Database Develop

WHy I think Dxtop is the best home app.

I'm writing this because I see a lot of people using Home++ or GDE and I admit I have them installed too, even purchased GDE but I find myself always going back to Dxtop. But it seems hardly anyone uses it I think I know why.
Most of the options and cool things the app does are not obvious. I will attempt to explain it's unique features and why I think it's the best.
Ok the first thing you notice when you start it, is the two tab interface, one tab is your "regular" apps tab, the other is a tab of currently open and recently used apps. I find the most useful thing about the second tab is when you try out a newly installed app for the first time, you like it and you want to put the icon on the desktop somewhere. Instead of searching through all your apps to find it, it will be at the top of the recently used apps tap.
A complaint dxtop gets alot is the dual tab system. People just don't like seeing two tabs for some reason. Well you can hide the tabs by sliding them to the left or right, a bonus is this reveals dxtop's app dock. In the place where your tabs used to be, you now have space to put your favorite 5 apps or if you have any 1x1 widgets, they can go into the dock to. You can customize the dock's color and transparency. With the tabs gone you can access them by long pressing the menu key for apps tab and back key for open and recent tab.
The "regular" tab is more than meets the eye as well, when you open the apps tab and press menu, you get some extra sorting option for the tab. You can sort alphabetically, by size, by last installed or by category that you set yourself.
When you long press and icon in the tab and drop it without moving it, a context menu will pop up asking you if you want to change the category with other options to uninstall, locate on market and view app info. This context menu can also be used with icons on the desktop giving you the option to rename the shortcut, change the icon as well as the uninstall and info options.
Sadly, dxtop only has 4 screens. They are laid out in a unique diamond shape. It is laid out like this so that all screens are only one swipe away no matter which screen you are one. A swipe left always takes you to the left screen, a swipe up always takes you to the top screen etc.
Dxtop supports themes and can use themes designed other for dxtop, ahome or open home, giving you lots of options.
My favorite features are the category sorting in the app drawer and the app dock which is persistent on all screens.
I hope this will at least encourage people to try dxtop.
Oh and I don't work for them, I'm just a fan.

Been using it since day 1. Love this thing. The unique diamond 4 screens is what i love the most. It's like a default feature I need in every phone from now on. One swipe to any screen is the feature that puts this home screen on another level.

why I think dxtop now sucks arse...
I used to use dxtop exclusively and recommend ed it to everyone. But since access one have bought out master Baron it has added useless features slowing it down. The lock screen etc. I do not want my android phones to look like an iPhone .
I too have used it since day 1 but the last straw for me was when access one first didn't update the theme template to match the new features and then they pulled the template totally! Supposedly so that no third party themes could compete with their paid themes. As a maker of several free themes for dxtop I think this is so wrong. I now boycott dxtop and recommend gde to all. Gde is better than dxtop in many areas and will eventually have as mant features.
Gde is faster with less lag too.
Corporate greed. Fight the power and all that.

i used it religously untill last week when i discovered that games like i dracula runn full speed on my g1 if i disable it. maybe i shuold just turn off persistant mode, but for the time being im not using it, and enjoying games like i-dracula and raging thunder....

I hate all the home screen replacements. They are damn slow compared to the default. Everyone i've used sucks ass. I haven't tried GDE and i hear people talking about lag from that one too. A home replacement should have NO LAG whatsoever and if it does it's just another app, not a homescreen replacement.

2leaponover1 said:
I hate all the home screen replacements. They are damn slow compared to the default. Everyone i've used sucks ass. I haven't tried GDE and i hear people talking about lag from that one too. A home replacement should have NO LAG whatsoever and if it does it's just another app, not a homescreen replacement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw someone make a similar comment in the market and I was rude to them, so let me be nice to you.
I think you don't know to CLEAR THE STANDARD ANDROID HOME DESKTOP OF ALL IT'S APPLICATIONS AND WIDGETS WHEN REPLACING IT WITH A NEW HOME REPLACEMENT.
If you don't your phone will be running the standard desktop AND! the one you're trying out so of course it runs slow.
However when I did try the demo for Dxtop it force closed like a mug and ran slow and I gave it every inch it could possibly need to work, just didn't want to.
I liked the fact it could force your screen in landscape, that's a feature I definitely miss from my Tmo Wing.
But as soon as you open an app it goes back to portrait which makes me wish there was a root feature that could enable forced portrait when applications have the code to work in portrait.

