Database Info

Claystone 1.0 Release (no more beta) New Android home screen replacement and launcher

** Claystone Launcher- A quick update and we just launched our first theme pack **
- A lot has been happened over the last month with Claystone Launcher
- We have now had over 14,000 downloads combined from the following App Stores:
Android Market
Android Freeware Market
Handango / Appia
SlideMe
MobiHand
GetJar
Handster
Aproov
** Themes **
- We just launched our first theme called BlueBerry and added skinning to the features
- We designed and launched a solid business user theme with a clear, crisp interface and colour scheme
- Our goal is to release many themes over the next few months (catching up wit the other launchers)
- Search Android Market fore the keyword "claystone" to install and see all the latest.
** New Features ***
- Besides themes we added sharing functionality and more customization and preferences (a big request from our users)
- Performance and memory management was tweaked and enhanced over a challenging 5 week period of intensive testing, retesting, and responding to user feedback and suggestions
- Launching a new home screen replacement has really been challenging because there are so many solid options already available
- Claystone works on more devices and adjust performance settings to match the hardware capabilities
- Performance can also be adjusted through Preferences if you want to tinker with speed and performance
** We Debuted Claystone on XDA Forums and your feedback is welcomed **
- We welcome your comments, feedback, suggestions and requests for additional Claystone themes.
- Inside the App you can conveniently "Share Claystone" item on the options menu to share Claystone with your friends.
- You can also conveniently rate Claystone and send the Claystone Team a feedback email from Claystone preferences
*** Thanks ***
- I thought I would take some time to reconnect with the XDA forum community and say thank you for all your support and feedback over the last two months.
- I have uploaded some of the latest screen shots and the current APK if you would like to see all the latest changes.
### Minimum Requirements
- Android smart phone or tablet
- Android 2.1 and higher
- OpenGL 1.1 and higher
- Normal screen size or higher
- Medium screen density (160 mdpi) or higher
Claystone Is Now Available in the following App Stores:
- Android Market
- Amazon Android App Store (soon)
- Android Freeware Market
- SlideMe App Store
- Handango App Store (Appia)
- GetJAR App Store
- Search for the keyword "Claystone" to install Claystone from Android Market
- To get the latest version use Android Market updates

Sound amazing and would live to help you test it, but where's the link?
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

Sounds sweet
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App

Initial impression is that its very confussing and difficult to use... it took me a while to work out what I was looking at. Don't get the widget folder as it negates what a widget is. I do like the potential concept, but this really needs a lot more thought into user experience.
To start with look at changing the folder controls to make them easier to select.
This is a very original approach and I'll going to watch this one with interest...
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA Premium App

Often only shows black screen on HTC legend.
The dock icons are too big and there is hardly any customization possible.
But it is a really interesting idea and different from other launcher. I'll stay tuned.
Sent from my HTC Legend

Widget Question
pantera70 said:
Initial impression is that its very confussing and difficult to use... it took me a while to work out what I was looking at. Don't get the widget folder as it negates what a widget is. I do like the potential concept, but this really needs a lot more thought into user experience.
To start with look at changing the folder controls to make them easier to select.
This is a very original approach and I'll going to watch this one with interest...
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We would really appreciate any more detail you can provide about Widgets. We are tweaking the UI throughout the beta program and any additional ideas or recommendations would be really helpful.
Kevin

Can someone post screen shots?
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

claystoneinc said:
We would really appreciate any more detail you can provide about Widgets. We are tweaking the UI throughout the beta program and any additional ideas or recommendations would be really helpful.
Kevin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless I'm missing something the only place to add widgets is in the folder at the top of the screen. This limited the use of widgets... for example if I add a 2x2 clock thats all I can see and use unless I expand the folder. This is compounded by the difficulty in using the folder controls. Widgets are supposed to provide quick and easy access and viewing of apps and info you use most, currently this is lost in Claystone... If you could make widget use a little more traditional it would go a long way...
Like I said previously though the whole user experience would be vastly improved if you added larger controls to the folders making it quick and easy to expand/close etc.
Like ms_green says the dock is a little large and it makes the screen feel a little cramped.

A very short review, sorry for being blunt:
* On my Droid Incredible: great, now applications are even smaller/hard to read. UI is not very responsive. Toolbar buttons are too small but making them any bigger would mean even less real estate.
* Tablet: Ooooh now you're talking! The layout makes much more sense, especially in landscape mode. This is actually getting closer to WebOs' take on multitasked UI.
I think this app has a great future on tablets.

Ima dl right now
Sent from my SPH-D700-EPIC-using Tapatalk

Can someone post screenshots? Thanks

This is great!!! VERY GOOD!!! the concept is amazing
things u might want to improve:
The loading speed of panels are slow. Even opening the appdrawer takes no less than 3 seconds, not to mention browser etc
When u scroll vertically but a bit sideways on a panel it just pops u into another panel, very excruciating
Panels. seriously, all u can have is a home panel and a widget panel? i want to make my own (not just folders) for example media, games etc
"items" u can add. to be honest all there is is file explorer, browser and youtube (not to mention the youtube one really sucks). U need more of these "items", but i understand this is a beta
lol no offense

I could see this possibly having potential on a bigger screen, like a tablet maybe. But as it stands things feel too cramped on my 3.7 inch screen. Also things are a bit slow atm.

It's an interesting concept, but implemented in a moderately confusing fashion. The widget box resizes widgets oddly, making things look bulky, etc.
Great idea, though.

Opening the inbuilt contacts force closes the app for me.
But apart from that, a brilliant concept! I can't wait for new additions! Great job

Misleadingg said:
This is great!!! VERY GOOD!!! the concept is amazing
things u might want to improve:
The loading speed of panels are slow. Even opening the appdrawer takes no less than 3 seconds, not to mention browser etc
When u scroll vertically but a bit sideways on a panel it just pops u into another panel, very excruciating
Panels. seriously, all u can have is a home panel and a widget panel? i want to make my own (not just folders) for example media, games etc
"items" u can add. to be honest all there is is file explorer, browser and youtube (not to mention the youtube one really sucks). U need more of these "items", but i understand this is a beta
lol no offense
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the great feedback!
You can create more panels ("folders") as well, you can copy and paste any item in any panel. In our next drop we are going to make it simple by adding applications to the "create" menu.

Meltus said:
Opening the inbuilt contacts force closes the app for me.
But apart from that, a brilliant concept! I can't wait for new additions! Great job
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you mind telling us what phone/version you are using? We'll look into it. Thanks.

downloaded and will try it out on my Viewsonic G Tablet when I get home tonight

I'm a visual person. Anyone got screenshots?

Nothing to see here...

