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I sometimes find that my Hero struggles for memory and the OS has to close background apps such as the launcher, which is kind of annoying. This leads me to ask two questions:
1) Do third party launchers like LauncherPro generally use less memory than the default HTC Sense launcher? Or does it make things worse, since it seems some parts of HTC Sense are always running in the background anyway?
2) Do vanilla custom ROMS that don't have HTC Sense generally run with more free memory for third party apps, because they aren't running HTC Sense and other HTC-related stuff?
Thanks in advance guys!
The default setup for the Hero shouldn't close your Launcher. That is odd. Are you running any task killers?
Personally I prefer Vanilla builds with Launcher Pro, but i've never bothered testing memory usage as it isn't an issue AFAIK. I never have apps close that I immediately need.
When I was using the regular sense launcher, I did find it got closed reasonably often. It happened mostly after web browsing, I guess because web browsers are very memory-hungry apps. I kind of figured the system should try not to close that app, but when I've checked with task managers, it always seems that the launcher process tends to be at priority 400 which is pretty low - certainly a candidate to be killed at any moment. Since switching to Launcher Pro things seem to have improved, but I am not sure why. I don't use any task killer, as I read that you should leave this stuff up to Android to manage.
Many of us like to use home replacement apps to have more customization. But many of us whom are htc fanboys don't wanna let go of our sense widgets. They do make sense after all. So with the advent of these popup dock apps being on the market like dock4droid i thought hmmm maybe there can be a Rosie dock app that can be created as an overlay to the stock htc Rosie dock! Something that is themeable and looks just like the sense Rosie dock except that it has more app shortcuts embedded on it. Say like 3-5 app shortcuts that can revolve like the android rotary lockscreen that scrolls through different user defined shortcuts like launcher pro/ go launcher. That way we can keep our amazing goodness that sense 2.1 has to offer but having the convenience of using more shortcuts on the dock that home replacements offer. Has anyone else thought of this? And should this have been in the android general forum for more visibility? I'm not a developer btw. Just an enthusiast. Whaddayall think?
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
Sounds like a nice idea for those sense-lovers. As for me, I don't much care for sense or the widgets, but would be willing to give this a try.
I originally thought sense was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen back in 1.5. After the step up to 2.0 I perfered the look of AOSP with other adjustments. I absolutely hate the dialer, contacts, and several other aspects of sense though. I would do anything to get it removed from my phone completely. I will rejoice to the heavens once CM7 is ported over to this wonderful piece of hardware.
Its funny to me that the way you feel about sense now is the exact same way I feel about aosp. I like the way aosp performs over sense. Feels much lighter and easier on the cpu. But I like the look and the added functionality that htc brings to android on their devices. Perhaps if there would be a wonderfully themed metamorph and some htc themed dialer and contact apps available on the market I'd totally be on aosp. Since there are all these developers out here banking off of htc themed apps ie flip clocks, widgets and home replacements, I don't see why the htc corporation just not turn their famous ui into a highly advanced home replacement app! And/or convert their famous widgets into android widgets for sale on the market. I'd be willing to pay spb 3d shell money for all of that. They can definitely bank off of selling their ui to those that don't buy their devices and to Those who buy their devices, root and flash aosp on their devices. It can be a win/ win situation for them. And btw, they would kill any home replacement app on the market right now if they were to release a home replacement app based on sense3.0!
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
The most themeable launcher with a doc that I've seen is Go Launcher
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.gau.go.launcherex
Go launcher isn't very sense like though if that matters. It's more like vanilla android or sort of like touchwiz on samsung phones.
With LauncherPro Plus and the theme support of widgets you can pretty much have a sense like ui.
Yea but I'm not talking about an idea for a home replacement appz I'm talking about just a dock replacement app, or dock overlay. Something that is put on top of the default dock to be used with the current rom and can be used alongside the proprietary widgets. Launcher pro is the best home replacement app to mimic sense but sense 2.1 and the upcoming 3.0 has surpassed launcher pro. The developer can updated it to have much of those features but who knows if he will and when he will. A simple dock overlay with a few enhancements can save app storage space and be easier on the cpu. I've noticed when I have more than 3 home replacement apps installed, sense starts to get a bit laggy. It would be nice to be able to still experience sense entirely but with a few added enhancements.
