Develop Bugs

Accessing Active Applications

Is there a FAST way to switch between active applications? i came from WebOS and found switching apps the way it does extremely easy and fast, i am wondering if there's a way to do something similar in android.

Just hold the home button and you can switch between your recent opened applications.

An app called swipe pad. It can be found in the market. Allows you to open up 12 apps of your choosing to open up whenever. Sounds good?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

Of course, holding the home button you will see your recently used apps and can effectivly swotcj between them.

If you're really missing webOS then wavelauncher from the market is definitely for you. TONS of options and works just like webOS mulit-tasking. Hope you like

those are good, but i am looking for something that tells me the active application like task manager, but easier to get to. and something that makes it obvious what apps i have running. the recent app doesn't tell me what is running tho

The paid version of wave launcher can do all of that and then some. The options and settings are extensive.

TylerMF said:
The paid version of wave launcher can do all of that and then some. The options and settings are extensive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like Swipe pad cuz wave launcher gets in the way when dismissing you're notification bar
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App

I also really enjoy swipe pad. It's what I used before I switched to wave launcher. It's a great app, but personally I just like the feel and the way it handles better on wave launcher. And you can turn that setting off for the notifications thing in the options btw. I think it under a setting called something like "close notification on gesture area tap" or something. I don't like that feature either, so I just leave it turned off.

Yea I know u can turn it off but I like the gesture area in the top right corner
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App

i would get wave launcher but i dont want to start spending money on apps yet.
i'm using swipe pad with bottom swipe up (like webos) and have the task manager right above the samsung logo so i can quickly get to task manager and switch between tasks. good work around

Lightning Launcher???

U guys tried out LL yet?? Its pretty impressive as in speed and how different it is..im rockin wit it for now

Was reading this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1523859 and there was a mention of lightning. So I am trying it now. Seems to be a completely different approach to launchers. Kinda liking it. Not sure if it is just the "newness" but i am going to stick with it for a bit and see. Really like the approach except would like to see a horizontal and vertical options for the home screen. I would definitely recommend people to give it a shot.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

Looks interesting, think I'll give it a try.
Edit..Hmmm. this is really different. Can't figure out a way to add any widgets except their own ones, can't figure out a way to add dock items. Not for me. uninstalling

There is no dock.
Have to spend a dollar on the LL widget add on. (There's always a catch)
I still like the creative concept. Been using it for a couple of hours and is taking some time to break the traditional launcher layouts. Still haven't defaulted it though as i do like GO Launchers features. Time will tell.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

I like it. Nice and simple. Thanks for pointing it out.

Yeah thanks for mentioning this, I'm using it now too..
Kinda disappointed at the $.99 cost to use widgets outside of his, but otherwise it's pretty cool, definitely not like the other launchers I've used
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA

I like the concept behind it using next to no RAM. Otherwise though I'm just not feeling it.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

Thanks for everyones feedback..i thought it was different..u know how we are..gotta try to it all to find the best!! Im bout to throw this beta cm9 on so i might come back to it lol...happy rooting!!

OK, my mind is now officially blown. Lightning Launcher has turned my Android world upside-down.
With Froyo and GB, I happily used LauncherPro - Had to have my scrolling dock and nothing else really mattered. On CM9, I experimented with Zeam (my favorite dock--smooth scroll instead of paged) and Nova (really nice-lots of options-but IMHO the dock wasn't as good as Zeam) and Go (blecch-too many links to commercial sites for me). I'm now on CM10 and tried Trebuchet (blah), Apex (really nice-a lot like Nova) and was using Zeam, then Holo HD (nice-a lot like Nova and Apex). I still missed the smooth-scrolling, scaled-down icons in the Zeam dock, though.
Today, I went on a quest for the "perfect" launcher and ran across a really good thread on the Experia S forum that lays-out all the launcher options -->here
For no particular reason, I decided to try Lightning. Holy #@$%! It is sooo different from the rest (and no dock either, but I'll see if I can do without it). It's a whole new way of approaching launchers - no pages, no grid if you don't want it, no sizing limitations, free rotation of elements, just one big zoomable scrolling page. I'm sure there are a lot more options to explore. I just haven't gotten around to it yet. And I CAN put my old favorite widgets on there without an additional paid app. The possibilities are seemingly endless. There's a 10 minute video demonstration of Lightning in the Play Store that sucked me into loading and trying it.
Just wanted to share this with all of you fellow Epic users - I now have a new toy that will keep me occupied for hours and hours :laugh:. Lightning might be cooler than Android, itself.
Al

Clean and simple. I dont like the fact all your apps seem to be right on top of each other though
Figured it out. Make less columns in the app drawer.

