Related
I have had the ZTE Blade for about a month now and I have noticed that sometimes it can become a bit slow and laggy but with the use of some free apps from the market I was able to help speed up the Blade's performance without much effort.
Advanced Task Killer
Launch the app > Press "menu" button > Go to settings > Change "Auto Kill Level" to "Safe" also change "Auto Kill Frequency to "When screen off"
AutoStart Killer
Disable all apps you don't need to start up when the phone boots
Launcher Pro
Make sure Launcher Pro is the default launcher. I recommend that you only have 3 homescreens with minimal use of widgets. i have found that keeping the default settings improves performance.
Zeam
I found that LauncherPro and Zeam are similar in performance but they are both great launcher replacements.
Titanium Backup
Only needed if you are using a stock rom or one with a lot of apps you don't use or want. Remove any Orange or ZTE apps you don't use to free up space on the phone's internal memory.
Cheers for the info
ive been using TB to remove apps or old apps works well and seems to speed things up
ive also been using cache cleaner and rebooting (which i hope helps keep things running a little better)
Cheers
Ricey
Isnt Advanced Task Killer supposed to be evil?
russellc1 said:
Advanced Task Killer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't ever need a autokiller. Use auto-starts, and don't install crap apps!
russellc1 said:
Launcher Pro
Make sure Launcher Pro is the default launcher. I recommend that you only have 3 homescreens with minimal use of widgets. i have found that keeping the default settings improves performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to change home launcher in order to optimize performance, Zeam is the best choice. It has a very low footprint (and a very handy home screen, btw.).
There's no way a task killer is going anywhere near my phone......
Agreed - Zeam seems to be a bit smoother than launcher pro on the stock rom. On 2.2 theres very little difference between them. Personally i prefer ADW - although pretty much the only thing it has over Launcher Pro is the ability to set three columns instead of four in the app drawer. (sad i know)
The best optimization is to get 2.2 on there
I've not tried out zeam yet, but running Launcher pro on 2.2, with memory settings set to 10, and caching enabled, I find it hard to believe that much it going to beat it, mine is liquid smooth on the home screen.
Mike
I've just tried out Zeam, and actually I was suprised at how smooth it is, not quite a smooth going into the appdraw, but really quite good
Mike
Wait till Launcher Pro get its rewrite, then we will see who is smoother
You shouldn't use an auto task killer. Autostarts is a better bet to prevent stuff you don't want starting the first place. And Watchdog if the reason you're wanting to kill stuff is that they're going wrong.
Zeam is faster than LauncherPro imo. It's just a shame it doesn't have the option to hide apps in the app drawer.
faster blade
use adw launcher it is the best homescreen by miles, once you get used to it all others will seem pointless, stick to a minimal amount of widgets and a max of 3 screens.
a good task manager I've found is task panel x. it gives you a widget for your homescreen with a kill all button and has ignore and autokill options to keep things running smoothly
avoid live wallpapers like the plague, try using something like wallswitch instead to auto change your wallpapers. there are loads of apps to get nice wallpapers and most of them look miles better than the gimmicky live wallpapers anyway.
I have spent hours trying out every widget and app out there and can highly recommend the following...
My current widgets
countdown timer widget,
mort player music widget,
sticky pad pro widget (totally customizable and great for shopping lists)
guage battery widget
jorte calander
wifi manager
task panel
widgetsoid
digital clock widget
favourite apps
angry birds
system panel light (best looking task manager by far)
app brain (better than the market)
chrome to phone
daily horoscope
ezpdf reader (has night mode)
laputa (excellent free ebook reader)
myplayer (old version still works)
Slideit keyboard (like swype but much better)
uk tv droid (excellent tv guide with reminders)
Uloops studio (THIS ROCKS, BEST ANDROID APP EVER)
wall switch
if anybody knows of any better alternatives to these I would love to hear about them.
what to kill though
hi,
I have had my blade for about a month now, and it is my first Android.
this thread is just what I am needing right now to try and optimize it
and get better battery life for use on my golf course with Freecaddie.
currently I am using 2 apps: Advanced Task Killer (the little green man icon) and 'Quick Settings'
and have set phone to 2G, with Auto sync and Background Data disabled.
