Stock launcher replacement or modifications? - Wear OS Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

With 5.1.1, android wear now has a dedicated launcher by swiping left from the righr edge. But I hate the launcher. I find it tedious to navigate and it just doesnt feel natural. I have tried other launchers but it typically messes with other functions of the device. Plus a 3rd party launcher creates just a 2nd launcher. I dont want/need 2 launchers.
So my question is if anyone feels the same way or knows of a way to fully replace it with another or just modify the existing one to just display icons or change it up. I really do not like it listing the 3 most recent at the top. On paper this makes sense but as a user, I want to know where everything is and it feels like it just jumbles (clutters) the app tray.

Did you check out the mini launcher?

Hi there,
There are two good options for now : Mini launcher as @tihimasmo said, and Swipify. More information here : https://blog.chinavasion.com/index....wear-swipify-launcher-and-wear-mini-launcher/

Well yes I know about those 2 and tried them both. MiniLauncher seems the best fit but still ends up with both launchers running.
I guess I was more interested in modding the stock launcher to have more options.

Related

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).

Touchwiz

I will probably have posters coming after me with torches & pitchforks for this. I keep seeing all these negative posts about touchwiz. I guess I'm too much of a noob to see why. I've tried other launchers like Launcher Pro, GoLauncher and even the stock froyo launcher and I keep going back to TW. Mainly it's because I miss some of the widgets that only work on TW. Can anyone give me some examples of things to look for that can show why it's so disliked?
Also if I do switch launchers, the one I'm running always shows up as a running program in Task Manager. Is there a way to get TM to ignore what launcher is set as your default?
Running EB01 debloated deodexed w/ Voodoo kernel
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
The reason I abandoned Touchwiz is not because I disliked the UI design (I really like it in fact...very clean), but rather the background scrolling was acting up. In other words, unless I had a particular Samsung widget on one of my screens, the background wallpaper would not scroll back to the correct position when pressed the home button. It would snap back only after I touched the screen again. Even when it did scroll back when it was supposed to, it was sort of laggy. This was happening right out of the box. Anyway, I switched to Launcher Pro and and homescreen scrolling is as smooth as can be with no lag at all.
There is nothing inherently "wrong" with TouchWiz, and there are in fact a good number of people who like it and continue to use it. I'm not one of them, simply because I feel my phone runs faster -- and I prefer the widgets -- with LauncherPro.
But that's just my opinion. This same sort of thread gets re-created every couple of weeks, and the bottom line continues to be this: if you like TouchWiz, use it. If you don't like it, don't use it.
That's why Android's so great -- you can make that choice for yourself.
I actually think TW is really nice and clean looking, and would probably have stuck with it if it offered slightly more comparability.
For me, the 4 icon dock is just too big, and I like to have 5 icons down there (phone, contacts, app drawer, e-mail, web). That and you can't do custom shortcuts on the home screens. ADW was free, and offered solutions to these issues, plus, with ADW you can backup your home screen and UI settings, so whenever I flash a new rom, I just install ADW, restore my settings and I'm back to how I like it.
But every time I reflash a stock rom, I do miss how clean TW is.

how can i change home page scrolling on touchwiz?

