Develop Bugs

[Q] ICS tablet mode - launcher recommendations

over at rootzwiki i just learned that ICS can go into tablet mode, so i did switch and i find it perfectly usable. some apps are even more useful than before like settings, mail, etc.
my only gripe right now is the launcher, it wastes space. i use nova with a 7x7 grid but in portrait mode its too small and in landscape mode i'd like to have more icons in the app-drawer.
does anyone know which launcher will do better? also, is it possible to get back stock launcher2? im on aokp b27 and it had trebuchet (which crashes) and nova.
thanks!
ps. for those who don't know it yet, try it out:
0. make a nandroid. should your launcher crash you are screwed
1. get latest aokp
2. change dpi to 190 in rom control
3. add hide-navbar option in powermenu
4. press powerbutton and hide navbar
5. reboot
trouble-shooting:
market trouble can be resolved by following the steps indicated in the AOKP dpi changer. i still had to manually delete its cache and data plus force close it until it finally shut up and let me download.
phone.apk will likely crash. it can be fixed be exchanging it with the one from AOKP's droid incredible build: http://www.file-upload.net/download-4168356/Phone.apk.html
i used adb, can also be done via root-browser i guess

molesarecoming said:
over at rootzwiki i just learned that ICS can go into tablet mode, so i did switch and i find it perfectly usable. some apps are even more useful than before like settings, mail, youtube, etc.
my only gripe right now is the launcher, it wastes space. i use nova with a 7x7 grid but in portrait mode its too small and in landscape mode i'd like to have more icons in the app-drawer.
does anyone know which launcher will do better? also, is it possible to get back stock launcher2? im on aokp b27 and it had trebuchet (which crashes) and nova.
thanks!
ps. for those who don't know it yet, try it out:
0. make a nandroid. should your launcher crash you are screwed
1. get latest aokp
2. change dpi to 190 in rom control
3. add hide-navbar option in powermenu
4. press powerbutton and hide navbar
5. reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ADW Launcher Ex works fine...

looks like what i needed, thanks!!! will now download and try
btw, i had problems using the phone app, it crashed. i read pushing the Phone.apk from aokp droid incredible build into /system/app works. and it did. now it runs perfectly, no fc's, no crashes. i uploaded it here in case anyone needs it: http://www.file-upload.net/download-4168356/Phone.apk.html

Yea I was going to say, ADW is my choice for my 10" Tablet.
My Setup:
Hide Dock Bar
Hide Status Bar (top part with App Drawer and redundant menu icon)
Hide Desktop Icon Text
Create a Drawer Icon coupled with whatever desktop icons.
Crank up the desktop Row/Column
This gives you a pretty large work area that is edge to edge. I don't use the dock bar but rather hide it and place my own icons. This removes the restriction of a 5 icon dock.
However I've never done this on my Nexus so I don't know how small the icons would be.
Hiding the statusbar is tricky because it doesn't work via the options checkbox. You have to create a gesture to hide/show statusbar. Go to the desktop and perform the gesture to hide it. Then go back into settings and delete the gesture. Now you'll gain access to the top bar.
With the Status bar gone, you access ADW Settings via the App Drawer like other ICS launchers.

why hiding the navbar? it's only initially since tablet mode brings its own, and i really like it so far. i find it more useful than the one in stock ICS even.
i installed adw and sadly i really don't like it so far. it feels like gingerbread and i hate having to theme ICS when im on ICS. but function-wise i got tiny icons in portrait mode and they seem to behave kinda strange. for now i got nova back, wastes space but i find it optically more appealing.
what i search would be a launcher that can stretch icons. i'd like it to behave just as before, if i use a 4x4 grid it would be cool if it could use the entire screen and not just a tiny fraction. nova comes close using a 7x7 grid but 49 tiny icons look kind of cluttered - not really nice for a homescreen.
btw, look how youtube reacted to tablet mode, never used a tablet or owned one, so my jaw pretty much dropped when i saw it running.

