Develop Bugs

Why doesn't Google just add the best features of all these ROMs into native Android?

Why doesn't Google just add the best features of all these ROMs into native Android?
It's so stupid that people have to root their phones in order to get these features. I understand that maybe Google doesn't want Android to seem overly complex, but have a Customization area all in a submenu that you can unlock buy sliding Customizations to ON.
Things like this (in order of necessary > bloat):
Global volume rocker as cursor movement keys (hope this baby is patented so Apple doesn't steal it!)
% battery icon
Brightness slider toggle + AOKP toggles!!!!
Screenshot on Power Menu
Volume panel
Custom targets on lockscreen ring
Custom notification LED colors >> this would really make the hardware unique from Apple and it's really handy, esp when you're in meetings / theaters / church / or any quiet time; the different color assignments are really useful! Even vibrate is now disruptive in meetings.
Weather on lockscreen
Show notification count
Custom colors for Nav Bar
I don't think that's so much that it would overwhelm the average user. Whenever a family member or friend sees our phones, they want me to root theirs and make it the same.
Maybe someone at Google can get this message and we can see this in 4.2? They could release it as a "Android Power Toys" add-on type marketing the way Microsoft did with Windows?

I'm sure there are a number of reasons. First many of these things can be done with third party apps. Google mainly keeps to things that have to be built into the os, or related to Google services.
They have incorporated some features like additional lock screen targets, some toggles on tablets, resizable widgets, ect. It sounds like themes may be coming in 4.2 too.
Another thing I've noticed is while these features are great, they do slow things down a bit, so they may not be beneficial to everyone.
I'm fine with getting these features from other sources of they can put out things like project butter and Google now.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

A lot of what you listed up there I would term bloat, lots of unnecessary options for features I don't want.
Toggles are the exception, I'd love to see a really nice AOSP toggle implementation. I think most normal users would like that too.

Copywrite violations.

I think an easy explanation may be, because the Nexus line is currently only two devices (including the N7). Nexus owners comprise a very small segment of the Android population, and Google develops the device with root users, ROM devs, and themers in mind...meaning, they know we're going to change our devices ourselves (which is part of the fun), so they may not find all of those changes necessary for the Nexus line.
As it pertains to Android in general, I think manufacturer skins (Touchwiz, Sense, Blur) would be the primary deterrent. Google would spend all that time, developing features, that manufacturers would either alter or delete entirely, meaning Google had wasted time and man-hours on developing those additions.
However, word on the street is that LG is getting the Nexus next, but that all manufacturers will also have the ability to make a Nexus device, provided they follow Google's guidelines. This means Nexus devices in the hands of more end users, and possibly, an increased impetus for Google to incorporate some of the features you mentioned. I think we'll see 4.2 and 5.0 implementing some massive changes to the system, in regards to customization and personalization.
Personally, I would like to see the launcher improved. There's no reason why Google couldn't spend a little more time, and create a customizable launcher, like Nova or Apex. That would be a massive improvement IMHO, and one that every user could benefit from. The current launcher is nice, but I know very few rooted users who actually prefer Launcher2 to either of the aforementioned launchers.
Sent from my SCH-I800 using Tapatalk 2

I wonder if they are not included for the sake of simplifying the OS for the average user. It's a lot easier to get someone to just add a widget to add functionality than to explain to them how to enable weather on the lock screen or how to pick which pull-down toggles they want. A lot of those options are redundant because you can access them with widgets on the launcher.

redwingfaninnc said:
I wonder if they are not included for the sake of simplifying the OS for the average user. It's a lot easier to get someone to just add a widget to add functionality than to explain to them how to enable weather on the lock screen or how to pick which pull-down toggles they want. A lot of those options are redundant because you can access them with widgets on the launcher.
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Click to collapse
That makes sense, but honestly, how many Nexus owners do you know that fit into the "average user" category? I know 35 people who own a Nexus device, and only 3 of them aren't rooted. In general Android terms, you're probably 100% correct though...most "average users" would not know what to do with some of those changes, and many would consider them bloat. Geez, Google's even removed Maps from Gapps, because people thought it was bloatware, so they are sensitive to that issue.
Sent from my SCH-I800 using Tapatalk 2

Remoteconcern said:
A lot of what you listed up there I would term bloat, lots of unnecessary options for features I don't want.
Toggles are the exception, I'd love to see a really nice AOSP toggle implementation. I think most normal users would like that too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, what prompted this post was the AOKP toggles, that's what people like the most when they see mine and my gf's phones.
Also, I agree that it's bloat. But, that's why they can release it in the Play Store as a "Power Toys for Android" add-on. It makes it easy for average users to get access to these features and they don't have to root and they don't have to play the milestone game waiting for a stable daily driver.

