[Q] Concerning Custom Homescreens - General Questions and Answers

Hello fellow Android-ers......
Will a custom Launcher Homescreen Theme circumvent the Honeycomb System Bar ?
Recently I bought a Dell Streak 7. It had Honeycomb installed when I got it.
The screen is way too small for Honeycombs system bar, and its a less pleasant experience than it should be.
I don't want to root the tablet. I really haven't the Android knowledge to do that.
I wanted to ask if a custom Homescreen ( like SPB Shell , ADW Launcher or Go Launcher ) app would get rid of the system bar.
When I read the app descriptions on the Marketplace it would seem that it does replace the system bar with whatever navigation tools the custom home theme employs.......
.......however, several hours of searching on Google for ways to get rid of the system bar without rooting the phone would indicate that the Honeycomb system bar will be there no matter what as long as the phone is running Honeycomb.....
Might there be any other ways to get rid of the system bar without rooting ?
I appreciate any insight you may be able to offer. Thank You!

I'm not 100% about the Honeycomb part but I know on my Droid 2 I installed ADW launcher and the status bar was different. I'd say try it, it couldn't hurt. Worse comes to worst you uninstall it and end up back at square one lol.

The system bar is not part of the launcher, so you won't be able to hide it with a home replacement app.

ADW EX allows you to hide the Status Bar while you are on your Homescreens. It won't help when you are within an App though.

Well that's not really what I wanted to hear , but, its still good news
The resolution on the streak in Honeycomb is pretty small and the icons get pretty tiny.....
At least I will be able to navigate more easily with a Homescreen Launcher.
Thanks very much for the info !
I wish I had bought ADW EX when it was $0.10 now lol.
Thanks again

Related

Is it possible to change the dock bar in ADW?

