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Probably not the first thread on the subject but nevertheless: Which home screen replacement are you using and what do you like about it?
I developed a home screen replacement called "Simple Home" and it is all about simplicity. Feel free to try it out (search for "Simple Home" on Android market). I'm interested to hear what features people really want to have in their launcher!?
I use launcher pro. my favorite feature is having the scrollable dockbar.
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At least you were somewhat up front about spam, if misleading in the title.
I am genuinely interested due to fact that I've developed an app in a certain way, not out of any commercial reasons! If it was an unsolicited post then I would a) not answer you b) not ask questions or c) not promote a free app. My post is meant as a basis for a discussions. Yours on the other hand is not!
regarding the scrollable dockbar in launcher pro: hmm yes, it is very nice feature to have some kind of menu bar with pinned apps. Strange though that it disappears when you go to the app drawer. On the other hand there needs to be some kind of icon for the return button some how.
something to try could be developing a way to organize the app drawer using sections, folders, etc. if I knew anything about app creation that's what I would be working on haha.
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You can enable/disable the return home button in preferences. I particularly like the extended froyo theme dock for pinned apps. Keeps my desktop clean. I don't care for multiple dock rows as I just use 4 icons, but I like the options. I recently paid for the paid program of launcher pro.
The best part is you can make it simple or complex in options. Theme support is also nice... and its speed is wonderful.
I think launched pro has it figured out. If you are building a launcher perhaps try to think out side the box instead of trying to compete with such an already complete launcher.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
ADW all the way on my X10
infernox51 said:
something to try could be developing a way to organize the app drawer using sections, folders, etc. if I knew anything about app creation that's what I would be working on haha.
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Funny thing you mentioned it, because this is exactly what I've done for my app and of course using frecency sorting (frequency + recency). This is exactly what I want to have for my app drawer plus filtering to narrow down the list (which is also in there).
player911 said:
You can enable/disable the return home button in preferences. I particularly like the extended froyo theme dock for pinned apps. Keeps my desktop clean. I don't care for multiple dock rows as I just use 4 icons, but I like the options. I recently paid for the paid program of launcher pro.
The best part is you can make it simple or complex in options. Theme support is also nice... and its speed is wonderful.
I think launched pro has it figured out. If you are building a launcher perhaps try to think out side the box instead of trying to compete with such an already complete launcher.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
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I am, I think the ones that are out there really do the Android style launchers to perfection. My approach is simplicity and speed. I personally don't believe in arrangeable desktops. It works fine when you have a few apps but when you have a fair amount installed it becomes tedious to do rearrangements..
ADW. But I like eye candy. If your going for simple you could have a niche to yourself.
One feature I'd like, played with a few programs last night as was not happy with any, is a task SWITCHER.
Double tap home and bring up a nice screen, if it can use a wall then even better.
No killing just switching.
Yes, I agree! Ubuntu- or mac-style task switcher would be truly great. I don't think that exposé will work as good on a mobile phone as on a PC
My approach was to add an indicator on top of app icons in my app drawer for apps that are running (according to the ActivityManager) together with the ability to sort the list on running apps. I find that simple and very useful..
I tried ADW, Helix, LauncherPro, Simple Home, and PandaHome. I like Panda's side docks & app hiding, and ADW's hidden dockbar & screen swipes to launch apps (though it still FCs on my Droid 2.1R) . I'd prefer something simple. I don't need more than 3 screens and usually go to 2. I don't need a task switcher because long-pressing Home shows my last six apps. I don't need flash, I just want it to work. ADW works for me now because I have four quick action buttons (so it replaced Helix) and six more in the dockbar, though I can scroll for more. Just my .02
I have used Stock sense, ADW, and LuncherPro in the last 3 days and I like LuncherPro by far the best. I like having the 4 icons on the bottom to clear icon clutter on the screen and the menu system is nice.
I realize that there is already an app like this on the market called "Smart Taskbar", and its a good app. I just dont like the UI, and it seems really cluttered. So i was wondering if a developer could rip the side app-docks from pandahome and turn them into an app. The pandahome side docks, are smooth, simple and elegant. i attached some screenshots of what they look like closed and opened. you can have up to 3 seperate docks on each side of the screen, and they are scrollable so you can put unlimited apps in each one. they are accessible from any homescreen (not a widget or shortcut, nor do they impede widget or shortcut place as they are not part of the homescreen layout).
i know the coding would be tough, but damn they are sexy.
