LauncherPro Beta

on 6/22/10 11:48 PM

Tested version: 0.6.0
Latest version: 0.8.6
Requires Android: from 2.0

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Summary

Okay, so I wasn’t planning on writing another homescreen replacement app review today, but LauncherPro recently got an update and thus new features. It isn’t without just cause that LauncherPro’s popularity is steadily increasing, and seeing as I’ve been meaning to review this app for a while I thought today would be the day to do so.

Features & Use

Section rating:

Here's the Market description of LauncherPro’s features:


• Super-smooth scrolling
• Animated screen previews (like Exposé or HTC Sense)
• Up to 7 home screens
• App drawer (2D and 3D!) with a fly-in effect and smooth scrolling
• Scrollable shortcut dock


“Super-smooth scrolling”... for sure! The app’s perfomance is stellar.

The “Animated screen preview” is also a really useful feature which can be accessed by pulling your fingers together on the screen.


There are other homescreen replacements out there that provide more than seven screens, but the ones featured in this app are more than sufficient in size.


The app performs very well indeed on the Nexus One, even in 3D mode.


My favorite feature is the “Scrollable shortcut dock”. You can put up to 15 shortcuts into the lower half of the screen and access them via sliding from within every screen (5 are visible at once). You can insert applications, links or an extra button for the App Drawer.


Another useful feature that shouldn’t go without mention is the fact that you can de-install apps simply by pulling them onto the recycle bin, waiting for two seconds and then letting them go.


LauncherPro is not only compatible with Live-Wallpaper but also with scrollable widgets.


Probably the most important aspect of a homescreen replacement is its performance, without which even the coolest features are pretty useless. If the homescreen is lagging it’s a no-go. LauncherPro on the other hand performs very well and has cool features. Not bad!

Screen & Controls

Section rating:

As is usually the case with homescreen replacements, after having installed LauncherPro it can be launched by pressing the home button or else set is as your standard.

The shortcut dock in the lower half of the screen is already set up with links, but they can be changed by pressing on them for a long time. You can set up further shortcuts by scrolling through the dock to the left and pressing on the plus sign. You then have the option of choosing the following from a context menu:


• Blank
• Applications
• Homescreens
• App Drawer


You can also select from all the options available to you on your phone by pressing homescreen/links for a long time.


You can view the screen-preview by clicking on the Home button twice or by pulling your fingers together on the display.


In order to change further settings, click on the Menu button followed by Preferences. You can then select the amount of screens you’d like as well as your default screen. You also have the following options:


• Auto-Rotation on/off
• Scrollable Widgets on/off
• Select Dock Backround
• Screen Indicator on/off
• Show/hide app icons
• Wallpaper Scrolling on/off


You can switch on the pimped out 3D App Drawer in Advanced Settings. I didn’t encounter any problems with this on the Nexus One, despite the warning message “Experimental. May cause instability“. You can also determine the amount of lines for "Portrait“ and "Landscape".


There’s also the option of displaying five rows of icons on the homescreen, although you are warned that “Requires widescreen, and looks bad in landscape”, which is, in fact, the case. If you want to take advantage of these features switch off “Enable Auto-Rotation” in Settings.


Lastly, you can determine the scrolling and opening speed for “Homescreen”, “App Drawer”, and “Screen Previews”.

Bottom line:
LauncherPro will not be replacing by current ADW.Launcher—this is because I’ve gotten too used to this “Galaxy S” style app. However, if and when LauncherPro offer that feature I will have switch over, as the app really does perform well and the shortcut dock is a super useful feature.
 

Speed & Stability

Section rating:

LauncherPro runs very smoothly. Even the App Drawer, usually a weak point, performs really well, even in 3D.

Price/Performance Ratio

Section rating:

The app can be downloaded for free from the Android Market.

Comparable Apps

dxTop Pro : Home Alternative

GO Launcher EX

For 2.1, Tag Home(Launcher)

homescreen 3D (free version)

ADW.Launcher

ADWLauncher EX

Zeam Launcher

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All Test Reports

Jul 30, 2010 12:24:55 PM

@TheGrumpiest, are you sure that your user name suits you? You're leaving only happy, positive comments :)

Jul 16, 2010 5:47:36 PM

This app is fantastic! Smooth, fast, awesome options like scrollable dock and 3D app drawer. Dev is very responsive. It's pretty hard to believe this is still in beta. It's been my default launcher since about 90 seconds after installation. (Moto Droid 2.1)

Jul 12, 2010 3:20:36 PM

excellent app! works great on th HTC incredible

Jun 25, 2010 12:02:10 AM

Sorry for the double post, just wanted to add this. For 1.5, pandahome and ahome work but are severly bloated and FC quite often on my backflip. I would stay away from those since bflips have low memory and small processors. Plus we get 2.1 sometime around august according to At&t.