Icebergxx said:
I saw someone make a similar comment in the market and I was rude to them, so let me be nice to you.
I think you don't know to CLEAR THE STANDARD ANDROID HOME DESKTOP OF ALL IT'S APPLICATIONS AND WIDGETS WHEN REPLACING IT WITH A NEW HOME REPLACEMENT.
If you don't your phone will be running the standard desktop AND! the one you're trying out so of course it runs slow.
However when I did try the demo for Dxtop it force closed like a mug and ran slow and I gave it every inch it could possibly need to work, just didn't want to.
I liked the fact it could force your screen in landscape, that's a feature I definitely miss from my Tmo Wing.
But as soon as you open an app it goes back to portrait which makes me wish there was a root feature that could enable forced portrait when applications have the code to work in portrait.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never considered doing that. I'll give them another try following that advice. Thanks for being nice about it. So which one do you reccommend?

home++ doesn't lag for me and it has some really great new features (incl. a flip clock widget that actually flips!)
but i agree, a "real" home replacement would be better than any app that emulates a second home

2leaponover1 said:
Never considered doing that. I'll give them another try following that advice. Thanks for being nice about it. So which one do you reccommend?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome. I like Sweeter Home, but it's not up to date, or anything and I don't use it anymore, especially since the next update is like 5 months over due.
Currently running Home ++
I was on a 1.5 and heard how some apps will only be in the market for 1.6 and I caught Home++ on the first day it was released tried it liked it. And it was my reason to go to a 1.6 build.
I'd suggest Home++ even though I think I read you might not of liked it, I personally don't like GDE though.
Lol I've tried all the Hr's

My favorite dxTop feature is the LiveFolders that use the custom categories you create. No more tediously adding new apps to folders on the desktop.

curious, you say if u remove the tabs you will have extra space to put up to 5 apps in the dock. does this mean it can run a 4x4 widget plus that extra space for apps, effectively making it 4x4 + 4x1 ? so i can run a full screen widget plus an extra line of apps

NguyenHuu said:
curious, you say if u remove the tabs you will have extra space to put up to 5 apps in the dock. does this mean it can run a 4x4 widget plus that extra space for apps, effectively making it 4x4 + 4x1 ? so i can run a full screen widget plus an extra line of apps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Answer is yes. I have a 4x4 picture frame widget as my top screen with the 5 apps dock underneath it. works great. I'm gonna try home ++ next. Following iceberg's advice the homescreens are running very smoothly. Glad he said something. Can't find much info on home++? What makes it so inviting?

2leaponover1 said:
Answer is yes. I have a 4x4 picture frame widget as my top screen with the 5 apps dock underneath it. works great. I'm gonna try home ++ next. Following iceberg's advice the homescreens are running very smoothly. Glad he said something. Can't find much info on home++? What makes it so inviting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Lol there honestly isn't anything that special about it, I can see the way you like Dxtop and I think you'll think Home++ is the same as GDE which is understandable.
It's just a looping home screen with a Mac doc type thing at the bottom.
Obviously that's my home screen, have the notification bar hid which doesn't add any additional space to the screen
And the dock at the bottom can be configured but not so much personalaized, also if I were to move it over you'd see some status bar info like time battery connection etc.

Icebergxx said:
I think you don't know to CLEAR THE STANDARD ANDROID HOME DESKTOP OF ALL IT'S APPLICATIONS AND WIDGETS WHEN REPLACING IT WITH A NEW HOME REPLACEMENT.
If you don't your phone will be running the standard desktop AND! the one you're trying out so of course it runs slow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont think this is technically correct. When i put a widget or shortcut of dxtop, it also puts it on the home app and vice versa. I cant clear either one completely so there is always some doubling of shortcuts and widgets. Only the top and bottom screens of dxtop can be cleared as they dont line up or "sync" with the home app screens.

rivera618 said:
I dont think this is technically correct. When i put a widget or shortcut of dxtop, it also puts it on the home app and vice versa. I cant clear either one completely so there is always some doubling of shortcuts and widgets. Only the top and bottom screens of dxtop can be cleared as they dont line up or "sync" with the home app screens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't given Dxtop much attention but whenever I used a HR to try it out and i look at my task killer it shows the other widgets running that I don't have set up on the new HR.

[Q] Is there a way to fix the TouchWiz-lag / make it more 'snappy'? (Official JP6)

Hello!
I've updated my phone to the official JP6-ROM from Kies. I like it, it's quite fast and feels better in actual use than the stock 2.1 I had when I bought it.
But, as with 2.1, TouchWiz is sooooo laggy. I'm glad they've added a 'glass' dock background to the homescreen for your basic icons, but it seems as if the lag / animations have remained unchanged (possibly gotten even worse).
Is there any way to fix this? Searched the forums but didn't find anything.
I use LauncherPro now, but if it wasn't for the lag, I would use TouchWiz Pro because I actually like its look.
Thanks in advance!
P.S.:
If there isn't any fix available, would someone be interested in optimizing it for JP6?

First I thought the same. Ohhh feels fast. But when you have many programms from the market and look in the helicopterview... omg...
Didn´t they test it with some more apps? I´m work with launcher pro. Look at it. It is better! You have many options to play with. In the paying version you have also some nice widgets. Give it a try.