jjhiza said:
I think an easy explanation may be, because the Nexus line is currently only two devices (including the N7). Nexus owners comprise a very small segment of the Android population, and Google develops the device with root users, ROM devs, and Turner's in mind...meaning, they know we're going to change our devices ourselves (which is part of the fun), so they may not find all of those changes necessary for the Nexus line.
As it pertains to Android in general, I think manufacturer skins (Touchwiz, Sense, Blur) would be the primary deterrent. Google would spend all that time, developing features, that manufacturers would either alter or delete entirely, meaning Google had wasted time and man-hours on developing those additions.
However, word on the street is that LG is getting the Nexus next, but that all manufacturers will also have the ability to make a Nexus device, provided they follow Google's guidelines. This means Nexus devices in the hands of more end users, and possibly, an increased impetus for Google to incorporate some of the features you mentioned. I think we'll see 4.2 and 5.0 implementing some massive changes to the system, in regards to customization and personalization.
Personally, I would like to see the launcher improved. There's no reason why Google couldn't spend a little more time, and create a customizable launcher, like Nova or Apex. That would be a massive improvement IMHO, and one that every user could benefit from. The current launcher is nice, but I know very few rooted users who actually prefer Launcher2 to either of the aforementioned launchers.
Sent from my SCH-I800 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
The launcher is a great idea too. I forgot to mention that. However, Nova launcher is easy for the average user to install. You don't even need to be rooted.

Neo3D said:
The launcher is a great idea too. I forgot to mention that. However, Nova launcher is easy for the average user to install. You don't even need to be rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very true, but most normal Android users simply run the out-of-the-box setup from day one, until the day they upgrade. If Google took the time to build a slightly better launcher, those of us who want extra customization (grid size, icon editing, etc) can have it, while those who run stock from day one, won't even notice the changes, because they'll never use them.

Looks like Google might be one step ahead of us.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/1...oject-roadrunner-updated-google-play-and-now/
"Customization Center"?
That would be sweet if it were true and included some of these awesome ideas that custom ROM devs have come up with.

That's generally how it works, Google borrows from developers and OEMs' UIs.
Sent from my ADR6400L using xda app-developers app

jordanishere said:
Copywrite violations.
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Click to collapse
What copyright? If i remembered correctly all custom ROMs are open sourced, which means copyright doesn't apply.
Do correct me if i'm wrong.

jimmyco2008 said:
That's generally how it works, Google borrows from developers and OEMs' UIs.
Sent from my ADR6400L using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is it right here. Let the devs do the muscle and brain work and Google cherry picks what they think should be the next evolution of android.
The great thing about open source is that sharing is what it is all about. If you don't like sharing, then there are two other clubs to join. Both of which could be more awesome if they didn't take the mine all mine approach.
...

@rbiter said:
This is it right here. Let the devs do the muscle and brain work and Google cherry picks what they think should be the next evolution of android.
The great thing about open source is that sharing is what it is all about. If you don't like sharing, then there are two other clubs to join. Both of which could be more awesome if they didn't take the mine all mine approach.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, all about the cherry picks.
Perfect example is SMS quick reply, I'd say that's a dead cert as the immediate reaction to JB notifications was fantastic but let me do even mooaaar!!!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

They can't just slap every option in the world in. You'd have a bloated mess. (That's part of why skins are so bad... feature overload).
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

Most of those things can be do e from an app, maybe Google let's the door open to the free market and get devs to earn money making these addons.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Besides, if Google took all the best features from our ROMs, nothing would hardly ever need updating in future versions.

I Am Marino said:
Besides, if Google took all the best features from our ROMs, nothing would hardly ever need updating in future versions.
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Click to collapse
Well I think its important to note that even if Google wanted to implement some of these features commonly found on custom ROMs that it'd take more than just one version of Android to bring them in.

jjhiza said:
I think an easy explanation may be, because the Nexus line is currently only two devices (including the N7). Nexus owners comprise a very small segment of the Android population, and Google develops the device with root users, ROM devs, and Turner's in mind...meaning, they know we're going to change our devices ourselves (which is part of the fun), so they may not find all of those changes necessary for the Nexus line.
As it pertains to Android in general, I think manufacturer skins (Touchwiz, Sense, Blur) would be the primary deterrent. Google would spend all that time, developing features, that manufacturers would either alter or delete entirely, meaning Google had wasted time and man-hours on developing those additions.
However, word on the street is that LG is getting the Nexus next, but that all manufacturers will also have the ability to make a Nexus device, provided they follow Google's guidelines. This means Nexus devices in the hands of more end users, and possibly, an increased impetus for Google to incorporate some of the features you mentioned. I think we'll see 4.2 and 5.0 implementing some massive changes to the system, in regards to customization and personalization.
Personally, I would like to see the launcher improved. There's no reason why Google couldn't spend a little more time, and create a customizable launcher, like Nova or Apex. That would be a massive improvement IMHO, and one that every user could benefit from. The current launcher is nice, but I know very few rooted users who actually prefer Launcher2 to either of the aforementioned launchers.
Sent from my SCH-I800 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
Ahhh jjhiza. Havent seen one of your essays since the droid3 days aha
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Anyone here use Go Launcher EX?

