Looking for App Drawer Catagories - Epic 4G Apps

I see lots of the new phones have categories built into the app drawer. It seems like this would be really useful.
Anyone know of a 3rd party launcher that will do this? I "could" organize my touchwiz screens manually (just by screen number) but it seems like it would be a big pain. So a launcher with built in ability to categorize stuff would be nice.
I see adw EX is $0.10 today only, does that have this feature by chance?

ADW EX does have that feature and imo is the overall best launcher on the market. I use that and Android Pro Widgets and left Launcherpro behind me quite awhile ago. Performance is great, doesn't chew up resources or battery, great options and customization. Definitely worth 10 cents lol.
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Go launcher can have folders you can group your icons into. Free in the market.

fastmikey1969 said:
Go launcher can have folders you can group your icons into. Free in the market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So do most other launchers on the market.
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Can some one point me to a screenshot of this in action? I'm looking for categories in the app launcher, not folders (I already have folders through touchwiz).
I tried the free adw and launcher pro, and zeem launcher and haven't found any category options.
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Just buy ADW EX. I swear to you it's the best launcher out there, and most definitely has that feature included.
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One that I really like is Tag Home, you might want to give it a try. Comes in Donut (1.6), Eclair (2.1) and Frozen Yogurt (2.2)+ flavors.
Sorry, can't post links without more posts under my belt.
Depending on my mood I switch between it and ADW.
You can add your apps to multiple categories and also give each app a priority level to be higher in the list than its default alphabetic location.
It's the only launcher I've been able to find that has categories that you can actually see which one you're using (for those occasions where you have several apps in common in more than one category).
If only it had integration with Apps Organizer (and therefore Titanium Backup) it would be near perfect.
No way to have fewer that 3 home screens, and no transparency on the app drawer are the only VERY minor things I'd prefer different.

Related

Aversion to LauncherPro?

I ran a few searches and while there are some topics on other sub-forums just thought I'd ask here. Is there a general aversion to using this app?
I've used it on all the ROM's I've flashed and have found that it is more efficient than a stock launcher. It most often runs smoother as well especially the app drawer.
I know there are many who use it here, but overall rosie's get the win on XDA hance all the rosie/Sense mods.
Is it because it is not an open source launcher? Is it the aesthetics? Is there such a thing as "Android Purists"?
What say you!
I love it but won't use it because i love my sense widgets too much and it acts funny.with widget locker
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
Been using it since almost Day 1. I change backgrounds and clocks fairly often. Wouldn't use anything else.
You lose all the sense widgets. And in the new sense roms which have been ported to the inc, there are great new ones - so on the new sense roms I can't afford to use launcher unless they have equivalent widgets.
I use launcher pro on cm6.1 which is an aosp rom. There it is the better option because I don't have any possibility of getting the sense widgets anyways...
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
Thanks for the replies so far! I use one widget (smooth calender) and forgot about all the sense widgets folks like to use.
I use launcher pro as well. I think its a great home replacement. Gives great options in settings to change almost everything. I currently just have it set to give me 3 home screens and that is it. I don't need any more than that currently.
I replaced the Sense widgets with beautiful widgets and extended controls. I also love launcher pro's ability to make custom shortcuts that can take you directly a page in the setting menus that may be 2 to 3 pages in. Saves a lot of time as I currently have one set directly to the development page. Have to turn that thing on to use PDAnet.(The 3g hotspot just doesn't work for me very well as it drops my laptop every 10 minutes and then it cannot join it again till I restart the hotspot on the phone.)
Additional Info:
I never really liked senses giant phone button at the bottom of the screen all the time. With launcher Pro I can make the dock look like stock android. Once I made the switch I never went back
boomertwo said:
I use launcher pro as well. I think its a great home replacement. Gives great options in settings to change almost everything. I currently just have it set to give me 3 home screens and that is it. I don't need any more than that currently.
I replaced the Sense widgets with beautiful widgets and extended controls. I also love launcher pro's ability to make custom shortcuts that can take you directly a page in the setting menus that may be 2 to 3 pages in. Saves a lot of time as I currently have one set directly to the development page. Have to turn that thing on to use PDAnet.(The 3g hotspot just doesn't work for me very well as it drops my laptop every 10 minutes and then it cannot join it again till I restart the hotspot on the phone.)
Additional Info:
I never really liked senses giant phone button at the bottom of the screen all the time. With launcher Pro I can make the dock look like stock android. Once I made the switch I never went back
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Launcher Pro is great, and Launcher Pro Plus is worth every bit of $2.99. It's one of the only apps I've paid for and it has all of the sense widgets; including multiple bookmark and calendar widgets for example. In addition, having the ability to resize any widget to your liking I find makes it that much more attractive. Like you also said the shortcut option basically eliminates the need for apps like Bettercut. And of course the obvious options to change docks and icons make it a fun alternative for people.
Good stuff I've always like LP as well and got the + version as soon as it went live. A lot of proponents so far!
I think i remember seeing something that the dev of Launcher Pro asked that it not be cooked into custom roms
Therev29 said:
I think i remember seeing something that the dev of Launcher Pro asked that it not be cooked into custom roms
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the stock launcher isn't used, they cook ADW or launcher 2 into ROMs. But you always have the option of installing LP and even removing the launcher you had previously

