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Best Home Screen Launcher

What is the best or most functional home screen launcher on the market for the Droid X? Not sure witch one to buy.
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I love launcher pro
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I woulnd't buy anything. I'd with one of the free ones like ADW or Launcher Pro.

Launcher Pro...
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I love Launcher Pro, which is free. But if you buy Launcher Pro Plus you get some AWESOME widgets, including the Facebook widget which is the best facebook app available IMHO. Also get messaging, twitter, calendar, and people widgets. They are some of the nicest widgets on the market and you get them all while supporting a great developer who is always improving his app.

+1 for LP. Use the free one first, then you will be UPgrading in no time.

picked up launcher pro not sure why many use adw. IMO LP works much better. gl with your choice.

Droid X 7 said:
What is the best or most functional home screen launcher on the market for the Droid X? Not sure witch one to buy.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
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I think it really depends on who you talk to. Some like ADW, others (like myself) love or prefer Launcher Pro (or Pro Plus, which is the paid version).
I like LP+ because of the very functional widgets that come with, along with the very nice widget resizer that works on ALL widgets. Both of these features come with the paid version of LP+. What really endeared me to LP+ over ADW was the memory settings. ADW when I tried it really ran my system down into stutter territory. LP+ in stock settings did this, but what it had over and above ADW was the ability to custom tweek its memory settings. I found a balance of settings in LP+ that really allowed it to run lightly on my system and aside from giving it time (say about 10 seconds or so) initially to build the caches on startup and after a long time out of the launcher, it really flies. That's b/c I have it set to load up all its relevant caches first and keep them unless heap memory is needed. That means valuable cpu clock time isn't spent building caches or spent refilling the cache for redrawing when I switch homescreens.
Also, the customizable dock and icons was a major selling point. I also like having the ability to have multiple docks (only running just one right now, but still, I can see future situations where it would be nice to have multiple docks) and have gestures enabled on top of the dock icons, giving each the possibility of an alternate function (doubling the amount of stuff one can launch from the dock.... including custom-programable activities).
I don't know about the responsiveness of the devs for ADW, so don't take this as any statement concerning them, but the developer for LP+ is quite active and listens to his users. His own forum is quite active and he's involved on there, as are his forum mods. Suggestions are listened to, and if viable and practical they are implemented, and we've seen this happen.
So, all in all, I really love LP+ and find it to really be a superior launcher program. The brief time I spent using ADW I felt it was neat but didn't really offer anything that made it shine above LP+, but it did have some flaws that while not deal-breakers collectively or in and of themselves, still essentially turned the balance of favor for me clearly over to LP+.

I prefer LauncherPro. Have used ADW briefly but always go back to LP. Even upgraded to the Plus version.

In the LauncherPro settings under General, I checked the Droid Hack and noticed some apps would hang when I would exit them. Unchecked this option and it improved performance, but there is still some lag sometimes.
Was wondering if anyone can post optimal settings here so we can try them out. I purchased the Pro lisence.
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+1 on LauncherPro Plus! Hard to beat, and the sense type widgets are awesome! I barely miss the sense ui on my incredible.

they are both fantastic. LP widgets (especially themed) and 3d drawer look awesome and another plus with the dock. ADW though i find to be nices scrolling through homescreens and the upswipe to bring up a new osx-like dock is appealing. That being said im running both with ADW as my hard button default home, 10 homescreens between the two of them, LP used for "large" widgets and ADW for shortcuts and smaller widgets. It switches launchers instantly thru dock shortcuts so i wont be getting rid of either one of them. Attempting to skin them 2 different colors isnt going so well tho...

How do you keep your phone from stuttering and lagging running two cpu-demanding launcher setups? With all those screens and the need for quick redraws, your heap memory has GOT to be ready to burst.