Just wondering. My favorite so far is Nova Launcher Prime, but I switched to Go for some variety. Trebuchet, Nova, and Apex are almost identical in looks, so I wanted to try something a bit different. Go used to be annoying with the pop up notifications but I see that they have been toned down quite a bit. I wish Nova had some of the animations Go has. Would also like the option to use different background pics for the app drawer. Still, if Nova had all the stuff Go had and vice versa, there would be no point in trying different launchers, I guess. I do notice that Go seems to eat up a bit more ram, depending on the theme, but it doesn't seem to affect anything.
Also, Next Launcher 3D, there is a free 36 hour trial available. It's actually kind of cool. I've a feeling that these 3d launchers are going to be the norm in the future. I assumed it would suck on the Dinc but it works pretty well. In fact, it feels pretty smooth on CM10.1. Sometimes it may need to load the homescreen for a bit, but what do I expect on this device? It does need some work since some basic features seem to be missing, but that could be the issue with the trial version, I don't know. All I do know is that I'm not forking $16 over for a launcher. Don't know how these 3D launchers can be profitable at these prices, but whatever. Still, I kind of want to keep messing with it. That trial is way too short to actually be able to evaluate the thing.

I used to use GO. Gave up on it as it got more and more bloat, and more and more ads. I vaguely recall reading somewhere they also data mine, but that was awhile ago. As for standard launchers, I like Nova Prime. Seems the most stable with the most features I want. Recently, though, I've been using Action Launcher Pro by Chris Lacy (the former dev of Tweet Lanes). It's pretty nice; minimalistic and has a unique way of doing things, that take some getting used to.

I used to use go by it got very slow on my phone for some reason I like nova it is the fastest by far I have prime. Also it has a thin were u can change the animations speed which is nice
Sent from my ADR6300 using xda app-developers app

PonsAsinorem said:
I used to use GO. Gave up on it as it got more and more bloat, and more and more ads. I vaguely recall reading somewhere they also data mine, but that was awhile ago. As for standard launchers, I like Nova Prime. Seems the most stable with the most features I want. Recently, though, I've been using Action Launcher Pro by Chris Lacy (the former dev of Tweet Lanes). It's pretty nice; minimalistic and has a unique way of doing things, that take some getting used to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. I used to use it a while back but the notification pop ups just got on my nerves, so I dropped it. Pretty sure they've fixed it up since then. I only seem to get those when I use the Go Market/Store (not the play store). The bloat seems to be optional since most of their widgets need to be downloaded from the Play Store. I just delete the shortcuts when I first install. As for data mining, well, I haven't heard that one. Hope that isn't the case since I really like the setup I have right now. Nova Prime is good. I just wanted to change things up and Go has more animation options. I do think it's cool that Nova can use the icons from the Go themes though. I read a bit on Action Launcher not long ago. It looks like it might be a good one. Not sure what the shutters are but it seems like people like them. Was looking for the free version and couldn't find it in the Play Store. Not going to fork over $4.00 unless I try it first.
tydiamond11 said:
I used to use go by it got very slow on my phone for some reason I like nova it is the fastest by far I have prime. Also it has a thin were u can change the animations speed which is nice
Sent from my ADR6300 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go does seem to use a bit more ram, depending on the theme, than Nova. It doesn't seem sluggish to me though. Used it on Tiny's/Neo's CM10.1 and Tiny's CM10.

Kaepernick said:
I read a bit on Action Launcher not long ago. It looks like it might be a good one. Not sure what the shutters are but it seems like people like them. Was looking for the free version and couldn't find it in the Play Store. Not going to fork over $4.00 unless I try it first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's a minor point against it (and a gamble) is that there's no free version. I think he should include a free version, limited to only one or two shutters (or none), or something similar to make the app scaled down, much like Prime adds features to Nova. Internet is too slow for me to view the video, but this might have it.
Action Launcher Pro gets a beefy update
Basically, you put a shortcut to an app that has a widget that goes to it. On your home screen, you now have the shortcut with three lines on it. You then swipe on the shortcut, and a widget pops out of it. You can then interact with the widget, or hit Back to dismiss it and go back to you clean home screen. I posted screen shots, using Falcon Pro twitter client. The first is the clean home screen (notice Falcon Pro in the bottom left with the three lines). On the second shot, I've swiped on it, and there's its widget. Pretty snazzy, and helps maximize your space.
Again, this is a minimal launcher (so far) that focuses on being unique, not feature heavy, so if anyone does buy it, don't expect all the bells and whistles like fancy animations and such....yet. I don't know if Chris has plans to incorporate such features or not.

