Hi
As a complete newcomer to the Android opertaing system forgive me for asking what might be a couple of silly questions!
Firstly, there seems to be a few (three?) home screens. Can I make one of these always appear first when I switch on the Nexus7.
Secondly, when I purchased it a couple of weeks ago there seemed to be a whole host of widgets present, some of which seem to do nothing. Where do these widgets come from and what are they supposed to do. I have tried searching the web for information on this but have come up with nothing that really explains what widgets are.
Any help would be appreciated.
There should be a stock 5 home screens on Jelly Bean. The one in the middle (3rd) will be the default one. This can't be changed unless you use a custom launcher, like Nova Launcher. Then you can play around with them however you like.
As for the widgets question - which widgets are you talking about? As far as I know, there are no widgets which do "nothing"
I am not entirely sure about what you mean when you talk of widgets, but here goes:
Widgets do all sorts of things, from being toggle switches to news widgets. The ones on the screens when yo first get your tablet are Google widgets. If I remember correctly they are mostly play store and media related. You can remove them easily by touching and holding the widget for a second and dragging it to the 'remove' icon that appears on the top of the screen.
Yo can install and remove widgets the same way you would install a program from the play store, widgets can be accessed through the apps menu and dragged onto any of your virtual screens.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
ynrozturk said:
There should be a stock 5 home screens on Jelly Bean. The one in the middle (3rd) will be the default one. This can't be changed unless you use a custom launcher, like Nova Launcher. Then you can play around with them however you like.
As for the widgets question - which widgets are you talking about? As far as I know, there are no widgets which do "nothing"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the information. IT doesn't seem like 5 screens but I will move my icons to it and see if that does the job.
As for the widgets, this may have been covered in the next reply. Some of mine do nothing if I "click" on them and look like web pages or similar.
toidimaet said:
I am not entirely sure about what you mean when you talk of widgets, but here goes:
Widgets do all sorts of things, from being toggle switches to news widgets. The ones on the screens when yo first get your tablet are Google widgets. If I remember correctly they are mostly play store and media related. You can remove them easily by touching and holding the widget for a second and dragging it to the 'remove' icon that appears on the top of the screen.
Yo can install and remove widgets the same way you would install a program from the play store, widgets can be accessed through the apps menu and dragged onto any of your virtual screens.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the information - very helpful.
Ega43 said:
Thanks for the information. IT doesn't seem like 5 screens but I will move my icons to it and see if that does the job.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are definitely 5 home screens but only 3 have widgets placed on them when you take it out of the box for the first time.
Roland
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Sorted, thanks. Moved my widgets to the third home screen which now opens by default.
Related
The notifications tray is great, easily pops down most of the time and the apps tray (with ALL the apps) is just as nice.
But i would like a extra tray for settings and/or favorite apps instead of clogging the "desktop" with shortcuts.
like a tray that flips out from the side of the screen.
is it even possible to add a off-screen container such as the above mentioned dropdown/up trays?
and if yes, are there any available at this time?
I know this isn't going to answer your query, but what is wrong with just populating one of your home screens with shortcuts?
I mean, if you do this with one of the screens either side of the "centre" home screen, you effectively get what you require.
Regards,
Dave
I do use the screens as placeholders for my everyday apps, but most of the time i need a app thats on another screen, meaning i have to go look for it.
With a pulldown tray that would pop out from the side, i could keep my most used apps more conviniently located, just a tap away, instead of 1 to 6 swipes away.
since the apps and notifications are dropdown/up i feel its missing dropdown left/right, witch is the real reason im wondering.
it would be great with apps on one side and settings on the other, then i wouldnt use more than one or two homescreens for widgets only.
I seem to recall one of the home replacement apps had this...I can't recall which.
I know, what you mean.
It's not so nice, to put hundreds of widgets and Shortcuts on the screen.
I don't like it on Windows Desktop, too.
Therefor, I have loaded Apps Organizer from Market.
I put my Apps in 5 Folders, sorted.
Is that something to try for you?
http://www.androidpit.de/android/de/de/market/apps/app/com.google.code.appsorganizer/Apps-Organizer
I love it, really.
Perfect thanks
Formel-LMS said:
I know, what you mean.
It's not so nice, to put hundreds of widgets and Shortcuts on the screen.
