Develop Bugs

[Q] Best launcher?

Hi u guys I'm in a big debate on wether which launcher is best and fast. I want your guys opinions.
I'm running my g2 with cyanogens latest nightly build.
First off
Adw: too slow for me
Launcher pro purchased: I had been using launcher pro for a really long time but it takes forever to come up and when u swtich the launcher to landscape mode everything goes bananas.
Go launcher: was using this for about 2 months but I don't like the theme selections.
Adw ex: what imusing right now, pretty fast but also a lil unstable.
What's best for u guys?

Have you tried the stock gingerbread launcher? What it lacks in customisation options it makes up in speed and stabilty.
[sig]My mission is to hit 1000 posts by 23/05/2011[sig]

can't beat adw ex as far as I'm concerned... the new 3d drawer is perfect (literally, I can't tell the difference between it and a vanilla android launcher), theme engine is solid, customization is much more thorough than LP.
I had way more issues with stability on LP than I do with ADW ex... what ultimately made me give up on LP was the 1 minute wait time upon boot (or force close if you're impatient)... that's just plain sloppy.

Agree with both answers. But I think you can see the smoothness of stock over adw ex. At least I can for sure. I wish stock came with three screens and removed those dots at the bottom. Id be in heaven then. Have you tried zeam?
Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk

popimp315 said:
Agree with both answers. But I think you can see the smoothness of stock over adw ex. At least I can for sure. I wish stock came with three screens and removed those dots at the bottom. Id be in heaven then. Have you tried zeam?
Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if on setups not as stripped as mine, the stock launcher is still much smoother.
I'm only running 1 home screen with the google quick search box and eight app shortcuts. along with no transition animations or other eye candy, it's like butter, especially now that they've fixed the 3d app tray.. used to be a little choppy but now it really is reminiscent of a vanilla GB launcher in terms of smoothness.

I been using LP plus, and say I don't really have issue and it runs great and quick for me not real bloat options,I don't have to take 20 mins to setup the launcher how I like it as adw I don't like the dots, don't like thr trash on toop don't don't like drawer slook

For me launcher pro is definitely the best and runs smooth at all times (except when charging the phone).

Go Launcher Ex is fast, smooth and the most reliable. As far as I'm concerned its the best home launcher right now. I was a long time user of Launcher Pro Plus but the bugs and lack of timely updates really irritated me.

ADW/ex both don't have good enough support for icons other than adw icons and that buff icon set. I'm having the same issue with Launcher pro, although I do like their activity options in the widget menu.
Im using EX but i really want to use another but I can't find any good ones. I liked 91 panda, I don't think it's been updated but I haven't checked either.

launcher pro plus for sure! fast, stable and some nice widgets

yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if on setups not as stripped as mine, the stock launcher is still much smoother.
I'm only running 1 home screen with the google quick search box and eight app shortcuts. along with no transition animations or other eye candy, it's like butter, especially now that they've fixed the 3d app tray.. used to be a little choppy but now it really is reminiscent of a vanilla GB launcher in terms of smoothness.[/QUOTE]
How are you able to get one home screen???? Granted I have one screen that has one widget on it, the rest are blank, but there are still 7 total. ....wait...I think you are using adw ex right?
Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk

popimp315 said:
How are you able to get one home screen???? Granted I have one screen that has one widget on it, the rest are blank, but there are still 7 total. ....wait...I think you are using adw ex right?
Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
yes, using adw ex. all of the custom launcher apps I've used allow you to choose how many homescreens you have though, shouldn't matter which one you have.

Ashaman_Kupo said:
ADW/ex both don't have good enough support for icons other than adw icons and that buff icon set. I'm having the same issue with Launcher pro, although I do like their activity options in the widget menu.
Im using EX but i really want to use another but I can't find any good ones. I liked 91 panda, I don't think it's been updated but I haven't checked either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can use any icons you want as long as they're PNG (same as any other custom launcher).. creating an icon pack that will replace your app tray icons as well is a piece of cake.

pmcqueen said:
yes, using adw ex. all of the custom launcher apps I've used allow you to choose how many homescreens you have though, shouldn't matter which one you have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah. I'm a former zeam user but just got back my adw. May go with it until someone finds a way to customize stock
Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk

Launcher pro for me but with the recent update. The slide out keyboard no longer opens go to landscape mode.

