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What is the best or most functional home screen launcher on the market for the Droid X? Not sure witch one to buy.
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I love launcher pro
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I woulnd't buy anything. I'd with one of the free ones like ADW or Launcher Pro.
Launcher Pro...
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I love Launcher Pro, which is free. But if you buy Launcher Pro Plus you get some AWESOME widgets, including the Facebook widget which is the best facebook app available IMHO. Also get messaging, twitter, calendar, and people widgets. They are some of the nicest widgets on the market and you get them all while supporting a great developer who is always improving his app.
+1 for LP. Use the free one first, then you will be UPgrading in no time.
picked up launcher pro not sure why many use adw. IMO LP works much better. gl with your choice.
Droid X 7 said:
What is the best or most functional home screen launcher on the market for the Droid X? Not sure witch one to buy.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
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I think it really depends on who you talk to. Some like ADW, others (like myself) love or prefer Launcher Pro (or Pro Plus, which is the paid version).
I like LP+ because of the very functional widgets that come with, along with the very nice widget resizer that works on ALL widgets. Both of these features come with the paid version of LP+. What really endeared me to LP+ over ADW was the memory settings. ADW when I tried it really ran my system down into stutter territory. LP+ in stock settings did this, but what it had over and above ADW was the ability to custom tweek its memory settings. I found a balance of settings in LP+ that really allowed it to run lightly on my system and aside from giving it time (say about 10 seconds or so) initially to build the caches on startup and after a long time out of the launcher, it really flies. That's b/c I have it set to load up all its relevant caches first and keep them unless heap memory is needed. That means valuable cpu clock time isn't spent building caches or spent refilling the cache for redrawing when I switch homescreens.
Also, the customizable dock and icons was a major selling point. I also like having the ability to have multiple docks (only running just one right now, but still, I can see future situations where it would be nice to have multiple docks) and have gestures enabled on top of the dock icons, giving each the possibility of an alternate function (doubling the amount of stuff one can launch from the dock.... including custom-programable activities).
I don't know about the responsiveness of the devs for ADW, so don't take this as any statement concerning them, but the developer for LP+ is quite active and listens to his users. His own forum is quite active and he's involved on there, as are his forum mods. Suggestions are listened to, and if viable and practical they are implemented, and we've seen this happen.
So, all in all, I really love LP+ and find it to really be a superior launcher program. The brief time I spent using ADW I felt it was neat but didn't really offer anything that made it shine above LP+, but it did have some flaws that while not deal-breakers collectively or in and of themselves, still essentially turned the balance of favor for me clearly over to LP+.
I prefer LauncherPro. Have used ADW briefly but always go back to LP. Even upgraded to the Plus version.
In the LauncherPro settings under General, I checked the Droid Hack and noticed some apps would hang when I would exit them. Unchecked this option and it improved performance, but there is still some lag sometimes.
Was wondering if anyone can post optimal settings here so we can try them out. I purchased the Pro lisence.
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+1 on LauncherPro Plus! Hard to beat, and the sense type widgets are awesome! I barely miss the sense ui on my incredible.
they are both fantastic. LP widgets (especially themed) and 3d drawer look awesome and another plus with the dock. ADW though i find to be nices scrolling through homescreens and the upswipe to bring up a new osx-like dock is appealing. That being said im running both with ADW as my hard button default home, 10 homescreens between the two of them, LP used for "large" widgets and ADW for shortcuts and smaller widgets. It switches launchers instantly thru dock shortcuts so i wont be getting rid of either one of them. Attempting to skin them 2 different colors isnt going so well tho...
How do you keep your phone from stuttering and lagging running two cpu-demanding launcher setups? With all those screens and the need for quick redraws, your heap memory has GOT to be ready to burst.
I was actually pretty surprised. Android does a pretty damn good job managing resources it seems. I do keep setcpu at 1k all the time unless the screen is off or im under 20%, which is never. That probably helped. I honestly didnt expect it to work this well though
add me up on the LP users...
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Launcher Pro....no contest. ADW launcher is ok but Cyanogen like to talk @#$%
Launcherpro ftw!!!! never use ADW it is pure crap compared to LP
I am surprised no one has mentioned Zeam. Pretty good. And there is a thread right here on XDA...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=664149
I like some of the settings (swipe up for app drawer, swipe down for taskbar, double tap for dialer etc).