I have 6 pages of apps. If I slide fast between pages it acts so laggy.. (this issue is not present in eclair). Also pinch to zoom out in app drawer it's extremly laggy.
Tried Laucher Pro (was a fan of this app before)... yeah, it's faster. But I like more the touch wiz launcher..

Problem is that when i use the latest version of LauncherPro after a few hours of usage i get.a really stupid but very sad bug. My notification bar won t get down when I drag it. Only menu > notifications. Darn stupi.
On 2.1 launcher pro was the only launcher i used. Ao nice so fast, and niw so buggy. Sh1t
Sent from Galaxy (No pun intended)

wrong section
moved

[Q] How to make ADW run smoother on N1 w/ Cyanogen 6? Move to launcherpro?

The lag seen with ADW is really starting to annoy me. At first I was ultra happy with the phone, but then some of my friends with iphone 4s pointed out how choppy the switching of homescreens was on the N1 along with the stutter seen on the app drawer. I have googled everything and cant find a fix. I already tried doing the recomended settings from the link below, but there is still lag. Will switching to launcher pro fix my issues? I am hesitant to switch because I love that ADW has the look of the stock froyo launcher, is it even possible to have the stock dock look in launcher pro?
http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/2700-adw-vs-launcher-pro-for-cm6/page__view__findpost__p__25057

Ignorance is bliss...
Now ask your friends with iPhone to show you an app that will automatically turn off their WiFi and turn on BT when they leave their home, for example. Then ask them to show you live wallpaper on their phones. When they fail, chill out and understand that you can't fix it. Android launchers aren't capable of seamless scrolling, because the system behind them wasn't meant for pretty graphics.
You're only 2346851 in number to ask this question.

Jack_R1 said:
Ignorance is bliss...
Now ask your friends with iPhone to show you an app that will automatically turn off their WiFi and turn on BT when they leave their home, for example. Then ask them to show you live wallpaper on their phones. When they fail, chill out and understand that you can't fix it. Android launchers aren't capable of seamless scrolling, because the system behind them wasn't meant for pretty graphics.
You're only 2346851 in number to ask this question.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha so true, ignorance is great. Yea i know alot of people had similar questions, but all the threads i found were not for N1s and they were pretty old, figured out some genius must have done something about it since just about everything else has been done on these xda forums. I just hate seeing wasted potential. The snapdragon and 512mb ram is more than enough horsepower to get simple smooth scrolling down. Just wish there was some type of gpu acceleration support.
By the way how do you turn off the wifi automatically when you leave home? I rely on the powercontrol widget.

I had a similar point from an iPhone user, I barely noticed it - and then I pointed out I was running a custom launcher (launcher pro) with a TON of widgets and animated wallpaper. Since then an update has made it silky smooth.
There are a few themes in launcher pro, default froyo is one - I use wide froyo which gives me:
phone-contacts-app-drawer-sms-browser
buttons.

Gingerbread should help in this department, or so they say. Currently the best the launchers can do still has a hiccup or two from time to time. Personally, I don't even notice it, using LauncherPro, as the poster above me, with all 7 screens full of icons and widgets, and Starfield wallpaper.
Locale. It's a great concept app. I used it, but stopped - now I just keep BT and WiFi constantly on (BT almost doesn't drain battery - usually less than 2% of the power - and WiFi is present at home and at work, so I turn it off only when the phone is expected to last long in places where no WiFi is found). Since I don't have other uses - like turning down the volume automatically in specific places, etc - I stopped using it.

smachine said:
... along with the stutter seen on the app drawer.
is it even possible to have the stock dock look in launcher pro?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you changed the app drawer to 4 apps per row? I remember 5 per row being set on cm6, that will make some difference.
Yes, launcher Pro has a Froyo dock look. In the settings its called "froyo" I think. It looks pretty good, a little different than ADW.

adambenjamin said:
Have you changed the app drawer to 4 apps per row? I remember 5 per row being set on cm6, that will make some difference.
Yes, launcher Pro has a Froyo dock look. In the settings its called "froyo" I think. It looks pretty good, a little different than ADW.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea i did change it to 4 apps per row, and it did help a little. Im going to test out launcher pro. Is there anything i should know about switching launchers and running cyanogen 6? If i dont like launcher pro will it be easy to switch back? Some places said that adw still runs in the background and that i have to uninstall adw for it to not hog any resources.

smachine said:
Yea i did change it to 4 apps per row, and it did help a little. Im going to test out launcher pro. Is there anything i should know about switching launchers and running cyanogen 6? If i dont like launcher pro will it be easy to switch back? Some places said that adw still runs in the background and that i have to uninstall adw for it to not hog any resources.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can easily switch back. A lot of people seems to be experiencing a little lag with adw in the latest CM version. Launcher pro doesn't have this issue.
I'm not sure about Adw running in the background, but you can easily uninstall it using titanium backup.

