Database Users

Best Launcher Features

Hey guys...my first post...but here goes...
I havent used a lot of launchers but 3 of the main ones. i.e. TwLauncher, ADW and LP. I found that each one of them has certain good features that I liked and I dont know which one to stick with.
What I'm looking for in a launcher:
1) Speed
2) Theming and Customisation
3) A good AppDock
4) A good App drawer
I like LP for speed and the app dock is okay, but I dont like the app drawer organised alphabetically. The customisation is good too, applying dock, backgrounds nd icons is easy.
I like ADW for the ease of theming and the app drawer is awesome, as are the gestures. What I dont like is the speed, and artifacts while scrolling.
TwLauncher I have to say has the best app drawer and its fast and light too. Needless to say there isnt much customisation and I have that you cant do much with the app docks.
Guess you cant have everything...but is there a way to get the best of all!

what i would really like to see is the launcher pro with the ability to transparent the app drawer like ADW...then it will be my best launcher

Well there are a couple more launchers on the market but ADW and launcher pro are definitely the best of bunch.
I think ADW has the most future potential being open source and free. The last two updates made it very laggy so I guess you'll want to keep an eye on what they are releasing in the near future.
I like launcher pro for now, if you spend some time on customizing it to your taste I'm sure it'll give you an overall much better experience than TW.
On a related note, it sucks you cannot uninstall TW because you need it to connect the phone to KIES. Still looking for a solution to that.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

schiphol said:
On a related note, it sucks you cannot uninstall TW because you need it to connect the phone to KIES. Still looking for a solution to that.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, you don't need it as far as I know. See my other post on how you can connect with kies from within launcher pro: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=8655368#post8655368

I dont really mind TwLauncher. I know its ugly and not customisable but the app drawer is okay...
I was hoping that samsung would update it with their froyo release, and give us a themable and customisable launcher...but unfortunately the update isnt going to make anything better

Who else here will miss Touchwiz?

I will be exchanging my Epic for the first dual-core phone on Sprint (don't try to convince me otherwise!)
Anyways, I'm sure it'll be an HTC EVO type of phone, so it will be lacking Touchwiz. I have gotten so used to the touchwiz Lockscreen (I text ALOT!) and it's beautiful UI.
Will you miss Touchwiz when you get a new phone?
P.S. I stay away from roms that don't have touchwiz launcher. LOL

Meh. There are other lock screens and ADW gives me better functionality than TW - particularly the ability to organize the app drawer into groups.

Beautiful UI? Touchwiz?! You must be using a different version of touchwiz then
Personally all I will miss about touchwiz will be systematically hunting down and getting rid of any elements of it.

063_XOBX said:
Beautiful UI? Touchwiz?! You must be using a different version of touchwiz then
Personally all I will miss about touchwiz will be systematically hunting down and getting rid of any elements of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1,000 millions

Never use it. The first thing I do when I flash a new ROM is install a 3rd party launcher.

stir fry a lot said:
+1,000 millions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be + billions then

I actually think Go Launcher is very good. Touchwiz is somewhat limited on features.

Hey hey, it's very basic and the size of the dock is perfect for my setup. I came from sense and I have a sense ui feel to my Touchwiz, but as stated, touchwiz lockscreen wont be on HTC phones, which is why I will miss it.

bjhill2112 said:
Meh. There are other lock screens and ADW gives me better functionality than TW - particularly the ability to organize the app drawer into groups.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And eww. I tried ADW, waaayyy too many options/preferences when adding just a single shortcut. Select shortcut name, icon, destination, etc. I just want to place the damn thing on the homescreen!
When I open up TW drawer, I can simply long press on any app and it'll drag it to the current homescreen I'm on.

