Types of Launchers: Pro's & Con's

disneymagik

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Sep 18, 2012
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Hi all,

I've been a member here for awhile but don't post a lot. I try to learn as much as I can from all of you seasoned gurus. ;)

But now I have a few questions. I know many of you use Nova Launcher as well as a couple others I don't remember off hand. I've been using Go Launcher Prime, Go Locker, & Go SMS Pro. The main reason being is that I really like being able to control of my launcher, lock screen, and text messaging themes in pretty much the same place. I also really like having 2 rows of dock icons to scroll through and a slide out side menu that I can put my most frequently used apps on and they're available from any screen.

For those of you who use Nova Launcher or any other, can you tell me if any of these features are available with any of them and if they make lock screens and/or text apps to use with the launchers?
I'd really appreciate the info as well as any & all of your input on what you like/dislike about the launcher/locker/msg'ing app you use and even ones you don't use. I truly value your opinions!

Thanks very much!
~Heidi~
 

B. Diddy

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I tried Nova on my old Razr Maxx and Asus Transformer TF300, because they were both getting slow and laggy. Nova helped a bit, but it wasn't enough to overcome the inherent issues with those devices. With my Nexus 5 and Nexus 7, the Google Now Launcher works very smoothly, so I didn't feel the need for an alternative launcher. Nova has some nice features to customize the homescreen and app drawer, but they're not that important to me.
 

Rukbat

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Nova doesn't have a slide-out favorites, per se, but you can have as many as 5 dock pages with as many as 7 icons on each. And there are other "swipe menu" apps available.

I use Nova for every ROM and every phone, because I've used it so long I'm comfortable with it. At one time, back around 2.3, I used Go Launcher for quite a while, then I discovered Nova.

I've been playing with which SMS app to use (Hangouts is about like hauling a pencil in a freight train), and my current default is Go. I've only been using it for about half a day (we had a load of messages flying around this morning), but I still don't know it very well except to read and send texts.

I'm fine with the TouchWiz lock screen, but I've kind of automated it with Tasker, so it's "None" when I'm at home or my daughter's house. (It also turns USB debugging on then, so if I have to use adb to unlock the phone, I can do it at home, but someone who found my phone can't.) Since I use the phone where the lock screen is disables so much of the time, which one I''m using isn't that important to me.

As far as themes, about as far as I go is changing my wallpaper for whatever the next holiday is. I have changed the icon set, but most that work with Go also work with Nova.

Hope this helped you a little.
 

Morpheus

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I'm using the Google launcher. It's like stock Android. Using SwiftKey for keyboard and HD widgets for weather dock. It's simple and runs fast.

Only has a few things I would like different, but can't always have my way.

Posted via Android Central App via Note 3
 

eve6er69

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I use Nova on and off. It is extremely customizable and fast. Sometimes I like Nova and sometimes I like a normal feeling phone. Lol
 

WeAreAllUnique

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I like Touch Wiz. Like the look and the features. Really no need for me to look anywhere else. And this has been ever since the first Galaxy smartphone.

Scribbled from the mighty pen of my Galaxy Note 4!