Hi,
newbie here, just got a chromebook few days ago, and I'm impressed with the new world I'm discovering...
Very happy with the Play Store integration, basically every app I tried from the Play Store worked flawlessly.
Now, i know the we don't have the option for real desktop functionality with app links and/or widgets, but I discovered that I can download android launcher(s) form Play Store, and although the launcher will run like a separate app, will still do the trick (at least for me), to have many app links to actual desktop (not only the bar), and eventually widgets... I'm saying "eventually" because in the few launchers that I've tried, the widgets availability seems limited (compared to the installed apps or how would be on android).
The question is: can launcher be developed specifically for chrome OS with full functionality? Assuming that it will run as a separate app (maybe open at start, by default)?
Many thanks in advance!
f
florox said:
Hi,
newbie here, just got a chromebook few days ago, and I'm impressed with the new world I'm discovering...
Very happy with the Play Store integration, basically every app I tried from the Play Store worked flawlessly.
Now, i know the we don't have the option for real desktop functionality with app links and/or widgets, but I discovered that I can download android launcher(s) form Play Store, and although the launcher will run like a separate app, will still do the trick (at least for me), to have many app links to actual desktop (not only the bar), and eventually widgets... I'm saying "eventually" because in the few launchers that I've tried, the widgets availability seems limited (compared to the installed apps or how would be on android).
The question is: can launcher be developed specifically for chrome OS with full functionality? Assuming that it will run as a separate app (maybe open at start, by default)?
Many thanks in advance!
f
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with you there florox. The default launcher is rubbish. When you press all apps, only getting the last 5 listed is a joke. Widgets would also be a real boost to Chrome OS.
On the other hand, having a touch screen and Android apps working is still years ahead of what Micro$oft and Apple have achieved. It's an exciting time to own a CB.
Agree, Chrome OS is evolving at a rapid pace! Maybe Nova launcher someday...
Related
Hi all,
I just got my Transformer Prime this week, and as a new user both of Android (my phone is a WP7 device) and of tablets in general, I do have a couple of questions that maybe you guys can help me with...
1) Shut it down or not?
Being a tablet something in between my phone and my laptop, I'm still not sure exactly how to manage it. I know this will come with experience, but do you guys leave it always on like your phone or do you shut down like a laptop? I actually only hibernate my laptop, but I don't know how to do that on my TP... is it possible?
2) Services: my battery and OS responsiveness
OK, so I got my TP and started downloading apps... Skype and Facebook were one of the firsts. I quickly realized that, by default, after opening them for the 1st time, they kept giving me notifications, even if I swiped them left of the task manager (i.e. closed them, AFAIK). This is OK for Skype, but I really don't want Facebook bothering me that much, so I disabled notifications on its settings. Is that all that is needed to remove these permanent services? Does the "services" tab under Settings -> Applications really show everything that is running or can some apps hide from there?
3) Closing apps: should I care about it or not?
I still didn't fully understand how "closing apps" work on Android (ICS at least). If I have an app with notifications enabled (i.e. its service is enabled, right?), even if I close it from the task manager, the notifications keep coming. However, if notifications are disabled, is swiping them left from the task manager REALLY closing them? At the end of the day, to improve battery and responsiveness, should I keep closing my unused apps?
4) Launcher: Is ICS launcher the best for tablets?
This is actually part of a more general question, coming below. But anyway, I read that the ICS launcher is much improved from previous Android versions, and at the same time I didn't find a good launcher comparison for tablets only. Many of the launchers reviews only apply them for phones, and only compare them to the Gingerbread launcher (or some device-specific launcher). Since many of the launchers are paid apps, I would like to know: is there any launcher that is really worth trying in my new TP? What do you guys use?
5) Tablet-optimized apps???
I don't have my TP for even a week and I'm already tired of reading great things about an app, only to download it and see that it is not optimized for tablets at all. So, is there any good source of info/reviews on tablet-optimized apps?
Many thanks!
Leo.
1) Shut it down or not?
