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Don't Laugh at Me - Launchers

C

ChadShaft

Member
So I've had an Android phone for over 2 years but never used it for anything except texting, for everything else I always used my iPhone. Now I've made the switch to the Note 2 and it makes using my iPhone seem like garbage.

My question is I keep seeing everyone talking about launchers. What exactly is a launcher. What are the upsides to using one? What will it do for me?

Feel free to talk to me like I'm dumb. The Android world is totally new to me./
 
Bwahahhahahhaaaaaa. Just kidding.

Its a good question, I was researching this today as well. It looks like the 2 big ones are Nova Launcher and Go Launcher EX, I'm sure there are more and from what it looks like it just replaces the stock touch wiz platform when you swipe to unlock the phone.

There's probably more to it but that's what I found out so far.
 
Like what SeanPlunk, launchers are also a way to spice up the look of your phone when it gets boring. Since you had have some time to play with the phone, click the 3D UI link in my signature to see one crazy to use a launcher to really change the look of your phone

My personal choice is Apex and Ex Go Launcher
 
I'm using the go launcher ex and i love it! it has all of the cutest themes for sms, launcher and lock screen :)
 
Three main launchers. Two above as well as Apex. I've tried Nova on this phone and it seems that Apex is faster. Give them all a try and see which one you like best. You can install all three and switch between them all if you like.
 
I think it's a very valid question, but it also tells me that you haven't really sat down and learned all that you can do with Android vs. the iPhone.

3rd Party launchers, IMO, are part of what truly sets Android apart from the iPhone and they help acheive the full customizability that you can't get with the iPhone..without having to "root" the phone at all. Launchers are basically replacement UI (User Interface)'s for whatever comes stock from each manufacturer.

1st, to explain what a launcher is, let's look at the Manufacturer launchers that come stock with the phones on the market:

HTC = HTC Sense
Samsung = TouchWiz
Motorola = Formerly MotoBlur (closer to Vanilla Android now)
Nexus = Vanilla Android UI

LG, Sony, and ZTE have their own UI as well.

Now, there are many replacement 3rd party launchers that are on the market. Which one you choose will all depend on what's most important to you as far as interaction with your phone / widgets. Most of the more popular launchers for ICS and up have very similar functions available. Take a look at the launcher thread that was started a while ago. There's been a good discussion going on in there that'll help you decide.
 
Nova Launcher allows me to display 5 columns and 6 rows of icons, which, when coupled with folders, means that 99% of the apps I use the most are on a single screen.
 
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