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First of all, I should say, if this topic has already been discussed, then I apologise, and pelase just point me to the right direction. If not, let's get the discussion going!
I started this thread really for 2 reasons. One is to find out for myself (and hopefully for others) which launcher app is more suitable for my needs. And the second one is to have a discussion on the pro's and con's of the different launchers available.
For the GNote as a standard there is the TW launcher of course. I haven't seen any real shortcomings with it. I quite like it. it's clean, smooth and it works.
I am aware of three others: ADW, GO launcher, and launcher pro. I think ADW has a free and a pay version, and I assume the pay version has more features.
I haven't used any of the others on the GNote, and I never used the GO launcher. However, I did use ADW and LauncherPro both on my viewsonic Gtab. On that particular device I found launcher pro more suitable for my needs. Again, it was clean, simple and smooth.
I've never attempted using addons for either, and I am now becoming aware of the different ways to change icons, themes, etc. It'd be interesting to know what can be done with which launchers...
SS launcher
Why: cause it doesn't suck
Sorry, all I can write for now
From the Beast : Galaxy Note
If I'm not mistaken, only the stock TW Launcher has true hardware acceleration thanks to Samsung's work on it. Every other launcher should be software driven (i.e., CPU taxing).
Go Launcher Ex. I tried almost all popular ones and Go is just the best IMO. I can resize widgets, easily create folders and it's highly customizable.
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QQLauncher is the beat imho
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ssLauncher
ssLauncher because:
It's truly different
It is completely configurable, down to the pixel
All widgets can be resized (although some get funny)
shortcuts can be of any style whatsoever (individually) making for a unique layout
It does not lag at all on my set-up (although transitions are a bit tricky to set up right)
You can have page names (the main thing I wanted)
It's truly different!
Nova Launcher!
Otherwise ADW, I like it's customizability. Never tried SS Launcher though.
If you use gb i think go launchr is optimal choice, but for ics nova is the fastest one
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sprintuser1977 said:
SS launcher
Why: cause it doesn't suck
Sorry, all I can write for now
From the Beast : Galaxy Note
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow you are damn right. This app makes so much sense. very unique indeed.
I personally use now Go Launcher Ex-highly customizable etc...but I recommend you to have a look at the "Post your homescreen" threads where you'll see different types of homescreens and launchers by the users.
Another site which is quite good for this is mycolorscreen.com/ where you'll see different homescreens and normally the Widgets in use with the market link. So you'll be able to learn how to customize your screen on your own
tap*talked via GT-N7000 (GB.XXLA4)
Am I the only one who dislike multi pages launchers? On the Gnote this artifice is not necessary anymore, I just have ADW with only one screen and with some tuning I have enough room for my often used apps, two folders and a off off my kid. I even disabled auto rotate. On such a big screen landscape makes no sense for home screen and most apps but pictures and video.
guibog said:
Am I the only one who dislike multi pages launchers? On the Gnote this artifice is not necessary anymore, I just have ADW with only one screen and with some tuning I have enough room for my often used apps, two folders and a off off my kid. I even disabled auto rotate. On such a big screen landscape makes no sense for home screen and most apps but pictures and video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One word: Widgets!
I used to use ADW but it ha gotten too buggy, and it looks like it's not being developed anymore .
These days it's go launcher, but really it's just a place holder until I can load ICS, and the stock launcher
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Am I the only one who thinks the none of the launchers are doing it right?
For all I know, TW launcher is the only launcher that uses hardware acceleration. It NEVER lags. Compared to other launchers, I'd stick with it. (I'm on RR v22, ICS for RR v1.6)
TW launcher on ICS for RR looks so much better than stock TW. It makes it bearable. Plus it doesn't lag.
VTL launcher 1.7.0 with left and right docks active, absolutly the more versatile one!
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AA1973 said:
I personally use now Go Launcher Ex-highly customizable etc...but I recommend you to have a look at the "Post your homescreen" threads where you'll see different types of homescreens and launchers by the users.
Another site which is quite good for this is mycolorscreen.com where you'll see different homescreens and normally the Widgets in use with the market link. So you'll be able to learn how to customize your screen on your own
tap*talked via GT-N7000 (GB.XXLA4)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great site, thanks! Just opened it and found a great homescreen containing several widgets I've been literaly looking for and didn't know they exist. Can't post links yet unfortunately, but you can go have a look and see if it also catches your attention Its on a Note too!
guibog said:
Am I the only one who dislike multi pages launchers? On the Gnote this artifice is not necessary anymore, I just have ADW with only one screen and with some tuning I have enough room for my often used apps, two folders and a off off my kid. I even disabled auto rotate. On such a big screen landscape makes no sense for home screen and most apps but pictures and video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that I dislike them, but I'm sure gonna go for as few as I can. Thinking about 2 or so, depends on how many widgets I'm actually gonna need. I don't like to keep scrolling to find what I want.
