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[Q] Launcher and home screen smoothness

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.
Click to expand...
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.

no MIUI? no Problem! there is something to fill in the GAP!

Hi Customization freeks! Howdidoo?
It’s quite long we are waiting for MIUI to be ported to our fav SGT. But seem’s like things are pretty slow. So, there is something I come across the market to fill in the GAP.
Yes, It’s again a Chinese Theme based application works pretty well on upto 4.3” screens but do not disappoints the 7 incher either.
I wonder how XDA Developer.com did not focus on this application. Here’s the market link.
https://market.android.com/search?q=sskin+butterfly&so=1&c=apps
The previews of the themes are in Chinese but when you apply the themes, they adopt the system language. Well, I really don’t know for the other languages but yes for the English. At least 15 themes are free and there is no sign anywhere on the net that, someone must have uploaded the paid themes. I guess this application is new and will do wonders gradually.
Apart from this, I would like to suggest few more fancy applications which you guys must be well aware of for those who are not, try them.
Go Keyboard,
Go Contact’s,
Go Weather,
Battery widget viewer,
Circle Launcher.
I hope this will keep you busy until MIUI pops up

So what exactly does it theme? Is it a replacement launcher?

natious said:
So what exactly does it theme? Is it a replacement launcher?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ye! it is a replacement Launcher but wi-bit different i would say cuz it have themes which changes the whole appearance unlike other launchers working on ginger 2.3.3

I'll give it a spin.
| Don't Revive Me Bro! |

checked it out, seems pretty ****ing cool lol, i like the running apps widget, just needs widget resizing.
Thanks, now i have somthing new to play with when i cant sleep lol
edit: Its extremely slow when looking at themes via the launcher.

natious said:
checked it out, seems pretty ****ing cool lol, i like the running apps widget, just needs widget resizing.
Thanks, now i have somthing new to play with when i cant sleep lol
edit: Its extremely slow when looking at themes via the launcher.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
seems like there are people like minds. only difference is i play with it and stay awake, you play with it when you don't get sleep.
i wish someone could've updated the paid theme's they are sexy specially the rain theme.

It's slow, and the customization options that you have is even less than Zeam. You can't even set it to have more rows x columns in the homescreen, nor can you resize widgets.
And it looks Korean since most of its themes are based on Korean artists.

Thanks mate! Butterfly Launcher + [SSKIN] Liveback_Sense looks perfect

iuzar said:
Thanks mate! Butterfly Launcher + [SSKIN] Liveback_Sense looks perfect
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah man its cool. i like the flip of the theme. it's pretty fast on my tab i wonder how come its slow on other users as mentioned above. some people do not reboot their tabs as a result they become heavy. a reboot is a must in a day.

jacktackle said:
yeah man its cool. i like the flip of the theme. it's pretty fast on my tab i wonder how come its slow on other users as mentioned above. some people do not reboot their tabs as a result they become heavy. a reboot is a must in a day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The launcher its self isnt "slow" but browsing for themes with the inbuilt "theme shop" its extremely slow

natious said:
The launcher its self isnt "slow" but browsing for themes with the inbuilt "theme shop" its extremely slow
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Click to collapse
+1
And I reboot my Tab everyday because I usually turn it off whenever I charge it.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk

Thoughts on Launcher 7

Just curious to see what people think of Launcher 7, for those who've tried it. I gotta say, I put it on yesterday out of curiosity, and was surprised by how much I like it. I love Android, and balked at Launcher 7 at first because it was a completely un-Android UI, but maybe it's because I've been on Android for like 2 years now, but I find it really refreshing. I like its simplicity, efficiency, and different sleek look.
I'm curious to see how it does with battery life. I used my navigation/GPS a lot today so my battery went pretty fast, not a good test of Launcher 7. I'm running it over Synergy (lightest Sense ROM I could find) and under battery use it's not even showing up so I'm guessing/hoping it doesn't have a big effect.

