Database Users

ADW launcher

Hey all,
So I am not new to Android, but I am new to using a launcher or anything other than regular apps. I want to try the ADW launcher, but I have some questions since I don't really know anything about how launchers work.
Can someone explain to me the very basics of what installing a launcher will do? Also, if I don't like it or don't understand it, can I uninstall and not have to hard reset?
Is there a how-to for using ADW?
Thanks ahead of time!

Install it thru the Android market place just search adw launcher and if you don't like it uninstall like any other app from the Android market
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Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide

So I can just uninstall and not have to do any reset?
Can you explain to me what a launcher does (briefly)?
Sorry for such a basic question, but hey we all have to learn sometime.
Thanks!

go hear its anderwebs dev page the dev for adw launcher. it should be able to tell you everything about the launcher and show you some picture of what it looks like and what it does. but yea just install from android market and if you dont like just uninstall like any other app without having to reset your device just go to market/downloads then uninstall.
http://jbthemes.com/anderweb/

hears a video of it to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5gRgpuQE_k&feature=fvst
the version in this video is 0.7.1 and it is now on 0.7.8 so theres been plenty of new features since then

I really appreciate the info. I installed it this morning, but couldn't even figure out how to change the settings. I read the instructions on adw's page so I might try again.
My calendar widget wouldn't work and there were also only 5 screens instead of 7. Can you have 7?
Maybe I need to mess with it more. I guess I'm just not sure of the benefits of using it. Will it help my battery last longer? Will the MTS be faster? Or is it more of an aesthetic thing?
thnx

I didn't have any problems with it other than lag here and there. It might just need the dev to do a bit of fine tunning, or could be me with my luck. Nice interface. Good features, and a lot of flexibility. I do like sense though and I think I will just deal with all of TMobiles extra crap for the time being. All in all a great replacement though.

Press the menu key while on the home screen, then you can select the ADW settings. You can have 7 screens if you want.
The HTC Sense widgets will not work outside of the sense launcher.

Etype R said:
Press the menu key while on the home screen, then you can select the ADW settings. You can have 7 screens if you want.
The HTC Sense widgets will not work outside of the sense launcher.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what he said

also keep in mind that My Modes function will not work with a launcher program. I tried Helix, ADW, and launcherpro and since they seem to be just a "skin" so the apps don't rearrange and stuff when you change modes. It meesses it up. Then when you uninstall you have to set up modes again. Just FYI, not sure if you use the modes or not.

Thanks for all of the info. I don't use modes, but I do like the widgets, particularly calendar and weather. Being able to see what I have to do every day right on the home screen(s) is very helpful!

http://androinica.com/2009/09/24/dont-like-the-android-calendar-widget-get-a-pure-one/
And for the weather/clock I am using beautiful widgets. There are options out there

Can you disable Touchwiz?

Title says it all.
I hate touchwiz. Looks to iPhone-ish for me. Now that this phone has root access, all that's left for me is to kill touchwiz and get over to no LED flash
PS. Been looking for an answer to this question, havent found it so Im posting here.

TouchWiz is great. The only thing that looks "iPhoneish" is the app menu which you can change to a scrolling list view.

You can load up launcher pro on top of it...and afterwards maybe it can be token out of the source code that samsung released and flashed on as custom rom.
That said Touchwiz doesn't look too bad..I mean the iphone didn't invent icons on a black screen...I had icons on my windows 95 pc and chose black background...must have been copying the iphone back in 1995 >.> lol

I have Launcher Pro Beta installed and I love it. It takes away all the ugliness of TouchWiz, while still leaving a lot of the great features and apps that TouchWiz has to offer. My friend was very jealous of how my phone looked like this compared to his vanilla android Droid. Especially the text messaging field.

I really wish there was a way to use the standard contacts, calendar, messaging without the touchwiz integration, using something like adw launcher is nice until you go into the touchwizish apps and then it feels quirky.
Waiting for standard android 2.1/2.2 instead of just changing the launcher

So is there a definite answer to this?

Adw launcher
Check out adw launcher its awesome and its on the market

I am using launcher pro beta right now and it is working great.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Don't know how you guys can hate on TouchWiz. Only issue I have is it's a bit jerkier than LauncherPro, but looks wise it's nice.