Overstew said:
And eww. I tried ADW, waaayyy too many options/preferences when adding just a single shortcut. Select shortcut name, icon, destination, etc. I just want to place the damn thing on the homescreen!
When I open up TW drawer, I can simply long press on any app and it'll drag it to the current homescreen I'm on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works with ADW too. Actually, I think that has worked on every home replacement I've tried...

bjhill2112 said:
Works with ADW too. Actually, I think that has worked on every home replacement I've tried...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Launcher Pro does.
I will only miss one thing: the slide to adjust brightness on the notification bar.

TW has its good points - the music player's above average and has nice dropdown controls, and the lock screen is useful. The launcher, however, is a real piece of crap, and I wouldn't miss it. There's plenty of good music players out there.

I don't.mind touchwiz but I like launcher pro the.best.
Sent From My Evo Killer!

Samsung would be better off using Launcher Pro and Beautiful widgets.
If Samsung is smart they would just have the developers for Launcher pro with Beautiful widgets work for them. I use the android AOSP lock screen and I am set the only thing I hate is when I get an incoming phone call I have to swype the screen to answer the call. I hate twiz is sucks!!! It slows your phone down and it does not have very many features. Your benchmark score improve considerably without touch wiz. But I do like the hardware on the Samsung phone better the Samsung camera and screen are why better than HTC. Superior product inferior customer service. But I understand HTC does not update their hardware so it is easier to update their phone while as Samsung updates their hardware all the time so they need new code to get the with the newest hardware working at it's optimal level.

I wont miss touxhwiz...
Ill miss the wobble of the slider

If you think touchwiz is bad, wait till you get SenseUI. At least with touchwiz you can put on a new launcher and pretend it's not there.

k0nane said:
TW has its good points - the music player's above average and has nice dropdown controls, and the lock screen is useful. The launcher, however, is a real piece of crap, and I wouldn't miss it. There's plenty of good music players out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would you say the Launcher is crap, out of curiosity?

iSaint said:
I wont miss touxhwiz...
Ill miss the wobble of the slider
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL. My slider wobbles too!

nutswillkillme said:
If you think touchwiz is bad, wait till you get SenseUI. At least with touchwiz you can put on a new launcher and pretend it's not there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same with sense
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

marcusant said:
Same with sense
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kind of. The htc dialer, messaging app, and email app are dumb and ugly as butt.

Wow.. go launcher ex

If u havent tried it, go get it! The best. Grab it in the market for free.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Go sms pro is pretty phat too.

I think it's hands down the best launcher out there. The Honeycomb theme is awesome with it.

Very nice!
Sent from my MIUI powered Evo

I loved the launcher, but ended up trying out others for a second time when they were already bundled with ROMs. Also, as far as I know, GO Launcher EX doesn't allow for higher grid settings on homescreens, which is absolutely essential to my current setup. If this has changed, I will surely go back, as I loved how smooth it was and how much customization there was elsewhere in it!
Also, I second GO SMS Pro (was just GO SMS, just added features in Pro, like the long-awaited, at least for me, support to check drafts! and is still free).
They update a lot, and not in a bad way. They're usually adding more and more features. Ever since I found out about the GO Dev Team when actually looking to use Handcent or Chomp SMS, I've loved 'em.

I just hate using free launchers cause I have ones I paid for. :-/

phatmanxxl said:
I just hate using free launchers cause I have ones I paid for. :-/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's kind of how I feel, too.

Go Launcher EX is the business. I think so many people are loyal to ADW and Launcher Pro though(why, I can't figure out). I'll bet you that most folks who have tried all three will tell you that Go Launcher EX is superior. The fact that it's free alone sets it apart. And the regular updates are a nice plus too... If you haven't tried it I suggest you do. Then come back here and give an honest opinion of it.

I tried it but can't remember what it was that turned me away. I admit, it has been a little bit so I'm sure it's better.
Does it have it's own widgets. gesture swipes, resizable widget option, able to change app icons on your homescreens, ability to choose any dock you want? These are some of the things I love on ADW ex/ LPP.
It may very well have some of these things now, it has been a bit. I'm on a Sense kick right now, but I'll give it another look.

