Which Home Screen?

[andrizoid]

Here you are Frisco.
It's a freebie, so shouldn't be breaking any forum rules.

ahhhhh! beat me to it

 

[rvpartsguy]

lol .. I'm going crazy.. I used the link for HelixLauncher provided in an earlier post, but I see no download link there.

I clicked the "official website" and it took me to another version of the same page.. and that page expired right when I was looking at it, "this page no longer on server" it said. Huh?

Perhaps somebody has a direct link to HelixLauncher, as I did a search and could not find it in Market, either.

Frisco I am pretty sure this is a 2.1 app ........ or at least everything I can find on it makes reference too 2.1

 

[Pitamakan]

Well, this thread finally convinced me to try Helix, and I have to say ... it's great! Responsive, nice-looking, and efficient. The "dock" (or whatever) of frequently-used apps is excellent, and far more useful than those stupid Sense buttons.

Mostly, it seems to be faster, too, though there's a very significant lag when initially adding icons and widgets.

 

[Frisco]

Frisco I am pretty sure this is a 2.1 app ........ or at least everything I can find on it makes reference too 2.1

Yeah, it ain't installin'. I'm tired of foolin' around with it.. my hope was that it would install in 1.5 (somebody asked about that in an earlier post).

Meanwhile, Sense is configured to my liking.. but the HelixLauncher sounds like the sort of configurable desktop I'd be willing to have as an alternative on my phone.

 

[andrizoid]

Yeah, it ain't installin'. I'm tired of foolin' around with it.. my hope was that it would install in 1.5 (somebody asked about that in an earlier post).

Meanwhile, Sense is configured to my liking.. but the HelixLauncher sounds like the sort of configurable desktop I'd be willing to have as an alternative on my phone.

TAKE THE LEAK!
it will solve your problems

 

[Frisco]

TAKE THE LEAK!
it will solve your problems

Well, there really is no problem to solve. Intalling an alternative to Sense is more a frivolous endeavor than a needed one.

Besides, the OTA will be along sometime soon, and then plenty of madcap frivolity will prevail, I'm sure.

 

[andrizoid]

Well, there really is no problem to solve. Intalling an alternative to Sense is more a frivolous endeavor than a needed one.

Besides, the OTA will be along sometime soon, and then plenty of madcap frivolity will prevail, I'm sure.

"Besides, the OTA will be along sometime soon"
we've all heard that a few times before

 

[yournamepenor]

hands down sens is the best. i have a droid and i think the best home for that is either gde or the helix or launcher2. but as soon as the desire or incredible rom comes out i am switching to that.

 

[zombii matt]

how do you change the home screen?

im sorry if this has been answered somewhere else, if you could just pm me with the link i would greatly appreciate it

 

[andrizoid]

how do you change the home screen?

im sorry if this has been answered somewhere else, if you could just pm me with the link i would greatly appreciate it

do you have another UI installed?

 

[Pitamakan]

Once you've downloaded the home UI that you want to try, go to the Market and download an app called Home Switcher.

 

[Frisco]

"Besides, the OTA will be along sometime soon"
we've all heard that a few times before

We've also heard "the leak will solve your problems" a few times before. <--- take this to the 2.1 bugs and fixes thread

 

[Deleted User]

Give us some feedback later on battery life.

Thanks!

So far battery life hasn't been great since Helix installed, but the phone is much more responsive, haven't experienced any lag at all. When I check the Spare Parts and the native battery info, helix isn't listed. Cell Standby and Cell Idle seem to be using most of the battery. I do have GPS off, but location on, and using Beautiful Widgets.

 

[firelight]

I switched from Home++ which I've been using for a three+ months now (mainly due to the screens and launcher apps at bottom) to Helix just this week. Home++ doesn't work with live wallpapers and it keeps giving me very slow app-drawer loading. Helix gives me 4 persistant launcher/dock apps at the bottom and a much better drawer and live wallpapers.

I've used Weather Widgets (donate) for a two months now and have to say it is better than Beautiful and more customizable. I like all the downloadable skin options (free).

Now with Helix I have multi-screen (5), live wallpaper, landscape mode for Weather Widgets (even with the forecast now) and I couldn't be happier.

