Fancy Widgets FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about Fancy Widgets.

Q: I can't launch this app. It takes me to the settings when I tap on the icon.
A: Unlike regular apps, widgets can not be launched. You need to add them to your home screen. Please note that you need to add the widget, not just the app icon, to your home screen.

Q: How can I add the widget to my home screen?
A: In order to insert widgets to your home screen, long-press in an empty area on the home screen and select "Widgets", then choose one of the Fancy Widgets options (e.g., 4x2, 4x1). Also, please make sure that you have enough space available on your home screen. The following video shows how to add widgets to your home screen: Shortcuts, Widgets, Folders.

Q: I do like the old Fancy Widget (Pro). Can I try out the new version without losing the old one?
A: Absolutely. The new version has a different package name, and is actually a new app in the market. You will NOT lose the old version by installing the new one. In fact, you may install and run the new version alongside the old version. We strongly suggest you try out the new version, which is more stable and has more features. Also, the old version of Fancy Widget (Pro) has been discontinued and no longer supported.

Q: I purchased Fancy Widget Pro from the Android Market/Amazon Appstore. Do I have to buy the unlocker to get the full version?
A: No, you do not need to pay for the app again. You may request a free license key to unlock the full version using your Google/Amazon order information. Click here to get started.

Q: The time freezes or lags a lot. Help!
A: Fancy Widgets uses a background service that updates the time and weather periodically. If you are using any task manager applications, they may aggressively kill the update service. Please make sure that you exclude Fancy Widgets from any of the kill lists in your task manager apps. If you have already excluded Fancy Widgets from your task manager before, but experience this issue after a recent update, please make sure that it is still in the ignore list. Some preferences may get lost due to updates.

Q: The widget has gone crazy. It's showing 27:86 as the time. Please fix it!
A: This should be a graphics glitch and only happens after updates. When we add new images to the application package, the market update process may mess up some resource identifiers, which leads to weird pictures that you see on the widget. When this happens, please remove and re-add widgets on your home screen so the correct images can be displayed. You may also try re-installing the app from the market or performing a reboot to fix this issue.

Q: The weather information is unavailable. What can I do?
A: First of all, please check if you can see your location on the widget. If the location is not available, the weather information can not be displayed as it depends on the location. Note that you have to enable the "Use wireless networks" option (Settings -> Location & Security) for Fancy Widgets to automatically determine your location. Besides, the system geocoder component, which translates your geographic location (i.e., latitude and longitude) into the city name, can fail sometimes. So it may help if you manually force a location and weather update from the settings screen. If, however, none of these work, you can also manually specify a city for weather information in the location settings screen (turn off "Geolocation" and then enter the city name manually).

Q: I can see my location on the widget. Why is the weather information still missing?
A: The widget refreshes the weather information at configurable intervals. If the update fails due to some reason (e.g., no data network at the time of update), the weather information will be unavailable. In this case, please do a manual refresh in the forecast or settings screen to force an update. If the manual refresh still does not work, please tell us your location so that we can troubleshoot the problem for you. However, you may still be out of luck: the weather information is provided by Google (in the free version), it is possible that this information is not available for some cities (especially non-US cities). For the full version, you have two additional weather providers (WeatherBug and AccuWeather), which probably have a larger weather and city database. If you are using the full version, you may also try switching between weather providers and see if it helps.

Q: The weather information is not updating. Is there a way to fix it?
A: Try a manual refresh first. If it does not work, and if the weather used to work fine for you, the problem is probably with Google. The weather data is from Google, who sometimes fails to update its weather database. This happened a few times before, and will probably happen again in the future. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do except wait a few hours for Google to update their data. You may also consider getting the full version, which offers additional weather providers (WeatherBug and AccuWeather) that are more stable than Google Weather.

Q: Is it possible to use Celsius for the temperature?
A: Yes, you may change the temperature unit in the settings screen. Similarly, you can also change the wind speed unit in weather settings. The settings screen can be launched from the app drawer.

Q: When I first tap on the widget, I was able to see the settings screen. Now I have assigned widget tap actions to launch different applications, how can I get to the settings screen again?
A: You will be able to launch the settings screen at any time by tapping on the icon in the application drawer. Another way to access the settings is to press MENU on the forecast details screen, and select the Configure option.

Q: The widget doesn't look right on my phone. Can you fix it?
A: The Android system is running on devices with various form factors. Unfortunately, we do not have different devices to test the widget on. However, we did test it with different screen settings on the emulator. It is supposed to work fine with QVGA, HVGA, and WVGA devices. If the widget layout doesn't look right on your device, please let us know your device name/model and the Android system version (and preferably a screenshot) so we can troubleshoot the problem.

