Database Develop

Why ADW?

Just curious, why does everyone seem to lean towards ADW vs. Launcher Pro? Launcher Pro just seems to run so much smoother on the Nexus I was wondering why people would prefer ADW.

I prefer ADW because it runs so much smoother for me.
Plus it has one feature I cannot live without now. The slide up/down gestures. I normally have the Status Bar hidden, so I can't slide down on it to get the notification tray. Now I can just slide down anywhere on the screen to pull down the tray.

Zenoran said:
Just curious, why does everyone seem to lean towards ADW vs. Launcher Pro? Launcher Pro just seems to run so much smoother on the Nexus I was wondering why people would prefer ADW.
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+1 10chars

I use Launcher Pro as well. Seems a good amount of people use ADW because its the default launcher in CM. (cyanogen choose it because its open source and LP isnt)

Also the fact that it is open source is a reason I like it too. Not because of some philosophy, but because there are already a number of different developers contributing to it. And I know that if Anderweb ever stops development on it, someone else can continue. It gives me hope that it will be a very long lasting launcher.

Why do some people like red cars? or Ford over GM? (notice how I Americanized that <, I was going to say Renault but I don't suppose our US/foreign friends would have understood)....
It's just personal preference, neither is right or wrong, it just is.

Clarkster said:
I prefer ADW because it runs so much smoother for me.
Plus it has one feature I cannot live without now. The slide up/down gestures. I normally have the Status Bar hidden, so I can't slide down on it to get the notification tray. Now I can just slide down anywhere on the screen to pull down the tray.
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This. Also, the option to stretch the homescreen to 8x8. I'm going with 4x6 right now; last I used it, Launcher Pro only offered up to 4x5.

Smooth-wise, both LP and ADW are similar on my Nexus One Stock Froyo. I can't see LP much smoother than ADW.
I am used to ADW's "pull up home button to show hidden app dock". I put taskpanel and Mobile setting things there which I can easily access but don't wanna be visible all the time. The swipe left/right dock in launcher pro is unnatural to me.
On the other hand, I compared both launchers (briefly) on battery usage and it looked like with launcher pro my battery was going away faster. That was a few weeks ago and several updates had been made so I can't tell now.

ADW is open source so that may be a deciding factor. Also resizing widgets is great and a feature that was missing since the last time I used LauncherPro.

I have LauncherPro as well and have to say I am quite impressed with it. The main reason I have it is to save my nexus one from screen burn by the notification bar... but its speed and stability sure dont hurt either

ap3604 said:
I have LauncherPro as well and have to say I am quite impressed with it. The main reason I have it is to save my nexus one from screen burn by the notification bar... but its speed and stability sure dont hurt either
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as far as i know, LCD and AMOLED screens does not suffer from screen burn... weird you said that

drbuns said:
ADW is open source so that may be a deciding factor. Also resizing widgets is great and a feature that was missing since the last time I used LauncherPro.
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In my experience setting different sizes for a widget just caused it to break its display (text overflowing or items clipped off). It seems the only reason the feature exists is because ADW allows you to setup different amounts of rows/columns of icons, and since widgets work by taking up certain amount of icon spaces they had to also then add the option to say how much icons it should take up to end up looking normal. (Confusing, huh?)
This is actually what caused me to switch away from ADW to LauncherPro. They seem very similar, but ADW was going down the path of configuration hell where they introduce confusing options that cause features to break and need even more confusing options.
The real thing is, none of those options seem to improve anything for me, but they started getting in my way. Every time I added a widget ADW then asked me to specify how it should be sized. UGH!
All I really want is the stock launcher with smooth scrolling. These launchers seem to start off just being that but slowly grow into feature-creep beasts.

LauncherPro is faster than ADW. fact.
LauncherPro's app drawer (3D) is MUCH faster and smoother than ADW's. fact.
LaucherPro has more customization to the bottom 5 buttons than ADW. fact.
ADW is built into CM5.x, LauncherPro isn't. That's about the only drawback, and a weird one.

