I received a PM asking how to do this after a post I put in the Best Launcher thread so I thought I might share how I've had my phones set up for some time which gives the best of both worlds. Namely Nova as a launcher and Blinkfeed at the touch of a button for news updates and anything else you fancy which it does. I'm unsure if you will be able to do this with another launcher rather than Nova, I've not tried.
Go to this thread and download HTC Home and HTC Servicepack and install them as any other apk file via a file explorer. Don't forget to leave a thanks. The rest of the apk files in that thread are options, I don't use them myself but if you want things like Facebook and weather to work exactly the same as a HTC device then the options are there.
Once they're installed go into Nova settings. Then go to Gestures & Inputs -> Home Button -> Shortcuts -> Activities -> Sense Home -> Sense Home (the one with 'Launcher' written underneath).
You're done. This will set it up so that, when you're on Nova's homescreen, pressing the home button will launch Blinkfeed, pressing it again in Blinkfeed will take you back to Nova. At any other time the home button works as normal. You can also set it up so it works with a gesture instead, although I've always found the home button to be the best way of doing it.
Another thing worth doing, I've set up Greenify to automatically close Blinkfeed on sleep, this ensures it doesn't hog any battery in the background.
Thanks bro. It really helps!
This is great. I had some trouble in that the News Republic app I had installed was interfering with blinkfeed (not surprisingly) and not allowing it to populate. Once I removed NR blinkfeed worked great!
Is Blinkfeed significantly different than Flipboard, which can be installed from the Play Store?
Well this isn't working for me. By selecting the sense home launcher it is only opening the sense home app not blink feed.
meyerweb said:
Is Blinkfeed significantly different than Flipboard, which can be installed from the Play Store?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very much so. Blinkfeed is far better. Do a direct comparison and see what I mean.
joebongo said:
Well this isn't working for me. By selecting the sense home launcher it is only opening the sense home app not blink feed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blinkfeed is part of that home app, swipe to the left. The easiest way of fixing this is to delete Sense home pages, meaning you end up going directly to the Blinkfeed page. The only downside of this is that the clock will always be at the top.
looking for one app to combine news, instagram and facebook feeds into one on my galaxy s7edge! Will this do it?
I am not rooted
help
Related
I was playing around with the HTC bookmark widget earlier, and noticed widgets can be dragged up and down. Are there any widgets available that act as a blank overlay for the homescreen, which can also scroll vertically to view more widgets and shortcuts? This can be helpful to access more on each homescreen and provided no one else knows about the vertical scroll, hiding a few "work documents" .
sanamkan said:
I was playing around with the HTC bookmark widget earlier, and noticed widgets can be dragged up and down. Are there any widgets available that act as a blank overlay for the homescreen, which can also scroll vertically to view more widgets and shortcuts? This can be helpful to access more on each homescreen and provided no one else knows about the vertical scroll, hiding a few "work documents" .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how long have you had your phone again?
just about everyone knows about scrollable widgets.
and no you cant make a homescreen vertically scrollable.
1. You are being a ****.
2. He didn't ask about scrollable widgets.
3. Yes its possible it would just require some heavy knowledge and coding.
I wasn't announcing that widgets could scroll, I was providing an example. Nor did I ask if it was possible to make the homescreen scroll. What I'm asking IS possible. I was only asking if it already exists.
sanamkan said:
I wasn't announcing that widgets could scroll, I was providing an example. Nor did I ask if it was possible to make the homescreen scroll. What I'm asking IS possible. I was only asking if it already exists.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't seen anything like that and I understand what you are asking. You would need to go to the android app dev section to see if someone will take A TON of time to make a full screen vertical scrolling widget that you can place other widgets in.
Would it be impossible to look at bookmark widget's code as a basis? As for integrating shortcuts into a widget, I could probably try and contact the dev of Multi icon. That should take care of the major concerns, right?
