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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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Sent from my HTC EVO 4G using Tapatalk Pro.
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.
ADW.Launcher. Open source home replacement app. Features: Customizable desktop previews, Customizable application drawer (old one or iphone/galaxy one), Customizable drag drop action buttons, Unveil the Dockbar flicking-up the app-drawer button and drop another 6 shortcuts/folders/apps! Check the site for more information or meet me on xda! (For Android version 2.0 and higher)
Laucher pro Features:
LauncherPro Android App in a home screen replacement app that is a fork from the stock launcher from Android 2.1 (Eclair). By default you have 3 home screens which is configurable to up to 7 in the Settings menu. Along the lower section are convenient icons with quick links to Phone, Contacts, Android Apps Launcher Drawer, Messaging, and Browser apps. The latest release added numbered notification icons for new text messages, missed calls and new emails. When you open the Android Apps launcher drawer, apps are presented similar to Android 2.1 launcher only difference is the cool 3D roll effect is missing however LauncherPro features a faster and much smoother scroll… convenient when you have a lot of apps like myself!
Which one do you like?
ADW for me, works flawlessly.
i just used the ADW and so far so good
LauncherPro Plus. Resizable widgets and all the settings that really matter, including the scrollable dock bar...pure smooth awesomeness.
LauncherPro. I love the customizable dock with built-in notification counters.
ADW.. open source. customizable look, customizable dock, hidden dock, customizable widget sizes, it's fast and it's free :]
This is the 4th or 5th thread asking the same question. Use the search function. Launcher Pro....
Zandog said:
This is the 4th or 5th thread asking the same question. Use the search function. Launcher Pro....
Click to expand...
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To any user who likes a phone to be used as intended:
-zero redraws
-zero memory hogging widgets/usage...
-fluid/fast responsiveness
ADW is the only choice period.
I've used Launcher Pro Plus (bought and paid)
and love the widgets he has created...
However when using the:
-people
-twitter
-sms
-calendar widgets
(in addition to)
weather widget donate
music widget
pandora widget
google search widget
power setting widget
Launcher Pro Plus will inevitably bring my phone's memory to
35MB, and well, you know the rest.
ADW is the best, most stable launcher.
Launcher Pro Plus... for me.. takes all the good widgets out of Sense..
By far the best IMHO
ADW for me too.
Love ADW...looks great and works like a charm for me.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
LauncherPro is the clear winner, at least on older devices such as my HTC Hero.
ADW's performance is remarkably poor on my phone, while LauncherPro is completely smooth. Having said that, I don't use too many fancy widgets.
It is a shame LauncherPro isn't open source though. I wish it was.
FunkTrooper said:
It is a shame LauncherPro isn't open source though. I wish it was.
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Click to collapse
What's the big deal of open source? Why is it a shame? I seriously don't get it.
ADW is deffinently more stable on my HTC Incredible BUT I lopve the customization that i get with LP....When I want my phone to be fast I use ADW...When I want my phone to be sleek and nice looking to show off my phone to my friends I use LP.
mwxiao said:
What's the big deal of open source? Why is it a shame? I seriously don't get it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Open Source means (if you've got the dev chops) you can easily get at the code and work it to how you like.
2) There's substantial savings with buying open source...
Previously, I am big supporter of ADW.Launcher.
Now I am big big supporter of LauncherPro Plus.
LauncherPro Plus is much much rock than ADW.Launcher especially on speed, user friendly, stability and customization.
LauncherPro Plus even though I don't use the widgets.
Launcher Pro Plus
I do use the People, Messaging, and Twitter widget. being able to resize any widget is a huge benefit.
The additional row on the home screens is a big plus to me too.
I found that most of my memory based issues were resolved by setting it to the low memory profile. No real loss of function and no more force closing.
I find ADW a lot limited compared to LP, ok its grand if you want a fast phone they say use ADW, but why not reduce the widgets/look of LP, it is the more customizable launcher, hence why I find it better
LP+... seems smoother and simpler
which is the best do you think? and if there are more what are they?
i try them all and always go back to launcher pro
I'm a LauncherPro Plus fan myself. I like widget resizing, hiding apps from the launcher, and putting custom icons on my dock. (Note that these things are not exclusive to LauncherPro--it's just that I think LauncherPro's implementation is better).
You should also check out:
GO Launcher
SlideScreen
Zeam
Zune Home/Faded Home
Metro UI/Windows Phone Android
Helix Launcher
Spark*
HE Launcher
Launcher (stock Gingerbread)
Launcher2 (stock Froyo) [NOTE: I'm unsure of the name]
GO LAUNCHER - feature-filled newcomer. It's taken the best features of LauncherPro AND ADW.Launcher. Comes highly recommended by my girlfriend. If you want those features, though, just nab the Plus version of LauncherPro--the features are easier to use.