[APP][2.1+] Appsi sidebar, a plugin supported sidebar application

September 13th
Today I released Appsi 1.5. This release includes the following new features:
1. A new (100% free and a part of Appsi itself) page in the sidebar with support for
- App widgets in the sidebar
- Home plugins (Appsi specific plugins, more below)
- DashClock extensions
2. Full freedom in placing the hotspots and the amount of them.
3. Fast scrolling support
4. More cutomizations and look & feel options
5. Music player controls (with special thanks to xda member Dr.Alexander_Breen for his excellent guide)
.. And a lot more.
September 4th (beta 1.4.21):
It's been a while and I think it is time to give you all a little update on what's going on behind the scenes in beta. I am working on fixing the issues that are left and hope to release the upcoming version as Appsi 1.5 soon.
I have got tons of new cool features coming up. To name a few:
1. A new (100% free and a part of Appsi itself) page in the sidebar with support for
- App widgets in the sidebar
- Home plugins (Appsi specific plugins, more below)
- DashClock extensions
2. Full freedom in placing the hotspots and the amount of them.
3. Fast scrolling support
4. More cutomizations and look & feel options
5. Music player controls (with special thanks to xda member Dr.Alexander_Breen for his excellent guide)
.. And a lot more.
The Home Plugins are small extensions to the home tab/plugin. The are small plugins you can add to the home tab in Appsi. They can be used to show things like, missed calls count, launching certain intents and a lot more. There is an open source sample project with docs on Github. And there's some instructions right here.
If you are looking for screenshots, take a look in the G+ beta community.
July 30th: Version 1.4 released
Last weekend I updated Appsi to version 1.4
New features:
1. Customize the size of the text and icons
2. Change the spacing between the items
3. Global search
4. New icon
July 15th: Version 1.3.3 in beta.
Very small amount of changes for this beta. Moving to production on 18th if no issues arise.
1. Option to minimize the notification. (no icon and smallest possible notification, no extra actions etc)
2. Bug fix for android 4.0.3 and 4.0.4 devices, causing crashed with hardware acceleration enabled.
3. Fix issue with long texts on items in the sidebar when there is a title and a description. The title will now also have ellipsis.
July 13th: Version 1.3 released.
Today I moved version 1.3 from beta to production. The following changes are probably going to make 1.4:
Improved search: Search through all apps, even if the section is disabled. If you have plugins, search will include all results from all plugins.
Live folder support in Appsi (add a live folder as if it is a plugin)
If you have a suggestion, just let me know.
Also I will add new translations once they have been completed. This is just a matter of time. If you would like to help out, pm me.
July 6th: Version 1.3 beta released.
I just finished uploading the new beta version of Appsi to Google play. This new version contains the following new features:
Proper favorites manager
Contextual action bar to perform actions on long press.
Switch plugins by swiping left or right on the sidebar
Updates to all plugins for the contextual actions
Fixes:
Fixed a bug in the icon caching mechanism
This is a beta release, so for now only accessible for beta testers (wanna be a beta tester? let me know). This version will most likely move to production within one week.
July 1st: version 1.2.4 was released
Although it may not sound like a big update, This version adds support for the following new features:
* transparency in the sidebar
* the ability to choose a background image for the sidebar
* Choice between light and dark theme
* Improved the way to get the data from the plugins.
* Improved user experience, especially for new users.
Special thanks go out to all the people helping with translations and beta testing. Thank you very much!
See https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.appsimobile.appsi for the Google play listing.
Appsi sidebar is a sidebar application for android. It comes with an embedded App plugin (more about that later) that allows you to see all your apps and add your favorite 5 apps as favorites.
It supports 3 distinct gestures when opening the sidebar, by default they will all open the sidebar normally. The gestures are moving horizontally after touching the hotspot, moving up or moving down. For each of these you can set the action to perform, these actions are:
- open the sidebar (default)
- open favorites swiper
- open recents swiper (needs plugins with recents)
- open plugin swiper (swipe to the plugin you'd like to open and then open the sidebar)
The swiper is the same as what you might know from other apps (like swipepad), it allows you to open something with one single touch, by moving your finger from the sidebar to the item.
The hotpot is either on the left or right side of the screen, it can be positioned manually and can be as big as you want.
Thanks to the wonderful people on this forum Russian translations have been added in the latest version. Also simplified Chinese has been added. I'd like to know what you all think about this app
Appsi is plugin based (and supported). This means it allows you to buy plugins to extend the functionality. This is not needed for normal operation, but it will add more types of things you can add as a sidebar.
You can either add a hotspot for each plugin, or use one hotspot for all plugins. The opened plugin can be changed by tapping the title of the sidebar.
If anyone has suggestions or improvement, either for plugins or Appsi itself, please let me know.
Download link for Appsi 1.5:
Appsi 1.5 release

Hello everybody,
If there are people out here that would like to test the app and provide feedback that would be great. I am open to suggestions and have a list of upcoming features. One of the features I just released as beta is the ability to change the alpha and to set a background for the sidebar. And the ability to be always up to date with the plugins (no need to load the data when the sidebar opens)
So if you'd like to do beta testing, send me your Google account (e-mail address) and I'll add you to the testers list.
If you do not want to test the beta version but would prefer to test the current version, that will also help very much.
Any feedback will help.
Thank you all!

If I'm right, this sidebar uses a service as "sidebar", doesn't it?
All other apps I've seen start up an activity if you touch the gesture area. If you press the home button and try to launch an activity from the gesture area, it has a 5 second delay.
So that's a really good thing.
Overall UI looks pretty good, which makes the users first thoughts about the app very positive.
ActionBar in the sidebar is awesome and usefull.
Logo isn't the best I've seen, you could improve that.
This is my opinion 4 seconds after installation.
Edit: search bar is very usefull
Sent from my Nexus 4 running Android 4.2 JB

I will try it ASAP and report.
I tried a lot already.... almost all to be honest, and i stick right now to a cryptic one but which really work well. Can be used for inspiration, so here it is (and i am not advertsing, ok. It is just for reference as this one is relly unknown) : overlay launcher.
Gonna install your app and report from my of course subjective point of view.
Cheers

Really like it thus far! Would it be possible to make it easier to switch between plug ins, I.e, when the sidebar is open instead of going to the top to switch plug ins, maybe you can swipe left and right within in the sidebar to switch between plug ins. It will make it a lot easier to use instead of going to the top.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

It is mandatory to add an option to dismiss notification from the notification panel... It's way too big, and it is very annoying for me!
App works really well indeed, and I'm looking forward to try a couple of plugins!
Keep up the good work mate!
Galaxy Note II - Alliance Rom

jlo20431 said:
Really like it thus far! Would it be possible to make it easier to switch between plug ins, I.e, when the sidebar is open instead of going to the top to switch plug ins, maybe you can swipe left and right within in the sidebar to switch between plug ins. It will make it a lot easier to use instead of going to the top.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 for this feature as well! That would be REALLY GREAT!!

