How to use LauncherPro

[brushrop03]

Yeah I just found it. I guess I didnt' dig deep enough. Convenient indeed.

 

[cincylaw]

I just installed LP a couple days ago and love playing with the features and cusomization possibilities.

One question though. I really like the Scenes function that came with Sense UI. Is there any way to do something similar here?

For example, I really like having one for "Work" with work tools handy (and a more professional wallpaper & dock, clock, etc.) but switch to "Home" when I'm out of the office to have my social stuff handy.

Any way to request this type of feature from the developer if you can't do it as it stands?

 

[drexappeal]

I just installed LP a couple days ago and love playing with the features and cusomization possibilities.

One question though. I really like the Scenes function that came with Sense UI. Is there any way to do something similar here?

For example, I really like having one for "Work" with work tools handy (and a more professional wallpaper & dock, clock, etc.) but switch to "Home" when I'm out of the office to have my social stuff handy.

Any way to request this type of feature from the developer if you can't do it as it stands?

I think ADW (another launcher app) has the Scenes function available, but I don't think Launcher Pro has it right now. There should be a link to contact the developer through the Market or AppBrain. You can even go to the website direct, which I believe there is a way to contact the developer:
LauncherPro

 

[jrstinkfish]

I'm very close to ditching LP -- too many times, I'll hit the home button and have to wait while everything redraws. The developer said something to the effect that Android will kill the app if it needs it for memory and there's nothing he can do about that, so I don't blame him for it, but it doesn't keep it from being a pain in the ass.

I've tried several possible combinations of memory management in the settings, but nothing really seems to work. I do have several widgets, but they are all things I use almost daily (Simple Notes, Pandora, Music Mod, Agenda, Bookmarks, Pure Messenger, Beautiful Widgets, SwitchPro), so emptying my home screens of them would make the phone less-useful to me.

Ah well, gonna keep it a while longer, see if anything changes in development. Might ditch Pure Messenger to see if that helps too.

 

[ARR22]

I'm very close to ditching LP -- too many times, I'll hit the home button and have to wait while everything redraws. The developer said something to the effect that Android will kill the app if it needs it for memory and there's nothing he can do about that, so I don't blame him for it, but it doesn't keep it from being a pain in the ass.

I've tried several possible combinations of memory management in the settings, but nothing really seems to work. I do have several widgets, but they are all things I use almost daily (Simple Notes, Pandora, Music Mod, Agenda, Bookmarks, Pure Messenger, Beautiful Widgets, SwitchPro), so emptying my home screens of them would make the phone less-useful to me.

Ah well, gonna keep it a while longer, see if anything changes in development. Might ditch Pure Messenger to see if that helps too.

I already ditched it for that very reason. It did almost 10 times a day. Not to mention the app drawer would go crazy by not showing some apps and leaving blank spaces. I really liked LP I just wish it was little more stable. When it gets perfected I would surely buy the plus version. Until then Im sticking with sense.

 

[jrstinkfish]

Well, I already paid because I really wanted the bookmarks and agenda widgets (my favorite agenda widget so far, love the calendar/agenda view switch), but I may ditch it for now and consider that $2.99 an investment in the app's future Lots of cool things going on in it, just not really ready for prime time.

And for the record, the other popular launcher ADW also does the same thing, so it may be something that can't be helped unless you've got your hooks as deep into the system as Sense does.

 

[jrstinkfish]

I posted this on the LP forum -- so far, it appears to have controlled the redraws (haven't had any since I applied these settings yesterday evening), so maybe they'll help anyone else having the same issue.

General Settings -> Keep in Memory -> Unchecked

Advanced Settings -> Memory Usage Settings:
Memory Usage Preset -> Very Low
Use Homescreen Caches -> Checked
Homescreen Cache Type -> Normal
Build Caches as Needed -> Unchecked
Clear Caches on Exit -> Unchecked
Prevent Force Closes -> Checked

I reduced my screens to 5, and the widgets I use are: Simple Notes, Pandora, Music Mod, LP Calendar, LP Bookmarks, Beautiful Widgets, SwitchPro.

