once the first Symbian Foundation powered UIs come along, but I bet Nokia has bigger things to worry about than menu organization.

btw, lol @ me for writing ~400 words about folders, again.

Just put this .txt (Save as) in C:\private\10202be9\ and reboot. It works!

From Nokioteca, via Daily Mobile

*picture 404′d*

Good looking huh? :P

S60 manages folders pretty badly in my opinion, when you create a new one, you can’t change it’s icon, and when you have a folder inside a folder (like the office folder in V20s firmware), you can’t move it to the main menu, which is bad in my opinion, since I like all my main folders in the main menu, but also like each one to have a special icon…

But then I remembered a little hack I used in the days of my Nokia 6600, to put folders inside folders , I only had to modify the process a little bit, here’s how:

First pretend the “folder” folder is you office folder, and you want to move it to the main menu, but there’s no “Move to folder” option on the left softkey , you have to start by setting up like the screenshot, the folder you want to move at the last place, and any app you can easily install and remove in the place before, in my case I chose the MovingBall app.

Now go, and uninstall MovingBall thru the app. manager, quickly press menu, go to the apps folder and press options above the MovingBall app:

Now wait, the MovingBall app is being uninstalled, when it finishes uninstalling, its icon will disappear from the menu , leaving the folder hi-lighted, and the “Move to folder” option still available in the options!

And voila! Just move the folder!

And again, we shouldn’t have to use this method for moving folders , S60 should have this option right from the start, even better, they should allow changing folder icons, if BlackBerry OS can do it…

Update: Motorola can do it.