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GO Launcher EX is the extra version of GO Launcher, one of the most popular stock home replacement app in android market, provides beautiful themes, fast flip speed and tons of useful functions. Don't know how many of you use it. Its very fast has an inbuilt task killer also!!
Check out the website!!
http://www.goforandroid.com/
I've been using GO Launcher for a while now, it's by far the best out there. Only strange thing i noticed is that with GO Launcher EX you need to install a separate module in order to have missed call and message notifications down in the dock.
Can you organize apps into different categories?
Destroyer-XDA said:
Can you organize apps into different categories?
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Click to collapse
No but u can put them into folders.
Awsme launcher thanx
I've tried other launchers and this is the only one moving smoothly on my Optimus. In addition to that it has icon personalization and you can make those annoying never-used apps disappear in your app menu.
it has enough customization options and the battery use is quite low. A must-have!
very good ...... n.n
Go Launcher EX in my opinion has to be the best one out there.
I am one of the people who actually enjoyed Touchwiz at first....well, until my app drawer reached over 10 pages (That's 160 apps and I even had the bloatware hidden with TiBackup)
Anyways. I have just this completely crazy and awesome thing going with Go Launcher on my phone. The best thing is, I've gone from 10 pages all the way down to 4. This launcher has so much customization and features, and on top of it all, it runs extremely fast.
I have posted several screens of what I have done on my phone using Go Launcher as well as just some screens so people can see it and understand it more.
The 1st is a preview of the ui swiping side to side, the 2nd is all my home screens, the 3rd is what the new app drawer looks like (notice the folders INSIDE the app drawer), the 4th is just all the options I have on my main home screen. The 5th and 6th Images are showing how you can switch the dock back and forth. The 7th is showing the modded facebook app available here on the XDA and my personal mod of the Picture Dial widget. And the last is the Screen Shortcut Screen (when you pinch the screen at home).
I hope you all enjoy.
NOTE: The "theme" I have is purely from the customization features I had available. I did not mod it at all (with the exception of one widget) nor did I actually create a theme for the Launcher like those which are available for ADW.
You can find almost all of what you see via internet. I had to photoshop a few icons (you'll notice them on the screen shots showing my different dockbars as those images are more recent).
gunna have to give this one a try adw launcher just isnt cuttin it for me any more
Using 2.3.2 Mur4ik ROM what I find is that Home Manager shows both Go Launcher EX and stock launcher are running at the same time, stock can take up to 40mb RAM, and second that for Go Launcher EX, so I've changed to stock because I want more mem and when I AutoKill stock then Go launcher Running tab says there's more ram.
How can I customize stock 2.3 launcher?
I need to change number of screens to 3 from 5, I don't need more.
Is there any way to create folders in menu instead in "desktop" only?
Screen transistions are not my priority, but Go Launcher is much user friendly anyway, and allows quick access to most commonly used options by me.
Yeah just hold one app and drag ontop of another to put them both in a folder
Sent from my GT540 using XDA Premium App
How much memory did you say Go Launcher used up? when I'm in it's app drawer tab and kill everything I can only get a max of about 150 out of a possible 303Mb
I will say that you can clear up some memory if you "Freeze" your default launcher using Titanium Backup.
Oh and one of the coolest things about Go Launcher is that since I made a Titanium Backup of it before changing Roms, when I got my phone back up and running again, all I had to do was go into Go Launcher's Preferences, scroll down and hit restore configuration (I had made a back up, can't forget that) and all my custom icons were restored. I had to add my widgets back manually, but that wasnt too big of a deal (I didn't make a titanium backup of that, but I think you can).
...hold on, actually Titanium Backup just restored all my apps, the Go Launcher's configuration is completely separate from titanium backup. GO Launcher creates it's own folder on your SD card for it's backups. It's pretty cool.
Soooo..... has anyone happened to have talked to the developer or anything to find out about making custom themes? I haven't had any experience making themes for other launchers, but I'd like to give a shot at making one for Go Launcher and I haven't seen anything on how to make one unfortunately.
nice but crashes too frequently
for my it is the best launcher for now, and in the oficial page says that it going to have customs themes
Is there any way to decrease the number of screens? I find it incredibly irritating to see have 5 screens, I only need and use 2.
