Changing the launcher brings the Fire up to about 90% as useful as a ârealâ Android tablet. There are still a few little differences in the way the Fire does thingsâthe settings menus and link-sharing dialogue are still FireOSâs, among other thingsâbut if youâve been frustrated that you couldnât get the launcher to act like you. The launcher app is stable, fast, easy to use and offers hundreds of customizable options. If you own a tablet, it is undoubtedly one.
There is no dearth of custom app launchers for Android and each has its set of merits and demerits. Like the TouchWiz launcher I was using on my Samsung Note 10.1, which was otherwise pretty cool, kept troubling me with app sorting. If you have used TouchWiz you might have noticed that there is no way a user can arrange the apps in any order automatically.
Also, as old programs are uninstalled, gaps are created in the app drawer which are not filled up unless a new app is installed.
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That was enough for me to look into some alternatives available on the Play Store. So here are few of them that (nearly) impressed me. Oh, and thereâs also a cool tip for TouchWiz users (who are not ready to quit it yet) towards the end of this post, so make sure you read this one till the end.
GO Launcher HD
Go Launcher HD is an exclusive tablet version of the launcher Go EX Launcher. The best thing about the app is that itâs free to use without any ads and provides the best user experience. The app drawer shows all the apps in alphabetical order by default and a user can change it to the frequency of usage or install date as well. The app drawer also lists all the currently running apps under the Running section and the apps can be killed with a single tap to free up the RAM.
Adding app to the home screen and creating of folders is also quite easy. One feature that was really impressive was the built-in feature of gesture recognition. With this feature, you can assign gestures to your most frequently apps and launch them without entering the app drawer.
Apex Launcher
Apex Launcher is an easy to use launcher for basic users on Android tablets but as an advanced user, you can configure almost all its elements using the launcher settings. One can customize the grid layout, icon size and so much more. One feature exclusive to Apex launcher is Apex actions. These act like shortcut buttons that can be added to the home screen to perform specific tasks like locking the device, opening recent apps etc.
One feature I like about the app is the hard coded Google search bar at the top of every home screen. With Google Now on tablets running Jelly Bean and above, it really proves useful. Thereâs a pro version of the app available with extended features at $3.99.
Chameleon Launcher
Chameleon Launcher for Android is a paid launcher priced at $3.99. While the application drawer is very simple with no advanced customization options, the real power of the launcher lies in widgets and profile based home screens.
Chameleon Launcher comes with many HTML5 based widgets such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter which look neat on a tablet. These widgets provide you real-time updates on the home screen itself and if you like transparent apps, Chameleon can really impress you. You can also apply different wallpapers for different home screens and change your Wi-Fi, GPS other few settings along with apps in the dock as you swipe between different home screens. The only thing is that there is no lite version of the app available to try before paying for the pro version.
Cool Tip For TouchWiz Users
If like me, you too are annoyed by TouchWizâs haphazard app drawer then AppZorter for TouchWiz can help you with that. Download and install the app on your Samsung device and select the order of sorting you would like. Having done that, just tap on the Sort button. Thatâs all, the app will be sorted automatically. On tablets a user might have to increase the app per page manually by entering the maximum number of apps that can fit a page.
The app doesnât do sorting in real-time and a user would have to manually do that after uninstalling a couple of apps.
Conclusion
If you ask me, itâs tough to choose from the above ones. All offer a specific set of features and seem to be a value for money, free or otherwise.
So which of these is going to be your next launcher for Android tablet? If you wish to recommend a launcher which is not in the list, just drop a comment. Also, donât forget to mention whatâs the best thing you like in your favorite launcher.
Top Image Credits: Dellâs Official Flickr Page
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Also See#launcher #Lists Did You Know
You can switch manually to the tablet mode in Windows 10.
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Creating an application interface that user will like and will be unlikely to forget can be intimidating. But creating an attractive launcher icon for your app, that the user will first come across while looking at your app, anyway needs more brainstorming. For Android, you need to create these graphics that have to be compatible and supporting to all devices running Android, sizes varying from a smartphone to TV. The introduction of Android Image Asset Studio in Android Studio has made it easy. In this article, you will see how you can easily create your application icon in one go.
You can refer to the video if you are more comfortable with those. For Launcher and ActionBar Icons:
For Notification Icon:
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Image Asset Studio is a tool introduced in Android Studio 3. It can be used to generate app icons for all the screen densities in one go, using custom images, material design icons as well as text strings. Application icon in Android includes the following,
Here is a list of icon/image sizes that you need to create for different screen densities, for each image that you use in your application. No matter if you are a good designer, creating each of these is tedious!
Image Asset Studio helps to create all these icons for all screen densities and stores them in respective density folders. It provides a preview of all the icons that will be created, in different shapes, with options to edit them. Letâs see how to create each one of them.
Run Image Asset Studio
Custom Image
You can use custom images of PNG (recommended), JPG or GIF (avert) format and adjust it to create icons. Set the path of your custom image if you select this.
Clip Art
You can select the icons from the list of Google Material Design Icons provided in the dialog. Click on the clip art icon to get the dialog with icon set.
Text String
You can use the fonts installed on your computer to generate the icons out of the text strings. It will create these text-based icons in PNG format in respective drawable-density folders. Set the string and select the font to use it.
Creating Launcher Icon
Launcher Icons represent our app in the device home screen, on the app list screen, in the Google Play Store and everywhere else. Android 8.0 (Oreo) and above supports Adaptive Icons and can be displayed in different shapes across various platforms. Image Asset Studio provides the option to create these adaptive icons as well as the legacy icons for Android 8.0 below. It also creates the web icons(512 x 512 px) that represents our app on the Google Play Store.
The Launcher Icons are stored in the res/mipmap-density folder.
Adaptive and legacy launcher icon
If your app doesnât support android version 8.0 or above, create legacy icon only for your app.
After opening Image Asset Studio, follow the steps below to create the legacy icons for your android app.
Check the mipmap folders for the Launcher Icons.
Legacy launcher icon only
If your app supports android version 8.0 or above, create adaptive and legacy launcher icon for your app.
After opening Image Asset Studio, follow the steps below to create adaptive and legacy icons for your android app.
Check the mipmap folders for the Launcher Icons.
Creating ActionBar Icons and Tab Icons
ActionBar icons are the ones present on the ActionBar that represents individual action. Whereas, the tab icons are used in the apps having multiple tabs. Using material icons for this category is recommended.
The ActionBar and Tab Icons are stored in the res/drawable-density folder.
You can also use Vector Asset Studio to have XML vectors for these categories of icons. It will reduce the size of your APK considerably.
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After opening Image Asset Studio, follow the steps below to create actionbar and tab icons for your android app.
Tab Launcher 2 8 4 Locomotive
Check the drawable folders for the Icons created.
Creating Notification icons
The user sees the notification when he is outside your app. Notification icons come up with these notifications.
The Notification Icons are stored in the res/drawable-density folder. There are a few other folders created too.
Tab Launcher 2 8 4 Review
After opening Image Asset Studio, follow the steps below to create notification icons for your android app.
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Check the drawable folders for the Icons created.
How to Delete an App Icon from a project
To delete the app icon,
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