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What launcher are you using?

Which launcher are you using on your SGS3?

  • Stock TouchWiz

    Votes: 70 35.7%

  • ADW Launcher

    Votes: 2 1.0%

  • Apex Launcher

    Votes: 49 25.0%

  • Go Launcher

    Votes: 32 16.3%

  • Nova Launcher

    Votes: 36 18.4%

  • Other

    Votes: 7 3.6%
  • Total voters
    196
ouch1976 said:
I don't really understand the question? You can add a direct dial and/or direct message shortcut onto a home screen if that's what you mean. But I don't think that has anything to do with the launcher. Isn't that a stock feature?
Click to expand...

Yes, and what happens when you once press the shortcut on GO Launcher? On Apex, Nova and TouchWiz, tapping the shortcut either dials the number, or goes directly to the screen where you type your message. One tap, that's all.

When you tap those shortcuts on Launcher Pro, you are taken to a contacts page where you then tap on a phone icon or a messaging icon. Two taps to do what TW, Nova and Apex can do in one. For me this was a deal breaker, Launcher Pro which I have used for a couple of years. I am assuming this feature is enabled on ICS based launchers for the GS3.

You were wondering about advantages of the ICS based launchers. This is a big one for me, but I didn't know how GO Launcher handled these tasks.
 
I use SSLaucher it's quite good and the only Launcher I have found that doesn't force you to use a grid. I can place any widget or shortcut in any location and I can move them pixel by pixel into any place I want. You can also hide widget in text or an icon or an image and the widget will pop up if you touch it. It's really cool.
 
t35rk said:
Yes, and what happens when you once press the shortcut on GO Launcher? On Apex, Nova and TouchWiz, tapping the shortcut either dials the number, or goes directly to the screen where you type your message. One tap, that's all.

When you tap those shortcuts on Launcher Pro, you are taken to a contacts page where you then tap on a phone icon or a messaging icon. Two taps to do what TW, Nova and Apex can do in one. For me this was a deal breaker, Launcher Pro which I have used for a couple of years. I am assuming this feature is enabled on ICS based launchers for the GS3.

You were wondering about advantages of the ICS based launchers. This is a big one for me, but I didn't know how GO Launcher handled these tasks.
Click to expand...


Interesting, the "direct dial" shortcut doesn't work on my GS3, but the "direct message" shortcut does. Strange. I guess that's a short-coming of ADW.
 
ouch1976 said:
Interesting, the "direct dial" shortcut doesn't work on my GS3, but the "direct message" shortcut does. Strange. I guess that's a short-coming of ADW.
Click to expand...

Thanks for checking. I was assuming this feature is enabled only on ICS based launchers.

Another shortcoming of GO IMO is that 5x5 is the smallest grid option ( I think). A 4.8" can handle smaller which I prefer and is the main reason I don't use TW and its 4x4 grid.
 
Hated how TouchWiz handles and displays folders, which was pretty much the main reason I started looking around for a different launcher. I landed on Apex. It's like ICS stock++. Only been using it for a couple days but happy with it so far. Added the Jelly Bean theme for it and I think it looks great.
 
ouch1976 said:
Come on! I know other people are using ADW...someone throw me a bone and vote for it...
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i havent voted yet but if it makes you happy ill download ADW and test it out :p i might not decide for a while though since all my friends are bombarding my phone and facebook and going through all the settings to compare them on each launcher is freaking exhausting...
 
I've tried the 'others' but I always seem to end up back on the default TouchWiz...

I only wanted another launcher so I could have a landscape option for my home screen when I turned the device...
 
Still on TW. I used GO on my previous Epic, but TW is good enough for me, and I guess it doesn't bother me enough to go find and setup another launcher.
 
Been using Nova since about the 2nd day. Couldn't stand the fact that a whole row is wasted in the stock launch with the page markers, and I prefer drag and drop folder creation.
 
craighwk said:
Using Apex because I"ve found it to be the fastest launcher out there. Nova is good too, but Apex is my main. The stock TW launcher is good, but Apex gives me additional features I really like.
Click to expand...