APEX launcher does the job. uses 100% screenspace and icons are big enough.

Also, check out Go launcher Ex. Make the icons larger in the settings menu. I manual set them to 80 and they look great. I also remove the top bar in the launchers setting menu. Set the screen to 6x6 and it looks perfect. Of course running an ICS theme but I don't mind a theme when I am actually on ICS. it is when you are on GB running an ICS theme that makes it feel cheesy!
I wish we could run the density in 160 but it seems like no phone.apk will run in that density. While running in 190 you need to use a modded market but it still seems like the market causes issues with certain apps while trying to download them. 160 would be native so we wouldn't need a modded market.

i still know it from my gf's phone, but must say i never liked it much. i guess im pretty happy now with apex in tablet mode, looks almost stock without the dpi changes, as it should. if i had the 5-button dock back and the notification-curtain (don't like they way they implemented that for tablets, it sucks) yeah it would be perfection but that can't be done unless the rom gets rewritten. im using it now daily, can live with small kinks and the new gapps/settings more than make up for it - would never ever want to revert to old mail/youtube/contacts/callendar, etc.
btw, are there rom's out there making dedicated use of it? i guess could care less about the newest tweak that gives me 5 minutes more battery power. but something that transforms the entire UI/IX into something more useful...

Go Launcher HD is made for tablets. I haven't tested it, but you can get a beta on their site.
http://golauncher.goforandroid.com/2012/03/go-launcher-hd-v1-0-beta/

mwalt2 said:
Go Launcher HD is made for tablets. I haven't tested it, but you can get a beta on their site.
http://golauncher.goforandroid.com/2012/03/go-launcher-hd-v1-0-beta/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man that thanks button is in a bad spot. You just got a freebee.
That launder does not work with the densities that we can use. It does work at 160 in portrait but not landscape.

Wish someone implemented this as a stable and full functioning ROM..
Worked well with AOKP until it went into airplane mode and never got out. I then rebooted and my cellular data was gone all together. Guess it really thought it was a tablet.
Sent from the future.

molesarecoming said:
APEX launcher does the job. uses 100% screenspace and icons are big enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good call on Apex Launcher, looks good:
SocialReject said:
Wish someone implemented this as a stable and full functioning ROM..
Worked well with AOKP until it went into airplane mode and never got out. I then rebooted and my cellular data was gone all together. Guess it really thought it was a tablet.
Sent from the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, data seems to be a little weird. I downloaded a file then it just stopped and wouldn't connect again and I couldn't make a call either. It was still showing full bars and 4G though. A reboot fixes it. I was running Franco's kernel so thought maybe it had something to do with that so I am back on stock kernel and going to see how it behaves. I so don't want to give this up. It it pure awesomenes!

SocialReject said:
Wish someone implemented this as a stable and full functioning ROM..
Worked well with AOKP until it went into airplane mode and never got out. I then rebooted and my cellular data was gone all together. Guess it really thought it was a tablet.
Sent from the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats terrible, i better make a nandroid before i try it. a custom rom would be great though, im getting really tired fixing this up.
the thing is, i really dislike the new tablet notification center, and the launcher. i wish it would behave just like before, if it could perhaps be tricked into ignoring the fake dpi. and i reaalllyy miss the notification curtain and the dock-bar. i tried hours to find some replacement for the old dock, the only thing that came close was desktop visualizr from the market, it creates resizable launcherbuttons with or without label and let's you set icons/images.
i love the new apps and settings, but the homescreen looks kinda long and dorky.

[email protected] said:
Good call on Apex Launcher, looks good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea at least it fills up the screen, nova wouldn't. would be great through if it could do 5x4 icons + dock, everything in normal size, like before.
btw, your widgets look nice, could you share their names?