Personally, I always leave mine tablet running. There is a price to pay from a battery perspective when shutting down / starting up, so unless you know you are not going to be using it for an extended period of time, I would recommend leaving it on.
2) Services: my battery and OS responsiveness
I believe the 'Services' tab will show all the user app services that are running, but I am not sure if you can permanently prevent them from starting back up with ICS. I have seen task manager apps in the market that can prevent services from starting up. In all reality though, if you are concerned about background services draining your battery, the Prime has excellent battery life to begin with, especially if you have the dock, so if I was you I wouldn't get too worked up over the background services. Now if we were talking about a smart phone here (like my Thunderbolt for example which has horrible battery life), I would be much more concerned about this type of thing as I would want to do anything possible to squeeze as much life out of my battery just to get through an entire day.
3) Closing apps: should I care about it or not?
From my understanding swiping an app on the Recent Apps tray won't actually kill the process. Swiping an app from the Recent Apps tray more or less just removes the app from the list of Recent Apps. ICS automatically takes care of shutting down processes and releasing memory when appropriate. If you want to manually kill an app you can Force Close it from the list of apps from the Settings -> Applications menu. But again, my personal preference is to let ICS do its thing and take care of process management. I will remove apps from the Recent Apps tray just keep the tray less cluttered with apps that I don't use or need to switch to that often but I normally won't kill apps manually from the task manager.
On a side note, I would think removing an app from the Recent Apps tray would signal the OS that I am not going to be using the app again any time soon and the OS is free to shut down the process and release its memory, but I am not sure if this is what happens or not. All I know is that I have read elsewhere that removing an app from the Recent Apps tray will not immediately kill the process.
4) Launcher: Is ICS launcher the best for tablets?
Personally, I really like ICS so I haven't tried any of the other launchers that are out there (on the tablet side of things anyways). I used the GO Launcher on my phone for a little while but ended up switching back to the default HTC Sense launcher. This is one of the things I love about Android though; the ability to totally change the look and feel the device by simply customizing and switching between different launchers. If I ever get tired or bored with ICS, I can download a new launcher and just like that, everything will seem new and fresh again.
5) Tablet-optimized apps???
This is one of the big problems with Android and the Android Market right now; not just the small selection of tablet optimized apps but being able to find these apps in the Market. There is an 'editors top picks for tablet apps' section or something like that in the Android Market that I have used. Unfortunately, many of the apps in there are not that great, but at least they are optimized for tablets. Typically I will just do a google search for 'top android tablet apps' to get a feel for some of the best tablet optimized apps that are out there.
Try the Tablified website or app to find tablet optimized apps. Can't download directly from there, but the install link will take you to the market page for whatever app you want.
http://www.tablified.com
jordache16 said:
1) Shut it down or not?
Personally, I always leave mine tablet running. There is a price to pay from a battery perspective when shutting down / starting up, so unless you know you are not going to be using it for an extended period of time, I would recommend leaving it on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, thanks for taking the time to reply me! Anyway, my point was exactly about the times when I will not use it for an extented period, like when I go to bed or something... But I guess since I don't want any notifications when I'm sleeping, I think it is wiser to shut it down. On the other hand, is there a quick-way to completely silence the tablet, i.e. turn off the volume AND the vibrations?
jordache16 said:
2) Services: my battery and OS responsiveness
I believe the 'Services' tab will show all the user app services that are running, but I am not sure if you can permanently prevent them from starting back up with ICS. I have seen task manager apps in the market that can prevent services from starting up. In all reality though, if you are concerned about background services draining your battery, the Prime has excellent battery life to begin with, especially if you have the dock, so if I was you I wouldn't get too worked up over the background services. Now if we were talking about a smart phone here (like my Thunderbolt for example which has horrible battery life), I would be much more concerned about this type of thing as I would want to do anything possible to squeeze as much life out of my battery just to get through an entire day.
3) Closing apps: should I care about it or not?