[Q] Multiple launcher question

please forgive me if this sounds silly or has already been asked/answered. I have searched the forums but couldn't find anything related, maybe due to it being either a given or silly question.
What's the rule-of-thumb when it comes to running multiple launchers? If one is currently active, are the others running in the background? Should I be concerned with battery and memory resources?
I currently main Go Launcher EX, but have also purchased ADW Launcher EX (loved it on the Eris), and Launcher Pro Plus. All are installed... I switch between them occasionally, and tend to go back to Go Launcher EX.
Rom = Magnolia 1.3.2
no takers??
thanx anyway.
I'm not sure either, but I use titanium pro, and it lets you freeze the launchers or apps you aren't using, so they don't appear in the app drawer. When you want to use it again, just defrost it. Hope this helps.
HTCInc-redibly re-ENGINEERED
baboonsRus said:
I'm not sure either, but I use titanium pro, and it lets you freeze the launchers or apps you aren't using, so they don't appear in the app drawer. When you want to use it again, just defrost it. Hope this helps.
HTCInc-redibly re-ENGINEERED
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanx for the advice! I'll use Bloat Freezer to disable the ones I'm not using!
I'm not positive but once you set one as your default launcher I'm pretty sure the others you have installed do not run in the background. So you shouldn't have to worry about battery life if you have more than 1 downloaded and installed. I am using Go EX now but I also have adw ex installed. Have you checked out the honeycomb theme for go launcher ex? I like it a lot.
I use LauncherPro and I know when I switch over to rosie every now and then, the HTC loading screen appears for a few seconds before showing my home screens, so it's not running in the background (at least not at any capacity worth noting). If you switch constantly without ever rebooting your phone it may be a different story.
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I have 4 currently installed and notice no difference from when I first got my phone.
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awesome! Thanx for the replies! I've removed Launcher Pro and kept Go EX and ADW EX. At the moment, I haven't figured out how they're different, but like Go EX better because it doesn't do the 180 degree screen flip thingy. I remember ADW having an option of disabling that on my Eris, but I haven't been able to find it.
I am not familiar with Launcher.
If I have multiple launcher on my phone, do I able to switch between them from time to time?
Do I need root rights to do this?
I am using HTC sense and would like to try android default launcher or others.
maxi0361 said:
I am not familiar with Launcher.
If I have multiple launcher on my phone, do I able to switch between them from time to time?
Do I need root rights to do this?
I am using HTC sense and would like to try android default launcher or others.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup you can switch between them as often as you'd like no root permission are required.
Home switcher for froyo works great.
HTCInc-redibly re-ENGINEERED
If its not you're main launcher, its not running..no need to freeze the others