I am also a fan of LP, and i also found it to be a tad smoother and better responsive. imho

I just tried out ADW launcher for a bit instead of my default LauncherPro and have to say whike it seems like a great launcher as well there's two things the DarkDVR covered that I havr to agree with:
1. LauncherPro seems faster to me.
2. I LOVE how you can customize shortcuts on the botton of your screen. Im an extreme minimalist and the only things I want on my homescreen is the appdrawer button with quicksettings to the left of it and my browser to the right. Nothing else. With ADW you can't customize and are stuck with the phone and stock broswer on you homescreen.
Two things that I like better about ADW though:
1. The ability to swipe down while the notification bar is hidden to see it. Not a huge deal since I can just press menu while using LauncherPro to have the notification bar pop up and then pull it down.
2. When rotating your phone to landscape your wallpaper picture stays nice. In LauncherPro it messes your wallpaper photo will only show the top of the wallpaper that you usually can see fully while in portrait.

ap3604 said:
With ADW you can't customize and are stuck with the phone and stock broswer on you homescreen.
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That's wrong, just drag and drop any icon you want onto the shortcut spots on the bottom of the screen. And if you want 4 down there you can turn on the extra spots in the settings. Plus if you press and slide up on the 'all apps' button you get another bar to drop more icons on to, unlimited in size as it scrolls left and right.

I've used LauncherPro for 2 or so weeks, then ADW for the last 2 or so weeks...
ADW FC's a *lot* more, particularly during configuration (adding/removing apps or widgets, wallpaper, etc) but also at weird random other times, like 5-10s after launching an app.. Happens perhaps 1-3 times a day for me.
ADW squeezing more into the homescreen is nice.. I actually like that I can have 5x5 on the homescreen, although I don't think I'd want more.. And the Widget config does get more confusing along with it, but it's nice that 4x4 widgets can fill the whole screen even set 5x5.
I don't use the gesture options.. Too finicky, I usually wind up moving the screen sideways or launching an app.
ADW can uninstall a program directly from the app drawer.. Drag it out, drag it to the trash, hover.. Don't recall LP being able to do that.
LauncherPro is smoother and I don't recall it ever FC'ing on me.. I think one can adjust the rows/columns available, but IIRC the Widgets then fit kinda weird on the screen, and of course had less visible space and in some cases were cropped weird because they were smaller than they should be. Don't remember, I'll have to try it out again.
People use LP's 3d app drawer? I hate it.. It wastes like 30% of the screen... Different strokes..
Cons for both: Live Wallpaper. I don't use this much, sometimes I fire it up before I'm showing off the phone.. but both launchers slow WAY down with LW going. Less than the default Nexus homescreen.
I'll try LauncherPro again.. It's had a few version updates I just wish it were possible to sync all of the settings, vs having to set each launcher up.

Clarkster said:
That's wrong, just drag and drop any icon you want onto the shortcut spots on the bottom of the screen. And if you want 4 down there you can turn on the extra spots in the settings. Plus if you press and slide up on the 'all apps' button you get another bar to drop more icons on to, unlimited in size as it scrolls left and right.
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But can you pick any icon for the shortcuts?

DarkDvr said:
But can you pick any icon for the shortcuts?
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No, you can't pick any icon you like unless you have one of those other icon customization programs. I was just responding to the claim that you can never change it from phone and browser.

khaytsus said:
People use LP's 3d app drawer? I hate it.. It wastes like 30% of the screen... Different strokes..
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yeah, but it's just such a kick in the balls for google - private developers made the same 3D app drawer, but it's like 500% more efficient. Although... as google said on IO conf, that's exactly what they want from the community.. to replace standard android components with more efficient, customizable stuff.
Something you never gonna hear from apple. Something that will ultimately have Android ruling over the world with an iron fist of freedom and customization

LiveHome - new(?) home launcher

So, I am a fan of ADW and LauncherPro. Both have some really cool features. I've always had a tough time deciding between the two, and really wished there was a best of both worlds. Then I stumbled across Live Home and viola! Has 5 desktop transitions: Default, Cube (like GDE), Book (like turning a page), Stretch, Rotate (kind of like a 2D sheet you flip over to next page). Also features a Task Manager, Icon Manager (changes apps in drawer too(!), both Icon pack and Gallery supported), Themeable (panda/ahome/open home), lots of Wallpapers, and you are supposed to be able to drag apks from SD card to the Desktop. Only thing I was unhappy with, was the abundance of ads. But, since it is a free app, you really can't complain too much. Luckily Jcase's Adblocker:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=666328 works great. Anyway, you can check it out here:
http://www.androidpit.com/en/android/market/apps/app/com.mo.android.livehome/LiveHome

I'll give it a shot, downloading now.