[email protected] said:
Good call on Apex Launcher, looks good:
Yeah, data seems to be a little weird. I downloaded a file then it just stopped and wouldn't connect again and I couldn't make a call either. It was still showing full bars and 4G though. A reboot fixes it. I was running Franco's kernel so thought maybe it had something to do with that so I am back on stock kernel and going to see how it behaves. I so don't want to give this up. It it pure awesomenes!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me know if data is still a problem after reverting back to stock because I'm currently on Franco's kernel, also.
Sent from the future.

molesarecoming said:
yea at least it fills up the screen, nova wouldn't. would be great through if it could do 5x4 icons + dock, everything in normal size, like before.
btw, your widgets look nice, could you share their names?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is Beautiful Widgets and Pure News Widget.
SocialReject said:
Let me know if data is still a problem after reverting back to stock because I'm currently on Franco's kernel, also.
Sent from the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far so good on stock kernel after a few hours. Will continue to test.
Edit...Data just stopped working with stock kernel. That really sucks! 4G still shows and so does the data arrows but no data works...

Deleted...

Someone implement this! Argh
Sent from the future.

guys, i modded apexlauncher with apktool. made some changes in dalvik code to trick it into getting back the old dpi and brought back the dock through changes in the res files. icons are back to normal size aswell. it craps its pants though when it goes to landscape and the appdrawer shows only half of the screen, definitively needs more work. if someone could help with this i'd really appreciate it.
try it out for yourself: https://rapidshare.com/files/4205643622/ApexLauncher-signed.apk

molesarecoming said:
guys, i modded apexlauncher with apktool. made some changes in dalvik code to trick it into getting back the old dpi and brought back the dock through changes in the res files. icons are back to normal size aswell. it craps its pants though when it goes to landscape and the appdrawer shows only half of the screen, definitively needs more work. if someone could help with this i'd really appreciate it.
try it out for yourself: https://rapidshare.com/files/4205643622/ApexLauncher-signed.apk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice so far!
Sent from the future.

Can someone reccomend me a launcher?

I am having a really hard time finding a launcher I like, and it seems the only one that gets the closest to what I want comes with Oxygen OS, but thats not avaliable on other ROMs as far as I know. I would like quick pulldown for notifactions anywhere on launcher, pull up on app drawer, again anywhere on launcher and ability to change icon packs, hide apps. I found Lawnchair was pretty good, but it lags a TON.

Nova paid version.

Agreed, Nova Prime is by far the best. It gives you so many options you can make it look and act like anything.
Add some icon pack and you're covered 100%.
Even free version of Nova is quite powerful so it's still a good choice if you're not willing to spend money (you don't get gestures with free version though).
P.S.: it goes on sale every now and then so you can wait a bit to get it cheaper. Holiday season is coming, sales are to be expected.
Sent from my OnePlus 3 using Tapatalk

drmuruga said:
Nova paid version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I own it, used to use it on LG V10. It doesn't have 2 of the things I want though. Quick pull qs pulldown, and app drawer swipe from anywhere on screen, those 2 are huge for me.

lawnchair...stable enough..light and quick.
still in beta on playstore

ZVNexus said:
I am having a really hard time finding a launcher I like, and it seems the only one that gets the closest to what I want comes with Oxygen OS, but thats not avaliable on other ROMs as far as I know. I would like quick pulldown for notifactions anywhere on launcher, pull up on app drawer, again anywhere on launcher and ability to change icon packs, hide apps. I found Lawnchair was pretty good, but it lags a TON.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, Nova Prime, or (as odd as it may seem) the Microsoft Launcher. The thing is free and with some surprising little nifty features like pulling up on the app drawer to reveal some hidden shortcuts for controls like Wi-Fi, bluetooth, flashlight, a tiny bit reminiscent of the iOS Control Center.
You ALSO have the quick pulldown.
I'm amazed myself to be pleased by a Microsoft product, but there it is.
EDIT: If you decide to try it out, make sure to not forget to switch the search engine away from Bing, they're still trying to promote that. -.-