PS - hate pandahome, but i love this feature....just in case anyone wants to say "just use pandahome, then".....its buggy as hell
Anyone, just me i guess?
bump againnnnn...ive wanted this for so long
Have you heard of the new SwipePad app? It only has one screen for shortcuts, but the upside is it can be activated from ANY app you have open. It's still in beta, and was put on the Market less than a month ago so it's still in the very early stages. Later they may implement more screens.
c00ller said:
Have you heard of the new SwipePad app? It only has one screen for shortcuts, but the upside is it can be activated from ANY app you have open. It's still in beta, and was put on the Market less than a month ago so it's still in the very early stages. Later they may implement more screens.
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i just downloaded it and i actually really like it. thanks for the suggestion
as far as my request goes though, it still stands. ever since i stumbled across pandahome ive been in love with those appdocks. just the way they look and function.
I tried searching the forums and found nothing...
Like a lot of others, i dont like most of the applications that come bundled on my phone and like to get rid of most of them. I cant seem to figure out what .apk file to remove to get rid of the "Kidzone" application. Any ideas?
If any root-level file explorer works, download Absolute System from the Market. It's about two bucks but it's worth it. You can use it to remove any bloatware from your device.
blackknightavalon said:
If any root-level file explorer works, download Absolute System from the Market. It's about two bucks but it's worth it. You can use it to remove any bloatware from your device.
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Not in this case. We do not have S-OFF.
Freezing the apps with titanium backup lasts between reboots, luckily. Won't remove them completely but they will be prevented from running or showing in the app drawer.
Only problem is I'm having trouble finding the package names of a couple bloatware apps, namely kidzone, highlight, friend stream and t-mobile mall. If anyone could find the names of those packages it would be great. I'll look up the names of the apps I did find in a little while and post them for you.
vimk said:
Freezing the apps with titanium backup lasts between reboots, luckily. Won't remove them completely but they will be prevented from running or showing in the app drawer.
Only problem is I'm having trouble finding the package names of a couple bloatware apps, namely kidzone, highlight, friend stream and t-mobile mall. If anyone could find the names of those packages it would be great. I'll look up the names of the apps I did find in a little while and post them for you.
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Download Absolute System from the Market.
Sent from a Western Union telegram.
vimk said:
Freezing the apps with titanium backup lasts between reboots, luckily. Won't remove them completely but they will be prevented from running or showing in the app drawer.
Only problem is I'm having trouble finding the package names of a couple bloatware apps, namely kidzone, highlight, friend stream and t-mobile mall. If anyone could find the names of those packages it would be great. I'll look up the names of the apps I did find in a little while and post them for you.
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I cant figure out what process is Kidzone either, but i think the T-Mobile mall was called "AppPack" (MallLite-4.0.92.apk)
Gumpo10k said:
I cant figure out what process is Kidzone either, but i think the T-Mobile mall was called "AppPack" (MallLite-4.0.92.apk)
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also tried removing the app pack, and it does not remove "kidzone"
Kidzone appears to basically be a locked down version of the home screen that only lets you turn on Youtube, Internet, Bejeweled, and T-Mobile TV from that screen. It requires you to setup a password for the lock screen. It appears to be built into sense. It's not really an application. Mostly a replacement lock screen. There's nothing "kid" about it honestly.
Akujin said:
Kidzone appears to basically be a locked down version of the home screen that only lets you turn on Youtube, Internet, Bejeweled, and T-Mobile TV from that screen. It requires you to setup a password for the lock screen. It appears to be built into sense. It's not really an application. Mostly a replacement lock screen. There's nothing "kid" about it honestly.
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Is there a way to remove the shortcut from the app drawer?
electro_chef said:
Is there a way to remove the shortcut from the app drawer?
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I second that request!
I made a thread in "themes and apps" about cleaning up bloat - still no luck on kidzone though.
I am fiddling around with dumping sense now, that will probably do it. I'll post back here if I can figure out how to make kidzone go away.
Meantime - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=16739548#post16739548
okay - sorry to post after myself but I got rid of kidzone.
First, I restored a CWM backup I made right after root/busybox installation.
So, my phone state is fresh S-OFF/Root with SU & busybox installed.
It may be important to note that I did a factory reset to my phone just before S-OFF/Root & had a freshly formatted MicroSD card.
I then installed ADW Launcher from the Market, and hit my "home" key. Selected "Use Default" and chose ADW Launcher.
Now my phone defaults to ADW as it's launcher.
I then installed "Absolute System" from the Market, and used it to remove "HTC Sense"
Closed out Absolute System, then scrolled between all 5 ADW desktop screens, powered down the phone, then powered up again. (*NOTE fastboot = off)
Booted fine, was able to ditch sense without issue, and KIDZONE IS GONE!
As always, make sure to do a fresh system backup before messing with anything like this, but Kidzone is linked to sense, and replacing sense with another launcher will remove it.