I don't like it on Windows Desktop, too.
Therefor, I have loaded Apps Organizer from Market.
I put my Apps in 5 Folders, sorted.
Is that something to try for you?
http://www.androidpit.de/android/de/de/market/apps/app/com.google.code.appsorganizer/Apps-Organizer
I love it, really.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recently converted from a strictly WinMo user to Android and having struggled to find apps stored on my phone because of a lack of folder organisation, am thrilled to find this app. Many thanks!
Formel-LMS said:
I know, what you mean.
It's not so nice, to put hundreds of widgets and Shortcuts on the screen.
I don't like it on Windows Desktop, too.
Therefor, I have loaded Apps Organizer from Market.
I put my Apps in 5 Folders, sorted.
Is that something to try for you?
http://www.androidpit.de/android/de/de/market/apps/app/com.google.code.appsorganizer/Apps-Organizer
I love it, really.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually you can do that with the stock sense widgets, as there are folders for the homescreen. afaik they don't support custom icons though.
Hello,
I was wondering is it possible to re organise the application on the x10 so i can put my favourates nearer the top and on the first page?
thanks for your help
You could put your favourites onto one of your home screens. That's what most people seem to do.
go to one of the home screens, slide up the apps panel then hold your finger on the app you want until it vibrates the app panel will close and you can drop the app onto the screen.
Simples!
Sent from my X10i using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
thanks for the reply.
yeh i did have that set up before but im using timescape as my homescreen now so was hoping id be able to just reorder the entire list of applications so the ones i want are close to hand.
done
its ok i figured it out...if u hold it down for ages it wil let u move each app...
How do I reorder the menu?
I want to move some apps to the top of the application list (NOT the home screen).
I'm pretty sure that you can't.. although No1 Fred might say different?
im_iceman said:
I'm pretty sure that you can't.. although No1 Fred might say different?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, thought it would of been one of the first things they would of had aside from changing from list to grid.
I guess that's what the home screens are for though.. although if you use timescape as the home screen then you're a bit knackered!!.. (Does anyone find it useful to use Timescape as the home screen?? I know a few have tried it then reverted back to "normal" home screen..)..
Plus if you install a different app launcher (open home or Helix) then you can have more home screens.. and organise your apps into groups.. (I've got 5 screens with Games on one screen, internet stuff on another.. clock and calendar on the centre, then "System tools", then useful gadgets on the fifth..)
Hi,
I am fairly new to the Android world and I have some questions for you guys.
So as I said the Atrix is my first Android phone I've already rooted it and done all the modification we, bell users, can do.
There is one thing that I think is really weird and its the widget positioning. Why do all widgets have 1/8 of free space on top, on bottom and on the side? And why is there already "pre-designed" area to put you widget in? It feels to me like I can't place them like I want... Am I doing something wrong or is there an option somewhere to remove that?
I tried searching Google for that but wasn't able to find the right word so I can get relevant results.
I am currently using Go Laucher.
Thanks for you help and sorry if there is some english mistake, english isn't my first language.
It is like a fixed grid, but you can have some more freedom/customization using apps like luncher pro
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
I'll try Laucher Pro then!
Thank you!
suleiman.aql said:
It is like a fixed grid, but you can have some more freedom/customization using apps like luncher pro
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
or using go launcher create a 5x5 grid, or use desktop visualizer to use custom icons all over, etc etc
LauncherPro Plus allows widget resizing. Get it if you dont already have it.
Stick with Go Launcher because 1) it's free and 2) it allows widget resizing without paying (ala Launcher Pro Plus).
Set your grid to 4x5 tight or 5x5 extra tight and you will have barely any margins on the sides.
I changed to 5x5 and it helped a lot!!
Thanks to everyone!
I've got a question slightly related, is there a way to set up the original homescreen launcher to come up when I press the home button because I got Go Launcher and pressing home only seems to go there and I have to kill it to get back to the original screen.
