Aviate Launcher- Thoughts and opinions Thread

Kev.

There's not a lot of talk about peoples thoughts on the launcher in the other thread.Its mostly an invite thread.


My thoughts:
I started using it yesterday and so far I really like it.

Today is going to be the first day to see what battery performance etc is going to be like.

I think its a keeper.I seem to be using my phone more though.

I think Ive used every launcher out there but this feels different for some reason..

Anyone else?

nedd

I installed it yesterday. I do like it but I can't see myself staying with it.

It is a clever idea and it looks nice, but I can't seem to be able to change the category of the apps. So the apps it has on the Work screen are not apps I use while in work.

If it was a little more customisable I think I would get more out of it.

That said, it is very clever, I was in Heuston on the way home yesterday evening and it changed to a screen giving some Foursquare tips about the station and there were photos....

All in all a different approach to the homescreen and I like it.

nedd

http://androidspin.com/2013/10/16/aviate-launcher-makes-data-public-fix-coming/

Data Protection Issue.

chrislad

nedd wrote: »

I installed it yesterday. I do like it but I can't see myself staying with it.

It is a clever idea and it looks nice, but I can't seem to be able to change the category of the apps. So the apps it has on the Work screen are not apps I use while in work.

If it was a little more customisable I think I would get more out of it.

That said, it is very clever, I was in Heuston on the way home yesterday evening and it changed to a screen giving some Foursquare tips about the station and there were photos....

All in all a different approach to the homescreen and I like it.

I can change apps by holding down and dragging to remove. I can also move apps between categories also. Now sure why you can't.

Alpha Dog 1

Very good launcher, would like to be able to create new categories though , there's only a watching sport category, would like just sport and also a media category and gambling category.

I like the pull down menu and the fact that I can add widgets here.

Professey Chin

I got a little creeped out by it last night.
Was in dundrum and when it realised I was next to movies @ dundrum it started offering me to check in and showings apps like IMDB
It knows too much >_>

Pique

I wish it allowed one-touch widgets. To turn on mobile data I now have to go into settings. Previously I had a widget on my homescreen.

Alpha Dog 1

Pique wrote: »

I wish it allowed one-touch widgets. To turn on mobile data I now have to go into settings. Previously I had a widget on my homescreen.

Download powertoggles.

nedd

OK, so I can add to categories, my bad.

I will have to start setting up the different screens the way I want to.

One thing, I am in work now and the last two times I have gone to the phone it has changed screen, once to "Pub" Larry Murphys the pub beside the office, and the other time to "Casino", there is a casino across the road.

So it is too clever for its own good.

Dcully

I like it but i simply cant go without Blinkfeed on my HTC One.
Yeah i can use Flipboard with Aviate but ive grown to love Blinkfeed.

MiCr0

been using it for an hour - and impressed so far

MBSnr

Managed to last with it for 2 hrs before un-installing. Just didn't like it.
It didn't play nicely with some widgets (stock contacts didn't display side by side like on colleagues Samsung S4).
Calendar is massive in the widget box with no re-size.
The stock SMS app messages display ok but Handcent widget doesn't.
Photo gallery widget doesn't display
Had no direct dial buttons that I have on my standard home screen.
Had a post it button that was linked to google+ that I couldn't remove (I don't post anyhow apart from here...).
The Do Not Disturb switches between silent and ring only (no vibrate)

There's a few more as well but I felt I was compromising lots for having something 'new and shiny' that told me nothing I needed to know and actually began to annoy. Anyhow horses for courses and all that.

emo72

I know it's only day one but the battery seems to be lasting longer.

Mars Bar

I guess if you're big in to customisation then it's not so great. I went right back to stock and only had the clock on the screen and had no use for the other four windows there so this suits me perfectly.
It looks great, it's intelligent and it's smooth.

I'd be surprised if they don't allow you to put the a-z before the categories in an update eventually.

It makes me wish I had a reason to be more sophisticated with my phone!

Alpha Dog 1

Does the picture on the homescreen ever change?
Is the picture the same for everyone?

Vikings

If you long hold the picture you will have the option to change it on the top right.

Alpha Dog 1

Vikings wrote: »

If you long hold the picture you will have the option to change it on the top right.

Yeah I got that, just thought it might change on a daily basis rather than a fairly boring picture of the sky.

emo72

the makers of this launcher say that its not for customisers. its basic and clean.

waynegalway

I was looking forward to this for months, and when I finally got my code to try it out, I was disappointed.