From my understanding swiping an app on the Recent Apps tray won't actually kill the process. Swiping an app from the Recent Apps tray more or less just removes the app from the list of Recent Apps. ICS automatically takes care of shutting down processes and releasing memory when appropriate. If you want to manually kill an app you can Force Close it from the list of apps from the Settings -> Applications menu. But again, my personal preference is to let ICS do its thing and take care of process management. I will remove apps from the Recent Apps tray just keep the tray less cluttered with apps that I don't use or need to switch to that often but I normally won't kill apps manually from the task manager.
On a side note, I would think removing an app from the Recent Apps tray would signal the OS that I am not going to be using the app again any time soon and the OS is free to shut down the process and release its memory, but I am not sure if this is what happens or not. All I know is that I have read elsewhere that removing an app from the Recent Apps tray will not immediately kill the process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hum, ok, I will try to freak out less about open apps. What's still bugs me, for instance, is the behavior of Google Talk vs. Skype. After turning the tablet on, Skype doesn't open automatically, and after I open it, it will gracefully inform-me of its status on the notifications bar. However, today I just got surprised by a incoming IM from Google Talk, even if I did'nt open it! I realized that it is hidden under "Google Services" in the app list, but there is no setting in the app to disable it from running on start-up! I can only "sign out"... Anyway, on the other hand, there's no setting to have Skype launch automatically on start up...
jordache16 said:
4) Launcher: Is ICS launcher the best for tablets?
Personally, I really like ICS so I haven't tried any of the other launchers that are out there (on the tablet side of things anyways). I used the GO Launcher on my phone for a little while but ended up switching back to the default HTC Sense launcher. This is one of the things I love about Android though; the ability to totally change the look and feel the device by simply customizing and switching between different launchers. If I ever get tired or bored with ICS, I can download a new launcher and just like that, everything will seem new and fresh again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll second that. I've quickly used the Iphone 4 a couple of times and its dullness just bores me to death... hehe
jordache16 said:
5) Tablet-optimized apps???
This is one of the big problems with Android and the Android Market right now; not just the small selection of tablet optimized apps but being able to find these apps in the Market. There is an 'editors top picks for tablet apps' section or something like that in the Android Market that I have used. Unfortunately, many of the apps in there are not that great, but at least they are optimized for tablets. Typically I will just do a google search for 'top android tablet apps' to get a feel for some of the best tablet optimized apps that are out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I saw that, but I hate that I cannot filter that list between apps and games... stupid Google or stupid me? hehe
wikedawsum said:
Try the Tablified website or app to find tablet optimized apps. Can't download directly from there, but the install link will take you to the market page for whatever app you want.
http://www.tablified.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the tip! I'm cheking it out right now...
reguarding open apps
At times i noticed my stock launcher was laggy to switch between screens. After swiping to close the recent apps it was a lot more responsive, so i think that swiping the apps from the recent list does close them, at least in mose cases.
As to optimization apps, usually they are intended for phones running older software. You need to remember that every phone (aside from the google phones) is running a slightly different version of android.
Since each version of android is different, even between the Froyo on my phone and your phone, because they have different modifications on them there is a chance that the customized software on my phone may be better at handling unused tasks than your phone (in fact HTC phones by default have a LOT of running processes in the background, whereas Samsung phones generally have fewer).
A lot of these optimization apps do several things:
Turn off wifi and bluetooth when not needed
Close tasks when they are unused
lower screen brightness
turn off 3g and use 2g if available and not in a call
Now this may be excellent for your phone, it spends most of its time in your pocket, soon as you unlock it it can connect to wifi again, turn on bluetooth, etc.
HOWEVER!
If you have, say, the weather widget, or a clock, or in my case battery monitor pro, and the task killer is killing those tasks those widgets will no longer update.
Some tasks, like Maps, tend to start up automatically, meaning your wasting MORE battery life closing this app and then it restarts and you have to close it again. It takes less battery life having it run in the background.
Sometimes an app will close (like the browser) that your not fully done using. Theres a difference between the app being frozen in memory and fully closed. Both do not require much power, however when you open that process again the frozen one takes a LOT less battery than the unfrozen one.
