No App Drawer for Android N?

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

 

 

[tsupersonic]

Well thank god for custom launchers. I don't like all the icons on the desktop (a la iOS) - I always end up making a folder along called "Do Not Use" or "Junk" or "Apple." So, yes, I would miss it! 

[subcld]

on android i don't use app drawer i put all my apps on multiple screens and folders, if i want an app i use google search without wasting time looking for the app in app drawer. if the app drawer was like windows phone app list i'd use it more often

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

So like how iOS does things, but also retaining the idea of Homescreen Widgets?

[tsupersonic]

52 minutes ago, subcld said:

on android i don't use app drawer i put all my apps on multiple screens and folders, if i want an app i use google search without wasting time looking for the app in app drawer. if the app drawer was like windows phone app list i'd use it more often

That makes your home screen cluttered and you have to dig to find your apps. I use Action launcher, and put my most used apps on the desktop, along with widgets. I use quickpage to put more apps on there, and then lastly the app. drawer is searchable. There are many launchers that have searchable app drawers or you can customize them to free flow like WIndows Phone. 

[Thomas the Tank Engine]

If I wanted the look of iOS, then I'd get an iPhone!

[subcld]

15 minutes ago, tsupersonic said:

That makes your home screen cluttered and you have to dig to find your apps. I use Action launcher, and put my most used apps on the desktop, along with widgets. I use quickpage to put more apps on there, and then lastly the app. drawer is searchable. There are many launchers that have searchable app drawers or you can customize them to free flow like WIndows Phone. 

without doing so i feel my phone empty, i don't like that feeling, i tried multiple launchers i always find something wrong and i end up removing them

[firey]

I keep my main apps on my home screens, otherwise I app drawer all the time.  Nice alphabetical pages, I can easily find what I am looking for assuming I am not too stoned or drunk to remember the alphabet.

[George P Global Moderator]

I'd miss it, I only keep a limited number of apps on my home screens plus different widgets. I don't want them all out there, the app drawer keeps everything in it that I don't use everyday, that's the point of it. Otherwise i'd be forced to change launcher which I don't feel the need to do now on 6.0, r I'll have to make a big folder called apps to drop everything in, more work for me.

[Fraud OS 11]

"App Drawer" is like Windows Start Menu's "All Apps" so that you don't need every installed app's shortcut on the home screen. So now what they are gonna have an endlessly scrolling cluttered list of everything installed? Seems like a bad change.

[PGHammer]

On 2/27/2016 at 8:17 AM, tsupersonic said:

Well thank god for custom launchers. I don't like all the icons on the desktop (a la iOS) - I always end up making a folder along called "Do Not Use" or "Junk" or "Apple." So, yes, I would miss it! 

While Lollipop has one, I don't use it - I simply have the most used apps on my screen (ala Windows or any other OS that I use) while leaving the rest in "general" (which is always a shortcut away in any case (since ICS, the "general" area is in the lower center - and no successor to ICS has moved it since - including N).

 

That is, in fact, one reason I like Arrow - it enforces shortcut discipline (unlike all too many launchers, it doesn't allow you to have multiple drawers/desktops); however, as I said before, the problem is not unique to Android (in most cases, Windows and desktop OSes in general are even more prone than Android and iOS, due to their larger displays).

 

If I see someone using multiple app drawers, I start wondering what their desktops (regardless of OS) must be like - and I start to cringe.

 

Yes - with most default launchers, it IS that bad; I kicked Lenovo's own HD Launcher, which was my tablet's default, completely to the curb for that *exact* reason.  (Heck, I even stopped using the virtual desktops "feature" in Windows (and most Linux distributions) for the same reason - why invite additional clutter?)

 

 

[PGHammer]

On 3/6/2016 at 4:43 AM, UXGaurav said:

"App Drawer" is like Windows Start Menu's "All Apps" so that you don't need every installed app's shortcut on the home screen. So now what they are gonna have an endlessly scrolling cluttered list of everything installed? Seems like a bad change.

And you really think that Classic Shell doesn't get cluttered?  Classic Shell gets cluttered for the exact same reason "All Apps" does - too many installers create shortcuts on the menu AND the desktop; it's only more recent installers that even give an option to not create ANY shortcuts in either place - why do you think I was happy to see the Start menu get banished with Windows 8?  Does Classic Shell auto-sort?  Windows 10's Start menu does - to the point that I never - as in ever - need to go to "All Apps" area to find anything on my Start Menu,  Does your "general" Apps drawer (a persistent feature in Android) sort?  Arrow DOES sort the general apps; in fact, like Windows 10, it has an area for the most recently added or updated apps.  Any launcher (or replacement shell) for ANY OS should have a sort feature, if it lacks any other - if only to keep down the clutter!

[Yogurth]

I can only hope that HTC will not follow this. Sense 7.0 has a convenient widget that can hold Your apps on launch screen without making it cluttered. 

[Fraud OS 11]

1 hour ago, PGHammer said:

And you really think that Classic Shell doesn't get cluttered?  Classic Shell gets cluttered for the exact same reason "All Apps" does - too many installers create shortcuts on the menu AND the desktop; it's only more recent installers that even give an option to not create ANY shortcuts in either place - why do you think I was happy to see the Start menu get banished with Windows 8?  Does Classic Shell auto-sort?  Windows 10's Start menu does - to the point that I never - as in ever - need to go to "All Apps" area to find anything on my Start Menu,  Does your "general" Apps drawer (a persistent feature in Android) sort?  Arrow DOES sort the general apps; in fact, like Windows 10, it has an area for the most recently added or updated apps.  Any launcher (or replacement shell) for ANY OS should have a sort feature, if it lacks any other - if only to keep down the clutter!

