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Ok, maybe this has been discussed, and maybe this is posted in the wrong forum (I was considering apps/themes). If so, I apologize, and please move my thread.
But during my years with android, there is one thing that has annoyed me, and it still does. The animation when flipping through homescreens is really cool, but it is not nearly as smooth as it should be (compare it to the iPhone). With my magic it looked awful, with my galaxy s it was almost comparable to an iphone app drawer, but still not what I would call silky smooth. With the nexus s, it seems I've taken a step back again. I've tried stock launcher, zeam, LP and ADW. I have not tried ADW EX yet because of some credit card issues. Is there something to be done about this? I mean, the phone should be more than capable hardware wise, and everything else is blazing fast (opening various apps, settings, the widget scrolling is smooth, games run perfectly and so on).
I've currently only tried out stock 2.3.1 and CM7 alpha 2 and alpha 2-2 (jan. 6th).
Anyone with any insight in whats causing it? Is there something I can do other than disable live wallpaper and wallpaper scrolling? Disabling those two is a small let down, because I really like the features. Or am I simply imagining it?
Sorry I have no insightful input, but I would like to say, no, you're not imagining it. This has been my experience with Android overall as well.
I am no fan of Apple's tight grips and dated OS, however, I know where credit is due and they deserve respect for what they do get right: namely, the screen and the touch interface. Something about it is just 'perfect' -- almost magical. It truly responds to every command you have, and this spills over not just with scrolling or hitting icons, but with typing, as well. Their keyboard (which I'm sure succeeds thanks to a combination of hardware and software) is second to none. I've been an avid critic of Android's keyboard experience in other threads. Anyone who has typed extensively on both platforms will know the difference. I can type (and use the screen) on an iPhone, even an iPod Touch, with confidence that it'll get what I mean to press. The same cannot be said for Android.
At the end of the day, it's a trade-off. I stick with Android for its customizations, open-ended potential, market, and because I am a user of everything Google -- it just makes sense to stick with Android. I also don't appreciate Apple's philosophy, which essentially comes down to: "the average user is an idiot," which isn't entirely untrue and, needless to say, is a philosophy that works wonders for them. It just isn't for me. However, I am and continue to be critical of Android. I do so out of the desire to see it improve. They close the gap with every iteration, but it would be dishonest to say that they've matched areas in which Apple excels in; one of them being responsive touchscreen and scrolling. You're not imagining it.
dingdonghei said:
Ok, maybe this has been discussed, and maybe this is posted in the wrong forum (I was considering apps/themes). If so, I apologize, and please move my thread.
But during my years with android, there is one thing that has annoyed me, and it still does. The animation when flipping through homescreens is really cool, but it is not nearly as smooth as it should be (compare it to the iPhone). With my magic it looked awful, with my galaxy s it was almost comparable to an iphone app drawer, but still not what I would call silky smooth. With the nexus s, it seems I've taken a step back again. I've tried stock launcher, zeam, LP and ADW. I have not tried ADW EX yet because of some credit card issues. Is there something to be done about this? I mean, the phone should be more than capable hardware wise, and everything else is blazing fast (opening various apps, settings, the widget scrolling is smooth, games run perfectly and so on).
I've currently only tried out stock 2.3.1 and CM7 alpha 2 and alpha 2-2 (jan. 6th).
Anyone with any insight in whats causing it? Is there something I can do other than disable live wallpaper and wallpaper scrolling? Disabling those two is a small let down, because I really like the features. Or am I simply imagining it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've definitely noticed what you have.
Both ADW (I believe) and Launcher Pro have settings that can make it slightly smoother.
I use Launcher Pro on Bionix ROM 1.1 with stock kernel. In launcher pro, I have disabled "Advanced Settings"->"High Quality Scrolling" and it seems to be less laggy with screen scrolling.
The setting in ADW is "System Preferences"->"Scrolling Cache"->Low Quality.
The binoix rom definitely helps too.