mDroidd said:
If I'm right, this sidebar uses a service as "sidebar", doesn't it?
All other apps I've seen start up an activity if you touch the gesture area. If you press the home button and try to launch an activity from the gesture area, it has a 5 second delay.
So that's a really good thing.
Overall UI looks pretty good, which makes the users first thoughts about the app very positive.
ActionBar in the sidebar is awesome and usefull.
Logo isn't the best I've seen, you could improve that.
This is my opinion 4 seconds after installation.
Edit: search bar is very usefull
Sent from my Nexus 4 running Android 4.2 JB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Yes I know I'll ask try to find someone to do some icon design later on. Will become better. I am focusing on improving the usability right now and other performance improvements. They are all in beta now, and if no more issues are found in these versions, I'll be putting this beta to production.
jlo20431 said:
Really like it thus far! Would it be possible to make it easier to switch between plug ins, I.e, when the sidebar is open instead of going to the top to switch plug ins, maybe you can swipe left and right within in the sidebar to switch between plug ins. It will make it a lot easier to use instead of going to the top.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good suggestion, I will add this to my list.
cyberpunk627 said:
It is mandatory to add an option to dismiss notification from the notification panel... It's way too big, and it is very annoying for me!
App works really well indeed, and I'm looking forward to try a couple of plugins!
Keep up the good work mate!
Galaxy Note II - Alliance Rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, the problem with this is running as a service. Android will kill the app if it needs resources. I have tested it and it will kill it quite often and restart it within a few moments. I can add an option (a discouraged one) to disable running as a foreground service. I can also suggest the user to disable notifications for the app if running on jelly bean, and take them there. Another thought was the ability to set a 100% transparent icon so that it does not show up in the notification bar.
The upcoming version (current beta) adds the following features:
custom backgrounds on the sidebar
light and dark theme (dark theme is the current theme, light is like holo light)
better synchronization between appsi and the plugins. (less data loading needed and better user experience)
Improved getting started experience (visible hotspots until the user disables it and an arrow showing how to open the sidebar once the hotspot is touched)
For the next version (after the current beta), I will add the following features for sure:
Favorites manager: Manage the favorites in a proper way and allow for an unlimited amount of favorites.
Navigating between plugins with a simple swipe.
and possibly:
integration with live folders
widgets plugin (already working on this)
Thank you all, and if you have any more ideas or suggestions, please let me know!

May I add something to this already rich and awesome list?
I would REALLY REALLY LIKE to have the possibility to add shortcuts to the apps plugin (as I can do on the launcher screen, for example). That would be really helpful!!
...Maybe also an option to change app icons and names, and a way to hide the "X" for apps removal (which I find quite ugly, this function might be moved to a separate and specific menu to add/remove things maybe?) ?
you may also think about offering an "all plugins package" at a discounted price, rather than having to buy all plugins separately (which, btw, makes the sum of all prices quite high). So that the user can choose if selectively buy the only one or two plugins he needs at their actual price, or directly going for the full thing.. I hope it's clear what I mean!
Cheers and keep up the good work!!
Should you need some beta testers... You know where to look
Galaxy Note II - Alliance Rom

cyberpunk627 said:
May I add something to this already rich and awesome list?
I would REALLY REALLY LIKE to have the possibility to add shortcuts to the apps plugin (as I can do on the launcher screen, for example). That would be really helpful!!
...Maybe also an option to change app icons and names, and a way to hide the "X" for apps removal (which I find quite ugly, this function might be moved to a separate and specific menu to add/remove things maybe?) ?
you may also think about offering an "all plugins package" at a discounted price, rather than having to buy all plugins separately (which, btw, makes the sum of all prices quite high). So that the user can choose if selectively buy the only one or two plugins he needs at their actual price, or directly going for the full thing.. I hope it's clear what I mean!
Cheers and keep up the good work!!
Should you need some beta testers... You know where to look
Galaxy Note II - Alliance Rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the favorites manager will at first be used to replace the current way of adding and removing the favorites. But later on it will also be improved to allow changing names and icons. Also I am planning to do something with icon themes, I still need to determine how and what, but a new theming format is not what I am aiming for (we are talking several releases in the future now)
Shortcuts is definitely on the list of to-dos for the apps plugin. I can't say yet when it will be added but it is something that will definitely be there in the future.
Well beta testers are always very welcome. The XDA Android app testers community is a good starting point, https://plus.google.com/communities/100406373096097711894 . If you join this group and opt-in for beta testing at https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.appsimobile.appsi you'll be able to get the beta version. I still need to add this community to the plugins, I will update my original post with the details when it is done.

Appsi sidebar is well beyond 1000 downloads from play store! Yay!
I really recommend this app guys, try it out and you'll see that it is even more comfortable to use than it looks!
Note 2 N7100 - Alliance Rom - Perseus Kernel

jlo20431 said:
Really like it thus far! Would it be possible to make it easier to switch between plug ins, I.e, when the sidebar is open instead of going to the top to switch plug ins, maybe you can swipe left and right within in the sidebar to switch between plug ins. It will make it a lot easier to use instead of going to the top.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cyberpunk627 said:
+1 for this feature as well! That would be REALLY GREAT!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This feature is included in the beta that was released today. I loved it from the moment it worked. Very good suggestion

Today the beta was moved to production. See the original post at the start of the thread for the changes

Very cool app and working great so far.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

New Beta release, for all of you who want the notification icon gone, it is in beta now!

I'm joining this too.
Gonna try out.
Keep the good work.
PMoto

New version released, 1.4 see original post for details

Newest version is great!! An awesome improvement, really!! Appsi is becoming more and more polished and feature rich, while staying lightning fast. Can't think of anything better!!
Now we only need some more theming options, like changing icons (as we do on launchers like nova, apex...)
Cheers and keep up the good work!!
Note 2 N7100 - Alliance Rom DMA6 - Perseus Kernel

Appsi crashing
Firstly, after 24 hours of using Appsi, I have to say that Appsi has become one of my favourite apps. It is well done and provides needed functionality.
However, from time to time Appsi freezes and the only way to get the sidebar back is to force close the app from the application manager and then restart the app.
I'm using CM 10.1 (Android 4.2.1) on Samsung S3.
Any idea why this is happening?
Cheers,
Eran

eranhor said:
Firstly, after 24 hours of using Appsi, I have to say that Appsi has become one of my favourite apps. It is well done and provides needed functionality.
However, from time to time Appsi freezes and the only way to get the sidebar back is to force close the app from the application manager and then restart the app.
I'm using CM 10.1 (Android 4.2.1) on Samsung S3.
Any idea why this is happening?
Cheers,
Eran
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never ever had a freeze or FC on Alliance Rom.. Maybe the problem you have is only tied to aosp roms and not stock or derivative ones?
Note 2 N7100 - Alliance Rom DMA6 - Perseus Kernel

