New HTC Sense

[t1jordan]

I would hope they update my Evo with this new Sense. I listen to you guys complain about Sense all the time. Whenever I put LP or ADW on top of my Evo it is not as smooth. Those crappy third party apps on the market give you way to many options just to lag your phone up and they just don't look as good. Or they just act as a widget and if you press them they don't interact with other apps. Sense widgets work pretty good and they are nice looking. And it only takes minutes to set up. Messing with those third party apps you spend countless time setting it up and then you realize it's a copy of Sense that doesn't run as smooth, or there just plain ugly widgets. Maybe you guys who don't have a pre loaded skin can enjoy these launchers. I can admit that the launcher itself is kind of boring but the functionality of Sense is not worth replacing on my Evo. But I guess it's personal preference. I try these other launchers but I just don't see the point. Sense really gives you everything you need to have a good smart phone experience.

 

[Brian360]

Launcher Pro and call it a day, it's much more smooth than Sense.

 

[t1jordan]

Launcher Pro and call it a day, it's much more smooth than Sense.

Sorry I don't have that same experience. And I don't have a lot of apps installed.

 

[I want my EVO]

+1 to Brian. LP+ is great and i have a noticeable difference in speed and function over sense.

 

[t1jordan]

+1 to Brian. LP+ is great and i have a noticeable difference in speed and function over sense.

Are you guys changing something in the settings or something. I would like to experience this myself, if its that much better. Is it that much faster to lose your widgets and deal with the crappy third party apps?

 

[exBBuser]

Lp ftw.

 

[tha5150]

i think there should be some definitive reasons why people use other launchers vs the stock and why. why are they better for different things? how do you set something up to work the same as sense when your adding a different launcher?

sure the other launchers look better, nobody is denying that.. but HOW? whats YOUR settings?

 

[mrvirginia]

i think there should be some definitive reasons why people use other launchers vs the stock and why. why are they better for different things? how do you set something up to work the same as sense when your adding a different launcher?

sure the other launchers look better, nobody is denying that.. but HOW? whats YOUR settings?

i prefer launcherpro because the main screen is a lot cleaner and not as cluttered with apps. off the batt you can put 4 apps in the doc bar with the app launcher versus the Sense UI's 2 plus the app drawer. on top of that, i use a second doc bar to put 5 more icons which would normally be on the home screen. so on my home screen all you see is a clock and battery widget and a dock bar. if i added a 3rd dock bar, i could make it so you only see the clock and battery widgets.

LP just has way more functionality than Sense imo.

 

[t1jordan]

i prefer launcherpro because the main screen is a lot cleaner and not as cluttered with apps. off the batt you can put 4 apps in the doc bar with the app launcher versus the Sense UI's 2 plus the app drawer. on top of that, i use a second doc bar to put 5 more icons which would normally be on the home screen. so on my home screen all you see is a clock and battery widget and a dock bar. if i added a 3rd dock bar, i could make it so you only see the clock and battery widgets.

LP just has way more functionality than Sense imo.

Yeah it does have more options, but is the experience that much better? Personally I dont think so. LP is nice but I wouldnt replace my sense for it. Maybe if I had motoblur.

 

[t1jordan]

I appreciate everybody stating there opinion. This has been on my mind for a while and wanted to see what everybody thought about these other launchers.

 

[mrvirginia]

Yeah it does have more options, but is the experience that much better? Personally I dont think so. LP is nice but I wouldnt replace my sense for it. Maybe if I had motoblur.

the experience is much better imho. now there are widgets in LPplus that are essentially the same as what's on Sense. only thing it's missing is a bookmarks widget.

what is it that you like so much about the Sense UI since LP has exactly the same stuff plus more? lol

 

[t1jordan]

the experience is much better imho. now there are widgets in LPplus that are essentially the same as what's on Sense. only thing it's missing is a bookmarks widget.

what is it that you like so much about the Sense UI since LP has exactly the same stuff plus more? lol

I don't see it being that much faster. And I don't like the idea of adding apps that are already pre installed on the phone that actually work in imo. I feel like I'm removing sense just to build a sense look alike.