LOL when the phone was first released in the Galaxy S version i was like WTF SAMSUNG? why did you make the phone look like an iPhone and make the icons and app drawer look like the iPhones? it seemed very unoriginal, but after the Vibrant came out and they took the single home button look away and added the 4 capacitive buttons i liked the phone and one of the first things i did was get adw.launcher and i couldnt be happier
only thing that blows about it is not being able to use any of the new Samsung widgets but no biggie adw.launcher is the best replacement IMO. Its super fast, you can use Live walls and you can make your task bar and notification bar go bye bye for a cleaner sleeker look

ADW all the way!
Thought the same thing when I first saw the Galaxy (threw up in my mouth a little). Realized it was TouchWiz and I knew I'd put ADW on first thing. Problem Solved!

cojonesx said:
I really wish there was a way to use the standard contacts, calendar, messaging without the touchwiz integration, using something like adw launcher is nice until you go into the touchwizish apps and then it feels quirky.
Waiting for standard android 2.1/2.2 instead of just changing the launcher
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can probably pull the APKs out of a standard vanilla ROM and push them to system/app dir to replace the touchwize apps. Just pull them out of a N1 rom or soemthing.

So there still hasn't been an answer to this. I have LauncherPro installed, and only 98MB memory available. Uninstalled, I have 140+MB available. I like how LP can have a customizable, infinite loop dock and all that. I like how its snappier than TW and how you can have a 3D "cube" style apps drawer. I just wish there was a TW style app drawer. I like the pages deal going side-to-side with customizable pages. I put all important apps on the 1st page, tools on 2nd, games on 3rd and rarely used apps on the 4th. I just don't like how I can't customize the dock and how slow it makes my phone (because it does and you can't deny it.)
also, how the heck do I "watch" a thread and make it email me on replies? I haven't figured out this board so much, but then again, I don't use my computer alot since I have this handy dandy vibrant haha.

You can customize the dock. Three of the four icons can be replaced (Not Apps). I replaced Messaging with Gmail. Check the full user manual (on T-Mo site).

I will buy the first homescreen replacement launcher that has this implemented

Android i good. The scrolling homescreen with widgets is good. Only one thing is terrible: The app launcher. No categories/catalogs i launcher?!
So you have to scroll along xx times until you finally spot the application you're looking for.
Here are suggestions on different solutions:
When you open the app launcher you see custom folders ex. "Office, Games, Multimedia, Utils, Settings". When you install a app, you get a question in what folder to put the app link". Besides the folders in the launcher you can have a option to also see latest run apps.
This solution would show the usual vertical scroll down app list. But with a important twist. A line, or the backgroundcolor is different, when you are scrolling on a different category, + a OSD text stays front telling on what category you are, ex "Work, Entertainment, Hobbies, Health, Internet".
One launcher actually has almost made it, don't know if it's Launcher Pro or ADW launcher. You can have apps in different groups and click between them. Only thing missing is name of the categories so you see where you're at. And option to disable the group "All"

I'm pretty certain that Slick UI will have this when it launches.

MIUI already does this

bobjase said:
MIUI already does this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be fair, MIUI doesn't even have an app drawer, it just puts all of your apps on the launcher and you're forced to put every app into a folder.
Hell, vanilla Android has folders, which is exactly what MIUI is using.

TooSlo said:
To be fair, MIUI doesn't even have an app drawer, it just puts all of your apps on the launcher and you're forced to put every app into a folder.
Hell, vanilla Android has folders, which is exactly what MIUI is using.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oooooooooo flamed.
yeah to start with i thought Miui was amazing, but now I realise other than looking completely different its pretty sh!t

If you want categories in your home-replacement. I suggest you head over to my website http://futurinnovations.blogspot.com/ to see what I am working on. If you are a dev yourself, you can help all that you can. It's still a work in progress and I haven't come up with any fancy renderings of it, yet. I do, however, have some sketches of what it is supposed to look like and how it functions. Tell what you think of it. It will be the second post from the top (under my live wallpaper screen shots).