I love go launcher but I need to reload the icons when I come out of the browser our youtube.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

I wouldn't go as far as saying go launcher is superior that's a little much eh? Its good but its not great. I've used almost every launcher out there for more than a weeks at a time each and I always come back to adwEX.

I'm interested to see what this complete rewrite of Launcher Pro...whenever it happens....will bring to the table.

totalanonymity said:
I loved the launcher, but ended up trying out others for a second time when they were already bundled with ROMs. Also, as far as I know, GO Launcher EX doesn't allow for higher grid settings on homescreens, which is absolutely essential to my current setup. If this has changed, I will surely go back, as I loved how smooth it was and how much customization there was elsewhere in it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They did add that feature.

Batman58 said:
I tried it but can't remember what it was that turned me away. I admit, it has been a little bit so I'm sure it's better.
Does it have it's own widgets. gesture swipes, resizable widget option, able to change app icons on your homescreens, ability to choose any dock you want? These are some of the things I love on ADW ex/ LPP.
It may very well have some of these things now, it has been a bit. I'm on a Sense kick right now, but I'll give it another look.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The answer is YES to all of your inquiries, execpt for the 1st one(it's own widgets).. Atleast, I dont think it has it's own widgets, but it has so many add-ons, so there might be one. But YES, it has gesture swipes, you can resize the widgets, app icons can be changed on the desktop and in the dock, you can change your dock, the dock is scrollable and supports up to 15 apps, etc...

dirkyd3rk said:
I wouldn't go as far as saying go launcher is superior that's a little much eh? Its good but its not great. I've used almost every launcher out there for more than a weeks at a time each and I always come back to adwEX.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The main reason I called it superior is because it's FREE.. and the other two that are comparable are not(ADW EX and LP+). Of course once you put price aside, the opinions are gonna vary as to which launcher is better. To me the 3 are very comparable though.

mattykinsx said:
I'm interested to see what this complete rewrite of Launcher Pro...whenever it happens....will bring to the table.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. I'm a LP user 100% of the way. ADW has a lot of flash but poorly designed, Go Launcher is actually okay but performance isn't all that great. LP is very well designed and very fast. Can't wait for the rewrite.

phatmanxxl said:
I just hate using free launchers cause I have ones I paid for. :-/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I'd hate to not use ADW EX simply because I paid like $3 for it

Only thing that's pissing me off is adwEX hasn't been updated since beginning of January. I hope anderwebs is cooking up some hot features, buts I've purchased adwex, launcher pro plus, and launcher 7. I like to switch back and forth. Go launcher being free simply doesn't make it superior; what's 3 bucks when you can buy 2 launchers for the price of one Burger king combo lol. I bought them to try them all and go launcher simply isn't that impressive. You need to try some paid launchers man I bet you won't find yourself saying that anymore.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App

Philosuffer said:
They did add that feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They added the feature but the max is 5x5, combine that with the fact it does not support shuttered dpi and I have to say LPP is still my favorite.
It's cool and neat but far from owning the competition at this point.

I have Launcher Pro plus, ADW Ex. I've always liked ADW Ex better because -
- lockable screens. Can't tell you how many times I've accidentally moved stuff or even dropped and deleted (or had a friend do that while looking at my phone)
- performance especially with the homescreen transitions
- easily edit and resize icons/shortcuts
- I have Pure calendar and Beautiful weather widgets, so I don't really miss LP widgets.
- got tired of waiting for the "re-write" (not a criticism - I just itch for new stuff)
Go Launcher
Pros
- Matches everything ADW Ex does
- Unread Notifications even on the dock (not on ADW, even with notifier)
- Much easier to manipulate entire screens
- discovered go sms - it's gorgeous!
Cons
- Haven't seen a "lock" feature yet. Need to explore.
- Performance doesn't have the same "snap" to it as ADW Ex, but I need to explore and tweak that a little more
Pretty pleased with Go Launcher Ex so far, I'll use it for a while and check.