Jun 24, 2010 11:58:51 PM

If your looking for some good 1.5 home replacements, zeam and slidescreen are the only ones that run good. Slidescreen doesnt have any themes or widget controls and is only one screen. Zeam has some FC issues when switching to landscape mode but they rarely happen.

I would like to see the pit put up OS version numbers so people dont get confused when attempting to download. Especially with 2.2 coming.

Jun 23, 2010 7:40:39 PM

Spongy, I think Ben's right about 2.1+ ...

Jun 23, 2010 7:40:02 PM

Thanks everyone for weighing in. Rog, I agree that LauncherPro and AWD are clear leaders at the moment, and juding by the two apps' popularity in the Market we're not the only ones who think so :)

Jun 23, 2010 7:06:19 PM

After trying a bunch of the home screen / launcher apps, this is the one I settled on due to the raw speed. The smoothness trumps all of the others. It replaced the default Samsung launcher on my Galaxy Spica and uses a lot less resources (battery!) besides

I bet you'd wished you had reviewed this one first because from where I'm sitting only this and ADW are worth trying. That may sound harsh but most of the alternatives are too bloated for the purpose.

Jun 23, 2010 4:27:49 PM

2.1+ I believe.

Jun 23, 2010 9:18:24 AM

Is this app for donut? Coz I cant find it in the market.

Jun 23, 2010 2:19:14 AM

This home replacement is amazing. I've been using it for about two weeks now and I lobe it. It is without a doubt the best free home app on the market. Download for sure.

Market Comments

David, Sep 25, 2012
Love Love it really cool
Antoine, Sep 25, 2012
LP plus était très bien l'année dernière Fonctionne bien sous Gingerbread... mais plus de mise à jour depuis plus d'un an, ne supporte pas les systèmes récents (3 versions de retard en comptant Jelly Bean): ne dépensez surtout pas d'argent pour la version payante (que j'ai payé) : c'est pareil IL N'Y A PLUS DE MISES A JOUR !
Vighnesharaja, Sep 25, 2012
Awesome Very smooth . I like it
Mark, Sep 25, 2012
Waste of money This is, to say the least, a complete waste of money. It is unstable and crashes constantly - and some of the widgets (such as the LauncherPro calendar widget) are a complete nightmare and send you into an almost unbreakable vicious circle, where the widgets cause LauncherPro to crash before you even have time to access the widget and remove it. Save your money - this product isn't even fit for beta, delivers negligible additional functionality over the free product and is such a complete nightmare that renders your Android phone next to useless.
Skyler, Sep 25, 2012
Good Great Motorola Triumph cm7
Chris, Sep 24, 2012
Abandoned application. There are FAR better launchers for 4.1.1.
Marco Túlio, Sep 24, 2012
Great App, but... It's the fastest launcher app I've tested so far. It's really neat, but there's a bug that keeps making the launcher crash almost every time I switch between the first-last home screens when the looping is set to "Real". No problems with the "Virtual (bounce)" option so far...
Felix, Sep 24, 2012
Not bad It is quick and smooth. But it isn't able to coexist with go locker.
Ars, Sep 24, 2012
Micromax a50 Nice
Thomas, Sep 24, 2012
Weather Widget When are you gonna make a weather widget for Launcher Pro?
Johnny, Sep 24, 2012
Very light and elegant Improved the performance of my Xperia pro a lot. Even better than the original Xperia home. It looks really good too.
Abhishek, Sep 24, 2012
No Horizontal Scrolling I have downloaded this launcher...but guess it doesnt have horizontal scrolling in drawer.. only veritical scrolling. Go Launcher Ex is better than this launcher..
iKapoy, Sep 24, 2012
Good Cool view
Anonymous, Sep 24, 2012
I LOVE IT!!!! This is my favorite launchet good and fast than go launcher ex:-):-):-)
angel, Sep 24, 2012
Abandoned Dev might have passed away.?
Jason, Sep 24, 2012
Nice Where is the folders integration
Robbo, Sep 23, 2012
Good enuff Alright with me
pinky, Sep 23, 2012
Lame Needs to be fixed can't get my calls people say they call me an it hangs up
Nyron, Sep 23, 2012
Still the best even without a year+ of updates Smooth and stable. Only minor issue is sometimes when opening the app drawer in landscape the icons will all be stacked in the top left corner. Unfortunately, I'm still on GB with the Samsung Galaxy Blaze 4G..
Jordan, Sep 23, 2012
Great!! If ur phone is slow i really think u should get this app!!!!
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