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iflip said:
Yea but I'm not talking about an idea for a home replacement appz I'm talking about just a dock replacement app, or dock overlay. Something that is put on top of the default dock to be used with the current rom and can be used alongside the proprietary widgets. Launcher pro is the best home replacement app to mimic sense but sense 2.1 and the upcoming 3.0 has surpassed launcher pro. The developer can updated it to have much of those features but who knows if he will and when he will. A simple dock overlay with a few enhancements can save app storage space and be easier on the cpu. I've noticed when I have more than 3 home replacement apps installed, sense starts to get a bit laggy. It would be nice to be able to still experience sense entirely but with a few added enhancements.
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
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Problem with launchers those widgets are bundled with them on android is they're generally not sharable. App independent ones like pandora don't have that problem, but the launcher ones seem to be be tied into the launchers and wont play nicely. People have ported out or cloned ones from launchers, but I am guessing the actual ones are just too tied to the launcher code to be standalone.
True but the idea I'm talking about is not a home replacement launcher. I'm talking about a dock overlay. Something that can be used with the default launcher, widgets etc. Look up dock4droid on the market. The idea stemmed from that. Specifically what I'd like to see is a replacement Rosie dock that covers the default dock with extra app shortcuts that are scrollable like launcher pros dock.
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Will there ever be aosp for flyer?
Sent from my HTC Flyer P510e using xda premium
Funny, I was just wondering this a few minutes ago. As cool as sense is, It lags like a sob. I sure hope it will, HTC devices usually get CM7 support so we'll see. But until we get that US RUU I'm not flashing anything.
Sent from my HTC Flyer P512 using Tapatalk
I doubt there will be an AOSP build because it will lack the stylus integration on the Flyer.
Curious what you see lag on. The Flyer currently has the fastest processor of any tablet on the market. I find the Flyer to be very snappy. Most of Sense is just in the HTC launcher and associated widgets. You are free to use any of the 3rd party launchers instead and there are some very good ones out there like ADW EX, GO Launcher, and Launcher Pro Plus. The stock android launcher on GB is a real dog meaning very vanilla and ugly. CM7 Uses ADW instead of stock GB launcher. The stock HC launcher is not bad. The HC browser is a lot better than the GB too..
If you feel Sense is slowing you down, don't use it and use one of the 3rd party launchers instead. You can even use one of the home switcher utilities to switch between HTC sense and a different launcher on the fly and have totally different looks. The Flyer has plenty of memory so that's not a concern.
Maybe just a way to remove sense it doesn't allow use of my bluetooth keyboard or my Zeemote. The alternative is to make work around with Aosp but the later is harder.
Sent from my HTC Flyer P510e using xda premium
Hummm, which keyboard do you have. Sense really has nothing to do with keyboards, that is built into Android. My bluetooth keyboard works fine with the stock Flyer. I have a HP keyboard and an Apple keyboard, both work great. As far as the remote, the functions would need a keymap , which is probably doable.
DigitalMD said:
Curious what you see lag on. The Flyer currently has the fastest processor of any tablet on the market. I find the Flyer to be very snappy. Most of Sense is just in the HTC launcher and associated widgets. You are free to use any of the 3rd party launchers instead and there are some very good ones out there like ADW EX, GO Launcher, and Launcher Pro Plus. The stock android launcher on GB is a real dog meaning very vanilla and ugly. CM7 Uses ADW instead of stock GB launcher. The stock HC launcher is not bad. The HC browser is a lot better than the GB too..
If you feel Sense is slowing you down, don't use it and use one of the 3rd party launchers instead. You can even use one of the home switcher utilities to switch between HTC sense and a different launcher on the fly and have totally different looks. The Flyer has plenty of memory so that's not a concern.
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Where does it lag? Well, where do I start? Let’s take a look at the home screens. The widgets are down right beautiful, no denying that, but when scrolling through home screens you’ll notice lag as the widgets auto update, not a completely fluid experience. I know I could always do without those widgets or leave those home screens blank but I shouldn’t have to. Paginated scrolling is another PITA, I realize what it does by design but it makes navigating choppy nonetheless. The scrolling view isn’t much better and resets itself on restart.
I’ve also run ADW-Ex on my flyer but it’s still not as fluid as I like. I think my Bionic is to blame for that though, it fly’s by comparison. I’m no Android newb and I know a thing or two about system tweaks. There’s no question that AOSP ROMs are faster and lighter than sense ROMs. The sense framework is deep rooted and heavy, hence the 300MB ROMs versus the sub 100MB aosp ROMS.