I'm not sure the contextual shortcuts based on time or location really suit me. I have my home screens set up so that I can quickly get to what I want no matter where I am or what time of day it is. So that aspect of Aviate is more of a nuisance for me than anything.

It does look good, though, visually.

The location based stuff that it can do wouldn't work for me, because I have all my location settings off most of the time, to save battery. I only turn it on if using the phone for sat nav. So I didn't get to see what Aviate could do in that respect, and even if some people rave about that end of things, I just like my battery life too much to have location services running all the time.

So, bottom line, it looks nice, but it doesn't make my phone any slicker to use and potentially would run my battery down, so I ended up uninstalling after one day.

Alpha Dog 1

I must say I do like it, the most innovative browser in a long time in my opinion. There are definitively flaws there but thats to be expected with a new app that is just out of beta and is invite only. I would be hoping that these get sorted once the app goes public.

It definitively needs more customisation and more options in settings. Ive mine slightly customised in that I changed to the dark theme and replaced the homescreen picture with some useful widgets.

l will probably use it for the next few days atleast before returning to buzz launcher and then return again once it goes public in the hope that these issues get ironed out.

Overall though I think its a move in the right direction and hopefully changes the way in which people thing about launchers.

Banjo String

I have it running on a note 3 and I like it. A lot.

god's toy

Looking for an invite if anyone want to share.

Thanks..

Dave147

Alpha Dog 1 wrote: »

I must say I do like it, the most innovative browser in a long time in my opinion. There are definitively flaws there but thats to be expected with a new app that is just out of beta and is invite only. I would be hoping that these get sorted once the app goes public.

It definitively needs more customisation and more options in settings. Ive mine slightly customised in that I changed to the dark theme and replaced the homescreen picture with some useful widgets.

l will probably use it for the next few days atleast before returning to buzz launcher and then return again once it goes public in the hope that these issues get ironed out.

Overall though I think its a move in the right direction and hopefully changes the way in which people thing about launchers.

Definitely :pac:

Banjo String

god's toy wrote: »

Looking for an invite if anyone want to share.

Thanks..

Pm your email add

Invite sent. 3 still left.

god's toy

Banjo String wrote: »

Pm your email add

Invite sent. 3 still left.

Thanks Banjo! Sorted now

Keano

Gone back to Nova. I like it but battery went in a few hours yesterday and I'd didn't use the phone once.

Kev.

waynegalway wrote: »

I was looking forward to this for months, and when I finally got my code to try it out, I was disappointed.

I'm not sure the contextual shortcuts based on time or location really suit me. I have my home screens set up so that I can quickly get to what I want no matter where I am or what time of day it is. So that aspect of Aviate is more of a nuisance for me than anything.

It does look good, though, visually.

The location based stuff that it can do wouldn't work for me, because I have all my location settings off most of the time, to save battery. I only turn it on if using the phone for sat nav. So I didn't get to see what Aviate could do in that respect, and even if some people rave about that end of things, I just like my battery life too much to have location services running all the time.

So, bottom line, it looks nice, but it doesn't make my phone any slicker to use and potentially would run my battery down, so I ended up uninstalling after one day.

I read somewhere that leaving your location on,doesn't effect your battery usage

Mars Bar

Yeah I've noticed increased battery consumption too.

emo72

Mars Bar wrote: »

Yeah I've noticed increased battery consumption too.

funny it lasted longer for me

Mars Bar

emo72 wrote: »

funny it lasted longer for me

In fairness, I was using stock launcher and feck all with my phone. Probably doing a little more arsing about with it since getting aviate.

waynegalway

Kev. wrote: »

I read somewhere that leaving your location on,doesn't effect your battery usage

In itself, leaving it on doesn't effect battery. But in reality, having it on means that apps can use that function when they like even when you don't want them to, and every time the location service is called for by an app is going to hit the battery hard. In my experience, it's better to have it switched off until you really need it as a front end function, like for sat nav.

beardo81

Quite like the launcher, something a little different. Easy to use and everything moving nice and quickly. Will be interesting to see where the developers go with it, what improvements they will bring down the line. Could prove quite successful, they have built the hype very well.

OctavarIan

Been using it for a week now and haven't noticed much effect on battery life on the Nexus 4. Either Aviate is optimised for the Nexus 4 or some of you have other apps that are draining battery.

