HTC Hero - That "Phone" bar on the home screen

[NThrill]

Hello All.

Forgive me if this topic was covered elsewhere..

How does everyone feel about the "Phone" bar on the HTC Hero on the lower screen? I have yet to play with the phone, so bear with me...Is there a way to swipe at it to minimize, so its not sticking there all the time? Personally, I think its unnecessary. Its a cellphone screen - so you only get a limited amount of space. You have a "phone" key built right into the phone - so why do you really need that bar starring at you in the face? From all that I have seen, no-one seems to have complained about it..everyone really seems to like this phone. I have Sprint already, so it seems like the option to go with. Is there at least an option somewhere that will take it off the screen and put something similar in its stead that stays hidden - like on the G1 and MT3G?

[durhamite]

I have the hero and love the phone bar that the bottom. I don't think it takes up too much space. For me, it is one of the best features of the sense UI. I don't see a way to minimize it. I think it takes up the same amount of space that the app launcher in the vanilla android does, so screen space will be the same with or without it.

[dereileak]

you can go to the original android home screen, you just go to the settings, apps, then find the home app, and set that as default, then you will have just the dragger thing to open up the apps box, but you lose all of the htc widgets, and the entire sense UI, you get the original home, and down to 3 screens, it is possible though, message me if you need any help getting it

[torturedsoul802]

Its a cellphone screen - so you only get a limited amount of space. You have a "phone" key built right into the phone - so why do you really need that bar starring at you in the face?

Just to point something out, Hero's phone bar doesn't actually take up any more USABLE space than other Android builds... It just "spreads out" from a centered tab to accommodate the new options. All you're losing out on is being able to see a little bit more of your wallpaper. To each their own, just didnt want you to think that using SenseUI means you have less room for your applications and widgets.

Actually, considering there's 7 screens (Not sure if this is true on stock HERO builds, I'm using MghtyMax) you actually wind up with more space (112 "blocks" (7x16) as opposed to as low as 48 (3x16) on some builds).

[agentaaron]

can you use ahome on the hero?

if you turn off the drawers and the dock...it gets rid of it all completely