I dont know if you could make a widget that lets you host other widgets or shortcuts. but there are 2 options that may work for you
one is the folder system, you can make folders to keep your app shortcuts in, but they will not allow you to nest widgets inside of them.
another option is to use a secondary launcher like launcher pro or ADW launcher, and when you want to access the shortcuts or widgets that are in that launcher you can open it up. then you can set one of the launchers to be the default when you hit the home button, or have it ask you each time you hit it.
just my 2 cents, but don't give up on the widget inside a widget idea, im sure a bunch of people would like to have that ability
Teksu said:
I dont know if you could make a widget that lets you host other widgets or shortcuts. but there are 2 options that may work for you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The program/shortcut integrated in a widget is performed perfectly on the Multi icon widget. Pre-existing widgets in the widget haven't been included, but the dev has begun creating specialty widgets. I do recommend checking it out.
Teksu said:
another option is to use a secondary launcher like launcher pro or ADW launcher, and when you want to access the shortcuts or widgets that are in that launcher you can open it up. then you can set one of the launchers to be the default when you hit the home button, or have it ask you each time you hit it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried QuickDesk, which keeps your current launcher, but enables a popup homescreen when you double tap the home button. It's not the smoothest process by any means, and somehow makes HTC Sense pop up in your home button long press. If you know of any better attempts at this, I'd like to see how those work as opposed to this one. It may be simpler than eventually having to create a new one, right?
Actually, being able to pull up or down on the home screen to activate something like quickdesk would be pretty cool. QD kinda sucks having to double tap on it, and the response is laggy because the button is getting confused as to what it's supposed to do.
as far as I know, the only Launcher that provides vertical scrolling functionality is HTCSense. It also provides the EditText widget as a RemoteView.
**in Android world, a "widget" is any GUI object, really. While the widgets we talk about adding to a Home screen is really called an "AppWidget"**
Its all about how the Launcher handles and behaves with RemoteViews.
For a Launcher to allow one of its AppWidgets to contain and run another AppWidget, that Launcher would have to provide a huge heap of new RemoteViews and surrounding functionality...or, the AppWidget container would have to somehow import the child AppWidget App and run it internally (not possible I think!).
There's a chance that MIUI (a new Chinese Launcher) provides AppWidget-within-Folder functionality. It may then expose custom RemoteViews and API interfaces to allow AppWidgets to be developed to do similar things
is the launcher the the same as the stock android launcher? if not could someone post it. thanks
Samsungs own I think, I use Launcher Pro though.
The stock launcher is TouchWiz. Its very good, smoother than launcherpro. And has a superior app drawer. I would use it if not for launcherpros customisation options.
Edit: i especially like the homescreen scrollong method in touchwiz, its much cooloer than lps elastic scrolling!
couldn't agree more!
For information: ADW.Launcher works well on the Tab too, no issues with the high resolution.
I'm using it rather than the stock TouchWiz one mostly so that I can customise the Browser and Email launch buttons. It has some extra nice touches, but can be configured to behave almost exactly like TouchWiz.
Launcher Pro is fast but its application drawer is very limited (it basically dumps a huge scrolling list of icons). Touchwiz is reasonably nice, but managing hundreds of application icons remains hard, despite the "move icon" feature in the application drawer. ADW.Launcher however, provides separate "groups" / "catalogs" panes to divide the application drawer into several distinct buckets of smaller size, which makes it a lot easier to find applications. I just hate browsing endless list of alphabetically-ordered icons
As for QuickDesk, it has some potential, but it is somewhat locked to portrait mode on my Galaxy Tab I am using it anyway as it plays nice with ADW.Launcher (the Home button gets hacked to support single/double tap and launch each of them individually).
Quickdesk pro has landscape support. It also acts as a completely different screen to portrait, so you can have FB/Twitter/music widgets in portrait and loads of icons in landscape
Sent from my HTC Desire
Hi, is it necessary to root the Tab before installing ADW.launcher?
Because I have tried installing it on my non-rooted Tab but the application doesn't want to install...
I'm using it rather than the stock TouchWiz one mostly so that I can customise the Browser and Email launch buttons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can replace these in the stock launcher!
