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display real estate on stock launcher

jbuck1984

jbuck1984

Android Enthusiast
Love the phone, just picked up the verizon gnex today. I wanted to note, I was a little disappointed with the lack of real estate on the stock launcher, its a little funny that my HTC incredible displayed widgets larger than the gnex! The google search bar at the top is very annoying and when you load a full page widget it fits in a rectangle below the search bar and above the launcher buttons. I quickly changed to launcher pro but now I can't make folders or launch some of the ICS widgets.

Any other launchers out there you guys prefer over launcher pro?

Can't wait to root this thing and get a ROM that removes that search bar. I would totally stay stock if it wasn't for the major loss of real estate on such a big phone.

I wonder what the designers were thinking????
 
Here is how you can get rid of the search bar

Settings > Apps > All > Google Search and disable it, unfortunately you still wont be able to use that screen space, but it will be gone.
 
I think it's pretty ridiculous that they remove the search button, but then add this bar to the top of all your screens which i'll rarely use. seems like a grab for increased search traffic at the expense of usability.
 
And adding a dedicated multi task button seems a little wasteful when you could just long press home in the previous version
 
I'm OK with it. But definitely miss the dedicated search button. Or more importantly, the dedicated settings button.
 
Its a few instances i've found it easier to use the search at the top to get a number rather than go to contacts.

nateap87 said:
I'm OK with it. But definitely miss the dedicated search button. Or more importantly, the dedicated settings button.
Click to expand...

There is kind of a dedicated settings button in the top of the notifications.
 
crackers8199 said:
why not just use a different launcher? That would get rid of the search box no?
Click to expand...

It does but you lose some features when moving from the stock launcher. You don't get to make folders and you lose out on some of the widgets. Plus all of the launchers out there were designed for older versions of android so it's almost like your going backwards. I can only explain like someone who has windows 7 and reverts the ui back to xp professional.

I decided after setting up launcher pro and experiencing a bit of lag to go back and try to make the stock launcher work for now. I want to give ICS a fair shot and get used to the new features and ultimately wait for a rom that has all the tweaks I'm looking for. I have lots of trust in cm9 when they get something stable that they will incorporate some of their best features of cm7 into ics
 
jbuck1984 said:
It does but you lose some features when moving from the stock launcher. You don't get to make folders and you lose out on some of the widgets. Plus all of the launchers out there were designed for older versions of android so it's almost like your going backwards. I can only explain like someone who has windows 7 and reverts the ui back to xp professional.

I decided after setting up launcher pro and experiencing a bit of lag to go back and try to make the stock launcher work for now. I want to give ICS a fair shot and get used to the new features and ultimately wait for a rom that has all the tweaks I'm looking for. I have lots of trust in cm9 when they get something stable that they will incorporate some of their best features of cm7 into ics
Click to expand...

ADW launcher EX isnt bad, actually. I'm still using stock launcher as well, but I played around with ADW since I bought it the other day as a 10 cent app and use it sometimes on my tablet.
 
By the way, if you're rooted, there's a thread in the root forum about removing that search bar...I can't link to it because I'm in the app but I'll throw it in here once I get to a PC
 
Dubbin1 said:
Nova Launcher will solve all of your problems.
Click to expand...

Installed this last night. Launcher Pro was uninstalled. Nova has just enough extra features to be almost perfect. Still feels just like the stock launcher too. Very impressed.
 
I did the APK install to give Nova a try. It's OK, but not nearly as buttery smooth as the stock ICS launcher....back to stock. I think I have actually realized that the Google "search all" on top of each panel is very useful and I missed having it always available.
 
Not sure why people are saying you can't create folders in other launchers...

All launchers support folders, they are just the old style, but work the same. Group apps into a single folder/icon, click to access them.

Also, check out circle launcher. More involved to set up the widget, but it's really cool.
 
So after the weekend I'm on stock launcher. I guess I was super addicted to my Inc w cm7. My set up is very widget centric and I use lots of folders. I am starting to like it..... It's not so much about real estate as it is efficiency!
 
I don't have any performance issues with Nova. And I'm sure that further improvements will be made. I found both ADW and LPP to have problems on the Nexus. ADW came closest but with some stock widgets the scrolling was inconsistent.

I agree on the screen real estate issue. It has less than my DroidX. I suppose it comes as no surprise as the early leaks reported the fixed search bar that was unusable space if removed and the soft buttons on the bottom. I guess I was hoping the final cut would give us sizable soft buttons or making the space on top usuable....but it didn't happen. Maybe if we complain loud enough future updates will let us use the google bar space. But I do think they messed up here.....the google bar on every page is overkill and kinda stupid IMO. My only other concern is my radio/battery life.....I'm still leaving the Rezound as an option due to these issues.
 
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