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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

Now that we have root can we remove the home bar at bottom?

The only thing I dislike about the blur interface is the bottom stuff switching to adore me what screen I'm on. Any way to disable, or decrease the time it shows?

I know this sounds stupid but just to mention that if you hit a blank area on the screen it will start the minimizing animation of the bar immediately instead of waiting for it to time out.

Quite honestly you should try a different launcher. I like ADW.Launcher. Many others around like Launcher Pro. You will find much more customization and features with those Launchers.
The only "problem" I have found is that some of the blur widgets don't play nice with ADW. ie, If I use any of the Blur widgets, I can't resize them. However, I don't really like any of the blur widgets and don't use them.

I've used all those launchers. Open home, dxtop, launcher pro, adw. I actually like the original on this phone except for that home screen bar thing.

I don't see a problem with blur now that i got used to it. Its great. If you hit the wrong thing and the switch bar comes up you have to wait a little over a second? Don't be. Impatient.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

AaronsDarts said:
I don't see a problem with blur now that i got used to it. Its great. If you hit the wrong thing and the switch bar comes up you have to wait a little over a second? Don't be. Impatient.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
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Kind of defeats the purpose of buying 1ghz phones doesn't it?
Let's just go back to 200 Mhz Arm processors and be patient
Battery will last longer I'm sure.

Home screen launcher love triangle

Hi everyone, I've been playing with new Nexus S (my first android phone) for a few days now, and I can't decide on which homescreen launcher to use because each has features I like and lacks some that the others have. Maybe someone can find a remedy for me. I've made some notes about what I like or dislike about the following three launchers I've used.
ADWLauncher EX:
Separate catalogs on drawer
Lacks scrolling dock (hidden dock is less intuitive to me)
Best homescreen transitions
Go Launcher:
Gesture response for icons on dock
Tab to see running apps from app drawer that lets you kill or switch between tasks easily. However, the tab takes away space from the icons. Maybe there's another way to access something like this, a gesture for example? (image here)
Best edit function for screens: provides convenient way to move icons from one screen to another, lets reposition screens, delete
2 touch access to phone settings from menu button
Share access from menu button
Launcher Pro:
Missed calls/sms/email notification in the doc

I personally like Zeam..
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

The main reason I use LPP is because of he cal widget and being able to use custom dock images. Over ADW EX that is.

Launcher Pro Plus, by far.

http://www.appbrain.com/app/homesmack/com.teslacoilsw.homesmack

I like Zeam. Light and fast!

Actually I'll further confuse you.
32 Home Replacements Reviewed
http://hubpages.com/hub/Droid-Home-Replacement-App-Comparison
There's a way to get the "counts" in ADW with paid app "ADWNotifier".

kschang said:
Actually I'll further confuse you.
32 Home Replacements Reviewed
http://hubpages.com/hub/Droid-Home-Replacement-App-Comparison
There's a way to get the "counts" in ADW with paid app "ADWNotifier".
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You're terrible.

That review is crap.

That review is crap. Launcher pro hard to configure my assss.

kevin2516 said:
That review is crap. Launcher pro hard to configure my assss.
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I am guessing you mean LauncherPro? Compared to drag-and-drop of HelixLauncher dock config, LauncherPro dock IS hard to config.

Why is LauncherPro so popular here? I feel like its the most limited. No long-hold uninstall or edit from the homescreen like the others. I liked it the least out ADW, Go Launcher, and LauncherPro.

glasslung said:
Why is LauncherPro so popular here? I feel like its the most limited. No long-hold uninstall or edit from the homescreen like the others. I liked it the least out ADW, Go Launcher, and LauncherPro.
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Yes it is.

glasslung said:
Why is LauncherPro so popular here? I feel like its the most limited. No long-hold uninstall or edit from the homescreen like the others. I liked it the least out ADW, Go Launcher, and LauncherPro.
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I think LPP was the first Launcher to have a drop-to-uninstall function.

Zeam. Minimalistic, light, fast, awesome.
Sent from a piece of ginger bread

I have tried them all and I always end up back with LauncherPro plus.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

Love GoLauncher, but need things changed

I run MIUI and am sick of the launcher (app drawer, etc.) I like GoLauncher with its widgets and such. There are a few things I want changed though, and I would like to know if it has been done.
First, I like how the icons in MIUI are really large, in GO, they are very small. Can they be changed in GO?
Secondly, I like how the text under the icons in MIUI do not have the black background. Is this possible in GO?

RyanTX said:
I run MIUI and am sick of the launcher (app drawer, etc.) I like GoLauncher with its widgets and such. There are a few things I want changed though, and I would like to know if it has been done.
First, I like how the icons in MIUI are really large, in GO, they are very small. Can they be changed in GO?
Secondly, I like how the text under the icons in MIUI do not have the black background. Is this possible in GO?
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not possible at present i guess
There r lots of users out there including me who want the above changes.
why dont u head over to their thread in xda and request for the feature?

nessqn said:
not possible at present i guess
There r lots of users out there including me who want the above changes.
why dont u head over to their thread in xda and request for the feature?
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I didn't know they had one. I will take a look.

Launcher Pro is the only launcher I think that can remove the icon label backgrounds.
One of the reasons I love it. I do wish it had bigger icons and maybe a 4 icon dock.

GetPatriotized said:
I do wish it had bigger icons and ...a 4 icon dock.
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Agree 100%.

sawari said:
Agree 100%.
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Agree 1000000%.

I like GoLauncher better because of home swipe actions,the ease of changing icons on both homescreen n dock and overall smoothness...

