Customization with Nova Launcher: Part 1

In the introductory post of launchers, three main players were told. This post is about the current creme-de-la-creme of launchers, Nova Launcher which has cemented its position at the top. Nova Launcher is one of the top apps of 2015 on the Google Play Store. Nova Launcher has a "Pro" version and a beta program. Enrolling in the Beta program is highly recommended as you can get new features before the rest of the public. To enroll in the beta program, click here. After joining the beta program, you will prompted to a beta version in the Play Store. Beta versions though may sometimes have bugs. On downloading Nova Launcher, you will be prompted to set it as your default home. Accept and enjoy. If you have a single layered interface, then an app drawer will appear.

To start your customization experience, open Nova Settings which would have appeared in your app drawer. It should look like the picture shown. Here you can see various options available of which most are displayed. Initially the sheer variety can overwhelm a novice. The key is to take things slow and easy. We will start with the first option- 'Desktop'.

Desktop:

 

In the pictures above, you can see the the Desktop menu completely. Let's handle the Desktop Grid first. This allows you to set how apps are arranged in rows and columns. Icon Layout allows you to set the size and label of the apps. Infinite Scroll is a nifty feature that allows you to loop between your various homescreens. Other minor features are there but they are easy to understand and so will not be covered.

App and Widget Drawers:

Now we come to the second menu in Nova Settings namely- App and Widget drawers. This is a major menu as it allows you to customize your app drawer and your accompanying widget drawer. Some OEMs (Mostly Chinese) do not come with an app drawer by default. This enables the app drawer and you various parameters like a dock at the top with the most used apps, a fast scroll bar that is very useful, background customization varying from transparent to opaque in any color you like and options for the app drawer style. Now for detailed explanation, turn on Frequently used apps, make App drawer style vertical like the default app drawer on stock Marshmallow, Enable fast scrollbar as it is very useful and allows you to access apps quickly, Background option allows you to change the background of the app drawer according to your personal preference. Pull to search or a persistant search bar can allow you to search for any app of your choice. Widgets can arranged in a similar manner.

Rest of the features will be explored in the next part of this series, till then keep customizing!

Custom Launchers, What, Why and How?

Another normal day, you pick up your phone and look at your home screen. It may be a "flagship killer" or have "earth-shattering power" but unless you have a Nexus device or something similar like a Moto device, most certainly you will have an intrusive UI on top of vanilla Android put there by your OEM. While some OEMs manage to pull off a skin on top of Android (*ahem*HTC) others are not so successful(Yes Samsung, Touchwiz is a terrible idea.). Chinese OEMs which have become very popular off late due to their low specs-to-price ratio, they have among the worst UIs there can be. Most are single layered iOS wannabes who don't even pull it off properly. They are just one step away from outright declaring their aim of copying iOS be it the app icons, the interface or just the system apps themselves, all are cheap knockoffs.

(From the left: LG's too vibrant Optimus, Chinese OEMs, Horrendous Touchwiz in its glory, Xperia in all its dysfunctional glory)

Google has a definite vision for Android with its emphasis for clean, functional design under the Material Design mantle, OEMs often add tweaks to android sometimes making it almost unrecognisable. In the same vein, often these heavy UIs make the phone slow and unresponsive. There is however a way to make your device appear better like stock or have customizability options that you may otherwise lack. These can truly make your device unique like you. You don't have to be another

mindless drone. With custom launchers, you can make your device look like stock Android, or customize in everything. Now to a beginner, the sheer amount of apps can overwhelm, each with its own selling point. Now we will guide you through the best custom launchers there are and also one for what your vision for your phone home screen.

A launcher basically is a program that controls your phone's physical UI elements like the home screen and the app drawer. And if your phone has a single layered interface then you can add an app drawer if you like. There are mainly three major custom launcher apps which are namely:

1. Google Now Launcher by Google Inc.
2. Nova Launcher by Teslacoil
3. Apex Laucher by Android Does

Each will be discussed in detail in following posts but in brief each serve their own purpose and have their own pros and cons. As for Nova and Apex, they both have "Pro" paid versions with extra functionality for an added price. Nova even has a beta program which is nice for extra features earlier.

Why Choose Android? Part 3

In the final post in this series, we will look into Siri and Google Now, the two voice assistants from Apple and Google respectively.

Voice Assistant:

(From the left: Siri Home Screen, Google Now On Tap launching, results on the right.)

Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface a.k.a Siri, is Apple's inbuilt voice assistant in iOS 5.1.1 with the iPhone 4S launch, Apple added an innovative new feature not found anywhere else at that time. Google to compete with Apple came up with its very own Google Now with inbuilt cards with snippets of information based on your synced search data and thus improves with time as it learns your patterns. The voice assistant in Google Now can search anything and also perform system functions on being prompted by you. Siri can be activated at any time by you on saying the keywords "Hey Siri" which launches it. Google Now on the other hand can activated on saying the keywords "Okay Google". Also with the launch of Marshmallow by Google, they have enhanced the functionality of Google Now by adding Google Now On Tap. This new feature added allows you to long-press your home button to make Google Now scan your screen and offer you information on the contents without leaving the page.

Security:

iOS has a historically good reputation when it comes to security. In part they have been helped by the exclusivity and Apple also scans all apps and subjects them to stringent quality control before approving apps to the App Store. This combining with the small numbers when compared to Android make Android a more common target though Google rolls out continuous updates to patch up security. Also the newest iteration of Android, Marshmallow brings with it app permissions control, allowing you to chose which permissions to grant and not to grant any unnecessary permissions which may lead to data mining or identity theft.