ZVNexus said:
I own it, used to use it on LG V10. It doesn't have 2 of the things I want though. Quick pull qs pulldown, and app drawer swipe from anywhere on screen, those 2 are huge for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi you can get the app drawer swipe from anywhere on screen from below steps.
1. Open nova settings
2. goto Gestures & inputs -> Gestures
3. select Swipe up gesture and assign App drawer to it.
Hit thanks if it worked for you.

nikhiltejagorantla said:
lawnchair...stable enough..light and quick.
still in beta on playstore
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only problem with that is that with Oreo ROMs it crashes constantly, besides that love the launcher. Just needs to be more stable.

nikhiltejagorantla said:
lawnchair...stable enough..light and quick.
still in beta on playstore
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, great launcher, thanks!

After using nova prime, I don't seem to like any other launcher..

S9 dark - theme/menu/icons/navbar

I have always been a big fan of Nova Launcher Prime but having just received the S9, I thought I would give the stock launcher a go. The only thing that annoyed me was how bright and white everything was.
To remedy that I used some tips from this page:
https://goo.gl/tPfLM6(it wouldn't let me use the original android.gadgethacks URL)
Theme:
I couldn't find the "Material Black" theme mentioned on that site so I went with "[MINU]Black Edition V2".
I installed the .apks (BlacknotificationsOnly & Blackframework) and rebooted.
Navbar:
It annoyed me how I couldn't just select a black or transparent navbar. Hiding it (immersive mode) seemed inconvenient, so I went with "Navbar Apps" (available free on play store) which allows you to pick a pre-set/custom colour or even an image to use for the navbar. Again, transparent only didn't seem to work, so I stuck with black which I am more than happy with.
Navbar Apps on playstore - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.damianpiwowarski.navbarapps
I am pretty happy with the result so far but I can feel myself being drawn back to Nova in the future, just for the clean look and more customisation options.
p.s. for anyone interested
Homescreen clock widget - Zooper Widget Pro with huk zooper (free on playstore) - "Zooper_ppick_29"
Wallpaper is from app Walpy, you can find it by searching "Coffs Harbour" - direct link to artist https://unsplash.com/photos/fkJl4HrTeM0
Hope this can be of use to someone! :good:

Screenshots

Day 4 still on stock launcher but I feel nova breathing down my neck. But sammy/Google have incorporated a lot of novas features now

hassan.ikh said:
Day 4 still on stock launcher but I feel nova breathing down my neck. But sammy/Google have incorporated a lot of novas features now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After 1 week i picked up my nova launcher setup and this phone seems to be fast as hell right now ?

young_fresh said:
After 1 week i picked up my nova launcher setup and this phone seems to be fast as hell right now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've moved my theme on to "Mattblack" now which I spotted on another post - http://www.samsung.com/global/themestore/index.html?appId=com.set.mattblack.common&SITE_CODE=uk
I originally restored the Nova setup which I was using on my S7 but it just didn't feel right and I couldn't be bothered sorting it out. Also I have noticed that the battery drains fairly quickly, it is the first week so I still have AOD and some nice shiny settings on to show off the phone. I think I am going to have to have a look through everything and see what I can turn off/down/live without, when I get time. How is yours looking after a week?

dnmrt said:
I've moved my theme on to "Material Dark" now which I spotted on another post - http://www.samsung.com/global/themestore/index.html?appId=com.cambunch.MaterialDark
I originally restored the Nova setup which I was using on my S7 but it just didn't feel right and I couldn't be bothered sorting it out. Also I have noticed that the battery drains fairly quickly, it is the first week so I still have AOD and some nice shiny settings on to show off the phone. I think I am going to have to have a look through everything and see what I can turn off/down/live without, when I get time. How is yours looking after a week?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery could be better, but it lasts the day from morning until next morning. SoT About 5h.
I guess some updates will make it better

young_fresh said:
Battery could be better, but it lasts the day from morning until next morning. SoT About 5h.
I guess some updates will make it better
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Spotted a few people saying EE and CFW staff have advised a UK update is going out Friday, lets see what that brings. I know it is early days and the device won't be optimised yet but I am slightly missing my S7 which I didn't expect to be saying.