I was actually pretty surprised. Android does a pretty damn good job managing resources it seems. I do keep setcpu at 1k all the time unless the screen is off or im under 20%, which is never. That probably helped. I honestly didnt expect it to work this well though

add me up on the LP users...
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Launcher Pro....no contest. ADW launcher is ok but Cyanogen like to talk @#$%

Launcherpro ftw!!!! never use ADW it is pure crap compared to LP

I am surprised no one has mentioned Zeam. Pretty good. And there is a thread right here on XDA...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=664149
I like some of the settings (swipe up for app drawer, swipe down for taskbar, double tap for dialer etc).
I have LaincherPro+, but right now I am using Zeam.

I’ve been using launcher pro plus since I bought my DX at launch. It's been great and has lots of options to customize the hell out of the phone.

[Q] Decent honeycomb launcher replacement

Anyone found a decent honeycomb launcher (home screen) replacement? The default one seems to stutter a lot when swiping left and right. Launcher pro and ADW don't have these problems it seems, but they are designed for phones and so don't look good on a tablet. Especially missing the apps button at the top right.
Any suggestions?

Coming from the GTablet, I have used the VTL Launcher on my Transformer as well and it seems pretty well suited for tablet use. I have since switched back to the default launcher on the Transformer, but I still use it on my GTablet running CyanogenMod.
You can get VTL here: http://vegantab.gojimi.com/vt-labs/vtl-launcher/

Using adw for awhile and its much better then the stock. Dont know where u got that adw is only made for only phone. It looks great on my tf

I'm using ADW EX and you can hide the bar and do just about anything else that would make it less "phone like"
See the attached for my current setup.

rpavich said:
I'm using ADW EX and you can hide the bar and do just about anything else that would make it less "phone like"
See the attached for my current setup.
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Where did you get that battery widget from that shows the dock level aswel? Looks pretty sweet

tim_2812 said:
Where did you get that battery widget from that shows the dock level aswel? Looks pretty sweet
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http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1112391

Have tried ADW, LauncherPro and VTL.
VTL still feels a bit Beta
LauncherPro (which i use on my phone) just didnt seem quite right on my tablet
ADW is now my launcher of choice ... very smooth and very customisable.
Well..... until the SPB Tablet UI is release ... look at the youtube clips

If you use ADW EX there is a thread somewhere that tells how to tweak the settings for best performance....I can't find it.
But...basically this is what i did.
Hide dock bar.
Up the columns and rows to 10 x 9.
change the icon size to 75%
choose "background color" for the icons.
Choose "curve" for the transition effect.
Set "bounce" to 15
Set "transition speed" to 450.
it works great.

I've tried LauncherPro, which I use on my phone and have to agree with wilbur.
I've also choosen ADW EX, but would much prefer SPB Tablet UI too

I'll probably give the SPB Tablet UI a try but I hope it's not as much of a battery hog as the one for the phone.
My review of the launcher for the phone....
It was amazing...just like the tablet UI vid...but it was no faster than having icons (even less so) and it ran down my battery MUCH quicker than I was willing to allow. My battery consumption went from 8 hours to 4 hours before charging...unacceptable to me.
I refunded it for those reasons.
To be sure, it was eye candy...the best I've seen, but the battery consumption was not what I wanted.

PS: too bad that the SPB Tablet UI isn't for us; only for OEMS.
Here's a quote from one of the articles:
As before – and to the frustration of many interested users – SPB doesn’t plan to offer end-users either UI, only OEMs. They’ll be able to customize the layout and the widgets, adding in their own content and carrier-specific tweaks to differentiate the interface as they see fit.

What about this then? (one of the first links, posted yesterday)
Don't know if this is the correct version, can't test it since my tf is currently @ RMA.
(BTW, your tf needs to be rooted)

Tutti-frutti said:
What about this then? (one of the first links, posted yesterday)
Don't know if this is the correct version, can't test it since my tf is currently @ RMA.
(BTW, your tf needs to be rooted)
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Yes...that's the version that I tried (possibly an earlier one) but nonetheless... that's the app that I tried. (maybe it wasn't available to the general public at first)
I did pay the 15.00 for it...if it was somewhat gentle on the battery, then I'd say it's worth it if they sell it.
Maybe the Tablet UI will be available to the general public then...

