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Kids Place - With Child Lock - By kiddoware
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kiddoware.kidsplace
I haven't found anyone posting about this app yet, so I wanted to let everyone with kids know about this app! This app is a MUST if you occasionally let kids use your phone or have been afraid to hand over your phone to the kids because you were worried about them getting in to your email, deleting things, changing settings, making phone calls, or worst, making in app purchases!
Google should include this built-in with Android! iOS can't do this, even though I wish it could.
Android parental control with child lock. Protects your kids, data and apps.
An app launcher with a child lock that protects your personal data and restricts kids to apps you have approved. Kids Place also prevents children from downloading new apps, making phone calls, texting or performing other actions that can cost you money. Includes convenience features for parents such as auto app restart, useful for small kids who accidentally exit launched apps.
Features:
★ Custom home screen displays only apps that parents have authorized
★ Can prevent children from buying or downloading new apps
★ Capable of blocking incoming calls when Kids Home is running
★ Capable of disabling all wireless signals while Kids Home is running to avoid exposure to cell phone, wifi and Bluetooth radiation
★ Can restarts apps accidentally stopped by small children, allowing parents to stay focused on their own tasks.
★ Add custom wallpaper to customize your child’s experience while in Kids Place
★ Timer feature to lock Kids Place after specified amount of time.
★ Appropriate for children of all ages - babies, toddlers, even teenagers
In this Parental Control app, Home; Back; Search and Call buttons are locked so that kid cannot get out of the Kids Place or make phone calls.
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Click to collapse
At the moment, Google Play says it's not compatible with ICS, but I've installed the .apk and it runs just fine for me. The author says they are just polishing some cosmetic things before they approve it for ICS. If anyone is interested, I can try and get permission to post the .apk for everyone running ICS.
Spread the word about this great app. Everyone I've showed it to loves it! If you don't have kids using your phone, maybe you could use this to lock down your phone before you let your cat play with it.
Have a Great Day!
Smoke.007
Current .apk as of April 4th, 2012
I got permission to post the current latest .apk for anyone running Ice Cream Sandwich. Just remember, the author says they are still polishing the version for ICS, but it seems to currently run perfectly for me.
Anyone else can just grab this app from the Market, I mean Google Play.
Smoke.007
the apk is not working, also only 1kb. I would be happy if you could post it again. thanks.
Re-uploaded the file. Sorry for the bad upload! Please try again now. I downloaded the new attachment and it's the correct size now.
Have a Great Day!
Smoke.007
works perfect now, thanks!
Just installed from Play store (not on ICS) - thanks for the app recommendation!
Thanks for this... installed on mine and my wifes phone... works great! Now I don't have to worry about my 19 month old daughter deleting anything when she grabs my phone...
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk 2
Thanks for this post!!
Thanks for this post!!
Child Proof Gadget-Child Lock
A new app is there in google play store. It is also useful if your kid is playing with your android phone. It has all required features, with this its size is very small and it is harmless for your phone.
App name : Child Proof Gadget-Child Lock
http://chameleon.teknision.com/
Anyone hear about this app? I read on another forum it works with Nexus7 now. What are your thoughts?
It hasn't been released yet. It looks good i would def but it ones is out.
I'm thinking about preordering it. It looks too boss!
If the pre-order would give me an apk after my payment I'm in.
Preorder gives out early access to the app, which is n august. It will officially launch at play store n sept
Thanks guys...yeah looks like I'll think about it when it does come out. Got too many other things to worry about when my Nexus 7 arrives tomorrow!
I'm definitely going to be looking at this when it comes out. I'm looking to use my $25 play store money on tablet apps and might have to save some for when this gets released
Yeah same...don't see any other must have apps that can't be downloaded.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Chameleon is useless
phoneaddict13 said:
http://chameleon.teknision.com/
Anyone hear about this app? I read on another forum it works with Nexus7 now. What are your thoughts?