This is why I use ADW EX.. you can customize everything to do with the icons.. Size, background of icon, text color, size, fully customize the dock, instantaneous drawer (I find go launcher drawer to always have SOME lag), tons of themes, same swipe gesture options and screen animations.. The only thing you lose is the widgets and there are other market Apps that take care of that.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App

civicvx94 said:
This is why I use ADW EX.. you can customize everything to do with the icons.. Size, background of icon, text color, size, fully customize the dock, instantaneous drawer (I find go launcher drawer to always have SOME lag), tons of themes, same swipe gesture options and screen animations.. The only thing you lose is the widgets and there are other market Apps that take care of that.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App
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Same here.. LPP and GO are great, but ADW customization go further (no dock is a sweet feature too)... but ADW is not as smooth as the two others, I mean that when you want to edit stuff (widget size, placing shortcut elsewhere, etc) it feels weird, not as responsive, I don't like it but it's the only negative point so I live fine with it.. pros and cons..

In go launcher i use desktop visualizer to get some real big icons, miui style. It gives me even the option to open shortucs to folder organizer.
Cheers,
PC
from my Android with Tapatalk

P C said:
In go launcher i use desktop visualizer to get some real big icons, miui style. It gives me even the option to open shortucs to folder organizer.
Cheers,
PC
from my Android with Tapatalk
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I just downloaded Desktop Visualizer and I did not find the option in there for icon size. How are you doing it?

Long press the icon from dvisualizer that you just added to your home screen and choose resize.
Dvisualizer is a widget, you can resize it just like any other widget.
PC
from my Android with Tapatalk

RyanTX said:
I just downloaded Desktop Visualizer and I did not find the option in there for icon size. How are you doing it?
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A nice guide here

agreee 1000000%

Alternative Launcher

Would anyone recommend a different launcher to replace Touchwiz?
I've used nova launcher on my OP1 but are there any other launchers that would be recommended?

honestly i haven't used Nova since my Nexus 6p days, after Oneplus 3t i started using default launcher. the samsung one isn't that bad

I have been using Apex launcher since Galaxy S3 together with weather/time/cal widget beautiful widgets app (I found out about this thanks for flossy on youtube) it makes for a perfect experience and I set all the backgrounds to black, looks like app icons are physically above the screen.

Tried giving the stock launcher a good try. I ended up going back to Nova. I like the customization too much. The good news is it's faster then hell on this phone. Love it.
I also ended up going back to SwiftKey. It does such a good job of knowing what I want to type.

I like stock but Nova is great on this phone. Especially if you get into the sesame integration, very quick to use.
Action launcher is the only other one worth a damn IMO.
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

I started out with Action Launcher as I backed it up on my previous phone, put that data on the Note 8 and restored after installing all my apps. Have gone back to TW, it;s not near as bad as it used to be.

I love Next Launcher 3D.

Check out lawnchair. It's a customizable Pixel launcher. Loving it so far. The black theme with Note8 screen looks amazing.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/lawnchair-customizable-pixel-launcher-t3627137

I've been using Smart Launcher Pro for a couple years now. It really makes everything simple and organized for you.

Apex Launcher
I use Apex Pro, with dark matter icons. Swipe down for notification and swipe up for app drawer. Double tap puts the phone to sleep. Blacked out my nav bar so there is no burn-in buttons on the screen. Loving this phone!

Apex Launcher
I use Apex Pro, with dark matter icons. Swipe down for notification and swipe up for app drawer. Double tap puts the phone to sleep. Using xwidgets with the s8 clock widget. Blacked out my nav bar so there is no burn-in buttons on the screen. Loving this phone!

I've been using Nova Prime for a LONG time. I'm actually sticking with the stock TW for the time being (there's a "update" that allows for down swipe to pull down the notification)

Nova prime or action launcher. They both have Android O features. Most other launcher seem old or outdated. Good luck.

Lightning Launcher has no equal. I've used most including Nova (which I like), but I always go back LL. The app allows unparalleled creativity & options. Definitely the most power & complex launcher I've ever used.

stronggeek said:
Lightning Launcher has no equal. I've used most including Nova (which I like), but I always go back LL. The app allows unparalleled creativity & options. Definitely the most power & complex launcher I've ever used.
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^^^^^^This x10!!!! It still is mind blowing how little people know about it and talk about it. There isn't a launcher that comes close in customization. I guess the learning curve scares people away.............

joachimi86 said:
^^^^^^This x10!!!! It still is mind blowing how little people know about it and talk about it. There isn't a launcher that comes close in customization. I guess the learning curve scares people away.............
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I just tried this...to see if it can replace nova....
the learning curve scared me away lol

Try Flick launcher. Available in play store. This is still in Alpha stage, but an amazing launcher. One of the only launcher that allows background blur in the app drawer. This replaced Nova on my phone for now. No other launcher could do that in years!

New Microsoft launcher Beta recommend for most users, easy, simple, beautiful, easy to connect to PC. try it out. it's amazing. its free
Action launcher for power user and Advance users. paid version is better.
Textra (text message)
Gboard (keyboard) or swiftkey
Piktures (Pic gallery)
Samsung internet browser for High contrast mode (if you like black theme).

Weather widget
a4ol said:
I have been using Apex launcher since Galaxy S3 together with weather/time/cal widget beautiful widgets app (I found out about this thanks for flossy on youtube) it makes for a perfect experience and I set all the backgrounds to black, looks like app icons are physically above the screen.
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a40l, most of the launchers I have tried do not let me use the weather widget that I use with stock touchwiz. Could you tell me specifically what weather app you are talking about that gives me a good weather widget for Apex? I'm gonna give it a try. Your post makes Apex, & your configuration, sound inviting. Thanks

I use tabs in the app drawer instead of folders, so Nova Prime works the best for me. And it's still the quickest launcher around, bar none.