Introducing Tweaks From WebOS Internals
It has been a while since WebOS Internals has given us something that just completely redefines the way we interact with our webOS devices. OK… we lied! Just last week the patch wizard known as Sconix released a plethora of Advance System Preferences patches to the webOS 2.x using masses. Well now Sconix and the gang at WebOS Internals have taken the madness even further with their newest app Tweaks!
We think that Tweaks will forever change the way you “tweak” your device for your personal likes and dislikes. Simply put, this app will allow users to customize the settings for patches that have Tweaks support written into them. For example: if you had a Topbar patch with Tweaks support installed on your device you could toggle if you want the GPS, Ringer, and Roaming icons on or off with the Tweaks app. Before the Tweaks app you had to have a patch that either included those options in the way you liked or you had to deal with a couple things you didn’t like about a patch. Even worse, there were so many patches that had been written to change small things that it was not uncommon to see people with more than 20+ patches installed on their devices. Many of those patches were written by different patch authors, resulting in patches that could “interfere” with other patches. In the end, this can result in a device that would run poorly and nobody wants that.
So let’s give you the geeky specifics of what makes this tick from Rod Whitby because, honestly, it sounds best coming from him:
Tweaks is a webOS application that can be used to “tweak” the operation of patches. In this way, a single configurable patch can implement a number of different options, and the user can use the Tweaks app to choose between these options.
The Tweaks app has a node.js service that keeps a db8 database of all these configuration options and generates the Tweaks app user interface automatically based on the info of all the currently installed patches provided.
In this way patches can easily add configuration but not clutter the standard webOS system user interface with all the configuration stuff (since usually you want to set it once and then forget about it). If tweaks app is not installed then the patches can just use their default values and they will still work.
In future, we hope to have the tweaks database be part of the Palm Profile backup, so that when you doctor a device all your patch settings are automatically restored with your other Palm Profile settings.
So in a nutshell, Tweaks will give you the ability to customize your device to your liking. Don’t like that ugly icon that annoys you? Turn it off with Tweaks. Want your Messaging app to close after sending a message? Enable that option in Tweaks. The best part is all of these settings will hopefully be saved in your Palm Profile in the future so you never have to fear doctoring your device.
Now that this app is out you may notice that when you are searching through Preware some patches will show a little green plus sign in the icon. This means that that particular patch has Tweaks support written into it. Don’t worry if you are not using Tweaks as that patch will just use its default settings. You can find out more at its official WebOS Internals Wiki page.
Donate to WebOS Internals
This is the newest addition to the WebOS Internals family of apps and we have to admit it is a mighty cool one! As always, the WebOS Internals crew runs on donations and we always urge our readers to donate to the cause. If you are interested in donating feel free to click the donate button included in this article. No donation is too small. [Note: The donate link is for Tweaks development and not the general WebOS Internals donation link]