HTC Sense was the only app removed from the phone, and I haven't checked everything to make sure it works yet, but no HTC crash report to send, and no force close issues. (yet - to be determined)
I've been itching to ditch sense since I got the phone, and this was my first quick test at it. Works good so far.
Edit to add:
Checked the "personalize" option at the top of the "settings" list. This just brings you back to the main desktop, doesn't throw an error.
I knew this one thing would be messed up somehow after ditching sense, but the fact that it doesn't make a problem and just closes the menu is fine by me.
I'll spend the rest of the day testing out my phone without sense to see how it runs. I'll post back how it went tomorrow.
Edit - 11/01/2011:
When I said "without sense" I meant without the sense launcher. I expanded on and clarified that in another thread (that app thread) but never cleared it up here.
To fully remove sense is one heck of a project, and will take much more then just switching your launcher.
This is great info - but with this last method - can you still use the stock/factory camera app? Is the camera fully functional, it might not be a big deal to some but would be cool to retain full factory camera functionality.
Wow, feels like going back in time -
Yep, stock camera app works fine.
It's tied to sense, and there is no true AOSP ROM out there yet, so pretty much no matter what you do you should keep stock camera functionality.
Actually, keeping the stock camera functionality/app is the main reason why there is no AOSP ROM yet, it's been generally decided that losing that would be...undesirable.
Kidzone is part of Rosie.apk, which is the Sense launcher. You lose it once you switch to another launcher (adw, go, etc...) and uninstall rosie.apk
Blue6IX said:
Wow, feels like going back in time -
Yep, stock camera app works fine.
It's tied to sense, and there is no true AOSP ROM out there yet, so pretty much no matter what you do you should keep stock camera functionality.
Actually, keeping the stock camera functionality/app is the main reason why there is no AOSP ROM yet, it's been generally decided that losing that would be...undesirable.
Kidzone is part of Rosie.apk, which is the Sense launcher. You lose it once you switch to another launcher (adw, go, etc...) and uninstall rosie.apk
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Exactly.. + 1 for blue.
Sent from my Senseless Doubleshot using xda premium
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.tencent.qqlauncher&feature=search_result
Has anyone tried this launcher in the market. looks similar to adw just installed it havent played around with it yet. everything looks ok.
I don't know about that launcher specifically but QQ Chat is a (popular) chinese chat app. We could hack it in to our old motorola flip phones back in the day.
Perhaps this is the same chinese company with another knockoff. I'd say it if looks and feels like ADW, why not just use ADW? Go Launcher seems nice too.
[UPDATE]
Looks neat. While supposedly it isn't as customizable as the popular ones, it does offer some neat features. The Contact list Apps Menu looks appealing and some of the other features. Try it out and give us a review!
I don't know about anybody else but I'm currently using the Regina 3D Launcher and live it. Plus you can add extra home screens.
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Just installed it, I love it so far!
Good but needs more features.
Sent from my Calculator with Android.
I love the app menu in list mode... Just doesn't support enough customization for me yet. I think I'll stick with go launcher ex for now, but this is definitely one to watch.
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Tattooed5150 said:
I don't know about anybody else but I'm currently using the Regina 3D Launcher and live it. Plus you can add extra home screens.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
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I just gave it a try and it is amazing! I love it so far. It is heavy 3d app so I am not sure if it will run smooth on older phones but it runs great on the G2X.
Thanks.
Initial review
Been playing with this for a most of the day now. Here is what I like about it.
Interesting screen transitions, I like the different swipe animations, Fade in is a nice touch, and I really like Cascade. Card is a fun variation of windmill, but with alot of icons, gets sore on the eyes. And Cube is a nice one as well, although it does get a bit laggy. Other than Cubem, they all work pretty good, even with a heavy live wallpaper working in the background.
The app drawer list setting is a huge plus on this. Something that is lacking in GoLauncher (my usual primary) and Launcher pro. It really makes finding your apps easy, and when you have alot, like I do, its great.
Clone Launcher - This is a nice feature, as it pulls whatever you have placed as screens on Launcher Pro into this launcher. It didn't give me the choice to pull GoLauncher, so it might only work with Launcher pro, not sure.
Its a pretty stable, fast and non-laggy UI. I like using it, however, the following items really are why I keep going back to GoLauncher.
Themes - pretty limited in what you can do. You can change wallpapers BUT only what is offered by the theme. You cannot choose from previous wallpapers, and you cant choose any live wallpapers. You have to get into a different launcher and set those up, then return to QQ. Same with Icons, you cant use anything but what is offered by the theme.
With that said about Icons, they are biggger than most launcher, which is a nice bonus.