I have LaincherPro+, but right now I am using Zeam.
I’ve been using launcher pro plus since I bought my DX at launch. It's been great and has lots of options to customize the hell out of the phone.
It is possible that I have tried every launcher out there from ADW to Zeam .. I always end up back with the simplest one there is I think the Launcher 7 .. BUT IT IS SOOOOO VERRRRY UGGGLLY !!! When I want the EXACT OPPOSITE I tried SPB Shell 3D .. I have spent too much money buying and not using too many of them. Go Launcher is free and I like it --- SORT OF .. Most recently I got Regina and I thought it was going to be "the one" but you can't change or add any programs to the bottom task bar. Just curious what others are using and why before I spend any more money .. to tell the truth I don't know if there are any others that I haven't tried.
Have you tried SPB Shell 3D or TSF the later being super super smooth!
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Somehow I missed an earlier post about the "top 3 launchers." I looked at about 45 seconds of the TSF launcher and promised myself not to jump in there and buy it but couldn't stop myself .. I just installed it and can't wait to start playing .. Good thing it is a VERY SLOW day here at work else I would have to just excuse myself and go home and play with my new launcher. I was wondering if a time would finally come where I stopped being a gadget-a-holic .. the answer is NO. I am old enough to collect Social Security but lucky that I don't have to yet because Social Security $$ are not enough to pay for my addiction to gadgets.
According to me these are the top 5 launchers based on smoothness, utility and simplicity:
1) S 3 Launcher (simple and fast)http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1684026
2) Apex Launcher (simple and fast)(download from playstore)
3) SSlauncher( u might like this one as u like 7 launcher)(download from playstore)
4) Dx Home Launcher ( again a nice one)(download from playstore)
5) Xperia Launcher( nice ui with small icons for galaxy note) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=25942989
and one more thing don't waste your money buying stuff for android..its Android baby!! Enjoy
Apex Launcher is smooth but has weird issues on redraw (black screen) sometimes on the Note. Nova Launcher works smoother and doesn't have that problem.
There's also the oldie but goldie... LauncherPro. Yes it hasn't been updated for a long time but a) it works and b) it's fast, even without gpu acceleration. Pity it's missing a few "modern" features like nice-looking folders and newer transitions...
Apex works for me.
I can hide the docks to make the screen simple - - minimalist at most.
SS Launcher definitely, its fresh air compared to other launchers... drawback is one's learning curve and creativity limitations lol
Nova Launcher
Installed Nova launcher on Rooted stock ICS ROM, it works perfect with all of the features in free version on rooted device with widgets and all. it also consume less memory & battery.
I am a fan of Apex but the Black redraw and freezing became a big headache. I just installed Nova and i only get a small redraw here or there. No more waiting 10 seconds for the black screen to disappear and have the homescreen visible again.
Will wait for Apex to fix it, till then sticking with Nova Prime.
Try "360 Laucher" really great and ergonomic with options who he is alone to have that
Nova, Apex, ga launcher all are good but if you need a breath of fresh air try SS Launcher preferably with oriental theme i am sure you will love it......
Found one that is simple with a lot of bells and whistles also. I like it, I think ... It is called "Hi Launcher."
TSF Shell all the way, it really is the dogs bollocks, nothing is as smooth on my Note.
I like it too ... in the youtube video. I haven't figured out how to do anything with it.
MiHome launcher of MIUI is just out, give it a try! its nice and everything seems working fine esp. the theme manager, but dont forget its only for ics though.
upvote for sslauncher too. lovely what you can do with it, i themed it to be magazine-styled
......then i upgraded to ics, and i forgot to back up my sslauncher settings
Nova ! The best for me and my gf ^^
(+ prime)
Watch out for the "coming soon" tsf v1.5.0!!! Can't wait any longer, c'mon guys!!!!
When I bought my Note, I installed Go Launcher EX like 6 hours after, and used it until recently when I updated to ICS. Now I use Nova Launcher PRIME. (it's the Pro version) It's totally smooth for me, on stock ROM and RocketROM (those are the only two I've tried), the battery doesn't seem to be suffering anything.