PonsAsinorem said:
Yeah, that's a minor point against it (and a gamble) is that there's no free version. I think he should include a free version, limited to only one or two shutters (or none), or something similar to make the app scaled down, much like Prime adds features to Nova. Internet is too slow for me to view the video, but this might have it.
Action Launcher Pro gets a beefy update
Basically, you put a shortcut to an app that has a widget that goes to it. On your home screen, you now have the shortcut with three lines on it. You then swipe on the shortcut, and a widget pops out of it. You can then interact with the widget, or hit Back to dismiss it and go back to you clean home screen. I posted screen shots, using Falcon Pro twitter client. The first is the clean home screen (notice Falcon Pro in the bottom left with the three lines). On the second shot, I've swiped on it, and there's its widget. Pretty snazzy, and helps maximize your space.
Again, this is a minimal launcher (so far) that focuses on being unique, not feature heavy, so if anyone does buy it, don't expect all the bells and whistles like fancy animations and such....yet. I don't know if Chris has plans to incorporate such features or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the detailed info. That vid explains a great deal. It sounds like a pretty good launcher. Is it faster and does it consume less ram than Nova and Apex? Biggest reason I'm using Go Launcher right now is the fancy animations and the different look in the app drawer. I'd be using Next Launcher right now if I decided to fork over the cash (example. not forking over $16), just because I'm in the mood for the effects. If I were to take it down a notch though, Action Launcher sounds like one to definitely try. Could make the 10.1 experience even smoother. I really like that Shutter approach. He should really consider putting out a free version.

Hey, Pons, I found an app that can make widgets act like the Shutters in Action Launcher. It's pretty nice.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ss.popupWidget.ad
That's the free version. The paid version is pretty inexpensive. Thinking about getting it.

Request touchwiz ux for the HTC one

I just saw this for the s3 and thought it would be pretty cool if we could get our hands on touchwiz for the one if anyone is capable of this it would be awesome.
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium

Tou...TouchWiz? On the One? :crying:

why not just buy an S4 instead of a One
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

Ok, here it goes again, without the use of the F word.
Why would you want touchwiz on our phones?
Samsung literally tried their best to copy Apple, while failing miserably. Instead of clean and sophisticated (for 2007 standards, people) Touchwiz looked like it was designed by children for use by children. 5th grade classrooms want their ugly pastel colors back!
And now Apple has changed their design, to only leave Samsung and their steaming pile of Touchwized crap to wallow in their own poor, copied design.
I BET Samsung will change the next iteration of touchwiz.
It's unfortunate when others can't recognize poor design when it's being sold to them for 200-600 dollars.

I mean, I have no problem with variety and choices but I'm confident nobody is going to want to port TW to the One.
It's just so.....childish looking.

I do not hate Samsung at all, I actually used the S3 for quite a while and I liked it; however from my experience, TouchWiz is extremely slow and laggy.. I mean even the S4 with all its hardware capabilities still has A LOT of lagging issues because of TouchWiz. I'd rather an AOKP ROM with Samsung that one with TouchWiz, especially since all the Motion features and Samsung applications are just useless, practically speaking.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1899537
take a look here

eurghhhhh! touchwiz is just ugly. I used to have the s3, couldn't stand touchwiz and so ran aokp on it. I really like the look of stock android but i have to say that i think sense 5 is nicer. Yes nicer than stock android. I think that sense 5 is the first custom skin that has ever looked nicer and ran just as well as stock. Why you would ever want to change that for touchwiz i will never know.

erikikaz said:
Ok, here it goes again, without the use of the F word.
Why would you want touchwiz on our phones?
Samsung literally tried their best to copy Apple, while failing miserably. Instead of clean and sophisticated (for 2007 standards, people) Touchwiz looked like it was designed by children for use by children. 5th grade classrooms want their ugly pastel colors back!
And now Apple has changed their design, to only leave Samsung and their steaming pile of Touchwized crap to wallow in their own poor, copied design.
I BET Samsung will change the next iteration of touchwiz.
It's unfortunate when others can't recognize poor design when it's being sold to them for 200-600 dollars.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Someone needs to calm down....and I don't think Samsung copied apple at all....samsungs touchwiz and apple's ios look nothing and do nothing alike....
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium

he just came here to troll

My hate to touchwiz was one of the main reason to quit Samsung and return to HTC.
Variety is good off course. But it will be waste of time for a developer because there will be a little to no interest on it.