I found GO Launcher to work best with stock 2.1. There are buch of themes for it, but only several of them are good for me.
revan17 said:
Is there any way to decrease the number of screens? I find it incredibly irritating to see have 5 screens, I only need and use 2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just swipe up, and you'll get all screens.
i used SPB Shell 3D and its great no FCs icons can be modified you choose any interface like iphone, samsung galaxy and HTC style
This app jus got better!!! besides its all new awsome looks,its fast n smooth!!
I love this launcher as you can resize widgets and mess around with almost anything in it.
Sent from my GT540 using XDA App
I had ordered this without ever even giving touchwiz a thought. Figured the phone would show up, I would play with it about 5 minutes, install new launcher, never look at touch wiz again. After I ordered it I downloaded the user manual and did some reading and it appears that there is some interesting and useful work here that without having the phone I think I like. Watching videos to see if I could see some of the stuff in action seemed to me to confirm that there is some good stuff there.
My question is how are you liking touchwiz? Not the phone, the phone with touchwiz. I Have encountered an older version and was left heavily underwhelmed. Please be specific, I like this, I hate that, and give a reason. If its just because that works fine but have a reason.
Remember guys this is mostly about opinion and little about fact. Leave folks be with theirs and vice versa.
edit.... Also please add in your predilections toward flashing roms, or not, as it were. An opinion from a daily flasher is much different than one from someone who never flashes and runs the stock rom.
I thought I'd hate it but I'm actually really liking it! Some features I love:
- The lockscreen is great and you get little tabs you can slide when you get a text or missed call.
- You can reject a call with a text message (So handy)
- Resizable widgets
- Customiseable dock
- Hold down 'Menu' for search in apps
- Quick settings in the notification tray
- Movable homescreens
- Customisable app tray
and more Besides you could always replace it with another launcher and I'm sure custom ROMs are on the way.
I changed it within seconds to launcher pro. However the drawer in launcher pro isnt smooth at all, im actually thinking of changing back.
rocketpaul said:
I changed it within seconds to launcher pro. However the drawer in launcher pro isnt smooth at all, im actually thinking of changing back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try Go Launcher EX
It is faster than Launcher Pro
I have a lot of time flashing roms and all that fun stuff so I have an idea about the possibilities going that route. Going to edit the op in regards to people adding their experience and preferences as far as flashing roms and such go. Thanks for your input. As a question Im on a custom rom now and the widets are all resizable. Are you talking about the touchwiz widgets then?
Another question would be can you access some or all of the touchwiz widgets from another launcher or do you give them up?
krabman said:
Another question would be can you access some or all of the touchwiz widgets from another launcher or do you give them up?
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Click to collapse
If you go use a third party launcher, you usually lose access to manufacturer widgets, since they work in a slightly different way from plain stock ones...
But if you go Launcher Pro Plus (it's a couple of dollars for the plus version) you get more "custom" widgets like that in return I guess it just depends what look you are going for.
So you have the handset and can confirm they are toast? Figured they would be but I haven't done touchwiz yet.
krabman said:
So you have the handset and can confirm they are toast? Figured they would be but I haven't done touchwiz yet.
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Click to collapse
Nope, hence why I say "usually". I've been in this business for a while, but not got the SGS II yet.
I have to admit that I like Touchwiz. On SGS, I dont have a SGS2 yet. In my opinion, Samsung Glass lockscreen is a way better than the Android stock lockscreen.
At the moment I'm in love with Zeam laucher but I always come back to Touchwiz from time to time. Launcher Pro and ADW have always left me cold.
Did more reading, I see that you can change the fonts system wide. Does this carry over to a new launcher or do you lose that? Pretty nifty feature.
In my personal opinion, touchwiz 3 was dire. But after using my Galaxy S II for a few days touchwiz 4 has come a long way. I'm sticking with Touchwiz for now
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
I've been playing with the demo models at the office solidly for the past 2 days, and as a Sense users for the past 2 years, I really don't like Touchwiz even in it's newest incarnation.
Probably more down to being used to how everything works in Sense though, I don't like change
Touchwiz 4 is a huge improvement over 3 in my opinion. Using it on both my SGS and SGS2 now. The new calendar widgets on the SGS2 are awesome as well Touchwiz 4 can also put folders in the applications menu now
Semi-regular flasher (ooer) - would generally flash a new rom every couple of months. Been with Android since the G1 so have a pretty good idea of what's possible.