I just played around with launcherpro and im not impressed. There was still lag, though it could have been because i didnt set a default launcher and adw was still running in the background. The switching between the homescreens was a little smoother, but thats because it did it alot slower. I prefer the more stock look that adw offers. On launcher pro the screens had 4x4 columns/rows but i didnt like the grid spacing. For some reason my beautiful widgets weather/clock was 20% smaller in size compared to ADW. Not sure why the widgets and icon sizes are smaller in launcherpro (i kept switching back and forth between launchers to compare).

smachine said:
I just played around with launcherpro and im not impressed. There was still lag, though it could have been because i didnt set a default launcher and adw was still running in the background. The switching between the homescreens was a little smoother, but thats because it did it alot slower. I prefer the more stock look that adw offers. On launcher pro the screens had 4x4 columns/rows but i didnt like the grid spacing. For some reason my beautiful widgets weather/clock was 20% smaller in size compared to ADW. Not sure why the widgets and icon sizes are smaller in launcherpro (i kept switching back and forth between launchers to compare).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My experience is that Launcher pro is generally smoother and faster than ADW. I believe the newer versions of ADW have improved quite a bit, but LP still gets my vote.
However since the 22x nightlies as well as the official 6.1RC1, I have been experiencing some lags no matter which launcher I am using
If you need to stay with CM, you might wanna try another kernel, it helps

ctbear said:
My experience is that Launcher pro is generally smoother and faster than ADW. I believe the newer versions of ADW have improved quite a bit, but LP still gets my vote.
However since the 22x nightlies as well as the official 6.1RC1, I have been experiencing some lags no matter which launcher I am using
If you need to stay with CM, you might wanna try another kernel, it helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought my nexus with cm6 already installed, and still havent bothered updating to the newest 6.1 version. Mainly im just waiting till the end of the month. Dont want to mess anything up and i need my phone to be fully functional till then. All i know is that in the sd card I saw a clockworkmod file, so im assuming thats the backup. I will go into installing custom roms probably when gingerbread is released. I might try installing launcher pro again and uninstalling adw fully and see if that fixes the lag. I like ADW and just wish the app scrolling was a little more smooth.
**** I just found out that my ADW version was 1.0.1, and there have many updates since then. I found a 1.2.0 version and will test that out. http://code.google.com/p/adw-launcher-android/downloads/list

Learn to play with your N1. Once you're proficient, you could easily do partial wipes and ROM flips inside of 5mins.
Heck, if you've got a good wifi you might be able to wipe full and restore inside of 10 mins.
Point being, you'd feel safer about trying/looking at changes like a new different launcher and ROMs, knowing that you can flip back to a solid setup with all your data and apps intact.
This play is part of the beauty in the N1.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

HTCinToronto said:
Learn to play with your N1. Once you're proficient, you could easily do partial wipes and ROM flips inside of 5mins.
Heck, if you've got a good wifi you might be able to wipe full and restore inside of 10 mins.
Point being, you'd feel safer about trying/looking at changes like a new different launcher and ROMs, knowing that you can flip back to a solid setup with all your data and apps intact.
This play is part of the beauty in the N1.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't agree more I used to juggle roms and now I use miuimod with lpp with the screen cache turned off and if I have to compete against a iPhone showdown then I put my min CPU at 384 and it should be as smooth if not smoother. n1 is great for tinkering
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

also turning off the transparency in the drawer should help improve smoothness

Found out the cause of the problem was live wallpapers. On launcher pro, as soon as live wallpaper was disabled it ran like butter. I was hoping to get live wallpapers to work also, but having lag is not a good trade off.

smachine said:
Found out the cause of the problem was live wallpapers. On launcher pro, as soon as live wallpaper was disabled it ran like butter. I was hoping to get live wallpapers to work also, but having lag is not a good trade off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A lot of it depends on the specific wallpaper in question. Slower, more subtle animations tend to behave better (and use less battery) than some of the more intense ones. I recommend one called Substrate - it slowly evolves and changes, but keeps the homescreen transitions very smooth and snappy.
I'm currently running one called "better matrix" or something similar that is very eye catching but doesn't bog things down too much.