[APP] TinyLaunch: New lease on life for old and very slow devices

I was finding my Archos 43 Gen7 device with its puny 256mb RAM unusable with regular launchers so I decided to roll my own from scratch: TinyLaunch.
The main development rules were:
- use very little RAM
- run on lots of devices (currently, back to Android 1.6)
- get out of the way and avoid doing anything in the background while other apps are running
- run fast once it's configured (but currently the configuration app scan is slow)
- nothing extraneous--no pretty extra icons, no help information, and of course no ads of any sort (not even a link to my other apps--all that is wasted memory)
I plan for the apk never to exceed 40K. Currently it's 26K: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9SH82NXqz3WREtqa0FWckF3TFU/
This is *extremely* low-featured. At base, it just presents a simple scrolling list of apps (with categorization features) with no icons (though you can turn on icons, at the expense of some speed: Menu, Settings). You tap on an app and there you are.
In particular:
- UGLY
- no widgets
- no shortcuts
- no automatic updates when apps are installed or removed
These limitations may make this useless to you. But if you just want a list of apps for launching, e.g., on a device for your kids to play with, TinyLaunch may be the thing for you.
The first time you run TinyLaunch needs to scan for apps. This is a very slow process on my Archos 43 (at least for apps moved to SD), though faster on modern devices. You also need to manually rescan apps after adding or removing apps. To do that, press MENU and Scan.
Instead of folders, I implemented a category system inspired by PalmOS, though with some variations (the main one is that apps can be in more than one category).
By default there are three special categories: All, Unclassified and Hidden. You can make some custom categories like "Games" and "Math and Science" by pressing MENU and New Category. To categorize apps, the easiest way is to switch the category to Unclassified (tap on the category selector at the top of the screen), and then long tap on an app to choose how to classify it. The app then disappears from the Unclassified category. Note that the Hidden category is a special category that hides apps from the All and Unclassified views (though a Hidden app can still show up in other categories if you like).
As I said, currently it's just a simple vertical list of apps. Eventually, I may implement the more usual tile-based view (making it look even more like PalmOS) if I can do so without detracting from development rules.
APK download: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9SH82NXqz3WREtqa0FWckF3TFU/
Source code: code.google.com/p/tinylauunch

Kewl

[APP][4.1+] SwiftOpen - Fast Launcher BETA [v0.9.3]

INTRODUCING SwiftOpen​
To speed lovers: this is the app you thought didn't exist but always wanted.
SwiftOpen is a launcher (not a home launcher) that allows you to launch apps, shortcuts, contacts, calls... very, very fast.
Not only is it fast at launching whatever you want, but its interface also allows you to choose it quickly, without even looking at the phone. And this applies to as many shortcuts as you wish.
It is also lightweight and battery friendly!
Awesome video by Android Hackz:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2edSlOMECU
Video "Life is Short":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj2gGZFzD5I
Appearing on XDA-TV:
http://www.xda-developers.com/android/3-unique-launchers-xdatv/
TRANSLATIONS:
I can provide native translations for Spanish and Catalan. If anyone wanted to contribute translating the app to any other language it would be very helpful. If so, please pm me or send me an email. Thanks!
Features:
Very fast launching
App launching
System toggles such as torch, wifi, autorotate...
Did I say fast?
Shortcut launching
Recent apps and calls
Guided setup
Folders that allow even more shortcuts
Multiple detectors
Multiple actions per detector
Custom icons for folders
Icon pack support
Alt-tab to switch to the previous app
Tablet (and phablet) mode
Intuitive settings
Battery friendly
Plenty of customization
I have already incorporated many features suggested by xda members. Any suggestion is welcome, and if I have time and I find it appropriate, I'll add it!
LAUNCHING IN PREVIOUS STATE:
Since v0.8.3 SwiftOpen launches apps in their previous state instead of restarting. Some apps behave different than expected, and need to be treated in a different manner so that they are resumed instead of restarted (like Whatsapp and gReader). I have a white list of these apps, so if you find an app that is restarted tell me and I'll try to verify that they'll be resumed if treated differently, to add them to the whitelist.
SOME PHONES:
The app does not work on some Huawei phones because of the rom -apps with floating windows don't work there. At least with those that I've tested. If someone has a Huawei phone with stock rom and it works, please tell me.
It does not work with some Xiaomi Redmi either. If someone has a Xiaomi phone and finds that the app works with the stock rom, please also tell me.
It is not because of the code in the app, but the rom those phones have...
VERSIONS:
v0.4 and v0.5 have not been optimized for Lollipop.
From v0.5.1 and up it is optimized for Lollipop.
In v0.6 the signature and the package name have changed (among other stuff) which means you'll have to configure it again, as it won't install on the previous version but in parallel. I'm sorry about this. The apk is also larger, because of the icons and all the changes in the project structure; it'll improve in next versions, I hope.
0.6.2 uses more ram than it should, and there are a few other issues.
ANDROID ISSUES:
If you go to the home launcher and then launch an app, it won't be launched until about 5 seconds after going home. It's how Google wants it to be, and I'll try a workaround in the future but I'm not sure if it'll work. Nevertheless, the point of this app is not needing to go to the home launcher
BETA:
This app is currently in beta. All your feedback will be more than welcome.
And you can also suggest new features...
If the app crashes it asks you to send me an email, with the Logs. You can see what is being send, so don't worry about your privacy, it is safe!
OPEN SOURCE:
Now I have to fix some bugs, add a bit of functionality, and clean up the code. Whenever this is done (in a few weeks, I hope) the app will be open source.
MATERIAL DESIGN:
I am also working on bringing material design to the app.
Nevertheless the priority is bug-fixing and functionality.

FEATURES, BUGS and CHANGELOG:
Planned features:
Improve aesthetics and animations
Add missing translations
Widgets
Bottom detector
...
17/07/17 [0.9.3]:
New!!! Notification of new version available!
New!!! Animations for opening launcher, changing grid.
New animations for launching apps.
Improving look and feel of settings.

Added pinch to resize, when editing the floating window size.

Website label can be edited.
Pausing SwiftOpen allows to grant permissions and install apps.
Added refresh button to list of apps.

Added analytics.

Multiple select of apps opens correct folder, now.

Small touch bug with fullscreen fixed.

Top most common crash bugs fixed!

Several bugs fixed.
15/05/17 [0.9.2]:
New!!! Files, folders, websites, volume, brightness, auto brightness, split windows, quick settings, system back, system recents, power dialog, contact, direct call, direct sms, direct email, navigate to address.
New!!! SwiftOpen controls.
Restructure of the cell\'s content activity.
Added optional background to folder icons, with editable color.
Added small icon to recent apps and calls.
Granting permissions and installing apps should be possible again.
Highlighted cell matches transparency.
Background color issue fixed.
Recent contacts fixed.
Cell names are displayed again on apps and shortcuts.
Apps multiselect fixed.
Launcher appearance bug fixes.
Bugs fixed.
17/01/17 [0.9.1.2]:
New!!! Each detector may have its own color.

New!!! Accessibility should allow to keep SwiftOpen alive!

Speed improvement.
It is possible to choose the backup folder (and have multiple backups).
Bug reports can be sent without user interaction.
Appdrawer is closed on navigation buttons or touch outside.

UI changes.
Cell color works, as well as tablet mode colors.

Bugs in automatic setup fixed.

