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One of the things I miss most from winmo is that, on WinMo, you always can access your 'all programs' drawer from the notification bar/start menu. You could use your phone heavily all day and only see the Home screen once.
I've searched high and low for an Android equivalent, but find nothing. Anyone know of anything?
Closest I've found is multitask manager, it attaches to search button, and let's you put preferred apps in it, but you can't put 'launcher' or 'rosie' in it.
Anyone know what I'm trying to describe? Or have any suggestions ?
Thanks
Also, I just realized this is probably in wrong subforum, toast or MOD, feel free to move it. Thanks. Sorry.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
i am not sure the question here. are you saying you want it so that you have to go to the home screen to launch the app draw or are yous aying you dont want to have to go to the home screen to launch the app draw?
I am not sure what you are using but i dont have to go to the home screen to launch app draw. also you may try playing with launcher pro you can set up the dock to have apps on it. i use a combination of app organizer and launcher pro. I have the favorites group mapped to my dock and then i can favorite apps and get to them from that dock button. Works well for me.
I think you can set up the Power Strip app to show your app drawer.
omegasun18 said:
i am not sure the question here. are you saying you want it so that you have to go to the home screen to launch the app draw or are yous aying you dont want to have to go to the home screen to launch the app draw?
I am not sure what you are using but i dont have to go to the home screen to launch app draw. also you may try playing with launcher pro you can set up the dock to have apps on it. i use a combination of app organizer and launcher pro. I have the favorites group mapped to my dock and then i can favorite apps and get to them from that dock button. Works well for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He means he wants a universal way to access the app drawer from anywhere. In WinMo, the start icon / app drawer is always on the status bar.
Yeah, awardtour, you nailed it. Thanks. I see i accidentally used a double negative in my OP, making it confusing.
Yeah, i want to be able to launch my app drawer from the notification bar, or search button (any 'button' that is always present).
I use adw EX and LPP a lot, but have never found a way, within android, to acheive this functionality. If anyone knows, please share. Thank you.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium
I'm not sure of the name, but I'm pretty sure there's a gesture based app launcher on the market (or maybe here) somewhere that allows you to program a gesture to a app launcher so no matter what you're doing you can swipe the gesture and have an app menu come up. I'll see if I can find it for u.....
fitz420 said:
I'm not sure of the name, but I'm pretty sure there's a gesture based app launcher on the market (or maybe here) somewhere that allows you to program a gesture to a app launcher so no matter what you're doing you can swipe the gesture and have an app menu come up. I'll see if I can find it for u.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Zeam launcher has something like that, but you'll have to be on one of your homescreens though...
scottspa74 said:
Yeah, awardtour, you nailed it. Thanks. I see i accidentally used a double negative in my OP, making it confusing.
Yeah, i want to be able to launch my app drawer from the notification bar, or search button (any 'button' that is always present).
I use adw EX and LPP a lot, but have never found a way, within android, to acheive this functionality. If anyone knows, please share. Thank you.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright, this is what I was thinking of. Create a list of apps, call up via gestures from anywhere.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mobilemerit.wavelauncher
It actually looks pretty cool. I think I'm gonna buy it. I'll report back and give my opinion
Did you try this app alt. drawer?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1154299
Will check these out. Thanks to all you guys.
Lol i think i posted this like a year ago, and stumbled on it today thru my control panel, made a comment, now im getting hits
Thanks guys.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium
Hey, I tried wave launcher, its free on getjar right now. Its EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR! !!! Thanks for the suggestions. You can launch the wave no matter where you are (i.e. browser, messaging, app, etc) and and can have the app drawer button on the wave.
Hell, without even using the wave aspect, if you just hold the hotspot for a sec (to launch wave) it'll automagically open app drawer! !!!! Pure awesomeness. Just thought I'd share and thank.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium
Nearly every picture of this phone I've seen it has a rather large search bar at the top of the home screen. Can it be removed? If not - could it be removed with root ?
jake21 said:
Nearly every picture of this phone I've seen it has a rather large search bar at the top of the home screen. Can it be removed? If not - could it be removed with root ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
P3Droid has done it...
by far my biggest gripe with ics
Hum. But he didn't say how Hopefully google rethinks this feature of the software. I mean I don't mind it being optional and default but ...
oscillik said:
P3Droid has done it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you remove that ... you need another hack to enable "search".