Hello, noob here, please don't crucify me. I used to have a GS3 and while my HTC one M7 is a much more solid, faster and sexier phone there are some features that I REALLLYYY miss. First is the pull down menu from the home screen with all the GPS, bluetooth, wifi controls etc. Second, swiping left to call and right to text from contacts was great... really nice feature. Third, editing contact info or adding a new contact, or even going into the phone icon and trying to find a phone number is ponderous on this OS. Can someone recommend another OS or solution? I wasn't sure where else to post this or how to search for all these criteria, so I thought this thread was the best bet. Thanks for your time!

Thadisrad said:
Hello, noob here, please don't crucify me. I used to have a GS3 and while my HTC one M7 is a much more solid, faster and sexier phone there are some features that I REALLLYYY miss. First is the pull down menu from the home screen with all the GPS, bluetooth, wifi controls etc. Second, swiping left to call and right to text from contacts was great... really nice feature. Third, editing contact info or adding a new contact, or even going into the phone icon and trying to find a phone number is ponderous on this OS. Can someone recommend another OS or solution? I wasn't sure where else to post this or how to search for all these criteria, so I thought this thread was the best bet. Thanks for your time!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Custom Sense ROMs such as TrickDroid have the pull down menu with the horizontal row of scrollable buttons for WiFi, bluetooth, etc (it's called EQS - extended quick settings). Also, all 4.2.2 based ROMS (custom as well as stock) have the native EQS as well (you swipe down from the status bar with 2 fingers). I'm pretty sure there are 3rd party SMS/texting apps that will let you do the swipe thing. There are definitely 3rd party phone/dialer apps that handle contacts better, I suggest trying exDialer. It installs 2 icons, one called Dialer and one called Contacts. If you don't like how the program looks, there are plenty of themes for it. Always remember the good thing about Android is you're not forced to stick with default apps for almost everything. You can potentially replace all the default apps if you so choose: mail, calendar, dialer, contacts, camera, gallery, messaging, web browser, clock, calculator, etc.
Edit: there are also apps in the Play Store like "Notification Toggles" that give you EQS capabilities.

henrybravo said:
Custom Sense ROMs such as TrickDroid have the pull down menu with the horizontal row of scrollable buttons for WiFi, bluetooth, etc (it's called EQS - extended quick settings). Also, all 4.2.2 based ROMS (custom as well as stock) have the native EQS as well (you swipe down from the status bar with 2 fingers). I'm pretty sure there are 3rd party SMS/texting apps that will let you do the swipe thing. There are definitely 3rd party phone/dialer apps that handle contacts better, I suggest trying exDialer. It installs 2 icons, one called Dialer and one called Contacts. If you don't like how the program looks, there are plenty of themes for it. Always remember the good thing about Android is you're not forced to stick with default apps for almost everything. You can potentially replace all the default apps if you so choose: mail, calendar, dialer, contacts, camera, gallery, messaging, web browser, clock, calculator, etc.
Edit: there are also apps in the Play Store like "Notification Toggles" that give you EQS capabilities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nice! thanks dude!

Take a look here....
TouchWiz Galaxy S4

Which is the best 3D launcher for GNote PRO 12.2?

Hello, as of today, which is the best 3D launcher for the GNOTE PRO 12.2? I used TSF Shell and SPB Shell 3D on my Note 2. The transition effects looked very cool. However, they don't look good on my large screen Note PRO 12.2. Probably the effects were developed with small screens in mind. I tried Next Launcher 3D and EX, there seems to be a bug as my device got long pauses. On two occassions, I had to force boot my device.

petercohen said:
Hello, as of today, which is the best 3D launcher for the GNOTE PRO 12.2? I used TSF Shell and SPB Shell 3D on my Note 2. The transition effects looked very cool. However, they don't look good on my large screen Note PRO 12.2. Probably the effects were developed with small screens in mind. I tried Next Launcher 3D and EX, there seems to be a bug as my device got long pauses. On two occassions, I had to force boot my device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought SPB Shell over 3 years ago and it's been abandoned for well over a year now. Can NOT recommend using it. I've also bought TSF, and the others, and Next Launcher looks the best so far if you want a 3D'ish environment.

tdetroit said:
I bought SPB Shell over 3 years ago and it's been abandoned for well over a year now. Can NOT recommend using it. I've also bought TSF, and the others, and Next Launcher looks the best so far if you want a 3D'ish environment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, bought SPB years ago when it was probably the only 3D Launcher on the market. I think the company that developed it was bought out by Yandex because for a while they changed the name. I haven't checked out the Yandex Launcher in a while, it was the updated version of SPB.