 

[RubberDucker]

and i can speak into any text field.

PERFECT!

Might be a dumb question, but what are you using to do the speech to text?

 

[Dro1d]

I've used PandaHome, GDE, Home++, Helix, and DXTop.
I've never been a big fan of having a busy home screen, and I'm all about organization. I absolutely loved the dock/drawers which can be added to the facepage with PandaHome. The downsides are its a bit laggy, and the PandaHome 2 as of this review didn't support the LWP which I've grown rather fond of.

GDE was great for the Application Docks and again, for organization. Downside for me with the Droid was the lag. The application drawer was unacceptably slow. So away from that one I went.

I've been using Helix now for the last couple of weeks and must say that I love it. Shortcuts at the bottom are ideal. Lag is nonexistent. I use the Beautiful Widgets for the customizable clock skins (there are reportedly over 100 now though I haven't counted.) I will use the various custom clocks to complement my backgrounds, and use BetterCut to customize the icons to provide me with the aesthetic feel I want. All in all, I feel Helix leaves me desiring very little. Just my .02.

 

[5thAgent]

Why the hell isn't SlideScreen an option in the poll? It's the most epic and simplistic thing to hit the android market. Like ever... dude.

 

[Bswartz95]

So far battery life hasn't been great since Helix installed, but the phone is much more responsive, haven't experienced any lag at all. When I check the Spare Parts and the native battery info, helix isn't listed. Cell Standby and Cell Idle seem to be using most of the battery. I do have GPS off, but location on, and using Beautiful Widgets.

Yeah, my battery life with Helix & Beautiful Widgets is not very good either. I'm considering going back to Sense for this reason. I'll give it another few days.

 

[Bswartz95]

Well, I uninstalled Beautiful Widgets and purchased the Weather Widget Donate. I hope this helps my battery life.

I really liked Beautiful, but my battery took a serious beating.

I guess I only have $4 invested. I'm sure I've wasted $4 on more senseless stuff! Haha! I just really like Helix and want to continue using it.

 

[ttran97]

I'm switching back to Home for now. I missed having the high battery life. Helix was cool with the 4 permanent shortcuts at the bottom, but it didn't have that much more battery life than Sense. With Home, I was getting close to 30 hrs with my normal usage.

The great thing is that all of the widgets that i was using, I can also use with Home. Gotta love how customizable Android is!

 

[doogald]

Why the hell isn't SlideScreen an option in the poll? It's the most epic and simplistic thing to hit the android market. Like ever... dude.

I like SlideScreen as well, except for two things. It eats my battery, and I cannot use widgets to control things like turning WiFi on and off, etc. Unless I was missing something...

 

[andrizoid]

Why the hell isn't SlideScreen an option in the poll? It's the most epic and simplistic thing to hit the android market. Like ever... dude.

whats slide screen?

 

[doogald]

whats slide screen?

See SlideScreen Android App Replaces Homescreen With Beautiful Information - Slidescreen - Gizmodo and Slide Screen by Larva Labs

Basically, it's a home screen replacement (it can also be run as just an app) that shows some key information above (calls, messages and mail) and below (twitter, google reader, facebook) a status bar that shows time, battery info, weather, network connectivity and signal strength, etc.

 

[troxell]

I also vote slidescreen. I freakin' love it. So simple and beautiful

 

[paligap]

Hello fellow Erisheads!

So, I have tried them all on the 2.1 v2 leak - tried Helix, Home++, Panda and even bought beautiful widgets...I always go back to the HTC Sense - reason?

The integration with the music player when in lock screen is the main one - i use it on the train and walking to work...

Helix was BY FAR the best of the rest - love the landscape, the dock with the 4 shortcuts and it's just as fast as the Sense UI if not faster...

Panda is a hog - takes too much battery and is slower than the others..

Home++ I did not like at all - the "dock" is only for the home screen and it just seems clunkier (for lack of a better word) than the others...

If you have the new leak (v2) then there really is no reason to switch from Sense UI unless you want landscape -

Just my two pennies....

Side note - if there is a music player (and I have found them ALL very underwhelming for an open o/s) that has integration into the lock screen - send me a PM