sunsean said:
Just curious to see what people think of Launcher 7, for those who've tried it. I gotta say, I put it on yesterday out of curiosity, and was surprised by how much I like it. I love Android, and balked at Launcher 7 at first because it was a completely un-Android UI, but maybe it's because I've been on Android for like 2 years now, but I find it really refreshing. I like its simplicity, efficiency, and different sleek look.
I'm curious to see how it does with battery life. I used my navigation/GPS a lot today so my battery went pretty fast, not a good test of Launcher 7. I'm running it over Synergy (lightest Sense ROM I could find) and under battery use it's not even showing up so I'm guessing/hoping it doesn't have a big effect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many home launchers don't use much power, i've used GO/LPP and both are normally floating around 1%. Now I used the L7 very long ago, back on my MT3GS, and it was pretty nice to have IMO, I did like the UI's feel overall. But at that time it was still buggy so I think that's why I had abandoned it. I'm a fan of eye-candy so I prefer something more flashy with fancy effects. Which is what GO gives me, it has this cool sphere effect for the app drawer.
Your biggest power drainers will be idle/standnby and Signal, and GPS.

Ace42 said:
Many home launchers don't use much power, i've used GO/LPP and both are normally floating around 1%. Now I used the L7 very long ago, back on my MT3GS, and it was pretty nice to have IMO, I did like the UI's feel overall. But at that time it was still buggy so I think that's why I had abandoned it. I'm a fan of eye-candy so I prefer something more flashy with fancy effects. Which is what GO gives me, it has this cool sphere effect for the app drawer.
Your biggest power drainers will be idle/standnby and Signal, and GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And screen if you're running a Sense ROM. I've always wondered why on a Sense ROM Screen will be like 70% under battery use, but on AOSP only like 5%. I mean, the same screen is being used on all these ROMS right? I've asked that a couple times but never found an answer. Oh well. I'm sure it has something to do with how the ROM is utilizing things, but who knows lol.
Yeah I've been a loyal LPP user for my 3rd party launcher for a while. Love the widgets and the customizable dock. My brother runs GO on his Samsung Galaxy S and is always telling me I should try it, haven't yet but it does look very cool. I've seen pics o that globe app tray thing, looks sick. Is it smooth though?
So far Luancher 7 has been VERY smooth and seems to have minimal battery influence, like you said about 2% I think it wound up being. More than if you weren't using it, but solid nonetheless. I'm doing a lot of driving to new places this week so I'll be using my GPS a lot, it's going to be hard to get an accurate guess of average battery life but as far as function/style I am a big fan.
I will say though that the strength of launcher 7 (simplicity) might turn out to be its ultimate downfall lol. I'm enjoying it now, but it's just been a couple days. I can certainly see myself getting bored with it after a while. It's very functional but there is certainly something to be said for style and flare, and that's one thing it doesn't offer much of.

As an add-on question along with what people think of Launcher 7 in general - I'm curious to hear from any users who are using the donate version - does it offer better performance and features? Or does it just remove the ad in the app drawer? I think it adds a folder feature, which is probably worth the $1.50 in itself, but curious what else it offers.

sunsean said:
And screen if you're running a Sense ROM. I've always wondered why on a Sense ROM Screen will be like 70% under battery use, but on AOSP only like 5%. I mean, the same screen is being used on all these ROMS right? I've asked that a couple times but never found an answer. Oh well. I'm sure it has something to do with how the ROM is utilizing things, but who knows lol.
Yeah I've been a loyal LPP user for my 3rd party launcher for a while. Love the widgets and the customizable dock. My brother runs GO on his Samsung Galaxy S and is always telling me I should try it, haven't yet but it does look very cool. I've seen pics o that globe app tray thing, looks sick. Is it smooth though?
So far Luancher 7 has been VERY smooth and seems to have minimal battery influence, like you said about 2% I think it wound up being. More than if you weren't using it, but solid nonetheless. I'm doing a lot of driving to new places this week so I'll be using my GPS a lot, it's going to be hard to get an accurate guess of average battery life but as far as function/style I am a big fan.
I will say though that the strength of launcher 7 (simplicity) might turn out to be its ultimate downfall lol. I'm enjoying it now, but it's just been a couple days. I can certainly see myself getting bored with it after a while. It's very functional but there is certainly something to be said for style and flare, and that's one thing it doesn't offer much of.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think i read somewhere that you can change the autobrightness and stuff of the screen and that sense has theirs up more or something, i don't remember.
But i use adw launcher ex and never see it on my battery stats, so i'm guessing that's good. And it never lags for me either, smooth as butter.
sunsean said:
As an add-on question along with what people think of Launcher 7 in general - I'm curious to hear from any users who are using the donate version - does it offer better performance and features? Or does it just remove the ad in the app drawer? I think it adds a folder feature, which is probably worth the $1.50 in itself, but curious what else it offers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't really notice a difference with the donate version when i used it other than it looks alot better without the annoying ads.

