Launcher alternatives for Droid3 - Go Launcher, others

[BBooDad]

I thought it would be nice for other Droid3 users to see the experiences we have with alternative Launchers, as I haven't seen much on this. Not that the stock Moto-not-blur is bad, but is a little limited for me, especially the stock Lock screen and messaging app.

After reading around, and hearing about Go Launcher, I tried it today. It is pretty cool to have a lot more things that the phone will do, and more pages to organize. Also lots of widgets that do cool stuff. Even better, you can pick how much you want to pack apps on to your home screens, allowing extra rows and columns. And it seems just as fast (if not faster!) than the stock Launcher, without lag.

But MOST important, is better lock screens. The Moto lock screen was annoying me with having to swipe it "just right" to open it, and not showing that much. With Go Launcher Ex, you can try out a bunch of different lock screens.

The only down-side so far is that I have to figure out the display settings better, so that it auto-offs the screen better. Right now, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't, and that could be a battery hog.

 

[Suntan]

I use Go Launcher EX too. But I prefer less, to more. All I have on the main screen is a couple of folder links to different types of apps.

As for lock screens, I don't use any of them. The button on the D3 is so hard to acedentally press that I don't bother with the extra hassle of a lockscreen.

-Suntan

 

[doogald]

I've had an Android phone for a couple of years now, so I've tried out plenty of launchers. The stock D3 launcher isn't terrible, but there is a lot of silly and unnecessary screen transition animation that I dislike, plus limiting the dock to 3 icons is, well, too limiting. For a long, long time, I ran LauncherPro, and remain a fan, though I find it a little long in the tooth - it hasn't been updated in a long time now. ADW and ADW EX are not bad, but Go Launcher EX is what I run on my D3 right now, and plan to continue. It's free, the developer seems to be aggressively improving and, most important, I find it the least resistant to being closed in the background compared with stock, LP+ and ADW EX.

I have tried replacement lock screens in the past but I always go back to stock because you see occasional double lock screens (the replacement and then stock.) I have tried many different lock screen styles in the past, but I think I like the simple slide to unlock best - it's the simplest. Actually, early HTC Sense slide down to unlock was very good as well, but I actually like the newest Sense ring lockscreen least of all. Anyway, I still have the stock lockscreen, which I like - I just wish it had the ability to add something like a camera swipe that the Razr has. I don't use the camera a lot, but it would be nice to get to it quickly.

 

[BBooDad]

I heard that it is possible to add sms message and other features (or get with them) to Go Launcher lock screens. I plan to try when I have a chance.

Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk

 

[tman_c45]

I've used ADW, ADW Ex, Launcher Pro, Go Launcher...

launcher pro seems to be the least resource hog, but not the most pleasing aesthetically...

Go Launcher looks the best, and has the most wow, but seems to be a bit slower and consume a bit more battery than others...

I'm using ADW EX right now and like it -- seems to be a great combination of the other two--fast, not bad on battery, and looks nice... it cost a couple bucks, but is worth it.

hope this helps