Dock - your limited to the 5, with the app drawer static. It isn't easy to change them, you have to remove them, and then add, you can't add directly from the current icon. There is no second or third dock drawer, so you can only put your favorite four down there.
Regarding the QQ widgets, you get Task killer and quick switch. Quick switch works fine, but your limited to WiFi, screen brightness, sound settings and GPRS listed in the widget. You can access GPS, flight mode, etc through selecting the widget.
Task killer I am unsure of. When using it with ZDBox, I get different numbers.When I kill idle tasks using QQ, I end with 339M in use. But when I do the same using ZD, I get 233.6M in use. So not sure why the difference.
For my opinion, I like its stability and different screen transitions as well as the app list, and will keep an eye on this. However, by adding more screen customization (wallpapers, icons, live wallpapers) and more dock choices, this could become a really great launcher.
I will check Regina now, see how that works.
A few other things
Alright, forget Regina, couldn't make it work, too buggy.
BUT I do have some more input regarding QQ.
The lock screen rocks! I love the animations it gives while charging, and its a very responsive lock. Best thing is once you activate it and go with a different launcher, it still works!
I do wish we could change the shortcuts. And whenever I choose the down swipe (Home icon), I go to my SMS app, even when it QQ. So there is a bad connection or something along those lines there. Its still something I can live with, and plan to continue using the lock screen!
Lol I don't know why but I like this launcher. How is the lockscreen for everyone. Is it responsive?
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium
moeahmad1995 said:
Lol I don't know why but I like this launcher. How is the lockscreen for everyone. Is it responsive?
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium
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the launcher honestly was very nice, but too little features for my liking unfortunately.
not enough features, but im keepin the app installed cuz i love that lockscreen!
One last update
So played some more with it and used it for the weekend. here are my last points on it.
Folders - You are limited to 12 apps only. No more. So if you got alot that needs to go in a folder (like I do), you will end up with more folders, more confusion, and more 'which folder has what app' issues. But whats cool is that you can find the classification name by checking the box icon on the right. Nice touch guys!
Lock screen - Again, I can't say enough about this. but now am going to say a little bit more. of all the free lock options out there, this is the only one I have found where the volume keys work when the screen is locked and off. HOWEVER, when you use that volume, the screen will come on (thats ok), but then never turn back off (NOT OK!)
I found out while riding the bus home. Left the office and turned up the music player while phone was still in the case. Didn't look at it until I got off the bus and put it in my car dock. Noticed it was on. thought I did that taking it out of the case, but then I noticed the battery was drained alot more than its supposed to for the ride home.
so did a check, unplugged and player going, with the screen off I turned volume up, screen came on, then never turned off (I gave up waiting after 5 minutes).
My stock lock screen is set to turn the screen off after 10 seconds, and all the other lock screens work with that time, so this really needs to get corrected.
Still hoping for updates to both the lock and the launcher! Don't give up developers!
I use it with my Galaxy S2 & love it. I have the iphone theme for obvious reasons
(check my sig)
---------- Post added at 04:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:21 PM ----------
Simer03 said:
not enough features, but im keepin the app installed cuz i love that lockscreen!
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Same here!!!!!
I like the lock screen. It sticks around after switching back to ADW EX. Keeping it installed to wait for updates.
It's a decent launcher, I normally use ADW Launcher EX though. Ya it does need some more customization and its got a good lock screen.
But I recently tried Go Launcher EX again(stopped using awhile back due to random fc's , updated version seemed to fix it) and their lock screen app Go Locker, is great! They've got the ICS lock screen theme, Sense, an iPhone clone, and a cool Santa Claus themed lock screen just to name a few. It's worth a look for sure
If somebody could take this launcher, add customize-able dock bars, allow themes from Roms (like MIUI or CM) to work properly, and add more customization to the lockscreen (like change applications, torch, etc) I would pay for it in a heartbeat.
I love this launcher but it still lacks features other launchers have, like I can't leave go launcher for this one YET
HOTLANTA, even though its cold ;-)
Their is also an Asian company that produces a launcher named cclauncher. Its supposed to be a 3d type launcher.
Cclauncher ics has some really good ics animations including the app drawer ics animations, almost identical.
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I want to lock certain apps on my phone away from meddling hands (can anyone say frape?) but looking through the Play Store all I see is tons and tons of ugly, bloated POS that ask for loads of permissions that this type of app has no business asking for - location? Camera? Er, no thanks.
Anyone using a beautiful resource and permissions-light, minimal-looking app lock to protect their other apps?
EDIT: Also it needs to lock apps the instant someone tries to launch them - and not show the app on screen for half a second before the lock is applied over the top of it.