Ye, just installed bionix and it's a bit better than cm actually. All the other tweaks, I've already configured. Still not like I would want it to be though. I'm wondering if it's that hard to actually make a smooth launcher. The guys making these launchers are doing an awesome job in all other aspects, so my guess is google isn't making it all that easy for them. The whole thing strikes me as weird, but hey, I haven't got even a small insight in developing for android.
@onthecouchagain I totally share your views on android. But I would never switch to an iPhone, it was just a comparison, because Apple really have that part nailed down.
EDIT: With bionix and OC on demand, I actually think the stock browser is smoother than ADW.
EDIT2: I've been thinking things through a bit, and the comparison with the iphone isn't entirely fair. The flexibility of the home screens by far superseede the iphone. I mean, basically the iphone only has an app drawer, and the app drawer is supersmooth on the NS. The home screens incorporate widgets that can be scrolled and update and all that, so I guess that takes up a lot more resources than an app drawer alone will. But still, the lag takes away from the user experience, and they really should try to improve it.
OP did you not find launcher pro extremely smoother over stock launcher? pretty sure LP is hitting up near 55 FPS for homescreen scrolls, stock launcher is much more choppy. in fact LP (and ADW somewhat, i find LP smoother) is buttery smooth scrolling i find. i believe LP uses more hardware graphics where stock launcher does not, that's why its smoother than stock.
however perhaps the nexus s is not yet configured with LP for its graphics? cause i know on all the other phones like nexus one and droid x, LP is insanely smoother over stock.
around 50-55 fps.
RogerPodacter said:
OP did you not find launcher pro extremely smoother over stock launcher? pretty sure LP is hitting up near 55 FPS for homescreen scrolls, stock launcher is much more choppy. in fact LP (and ADW somewhat, i find LP smoother) is buttery smooth scrolling i find. i believe LP uses more hardware graphics where stock launcher does not, that's why its smoother than stock.
however perhaps the nexus s is not yet configured with LP for its graphics? cause i know on all the other phones like nexus one and droid x, LP is insanely smoother over stock.
around 50-55 fps.
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Click to collapse
Yes, I'm aware of that, and was using LP on my galaxy s. However, on the NS it doesn't seem smooth at all. And for some reason it freezes up real bad from time to time as well, and requires a restart. This was on CM7 alpha, so it may be related to that.
Have you tried LP on the NS or other phones?
EDIT: Tried out LP on bionix now, and it's by far the best so far. Still not perfect, but very close. I think I've read that the LP still isn't optimized for GB, if thats true, it should be really good once it is. Now I just have to get my damn pay pal account working, so I can pay for LP.
On thing about LP though. The scrolling seems very smooth once the animation has started, but it always hangs a bit after you have started moving your thumb, if you get what I'm saying. It's like it takes some time before the launcher registers that you're swyping your thumb, and then starts the animation. I haven't found a setting for this. Anyone? I know I'm being very picky here, It's kind of an obsession for me
dingdonghei said:
Yes, I'm aware of that, and was using LP on my galaxy s. However, on the NS it doesn't seem smooth at all. And for some reason it freezes up real bad from time to time as well, and requires a restart. This was on CM7 alpha, so it may be related to that.
Have you tried LP on the NS or other phones?
EDIT: Tried out LP on bionix now, and it's by far the best so far. Still not perfect, but very close. I think I've read that the LP still isn't optimized for GB, if thats true, it should be really good once it is. Now I just have to get my damn pay pal account working, so I can pay for LP.
On thing about LP though. The scrolling seems very smooth once the animation has started, but it always hangs a bit after you have started moving your thumb, if you get what I'm saying. It's like it takes some time before the launcher registers that you're swyping your thumb, and then starts the animation. I haven't found a setting for this. Anyone? I know I'm being very picky here, It's kind of an obsession for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got ya. What I'm thinking is that just like the nexus s is not optimized its video graphics in the browser for hummingbird, launcher pro also is hit by this bug and will need to wait for the driver fix from Google and Samsung. Currently its optimized for snapdragon so I'm thinking that's the problem.
