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Im noticing that theres alot of launchers like ADW, LaunchPro, Open Home, etc...I would like to get some input of people who has some experience with each one. Which one has the most options? im looking for more transparent kinda stuff...so maybe which one has the ability to make specific windows transparent. Also ease of use, which one has more themes/icons avialable?
Thanks
I think you will find most people use either launcher pro or adw launcher.
From my experience i had MAJOR force crash issues with OpenHome. I wasnt a fan of pandaHome it was sluggish for me.
Between ADW and Launcher Pro, I think they have very similar features if you arent paying for launcher pro plus for the sense like widgets.
ADW has more themes on the market however you can download any icon you find on the web (usually .png files) i believe for both so you can customize your "theme" and layout very easily to what ever you want.
I personally have the paid version of launcher pro (only available ont he website) because it gives you a sense like people and book mark widget and i wanted to support the developer.
I dont think you can go wrong with either one.
personally, I'm a big fan of adw launcher. I like that I can modify how many rows and columns the home screens have, and also I can set the size of widgets on the screen. I don't know if launcherpro will do that as well, but even besides that, ADW is hugely customizeable, and I swear by it.
I tried Launcher Pro, but it wasn't (imo) a very good Launcher replacement. ADW.Launcher is much better, and with the Paper theme it is my favorite out of all. PHome was very slow, and I didnt really like it in general.
Sent from my Droid using XDA App
I use ADW because of how its integrated into Cyanogen.
However Launcher Pro seems to move quite a bit faster in terms of scrolling and app drawer opening/scrolling.
Just my $.02
~Jasecloud4
I think the two top ones are ADW Launcher and LauncherPro.
I find myself switching between the two.
Personally find myself favoring ADW Launcher recently because it is open-source, and you know how Android fanboys loooove open source.
Thanks for all the great replies guys, im currently using the built in adw that comes with CM6 it is highly customizable...but i did find launcher pro to have a lot more options tho...anyways im going to stick with adw for now its working out pretty good so far.
omegasun18 said:
I think you will find most people use either launcher pro or adw launcher.
From my experience i had MAJOR force crash issues with OpenHome. I wasnt a fan of pandaHome it was sluggish for me.
Between ADW and Launcher Pro, I think they have very similar features if you arent paying for launcher pro plus for the sense like widgets.
ADW has more themes on the market however you can download any icon you find on the web (usually .png files) i believe for both so you can customize your "theme" and layout very easily to what ever you want.
I personally have the paid version of launcher pro (only available ont he website) because it gives you a sense like people and book mark widget and i wanted to support the developer.
I dont think you can go wrong with either one.
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How do I get the bookmark widget? I only see "people" in my launcher pro plus.
I had to update and they changed the process. Bookmark widget seems a little flakey with images.
If I could have the dockbar from adw put onto LauncherPro I'd have my dream launcher.
Yea seems most (like with roms) will swear by one launcher or another. IE the person saying launcher pro wasnt a good launcher replacement. I have use both and cant see how someone using ADW could say launcher pro wasnt a good launcher replacement since they are so similar in features and performance over all (in there current state, it is possible the person tested it a while back and maybe it had issues or something then).
I get slightly faster speeds on launcher pro as well. You can set the number of vertical icons on launcher pro same as you can on ADW for horizontal icons you can get more icons app to let you have 8 on any.
As for making the dock bar the same on ADW and launcher pro i may play with my launcher pro and see how similar i can get it. sice you can set each action and create different dock images/icons and can clear icons i can probably get it to be very similar at least in look i will let you know and if i can i will place a tut.
I use both since I play around with CM6 as my experimental rom. I just never worry about customizing deeply my non daily drivers.
LauncherPro Plus, for the win!
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Sent from my HTC EVO 4G using Tapatalk Pro.
Maybe I am the minority here, but i think Sense blows Launcher pro and ADW out of the water, both in smoothness and just plain usefulness. I have used both LP and ADW for extended amounts of time and have always returned to sense and was glad I did.
Launcher pro for its sheer beauty and fluidity. ADW just seems to stutter around like the waterboy.
I gotta say Launcher Pro. especially now that it is coming out with some very nice looking widgets for people who liked the Sense UI stuff.