 

[t1jordan]

the experience is much better imho. now there are widgets in LPplus that are essentially the same as what's on Sense. only thing it's missing is a bookmarks widget.

what is it that you like so much about the Sense UI since LP has exactly the same stuff plus more? lol

I just don't see the smoothness that everybody is talking about. Or a dramatic speed difference. If so, someone tell me the settings your using. I think people like the options LP brings. But it doesn't work better than stock to me. I would rather have better functionality than more options. When I read the comments of LP, they say I love it but it seems slower now. It was slower from the start. It probably runs good on a Nexus 1 because there is no preloaded skin.

 

[Lloyd Christmas]

Launcher pro runs perfectly smooth for me.

 

[mrvirginia]

I don't see it being that much faster. And I don't like the idea of adding apps that are already pre installed on the phone that actually work in imo. I feel like I'm removing sense just to build a sense look alike.

I just don't see the smoothness that everybody is talking about. Or a dramatic speed difference. If so, someone tell me the settings your using. I think people like the options LP brings. But it doesn't work better than stock to me. I would rather have better functionality than more options. When I read the comments of LP, they say I love it but it seems slower now. It was slower from the start. It probably runs good on a Nexus 1 because there is no preloaded skin.

i wouldn't say it's faster or smoother or anything. and Sense UI certainly doesn't have better functionality.

did you try turning the mem in the LP settings to high? i have mine set to high and to use homescreen caches. you can also do build caches as needed. how many widgets you have on there will slow things down, whether it's LP or Sense UI. also, there are other settings to make scrolling smoother (which will decrease performance) and using a 3D drawer will also slow things down. you just have to tweak things man. it works and i stand by it.

and if you root, you can remove Sense UI and that will speed things up a bit since it basically bogs things down.

so some of this is because you still have Sense UI running in the background and because you prob need to change some settings. i love LP. i have Sense on my phone still because of the weather integration and clock features, but that's the only reason. i never use it otherwise.

 

[t1jordan]

i wouldn't say it's faster or smoother or anything. and Sense UI certainly doesn't have better functionality.

did you try turning the mem in the LP settings to high? i have mine set to high and to use homescreen caches. you can also do build caches as needed. how many widgets you have on there will slow things down, whether it's LP or Sense UI. also, there are other settings to make scrolling smoother (which will decrease performance) and using a 3D drawer will also slow things down. you just have to tweak things man. it works and i stand by it.

and if you root, you can remove Sense UI and that will speed things up a bit since it basically bogs things down.

so some of this is because you still have Sense UI running in the background and because you prob need to change some settings. i love LP. i have Sense on my phone still because of the weather integration and clock features, but that's the only reason. i never use it otherwise.

Thanks at least you gave me something to try. I will take that into consideration.

 

[takirb]

I got LP and never looked back. IMO the "dock bar" so to speak in Sense is fugly. LP runs just as smooth for me as Sense did, but with alot less clutter and better organization due to the customizable dock. I'm not sure what settings i used when i installed it as it's been a while, but i didn't do anything special other than install and configure the screens to what widgets/shortcuts i wanted. I only use 3 homescreens and 2 docks total, so i don't have alot going on anyways.

 

[I want my EVO]

the experience is much better imho. now there are widgets in LPplus that are essentially the same as what's on Sense. only thing it's missing is a bookmarks widget.

what is it that you like so much about the Sense UI since LP has exactly the same stuff plus more? lol

LP+ has a Bookmarks widget. It also has a People Widget, Calendar, Messaging, Twitter and Facebook widgets. And they are all very similar to Sense.

I bought LP+ for like 3 bucks or something like that, not sure if it has gone up, but its well worth it.

For me, a big difference is when i turn my phone off. Sense would take Forever to boot up. Id seriously sit for 3 minutes waiting to get anything up and going. With LP im up and going in like 20 seconds.

And if you like the Sense clock with weather you can get "Beautiful Widgets". I bought it and its the exact same as Sense clock with weather. The plus to it is you can customize it with different fonts and animation styles that are available.

