Launchers

[Toby Lerone 17]

What launchers are people using? I'll be coming from Samsung with their launcher so I have absolutely zero experience with launchers in general, or even if they still exist!

Any that work well with portrait and landscape mode, has media controls, decent lockscreen etc?

Thanks.

[EskeRahn 5,471]

We have had this spread in various threads, but perhaps it would be nice to get it gathered.

If you ask me none really work super well.

The build in has its benefits, but are quite simple.

The big ones like Nova, does not really work well with Landscape nor keyboards.

Usable, but not really good.

But those being used to a specific third party launcher, that supports landscape, could continue to do so.

I just use the stock, as the pros outweighs the caveats of its simplicity to me.

ADD: I strongly suggest to change the Android setting under Settings, System, Gestures, "Swipe up on home", to Off, as this works poorly IMHO, requiring a REALLY long swipe, or a double swipe(!) to get to the apps list in portrait. But a matter of taste obviously.

The clever thing about the build in launcher is that it divides the desktop in two groups of icons, and then displays these groups side by side or one above the other, so widgets are neither cramped nor stretched on rotation, like almost all other launchers do.
The caveat of that is that you can not have a widget crossing the centre of the screen, it must stay within one of the halves.

[CornholioGSM 342]

i must say...that for me is now best lawnchair launcher 🙂

[netman 1,424]

launchtime is awesome (also in landscape mode) after some configuring

[CornholioGSM 342]

1 hour ago, netman said:

launchtime is awesome (also in landscape mode) after some configuring

yesss...launchtime (edit lunchtime) is awesome....especial in landscape mode 😄 ...you mean lawnchair  😄 😄 😄 

Edited January 21, 2020 by CornholioGSM

[netman 1,424]

Just now, CornholioGSM said:

yesss...launchtime is awesome....especial in landscape mode 😄 ...you mean lawnchair  😄 😄 😄 

I do not mean lawnchair, both are nice though 😉 https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.quaap.launchtime/

[CornholioGSM 342]

oooh here are both 😄

[Doktor Oswaldo 906]

I agree with @netman after trying any FOSS launcher I could find I stuck with launchtime. It needs some configuring and is not the most beautiful thing ever. But it works mint with the keyboard and is astonishingly good. This is one of these launcher which do not try to copy nova but to have a other/better concept behind.

6 hours ago, CornholioGSM said:

i must say...that for me is now best lawnchair launcher 🙂

If FOSS is important to you there is alos https://gitlab.com/oldosfan/librechair

 

[EskeRahn 5,471]

6 hours ago, netman said:

launchtime is awesome (also in landscape mode) after some configuring

Despite the less than 1000 downloads in the Android Market, it sure looks interesting.

Is there a setting to NOT put the icons as far out of reach as possible? The default is certainly not one-hand friendly in portrait. (Listing a group book-style from top left)

It took me some guesses before I found out that a long tap on any category tab is the way to add a new category or widget (the help is not quite up to date here)

[netman 1,424]

18 minutes ago, EskeRahn said:

Despite the less than 1000 downloads in the Android Market, it sure looks interesting.

Is there a setting to NOT put the icons as far out of reach as possible? The default is certainly not one-hand friendly in portrait. (Listing a group book-style from top left)

It took me some guesses before I found out that a long tap on any category tab is the way to add a new category or widget (the help is not quite up to date here)

Have not found a setting to change that, but I was quite happy with them just predictably being slammed to the top instead of ending up being subject to me making a mess of the layout xD. There are quite a few settings and things you can do that are fairly buried, but it grown on me after spending some time to make it nice.

[MickH 212]

I have Nova launcher installed at the moment, but as EskeRahn said above, it's terrible in landscape, specially with widgets and shortcuts. Throws them all over the place.

[Hook 3,043]

This is probably why I still use and like Nova Pro— I really don't use widgets much anymore.  I really like Launchtime as well, and that would be the one I would be most likely to switch to, but I have a very nice, very simple Nova Pro setup that rotates well.  A 7x6 grid with a 7 Icon dock, a row of 6 icons and a row of 6 folders on a black background. Almost never need to go to the app drawer. In Landscape, the dock goes vertical on the right, the 6 icons that are above in portrait form a horizontal dock in landscape with the folders above that. My only widget is a clock widget which is also used as a timer and for setting alarms.  A little big in Portrait but just right landscape.

The funny thing is, I didn't create this simple layout for the Pro 1, it was exactly the layout I evolved to over the years on my Nexus 6p.

Edited January 22, 2020 by Hook

[Doktor Oswaldo 906]

22 hours ago, EskeRahn said:

Despite the less than 1000 downloads in the Android Market, it sure looks interesting.

Well you can't even find it if your playstore is in english and you search for 'launchtime'.
The store will correct it to 'Lunchtime' and you have to click that small link to really search for 'launchtime'.
This might not be a great help.

[netman 1,424]

1 hour ago, Doktor Oswaldo said:

The store will correct it to 'Lunchtime' and you have to click that small link to really search for 'launchtime'.