I’m not banging on sense, I’ve owned an Inspire 4G and Thunderbolt so I knew what I was getting myself into. Sense 3.0 is a better experience overall compared to 2.1 but for me the novelty wears off after a couple of days, with the exception of the lock screen, which is insanely polished. On my sense devices I’ve run every ROM and kernel imaginable and always ended going completely CM7 or a de-bloated and de-sensed ROM.
I’m willing to live with sense, because after all I did buy this tablet but AOSP would be welcome. I'm hoping these issues I've experienced will be stomped out when HC is released. Fingers crossed.
Well I think the sense widget behave pretty typically of android widgets.
It's always a trade off between data and battery usage and background update or on demand update. Vanilla ROMs will run faster perhaps, but doing what? If you are content with basic email and browsing then its fine, but once you load it up with apps and widgets, pretty much the same with less functionality (there is not a decent email widget on the market, for example).
After all, Sense or vaniila it's built on android and it is what it is. Not saying android is bad, its very good, but its built for limited hardware (compared to any laptop or PC) and there are trades to make things work in that environment. The HC browser is a big improvement and down the road Chrome is coming.
I think HTC has themselves in a bind though because of Sense's tight integration with underlying android data structures it slows their ability to roll out software updates. Of course the advantage is that Sense widgets often do what no 3rd party apps can do.
---------- Post added at 11:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:00 AM ----------
Oh, and to answer the original post.
There is no reason why a motivated developer could not compile a AOSP vanilla Gingerbread ROM for the Flyer right now. Gingerbread source is available and HTC kernel source is available, so it is certainly doable if anyone desires to take on the project. But in most cases extra performance doesn't come from AOSP, it comes from custom kernels where the developer has fine tuned the kernel to the specific hardware for better performance, battery life, enable additional hardware features, etc.
I disagree with sense simply being an overlay, its more of an overhaul. Take a look at the framework and jars, sense is everywhere. That's why many sense ports to other devices have failed. It's more than just widgets and a launcher. It's built on Android but it's not like touchwiz or blur.
While I do agree that the kernel is a major factor the sense ui and its widgets are clunkier. I'll take a loaded aosp rom over a loaded sense rom in a speed test any day.
There is a downside to aosp, it's boring.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk
My 2 cents on the topic:
AOSP for Flyer will only be available after ICS - probably 8-10 months from now.
I agree that aosp is boring and I don't find sense at all slow. I like updating widgets and notifications.
Maybe I shouldn't say "slow ", more like "slow-ish"
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk
I expect as more and more of the unique features from sense find their way into base android like they have in Honeycomb and ICS, that HTC will extract themselves from the frame work mods since the widgets can accomplish most of the same things without all that interaction. When android first appeared it basically did nothing and so HTC wrote sense which made their phones a lot more attractive than say the original Moto Droid which was a real plain-jane software wise. Without HTC sense and Cyanogen Mods custom ROMs , android certainly would not be where it is today.
Now that a lot of things are built-into Android APIs and exposed so that anyone can do a pretty good widget, I'm pretty sure HTC would rather concentrate on hardware with slight customized software like every other vendor. But , Google now owns Motorola and those new phones will have the inside track on software features. Plus Google has moved toward closing some aspects of certain apps like gmail so that its more difficult for outside vendors to build quality apps or widgets that interact with some parts of android.
Unless HTC's "Open Sense" effort really takes off, I would not be surprised to see them drop sense and produce devices with a more vanilla android sooner than later.
^^^Well put.
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Is the pen integration dependand on software from HTC. If someone were to port CM7 or even CM9, would we lose all pen functionality. Could it be somehow ported over from the HTC framework?
Currently the stylus depends on HTC's Stylus SDK and is heavily tied into HTC sense, but in Android ICS there is native support for generic digital stylus, so its conceivable that some functionality could be ported.
DigitalMD said:
Hummm, which keyboard do you have. Sense really has nothing to do with keyboards, that is built into Android. My bluetooth keyboard works fine with the stock Flyer. I have a HP keyboard and an Apple keyboard, both work great. As far as the remote, the functions would need a keymap , which is probably doable.
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Verbatim 97537 Wireless Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard and Zeemote Js1. Something deep within Sense prevents pairing to these devices I've tried many drivers as well but all have failed. I'm sure if the flyer would accept these devices keymap would-be no issue. I'm currently on Io ROM and can't wait till release of a US WiFi rom.
Sent from my HTC Flyer P510e using xda premium
Io ROM? Is that a custom ROM? What happens exactly when you try to pair? Do other devices, for instance headphones pair properly? There is nothing in Sense (Sense is basically the application launcher plus widgets) that deals with Bluetooth. There are plenty of things in any particular ROM build that can affect Bluetooth.