For me on nexus s it works really smooth as long as I disable wallpaper scrolling... You can also check in advanced settings, clear cache on exit and play with other configs there, but disabling the wallpaper scrolling improves a lot...
Btw, on the Jobs phone, there is no wallpaper scrolling, widgets, and any other cool stuff we have in android, which also requires some work from CPU, something to think about...
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
guys234 said:
Btw, on the Jobs phone, there is no wallpaper scrolling, widgets, and any other cool stuff we have in android, which also requires some work from CPU, something to think about...
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's what I was pointing out in my last edit. But I still think it takes away from the overall user experience, and the avg user doesn't even think about what takes up CPU power, they just want fluidity and everything to work out of the box without having to be tweaked. And even though all the tweaking and options is what makes android so great, that shouldn't compromise user experience.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Hello people !
I'm also a bit disappointed by the overall user experience provided by the Nexus S.
That laggy behavior is very disappointing.
My girlfriend's iPhone 3G is even smoother at switching from one homescreen to another.
I've been owning Android handsets for the past year and the half and I thought I would get rid of that laggy behavior with the Nexus S and Gingerbread.
Well, too bad for me... same ****, different day
Allright, so just a small update. In my neverending quest for smooth home screen scrolling I discovered a new launcher galled Go Launcher. And wouldnt you know, it's a lot better than anything else I've ever tried when it comes to home screen. Can't get much smoother than this. Not a big fan of the app drawer on that launcher though, but the launcher is a clear first choice for now.
guys234 said:
For me on nexus s it works really smooth as long as I disable wallpaper scrolling... You can also check in advanced settings, clear cache on exit and play with other configs there, but disabling the wallpaper scrolling improves a lot...
Btw, on the Jobs phone, there is no wallpaper scrolling, widgets, and any other cool stuff we have in android, which also requires some work from CPU, something to think about...
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah except other android phones like my nexus one are smooth as butter with launcher pro. So it must be some issue with nexus s drivers.
We know there is a graphics problem with the nexus s browser, so its not a far stretch to have similar issues with other areas not being smooth.
dingdonghei said:
Allright, so just a small update. In my neverending quest for smooth home screen scrolling I discovered a new launcher galled Go Launcher. And wouldnt you know, it's a lot better than anything else I've ever tried when it comes to home screen. Can't get much smoother than this. Not a big fan of the app drawer on that launcher though, but the launcher is a clear first choice for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Problem is : with Go launcher switching between homescreens is smoother, but switching between pages within the app drawer is insanely laggy.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
theophane said:
Problem is : with Go launcher switching between homescreens is smoother, but switching between pages within the app drawer is insanely laggy.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, I know. It's kinda annoying
guys234 said:
Btw, on the Jobs phone, there is no wallpaper scrolling, widgets, and any other cool stuff we have in android, which also requires some work from CPU, something to think about...
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is a fun test : remove everything you have on your homescreens and just leave one app icon. Switch between homescreens, and you'll notice that even with nothing on the desktop, performance is still crappy.
I guess that widgets have nothing to do with those lags.
Sent from my Nexus S
Adw on cm is smooth? Try to download eugene373 gingerbread launcher. Its file size is smaller and other benefits
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Yes, there is an occasionally happening swipe lag in the home launcher, browser and other application. It is like it missed a swipe. It is very annoying and I even had it with the ADW launcher EX. Reminds me of the bug on the Nexus One. There I had the same problem that often the first swipe on the home launcher wouldn't do anything. I can't believe that this missed swipe or lag however you wanna call it slipped through the testing. I am a bit disappointed because I haven't had any problems with the Sense UI on my MT4G and missed swipe or laggy swiping.
mine was laggy aswell, but once i rooted, did a full WIPE/CLEAN/DATA wipe and a factory reset it didnt lag anymore???
now its silky smooth, and applying the 1.2Ghz kernel did make the iphone look like a snail
hansmrtn said:
Adw on cm is smooth? Try to download eugene373 gingerbread launcher. Its file size is smaller and other benefits
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ADW on CM isn't smooth at all. Haven't tried out eugene's.
smaberg said:
mine was laggy aswell, but once i rooted, did a full WIPE/CLEAN/DATA wipe and a factory reset it didnt lag anymore???
now its silky smooth, and applying the 1.2Ghz kernel did make the iphone look like a snail
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. This is stock launcher you're talking about, I presume? I'll try it out.
