Haven't really ever been a fan of home replacements because I believed they would slow down my phone, but I started messing around with them today because I really like the idea of having more than 3 home screens (for widget purposes), anyways was wondering what home replacements/launchers you guys all use and why?
I used to love Home++ then i realized how slow it made my phone. Now i use the default. Never really like Helix, but i do love the look of the new beta...
__________________
"Man's mind, once stretched by an idea, never regains it's original dimensions."
I used to love Home++ then i realized how slow it made my phone. Now i use the default. Never really like Helix, but i do love the look of the new beta...
I second that. Miss some things from Home++, but I don't miss the slowness and frequent force closes.
Sweeter Home 2 all the way. Once you get it customized to your own preferences (which, I admit, is a complex process with a steep learning curve), there is simply no other home replacement on the market that can hold a candle to it.
__________________ Droid
Project Elite 6.5 test/CorCor67 PE 1150Mhz SV Nook Color
Dual boot from eMMC: CM7/Dalingrin OC kernel at 1350Mhz + Nook Color Stock 1.2 rooted
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to GirLuvsDroid For This Useful Post:
Sweeter Home 2 all the way. Once you get it customized to your own preferences (which, I admit, is a complex process with a steep learning curve), there is simply no other home replacement on the market that can hold a candle to it.
Lovely. Great. Thanks for making my life even more complicated! LOL
Seriously, this post forced me to go have a look. DL'ed and now I'm hooked. Having programmed Philips Pronto remotes for 10 years this isn't too far from my comfort zone and I love the customizability. Seems plenty snappy and I like the two axis homescreen layout. Much better for me than five (7...9...:willy in one axis.
Need to see if I can install different fonts now...and also figure out how to switch active layers when editing...
Need to see if I can ...figure out how to switch active layers when editing...
When you're in editing mode, and working with multiple layers, long-press over the area of the layer you want to edit. A pop-up comes up, which has "Edit" at the top and a number of different options. Toward the bottom, the layers under where you long-pressed will be listed. Just select the layer you want to edit, and the yellow box for that particular layer will show. Then you can long-press on that yellow box to edit that layer. Make sense?
By the way, what do you mean about "installing different fonts" -- if you're talking about your system font, I can walk you through how to do that (you can use Skaggz fontchanger for a simple method, but that didn't have the Zegoe/Zune font that I wanted, so I did it manually). If you're talking about the icon or label fonts, you can do that in the Edit function for the tray or springboard you're working with, in the Icon/Label style menu (you can also choose whether you want the icon labels to show at all, and how large you want your icons to be).
Last edited by GirLuvsDroid; April 12th, 2010 at 05:36 PM.
When you're in editing mode, and working with multiple layers, long-press over the area of the layer you want to edit. A pop-up comes up, which has "Edit" at the top and a number of different options. Toward the bottom, the layers under where you long-pressed will be listed. Just select the layer you want to edit, and the yellow box for that particular layer will show. Then you can long-press on that yellow box to edit that layer. Make sense?
By the way, what do you mean about "installing different fonts" -- if you're talking about your system font, I can walk you through how to do that (you can use Skaggz fontchanger for a simple method, but that didn't have the Zegoe/Zune font that I wanted, so I did it manually). If you're talking about the icon or label fonts, you can do that in the Edit function for the tray or springboard you're working with, in the Icon/Label style menu (you can also choose whether you want the icon labels to show at all, and how large you want your icons to be).
Yep, figured out the layer swap last night. Thanks anyway. Re: fonts, I'm talking about the label text. When editing, I see only three options: San Serif, Serif, & Fixed Width. I would love to be able to set them to the same font as used in the Stock Android clock.
How Sweeter Home Preview 2 is not on that list is way beyond me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GirLuvsDroid
Sweeter Home 2 all the way. Once you get it customized to your own preferences (which, I admit, is a complex process with a steep learning curve), there is simply no other home replacement on the market that can hold a candle to it.
OK, with all the reviews about Sweeter Home 2, I finally installed it. I cannot figure it out for the life of me. It seems that it is not a traditional home in that there are screens to scroll through. Is this correct?
I tried reading through the documentation on the Sweeter Home website, but just cannot seem to figure it out. I guess it really does have a very steep learning curve. LOL
Device(s): Galaxy S II (Sprint), Blackberry Curve 3G (T-mo), iPad 2, Chrome netbook (Cr-48), and Win 7 netbook
Thanks: 471
Thanked 633 Times in 449 Posts
I use helix only for the dock icons at the bottom (phone, handcent, email, google voice are my 4 apps in the dock). I only use 3 home screens, I may add a 4th during football season if I need a couple extra widgets, I don't know yet.
__________________ Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch CM7, OC'ed to 1.6GHz
OK, with all the reviews about Sweeter Home 2, I finally installed it. I cannot figure it out for the life of me. It seems that it is not a traditional home in that there are screens to scroll through. Is this correct?