Shadohw said:
I've got a question slightly related, is there a way to set up the original homescreen launcher to come up when I press the home button because I got Go Launcher and pressing home only seems to go there and I have to kill it to get back to the original screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
settings/applications/manage applications/go launcher/clear defaults
Thanks for the reply, I already did that but i can set the default for the home button as as the original launcher as long as I have other launchers installed, the original just doesn't show up in the list of choices. I have Launcher Pro as well as I was testing which I would like better but when I press home the list comes up with only Go & Pro launchers, I guess I'll just have to go with a third party one then it seems the default launcher doesn't get it's own app or whatever.
just uninstall them if you dont want to use 3rd party launcher....its that simple
Shadohw said:
I've got a question slightly related, is there a way to set up the original homescreen launcher to come up when I press the home button because I got Go Launcher and pressing home only seems to go there and I have to kill it to get back to the original screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
get home switcher from the market its free i have like four dif ui on my atrix
You have to check out the new adw ex which is optimized for tablets. It is simply awesome especially the main dock
Screenshots below ...
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk
works great.
Can the bar being themed easily ?
DannyBiker said:
Can the bar being themed easily ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it can.
Cool ...i run into my market !
Liking it...mostly.
Adds a new dimension to wallpaper wonkiness, unfortunately.
My wallpaper (via wizardrii) is not properly centered in landscape mode. Have not fiddled with it yet.
Anyone have any tips?
I will definitely be purchasing this for my girlfriend's 10.1.. thanks for the tip, it looks great!
Am loving it just make sure if your rubbish bin bar is located at the bottom you enable auto scaling of desktop when bin bar is used, otherwise you won't be able to add icons to the docking bar !
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Mine works well for an hour or so, then takes an age for an app to return to the launcher. Only way to fix is to reboot the tab. Anyone else seen this?
Is there a light or trial version that I can try for free? I can't find one in the market.
TabGuy said:
Is there a light or trial version that I can try for free? I can't find one in the market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Buy it from android market and you will have 15 mts to refund. I know not much you can do in 15 mts, but something better than nothing.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA Premium App
Pottsy said:
Mine works well for an hour or so, then takes an age for an app to return to the launcher. Only way to fix is to reboot the tab. Anyone else seen this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got the same problem, when i exits some app the screen goes black and nothing happens for a long time and then the desktop appears.
/qsec
Sent from my GT-P7500 using Tapatalk
Wallpapers aren't rendered properly, and my dock bar just disappeared on mine. Still has a ways to go on tablets.
Dock bar going away is a common "problem" with ADW. Turn off hidden dockbar in the settings, turn off gestures.
I went ahead and set mine up without a dockbar, and with just the ADW settings menu item in the top right. Removed the trash bin as well (long-press then Remove from the desktop works just fine).
"Endless" page scrolling, page-turn animation of Tilt, 350 turn speed, 15 desktop bounce, and a theme that has a transparent top menu bar. Desktop has 9x7 columns/rows, icons scaled to 95%, density hack off. App drawer is 6x6, in 4D vertical scroll.
Basically, it looks pretty much like Honeycomb at a glance, but without the one-inch "tap space" wasted on the left and right screen edges. It's much faster and smoother. About the only performance issue I've had is that it doesn't handle "card" widgets like YouTube, Market or News360 as smoothly as stock, when you go to "fling" a card away.
Maybe I'm just getting old and simple, but I don't really see the point of having the excessive customization of ADW on a Honeycomb tab. I have my homescreen setup with two widgets and about 12 regular icons, then the next screen over has some lesser used stuff. If I need any other apps I just open the app drawer and easily locate them. I mean, it's neat to make things whiz-bang and all, but from a usability perspective there's already so much overkill built in to Honeycomb that ADW doesn't seem worth the time.
On my phone, ADW is great, however. Now get off my lawn.
burhanistan said:
Maybe I'm just getting old and simple, but I don't really see the point of having the excessive customization of ADW on a Honeycomb tab. I have my homescreen setup with two widgets and about 12 regular icons, then the next screen over has some lesser used stuff. If I need any other apps I just open the app drawer and easily locate them. I mean, it's neat to make things whiz-bang and all, but from a usability perspective there's already so much overkill built in to Honeycomb that ADW doesn't seem worth the time.
On my phone, ADW is great, however. Now get off my lawn.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't have to use the power of ADW, it's just there waiting to be harnessed if you want it.
In fact, you can use ADW to simplify it, for example you can delete unused home screens, unlike stock Honeycomb. Doing things like adding widgets or changing wallpapers is also cleaner and quicker than the flashy Honeycomb interface. It's simpler.