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Click to collapse
Before you ask yes I have used it I have been trying it for two days now. Chameleon is not worth your time or money and despite the intention of the creators is NOTE deeply customizable. What it is is a series of widgets on a a couple of nice looking backgrounds. That's it in it's entirety. You have very little control over where you place the widgets (there is a strict grid pattern to use) or how much you can resize them (according to this grid pattern) and when you resize them smaller these widget they lose a lot of info (ie what they display). Only widgets desgined by Chameleon can be used and right now there are only 5 (twitter, gmail, facebook, instagram, and news...with very limited sources), so forget about using any widgets from your favorite apps unless chameleon deigns to create one in the future. These widgets also have limited functionality and you have no control over that limited functionality. Say you want to manually set your location on a weather app, or set your facebook app to update manually or perhaps every two hours instead of one. You are out of luck, it's chameleons way or the highway. Want an app (not a widget) on your desktop, well you can but only along the bottom edge of the screen and only five. Have multiple gmail accounts and would like notifications for each one better be prepared to have multiple large widgets taking up screen real estate or your out of luck. As for the supposed context wonderfeature, it's been tried before. Do you really want to have to jump through extra hoops to do something because it is a certain time of day or you are logged on to a certain network, if you like those extra steps then this is for you, if you like everything ready to go at your finger tips when and where you want it then this is best left alone. For crying out loud hitting the home button at the bottom of your screen doesn't even take you to your homescreen. This home screen replacement has limited functionality, so unless twitter, facebook, and instagram updates are your entire world (and even then there are better widgets included with other apps) this app will not be worth even 15 minutes (the refund window) of your time. If you have broader interests, and need something that you can set up exactly how you want it, to be useful for work and play AVOID THIS HOMESCREEN.
Druter said:
Before you ask yes I have used it I have been trying it for two days now. Chameleon is not worth your time or money and despite the intention of the creators is NOTE deeply customizable. What it is is a series of widgets on a a couple of nice looking backgrounds. That's it in it's entirety. You have very little control over where you place the widgets (there is a strict grid pattern to use) or how much you can resize them (according to this grid pattern) and when you resize them smaller these widget they lose a lot of info (ie what they display). Only widgets desgined by Chameleon can be used and right now there are only 5 (twitter, gmail, facebook, instagram, and news...with very limited sources), so forget about using any widgets from your favorite apps unless chameleon deigns to create one in the future. These widgets also have limited functionality and you have no control over that limited functionality. Say you want to manually set your location on a weather app, or set your facebook app to update manually or perhaps every two hours instead of one. You are out of luck, it's chameleons way or the highway. Want an app (not a widget) on your desktop, well you can but only along the bottom edge of the screen and only five. Have multiple gmail accounts and would like notifications for each one better be prepared to have multiple large widgets taking up screen real estate or your out of luck. As for the supposed context wonderfeature, it's been tried before. Do you really want to have to jump through extra hoops to do something because it is a certain time of day or you are logged on to a certain network, if you like those extra steps then this is for you, if you like everything ready to go at your finger tips when and where you want it then this is best left alone. For crying out loud hitting the home button at the bottom of your screen doesn't even take you to your homescreen. This home screen replacement has limited functionality, so unless twitter, facebook, and instagram updates are your entire world (and even then there are better widgets included with other apps) this app will not be worth even 15 minutes (the refund window) of your time. If you have broader interests, and need something that you can set up exactly how you want it, to be useful for work and play AVOID THIS HOMESCREEN.
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Click to collapse
They are however going to (have already?) release an SDK that allows developers to develop their own widgets so hopefully you won't be stuck with just the ones they provide. Whether this actually takes off is another matter. I might well buy it myself to try it out but at $10, and, currently, a limited widget selection, can't see it really flying off the shelves myself.
Yeah. I can't believe anyone funded this. What a joke.
Easily done with minimal effort on existing, free software.
