Haha. That's my shortcut screen. Muscle memory knows where everything is now. Main screen is clean with lots of gestures.Why bother with screens at all? I've got less than that in my apps drawer
New essential Android apps thread
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Just seeing what's out there and what compares.
Nova still works fine but you're coming into 15 months with no update.
SL seem to be active and are clearly trying to win over the Nova users .
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Customisation. Ability to hide apps, folders, etc
Is that all they offer ?
Plus tighter grid sizes, custom icons, gestures, custom shortcuts... etc.
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Mostly customisation. This old thread was what made me decide to try out custom launchers: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/post-your-mobile-phone-desktop.18137383/
Looking at the early posts now... wow, shows how much the home UI has changed. HTC's early home launcher looking pretty cluttered...
I definitely have gone more minimal with my home screen now. Even using Octopi's widget stacks to hide the extra widgets I use.
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Soldato
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quick list of the best features for me,
gestures from home page:
double tap = launches whatsapp
single finger down: camera
single finger up: app drawer
2 fingers swipe up = philip hue
2 fingers down = chrome
pinch in = heating app
pinch out = alarms
the dock on home page i get to pick how many apps there. i have these in order listed as main, and then swipe up on each icon launches something else, swipe down another:
swipe up: google home --- bbc news ---- calculator ----- youtube --- imgur ---- gallery
main: phone -------- music -------- maps ---------- chrome --- amazon --- work emails
swipe down: playstore ---- ------------------------------------------------- netflix ----- personal emails
then even more amazing, i swipe sideways on the dock, i have 2 secret docks to the side. one to the left, one to the right.
on the right i have 6 personal contacts. each of which i click the main icon it launch whatsapp straight to that contact. swipe up it calls them, swipe down it texts them.
on the left dock i have 3 banking apps, of which again i swipe up it launches another bank app. i also have a folder on that dock, which shows work contacts, and again from within that folder, on that side dock, if i click the icon, it launchers whatsapp, swipe up calls them etc)
then within the app drawer, most icons are hidden because i have my main apps on the home dock.
but then i have folders in view for google, work, personal, fitness etc.
then i also have tabs, for food, and money apps.
it makes it so incredibly fast to find apps i need, contacts i need to call/message etc.
Im still not sure, I'm kind of fond of OneUI.
I'm not sure if I would know how or if I would make use of a launcher, from the sounds of it.
it would take me ages adjusting.
if you can make use of the tweaks and features it sounds useful "but noting really sticks out."
it maybe a case of use it first to understand.
How long did it take you guys to get use to and make the most of your chosen launchers and would you ever go back to stock?
I'm not sure if I would know how or if I would make use of a launcher, from the sounds of it.
it would take me ages adjusting.
if you can make use of the tweaks and features it sounds useful "but noting really sticks out."
it maybe a case of use it first to understand.
How long did it take you guys to get use to and make the most of your chosen launchers and would you ever go back to stock?
Tbh it was more a case of a good few years back the stock launchers were so poor you needed a 3rd party one to have a good experience. Personally haven't used one for a number of years as the stock ones do everything I need
which is key but I assume this must be possible on stock by now.
My main benefit has always been choosing grid sizing /shape (or even placing apps off grid). I also used to have invisible apps on my home screen which lined up with the background image for a clean look but an obvious to me place to press.
There's definitely a case of I needed it many years ago to get what I wanted and just stayed with it because I was happy. I can totally understand not seeing the need for it now. It does make switching to a new phone pretty easy (though not flawless) and there are one or two gestures I use that are nice to have.
There's definitely a case of I needed it many years ago to get what I wanted and just stayed with it because I was happy. I can totally understand not seeing the need for it now. It does make switching to a new phone pretty easy (though not flawless) and there are one or two gestures I use that are nice to have.
I agree many years ago, I could see the need but never knew about it but now I dont see as many uses for it, with nova not having a developer and I cant see reason or a long term option if wanted it.
I've stuck with Samsung like some people do with iPhone, which give me the best balance now and never has a issues switching.
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Haha, that really blows my mind, I wouldn't know where to start trying to find my apps on your screen, but that's part of the beauty of customisations, personalisation and launchers etc, it's possibly perfect for you. I have a similar set of screens on my phones for different applications, work, personal, media, tools, games, navigation etc but with my recent switch to the fold7 I haven't had a chance to fully set everything up. It's a bit like an ancient ritual each and every time I set up my phones, I kind of do it step by step placing apps, shortcuts and everything else in its special place and changing all the settings and things along the way.
Some of us may be crazy!
To be fair, OneUI's home launcher with a few Goodlock modules is enough to do most customisation you want.
Pixel's home launcher on the other hand is very bare bones. Can't see myself going back to that.
I don't tend to stick with one brand of phone, so you couldn't really transfer the home screen perfectly over (Last phones I went Nexus -> Sony -> OnePlus -> Pixel). Nova made it easy since I can just back it up and restore, so all my custom icons, widgets layout, grid size, gestures, etc. were the same through all of them.
dont think it is there on samsung, but can do with xiaomi
Will the thief not be able to use the launcher to find hidden apps?
Soldato
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far less likely like this i would hope. i would have thought a thief with a nicked phone in hand, would open the app drawer and expect to see all installed apps. they wouldn't think that perhaps the apps are hidden by gestures or just simply not shown here. perhaps they may check the playstore or the settings for a full list of installed apps, but i'd hope it's less likely that they do this.
You're right, I'm possibly giving thieves too much credit. They're not that intelligent, otherwise they wouldn't be stealing.