Best launcher for Nexus 5/KitKat 4.4

Google seems to have actually managed to gain a competitive advantage with the new stock launcher: the integration of Google Now including the corresponding voice command "OK Google".
Do you think or are you able to tell if this is something, that developers of other launchers will also be able to do?
Furthermore, so far there isn't a launcher out yet with transparent navbar, or am I wrong? Which launcher would you recommend for the nexus 5 in regards to this? I have always used Apex on my GNex and my Nexus 4 and was very happy. But the transparent nav- and statusbars are just too darn sexy.

Put short, if you are looking for an exact copy of the Google Experience Launcher, you're outta luck. It's impossible for a third party launcher to integrate the Google Now 'left swipe' screen or the voice activated "OK, Google" as both features have closed APIs. The good news is, at least the Nova Launcher dev has said that he's planning to implement the same feature but in a different way. For example, placing an entire Google Now widget on the left screen. It won't be exactly how Google has it, but it will be close enough
As for the transparent UI status bar, I believe all third party launchers will support this feature.

esskayy said:
Put short, if you are looking for an exact copy of the Google Experience Launcher, you're outta luck. It's impossible for a third party launcher to integrate the Google Now 'left swipe' screen or the voice activated "OK, Google" as both features have closed APIs. The good news is, at least the Nova Launcher dev has said that he's planning to implement the same feature but in a different way. For example, placing an entire Google Now widget on the left screen. It won't be exactly how Google has it, but it will be close enough
As for the transparent UI status bar, I believe all third party launchers will support this feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks..that was kind of what i thought. I don't really need the swipe or voice activation (allthough they're nice to have)...transparent nav- and statusbars are way more important
any word on when which dev is gonna come up with an update including the new features for kitkat? since i've been using apex for the last 2 years or so i'm not really aware of the differences to the other launchers..

maxiv said:
thanks..that was kind of what i thought. I don't really need the swipe or voice activation (allthough they're nice to have)...transparent nav- and statusbars are way more important
any word on when which dev is gonna come up with an update including the new features for kitkat? since i've been using apex for the last 2 years or so i'm not really aware of the differences to the other launchers..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure about Apex, but Nova should be sooner than later. The dev has already implemented the feature, it's just a matter of when he decides to release it.

Action Launcher is what I'm currently using. Very responsive dev, I;m currently running the beta and he's added transparency, white folders and white accents to match the kitkat theme.

maxiv said:
thanks..that was kind of what i thought. I don't really need the swipe or voice activation (allthough they're nice to have)...transparent nav- and statusbars are way more important
any word on when which dev is gonna come up with an update including the new features for kitkat? since i've been using apex for the last 2 years or so i'm not really aware of the differences to the other launchers..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Action Launcher Beta has transparency. I don't like the launcher itself though, and it does cost $3.99. Nova creater says he is working on it, but didn't give an ETA for the actual release or beta. You can sign up for either beta through Google+.
Action Launcher - https://plus.google.com/communities/109326856140078966644
Nova Launcher - https://plus.google.com/communities/103449253667195874971 (no current beta)

The stock launcher. Love it.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

barondebxl said:
The stock launcher. Love it.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here.

Stock launcher too basic and plain for my taste waiting for either nova to update as im using their current version.. or for carbom/liquidsmooth/pa rom where u can change the nav bar buttons as well as color. Same with status bar
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

the only thing i dont like about stock is that you can't set your home panel.
it's annoying having to put all my icons to the right

Megiddo2000 said:
the only thing i dont like about stock is that you can't set your home panel.
it's annoying having to put all my icons to the right
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
100% agree with this "it's annoying having to put all my icons to the right"
I like my screens where they were and now centering is left WTF?

I like the stock launcher. But it isn't possible to hide App icons in the Drawer vor can I do this? I didn't find an Option for this
Gesendet von meinem Nexus 5 mit Tapatalk

I will go with stock until nova reveives an update.

