Android App Review - LauncherPro

LauncherPro
Android home screen replacement app

Developer:  Federico Carnales

Download:  AppBrain

I have a certain affinity for any piece of hardware or software that allows for customization, making something your own by streamlining it into a well-oiled machine.  A perfect example would be your computer's operating system.  You can change your wallpaper, move your icons around, or completely change the overall appearance of the interface.  The same holds true for your Android phone.

For most standard Android users, your phone usually comes with at least three, and up to five, home screens, easily flipped through by swiping your finger left or right.  These screens allow you to add, subtract, and rearrange all the apps and widgets you have installed on your device.  If customization is your bag, you've probably adorned your home screens with all your favorite apps and widgets, and have probably filled the available space to its capacity among all the screens.  This is just about the time you need LauncherPro.  The first big advantage to the app is that you can increase your screen count to seven.  With seven screens, you've suddenly got an immense amount of real estate to populate your apps and widgets.  Even some widgets that could take up an entire screen now can have their place without hindering screen space.  The app also allows for up to three separate, scrollable docks, with an increase in the icons available on each dock.  The icons that come with LauncherPro can even include notification capabilities (for instance, the Gmail icon can show the number of unread emails).

Another advantage is its very smooth scrolling between screens, docks, and within the replacement app drawer.  This is much improved over Android itself.  And if you're like me, and you have a lot of apps installed, this makes things much nicer.  Also, one of its many preference settings allows for a thumbnail view of all your screens at once.  Very handy.

Screenshots

The Motorola Droid - One Week Later

It has now been a solid week since I bought the new Motorola Droid phone, and I wanted to take the time here to give an updated review now that I've used it more extensively.  The things I have discovered this past week have totally changed my own concept of what a mobile phone is capable of, and I hope that anyone who took the leap and bought the phone is enjoying it as much as I.

Quick disclosure:  I received a number of comments regarding my initial review on how many of the "features" that the Droid has are also available on other smartphones in some shape or form.  To clear up any confusion, what I should have mentioned in my review is that the Droid is the first smartphone I've ever actually owned and used on a regular basis.  I've played around with most of the smartphones out there in some capacity, as well as read many reviews for them, and for the most part, I've gotten a good grasp on their strengths and weaknesses.  But when it comes to the day-to-day operation of a smartphone, I am still discovering what is possible.

The Battery

So let me start with the battery life.  For the most part, the phone has a pretty good battery, but like all battery-powered things, its charge all depends on how you use it.  With all my previous phones, I was used to plugging them in at night, and if need be, going the next two days without it needing a charge.  But with all the apps I'm now able to download and use, those days are most likely gone.  The apps can quickly become the biggest users of battery power, since many of them constantly run in the background.  Moderation is obviously one way to conserve the juice, but you can also use certain apps to prolong your battery's charge.  The phone comes with a Power Control widget that you can place on one of your home screens that lets you quickly turn off power-hungry features like WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS when you don't need them.  I also downloaded an app called Advanced Task Killer, which lets you shut down many unused programs at once, freeing up memory and power.  When I first got the phone, I was burning through the battery by late afternoon, but I think I've got myself into a good pattern of use now, and can squeeze out a full day.

Google Maps Navigation

Click for larger version

I gave a lot of praise to Google Maps Navigation in my initial review, and to my surprise, I can give it even more praise.  Google has truly gone all out with it.  I mentioned my first "wow" moment after seeing my dotted location overlayed on top of a satellite image.  I played with this a bit more just to see how accurate it was.  Standing outside at the corner of my house, my location dot was indeed over the correct corner of my house on the image.  As I moved around the house, the dot changed to an arrow in the direction that I was moving, and continued to follow me.  The update happened fairly quickly, almost every two or three seconds.

And if it's even possible to top the first "wow", I discovered two even bigger "wows".  First, when using driving directions, as you approach your destination, the display will automatically change to Street View, displaying constantly updated photographs of your current location, and the direction that you need to go, until you reach the end.  This, of course, only works in areas where Google's Street View car has driven through.  And secondly, if you're standing in an area that is Street View enabled, you'll want to switch your display view to Compass Mode.  This will control Street View, not by moving your finger on the screen, but by tilting and pointing the phone in a north/south/east/west direction.  That, my friends, is very cool.