DxTop has an amazing implementation of categorized app drawer - with corresponding live folders.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

go launcher has app drawer sorted I believe
Swyped on my OG Droid using Tapatalk

Go launcher has app sorting, not sure about categories though.

I think LG Optimus One has that kind of launcher
Starts at 1:17
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZLaId_ep68&feature=player_embedded#!
And here is thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=812302
And u can send the money to me. j/k

I wish this feature would be implemented into LauncherPro. I love all the other features of LauncherPro, so it would be nice to be able to keep those and still have this category feature.

auto app organizer .apk
create shortcut in homescreen or dock and voila you got what you want in all the launchers ...

LG Home does what you're asking its in the market but only really works for the galaxy s line up.
Sent from my phone...which is faster than my laptop.

Twitter and facebook feed widgets

I'm lookimgs fo widgets that are simlar to launcher pro widgets any one have any ideas
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

You could try installing launcher pro. It's not in the market, but you should be able to find the apk with a little elbow grease.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App

Ditto. Load LauncherPro. You have to buy it to get the widget but it is cheap and worth it. Attached is a screenshot of my screen. Upper left is Friends widget which combines FB and Twitter feeds. Totally worth it.

I used LP 0.8.3 plus since I got the Xoom. Wasn't sure how it would turn out but I figured it couldn't hurt. It's been fanatastic. Have to tweak some small settings to make it snappier transitioning screens but it does the job well. The ability to stretch the Widgets and the additional Widgets makes it worth the effort. Feels very customized and it works great.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

For those running Launcher Pro... Are you using the CNN stackable widget as well?
When I installed LP+ and would flip through the CNN widget stacks, I would constantly get Force Closes on Launcher Pro. I finally gave up on it... Maybe I will try again.
Anyone experiencing the same? Or different?
Thanks.

Cnn widget works fine for me (I have it resized a little smaller than what it looks like stock)

keitht said:
Ditto. Load LauncherPro. You have to buy it to get the widget but it is cheap and worth it. Attached is a screenshot of my screen. Upper left is Friends widget which combines FB and Twitter feeds. Totally worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Launcher Pro looks nice. I'll have to try it.
Is it your birthday Keith? Happy birthday, if it is.

New to Android... so this could possibly be a dumb question.
When using the stock Twitter widget, it only displays one tweet at a time and isn't scrollable. When reading up on Launcher Pro, it said that you can resize and create scrollable widgets. Could I take the stock Twitter app, resize it, AND make it scrollable?
Thanks in advance.

Here is another question related to Launcher Pro... I have my screens setup and all is working well, however, the stackable widgets (CNN, Youtube, etc) do not automatically flip every minute.
I know this is not a big deal, however, I am guessing they also do not refresh every minute as well.
Anyone seeing the same thing?
If this is a known problem, I am assuming this will be fixed when LP+ is actually released to use the Honeycomb engine.

green94 said:
New to Android... so this could possibly be a dumb question.
When using the stock Twitter widget, it only displays one tweet at a time and isn't scrollable. When reading up on Launcher Pro, it said that you can resize and create scrollable widgets. Could I take the stock Twitter app, resize it, AND make it scrollable?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No.
LPP+ has a very nice twitter widget that is scrollable.
LPP+ does nothing to widgets that aren't LP widgets, other than allow you to resize them. The stock Twitter widget does not have the ability, that I've seen, to be scrollable, there for for me, it gets deleted.
Its very hard if not impossible to find LPP replacement widgets for the Calendar/Agenda, facebook, and twitter widgets. ADW an equally impressive launcher does not have these widgets, but has a couple other tweaks LP doesn't.
There are also themed versions for LPP+ and ADW which are very nice. I'm using a transparent theme, XTG and Love it.
Here's the thread for all the themed versions. Looks like he just added HC too. Make a backup of LP, delete it. Install the themed .apk and restore. Activation codes work and it really adds a nice touch.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=783427
Its sad that the stock Launcher is so inadequate. I really tried to like it but the lack of resizing the widgets is a complete fail imo.