I've always used Nova, but I could start using stock launcher (I like the swipe to Google Now) if only there was a way to apply a theme icons as we can do with third party launchers

dachef2000 said:
I like the stock launcher. But it isn't possible to hide App icons in the Drawer vor can I do this? I didn't find an Option for this
Gesendet von meinem Nexus 5 mit Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. I hate not having this function.

Stock Launcher great, but ...
I can agree it would be great if the stock laucher had two small addons, than it would be the best launcher for me:
1. Custom Number of Rows and Columns for Home and App Drawer
2. A chance to organize the App Drawer using either "Folders" or "Tabs"
Is it not possible for some devs to achieve this with the experience launcher an make my dream come true to have
a more experience launcher.
Best Regards ... I would also pay for such a launcher ...

I agree. I love the stock launcher but hate the icons, if they update to allow icon packs that would be great and to have more control over the app drawer.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

AndrasLOHF said:
Same here. I hate not having this function.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found the App "Apphider" ... You can hide all apps you want but you need root... This was a solution for my problem ...
Gesendet von meinem Nexus 5 mit Tapatalk

if someone can post here when nova, or some other launcher, gets the Google now update, it'd be greatly appreciated! :fingers-crossed:

Megiddo2000 said:
if someone can post here when nova, or some other launcher, gets the Google now update, it'd be greatly appreciated! :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never

Most lightweight and fast launcher...any recommendation?

So far, I have tried Apex, Google Now, Nova, and Smart Launcher 2; however, none of these are as smooth as the built-in TouchWiz Home. I like to keep my homescreen simple with a nice wallpaper and four mostly used app icons at the bottom. What I hate about TouchWiz Home is that it puts that ugly page indicator right in the middle even if you just have one page. Since I'm not rooted (AT&T), there is no way to get rid of it. So, are there any launcher that is very lightweight and fast?

Heh... this is the first guy who says tw is smoother than nova or apex

I have Apex, Nova, ADC, and have tried a bunch of others. Experienced using them on my ASUS tablet so they aren't new to me. I'm still using TW on my Note4 because I don't want to lose functionality of some stuff, most notably s-pen. Oh... and paid versions of all of those if there is a paid version. I guess I'm not after something that people will envy when they see it. I just want to learn to use all the stuff my new phone can do! heheheh.... coming from a moto Razr. I tried Themer and I really like the concept, but it was a bit overwhelming. Maybe I just need to spend time with it. My s-pen still worked but I didn't explore what DIDN'T work, so... *shrug* .... still on TW.

bat0nas said:
Heh... this is the first guy who says tw is smoother than nova or apex
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trust me...after disabling bunch of craps on my Note 4, TW launcher actually has been very smooth for me.

cjparker said:
I have Apex, Nova, ADC, and have tried a bunch of others. Experienced using them on my ASUS tablet so they aren't new to me. I'm still using TW on my Note4 because I don't want to lose functionality of some stuff, most notably s-pen. Oh... and paid versions of all of those if there is a paid version. I guess I'm not after something that people will envy when they see it. I just want to learn to use all the stuff my new phone can do! heheheh.... coming from a moto Razr. I tried Themer and I really like the concept, but it was a bit overwhelming. Maybe I just need to spend time with it. My s-pen still worked but I didn't explore what DIDN'T work, so... *shrug* .... still on TW.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct me if I'm wrong but you loose nothing with nova. S-pen works perfectly there. I didn't find any differences.

bat0nas said:
Correct me if I'm wrong but you loose nothing with nova. S-pen works perfectly there. I didn't find any differences.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same with apex, been running fine since launch day.

sherpa said:
So far, I have tried Apex, Google Now, Nova, and Smart Launcher 2; however, none of these are as smooth as the built-in TouchWiz Home. I like to keep my homescreen simple with a nice wallpaper and four mostly used app icons at the bottom. What I hate about TouchWiz Home is that it puts that ugly page indicator right in the middle even if you just have one page. Since I'm not rooted (AT&T), there is no way to get rid of it. So, are there any launcher that is very lightweight and fast?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about lightning launcher. The only problem I have with it is the app drawer can be a bit slow to launch. Otherwise, as the name suggests, lightning fast and ultra customisable!