Things you KEEP going to another launcher:
Lockscreen
Dialler (reject call with text etc)
Holding down Menu to search
Settings toggles in the notification bar
You can resize widgets with LauncherPro Plus
Things you might LOSE
Movable homescreens (most launchers do this, but not with the motion sensing twist action like touchwiz)
Customisable app tray (again, most launchers do this)
Resizable widgets (possible with LauncherPro Plus)
Customisable dock (most launchers do this)
Overall, I don't miss the touchwiz launcher, but I like some of the other features. Looks like the Samsung widgets are standard and work in other launchers too - just added Mini Paper, Ap Mobile, and Yahoo! Finance, and they seem fine.
krabman - I've changed my system font to Helvetica S (Settings -> Display -> Screen Display -> Font) and in general it looks great! Carries over to most apps too. The only downside is that it's slightly wider, so you get some buttons wrapping For example, the password "Remember / Not Now" dialog has one, I forget which . . .
Overall, ditch the launcher (I like LauncherPro, smooth for me) but enjoy the other aspects
TW4 is not as bad as many are saying. its still not nearly as good as SENSE 2.x. and I wont even attempt to compare it to the new 3.0 version. I sure hope someone port it.
darkalchemist said:
Touchwiz 4 is a huge improvement over 3 in my opinion. Using it on both my SGS and SGS2 now. The new calendar widgets on the SGS2 are awesome as well Touchwiz 4 can also put folders in the applications menu now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, playing with both the SGS and SGS2 and yes it is an improvement for sure, but I am still not liking the iphonish looks.
DJGibbon said:
Things you KEEP going to another launcher:
Lockscreen
Dialler (reject call with text etc)
Holding down Menu to search
Settings toggles in the notification bar
You can resize widgets with LauncherPro Plus
Things you might LOSE
Movable homescreens (most launchers do this, but not with the motion sensing twist action like touchwiz)
Customisable app tray (again, most launchers do this)
Resizable widgets (possible with LauncherPro Plus)
Customisable dock (most launchers do this)
Overall, I don't miss the touchwiz launcher, but I like some of the other features. Looks like the Samsung widgets are standard and work in other launchers too - just added Mini Paper, Ap Mobile, and Yahoo! Finance, and they seem fine.
Overall, ditch the launcher (I like LauncherPro, smooth for me) but enjoy the other aspects
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You pretty much mentioned what I was about to! Using launcherpro plus with widgetsoid and pure calendar widget. I have to say that launcherpro work a bit smoother on the original SGS for be, but with the upcomming update that should be fixed.
Overall, combining the best of what I had on my SGS before, with the new functions from touchwiz 4!
I'm having trouble finding the answer, so I apologize if it has been answered, but - is there a modified version of said app (found in CM7 as "Clock") that works as an incredibly basic homescreen launcher? I have no use for widgets and whatnot, and would much rather have something as simple as DeskClock.apk as my homescreen.
The only major things I'm looking for specifically are:
-Able to use as a launcher and not just an app
-Can access the app drawer somehow, preferably in a simple/non-animated/non-3D/etc. way.
Surely it would be easier to modify a Launcher to look how you want, rather than what you are suggesting?
DirkGently1 said:
Surely it would be easier to modify a Launcher to look how you want, rather than what you are suggesting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I also want something more responsive - I hate the lag/delay of widgets loading when the launcher is opened, the screen is rotated, etc. - even when my phone is overclocked.
the stock launcher for sgs2 is touch widz.
i'm used to it and did not find anything seriously wrong with it.
due to curiosity, i tried out other launcher such as launcher pro. go launcher. zeam launcher, adw launcher.
many users like to support their favourite launcher, and often bash at other launchers.
but honestly i feel they are all very similar. just some minor difference.
non of them are perfect to me,
launcher pro: epic fail due to vertical scrolling app tray, hard to find the app i want. cant create folder in app tray
adw launcher: cant create folder in app tray, otherwise very similar to launcher pro. at least got horizontal app tray
go launcher: nice effects, able to create folder in app tray, but battery drain, so fail
touch widz: very nice, but has bug, apps in folder gets rearanged randomly each reboot
zeam launcher: cant make folder in app tray
so finally i'm using touch widz. it has a neat trick as well to be able to pinch to zoom at the app tray, not useful, but nice effect.
despite the problems i find in other famous launcher, they are still highly popular.
is there some other goodness that i miss out?
or is there some major flaw in touch widz that i dont know of?
please enlighten me.