Material Black is available for the S9/S9 now - guess they had to make an update for compatibility. It's not free, but I tried a trial and WOW is everything black. Maybe a bit took black (i.e., dark grey might be easier to handle), but still quite nice looking.

I'm trying the stock launcher, but while its nice, I do feel Nova knocking. Mainly because i'm so used to 6 icons in my bottom tray (dialer, chrome, maps, contacts, messages,camera along with the app button) that it seems odd without it. I like how I can swipe up, and my son was having a hard time trying to find my games (his sister who found it right away), but I'm going to give it a bit more time.

eleven os black theme takes care of that for you, including the nav bar. I like how it's blacked out, but has slight color touches throughout, preventing it from looking dull.

Without that massively annoying Bixby crap the launcher would be really nice, but that Bixby page just ruins everything. I'm back on Nova and it feels way better.

how did you guys get it to work? it wont work on mine. is it compatible with oreo?

Zwulf said:
Without that massively annoying Bixby crap the launcher would be really nice, but that Bixby page just ruins everything. I'm back on Nova and it feels way better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can remove that page and then disable the button.

dnmrt said:
:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did u made the search bar black in the settings? (3rd. attached picture) even the official theming tool from sammy doesn't allow to skin that part. please respond.

chieco said:
How did u made the search bar black in the settings? (3rd. attached picture) even the official theming tool from sammy doesn't allow to skin that part. please respond.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It must have been from one of the .apks I mentioned. I haven't done anything other than what I mentioned in my first post - https://goo.gl/tPfLM6 (I installed the .apks (BlacknotificationsOnly & Blackframework) and rebooted)

chieco said:
How did u made the search bar black in the settings? (3rd. attached picture) even the official theming tool from sammy doesn't allow to skin that part. please respond.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dnmrt said:
It must have been from one of the .apks I mentioned. I haven't done anything other than what I mentioned in my first post - https://goo.gl/tPfLM6 (I installed the .apks (BlacknotificationsOnly & Blackframework) and rebooted)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I've just noticed I no longer have the black search bar, so it must have been part of the theme "Black_Edition_V2". I'm now using the theme "Mattblack" and I don't have the black search bar.

chieco said:
How did u made the search bar black in the settings? (3rd. attached picture) even the official theming tool from sammy doesn't allow to skin that part. please respond.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
again.. you guys don't need to install separate things when one theme does it. look at my previous post.

For an overall black theme I'd recommend Substratum + Andromeda companion app (required for the S9,) though not free. And then I would get the Swift Dark theme, which also isn't free. So you're overall looking at around $5 (I can't check the price now.) It will take a minute to learn how to use it effectively since you need to select specific App Update Versions for what you have installed, reboot once or twice, but it's not that difficult at all.
Skin not compatible with Facebook. Will work for Messenger but only App Version 145 and 146 Stable. (See 2nd image.)
I use LockClean, Navbars, and Swift Dark when it comes to Substratum ... pretty much handles everything except for Facebook itself, which is a huge shame.
The icons pack I use is from Samsung Themes; Black_Edition_V2 by MINU
My launcher is just Nova Launcher Prime.
Here's some screenshots from my Sprint S9 non-root with everything applied:
-

Serfrost said:
For an overall black theme I'd recommend Substratum + Andromeda companion app (required for the S9,) though not free. And then I would get the Swift Dark theme, which also isn't free. So you're overall looking at around $5 (I can't check the price now.) It will take a minute to learn how to use it effectively since you need to select specific App Update Versions for what you have installed, reboot once or twice, but it's not that difficult at all.
Skin not compatible with Facebook. Will work for Messenger but only App Version 145 and 146 Stable. (See 2nd image.)
I use LockClean, Navbars, and Swift Dark when it comes to Substratum ... pretty much handles everything except for Facebook itself, which is a huge shame.
The icons pack I use is from Samsung Themes; Black_Edition_V2 by MINU
My launcher is just Nova Launcher Prime.
Here's some screenshots from my Sprint S9 non-root with everything applied:
-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks very nice.