Many other bugs fixed.
21/11/16 [v0.9.1]:
Improved fluidity
Action bar transparency issue fixed.
Fixed many bugs.
21/08/16 [v0.9.0]:
Attention! Most code of floating interface rewritten from scratch.
It should be more stable in the future but it may contain bugs. Please report them!
New!!! Multiple border detectors!
New!!! Multiple and customizable actions per border detector!
New!!! App drawer!
Bug fix: folder cells should not remain highlighted.
Language can be selected.
Launcher top bar background may be changed.
Option to show notification icon in statusbar.
Semitransparent border detector has same color than thin line, with alpha.
Aesthetic improvements
Fixed bug in "disable detector in landscape".
Fixed bug with "remove action bar".
Fixed a ton of other bugs.
01/02/16 [v0.8.3]:
Apps are opened in their previous state!
Added showcase of some features.
Checked apps (multiple selection) are not lost when searching.
Autosetup asks to add apps manually if necessary.
Some shortcuts like google translate work now.
A lot of bugs fixed.
25/10/15 [v0.8.2]:
The colors of the detector, highlighted cells, and non highlighted cells may be changed
The detector may be disabled in landscape.
Added on long click help
Issue: some translations are incomplete
Compatible with M permissions
App search searches all words and in word too. It also highlights the matching caracters
Settings are much more fluid
Better management when going to permissions settings
More material design
German translation
Improved: send email
Some preferences were not properly backed up
Fixed transparency issue
Minor bugs
10/09/15 [v0.8.1]:
The border detector will no longer cross the display
More material design and colours change
Added thanks section
Translation to Russian
Recent Call bug that made crash, fixed.
Old, occasional back button bug, fixed.
20/08/15 [v0.8]:
Recent apps and recent calls
Icon packs support
Guided setup
All-grid folders
Possibility to swap all cells from left to right
Shadows pre Lollipop
Chinese translations
Bugs fixed
15/04/15 [v0.7.3]:
Multiple selection of apps
Back up + restore of settings
Option to remove app labels.
Some material transitions
Fixed: Launch on boot setting not working.
Fixed: Drag distance going back to default.
Other bugs fixed
07/03/15 [v0.7.2]:
System toggles to switch: wifi, torch, autorotate, bluetooth and airplane (go to settings if android does not allow switching) and to go home (to the launcher).
Added a changelog in the app.
A trash to delete in "Apps & Shortcuts", when doing drag and drop.
Reduced ram usage.
Fixed: cells changed didn't look OK until relaunch of SwiftOpen.
Fixed: Changing the number of rows or columns now updates
Many other bugs fixed.
17/02/15 [v0.7.1]:
Drag and drop, when configuring grids.
Added dark theme.
More material design.
The animation for launching apps may be choosen.
Alt-tab on lollipop works much better now.
Fixed some bugs in tablet mode and border detector.
Fixed other bugs and known issues from 0.7.
07/02/15 [v0.7]:
Brand new shiny settings!!
Search in app list.
Option to remove action bar in tablet mode
Tablet Mode should work after reboot, now.
Fix a bug that made the app crash when an app in a folder was uninstalled.
Known issues:
Ok and Cancel FABs may be too close in some roms.
Tablet mode in Landscape may get a bit out of the screen.
08/12/14 [v0.6.3]:
Added "back folder"
Going back last app no longer stays highlighted.
App would crash in android API lower than 16.
Tablet mode now is active after reboot.
Tablet mode would activate without being active.
All apps' names are aligned now.
Fixed crashes when changing a cell or a grid.
Minor changes and fixes.
Settings to configure grids have been redesigned. A glimpse of what is coming
Reduced ram usage (and removed shadows before lollipop)
20/11/14 [v0.6.2]:
Fixed shadow for kitkat.
Improved eficiency (when drawing cells)
Some animations added.
17/11/14 [v0.6.1]:
Huge code changes for the future and for optimality.
Title marquee when it doesn't fit, and hidden when too small.
No notification icon in statusbar (will add setting to opt in or out).
Shadows and improved look (prior to android L it may not look very well, yet).
Other minor bug fixes.
07/11/14 [v0.6]:
Fixed when the launcher didn't start on boot (in v0.5).
Fixed bug when creating a new table and adding an app with the launcher running.
Fixed: the list of apps sometimes wouldn't load some apps.
Speed improved.
Tablet Mode (allows the launcher to be smaller than fullscreen!)
Multiple folder icons to choose.
Relaunch when killed by system should work better.
New package name + signature + code structure == you'll have to set the app up again. I'm really sorry about this.
26/10/14 [v0.5.2]:
Showing better text and icon position in big or small App-cells.
New icon.
Folder cellView and CellView "behind" of folder (after it is opened) now get Highlight.
20/10/14 [v0.5.1]:
Ready for Lollipop.
20/10/14 [v0.5]:
This version is not ready for Lollipop yet.
Icons were sometimes drawn in bad quality. Now they are ok.
Updating the launcher and detector when changes in settings are performed.
Notification leads to settings instead of closing the launcher.
Fixed: crash on tables with less than 4 cells.
Fixed: alt-tab would crash when recents was empty.
Notification icon is smaller.
The cell of the last opened app no longer stays highlighted.
Other minor bug fixes...
13/10/14 [v0.4]:
This version is not ready for android L yet.
Cells efficiency should be better, but will improve it further.
Back stack should be fixed.
Back from folder should be fixed except when in a folder inside of another folder.
Updating the launcher when changes in the table settings are performed (was harder than I expected!) (soon).
Choosing folder icons (soon).
26/9/14 [v0.3]:
UI improvements.
Minor bug fixes.
10/9/14 [v0.2]:
fixed: Sometimes apps didn't open (when closed through back button).
Other minor bug fixes.
Known bugs:
Direct calling on some samsung devices doesn't work.
A shortcut to soundhound may not work?

screen shoots please ?

wts1 said:
screen shoots please ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
uploaded!

Great job
I'll keep an eye to see how it evolves. By now it looks promising.

It would be great to include the ability to add widgets as well.

Yes, it's planned. I will add the features I have planned so that you know them. But that's after bug fixing, when the app is open source. So it'll take a while yet. At least a month.

Awesome! (some feedback)
I've been looking for something like this for so long. I simply love shortcuts. I've been trying it for a day now and here is my feedback (and some suggestions):
- Settings don't apply inmediately. You have to turn off and close the app and then restart it for them to work. (It would be awesome to see real-time changes (i don't know how difficult that is), for example, for the vertical position of the border detection).
- The alt+tab function is simply genius, i use it more times than i expected. Keep that up.
- Rows and columns could be editable for each table. For example, i got a "Contacts table" (where a folder in my main page redirects to) where i'd like 6 contacts but i want 4x3 icons in my "Main table". So that would be a cool feature too.
- The permanent icon: I don't know it's purpose. If it's only to close the app, maybe an in-app long press button or something will do better and be less invasive for the drawer?
That's all for now, i will edit, if you want, with more feedback on the next days. :good:

theJackalope said:
I've been looking for something like this for so long. I simply love shortcuts. I've been trying it for a day now and here is my feedback (and some suggestions):
- Settings don't apply inmediately. You have to turn off and close the app and then restart it for them to work. (It would be awesome to see real-time changes (i don't know how difficult that is), for example, for the vertical position of the border detection).
- The alt+tab function is simply genius, i use it more times than i expected. Keep that up.
- Rows and columns could be editable for each table. For example, i got a "Contacts table" (where a folder in my main page redirects to) where i'd like 6 contacts but i want 4x3 icons in my "Main table". So that would be a cool feature too.
- The permanent icon: I don't know it's purpose. If it's only to close the app, maybe an in-app long press button or something will do better and be less invasive for the drawer?
That's all for now, i will edit, if you want, with more feedback on the next days. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for your feedback. About settings, I know that and its in the bug list to be fixed.
Rows and columns editable for each table is also into consideration. Nevertheless I don't think it is intuitive because the cells would not be in the same position.
And if the permanent icon means the notification, it is because to ensure that the app is not killed by the system, it is required to have a permanent notification.
If you give me more feedback it will be highly appreciated