(tell me the hidden pros of other launcher, or fatal weakness of touch widz)
apparently it's the "hip" or "in" thing to do.
just go with what you want. I personally prefer touchwiz as well.
There is no flaw with twlncher. After u modify something in app drawer, u need to press menu > save to keep the changes after reboot.
Twlauncher is my fav launcher, I tried 10+ other launchers, but twlauncher is the best to my liking.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
I don't hate TouchWiz.
I actually do like it, there's a lot of good things about it and things I like better when compared to the "original" Android launcher.
I prefer GoLauncherEx though (it's what I use on my "daily use setup") because it gives me even more options for customizing my launching and app browsing experience - for one I love cusomizing my stuff and I am also one of those with like 4398 icons on their desktop (and similar as much apps on their homescreen) so the 7 screens of TouchWiz are just not enough for me and GoLauncherEx allows me to use virtually unlimited screens.
my 2ct
Stick with what you like. It's the only thing that matters, not the opinions of others (Esp deluded fanboys).
PS - I do NOT prefer TW, but, that's my opinion.
Ray1 said:
the stock launcher for sgs2 is touch widz.
i'm used to it and did not find anything seriously wrong with it.
due to curiosity, i tried out other launcher such as launcher pro. go launcher. zeam launcher, adw launcher.
many users like to support their favourite launcher, and often bash at other launchers.
but honestly i feel they are all very similar. just some minor difference.
non of them are perfect to me,
launcher pro: epic fail due to vertical scrolling app tray, hard to find the app i want. cant create folder in app tray
adw launcher: cant create folder in app tray, otherwise very similar to launcher pro. at least got horizontal app tray
go launcher: nice effects, able to create folder in app tray, but battery drain, so fail
touch widz: very nice, but has bug, apps in folder gets rearanged randomly each reboot
zeam launcher: cant make folder in app tray
so finally i'm using touch widz. it has a neat trick as well to be able to pinch to zoom at the app tray, not useful, but nice effect.
despite the problems i find in other famous launcher, they are still highly popular.
is there some other goodness that i miss out?
or is there some major flaw in touch widz that i dont know of?
please enlighten me.
(tell me the hidden pros of other launcher, or fatal weakness of touch widz)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it seems you're judging launchers on a very limited number of criterion. creating folders on homescreens, included widgets and themes, ability to configure and modify themes, and widget resizing are just a few other factors. i use 'Go' and battery drain is not an issue for me at all, actually, at (on average) <10mA consumption it tested better than the others for me. but these are mostly subjective evaluations.
also, TW and other stock launchers for other phones (i.e. Sense) are NOT evil. actually, i really like sense. but often stock launchers mean tolerating other stock crapware, and that's not something i was willing to do.
those are my thoughts and opinions...but when it comes down to it, the user-interface affects the user-experience. which again is not objective.
trying to convince someone that the TW launcher (or Go, or whatever launcher) is better than another is like trying to convince someone that chocolate ice cream is better than vanilla.
Ray1 said:
epic fail due to vertical scrolling app tray
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do you consider that feature a epic fail? I personally prefer it since horizontal paging is to slow. I use vertical with Zeam launcher since with horizontal I have to swipe my finger over my screen repeatedly (anything over 4 times starts to feel like a waste of time)
With vertical I flick once and it scrolls the whole way and at any time I can press my finger to stop it in the middle. Or smoothly scroll slower.
1 second vs 10 seconds to get to the end of the list.
But I am not trying to force the feature I think all launchers should provide the toggle-able option after all that is why I like Android, the options.
ADW Launcher EX is what I use as my daily driver and is by far the smoothest I have used.
I find TW the less responsive of them all and customization is just none existent. It's a good launcher to say it came stock with the SII but for people like me who like to customize their launchers and the overall experience, TW is simply not enough.
My top 5:
1) ADW Launcher EX
2) LauncherPro Plus
3) Go Launcher EX
4) Zeam Launcher
5) Nemus Launcher
Rizur.
Nova launcher used to be (arguably) the best free Android launcher - until now - so what's better?
Unfortunately, the day after Branch Analytics acquired Nova launcher, it grew in size by 150% (8MB to 12MB) without anyone noticing that "something" huge (but as yet unknown) is going on inside of the previously venerable Nova launcher.