SLIDESCREEN - great if you have LOTS of incoming information. Displays missed calls, texts, emails, upcoming calendar events, twitter, stock, rss, and facebook all right on your home screen. Very intuitive (but completely non-standard) design. I wish I could use it, but I only average one phone call per day.
ZEAM - a longtime contender in the "fast launchers" category. It's designed to be lightweight and easy on old machines. Fortunately, it does this without giving up features. Widget resizing and gestures are both supported here, competely free.
METRO UI/WINDOWS PHONE ANDROID - gimmicky, fun, and pretty. I most definitely wouldn't recommend them for day-to-day use, but they'll fool all but, well, the kind of people who hang out on XDA.
SPARK* - Spark* is another one of those very non-standard launchers. It'll display news, facebook, twitter, messages, and slew of other things on your home screen. Again, it's great if you want to sift through a lot of information easily. For me, though, it's a bit slow and busy. If I want the news, I can open the news app.
LAUNCHER/LAUNCHER2 - They're exactly what they sound. Launcher is available on the market, and I believe Launcher2 is hidden on XDA somewhere (can't remember exactly where I nabbed it, though). They're feature-starved, but really fun to have. I like to open up the Gingerbread Launcher periodically and remind myself of all the things I love about alternative home replacement apps.
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Unfortunately, I haven't used the following in a very long time, so I can't tell you anything about them. Sorryyyyyyy.
ZUNE HOME/FADED HOME
HELIX LAUNCHER
HE LAUNCHER
I feel like GO launcher EX is a great launcher but just does not fit me, but it can be great for other people.
ADW EX just makes you go oooohhh ahhhhhh with too many settings
I have not tried Launcher Pro Plus.
ADW, Launcher Pro, and many others are for all intents and purposes the same. They're all smooth, they all have great features, updated often enough. It really comes down to personal preference, I started out with the launcher pro beta, then switched to ADW, and have pretty much stuck with it for the last four or five months. Launcher Pro really separates itself from the rest with it's widgets, but since I don't really feel the need to use them, ADW has pretty much done the job for me. Try the launchers Ireyn mentioned, because your own opinion matters much more than ours.
It called dx and That home replcement is the best i tryed an iv tryed all the homes check it out on the store it pretty nifty
I'm gonna have to go with go launcher ex.i started on launcher pro plus then switched to adw ex but go has all if the best features of then both and scrolling is ultra smooth.which if great since I use a lot of widgets so adw lags after a while
Sent from my icy cold glacier freezing every phone in its path
Launcher Pro all the way... Ive tried ADW Ex twice but never gave it a fair shot because i loved LP soo much.
I loved Launcher Pro Plus for a long time, simply for the widgets they added to the paid version. The Facebook widget in perticularly is better that any other Facebook app/widget.... until I found an app called "Colorize Widget". It is a free app in the market that is a collection of widgets very simmilar to the paid "Plus" widgets in Launcher pro but free, faster, and overall better.
I now use Zeam Launcher as it is insanely fast (by far the fastest of all the launchers), combined with Colorize Widget's facebook and agenda widgets, and am very happy.
I also have used Go Launchers EX for a while and although it is a great launcher, I diskliked the app drawer.
LauncherPro Plus.. enough said
Zeam seriously kicks ass imho. I started using it a couple months ago and never looked back.. the smooth side scrolling of the dock PWNS any other setup.. ADW has this feature, but ONLY for the "secondary/hidden" dock which imho is useless.. should be an option for the main dock, but oh well..
UNFORTUNATELY, Zeam launcher is no longer being developed I am hoping that someone picks up where the original dev left off, but it's upto the Dev.
I went back to LauncherPro Plus, as it's my next personal fav.. but if Zeam comes back into dev, I will drop it in a heartbeat for zeam
I have no issues with my stock launcher on my Epic 4G. However for curiosity since getting the phone in October I've played with ADW, LauncherPro and more recently, Zeam.
It wasn't until just this weekend I started to really look into using one. 7 home screens filled, I ran out of room.
ADW offers alot of themes, however most of them you have to buy. This being the initial turn off, I spent a few hours playing with ADW and the settings. I recall the dock changing previously, but it wasn't even when using another theme. With a max of 5 icons, it was only 1 more than my stock launcher and no additional home screen.
LauncherPro being simple and to the point, like ADW offered very little in terms of upgrade from what I was already content with, however no custom themes to add to it.