Besides the nice homescreen, what I like best about it is actually the app drawer customization. Folders and tabs, and none of that quasi-advertisement extras on Go Launcher (I'm referring to the links to the Go Store on the menus and on the app drawer itself) But that folder and tab thing (+ some effects and blah blah blah) are only on the Prime version.
Depending on the level of customization you like to work with, you can pick between the free or prime versions. But for me, I super-super-customize it so Prime is a good deal for me.
dhruvmalik said:
I am a fan of Apex but the Black redraw and freezing became a big headache. I just installed Nova and i only get a small redraw here or there. No more waiting 10 seconds for the black screen to disappear and have the homescreen visible again.
Will wait for Apex to fix it, till then sticking with Nova Prime.
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I have been using Apex in all ICS roms and never had those issues until I flashed a LQ3 based ROM. Now I get that often. I might be going to Nova to see if it works best but I miss all the transitions..so I guess I better get the Pro version.
Disclaimer this is my honest opinion about this launcher.
Ok so the best launcher for the SGS4G is Go Launcher EX with a Jellybean skin ontop so it looks like jelly bean in some ways and also its very smooth because its go launcher ex. Also go launcher is very flexible.
I would think that this should be in themes and apps....
The problem with anything "GO" is the push adds.
My opinion is ADW premium....now that's perfection.
Yep, back when I was on GB, ADW Premium was my launcher of choice. And since I picked it up for 10 cents on one of the sales, the price was pretty close to right as well.
Go EX has push adds and is a RAM eater, the reason I always preferred it over ADW EX, is that it always remembered my apps order within a folder. ADW always mixed the apps order inside the folder...
Anyway, Apex launcher is a good reason to shift to ICS on my opinion.
ADW since the update is just as good on 4.xxx. GO products are just crap IMO. They started out good and then turned into crap.
GO used to be good but now it's become one big ugly bloat.
Try Holo, it's ICS style but can run on GB.
I consider GO product malware at this point in time, between unclear privacy policies, forcing users to sync with their servers, and push ads.
The only go product I still use is Go SMS 'cause nothing else in google play can compare to that app.
If your on GB I can understand that but ics and beyond has much better stock mms.apk's.
eollie said:
If your on GB I can understand that but ics and beyond has much better stock mms.apk's.
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REally? I have not even 'cracked' the stock mms... [not on my Note either].
i use go sms for a few of the features but the less apps the better IMO...
I like the quick voice reply feature and some of the other message types that save plan. if they were better marketeers, they'd push that voice reply thing as a safety applet.... people need to stop texting in cars
cognus said:
REally? I have not even 'cracked' the stock mms... [not on my Note either].
i use go sms for a few of the features but the less apps the better IMO...
I like the quick voice reply feature and some of the other message types that save plan. if they were better marketeers, they'd push that voice reply thing as a safety applet.... people need to stop texting in cars
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Yep the stock app does everything I need it to. With 4.0 and many of the modded stock apps the support for emoji is native now. I dont messaging services like gtalk and fb messenger because I dont trust those type of third party apps anymore. TiB backs up my messages and call logs so those features are useless to me.
Best launcher for me was Zeam Launcher until ADW Launcher updated to what it is now. The paid version is THE S|-|¡+.
So I just got my Note Pro back from Samsung for flickering display repair. Well they updated my Pro to 5.0.2 which I figured was going to happen but I was almost at the end of my warranty. Now the "My Files" app is glued to the lower left corner of the home screen and I hate it. Does anyone know a way to get rid of it? I've been through the setting and enabled developer options but can't find a way to remove it. I plan to re-root but need to do some research on the newest root methods.
You can't get rid of it. I'd recommend switching to a different launcher I guess.
Different launcher......duh, why didn't I think of that. Thanks! I've tried a few launchers before in the past but didn't like them. Any recommendations?
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I'be used both Google now launcher and the nova launcher. Both are good, Google is great if you love Google services and use voice, Nova I liked better for the note for less Google Ness and some cool options.
mjkurke said:
I'be used both Google now launcher and the nova launcher. Both are good, Google is great if you love Google services and use voice, Nova I liked better for the note for less Google Ness and some cool options.