I searched for a Chameleon thread in all the Nexus 7 forums and didn't see one, or I wouldn't have created a new thread. However I made a video for anyone interested to see it working.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUI2oPNqBW4&hd=1
But as everyone else is saying, its very limited, and after using it for over a day I am getting bugs and the out of the 5 widgets I have 3 broke and I had to recreate it to make it work again.
They had a concept video that looked very promising and one of the reasons why I wanted to support. Wireless Media streaming while still being able to use your tablet for other things, separate user profiles, and a stylish looking UI that can evolve to what you need. You can see that here: http://youtu.be/eWZ7guxro2g
So many flaws with your statements I have quoted.
Druter said:
You have very little control over where you place the widgets (there is a strict grid pattern to use) or how much you can resize them (according to this grid pattern)
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Click to collapse
1) Apex, Nova, GoLauncher, LauncherPro, etc. all force you to use a "grid" for your widgets. This isn't a flaw with Chameleon, it's called Android. YOu can have a widget take up th whole screen or just one single square. f course, most the widgets will be useless taking up just one square, but that's the case for most widgets unless the app maker made a 1x1 specific idget. Great thing with Chameleon though is that the widgets adapt to what size you make them. THe overwhelming majority of widgets you use on Apex or any other launcher don't unless the appmaker designed multiple size widgets.
Only widgets desgined by Chameleon can be used and right now there are only 5 (twitter, gmail, facebook, instagram, and news...with very limited sources), so forget about using any widgets from your favorite apps unless chameleon deigns to create one in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2) Right NOW the only widgets that are available are from Chameleon. It's a BETA. It's goin to ave limited functionality. They haven't released the API yet. Once they do that, which they will, anyone that can code HTML5 can create a widget for Chameleon. One will not have to know how to code for Android. Saying that the only widgets you'll ever get are from Chameleon is a 100% lie unless not another single sole on the face of the earth decides to make a widget.
These widgets also have limited functionality and you have no control over that limited functionality. Say you want to manually set your location on a weather app, or set your facebook app to update manually or perhaps every two hours instead of one. You are out of luck, it's chameleons way or the highway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3) It's a beta. The app and the widgets are not finalized. Just because you can't edit it now doesn't mean you will never be able to. They have a very long list of things they still want to do with it. That's why it's called BETA.
Want an app (not a widget) on your desktop, well you can but only along the bottom edge of the screen and only five.
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Click to collapse
Partially false. You can have a lot more than five. THe bottom dock scrolls, you can put as many apps as you want in the dock.
Seriously, if you are going to come on here and criticize an app, at least learn a thing or two about it instead of spouting out a bunch of false and/or misleading statements.
scottharris4 said:
So many flaws with your statements I have quoted.
1) Apex, Nova, GoLauncher, LauncherPro, etc. all force you to use a "grid" for your widgets. This isn't a flaw with Chameleon, it's called Android. YOu can have a widget take up th whole screen or just one single square. f course, most the widgets will be useless taking up just one square, but that's the case for most widgets unless the app maker made a 1x1 specific idget. Great thing with Chameleon though is that the widgets adapt to what size you make them. THe overwhelming majority of widgets you use on Apex or any other launcher don't unless the appmaker designed multiple size widgets.
2) Right NOW the only widgets that are available are from Chameleon. It's a BETA. It's goin to ave limited functionality. They haven't released the API yet. Once they do that, which they will, anyone that can code HTML5 can create a widget for Chameleon. One will not have to know how to code for Android. Saying that the only widgets you'll ever get are from Chameleon is a 100% lie unless not another single sole on the face of the earth decides to make a widget.
3) It's a beta. The app and the widgets are not finalized. Just because you can't edit it now doesn't mean you will never be able to. They have a very long list of things they still want to do with it. That's why it's called BETA.
Partially false. You can have a lot more than five. THe bottom dock scrolls, you can put as many apps as you want in the dock.