I can't seem to find it where do you get it.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

bigboose1234 said:
I can't seem to find it where do you get it.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its in the play store. Just search "lightning launcher" and it should be the first one.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda app-developers app

I just downloaded this and noticed a few things that others may find useful.
First, the any widget addon is free
Second, a dock effect can be achieved by pinning the items you would otherwise place in a dock bar. First, press the home key to center the screen (or you might pin an item off-screen, making it useless). Then long-press to enter editing mode (or menu->customize). Then position your chosen icon where you would like to stay (relative to the physical screen). Then long-press the icon and select customize. From there, go to common item settings and scroll down to the pinned option. Click the ball to turn it green, then check the box. Now the icon will stay in place as you scroll and zoom, just like a dock. The only problem (or feature, depending on perspective) I've found is that pinning an icon at the bottom of the screen in portrait mode will cause it to be off-screen in landscape mode - it will take some experimentation to get things just right. A similar problem exists for the right side of the screen in landscape, causing the icon to be off-screen in portrait. Basically, the position is based on the top left corner, so you could make a dock along either of those sides without issue, as long as they are not longer than the short side of the screen (you'll see what I mean, if my description isn't clear enough)
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda app-developers app

styles420 said:
I just downloaded this and noticed a few things that others may find useful.
First, the any widget addon is free
Second, a dock effect can be achieved by pinning the items you would otherwise place in a dock bar. First, press the home key to center the screen (or you might pin an item off-screen, making it useless). Then long-press to enter editing mode (or menu->customize). Then position your chosen icon where you would like to stay (relative to the physical screen). Then long-press the icon and select customize. From there, go to common item settings and scroll down to the pinned option. Click the ball to turn it green, then check the box. Now the icon will stay in place as you scroll and zoom, just like a dock. The only problem (or feature, depending on perspective) I've found is that pinning an icon at the bottom of the screen in portrait mode will cause it to be off-screen in landscape mode - it will take some experimentation to get things just right. A similar problem exists for the right side of the screen in landscape, causing the icon to be off-screen in portrait. Basically, the position is based on the top left corner, so you could make a dock along either of those sides without issue, as long as they are not longer than the short side of the screen (you'll see what I mean, if my description isn't clear enough)
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the report, styles. I'll give that method a try.
This Lightning Launcher has some amazing capabilities but is pretty complicated to navigate all the settings and options. Still worth the effort for me, tho -- it's fun to learn new stuff.
Al

arschend said:
Thanks for the report, styles. I'll give that method a try.
This Lightning Launcher has some amazing capabilities but is pretty complicated to navigate all the settings and options. Still worth the effort for me, tho -- it's fun to learn new stuff.
Al
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is an interesting concept with a lot of potential, but there are still some blatant rough edges... for example, using a wallpaper image or any transparency will cause the icons to streak and leave trails while zooming and panning. It can be considered a neat effect, but basically the screen doesn't truly redraw - each frame is just drawn on top of the existing one, so you need to use a solid color bg at with absolutely no transparency to cover the previous frame and eliminate the trails. I'll be keeping my eye on this launcher though
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda app-developers app

Hmmm...I just tried this with one of my standard wallpapers from my gallery and had no issues whatsoever. Everything scrolls and zooms above the wallpaper layer, although scrolling wallpaper would be nice.
FWIW, I'm running stock CM10, 9/26 nightly.

Had it on my nexus s....it was the slim roms base launcher
Sent from my SPH-P100 using Tapatalk 2

OscarTangoMike said:
There is no dock.
Have to spend a dollar on the LL widget add on. (There's always a catch)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can fake a dock:
- Create a folder
- Insert phone, browser etc in it and arrange it
- Keep the center of the screen free from other widgets
- Set folder settings not to close, if an app was startet
Now you have permanently (as long as you don't click on free space of the desktop) a dock in the middle of your screen.

Yes, a dock (even a scrollable one) is very easy to set up = create a panel at the bottom or on the side, add icons (with AllApps icon as menu launcher), pin it. You can have it scrolling sideways like Nova, or up/down, all inside the "dock" panel.

webOS-like swipe up for multitasking view

Any webOS user knows how you can simply use your finger to swipe up from the gesture area to pop open the app drawer. I think this would be a fantastic feature for any ICS phone in order to access the multitasking view.
I would gladly sacrifice 2-3 rows of pixels on the bottom of the screen in order to implement such a feature.
Of course this mod would render the actual button obsolete, I'm not sure what to replace it with.
Any devs wish to take on this project? I don't think it would be impossible to pull off.

NOVA Launcher has swipe gestures and will do what you are asking for.

WiredPirate said:
NOVA Launcher has swipe gestures and will do what you are asking for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will it work from within any app? Not just the home screen? I'm not sure we are talking about the same thing.