I'm rooted on ED1 and i'm kinda liking touchwiz. I dont like the colors but I dont think its that bad at all. I hated the Thunderbolt so much and I really dont think Sense was that much better? I think with a few tweeks it could pretty nice ? Anyone else ?
I done think its that bad either. As a matter of fact, I think its the lightest of all three of the overlays. I really like this phone so far, but it doesn't seem to be getting as much attention as the other manufacturers. I hope it picks up though, cuz this brown and orange is killing me.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App
sir2545 said:
I done think its that bad either. As a matter of fact, I think its the lightest of all three of the overlays. I really like this phone so far, but it doesn't seem to be getting as much attention as the other manufacturers. I hope it picks up though, cuz this brown and orange is killing me.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't worry, a lot of people hate the color scheme and are working to fix it.
As for TouchWiz, it isn't a bad UI, but compared to ADW or Launcher2, it is bloated. The widgets that it has only make it worse. As far as OEM launchers go though, it isn't to bad. I like the look and feel of Sense, but that is a resource hog, and I've never used Blur, but I never hear anything good about it.
droidxscott said:
I'm rooted on ED1 and i'm kinda liking touchwiz. I dont like the colors but I dont think its that bad at all. I hated the Thunderbolt so much and I really dont think Sense was that much better? I think with a few tweeks it could pretty nice ? Anyone else ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't understand the hate either. I love the phone and with the new kernel and Imnut's ROM there is a significant performance boost that is more than enough for me.
I had a DX and a D1 prior to this one, so this is my first TouchWiz phone, in terms of that side of things I don't see how its really that different from Blur, but some people are just going to be anal.
I never had it on my DX, so I really don't understand the fervor over CM and why perfectly good phone is getting so much hate because it may or may not get it.
This is my first Samsung phone too. Touchwiz isn't too bad, in my opinion, especially for someone who had been using iphone religiously since 2007 to 2010.
Its just tw is way too laggy so I want it gone. I just got my SGS2 and cannot wait to start playing with tw 4.0.
Personally, I'm ok with sense, and I absolutely hate motoblur. Id still rather go with launcherpro or launcher EX.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App
Im one of them its plain and simple i really like it
I don't mind TouchWiz at all.
If I had to rate my phone experiences, it would be:
HTC Sense > TouchWiz > LG Revolution UI (Optimus?) > MotoBlur.
The only reason I use LauncherPro vs TouchWiz is because LP has about half the memory footprint and I like the fast-scrolling options and the vertical scrolling app tray better.
I don't mind TouchWiz at all. I had the Fascinate, and then won the Charge through the Droid Landing promotion. While I don't mind TouchWiz, I still ended up putting Go Launcher EX on both of my phones- I like the way it runs, and that all of the options usually reserved for donate/ pay versions of Launcher Pro or ADW are free...and it seems faster/ lighter/ better.
I love it. My wife has an HTC phone and I am not at all fond of the idiosyncrasies of Sense. I am thinking about trying Launcher Pro though, just so when I switch phones down the road I'll be used to it and I can take my interface experience with me if I don't get a Samsung next time.
I'm totally in the opposite camp. My last phone was an Incredible and I really liked the subtitles of Sense. On the other hand I despise touchwiz. I think it's bloated and really ugly. Since I got my charge I've been on a quest to replace it a piece at a time.
