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LauncherPro better than Helix and ADW? You be the judge.

LauncherPro better than Helix? You be the judge.

  • Yes! LauncherPro FTW!

    Votes: 219 84.2%
  • Nah.. Helix is still better.

    Votes: 16 6.2%
  • Nah.. I use ADW.

    Votes: 25 9.6%

  • Total voters
    260
Tried it. uninstalled because it didn't offer anything at all better.

Edit:
Ok, I'm a sheep (follower)... I read how everyone else loves it so much, and decided to try it again. It is smoother than Helix. I didn't see that the first time, and the fact that I lost so many options, it wasn't worth it for me.

Anyway it's fast for sure, and the icons below are nice, so I too will keep this one until the next big thing comes out.
 
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Ok, I have to say wow on this one.

1. Smoothest screen scrolling I've seen yet, with sense rebound
2. Had the nice animated icon appearance from launcher 2, but keeps the 2D drawer that I prefer
3. Seems really fast in all operations
4. The four programs in the dock aren't customizable, but they are the four I prefer

It's a winner...definitely worth a look...if the dev can add a few features and maintain performance, and if it doesn't big down after running for a while, this could be killer...
 
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I don't know if you have to be rooted to install ADW but it is far superior to this. While the 4 apps on the launcher bar is nice, ADW gives you 2 AND you have the option to add 6 apps to the "app dock" (just hold the square launcher button and slide up).

You have to install via update.zip and you may be able to do that with a stock phone but I don't have a stock phone (it replaces your "Home" launcher so I think you do need root access)...if anyone wants to give it a shot, here is the link to the discussion on the ADW launcher and the link to XDA where you can grab the files. It is a beta as well but very well done and lots of options...and it is wicked fast!

http://androidforums.com/android-applications/77203-adw-launcher.html

[MOD]2010.05.04-ADW.Launcher, now with... a lot of things - xda-developers
 
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All you have to do is hit home or back to close the drawer, what's the problem there?

noticed that the transitions between the app drawer and the home screen can "stutter" sometimes...

thats what made me dislike helix 1, helix 2 runs great on my phone, everything is smooth and fast. im sticking to it until he updates or this launcher has a 3d or non full screen option.
 
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I don't know if you have to be rooted to install ADW but it is far superior to this. While the 4 apps on the launcher bar is nice, ADW gives you 2 AND you have the option to add 6 apps to the "app dock" (just hold the square launcher button and slide up).http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=645550

You do need to root.

ADW is better functionally, it just doesn't have the "polish" and prettiness. For example, while I do still prefer it over Launcher Pro, what's with the scroll bar in the app drawer for example?
 
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You do need to root.

ADW is better functionally, it just doesn't have the "polish" and prettiness. For example, while I do still prefer it over Launcher Pro, what's with the scroll bar in the app drawer for example?

I personally don't mind the scroll bar. I see that as a minor complaint. What's with not being able to change the icons in the dock using Launcher PRO? Much bigger complaint for me anyway. Plus the static icons are gray and that doesn't "do it" for me.

Not very many settings to change...I just don't see the "polish". Functionally, it does seem to be really good though.
 
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Polish as in bouncy Sense-tastic scrolling (ADWLauncher's dev has been trying to do this, without success), pinch to preview (and when you pick a homescreen, it doesn't scroll but immediately zoom in), etc. As I said, still a long way away from being my main launcher due to the lack of customization, but it does have a few things going for it.
 
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Above all else the speed of this launcher is what does it for me. Yea not customize dock but it's pretty close to what I use. I wonder how he got the speed where others have failed. It hasn't even FC'd on my yet which is suprising. It's faster than the default launcher which I've never seen before.
 
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I'm very impressed with it's speed. Is this his first release? It's beta, which means he may well be planning updates. I am excited to see what develops. Since the icons in the bottom are a special icon skin, I am wondering if they'll ever be customizable, but who knows. Maybe he'll offer some options from a "most requested" list.
 
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I would really like to try this out, the only thing holding me back is the uncustomizable dock icons. I'm guessing the dialer is for stock and not changeable to dialer one? I also use GV for messaging so the stock messaging shortcut would be useless as well. I could deal with contacts being there and I do have the web on mine (Helix) but having half of them 'wasted space' just doesn't do it for me.
Perhaps if it is updated to allow customization I'll give it a go...sounds great otherwise though!
 
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I'm gonna stick with Helix because, frankly, I just don't see the difference in speed. Not only that, but I like being able to customize my app doc. I'm rooted and running BB1.0, so maybe that 's why I'm not noticing the speed difference because I'm already fast. I get a very small and occasional stutter with Helix- and I do mean small and occasional - when going from one home screen to another, but it's just not enough to make me want to reload all my shortcuts and widgets into another launcher.
 
Upvote 0
clemintine_3 with launcher pro when you first install it and u hit the messaging or dialer icon on the bottom bar it lets u make default whatever program u have installed for that particular program... i use handcent and dialer one and it let me check which one i wanted to make my default...
Great! Thanks for the info...I may have to give it a try then!
 
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You do need to root.

ADW is better functionally, it just doesn't have the "polish" and prettiness. For example, while I do still prefer it over Launcher Pro, what's with the scroll bar in the app drawer for example?

ADW bogged down for me after using it for a while...could be a "me only" issue, but I went back to Helix after trying ADW for a while and getting lag on returning to the home screen...

Also, ADW does have more options, but the limitation to two icons in the primary dock was a problem for me, and accessing the secondary dock (opening and closing it) was not as efficient as I wanted...
 
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LauncherPro is pretty good... I have been using it since seeing this post. Definitely faster than HelixLauncher2 on my droid running BB V1 clocked at 900mhz. It's almost like the screens transition so fast i'm not really used to it. The 4 dockable icons is definitely the deal breaker though. Because without the ones I use in helixlauncher, I would have to put new icons on all my screens to have it so I could access what I want to on the dock from the home screen.

I'm definitely going to keep it just in case I see some updates pop up, but for now i'm sticking with Helix. I really like the 3D app drawer.. so if Launcher Pro comes out with both that and a customizable dock, then it'll be a no brainer for me.
 
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Just uninstalled Helix in favor of LauncherPro. I'll give it a while to really test but so far I'm enjoying it. If I can't redo the dock icons... ever. I can deal with that, just put a shortcut on my homescreen for it. but it is missing some features that I enjoy, like
Double tap home to get back to your default screen - not an option in LP (at least that I see, though there is a default screen selection??)
 
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I'm not a huge fan of these Nexus-esque launchers. I prefer the look and functionality of app drawers. But if I HAD to choose a Nexus-esque launcher, it would definitely be LauncherPro.

I really don't care about persistent icons so the fact that they aren't customizable doesn't bother me a bit. Even though I'm not big into persistent icons, I must admit that I really like the consistent, greyed-out look they have chosen for those icons (similar to Home++). Also, the four permenant shortcuts they have chosen are the four I use most often.

And, most impressively, LauncherPro's screen transitions are blazing fast and I love the physics engine they have implemented. I was using the default Launcher (app drawer) that came with Fab's NexBeast but I'm thinking of switching to LauncherPro.
 
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