I'm a card carrying member of the Curmudgeon's Club of Canada, by the way.
burhanistan said:
Maybe I'm just getting old and simple, but I don't really see the point of having the excessive customization of ADW on a Honeycomb tab. I have my homescreen setup with two widgets and about 12 regular icons, then the next screen over has some lesser used stuff. If I need any other apps I just open the app drawer and easily locate them. I mean, it's neat to make things whiz-bang and all, but from a usability perspective there's already so much overkill built in to Honeycomb that ADW doesn't seem worth the time.
On my phone, ADW is great, however. Now get off my lawn.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So... You are saying that you need adw
I like simple too, and adw help me doing that.
I mean, I do not need the 3d cubic scrolling effects, neither than the futuristic widget selection screen, or the quick search bar at the top.
I didn't choose to display the dock too in adw.
And it is so fast, close to the ipad smoothness.
Croak said:
Dock bar going away is a common "problem" with ADW. Turn off hidden dockbar in the settings, turn off gestures.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is not a problem but a feature hehe. If you slide one the dock, it disappear. I you slide again it appears. I think you can disable somewhere that movement.
ADW still sucks on the Tab..not only are the card/live widgets like Youtube slow to flick like someone said, but the worst thing is that for certain widget, like the Digital Clock stock Tab one...it looks fine when using the Tab landscape at first, then every single time I rotate to portrait view, the widget re-draws for new orientation and both left and right sides of the widget are not cut off. This does not adjust/fix itself instantly like stock launcher does and the only way to really fix it is to re-add widget or sometimes turn screen off and on.
I like the smoothness of the launcher/drawer but I aint dealing with this **** where a widget gets screwed up every single time....too annoying to deal with. Why is this such a hard thing to get right?? Is there a fix for this or no? I am not resizing the widget to begin with btw...just adding it as normal size. The homescreen size I use is 8 columns and 7 rows btw, just like stock.
Oh and why in the app drawer, the the top still unmatching/not dimmed like the rest of the drawer below it? Looks so stupid. They should dim it too and still keep the buttons in the top right corner, ughh.
EDIT: Here, compare landscape to portrait when flipped. Not only does that Digital Clock widget get cut off, but also look at the Wireless Widget..it looks ridiculous now.
EDIT2: I unchecked the ADW option for resizing widgets to fit blah blah but the same thing still happens where the Clock widget, for example, gets cut off after going vertical.. although the Wifi Widget looks a little less ridiculous now when turning. Anyone know about the widget issue though??
TabGuy said:
Is there a light or trial version that I can try for free? I can't find one in the market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 15 minute refund policy really sucks, especially for apps like ADW EX where you really need some time to get a feel for how you like it and check out all the customizations. To get around it you can always buy it, pull the apk from /data/apps (requires root), refund it, and re-install the program using the pulled apk file. This way you can take your time to play around with the app before deciding if you want to keep it. If you do go ahead and re-buy it from market. If you decide not to buy it do the honest thing and uninstall the program.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using XDA Premium App
Fresh install of 4.4 on my Nexus 7(2012). Also installed the new Google launcher apk, but I can't add any more home screens. Tried dropping an app to the right but a new home screen never appears.
Anyone else experience this?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
erics88 said:
Fresh install of 4.4 on my Nexus 7(2012). Also installed the new Google launcher apk, but I can't add any more home screens. Tried dropping an app to the right but a new home screen never appears.
Anyone else experience this?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, erics88...
Yes, I have had the same problem... I think it's a bug in the LAUNCHER.APK itself... which is actually just a 'stub', that calls upon Google Search (which is now the real home launcher). And based on my experiments, the only way to make it work correctly, is to first enable Google Now.
Try the following... go to the GOOGLE SEARCH BAR at the top of the screen... and begin to type in some search word or phrase... You should see, in blue text, the words 'Get Google Now'... tap on this, and you'll be taken to a screen where you can optionally opt in to Google Now. Tap on the blue 'YES, I'M IN' button at the bottom right hand corner of the screen.
A dialogue box should then appear, asking which Google Account (gmail account) to use. If you have more than one (as I have)... tap on the one you want to use. Press the BACK BUTTON to take you back to the launcher home screen.
