LauncherPro Beta (SUPER FAST & SMOOTH Launcher!)

[Thach]

The speed is amazing, pinch screen or touching the home button twice is a great addition. I have been using live wallpapers to see how it reacts and I really can't tell a difference in speed or lag so far. Overall its very responsive and one of the best launchers on the market. I would recommend anyone to try this out.

 

[circsmonky]

definatly seems faster, been using it for a couple days now. but it just seems like helix. the only aspect it seems faster on is starting off from a reboot. the widgets all still take a second to load no faster than any other home app. the screen transitioning is nice and smooth, but not really faster. over all i dont feel this home app is really faster than the other good ones. i rebooted my phone and went one by one through the home apps i currently have installed. GDE and helix, i tried the stock one too. from the time i opened the app to the time it responded to me moving screens it had maybe a second on the rest, and i think tied with GDE. ill give it a few more days but as it seems right now ill probably go back to GDE. i only keep helix on my phone so when i new home app comes around i have more to compare it to, i will probably keep this around too and see if the next update makes me like it more. i like having 4 shortcuts on the bottom vs GDE's 2, but helix letting you set whatever you want wins on the front. app sorting in the drawer is also somthing i like about GDE, plus its themes, i am using the blue carbon theme with a tron theme background.

 

[the matrix]

I don't like the shortcuts at the end:

1) phone and contacts are redundant,
2) i use "sms unread count" to show the missed calls at the phone icon -> 3 icons to the phone at my desktop, more redundant!

 

[OSX2000]

The docked icons will be changeable soon. The dev has stated that it's in the works.

 

[circsmonky]

i just downloaded and tried about 5 more home apps. crazy home and tag home have potential. my fav home apps so far in order are GDE, Launcher Pro, Helix, and home++.

 

[jsh1120]

definatly seems faster, been using it for a couple days now. but it just seems like helix. the only aspect it seems faster on is starting off from a reboot. the widgets all still take a second to load no faster than any other home app. the screen transitioning is nice and smooth, but not really faster. over all i dont feel this home app is really faster than the other good ones. i rebooted my phone and went one by one through the home apps i currently have installed. GDE and helix, i tried the stock one too. from the time i opened the app to the time it responded to me moving screens it had maybe a second on the rest, and i think tied with GDE. ill give it a few more days but as it seems right now ill probably go back to GDE. i only keep helix on my phone so when i new home app comes around i have more to compare it to, i will probably keep this around too and see if the next update makes me like it more. i like having 4 shortcuts on the bottom vs GDE's 2, but helix letting you set whatever you want wins on the front. app sorting in the drawer is also somthing i like about GDE, plus its themes, i am using the blue carbon theme with a tron theme background.

All good points. I, too, have been using GDE and Helix1 for several months and I gave LauncherPro a try for several hours the other day. Careful stopwatch timing suggests that there is hardly any consistent difference among the options with a similar number of screens, widgets, etc.

However, having designed UI's for a lot of years I do notice some familiar differences.

() Consistency is more important than speed. Users tend to believe a UI is "faster" if it consistently operates at the same pace. Comparing UI's with exactly the same "average" will yield a higher subjective perception of speed for the UI with the smaller variance.

() Starting quickly is more important than finishing quickly. Put users in front of two otherwise identical UI's, one of which starts displaying results faster than the other and users will consistently believe it is "faster" even if the competitor that remains blank until it can fill an entire screen is actually "faster."

The human brain is not very good at estimating either very small or very large time segments. Tenths of a second or how long a minute lasts is very difficult to estimate. Thus, we use other cues to determine performance. But consistency and visible results are critical cues.

 

[gatewayad]

I am still finding a lot of lag on startup getting the widgets to all load and change screens. It was horrible with 7 screens, lots of force closes. I did try this with a lot of widgets. Overall i'm pretty impressed as long as you give it a few seconds after wakeing up to catch up it's really fast

 

[jntdroid]

definatly seems faster, been using it for a couple days now. but it just seems like helix. the only aspect it seems faster on is starting off from a reboot. the widgets all still take a second to load no faster than any other home app. the screen transitioning is nice and smooth, but not really faster. over all i dont feel this home app is really faster than the other good ones. i rebooted my phone and went one by one through the home apps i currently have installed. GDE and helix, i tried the stock one too. from the time i opened the app to the time it responded to me moving screens it had maybe a second on the rest, and i think tied with GDE. ill give it a few more days but as it seems right now ill probably go back to GDE. i only keep helix on my phone so when i new home app comes around i have more to compare it to, i will probably keep this around too and see if the next update makes me like it more. i like having 4 shortcuts on the bottom vs GDE's 2, but helix letting you set whatever you want wins on the front. app sorting in the drawer is also somthing i like about GDE, plus its themes, i am using the blue carbon theme with a tron theme background.

All good points. I, too, have been using GDE and Helix1 for several months and I gave LauncherPro a try for several hours the other day. Careful stopwatch timing suggests that there is hardly any consistent difference among the options with a similar number of screens, widgets, etc.

However, having designed UI's for a lot of years I do notice some familiar differences.

() Consistency is more important than speed. Users tend to believe a UI is "faster" if it consistently operates at the same pace. Comparing UI's with exactly the same "average" will yield a higher subjective perception of speed for the UI with the smaller variance.

() Starting quickly is more important than finishing quickly. Put users in front of two otherwise identical UI's, one of which starts displaying results faster than the other and users will consistently believe it is "faster" even if the competitor that remains blank until it can fill an entire screen is actually "faster."

The human brain is not very good at estimating either very small or very large time segments. Tenths of a second or how long a minute lasts is very difficult to estimate. Thus, we use other cues to determine performance. But consistency and visible results are critical cues.

