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Re: Launcher Alternatives

I've read several discussions throughout the forum touting the pros and cons of different home launcher alternatives, however, as a newbie (but trying to learn quickly and efficiently) I'm having trouble comparing them.  There appear to be pros and cons to each?  It is even more unfortunate when I go the the Market, read the reviews on some of the top rated launcher alternatives*, and each one says "force closing frequently," "eats the battery," and then "this is the BEST!"  So, experts out there who have tried them all, what do you like and why do you like it? 

* I looked at ADW Launcher EX, Launcher Pro, Go Launcher, and DxTop

PS: If there is a thread that is going that does this already, please someone send me the link

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Re: Launcher Alternatives

I've read several discussions throughout the forum touting the pros and cons of different home launcher alternatives, however, as a newbie (but trying to learn quickly and efficiently) I'm having trouble comparing them.  There appear to be pros and cons to each?  It is even more unfortunate when I go the the Market, read the reviews on some of the top rated launcher alternatives*, and each one says "force closing frequently," "eats the battery," and then "this is the BEST!"  So, experts out there who have tried them all, what do you like and why do you like it? 

* I looked at ADW Launcher EX, Launcher Pro, Go Launcher, and DxTop

PS: If there is a thread that is going that does this already, please someone send me the link

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Re: Launcher Alternatives

I have not noticed any battery issues with ADW Launcher EX, or Go Launcher, and I don't remember any with Launcher Pro. As for force closes, I've had issues with all 3. It mostly has to do with an app or two that is malfunctioning, find that, and you generally solve your problem. To boot, I've had ADW Launcher as my default Launcher since December, and have experiences a total of 1 force close. I tried Go Launcher this past week, and although it is a very nice launcher, and has tons of unique features, I did experience 2 force closes while trying it. I'm not sure if it was just me over burdening my Droid X (I was also trying new live wallpapers, games, etc). I'll probably give it a go again, but for now I'm sticking with ADW Launcher.

As for pros-cons, here are a few:

ADW Launcher EX ($) [ADW Launcher free]

It's open source and is pretty light on extras. It has no social widgets, and it is fast, and extremely customizable (applies more to the paid version, since that is what I have been using lately). Some people consider the lack of social widgets a Con, many others consider that a Pro, since it means it has a lighter footprint that Launcher Pro. Ultimately, it depends on your preferences. ADW has a hidden dock where you can place folders, and apps for easy retrieval. I find that very intuitive, swipe up to reveal and click on app, folder you need. You can change the dock picture for both the main and hidden docks, so customizability is a plus. It also has a lot of themes which you can download from the android market and apply easily. ADW also has about 9 screen transtitions which go for the wow factor, and 4 different app drawer transitions for the same effect. Like our default launcher you can also have up to 7 screens, but, you can also choose to have 1, or 3, or however many you want between 1-7. ADW launcher, like Go and Launcher Pro also allows you to change the icons to whatever you prefer. You can also resize the Grid on each home page to allow you to have 5 icons in 5 rows, or more, depending on how busy you like your homescreens.

Go Launcher EX (free)

Also has no widgets, and is very light, and fast. It comes with its own unique app drawer, which also doubles as a app history and task killer. I generally recommend staying away from task killers, especially as a newbie, since unless you configure them properly you are more likely to do more harm to your system than not. Besides, Android 2.2 comes with its own task manager, and it is pretty good. Also, Android  was made to handle various tasks in the background so you don't have to worry about managing them yourself. Like ADW, Go Launcher also has screen transitions, and themes you can download from the market. One nifty feature that Go Launcher has, that ADW lacks (I don't know if Launcher Pro has it) is that when you drag apps to a folder, it generates iphone like thumbnails displaying the first 4 apps placed in there, which is aesthetically pleasing and helpful when organizing your apps and screens. Go also allows you to resize the grid to fit as more icons per page, but is limited to 5 vertical rows x 5 horizontal rows. It also has a scrolling doick, not a hidden one like ADW Launcher, and more like Launcher Pro.

Launcher Pro Plus ($) [Launcher Pro free]

Many people like this one due to its social widgets (the paid version), and unread count widgets. These widgets include a news, people, calendar, twitter and facebook. That is its main selling point. It is also highly customizable like both ADW Launcher and Go Launcher above. You can resize the grid on your screen to fit more icons, change icon images, add screen transitions, change the dock image. It also has a scrolling dock like Go Launcher, where you can scroll either left or right to access apps you've placed there. It also has swipe features, where if you swipe on a dock icon, you can select which of 2 apps to launch. I don't think Go Launcher has that, so that's a difference.