spb shell d2 on Galaxy SII

Hi,
i am getting my device next week and and dont apparently dont like the TouchWiz UI v4.0 much (from what i saw), what is your experience compare to the SPB shell 3D (or others - if there are other betters...) - is the shell slowing down the device or not.
Anyone tried to install the softwarekeyboard SwiftKey (i used ot my desire HD i and like it).....
I'm using SwiftKey on mine, works fine in portrait mode but the keyboard & word suggestions take up most of the screen in landscape mode.
Not the biggest fan of touch wiz; HTCsense is much better. But that will be easily sorted wen the devs work their magic!
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
SPB Shell is vastly overpriced, LauncherPro+ or ADW Launcher are much better options, in addition to being kinder to the wallet.
NZtechfreak said:
SPB Shell is vastly overpriced, LauncherPro+ or ADW Launcher are much better options, in addition to being kinder to the wallet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Plus 1 on the launcher pro plus. SPB is way over priced along with the same crap 3d carousel of theirs that I was using on my winmo omnia three years ago.
SPB + APW Combination wonderful
I know that probably the Samsung Galaxy s2 is the only phone at the moment on the market able to work like this but
TRY TRY TRY !!!!!
SPB 3D with the set of widget APW + APW Google
you have all what you need
smooth launcher with 3D graphic and with a number very nice 3 D widgets included .....
listen well .....
SCROLLABLE widgets
Facebook, Twitter, Messaging, Google, Reader, People, Timeline (Facebook+Twitter)
APW it is actually scrollable also with Touchwiz .... but the quality is very low
with SPB .... they are as smooth as with ADW, launcher pro etc
This is my opinion ... of course I am sure that ther will be people that will not like it .....
SPB Shell 3D is an ok launcher, but for me I prefer GO Launcher EX.. I bought SPB Shell 3D, and I ended up going back to GO Launcher EX.. My wife ended up being the one using it on her Nexus S.. I'll say one thing about it though, it's smooth as silk on both the Galaxy S2 and the Nexus S, so it's pretty impressive what they've done there with all the 3D graphics going on in it..
for 15 bucks though, can you justify it over the free alternatives?
jayquinten510 said:
for 15 bucks though, can you justify it over the free alternatives?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely not.Bought all 3 spb,adw ex and launcher pro.Now I am back to adw ex because of launcher pro developer stop updating
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afilopou said:
Definitely not.Bought all 3 spb,adw ex and launcher pro.Now I am back to adw ex because of launcher pro developer stop updating
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you find the ex version of adw? Worth it? The stock adw was good, but I found everything still worked better on touchwiz
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The price is a bit hefty, I'll admit that.. It's THE most expensive app I've ever bought, and I ended up not using it and gave it to my wife instead.. LOL
GO LAuncher EX has everything I want, and it's free )
Go launcher Ex is the best launcher so far.....u can also try Tw Launcher 4.5
Been using SPB Shell on my SGS2 for a month now and almost a year on my Nexus one before that. It's just the smoothest thing ever on both devices. No problems and nice default widgets. The carousel is totally useless, I never use it. Desktop management is nicely done and they can be swapped and added quickly. A bit low on the option front, but all-in-all a nice package and has been worth the $15 in my opinion.
No wonder Huawei chose it as a default launcher for future phones.
GOLAUNCHER
And Swiftkey best ,. !!
I brought SPB Shell 3D last week having been using launcher pro before that on my SGS2 and N1. I find it the smoothest experience I’ve had in a launcher. With LPP I found that I could have 5 home screens filled and keep it fairly fluid. With Shell 3D I now have 9-10 and its somehow smoother.
The carousel is really pleasing on the eyes if you go with all black, not a massive amount of use but if you have 10 plus screens it can be quicker for navigation once you start using it more. Again super fluid 100% of the time.
The widgets included are good; the animations on the weather for example are subtle but well done. The folder system is the best I’ve had on android and the way home screens are reorganised to make room for additions is something Google need to have a standard because it makes so much sense. There is even a little buffer zone where if your screen is full, icons/widgets will drop off to the buffer to accommodate the new item, and will change back if you remove it -awesome!
There is still room for features we have come to expect from Go/ADW/LLP. Customisable dock, hiding apps in the drawer, homescreen looping, restart launcher etc. The memory foot print is pretty big I've seen it hit 80mb, wouldn't surprise me if it passes 100mb at some points.
I have compromised a little the way I like my launcher to look, like having to have a 3rd party app drawer as I hate it unorganised but in return I am getting alot of positives.
The price is relatively high and more advanced features are needed in the long run but if you take this as a work in progress the speed and shine of this launcher take some beating. in its current version I give it 8 - 8.5 / 10