TW is pretty clunky and bloated IMO. I dislike the iPhone copycat app drawer too. The only redeeming quality of TW is power control widget built in to the the pull down status bar. Im running inmuts's debloated ED2 rom, running launcherpro, and I have nitsuj17's gingerbread theme installed. Almost all traces of sammy's UI are gone.
bruther1 said:
TW is pretty clunky and bloated IMO. I dislike the iPhone copycat app drawer too. The only redeeming quality of TW is power control widget built in to the the pull down status bar. Im running inmuts's debloated ED2 rom, running launcherpro, and I have nitsuj17's gingerbread theme installed. Almost all traces of sammy's UI are gone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like it except for the verizon bloatware crap I can't remove.....much better than Motoblur !!
Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk
I like it too, I'm using as we speak. Even though I have both paid versions ADW ex and launcher pro +.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App
bruther1 said:
TW is pretty clunky and bloated IMO. I dislike the iPhone copycat app drawer too. The only redeeming quality of TW is power control widget built in to the the pull down status bar. Im running inmuts's debloated ED2 rom, running launcherpro, and I have nitsuj17's gingerbread theme installed. Almost all traces of sammy's UI are gone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to say I would strongly reconsider flashing a ROM that didn't have the power control buttons in the notification drawer, those are great and really help my battery life. I'm not using anything else, froze most of the stock apps as well as the TW launcher, running Go Launcher and its great.
bruther1 said:
TW is pretty clunky and bloated IMO. I dislike the iPhone copycat app drawer too. The only redeeming quality of TW is power control widget built in to the the pull down status bar. Im running inmuts's debloated ED2 rom, running launcherpro, and I have nitsuj17's gingerbread theme installed. Almost all traces of sammy's UI are gone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't you change the app drawer panel to a list?
Bow chika wah wah
I didn't like the list view as much as stock android or launcherpro. I'll have to try golauncher.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk
I like TW a lot more now, after I loaded ADW Launcher EX and the Debloated v4 ROM.
I like touchwiz as an interface only. I've wanted an iphone but loved the google-centricity of the android OS. Touchwiz gives me the google integration I need, with the iphone interface I desire. as for the bloat......well root took care of some of it
i didnt mind touchwiz on the nero v5 rom for my vibrant. the reskinning really made it alot nicer, im hoping for some team whiskey love for the charge. i do miss sense tho i had from the virtuous rom on my g2 it was easier to get used to stock personally
im wondering if anybody will port touchwiz 4 to the infuse its on just about every other phone and i know the infuse is relatively new still, but we have a few roms already and lots of dev that was done faster than normal so i don't see why it would take long to port a launcher. im not a dev so i don't really know but i would love if the tw4 launcher would come to infuse.
derik.p said:
im wondering if anybody will port touchwiz 4 to the infuse its on just about every other phone and i know the infuse is relatively new still, but we have a few roms already and lots of dev that was done faster than normal so i don't see why it would take long to port a launcher. im not a dev so i don't really know but i would love if the tw4 launcher would come to infuse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes it was done on the vibrant for 2.2 so it is posible, just needs some libs and i think a framwork or services.jar mod or something. nopcodex indicated it might added to his bionix infinity rom. i wouldnt be surprised if mikey mike does the same.
touchwiz 4 features??
Hi all,
I am from india. i wanted to know whether the touchwiz 4 is modified for infuse or is directly taken from samsung galaxy s2?
I am asking this coz in touch wiz there is 3G 324M integration for Native video calling using phone calls as 3G services.
waiting for the reply!?!?
derik.p said:
im wondering if anybody will port touchwiz 4 to the infuse its on just about every other phone and i know the infuse is relatively new still, but we have a few roms already and lots of dev that was done faster than normal so i don't see why it would take long to port a launcher. im not a dev so i don't really know but i would love if the tw4 launcher would come to infuse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1061883
Try that. I used it for about a week it's actually quite smooth
I love this launcher, they have made so much progress with it. Very smooth.
You can back-up your homescreen and other pages so after you flash a new rom and reinstall your apps you go into the launcher settings hit restore! Voila all your pages/homescreen are back to your preferences. It even puts your widgets back where they belong!