They one thing I could never figure out how to do with Apex (that Nova can do) was have multiple tabs shown in the app drawer (photo below). It's useful for dividing your apps up.
 

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I’m using Apex right now. I don’t mind touch-wiz. However, I wish you could tweak these OEM skins like you can with Apex or Nova. Maybe the phone manufactures should pull their heads out of their a@@ and realize this.
 
XplosiV said:
Launcher pro for me, tried apex but it just misses some features I liked in lp. Not really seeing the hype of apex at all.
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I was a launcher pro guy all the way, but couldn't get it working right on the s3. Was mucho unhappy :-(
I tried nova but didn't want to pay for features so switched to apex. So far so good. I miss the native calendar and people widgets from launcher pro, but found Android Pro Widgets that look almost identical.
 
KeyserSoze said:
Was used to launcher pro on my x2. Got the s3 and tried touch Wiz (not enough icons), gave go launcher another try, and tried nova for the first time... Landed back on LP. I don't think it's even ICS certified yet but I'm happiest w it. Maybe because I'm addicted to my "starred in android" scrollable people widget.

5 columns 7 rows. :-)
Click to expand...
I was addicted to Lp for the same reason... Try Android Pro Widgets, looks and feels just like the people widget from Lp
 
I started out with TouchWiz and switched to Go pretty soon after that, as I had liked using Go on my DX. I was pretty disappointed, though, with my battery life on my S3. I was losing around 6% per hour while at work throughout the day under pretty light usage (a few emails/texts, but no calls/videos/streaming). I was at my wits end trying to figure out why the battery was so awful, so after looking through this thread I tried out Apex and deleted Go. Now I'm averaging losing about 3.5% battery per hour, so I'm sticking with Apex.

I really liked having the gesture option on dock icons in Go, and I wish that Apex had that. However, I do like that in Apex you can have more than 5 icons on the dock (I'm now using 7 icons on mine).
 
scooter1942 said:
i havent voted yet but if it makes you happy ill download ADW and test it out :p i might not decide for a while though since all my friends are bombarding my phone and facebook and going through all the settings to compare them on each launcher is freaking exhausting...
Click to expand...


Haha! Thanks! I don't mind being a loner, but I'm shocked that nobody else is using it...it looks like I'm gonna install Apex and give that a good workout. And I'm still amazed at all the people on TouchWiz...it's smooth and all, but so limited as far as customization.
 
ouch1976 said:
Haha! Thanks! I don't mind being a loner, but I'm shocked that nobody else is using it...it looks like I'm gonna install Apex and give that a good workout. And I'm still amazed at all the people on TouchWiz...it's smooth and all, but so limited as far as customization.
Click to expand...

yeah, couldnt stand twiz on my vibrant, and cant stand it now. the only disappointing thing is you cant use the stock weather widget on custom launchers. i kinda like the way it looks. also something i noticed on apex is you cant change an app icon to a different one on the homescreen. i usually like replacing the dolphin icon with the stock browser icon because it looks more natural to me
 
gtrplayer150 said:
I was a launcher pro guy all the way, but couldn't get it working right on the s3. Was mucho unhappy :-(
I tried nova but didn't want to pay for features so switched to apex. So far so good. I miss the native calendar and people widgets from launcher pro, but found Android Pro Widgets that look almost identical.
Click to expand...

The permissions is what made me uninstall APW.
 
ouch1976 said:
Haha! Thanks! I don't mind being a loner, but I'm shocked that nobody else is using it...it looks like I'm gonna install Apex and give that a good workout. And I'm still amazed at all the people on TouchWiz...it's smooth and all, but so limited as far as customization.
Click to expand...

Well, I was using ADW for a long time on my tablet, but had a few glitches with ADW when the tablet went from Honeycomb to ICS, so now I'm using SPB Mobile Shell on the tablet, of all things. Still oscillating between Go and Apex on the S3. If I have a couple hours to veg in front of the TV, I might try to mirror ADW to what I have set up with Go and Apex now. I have the full paid version, so might as well give it a shot, but they haven't updated it since December or something, which has me concerned about it fossilizing.
 
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