I've been using the ADW Launcher since I moved to Android tablets afew years back. I'm always checking out new launcher releases to get a good balance of customization and performance. I was pleasatly surprised to see that after 5 years ADW has a whopper of an upgrade with vs 2 (still in beta) Many changes that I had been seeking were there. Along with an improved UI it looks great! Not yet available on Google Play AFAIK, but you can get it righ from the
dev site (ANDERWEB) ;-DeanoD
Related
I'm fairly new to Android after coming from WM & during my browsing etc I hear tons of stuff about ADW, Launcher Pro & couple of other launchers.
Just by accident I came across this Sweeter home launcher
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2NCfpgriOs
Works well on the Streak & the customisation is endless yet I don't think its that well known. It is still in beta, but seems to me it offers the most customisation & well check it out & see for yourself
here is another video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1groLCsiHl8&feature=related
UPDATE
Installed & working well
Great selection of themes & use of springboards is great. I think this is a keeper for me
I liked sweeter home. Just hated that its been in beta for so soo long.
It worked ok, but still had some issues.
Stopped using it awhile ago to wait for an RC that has yet to come.
I thought that the app launcher bar (5 slots) followed Touchpad orientation with alpha2. I did a factory reset and installed alpha3 and used TBackup to get apps and app data. Now that app bar is locked over on the right in landscape mode. Of course I'm having the same issue in ADW EX too. I've been through the settings a bunch and can't find anything that frees the little launcher bar.
And the Googles have not provided satisfaction either.
Sent from my Touchpad using Tapatalk
The stock adw that's included with cm7 doesn't and never has switched when you tilt the device to go into landscape. Adw EX used to do this, but the new version released a couple of days ago removed this feature. Its been months since the dev released an update, and when he finally does, he took out A LOT of key features. Especially for tablet users. A bunch of people have been giving the app BAD reviews since the update, hopefully he'll listen and supply an update soon....
Two very good ICS launchers & both have their respective fans !!
Apex Vs Nova ..... It's a very interesting topic of debate ... I would really appreciate some facts from the actual users as to why they prefer a particular launcher for their ICS device !! I would also like to include their "Pro" version functionalities in this healthy debate !! :good:
Sorry , just noticed a similar thread which was created some time back , All i need to know is after so many updates which launcher is worth buying as per their present day performance ??
Apex Pro OR Nova Prime ??
I know this is not one of your choices, but I have been using Trebuchet launcher (the launcher that comes standard with cm9) and it is awesome. Very smooth, snappy, and has tones of options. Reminds me of ADW, but in ICS form. I know that probably does not help you at all, but it's just another option to consider if you want
The first launcher that lets you change the grid in the drawer to fit more icons will be my favorite launcher.
Apex ;D because it gets most of the features first then nova gets after
Sent from my SGH-T989 with Cyanogenmod 9 Nightly Power.
well, ive been using lucid launcher for a long time now and i love it. its lightweight and got all features i need...until now. so now im looking for a launcher (lp 5.1.1) that has the ability to change individual icons on my homescreen. also i need it to be very lightweight..dont want to compromise with battery life..thanks
Nova launcher is a good choice.
Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
I've had a good experience with smart launcher 2, I used to use nova and it is good too
but nova launcher is pretty heavy right?
Are you talking about the power consumption?
I use it on my S5 and I can tell you that is more battery friendly than the Touch Wizz.
Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
both battery and ram
ok now ive tried nova launcher too. with lucid launcher i got around 2000mb+ free ram, with nova im around 1500-1600mb free...thats too much
Need Reviews for Our New Launcher
Dear friends,
We have developed a new launcher application in context of an Android project.
As we have decided to distribute the second version (which is still beta) through Google Play, we need some feedbacks (esp. technical and UX).
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You can check our latest version by typing "Snapp Launcher" in Google Play search bar.
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BM Developers
In playing with the G4 over the past few weeks, I've discovered some interesting things about launcher performance, so I thought I would share.
After using Google Now Launcher for several days, I began to notice that it was sometimes dropping frames and stuttering a bit much for my liking when swiping between screens. I switched back to the stock LG Home launcher and amazingly, scrolling was almost perfectly smooth with hardly any dropped frames.