So just checking back in after using LiveHome for awhile. I have to say, I can not personally recommend this anymore. Had way too many issues with the icon management. I would change the icons and/or hide the ones I don't need on a regular basis and LiveHome would pick and choose when it wanted to follow these instructions. It would often hide apps that I wanted or randomly change the icon back to normal in the app drawer even though it might be changed in the settings. I'm sad about this as I really liked being able to change my icons easily and the book page turning home transition. Ah well, at least it was free...

It's not a bad app. No problems with the icons. Only dilemma I have is use live wallpaper or transistons cause you can't use both. When it comes this I guess it is to each their own.

Yea, I've found that the newer version: 1.0.3 is a little more stable for me. I really like the book transition and changing the app drawer icons, now...if only it were stable like ADW or Launcherpro - it'd be a winner for sure.

if it was more stable it would not be free lol. Awsome app never the less

[Q] adding apps to home

After adding apps through adb is it possble to have them on the main screen rather than in the extras section?
Steve

stevetotheo said:
After adding apps through adb is it possble to have them on the main screen rather than in the extras section?
Steve
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I think this is next on the list
It will be HUGE!
EDIT: Maybe one of those shortcut programs will work? BetterCut? I think I will try it.

Launcher Pro
You can do this now: use LauncherPro.
Interestingly, looks like several of the native Nook apps (music, picture frame etc) have widgets. Maybe a sign of what's to come from B&N.

Any videos showing how well launcher pro is working? Is there a way to switch back?

No video, but if its not doing it for you, there's always the option of uninstalling.
It's working fine with the exception of some buginess in changing the dock icon actions -- trying to do so causes it to quit. It does give you apps on the home screen, widgets and an app drawer.

LauncherPro is better than the default home IMO.
The trick is to set the home to use a 10x10 grid. You have plenty of room for shortcuts and widgets!

I'm testing ADW now and am finding it better in general -- if for no other reason than you're not stuck with icons for the phone etc in the dock.

quietglow said:
I'm testing ADW now and am finding it better in general -- if for no other reason than you're not stuck with icons for the phone etc in the dock.
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thanks, this has worked nicely for me.
I have not set a default for the "N" button, I keep letting it ask me.
If I set it to default of using AWD, can I get back to the Nook Default at some time in the future? I am not sure if that's in the ADW settings?

gormly said:
thanks, this has worked nicely for me.
I have not set a default for the "N" button, I keep letting it ask me.
If I set it to default of using AWD, can I get back to the Nook Default at some time in the future? I am not sure if that's in the ADW settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can just uninstall AWD and you'll be back to the stock launcher.

gormly said:
thanks, this has worked nicely for me.
I have not set a default for the "N" button, I keep letting it ask me.
If I set it to default of using AWD, can I get back to the Nook Default at some time in the future? I am not sure if that's in the ADW settings?
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Click to collapse
There's also and app called home switcher that will allow you to change it whenever you want. so you can install adw and launcher pro and change when you want to.
I prefer launcher pro myself and agree that the 10x10 grid with the big screen is awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec2JkyQ4P-w

Why would you need to go back to the default launcher anyway?
Here is my vid of LauncherPro on Nook Color (in HD!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I0jwGAgjlo

Adding to Home
I'm using Panda Home 2 and Home Switcher with good success. n takes me to the panda home and the nook color dock still gives me access to the library, shop, search etc on top of it.
Return to previous book is still there and usable as well.

I just installed Launcher Pro. All I can say is freakin SWEET! Its a full blown android tablet now. The NC is going to FLY off the shelves as more people read about this!