Love it! I'll never flash without it!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App
thank you for your work!
sshukrun said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1061883
Try that. I used it for about a week it's actually quite smooth
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use this launcher as well and its great when it works, but at least a couple of times a day for no reason at all it will slow down and/or freeze up and I have to wait for abit for my phone to respond again. And sometimes it will crash as well and my phone will reboot.
Yeah, that happened to me too.
I love 4.0, but I couldn't stand that random reboots so I went back to Launcher Pro. I think I read somewhere that the reboots happen when your phone uses too much resources.
Using go launcher ex myself. A lot of themes online and it has the option to back up the launcher so that after a flash you can go right back to your home screens
Hey guys, I was wondering if anyone else was having trouble with other launchers? I got Launcher Pro, and froze sense and sense desktop in Titanium. Phone is much laggier than with just sense going. I thought by freezing sense, the phone should be better? Is there any other part of sense that needs freezing?
Matt
mrg02d said:
Hey guys, I was wondering if anyone else was having trouble with other launchers? I got Launcher Pro, and froze sense and sense desktop in Titanium. Phone is much laggier than with just sense going. I thought by freezing sense, the phone should be better? Is there any other part of sense that needs freezing?
Matt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never thought of freezing sense when using LP. In my experience you just leave the root OS there and use LP as a replacement launcher. I never "froze" MIUI when I had that and was laggy, I just used LP as a launcher addition.
Hmmm....It just seems so much worse than Sense 3.0. It seems to stutter an awful lot and whatnot. I tried with and without freezing.
Matt
It seems like the experience with launchers is pretty random. Some people say their favorite launcher runs great, while someone else will say the exact opposite. My advice: try a different launcher. It shouldn't be laggy but who knows.
Got SPB Shell 3d, ad launcher ex, launcher pro plus, none of them lag to be honest m8, not sure why yours is? Maybe it's a widget based ting?
dladz said:
Got SPB Shell 3d, ad launcher ex, launcher pro plus, none of them lag to be honest m8, not sure why yours is? Maybe it's a widget based ting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, very odd! Everyone seems to say Sense 3.0 is laggy and complains of so many problems. I havent seen ANY of these laggy problems at all.
Oh well...
Matt
sorry to resurrect, but I was about to start a new thread and this one popped up in the search...
I don't know what it is about LP, but I can't get it to run smooth on this phone - never problems with any previous, and I've owned a LOT. It's gotta be a memory management issue, b/c if I load up CM7, it runs like butter (I've never tried any other ROMs, just rooted stock and CM7). It's mainly in the app drawer - opening/closing stutters/jerks like crazy, then moving through the app drawer is jerky too. The homescreen seems to run normal, however. It's very odd. Wish I could figure it out... I like running rooted stock for the lack of bugs (though CM7 alpha is pretty darn good), but prefer LP as a launcher.
go launcher is much smoother than launcher pro
Kurisu87 said:
go launcher is much smoother than launcher pro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know, at least on this phone, and ADW runs great as well... it's just odd to me that the Sensation is the only phone I've ever had this issue with (and some others, too, it seems). I've had a Thunderbolt, Inc2, Inc, DX, DX2, and D1, and LP was perfect on all of them.
jntdroid said:
sorry to resurrect, but I was about to start a new thread and this one popped up in the search...
I don't know what it is about LP, but I can't get it to run smooth on this phone - never problems with any previous, and I've owned a LOT. It's gotta be a memory management issue, b/c if I load up CM7, it runs like butter (I've never tried any other ROMs, just rooted stock and CM7). It's mainly in the app drawer - opening/closing stutters/jerks like crazy, then moving through the app drawer is jerky too. The homescreen seems to run normal, however. It's very odd. Wish I could figure it out... I like running rooted stock for the lack of bugs (though CM7 alpha is pretty darn good), but prefer LP as a launcher.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. I'm running stock with Launcher Pro and its just not as smooth as say my MyTouch 4G, especially the app drawer.