ADW EX and get rid of the dock and expand the desktop.
If you want an app draw button, design your own to match your device.

How did you guys get the settings to work on ADW EX? Or did the 3.2 update break it?

U can try the normal spb 3d shell, it does have a beta tab option.
I liked ur, but for some reason it drained my battery.
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ryukent said:
Launcher pro and ADW don't have these problems it seems, but they are designed for phones and so don't look good on a tablet.
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XT720 Lag when returning to home screen

Is there anything you can do to reduce the lag in getting back to the home screen after closing an application? I've recently upgraded to the CBW 2.2. I've also just loaded adw launcher. It takes 8-10 seconds for the home screen to be functional.
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punchback said:
Is there anything you can do to reduce the lag in getting back to the home screen after closing an application? I've recently upgraded to the CBW 2.2. I've also just loaded adw launcher. It takes 8-10 seconds for the home screen to be functional.
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Wow! 8 seconds is steep. All dexter based froyo's have a few problems. Although I dont use it anymore I remember what id do to tweak the whole ROM.
1) Use launcher pro, its lighter and faster than ADW. I also like its effects. Theres a setting in it called keep in memory which stops the launcher from being killed by android so there are less redraws of your app drawer.
2) CB froyo and dexters have memory management problems and slowly with use the memory goes down significantly. Download an app called Autokiller memory optimizer from the market and set it at the strict preset. It basically modifies androids native memory management and allow more memory to be free.
3) Use milestone overclock and set it to 850 mhz 56 Vsel.
Step 2 and 3 are assuming you are rooted at the moment. These worked for me really well when I used the ROM and I had no problems at all.

I uninstalled adw and things seemed snapper. I also installed the suggested memory manager. I had already been playing around with the milestone overclocker and its set to 850/56. When I run setcpu should it say 850? I have it set to 850max 250min.
Even set this way the lag remains when returning to the home screen.
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punchback said:
I uninstalled adw and things seemed snapper. I also installed the suggested memory manager. I had already been playing around with the milestone overclocker and its set to 850/56. When I run setcpu should it say 850? I have it set to 850max 250min.
Even set this way the lag remains when returning to the home screen.
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Well thats odd, with similar settings id have a very decent experience. One thing though, do you use many widgets on your homescreen? And does this lag occur when you press the home button from within an app or when you close the app. One thing you could try is setting up a swap partion on your sd card. That always speeds everything up. If you dont know how I can direct you to where you can learn how to do that. Also how did you upgrade to 2.2 CB?

hi try the go luncher i think its the best launcher.
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It's slow whether I'm switching to home using the home button or escaping there.
If I've set milestone overclock to 850 mhz and vsel to 56 should setcpu show 850? It shows 720.
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I'm not going to load any launchers until it's running like it should.
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Try installing Autokiller Memory Optimizer from the market and selecting the Optimum memory profile. That used to work for me when I was running that ROM.

I've found lots of launchers to have lots of lag returning to homescreen on both androids I have had and it's a common issue with android launchers. The only launcher I have that doesn't redraw homescreen every time is SPB shell (but it still has to re-load every now and then). You can try using a launcher like Zeam, launcherpro, or golauncher, nemus launcher as those ones didn't redraw as often as others for me. And if the option is available in a launcher (it is in ADW, launcherpro and Go) select "Keep in Memory" and it might help somewhat.