I installed several launchers and launcher modifiers. Most modifiers sucked. I think they put adware on my phone because once a day or so I get an advert pop up that is not from my provider (I recognise some new type of icons in the notification bar). I uninstalled the launcher modifiers very quickly so I forgot their names. I tried ADW, and so far decided to stick with launcher pro, as it gave me what I needed (customised icons for apps and dock). Anything else wasn't really of interest for me from a functional perspective.
Im using launcher pro on the chinese leak ICS and its so smooth its insane. It looks to be rendering in 60p while using a live wallpaper with absolutely no lag at all. I like the animations and options in it but it is getting a little dated and could do with an upgrade to add some more widgets and functionality.
This was fairly smooth on GB roms pretty much the same as TW launcher but on the ICS leak this flies
You can shrink and zoom all widgets in the paid version from 1x1 to full screen and this works well with nearly every widget I have tried. This is very useful when reducing DPI even though atm I am using the stock 320 incase it breaks something reducing this.
The TW launcher is so low for me when scrolling left and right even though its smooth it just moves across pretty slow, I like to get to where I want quick and launcher pro does this. I havent tried many other launchers lately but tried them all before and keep going back to launcher pro even though it hasnt been updated in a while.
@martcerv: So how is that ICS leak working out for you? Many seem to have problems of all sorts with it...
I have been using spb shell 3d in tablet mode with resizable widgets and for me its the best.
It displays 8 rows x 6 columns and is really suited to the Note. The labels maybe small for some, but not really needed.
For me its the best experience, its compatible with the ICS chainfire release and is very smooth and responsive.
I have adjusted dpi to 213 for better views in gmail etc, but this does not effect shell 3d. At 213 dpi you loose the top bar for some reason, but have put info onto homescreen, see pic
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I have been reading a lot of negative comments on the launcher in some of the reviews I have read and thought a discussion of features and quirks might be a good topic.
Personally I have been a TouchWiz fan for a while but lately I have been using Nova. I really like the Asus' customization abilities. If you are in the app drawer, you can click on the 3 vertical dots in the upper right of the screen. There you can change all sorts of characteristics of the drawer like grid size and folder icon options.
Anyone figure out how to change the icon grid for the home screen?
Personally, I use and recommend ActionLauncher 3. Best Lollipop launcher available, IMO! The QuickTheme feature is brilliant and the side drawer is faster than navigating through drawer pages.
Pretty sure the asus launcher doesn't allow changing the grid size.
Just got mine yesterday, but been using Google Launcher. Coming from a Nexus 5, and a Nexus 4 before that, it's what I'm used to. That being said, I'll probably switch to nova launcher, because there are a number of Asus apps you can't get rid of. So I'll use nova launcher to just hide the from the app drawer, and it will be like they don't exist!
nathan118 said:
Pretty sure the asus launcher doesn't allow changing the grid size.
Just got mine yesterday, but been using Google Launcher. Coming from a Nexus 5, and a Nexus 4 before that, it's what I'm used to. That being said, I'll probably switch to nova launcher, because there are a number of Asus apps you can't get rid of. So I'll use nova launcher to just hide the from the app drawer, and it will be like they don't exist!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been using Nova Launcher on all of my phones for along time.. Decided to try out Action Launcher 3 that rlaw recommended and after trying it out a bit, it just became my new launcher (paid the $5 for the plus version).
I really like the screen swipe to bring up the quick app list (instead of digging thru the app drawer) and the Shutter function in the paid version is really neat take on folders. It also has the ability to hide apps like nova launcher has..
I recommend checking it out, it has the best features in the plus paid version but IMO it's worth it to support apps that make my experience better :good:
I was using nova launcher prime up until I got this phone, and the only thing making me want to switch back is that I could have 6 apps in the dock on nova. On a screen this size, you'd think they'd let you do that.
In desperate attempts for making this somehwat slow and laggy phone faster and bring it to life I have spent much time trying out different browser.
Most of the more popular launchers today are kind of customizable.
my main focus has been on opening app animations, and how fast apps are opening and if the animations are both FAST and Smooth with no stutter, this is where most launchers fail but where apex succeed, it seem to work very well with the weak gpu of M7. WIth Apex it has become a totally new phone my faster user experience and to switch between apps is a lot faster and the animations finally look good as they should, the animaions I use are Lollipop style animations.