Comparing launcher's smoothness & performance

I've tried these launchers:
- Stock
- Trebuchet
- Nova Launcher (lastest beta)
- Apex Launcher
- Holo Launcher HD
on Paranoid Android 2.13 (based on CM10.0.0) with Trinity kernel on stock UI and CM10 surfaceflinger fix applied and decided to see which launcher(s) was/were the smoothest.
Here's my breakdown:
- Stock
This is arguably the smoothest launcher running on the nexus, animations are buttery smooth and has absolutely null delay when loading app drawer, no matter if you just opened it the second after you closed GTA3. The downside is that the customizability on this one is the Android launcher standard, so no custom icons, no rotation, etc. No redraws, no anything. It is lagless (if you have a healthy device).
- Trebuchet
This one lacks smoothness, and even if you open the weather application to check the forecast and go back to the drawer, it will force you to wait a while while (see what I did there?) loading the drawer.
- Nova Launcher (lastest beta - beta7 and beta8)
This may be the most feature-rich launcher, but while it is smooth with page transitions and doesn't redraw the screen while rotating, the transition to the app drawer still stutters (just a little bit, but still not 60fps), and not even the UI Lock option in the labs section can fix this.
- Apex Launcher (lastest beta)
This launcher is just as feature-rich as Nova, but it won't recognize the Nexus 7 workspace so you have to set it up yourself to make it look right. Transition to app drawer is similar to that of Nova's, and it redraws the screen when rotating, which is a huge bummer for some users.
- Holo Launcher HD
This is the only launcher I've seen that is as smooth as stock. Try it out: install it, and swipe the screen. You'll feel like you are actually moving the pixels with your fingers, even if it is full of widgets. Now open the app drawer, and see how Project Butter was meant to work. If you install Nova or Apex after doing this, you'll notice it's just not the same. Sometimes it will delay a bit while loading the app drawer but this can be fixed by checking the Keep in memory option. Only redraws stuff when rotating with at least one widget in a homescreen.
NOTES:
- Beta versions do not represent the final product, so keep an eye out for updates!
- Sometimes Apex nor Holo Launcher HD will not recognize the Nexus 7 workspace and must be configured manually.
- Every launcher redraws the app drawer when rotating (this usually takes ~3-6 seconds).
The easiest way to see how smooth is a launcher, do this:
- open the app drawer, then
- press the home button
Repeat this as fast as you can and you may see if it stutters or delays the opening of the drawer (Nexus 7's hardware was not meant for stuttering, so you got to be mercy-less).
So far:
- Stock is super-smooth, portrays Project Butter, but not much customizability.
- Holo Launcher HD is as smooth as Stock, but comes with more customizability.
- Nova and Apex's lastest beta versions are stuffed with lots of nice features, they are smooth but not as Stuck or Holo Launcher HD.
- Not to offend the CyanogenMod team, but Trebuchet is a little suckish for the Nexus 7, it doesn't really show off what it can do.
Also there are SPB Shell and TSF Shell, both are one of a kind launchers with swift performance in mind. I haven't really tried them out but I've heard they are extremely smooth!
So tell me, what do you think about those launchers? Which one do you primarily use? I use Nova Launcher.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

DanielEGVi said:
I've tried these launchers:
- Stock
- Trebuchet
- Nova Launcher (lastest beta)
- Apex Launcher
- Holo Launcher HD
on Paranoid Android 2.13 (based on CM10.0.0) with Trinity kernel on stock UI and CM10 surfaceflinger fix applied and decided to see which launcher(s) was/were the smoothest.
Here's my breakdown:
- Stock
This is arguably the smoothest launcher running on the nexus, animations are buttery smooth and has absolutely null delay when loading app drawer, no matter if you just opened it the second after you closed GTA3. The downside is that the customizability on this one is the Android launcher standard, so no custom icons, no rotation, etc. No redraws, no anything. It is lagless (if you have a healthy device).
- Trebuchet
This one lacks smoothness, and even if you open the weather application to check the forecast and go back to the drawer, it will force you to wait a while while (see what I did there?) loading the drawer.
- Nova Launcher (lastest beta - beta7 and beta8)
This may be the most feature-rich launcher, but while it is smooth with page transitions and doesn't redraw the screen while rotating, the transition to the app drawer still stutters (just a little bit, but still not 60fps), and not even the UI Lock option in the labs section can fix this.
- Apex Launcher (lastest beta)
This launcher is just as feature-rich as Nova, but it won't recognize the Nexus 7 workspace so you have to set it up yourself to make it look right. Transition to app drawer is similar to that of Nova's, and it redraws the screen when rotating, which is a huge bummer for some users.
- Holo Launcher HD
This is the only launcher I've seen that is as smooth as stock. Try it out: install it, and swipe the screen. You'll feel like you are actually moving the pixels with your fingers, even if it is full of widgets. Now open the app drawer, and see how Project Butter was meant to work. If you install Nova or Apex after doing this, you'll notice it's just not the same. Sometimes it will delay a bit while loading the app drawer but this can be fixed by checking the Keep in memory option. Doesn't redraw stuff when rotating.
Note: beta versions do not represent the final product, so keep an eye out for updates!
The easiest way to see how smooth is a launcher, do this:
- open the app drawer, then
- press the home button
Repeat this as fast as you can and you may see if it stutters or delays the opening of the drawer (Nexus 7's hardware was not meant for stuttering, so you got to be mercy-less).
So far:
- Stock is super-smooth, portrays Project Butter, but not much customizability.
- Holo Launcher HD is as smooth as Stock, but comes with more customizability.
- Nova and Apex's lastest beta versions are stuffed with lots of nice features, they are smooth but not as Stuck or Holo Launcher HD.
- Not to offend the CyanogenMod team, but Trebuchet is a little suckish for the Nexus 7, it doesn't really show off what it can do.
Also there are SPB Shell and TSF Shell, both are one of a kind launchers with swift performance in mind. I haven't really tried them out but I've heard they are extremely smooth!
So tell me, what do you think about those launchers? Which one do you primarily use? I use Nova Launcher.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good analysis, was going to do a similar post but am working on the 'best' kernel guide. I use Apex ATM. I have tried Nova but some things annoy me that can't be turned off.
I get the annoying redraw problem with Apex when with V6 Supercharger.
I had a look at Holo Launcher HD might have another look now.

