[Q] Launchers and sense interaction - HTC Sensation

I dont like using rom sense removers as i like being able to go back if i wanted.
What i wanted to know is if when i am using go launcher in preference to the sense ui if the sense ui will still run the background and infact be using up my phones resources or if it directly disables it?
many thanks as always all

Yes it will still be on the background, as to how much it uses in the way of resources though I don't know

The UI always runs. It's what you see...the launcher will close while using another launcher, but you can switch back with ease.
Don't worry too much about resources. Sense uses more than AOSP obviously, but the launcher itself used about the same as ADW EX for me.

cheers guys

Related

Best or Most Favored Launcher?

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.

Go launcher

I was looking for something new and tried out a few Sense ROMs. I really like the Sense widgets and their little touches like the calendar and menus. However I had a lot of problems with these ROMs so I decided to go another route. I've been using Launcher Pro plus for a while, but development has slowed.
I tried Go launcher yesterday and am really liking it. If you haven't tried it in a while, it's come a long way. It has nicer widgets than Launcher pro and most of the features that launcher pro has like to eliminating the text on icons, transition effects, etc.
Themes are a little slim, but switching them is easy. The only thing that seems to lag on my phone is the homescreen preview, other than that as smooth as launcher pro.
I'd highly suggest adw ex. It doesn't have widgets but its the most stable launcher I have ever used.
Have checked it out for a while, thanks
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA Premium App
GRZLA said:
I'd highly suggest adw ex. It doesn't have widgets but its the most stable launcher I have ever used.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oddly enough the only launcher I've had problems with is ADW. I purchased LP a year ago and have to say its been very solid.
I love Go Launcher. I've used ADW and Launcher Pro during my Eris days, but once I tried Go, I never went back.
Go Launcher is running real nice for me. Turn up the fling speed in preferences to make it feel a little more snappy. It has some cool icon effects for the app drawer like cylinder and sphere.
n00b question.......does Go Launcher EX play nice with all Sense ROMs? I'd hate to jack-up my current setup to make it look prettier. Looking for a little info because Go Launcher Ex looks pretty sweet.
BSquaredB2 said:
n00b question.......does Go Launcher EX play nice with all Sense ROMs? I'd hate to jack-up my current setup to make it look prettier. Looking for a little info because Go Launcher Ex looks pretty sweet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The layout you have to Sense will stay intact when another launcher is installed. So if you uninstalled a launcher because you want to go back, everything will be there. You just won't be able to get Sense widgets.
I keep trying Go from time to time, but I always end up uninstalling it. I find it highly annoying that I have to install every widget separately, but I understand this might be to make the base launcher lightweight.
I find it a bit laggy - and dont get me wrong, the screen transitions are like butter. However, there seems to be a delay from when I swipe to when the screen actually animates. I'm used to LP's instant reaction. Plus, I sometimes notice jerkiness with Go that I don't get with LP, but I'm just being picky. Finally I dislike the acceleration curve when swiping between screens. I feel it doesn't respond to how fast I'm swiping, at least when using a custom speed without elasticity (causes lag!).
Man I am picky about my launcher. Maybe I'm just spoiled! I did like Go's Widgets with the transparent theme though. Very well done.
Sent from my Droid Incredible using the XDA app.
Go Launcher is great!

Sense 4.0, change icons and/or remove labels from home?

Is there a way to do this in Sense without installing Apex or some other launcher or using Desktop Visualizer?
I LOVE DV, and I've made a ton of huge icons for it, but it's so buggy and slows down Sense after a few days of use. I'd rather just change my icons and/or disable the icon labels on the homescreens. Is this possible in Sense 4?
Not as far as I know (I am kinda a noob though), I think this is one of the main reasons people use 3rd party launchers. I have used nova on cleamrom De and my phone was much faster and smoother than using the stock sense.
It may be possible to edit the apk file to change icons for individual apps but it would take forever.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA

[Q] Trying out several launchers

So I'm fairly new to the android OS and recently got an HTC One X. I haven't really done enough research to actually get around to rooting it, but for now I've been having fun running different launchers since I have grown tired of the Sense UI. I have currently messed around with GO Launcher EX and Nova, but there are a few more I also want to experiment with (Apex, Launcher Pro, ADW etc.)
When I switch to a new launcher and save it as default does it erase the screen and widget set up of the previous launcher? If go back to Nova for instance will I have to set the screens up again? I noticed when I went back to Sense from Nova everything I had organized in Sense was gone. Is there an app of something that will save this?
It shouldn't unless you erase the data yourself, though I don't know about Sense itself.
I tried out multiple launchers on my phone and never had loss of configurations (except when intentional).
No, you can safely change and default between Launchers, so long as you don't 'clear data' for that Launcher. Rosie (Sense) included
I've encountered some stability issues with LauncherPro on Android versions greater than Gingerbread, and it hasn't been updated in a long time, but it's still my favourite Launcher for older phones
Have fun!
Try the holo launcher. I love it because it is clean and straightforward.
Thanks for the answers, Holo kind of reminds me of Nova which I liked so I'll try it also!
I liked Nova and Apex almost as much, but Apex won out for me since I really needed infinite scrolling in the app drawer.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
try to backup every time you want to switch different launcher..
i think every launcher have backup-restore feature
sorry for my english.
If you change between launchers it can happen that widgets etc. you had on your screen can disappear due to different stuff the launchers put on your homescreen by default. Other than that all should be the same - if you didnt delete anything vital
From personal experience I favour apex launcher: it's clean, highly customizable, good looking and fast.

Sense for an AOSP ROM??

I dont know if this is at all possible without theming but I was curious if you could get the sense 4+ on an aosp rom. Maybe not all the extra apps like the music and messaging and camera but the lockscreen and the widgets. I have tried all sorts of stuff with go launcher and beautiful widgets but they just don't do it justice. Is there a way to port this???? Has it already been done?
mrgoodpaul said:
I dont know if this is at all possible without theming but I was curious if you could get the sense 4+ on an aosp rom. Maybe not all the extra apps like the music and messaging and camera but the lockscreen and the widgets. I have tried all sorts of stuff with go launcher and beautiful widgets but they just don't do it justice. Is there a way to port this???? Has it already been done?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, this should be in the Q&A section. Secondly, the closest you will get is a modded Sense ROM. I jumped ship from sense as fast as I could so I don't really follow the news, but I have heard that Viper ROM is the most AOSP-like Sense ROM.
No... Certain aspects or sense rely on the sense launcher... Like the clock...idk about the lockscreen...but mostly everything else is a no go on a diff launcher
Sense is very heavily tied into the framework. Ports are possible, like when I had a captivate there was a sense port but it was extremely unstable. It's just not worth the hassle really
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
you could always use a senseless rom so you could have other launchers but have sense lockscreen still
Go with Viper rom, use Apex or Nova launchers. You will have an Aosp style launcher while still maintaining the lockscreens, and HD Widgets will look just like sense.
XNine said:
Go with Viper rom, use Apex or Nova launchers. You will have an Aosp style launcher while still maintaining the lockscreens, and HD Widgets will look just like sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my experience all third-party launchers introduce a notable lag (compared to Rosie) when opening home screens, app drawer, etc. And this is with all possible animations and other eye candy turned off. Seems that as long as Sense is running in the background you have to go through an extra layer to get to the Launcher.

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