 

[jcandroid]

I posted this on the LP forum -- so far, it appears to have controlled the redraws (haven't had any since I applied these settings yesterday evening), so maybe they'll help anyone else having the same issue.

General Settings -> Keep in Memory -> Unchecked

Advanced Settings -> Memory Usage Settings:
Memory Usage Preset -> Very Low
Use Homescreen Caches -> Checked
Homescreen Cache Type -> Normal
Build Caches as Needed -> Unchecked
Clear Caches on Exit -> Unchecked
Prevent Force Closes -> Checked

I reduced my screens to 5, and the widgets I use are: Simple Notes, Pandora, Music Mod, LP Calendar, LP Bookmarks, Beautiful Widgets, SwitchPro.

what do u mean by redraws. basically im not fully understanding your issues, im seeing if my issue is similar. thanks in advance

 

[jrstinkfish]

When you come back to the launcher, either by unlocking the phone or exiting an app, it sometimes takes several seconds for home screens to render fully. In the meantime, you're left with a dock and not much else. This was happening to me almost any time I exited an app, but with those settings, the launcher screen pops up instantly.

The problem is that Android kills it when it needs the memory occupied by Launcher Pro. I don't know if those settings make the footprint small enough for Android not bother killing the app, or if it just makes for a much faster redraw, but whatever it is, it's working.

 

[jcandroid]

When you come back to the launcher, either by unlocking the phone or exiting an app, it sometimes takes several seconds for home screens to render fully. In the meantime, you're left with a dock and not much else. This was happening to me almost any time I exited an app, but with those settings, the launcher screen pops up instantly.

The problem is that Android kills it when it needs the memory occupied by Launcher Pro. I don't know if those settings make the footprint small enough for Android not bother killing the app, or if it just makes for a much faster redraw, but whatever it is, it's working.

ok now i see what u talking and is also experience the same issue. not major for me but would like to see an improvement in that area. i will try out your settings and see if that make a difference

 

[Rdot9]

LauncherPro FTW... at first i didnt like it because i didn't know you could add custom icons, only thing that i do miss is the HTC calendar widget, it took up a whole page but i really liked it. :/ oh well...i just have it linked to the slider.

 

[jrstinkfish]

If you plunk down $2.99 for the Pro version, you get a full-screen calendar widget (actually it comes in 3 sizes). Here's my home screen (I have the mid-sized one on mine, resized to 4x2 using the widget resizing functionality) -- when you press the icon in the upper-right corner of the widget, it goes to calendar view. It will stay in whatever view you left it in. Pretty cool, much better than the HTC one, IMO.

 

[drexappeal]

If you plunk down $2.99 for the Pro version, you get a full-screen calendar widget (actually it comes in 3 sizes). Here's my home screen (I have the mid-sized one on mine, resized to 4x2 using the widget resizing functionality) -- when you press the icon in the upper-right corner of the widget, it goes to calendar view. It will stay in whatever view you left it in. Pretty cool, much better than the HTC one, IMO.

Android Agenda Widget app is free and works pretty well too.

 

[eric3316]

Android Agenda Widget app is free and works pretty well too.

I second that one!

 

[tswarts]

hello. just a question. on adwlauncher you can set it to swipe down on the homescreen and it will close the notification bar. is there something like that on this? you can set the swipe up and down options. it is a nice thing. is it possible?

 

[drexappeal]

hello. just a question. on adwlauncher you can set it to swipe down on the homescreen and it will close the notification bar. is there something like that on this? you can set the swipe up and down options. it is a nice thing. is it possible?

You can set the notification bar to be hidden and for it to come up, you just need to press the menu button.

 

[tswarts]

sry found it kinda like it too. just a little swipe over the app drawer icon nice touch guys

 

[BHalbrooks]

So what's the advantage of buying the Pro version? You can use the Sense Widgets like Hotspot, and then also the Calender?