HTC Sense UI vs Launcher Pro

[solo170]

Im running a stock Desire with sense UI and the layout of launcher pro has caught my attention. I also want to change the look of my phone and was wondering how launcher pro would be of advantage over the stock sense UI. BTW my phone is not rooted.
I also do not use most of the sense widgets apart from the bookmarks and the weather.

To sum it all up i was looking for some input regarding how launcher pro is better compared to sense UI and why some of the Desire owners chose to have launcher pro

Looking forward to reading the answers!

 

[SUroot]

I started with it yesterday: See http://androidforums.com/htc-desire/87618-adw-vs-helix-vs-launcher-pro.html

You can change the bottom dock, which was the main thing for me. It force closes a little to be honest, for me.

 

[Evil Genius]

I also do not use most of the sense widgets apart from the bookmarks and the weather.

launcher pro plus does have some widgets, including bookmarks i believe. it does cost 2.99 USD though.

and fancy widget is a decent alternative to the HTC clock/weather widget. having said that, fancy widget has been pulled from the market because it looked too much like the HTC widget but i'm sure some kind soul here on the forum has it somewhere.

 

[stueyboy]

I have been using launcherpro for a while now. In fact it is the only app Ihave paid for to get access to the widgets. Only bookmarks and people so far but more on the way. I too never used many of the sense UI widgets and the little tweaks in launcher pro are really good like the scrolling taskbar and the nice screen switching animations. Seems nice and stable too..

I am rooted and running 2.2

 

[solo170]

thanks for the reply guys. It would be a bit of a pain if it force closed on me often. So is a reboot required to get it working again?
Also, im not too worried about the price tag that it comes with. I have seen some of the things people have come up with launcher pro and im sure its visually worth it. How about the speed, can anyone comment on its speed compared to sense UI. Also would it save any battery?

 

[Roze]

-customize the home screen layouts have 5 rows instead of 4
-hide the notification bar
-hide app labels
-N1 3D app drawer
-pick how many screens you want (from 1-7)
-can have up to 15 apps in the app dock
-plus other features

LauncherPro is FREE
LauncherPro Plus is $2.99. The only difference between the 2 is that the Plus contains Sense widgets.

 

[SUroot]

thanks for the reply guys. It would be a bit of a pain if it force closed on me often. So is a reboot required to get it working again?
Also, im not too worried about the price tag that it comes with. I have seen some of the things people have come up with launcher pro and im sure its visually worth it. How about the speed, can anyone comment on its speed compared to sense UI. Also would it save any battery?

It seems about the same speed to me. there are options you can turn off like animation etc that will save battery. I find it about the same.

If it force closes it will just restart launcher pro. Android is still running in the background. You may actually have sense running behind that too so it will still be usable.

Set HTC sense to a blank scene though, before switching to Launcher pro.

 

[*Lee*]

I am no genius, and I love launcherpro.
really, really pretty if you look around for custom dock skins/icons etc.

 

[Phenomenological]

LauncherPro is better overall IMO, but the lack of sense widgets is a serious blow. I'm starting to believe there IS no widget out there that even comes close to rivalling the HTC news app.

 

[SUroot]

Even the LauncherPro people is vastly inferior to the sense equivalent. Not to mention FriendStream. Best I've seen is "pure messenger" and its very ugly in comparisson

 

[stueyboy]

I like the look of Launcherpro as mentioned. Here is a pic of my homescreen.... Like it without text under icons and also love the dock with multiple scrolling applications to choose from

 

[wuthton]

Even the LauncherPro people is vastly inferior to the sense equivalent.

Sorry, I'll have to disagree. The Launcherpro plus widget gives you the popup option to call, message or email when a contact is pressed rather than just going to default. It is fugly though.

 

[SUroot]

Sorry, I'll have to disagree. The Launcherpro plus widget gives you the popup option to call, message or email when a contact is pressed rather than just going to default. It is fugly though.

Well that's it. It is well ugly. Personally, I had my default set to open the contact card, which is exactly what I wanted. I prefered it that way. The rendering on the skin looks better on sense, plus I love the quick add and Contact list buttons at the bottom.

Of course the idea of one being inferior to the other is entirely subjective, but for me it just is.

 

[SB13X]

Sense UI wins hands down for me, I hate it for being that way as customising is what I am all about but none of the alternatives truly look smooth with all the elements blending in together in a fluid way. (Arty farty speak I know but can't describe it any other way.) Launcher Pro for me, makes my sleek Desire feel blocky and having to implement different widgets for everything just ruins the aesthetics in the same way that Geocities designed sites did for the web. If someone out there designed themes for it that flowed through the entire launcher from the app drawer, homescreens and apps themselves then I'm all for it but all I could see for amny of the launchers was way too many Iron Man 2, Resident Evil themes that looked like a 12 year old threw them together.

 

[grainysand]

I disagree; Launcher Pro can be customized to an extent that you can tailor it to just about any taste, and match it to any theme. Take a look:

Not to everyone's liking, to be sure, but for me at least, that fat space-wasting useless tab at the bottom of Sense is a huge dealbreaker.

Oh, and of course, Sense is a memory/internal storage bloat.

 

[wuthton]

Take a look

I did and I'm not happy. Yours is better than mine.

 

[Phenomenological]

I disagree; Launcher Pro can be customized to an extent that you can tailor it to just about any taste, and match it to any theme. Take a look:

I will give you a substantial amount of money or a 'thanks' if you tell me what that news app you have is. It looks at least vaguely tolerable!

 

[wuthton]

I will give you a substantial amount of money or a 'thanks' if you tell me what that news app you have is. It looks at least vaguely tolerable!

It's just the standard Android news widget.

 

[grainysand]

I did and I'm not happy. Yours is better than mine.

Heh, thank you. Doesn't look half-bad landscape with the notification bar on, either:

I will give you a substantial amount of money or a 'thanks' if you tell me what that news app you have is. It looks at least vaguely tolerable!

It's the standard news/weather widget, but themed. 'Fraid you'll have to root for that, though.

 

[jonfhancock]

There is a community based website for custom icons for the LauncherPro dock at LauncherPro Icons | Custom Android app icons for the awesome LauncherPro home screen replacement.

There is also an app in the market that lets you download the icons from that site with one click at LauncherPro Icons - Android app on AppBrain

 

[solo170]

i downloaded launcher pro last night and got customizing. Only got the free version as i didnt think i needed the widgets that came with the paid version. However if i come across other useful features i def wouldnt mind paying for it.
Anyways, ive been pretty happy with it so far. I've been browsing to see what others have done and some people definately have come up with some wonderful layouts. ATM im looking for some custom icons so i appreciate if anyone has a few that they love.

 

[kopkiwi]

Would there be a reason why I couldn't download Launcherpro plus?

Keeps saying I can't download it using the specific credit card I have loaded in paypal.

Is it a US only thing?

 

[SUroot]

You only download launcherpro (free) I believe, then you have to buy launcher pro plus unlock code from their website and type it into LauncherPro

 

[kopkiwi]

You only download launcherpro (free) I believe, then you have to buy launcher pro plus unlock code from their website and type it into LauncherPro

Yup, that's exactly what I tried to do, but everytime I tried it says my creditcard can not be used.

 

[SUroot]

I just used my standard Visa debit card. Worked fine.

Have you got Paypal?