The Keyboard

I have always been a fan of a phone having a physical QWERTY keyboard, and I appreciated the fact that the Droid had one when I first heard about it.  However, after using it, the phone's physical keyboard was probably the biggest letdown for me in my review, and I think it still is.  Even after days of using it, I still never saw a noticeable increase in my typing speed.  As a remedy to this, I have now fully embraced the onscreen keyboard and haven't looked back.  I use the touch screen keyboard in landscape view exclusively, and because of it, my speed is almost as quick as using the physical keyboard on my previous phone.  Like other touchscreen phones, the keyboard has auto correction, which also helps increase my speed.  So typing words like "dont" or "Im" instantly corrects to "don't" and "I'm", respectively.  Even typing in "fam" switches to "family", which is pretty nerdy and awesome in my book.  I now see no reason why the physical keyboard should ever be slid out and used again.

USB

One other nuisance I failed to mention in the first review was the USB cable/charger.  The phone comes with a USB cable and wall outlet adapter.  To charge the phone using a wall outlet, you need to plug the adapter into the wall and then plug the USB cable into the adapter.  This is highly inconvenient if you're like me and charge the phone next to your bed every night, but also connect your phone to your computer.  You have to unplug the USB cable from the adapter just to use it on a computer.  Motorola should have included a single USB cable for computer use, and a single wall adapter with the cord for outlet use.  I'll probably end up buying a power adapter eventually.

The Apps

The following is a select list of apps I've download from the Android Market that I highly recommend you try out.  These apps are all free.

Flixster - movie releases and showtimes app.  Browse by current and upcoming movie releases, DVD releases, watch movie trailers, and find the nearest theater location via GPS.

Qik - live video streaming directly from your phone.  When the app is active, viewers can log on to your personal page on qik.com and watch the feed.  A strong wi-fi signal or 3G coverage area is highly recommended.

TWiT.tv - the current TWiT network of technology podcasts, available as streaming audio or video

Advanced Task Killer - close multiple unused apps at once, freeing up memory and extending battery life.

Speed Test - the mobile version of the online bandwidth tester.

Documents To Go - view Microsoft Word and Excel documents.  The paid version allows you to open, create, or edit Word, Excel, and Powerpoint files, as well as view PDF documents.

Twidroid - Twitter application designed specifically for Android phones.

Mother TED - wonderful app for watching the many presentations held annually at the various TED Conferences, devoted to technology, entertainment, design, world issues, and open thought.

Pandora - the popular music streaming website in mobile form

Photoshop.com Mobile - photo editing app.  Quick way to do basic adjustments on your photos, such as exposure, cropping, and even various effects

ShopSavvy - barcode scanning app.  Use your phone's camera to scan the barcode of a product, then find out if it's selling any cheaper at a different location near you

The Weather Channel - weather app, giving the forecast of your exact GPS location or any location you choose

The Docking Stations

Accessories for the Droid are mostly relegated to Bluetooth headsets and speakers at the moment, but Motorola will soon be releasing two docking stations specific to the Droid.  One is a car dock that switches your phone to car mode, and the other is a multimedia dock that switches your phone to a media station and desktop clock.  I can see the benefits in having both docks and will probably get both when they are available.

Final Thoughts (Again)

The Droid, for me, has indeed become indispensable.  I can't say enough about the many features that Google has provided with its Android operating system.  It's a great phone.

If you've also bought the Droid, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.  And if you have any apps that you'd like to recommend, send them my way.

My Personal Review of the Motorola Droid

 

Keeping an Open Mind

For so long, companies who create the smartphone have been chasing Apple's iPhone for the "must have" mobile device, and you can't blame them.  Ever since it came out, it's been a true sensation.  That's not to say that these companies didn't release great phones;  they just didn't pull in the masses like Apple has.  I, for one, have not made the leap to the iPhone, because it would require leaving Verizon and going to AT&T, which I never had any intention of doing.  So I admit that when I first heard about the Motorola Droid, and how amazing it is, and how it could be the iPhone killer, I kind of rolled my eyes.  An iPhone killer from Motorola?  I doubt that.  I'm pretty sure I never gave Motorola a single thought when hunting for phones, so why would I start now?  Since Day 1 of owning my first cell phone, I've bought nothing but LG phones.  There's been no rhyme or reason for this, except to say that when it was time for me to buy a new phone, LG seemed to have the phone that was a perfect fit for me.  But before I bought each of those phones, there was a lengthy bit of research into what phone would work best for me at the time.  I still do this today.  And with the latest phone to my name, I did more research than I've ever done.

So as I read through the features of the Droid when it was first announced, I came to realize something:  it's not so much about the phone itself - don't get me wrong, that is important - but it's about the operating system running the phone.  The Droid is the first mobile device to run Version 2.0 of Google's Android mobile operating system, and also the first Android phone on the Verizon network.  And as it turns out, this phone is quite the beast.