Just tried Holo Launcher HD because of the glowing report particularly this line.
Doesn't redraw stuff when rotating.
Have to say my impressions are almost the opposite of yours.
Its a complete mess "out of the box" the icon spacing is awful , leaving a half millimetre of the label text visible. The margins are set to medium which is pretty much unusable, the choice of icons is a randomly arranged Launcher settings . Settings and a folder with people, calendar and gallery.and for some reason theres 2 google search bars.
OK so thats all fixable but I mention it because you criticise Apex launcher for similar reasons and it is actually a little bit better on default settings.
Next is rotation. Its absolutely terrible on holo launcher. Easily the worst I have ever seen on any phone or tablet. It takes 6seconds to get it to recognise a home screen rotation. In the Drawer its not as bad but it blacks out and redraws exactly like Nova and Apex.
I have no interest in trying it any further. I am not sure what the opposite of buttery smooth is but i would describe this launcher as "sand in the crack rough"
Edit: Just to mention neither Apex nor Nova redraws the home screen and all three are exactly the same in drawer, i.e black screen for 3 seconds and redraw.

jarayn said:
Just tried Holo Launcher HD because of the glowing report particularly this line.
Doesn't redraw stuff when rotating.
Have to say my impressions are almost the opposite of yours.
Its a complete mess "out of the box" the icon spacing is awful , leaving a half millimetre of the label text visible. The margins are set to medium which is pretty much unusable, the choice of icons is a randomly arranged Launcher settings . Settings and a folder with people, calendar and gallery.and for some reason theres 2 google search bars.
OK so thats all fixable but I mention it because you criticise Apex launcher for similar reasons and it is actually a little bit better on default settings.
Next is rotation. Its absolutely terrible on holo launcher. Easily the worst I have ever seen on any phone or tablet. It takes 6seconds to get it to recognise a home screen rotation. In the Drawer its not as bad but it blacks out and redraws exactly like Nova and Apex.
I have no interest in trying it any further. I am not sure what the opposite of buttery smooth is but i would describe this launcher as "sand in the crack rough"
Edit: Just to mention neither Apex nor Nova redraws the home screen and all three are exactly the same in drawer, i.e black screen for 3 seconds and redraw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice catch, I found my mistake: I tried rotating without adding widgets. Launchers don't really feel the need to redraw until you add at least one of them. Editing right now.
But Apex does redraw when there are widgets, Nova should not. I'm talking about the lastest beta versions. And Holo Launcher HD is still the smoothest as stock when it comes down to animations.
By the way, Apex and Holo Launcher HD must be configured (like you and me said) to get it look right on the N7 workspace. It shouldn't be a hassle.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

DanielEGVi said:
Nice catch, I found my mistake: I tried rotating without adding widgets. Launchers don't really feel the need to redraw until you add at least one of them. Editing right now.
But Apex does redraw when there are widgets, Nova should not. I'm talking about the lastest beta versions. And Holo Launcher HD is still the smoothest as stock when it comes down to animations.
By the way, Apex and Holo Launcher HD must be configured (like you and me said) to get it look right on the N7 workspace. It shouldn't be a hassle.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Apex is 1.3.0 Beta 5. It doesnt redraw when rotating home screen with or without widgets as far as I can tell. You are talking a black screen transition and then redraw? Or something else. Its certainly instant whatever its doing.
Does your Holo Launcher not take sever seconds to rotate home screen? Im talking quite literally 6 seconds on mine which is obviously unuseable.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1788518
Which incidentally is soooo nice.
And agree its not a big deal setting up the screen workspace but given that they all suffer from that its unfair to criticise just one.
I would just love to be able to rotate the app drawer without redraw. Thats about my only feature request.

Mh, Holo Launcher.. thx for the hint, I didn't know about that launcher! I'll try..