So now, I, like anyone else who is logical, is in the market for a new "best Android launcher" app APK.
But which Android app launcher replaces the venerable Nova free APK?
Mostly what I loved about Nova was that the homescreen could be organized by any grid - or no grid (see screenshot example below).
What best launcher do you recommend to replace Nova [now that Nova was sold out and as such, it has (apparently) gone over to the dark side]?
I take you're on a Samsung device?
One UI shreds Nova on my N10+; faster and uses less battery even has some features Nova lacks. It's missing a trick or two that Nova can do. One UI is rock solid stable on my device, no issues.
After a 3rd party launcher boot looped me twice, back to back over 2 years ago I stopped sampling them One UI won.
blackhawk said:
I take you're on a Samsung device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. But I've been using Nova free launchers since the dawn of time on Motorola, LG, and other phones - simply because Nova did what nobody else could do - which was allow me to place any icon on any grid or no grid at all.
But now that Nova went over to the dark side - it's time for a new "best launcher" that works for more than just one brand of phones.
blackhawk said:
One UI shreds Nova on my N10+; faster and uses less battery even has some features Nova lacks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With batteries being five amps and more nowadays, I don't have any problem going days without a charge, but it's interesting you say that you found that one launcher uses more battery than another.
I've never tested how much battery power two different launchers use. But I've done a lot of battery power testing over the years.
The fact is that you can only use one launcher at a time - so it would be hard to test two of them side by side given only one can work at any given time frame on any one phone.
Sure you can test two launchers with two exact same phones side by side, but did you really run a test that detailed to conclude what you did?
Given that practical problem set, how could I tell if one launcher used more battery than another?
blackhawk said:
It's missing a trick or two that Nova can do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Besides putting icons on any grid (or no grid at all), what I next like best about Nova is I set up EVERY phone in the house, for years, with the same well-managed set of apps and icons.
Motorola
LG
Nexus
Samsung
They ALL have the same homescreen.
For years and years and years.
Note that what you do on a computer never changes so the organization of the homescreen never changes.
Does the Samsung OneUI launcher save a backup file to be used on any brand of phone?
Nova launcher easily saves a backup file which is imported into the new phone. It's TRIVIAL to re-install all the apps in the EXACT same place from the old phone to the new phone, even when you move from an LG phone to a Samsung phone.
There's no way any Samsung launcher could possibly do that, right?
blackhawk said:
One UI is rock solid stable on my device, no issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My only experience with One UI is that I originally saw it when I got a handful of Samsung Galaxy A32-5G phones from T-Mobile for free.
I didn't like it at all but maybe it does the two most important things that Nova free does?
1. Put any icon on any grid (or no grid at all), and,
2. Save a backup file of the homescreen to load onto any other device
Note that this backup file includes all installed apps in the location that they are installed in - which - for me - is important since EVERY app icon is placed in an EXACT location for a reason.
There's a third thing I love about Nova free launcher but I don't know if it's part of the launcher or part of Android 12, which is:
3. Place a widget INSIDE any folder on the homescreen
Is THAT last feature of being able to resize a widget and then place it INSIDE a folder on the homescreen part of Android 12 or Nova launcher? (If it's part of Nova, then can One UI do that too?)
blackhawk said:
After a 3rd party launcher boot looped me twice, back to back over 2 years ago I stopped sampling them. One UI won.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have nothing against One UI because my only experience with it was that it was the first launcher I saw when I received my free Samsung phones from T-Mobile and the last Samsung I had was about ten years or so ago (the S3) but what I asked on the Samsung groups what apps from Samsung were worth getting just about a month ago.
Is there any app in the Samsung Galaxy Store worth the login requirements?Note the screenshots show you can resize widgets and then place those resized widgets INSIDE folders on the homescreen.
That homepage is way too busy and not AMOLED friendly at all.
In 24 hours this is what One UI used...
One UI supports folders which are a lot better than burning up pixels. Over time this will happen. I rotate my icons, folders and widgets to spread out the wear. The icon packs are red for a reason, red pixels have the longest lifespan, blue the shortest. No wear if a pixel isn't light and it's easier on your eyes.