If the OP is really interested in my settings then here you go:
Preferences-> Settings:
Hiddent Apps: I hide the apps i never use (All bloatware and garbage i cant remove due to not being rooted.
Keep in memory: Unchecked
Enable Scrollable Widgets: Checked
Moto Droid Hack: Unchecked

Preferences-> Homescreen Settings:
Num of Screens: 7
Default Screen: 4
Enable Trackball Scrolling:Unchecked

Preferences-> Dock Settings:
Number of Docks: 1
Enable Loop Scrolling: Grayed out
- Dock Notifications:
Missed call count: Unchecked
Unread SMS count: Unchecked
Unread Gmail count: Unchecked

Preferences-> Behavior Settings:
Enable Auto Rotation: Unchecked
Home Key Action:Open/ Close Screen Previews
Home Key to Default Screen: Checked

Preferences-> Appearance:
Dock background: Was glass, Now a Hockey theme i found
Show screen indicator: Unchecked
Hide notification bar: Unchecked
Home Button on App Drawer: Checked
Hide Icon Labels: Unchecked
Disable Wallpaper Scrolling: Unchecked
Highlight Style: Glow
Highlight Color: Focused: Red (FF0E01)
Highlight Color: Pressed: Yellow (EAFF00)

Preferences-> Advanced:
-Memory Usage Settings:
--Memory Usage Preset: Light
--Use Homescreen Caches: Checked
--HomeScreen Cache Type: Normal
--Build Cache as needed: Checked
--Clear Cache on exit: Unchecked
--Prevent Force Close: Checked
Homescreens:
5 Icon Rows in Homescreen: Unchecked
Elastic Scrolling: Checked
High Quality Scrolling: Unchecked
Minimum Scrolling Speed: 50
App Drawer:
Use 3D Drawer: Checked
Drawer Columns Portrait: 4
Drawer Columns Landscape: 6
Opening Speed: 7
Screen Previews: 6
Display memory Usage: Unchecked

Thats how mine is setup and i like it this way. I have fiddled with settings and have gotten my fair share of FC's and lag but i have found a happy medium for what i want in style and function.

 

[t1jordan]

LP+ has a Bookmarks widget. It also has a People Widget, Calendar, Messaging, Twitter and Facebook widgets. And they are all very similar to Sense.

I bought LP+ for like 3 bucks or something like that, not sure if it has gone up, but its well worth it.

For me, a big difference is when i turn my phone off. Sense would take Forever to boot up. Id seriously sit for 3 minutes waiting to get anything up and going. With LP im up and going in like 20 seconds.

And if you like the Sense clock with weather you can get "Beautiful Widgets". I bought it and its the exact same as Sense clock with weather. The plus to it is you can customize it with different fonts and animation styles that are available.

If the OP is really interested in my settings then here you go:
Preferences-> Settings:
Hiddent Apps: I hide the apps i never use (All bloatware and garbage i cant remove due to not being rooted.
Keep in memory: Unchecked
Enable Scrollable Widgets: Checked
Moto Droid Hack: Unchecked

Preferences-> Homescreen Settings:
Num of Screens: 7
Default Screen: 4
Enable Trackball Scrolling:Unchecked

Preferences-> Dock Settings:
Number of Docks: 1
Enable Loop Scrolling: Grayed out
- Dock Notifications:
Missed call count: Unchecked
Unread SMS count: Unchecked
Unread Gmail count: Unchecked

Preferences-> Behavior Settings:
Enable Auto Rotation: Unchecked
Home Key Action:Open/ Close Screen Previews
Home Key to Default Screen: Checked

Preferences-> Appearance:
Dock background: Was glass, Now a Hockey theme i found
Show screen indicator: Unchecked
Hide notification bar: Unchecked
Home Button on App Drawer: Checked
Hide Icon Labels: Unchecked
Disable Wallpaper Scrolling: Unchecked
Highlight Style: Glow
Highlight Color: Focused: Red (FF0E01)
Highlight Color: Pressed: Yellow (EAFF00)

Preferences-> Advanced:
-Memory Usage Settings:
--Memory Usage Preset: Light
--Use Homescreen Caches: Checked
--HomeScreen Cache Type: Normal
--Build Cache as needed: Checked
--Clear Cache on exit: Unchecked
--Prevent Force Close: Checked
Homescreens:
5 Icon Rows in Homescreen: Unchecked
Elastic Scrolling: Checked
High Quality Scrolling: Unchecked
Minimum Scrolling Speed: 50
App Drawer:
Use 3D Drawer: Checked
Drawer Columns Portrait: 4
Drawer Columns Landscape: 6
Opening Speed: 7
Screen Previews: 6
Display memory Usage: Unchecked

Thats how mine is setup and i like it this way. I have fiddled with settings and have gotten my fair share of FC's and lag but i have found a happy medium for what i want in style and function.

thank you for sharing your settings. I will give it a shot. Thanks for being honest about your fair share of lag. Everybody else seems to not have any. And I have to say thats a lot of tweeking.