DanielEGVi said:
- Apex Launcher (lastest beta)
This launcher is just as feature-rich as Nova, but it won't recognize the Nexus 7 workspace so you have to set it up yourself to make it look right. Transition to app drawer is similar to that of Nova's, and it redraws the screen when rotating, which is a huge bummer for some users.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is my take on Apex 1.3.0 beta6 running PA 2.13 with default kernel. Home screen rotation takes about two seconds. Moving from the home screen to the app drawer is instantaneous...no delay or lag whatsoever. Even if I go back and forth quickly. I am running four widgets on the home screen. However, I only run one homescreen, and that may make a difference. App drawer rotation takes 3-4 seconds because of the redraw. FWIW, I tried Nova (app store version...not sure if it was the current beta) and didn't like the icon spacing, and I could see the top of the text for icons in the dock.
And please forgive my n00biness, but what do you mean by "Nexus 7 workspace"? Is that the screen layout when rotating the device from portrait to landscape?

texas_treo said:
Here is my take on Apex 1.3.0 beta6 running PA 2.13 with default kernel. Home screen rotation takes about two seconds. Moving from the home screen to the app drawer is instantaneous...no delay or lag whatsoever. Even if I go back and forth quickly. I am running four widgets on the home screen. However, I only run one homescreen, and that may make a difference. App drawer rotation takes 3-4 seconds because of the redraw. FWIW, I tried Nova (app store version...not sure if it was the current beta) and didn't like the icon spacing, and I could see the top of the text for icons in the dock.
And please forgive my n00biness, but what do you mean by "Nexus 7 workspace"? Is that the screen layout when rotating the device from portrait to landscape?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know Apex, Nova, and stock enter app drawer instantaneously, but I'm talking about 60 frames per second animations. Apex and Nova only look nice when they are on lastest beta, the Play Store versions perform ugly on the N7.
About workspaces: Android's layout is different across devices, mobile phones have a different layout than tablets. However, Nexus 7 imtroduces a phablet workspace where the status bar and the navigation bar are separated. So yeah, the workspace is basically the layout.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

I've been torn on which one to use. Seeing as how I'm paranoid android I have trebuchet installed which I'm just not impressed with at all. I also have holo, nova and apex installed. I can't make my mind up which one to use. I know the newest apex update seems dramatically smoother, and they have a tablet mode though it's a wip. But they all seem buttery smooth when the home screens are empty, start adding widgets and shortcuts and then it all goes to hell lol.
Sent from my HTC Vivid using Tapatalk 2

The latest Apex is almost as good as Nova except it doesn't have the menu icon in the top right corner of the search bar (very useful) and has a "g" instead of "Google" in the search bar. I use tablet UI at 177 or 160 occasionally for better play store app compatibility.
Nova's backup feature is also slightly better in that it doesn't overwrite the previous backup. Really not a big deal but it seems to make me a little more comfortable not over writing a previous setup and the file size is small.
The one thing I miss from Apex is that if you set a gesture, like swipe up, to open the app drawer, the same gesture closes the app drawer. Nova does not do this.

I disagree about apex launcher
I am on beta 6 and its as smooth imo as stock
But I agree with everything else you said thanks for the comparison, it was an interesting read as I haven't tried some of those
Sent from my HTC Incredible S

Apex would be the best if they just fixed the grid issues. Holo seems to be the only one with a proper grid, but it reloads the home screen too much. And I don't mean reloading as in shutting down the whole launcher, there's just a 1 second delay when hitting the home button and the icons and widgets all reload
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Cor-master said:
Apex would be the best if they just fixed the grid issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apex has become the slowest launcher with the latest update.
Gesendet von meinem GT-I9300 mit Tapatalk 2

I think it's world's faster than it used to be. Apex has always been slow compared to the competition. Overall there is no clear winner, everyone I've tried has issues. Is there a better copy utility than desk migrate? Post ics its because useless and does nothing. I like to switch constantly and don't like to keep them all installed... Well suppose I could just use titanium backup lol
Sent from my HTC Vivid using Tapatalk 2

Did any one mention novas latest update? Since then its been ICS based which is what caused lag and stutters. Now however its jelly bean based and is AMAZING to say the least. Butter smooth like the stock launcher with all the customization.
Sent From My N7 via White Tapatalk

Speaking of which, is it possible to get rid of the blue lines that appear when scrolling between homescreens? (in Nova)
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

StrangerWeather said:
Speaking of which, is it possible to get rid of the blue lines that appear when scrolling between homescreens? (in Nova)
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lines? Screen shot please.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Sent From My N7 via White Tapatalk

Yeah I have been using nova launcher and I have filled all of my screens all the way full with some big Widgets and it still is very smooth so I prefer nova launcher
Sent from my VS920 4G using Tapatalk 2

ÜBER™ said:
Lines? Screen shot please.
Sent From My N7 via White Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is a screen shot:

StrangerWeather said:
Here is a screen shot:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah you have it in tablet mode that is why.
Sent From My N7 via White Tapatalk