I tried reading through the documentation on the Sweeter Home website, but just cannot seem to figure it out. I guess it really does have a very steep learning curve. LOL
Kratos
When I first installed SweetHome, the only way I could figure out the setup was by loading one of the preconfigured themes (Menu->Themes), and tinkering with it from there. Once you become a little more familiar with how everything works, you can build one from the ground up. There is a TON of customization available to you, so you are really only limited by the amount of effort you want to put into it.
Warning, once you start getting into all the minor details, it becomes very addicting.
Also, there are five screens in SweeterHome. One above, below, left, and right of the default screen.
When I first installed SweetHome, the only way I could figure out the setup was by loading one of the preconfigured themes (Menu->Themes), and tinkering with it from there. Once you become a little more familiar with how everything works, you can build one from the ground up. There is a TON of customization available to you, so you are really only limited by the amount of effort you want to put into it.
Warning, once you start getting into all the minor details, it becomes very addicting.
Also, there are five screens in SweeterHome. One above, below, left, and right of the default screen.
Ok, I'll look at that a little more. It seems as though it is taking forever to load though. I mean, it takes almost 10-15 seconds on first startup and then 5-10 seconds after that.
I have helix launcher installed and have it set to my liking. I wonder if that is why sweeter home is being so slow.
I used to use Helix but uninstalled it today after I realized I wasn't really using it for anything. I had 5 screens, but that was just too much. Then I just used it for the bottom icons, and then realized I can just move those up to the home screen and go back to the default launcher.
IMO none of the available home screen replacements are worth it. The ones with "cool" features often force close and Helix is stable, but doesn't really offer anything to make it worth it. And even Helix lags a bit and uses some extra battery.
I tried Helix 2, but it gets into a force close loop when I try it. Then, I have to shut off my phone. So... not a fan of the Helix yet. Too buggy. I've been using Home++ and it works great! But, it doesn't support live wallpaper yet, which is a bummer.
Is Sweeter Home 2 stable and fast? I've really been wanting to play with this but I've heard it tends to be laggy/unstable.
Any opinions on Sweeter Home 2 stability?
Edit: been playing with this since last night, i cant believe how customizable it is! I want to take the time to create an awesome set up but its been taking a long time to show the homescreen and/or maintain beautiful widgets and keeps FCing. The potential is tremendous but i cant keep it snappy.
Last edited by SoDroid; April 15th, 2010 at 11:54 PM.
Using helix launcher on stock 2.1. Planning on switching to the Helix 2 beta.
If you're referring to Helix Launcher 2 Beta, that is for Nexus One only and will cause problems on a Droid. I advise against installing it. Stick with Helix Launcher instead.
When I first installed SweetHome, the only way I could figure out the setup was by loading one of the preconfigured themes (Menu->Themes), and tinkering with it from there. Once you become a little more familiar with how everything works, you can build one from the ground up. There is a TON of customization available to you, so you are really only limited by the amount of effort you want to put into it.
Warning, once you start getting into all the minor details, it becomes very addicting.
Also, there are five screens in SweeterHome. One above, below, left, and right of the default screen.
I've been meaning to write up a few basic tutorials. Trying to get the time is a problem for me right now though.
Edit: been playing with this since last night, i cant believe how customizable it is! I want to take the time to create an awesome set up but its been taking a long time to show the homescreen and/or maintain beautiful widgets and keeps FCing. The potential is tremendous but i cant keep it snappy.
Remove widgets from your stock home, and any other homes. Minimise widget use where ever possible. Restart your phone and launch into SH after installing the apk.
that's pretty insane that this forum is mostly helix. i use it as well, why wasn't this incorporated into the update?!
I have a feeling a lot of people have Helix or another launcher simply because it's not stock and they want to be different. Chances are if Helix was the stock launcher and home screen, people would have something else. This is why I uninstalled Helix. I noticed I was back down to only 3 screens and asked myself why I even had Helix. I really had no answer. I went back to the stock launcher and am very pleased with how much more "snaptastic" my phone is without Helix running. Not that it was lagging all that much with Helix, but there is a SLIGHT noticeable difference.
If you're referring to Helix Launcher 2 Beta, that is for Nexus One only and will cause problems on a Droid. I advise against installing it. Stick with Helix Launcher instead.
i think he means the 0.7 beta that was linked on the helix topic that works on the droid if you dont set it as default the first initial time.
I have tried a few. Helix, Helix 2, and Sweeter Home 2. I would have to say Sweeter Home 2 is my favorite, but Helix and Helix 2 have their merits. While I realize Helix 2 is in beta, it tends to slow my phone down quite a bite.
I do like the simplicity of both of them, and the inclusion of the app bar on the bottom.
Still, you cannot say enough about the customization on SH2. If you are willing to put the time into getting just the way you want (or if you care about having everything exactly the way you like), nothing comes close to it.
If you want something easily modified, and the additional home screens with the side benfit of having your four most frequently used apps on each screen, Helix is definitely the way to go.
The Motorola Droid - the first ever Verizon Android Phone - exploded onto the mobile market with an incredibly successful ad campaign that brough Android to the masses. With a huge and vibrant touchscreen, solid metal body, full QWERTY keyboard, 5M... Read More
Which Home Screen/Launcher Do You Use?
in one axis.
CM7, OC'ed to 1.6GHz 