Here's some more
Here are two more things i noticed:
- The border detector sometimes gets graphically buggy and it shows a big rectangle where the thin line should be. I assume it's the detector losing its transparency. I have a Nexus 4 running cm11 M10 (maybe it's only my problem)
- And second, sometimes when you accidentally fast click the border, it opens youtube (in my case the top central shortcut) instead of the one that belongs to the very edge of my screen (which i have empty to prevent this cases in particular, though it seems not to work)
I leave a screenshot with my config also.

About the big rectangle in my phone it happens very very rarely. But I'll fix it as soon as I discover what causes it.
And about launching YouTube, I'll look into it. Nevertheless it shouldn't be necessary to leave that cell empty if you use the "distance to drag necessary..." preference. I know the name is not intuitive but it prevents the detector from opening the launcher when the drag is very short (taps).
Thanks!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

Nice work
Awesome app, I'd love to see it fully perfected!
Here's my feedback:
1. When the launcher is activated when in SwiftOpen Settings, the activity stack is all messed up, (especially if you go into creating a new table and opening the launcher while configuring it). While pressing back, the same activities come repeatedly and I have to press back a lot of times to exit the settings. Not a big issue, but a rough edge to be polished. I think it can be solved by providing a separate task stack for the launcher activity alone, by specifying a
Code:
android:taskAffinity
for the launcher activity in the manifest file.
2. Android limitation of launching an activity from a service only after at least 5 sec, is unfortunate. I was riddled with the same problem, however to overcome that, I replaced the activity and made the entire thing "draw over other apps". I am not sure whether it'll work properly in this case, but worth a try anyway.
I'll come back soon for the updates.
Edit: I guess point 2 is in place, since I don't see the delay anymore.

I noticed the stack issue and forgot to write it down, so haven't tried to fix it. I'll try as soon as possible. Thanks for the feedback!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

The "Distance of drag necessary..." works just perfectly fine!
I also noticed the stacking-back problem but i thought it was only me...
Keep up the awesome job!
Edit: Trying out the new v0.3 and noticed one thing, it's hard to explain so i'll try my best.
When you swipe away the apps from the "recent menu" (i dont know how to call it, it's the bottom right soft button on a Nexus4) and you leave it completely empty, using the Alt+tab function closes the app everytime.
It may be silly but that's a bug i think (although not very critical )

theJackalope said:
The "Distance of drag necessary..." works just perfectly fine!
I also noticed the stacking-back problem but i thought it was only me...
Keep up the awesome job!
Edit: Trying out the new v0.3 and noticed one thing, it's hard to explain so i'll try my best.
When you swipe away the apps from the "recent menu" (i dont know how to call it, it's the bottom right soft button on a Nexus4) and you leave it completely empty, using the Alt+tab function closes the app everytime.
It may be silly but that's a bug i think (although not very critical )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I hadn't noticed that. I'll try to fix it as soon as possible! It's not a typical scenario, though

Liking it very much so far. Looking forward to new updates!

Swift Open L cannot be installed if downloaded through tapatalk. The total size is 6bytes.
Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk

Just wanted to add that the name is already taken in the GOogle Play market => https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.epicunlock.rx24race&hl=en
Apart from that, awesome app but I really would like to see drag and drop re-arrangement options for setting up my tables its a bit of a pita to remove and re-add when setting thigns up :-/

ovizii said:
Just wanted to add that the name is already taken in the GOogle Play market => https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.epicunlock.rx24race&hl=en
Apart from that, awesome app but I really would like to see drag and drop re-arrangement options for setting up my tables its a bit of a pita to remove and re-add when setting thigns up :-/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for telling me about the name. When I looked for it it didn't appear (or I didn't see it). Nevertheless I'll put Swift open - Launcher or something like this, in the play store.
About drag and drop, it's in the long lost of to-dos but not a priority. First I have to fix some bugs. Thanks!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

Folder suggestion
Great App! Please consider allowing custom icon for each folder.

Ticwris Max SmartWatch

does anyone have any experience with the Ticwris Max Android SmartWatch? mine is freezing at least twice a day, and fails when trying to do firmware updates.

Mine failed too, how did you recover?

I own one and 6 months ago the screen went blank and staticky. I have been looking for someone to repair it and have emailed ticwris and kospet at least 4 times each but no one even bothers to answer. Any suggestions?

au.ant0ni said:
does anyone have any experience with the Ticwris Max Android SmartWatch? mine is freezing at least twice a day, and fails when trying to do firmware updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recently got the Ticwris Max S and so far it's been great. The connection to the phone drops every now and then though. I haven't done the firmware update yet. Mine says it's on V1.9_20201221_20201221-2014.
I'm looking to customize it to get Nova Launcher working and for it to hopefully work to get notification from my phone like my TicWatch Pro 3 GPS is a phone companion.

I just bought a DM101 Max S (unbranded) running on Android 7.1.1 and so far I havent found any custom ROM for it.
These watches go by the name LEMFO, LEM 4, LEM T, TICWRIS, DM98, DM99, DM100 MAX, DM101 MAX S, etc..
Does anyone know about these watches? Theyre high quality little smartphones basically. If only the ROM was customized a bit more for app font scaling and size of font on apps. It runs apps but the font is so small on some and so are nav buttons (on most apps).
The best thing is I installed Blockchain app on my watch and now I can access my bitcoin wallet on this thing! insane!!
I also installed Chime, Cashapp, Facebook Messenger and they all run fine, but some have such micro sized fonts as I said.
Maybe someone can develop a magnify app that expands areas for this watch.
So Im requesting anyone whos interested to start tweaking this cool watch! Ill be trying a few things like trying to root my DM101 Max S, creating a magnify tool for expanding app interfaces.
PLEASE SOMEONE HELP DEVELOP THE FIRST ROM EVER FOR THIS AWESOME WATCH!
IM GOING TO TRY TO COPY MY ROM FROM MY WATCH AND UPLOAD IT HERE. ITS ANDROID 7.1.1

GeoffM said:
Mine failed too, how did you recover?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know these watches can be flashed. Ive read that the ROM on it can go bad (largely due to premature ROM development). The trick is to not go overboard with apps. install only a few apps. the ROM isnt stable from the get go. There is a flash tool I saw somewhere with the ROM to reflash it. There is also a way to boot into recovery on the Max and Max S. Ill try to find it all and upload it here.