[Q] The "GO Launcher EX" and widgets... sluggish as all hell

While I like ADW Launcher and the default CyanogenMod interface, I've been starting to explore some of the other launchers out there. The "GO Launcher" series of widgets are very attractive and generally well done. So, I installed the launcher, weather, and task manager widget.
I have to say that while the widgets look great, they take longer to load than what I'm used to. I find CM7 popping up with a message saying the apps are taking too long to load, giving me the option to force close or wait. Usually if I click "wait", the screens finish loading shortly afterward. Regardless, even after a fresh boot, when I use the home screen, other pages, and apps, I'm finding my whole interface rather sluggish. I've got a 32Gb class 6 SD card installed with apps loaded to it by default as well. What's really most annoying is that when first bringing up the home screen, it takes at least 15 seconds for the Weather EX widget to load the time and basic weather... from cache! I have mobile data turned off by default.
Conversely, I find the ADW Launcher much more responsive. On occasion it does lag and result in a prompt asking to force close or wait, but not nearly as much as with GO Launcher. I wonder if the GO widgets are really meant for phones with more powerful processors... and that despite being compatible with ROMs ported for the HTC Hero, it's simply not worthwhile to try utilizing them.
Anyway, I'm just curious if anyone has experienced this sluggish performance on their HTC Hero and what launcher you'd recommend with similar graphical refinement but reasonable performance. Thanks!

I'm starting to find that GO Launcher is very sluggish right after a cold boot... and that it takes a while before it "settles in". When awakened from sleep, it'll work OK, at least for the most part. The lag I was experiencing before was probably some overhead or memory consumption left over from the initial installation.
Anyway, hopefully the reasonable performance won't be a fluke and will continue to work well. The GO Launcher offers a nice suite of widgets that conserve space pretty well. I especially like how you don't have to drag icons to a trash bar, that a little pop-up will give you several options adjacent to the icon (including trash).

cytherian said:
I'm starting to find that GO Launcher is very sluggish right after a cold boot... and that it takes a while before it "settles in". When awakened from sleep, it'll work OK, at least for the most part. The lag I was experiencing before was probably some overhead or memory consumption left over from the initial installation.
Anyway, hopefully the reasonable performance won't be a fluke and will continue to work well. The GO Launcher offers a nice suite of widgets that conheserve space pretty well. I especially like how you don't have to drag icons to a trash bar, that a little pop-up will give
adw
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

jamstewonline said:
I use adw ex. Find it quite fast. Got it for free. Pm me if you want to know how to get it for free too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's piracy. We don't allow that here.

Use Apex or Nova launcher. It's simple and i've gotten virtually no lag on it. It's bland so that's why it's fast. The hero can't really handle anything else with ease. Two of the reasons its sluggish as hell is because of the processor and the lack of ram. There's not really any cure expect getting a better phone, which you probably know.

When running a CM7 based rom I have always found Zeam to be the lightest and quickest launcher. I have run ADW EX as well and loved it for its customization features like changing the app icons and such but Zeam is just hands down fastest launcher on my Hero. ADW was not far behind either. I did try GoLauncher once and it seemed really sluggish on my hero for some reason.
I still have my Hero (Sure I always will) and still mess around with it and right now I am currently using Zeam with the rom in my sig and it is crazy fast! Like a brand new phone all over again.

cytherian said:
While I like ADW Launcher and the default CyanogenMod interface, I've been starting to explore some of the other launchers out there. The "GO Launcher" series of widgets are very attractive and generally well done. So, I installed the launcher, weather, and task manager widget.
I have to say that while the widgets look great, they take longer to load than what I'm used to. I find CM7 popping up with a message saying the apps are taking too long to load, giving me the option to force close or wait. Usually if I click "wait", the screens finish loading shortly afterward. Regardless, even after a fresh boot, when I use the home screen, other pages, and apps, I'm finding my whole interface rather sluggish. I've got a 32Gb class 6 SD card installed with apps loaded to it by default as well. What's really most annoying is that when first bringing up the home screen, it takes at least 15 seconds for the Weather EX widget to load the time and basic weather... from cache! I have mobile data turned off by default.
Conversely, I find the ADW Launcher much more responsive. On occasion it does lag and result in a prompt asking to force close or wait, but not nearly as much as with GO Launcher. I wonder if the GO widgets are really meant for phones with more powerful processors... and that despite being compatible with ROMs ported for the HTC Hero, it's simply not worthwhile to try utilizing them.
Anyway, I'm just curious if anyone has experienced this sluggish performance on their HTC Hero and what launcher you'd recommend with similar graphical refinement but reasonable performance. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been using all of Go products since v1.5 or something. I also been running there beta's on 1 of my phones. 3.16 or .17 was released in early Oct. Well my Go keyboard and Go locker crashed, had written them asap and within 24 hours there was a new version, and those issue's were fixed. Guess I'm saying these DEV's as most all DEV's are good about keeping there products fresh.

If you're looking for a smooth and sleek launcher I'd go for LauncherPRO. It's unmaintained and not very feature-rich but it's incredibly smooth and stable. Wish it were open source.

FYI, I have gone with Zeam and I'm super happy. Very nicely done launcher, lean and efficient with hardly any lag.