Serfrost said:
For an overall black theme I'd recommend Substratum + Andromeda companion app (required for the S9,) though not free. And then I would get the Swift Dark theme, which also isn't free. So you're overall looking at around $5 (I can't check the price now.) It will take a minute to learn how to use it effectively since you need to select specific App Update Versions for what you have installed, reboot once or twice, but it's not that difficult at all.
Skin not compatible with Facebook. Will work for Messenger but only App Version 145 and 146 Stable. (See 2nd image.)
I use LockClean, Navbars, and Swift Dark when it comes to Substratum ... pretty much handles everything except for Facebook itself, which is a huge shame.
The icons pack I use is from Samsung Themes; Black_Edition_V2 by MINU
My launcher is just Nova Launcher Prime.
Here's some screenshots from my Sprint S9 non-root with everything applied:
-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about your notifications? I gave up on Andromeda/Substratum because no matter what, I just couldn't find notifications that looked "normal"
I'm currently using [Minu]Oreo Black from the Samsung Theme Store and it looks pretty good.

how to change default launcher on avrl00

157 update allows you to change default launcher here's how I've not messed much cause I'm happy with huawei launcher let me know how others get on with other launchers.. Always force stop huawei launcher when you clear default to begin as on video

Screenshot i missed
You could always try to reset settings so you can choose your launcher , I'm sure people will mess about with it for those interested in using a different launcher
I don't use ADB but I'm sure if you delete huawei launcher you can then set any without any bugs if any

stestesteste said:
157 update allows you to change default launcher here's how I've not messed much cause I'm happy with huawei launcher let me know how others get on with other launchers.. Always force stop huawei launcher when you clear default to begin as on video
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Video link pl.

BB55 said:
Video link pl.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okidoki

stestesteste said:
Okidoki
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm, link not working.
lol, got it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgQFe4CxGNI
Thanks for trying square home :good:

Progress, but I'm still seeing the launcher switch back to The Huawei home launcher every time I try to access recent apps. In Nova I set a gesture to "pinch out" and I get to the recent apps list, then when I swipe up to go home it crashes back to Huawei app. Maybe in the next update this will be fixed. These updates seem to be coming out pretty rapidly.

LxMxFxD said:
Progress, but I'm still seeing the launcher switch back to The Huawei home launcher every time I try to access recent apps. In Nova I set a gesture to "pinch out" and I get to the recent apps list, then when I swipe up to go home it crashes back to Huawei app. Maybe in the next update this will be fixed. These updates seem to be coming out pretty rapidly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder if testing would be best then not choose Huawei launcher for me it works but not using it now anyway

stestesteste said:
157 update allows you to change default launcher here's how I've not messed much cause I'm happy with huawei launcher let me know how others get on with other launchers.. Always force stop huawei launcher when you clear default to begin as on video
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep - nice that /i can see the default launcher option... Not nice that I can't change it.
Hope that it gets a FIX (yes, Huawei, it is not cool at the moment), before I get my break over December and can have NOVA or other launcher before then - I guess, otherwise, it will be looking at ADB option and deleting the HOME app as per suggestion.

s327374 said:
Yep - nice that /i can see the default launcher option... Not nice that I can't change it.
Hope that it gets a FIX (yes, Huawei, it is not cool at the moment), before I get my break over December and can have NOVA or other launcher before then - I guess, otherwise, it will be looking at ADB option and deleting the HOME app as per suggestion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the plus side, i've had my EVR-TL00 for only 9 days and in that time had THREE updates from Huawei. They must have sold millions of these things in china to get that kind of update frequency. This could in theory be fixed in less than a week.