I do really like the customizations of ADW though. I wish Launcher Pro would incorporate the widget size customizations you can do. That would rock.
if ADW had the 3D drawer and was as smooth and pretty as LauncherPro I may switch.
takmsdsm said:
Maybe I am the minority here, but i think Sense blows Launcher pro and ADW out of the water, both in smoothness and just plain usefulness. I have used both LP and ADW for extended amounts of time and have always returned to sense and was glad I did.
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And what makes Rosie so superior? Its complete lack of customization and features?
TheBiles said:
And what makes Rosie so superior? Its complete lack of customization and features?
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I wouldnt say that it cant be customized? There are a ton of themes out there for Rosie. What features are you exactly looking for?
Sorry, but a herky jerky "3D" app launcher isnt exactly mind blowing. Its a waste of screen real estate on the top and bottom. Launcher Pro STILL (as of last week I believe when i tried it again) will not allow you to change the message button to handcent instead of the default messaging app.
Its little things like that that are more annoyances. Sense, no matter what rom, or kernel, I am using, has always been smoother and done everything I asked. Plus some of the HTC widgets are downright useful and better looking then their vanilla counterparts.
This is all my experiences of course, and YMMV, but so far I just havent been impressed by other launchers.
takmsdsm said:
Launcher Pro STILL (as of last week I believe when i tried it again) will not allow you to change the message button to handcent instead of the default messaging app.
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I'm using LauncherPro Plus v0.7.1.0 and it does allow you to change the message button to handcent. It also allows me to change it on the people widget.
Am I the only one that just likes plain old Launcher 2? I mean Android is so customizable already, I don't see why you would want so many different options.
I tried Launcher Pro and ADW and of the two I liked Launcher Pro better but the plain Google-made Launcher 2 is still the smoothest in my opinion.
takmsdsm said:
I wouldnt say that it cant be customized? There are a ton of themes out there for Rosie. What features are you exactly looking for?
Sorry, but a herky jerky "3D" app launcher isnt exactly mind blowing. Its a waste of screen real estate on the top and bottom. Launcher Pro STILL (as of last week I believe when i tried it again) will not allow you to change the message button to handcent instead of the default messaging app.
Its little things like that that are more annoyances. Sense, no matter what rom, or kernel, I am using, has always been smoother and done everything I asked. Plus some of the HTC widgets are downright useful and better looking then their vanilla counterparts.
This is all my experiences of course, and YMMV, but so far I just havent been impressed by other launchers.
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The "message button?" Do you mean the dock icon? If so, mine has been set as Handcent for quite some time.
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takmsdsm said:
Maybe I am the minority here, but i think Sense blows Launcher pro and ADW out of the water, both in smoothness and just plain usefulness. I have used both LP and ADW for extended amounts of time and have always returned to sense and was glad I did.
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Total agree, Sense is just so much smoother and doesn't crashes/freezes like adw and launcher pro. Plus I've use both for a while and got really frustrated with the constant freezing and force close and alway end up switching back to sense. Until stock froyo comes out on my phone I'm sticking with sense.
I am currently running Launcher Pro Plus on my Aria and love it, but since I have tech ADD, I can't leave well enough alone. In comes ADW Launcher EX, I have tried ADW in the past and preferred LP over it. But with the new EX version, ADW looks tasty. The main reason I stick with LPP is the widgets, does the new ADW EX include widgets or is it just a bunch of fancy effects?
What are your thoughts? Are there any real reasons to migrate to ADW? Has any one else migrated? How do they stack up in your opinion? Just trying to see what others think.
No widgets added in EX, just fancy effects.
Also, keep in mind you'll need ADW Notify just to get notifications of missed calls, texts, emails, etc. While you get that included with LP.
The app draw is another thing that bugs me on EX, the launcher doesn't minimize when in there. It sort of obstructs your view while scrolling in 3d mode.
I wanted to keep EX as my primary but the lack of widgets, the fact that ADW Notify doesn't work with Chomp SMS and the bad implementation of the app draw make me stick with LP.
The effects in EX are very cool, but there's still room for many improvements.
No Widgets...just fancy effects. But they are nice...
I also have more than a bit of ADD (tech and otherwise). I actually purchased both and am also trying to decide which use.
I was kind of tempted to try out ADW EX, but I remembered that Fede is currently in the process of rewriting and updating LP. I have a lot of faith in Fede's abilities and expect new version to be awesome. Besides I love my widgets and popups in LPP.
I, too, have bought both. I only started using Android a few months ago, and I used ADW from the start. After a while I migrated to LPP and I absolutely love it! The widgets make the purchase more than worth it. But of course, with ADW EX being released, I took the plunge. Now I have both and find myself constantly switching back and forth. The effects in EX are just sweet, but the functionality/widgets and speed of LPP keep bringing me back.
