One slightly annoying thing I noticed about the Droid Community and Apps.

[Hand76]

And maybe you fit into this category.

I notice once an app comes out that does something different than what the stock phone initially comes with it's automatically perceived as better.

One recent example was a new app that came out about 1 month ago (sorry I forgot the name) that added a different home screen. It came with 3 screens (instead of the 7 you get now) and could not use the HTC widgets. Now there was nothing really wrong with the app, it had a nice clean interface but come on people are downgrading and looking at it as an improvement? Really?

Just my opinion but I bet if the phone came loaded with half the appps some people have now, and the HTC interface/sense/widgets came out afterwards people would be drooling over those...

 

[ttamnedlog]

Are you referring to LauncherPro? I just happened to switch to this yesterday. It replaces the Sense UI with the "default" android interface. It comes default with 3 screens, but you can set it for up to 7. It also won't allow you to use the Sense widgets.

Why do I prefer it over Sense? Several reasons.

1. Regarding the widgets, I never used the Sense widgets anyway so I'm not missing out on anything.

2. The bottom panel. The Sense UI had the app drawer, phone dialer, and plus sign (for adding shortcuts/apps/etc to a home screen). I used the app drawer and phone dialer, but never used the plus button because long pressing the screen had the same functionality. So I used two of the three buttons. With LauncherPro, the bottom panel has dialer, contacts, app drawer, messages, and internet. I use all five of those buttons, and now free up three spaces on a home screen since I no longer need shortcuts to messages, internet, and contacts.

3. 7 screens is great... when I have them all filled up. Which I don't. I currently only need 5 screens. Having the ability to disable 2 of the 7 is nice.

4. The app drawer animation is a bit "fancier."


So yeah. Whether or not it is an "improvement" is subjective. But it certainly offers features that I find very useful, and so I prefer it over stock Sense.

 

[mallinj]

2. The bottom panel. The Sense UI had the app drawer, phone dialer, and plus sign (for adding shortcuts/apps/etc to a home screen). I used the app drawer and phone dialer, but never used the plus button because long pressing the screen had the same functionality. So I used two of the three buttons. With LauncherPro, the bottom panel has dialer, contacts, app drawer, messages, and internet. I use all five of those buttons, and now free up three spaces on a home screen since I no longer need shortcuts to messages, internet, and contacts.

You can also customize 4 of the 5 bottom dock icons by long pressing them. Can't put a widget there but can put a shortcut. Now, I have phone, SMS, Gmail and Dolphin HD from any of my 7 home screens.

 

[Hand76]

Are you referring to LauncherPro?

I don't think that was the one. The one I was talking about was only limited to 3 home screens.

But again this is not about just 1 app in general just something I noticed that people are wowed by just about every new app just because it's different.

 

[Reddog80p]

I think people who have used other android devices that do not run htc sense would alot of the time prefer the standard launcher style theme instead of the sense ui overlay. There's nothing wrong with liking sense or non-sense themes. I prefer standard android because I feel the sense widgets are too big and do not allow me to use each page as I intend.

I'm kinda puzzled why a user being able to customize their device with apps and or widgets/home screen would annoy a fellow android user? Everyone has their own style or preferences thats what I like about android. I could never be like the guy next door with nothing but square icon after square icon on my screen.

 

[ChiTownJim]

Android is all about customization, I prefer the nexus ui to sense. Others really like sense, its not necessarily better or worse just preference

 

[sheepforwheat]

Are you referring to LauncherPro? I just happened to switch to this yesterday. It replaces the Sense UI with the "default" android interface. It comes default with 3 screens, but you can set it for up to 7. It also won't allow you to use the Sense widgets.

Why do I prefer it over Sense? Several reasons.

1. Regarding the widgets, I never used the Sense widgets anyway so I'm not missing out on anything.

2. The bottom panel. The Sense UI had the app drawer, phone dialer, and plus sign (for adding shortcuts/apps/etc to a home screen). I used the app drawer and phone dialer, but never used the plus button because long pressing the screen had the same functionality. So I used two of the three buttons. With LauncherPro, the bottom panel has dialer, contacts, app drawer, messages, and internet. I use all five of those buttons, and now free up three spaces on a home screen since I no longer need shortcuts to messages, internet, and contacts.

3. 7 screens is great... when I have them all filled up. Which I don't. I currently only need 5 screens. Having the ability to disable 2 of the 7 is nice.

4. The app drawer animation is a bit "fancier."


So yeah. Whether or not it is an "improvement" is subjective. But it certainly offers features that I find very useful, and so I prefer it over stock Sense.

Does Launcher Pro sit on top of sense or does it replace sense? This would be a concern because if it sat on top, I would assume it would contribute to battery drain.

 

[Taylored]

Android is about customization. It is about being able to try new things and not being limited by someone else's way of doing things. Sometimes it is better sometimes it is not. But the experience is part of the fun.

 

[02keilj]

And maybe you fit into this category.

I notice once an app comes out that does something different than what the stock phone initially comes with it's automatically perceived as better.

One recent example was a new app that came out about 1 month ago (sorry I forgot the name) that added a different home screen. It came with 3 screens (instead of the 7 you get now) and could not use the HTC widgets. Now there was nothing really wrong with the app, it had a nice clean interface but come on people are downgrading and looking at it as an improvement? Really?

Just my opinion but I bet if the phone came loaded with half the appps some people have now, and the HTC interface/sense/widgets came out afterwards people would be drooling over those...

Did it occur to you that maybe sometimes people want apps that do LESS than certain others? Often its easier to just have one app that does one specific thing that you want as opposed to one app that does 3 things even though you never use 2 of them.

For example, the stock calender on my Hero.
It does what i want, and i use pure calendar widget on my home screen. I have never had any problems with it. Something like Gemini Calendar has more functionality over the stock calendar (so im told). I tried it but to me it just was not needed. Also the fact that it lacked a decent size widget.
To many others, that could not fathom at how i get away with using the stock calendar.

 

[ttamnedlog]

Does Launcher Pro sit on top of sense or does it replace sense? This would be a concern because if it sat on top, I would assume it would contribute to battery drain.

It replaces it.

Once you set LauncherPro as a default, and have rebooted your phone, it boots straight into LauncherPro. If you were to go to Settings > Applications > Manage Applications and clear LauncherPro's defaults, when you hit the Home button it will ask if you want to complete that action using HTC Sense or LauncherPro. If you choose HTC sense, a black screen comes up with the HTC logo for about 5 seconds before returning to your Sense Home screen. This shows that HTC Sense was not even loaded.

 

[ChiTownJim]

If you're going to use diffrent launchers download "Home Switcher" it's free and it's awesome.
It allows you to switch back and forth very easy without going into the setting
I use it , I use Sense and Launcher Pro (was using Helix but Launcher seems better)