I'm not too concerned with backup. I want a clean load if I have to factory reset to avoid doing another one. The current load on this phone is over 2yo and running strong. I keep a screenshot to help with setup. SmartSwitch will preserve some homepage settings but it can also cause issues.
Apex Launcher Classic, get the PRO and Apex Notifier.
You can use ancient Launcher and Icon packs, I've kept many old Apex Themes from 2013 and on, and they all still work with the latest Apex Classic.
Offers the same features as Nova.
Its clean.
I understand you are looking for a FREE launcher, but with the launcher being so integral to your device experience, maybe thats the one app you should be prepared to pay for.
I have been using what I think is the most powerful and customizable launcher. Not only does it do the few things you mentioned:
Put any icon on any grid (or no grid at all), and,
Save a backup file of the homescreen to load onto any other device
Note that this backup file includes all installed apps in the location that they are installed in - which - for me - is important since EVERY app icon is placed in an EXACT location for a reason.
Place a widget INSIDE any folder on the homescreen (yes thats launcher specific)
So it does ALL what you listed (i know its a quick list), but also (among many MANY other things..)
Folders inside folders, inside folders.... and widgets n deep in the folder structure
Any widget can be Resized, Scaled (Different to resize which I think is more on the widget to resize itself), Rotated, transparency, Skewed (think parallelogram), positioned to a decimal pixel position
All visible (or even hidden transparent hot-spots) have complete control of the event (eg start ab app, start a script etc) or I *thinik* even multiple actions (I dont use that feature)
All items covered by 3 above also have short AND long press events (Tap, Long Tap, Swipe Left, Swipe Right, Swipe up, Swipe down) I personally have transparent hot-spots (on top of other widgets that respond to their default tap), that I swipe uy[p on to turn on AUID and down to turn off AOD. I also have a long press on my navigation, which turns on GPS, Bluetooth (to connect and call handsfree), starts my music player, starts playing the music and finally starts the Navigation app ready to navigate.
Lots of visual effects such as shadow of the text
Control of the Font, Size, position/offset
"Reflections" on the icons, as if they are hovering above a crystal clear pool/puddle of water
You can have/add code to make your own things. There is an example out there how to add a analogue clock simply with code. Well beyond any of my needs.
and on and on and on...
My personal experience is, if you can imagine it, then there is a way to do it. I have been using it since gingerbread, and as I upgrade device and/or ROMs, I use the backup / restore to get the launcher config started. NB: The private widget data/config doesn't come across in the launcher backup, but a "fallback" image/placeholder is show, reminding you of how you previously had it set up. So although there is a steep learning curve, and with ALL the different options/function can take some time to set up how you want, a lot will transfer onto your next device or ROM. But since its a paid app, you can only run it on one device at a time.
Now, the thing to REALLY take note of, the default set-up on first install is utter TOTAL rubbish ,and so are the preview/demo images on the PlayStore. It really is a case of "if you can imagine it, you can do it"
Oh, and the launcher is called "Lightening Launcher Extreme"
The following are some screen shots I qui8ckly snapped, but the actual config is of course very personal. And because its so customizable, I can do things others will hate I just quickly flashed through the screens I personally use the most in set-up, but didn't scroll through anything or ensured I got everything that is beyond the screen and there are many more options/features I dont use; or even know about.
Part of the problems Nova is having maybe the same that ones Samsung is having dealing with scoped storage and other changes starting with Android 10. I have 2 N10+'s, one still running on Pie, the newer one on 10. The look and behave almost identically except the Android 10 has a 100 or more small Samsung system apks.
I prefer Pie because it's easier to troubleshoot and provides better functionality for trusted apps. I don't even want to see what 11, and especially 12/beta 13 look like. Maybe it's not so much Nova but rather Android that has turned to the dark Apple side...
imonxda said:
Apex Launcher Classic...
Offers the same features as Nova.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that suggestion of the Apex Launcher to replace the functionality of the Nova free launcher, specifically:
a. Place homescreen folders on any grid, or no grid at allb. Export homescreen and import into ANY brand of phonec. Resize widgets and place widgets INSIDE folders
Assuming the free version of the Apex Launcher is this one...
Apex Launcher by Android DOES teamFree, contains ads, contains in-app purchases, requires GSF,rated 4.2 out of 354K reviews with 10M+ Downloads
That sucks in terms of requiring GSF (Nova free doesn't spy on us with GSF, and no app should ever need to use GSF calls) and requiring ads (again, Nova free doesn't have any ads and no launcher should, IMHO); but unfortunately, the description on the Google Play Store doesn't say whether Apex Launcher can do the three most important things that I feel ANY "best" launcher should do (see above).