LxMxFxD said:
On the plus side, i've had my EVR-TL00 for only 9 days and in that time had THREE updates from Huawei. They must have sold millions of these things in china to get that kind of update frequency. This could in theory be fixed in less than a week.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is definitely an upside to this phone. I am extremely happy in almost all other aspects of it. As a user in China, my battery life suffers massively form using a vpn constantly. I have never had a phone that could last a whole (real) long day - ie from 7am to 1 or 2 am.
This one delivers. The camera is also a massive upgrade form S8+
It is awesome!
---------- Post added at 01:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:22 AM ----------
LxMxFxD said:
Progress, but I'm still seeing the launcher switch back to The Huawei home launcher every time I try to access recent apps. In Nova I set a gesture to "pinch out" and I get to the recent apps list, then when I swipe up to go home it crashes back to Huawei app. Maybe in the next update this will be fixed. These updates seem to be coming out pretty rapidly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was weird, it was working for me initially for like half a day after switching via Twist - but I managed to break it. Ha ha - so XDA of me. Despite it sticking and working in NOVA, the swipe up gesture wouldn't take me back to the home screen and I really liked that. So I then went into gestures on nova settings... and the rest is history, I guess I probably updated some permissions or so forth... changed the gestures through NOVA. Bing-ba-da-boom. No longer works
PLEASE HUAWEI - READ THIS AND GIVE ME MY LAUNCHER FOR XMAS/FESTIVUS/HANUKKAH/DIWALI/HALLOWEEN/ETC.

Well as for me. I removed stock launcher via adb. I like Apex launcher, it's simplicity and the things that it can do. I don't use the default gestures and nav bar. I use Pie Control and I'm happy.

Nova Launcher

As much as I want to use Nova Launcher, it's just not as smooth and quick as the stock Pixel Launcher. Anyone else feel this way? At the same time, I have a love/hate relationship with Pixel Launcher because I love having the icon unread notification numbers on Nova as well as being able to change the home screen grid size. In the end, though, Nova is just not as quick loading apps and the app drawer.

I agree Google isn't making it easy to use another launcher on Pixel phones. It's a shame.
Nova is definitely not as smooth as the Pixel launcher. But Nova has so many advantages for me that I'll take its options over overall smoothness any day.

Ghisy said:
I agree Google isn't making it easy to use another launcher on Pixel phones. It's a shame.
Nova is definitely not as smooth as the Pixel launcher. But Nova has so many advantages for me that I'll take its options over overall smoothness any day.
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Same here.

U guys can use one plus launcher, one UI launcher and a custom pixel launcher as well with More customizations. There's a thread on telegram.

Action Launcher does pretty much everything Nova can do and it does everything stock pixel launcher does too. Including copying from recents screen and using Android 10 gestures.
Launchers can add the ability to work correctly on Pixels, Google opened up the ability for 3rd party launchers in December, Action Launcher is only one I know of that can do it without using quickstep or magisk.

smartymcfly said:
Action Launcher does pretty much everything Nova can do and it does everything stock pixel launcher does too. Including copying from recents screen and using Android 10 gestures.
Launchers can add the ability to work correctly on Pixels, Google opened up the ability for 3rd party launchers in December, Action Launcher is only one I know of that can do it without using quickstep.
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The ones I'm referring to don't require quickstep either, just flash in magisk

shooterlgk said:
The ones I'm referring to don't require quickstep either, just flash in magisk
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Action Launcher doesn't require magisk.

smartymcfly said:
Action Launcher doesn't require magisk.
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Fully aware, just providing more options

I keep seeing these threads where at least one person claims Nova doesn't work correctly. Last year, I would have agreed... but I've been using Nova for months and I have forgotten about any drawbacks if there are any. The only differences I remember are a couple animations and the recents menu doesn't have suggestion icons? (which never suggested apps I wanted to use, so I don't miss it)
What's the smoothness that people are complaining about? The animations run as fast as my finger pushes things around... Is it just the quality and type of animations? If so, I want functionality far over such things. Having to use substratum/magisk to customize the Pixel Launcher was way worse than recreating my layout in Nova. If only things like TeslaUnread were still officially supported... but Google likes killing off useful things.
Feel free to help me understand what I'm missing.