Seriously, if you are going to come on here and criticize an app, at least learn a thing or two about it instead of spouting out a bunch of false and/or misleading statements.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why is though that if I run Apex, Nova...etc. the majority of widgets in the play store work with these but wont with Chameleon? ..because they are written for Android and not html5? Now forgive as I dont know much about how it all works but are you saying that from now on anyone making an app and a widget for that app must build their widget to work with all standard launchers and then re-build it again to work with Chameleon seperately? How many app Devs are actually going to go through this much trouble? I'm starting to feel like I have been suckered out of 10 bucks for an app I will most likely never use now. I should have read the fine print because all I saw was a really cool looking launcher that I assumed ran all the current widgets like any other launcher.
look very nice
its not worth it tried it out myself big dissapointment. grab a couple nifty backgrounds and use the widgets out in andriod market and you can basically have same thing. what a joke this was.
emmabellachristian said:
its not worth it tried it out myself big dissapointment. grab a couple nifty backgrounds and use the widgets out in andriod market and you can basically have same thing. what a joke this was.
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Click to collapse
Really? Do you know of an app that changes the theme/home screen your Nexus 7 based on the time of the day, or based on your location, etc.?
Update.
I received my registration and was able to install and test the Chameleon beta launcher. I have tested plenty of beta and even alpha ROMs and apps over the last few years and this is a first. Most betas of anything I have ever tested were buggy at times but you still got the feel and general idea for what the ROM or app was about. In fact a beta of anything generally has the look and functionality of the finished product with maybe still needing some bug fixes and tweaks here and there.
So how is this a first? Its the first time I have seen any Android developer take an idea and spend an hour to code into something that will at least boot or load and call it a beta. The crap I just tested isn't even an alpha!!! Honestly I don't even know what it was??? The only thing I can compare it to would be to take your home computer, uninstall windows 7 and then install one of the earliest version of windows from like 1992. Sadly I'm not even exaggerating a little bit. I'm confused!! This has to be some kind of joke or at least a scam. I still can't wrap my mind around what I saw other then I added 3 of the 5 or so silly widgets to the 3 ridiculous screens and didn't get much farther then that before the app crashed. The wallpaper has the resolution of a flip phone and was apparently made in windows paint using the paint brush tool. You do however have the option of changing the wallpaper to something exactly like it in a different color.
This has to be a scam. I'm worried because they make you authenticate using your Google credentials, password and all through their app. If you haven't spent the 5 or 10 on this yet then nows your chance to run from this as fast as you can. I'm not so worried about the 10 bucks I lost as much as I'm about what it was I really installed, what was running in the background that I don't know about and is my identity at risk. Yes folks it was that atrocious.
Pretty much you guys have posted my disappointments with the launcher. I am going to uninstall and keep up to date as to how it improves over time. I had been stock jb and was satisfied but will give nova or apex a try now.
So far, like many others, I am unimpressed with the launcher and sort of expected a bit more from it even if it is only in BETA but I don't mind. I am interested to see in what comes of it... so far, stock Android launcher suits me just fine and has done so since flashing Oxygen ROM for my HTC Desire way back when.
Let me preface by saying that I have been a Nova prime launcher user since as far back as I can recall. My beautiful white Nova outfitted Note 3 is sitting right next to me still connected via wifi as I transfer my experience to my Note 4. That said, I committed to actually giving TouchWiz a chance with this purchase and so far so good. Granted, it's just one day in but thus far TouchWiz feels and works wonderfully. There are certain cues that are lost when going to a 3rd party launcher which drove my decision to really commit to giving TW a shot this time around. So far I have been able to avoid going to the play store and grabbing trusty ol Nova..lol
I'm interested in hearing the thoughts from those of you that are also using TW. Please share.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app
I don't like the app drawer icon in the bottom right, nor the spacing of the icons. That being said, it runs nice on this phone. I too have been using Nova exclusively for years, but have been using Google now launder and really like it. Going to stick with it for at least a while.