Been using Nova launcher on all my devices and am really happy with it. Nice smooth effects and lots of customization available. Liked it so much I paid for it. Active development on it.

rhricik447 said:
Been using Nova launcher on all my devices and am really happy with it. Nice smooth effects and lots of customization available. Liked it so much I paid for it. Active development on it.
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Click to collapse
I have a question about that one for I've been thinking about installing it on my own Galaxy Note Pro because it looked like one a beginner with launchers can manage and not too heavy on resources - and it supports icon packs. Sorry if this 'should' be self-explanatory. The Nova website does not offer me even a FAQ, let alone a complete tutorial for beginners. I want to use my own wallpapers, not theirs and I don't want to be stuck with just a choice of ready-made themes. I just want to customize what I want where I want. Will the Nova launcher allow me to do this? I have spent the last 2 days with my search engines trying to get the answer to this one question, so I'm afraid to install any launcher at all until I know.

Just install it and try it. You're not going to hurt anything, and if you decide you don't like it, then uninstall it and you'll be right back where you started. Using a 3rd party launcher doesn't do anything different except change the look and feel of your device. It's not going to mess anything up, if you don't like it you can uninstall it to go back exactly like it was previously, but be sure you go through all of the settings and mess around with it first. Look and see exactly what you can do differently. Don't just install a launcher like Nova, come to the first screen you see, and then decide you don't like it. It's kinda like taking a car for a test drive before buying it. There are tons of launchers available today, probably 10 times as many as 2 years ago. I've tried many of them. Some people like certain effects, some people like a minimalistic launcher, some people like tons of widgets, different icons, etc. Everyone likes their launcher for different reasons, but like I said, I've used many, I still try something new if I see it, but I've always gone back to Nova.

Rolldog said:
Just install it and try it. You're not going to hurt anything, and if you decide you don't like it, then uninstall it and you'll be right back where you started. Using a 3rd party launcher doesn't do anything different except change the look and feel of your device. It's not going to mess anything up, if you don't like it you can uninstall it to go back exactly like it was previously, but be sure you go through all of the settings and mess around with it first. Look and see exactly what you can do differently. Don't just install a launcher like Nova, come to the first screen you see, and then decide you don't like it. It's kinda like taking a car for a test drive before buying it. There are tons of launchers available today, probably 10 times as many as 2 years ago. I've tried many of them. Some people like certain effects, some people like a minimalistic launcher, some people like tons of widgets, different icons, etc. Everyone likes their launcher for different reasons, but like I said, I've used many, I still try something new if I see it, but I've always gone back to Nova.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for such an encouraging message. (just got told I reached my limit for the thanks button today) If an experienced and knowledgeable user comes back to Nova so consistently, I feel yet more confident about trying it. I don't suppose there's any point in asking you, since you know that launcher so well, if you were able to use your own wallpapers? Because you're not going to tell me! :laugh:
I really do have to get over being a chicken about this and dive in. It's too easy to get into real states of apprehension when I spend all my time by myself on this mountaintop and have such a vivid imagination for disasters and doom - well, alone except for my dogs and cats, who've been thinking me an idiot already for years and won't offer me any advice.
My internet connection in this least-populated county in the state isn't stable or fast enough to deal with widgets that need to update online. I like looking at them but I can't run them, same problem with news feeds. I have the stock weather and still end up checking it on my phone mostly since that is faster. System widgets only tell me what it would be little bother to go check on myself. I even wasted my money getting windowblinds on my PC because I never remembered to use it much. I put weird icons on document files so I can find them when my eyes blur on text titles late at night; it's never just for looks. I change colors to relieve my eyes when I'm staying up on the computer and tablet too long, like now. I do like to be able to find things easily and put them where they're handy for that's what I do in my house too, so I can reach for them in the dark and grab them without mishap. So that's what I'll shop for in a launcher: compulsively neat organization for doomer hermits who already spend too much time looking at a monitor.

Yes, you can use any wallpaper you wish.

Rolldog said:
Yes, you can use any wallpaper you wish.
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Click to collapse
Thank you, dear. I installed Nova this morning. Now, I'd like to put another launcher on my Note 4, so I can learn about that one at the same time, perhaps something a bit lighter. Slowing down the operation of my phone could be considered more directly dangerous to my security out here than hanging up my tablet so I'll go for simpler there. Have you a recommendation? That CM Launcher advertises itself as 'light and fast' but it also comes laden with 'security apps' and cleaners that I'm not so sure I want to bother with. I don't do much online browsing with the phone, at least not for long and I don't use social media on it. I also never share my devices because there's nobody around for miles anyway. I'd rather a launcher just be a launcher.