And let me take this opportunity to ask: why is this phone so freaking laggy? I it should not lag because the hardware is there, but how could HTC release software that is so laggy? I notice especially that when scrolling up and down menus it stutters a lot. This really pisses me off. I'll root eventually and I know it will unleash the true power of this phone, but really how could HTC let this pass?
Looks like the aftermarket has been working hard on Android 4.0 compatibility because I was able to install both the ADWLauncher EX and LauncherPro Plus launchers on my ICS phone and they work fine. I chose to stay with ADWLauncher EX because of looking much more like the original ICS UI and allowing the same folder creation as in ICS. And the dock looks much the same. The only drawback is the lack of the search bar at the top. I prefer it.
Usability wise, these launchers completely smooth out ICS to buttery goodness. ADWLauncher EX allows for scrolling speed adjustment that makes a quick flick a pleasurable experience, no lag to be suffered anywhere. Both launchers bring back the more desired widget choosing function of previous Androids...tap & hold on homescreen.
It's really pleasing now. You get the functional goodness of ICS (excellent multitasker, softkeys and all that ICS brings performance-wise without the troubling UI performance issues.
Oh, and you get to use the OEM scrollable widgets.
Oh dear... And now you're back to liking ICS. You're quite impulsive with your opinions, what will it be tomorrow?
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
MartyLK said:
Looks like the aftermarket has been working hard on Android 4.0 compatibility because I was able to install both the ADWLauncher EX and LauncherPro Plus launchers on my ICS phone and they work fine. I chose to stay with ADWLauncher EX because of looking much more like the original ICS UI and allowing the same folder creation as in ICS. And the dock looks much the same. The only drawback is the lack of the search bar at the top. I prefer it.
Usability wise, these launchers completely smooth out ICS to buttery goodness. ADWLauncher EX allows for scrolling speed adjustment that makes a quick flick a pleasurable experience, no lag to be suffered anywhere. Both launchers bring back the more desired widget choosing function of previous Androids...tap & hold on homescreen.
It's really pleasing now. You get the functional goodness of ICS (excellent multitasker, softkeys and all that ICS brings performance-wise without the troubling UI performance issues.
Oh, and you get to use the OEM scrollable widgets.
Click to expand...
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I have a great setup on an Evo I modded for someone with Launcher Pro skinned to look exactly like ICS, on a CM7 ROM with Theme Chooser set to an ICS theme. It looks and feels amazing.
I don't think I will ever use stock launcher on an aosp device, it's so funny how 3rd party launcher guys make it so much smoother than google does.
ICS as an OS, although I like it, is starting a trend I don't like as "user friendly" to the point where things are harder to deal with. I actually prefer GB style widget adding instead of the HC sort and ICS sort where you swype the dock to get to the widgets. Other things like that. I don't know, maybe I just need to get used to it.
This should go in your other thread about ICS being a letdown, rather than starting a new one. Would you raise that for a mod please?
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Archer said:
This should go in your other thread about ICS being a letdown, rather than starting a new one. Would you raise that for a mod please?
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Have a look at that thread...I won't spoil it for you, go take a look.
MartyLK said:
Have a look at that thread...I won't spoil it for you, go take a look.
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I see it was quite rightly closed.
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Archer said:
What I meant was that you should not have started this thread. Please ask a mod to merge them or close this one.
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Wow...really? You didn't see that the other thread was closed??
Apologies for seeming insensitive.
Duhh..i thought the biggest new thing about ICS would have been the ability to have a decent experience out of the box, knowing that i can change the launcher doesn't impress me much. Tbh 2.3 had already nearly all of the functions i needed, what i really wanted was a smoother and simplified ui, with less workarounds to be used, and at the end of the day it doesn't seems like ICS is really bringing that stuff to the user. Just my 2 cents.
vnvman said:
Duhh..i thought the biggest new thing about ICS would have been the ability to have a decent experience out of the box, knowing that i can change the launcher doesn't impress me much. Tbh 2.3 had already nearly all of the functions i needed, what i really wanted was a smoother and simplified ui, with less workarounds to be used, and at the end of the day it doesn't seems like ICS is really bringing that stuff to the user. Just my 2 cents.