AppWidgetPicker 1.2.3 (Confirmed) Works on ICS

I have confirmed that AppWidgetPicker work on ICS on Galaxy Nexus. If you are using a third party launcher. You should use AppWidgetPicker to better organize your widgets.
APK Link below.
That is all...
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13331116
Push APK to your /System/App directory. Give all R/W permissions.
Someone should modify this for stock launcher. I can buy a coffee/beer for anybody who does
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jkoljo said:
Someone should modify this for stock launcher. I can buy a coffee/beer for anybody who does
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Will definitely donate if someone gets this working on the stock launcher
Android's permission system means that apps cannot normally bind widgets themselves. (This is part of the reason you sometimes see missing widgets when you restore a launcher or WidgetLocker from Titanium Backup or similar). Instead the method third-party-apps use is to call another app (AppWidgetPicker, or a replacement for it like this one) which DOES have the permission because it's a system app (hence the unusual install process for this replacement).
The stock launcher is also a system app, and does have the needed permission to bind widgets itself. It's built to ONLY bind itself, rather than use a third party app. This means that the AppWidgetPicker replacement cannot be modified to make it work, however the launcher itself could be.
Curious, what don't you guys like about the widgets-in-drawer? The grid view versus the list, the lack of grouping-by-app compared with boombuler's mod? Both?
[email protected] said:
Curious, what don't you guys like about the widgets-in-drawer? The grid view versus the list, the lack of grouping-by-app compared with boombuler's mod? Both?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah the lack of grouping by app is the worst thing, because certain apps have dozens of widgets and it takes ages to find the one you want. The iPhone style page-by-page side scrolling doesn't help either. I actually like how we can see previews of the widgets but the navigation is a bit of a nightmare right now.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
[email protected] said:
Curious, what don't you guys like about the widgets-in-drawer? The grid view versus the list, the lack of grouping-by-app compared with boombuler's mod? Both?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh dear, there's a long list of reasons:
1. I now have 5 pages of widgets!!
2. It's visually shocking because everything is a difference size
3. You don't consistently get a view of what widgets will look like
4. It takes longer to get to and then find a widget
Add and app with 20 widgets built in and you'll see. It sucks in my opinion. We need a list based picker for sure, ideally one with a preview mode.
Since you're here... any chance WL can have an option to hide the soft keys on the Nexus so it runs full screen? Also the 'recent apps' button isn't deactivated by WL so it still pops up...
Thanks, works great with the new Nova launcher
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Hi,
if you post my apps, please take at least the latest version...
Original thread + new version is here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=780828
Widget picker works with Jelly Bean 4.1 too as I've just tried it on my GNEX. Same procedure as the first post mentions.

Icon Grid To 5x5

For the last two years I have been using ADW Launcher. When it came out at the end of 2010 I paid for ADW_EX. It has been great for me. I have tried to use the TouchWiz on the S3 but there have been two main things that kept me from using it regularly. One was fixed (by an answer in another forum).
The one that was fixed was the ability to have shortcuts to individual files on my home screen. In ADW I was able to create a shortcut with Astro File Manager. For some reason Astro does not have a way to do this with TouchWiz. Then someone pointed out that a long press on a file in ES File Manager would create a shortcut. I use a lot of individual files and that feature was great.
Now the last deal breaker for me is the lack of a 5x5 icon grid. Again, in ADW you can have a choice of icon numbers both horizontally and vertically. While 6 or 7 is too much, I like the choice. 4x4 with that gigantic screen indicator is useless. I use a couple of big widgets on my main screen and there is no room left for the important icons.
Now for the question. Is there any way to create a 5x5 icon grid on stock unrooted touchwiz?
From my point of view, Samsung is copying Apple by limiting the choices and configurability. If we could choose our icons and how they act, it would be a lot less like Apple. Personally, when I try an Apple device, I get frustrated because of the lack of control I have. I don't like someone else making my choices. One last part of my rant: I recently tried Windows 8 on a laptop. It looks like everyone is trying to copy Apple.
All this is because the motion scrolling features and eyeball sensor are TouchWiz only. I would like to move my phone to move icons around. I would like to keep the screen on time short to save battery but still be able to have it stay on when I am reading a long web page.
I'm pretty sure all the TW features stick around even if you use a different launcher. I know smart stay and tap to top work on Nova and those are the only ones I use.
Edit: all the motion features still work on other launchers. I just went through them all. Liberate yourself. I use Nova.
Alternatively, if you are rooted you can find a modded stock launcher. Or even flash a more heavily modded rom. This is where Android shines anyway. Not because of what the manufacturers allow, but what open source allows!
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
dkmdlb said:
I'm pretty sure all the TW features stick around even if you use a different launcher. I know smart stay and tap to top work on Nova and those are the only ones I use.
Edit: all the motion features still work on other launchers. I just went through them all. Liberate yourself. I use Nova.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use nova also with the motion featres
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