You didn't understand what I was trying to say. I was saying that there should be choice to the *user* to keep only certain apps he wants (e.g. pinned or most used) vs the option to access full list hidden somewhere. That the full All Apps list might become the only option is what I called a bad change. Any list will get cluttered if the USER himself installs more apps/programs than what he regularly uses.

 

Yes Classic Shell has the ability to sort whatever lists it has - whether it's the pinned list, the All Apps list or the most used list. And the phone I use does have a feature to sort by name, by installed date or user customized order, although on my phone I hardly ever use the All Apps list - the Play Store automatically pins whatever is installed to the home screen. If I don't need it, I remove the shortcut. That same idea doesn't work well for me on the Desktop because I use more programs on it - far more than what I can pin.

 

And 10's menu auto sorts? I thought it only sorted the All Apps list by name. It doesn't have a function to automatically sort the most used list or the pinned list, does it?

Edited April 17, 2016 by UXGaurav

[PGHammer]

7 hours ago, UXGaurav said:

You didn't understand what I was trying to say. I was saying that there should be choice to the *user* to keep only certain apps he wants (e.g. pinned or most used) vs the option to access full list hidden somewhere. That the full All Apps list might become the only option is what I called a bad change. Any list will get cluttered if the USER himself installs more apps/programs than what he regularly uses.

 

Yes Classic Shell has the ability to sort whatever lists it has - whether it's the pinned list, the All Apps list or the most used list. And the phone I use does have a feature to sort by name, by installed date or user customized order, although on my phone I hardly ever use the All Apps list - the Play Store automatically pins whatever is installed to the home screen. If I don't need it, I remove the shortcut. That same idea doesn't work well for me on the Desktop because I use more programs on it - far more than what I can pin.

 

And 10's menu auto sorts? I thought it only sorted the All Apps list by name. It doesn't have a function to automatically sort the most used list or the pinned list, does it?

It doesn't sort the most-used or pinned lists by default (likely because it would get dragged into court if it did) - however, Arrow does sort both.  (And again, it's because Arrow isn't the default - unless a user sets it that way in Android; different rules have been shown to apply to Windows, as opposed to Android; also, with Android, it's Microsoft that is the outsider.)

 

Lastly, because it sorts everything, why would you need to resort to "All Apps" for anything? (Windows 10's Menu - not Classic Shell.)  The default sort for Windows 10's Menu is first numeric, then alpha - Arrow uses the same sort characteristic.

 

I've tried to address your quite valid point about "All Apps" in Windows; the issue there is that most installs don't offer a choice on shortcuts that get dumped into the menu (in any version of Windows); generally, it's only the most recent installers (especially third-party installers used by game repackers) that offer a choice at all - why do YOU think I have whacked Nero as a repeat offender?  Finally, Play Store autopin is as bad as installer autopin (in any other OS) - the only saving grace is that - surprisingly - it's NOT the default in Android (it may, however, be the default in your launcher - are you using the launcher that came with the phone, or a third-party launcher?)

[tsupersonic]

8 hours ago, PGHammer said:

While Lollipop has one, I don't use it - I simply have the most used apps on my screen (ala Windows or any other OS that I use) while leaving the rest in "general" (which is always a shortcut away in any case (since ICS, the "general" area is in the lower center - and no successor to ICS has moved it since - including N).

 

That is, in fact, one reason I like Arrow - it enforces shortcut discipline (unlike all too many launchers, it doesn't allow you to have multiple drawers/desktops); however, as I said before, the problem is not unique to Android (in most cases, Windows and desktop OSes in general are even more prone than Android and iOS, due to their larger displays).

 

If I see someone using multiple app drawers, I start wondering what their desktops (regardless of OS) must be like - and I start to cringe.

 

Yes - with most default launchers, it IS that bad; I kicked Lenovo's own HD Launcher, which was my tablet's default, completely to the curb for that *exact* reason.  (Heck, I even stopped using the virtual desktops "feature" in Windows (and most Linux distributions) for the same reason - why invite additional clutter?)

 

 

Multiple app drawers? Do you mean multiple home pages? Typically there is just one app drawer (where users can scroll horizontally or vertically).

 

Me personally I have three home pages. I currently use Action Launcher 3. My main page has a weather/clock widget, most commonly used apps at the bottom. My left page has two widgets - one is 2x6, and contains a scrolling list of emails (displays who send the email, subject, time), the other widget is 3x6 and again is a scrolling list of calendar appointments (shows days/date, calendar appointment and location). Both of these widgets are actionable, I can create new email, and new calendar appointments, and tap on the headers to go into the actual app. My right page has a 5x4 calendar widget (one month view). This widget is actionable, I can look at other months, create new appointments, tap on individual days to get meetings for that day. I've also enabled the quickbar (Google search bar at the top of every home page), quick page (swipeable 5x6 home page from right screen edge - can be accessed from any home page), and quickdrawer (swipeable 5x6 list of all apps I have installed with letter shortcut). Of course I have a dock, a searchable app drawer, and gestures. This is a very customized power user setup. 

[Buttus]

man, i hope not!  i only have one home screen with widgets, one screen with quick dial/quick message icons and one screen with a couple drawers of util, game, media apps.

 

90% of my background is visible, besides the one screen with all the weather, keep, alarm, etc....  widgets