Man, have we come a long way!
Launcher Comparison – each of us here at AiC have our own favourite launcher. I thought it was time we went head to head to talk about them and really compare.
There’s been plenty of articles where we review one launcher or the other, but I figured something where we really put apples to apples of the app that we’re most used to would be helpful to those of you out there with the standard launcher.
So, as it stands; Launcher Pro used by me, Launcher 7 used by Tom and Go Launcher is used by Syd. I’ve broken each of the reviews in to specific areas and the one who uses it gives a ‘pro’ comment [what do they like], then the others get to chime in on why they didn’t like it, or what theirs did better. The hope is that the ‘conversation’ we had comes through.
Let’s dive in!
Desktop
| Launcher Pro | Launcher 7 | Go Launcher | |
| Pro | -Rotates-Allows from 1-7, and you change the ‘default’Plenty of options for animations to switch screens | – Windows Metro Style theme- Rotating icons based on device rotation- missed notification on Metro tiles- optional WP7 style status bar | – Gesture shortcut for multi-homescreen view- Cool and easy folders |
| Cons [rebuttals] | – New Gmail kills mail notification – No widgets (yet) [R]I found not as intuitive – such a break from normal launchers | -[T] Sets heavy on system resources compared to other launchers |
Widgets
| Launcher Pro | Launcher 7 | Go Launcher | |
| Pro | -supports scrolling widgets.-besides widgets you can make a shortcut to an ‘activity’ as made / defined by the apps you have installed
|
N/A | – Has a Widget Store with a lot of choices- Supports scrolling widgets- Supports widget resizing |
| Cons [rebuttals] | to resize or get ‘their widgets’ you do need to buy | No widgets, they plan to add some in future releases. | [R]actually some killer widgets, just means having to ‘install’ more |
App Drawer
| Launcher Pro | Launcher 7 | Go Launcher | |
| Pro | -looks just like the ‘vanilla’ version – and you can still customize it and hide certain unwanted apps | – Allows Android or WP7 style App drawer- hide icons- Optional WP7 Alphabetical index tiles | – Contains an “app killer”- Scroll or Tabs- “Recent apps” tab |
| Cons [rebuttals] | [R]Doesn’t allow you to fast scroll [i.e. have a ‘drag bar] as lining them up one by one makes for a LOONG list | [R]Can’t drag&drop apps : you have to hold an app, drag it to the top bar, then it’ll let you drag it to the homescreen, and drop it. If you want to place it on a specific spot on a specific homescreen, it takes two steps.[R]also it’s side scrolling by default |
Dock
| Launcher Pro | Launcher 7 | Go Launcher | |
| Pro | -Minimalist look – can have multiple docks (tho’ i don’t use it).-Icons show ‘unread count’ | No Dock | Looks fresh, clean, and has endless possibilities of customization |
| Cons [rebuttals] | No Dock [R]that’s a minus in my view – i need to be able to get to the call screen easily[T] Very first tile on the screen is a phone ^_~ | Doesn’t have the “dots” homescreen indicator |
Customizability
| Launcher Pro | Launcher 7 | Go Launcher | |
| Pro | -haven’t really done much in this front as it’s ok as is-there are some preset icons for the dock you can use | – Comes with extra bitmap to create your own tiles.- includes special animated tiles such as facebook.- Customizable background and optional transparent tiles | – Extremely customizable, tons of themes through the GOStore |
| Cons [rebuttals] | – not enough bitmap images, very limited to default windows tiles | [T] many of the themes cost extra. |
Miscellanea
| Launcher Pro | Launcher 7 | Go Launcher | |
| Pro | -Biggest feature for me is that you can drag an icon from the app tray [like normal], but also you can uninstall by ‘hanging’ over the trash | – Fast and easy in-your-face usability- Flying transistion animation is smooth and eye pleasing. | -GOStore[T] Offers many other Go-Apps that fit together nicely |
| Cons [rebuttals] | – WP7 status bar does not show notifications such as mail, text, G+ | [R]couldn’t import settings from another launcher [icons were ok – but widgets were not] |