What would be really awesome is if we could somehow use LPP's widgets as standalone widgets to use on any launcher. Only then, would I make ADW EX my primary launcher.
syrenz said:
I was kind of tempted to try out ADW EX, but I remembered that Fede is currently in the process of rewriting and updating LP. I have a lot of faith in Fede's abilities and expect new version to be awesome. Besides I love my widgets and popups in LPP.
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I too have faith in Fede...I don't know how far he has gotten with the next LP release but he should definitely include some more effects or something fun in the next release. LP is really nice but I would like it to be more "fun" like ADW. I always liked the fact that ADW can use themes. If EX was free, I would try it out just to see the effects but oh well.
Is it just me or is Launcher Pro much smoother than the regular ADW Launcher when swiping from screen to screen? I'm running it on a Nexus One.
I preferred ADW before and LOVE EX. It may just be a taste thing. I know EX is lightyears faster than the original ADW was, the graphics are incredible, and I find I can make it look the way I want.
Zoide_ said:
Is it just me or is Launcher Pro much smoother than the regular ADW Launcher when swiping from screen to screen? I'm running it on a Nexus One.
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Yep. LPP is leaps and bounds above ADW, and then wait for the re-write. It's gonna be epic, scratch that. It's gonna be EVO! Only because I have one...
-Z
I prefer LPP over ADW EX because ADW EX only has fancy effects and not as much functionality as LPP. I think ADW EX is very cool with the new home screen transitions that it brings, but LPP is currently being rewritten, Fede has promised alot of cool new features and I think when the rewrite is complete it will be leaps and bounds over any other launcher. So I know I won't be switching my launcher from LPP.
I love LPP and EX, paid for both, but am currently using Ex for my daily, I previously tried ADW and HATED it, but EX is so much smoother, and even though I paid for LPP, I pretty much never used any of the widgets, as I didn't like how the Calendar widget worked (you cant longpress on a date and automatically set up an event) so I just have beautiful widgets linked to my calendar, clock, and weather, it's way easier to just press on the date to automatically open the full calendar app.
Once the new Launcher Pro comes out i'll most liekly switch back, but right now i'm an ADW guy!
PS like a few others on here, I have Tech ADD...BAD, and I'm always flashing new roms and mods, so FOR NOW, this is my opinion, could change tomorrow
I prefer LPP because it's much faster and smoother than ADW. Can't wait for the new rewrite of LPP to be released.
i have both adw ex and launcher pro plus and i cant even decide which to use as default but now launcher pro is looking smoother than ever with its updates
I definitely prefer LPP. It's just much smoother and quicker.
I don't use many of the widgets for LPP, though, because most of mine are third-party.
I like lpp for its smoothness and widgets, but adw ex has some awesome effects.... its really a toss up for me ... i just switch back n forth every few days lol
I triel lp and didn't care for it. I just recently switched to Adw.ex from adw. It's great! I don't use many of the fancy flashy flash but it runs much faster and those little thing about adw that annoyed me (no overlapping widgets, weird icon tinting...) are gone. I do love the ability to have folder icons be individual (vs all folders = 1 theme). I want something that runs smooth, and adw.ex doesn't disappoint!
I haven't used the lpp but I have seen the widgets and they're nice... there are apps out there that do the same thing though....
Epic is as Epic does
EX is so much smoother than normal ADW. Its very good. Try it and you'll see.
Launcher Pro has fancy homescreen transition effects now too. I highly prefer it.
Launcher Pro also has the option to hide Apps in drawer. thats one of the reasons I'm sticking with it.
ADW Laucher EX - functional
Launcher Pro Plus - smooth scrolling
I chose ADW Laucher EX
Is there a launcher that has "home tabs" sliding the same way as sense ui. Dell's stage ui is attempting to do this but the widgets are crap and the launcher can't be customized sike adw or lp.
Thanks,
I think Launcher Pro is one of the best launchers. I think is fast and responds pretty well in optimus 3D. For me, responds faster and very smooth in general, maybe even more than go launcher and almost at the same pace as ADW. I think its memory customization options are the best of this launcher. The only problem is the lack of updates since may 2011. What's your opinion of this launcher ?
sorry，i am not clear。waiting
adw， launcher pro and chinese go launcher ex also good
i think LauncherPro is perfect as it is. Why update it? What would you want to be added anyway?