I relise this is a question but it is very theme related.
I think so. Can you give more information on what you want it to do or look like?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Lol I didnt want to explain it like this because I dont want to offend the developer at all. Basicly with launcher pro (another great launcher not as good as ADW in my mind but another great launcher none the less) you can actually load your own created dock bars or dock bars someone else created. So basicly can you cusomize the lower dock bar? I know you can change it from 5 icons to 3 icons but other then that can you actually change the dock bar background?
Sorry I dont exactly know how else to explain it.
i think the best you can do is hold down the app drawer button for a few seconds and then swipe up. it'll change to an OSX style launcher bar with mini icons of whatever shortcuts you place on it. took me forever to figure it out after seeing it in the screenshots.
bboydru said:
i think the best you can do is hold down the app drawer button for a few seconds and then swipe up. it'll change to an OSX style launcher bar with mini icons of whatever shortcuts you place on it. took me forever to figure it out after seeing it in the screenshots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can set up swipe up and down guestures too. Yeah I know about this bar I actually store my quick contacts down under there.
He's talking about the separate dock background, not the actual dock.So you have a wallpaper, and then a separate small dock wallpaper too.
blulitespecial said:
He's talking about the separate dock background, not the actual dock.So you have a wallpaper, and then a separate small dock wallpaper too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am talking about the Dock the clear bar at the bottom of the screen that holds 3 to 5 icons. Not the hidden dock underneath the dock or just the clear bar.
bboydru said:
i think the best you can do is hold down the app drawer button for a few seconds and then swipe up. it'll change to an OSX style launcher bar with mini icons of whatever shortcuts you place on it. took me forever to figure it out after seeing it in the screenshots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when i do this my dock just disappears! why? how do i get it back besides rebooting my droidx?
ADW vs. LauncherPro..... um.... keeps me up at night.
I like both devs... I like the fact ADW is open source and has themes, and sometimes I feel like using the sideways drawer. But LP has great customization options like the dock theming, and now has some really well done widgets.
Nice to have a hard time choosing between two great choices.
pattherat said:
when i do this my dock just disappears! why? how do i get it back besides rebooting my droidx?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Set something to change it. It is possible to access it, and not have anything set to turn it off.
In the settings for ADW you can either have it close after opening an item from it, or set one of the swipe gestures to bring it up and down.
bboydru said:
i think the best you can do is hold down the app drawer button for a few seconds and then swipe up. it'll change to an OSX style launcher bar with mini icons of whatever shortcuts you place on it. took me forever to figure it out after seeing it in the screenshots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok tried this for nearly 20 mins and also played around with the ADW Settings and I still dont see a change. Is it an add on ? a png replacement ? How do I get this ?
bboydru said:
i think the best you can do is hold down the app drawer button for a few seconds and then swipe up. it'll change to an OSX style launcher bar with mini icons of whatever shortcuts you place on it. took me forever to figure it out after seeing it in the screenshots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You sir just blew my mind.
Sent from me to you via the interwebs.
I actually have the opening and closing of the second dock tied to my home button. I love it. To any of you that don't know how to open the second dock, you long press the regular dock and swipe up.you'll see little up arrows when you long press pointing in the direction you should swipe. When you do that and you think it's just hiding your dock, it's not. Drag an icon that area and see what happens.
laydros said:
ADW vs. LauncherPro..... um.... keeps me up at night.
I like both devs... I like the fact ADW is open source and has themes, and sometimes I feel like using the sideways drawer. But LP has great customization options like the dock theming, and now has some really well done widgets.
Nice to have a hard time choosing between two great choices.
Set something to change it. It is possible to access it, and not have anything set to turn it off.
In the settings for ADW you can either have it close after opening an item from it, or set one of the swipe gestures to bring it up and down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from the void...
Also, I did this part through the home button binding setting in the awd settings menu.
wuclan48 said:
I actually have the opening and closing of the second dock tied to my home button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from the void...
I never knew about the second dockbar in ADW. This changes almost everything layout wise for me. Also, I found a great setting under ADW. Auto close dockbar after application launch, will bring your original bar up after application launch. Pretty cool tip guys thanks alot!
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I never knew about the 2nd hidden dock bar either. Sweet! That has really helped to clean up my homescreens, getting rid of most of the clutter.
Something I'm still trying to figure out on ADW though... is it possible to change the actual dock? Not the dock icons, but the dock itself. Launcher pro has a page with tons of user submitted docks you can use, was just curious if i could do this with ADW. I'm thinking there has to be a way, because I've installed some ADW themes from the market and they actually changed the dock as well... just need to figure out how without having to install a theme.
I'm also looking for a way to change the dock bar background. A work-around you can do is just apply a bar to the bottom of your wallpaper. However, this only works if you want a dockbar that is the same all the way across.
i thought i already replied to this thread. there is a complete guide on customizing the adw dock bar in the link below.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=851834&highlight=adw+guide
t3project said:
i thought i already replied to this thread. there is a complete guide on customizing the adw dock bar in the link below.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=851834&highlight=adw+guide
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This doesn't tell you how to change the dock background; probably because you can't without a using a theme.
It is possible to change the dockbar background without changing themes...but it's not nearly as trivial as with Launcher Pro and I believe your phone must be rooted. I have succesfully used Ninjamorph to dynamically swap out the drawable resources in the ADWLauncher apk file which make-up the dock background. Unlike LauncherPro, which uses a single image as a background, the ADWLauncher background is made up of multiple images corresponding to the right, middle, and left action buttons (in both their selected and unselected forms). I was able to replicate one of my preferred LauncherPro docks by using photoshop to slice the image into its right, middle, and left components, and then injecting those images into the apk file with Ninjamorph. The end result was a dockbar identical to the LauncherPro dockbar...but it was quite a bit of effort to get there. Not very practical if you like to frequently switch your dock (though once you've broken the dock down into it's components, it's not too bad switching between them). Theoretically, it would also be possible to change the background for the hidden alternate dockbar using this approach, though I"ve not attempted this.
I too would love to see an easier way to customize the ADW Launcher dock without applying a completely new theme or resorting to using Ninjamorph. After the recent releases of ADW, that's the one remaining thing from LauncherPro that I really miss when I use ADWLauncher. Maybe that's a feature which will show up in the new "EX" version soon.
you can always just unpack the adw apk and change the png then repack/sign and push it to your phone

