SBSH Updates Facade - Now Supports Screen Rotation

[Mike Temporale]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.sbsh.net/press/index.php?page=facade13' target='_blank'>http://www.sbsh.net/press/index.php?page=facade13</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>&quot;SBSH Mobile Software announced today a new update for its best-selling Facade for Smartphone to version 1.3! SBSH Facade 1.3 brings new exciting features and improvements, including: changing orientation support to fully support all new device models, Automatic-implementation utility to implement installed plugins within Facade layout, new signal and battery temperature meters, fresh new layout and graphics including three different layout for your choice and much more! &quot;</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/500/spt/auto/1187633814.usr3.jpg" border="1" alt="" /></p><p>The gang over at SBSH have been hard at work on the latest update to Facade.&nbsp; The newest version of Facade adds support for rotating screens.&nbsp; Just like the screen you would find on the HTC Vox. Facade sells for $14.95, but it's currently on sale at our <a target="_blank" href="http://software.smartphonethoughts.com/product.asp?id=7010">affiliate store</a> for just $10.99.&nbsp; For those of you that already have Facade, you'll be happy to hear that the new version is a free upgrade to all Facade 1.x users. More upgrade details can be found <a target="_blank" href="http://forums.sbsh.net/index.php?showtopic=1677">here.</a> </p>

[gai-jin]

After upgrading, the default 'My Facade' home screen doesn't seem to work properly anymore. The background image is displayed square, filling the entire area from top to bottom, but leaving 1/4 of the screen empty on the right side. The items are in the right place, i.e. the number of SMS and emails, but the boxes that the items show up in are too far left.

Is anyone else experiencing this?

The Green and Blue facade themes work fine.

[amitregev]

Hi gai-jin :)

I'm assuming that you experience this problem only when using the Sky layout, which is the older layout from the previous version, correct?

Basically, with this new version we've implemented some new advanced methods that were designed to allow us to use the same single layout file and graphics for both portrait and landscape orientations.

Using such technique allowed us to add the new support for devices that can change orientation at run-time, such as the Vox and new Dopod, and also allowed us to make the Facade installation much smaller since we are now able to use the same graphical files for all orientations, which requires much less files hence less memory :)

The problem is that this new technique is using a few tricks that the previous "Sky" layout wasn't designed for and therefore it won't support this new system as the previous version supported.

Are you having this problem with a fixed-orientation devices, or you are using a device that changes orientation in run-time and then you are having this problem?

[tsaylor]

Hi Gai-Jin. This issue has been under discussion at the SBSH forums too, so I'll just post a quick update here. The problem with the background image is a compatibiliy issue, in that prior customized layout files may be pointing to a background image which has been renamed (due to Facade's new rotation features which now require dual background images).

We're looking into an automated fix, but the workaround is to run the "Facade Settings" application and choose the "Facade Standard_landscape" background image. That should resolve the problem.

[gai-jin]

Hi Gai-Jin. This issue has been under discussion at the SBSH forums too, so I'll just post a quick update here. The problem with the background image is a compatibiliy issue, in that prior customized layout files may be pointing to a background image which has been renamed (due to Facade's new rotation features which now require dual background images).

We're looking into an automated fix, but the workaround is to run the "Facade Settings" application and choose the "Facade Standard_landscape" background image. That should resolve the problem.

Thanks tsaylor, I'm sure that's likely the issue, and I'll try changing the settings. I had used the default facade home screen before, but edited the toolbar buttons, so it saved it as 'My Facade'. Looks like that file had the background image saved under the wrong name, as you said.