Feel lost - where to start?

[JuliaRue2]

Ok, so I feel lost - I'm trying to find information about various things regarding my phone, but the assumed knowledge and/or geek speak have me totally lost. I made a huge leap - from crappy little VZW pay-as-you-go phone to the Fascinate. I got it because I wanted more constant access to my work email and calendar. That was easy enough to figure out - but I know the phone offers so much more and I want to take advantage of it.

I have had my Samsung Fascinate a little over a week. I'm not comfortable rooting it at this point (thanks for the easy-to-read article on that, BTW), but I do want to optimize performance, get some useful widgets, and get rid or hide of some of the garbage that was preloaded on my phone.

So where to start? How about:

• What Developer makes "LauncherPro" (I found several similarly named apps)
• What exactly does LauncherPro DO?
• What are the consequences of using LauncherPro? (good, bad, or otherwise)

As a general comment, I have to say I'm really surprised how uninformative app info/descriptions are for a "non-tech" user like myself. Like "Shazam".. someone said I should check it out, but didn't tell me what it did. So I check the Android market and I STILL have no idea what it actually does. People seem to assume that if you have one of these phones, you have some pre-existing knowledge.

 

[NickA]

LauncherPro is a good place to start if you want to hide some of the bloatware installed by Verizon. Here's the link to LauncherPro by the way: LauncherPro - Android app on AppBrain. LauncherPro replaces the TouchWiz interface installed by Samsung. Basically, the UI you see on your home screen, or when you open your applications is TouchWiz. LauncherPro changes the look/feel and is more customizable. I like the TouchWiz interface, so I switch back and forth (so you'll want HomeSwitcher too: Home Switcher - Android app on AppBrain).

I can't think of any consequences of using LP that I have encountered.

IMHO, I think Android still gets labeled as a "geeks" phone or operating system. A lot of this has to do with the openness of it, and how anyone can push just about anything to the Android Market. I wish it's perception would become a little more consumer oriented, but time will tell. I've heard a lot of people say they won't by an Android phone because "it's too hard to use", or "I'm not a hacker".

 

[Adiliyo]

shazaam is a song id program. basically if you hear some song playing somewhere and wonder what it is, you open shazaam and it will listen and then tell you what song it is.

 

[JuliaRue2]

LauncherPro is a good place to start if you want to hide some of the bloatware installed by Verizon.

How does LauncherPro hide bloatware? I'm able to delete the icons off my home screens already, but they still show up when I look at my Applications (page? screen?) and when I go to Manage Applications. I'd prefer to hide the apps in those two places, since I've already taken care of my home screen(s). I like the look of TouchWiz, not sure it'd be worth DLing LauncherPro if it just changes my home screens.

Adiliyo - Thanks, I had heard of apps that do that, but didn't know this was one of them. Any hints on what "tagging" is all about? I know about tagging in terms of tagging website content, no idea how it would be applied to Shazam.

 

[Adiliyo]

tagging in shazaam basically remembers what the songs you ID'd were so you can purchase them later.

at least it should work like that, personally i use soundhound as i find it more fully featured and faster. (does the same thing as shazaam)

launcher pro hides apps in the application menu as well as anywhere else. it's a nice feature if you don't want to root and actually remove the bloat.

 

[NickA]

I'm able to delete the icons off my home screens already, but they still show up when I look at my Applications (page? screen?) and when I go to Manage Applications.

TouchWiz will not allow you to remove certain applications installed by Verizon from your applications screen(s). You'll notice a little cog (or gear) wheel in the upper left hand corner when you open your application screens. If you press that wheel, you'll notice some icons do not have the little red minus to remove the icon. LauncherPro will let you hide these icons, TouchWiz will now.

LauncherPro has a bunch of other features. I'm sure others will chime in with some of their favorite features. Or check out the "Post your Samsung Fascinate Screenshots!" thread.

 

[joebob2000]

tagging in shazaam basically remembers what the songs you ID'd were so you can purchase them later.

at least it should work like that, personally i use soundhound as i find it more fully featured and faster. (does the same thing as shazaam)

launcher pro hides apps in the application menu as well as anywhere else. it's a nice feature if you don't want to root and actually remove the bloat.

Does it remove "the bloat" or does it just give you an app menu that excludes a lot of icons? I have wavered back and forth as to how many icons i want on the home screens vs how many i am willing to just go into the apps area to see. Oh how I wish there was just a "hide" option...

 

[NickA]

It just hides the icon(s) and doesn't actually remove the application. I've done what you are thinking about; just having a home screen with my most used applications. That way I never really need to open the application drawer.

 

[JuliaRue2]

Here's another newbie question - I currently have to hit the power button AND swipe the glass to get back to using my phone. Is there a setting I can change which allows me to just touch the phone then swipe? (If so - any drawbacks for doing it that way? like killing battery life?)

 

[sbruce5109]

i haven't seen an app that does that yet, i have seen an app that will let you just hit the unlock button and no swiping (the name of it i can't remember), hope that helps?

 

[NickA]

I think the app you are thinking of is No Lock.

 

[JuliaRue2]

Ok, so no setting I can change then, got it.

Is there any good program out there to hide my bloatware (no root) but NOT change the look and feel of my UI? Or does LauncherPro have an option for that?

 

[Adiliyo]

launcher pro or adw (same kind of app, a home replacement) are the only ways i know of.

the best thing would probably be to try out launcher pro, if you don't like it, you can easily uninstall it and your home screens on the touchwiz launcher will remain the same.

 

[NickA]

Is there any good program out there to hide my bloatware (no root) but NOT change the look and feel of my UI? Or does LauncherPro have an option for that?

Unfortunately not. What I did was move all the bloatware to a new page, or panel, or whatever TouchWiz calls it. That way they are all at the end and I don't have to see them as I scroll through the other panels.

One thing that annoys me is that as you install new applications, TouchWiz does not automatically sort the apps alphabetically. You'll have to manually do that, unless you view the apps in List View.

 

[Adiliyo]

Unfortunately not. What I did was move all the bloatware to a new page, or panel, or whatever TouchWiz calls it. That way they are all at the end and I don't have to see them as I scroll through the other panels.

One thing that annoys me is that as you install new applications, TouchWiz does not automatically sort the apps alphabetically. You'll have to manually do that, unless you view the apps in List View.

if you use the vibrant's launcher instead of ours you have the option to sort using alpha

 

[JuliaRue2]

OK, so I got LauncherPro 'cause I decided I wanted Google Search... Google search hack from ROM forum did not work (and it appears no one is answering that thread anymore) and I can't seem to find a set of LauncherPro "compatable" icons so I can swap out the ugly LP home icons. All the icon sets seems to require OpenHome or ADW, etc. Any hints for me?

 

[JuliaRue2]

Also, where the heck is the zoom on the camera? I can't imagine it just flat out doesn't have on, but where the heck is it hidden?

 

[coltsbr]

Also, where the heck is the zoom on the camera? I can't imagine it just flat out doesn't have on, but where the heck is it hidden?

The zoom for the camera is your volume rocker.

 

[JuliaRue2]

Thanks... I tried it, but I kept pressing up because in my head, that made sense for zoom. I had to press and hold for a lot longer than I thought too. Ugh.

 

[JuliaRue2]

OK, so today is just a winner when it comes to issues. The screen kept freezing and now I'm at home (crappy cell signal) and hooked up to WiFi, yet several different programs are telling me to check the network and that I have no connection. ARGH! I am NOT having a satisfying experience w/this phone right now...

I uninstalled LauncherPro because this crap wasn't happening last night, before I installed it. :-( It's uninstalled, I restarted it, but still having issues. HELP!