Q: Where can I find more skins? How do I use them?
A: For full version users, you have access to the Fancy Widgets Market, where you can easily discover, install, and manage new skins. The list of available skins is growing, so check back regularly for new skins. If you are using the free version, you can also download skins from the Fancy Widgets Market, but the selection of skins is very limited. You may also visit our skin developers' websites to download more skins.

• NYkrinDC - http://nykrindc.blogspot.com/p/fancy-widget-skins.html
• Toxic Voxel - http://toxicvoxel.weebly.com/fancy-widget-skins.html

After you download the skins, you need to install them manually. Here, we use the Crystal LED Clock skin as an example to describe the steps to install a new skin:

1. Download the skin archive file (e.g., CrystalLED.zip) on your computer.
2. Extract the contents from the archive, and you will get a skin folder named CrystalLED.
3. Connect your phone to your computer via USB.
4. Turn on USB storage from your phone.
5. Place the CrystalLED folder at the following location on your SD card: /Android/data/fancywidgets/clockskins/CrystalLED. If you are installing a weather skin (e.g., the Comic Weather skin), please place it under /Android/data/fancywidgets/weatherskins/ComicWeather instead. You need to create any directory if it does not exist on your SD card.
6. Turn off USB storage from your phone.
7. Go to appearance settings and select the skin you just installed.
8. Enjoy!

Here are a few things you need to know if you are using the free version:

• If you have trouble downloading skin files on your Android device, please try downloading them on your computer.
• In the above instructions, CrystalLED and ComicWeather are just two example skins. You will see different folder names with other skins.
• Please do NOT include nested duplicate skin folders. For example, make sure you don't have something like /Android/data/fancywidgets/clockskins/CrystalLED/CrystalLED. The widget won't be able to find the skin if you don't have the proper directory structure.
• There is currently a limit of 10 skins (excluding the default one) in the free version. If you have installed more than 10 skins, you will only see 10 in the list. There is no such limit in the full version.

Q: Can I make my own skins? Is it possible to list my skin on the Fancy Widgets Market?
A: Absolutely. You are welcome to design your own skins and submit them to us. Please read the Fancy Widgets Skin Developer’s Guide for more information on how to make and submit your skins.

Q: How can I get weather animations?
A: First of all, the weather animations feature is exclusive to the full version. You won't see animations in the free version. If you are already using the full version, please make sure that the "Enable forecast animation" option is enabled in animation settings. You may also turn on "Enable unlock animation", which is still an experimental feature and has some known issues. Finally, you need to keep in mind that animations are only available for certain weather conditions (e.g., cloudy, rain, snow), and you will not see animations if the current condition is clear.

Q: Can you make the clock flip, like the HTC Sense widget?
A: This may not be possible at the moment. The current Android widget framework does not support widget animations. HTC has their own widget framework, and their Sense launcher provides special support for widget animations. HTC widgets are actually not standard Android widgets, so they cannot run on non-HTC phones (or even HTC phones running a third-party launcher).

Q: I have enabled unlock animations, but I have to tap on the screen once to get rid of the animation before I can perform other operations. Can you fix this?
A: Unfortunately, the answer is no. This is a known issue, but I can't fix it because of limitations of the Android framework. Actually, there is another known issue with unlock animations. If you are not on the home screen when you lock your phone, the animations will start on top of another app when you unlock. This is because there is no way for the widget to find out if you are currently on the home screen or not. Unless the Android framework provides additional APIs or the launcher provides some special support, these issues cannot be easily fixed.

Q: I have purchased the unlocker app from the Android Market, but I can't download it. What's wrong?
A: This is probably a temporary market glitch. All app purchases and downloads are managed by the market app. You may clear the data/cache of the market app (Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications -> Market -> Clear data/cache) and try again. A reboot may also help sometimes. Another possible reason that prevents you from downloading the app is that your purchase transaction is unsuccessful. If you are not sure about your order, you may send us your Google Checkout transaction number, and we will be able to check the order status for you.

Q: Do I have to pay for updates?
A: No. Updates are free from the Android Market if you purchased the app before. You may see an authorization message, but you won't be charged again for the app.

Q: I would like to see Fancy Widgets in my native language. Can you add it?
A: Sure, but we need your help with the translations. Fancy Widgets currently supports over 20 different languages. The translations are done by our users from around the world. If you are not satisfied with a certain translation, you can also help us improve it. It's quick and easy. Just visit the Online Translation System to get started.

If the above answers do not address your question, or if you have other questions or suggestions, please head over to our forum or email for support.