Well, hopefully my mini review isn't too convoluted. Ultimately, the best way to see which one you like better is to try them for yourself. They all come with back up features so that once you are done customizing, you can back up your settings so that if you uninstall and try a different launcher, and then come back to the first, you can just restore your configuration, except for widgets, but that's a minor hassle. I never tried DxTop, but from what I have gathered in my time trying these launchers, DxTop used to be one of the top launchers but has been Eclipsed by ADW, Launcher Pro and Go Launcher.

FYI: For ADW and Go Launcher, if you want some widgets with the same functionality as launcher Pro, you can try Colorize Widgets (for Facebook, Twitter) and Scrolling News Widget (for news). There are others, I just have to find the page where they are all listed.

Update: Here's a link to Xda-developers listing all the various scrollable widgets that can be used for these launchers.

Also, I created an icon for my games folder. It looks like the picture attached in this post. I did this back when I was using Simi Folder Widget, but now use it on my regular folders on ADW Launcher. Go Launcher creates such an icon automatically, as you place apps in folders which is a nice feature.

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Re: Launcher Alternatives

Why not download each one and try it?

The biggest feature for me is SCROLLABLE MAIN DOCK. Which Launcher Pro and Go Launcher have. ADW does not. You have to enable the secondary dock, then that one scrolls.

Try them all, you decide. All three are decent. ADW, Go Launcher and Launcher Pro.

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Re: Launcher Alternatives

What do you mean that ADW does not have a scrollable main dock?  Do you mean the app drawer?  If so, that is not true.  I use a "version" of ADW Launcher and it scrolls up and down or side to side if I choose.  It also can rotate the home screen to Landscape or portrait if you so choose.  Just saying...

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Re: Launcher Alternatives

He's not talking about the app drawer, he is talking about the main dock, meaning the place where you put your  3-5 shortcuts, I.e. phone, contacts, sms, app drawer, etc. In Go Launcher and Launcher Pro, the main dock is scrollable left and right, meaning you can have up to 16 app icons in it, which you can reach from every screen. ADW handles it different by having a main dock for up to 5 apps, and a hidden dock that can have an unlimited number of apps. Personally, I like this implementation better, but it's all a matter of preference.

FYI - You can also add folders to the hidden dock in ADW Launcher. I don't know if you can do that with Go Launcher or Launcher Pro in the scrolling dock though.

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Re: Launcher Alternatives

I use ADW Launcher EX - i bought the paid version as it allows for me to make all my icons larger - on these bigger denser screens it makes a big difference.

I have tried all the launchers and none have force closed or eaten my battery - I honestly have no idea what these people are doing to see this behavior.

Also, ADW launcher lets you use the Moto widgets and resize them, even in the free version.


* Search box is your friend * I don't respond to PM if question belongs in forum
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Re: Launcher Alternatives

Thanks everyone for all the great feedback.  I appreciate all the different perspectives.

One quick question for something @mes215 said earlier...do I not need a task killer?  The reps at Verizon loaded Advanced Task Killer on my phone before I left and said it was like the most necessary thing I need to have.  Not true?  Does it really not save the battery or help performance?

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Re: Launcher Alternatives

Task Killer - not needed. Much of the concerns around task killers are fiction. People are OCD about free ram- and the truth is Android grabs memory when it needs it. Many tasks listed as running are completely idle.

Task killers are OK if you know you need to kill something - but they should not be set to auto-kill as many times the OS just restarts the app - so you wind up with poor battery life because one app is running to kill applications, the OS keeps restarting them.

Every time an app starts it grabs a bit of CPU before it sleeps and this uses battery.

If it is on your phone, it won't hurt, but if anything is set to Auto-end you probably should change it.

If your phone is running fine (and all mine have) - then just enjoy it and don't try to do what the OS does for you.


* Search box is your friend * I don't respond to PM if question belongs in forum
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Re: Launcher Alternatives

Using a task killer just to kill apps that happen to be running in the background is a bad idea for several reasons.  Android is designed to kill tasks when more memory is needed; it doesn't need you to do this yourself.  If you're concerned that your available memory is always almost 100% in use, don't be.  It doesn't matter if you have 1mb of free memory or 100mb, your phone's performance should not be affected (if you need more memory, Android will free it up for you).  Furthermore, task-killing can slow down your phone: killing a task (even bloatware like CityID, etc.) will only cause it to restart momentarily.

Because of this, the only thing I use a task killer for is to kill apps that have malfunctioned.  Since this doesn't come up very often, I just use the task killer (force close option) found in Settings->Applications->Manage applications.  Task-killing as a memory management tool is simply an exercise in futility.

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