I fancy trying Titanium Backup and Autostart Killer as mentioned earlier
but have not the faintest idea as to what Apps to backup, nor which to Autokill.
I actually only need my Blade for basic phone usage, as a Satnav, and for Golfing.
if anyone can advise me what to 'kill' I would be very greatful.
a great forum this, and a Happy New Year to all.
Kevin
I have now installed Autostart Killer and quite like it,
but Titanium Backup seems to be for rooted phones only and mine is not rooted.
is there a similar app to Titanium Backup for non rooted phones ?
thanks,
Kevin
Yeh, I'm kind of in a dilema whether to use advanced task killer or not..
can anyone point me in the right direction?
olyloh6696 said:
Yeh, I'm kind of in a dilema whether to use advanced task killer or not..
can anyone point me in the right direction?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Add to whitelist anything you want to keep open it doesn't display core processes anyway so can't go wrong.
There's an ilogic in the logic as far as android is concerned apparently there is no need for taskillers due to androids own task manager, happen to disagree as any process increases battery also many programs use net in background to which again uses battery, the argument you will find is in the clock we use to clear "doesn't need to be done every minute" also another app worth getting if rooted is Droid wall a firewall very handy to stop program communications..
Sent from my BladeVillain using XDA App
Launchers
I wholeheartedly agree with 'Twistedvegan' that the ADW Launcher is the best.
amongst it's many good points are the ability to change the 3 main launcher icons,
and to customomize what you add to each screen. (eg: I have just icons with no text for my main apps)
and I have tried all the most popular launchers
With the original tw launcher whenever you're using an app or game *for example Angry Birds* and you receive a call it shows up on the ticker. But when I use another Launcher *for example Go Launcher* and I play Angry Birds and I receive a call not only does it not show up in the ticker but it stops the game and the screen changes and shows me who's calling. is there a way to make the calls be show on the ticker while on Go launcher and using an app?
XjokiX7 said:
With the original tw launcher whenever you're using an app or game *for example Angry Birds* and you receive a call it shows up on the ticker. But when I use another Launcher *for example Go Launcher* and I play Angry Birds and I receive a call not only does it not show up in the ticker but it stops the game and the screen changes and shows me who's calling. is there a way to make the calls be show on the ticker while on Go launcher and using an app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been looking at that, off and on,
For the last three months, with no headway. Trailblazer looked, and says its hard baked into tw. If it can be ported to go, I haven't figured it out, yet.
Sent from my SCH-I400 using Tapatalk 2
Txwolf1980 said:
I've been looking at that, off and on,
For the last three months, with no headway. Trailblazer looked, and says its hard baked into tw. If it can be ported to go, I haven't figured it out, yet.
Sent from my SCH-I400 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm.. Well whenever you have two themes installed *For example Launcher 7 and TwLauncher and you haven't yet decided which to choose as default* the apps show the call in the ticker. But then let's just say I decide to use Launcher 7 as my default, then it stops working and the screen changes to the call. That confuses me.
I've posted on this topic before somewhere on this forum, but don't remember where.
The Touchwiz launcher has to be running for incoming calls to come to the ticker. I, too, find this feature indispensable on our phones.
I use LauncherPro. I have created an invisible shortcut to an "activity" that launchers Touchwiz launcher after I've rebooted my phone. Touchwiz comes up, I hit my home button and LauncherPro comes right back up. I never see Touchwiz again, but the service necessary to send incoming calls to the Ticker continues to run until I restart my phone again.
I tried GoLauncher but went back to LauncherPro. I can't remember why I did, but it might have been because I was unable to make a shortcut to launch Touchwiz. I don't remember.