On a tablet, having a case that has a magnet in the apropriate spot and, say, tasker (very good app for custimizing your own triggers to turn things on and off) to detect that sensor and shut off wifi, gps, bluetooth, etc. would be very cool. Many apps use the proximity sensor to detect if its in a pocket and shut off everything, or the lockscreen. Because the way a tablet is used many of these battery saver apps will actually use more battery than what would be used in the first place.
You also have to remember that as android advances there are more tweaks for battery life put into them. For instance, you can have ICS close tasks that are not being used right away to save memory and its pretty good about freezing things in background memory.
Older versions of android lacked these features, or they were poorly implimented. I remember on my vibrant i was always going back to make sure all my tasks were closed properly when i was done with them. With newer devices its not an issue android takes care of that for me.
TLDR: Try as many battery saver apps as you like, just be warey as to what devices they are designed for and what version of android they were made for. Doesnt mean they wont work, just means they may do something thats useless for using on a tablet.
1) Shut it down or not?
Never. We got the companion core for a reason.
2) Services: my battery and OS responsiveness
No, everything is shown except core processes. You can get systempanel if you want to see.
3) Closing apps: should I care about it or not?
Don't unless you somehow got froyo or eclair onto your tablet.
4) Launcher: Is ICS launcher the best for tablets?
Depends on your tastes. I would suggest trying all of them.
5) Tablet-optimized apps???
What the other people said.
1) Mine is always on. I shut down when I expect it to be idle for a long time or when I want maximum battery conservation while idle. Pressing the power button is as close as you get to hibernate, officially with Android. I'm interested to know if any of the usual Linux power management stuff applies to these systems or if it's tied to ACPI (A PC thing), and if there would be a way to wake the system. It's certainly not supported by ASUS .
2) Google how Android services work and about the application life cycle. For the most part things like Facebook don't do all that much harm, unless it is dealing with a lot of data. If you do not want it to run and the application lacks a setting for turning the service off, uninstall the app. A startup manager may or may not be able to help but be warned: auto task killers are generally bad, you would actually want to manage the startup services not auto kill them!
3) No. Android will take care of this OK. Closing apps generally refers to the "Activity" not the service. Android has taken decent care of that since at least version 2.2 and this tablet runs 4.0.3 . Swipping stuff out of the multi-task menu is most useful for keeping it tidy, it will not generally improve your life in most cases. For a good explanation you should look for a post Dianne Hackborn reshared on G+, I believe Android Police even carried it.
4) Depends on what is best for you. It's great except for the lack of customization. Nova Launcher offers a bit more. ICS's launcher versus e.g. GB's is almost what could be called a basic custom launcher, i.e. all the important stuff is there but you can't tweak the hell out of it. For more serious work try ADW Launcher Ex (scrolling widgets currently broken) or Go (not quite fully tablet optimized yet but works). I use ADW Launcher Ex, and there is a free version with less features.
5) Tablified Market and XDA usually helps I guess. I rarely have problems except with rarely updated stuff.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Hi, I'm new to the forum and subscribe to consult on which launcher I recommend you have low memory consumption and processor.
I have currently installed launcher pro free with two desks and about 3 widgets in one
my phone is an android xperia neo v 2.3.4, do not know which launcher best suits my phone to save resources, I also tried ADW launcher updated to the date but I found it difficult to configure
Most likely you will not spend much time in launcher. Ok, maybe you will for awhile, if you have got your phone recently and want to play with it
Anyway, after this pass away, you will use your launcher just to start some apps or games. Launcher itself will be active only for a short period of time and then will be unloaded once the foreground application needs more resources. Considering resources it really doesn't matter which launcher you use. Applications and background services are the real consumers.
and orderyb
andrvo said:
Most likely you will not spend much time in launcher. Ok, maybe you will for awhile, if you have got your phone recently and want to play with it
Anyway, after this pass away, you will use your launcher just to start some apps or games. Launcher itself will be active only for a short period of time and then will be unloaded once the foreground application needs more resources. Considering resources it really doesn't matter which launcher you use. Applications and background services are the real consumers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice to know that, time ago I read that the manufacturer launcher was always heavier than other user-installed and keep trying it was bad idea
hacortes said:
Nice to know that, time ago I read that the manufacturer launcher was always heavier than other user-installed and keep trying it was bad idea
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I've read that's no longer the case, Though there are some fine 3rd party launchers.