Conclusion:

Android is very popular and open source. This and granting the user many privileges allows good customizability and robustness. iOS feels drab in comparison and though it has its own perks, Apple can sometimes be a bit short-sighted or over controlling at times. This and better hardware available in Android swings it in Android's favour. To compound it, the addition of chatbots and VR support in the recently concluded Google I/O, which adds Daydream(a platform for VR).

Why Choose Android? Part 2

In the second and penultimate part of this series we will explore the differences between android and iOS interfaces in even more detail. There are similarities between the two operating systems in their interface due them being both Graphical User Interfaces(GUIs) and hence they share a set of same rudimentary input methods like swiping, tapping and other gestures.

Interfaces:

 

(From the left: iOS Home Screen, Android Home Screen, iOS Command Centre, Android Quick Settings)

They also boot into a home screen which is similar to the home screen of a desktop. The home screen is where the differences start cropping up. iOS has a single layered interface without an app drawer. So in iOS all apps are added to the home screen with multiple ones added by need and apps are arranged by folder. In Android there is the presence of a dual-layered interface(However some OEMs may add tweaks negating this). So there is a specific app drawer where all apps are arranged.  iOS also doesn't allow the use of widgets on the home screen which are used in Android for displaying certain useful bits of information like weather of sneak peeks from apps. iOS has some settings available in a place dubbed "Command Center". To access them, simply swipe up from the bottom of the screen and a set of settings and utilities will be displayed. Android has a similar provision, however it is named "Quick Settings" and is accessed by swiping down from top of the screen. Quick Settings provides a list of settings and some utilities as well. To access notifications in iOS, you have to swipe down from the top of the screen where notifications will be displayed. Notifications are accessed in a similar manner in Android only with the difference that notifications are built into Quick Settings.

Availability of Apps:

 

(image sources:logos.wikia.com and starwars.wikia.com)

Android has its apps available mainly from Google Play Store which is owned by Google. However for Android third party app stores are also available. Apple though has only one fixed app store which is the App Store. Android has over 600,000 apps which is a number fast increasing while its counterpart houses over 700,000 apps of which most are limited to only the iPhone. Android offers a wider suite of Google apps. Most apps nowadays are cross platform to capture a larger audience. Android has a dynamic and fast increasing app platform.

Stability and Software Updates:

Android is generally rated as a more stable platform than iOS with lower crash rates all around. Lollipop narrowly beats iOS 8 in stability with previous Android versions also being ranked above iOS in stability.

Google does keep bashing out monthly upgrades to its Android platform with security patches, bug fixes and new features, individual OEMs overall do a very bad job of upgrading their devices frequently. This is compounded by Android's popularity and the ambiguity of the various OEMs. iOS has a clear advantage in this field. The exclusivity of iOS helps Apple nicely in the field as they can dish out frequent updates to almost all Apple devices.

Why choose Android? Part 1

One of the biggest debates in the mobile world is about which operation system ecosystem is the best and most suited for a consumer. There are two major operating systems which each have their own following and advantages. These are Android (owned by Google) and iOS (owned by Apple). Android is ubiquitous with mobiles with majority of phones and tablets being powered by it. Apple on the other hand has made an image for itself as a premium and elite brand with a closed source environment and end to end control. Android is open source and more open to customisation. Android is based on Linux. iOS is on another extreme with a huge focus on simplicity and user friendly controls. However one may argue that iOS oversimplifies to the point of hindering operation. Android though has a set level of simplicity and has advanced features available for serious developers and hobbyists. No other platform enjoys the popularity of these two but Windows Phone is the closest competitor to them. 

Comparison:

Android:

1. Developer: Google Inc,
2. Initial Release: 23 September 2008
3. Source Type: Open Source
4. Customizability: Huge customization possible due to open-source env.
5. Media Transfer: Depends on the carrier and the version
6. Availability: Highest (most common platform)
7. Defaults: Messaging app- Messenger, Browser: Chrome
8. App Store: Play Store
9. OS base: Linux
10. Programming Language: C, C++, Java
11. Open Source: Kernel, UI and built-in apps
12. Voice Assistant: Google Now
13. Latest Release: 6.0.1 Marshmallow (December 9 2015)

iOS:

1. Developer: Apple Inc.
2. Initial Release: 29 July 2007
3. Source Type: Closed with limited open source elements
4. Customizability: Limited unless Jailbroken
5. Media Transfer: With the iTunes Desktop Application
6. Availability: Only on Apple devices
7. Defaults: Messaging-iMessage and Facetime, Browser- Safari
8. App Store: Apple App Store
9. OS Base: OS X, UNIX
10. Programming Language: C, C++, Objective-C, Swift
11. Open Source: iOS is not open source'
12. Voice Assistant: Siri
13. Latest Release- iOS 9.3.2 (May 16 2016)

From this comparison we can see the stark difference between the two different platforms. Apple has an approach of end to end control for a controlled user experience while Android is more feature-heavy and open. The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) released to the public allows developers access to stock android and helps them create their own custom ROMs or interfaces on top or add device trees. Apple on the other hand though doesn't release code into the public. It is seen as more secure but part of it is because it is not as common as Android is. In the next part of this series, we will explore the difference between the interfaces in more depth.