I installed Launcher 7 and used it pretty exclusively for a while.
I got to really like how the UI operated, and found it very quick. But I eventually stopped using it and uninstalled it.
The idea, for me, was to get to a LiveTiles experience, where I could see at a glance how many new emails and social postings I might like to read, upcoming appointments, etc... without having to deal with the rest of the crummy WP7 interface. So I suppose my goal is probably different than many. But I couldn't get there with Launcher 7 (no surprise, since it's built - and named - as a "launcher").
As a simple app launcher, it was decent, for my most-used apps... though the second I needed to use less-used apps, I was somewhat disappointed/frustrated trying to find and run them.
That and, while I eventually understood it wouldn't take me all the way to LiveTiles, the fact that it didn't have (at the time) a clock/date widget that looked decent within the interface (seems like a stupid thing, but actually became a necessity for me) made me opt for something else.

Haha, yep - after about 4 or 5 days, I'm off Launcher 7. It WAS very good and functional, but as I predicted I got bored pretty fast. I play with my phone too much to not have something flashier and more interactive.
Wound up trying Go Launcher Ex, and have to say - it's way better than LPP! Loving it so far!
Question if you read this: how do I get that sphere app drawer thing? Can't find it?
EDIT: NM, I realized they only come up with horizontal app drawer, I had it set on vertical.

sunsean said:
Haha, yep - after about 4 or 5 days, I'm off Launcher 7. It WAS very good and functional, but as I predicted I got bored pretty fast. I play with my phone too much to not have something flashier and more interactive.
Wound up trying Go Launcher Ex, and have to say - it's way better than LPP! Loving it so far!
Question if you read this: how do I get that sphere app drawer thing? Can't find it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yup i used Go launcher Ex ever since i got this mt4g and i can say i like this a lot more than launcher 7 ( tried it for like 2 days and then i just got back to Go L Ex)

It sucks what wit the ad s to I rather use a theme for a another launcher like adw <-, best
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

sunsean said:
Haha, yep - after about 4 or 5 days, I'm off Launcher 7. It WAS very good and functional, but as I predicted I got bored pretty fast. I play with my phone too much to not have something flashier and more interactive.
Wound up trying Go Launcher Ex, and have to say - it's way better than LPP! Loving it so far!
Question if you read this: how do I get that sphere app drawer thing? Can't find it?
EDIT: NM, I realized they only come up with horizontal app drawer, I had it set on vertical.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look in the settings of Go launcher, look through all the settings, i've ended up on LPP again b/c it has the Sense3 widget skins, and appears to be running faster for me on miui. With GO I would get many fc's and it would lag sometimes, this started on the newer versions of GO though. Sphere is the app drawer effect, look in effects, when on home screen, press menu, goto preference, and look for effects. Sphere effect is with chariot, binary, random, and the other animations.

sunsean said:
Just curious to see what people think of Launcher 7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
having just recently moved from a WP7 to an Android phone Launcher 7 made me feel "back home" instantly. I like the WP7/Launcher 7 home screen with the big tiles; IMO it's a nice, fresh look compared to a large number of Android launchers or iOS. I never liked the 2nd page of the WP7 home screen - a one-column alpabetically sorted list of all installed apps? Boring and not very flexible.
I now use Go Launcher Ex and while I still like the look and feel of the Launcher 7 tiles, I do not miss it.

Which Launcher Do You Prefer?

What launcher do you guys prefer to use? Any comments on battery life, options, other things you like or don't? Answer the poll too, I'm just curious as to what my fellow Infusers use.
I am running CM7 with Go Launcher EX over the top. As far as other launchers go, I have used LauncherPro, ADW, and Zeam launcher in the past. Go Launcher just seems to give me the best battery life, and still gives decent options for themes to match the theme of the ROM. I like the ability to hide apps in the app drawer, and I like how the Go themes theme the app icons as well.
Are there any launchers that have shown you better battery life than Go Launcher?