Good points jsh - that human brain perception is the reason discussions can go on forever on this forum debating speed, reliability, etc... i.e. one person can have a "great" experience with one thing (rom, app, whatever) and another person will say they had a "bad" experience with the same thing - minor phone differences aside.

Out of curiousity, have you tried ADW? (if you're rooted?)

 

[Droidemz]

Anyone know of any themes specifically for this home replacement yet?

 

[jsh1120]

Good points jsh - that human brain perception is the reason discussions can go on forever on this forum debating speed, reliability, etc... i.e. one person can have a "great" experience with one thing (rom, app, whatever) and another person will say they had a "bad" experience with the same thing - minor phone differences aside.

Out of curiousity, have you tried ADW? (if you're rooted?)

Yeah, I sometimes get frustrated with the anecdotal evidence tossed around as if it constitutes "proof" in discussions of app performance, battery life, task killers, etc. It's only to be expected given the number of variables that have to be controlled in a true experimental test, but it's frustrating, nonetheless.

No, I haven't tried ADW because I intentionally have not rooted my phone. That's because (a) I rely on my phone for business and can't treat it as a hobby and (b) I'm interested in the average user's experience with smart phones. Keeping my phone unrooted helps me to understand how typical consumers experience this kind of technology.

 

[jntdroid]

Indeed - we all like to think we analyze situations rationally, but it's inevitable that our experiences and/or personal biases comes through, even if we don't realize it. The frustrating part to me is witnessing pure dogmatism while assuming unbias (myself included).

You mean to tell me the majority of Droid owners don't root?... I've actually been debating going back to stock for those very reasons. Those, and the fact that I haven't had a full night's sleep since I rooted and started tinkering - which is an unending, black hole of a hobby. My family could use more than an overtired daddy/hubby. Well, let me rephrase that because we've had two little ones under two, so overtired is a given. My family could use more than an overtired daddy/hubby because of a phone.

 

[gatecitycanes]

I just switched over to this from Helix and I really like it. Like everyone else I'd like to change the dock icons but other than that I'm really happy with it and it's a lot smoother than Helix was.

Question: Do I need to go and remove all the icons from the Helix home screen like I did with the stock home? Will it make a difference?

 

[pc747]

Indeed - we all like to think we analyze situations rationally, but it's inevitable that our experiences and/or personal biases comes through, even if we don't realize it. The frustrating part to me is witnessing pure dogmatism while assuming unbias (myself included).

You mean to tell me the majority of Droid owners don't root?... I've actually been debating going back to stock for those very reasons. Those, and the fact that I haven't had a full night's sleep since I rooted and started tinkering - which is an unending, black hole of a hobby. My family could use more than an overtired daddy/hubby. Well, let me rephrase that because we've had two little ones under two, so overtired is a given. My family could use more than an overtired daddy/hubby because of a phone.

I feel like I have the best of both worlds (hybrid). I am rooted, o/c, but using the stock rom. All I wanted root for was o/c and wifi tethering. Like you I have been bouncing from rom to rom, because one rom will be good in one area but will f/c when you use the camera. Another rom camera will work but f/c with youtube. I have been at peace when I have just used the stock rom. With the ability to make my own keyboard and apps like launcher pro, It all feels like a rom with out the f/c.

 

[snappingfish]

with 2.2

Indeed - we all like to think we analyze situations rationally, but it's inevitable that our experiences and/or personal biases comes through, even if we don't realize it. The frustrating part to me is witnessing pure dogmatism while assuming unbias (myself included).

You mean to tell me the majority of Droid owners don't root?... I've actually been debating going back to stock for those very reasons. Those, and the fact that I haven't had a full night's sleep since I rooted and started tinkering - which is an unending, black hole of a hobby. My family could use more than an overtired daddy/hubby. Well, let me rephrase that because we've had two little ones under two, so overtired is a given. My family could use more than an overtired daddy/hubby because of a phone.

I feel like I have the best of both worlds (hybrid). I am rooted, o/c, but using the stock rom. All I wanted root for was o/c and wifi tethering. Like you I have been bouncing from rom to rom, because one rom will be good in one area but will f/c when you use the camera. Another rom camera will work but f/c with youtube. I have been at peace when I have just used the stock rom. With the ability to make my own keyboard and apps like launcher pro, It all feels like a rom with out the f/c.

its FAST, and tethering is included.

 

[jntdroid]

I feel like I have the best of both worlds (hybrid). I am rooted, o/c, but using the stock rom. All I wanted root for was o/c and wifi tethering. Like you I have been bouncing from rom to rom, because one rom will be good in one area but will f/c when you use the camera. Another rom camera will work but f/c with youtube. I have been at peace when I have just used the stock rom. With the ability to make my own keyboard and apps like launcher pro, It all feels like a rom with out the f/c.

Exactly. I tried that for a bit b/c I was like you, I just wanted o/c and tether. (though I then let myself get sucked into the world of theming) I didn't need the aesthetics or the small bugs you randomly have with custom roms... the camera situation was actually what pushed me over the edge. We were somewhere and my kids were doing something really funny (at 1.5 and 2.5 now that happens often!). My phone was all we had, I pulled it out as quickly as I could to catch the moment, and bam, FC. My wife was already not happy with me staying up late tinkering with it, but knowing that my tinkering caused the camera to not work didn't help at all.

I might go back to pure stock unrooted anyway because it sounds like 2.2 will hopefully be here within the next 6 weeks and really fast already, plus have wifi tethering. Plus, if I have to go through the process of rooting again to get the next new flashy rom or feature, it's just one more hurdle to slow me down a bit from doing it.