First Impressions

The first thing I noticed upon using the phone was the screen.  I was blown away by it.  With a 854x480 resolution, it is the best looking screen I've ever seen.  Every line, text, and icon is crystal clear and very sharp.  Even when using the browser or some of the apps, very small text is perfectly legible.  Even watching videos on YouTube is a joy.  The 3.7" touchscreen is definitely larger than any other phone I've had, and the touch sensitivity on it is very good.  Scrolling down a page is effortless and tapping on buttons and links is very precise.  

Using the phone is just great.  And the amount of features built into the operating system is great for a choice-driven person like myself.  Because this is an Android phone, your access to Google's services is second to none on a mobile device.  And since I use Google's many services, the phone was a perfect fit for me.  Once my contacts were transferred from my old phone, they were immediately merged to my Gmail contacts.  Then Google merged my Google Calendars into my phone's calendars.  And on top of that, you can merge all your Facebook friends with your contacts, which gives you a wide range of choices when getting a hold of someone.  All this is kept in sync on a constant basis, so if you change events on your Google Calendars, your phone changes with it.  If you add contacts to your Gmail address book, the contacts on your phone update.  And if anyone on your Facebook friends list updates their contact info or even their profile picture, those changes get applied to your phone.  I am now a true fan of Facebook syncing.

I do think that the best Google service available to the phone, and where this phone really shines, is Google Maps Navigation.  I've used Verizon's VZ Navigator for many years for all my driving directions, and it's been great.  But using driving directions with Google Maps is beyond compare.  How sweet is it to look down at a dot of where you currently are, but have that overlayed on a Google Maps satellite image.  That was a wow moment for me.  I couldn't stop grinning.  The navigation updated very fast and the map slides on the screen with such ease.  You can also overlay multiple layers of information on your Google Map, such Wikipedia, real time traffic data, and Google Latitude, which displays the exact real-time location of your friends, provided they are also signed up with Latitude.

Photo taken with the Droid (click for full size)Other features of the phone worth mentioning include built-in wifi, an included 16 GB memory card, multitasking which lets you run up to six applications at once, and a 5 megapixel camera (see photo at right).  You also have full access to Google's App Market, with over 10,000 apps and games to choose from, both free and priced.  I downloaded quite a lot of free apps, and some of them are amazing.  I recommend Barcode Scanner, for starters.

Room for Improvement

With all the great features and capabilities that the phone has, there are some things that I feel need improvement.  First off, the phone's design is very industrial and boxy.  That's not to say that it ruins the phone, but just from looking at it, it doesn't present itself as a phone of today, like Apple's iPhone or Palm's Pre.  Even the most basic of phones have very subtle curves to them, which feels more natural in your hand.

Secondly is the keyboard.  We all have that "getting to know you" period when using a new phone's keyboard for the first time, but I have to admit that even after hours of use, using it is still very rough.  In my opinion, the keyboard doesn't slide out as far as it should, because when typing on the top row of keys, my fingers rub up against or hit the screen's edge, which makes it feel cramped.  My fingers are relatively small, so I feel bad for anyone who does have larger fingers.  The keys themselves, while raised, don't seem to be raised enough, and I'll find myself pressing two keys at once.  Again, my condolences to you larger-fingered humans.  And the keyboard's layout really threw me for a loop.  For one, I don't like having to hit the "Alt" key just to type numbers;  they should have their own keys.  And no lie, it took me over a minute to realize that the "@" and "?" symbols have their own dedicated keys.  I was looking all over the place for them.  Admittedly, these issues should all eventually clear up with lots of time and practice, but with me being a fast typer on these kinds of keyboards, it's just nice to be able to pick it up and go, instead of practice, practice, practice.

If you're like me, and get dozens of text messages every day, you'll want to change the phone's default message ringer right away.  Everytime I got a text message, Gmail message, or app notification, the phone would spit out a very annoying and robotic "DROID" sound.  I'd have moments where I'd get many messages within, say, five minutes, and all I kept hearing is DROID.....DROID.......DROID.  There are a multitude of ringer options to choose from, so you're sure to find one that is much less headache-inducing.

The other big annoyance I have with the phone is its lack of a printed user manual.  It does come with a "Getting Started" pamphlet that covers the basics of what's what, but with so many features built in and buried in the phone, having a user manual is invaluable.  It is available, but you just have to download it in PDF form from Motorola's web site.

Final Thoughts

We all use our phones in different ways, and we buy the phone that best fits those needs.  If you're like me, and need a device that serves many, many purposes, this is the phone for you.  Ultimately, this is the best phone I've ever used.  Despite some shortcomings, it's quick, smart, very customizable, and jammed with features.  Is it the iPhone killer?  Hard to say.  People were saying the Palm Pre was the iPhone killer when it came out this summer, but it never got a foothold.  What I do think the Droid has that no other phone in its class has is the Verizon network, and for many people, that will be the turning point in moving away from the iPhone.