Oh, no. Not from within any app. Like you said from the home screen.
However, you can use WaveLauncher to open the app drawer from within any app. I love WL, couldn't go without it.
EDIT: You could also try this.

GestureControl is pretty much what I wanted... very nice
Now what do I replace the multitask button with?

Good deal. I know with AOKP you can change and rearrange your soft keys, but I don't think there is an app that does this, although that is a good idea! There are also some mods for this in the theme section but I think you have to be de-odexed.

Wasn't the web os launcher ported to android in the market called wave launcher? I tried it before and it worked identical, from any app too.

I don't understand... LMT allows you to do any type of gesture to pretty much do anything, from ANY app...

Yeah here it is, even has the stretchy animation and all just as web os does.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobilemerit.wavelauncher

As someone mentioned, LMT would work perfectly for you!

I don't like this trend...

... of apps ignoring the menu key.
I've always preferred the menu - home - back layout Samsung has stuck with. It just feels more natural to me... Now though I'm starting to think the new Android design guidelines are going to pose a big usability problem.
Especially on big phones like the GS3, having to reach to the top of the phone to get at common options is an annoyance at best. Mint is one of the latest apps to implement the new design guidelines that renders the menu button useless.
I hope the development community can come up with a workaround - if they haven't already. Anyone know of efforts to remap or otherwise keep the menu button useful?

Its not really the dev community that controls the design guidelines.. as you know google updates them with each iteration of Android. The problem here is, starting from the Galaxy Nexus, none of Google's phones have come with a menu button. Google believes this is better (for some reason) and so all the design guidelines are trending towards making the menu button obsolete.
Samsung on the other hand is slowly becoming the only manufacturer to persist with the menu button.
From a development perspective, its easy enough to support devices with/without a menu button, with the same piece of code. I feel the main reason big Android apps are moving to the Holo bar menu button is for uniformity like in iOS (which is what Google wants in the first place)

There are roms that let you easily re-assign the menu button. For example, I have menu bound to recent apps (android standard is back, home, recent apps) with long press recent apps as menu for those few cases where apps still use the menu button.
As much as you may like the menu button it is more than on its way out at this point. Despite what samsung has been building their phones with.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium

50% of the reason I like a physical home button is because for me, it's easier to power up the phone...and more natural, less effort etc. I also go into standby by an upward gesture on my homescreen so on/off is very quick and handy.
The other half is that I have more screen real estate.

pngface said:
Its not really the dev community that controls the design guidelines.. as you know google updates them with each iteration of Android. The problem here is, starting from the Galaxy Nexus, none of Google's phones have come with a menu button. Google believes this is better (for some reason) and so all the design guidelines are trending towards making the menu button obsolete.
Samsung on the other hand is slowly becoming the only manufacturer to persist with the menu button.
From a development perspective, its easy enough to support devices with/without a menu button, with the same piece of code. I feel the main reason big Android apps are moving to the Holo bar menu button is for uniformity like in iOS (which is what Google wants in the first place)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uniformity is huge, have you seen that picture with the buttons of around 10 android popular phones in which none of them have the same buttons/order.
Also, as an ex-galaxy nexus user, I must say that on-screen buttons are FAR better than what we have. The only down side is lost screen space in most apps (some stuff does go full screen). But the customizability of the software buttons is SO NICE. you can change the size of the bar, the colour, what buttons are there, what the icons are. The slide for google now is much more intuitive that long pressing menu. XDA devs have even added the ability to add what ever you want to the google now slide up gesture. (including widgets).
The software bar is simply a modder's wet dream

Sure uniformity is cool, but what's more uniform than a menu key that's just there all the time? I don't even have to think about it; I want settings/options, I press the menu key. This has honestly been one of my favorite design elements of Android. I hate that this is being phased out.
Ah well, nothing I can do about it.

themadproducer said:
50% of the reason I like a physical home button is because for me, it's easier to power up the phone...and more natural, less effort etc. I also go into standby by an upward gesture on my homescreen so on/off is very quick and handy.
The other half is that I have more screen real estate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you have it set up to sleep with a screen gesture?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

yamahakid said:
How do you have it set up to sleep with a screen gesture?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's 2 parts...but super simple and turbo quick!
I use Go Launcher EX. Many of the custom launchers have Gesture ability. (unlike stock TouchWiz) There are 2 types of gestures in GLex. The one I use is an upward gesture anywhere on any home screen. (you could choose an icon in the dock as well) and it's not the Gesture Pad feature. For me, this works well as I never find myself swiping upwards on the home screen except to initiate SCREEN OFF....although I have requested them to add a 2 finger swipe for extra control.
The 2nd part is an app called "screen off and lock" which I have been using for years. I tell GLex to execute SOAL with an upward gesture on the home screen. Works flawlessly. (GLex has it's own plugin for screen off...but it is laggy)
SOAL also has CRT similar fx and other options. But I just use the clean screen off effect and it's INSTANT. I literally can turn on my S3 with my physical home button, swipe to unlock. then swipe up to lock/screen off in under a second...and keep repeating...no lag. (that's not what I use it for per-say...but just to show that it is fast...all with my thumb in a close proximity area.)