So, I just have to remember to launch the shortcut anytime I've restarted my phone, and I'm good.
Touchwiz doesn't show up in the normal app list, so I needed the more granular set of options that "Activities" in LauncherPro provided.
spearoid said:
I've posted on this topic before somewhere on this forum, but don't remember where.
The Touchwiz launcher has to be running for incoming calls to come to the ticker. I, too, find this feature indispensable on our phones.
I use LauncherPro. I have created an invisible shortcut to an "activity" that launchers Touchwiz launcher after I've rebooted my phone. Touchwiz comes up, I hit my home button and LauncherPro comes right back up. I never see Touchwiz again, but the service necessary to send incoming calls to the Ticker continues to run until I restart my phone again.
I tried GoLauncher but went back to LauncherPro. I can't remember why I did, but it might have been because I was unable to make a shortcut to launch Touchwiz. I don't remember.
So, I just have to remember to launch the shortcut anytime I've restarted my phone, and I'm good.
Touchwiz doesn't show up in the normal app list, so I needed the more granular set of options that "Activities" in LauncherPro provided.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recall that work around. For me, it made the phone sluggish. But, that was also on a 07, which was a leak. Maybe it would work better with 09. I might give that a try again, and see what happens. I'd still like to come up with something that is more native, if I can eventually figure it out. But, for now, that is probably the best we have.
Txwolf1980 said:
I recall that work around. For me, it made the phone sluggish. But, that was also on a 07, which was a leak. Maybe it would work better with 09. I might give that a try again, and see what happens. I'd still like to come up with something that is more native, if I can eventually figure it out. But, for now, that is probably the best we have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I have no doubt that the majority of my complaints about Trailblazer101's mods making my homescreen respawn all the time were related to running two launchers simultaneously....although I'm fairly sure I tried NOT loading up TW and I still had incessant homescreen respawns.
It was your suggestion, that finally solved all of my life's problems. Using Rom Toolbox to cut out all kind of unnecessary crap running virtually eliminated my respawn issue altogether.
I think my phone runs excellently now...even with TW running in the background.
But don't let that deter you. I'd LOVE to find a way to launch minimal software for the ticker-incoming call feature as opposed to running TW fully.
Dear all,
In landscape mode, the home button in on the right. When I try to swipe from right for any thing (to use feature as switch tabs in Chrome), instead of the expected result, Google now is launched. How to cope with this? There are some threads for disabling google now but they wont work (disabling google now does not override the swipe to launch google). I am using Nova launcher, but I guess this is also the behavior of stock launcher. Thanks!
waqarz said:
Dear all,
In landscape mode, the home button in on the right. When I try to swipe from right for any thing (to use feature as switch tabs in Chrome), instead of the expected result, Google now is launched. How to cope with this? There are some threads for disabling google now but they wont work (disabling google now does not override the swipe to launch google). I am using Nova launcher, but I guess this is also the behavior of stock launcher. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try using a different launcher, I used Nova for awhile but found that it was just a little unfinished and ran into a lot of complications like this. Try switching to APEX launcher its alot cleaner and if you spend some time getting everything set up it can really maximize efficiency.
LilHuntz said:
Try using a different launcher, I used Nova for awhile but found that it was just a little unfinished and ran into a lot of complications like this. Try switching to APEX launcher its alot cleaner and if you spend some time getting everything set up it can really maximize efficiency.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but I'm not inclined to using Apex, Nova can provide me quite similar looks (with enhanced features off course) as stock launcher, and that's what I want.
Are you using a custom Rom? Maybe something like paranoidandroid with extended desktop pie control would help decrease this problem?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Ok, so I'm trying to find a decent launcher for the HDX. I'm going to chronicle my struggle with this great launcher deficit. I do realize there is a "Working Launcher Thread", but it's rather strewn about and disorganized. I would like to make my first contribution to this forum a comprehensive Launcher list, with a quick n' dirty prognosis of each item.