 

[I want my EVO]

Majority of my settings are stock. My lag came from 3 settings that i tested with.

-The "Keep in Memory" feature which has a warning that it may cause instability.
-The "Memory Usage" setting. If you set it to High then it will lag a bit iv noticed.
-And the "High Quality scrolling" is also a resource hog.

As for using Beautiful Widgets ($1.95 in the market btw) is as easy as long press on the screen you want it at, click widgets then choose Beautiful Home Weather. Youll be shown a screen for some settings but you can click save & Apply right away and youll be like stock Sense. Or you can take a few moments to choose the weather service (Accuweather or Google - are the options), your location if you want to hard code it, or use GPS, update interval, and a few other various settings regarding skins if you want.

Also, Along with the Weather clock of BW it also has widgets for Bluetooth, brightness, GPS, Plane Mode, A smaller slimmer version of the clock/ weather, Vibrate & Wifi. So for 1.95 its worth it IMO

 

[mrvirginia]

LP+ has a Bookmarks widget. It also has a People Widget, Calendar, Messaging, Twitter and Facebook widgets. And they are all very similar to Sense.

so there is a bookmarks widget! lol i missed that. prob because i don't use the browser very much as it is.

i can't wait until fb and twitter are one widget like friendstream! shouldn't be too much longer, either.

 

[mrvirginia]

thank you for sharing your settings. I will give it a shot. Thanks for being honest about your fair share of lag. Everybody else seems to not have any. And I have to say thats a lot of tweeking.

oh yeah there's def some lag if you don't tweak it correctly for your device.

 

[t1jordan]

so there is a bookmarks widget! lol i missed that. prob because i don't use the browser very much as it is.

i can't wait until fb and twitter are one widget like friendstream! shouldn't be too much longer, either.

Thats my point. Your building something that comes pre installed on your device. Your using fake sense widgets. lmao

 

[t1jordan]

Majority of my settings are stock. My lag came from 3 settings that i tested with.

-The "Keep in Memory" feature which has a warning that it may cause instability.
-The "Memory Usage" setting. If you set it to High then it will lag a bit iv noticed.
-And the "High Quality scrolling" is also a resource hog.

As for using Beautiful Widgets ($1.95 in the market btw) is as easy as long press on the screen you want it at, click widgets then choose Beautiful Home Weather. Youll be shown a screen for some settings but you can click save & Apply right away and youll be like stock Sense. Or you can take a few moments to choose the weather service (Accuweather or Google - are the options), your location if you want to hard code it, or use GPS, update interval, and a few other various settings regarding skins if you want.

Also, Along with the Weather clock of BW it also has widgets for Bluetooth, brightness, GPS, Plane Mode, A smaller slimmer version of the clock/ weather, Vibrate & Wifi. So for 1.95 its worth it IMO

Honestly beautiful widgets suck. Im sorry. I used it on my Hero. I tried a few times on my Evo. Not worth it to me. I wish I could get my money back.

 

[mrvirginia]

Thats my point. Your building something that comes pre installed on your device. Your using fake sense widgets. lmao

i think you're missing our point, though. less clutter
it looks so much better without a crap ton of app shortcuts all over the place. and it's not fake since it works and is there...
the definition of fake is not real

if you prefer Sense UI, good for you. you asked what our settings were and we told you to try to help you out. won't bother me if you use Sense UI for the rest of your life.

a lot of us enjoy Android for it's openness. some of us more than others, hence rooting and doing away with Sense UI or any other pre-packed launcher that comes on other devices.

it takes a few minutes to set up LauncherPro to work like Sense and look better than Sense. i know because i've done this several times on two different devices.

it's all preference though.