I do not care much of lollipop anymore to be honest I have all what I need now a fast phone thanks to apex laucnher and also heads up notifications thanks to a google play app.. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=codes.simen.l50notifications&hl=en (I recommend using it with black color and kind of a lot of transparency) add c notice https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ccs.notice&hl=en for even better switching between apps and superior multi tasking
When you install the Apex Laucnher what you need to is to go the mange apps in settings then press the default app settings at the bottom to the left then after that set apex laucnher as default, this will mean that when you press the home button on your M7 you will not come back to Huawei laucher but you will come back to apex home screen.
Yes what can I say...I am really surprised that the launcher had so much impact. the biggest problem with the Mate 7 has been opening apps slow, and the animations apex laucnher fix this, and I have tried many laucnhers and Apex is the only one that also have fast animations when opening and switching between app. When it comes to animations in home screen and drawer most lancuhers are fast.. it is when you switch between apps and go back to home screen for instance the the differences are biggest.
Launchers I have tried before coming to this conclusion
APUS Launcher, Nova Launcher, 360 Launcher , go Launcher , action Launcher 3, CM Launcher , Buzz Launcher , Dodol Launcher, Hola Launcher ,
What settings did you use ?
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Well, I bought Apex launcher for my previous phone and it worked great. But with this huawei device, i'm afraid that 'll loose the good features of the chinese manufacturer... All the ios like features like the search panel or the use without the app drawer wich is, for me, completly useless
Hi
I am using Nova Launcher and I wonder what are the benefits of Apex launcher over Nova?
Thanks.
I'm using Nova and it has been perfect.
apopet26 said:
What settings did you use ?
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use no speciel setting besides keeping apex in memory.
.Other parts are more of the appearance. the animations I use I think is default (which is lollipop animation which means apps open from bottom and up)
Otherwise I prefer to use more folders in the home screen since the folders open very fast and does not take much space either when folders are expanded..I prefer that then using the drawer all the time.. I use black background with kind of high transpercy in folders and drawer.
The speed increase you get with default settings.. but there is a lot more settings that affect the appearance.. which is more about taste.
phrozenflame said:
I'm using Nova and it has been perfect.
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Click to collapse
Yeah but compare aphex with nova especially after a few hours of heavy use, you see the nova animations will start to lag after a while, while in aphex they are always consistent. .. one reason might be aphex is not as function packed.. which means it is heavier on the Mate 7.
I use the 2 GB version.
Kalemucu said:
Hi
I am using Nova Launcher and I wonder what are the benefits of Apex launcher over Nova?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The benifit is faster and more consistent animations, to my eyes is without question faster and more consistent over time.. Nova animations are not as smooth and does not work as fast and consistent on the M7 GPU that is my opinion.. It took me one week of trying all different launchers to realize the difference... my main eye was on how fast and smooth and consistent animations are..
My first thought when install aphex was that it more or less looked like a clone to Nova, but the main advantage seem to be better performance in Apex most likely cause it is more lightweight compared to nova.
Apex has the most well optimized Lollipop animations I have seen.. the animations are such important part of the phone..it have a really impact on the user experience since all you do all day with your phone is mostly switching app constantly..so it is important the it looks good and smooth and lagfree.. Apex is the only launcher that worked good for the Mate 7 2GB model.
Thank you.
I will try Apex when i have some time
Been on Apex for few days, generally liked it but there are better launchers in my opinion. CM launcher is to recommend, definitely brings speed back to Mate 7, it's got some useful tools as well(like antivirus, app protector etc, speed booster). However, if you're really looking for light launcher that is quick on mate 7 Xperia launcher is the choice. My phone is flying now(even on super laggy b312), i've been using Xperia z2 before and i loved it's launcher. It's minimalistic yet super functional, it's very light and clean looking, got great app drawer. There's few versions to download on xda forum( won't find it in play store), however older version seems to work better on Mate7 and has more launcher options and tweaks. Only with this launcher i can see 1 GB free RAM again on lollipop.
muzammil84 said:
Been on Apex for few days, generally liked it but there are better launchers in my opinion. CM launcher is to recommend, definitely brings speed back to Mate 7, it's got some useful tools as well(like antivirus, app protector etc, speed booster). However, if you're really looking for light launcher that is quick on mate 7 Xperia launcher is the choice. My phone is flying now(even on super laggy b312), i've been using Xperia z2 before and i loved it's launcher. It's minimalistic yet super functional, it's very light and clean looking, got great app drawer. There's few versions to download on xda forum( won't find it in play store), however older version seems to work better on Mate7 and has more launcher options and tweaks. Only with this launcher i can see 1 GB free RAM again on lollipop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
link?