Because there is no search "key" (virtual key).
gogol said:
If you remove that ... you need another hack to enable "search".
Because there is no search "key" (virtual key).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They could bind it to long-press task switcher key for example. My x10 did also come without search button but it was bound to long-press menu key. Should be possible with software keys as well, right?
Sent from my X10i using XDA App
I wouldn't mind so much if they let me resize the damn thing. I know it's important but I really want it a quarter of it's current size.
I think P3Droid did it by modifying Launcher.apk and pushing it back to the device.
gogol said:
If you remove that ... you need another hack to enable "search".
Because there is no search "key" (virtual key).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thye could let us at least be able to move it.. say to one of the other 5 screens, so its not on the main one
I believe its constant across all 5 homescreens, but I understand what you mean. I assume you mean have only one, and make it available to move around right?
If you are willing to root, then you can do many UI customizations as per P3Droid's mods or Paul_Brian's ROMs. You need root because most involve editing the launcher or framework-res.apk and other system components.
Yea. For me anyways I would rarely use search; so stuffing it in a place where it doesn't take prime space would be nice....; alternatively it could just be an ap that you can put on a screen as desired; or a menu option to enable / disable. Lots of solutions that doesnt' require it to be on every screen at the top...
DDRFAN said:
I believe its constant across all 5 homescreens, but I understand what you mean. I assume you mean have only one, and make it available to move around right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Considering that you can't use the space that is left when you get rid of the search bar, I personally don't see what all the fuss is about.
You cannot place homescreen shortcuts or any other widget there, since as soon as you pick up an icon or widget to place on the home screen, that area is reserved for the Remove/App Info/Uninstall prompt.
So the only result of getting rid of the search bar would be a blank space that can serve no function at all. If I had to choose between a blank space that cannot be utilised, over a search bar...I'd choose search bar.
Or just download a different launcher. My HC tablet has the Google Search widget at the top-left corner that is static. A quick ADW EX download and bada-bing, bada-boom.
I'm running ICS CM7 theme on my G2x and I kinda like the search bar's location. Eventually I'd like to replace it with a clock or weather widget, but I don't stick with the stock launcher very long.
Ack I though the space could be used (I do not yet have the phone). That is also sad
oscillik said:
Considering that you can't use the space that is left when you get rid of the search bar, I personally don't see what all the fuss is about.
You cannot place homescreen shortcuts or any other widget there, since as soon as you pick up an icon or widget to place on the home screen, that area is reserved for the Remove/App Info/Uninstall prompt.
So the only result of getting rid of the search bar would be a blank space that can serve no function at all. If I had to choose between a blank space that cannot be utilised, over a search bar...I'd choose search bar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you disable google search it doesn't remove the permanent widget?
oscillik said:
Considering that you can't use the space that is left when you get rid of the search bar, I personally don't see what all the fuss is about.
You cannot place homescreen shortcuts or any other widget there, since as soon as you pick up an icon or widget to place on the home screen, that area is reserved for the Remove/App Info/Uninstall prompt.
So the only result of getting rid of the search bar would be a blank space that can serve no function at all. If I had to choose between a blank space that cannot be utilised, over a search bar...I'd choose search bar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your absolutely right but the trouble is it just looks ****e so I'd rather it wasn't there.
I'm sure someone will work out how to reclaim the space.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
I find its design rather pointless, as soon as you click in the search box you're taken to another slightly smaller search box which has none of the transparency of the first...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
pnnorth said:
Your absolutely right but the trouble is it just looks ****e so I'd rather it wasn't there.
I'm sure someone will work out how to reclaim the space.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about a complet transparent search bar? You couldn't see it but it's there and if you know it you can use it.
The search bar should remain a widget, as it used to be. That would give users the most options, which is what Android is about.
Hi, I recently broke my HD2, and just got SGS2. On the HD2 I had Kumar's ROM. I'm new to Android, and I'm finding the Window Shade quite annoying. On the HD2, when I got a new message, voicemail, etc., I would tap on the notification bar which opened the notification window. On Android this requires swiping the bar, which is not easy using just one hand, and is simply more input than necessary. Is there any way around this?
Thanks!
I grab the notification bar with my thumb and flick down. One handed.
Sent from my SGH-T989D
Use adw ex and set the gestures. Use swipe down for notifications.
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Deebo took your bike too?