My XT720 has always lagged when returning to the home screen. I only recently loaded a launcher after hearing reverendkjr talk about liking adw. I only kept adw loaded for a day. Its not installed anymore.
I thought upgrading to 2.2 would end the lag but it wasn't to be.
I've loaded autokiller and set it to strict. I still have times when it takes 8 seconds or so for the home screen to be functional. I do have a 4x2 clock / weather widget on the home screen. I've tried with and without that widget and still have bouts of lag. Maybe I'm expecting much.
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punchback said:
My XT720 has always lagged when returning to the home screen. I only recently loaded a launcher after hearing reverendkjr talk about liking adw. I only kept adw loaded for a day. Its not installed anymore.
I thought upgrading to 2.2 would end the lag but it wasn't to be.
I've loaded autokiller and set it to strict. I still have times when it takes 8 seconds or so for the home screen to be functional. I do have a 4x2 clock / weather widget on the home screen. I've tried with and without that widget and still have bouts of lag. Maybe I'm expecting much.
Sent from my XT720 using XDA App
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Yeah, seems a problem with pretty much all launchers. Stock MIUI launcher and SPB Shell have been the only exceptions for me really. Even Zeam has done its reloading often.

punchback said:
My XT720 has always lagged when returning to the home screen. I only recently loaded a launcher after hearing reverendkjr talk about liking adw. I only kept adw loaded for a day. Its not installed anymore.
I thought upgrading to 2.2 would end the lag but it wasn't to be.
I've loaded autokiller and set it to strict. I still have times when it takes 8 seconds or so for the home screen to be functional. I do have a 4x2 clock / weather widget on the home screen. I've tried with and without that widget and still have bouts of lag. Maybe I'm expecting much.
Sent from my XT720 using XDA App
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Dude, this almost sounds like a hardware issue or something. How's the rest of the phone? Like when you open apps or browse web pages. Honestly i've used every froyo build and ive never had it that bad. Sluggish for me would be a second or two nothing more than that. Like in my previous comment if you're upto it you could try setting up a swap partition as a final test. After that maybe you need to reflash an sbf and go through the upgrade process from scratch. That always fixes things.

sohrab.naushad said:
Sluggish for me would be a second or two nothing more than that.
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Yeah, when I had reloads it was generally not that long. If I had a lot of widgets out it might take longer to load up but I don't recall it really being 8 seconds or so...

Hey hows spb on miui? I can't seem to find it on market. How do I get it? Is it smooth like go or launcherpro
syrenz said:
Yeah, seems a problem with pretty much all launchers. Stock MIUI launcher and SPB Shell have been the only exceptions for me really. Even Zeam has done its reloading often.
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sohrab.naushad said:
Dude, this almost sounds like a hardware issue or something. How's the rest of the phone?
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I do have some weirdness when the battery goes dead. The phone has problems seeing the sdcard after I charge. That happens occasionally but other than that no major problems.
Sent from my XT720 using XDA App

spectacle said:
Hey hows spb on miui? I can't seem to find it on market. How do I get it? Is it smooth like go or launcherpro
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SPB is buttery smooth. Amazing launcher - check out reviews for it online (there are a bunch). However, currently it only runs well for me on either MIUI or 2.1 (on Dexter or WanHu ROMs it has issues). And while it doesn't reload every time like other launchers, it does have to load itself up once in a while when things run out of memory (it's pretty memory intensive I think). They really need to provide it with an update already though (more widgets + features + performance improvements should come sometime, but I don't know when...).
For some reason SPB won't show up in the market on MIUI (there were a bunch of missing apps for me). I emailed SPB support about it and they gave me a copy of one from their website to install as an apk and it worked perfectly. I did already own SPB from android market. You can go to their site and buy the apk directly if you want. It is more expensive than most apps, so you may want to wait until they do that long expected update before diving in. Still, it's a fantastic launcher.

