Apex Launcher and Nova Launcher

**Rockafella** · 10-14-2012, 03:13 AM

I had decided a few weeks ago to try apex launcher a try and really liked the additional features it offered over traditional TW. Shortly after installing apex I noticed my phone screen would randomly flash while looking at any application or it would refresh randomly. At first I would ignore it and then it would start bothering me. I decided to buy nova launcher since it was part of the .25 promotion (can't beat it) and I imported the apex settings into nova as well as tweaked some things with the nova features it came with. After installing and using Nova Prime, I've noticed that the random screen flashing and refreshing went away. I don't know if other people have had this issue but I thought I would post my findings after using both launchers. Nova also seems to be faster as well since you can increase animation speed to load apps faster.

I also noticed with apex that when I would press the lock power/lock key it would hesitate before finally turning off the screen and locking the phone. I haven't noticed this happening with nova launcher since installing and using it. I'm not biased towards one or the other. I just wanted some additional features and control over TW. Let me know your findings if you've had the same issues with the screen randomly flashing and refreshing.

**jneusch** · 10-14-2012, 10:01 AM

I tried both as well and landed on Nova. I didn't notice the screen flashing, I just liked the the way Nova looked and the set up a little better.

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**Rockafella** · 10-14-2012, 11:45 AM

Originally Posted by jneusch

I tried both as well and landed on Nova. I didn't notice the screen flashing, I just liked the the way Nova looked and the set up a little better.

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I agree with you on that as well. Nova was simpler. Still haven't had the issues I had previously.

**Murphy5111** · 10-14-2012, 12:14 PM

Does anyone know why the weather widget isn't available in nova launcher?

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**jmz768** · 10-14-2012, 03:20 PM

I've been using Apex and have never had a problem with it. Love being able to group my icons into categories and only having a single screen, instead of having to swipe through multiple screens.

**lbkiml** · 10-14-2012, 08:25 PM

I use both. No problems with either.

**sloan31** · 10-14-2012, 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by Murphy5111

Does anyone know why the weather widget isn't available in nova launcher?

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I'm playing with both and I don't see the weather widget in Apex either. Both are really great...although I already like Apex a little more...but I really miss my weather widget.

**jneusch** · 10-14-2012, 08:40 PM

I am using the Go weather widget. O also like the live whether wallpaper from Go.

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**sloan31** · 10-14-2012, 09:13 PM

Originally Posted by jneusch

I am using the Go weather widget. O also like the live whether wallpaper from Go.

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Go Weather Widget is nice. Only problem I'm having is it can't pick up my location by GPS...is that working for you?

**sparesr4sissies** · 10-14-2012, 10:24 PM

Originally Posted by Murphy5111

Does anyone know why the weather widget isn't available in nova launcher?

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I'm guessing it's a touchwiz feature and they just don't allow it in other launchers.

**leroybrute** · 10-14-2012, 11:06 PM

I have both paid versions and I prefer apex on my tablets because of the tablet UI feature, and nova on my phones. With apex how ever if you go into apex settings/advanced, scroll down and add a check to keep in memory. It might help with the flashing or refresh issues you might have.

**brettxw** · 10-14-2012, 11:10 PM

I love Nova!! Have it on all my phones and tablet.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S8 on Verizon 12G

**Rockafella** · 10-14-2012, 11:35 PM

Good to hear the feedback from everyone. I use beautiful widgets for my wether / clock widget

**eric3316** · 10-15-2012, 06:17 AM

Originally Posted by sparesr4sissies

I'm guessing it's a touchwiz feature and they just don't allow it in other launchers.

This^ ^

Samsungs weather widget only works with the TW launcher.

After using Nova and Apex for a while, I actually tried Go Launcher Ex which I have not ran since using an ICS device. I must say I am really liking it. It has a ton of features and runs smoothly as well. I also like that the icons are larger and themes play much nicer then they do in Nova. You can only change the icons in Nova and not the docks like in Go. I know Apex will change the dock to the theme but Apex was just never that smooth for me.

**sloan31** · 10-15-2012, 08:32 AM

Ok...so Apex is feature rich but not as fast as TW. Nova is screaming fast. Will give GO Launcher EX a try next.

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**psyjohn** · 10-15-2012, 08:39 AM

I tried Apex and Nova, ran both for a while, and settled on Nova because of odd little glitches in Apex like you described. Others have no problems with Apex, and honestly the two are so similar I think it's just a matter of what works for each person and what they like.

HD Widgets has a great alternative to the TW weather widget. I picked up HD during the play store sale and I love it. Now that I've been using it a while I would definitely pay full price if I had to do it over again.

**Roffles** · 10-15-2012, 04:34 PM

I use weather eye as my replacement weather widget. It comes with a nice selection of weather icons and you can adjust the transparency and font colors. It's bare bones and gets the job done.

**rbess1965** · 10-15-2012, 05:15 PM

I used Go for a long, long time but after I received ICS on my phone, things got laggy and just rougher to use. I blamed it all on ICS but then changed to Apex because I noticed that Go was using upwards of 80mb of my RAM in Running Processes. Apex appears to only run about 40 and it's listed in the Cached Process, not the Running one. Things are a lot smoother now with Apex.

**paintdrinkingpete** · 10-16-2012, 10:17 AM

I used Go launcher for a bit quite a while ago, but not recently enough to really comment on it, although at the time I wasn't impressed...looked ok, but just seemed to add unecessary lag.

I have tried both Apex and Nova on my SG3...and also prefer Nova. I see almost no difference in performance even after loading it on top of Touchwiz (I've also used it without TW on some other ROMs, and performance is almost identical). The customization are much better than the stock TW launcher, and I love being able to save my configuration to quickly reload if/when I flash different ROMs.

As far as the weather widget, I use Beautiful Widgets quite a bit...very customizable and work well with either launcher.

**cqpearson** · 10-16-2012, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by Rockafella

Good to hear the feedback from everyone. I use beautiful widgets for my wether / clock widget

I'm running Nova Launcher: fast, smooth and you can remove the function bar on home pages and can still slide the drawer down. Beautiful Weather widget is just ridiculous! BW has live wallpaper that depicts the actual weather. The sun and moon transit the sky with clouds. And it rains, heavy or light, with drops on your screen. And a windshield wiper swipes across LoL!

I am the Galaxy and I Approve this Message
Sent from my SPH - D710

**paintdrinkingpete** · 10-16-2012, 01:14 PM

Originally Posted by cqpearson

I'm running Nova Launcher: fast, smooth and you can remove the function bar on home pages and can still slide the drawer down. Beautiful Weather widget is just ridiculous! BW has live wallpaper that depicts the actual weather. The sun and moon transit the sky with clouds. And it rains, heavy or light, with drops on your screen. And a windshield wiper swipes across LoL!

I am the Galaxy and I Approve this Message
Sent from my SPH - D710

Yeah, I think they "stole" a lot of those effects from HTC Sense...but it's still pretty cool.