With launcher pro or any of the other home replacements, is there still access to the library and shop, etc? I like the way it reads books and don't want that to change.
Also, has anybody bought anything from B&N's shop since they loaded an alternate home page? What happens to stuff that would normally show up on your daily shelf or on the B&N home page?

With launcher pro installed, you can still bring up the library from the other launcher (that button with the arrow at the bottom/middle of the screen). I have not purchased anything since installing launcher pro, but I assume it would just show up in the library as normal.
mad5427 said:
With launcher pro or any of the other home replacements, is there still access to the library and shop, etc? I like the way it reads books and don't want that to change.
Also, has anybody bought anything from B&N's shop since they loaded an alternate home page? What happens to stuff that would normally show up on your daily shelf or on the B&N home page?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Are there any home screen alternates that will allow you to put books or files on the home screen along with program apps?
I loaded ADW Launcher and it's so much better than the BN home screen. If I can put specific books or files on the home screen as well, that would make it perfect.

mad5427 said:
Are there any home screen alternates that will allow you to put books or files on the home screen along with program apps?
I loaded ADW Launcher and it's so much better than the BN home screen. If I can put specific books or files on the home screen as well, that would make it perfect.
Click to expand...
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Astro lets you make shortcuts out of any file. You should be able to make a shortcut of an epub file. Not sure about Magazines and children's books though.

Just installed Launcher Pro. Couldn't add shortcuts, by long holding on the home page. But I was able to add through long clicking on the actual app.
txskeets said:
I just installed Launcher Pro. All I can say is freakin SWEET! Its a full blown android tablet now. The NC is going to FLY off the shelves as more people read about this!
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Click to collapse

gigadigit said:
Just installed Launcher Pro. Couldn't add shortcuts, by long holding on the home page. But I was able to add through long clicking on the actual app.
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Click to collapse
how did you guys install ADW? I'm getting Failed to install - older SDK.
Thanks

[Q] Remove Android dock w/ phone, SMS, etc

Sorry if this has been asked before. I searched and couldn't find anything.
I bought the Nook Color today and it seems great, but I would love to get rid of the typical android phone dock that auto-installed with launcherpro when I downloaded it from the marketplace. The one with phone, SMS, email.
I haven't gotten side-loading apps to work yet on my Mac, but i'm going to work on it tonight.

The settings for that Dock will be specific to LauncherPro.
I personally use ADW.Launcher, which has an option to totally disable the Dock, or to make it be a single button to open the Apps Drawer.

Thank you. I'll try using it. I basically just want the cleanest dock ever with a few things on it, and then a side page with my apps

Try Zeam. It works the best.. You can configure the dock entirely.

Launcher pro has an advantage in that you can set the grid to 10x10 where in ADW or Zeam the max is 8X8. 10x10 works way better on the nook.

Actually, I fnd that 8x8 works best for launcher pro. 10x10 makes the widgets too small and overflow their their layouts if they were coded in dips rather than px, which most were...
Sent from my NOOKcolor using XDA App

No tablet UI for Nexus 7 on 4.2

I updated my Nexus 7 to android 4.2, rooted it, edited the prop.build to change the LCD density to 160. Looks like Googles removing the tablet UI.

Yes this has been known since Nexus 10 was announced
Hopefully paranoidandroid can do something with it

i dont mind the phablet UI but I just want the tablet Youtube app.
i hate hate hate the phone youtube app with a passion.
does anyone know how to get the youtube app to scale out?

Ya I'm hoping PA can solve this. Not at all pleased about losing tablet ui. I guess phablet works on the nexus 7 because its meant to be held vertically but I couldn't imagine it on a 10in horizontal tablet.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app

Good, tablet ui was ugly and un-userfriendly. The new ui is a lot better especially for new users.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

I can live with the phablet UI, except for the location of the navigation bar buttons. The locations essentially turn my experience into thumb olympics.
Google really needs to give us customization options for the navigation bar. Let us decide where the buttons are. Or potentially let us make the navigation bar be on the side of the screen while in landscape mode, because it's quite awful as of right now.

just updated to 4.2, checked out some of the awesome new features, rooted, adjusted my lcd density to get my tablet ui back only to find i can't.
the big phone ui is horrible, it wastes space by having two separate bars on my screen, and means i can't just hold the tablet at the bottom and still be able to reach all my controls. really disappointing.