tried all of em, none really seem to impact battery life that much. The infuse can run all of them pretty well so it's just a matter of preference. Because of that I don't see a point in running zeam. The slightly less memory footprint doesn't affect the phone in any significant way, and you are losing customization options because of it.
Go Launcher has been my go-to launcher, its filled with features and is free. It is set to stay in memory and uses (very) slightly more resources than the others.
However I switched to ADW EX lately simply because I prefer the way it scales dock icons better. However I always wind up switching back and forth between launchers so i may find myself back on GO. Since the inclusion of ICS-style folders though it's been real nice and worth the money.
Launcher7 has been my most recent experiment, I used it on an off in the past but im really giving it a shot as a launcher right now. It's pretty smooth and solid, don't have any real problems with it (aside from it being hard to properly implement widgets)
the tweaked TW4 launcher is very nice and very smooth, but also very unstable in my experience. If it crashed less often it would probably be my main launcher.
The stock TW3 (AT&T version, Rogers version puts these ugly boxes around the icons to try to mimic iPhone) works, but like zeam is pretty barebones. Does the job though and if you aren't looking to really customize anything then it's probably the best option.
SPB Shell...tried it and don't really see what's so great about it. Far too expensive as well.
ICS Launcher works, but I personally don't like the "faked" ICS features. Just makes the whole experience feel cheaper.
I can't even vote for one in particular, they are all good and have their strengths and weaknesses. Currently im on ADW EX/Launcher7 right now but that doesn't mean I particularly like them more than the others.

I agree with zeam being underpowered, and ICS launcher being cheap and gimmicky. Both didn't impress me.
I like launcherpro, but for some reason it eats the crap out of my battery.
Go launcher is my go to, seems to have the best battery life even though i know it's more cpu intensive than the others. Also, has similar customization abilities to launcherpro which I like.
Haven't played around with ADW much, and to me, Launcher7 just isn't anywhere near where it would need to be. Just doesn't compare to the smoothness of an actual WP7, and there are still a lot of inconsistencies. If it was as smooth, I would accept the reduced customization, but since it isn't, it's a no-go.

From browsing XDA the last few months, ADW and GO seem to be the most popular, but I prefer Launcher Pro. If GO launcher had better tray options I would probably use that though.

Like many of you ... I've tried them all. I still switch around to different launchers ever couple of weeks. However, the launcher of choice for me is still launcher pro. Its the smoothest one of the bunch even tho the developer stopped supporting it.
My experiences has been different than some of the others. launcher pro actually gives me the beat battery life and go/adw gives me bad battery life.
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+1 for go launcher.

Launcher pro is my favorite!
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ADW EX
Zeam
LauncherPro
In that order.

ADW Ex right now.
Used to be on Go Launcher Ex, but I experienced a lot of slowdowns.. Might try it again after a new flash though.

dustinhayes93 said:
Launcher pro is my favorite!
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
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I love adw personally nothing else compares in my opinion.
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In this order:
ICS Stock
SPB Shell 3d
Go Launcher
i hate adw with a passion. just thought you should know ...
<(^.^<)
(>^.^)>
yep.

Why do all launchers have some kind of lagging ?
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium

devgee said:
Why do all launchers have some kind of lagging ?
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I find that a lot of times, what is experienced as 'lag' is actually just the animations some of the launchers provide. Those tend to take a little bit to complete, and unless you disable them or speed them up, they become an annoyance.

i have used launcher pro since my first android(first day) so much that i forgot how to use TW ..lol its smooth for me and the customization is also really nice imo.. no battery issues for me with launcher pro!!

I have tried many launchers (and still hunting in free time)
Till now for me whenever I install a new launcher every time i have to set back to "Nemus Launcher"
It is free on android market
Small Size 1.5mb
Simple and nice interface
15 dock option
Customizable grids, App locker.
Ability to add customizable folder under application menu.

ndhanta said:
I have tried many launcher (and still hunting)
Till now for me whenever I install a new launcher every time i have to set back to "Nemus Launcher"
It is free on android market
Small Size 1.5mb
Simple and nice interface
15 dock option
Customizable grids, App hider.
Ability to add customizable folder under application menu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Upon your recommendation I just installed Nemus, and so far I like it
Thanks
x

Welcome ExPeRiMeNt
If someone keeps his expectations low, he will not regret after installing this launcher ​