Regards,
Dave
It's funny. Even though TouchWiz 3.0 comes on the Vibrant, I couldn't stand it. So, I use Launcher Pro Plus. On the Tab, I actually like it. It must have been much improved since then?
After testing several launchers, I have now become a fan of ADW.Launcher (mostly due to its categorization feature in the apps drawer) and QuickDesk (due to its quick-access to recent apps, and the ability to long-click to get to the app details, clear data, uninstall, etc.) I like how configurable everything is as well.
Remove Notification Bar
Hi guys,
Got the Tab yesterday and like it a lot. I don't like Samsumg's Touchwiz etc. so straight away I installed Launcher Pro and changed my home-screen etc.
Anyhow, I want to remove or at least stop the ever present notification strip appearing at the top. I had a Nexus One and was able to do this but can't remember how, can it be done on the tab as its wasting space on my homescreen, in the browser etc.
Cheers,
M
One the home screen, click the Menu button, Settings, Appearance Settings, Hide notification bar.
I kinda like TouchWiz. Mainly for the widgets which come in handy, but i absolutely love ADW. It may not have the widgets that LPP has, but imho, its 100x better.
Then QuickDesk Pro for the long press on thevsearch button to top it off
Sent from my GT-P1000
GANJDROID said:
I kinda like TouchWiz. Mainly for the widgets which come in handy, but i absolutely love ADW. It may not have the widgets that LPP has, but imho, its 100x better.
Then QuickDesk Pro for the long press on thevsearch button to top it off
Sent from my GT-P1000
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ADW.Launcher + QuickDesk => great combo !
I use the home button for both of them (using the "hack" setting for double-click support). Long-press on the Search button indeed brings up a few options, including AudioVolumizer (very useful).
ftgg99 said:
The stock launcher is TouchWiz. Its very good,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agree with that. & question - Tabs in Russian retail doesnt have Readers and Media Hub, or is it just mine? I have a wicked bookstore instead)
I was thinking of an app that could easily switch launchers. I've tried the apps on the play store, but it's not fast and easy to switch launchers. I thought of two ways to make this possible:
Option 1) *My personal favorite* Have a shortcut that takes you to another launcher. Add it to your home screen, and click it when you want to use it. I realize you can just add the icons for the launcher, but I'm talking about Touchwiz and Sense. It would be great for the shortcut to be themeable, because I have an all white/transparent thing going on in Launcher8.
Option 2) Click home button multiple times and go to a launcher. You could order it, like, 1 hit: Touchwiz, 2 hits: Nova, and so on. Just go in the app and drag to change order. Best suited for capacitive buttons.
Bonus, because it's not quick and easy) Add a Notification. Once it's hit, you can choose the launcher that the home button will take you to. Check the launcher you want, and hit home. Works best if you want to use a launcher for a certain amount of time.
What do you guys think? If any developer could attempt this, that would be awesome.
you can try "home manager" from the playstore. It helps to switch home from the notification bar.
Hi, Have looked around the internet and have found plenty of reference to the S7 and how to fix this but those fixes dont seem to work for the S8+. Anyway the issue is that having installed Nova Launcher and tried to add the Google Calendar and MyFitnessPal Widgets I have noticed that they are quite large in comparison to that of the stock launcher, they seem out of place, even the google search bar looks odd. Does anyone know of a way to fix this?
Found this in web "Support response: *That's something that Samsung does to either try and prevent you from using 3rd party launchers like Nova, or to stop you from using their widgets within 3rd party launchers. *. I also want to use nova launcher but widgets' resolution is too high, any solutions ?
This particular issue is annoying to say the least. Widgets look like crap on Nova vs stock...BUT I did find a workaround with my S8 and just did it on my S10. I haven't seen this solution posted anywhere, but I'm sure many OCD people like myself will be happy:
Create a new Nova widget for "activities". Scroll down to "touchwiz" or "One UI" (for Samsung, may differ depending on what your stock launcher is called). Expand "One UI" and select the activity that ends with ".Launcher. "
That's it! now you can load your stock launcher with a tap of a button. I use this button to load all my widgets (with the mentioned resolution issue) since they are all organized on the stock launcher just they way I like. A press of the home button will take you back to Nova home screen.