I personally prefer Action Launcher, as the 'covers' and 'shutters' are truly useful features that I couldn't do without after spending some time with them. Haven't really used Apex Launcher since the Galaxy S II, as I ran Nova. However, I wanted to try something new when I switched to the Ascend Mate 7, and haven't regretted the decision since. If you're not a fan of a vertically scrolling list of apps, it won't be your cup of tea. The aforementioned covers and shutters definitely merit a glance on the Play Store, though. 11/10 would recommend.
I managed to download xperia z3 launcher. As I've owned previously z ultra this is perfect launcher for me. Simple, elegant and mostly it works better than apex, nova or s launcher. Thanx for the tip.
Where. Can I download Xperia launcher?
Also why does not asus launcher turn up on Google play? When I search?
Asus launcher have very good reviews and their asus phones have very weak intel cpu and low memory despite that all reviewers are vet impressed with the speed and flow of the phone .... I hope asus launcher works with Mate 7
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...her&pcampaignid=APPU_1_koXYVayAD8WSsAGT0p74DQ
Is one of you know how to keep the "search module" of the Huawei launcher on Apex ? You Know when you solide down and it appears with icons of récent apps ! I really love this feature and i don't want to loose it !
I hope some one can link to the xperia launcher in question, however I am still questionable, the biggest is the difference in opening/switching app animations, if they are not fast and fluid then it means it is not a good optimized launcher, how fast it is in the home screen and drawers are not as important since almost every launcher is fast in this area...
Touchwiz is a bit more refined than the resource hog it was a number of years ago but it's still not good enough.
I've tried them all and always go back to Nova Launcher, it's definitely the best of them all IMO.
I use touchwiz and nova, can decide what is best?
Nova here. Love my home screens full of things and using the device screen res to it´s full...
TheMakka250 said:
I use touchwiz and nova, can decide what is best?
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Click to collapse
no comparison my friend Nova wins hands down in every department,
I go back to Nova every time.
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Usually end up using nova prime, but I'm surprised with the level of customization Sammy has embedded in this version of TouchWiz. Plus having 5×5 and themes is all I really need
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The best launcher in my opinion is TotalLauncher. It was sslauncher before and it's Fer months new.
Best is that you are not limited by grid, widgets can overlap, you can launch them in window and lot of thing like resize by milimeters or rotate everything. Works even better with zooper another customization stuff.
No one else launcher have such a posibilites. It's like apple versus android. Normal launchers are plus minus like apple and this launcher is like android. You can change everything.
But my question because my edge plus will come tomorow...with custom launcher will be edge features working? Like edge apps edge people?
Mystero said:
The best launcher in my opinion is TotalLauncher. It was sslauncher before and it's Fer months new.
Best is that you are not limited by grid, widgets can overlap, you can launch them in window and lot of thing like resize by milimeters or rotate everything. Works even better with zooper another customization stuff.
No one else launcher have such a posibilites. It's like apple versus android. Normal launchers are plus minus like apple and this launcher is like android. You can change everything.
But my question because my edge plus will come tomorow...with custom launcher will be edge features working? Like edge apps edge people?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree with you, using total launcher and fully satisfied
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I've been using Nova since it came out basically and have moved around a little trying some of the new ones but I don't think I've had a fully set up experience on a different launcher since the Launcher Pro and ADW days.
I was wondering if there is a favorite launcher that people like especially if it makes the huge amount of screen space on the Note a little more usable. Currently with Nova I leave the top half of both screens mostly unfilled as it can be hard to reach.
Nova launcher pro version is neat, I got it 99 cents when there was a promotion.
The best thing is it allows you to back up your setting, so when you transfer data to a new phone, you can just use one click to have the exactly screen setting!!!
preston66002425 said:
Nova launcher pro version is neat, I got it 99 cents when there was a promotion.
The best thing is it allows you to back up your setting, so when you transfer data to a new phone, you can just use one click to have the exactly screen setting!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea that's I'm currently using. It's nice and all but I see a lot of launchers that do cool stuff like automatically figure out your most used apps and all that.
Another best launcher for me is Smart Launcher
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I've used so many launchers. Best so far for me are a couple,
1. Microsoft launcher. Hands down the best, just needs more options.
2. Squarehome launcher. Because I'm a big fan of windows phones. This one is very very elegant and very well made. A little on the expensive side (I believe it was $7), but well worth the money. Only gripe is that its settings are all over the place and you have to get used to it to master its customizations.