I used Touchwiz for a bit but quickly switched back to GNL.
137 views. 2 comments. A clear representation of what everyone thinks of TW..lol.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app
b3asty said:
Let me preface by saying that I have been a Nova prime launcher user since as far back as I can recall. My beautiful white Nova outfitted Note 3 is sitting right next to me still connected via wifi as I transfer my experience to my Note 4. That said, I committed to actually giving TouchWiz a chance with this purchase and so far so good. Granted, it's just one day in but thus far TouchWiz feels and works wonderfully. There are certain cues that are lost when going to a 3rd party launcher which drove my decision to really commit to giving TW a shot this time around. So far I have been able to avoid going to the play store and grabbing trusty ol Nova..lol
I'm interested in hearing the thoughts from those of you that are also using TW. Please share.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am with you 100%. I was a Note 3 user with my sexy Nova Prime since I got it, and I would never go back to touchwiz.... until now. So far I have made it 2 days on Touchwiz. I mean it is clean, and it looks awesome, but I miss having more rows for icons, and mainly for stretching my widgets. So I feel at some time I am going to switch back. I wanted to give Touchwiz 2 days to see the battery effect when switching to Nova. I definitely am with you I would like to hear other peoples views, if anyone is using Apex, and what features they are switching to a launcher to get, for me its:
- 5 rows of icons
- App drawer also shows widgets
- App drawer can scroll apps vertically and horizontally
- When pressing and holding an icon you have the option to remove, uninstall, all from the app, without having to click it, hold it, and drag to remove. And then going to the app draw, clicking, dragging, and dropping on uninstall.
joshklee said:
I used Touchwiz for a bit but quickly switched back to GNL.
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Click to collapse
Thank you for posting about google now launcher, somehow I missed that one. I love it!
I was also pretty happy with touchwiz (I used TW the whole time with note 3), but GNL is still so much cleaner and I love the integrated full screen google now. Google has a much better sense for interface design.
I'm on day three with TW and haven't had any strange impulses to go grab Nova. This is good. No lag. Silky smooth. The only tweak I made this far was to change all of the animation settings to .5 in developer settings.
This phone is incredible. I didn't think it could get no much better coming from my note 3 but they've really stepped things up.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app
I've always used launchers and roms to mimic stock android but since I got the note 4 I haven't even thought about it. I'm pretty impressed with TouchWiz on this phone.
Sent from my note 4 using xda app
I too am going on three days with Touchwiz. On my GS4 I used GNL modified with Xposed. I miss the swipe left for Google Now, but otherwise it has been a much better experience than Touchwiz on my Captivate, GS2 or GS4. Once/if we get root I may be convinced to switch, until then I will stick with Touchwiz.
I tried TW the first day and I did find it slightly laggy and hated the folder icons. I'm back to Nova Prime.
Sent from my Note 4
Been using TW without a hitch.
Me too giving TW a chance so far so good.
Sent from the TermiNOTEr 4!
I found slightly laggy so I went back to Nova, but I might give it a second chance. The thing I definitely find not as smooth as expected is the recent apps, it takes a bit for the phone to show them once you tap the button, and a it to switch to the newly selected app. Nothing huge but with the phone's specs I expected a bit more
back to nova prime after 10 minutes lol
lebertian said:
I found slightly laggy so I went back to Nova, but I might give it a second chance. The thing I definitely find not as smooth as expected is the recent apps, it takes a bit for the phone to show them once you tap the button, and a it to switch to the newly selected app. Nothing huge but with the phone's specs I expected a bit more
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Click to collapse
^^^ this
I was just about to ask about this. Is there any alternative or possible fix? It's quite laggy with the 2-3sec delay at first pull up.
My only complaint / wish for future fix
On my note 2 I was an avid Nova user, I am trying to use the stock touchwiz, but find myself annoyed that I cannot alphabetize apps in a folder.