missionman said:
Does anyone know about these watches? Theyre high quality little smartphones basically. If only the ROM was customized a bit more for app font scaling and size of font on apps. It runs apps but the font is so small on some and so are nav buttons (on most apps).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here are 2 things that may help.
1. Go to settings, scroll to the bottom and click more, scroll down to third-party apps adapter and turn it off (this causes apps to "fit" the screen better by reducing the size to the elements in the app, you don't want this).
2. download and install an app called Hidden Settings on the play store. In the app hit the search bar and type accessibility, the setting you are looking for should be the 1st of three results. Within that setting scroll down to font size and set according to your liking. There may be some text that is small but this should help.
I've had my Ticwris Max for a few days now and the more I discover the more I'm enjoying this watch.

knowledge5106 said:
I recently got the Ticwris Max S and so far it's been great. The connection to the phone drops every now and then though. I haven't done the firmware update yet. Mine says it's on V1.9_20201221_20201221-2014.
I'm looking to customize it to get Nova Launcher working and for it to hopefully work to get notification from my phone like my TicWatch Pro 3 GPS is a phone companion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just got my Max S yesterday. I have it running through Nova Launcher (pro) and so far it's been a lot smoother compared to the default launcher. I'm also using a "sync notificator app" to forward my notifications from my main phone.
I'n my opinion the watch has a lot of potential. Just need to figure out a few minor issues.. like lack an always on display volume controls and/or Navigation overlays disappear (and the apps premission settings get reset to once the screen is locked.

ninpo said:
Here are 2 things that may help.
1. Go to settings, scroll to the bottom and click more, scroll down to third-party apps adapter and turn it off (this causes apps to "fit" the screen better by reducing the size to the elements in the app, you don't want this).
2. download and install an app called Hidden Settings on the play store. In the app hit the search bar and type accessibility, the setting you are looking for should be the 1st of three results. Within that setting scroll down to font size and set according to your liking. There may be some text that is small but this should help.
I've had my Ticwris Max for a few days now and the more I discover the more I'm enjoying this watch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you ninpo! I really appreciate this. Ill try it out. Im working on a dark mode next. If its not in hidden settings Im going to try to modify the firmware image and other various tweaks with Android SDK and other tools.
Theres not much more to be displeased about. This watch is awesome.

For those who need the info, here is the USB wiring diagram and useful photos for the DM100 Max and DM101 Max S for whatever reason you might need them for. I found it useful for buying DM98 and DM99 chargers which are way better than the box shaped charger the DM101 comes with. The thing is so loose and doesnt stay in place. Thats where mods or other chargers come in. HOWEVER, you must place the charger of the DM98 or DM99 in the PROPER ORIENTATION with respect to the contact diagram.
Reverse this and you can burn out your watch. Heres a diagram of DM98, 99 charger as well. They line up fine. Only thing that may/may not line up is the magnets but mods are up to you. Ill post about it as soon as I get my DM98 charger.

ninpo said:
Here are 2 things that may help.
1. Go to settings, scroll to the bottom and click more, scroll down to third-party apps adapter and turn it off (this causes apps to "fit" the screen better by reducing the size to the elements in the app, you don't want this).
2. download and install an app called Hidden Settings on the play store. In the app hit the search bar and type accessibility, the setting you are looking for should be the 1st of three results. Within that setting scroll down to font size and set according to your liking. There may be some text that is small but this should help.
I've had my Ticwris Max for a few days now and the more I discover the more I'm enjoying this watch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So i turned off 3rd party app adapter like you said.
Next, which app of hidden settings do i pick for this watch? There seems to be some bad ones. I cant tell which one to install..

missionman said:
So i turned off 3rd party app adapter like you said.
Next, which app of hidden settings do i pick for this watch? There seems to be some bad ones. I cant tell which one to install..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The one that I'm using is called "Hidden settings for Android" by developer, Common Tools.
I've seen " Settings Search" heavily recommended here but like you, I've found many with that name and wasn't sure which to use.

For those that are interested, I've uploaded a screen recording of my Ticwrist Max home screen setup on YouTube. Take a look if you're so inclined.
Ticwris Max home screen setup

ninpo said:
For those that are interested, I've uploaded a screen recording of my Ticwrist Max home screen setup on YouTube. Take a look if you're so inclined.
Ticwris Max home screen setup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I posted this on another forum but thought it might be a good fit here it describes my setup in greater detail.
Launcher:
The launcher that I'm using is called Lightning launcher. Lightning launcher is a highly customizable launcher that allows you to have an unlimited workspace. The launcher gives you complete control over all desk top items such as widgets, shortcuts, icons, and text. These items can be resized, rotated, placed on a grid, or placed freely within the desktop space. The launcher also allows for unlimited horizontal and vertical scrolling. Items placed on the desktop can have up to six assignable actions using gestures such as swipe left, right, up, down, tap, and long press. Assignable actions can include launching apps, shortcuts, and system actions. You can even have multiple desktop setups and easily switch between them. That is just a small sample of what this launcher is capable of. My current setup has a center page with an additional page to the left, right, top, and bottom of the center page.
Home page widgets:
I have two widgets on my home screen, BobclockD3, and Battery Reborn 2020. I've added seconds above the clock widget using lightning launchers dynamic texts feature. I have assigned gesture actions to the widgets in my setup.
Long pressing the clock widget opens the native clock app.
Tapping the battery reborn 2020 widget will give you comprehensive data and stats about your battery.
Long pressing the battery widget will launch an app called flashlight. This app simply turns your screen bright white which you can use to softly illuminate your surroundings in the dark. I like it because it does not kill your night vision but provides just enough illumination to see your immediate surroundings.
Swiping left on the battery widget opens a lightning launcher folder which slides down from the top right of the screen. This folder is a three-page vertical scrolling folder with each page holding three apps. The apps in the folder include Gmail, Google Voice, Google Duo, YouTube vanced, calculator, hi-q voice recorder, watch Droid assistant, Google translate, and wyze (home video surveillance monitoring app).
Swiping up on the battery widget opens the app drawer. The app that I am using for the app drawer is called JINA drawer. I like this drawer app because it is highly customizable and it gives you a great deal of information about your apps as well as the ability to manipulate the apps such as uninstalling, hiding, etc.
Top page:
The top page contains a lightning launcher panel that holds a calendar widget and an agenda widget. These widgets populate the entire screen and can be scrolled horizontally. The app that I use to get the widgets is called Digical, I am using the pro version.
Bottom page:
The bottom page contains a widget called weather & clock widget for Android.
Left page:
They left page contains a widget from an app called YMusic. This app is similar to YouTube music and allows for background play, audio and video downloads but is free. I like the widget because it fills the entire page with the album art of the song that I am listening to.
Right page:
The right page contains a widget from an app called accupedo. I prefer this app over the stock step counter because it gives you a lot more information in the app as well as within the widget. The widget is long but not very tall so I added static text from lightning launcher saying "Step Count" to help fill the screen out a bit.
Navigation:
For navigating the phone I use an app called fluid navigation. The way I have it configured, a short swipe from the bottom center is for home, a long swipe from the bottom center launches Google voice assistant. A short swipe from the bottom left would open a volume app called ultra volume this allows you to have many different volume panel setups, the one that I'm using is a horizontal bar that populates the entire bottom width of the screen. A long swipe from the bottom left would launch the native volume control panel. Swiping long or short from the bottom right would launch my app drawer. A short left swipe from the right bottom half will execute the back command, and a long swipe left will open the recents menu. A short swipe downwards from anywhere along the top will launch the bottom navigation bar app, and a long swipe will drop the navigation panel. I customized my navigation panel with an app called power shade, I have the paid version.
Apps:
I have quite a few apps loaded on the watch too many to mention here as this post is already very lengthy. Feel free to check out the video that I posted in this thread and you can pause while I'm scrolling through the app drawer to get an idea of some of the apps loaded on the watch. I have added a few more since the posting of that video, if there is enough interest I will compile a list of the apps and games that I have installed.
Conclusion:
I love this watch. I love that I can make it my own using the customization options that Android provides. The watch does have some quirks. I have to monitor it when charging because it tends to get pretty hot, sometimes. Also when running memory intensive apps the watch would heat up as well. There are times when the watch becomes unresponsive and I would need to do a soft reset, but thankfully that doesn't happen too often. The battery life is very impressive however, I cannot give an accurate estimate as to how long the battery would last during normal use because I am constantly tinkering with the watch. My main gripe is that although the watch is constantly connected to my home Wi-Fi or tethered to my phone, it would not always pick up notifications from apps that are connected to the web. I find myself periodically turning Wi-Fi off and then back on only to have a flood of notifications come through. Perhaps this is user error, or maybe it is a flaw in the watch software. Although these issues can be annoying it is by no mean a deal-breaker and has not tainted my enthusiasm or enjoyment of this watch. I hope this helps those who own this watch or similar watches to enjoy theirs as much as I enjoy mine. Feel free to engage me with questions or conversation as I really enjoy talking about this device.