Mitch.sc said:
From what I've read that's no longer the case, Though there are some fine 3rd party launchers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you tell me which?
Hello!
I have this horribly cheap china android phone (it's supposed to be a GalaxyS4 mini - replica, but it looks nothing like it) and I bought it for one single purpose: To have it stolen in case of need. Yeah. At nights when the city over here becomes very very insecure, I keep my main phone hidden, while I bring out my chinaphone to listen to music and to connect to facebook chat (the stand alone app) by connecting to the "Portable wifi hotspot" I activate in my main cellphone.
The thing is, the chinaphone its a piece of crap (it has 256 MB of RAM under android 4.1.2) and while it works fine after it has been rebooted, it tends to go slower and slower, to a point where it does absolutely nothing. I managed to somehow root it (it was a pain, since the rooting tools were in chinese and so is the root app) and I have installed a couple things to "enhance it" which is basically removing the bloatware they put in to make it look like a galaxy s4, live wallpapers and whatnot.And I installed another launcher, Nemus launcher, which is supposed to be one of the most lightweight.
So anyway. I was wondering what "apps" can I safely delete or disable to have a bare-bones device that can connect via wifi, open facebook messenger and play music. Maybe instead of asking what can I delete, I should ask: What should I keep?
Well, I assume you will be using Titanium Backup to remove the applications? Do you have a list you can provide here of the apps that you have?
By the way, while sad that I think it is you have a "in case of robbery phone," I also think that that is an awesome idea ha. Where I live it's not necessary, but i'll keep this idea in mind in case I have to move.
Thank you. Yeah. I have to think ahead of eventualities. I have been robbed before and I sure dont want to lose my current phone, that's why I invested in this piece of hardware that "looks" like it could be my phone, while it's waaaay cheaper.
Anyway. As for apps, here's the list that android reports under apps->all
Acount and sync settings
Advanced task manager pro (i use it to kill everything in emergencies when it all goes crazy slow)
Android Keyboard
Android System
Atrium (im getting rid of this one, I dont really use it)
Bluetooth share (should I delete this one? the bluetooth in this thing is so slow that it's like not having it at all)
BootResSelcet
Browser
Calculator
Calendar
Calendar Storage
Certificat Installer
Clean Master
Clock
com.android.provision
Counter
Download Manager
Downloads
DRM protected Content St... (cant read the rest, off screen)
engineering model
ES File explorer
FlashBarService
Gallery
Google Play Services
Google Play Store
Google Services Framework
HTML viewer
Label
Live Wallpaper Picker
Media Storage
Messenger (facebook)
Music
Nemus Launcher
Network location
NoBloat Free
Package Access Helper
Package installer
Pico TTs
Root Explorer
Search
Search Applications Provider
Settings
Settings Storage
Sound Recorder
Status Bar
Superuser
Swiftkey
Tools
Ultra keyboard
User dictionary
VoiceCycle
VolidationTools (i thought it was "validation" but no, "Volidation")
Im using swiftkey as I love that thing and the whole "Flow input" is great for this phone, considering it is not multitouch, It's "single touch" and if I try to type with the thumbs as in my real phone, it ends all garbled because I type rather fast, and i press keys at the same time; this translated in a single touch device, when I press by accident two keys at the same time, it finds the middle point between my fingers and uses the letter in there, which is really annoying. And typing slow is... well, frustrating for me. With the flow thing, i just swipe and the words come out nicely thanks to the prediction. Problem is, that it also seems to slow down the system to a crawl very very quickly
Any other keyboard that has this function so I can try it?