Only complaint I have right now about it is that the location awareness is rarely ever right. Despite having set my home and work places it consistently ignores them in favour of whatever else is nearby. Seems pretty random too, could be in a location for hours and then the launcher decides I've moved somewhere else. Not sure if it's an Aviate bug or a limitation of the technology.

god's toy

Was good on battery for the weekend where I didn't go out anywhere but come Monday and drive to work, 20% gone by 11am.

Dont think I'll be hanging on, maybe next update.

Mr E

I went to Subway for lunch, and it automatically created a "Subway" space with a link to the Subway loyalty app (which I already had installed).

Pretty clever....

Vikings

Used it for a few days, got a little frustrated with it and uninstalled until it comes out of beta.

Always getting errors and force closes when trying to add/remove widgets and found it drained the battery more than normal, probably to do with all the location stuff. And that's from someone with a 4400mah extended battery.

Mars Bar

I had my phone charged this morning and It's down to 80% already and I haven't done one thing with it today. There's definitely something consuming battery in the launcher. I love how it looks so I'm hoping they can improve on this when they launch it properly.

Mr E

Unless you have some sort of toggle widget installed, it's not easy to tell if you have both mobile data and wifi active (a real battery drainer).

I'm getting about a day between charges with moderate use.

Mars Bar

Mr E wrote: »

Unless you have some sort of toggle widget installed, it's not easy to tell if you have both mobile data and wifi active (a real battery drainer).

I'm getting about a day between charges with moderate use.

I have 1Tap Quick Bar but I've had that for ages. I rarely ever connect to mobile data and only connect to wi-fi a couple of times a day and sometimes not at all. Bluetooth is always on so it connects to the handsfree in my car.
I recently got three and a half days out of my battery on the stock launcher.

I have google's location service on so I'll turn that off tomorrow and compare it again.

At the moment it's on 55%. Cell standby is 37% and phone idle is 28% blue tooth is 11% and screen is 11%.

Alpha Dog 1

Mr E wrote: »

Unless you have some sort of toggle widget installed, it's not easy to tell if you have both mobile data and wifi active (a real battery drainer).

I'm getting about a day between charges with moderate use.

Power toggle is your friend here, goes into the notification bar.
I can see this type of launcher being the stock launcher in the future, most people I see on Android don't set up their homescreens efficiency and generally tend to be a weird array of apps with no widgets in sight. Those sort of users would benefit greatly from using this launcher.

Mr E

Yep, I have Power Toggle installed myself. My suggestion was for others with battery issues. I have WiFi on all day, and Location Services turned on, and still get 24 hours out of my battery.

Mars Bar

There's just been an update so hopefully that'll improve the battery life for me.

Banjo String

Since the latest update I'm not getting updates on what's nearby on the homes screen anymore.

Anyone else?

eoinfitzokk

I find that its hard see much on a small 3.5 inch screen. Got it on my Nexus 4 and it was better. In my mind, the best alternative launcher would be a combination of Aviate and Everything Home. Everything Home folders set up is really clean and great visuals. The location awareness of Aviate is good but the app is less visually attractive. It will improve overtime, hopefully with folder setup more akin to Everything Home.

thund3rbird_

hi all,

looking for an invite if there are any spare

are the invites linked to the actual email address?

thanks

Seedy Arling

thund3rbird_ wrote: »

hi all,

looking for an invite if there are any spare

are the invites linked to the actual email address?

thanks

Pm me your email and and I'll send you an invite.

Kev.

thund3rbird_ wrote: »

hi all,

looking for an invite if there are any spare

are the invites linked to the actual email address?

thanks

Ant chance we can keep the invites to the other thread?

I changed back to Nova launcher the other day but after 5 minutes use I came back to Aviate.

I really like it,I think its the simplicity of the app.

god's toy

Kev. wrote: »

Ant chance we can keep the invites to the other thread?

I changed back to Nova launcher the other day but after 5 minutes use I came back to Aviate.

I really like it,I think its the simplicity of the app.

Yep I remember returning to stock after two days and feeling like 'oh, yeah, stock doesn't look all that wonderful now'
my battery is lasting longer now but I would like to return to Aviate when they fix some things.

Mars Bar

My battery has returned to normal after turning it off and on again.

mik_da_man

Have it a week and liked it.
However the fact it kept going to a hotel home screen when I was at work was annoying. (I work across the road from one)
No way to ignore it...

Also I missed blinkfeed...

Alpha Dog 1

The tips that it offers for my local town are priceless and 100% spot on.