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I tried z launcher for a while it was nice, its the nokia one, check it out too
1. Folder in home screen. Do they really had to add that + sign inside the folder? Galaxy S6 did not have this. Whoever designed the folder and added a big fat + sign should get their head checked out. If I have 2 icons in one folder, there's a third button with a big fat + sign wasting space and distracting the user. Sure, different luncher will fix it but at what cost ($ or battery life from other bugs). The underlying thing for the UI doesn't change though. I also tried Samsung's other UI which you can download (GoodLock app) in their own app store, but that doesn't go well with the overall UI. ---> this is fixed in Nougat.
2. Bouncing effect in S-Health and other places. When I open S-Health to record my weight and scroll through the numbers, it's very hard to get it to stop on the place I want it to be because there's some stupid elastic bouncing back kicking and fourth effect on the dial. It moves for a while even after I let it go. I really hate this behavior and wonder whoever designed it had in mind. The person responsible should do something else for a living, and not be involved in designing user interface.
3. [edit: this one is treatable by changing Setting - Applications - Default applications - Default app selection] Default apps selection. Once you select an app, that becomes the default forever. Yeah, you can reset it by clearing the default, but I wish Samsung hadn't touched this behavior so I can choose to do it once "only for this time" or keep it as default.
4. User should be able to disable Samsung Calendar without 3rd party app, root, or adb. I find Samsung Calendar worse than stock Google's Calendar app so I use Google's Calendar app. Now why do I have to keep both if I'm not using it? So much for making TouchWiz lean. These apps should be uninstallable, or at least disable-able.
5. Every time I switch Auto Sync from quick settings pull-down, I get a warning message and must confirm that I will not get notifications about some apps and battery saving blablabla. It's almost ridiculous they did not add an option such as "Do not show again". This goes same for some other switches too. I think they fixed some such as the mobile data icon, or it may be a Verizon specific thing (as I'm using 935U). In the past you get a warning something in the line of "you won't have access to YouTube videos" and such stupid popup message.
6. High Volume warning. Every time, or once you reboot, or maybe every 24 hours this warning resets and comes back. I don't listen to music that loud but sometimes depending on what you connect you need to adjust the volume over 100% level. This stupid warning shows up and it won't let you go on unless you press OK. That's really stupid. I hate you whoever designed these this way.
I currently have a Verizon S7 Edge, with the latest 935U ROM stock, non-rooted. Because I hated how TouchWiz displays icon collection of folders, I was using NovaLauncher Prime for a while but went back because Nova Launcher caused more battery drain than TouchWiz. I turned off S-Health because it also causes some battery drain, and don't like to use it because the stupid scrolling kick bouncing effect. I tried iPhone SE for couple months, and it's so much more refined but I came back to S7 Edge because the better camera (even though it's artificially over sharpened) and for the file management ability.
I thought these annoyances would be fixed over time, but no, it's been almost 10 months since I got this phone and nothing has changed.
hp79 said:
1. Folder in home screen. Do they really had to add that + sign inside the folder? Galaxy S6 did not have this. Whoever designed the folder and added a big fat + sign should get their head checked out. If I have 2 icons in one folder, there's a third button with a big fat + sign wasting space and distracting the user.
2. Bouncing effect in S-Health and other places. When I open S-Health to record my weight and scroll through the numbers, it's very hard to get it to stop on the place I want it to be because there's some stupid elastic bouncing back and fourth effect on the dial. It moves for a while even after I let it go. I really hate this behavior and wonder whoever designed it had in mind. The person responsible should do something else for a living, and not be involved in designing user interface.
3. Default apps selection. Once you select an app, that becomes the default forever. Yeah, you can reset it by clearing the default, but I wish Samsung hadn't touched this behavior so I can choose to do it once "only for this time" or keep it as default.
4. User should be able to disable Samsung Calendar without 3rd party app, root, or adb. I find Samsung Calendar no better than stock Google's Calendar app, so why do I have to keep it if I'm not using it? So much for making TouchWiz lean.