I am sure as soon as something breaks with any OS release, the dev will be updating it.
The only downside with Launcherpro is the lack of the ability to change app drawer orientation.
So I am not rooted. Sadly. I personally hate touchwiz and would like to try a launcher. I'm currently using nova but am open to all suggestions.
Thanks!
Samsung galaxy s3
Nexus 7
Hp touchpad
Nova Launcher
Apex.
VZW GALAXY S 3 4G LTE
DROID3R said:
Apex.
VZW GALAXY S 3 4G LTE
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Nova or Apex they are really similar. or you could get TSF Shell
I am old school ... ADW
With all this talk of Nova and Apex I keep thinking I should give them a try. Is anyone familiar with ADW, Nova, & Apex that could tell me the main differences?
Apex or if you don't care about battery life, Nova.
I'm going to have to vote for TouchWiz. I actually purchased both Apex and Nova and found them to be lacking the fluidity that TW has. I feel like there's too much "circle-jerking" around the TW launcher and that most people would actually be satisfied if they just gave it a shot.
But hey, if you really don't like it and want to retain the Android 4.0 look, I'd go with Apex. Otherwise I would recommend GO Launcher EX. It's clean, simple, and feature-packed.
the first launcher i tried was apex, and i havent found a reason to try another.
After using ADW, Apex, Nova and others I personally recommend TSF Shell. It is a launcher unlike any other "android" experience. It gives you full control of your workspace, apps, and gestures. It will set you back some 16 dollars but I have never been more satisfied with a launcher.
Differences:
Apex and Nova are ICS based launchers both fluid, good, customizable and rock solid. They both offer smooth Android 4.0+ Transitions and even branch on Jellybean animations as well. They both offer unread notification support.
ADW and GoLauncher are launchers based around homescreen customization and easability. Performance is typically good for older devices.
TSF: A 3D UI Launcher with dazzling effects and functionality as well as maintaining all the features of the ICS launchers. Unread icons, a simple navigation UI and a slide-able dock. This launcher is the epitimy of what all launchers should offer as far as functionality and usability.
srath16 said:
After using ADW, Apex, Nova and others I personally recommend TSF Shell. It is a launcher unlike any other "android" experience. It gives you full control of your workspace, apps, and gestures. It will set you back some 16 dollars but I have never been more satisfied with a launcher.
Differences:
Apex and Nova are ICS based launchers both fluid, good, customizable and rock solid. They both offer smooth Android 4.0+ Transitions and even branch on Jellybean animations as well. They both offer unread notification support.
ADW and GoLauncher are launchers based around homescreen customization and easability. Performance is typically good for older devices.
TSF: A 3D UI Launcher with dazzling effects and functionality as well as maintaining all the features of the ICS launchers. Unread icons, a simple navigation UI and a slide-able dock. This launcher is the epitimy of what all launchers should offer as far as functionality and usability.
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Click to collapse
I personally don't like tsf shell. It makes it like a whole new os made for kids. Plus I just like to tweak a few things while keeping stock android.
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Apex is nice..I like all the customization options it gives you
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
I keep going back to GO Launcher EX
Nova
I need folder in app drawer
Does anyone have a way to get a trial version of TSF Shell??
It looks potentially awesome, but 16.80 is quite a bit to fork over for a launcher that i can't even TRY out before buying...
Seirÿu said:
Does anyone have a way to get a trial version of TSF Shell??
It looks potentially awesome, but 16.80 is quite a bit to fork over for a launcher that i can't even TRY out before buying...
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My thoughts exactly!
I have tried the other launchers and have an issue with my wallpaper not scrolling when I switched home screens. My wallpaper is there on my home page, but when I moved side to side, it just goes black. Is there anything in the settings on the various launchers that fixes this?
I LOVE the touchwiz launcher, its fast, light, and stable. I really like Holo Launcher HD, for the same reasons. Don't like GO EX, yes, it has the most features, but has too many "ads" and is bulky and slow.
I've been digging the CM10 trebuchet launcher.
danstar said:
I have tried the other launchers and have an issue with my wallpaper not scrolling when I switched home screens. My wallpaper is there on my home page, but when I moved side to side, it just goes black. Is there anything in the settings on the various launchers that fixes this?
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If you have scrolling wallpaper on and a 720x1280 wallpaper thats why
what's this with someone saying Nova drains your battery?