KitKat 4.4 - Can't add Home screens - Nexus 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

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 !

Related

How to move home screen drawer to side.

Does anyone know how to put the Bottom drawer to the side on the home screen? Some guysays he "hacked" it but usually when people use the works hack they usually are some loser with a dowloaded app. Or something. I've looked around to find some source code in the firmware that dictates where the drawer is to be but I can't find it (that's where it was on my iphone).. so if anyone has done this or knows how to do this could you let me know?
i've glitched it to the side a few times and it's kinda ugly over there. the whole setup of the homescreen rely's on the app drawer being at the bottom. to move it you would have to change how the icons appear on the screen and you would lose some space
no biggie
tubaking182 said:
i've glitched it to the side a few times and it's kinda ugly over there. the whole setup of the homescreen rely's on the app drawer being at the bottom. to move it you would have to change how the icons appear on the screen and you would lose some space
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't really mind having less space for apps on the home screen bc I only keep 2 folders with all the apps I want (I categorize my home screens) id love to know how to do it tho.id really aappreciate it you can email me [email protected] or just reply. Thanks

[Q] Home Screen

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.

[Q] Nexus 5 - No way to remove widgets/icons from homescreen

I have a brand new Nexus 5 which I immediately flashed Omnirom(Nov 15th Nightly) onto. And the process went off without a hitch.
But the "remove" button does not show up when I long press a widget/icon on the homescreen in order to remove it. According to google, the only other instance of this error was on a Amazon Fire also on Omnirom(but there's no solution given).
Of course, I could be missing an obvious setting or something, so any advice would be helpful.
Thank you.
arscenic said:
I have a brand new Nexus 5 which I immediately flashed Omnirom(Nov 15th Nightly) onto. And the process went off without a hitch.
But the "remove" button does not show up when I long press a widget/icon on the homescreen in order to remove it. According to google, the only other instance of this error was on a Amazon Fire also on Omnirom(but there's no solution given).
Of course, I could be missing an obvious setting or something, so any advice would be helpful.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will admit I don't use the default launcher, but did you try dragging the icon to the top (or bottom? I can't remember) of the screen? On Apex, dragging the icon to the top is the removal action. On some launchers, you'll see a trashcan appear somewhere when hold-dragging an icon.
arscenic said:
I have a brand new Nexus 5 which I immediately flashed Omnirom(Nov 15th Nightly) onto. And the process went off without a hitch.
But the "remove" button does not show up when I long press a widget/icon on the homescreen in order to remove it. According to google, the only other instance of this error was on a Amazon Fire also on Omnirom(but there's no solution given).
Of course, I could be missing an obvious setting or something, so any advice would be helpful.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no remove button. Just drag to the top it will become red which means it is removed.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
Thanks guys. The remove button is at the top but it's invisible for some reason. (Weirdly, it's visible while editing widgets in the lockscreen)
And on the subject of custom launchers, could you guys recommend the most stable launcher for Omnirom?
arscenic said:
Thanks guys. The remove button is at the top but it's invisible for some reason. (Weirdly, it's visible while editing widgets in the lockscreen)
And on the subject of custom launchers, could you guys recommend the most stable launcher for Omnirom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use Google now launcher or Nova. Haven't had issue with any launchers with Omni. Try out whichever you like.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
On stock launcher this happens for me when you hide the search bar in settings.
It seems like the "remove" icon is also hidden if the checkbox is unchecked.
If you select to display the searchbar the icon will appear again.
Omikron43 said:
On stock launcher this happens for me when you hide the search bar in settings.
It seems like the "remove" icon is also hidden if the checkbox is unchecked.
If you select to display the searchbar the icon will appear again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The remove is still there and works. Just move up until it turns red then leave finger

How to remove LeView from homescreens

I've read some posts and watched a few videos on how to get rid of the stupid LeView screen, problem was I saw no explanations for when it won't work.
What do you do when you click the eye icon and nothing happens? Turns out the solution is so easy that people never answered because they probably felt stupid. Luckily I have no shame :silly:
Step 1 ) Hold down any blank spot on home screens (like you would add a widget} but don't go to the LeView page as this is where you get the un-clickable eye icon, 1st click the home icon on the top of page you're at to make it your home screen
Step 2 ) Hold down any blank spot on home screens (like you would add a widget} Now you can go to the LeView page and hit the eye icon to disable it.
For me LeView came set as my home screen making just hitting the eye ineffective.
"Never go full retard" xD
just use any 3rd party launcher should do.
im using Nova Launcher... superb!!
- Use any 3rd party launcher
- Change your ROM (ROM with removed CN Apps)
- System remove APP (needs root) and remove the complete Application. (But i dont know if it works)
Glad to see that this works for disabling the LeView app on the Le Pro 3 as well.
Nothing wrong with the built in Eui Launcher at least for me.
Sent from my LEX727 using Tapatalk

[Q] Can't add a shortcut to the second display

Its odd, I had my favorite 5 apps up there for the longest time but one of them disappeared. I probably dragged it off by mistake and it's gone now. There is just a generic android placeholder app (the green alien) that does nothing.
How do I add the app I want back again? Do I just drag it up there, cause that's not working. Is it because I'm using a launcher (Nova)?
JDMpire said:
Its odd, I had my favorite 5 apps up there for the longest time but one of them disappeared. I probably dragged it off by mistake and it's gone now. There is just a generic android placeholder app (the green alien) that does nothing.
How do I add the app I want back again? Do I just drag it up there, cause that's not working. Is it because I'm using a launcher (Nova)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely. The issue is the launcher. LG made its own launcher so that one could drage from the homescreen up to the 2nd screen. But other launchers don't have that integrated in the source (because ... well LG is the only one who does lol) .But you can still add shortcuts by going into settings> display> Second Screen> show when main screen on > app shortcuts
Delete it then readd
Got it guys, thanks.

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