This is why we need physical keyboards! And f-droid lol.

[auvo.salmi 135]

On 1/21/2020 at 3:44 AM, netman said:

launchtime is awesome (also in landscape mode) after some configuring

I have been testing Launchtime for few weeks. I kinda like it, but there is some oddities. For example I feel the way Launchtime divides the apps to different categories very strange. Plus the default categories are strange too. I feel like that Catorize 'app' on N900 had much more natural and obvious categories for the apps. In launchtime there's for example only Graphics category, which includes graphics apps obviously but also Netflix, Youtube etc. It would be more convenient to have a Multimedia category also. Plus there is no Navigation category, so Maps and that kind of apps are in 'Internet' category (or something like that, I don't have the phone with me while writing this). Also Untappd app is in 'Games&Amusement' category... I just learned that there probably a way to make new categories, but is there any way to move the apps between the categories?

Edited January 22, 2020 by auvo.salmi

[netman 1,424]

2 minutes ago, auvo.salmi said:

I have been testing Launchtime for few weeks. I kinda like it, but there is some oddities. For example I feel the way Launchtime divides the apps to different categories very strange. Plus the default categories are strange too. I feel like that Catorize 'app' on N900 had much more natural and obvious categories for the apps. In launchtime there's for example only Graphics category, which includes graphics apps obviously but also Netflix, Youtube etc. It would be more convenient to have a Multimedia category also. Plus there is no Navigation category, so Maps and that kind of apps are in 'Internet' category (or something like that, I don't have the phone with me while writing this). Also Untappd app is in 'Games&Amusement' category... I just learned that there probably a way to make new categories, but is there any way to move the apps between the categories?

I turned off the auto categorizing and made all categories manually, it's somewhere in the new feature settings or what was it. Kinda confusing to find xD.

Edited January 22, 2020 by netman

[Doktor Oswaldo 906]

9 minutes ago, auvo.salmi said:

I have been testing Launchtime for few weeks. I kinda like it, but there is some oddities. For example I feel the way Launchtime divides the apps to different categories very strange. Plus the default categories are strange too. I feel like that Catorize 'app' on N900 had much more natural and obvious categories for the apps. In launchtime there's for example only Graphics category, which includes graphics apps obviously but also Netflix, Youtube etc. It would be more convenient to have a Multimedia category also. Plus there is no Navigation category, so Maps and that kind of apps are in 'Internet' category (or something like that, I don't have the phone with me while writing this). Also Untappd app is in 'Games&Amusement' category... I just learned that there probably a way to make new categories, but is there any way to move the apps between the categories?

You can just correct all of this you know? Move apps to other categories, add new categories (long click on any category for that) and so on.

[Doktor Oswaldo 906]

35 minutes ago, netman said:

This is why we need physical keyboards! And f-droid lol.

I have also installed it over f-droid of course. But to be honest on f-droid you find nothing if you don't know the exact name of it 😄

[_DW_ 628]

Well I've been using the Microsoft launcher on my current phone but it doesn't work in landscape so its a no go. 

So from what people saying on hear looks like launchtime is maybe the one to try first on pro1?

[Doktor Oswaldo 906]

25 minutes ago, _DW_ said:

Well I've been using the Microsoft launcher on my current phone but it doesn't work in landscape so its a no go. 

So from what people saying on hear looks like launchtime is maybe the one to try first on pro1?

Depends on what you want, I would have a look at launchtime, kiss and lawnchair.

[_DW_ 628]

5 minutes ago, Doktor Oswaldo said:

Depends on what you want, I would have a look at launchtime, kiss and lawnchair.

Nothing special date time widget and page with my daily calendar.  And obvious one shortcut bar static on each page and a page with apps I use alot.

[Doktor Oswaldo 906]

1 hour ago, _DW_ said:

Nothing special date time widget and page with my daily calendar.  And obvious one shortcut bar static on each page and a page with apps I use alot.

Well launchtime does work with categories. But it has widgets a static shortcut bar and even a last-used page. But it is not a classic launcher. It does a lot differently.
If you want a classic launcher lawnchair may be a possibility (I have tested that one, but I can't quite remember how good the landscape support was. But since someone else has recommended it, and it is FOSS, I would have a look on that).

Edited January 22, 2020 by Doktor Oswaldo

[EskeRahn 5,471]

1 hour ago, Doktor Oswaldo said:

but is there any way to move the apps between the categories?

Drag and drop 🙂

[EskeRahn 5,471]

14 minutes ago, _DW_ said:

.... and a page with apps I use alot.

You can do the page thing 'sort of' by making your own category, and drag things into that.

However items are placed list style in the worst possible way for one handed right handed usage, as they are displayed book-style, starting top left, where they are hardest to reach.

It would be nice if they offered a setting to allow the lines of icons to 'sink' to the bottom, so any empty lines would be at the top.

[_DW_ 628]

Ok it sounds like it has possibilities might just need to change how I do things a bit.  I'm not completely stuck in my ways 🙂  (saying the person who has his windows 10 desktop looking like windows 98 haha)