The developer of Fancy Widget earned a bit of fame a while back by launching a Home Screen widget for Google Android that looked almost exactly like the default time and weather widget from HTC Sense. Unfortunately (and predictably) he was asked to stop offering that app, which he did.

Scan to download

Now he’s back with a new app, also called Fancy Widget. It offers the same basic functionality by offering a combined time and weather widget with support for Celcius and Fahrenheit, configurable refresh intervals, and attractive weather icons. But it’s been redesigned to not look quite so HTC Sense-like.

Aside from using a redesigned digital clock and new weather icons, the new app is also more stable and should work better on a wider range of devices. It also supports sunrise and sunset times and the ability to tap on the widget to launch an application.

Fancy Widget v2 is available as a free download from the Android Market. If you have the old version installed, you will not be prompted to update, since the new version is for all intents and purposes a new app.

Fancy Widget is a home screen widget for Google Android that pretty much duplicates the time and weather widget that ships with HTC Sense UI. So it probably shouldn’t come as any surprise that HTC has complained to the developer.

In response, Fancy Widget 1.2.2 will be the last version of the widget that looks like the HTC Sense widget. It’s still available in the Android Market, but not for long. If you want it, you’d best go and grab it now.

The developer does plan to offer a new version soon with a new look.

Update: The new version of Fancy Widget is now available. It actually looks pretty nice, but it doesn’t look like HTC Sense.

via EuroDroid

One of the first things you’ll notice on any Android phone with the HTC Sense UI is the big clock and weather widget on the home screen. Now you can get a nearly identical widget on a phone that doesn’t ship with Sense UI, thanks to the folks behind Fancy Widget.

Scan to download

You can download Fancy Widget from the Android Market, although it’s anybody’s guess whether HTC will contact the developer and request changes due to the remarkable similarity.

In the meantime, Fancy Widget shows you the time in numbers that are too large to miss, and grabs local forecast data for your area to display just below the clock, along with some pretty weather-related graphics. Tap on the weather portion of the app to see an extended forecast, and tap on the extended forecast to open up weather.com in your web browser.

If you tap on the clock itself, you can tweak some settings. For instance, you can choose between Fahrenheit and Celsius, or 12 hour and 24 hour time. You can also adjust the refresh settings or donate to the developer if you want to help support the app.

Honestly, I’ve never quite understood why you would want an enormous clock on your home screen when there’s already a little one in the notification bar at the top of the screen. But hey, it’s nice to have the option, right?

Update: As expected, HTC has asked the developers of Fancy Widget to redesign the app. There’s now a new version which offers similar features, but completely revamped graphics.

via Android Central