The_Biz said:
Use adw ex and set the gestures. Use swipe down for notifications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, Biz. I installed ADW EX & tried that setting, but it didn't change anything. I'm using the updated stock ROM, perhaps using one of the modded ROMs could affect this?
hella356 said:
Thanks, Biz. I installed ADW EX & tried that setting, but it didn't change anything. I'm using the updated stock ROM, perhaps using one of the modded ROMs could affect this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ROM wouldn't matter much. Did you go in the ADW settings and look for screen gestures? Change the swipe down to show notifications. That way when you just swipe down on the home screen, that whole thing will shoot down.
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Deebo took your bike too?
Thanks for the help, Biz. Yes, I tried several settings. The one you are referring to DOES work in that manner, which is a little better, but I'm just hoping to find a way to not have to swipe at all. I realize it's a small thing, but it's something that will aggravate me to no end, and as far as I can tell applies to all Android phones. I thought these things were supposed to be more configurable than this. I am amazed that there may be no way around performing dozens of extra motions every day to accomplish something so simple.
May sound crazy, but I'm missing my perfectly configured (but lesser hardware equipped and no longer available) Windows Mobile 6.5 HD2.
hella356 said:
Thanks for the help, Biz. Yes, I tried several settings. The one you are referring to DOES work in that manner, which is a little better, but I'm just hoping to find a way to not have to swipe at all. I realize it's a small thing, but it's something that will aggravate me to no end, and as far as I can tell applies to all Android phones. I thought these things were supposed to be more configurable than this. I am amazed that there may be no way around performing dozens of extra motions every day to accomplish something so simple.
May sound crazy, but I'm missing my perfectly configured (but lesser hardware equipped and no longer available) Windows Mobile 6.5 HD2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK. On the homescreen using adw ex, you can hold down and add a launcher action anywhere on the screen you want. You can add a show notifications action wherever you like and edit it and use a blank png for its icon. Then when you click that part of the screen, the notifications bar will drop.
It's similar to what you want, you just don't necessarily click the notifications bar.
I hope this helps you more and you start to enjoy android. As I had a hd2 before the sensation and love this way more than both of them combined.
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Deebo took your bike too?
Thank you, sir. I have been messing with that ADW EX launcher setting, and it's a step in the right direction. Still not at all what I'm looking for, but better than the stock setup. Any idea if there is some way to get the window shade to simply open and close, rather than the animated and slow way it moves now? That's another annoyance; I just want the thing to work quickly without any superfluous animations and such. It opened and closed instantly on my HD2.
Really appreciate all your help!
Don't know of a way to do that man. Sorry. :-(
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Deebo took your bike too?
Why not just set your home button to go home and open notifications? It's in adw settings as well.
Sent from my SGH-T989
Thanks, GideonX. That's another OK option, but still an irritating kludge. I realize it's just a swipe or a couple presses of the Home button or aiming my finger at an icon, but I'm used to a single tap on the bar & no swipe, and find any extra required motions wasteful. Also, unnecessary transition effects are a pet peeve, they serve only to slow things down, IMO. I'm really astounded that the Android bar is that unconfigurable, even with 3rd party apps.
Sorry for venting my frustrations on you guys! I really do appreciate your input.
GideonX said:
Why not just set your home button to go home and open notifications? It's in adw settings as well.
Sent from my SGH-T989
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Click to collapse
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.
Does anyone know if there is a way or an app that allows regular widgets to be pinned in place, like the google search bar at the top of the screen? I want to create a custom background with certain spots designated for certain widgets, but I want them to be present on every page, without having any transition effects when I swipe from page to page. Does anyone know if there is a way to make this happen?
fa7592 said:
Does anyone know if there is a way or an app that allows regular widgets to be pinned in place, like the google search bar at the top of the screen? I want to create a custom background with certain spots designated for certain widgets, but I want them to be present on every page, without having any transition effects when I swipe from page to page. Does anyone know if there is a way to make this happen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know of one..but if there isn't, I'm sure some devs would love the idea!
Just out of curiosity. .why not just use one page? And may I ask what kind of background..it's interesting and just want to understand
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
fa7592 said:
Does anyone know if there is a way or an app that allows regular widgets to be pinned in place, like the google search bar at the top of the screen? I want to create a custom background with certain spots designated for certain widgets, but I want them to be present on every page, without having any transition effects when I swipe from page to page. Does anyone know if there is a way to make this happen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There sure is. It's called Overlays.
I brilliant app.