Launcher Pro Lag

Running Sensation XE...
Does anyone have lag when switching between the home screens?
I have 5 screens all pretty much full with desktop visualizer widgets.
I realise this might be alot for the phone to handle, and the problem is not THAT bad, but it is something I would like to know more about solving.
First of all can anyone tell me if Launcher Pro is an 'Overlay' to Sense, then presumably sense is still running in the background?
So would deleting all the widgets I used to have when running sense help? (from the screens) or clearing sense data through settings-applications.

kevinsmbuk said:
Running Sensation XE...
Does anyone have lag when switching between the home screens?
I have 5 screens all pretty much full with desktop visualizer widgets.
I realise this might be alot for the phone to handle, and the problem is not THAT bad, but it is something I would like to know more about solving.
First of all can anyone tell me if Launcher Pro is an 'Overlay' to Sense, then presumably sense is still running in the background?
So would deleting all the widgets I used to have when running sense help? (from the screens) or clearing sense data through settings-applications.
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If you have launcher pro set as the default launcher the sense launcher should not still be running, things from sense however may still be running, like weather. I noticed lag with lp, adw seemed to be better. I actually prefer sense, though I'm in the minority for that. I would personally remove all widgets and icons from sense launcher to be on the safe side if you're not planning on using it.

Many Sense things remain running in the background even if you don't use it, including the Launcher and Rosie, even if you don't use them at all. Sense is part of the ROM, so really invasive.
If you're using Launcher Pro, and never Sense, you should flash a Non-Sense script to completly remove Sense (or freeze it with Titanium backup)
That's what I do=> No Sense script from Mike1986, Android Revolution HD thread, post 2. It's supposed to work with every ROM
It will already be really faster.
Then go into Launcher pro options, advanced options, memory usage:
most of the time, by default, memory usage is set to light or medium. With the Sensation, and all the free RAM we have, you should set it to high or maximum memory usage.
Once it done, using Launcher pro with 5 pages full of widgets (like mine) will be as smooth or smoother that Sense.
NOTE: Sense is optimized to handle correctly or both cores, Launcher Pro may take time to wake the second core. But if you force CPU1 online, it will fly!
(no no, it won 't kill your battery, you'll just always consume 192mhz more, but your device will suddenly be so smoother that you will reduce your max CPU clock, so in the whole, battery drain is the same for better overall performances)

I'm surprised no one else suggested you use a different launcher that's being attended to. The developer of Launcher Pro updated it quite often up until he released the Plus(paid) version, now he doesn't update at all. I know of the lag issue you're having, as I've had it myself. It's basically old code trying to run along side new code. I promise you if you choose a different launcher you won't run into this problem. I too loved Launcher Pro, but even the most beloved apps need a little maintenance once in awhile.

this is the first time ive heard tht launcherpro is lagging. it never lags on me. ive been using it since the original g1! no lag

g1user101 said:
this is the first time ive heard tht launcherpro is lagging. it never lags on me. ive been using it since the original g1! no lag
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+1
I had the pro version on my three last android mobiles also. Never had a lag. I have all set to full speed in settings and it flies.
Never had a problem.

+1
even on the stock rom, the day I had my Sensation, Launcher Pro was smoother than Sense, once well configured.
Now with custom ROMS and kernels, both are smooth

[Q] Which homescreen uses least memory?

I have already purchased ADW Launcher EX, but I'm wondering if it's the 'lightest' launcher. By light, I mean in terms of resource-hogging.
I'm trying out Launcher Pro right now, but I also know that I can use 360 Launcher/Go Launcher/etc. Does anyone know which one uses the least resources?

I have use them all, ADW by far is the lightest. I use Go Launcher, because it is the most stable and they have the most options, tweaks, and constant updates. I would suggest that you install a custom ROM, try Valhalla Black. After a better ROM doesn't matter what launcher you use they will all work smoother and you won't notice any lag or resource constraints.

I actually have Valhalla flashed and used ADW. I guess my problem is that I use too many widgets and unnecessary third-party apps. Thanks for the suggestion.

ADW Is the lightest for me. I purchased ADW EX to support the devs and for the extra features
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With all the settings I have enabled, Launcher Pro uses 19 megs of RAM for me.

im using go launcher ex on my rooted sgs4g and this launcher is the least memory hog to me only uses 9megs of memory and the dev is super responsive and updates alot imo the best launcher out there for customization and 0 lag try it out it wont dissapoint