I like launcher pro
or you can use ADW launcher
if you like wp7's launcher, you can use 7 launcher
if you like 3D UI, you can use regina

[Q] Launcher Pro vs ADW vs Go Launcher

So, of all three which one are you using and why. Just want to get a general idea if your experience.

android4sunny said:
So, of all three which one are you using and why. Just want to get a general idea if your experience.
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Click to collapse
I'm using QQ Launcher with the iphone theme for obvious reasons
(check my sig)
When I'm not using QQ, I run go launcher...most free themes, add ons etc. Plus its easier for me to use

I use GO because of the multiple add apps to home screen. I know this is a little thing but it makes my life easier.
On a side note ADW ex is ten cents today on the Android market.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

I used go launcher for a long time but it isn't as snappy as ADW. So i'm back on adw for now.
Swyped from my iPhone eater
-BeastMOD
-Supercharged 1000HP

Go launcher is by far the best . Never had any issues.
Sent from my SGH-T989D using XDA App

I like go launcher because it's really smooth. Also because in the application screen you can show only the apps that are running, and close them if you want to. I also like it shows the icon dock at the bottom of the homescreen, on every screen, and it also has 5 icons (more if you scroll) so you can easily access useful apps.

android4sunny said:
So, of all three which one are you using and why. Just want to get a general idea if your experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you forgot to list stock ICS launcher, which is pretty decent finally! for an android stock launcher
but of all of the 4 choices i still like GO Launcher EX better, it has all the features of every launcher combined, but free!

I've used go launcher, adw, adw ex, ics(on my ics rom and as just the launcher), and launcher pro...
Until ics is official in some form, I'm going to keep using launcher pro. It has all the features I want(I'm very no-frills and minimalist), and it feels faster than all the others. Unfortunately, it hasn't been updated in a LONG time, so that's a bummer. But like I said, I'll use this until ICS comes out, then I'll just use that.
Favorite feature: sliding dock bar. I have it setup as (dialer - app drawer - web) on one, and (sms - app drawer - gmail) on the other. This works very well for me, as it allows me to keep stuff in my dock bar without looking too cluttered.

Go launcher is very heavy on memory. It also has the best looks, in my opinion. It just looks cool. Lags at lower clock speeds, too.
Adw is fast and has lots of options to play with. It does not look as cool, but it will do.
TW is very fast. Even at very low clock speeds, it does not lag! It looks ok, but is not as customizable as the other two. It looks bright and cheerful, though.
I chose to go with golauncher. I can play with it for hours. Not as many free themes, but some good free ones. It does everything the others do combined. I have the Honeycomb theme with sphere setting for drawer.
Just download and play with them. See what you think looks better.
trying to get 10 post!

After using all, I always find myself going back to launcher pro. It is the widgets that do it for me. They are a year old and they still are the best. The dock notifications kicked ass until gmail fubared it. Does need an update as sms dock notification does not work with Go SMS but does with regular messenger.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

Adw ex + android pro Widgets. Nothing compares to the smoothness.

Go launcher for me. Has more features than any other launcher and its theme-able and free...Find it really fast to and the whole Go-Suite seems to have some really nice apps. I use Go SMS also..

I had been using the TouchWiz Launcher until I saw someone mention an update for adw ex, so I redownloaded and I really liked all the new dock settings. Maybe I missed it but I don't think we could use 4 icons on the dock, minimum was 5(?) It works great with my ICS theme.
Sent from my SGH-T989

[Q] Any of the GOOD launchers work in ICS?

I need a launcher that is very customizable like ADW or GoLauncher. I tried both of them and for some reason they both had the same problem; when the screen rotates to landscape it jumps to the far right screen instead of staying on the screen I'm on.
Does anyone have any good launchers that are working properly on ICS? I also tried Nova launcher but its not customizable enough. I'm going to try launcher pro now and will report back if it works.

OK so I tried LauncherPro and same problem. This led me to investigate and I beleive I narrowed it down to the calendar widget. No matter what screen I'm on, when I rotate screen it automatically jumps to the screen with the calendar widget. Annoying...

you gotta give devs some time to adjust to the screen/ics etc. I would play around with the current flashable ones and wait for a major update that brings lots of customization options
ps have you tried adw ex?

