It’s a common complaint among Android users that custom OEM skins like Samsung’s TouchWiz or HTC’s Sense contain too much bloat and bog down the phone. This drives many users to move to AOSP stock Android based ROMs such as CyanogenMod, which are usually faster and without any bloat or unnecessary OEM apps. However, it’s also common knowledge that these custom skins do add some nice and useful features as well, such as better Contacts applications, better video codec support, among other things, which aren’t found on AOSP ROMs.
This is where the OpenDESIGN Project comes in. Started by XDA Recognized Developer XpLoDWilD, OpenDesign aims to bring useful OEM features to CyanogenMod 9 (and hopefully other AOSP based ROMs), as well as other nifty features. Not in the form of ports, but by developing these features from the ground up by employing the help of different developers. As the official website states, “OpenDESIGN is a community-effort to bring software features from the latest high-end phones to the masses”.
Here are some of the features that the project aims to bring to AOSP ROMs:
- Ability to make/pick up calls by bringing the phone up to your ear, as seen on TouchWiz on the upcoming Galaxy S3.
- Check multiple contacts and delete them all at once, which the stock Android Contacts app doesn’t let you do.
- Adding stylus features to the Galaxy Note as found on TouchWiz but not available on AOSP.
- Direct lockscreen information, such as displaying the names of message or email senders.
- Delay SMS sending to make sure you don’t send SMS with typos and mistakes, with the ability to add a confirmation dialog.
- Keep screen awake by shaking the phone instead of touching the screen, so that it doesn’t turn off when you’re using the phone.
With quite a lot of other features that are being worked on with the OpenDESIGN Project, it is one of the most ambitious and useful projects that have been started in the Android world. However, all these features will only be integrated in the Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0 based CyanogenMod 9 (CM9), so you’ll need to have a device capable of running CM9.
So, head over to the official OpenDESIGN website to get more info on the project and to check out the full list of features. Be sure to make an account and drop in some comments and/or suggestions, as well as a thank you for the hard-working developers. Do let us know what you think about the OpenDESIGN project, in the comments below.