[UPDATE] Go Launcher 1.20

Go Launcher v1.20
Requirements: Android
Overview: Go Launcher is an amazing home replacement app for Android.
-Extremely smooth scrolling
-Convenient icon pop-menu
-Gesture supported
-Useful app drawer to uninstall apps and kill tasks
-Removable screen previews (Up to 30 screens)
- NOW SUPPORTS PUTTING APP ICON IN FOLDER
Keywords: launcher home desktop fast access uninstaller taskkiller recommended
Recent changes:
-New app drawer folder:Drag the icon overlay to create a new folder
-Supported scrollable widgets & resizable widgets
-Supported custom icons (test)
-Improved scrolling speed & response
-Fixed crash issues in Droid & Droid X (thanks Adam’s help)
-Fixed icon disappearance problem
-Fixed live wallpaper interactive response
credits : markinho
keeps getting better, thanks!
One thing I mentioned in email I wanted to bring up here for others feedback is that if I choose to not have the screen indicator at the top of the screen, and I hide the status bar, the few pixels reserved for the screen identifier should be given back/not used anymore.
I wont keep repeating how great work you guys deliver
1 point of improvement:
On my X10 it's impossible to resize the widgets...
Sorry, it works, this plonker forgot to enable it in settings
Cheers,
Arnold
I really like this launcher guys,great stuff. ill be honest, im still sticking with launcherpro FOR NOW, but im closely watching this app because its got great potential.
just a little suggestion: adding option to configure the press-icon highlight color...a lot of people are anal about their phone's appearance and the current yellow color can really counter-act with some peoples theme
just one mans opinion......keep up the great work!
I love your apps and this launcher is awsome.
Now i need a loooot of custom icons <----- any idea?
Add alphabet sorting in the app drawer folders
I really really like your apps
Actually I'm using all of them
Keep it up
BTW u got the best GUIs I've ever seen on an android apps
Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk
How do I save the application settings??
Finally someone has done it!
Congratulation on this excellent home replacement. You are the first and only person to create in my opinion a better Home replacement than the default Galaxy S one. Doesn't need much improvement, maybe spring load the first and last app draw screens.
Very nice, and my thanks.
Add ability to choose custom docks and more homescreen rows x columns and im switching from lp.
Sent from my HTC Wildfire using XDA App
Nice launcher, really smooth. I've set the app drawer scrolling to portrait and I would really like the possibility to swype between all, recent and running apps.
Just a suggestion i'm already really appreciating your work!
Nice launcher and getting better constantly. However, I have had a problem of misplaced text label for the drawer taps for all the versions so far (see attached image). I have lcddensity=220 on Froyo, and have not tried on the standard 240.
It's a bit laggy for me at the moment and all widgets are gone after every reboot...
Too bad, because I love this launcher.
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk
The drawer's animation ruins all it's smoothness. Can you create an option to switch the drawers animation off ? Or change it with something smoother.
I really like this launcher, it's pretty clever.
I must say I do love this launcher, however after running it a couple of days it's showing up as a large battery consumer on my Droid Pro. (And unfortunanlty I can't afford to lose anymore battery on this device). LauncherPro normally runs 3-5% of my battery, and your launcher is pulling 10-12%.
Again, I'm a big fan, and definitely think this has potential, but until you guys can shave off some battery usage, I'm going to have to go back to LPro.
bwhite757 said:
I must say I do love this launcher, however after running it a couple of days it's showing up as a large battery consumer on my Droid Pro. (And unfortunanlty I can't afford to lose anymore battery on this device). LauncherPro normally runs 3-5% of my battery, and your launcher is pulling 10-12%.
Again, I'm a big fan, and definitely think this has potential, but until you guys can shave off some battery usage, I'm going to have to go back to LPro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in doubt going back to lpp too for the same reason. After setting go launcher as my defàult launcher, i lose around 8 till 10% an hour, which is way too much...
Sent from my x32 using the licking write method....man I am thirsty now!
How to disable the christman gift ?!
how to get out of christma theme!
steph-one said:
How to disable the christman gift ?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how to get out of christma theme?
go to dock setting for default style, and reset the wallpaper from preference menu.
Thank you
yeah it looks good
I'm having problems with my widgets not visually updating correctly on Galaxy Spica 2.2 (CM 6.1.1 alpha 8.2)
You can see an example here (look at the date of the calendar widget)
I have this on all my widgets, including the power widget