One Launcher that I like a lot, I use it on my phone but it won't work on my tablet because I use my tablet in landscape mode, is Buzz Launcher. Using this Launcher, you can go into their Buzz Launcher themes and download from about 500,000 different themes that other people have created. You can have as many as 9 different screens, all with different themes, and you can use their layout, their widgets and/or icons, and customize it to work with your apps. So, if you download a theme someone on the other side of the earth developed, you click on the icons they have, and if they used an app that you don't have, like if you use a different browser, the after you press on an icon, you can select the browser you use. This way, you can customize their entire themes to work with your specific phone and your specific apps. I change my themes fairly regularly, since it only takes a couple of minutes, and I feel like I have a different phone everyday.

Rolldog said:
One Launcher that I like a lot, I use it on my phone but it won't work on my tablet because I use my tablet in landscape mode, is Buzz Launcher. Using this Launcher, you can go into their Buzz Launcher themes and download from about 500,000 different themes that other people have created. You can have as many as 9 different screens, all with different themes, and you can use their layout, their widgets and/or icons, and customize it to work with your apps. So, if you download a theme someone on the other side of the earth developed, you click on the icons they have, and if they used an app that you don't have, like if you use a different browser, the after you press on an icon, you can select the browser you use. This way, you can customize their entire themes to work with your specific phone and your specific apps. I change my themes fairly regularly, since it only takes a couple of minutes, and I feel like I have a different phone everyday.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish I had seen your post before I got misled by all the complaining in the reviews for that one! In fact, they ought to be paying you to write about their app's features for you've done a much better job than they did at the playstore. There seemed to be an issue of things 'disappearing' for no good reason, themes and icons and such and people were annoyed after having spent hours to download them. Then, 'folder contents get changed every time the phone restarts.' And then there's the 'upsidedown heart butt' icon that apparently no one can get rid of that has caused some consternation, lol. Oh, and multiple 'crashes' too. As usual, few indeed even say what kind of phone they have. I'm inclined to try it anyway now, since you like it and I rather liked their community-based approach to begin with.
So, what I downloaded to the phone yesterday, just to check it out, was one I haven't seen mentioned yet, (maybe just because I don't know where to look) Microsoft's Arrow launcher. I won't mind the howls of laughter. Just plain curiosity, for I haven't tried any of their stuff for android. This is another one that will only work on my phone, not for tablets. I know how annoying they can be on PC's, like everyone else who spends a lot of time on one. They remind me of certain supermarkets that like to constantly rearrange things so that every time I go in, I can't find anything and we all know Microsoft plays the same game with every new OS. They don't really want us getting to know the guts of their systems too well, do they? I was interested in finding the launcher to be free, since their Office apps clearly are anything but and in seeing if they can build an android app that isn't a resource-hogging monster. We'll see.

I've never used Arrow, but sometimes, it's necessary to go into a widget that has been designed and change the settings to customize it to your layout, your location, your calendars, etc, and I'm pretty sure the people who complain get frustrated because they can't figure out how to scale the widget, customize the information, change the icons, update the location, etc, and then they just give up. I usually try to save a couple of homepacks with widgets I like, and then I might try combining them into my own layout and custom icons too.
Getting recommendations isn't worth much, most of the time you have to try it out for yourself. For example, if you asked someone about a new movie that was just released because they just saw it, they might say it was horrible. You might go see it anyway, you find out it's scary, you love scary movies, the person who's advice you got hates scary movies, so it boils down to personal opinion.

Rolldog, may I hear more about 'homepacks and widgets?' If you have a few widgets that you like, do you, and can you, generally keep them with most other launchers you try out? Something you said before, I think it was you, about, if I got tired of a new launcher, I could go right back to Touchwiz and find my widgets and layout just where I left them, stuck in my mind and has me wondering about that little detail: why wouldn't the widgets still be there anyway, no matter what launcher I used? I ought to know all that already but I've had some 'rural life' issues keeping me too busy to spend much time with my devices or even read about them online. But I sure did a lot of shopping on the playstore, paid apps too and pretties for Nova! I'll have to watch that; it's too easy to do when I have a card on file and my budget will suffer. I have managed to discover that the ads in 'free' apps were draining my resources much more than getting the widgets I would like so if I really want something, I support the developer and ditch the ads with the constant 'phoning home' they have to do.
That 'Next' launcher has some nice 3-D effects doesn't it? But it isn't cheap, I notice.

Installing widget from quite old HTC phone

My first smartphone was an HTC Inspire (aka Desire). It has this great home screen flip clock widget I really miss. I want to put it on my Galaxy Note 10.
I know I can get flip clocks from the Play Store, but they are not as pleasing to look at and I don't want it enough to risk dealing with ads and phonehomeware. The old HTC widget is from HTC and is part of the manufacturer's native system app (no ads, YAY). I extracted the apk ok, but I'm reluctant to install it in my new phone because I almost bricked my Galaxy Note 4 trying to install downloaded Google phone apk. It locked up the phone and I had to do a system reset. It took me two days to get it all working like I want. I don't want to go through that again.
I believe the HTC Android version is 2.3 or 3.3. Is there a way to verify that this widget apk will work on the Note 10 besides installing it? Thanks in advance for any help.