I currently have a Verizon S7 Edge, with the latest 935U ROM stock, non-rooted. Because I hated how TouchWiz displays icon collection of folders, I am currently using NovaLauncher. I turned off S-Health because it causes some battery drain, and don't like to use it because the scrolling bouncing effect. I tried iPhoone SE for couple months, and it's so much more refined but I came back to S7 Edge because the better camera and file management.
I thought these annoyances would be fixed over time, but no, it's been almost 10 months since I got this phone and nothing has changed.
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Then why did you get this device? Why not a myriad other devices that didn't have TouchWiz?
Sell it and buy a Nexus
"And on that Bombshell"
Sent from my Echoe Powered Nougat G935f
s7freak said:
Then why did you get this device? Why not a myriad other devices that didn't have TouchWiz?
Sell it and buy a Nexus
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Because it has the best camera and some other hardware advantages. I like the water resistant feature, expandable storage, SamsungPay. Also, there was a $400 rebate when I bought this using a device payment plan. I paid it off the next day and closed the account with Verizon. So that's how I ended up with my S7 Edge.
Oh, and I heard Samsung was making TouchWiz leaner with less bloat, I think this was part of their promises from S6 days.
If you don't like TouchWiz why don't you switch back to Nova or Apex launcher?
Just use nova/apex/google launcher
As for your number 3 problem
You can change that behaviour in setting>applications>default applications
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Nova is the best launcher.
Woah, you sound agitated!
As for problem one, switch launcher. Problem two, three and four, that's just how Samsung has designed Touchwiz, there are plenty of other great phones with great software and components as camera (Pixel/iPhone) and water resistance (iPhone 7(pro)). As for the expandable storage, buy yourself an OTG cable and any USB stick! Hope to have helped you
Wait for Nougat. Not sure if you have tried/seen the beta, but it's :good:
I never ever used TouchWiz as a launcher. Nova from the start, and i never missed anything.
You should realize that every phone you will ever have is going to have something you won't like. And those things you counted can easily be fixed.
Running a Nougat Beta rom and i'm loving it. (TouchWiz was good too). I like it better then Stock Android.
Touchwiz is more than just a Launcher it's an integral part of the system.
If one doesn't like Touchwiz buy an LG or Pixel or a OnePlus3
"And on that Bombshell"
Sent from my Echoe Powered Nougat G935f
TW is better than it ever has been. With the theming engine I enjoy it much more than stock Android at this point!
mjs2011 said:
TW is better than it ever has been. With the theming engine I enjoy it much more than stock Android at this point!
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Agreed of course I'm an unabashed Sammy Fanboy LOL So yeah I'm a little biased
"And on that Bombshell"
Sent from my Echoe Powered Nougat G935f
s7freak said:
Touchwiz is more than just a Launcher it's an integral part of the system.
If one doesn't like Touchwiz buy an LG or Pixel or a OnePlus3
"And on that Bombshell"
Sent from my Echoe Powered Nougat G935f
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I agrre with you, one thing i miss, since galaxy s5, samsung stop to make infinity scrolling in home screen and app driver,
Sent from my SM-G935F using XDA-Developers mobile app
I had a OnePlusOne and a OnePlusX I really loved them but I just love my Sammy devices more. One Plus devices are fantastically built but just not Sdevices
Of course this is all my own opinion
"And on that Bombshell"
Sent from my Echoe Powered Nougat G935f
Point 1: wait for Nougat
Other point are no issue for me
just got the s7 Edge today, will be delivered in a few days. I have a few questions about TouchWiz. Is the 'theme engine' thing really that good? Does it change Touchwiz that much depending on the theme used? I love Nova Launcher, so i'm wondering if i use it, will i be able to Theme my phone at the same time...
LightspeeDLee said:
just got the s7 Edge today, will be delivered in a few days. I have a few questions about TouchWiz. Is the 'theme engine' thing really that good? Does it change Touchwiz that much depending on the theme used? I love Nova Launcher, so i'm wondering if i use it, will i be able to Theme my phone at the same time...
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The theme engine doesn't just change your icons, but changes the UI (menu, dialer, messages, quick settings, etc)
I really like it. Be warned, there are a ton of themes and probably only a small fraction of them are good, but the good ones are pretty fantastic.
Here are a few to try when you get the phone.
Bleex
Material Dark
Black and Blue Amoled
Bleen
Morfix
Aurora