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I tend to agree, I like 2.3 with a custom launcher over 4.x with stock launcher any day.
I just did a clean install of Android 4.0.3 on my HD2 and the difference is night and day. It is sublime. So buttery smooth and fast. The Galaxy Nexus is now back on the table and a wanted piece of hardware.
MartyLK said:
I just did a clean install of Android 4.0.3 on my HD2 and the difference is night and day. It is sublime. So buttery smooth and fast. The Galaxy Nexus is now back on the table and a wanted piece of hardware.
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Does it compare well to the ui smoothness of wp7 as not having ics myself I am curious?
Dave
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mistermentality said:
Does it compare well to the ui smoothness of wp7 as not having ics myself I am curious?
Dave
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Not with the stock UI. It approaches iPhone smooth, but not WP7 smooth. But I am using ADW EX launcher and with that, it is WP7 smooth. I was using ADW on 4.0.2 and it made ICS very usable. But with 4.0.3, the difference is spectacular, to put it modestly.
Wish we could get this for Samsung Tab 10.1's already.
I'm liking the stock launcher. My Nexus runs like a champ.
Sent from my Nexus S
vetvito said:
I'm liking the stock launcher. My Nexus runs like a champ.
Sent from my Nexus S
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Yeah, the stock launcher is really, really good. The best stock launcher of any of the Nexus'. I just find more convenience with ADW and it looks almost exactly the same...configured the right way.
I'm a huge fan of how smooth ICS is, regardless of the launcher. I've not messed around with Honeycomb too much, so going from Gingerbread to ICS is a huge jump for me in terms of appearance and performance.
MartyLK said:
Not with the stock UI. It approaches iPhone smooth, but not WP7 smooth. But I am using ADW EX launcher and with that, it is WP7 smooth. I was using ADW on 4.0.2 and it made ICS very usable. But with 4.0.3, the difference is spectacular, to put it modestly.
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Its not because of changes in adw then? Would love to know what they changed to make the difference but glad they did it.
Dave
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mistermentality said:
Its not because of changes in adw then? Would love to know what they changed to make the difference but glad they did it.
Dave
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It dawns on me that the quality and pleasure I'm experiencing now could be something entirely to do with Tytung's efforts with his custom ROM rather than a reality of the 4.0.3 OEM.
ADW is exactly the same between the two version. I can't see them making any changes from one to the next in such a short period of time. Not saying it's impossible, just saying unlikely. With this custom ROM, I actually updated to 4.0.3 initially rather than do a clean install. Even with an update 4.0.3 was noticeably smoother. Only until I did a clean install did I experience the speed and buttery smoothness of 4.0.3. It is a dramatic difference.
Well,you can even try GoLauncher on ICS and it'll be buttery smooth too,whereas in Gingerbread it's nowhere near the other launchers in terms of smoothness(Unless you own a 1.6GHz Galaxy S II ).Hardware acceleration does good after all.And some under-the-hood improvements in 4.0.3 are what makes it as good.Wait for some proper roms and you'll see(Not that Tytung's rom or any other ICS rom isn't good,but none of them is final,rather something like being in beta phase).
MartyLK said:
It dawns on me that the quality and pleasure I'm experiencing now could be something entirely to do with Tytung's efforts with his custom ROM rather than a reality of the 4.0.3 OEM.
ADW is exactly the same between the two version. I can't see them making any changes from one to the next in such a short period of time. Not saying it's impossible, just saying unlikely. With this custom ROM, I actually updated to 4.0.3 initially rather than do a clean install. Even with an update 4.0.3 was noticeably smoother. Only until I did a clean install did I experience the speed and buttery smoothness of 4.0.3. It is a dramatic difference.
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So maybe tytung somehows trims down ics to remove problem issues?
Dave
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