Bear in mind there are a billion app launchers, where there's a good REASON Nova free was almost universally hailed as the best out there.
If Branch Analytics didn't take over TeslaCoil software, I wouldn't even be LOOKING for a better app launcher... (sigh)... but no free app launcher with ads and lack of privacy can possibly be on the list of the "best" there is.
That's just impossible (IMHO of course).
No app can be the "best" if it has ads and if it sucks out your privacy.
BTW, I know full well what I'm asking is NOT an easy question to answer... otherwise I'd have found the answer already, but I do appreciate the suggestions.
In order to be "better" than Nova free, it can't be worse.
GalaxyA325G said:
Thanks for that suggestion of the Apex Launcher to replace the functionality of the Nova free launcher, specifically:
a. Place homescreen folders on any grid, or no grid at allb. Export homescreen and import into ANY brand of phonec. Resize widgets and place widgets INSIDE folders
Assuming the free version of the Apex Launcher is this one...
Apex Launcher by Android DOES teamFree, contains ads, contains in-app purchases, requires GSF,rated 4.2 out of 354K reviews with 10M+ Downloads
That sucks in terms of requiring GSF (Nova free doesn't spy on us with GSF, and no app should ever need to use GSF calls) and requiring ads (again, Nova free doesn't have any ads and no launcher should, IMHO); but unfortunately, the description on the Google Play Store doesn't say whether Apex Launcher can do the three most important things that I feel ANY "best" launcher should do (see above).
Bear in mind there are a billion app launchers, where there's a good REASON Nova free was almost universally hailed as the best out there.
If Branch Analytics didn't take over TeslaCoil software, I wouldn't even be LOOKING for a better app launcher... (sigh)... but no free app launcher with ads and lack of privacy can possibly be on the list of the "best" there is.
That's just impossible (IMHO of course).
No app can be the "best" if it has ads and if it sucks out your privacy.
BTW, I know full well what I'm asking is NOT an easy question to answer... otherwise I'd have found the answer already, but I do appreciate the suggestions.
In order to be "better" than Nova free, it can't be worse.
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Click to collapse
Yes, absolutely correct, Apex Launcher DOES NOT have all the features your looking for, but AndroidDOES has brought back the Classic launcher (I'm assuming because of popular demand) it is called Apex Launcher Classic - this is FAR superior to the new-ish Apex Launcher. BTW, some of the best features of Apex Classic are unavailable without the paid Pro but most features work with free version.
As for privacy concerns, you can use something like My Android Tools Pro, it will tell you exactly what an app like Apex is doing behind the scenes and it gives you control over all hidden activities. https://www.myandroidtools.com/ it has been kicked out of Google play store, I don't know the reason, but I've been using this app for years, I have never seen any evidence of malware in it, and it has revealed the spying, reporting activities, and ad activities of all other apps I use and I can actually STOP these activities, I trust it.
It takes a bit of getting-used-to, but it works great once you do (get used to it). Some advice, check the About in settings for automatic detection of newly installed or updated apps feature, and check the Apps tab at the bottom, then select any app and then tap "see all component info", this is really helpful and easily overlooked feature.
@DiamondJohn That's a cool Launcher I've never heard of, I will certainly check it out
GalaxyA325G said:
Nova launcher used to be (arguably) the best free Android launcher - until now - so what's better?
Unfortunately, the day after Branch Analytics acquired Nova launcher, it grew in size by 150% (8MB to 12MB) without anyone noticing that "something" huge (but as yet unknown) is going on inside of the previously venerable Nova launcher.
So now, I, like anyone else who is logical, is in the market for a new "best Android launcher" app APK.
But which Android app launcher replaces the venerable Nova free APK?
Mostly what I loved about Nova was that the homescreen could be organized by any grid - or no grid (see screenshot example below).
What best launcher do you recommend to replace Nova [now that Nova was sold out and as such, it has (apparently) gone over to the dark side]?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Love Niagara launcher
Pear Launcher - Apps on Google Play
Download Pear launcher — a launcher designed for performance and customization.
play.google.com
Just started using this app and it's pretty good so far