Kindle Fire HDX 7"
Stock ROM Version 13.3.2.4
Rooted with Towelroot
OTA Updates Disabled
I was just going to flash a new ROM, but I was not able to boot into any ROM Manager. If anyone could point me in the direction of a good ROM and ROM Manager that works with the KFHDX7, I'd be highly appreciative. Now, I digress.
Key:
Glitchy and/or Sucky
Mediocre
Awesomesauce
Tested the following launchers:
Otter(aka stock "Home"): Obviously, this one sucks the proverbial balls. No customizability, no widgets. My whole motivation for rooting.
Next Launcher 3D 3.10: Looked pretty, but unfortunately too glitchy.
GO Launcher HD: Stable thus far. Somewhat busy. GO Widgets work, if you have Google Play.
KitKat Launcher 1.14: Stable, minimalist design. Surprisingly, did use slightly more RAM than relatively cluttered GO Launcher(without Widgets activated)
Holo Launcher HD 2.0.4: Worked great until I rebooted. Sent my device into epileptic crisis.
Galaxy/Touchwiz Beta v5: Always in landscape mode, would not react to moving device to portrait mode.
GEL/Google Now: Widget support! However, I did need the Xposed Framework and GEL Settings app to make things work properly.
Unfortunately, NONE of the launchers had native widget support. They would simply crash when trying to add a launcher to the homescreen. I'm guessing this has something to do with the KFHDX OS itself. The exception to this was GO Launcher, which had working GO Widgets. To be honest, I wasn't overly impressed by the GO Widgets.
Also, another common theme was issues with the screen orientation.Several launchers had problems with device orientation. When in landscape mode with Next, you could not move icons around. The screen would invert, and you would 'drop' the icon. When in portrait mode, the persistent launcher frame with the Home/Back/Apps/Search button would cause the Next launcher bar to overlap some of the icons on the screen, thereby rendering them inaccessible. The same thing happened with KitKat as far as being unable to move icons around when in landscape mode. However, there was no issue with overlapping elements, so this was less of a deal-breaker.
I use Nova on mine. Everything works great widgets and all.
I'm using the everythingme launcher. Its my new favorite.
Sent from my KFAPWI using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Everything me crashed on me every time
Nova prime and Apex both working perfectly. Widget support, wallpapers etc
I installed KK Launcher from the Play Store. Once downloaded you can all install the KK Locker which will replace your Amazon lockscreen with KitKat style one. In the settings of KK Locker choose the disable default lockscreen option and it will take you to the amazon lockscreen options, then back out of it. Reboot device. The amazon lockscreen will appear for a few seconds, then disappear. From then on, the KK Locker screen always appears, no double lockscreen. If you download Android L Wallpapers by AKWS, you can use it to change wallpapers. You can also change the keyboard by installing keyboard of your choice and then finding it under keyboard languages. I installed Android L keyboard from the Play Store and found it under languages as "English (United States)" and checked it. There is another option with same name already checked and that was the Amazon Keyboard, which I unchecked. Then selected the checked keyboard under default and voila. Now my Fire HDX looks like an AOSP Android L (except when entering settings).
BTW - If you go to the app drawer within the launch and select manage apps, it will open the Amazon app manager, but you will lose your onscreen buttons at the bottom of the screen. I did this while typing this post ... still trying to get them back Maybe I can figure out how to load the AOSP buttons in their place:fingers-crossed:
KK Launcher : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kk.launcher&hl=en
KK Locker : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kk.locker&hl=en
Android L Wallpapers : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=alexanderkazmin.androidlwallpapers&hl=en
Android L Keyboard : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.e.android.softkeyboard&hl=en
First a preamble....
I am thinking this might be better placed in the themes and apps section, but I am not sure.
If you have read all of the posts about bricking, you would know that flashing a replacement Rom is both dangerous and bound to fail because we do not have an unlocked boot loader yet.