I really liked FTL as a lightweight launcher

Well i recently started using balancer launcher, and it seems pretty stable and it gets the job done. The launcher has a built in file browser that you can get to by pressing the "menu" soft key that is all the way to the left next to the "home"soft key. Its a small size only 1.86 mb. it is fairly simple, but it has some features others dont have (file browser), its smooth and doesnt effect my battery...at least that i can notice. I believe it is relativly new so it can only get better
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Is anyone using ADWex...a question

Got my infinity a few days ago and have just started customizing. I used ADWex on my prime and planned on doing so with the Infinity (maybe until chameleon). Is anyone using it? Any issues so far?
One thing i noticed is that i do not have the status bar on top with the normal blue line? I was able to work around this using a shortcut to the adw settings, but i usually keep the status bar on until i am completely done with the build.
I also seem to lose all apps/widgets/icons on my main screen every 10 or so times that i hit the app drawer. hit the drawer again and they all come back.
Look forward to everyone's feedback. I had an entire hubs setup on my prime that i was going to work back to.
Thanks!

stunya said:
Got my infinity a few days ago and have just started customizing. I used ADWex on my prime and planned on doing so with the Infinity (maybe until chameleon). Is anyone using it? Any issues so far?
One thing i noticed is that i do not have the status bar on top with the normal blue line? I was able to work around this using a shortcut to the adw settings, but i usually keep the status bar on until i am completely done with the build.
I also seem to lose all apps/widgets/icons on my main screen every 10 or so times that i hit the app drawer. hit the drawer again and they all come back.
Look forward to everyone's feedback. I had an entire hubs setup on my prime that i was going to work back to.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hubs won't work because multipicture lwp lags like hell. Also, ADW is pretty outdated, hasn't been updated for a few months.

i agree it needs an update, i just havent had guts to swap launchers. I love the dock and functionality of adw.
BTW-multipicture is working on mine right now? 5 screens, 5 separate pics, no noticable lag. Are you having issues?

i have it working ok, also until chameleon (should get my beta key soon XD )
obviously increased colomns and rows for the tablet compared to my xperia s, but works well. not as smooth as i'd like, and yes its out of date by quite a long way, but ok until chameleon/jelly bean combo!
does anyone know if its ever going to be updated again, or is it dead in the water now?

I am going to assume that 90% are using stock ICS and the few that arent are APEX/NOVA right?

I just switched to ADWex because Apex and Nova were crashing all the time. The stock launcher wastes too much screen space so I was trying to find a launcher that would allow me to go edge to edge. ADWex does that and I've only had a few crashes with it.
It's an old launcher and doesn't like some widgets. I'm like everyone else, I'm waiting for Chameleon. Should get my email notice today!

Give Nova Launcher a try. Its really nice.

Do not assume any such thing...
stunya said:
I am going to assume that 90% are using stock ICS and the few that arent are APEX/NOVA right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe that isn't even a good working assumption. First, I suspect that first adopters are typically more experienced Android owners. In my experience, experienced users are rarely happy with many stock applications; hence not likely to be happy with the launcher and are willing to try other launchers.
For my self, I have yet to find a stock launcher whose functionality isn't limited. On my TF700t I switched it out a couple of hours after getting the tablet. Until recently I had been using, successfully, ADWlauncher EX. The other day I installed Nova Launcher to test it and it is the current 'default' launcher.

that is a good point for sure. I didnt think about the early adopter status.
Thoughts on Nova vs Adw EX?

R2N2 said:
I believe that isn't even a good working assumption. First, I suspect that first adopters are typically more experienced Android owners. In my experience, experienced users are rarely happy with many stock applications; hence not likely to be happy with the launcher and are willing to try other launchers.
For my self, I have yet to find a stock launcher whose functionality isn't limited. On my TF700t I switched it out a couple of hours after getting the tablet. Until recently I had been using, successfully, ADWlauncher EX. The other day I installed Nova Launcher to test it and it is the current 'default' launcher.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You make us sound like angry old men unhappy with anything stock

Currently the best launcher for TF700T is..... GO LAUNCHER HD. Give it some times nothing can catch up with it. Currently it only has about 60% of the features of Go Launcher Ex. Go Launcher Ex has proved to be the top launcher for all smart phones.

Adwex is the only launcher i'll use on tablet. Soo much faster sand flexible than other launchers. Status bar is the only odd thing i've noticed, but can get to setting from menu.