You should now have Google Now 'cards' as a screen in it's own right (at the far left)... and dragging app icons toward the right hand edge of the screen should now dynamically create more home screens.
Apologies for the convoluted explanation... but it's really tricky explaining this stuff in a way that is understandable.
Anyway... hope this helps.
Rgrds,
Ged.
Nope - maybe need to re-install
Thanks for the help. My apologies for not giving all the details.
I have the Google Now cards showing up on the left screen but no matter what I try, I can not get a third screen. I used the same apk files on my Galaxy Nexus (rooted stock 4.3) and the Google launcher & Search work great, but I have the same issue. Only 2 Home screens and can't create another one by dragging an app icon towards the right.
Maybe I have a corrupt apk file. I'll try removing the launcher and search from both of my devices. Then I try to located the apk files from a different source. I'l post an update later this evening (EST)
Thanks again!
just a reminder.. make sure u have at least 1 shortcut in the 2nd home screen before trying to add a 3rd screen..
i tried million times to add a 3rd screen in vain when i left the 2nd screen empty (just wanna leave it blank and add some widgets later)..
a bug? i think so.. maybe google think otherwise..
iamelton said:
just a reminder.. make sure u have at least 1 shortcut in the 2nd home screen before trying to add a 3rd screen..
i tried million times to add a 3rd screen in vain when i left the 2nd screen empty (just wanna leave it blank and add some widgets later)..
a bug? i think so.. maybe google think otherwise..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, iamelton...
I don't think it's a bug - I think it's intentional. Home screens are created dynamically, as and when you drag app icons to the right hand edge of the screen to create them.
Consider this... let's suppose you have five screens (excluding the Google Now screen), all with app icons on them... and the last screen contains just one app icon. For whatever reason, you either delete it, or drag it to the left in order to drop it onto screen number four. Screen number five vanishes.
Similarly, if you delete everything on the middle screen (screen number three in my five screen example), all the other screens will be 'pushed' to the left by one. The middle screen now no longer exists, because it is empty.
With Google Experience Launcher, unlike third party launchers such as Apex, Nova or Go Launcher, it's impossible to create launcher screens that are blank. They must have something on them... whether that be a widget, shortcut or an app icon.
To put it another way... in GEL, a launcher homescreen only exists if something is occupying it.
Rgrds,
Ged.
GedBlake said:
Hi, iamelton...
I don't think it's a bug - I think it's intentional. Home screens are created dynamically, as and when you drag app icons to the right hand edge of the screen to create them.
Consider this... let's suppose you have five screens (excluding the Google Now screen), all with app icons on them... and the last screen contains just one app icon. For whatever reason, you either delete it, or drag it to the left in order to drop it onto screen number four. Screen number five vanishes.
Similarly, if you delete everything on the middle screen (screen number three in my five screen example), all the other screens will be 'pushed' to the left by one. The middle screen now no longer exists, because it is empty.
With Google Experience Launcher, unlike third party launchers such as Apex, Nova or Go Launcher, it's impossible to create launcher screens that are blank. They must have something on them... whether that be a widget, shortcut or an app icon.
To put it another way... in GEL, a launcher homescreen only exists if something is occupying it.
Rgrds,
Ged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah i understand the "ideal" embedded in the new GEL..
its just my own preference that i dont like the idea of dynamic screen handling..
say i wanna add a new screen in between screen no.3 and no. 4.. cant imagine an easy way to do this..
can only think of first adding a new screen 6, moving all apps from 5 to 6 (but leaving 1 in screen 5 to prevent the screen from being deleted), moving all apps from 4 to 5 (leaving 1 in screen 4 again), then adding my intended apps to screen 4, moving the 1 previous app in screen 4 to 5, and finally moving the 1 previous app in screen 5 to 6.. great now im done..
can u do better to beat me?
Thanks everyone for the help. I just started over with a new 4.4 install and used pa_gapps-modular-mini-4.4-20131118 instead of the launcher apk. Now I can add more screens, but I have a feeling my main screen might have been empty when I was trying to add a third screen earlier.
Might go back and try the launcher apk on my Galaxy Nexus 4.3 phone just to test this out.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
UPDATE: Doh! yep, you need to have a icon/widget on your main screen before you can add a third screen.
Thanks iamelton!!!
Or just use Nova Launcher from the play store !