I use adw ex.works flawlessly.I prefer stock though,its awesome!
sent from my tablet,NOT AN IPAD!

I use zeam Launcher. No problems so far.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

Go works fine.

Go has always been my first choice. However, now with the Gnex and having folders pop down from the Top of the screen has made accessing apps really difficult with one hand. Because of that one issue, I went to Adw Launcher. That works great too.

Been using ADW Ex since day 1. Working flawlessly

After using ADW it's impossible to go back to anything else....

Ultimately I'd like the stock ICS with rotation and that stupid Google search removed but until the mods on here have their bugs ironed out I’m using GO.
My only bad point on GO is scrollable widgets you have to pause your finger on them a sec then scroll. (Is there a setting in there to fix this?) I like the stock responsiveness where you can swing between screens and flick apps around instantly.

Q.Entity said:
Been using ADW Ex since day 1. Working flawlessly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I started using it on day 2 . With only one home screen, one clock, one weather widget, a 5 icons dock and three folders, I'm done.

I'm using Nova launcher, it's stock with a very nice twist.

GO completely locked me up and caused reboots to the point that i had to reimage back to stock.

superaj13 said:
I use zeam Launcher.
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Click to collapse
Zeam Launcher is the best!
~Galaxy Nexus LTE~

Another Vote for Nova
I really like the ICS experience, and Nova allows me to keep that with options (including backup via Titanium & homescreen rotation)

planetes42 said:
I really like the ICS experience, and Nova allows me to keep that with options (including backup via Titanium & homescreen rotation)
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Click to collapse
Yup, been using Nova since last night. Takes something good and makes it great.
I used LPP on my OG, DX, DX2, RAZR cuz no matter what I did the stock Moto launcher was always a bit laggy. I kept the modded Rosie on my TB cuz it looked lol. And Nowthe GNex ICS launcher was almost perfect to me until Nova came along

Cuz97 said:
Yup, been using Nova since last night. Takes something good and makes it great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Sent from a Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Caveat: This is by no means meant as a disrespect to the amazing devs behind ADW, LP and Go EX.
when I got my hands on the GN, i was hooked on to the Android 4.0 look and feel. Previously alternative launchers were needed because (a) Android used to be ugly and (b) stock widgets sucked.
All that has changed now. I cannot bring myself to use anything but the stock launcher. However, I WILL like it if (a) I can utilize the space occupied by the stupid Google widget - its not a widget at all but a shortcut, a complete waste of space and (b) homescreens would be increased from 5. All those wonderful widgets need more space.
I don't want to root, although I have a feeling CM9 will have what I am asking for. In the meantime, I am testing out Nova.

multiple launcher question.

hello, just wondering if having multiple launchers with apps / widgets etc will drain battery or slow phone down? if i am in one launcher and using wifi, then go to another launcher without switching wifi off will it still be running in background somewhere??

Multiple launchers can cause phone slowdown and in turn, use more battery. Why do you need multiple launchers? If you don't like sense flash a new ROM and be done with sense crap
Sent from my Desire HD using xda premium

not too sure, i am on a cyanogen nightly, and facied having different home screens, without having to change the theme or rom and then set my settings up. i think cyanogen has adw or something, then go launcher is supposed to be great and holo launcher offered something else (this is going from the descriptions... i have downlaoded them, but not configured yet as thought would ask the above question first...

I've used Holo launcher beforw and I think its pretty good, decent customization options & not resource heavy. Never used Go Launcher before, so can't really comment. CM uses ADW which, personally, I believe is one of the best launchers out there (although I prefer Zeam; uses less battery power and is slightly quicker).
Sent from my Desire HD using xda premium

t3rm3y said:
hello, just wondering if having multiple launchers with apps / widgets etc will drain battery or slow phone down? if i am in one launcher and using wifi, then go to another launcher without switching wifi off will it still be running in background somewhere??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you mean will wifi still be running, then yes, it should be. It should only switch off if you tell it to.
You can see some launchers on my site if you'd like to get some ideas of how they look.
I use MIUI roms which come with the MiHome Launcher, which is beautifully smooth. (I prefer the 3D Cube animation style.)
I also run Wave Launcher which is designed to run over the top of all other launchers or apps. I totally recommend it for any-screen-you-are-on, quick shortcut convenience.
I don't experience any slow down or battery drain.
Of course the more animations, and other moving eye candy you have, the more work the CPU has to do (CPU cycles). The more work the CPU has to do - the more it uses the battery.
The same applies to live wallpaper, GPS, watching video, keeping the screen on, etc.