Oh, glad I didn't update then! I hate having the status bar at the top AND the button bar at the bottom, the tablet UI is a much better use of space.

i'm a bit confused as to why they've removed the tablet ui altogether when changing the density. unless they have actually removed it entirely from the os meaning that no tablet will have the tablet ui once upgraded to 4.2 unless it's manually put there by the manufacturer.

So there is no tablet ui at all when the lcd density is changed to 160?

nope. i took it down to 170 which gives me the tablet ui for my apps like youtube, and gave me the full tablet ui on 4.1.2, but i just get a smaller phone ui on 4.2.
still worth an upgrade imho, the lock screen password entry is much nicer, multi user support is enabled, gmail has FINALLY added pinch to zoom, and i'm sure there's much more i haven't noticed yet, but i do miss my tablet ui

I definitely preferred it.

The Nexus 10 even uses the phablet UI. They're doing way with the gt tablet UI for conformity because everyone complained about it being "confusing" and Google can't figure out what they want.
So we now have a uniformed UI... Sadly.
Tablet UI was my choice. It was perfect IMO. Everything at the bottom on each side for great thumb control and a quick settings access menu for toggles. Using my N7 on 4.2 seems counter intuitive because I constantly have to shift hands to grab the top bars. I also don't care for the 2 menus. I inadvertently grab the wrong menu often... And the "toggles" are not predictable. Some are direct toggles but others are shortcuts. The major ones like Bluetooth and WiFi are shortcuts.
And the lockscreen widgets are cool... But I hate the little white border every time I unlock that indicates I can scroll. I'd move the lock screen widgets down and have a dedicated settings menu to enable/disable or just use the existing widget picked from the start menu which options of home screen or lock screen placement.
I'm sure they'll work the kinks out soon.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app

You can still get Tablet UI from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1780970&page=84
See post number 840 on page 84. Download the 4.2-TabletUI.zip and flash in recovery.
Only problem is stock launcher does not fit the screen. Nova Launcher (free from Play Store) works fine. Same Tablet experience as with 4.1.2.

wbrands said:
You can still get Tablet UI from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1780970&page=84
See post number 840 on page 84. Download the 4.2-TabletUI.zip and flash in recovery.
Only problem is stock launcher does not fit the screen. Nova Launcher (free from Play Store) works fine. Same Tablet experience as with 4.1.2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
excellent, works a treat, didn't even have to change my lcd density, and i've been using nova launcher prime since my note upgdaded to ics anyway. cheers!

You honestly disliked the Tablet UI? Each to their own I guess xD.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

wbrands said:
You can still get Tablet UI from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1780970&page=84
See post number 840 on page 84. Download the 4.2-TabletUI.zip and flash in recovery.
Only problem is stock launcher does not fit the screen. Nova Launcher (free from Play Store) works fine. Same Tablet experience as with 4.1.2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So this is a full ROM update, not some apk you load on top of your existing ROM? If I use it, will it wipe my settings? EDIT: never mind' looked at the wrong post, it looks like post 840 has a patch
I do like the tablet interface best, easier to reach buttons with my thumb (I use my tablet horizontally a lot). Also I don't use a dock on my home screen and with the update I no longer can bring up the app drawer from the status bar.

I may try Chameleon Launcher as my "Tablet UI"
I've been looking at it for a long time and noticed that the price was just cut to $3.99.
Probably cashing in on the people who lost the old UI.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chameleonlauncher&hl=en

PMOttawa said:
I've been looking at it for a long time and noticed that the price was just cut to $3.99.
Probably cashing in on the people who lost the old UI.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chameleonlauncher&hl=en
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Chameleon is still just a launcher, it won't change you to a tablet ui.

coversnail said:
Chameleon is still just a launcher, it won't change you to a tablet ui.
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Click to collapse
True, but it may resolve my issues. And my point was to share info about the price cut with people here as much as anything.
I know a lot of people have been interested but turned off by the former $10 price.