DigitalMD said:
Io ROM? Is that a custom ROM? What happens exactly when you try to pair? Do other devices, for instance headphones pair properly? There is nothing in Sense (Sense is basically the application launcher plus widgets) that deals with Bluetooth. There are plenty of things in any particular ROM build that can affect Bluetooth.
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Yes custom ROM but on all dev Roms I've tried this happens have also tried apps such as bluez ime. I do gaming and development its nice to be able to mount flyer hands free ie: via controllers.
Sorry, to answer question only on these types of devices do I have problems. For example my WiFi Bluetooth and slave components do not seem affected I use my Motorola rocker HD Bluetooth headphones quite a bit with the flyer and have no problem, also my big bulky mac WiFi keyboard works as well.
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What is your guys ideas on the best launchers available? Which ones are the best for ICS themes, etc.?
Sent from my DROID X2 using xda premium
I like GO Launcher and the other various apps that run smoothly with it. There are a lot of various ways to customize your launcher. The only other one that I've used, besides stock, was ADW Launcher. Try a few out. No harm in that. Then check out Ashlepedia's thread in the General section on how to push your launcher app to the /system/app folder. That way, as a system folder, you won't lose the launcher on a data wipe. You can either delete the old launcher or add .bak at the end so you don't have two launchers running at the same time. Ash's thread will explain better. O, and GO launcher has ICS theme.
phieta said:
I like GO Launcher and the other various apps that run smoothly with it. There are a lot of various ways to customize your launcher. The only other one that I've used, besides stock, was ADW Launcher. Try a few out. No harm in that. Then check out Ashlepedia's thread in the General section on how to push your launcher app to the /system/app folder. That way, as a system folder, you won't lose the launcher on a data wipe. You can either delete the old launcher or add .bak at the end so you don't have two launchers running at the same time. Ash's thread will explain better. O, and GO launcher has ICS theme.
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+1 to Go Launcher EX. Plus, it's free.
Ciao!
Thanks for the suggestions, also can I use uot kitchen to make a lock screen. I used it before and changed icons and font but wasn't sure about the lock screen.
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Widget locker has amazing ics lockscreens. Its what I use and it is exactly the same as the real one. I use adw ex. It has implemented a few ics features which is really nice. I like go launcher as well but I just prefer adw. Try a few out and you will get a feeling for which one you like best.
Sent from my DROID X2 using xda premium
I have had the best luck with Launcher Pro. Extremely customizable, low battery use, lots of places to put things. The dock with Launcher Pro is very versatile with many slots for items.
I just SBFed last night and pushed Eclipse 2.0.3 on my DX2, Launcher Pro backs up your screen items and then restores them even after that. I install all of my apps, then Launcher pro, then just choose Restore settings, and poof, back in business without the need to re-arrange everything.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.fede.launcher (Free version)
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.fede.launcherproplusunlocker (Unlocker)
If you like it, please buy it. It is more than worth the price.
phieta said:
I like GO Launcher and the other various apps that run smoothly with it. There are a lot of various ways to customize your launcher. The only other one that I've used, besides stock, was ADW Launcher. Try a few out. No harm in that. Then check out Ashlepedia's thread in the General section on how to push your launcher app to the /system/app folder. That way, as a system folder, you won't lose the launcher on a data wipe. You can either delete the old launcher or add .bak at the end so you don't have two launchers running at the same time. Ash's thread will explain better. O, and GO launcher has ICS theme.
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Click to collapse
+1 for Go Launcher. It probably is the best launcher out. I keep coming back to that launcher and everything that goes with it because of all of the customization.
Ive been using ADW (Paid versions) off and on since Ive had this phone. I've downloaded Go Launcher before and messed around with it but I have never customized it and used it as my every day launcher until yesterday. I have to say, Go Launcher, for some reason, feels more snappier and responsive than ADW.
Go Launcher is my choice too. I used to use Launcher Pro (long time user). It's a decent launcher too but for some reason it started hanging at times. Couldn't do anything for 5 seconds or more. No doubt it was causing it either. Shut it down and the hangs would quit happening. Also, the program hasn't been updated since last May. They keep saying there's a rewrite in the works but they've been saying that since last June or July. At the moment, it appears to me that it's pretty much abandonware now.