I might give it a week then jump back to Nova, le sigh.
Jennygirl said:
^^^ this
I was just about to ask about this. Is there any alternative or possible fix? It's quite laggy with the 2-3sec delay at first pull up.
My only complaint / wish for future fix
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The fix for this is allegedly the update that is floating around for the Note 4. The international versions have it, and the TMo version got it yesterday (I think). It fixes the recent applications button and improves the battery life. So it is said at least.
Not sure when AT&T is going to release it. I would expect it any minute, but thats just an opinion, no one really knows.
That's great to know!
Looking forward to that update x2 now
boufa said:
The fix for this is allegedly the update that is floating around for the Note 4. The international versions have it, and the TMo version got it yesterday (I think). It fixes the recent applications button and improves the battery life. So it is said at least.
Not sure when AT&T is going to release it. I would expect it any minute, but thats just an opinion, no one really knows.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to hear that! Hopefully AT&T won't take forever, but that might be wishing too much lol
TW isn't bad at all, but I like Nova because I can change the icon size/spacing and also take the padding out of widgets and fit a LOT more on my screens.
The one thing I freaking HATE is all the white in TW now, the settings menus, etc. WHY!?!?!?!? Don't devs understand that we have this thing called darkness? Man they should at least give us the option of a dark theme.
Hello everyone,
I'm coming from an iPad 2 and my dislike for products with the green fruit grew over time.
Two weeks ago I put the iPad to rest and got the Galaxy tab S 8.4 (non LTE).
Fast processor, 3gb of RAM and a splendid display, how can anyone go wrong with this thing so I thought.
Well, after unwrapping, charging etc, I sat down and started to play with it, that's when it came apparent that this thing is loaded with an ridiculous amount to of bloatware. So I Googled to find some solution and ended up right here.
After countless hours of reading I decided to root my tab and freeze all the useless apps.
I found a lot of real helpful threads in this forum with instructions how to root and which apps are safe to frees.
All went very well, my Ram is now down to 1.2gb with no apps running, before the freezing action it was at around 1.7gb, with a few apps running I was pushing the 3gb.
I'm now using Titanium to dispose the caged data every night automatically. Es file Explorer, chrome browser, swift key and froze all the OEM stuff.
I only have one page of apps left and the stupid page with the calendar which can't be deleted.
I'm now actually quite happy with the performance of the tab, however, there is always the desire to keep improving.
So..... The question now is, what's next?
Nova launcher would be probably a good choice but I'd hate to lose the split window function since I'm using it quite frequently.
What else have you done to your tab s to speed it up, reduce the random lag to a minimum and anything else to improve the user experience?
Last but not least, thanks to all the contributing members in this forum, thanks to you and your superb instructions we noobs can enjoy a quick and snappy tablet without the otherwise needed education to root systems etc.
If you are talking about multi window then it still works fine with Nova.
Touch wiz is kinda heavy so I always choose Nova as my launcher.
Go into developer options and reduce animations to 0.5x or off if you need more boost.
Thanks a bunch, I had the animations already set to zero.
I'm downloading Nova as we speak, I'm giving it a try. Should I upgrade to prime? Is there added benefit by doing so?
Which apps and processes belonging to touch wiz can I freeze in titanium?
Thanks
USA-Alex said:
Thanks a bunch, I had the animations already set to zero.
I'm downloading Nova as we speak, I'm giving it a try. Should I upgrade to prime? Is there added benefit by doing so?
Which apps and processes belonging to touch wiz can I freeze in titanium?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had the Prime upgrade for a few years. I found it worthwhile, but that depends on your usage. I actually just switched to Action Launcher to try something new, and paid for the extra features there as well. I don't mind paying someone a few bucks for good work.
There's a list of bloatware here. It's a little out of date, but still a good start:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-s/help/list-bloated-apps-to-uninstall-sm-t700-t2861180
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.
Click to expand...
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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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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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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.
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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.