jljtgr said:
I keep seeing these threads where at least one person claims Nova doesn't work correctly. Last year, I would have agreed... but I've been using Nova for months and I have forgotten about any drawbacks if there are any. The only differences I remember are a couple animations and the recents menu doesn't have suggestion icons? (which never suggested apps I wanted to use, so I don't miss it)
What's the smoothness that people are complaining about? The animations run as fast as my finger pushes things around... Is it just the quality and type of animations? If so, I want functionality far over such things. Having to use substratum/magisk to customize the Pixel Launcher was way worse than recreating my layout in Nova. If only things like TeslaUnread were still officially supported... but Google likes killing off useful things.
Feel free to help me understand what I'm missing.
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Nova says in the settings that Google has not made it possible for Nova to use Android 10 gestures correctly. Google has made it work, but Nova hasn't been updated to allow it yet.

smartymcfly said:
Nova says in the settings that Google has not made it possible for Nova to use Android 10 gestures correctly. Google has made it work, but Nova hasn't been updated to allow it yet.
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In my opinion, the warning is wrong. Back when I first got my phone, like half of the gestures didn't quite work. Now everything works for me.
At Nova's homescreen...
Swipe from side: Isn't triggered because you can't go back from home. Just flips pages.
Swipe from bottom: Opens app search. I'm not sure if the gesture is doing this or Nova is.
Swipe from bottom & hold: Opens recents.
Swipe from corner: Shows assistant overlay.
Everything basic works. I don't have palm swipe screenshots enabled.

My issue with Nova is the delay going back to the home screen. I can't immediately open another app. I always have to wait an extra second or click on app twice before it opens. I want the full pixel experience and it seems that Nova doesn't always deliver on it. I do occasionally go back to it until I get annoyed with my first statement.
Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

Honestly, I've never noticed this. I guess I go home before I know what I want to click on and so I'm never quick enough to see it.
The way it's acting, it reminds me of a paused activity that needs to refresh when the app gets restored. I tried to disable battery optimization for Nova, but it didn't help. I'm not sure how to solve that.
I tried the same test on my old phone and pressing the home button actually does nothing for a split second, then Nova shows and responds immediately. But when you gesture, you want it to happen immediately... not a split second later. So in that way, Android 10 and Nova do the sensible thing and shows the paused activity.

shooterlgk said:
U guys can use one plus launcher, one UI launcher and a custom pixel launcher as well with More customizations. There's a thread on telegram.
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Can you provide a link please?

I was using Nova Launche a lot of time ago! let's going to check how does it works now!

I have no reason to use any other launcher than pixel launcher. It works just as I need.

not sure what the hoo-blah is. I have been using Nova prime beta with no issues. No problems returning home... No speed issues. The warning that is in there is talking about the gesture navigation system wide not inside the launcher. So this means you have to use the classic 3 button method to navigate (back, home, recent). IMHO this does not affect the experience at all. Definitely prefer Nova and the customization over the stock launcher. :good:
Edit:Actually just changed the nav settings and Nova is working with new gestures.

ksmullins88 said:
not sure what the hoo-blah is. I have been using Nova prime beta with no issues. No problems returning home... No speed issues. The warning that is in there is talking about the gesture navigation system wide not inside the launcher. So this means you have to use the classic 3 button method to navigate (back, home, recent). IMHO this does not affect the experience at all. Definitely prefer Nova and the customization over the stock launcher. :good:
Edit:Actually just changed the nav settings and Nova is working with new gestures.
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I just switched back to Nova from Lawnchair on both my S20+ and Pixel 4XL. Nova works beautiful now and Nova Google Companion works with dark mode.

I'm on Android 11 Beta and am running Nova with no problems with gestures at all. For some reason on 10 they were not working as smooth and I would get some lag going back to the home screen. On 11, those problems have seemed to disappear.

While that's true, the closing app animation is not there and feels weird. ( Using gesture navigation )