Nova
Sent from my SM-N910H using XDA Premium HD app

stock touchwiz is the best. nova was super laggy when i tried it. stock touchwiz has no lag once you switch animations/transitions etc off in developer options.

I always used Nova on my previous devices (s2, s4).
For now on my note 4, I'm still on TW...
There were some reports here on xda that TW gives the best battery life... [emoji15]

Nova.

Since SGS2 through SGS4 and N4 now i`m using Go Launcher EX and it`s the best, the most featured, most customizable launcher in my opinion and btw i don`t have any regrets for speed/lags.

gabi11 said:
I always used Nova on my previous devices (s2, s4).
For now on my note 4, I'm still on TW...
There were some reports here on xda that TW gives the best battery life... [emoji15]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
then I choose customizability and functionality over the few % of battery life.

Nova. Have never experienced lag. Maybe it's because I have Aggressive Desktop selected. S-Pen works fine with it, too. Didn't really give TW a shot because I love the gesture control and infinite scrolling on Nova. I swipe up to open my house alarm app and double tap to turn off the screen. Also, holding the Recents button brings up a sub menu that links to Nova settings, system settings and app list, rather than just settings for the launcher. And just a theory, but I think "OK Google" hotword detection with the screen off works better with Nova.

I've usually stuck with Nova, but find myself using TW for the Note 4. I've purchased Nova and Apex. For fast light launcher, use Hola. It's still installed on my Note 4 while Nova got the boot already

Whilst I'm another Nova fan, and TW this time is pretty decent, I'm a converted Dodol user. Very fast and light (85mb for two screens) even with themes and gestures and many other customisation options. Also has some nice built in widgets.
Sent from my SM-N9100

For light use smart launcher is the pinnacle of light, and remarkably easy to use, however using the GEL has to be my favourite, different strokes for different folks though. Used apex and nova for years, have both pro versions, apex for me is the better of the two. I also have the spb shell 3D, quite heavy, loads of eye candy, also very expensive and hasn't had an update in years. So much potential though.
If you decide to install cm12 then launcher 3 with lollipop is fantastic, I wouldn't swap it.

cjparker said:
I have Apex, Nova, ADC, and have tried a bunch of others. Experienced using them on my ASUS tablet so they aren't new to me. I'm still using TW on my Note4 because I don't want to lose functionality of some stuff, most notably s-pen. Oh... and paid versions of all of those if there is a paid version. I guess I'm not after something that people will envy when they see it. I just want to learn to use all the stuff my new phone can do! heheheh.... coming from a moto Razr. I tried Themer and I really like the concept, but it was a bit overwhelming. Maybe I just need to spend time with it. My s-pen still worked but I didn't explore what DIDN'T work, so... *shrug* .... still on TW.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I originally tried Themer with my HTC One and also thought it was overwhelming. But really just don't like TW so I tried it again and spent a weekend setting it up. Wow! I love it. I easily customized a theme, and lag is minimal. It has gesture control and I've completely eliminated the bottom bar as I use Swapps sidebar. All Spen functions are working.
Sent from my Galaxy Note 4

Howie Dub said:
Nova. Have never experienced lag. Maybe it's because I have Aggressive Desktop selected. S-Pen works fine with it, too. Didn't really give TW a shot because I love the gesture control and infinite scrolling on Nova. I swipe up to open my house alarm app and double tap to turn off the screen. Also, holding the Recents button brings up a sub menu that links to Nova settings, system settings and app list, rather than just settings for the launcher. And just a theory, but I think "OK Google" hotword detection with the screen off works better with Nova.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you get hotword detection with screen off?

jh787 said:
How do you get hotword detection with screen off?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google Now voice settings