Mandelbrot.Benoit said:
No.
LPP+ has a very nice twitter widget that is scrollable.
LPP+ does nothing to widgets that aren't LP widgets, other than allow you to resize them. The stock Twitter widget does not have the ability, that I've seen, to be scrollable, there for for me, it gets deleted.
Its very hard if not impossible to find LPP replacement widgets for the Calendar/Agenda, facebook, and twitter widgets. ADW an equally impressive launcher does not have these widgets, but has a couple other tweaks LP doesn't.
There are also themed versions for LPP+ and ADW which are very nice. I'm using a transparent theme, XTG and Love it.
Here's the thread for all the themed versions. Looks like he just added HC too. Make a backup of LP, delete it. Install the themed .apk and restore. Activation codes work and it really adds a nice touch.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=783427
Its sad that the stock Launcher is so inadequate. I really tried to like it but the lack of resizing the widgets is a complete fail imo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off, great information. Really appreciate it.
A few follow up questions:
What are the differences between LPP+ and ADW beyond widgets? Candidly scrollable widgets is my most pressing need at this time, but I'm interested in hearing about the other "tweaks".
Do you use both launchers at the same time?
How do these programs handle battery consumption?
Lastly, which do you recommend for use with Honeycomb?
Thanks again

[Updated 3/15] Replace HTC Widgets through 3rd party Widgets -- LIST!

So I wanted to create a list of widgets that look/function like the HTC Widgets..
Weather - Palmary Weather
http://www.appbrain.com/app/palmary-weather-pro/com.palmarysoft.customweatherpro
Clock - Fancy Widget
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.anddoes.fancywidget.pro&feature=search_result
Calendar - Pure Grid Calendar
https://market.android.com/details?id=org.koxx.pure_grid_calendar
http://www.appbrain.com/app/calendar-snooze/com.bitfire.development.calendarsnooze <-- Calendar reminders
Music - Player Pro
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.tbig.playerpro&feature=search_result
Contact/People Widget
http://www.appbrain.com/app/contact-widget/br.livroandroid.widget.contatos
http://www.appbrain.com/app/contact-sidebar/albr.android.sidecallbar
http://www.appbrain.com/app/contacts-grid/com.billyfrancisco.contactsgrid
Facebook/Twitter/Friendstream/Contacts Widget (AIO)
http://www.appbrain.com/app/colorize-widget/com.snowbee.colorize
BookMark Widget
http://www.appbrain.com/app/visual-bookmarks/kent.android.imgbookmarks

Launcher Pro + has a lot of Sense-esque widgets built in.

It's not actually a widget, but what about the calendar reminders. I find that the stock reminder stinks...so I use Calendar Snooze. http://www.appbrain.com/app/calendar-snooze/com.bitfire.development.calendarsnooze

HELLZ YEAH !!!
This is a great source..
Thanks for this thread
STICKY PLEASE !! hahaha..
To the OP, please update the original post with all of the suggestions that are posted so that if this list grows to several pages, someone won't have to read through it all to see if it's already been suggested.
Thanks again.

Colorize widget - great replacement for Facebook/Friendstream and agenda calendar. You also have a contacts and messaging widget as well.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.snowbee.colorize&feature=search_result
Sent from my PG06100 using XDA App

keep em coming! just updated the list

063_XOBX said:
Launcher Pro + has a lot of Sense-esque widgets built in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes it does.. but I don't people to be limited to just Launcher Pro. This is more if people want a HTC look with say GO launcher, ADW, Zeam, etc...

063_XOBX said:
Launcher Pro + has a lot of Sense-esque widgets built in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
10 Characters

jamice4u said:
+1
10 Characters
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
see comment above! I don't want users to be limited to LauncherPRO when GOlauncher EX or ADW EX are worthy launchers..

would the colorize widget be scrollable on touchwiz or only for the previously mentioned launchers? ( I ask since touchwiz has other scrollable widgets.)
edit2: so i just tried to sign in with colorize and I got a suspicious activity alert, although i did get to play a fun guessing game at my friends photos to verify who i am.
edit: Also I just saw on appbrain the dev of visiual bookmarks also has visual contacts
Also if we are going for the look of sense the we need Fancy Widget v1.3 (picture) I can link it if it is not against the rules.