Be careful with implementation, but if you want to experiment with alternate roms, head over to the developer section, read everything about Dagestan for your particular device, and then have a it. Be sure the first thing you do is back up your current Rom. Then make a new slot, and only make changes on new slots.
Okay with that our of the way...
As others have stated, I use Nova. It is quite nice.
For those of you who have issues with typical Android things like wallpapers and widgets, Amazon left out some apps that run those services. Some launchers do not need those services to implement those things. Most do.
You can install those services safely (without locking up your device) by using Kindle Free. It is an app that is in the play store. I just used the free one.
I was happy to discover that even Amazon Native apps come with widgets that can be used once the fix is applied.
I am on the OEM Rom, rooted.
Good luck. Sorry if this comes across as pejorative, but a lot of people are bricking their devices and I would hate for that
T to happen to anyone else.
Apex works well for me. Love that you can resize widgets. Wallpapers work well. That being said, there is the occasional glitch that is fixed with a reboot.
rootnooby said:
Apex works well for me. Love that you can resize widgets. Wallpapers work well. That being said, there is the occasional glitch that is fixed with a reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amazon Kindle doesn't open when I use Apex. Haven't tried other launchers but expect the same thing to occur. Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix that?
Thanks
Hi,
In every other android based phone I've owned I've always had an option to hide apps I don't use allot so you just drag an app up to the top and there are usually two options: Uninstall and Remove which places it in a vault for safe keeping. This doesn't seep to be present on this phone and I HATE cluttered desktops so I'm a bit bummed about this so I thought I'd reach out and see if I'm not figuring this out.
I am now aware of the right swipe that brings me to some other settings but there is no app vault there for hiding apps I don't use.
Also is there a way to uninstall allot of the bloat ware this phone came with? I use Google apps for most of my needs and Opera as my main browser so having these other apps on board isn't much to my liking and again without a vault of some kind to take them off of hte desktop...... no fun!
I do know about the combining apps into "folders" and renaming them but I'd just like the apps GONE that I don't and never will use.
Thanks for any help you can provide.
You could just download another launcher with the option to vault apps and about the bloatware you can follow this tutorial right here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/redmi-note-7/how-to/remove-redmi-note-7-bloatware-root-t3925049
Can you recommend a launcher that's stable and good? I've tried a few on my tablets but ended up going back to the default as they were mostly unstable... I'm sure it's going to be different on a phone but it was a bit disheartening to try about 4 launchers on my Lenovo tablet and just didn't like them at all.
Thanks for the quick reply!
Nova Launcher is pretty good
Give a try to poco launcher.
Very stable.
I use Evie Launcher, lightweight amd simple to use
RAMWolff said:
Can you recommend a launcher that's stable and good? I've tried a few on my tablets but ended up going back to the default as they were mostly unstable... I'm sure it's going to be different on a phone but it was a bit disheartening to try about 4 launchers on my Lenovo tablet and just didn't like them at all.
Thanks for the quick reply!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try CPL (Customized Pixel Launcher) from playstore. I guess CPL is the best in term of stability, optimizations and LOTs of customization, you wont find in any launcher IMO
No need for Nova launcher or Poco ,new system launcher alfa version ,have new options , swipe up to app drawer..
Hmmm, but if there is an App Drawer in a newer version of the launcher that ships with this phone I wasn't aware of that but the main thing for me, besides the drawer or vault or what ever it's called (too many strange labels to understand what I'm trying to say ) I really need that bit when I'm dragging up to allow me to remove the app from the desktop. In the default there is that weird option that seems to replace the "remove" option.... called "Dual apps" which I have NO IDEA what that's all about and really don't care.
I'm using Poco and it's nice enough. I love the dark theme option but one thing I am missing is when one gets new phone calls or texts the icons in the lower bar area usually changes to indicate how many there are waiting. With the Poco set up there doesn't seem to be any indicators like that... or perhaps it's because I changed the icon set out?? Not sure what's caused that to stop working.... Weird.
Thanks for all the suggestions good people!