Anyway, I switched to Go Launcher a couple months ago and have never looked back. Has all the dock functions of Launcher Pro and more. The themes are great, it's snappy and, well, just works well. Just my 2 cents worth.
zeam launcher is my fav although it isnt an ics wannabe. not a resource hog like all the other launchers and only a few hundred kilobyte download.
Ive since redownloaded go launcher ex and bought ics pro theme for it. Im very pleased! Although I like the simplicity of adw, go launcher just seems more complete.
Sent from my DROID X2 using xda premium
Go laucher is good. Best speed in my opinion for a launcher
I have tried go and adw. Used to use go but kinda laggy to me but liked all the customization. Adw free was fast but didn't customize well in my opinion. Adw paid was on sale for 10 cents so got out and love it has most of the features of go but runs much faster. Every once in a while it redraws but think it's more of a memory issue cause it usually does it after playing a game or something.
Sent from X2 Eclipsed using xda app
had adw then got go an never looked back the best to me out there
I really liked go launcher for a loooong time but I decided to deal with ADW for a while since in came with the CM7 rom and honestly, It grows on you. A lot more options and hard key replacements. Also, I always hated the ugly menu in go launcher but thats gone now I would say try ADW for a good week before you make a decision.
And adw ex paid is even better than reg adw
QQ launcher is great.
Mixer themed cm7 X duce
ADW EX (has a great free ICS theme) or SPB Shell 3D. GO is ok but sometimes it gets a little wonky.
Moon Shadow - NM said:
+1 to Go Launcher EX. Plus, it's free.
Ciao!
Click to expand...
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+1 as well for Go Launcher EX. Plus, the ICS theme is really nice for it.
I also like how with Go Launcher, I can long press on my home screen, select applications and then it lets me pick one or more apps I want to place on the screen, rather than having to drag each application one at a time. I have yet to see any of the other launchers do this.
And, on CM7 Beta, it is REALLY snappy.
I have looked around at many launchers and my favorite is adw launcher from CM7. I will upload the apk as soon as I have a chance. Go launcher is also good though
Sent from my MB870 using xda premium
I'm currently running a HTC Flyer P512 (Market used to identify it
as "HTC Flyer P510e" but since I changed to LeeDrOid's Honeycomb
v2.0.0 rom its identified as "HTC_Flyer_P512_NA" something in
build.prop probably changed ).
ROM: LeeDrOid's HC v2.0.0
I'm not even sure which launcher's support Honeycomb
or how they display the icons on the desktop.
Do any of them offer a replacement for People's full screen
widget to select contact by image? Do any of the offer a
calendar agenda view widget?
There are several alternative launchers on the market. ADW EX and Go-Launcher are two that are quite popular. They both offer some extra features over the stock Android.
But... you cannot use HTC widgets with them and I have never found any third party widgets that are comparable to some of HTC's. There's a couple of People contact widgets out that are not bad, but no email or bookmarks that work well. There's lots of calendar apps that are pretty good. My preferred setup is to keep sense and use ADW EX as an alternate. Then I can have best of both. I use Sense when I am working and need my emails and contacts handy and ADW when I am relaxing and want to play.
You can easily switch which is your default launcher.
How do I get the alternate launcher to start?
I'm using LeeDrOid's Honeycomb v2.0.0 ROM
The sense launcher is the current default,
how do I get a prompt to switch, or is there
an app that does that?
If you have another launcher installed hit home, should show both options. If not go to settings then applications then manage, select all, find browser abd clear defaults
Sent from my HTC Flyer P510e using xda premium
If you decide to make one launcher permanent so you quit getting asked every time you hit the Home button there is a free app called Home Switcher that lets you easily switch back and forth.
When you try another launcher its a completely separate desktop and icon layout. Make sure you like the launcher before you invest the time to redo your desktop setup.
I'm using Go Launcher and I like 99% of its customization options. I also use Folder Organizer to make desktop folders for my apps. It has you choose different tags like Games, Utils, etc for your apps. Then with each new app you install, folder organizer will notify you so you can classify it and it will appear in the right folder(s). You can even nest folders.
Ok, new View owner... longtime lurker on the site.
I really like the Sense experience on this tablet, my phone is a rooted Nexus S4g with ICS. There- I have a few custom launchers which just add to the ICS experience rather than be a replacement- I'm using Nova currently.
Does no one have a custom ROM that modifies Sense to resize widgets to any size (this is really my main gripe... I want to widen Sense widgets in Honeycomb) As I don't think there's any way to hack another launcher use sense widgets.