Does anyone has any experience with Lightning launcher? It claims to be ultra fast, but Im not sure that means it's lightweight with the resources.
You only use this phone for music right? I would remove the launchers and swiftkey, if so.
Or do you use it for more?
This is a far superior device with Google Now launcher installed. Perhaps that is because I have a Nexus 5 and I like the commonality. But I digress.
The only problem is that every time I press HOME Fire O/S asks me "Just Once or Always?" It's a PITA. Does anyone know how to get "Always" to stick?
-----------------
Just in passing, using the GN Launcher provides multiple screens, an apps drawer and a app bar. It gets rid of that ridiculous carousel. However, all of the Kindle goodness is retained including Instant Video (if you are a Prime member). Root is not required so you can retain 4.52. "OK Google" works just like my Nexus. Search, alarms, weather and so on. Wallpapers doesn't work. I don't know about widgets.
I have the same issue for all the launchers I've tried, it's definitely a pita. Unfortunately they probably did that on purpose to discourage other launchers from being installed and used.
There is a youtube video how to make Google now or any launcher your default launcher. You have to use adb to send a command to disable kindles launcher. I did it and it works. I tried to add the link here for your guys but I dont have enough posts yet. Here is the title of the youtube video. "How to set a launcher as default on the Amazon Fire HD6 and HD7 " This also works on the hdx.
Hello. I would like to know if it's possible to link Nova's persistent search bar to Chrome instead of Google Now (Google search app, i.e., com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox) and how can I do it, since there seem to be no setting allowing this customization.
The reasons for wanting this are many. First, Google app is responsible for many of the wakelocks on my device.
Second, the main function for me is to search, and, for that, the app only gives you a basic list of results, sending you towards other apps depending on the result or category of results you want (a browser for links, Google Maps for maps, and so on). It shows smart info such as places around, weather, etc, but personally none of these justify using it instead of Chrome (or Maps, etc.) directly.
So, since both Google and Chrome apps share the same search history, I thought maybe Nova could be directed to open a new tab in Chrome directly instead of being tied to the Google app.
I have tried freezing the Google app to see if Nova launched a popup questioning me which app it should use, but instead the only behavior is the non-functioning of the search bar (nothing happens when you touch it).
Does it require implement a new setting or is there a workaround for already achieving this? If it's a new feature, does anyone know if it's planned?
(It would be nice if Nova had a specific setting for choosing which app and search engine to use: the default Google app, or the Bing one instead, or Chrome using Google, or Firefox using Google, or Firefox using Yahoo, and so on.)
I'm using latest Nova Launcher Prime 4.0.2beta2 on Asus Zenfone 5 running Lollipop.
[PS: this is a repost of http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3149239, which was unduly unduly directed to "Android Apps and Games" then moved to the "Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting" forum. If one of them is to be deleted, it should be that one, not this one!]
[PPS: I try to post this to http://forum.xda-developers.com/t/nova-launcher but it is consistently directed to "Android Apps and Games", when I want it to be read at Nova Launcher's specific forum. Why is that being prevented by xda system?!?]
im now looking for that too ...
I'm also interested if you figured it out
Bump. Also trying to figure this out. I do not like the Google app. I just want my search to open in a new chrome tab. Surely this must be possible...
Edit: Of course you can use a Chrome search widget but that is not customizable like the Nova one (or persistent).
This thread is a few months old, but I have figured out that if you simply long press the search bar and hit 'Replace', you can choose the Chrome widget. It's a work around that you can use, albeit you don't have the customisation of the Nova search.
Also looking for this option. Chrome is better for a number of reasons. Would be nice to have a Chrome option under Search Provider.
MopedMan92 said:
This thread is a few months old, but I have figured out that if you simply long press the search bar and hit 'Replace', you can choose the Chrome widget. It's a work around that you can use, albeit you don't have the customisation of the Nova search.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! This improves on the standard Chrome widget by making it persistent, and it can be used as a handle for the app drawer when located in the dock. As you mention though, it's not customisable. No weather either.