[Q] What launcher do you use

Hey Guys,
I have been using Go launcher since its launch, but have been thinking about venturing outside of my comfort zone and trying something new. I've always liked randomizing transition effects, and being able to change the grid layout... as well as having folders in the app menu (which is a great thing I love about the stock touchwhiz experience)
I have heard a lot of mention about Nova launcher, and Apex Launcher, but no actual reasons as to why these are better than what I already use.
Can you tell me the differences between them, and why you use the launcher that you use?
Thanks all:silly:

I know Nova and Apex were built for ICS so they ran better at one time. I'm not sure since ADW and Go were updated if that is still the case. I have been using Apex but the last couple months its not running as smooth as it used to so I switched to Nova. I'm impressed with Nova so far. Lots of options and great performance. Best thing is just try the free versions and buy the one you like best.

i've stayed with stock tw because i like the extra screen that pops up when i use the s-pen

theraker007 said:
i've stayed with stock tw because i like the extra screen that pops up when i use the s-pen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed... I installed Nova since that was my choice of launcher but with all the new feats on the TW, i quickly switched back.
Coming from my S2, I do miss the profile option I had on that rom

Stock so far!
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2

Holo plus and holo hd. Runs great
sent from a galaxy note2 far far away

Been using GOOGLE for a long time..... Might be time to experiment

Nova.

ADW EX
I like making the icons smaller so they aren't so big and cartoonish on my Note II, as well as all the other various customizations.

Have yet to try my nova prime (run that on my atrix, OG note and touchpad). Leaving things stock atm...and its very hard to do.
Honestly...the only annoyance I have with the TW launcher is no option for 5x5 or 6x6. Thats why I will probably switch it
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app

I've used ADW, Go, and Nova... Nova has been the best experience for me performance and options-wise but so far I'm using the stock launcher.
Would rather replace the navigation indicator with an extra row of icons but other than that, I'm quite content!
The power to choose between power and/or simplicity is the beauty of Android.

erick161 said:
Honestly...the only annoyance I have with the TW launcher is no option for 5x5 or 6x6. Thats why I will probably switch it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was my biggest gripe. I need to be able to have more icons on my home screen than TW allows, so much wasted space!

RojasTKD said:
That was my biggest gripe. I need to be able to have more icons on my home screen than TW allows, so much wasted space!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't deal with TW. Maybe it's improved but Nova and others have so many useful features. Extra dock icons, grid sizes, gestures, drawer folders, etc.
What TW features are you guys attached to? With Nova I can still double click the screen with the pen to pop up a note at any time.

Apex baby FTW
You can still always push your S pen and double tap for a note

Apex, but it's not as smooth as it could be, and you can't use the stock Weather widget with it.

I tried Apex launcher since I had it on my s2, but it's super choppy compared to the stock launcher so I switched back. Unless they optimize Apex launcher for jelly bean ill stock with stock.

Phytrax said:
I can't deal with TW. Maybe it's improved but Nova and others have so many useful features. Extra dock icons, grid sizes, gestures, drawer folders, etc.
What TW features are you guys attached to? With Nova I can still double click the screen with the pen to pop up a note at any time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1. It feels the same as TW on GS2 with Gingerbread. I'm giving Go Launcher EX another shot (this time on GN2) because its features but I hate the toyish feel/icons and BS it loads as well.
Apex will be next.
Anyway to get the lock screen to look/act like AOSP? I dont mind the ripple effect but the look (TW) is

I'm using TW but have applied this MOD that allows you to have 5X5 rows and columns. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1990801

Nova largely because of it's backup of layouts which makes it much faster to setup new ROMs etc. Apex I know does the same thing and I don't really have a preference between the two. I had switched to Apex when they were the first to update to 4.1 source which made it smoother than Nova, but switched back after Nova updated.

I like ssLauncher (the original). It's in the play store. It has the most customizable home screen I've ever seen. No more restraining yourself to grids or default icons. It has a bit of a learning curve but so, so much you can do! Send me questions if you're curious & I'll try and answer them.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app