I can not really help you, but, be advised of this: some really old apps cause troubles, as they were coded in a different way, some elements needed for their correct functioning might not even be present now, some older apps dont even install, or run,
Some other do install, and run, but eventually start doing odd things or freezing the device, this I have experimented with several good apps I liked from gingerbread and ice cream, even kitkat, so, better look for newer alternatives, imho

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.droid27.senseflipclockweather
This has ads, but you can pay to get rid of them. There are others that have a similar flip-cloxk format.
Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

I use the free version of this one:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...ock&pcampaignid=APPU_1_zcc-X4KlMsP6sAWnvYTYBQ
Low power consumption, very custom configurable plus has quad touch switches that you can assign apps too.
Adjustable size, colors, fonts, transparency and more.
Runs well with no data usage (adware) after being configured. I'm running Pie.

You can't get the clock widget off the old Desire as it is part of the HTC Sense home screen. You can only find something similar on the app store...
Sorry...
However, I use Beautiful widgets (paid app) and you can get quite a few flip clocks that look and feel like the old HTC's...

ultramag69 said:
You can't get the clock widget off the old Desire as it is part of the HTC Sense home screen. You can only find something similar on the app store...
Sorry...
However, I use Beautiful widgets (paid app) and you can get quite a few flip clocks that look and feel like the old HTC's...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My understanding is that the flip clock widget is part of the HTC Clock app. I extracted the apk for that. I've not yet transferred the apk to my Note 10. I'd like to know if there's some way other than just installing to verify that it will not damage my Note 10.
Thanks, I checked out Beautiful Widgets. Even the paid version has full internet access, bluetooth, and near field communications. Why a clock widget would need that is beyond me. I'm concerned about security and unnecessary internet access, which is one reason why I'd prefer the old HTC widget. It also has the most captivating rendering of a classic flip clock that I've seen.
If anyone has a spare and sacrificial phone they don't mind resetting to factory specs if necessary, I'm willing to share the apk I extracted if you want to see if it works.

Tom Austin said:
My understanding is that the flip clock widget is part of the HTC Clock app. I extracted the apk for that. I've not yet transferred the apk to my Note 10. I'd like to know if there's some way other than just installing to verify that it will not damage my Note 10.
Thanks, I checked out Beautiful Widgets. Even the paid version has full internet access, bluetooth, and near field communications. Why a clock widget would need that is beyond me. I'm concerned about security and unnecessary internet access, which is one reason why I'd prefer the old HTC widget. It also has the most captivating rendering of a classic flip clock that I've seen.
If anyone has a spare and sacrificial phone they don't mind resetting to factory specs if necessary, I'm willing to share the apk I extracted if you want to see if it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, wanted lab rats. If your OS load is over 6 months old a refresh isn't a bad idea especially if you had a lot apps you uninstalled.
Be ready to do a factory reset at any time even though it's rarely neeeded it can happen.
After being force to do 2 back to back on my Note it's getting to be 2nd nature. Best load ever now.
That said it probably won't crash the OS and the worst that will happen is you'll be forced to uninstall it.
That happen with one or two of my Kitkat era apks.
Sometimes they will run ok.

Sense V2 is the best replica for HTC Clock
Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

Tom Austin said:
My understanding is that the flip clock widget is part of the HTC Clock app. I extracted the apk for that. I've not yet transferred the apk to my Note 10. I'd like to know if there's some way other than just installing to verify that it will not damage my Note 10.
Thanks, I checked out Beautiful Widgets. Even the paid version has full internet access, bluetooth, and near field communications. Why a clock widget would need that is beyond me. I'm concerned about security and unnecessary internet access, which is one reason why I'd prefer the old HTC widget. It also has the most captivating rendering of a classic flip clock that I've seen.
If anyone has a spare and sacrificial phone they don't mind resetting to factory specs if necessary, I'm willing to share the apk I extracted if you want to see if it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Weather updates which it draws from the internet... You can refuse this or turn off after and just have the clock...

ianmb said:
Sense V2 is the best replica for HTC Clock
Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I use

Look at this!
It's beautiful
winol said:
I can not really help you, but, be advised of this: some really old apps cause troubles, as they were coded in a different way, some elements needed for their correct functioning might not even be present now, some older apps dont even install, or run,
Some other do install, and run, but eventually start doing odd things or freezing the device, this I have experimented with several good apps I liked from gingerbread and ice cream, even kitkat, so, better look for newer alternatives, imho
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Maybe try here
https://forum.xda-developers.com/an...blinkfeed-plugins-devices-08-03-2015-t3049438