Just got it all set up and I'm loving it so far. Thanks a lot
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

yamahakid said:
Just got it all set up and I'm loving it so far. Thanks a lot
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right on, glad you tried it out.
To me, little things like this make the experience so much better.
Are you using GLex?

themadproducer said:
Right on, glad you tried it out.
To me, little things like this make the experience so much better.
Are you using GLex?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I have an s3, but I flashed a fix that changed my build.prop to gnex so I can run Google wallet.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

yamahakid said:
No I have an s3, but I flashed a fix that changed my build.prop to gnex so I can run Google wallet.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha Ha...no...actually I meant Go Launcher EX? (GLex)
What launcher do you use to perform the swipe?

themadproducer said:
Ha Ha...no...actually I meant Go Launcher EX? (GLex)
What launcher do you use to perform the swipe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha oh I thought you made a typo. I'm using apex launcher.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

radeon_x said:
... of apps ignoring the menu key.
I've always preferred the menu - home - back layout Samsung has stuck with. It just feels more natural to me... Now though I'm starting to think the new Android design guidelines are going to pose a big usability problem.
Especially on big phones like the GS3, having to reach to the top of the phone to get at common options is an annoyance at best. Mint is one of the latest apps to implement the new design guidelines that renders the menu button useless.
I hope the development community can come up with a workaround - if they haven't already. Anyone know of efforts to remap or otherwise keep the menu button useful?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Video about some of my likes and dislikes about the GS3 overall its the best smartphone I have ever owned .

That's one thing that annoys me about the Android OS not being unified... some apps will ignore the menu, some wont.

[Q] One Handed Usage Tips?

I know that the Note 4 has a "Button Savior"-esque menu with softkeys for app/menu, home, and back. What other tips are there?
Is there anything I can do to access the pull-down notification screen other than by swiping down from the top of the phone?
EDIT: Gosh darnit! Wrong forum

IBNobody said:
I know that the Note 4 has a "Button Savior"-esque menu with softkeys for app/menu, home, and back. What other tips are there?
Is there anything I can do to access the pull-down notification screen other than by swiping down from the top of the phone?
EDIT: Gosh darnit! Wrong forum
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My number one suggestion is to get a FlyGrip which attaches to the back of your phone or case. I can't live without mine, especially on such a large phone. That does more for being able to use the phone one handed than anything else. They're $30 and worth every penny. My second suggestion is to ditch TouchWiz and get another launcher which allows customizable gestures. I use Nova Prime. Worth the money and allows you to pull the notification pulldown with whatever gesture you want, though that only works on your home screen. Another option, if you're rooted, is to use Pie and set that to have a button that triggers the notification pulldown. You could use that instead of the similar idea that Samsung has implemented. One other thing I do is use my S-pen as it gives a longer reach.
Hope some of this was helpful. Just my 2 cents.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app

died4u525 said:
My number one suggestion is to get a FlyGrip which attaches to the back of your phone or case. I can't live without mine, especially on such a large phone. That does more for being able to use the phone one handed than anything else. They're $30 and worth every penny. My second suggestion is to ditch TouchWiz and get another launcher which allows customizable gestures. I use Nova Prime. Worth the money and allows you to pull the notification pulldown with whatever gesture you want, though that only works on your home screen. Another option, if you're rooted, is to use Pie and set that to have a button that triggers the notification pulldown. You could use that instead of the similar idea that Samsung has implemented. One other thing I do is use my S-pen as it gives a longer reach.
Hope some of this was helpful. Just my 2 cents.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Forgot about FlyGrip. Thanks.
I've been using ADB as a launcher for a while and I knew that had the gestures I could set up, but I didn't know if Sammy implemented that yet in Touchwiz. It looks like Pie is a button-savior style of app. I probably need to look into what's available now.

One-Handed Keyboard
My biggest gripe about the Note 4 compared to my Note 3 is that you can no longer be able to select which apps you would like the one-handed keyboard used in.
On my Note 3, I used the one-handed keyboard only on the phone-dialer and calculator, but still liked the full size keyboard for swiping on everything else (like chrome, text, etc.)
However, on the Note 4, you only have the option to turn the one-handed keyboard on or off for use in all apps.
Wish there was a way around this, but haven't found one yet.