3. CPL and hyperion if you want stock android launchers. Very nice launchers. Clean and fast. Hyperion has more customizations, but CPL is free.
4. Nova launcher. Have had it for over 4 years now. It has been mostly the same and getting a little too outdated. Dev needs to bring some new features around. Otherwise, competition will destroy them very soon.
5. Samsung One UI house launcher is phenomenal itself.
I've tried next launcher 3D and it was overwhelming then left it in about a month or so.
Using nova launcher. Fast and smooth. But downside when using samsung weather widget, resizing quite wacky.
Gil Smash said:
I've been using Nova since it came out basically and have moved around a little trying some of the new ones but I don't think I've had a fully set up experience on a different launcher since the Launcher Pro and ADW days.
I was wondering if there is a favorite launcher that people like especially if it makes the huge amount of screen space on the Note a little more usable. Currently with Nova I leave the top half of both screens mostly unfilled as it can be hard to reach.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you can try Niagara Launcher. Been using it since I got my note 9 and when I had the previous models of Samsung eg s9+ and s8+. Its clean fast and everything is ready for your reach.
K-alz said:
I've used so many launchers. Best so far for me are a couple,
1. Microsoft launcher. Hands down the best, just needs more options.
2. Squarehome launcher. Because I'm a big fan of windows phones. This one is very very elegant and very well made. A little on the expensive side (I believe it was $7), but well worth the money. Only gripe is that its settings are all over the place and you have to get used to it to master its customizations.
3. CPL and hyperion if you want stock android launchers. Very nice launchers. Clean and fast. Hyperion has more customizations, but CPL is free.
4. Nova launcher. Have had it for over 4 years now. It has been mostly the same and getting a little too outdated. Dev needs to bring some new features around. Otherwise, competition will destroy them very soon.
5. Samsung One UI house launcher is phenomenal itself.
I've tried next launcher 3D and it was overwhelming then left it in about a month or so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome thanks! I'm giving Microsoft Launcher another shot as I used it a while ago but stopped. So far so good!
Gil Smash said:
Awesome thanks! I'm giving Microsoft Launcher another shot as I used it a while ago but stopped. So far so good!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome. Let me know what you like and what you don't.
K-alz said:
4. Nova launcher. Have had it for over 4 years now. It has been mostly the same and getting a little too outdated. Dev needs to bring some new features around. Otherwise, competition will destroy them very soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nah, i rather have an rock solid launcher instead of some bloated one.
but besides. there isn't much missing on Samsung stock launcher nowadays. they now allow the swipe down from anywhere on the screen to bring up notifications.
i am only missing indefinite scrolling between homescreens and some advanced gesture options like double tap. once Samsung stock launcher can do this, i don't need nova no more.
Always been nova for me, but will try some of the others listed here.
Thinking about spicing up my screen a bit.
Another onecthstcwas light weight and free is Evie. It needs some work. The best thing I liked about it was I could get nadge icons on apps with out installing a helper application. Not as stated it needs a lite work.
I've been using Nova for years now and I have a hard time using something else, but I think Lawnchair is very promising
Nova launcher
Used nova for about 5 years on all my devices... I've found Evie last year... Never come back to nova!
I use Evie on my S8+, Note 9, Nexus 6 and Note 4 (yeah yeah...) and love it.
I am using total launcher. those who need customization should try this once.
Been using Nova for years, but the last few months I've been using Lawnchair V2. Really nice and simple, and they've implemented App Actions in the app drawer recently. Pretty handy.
Used Total Launcher for a long time. Very customizable but somewhat complex.
Recently switched to Nova Launcher along with Kustom Live Wallpaper (KLWP). This makes a great team, but like Total Launcher, lots of under the hood to get the right look for the power user.
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preston66002425 said:
Nova launcher pro version is neat, I got it 99 cents when there was a promotion.
The best thing is it allows you to back up your setting, so when you transfer data to a new phone, you can just use one click to have the exactly screen setting!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This, all this.
I have briefly tried other launchers, but they quickly fail to live upto what I know of Nova.
I guess a lot of it comes down to me kind of wanting a launcher to give me a way of automatically improving efficiency not because I don't want to put the work in to figure out how to set up something complex but because I don't know what I want!
So far I'm digging the Microsoft Launcher but it doesn't do a whole lot that Nova doesn't. I've tried things like Niagara too but those tend to be a little overly simplified.