ninpo said:
I posted this on another forum but thought it might be a good fit here it describes my setup in greater detail.
Launcher:
The launcher that I'm using is called Lightning launcher. Lightning launcher is a highly customizable launcher that allows you to have an unlimited workspace. The launcher gives you complete control over all desk top items such as widgets, shortcuts, icons, and text. These items can be resized, rotated, placed on a grid, or placed freely within the desktop space. The launcher also allows for unlimited horizontal and vertical scrolling. Items placed on the desktop can have up to six assignable actions using gestures such as swipe left, right, up, down, tap, and long press. Assignable actions can include launching apps, shortcuts, and system actions. You can even have multiple desktop setups and easily switch between them. That is just a small sample of what this launcher is capable of. My current setup has a center page with an additional page to the left, right, top, and bottom of the center page.
Home page widgets:
I have two widgets on my home screen, BobclockD3, and Battery Reborn 2020. I've added seconds above the clock widget using lightning launchers dynamic texts feature. I have assigned gesture actions to the widgets in my setup.
Long pressing the clock widget opens the native clock app.
Tapping the battery reborn 2020 widget will give you comprehensive data and stats about your battery.
Long pressing the battery widget will launch an app called flashlight. This app simply turns your screen bright white which you can use to softly illuminate your surroundings in the dark. I like it because it does not kill your night vision but provides just enough illumination to see your immediate surroundings.
Swiping left on the battery widget opens a lightning launcher folder which slides down from the top right of the screen. This folder is a three-page vertical scrolling folder with each page holding three apps. The apps in the folder include Gmail, Google Voice, Google Duo, YouTube vanced, calculator, hi-q voice recorder, watch Droid assistant, Google translate, and wyze (home video surveillance monitoring app).
Swiping up on the battery widget opens the app drawer. The app that I am using for the app drawer is called JINA drawer. I like this drawer app because it is highly customizable and it gives you a great deal of information about your apps as well as the ability to manipulate the apps such as uninstalling, hiding, etc.
Top page:
The top page contains a lightning launcher panel that holds a calendar widget and an agenda widget. These widgets populate the entire screen and can be scrolled horizontally. The app that I use to get the widgets is called Digical, I am using the pro version.
Bottom page:
The bottom page contains a widget called weather & clock widget for Android.
Left page:
They left page contains a widget from an app called YMusic. This app is similar to YouTube music and allows for background play, audio and video downloads but is free. I like the widget because it fills the entire page with the album art of the song that I am listening to.
Right page:
The right page contains a widget from an app called accupedo. I prefer this app over the stock step counter because it gives you a lot more information in the app as well as within the widget. The widget is long but not very tall so I added static text from lightning launcher saying "Step Count" to help fill the screen out a bit.
Navigation:
For navigating the phone I use an app called fluid navigation. The way I have it configured, a short swipe from the bottom center is for home, a long swipe from the bottom center launches Google voice assistant. A short swipe from the bottom left would open a volume app called ultra volume this allows you to have many different volume panel setups, the one that I'm using is a horizontal bar that populates the entire bottom width of the screen. A long swipe from the bottom left would launch the native volume control panel. Swiping long or short from the bottom right would launch my app drawer. A short left swipe from the right bottom half will execute the back command, and a long swipe left will open the recents menu. A short swipe downwards from anywhere along the top will launch the bottom navigation bar app, and a long swipe will drop the navigation panel. I customized my navigation panel with an app called power shade, I have the paid version.
Apps:
I have quite a few apps loaded on the watch too many to mention here as this post is already very lengthy. Feel free to check out the video that I posted in this thread and you can pause while I'm scrolling through the app drawer to get an idea of some of the apps loaded on the watch. I have added a few more since the posting of that video, if there is enough interest I will compile a list of the apps and games that I have installed.
Conclusion:
I love this watch. I love that I can make it my own using the customization options that Android provides. The watch does have some quirks. I have to monitor it when charging because it tends to get pretty hot, sometimes. Also when running memory intensive apps the watch would heat up as well. There are times when the watch becomes unresponsive and I would need to do a soft reset, but thankfully that doesn't happen too often. The battery life is very impressive however, I cannot give an accurate estimate as to how long the battery would last during normal use because I am constantly tinkering with the watch. My main gripe is that although the watch is constantly connected to my home Wi-Fi or tethered to my phone, it would not always pick up notifications from apps that are connected to the web. I find myself periodically turning Wi-Fi off and then back on only to have a flood of notifications come through. Perhaps this is user error, or maybe it is a flaw in the watch software. Although these issues can be annoying it is by no mean a deal-breaker and has not tainted my enthusiasm or enjoyment of this watch. I hope this helps those who own this watch or similar watches to enjoy theirs as much as I enjoy mine. Feel free to engage me with questions or conversation as I really enjoy talking about this device.
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Thank for all the info ninpo.
Could you help with some pre purchase questions?
Can you install WhatsApp and does it work well?
Same question regarding waze and spotify.
Is the device and the interface slow comparing to mobile phones?
Again, thanks a lot