Curious as to why this was, I began testing various launchers... Nova, Action Launcher, Apex Launcher, L Launcher, an AOSP launcher3 build from KitKat, etc. Finally, I noticed a pattern. Launchers based on the KitKat AOSP launcher source all ran very smoothly, while launchers based on the Lollipop AOSP launcher source all dropped frames too often when scrolling around the home screens and app drawers.
So from this, we can deduce two things:
1) The stock LG Home launcher is based on KitKat or earlier AOSP launcher source code. No surprise there.... just look at the page indicator dots, the app drawer background, and the three dot menu style in the app drawer. They all have KitKat styling.
2) LG optimized the G4 to run KitKat based launchers more smoothly since that's what their own launcher is.
So what can we do about it? Well, use an old version of your favorite launcher, of course. Action Launcher 2 is still available in the Play Store and has its own listing. I went with an old version of Nova (Classic v3.3 from http://novalauncher.com) and find it performs more smoothly than the newly released Nova v4. And not to fear, Nova v3.3 can still be configured to look and act like a Lollipop based launcher by changing a few settings. See my screenshots of Nova v3.3 below to see for yourself.
Hope all of you who are driven crazy by the slightest stutters find this information helpful. Let me know about your experiences.
Thanks for this. Will give it a try.
I was surviving with the stock launcher but went crazy after installing the tempered glass protector. After removing the glass all of my swipes or scrolls were being registered as taps.
Sent from my LG-H815
I too have been trying out the top 10 most know launchers in the playstore and have seen that issue as well compared to the stock launcher. What makes me go back to the stock launcher is two things. Health widget for step counter, and the smart notice widget.
wadamean said:
I too have been trying out the top 10 most know launchers in the playstore and have seen that issue as well compared to the stock launcher. What makes me go back to the stock launcher is two things. Health widget for step counter, and the smart notice widget.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know me too. How nice will be to add those into nova.
I'll be honest, I am running the latest Nova launcher and I haven't noticed any dropped frames or hiccups whatsoever. Everything seems buttery smooth.
Ken4G said:
I'll be honest, I am running the latest Nova launcher and I haven't noticed any dropped frames or hiccups whatsoever. Everything seems buttery smooth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
apex is the smoothest launcher at the moment. nova ( i have the paid version ) is not that smooth like action launcher 3,
i'm only running apex for now
The app drawer and everything runs better , try and see yourself , you'll be impressed.
Great discovery. Nova and Google Now was always my go-to launcher but I have noticed frame drops. Very minimal, but I guess some of us are cursed to notice these things.
I always end up reverting to the stock launcher after awhile. I'll try the suggestion above and give Apex a run for a few days.
Also, anyone find it weird that some widgets like the default clock widget can't be used with other launchers?
Sent from my LG-H818
JustinDulay said:
Also, anyone find it weird that some widgets like the default clock widget can't be used with other launchers?
Sent from my LG-H818
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not weird at all, LG based widgets are baked into the LG launcher. Same thing happens with Samsung based widgets, can only use them on the TW launcher.
I'm using stock LG's launcher and it works very nice for me. I disabled Smart Bulletin option from settings and the launcher flies. With this feature enabled the launcher was getting laggy after a few hours of use ,now it's just perfect.
The only thing that drives me crazy about the Stock launcher is the lack of backgrounds for the icons. I like all my icons to feel somewhat uniform. I know the LG Launcher supports themes (basically icon packs)... but the Verizon model has this ripped out. I know it is accessible through some song and dance but the icon packs were pretty bare, only like 20 icons to cover the basics. Some custom packs have more but still barely cover the grand scheme of play store apps.
Overall good find though. I actually really like Action launcher 2 and run it on my tablets but I am unsure about on a smaller device I intend to use with 1 hand. I know you can setup swipes to pull open the drawer. At least we have options. I wonder if this happens on other devices, or just LG?
Very interesting to see that Lollipop based launchers stagger. Although KitKat was the best Android experience I ever had. Lollipop is fun but on the LG (or other skinned devices) the change is miniscule. KitKat ran like a beast on the G2 but started having problems when it upgraded to Lollipop.
I use KISS Launcher. No framerate loss there.