It is my opinion that custom Android user interfaces, provided by hardware manufacturers such as HTC, Motorola and Samsung are not always a bad thing.  If you listen to some the popular tech podcasts such as ThisIsMyNext, Engadget or Tested you may have come to believe that such modifications are actually the worst sort of crime possible.  It seems to me though that these typically on the ball journalists are continually missing the point on this one.  Or perhaps simply fail to be clear?

For about two months I have tried to collect my thoughts on this, each time coming up with something too complex or unfocused.  Completely by accident this week I recieved a succinct explanation for at least some of it from the developer of FoxyRing.  While the topic was churning around in my mind I contacted LevelUp Studios suggesting that if it was possible for them to update FoxyRing to emulate some of the HTC Sense functions such as louder ring when in a pocket, or face down to activate silent / Speakperphone.  The reply was the following: Continue reading →