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One of the things that I love about my Android phone is the ability to customize wallpapers, themes, icons, you name it. Custom launchers are the other main apps Android users can use to help customize the phone to be what they want and need it to be. I have tried a few of them over the years with, and GoLauncher is the one I have used the most. In todays post I cover a few of the other launchers out there. A couple quality apps not mentioned here were covered in a post back in December 2012.
Vire Launcher (Free)
VIre Launcher comes in free and pro versions, and its available for most Android devices out today. The pro version has some added features, but the free will probably suit most users. With Vire you can add 3-D effects to your phone. When you first launch the app, you are set up with a basic home screen with a neat looking clock widget and a set of the standard icons. As with any launcher customization is the key. Vire will allow you to create folders, resize widgets and manage your screens.
In addition to being able to add shortcuts to app and widgets on your screen, Vire has its own Vire applets which are the metal clock, clock, and picture frame. When you add a shortcut to an app, Vire will adjust the icon to fit the theme. This is pretty cool, giving your screens a uniform appearance. In the settings of the app you can enable reflections, HD shaders, full screen transitions, change the UI theme and in the free version they show the various features which would be unlocked when you upgrade. Overall, this launcher is pretty easy to use.
Also on Android Apps
The American Society of Magazine Editors recently announced the 2013 National Magazine Awards. Zinio scoped out the finalists and hand-picked potential future winners.
FTL Launcher (Free)
FTL Launcher also comes in free and pro, and it too works with most Android devices and OS versions. The lite version has some of the configurable options pre-loaded and cannot be changed, which is reason enough to download the pro version. When you first launch the app, you are taken to the settings screen which has a ton of options in it. In it is the theme manager, background, number of desktop rows, endless looping, transition speeds, and more.
The option that caught my eye is that you can (in the pro version) use existing ADW, GoLauncher and LauncherPro Icon and Dock theme. This is very,very cool. I have used the GoLauncher for a while. You can mix and match the theme aspects. This launcher does have a lot of different options and really allows you to customize your phone.
Chameleon Launcher for Phones ($2.91)
The Chameleon Launcher was initially compatible with Android tablets, but theyve broadened their appeal with a new version for Android phones. It should be noted that you cannot use one version on both tablets and phones, and Chameleon will not run with some of the older phones and Android OS. With Chameleon you can create multiple home screens as with any other browser, but the key aspect of this launcher is the widgets. They have some of the best looking widgets. You can create specialized widgets for your calendar, Facebook, music, weather, Twitter, and more.
Another cool feature of this launcher is that you can set up within the app context rules based on time, Wi-Fi networks, even GPS location different home screens. I like this feature because when I come home each day I normally switch to my Wi-Fi and being able to get customized screen for when I am home is just cool. I have a larger screen phone so not sure how it would look on a sma ller screen. They do have a calendar add on if interested. Unfortunately there is no free version to try out.
Nemus Launcher (Free)
I recently discovered Nemus, a decent little launcher that will run on most Android phones and OS. It has the basic settings setup such as the home screen settings (page looping) wallpaper, grid size, dock number and more. With the app you can lock contents and editing capabilities, which is new to me. You can of course set the orientation and backup/ restore your settings, and hide apps with Nemus Launcher.
The developers behind Nemus Launcher also produced Regina 3D launcher, which has been out for some time. The launcher does not seem as fancy or glamorous as say the Chameleon launcher, but it most cer tainly gets the job done. I like how you can adjust the grid size and in the dock, the apps/home button is always in the middle with the other dock icons sliding around it. With the apps listing area, there is a task killer feature. This is a nice free alternative launcher.
These are just a few of the launchers out there and I suspect there will be more as Android phones and OS change and develop. Which do you use?
Whats it about? Facebook Home plugs the social network into your Android device's home screen, integrating your feeds into your phone experience on a deeper level than ever before.
Whats it about? Fotor brings powerful photo-editing capabilities to your Android device, packing it with new effects and features to make your mobile photography even better.
Whats it about? Simulation title Epic Pirates Story tasks players with creating their own pirate strongholds by adding buildings, then sending their pirates out on quests.
My son was born about a month before the debut of the iPad, and has quite literally grown up alongside touchscreen devices. As a parent and longtime app reviewer, I can tell you with conviction that most educational apps for the iPad stink.
For each subject, our experts showcase the five best educational apps available and explain in detail what factors motivated their selections. The hundreds of educational apps reviewed on appoLearning are givenReport Cards so parents, teachers and students can understand how and why they were deemed to be the best of the bunch.
Although we love to talk about the momeconomy and mommy bloggers, there is no typical mom. Theres no content that appeals to every woman who does what Jackie Kennedy Onassis called the only job that matters. But there is a lot of content that digital publishing has made available to the wonderful diversity that is mom.
Professional Womans Magazine: This is a quarterly that flies a bit more under the radar than Working Mother. I like it because it is almost completely focused on career and business development. In a word: Opportunity. I love the profiles and each issue is a case study in success.
Whats it about? SendHub sets you up with a free phone line for your business, and gives you the option to set it in any area code you want.
Whats cool? The Traveler is basically everything you need to capture everything you can about a given trip or excursion. The app lets you shoot photos and video, record audio, and even draw what you're seeing, in order to help you save anything from a trip that you want. You can even track your movements with your Android device's GPS capabilities and replay the paths later, syncing the things you record to it so you can see them in context, or watching the path played out in 3-D through Google Earth.
Whats it about? Starring Ubisoft's well-loved character, Rayman Jungle Run is a running title mixed with a platformer, challenging players to power through levels that include dodging hazards and helicoptering through the air.
The game is simple as can be. You lead a snaking conga line of heroic heroes around an arena as enemies spawn. You start with one leader hero, and pick up more as you play. Different heroes have different abilities, from the sword swinging knight, ranged archer, mage, and pirate, and bomb throwing Gizmo. Different conga line formations make for different play styles and strategies, like hitting enemies head on with melee front liners, or zig-zagging towards them with ranged front liners. The leader of your party gains experience and eventually levels up, getting a cooler costume and better stats.
You'll spend a lot of time replaying the same levels again and again, as the whole point is to get as far through the levels as you can. Each new level you beat unlocks a new hero and increases your party size. This can feel like a brutal grind, but it's not so bad. The amount of pride you feel when you unlock a new hero or upgrade an existing one pretty much makes up for it. There is also a kind of competitive multiplayer. Essentially, you can play with a pre-set hero if you've unlocked them, and compete with other players for top scores. The winners get some pretty nifty in-game stuff.
Whats it about? Do It! Pr o Is a task list manager that lets you sync up with Google Tasks to keep track of everything that needs doing.
Whats it about? Need a quick way to shut down all your phone's notifications? Notifications Off can handle the job.
Whats cool? Like the rest of the Dungeon Hunter series, Dungeon Hunter 4 packs great production values and some solid gameplay as players take on the roles of heroes and venture into dungeons to kill m onsters and demons. The series takes a page from action-RPGs such as Diablo III on PC, with players grabbing loot and weapons while raising skills and unlocking new abilities. You can choose from one of four types of warrior to play with, each packing different capabilities, but keep in mind that the free-to-play model limits what players can do in the game without paying.