hey guys, i've been looking for ages but can't find what i'm looking for, was wondering if anyone knows where i could find a mod, to replace the touchwiz home screen's carousel effect with the new s5/old icecream sandwich "card stack?" effect without using another launcher, i'm looking for a flashable zip or a xposed framwork module that can be used on touchwiz, sumthin like this must surely exist?
thanks
hey guys, i've been looking for ages but can't find what i'm looking for, was wondering if anyone knows where i could find a mod, to replace the touchwiz home screen's carousel effect with the new s5/old icecream sandwich "card stack?" effect without using another launcher, i'm looking for a flashable zip or a xposed framwork module that can be used on touchwiz…
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wanam offers three minor tweaks to TW launcher (among many other valuable phone tweaks):
1 – infinite scrolling on/off
2 – wall paper scroll with pages on/off
3 – dock icon labels on/off
sumthin like this must surely exist?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I’m not so sure. Using Xposed to tweak the stock launcher seems like unnecessary overkill (considering the huge doorway into your phone's security that you give to every dev who's module you install). People who want to customize launchers generally go with alternate launcher. Then you don't even have to reboot to try out changes (like Xposed would have to). Nova would be my recommendation. I know it’s not the recommendation you’re looking for but you got it anyway.
electricpete1 said:
Wanam offers three minor tweaks to TW launcher (among many other valuable phone tweaks):
1 – infinite scrolling on/off
2 – wall paper scroll with pages on/off
3 – dock icon labels on/off
I’m not so sure. Using Xposed to tweak the stock launcher seems like unnecessary overkill (considering the huge doorway into your phone's security that you give to every dev who's module you install). People who want to customize launchers generally go with alternate launcher. Then you don't even have to reboot to try out changes (like Xposed would have to). Nova would be my recommendation. I know it’s not the recommendation you’re looking for but you got it anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is exactly what i figured, i found those options in exposed but not quite what i'm lookin for.
i used nova launcher on my s3 for a year and loved it, i just want to keep my high def lookin stock touchwiz icons since the nova launcher icons look like they belong in the 90's, i seen a stock touchwiz icon looking pack for nova launcher but they didn't have that "high def" look/feel to them (no shadows/reflections? or bad shading? on the icons, i dunno they just look bland compared to stock icons where they feel kinda 3d)
the reason i don't wanna use nova launcher is because if i do use nova launcher and go back to that stock android feeling i midaswell be on stock android itself, GPE or Cyanogenmod and it feels to bland which is why i'm on a touchwiz based rom.
i'm just kinda hopeing someone will come along with an idea of how i can impliment this without removing touchwiz launcher, ORRR maby get the real stock touchwiz icons (the acual stock ones, not just look alikes) into nova launcher.

do you use different launcher or S8 Touchwiz launcher?

Do you use S8 Samsung experience or different launcher? if you use different launcher, which one? and why?
I've always used Nova. Has way more customization settings and I can mix and match different icon packs. The stock galaxy launcher just doesn't compete.
It looks like I am getting older, as on the S8 I do not use Nova, which I used since the days of HTC Sensation.
Using nova, love it. Can do a few of the things i lost without root & xposed.
Use nova now as with a few others my delete shorcut button when you hold your finger on an icon had stopped working.
Using Nova on every smartphone. Stock ones doesn't fit my needs.
I use Nova also. Stock launchers have too little options to customize.
I like stock. It has some functionality that Nova doesnt have (like multiple app cards even if they are not full, i.e. you can have a an app card for just one app if u want.) and ability to move any app icon anywhere. Nova is alphabetical only, and forces you to have folders at the very top.
I still use nova though.
Nova it is.
Nova prime on my every device
I have been using ActionLauncher3 for a few years and see myself continuing to use it for the foreseeable future.
I used Nova (Prime) on my S5, S6, and S7, but with the S8, I'm using the stock launcher. The reason I hated Touchwiz before was that the app drawer button couldn't be moved, but the new swipe up app drawer gesture on the S8 works for me.
holy jesus nova is popular for no reason, like its a stock launcher that you can change the icons on
I use lawn-chair from here https://github.com/deletescape-media/lawnchair
Open source and pretty good
i used Evie Launcher seems cool
I was using nova for a long time, but since s8 I'm staying with touchwiz, now I'm using modded touchwiz, it had some some features i was missing from nova like double tap to sleep, and has everything I need.
Pixel Launcher or TouchWiz
dannytgt said:
I was using nova for a long time, but since s8 I'm staying with touchwiz, now I'm using modded touchwiz, it had some some features i was missing from nova like double tap to sleep, and has everything I need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this modded TouchWiz for root only?
timrock7 said:
holy jesus nova is popular for no reason, like its a stock launcher that you can change the icons on
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think you have a clue what Nova can actually do. Looks are deceiving. It still is one of the most powerful feature wise.
timrock7 said:
holy jesus nova is popular for no reason, like its a stock launcher that you can change the icons on
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
except you can easily remap gestures on the screen (with prime), customize notification labels (tesla), completely change look and feel of homescreen/app drawer/dock, add multiple dock pages, change margins, persistant search bar, overlap widgets, add folders to app drawer, stick dock to the top, backup settings and import on different devices. did i forgot something?
i think you are right, theres no reason for it to be popular, it's like a stock launcher.

Like the phone so far but ..... need help with a hidden menu

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!

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