[REQ} Standalone Appdrawer w/ Customizable Icons

I have been looking for a standalone app that looks functions like the stock app drawer, but with customizable icons+shortcuts that I can link to from the homescreen; this would be similar to App Organizer or Folder Launcher, which you can do the same thing with, but then apps are displayed in list view. I would just like a snapping "icon view" vertical app drawer.
The goal is to be able to use a quick, lightweight launcher such as Zeam, and be able to change the icons and link to this app instead of the stock one. I feel this would be a solution for many others who don't need or want a full featured homescreen and just want to be able to get a custom look.
This would also save an enormous ammount of time for those (like me) who have attempted to Meta/Ninja-morph or resign market apps and spent a rediculous ammount of time trying to change that one giant orange square icon that throws off the otherwise clean custom look of your drawer.
I love ADW Ex, but it can get really bogged down with multiple widgets. LauncherPro can hide apps from the drawer and have homescreen shortcuts, but that is a pain as well. Other possible featurs could be horizontal/vertical/4d/etc. and custom arrangement, keeping in mind that the main goal is to keep it from eating up resources. Anybody?
(maybe this thread should be moved, thnx)
I know Im not the only one
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=12791471#post12791471
here you go i found it
https://market.android.com/details?id=xxbcn.AllAppsOrganizerFreeB
dislplin01 said:
here you go i found it
https://market.android.com/details?id=xxbcn.AllAppsOrganizerFreeB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't allow custom icons

Launcher

As ADW EX is available in the market if you search with the asus
Has anyone tried laucherpro plus?
I kow it's only $3 but i still dont wnat to try it and find it crashes.
I tried LauncherPro Plus. it doesn't take advantage of the large screen size enough for me... it does work though.
Putzy said:
it doesn't take advantage of the large screen size.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Neither does the standard launcher, i'm missing one column each side of the screen in landscape
Can i adjust numbers of columns and rows?
Can i adjust/change icons?
I'm asking these questions here as even on their own website doesn't tell you
You're not missing a column as such.... what you'll notice if you turn the launcher into portrait mode that there simply isn't enough space to show those extra 'columns.
Still... thinking about the lack of settings in normal Google launchers on previous versions of Android, I wouldn't get too excited that you'll be able to change the number of columns/rows.
I'm fairly optimistic that when the Honeycomb source is finally released someone will be able to mod the launcher code and get a few more settings in there.
Forgot, can i get rid of the dockbar?
On LauncherPro? I don't know if its possible.
Launcher Pro does take up the entire screen, you just need to modify the settings as it was made for phones. You need to change the columns and rows setting to 10. The application drawer icons may look a little spaced out though but not a big deal. You can use Circle Launcher widgets or something similar so you do not have to even use app drawer. Here is my Xoom using Launcher Pro:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiZ5EmP8h_o&feature=channel_video_title
I love launcherpro but you loose functionality on the desktop when going with it. You loose the trash can when wanting to delete desktop items and some of the honeycomb menu buttons.
Not quite there yet needs a rewrite for honeycomb to be a true contender.
logichoops said:
I love launcherpro but you loose functionality on the desktop when going with it. You loose the trash can when wanting to delete desktop items and some of the honeycomb menu buttons.
Not quite there yet needs a rewrite for honeycomb to be a true contender.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you drag an icon, a trash appears and if you hold the icon over the trash for a moment, an uninstall option appears. You can add the Application drawer icon to the top of the dock on the right side which is pretty close to Honeycomb launcher. You do lose the + option to add widgets, wallpaper etc. I do agree, I would like a more Honeycomb optimized version and have already commented to the developer requesting this but I find it works well for now.
Here's another alternative, its a ADW based launcher made for tablets. I use it on my Viewsonic G Tab, its pretty slick.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1017451
Please don't ruin your tablet with a launcher for a phone. Completely takes away the look of honyc which is beautiful. ... for that get a viewsonic gtab .. what's wrong with honeyc launcher. Its great. Widget are great well at least on my Acer ....that youtube video xoom looks sooooo overloaded with those phone widgets.
sent from my Acer iconia using TT

Android theme customization question...

I just want to know how to get example1 instead of examplecurrent (attached).
I am ultra new to this modding stuff and have no idea what to even call this bar. But I am wanting to the the transparent 5 icon thing w/ phone messages ect at the bottom instead of the little standout-ish 3 icon one... help plz =P
All you'll have to do is install LauncherPro from the market. It is a launcher replacement app and is extremely popular. You'll be able to choose what apps/icons to put in the dock(that's what the bar is called ) along with all sorts of other customizations. There are other launcher replacement apps like ADW, GO launcher, Zeam, etc. Each have their own advantages and you'll just have to see what works best for you and your phone.
Then what?!
Ok I have downloaded LauncherPro , I believe cm7 already came with ADW or w/e so how do I change over and try the new one out and mess with settings and all that?
When you go to the homescreen you should get a popup asking you which launcher to use. If not, there's an app called home switcher or something like that. The settings can be found by pressing the menu button then selecting preferences. To change which apps and icons are in the dock, just long press on the one you want to change and you'll get a popup menu.

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