Depending on your icon packs, you can make the icon disappear by selecting no icon so you have a "secret" location to launch your widgets or select any icon you wish.
Alternatively, If you don't want to use an icon, you can do the same with Gestures if you have Nova Prime. Just select the gesture to be an "activity" from the shortcuts tab and select that launcher activity as noted above.
Thank you!
You're brilliant. That's all I wanted t express and I made an account to say this. This had been bugging me for so long!
palakb said:
This particular issue is annoying to say the least. Widgets look like crap on Nova vs stock...BUT I did find a workaround with my S8 and just did it on my S10. I haven't seen this solution posted anywhere, but I'm sure many OCD people like myself will be happy:
Create a new Nova widget for "activities". Scroll down to "touchwiz" or "One UI" (for Samsung, may differ depending on what your stock launcher is called). Expand "One UI" and select the activity that ends with ".Launcher. "
That's it! now you can load your stock launcher with a tap of a button. I use this button to load all my widgets (with the mentioned resolution issue) since they are all organized on the stock launcher just they way I like. A press of the home button will take you back to Nova home screen.
Depending on your icon packs, you can make the icon disappear by selecting no icon so you have a "secret" location to launch your widgets or select any icon you wish.
Alternatively, If you don't want to use an icon, you can do the same with Gestures if you have Nova Prime. Just select the gesture to be an "activity" from the shortcuts tab and select that launcher activity as noted above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Brilliant solution. I might say this workaround is even better than solving the actual problem. I love android.
Is it possible to remove the Google Agenda from the top of your home screen.
I've got a wheather app with the same time and date right under it.
I think you can remove almost everything but the calendar.
Alternatively you can use pixel launcher mods (root) to change top widget
You can remove the calendar but not the day and date. It's really annoying as it takes up a large invisible box at the top that is out of bounds for widgets. (No, I don't want to use other launchers)
benzwirs said:
Is it possible to remove the Google Agenda from the top of your home screen.
I've got a wheather app with the same time and date right under it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately not. Lawnchair and Nova are two very popular third party launchers that let you pretty much customize every aspect of your home screen.
For me on almost every phone I have used in the last several years it's Nova Prime. I prefer to use native apps when I can. I only use 3rd party apps when the native system cannot do what I want. I would like to use the Google Launcher but for me it is bad! Far too restrictive. If I could remove that hideous search bar I would give it another try but until Google relents I will stick with Nova.
I'm in the same boat as you! Pretty much had Nova on all my Androids since it came out. I recently just returned to the Pixel lineup after trying to give Apple another chance and am happy with the stock launcher for now. I have no doubts that will change in a month but this phone is so big compared to my old iphone 13 pro that some space being taken up with the search bar and date/weather doesn't bother me yet haha. I do wish Google would at least let you move that unsightly bar. I want a real dock back
Nova launcher works nicely, you can do whatever you like, so I removed the Agenda + date and gave the Google search bar a different place.
But I miss the Google page when you swipe left. on the stock / Pixel launcher and I can not find it the widget.
What is it, the Google page ?
Given that you can make other third part options like Nova look literally identical to Google's launcher should you wish, I'm a bit baffled why anyone would insist on using the default launcher given its (apparently annoying) limitations.
benzwirs said:
Nova launcher works nicely, you can do whatever you like, so I removed the Agenda + date and gave the Google search bar a different place.
But I miss the Google page when you swipe left. on the stock / Pixel launcher and I can not find it the widget.
What is it, the Google page ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same problem. Missing those daily News.
Edit
Figured it out.
Just install nova google companion
Works awesome.
benzwirs said:
Nova launcher works nicely, you can do whatever you like, so I removed the Agenda + date and gave the Google search bar a different place.
But I miss the Google page when you swipe left. on the stock / Pixel launcher and I can not find it the widget.
What is it, the Google page ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have the Nova Google Companion app installed? I know it hasn't been updated in a while but as far as I know it still works.
Thanks guys, it still works.
Very happy.