Zeam... This little gem as simple as it is, does do something the others don't. It allows me increase the apps on the dock, resize the icons, etc. I now have 7 icons viewable
(phone)(contacts)(voicemail)(APPS)(messaging)(internet)(email)
and find it rather convenient. Even more that I can add more apps and scroll the dock left or right to access them. While it doesn't resolve the whole issue, I find it much better than my other options. There's more to it, but that was what attracted me to it.
With that in mind, I am using Zeam. If I could do the same in ADW, I would probably use it in a heartbeat because there's much more that can be done with ADW.
im just wondering what you all think about the launchers like metro ui, zune home, spark*, slidescreen, etc... all the launcers that are just different from what is normally seen, at least from what i see. whats your opinion on them and do you know about any others?
Actually I just switched from touch-wiz for the Samsung to generic Android in Paragon 5.1 and really like it. Naked!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
I like LauncherPRO, mostly because it has five icons to the bottom that can be swiped sideways to show an additional 10 icons (all customisable) and you can either tap the icon or swipe upwards to initiate a second function. (Like have a maps icon, tap it to launch maps or swipe upwards to run Navigation.) These, of course, can be edited to do whatever you want.
yeah i do too but im talking about completely different launchers the whole interface
What?
From the looks of your first post, it sounds like you're referring to launchers, but from the look of this last post, it looks like you're talking themes or ROMs or something a bit more drastic.
sorry. im probabably being too vague. so most of the popular launchers have screens that you go through and are pretty much the same (go launcher, launcher pro, adw launcher). all these are really similar other than their different ways of customization. im looking for launchers that drastically change the interface, like metro ui for example it changes the interface to the windows 7 interface, slidescreen changes it to some interface with a bunch of information, as do the others
The only Launcher I have experience with that changes fairly drastically are SlideScreen and Spark, but you're already mentioned all of them. Sorry.
Tried slidescreen for a while but it felt gimmicky. I simply stick with LP or ADW.
Hey everyone! So I switched from an iPhone 4 to the One X about 2 weeks ago and so far, the HTC is a beast! ALMOST no regrets switching (although the google play store lacks in certain areas). However, I'm pretty big on customization and my iPhone was jailbroken and all tricked out with different themes. So far, I haven't found the degree of customization that was available on the iPhone for the android. For instance, one big thing I noticed is that the notification bar on sense (or in general actually) is tightly integrated with the ROM, so you would have to make your own ROM to customize the notification bar, as opposed to changing images on the iPhone.
There are quite a few launchers available on the Android, which makes changing icons, docks, and lockscreens more centralized than on the iPhone which is a nice plus. So what do you like to do with your android? Do you hook it up with some themes, spice things up a bit, or keep it stock/vanilla? I'm thinking of developing themes, that's why I'd like to get your feedback.
You don't need to create a Rom to theme an android device most of the status bar icons are in the systemui apk you can use an app like 7 zip open the apk as an archive navigate to res drawable-hpdi folder you find all the battery, data WiFi icons in there find the icons you wish to replace them with size and name them appropriately and drag and drop new icons into the folder then push apk back to the phone. You could also try a Rom like miui aokp or cm9 which has tons of pre made themes available.
Sent from my Nocturnalized Beast
Thanks for the tip! I'll definitely look into that later. I have tried the CM9 mod as well as the MIUI one, however they still have certain features missing (Sense camera along with 4G LTE). I'm just wondering what launchers/lockscreen apps you guys use and whether you pay for them or not. I have a GO Locker theme on the market right now, but I'm still wondering if that's the most popular lockscreen. I'd appreciate people's opinions on theming, whether they look at the play.store for them or elsewhere.
You could look in MyColorScreen.com to have an idea of what can be done on android customization. You will find some great work that people have done to there phones and what apps they use as well as wallpapers and icon packs.
Your welcome and I use adw ex launcher. Widget locker and MiLocker for lockscreen replacements. If you click the AAA logo in my Sig I'm a cofounder of the group android augmentors anonymous there you will find some great screenshots as well as resources that members have have shared.
Sent from my Nocturnalized Beast
rickmarz said:
You could look in MyColorScreen.com to have an idea of what can be done on android customization. You will find some great work that people have done to there phones and what apps they use as well as wallpapers and icon packs.
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Wow! Great site, that is actually really helpful. Thanks for sharing
E.Cadro said:
Your welcome and I use adw ex launcher. Widget locker and MiLocker for lockscreen replacements. If you click the AAA logo in my Sig I'm a cofounder of the group android augmentors anonymous there you will find some great screenshots as well as resources that members have have shared.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah thanks, that's really what I was looking for. I've tried ADW EX launcher and I really liked it, but right now I'm using GO Launcher just because it has a few more effects features than ADW. And man, so many screenshots in your group! Probably one of the best Android groups I've seen on deviantart!