Let's begin...

I guess I should start with some kind of explanation of what's going on here. Not that you haven't figured it out already. I mean, you're a themer, right? There's more going on in there than people give you credit for.
Regardless, there are those who will stumble upon this blog with some preconceived notion that I'm something I'm not, and chances are I'm not.

Anyway, to set the record straight, I'm just a guy who likes to play with his phone too much. Seriously, I gave my wife a complex because I'm on this thing so much. I started with custom launchers like Go Launcher, Apex, Nova, and ADW and began swapping out icons and thinking I was some sort of badass...

Then I found UCCW,  the totally free custom clock widget with all these fancy features and endless possibilities. I saw all these screenshots of astounding creations and downloadable skins so I could make my phone look cool too. Best of all: it was free. The problem was, I just couldn't figure it out. I know you're probably laughing, but my tiny little noob themer brain just couldn't wrap my head around it. There had to be an alternative.

Enter Zooper Widget.

If you haven't downloaded it, do so right now. The Pro version. +1 and 5 star it too. This app is amazing. There's also a free version for those who are still on the fence.

Get the free version here.

Pro version here.

Not only is it capable of everything that UCCW can do, but it's easy. At least for me. It didn't take long to get the hang of slapping together a nice, simple clock widget with some battery stats and a little weather icon on the side.

But I wanted more.

What about unread counts for Calls, SMS, and Email? Now I know you can do this now, but remember I'm telling you my life story so we haven't got there yet.

I needed something that could add my unread counts to my widgets. Something that could add more functionality to this already abundant tool. What's that you say? Tasker? Yup.

That was the tipping point. Arguably, the learning curve with Tasker is significantly steeper than UCCW (Which already had the unread count features), but the unrelenting claws of Zooper had already taken my soul. There was also the added cool factor of creating profiles to automatically alter my phone's functionality. It was magical. Again, if you don't have it, get it.

7-day trial for ye of little faith.

Full version from the Play Store (also available by direct download from the link above)

The process was complete. My journey into the world of tinkering and customizing my Android device was over. I had found the promised land. If you're reading this, you probably have too. Welcome. I started this blog for those with questions, ideas (or lack thereof) and just a general interest in the world of Android customization to come together and share the products of our tinkering. Let no idea be thought too big or too small. This is where we test our limits.

This is Android Workbench.