[Start menu] A New Feature: Permanent Start Button

On the version 1.3.0 of 'Start menu for Android', a new feature, 'permanent start menu', has been added. Now you can access always the start menu even when playing a game.

See the video for it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuYetNKM0DY



Many thanks.

The Latest Updates for SquareHome

v1.1.1
- quick bug fixes

v1.1.0
- added new free themes

<Glossy theme>

<Heart theme>

<Wood theme>

- able to apply another theme to app drawer separately
- can customize the top margin of home screen
- added an option to blur CUSTOM wallpaper
- added an option 'Grayscale icon'
- can customized the text colors of group title
- fixed some bugs and optimized

[ssLauncher-Tip] Reduce 'Home Delay'

The first goal of ssLauncher is to work well on low memory devices. Now I'm using 'Xperia Arc', which has 512mb of RAM, as a main phone. The important thing is that it works well on the device.

If you have some delay about a few seconds when closing an app and coming back to the launcher, we call it 'home delay'. Generally, it is caused by the following process.

- The launcher go into background when you running another app.
- While running the app and available memory(RAM) get lowed, Android will kill some background processes (applications).
- When coming back to the launcher, it should be restarted. The delay is the time for restarting.

If you always get 'home delay', try the following instructions.

1. DO NOT use any task killer application.

  Many users are using a task killer to increase the amount of available memory. However, the 'available memory' means exactly 'not using memory' and is not helpful to increase the performance of Android. If you keep always 1GB available on a device with 2GB RAM, this is not different from that you are using a device with 1GB RAM.


2. Turn on 'Use notification' in menu > preferences.

 If you are getting home delays in spite of not using a task killer, try to turn on the option 'Use notification' in menu > preferences. (only for the paid version)
This will let ssLauncher have later order for background kills. That is, other background applications will be killed earlier than ssLauncher.

Keep to use faster ssLauncher!

[ssLauncher-Tip] Why remove the contacts page?

Currently, ssLauncher supports totally 6 types of page: cover page, application group, application drawer, contacts, bookmarks and credits.
Each type of pages has its own specialties. Oops! Except of credits. :P
I know that many users remove the contact page without any try.
Now I would like to give you some tips to use it.

It has the purpose for quick access to contacts. Of course, you can run the contacts application through a shortcut. But swiping page is the easiest and efficient way to access something because you need not to search an icon and move the finger on it exactly. For example, if you have moved the contacts page to left side of home, you could access it just by swiping once at home without any concentration.

Here is a screenshot of the contacts page.

It consists of a list and a dock menu bar with the following functionality.

On list:

1. tap an item (contact): open contact widget for the item (see the screenshot)

   You can star, unstar, remove or edit the contact by the widget.

2. hold an item: you can drag it into a cover page and create a shortcut for it.
3. click the phone icon on an item: direct call


On dock menu bar:

1. plus icon: create a new contact
2. star icon: show only starred contacts

* How to star/unstar on a contact?
  - Tap an item on the list
  - Tap the photo on the contact widget
  - Toggle the star icon

3. sort icon: sort the list by name, contact times or last contact time
4. search icon: search contacts by initial
5. phone icon: launch the phone(dial) application

That's all. How easy is it?

New ssLauncher Theme - Circles, Free!

A new free theme, which uses the new feature of pinning objects, has been released today into Google Play.

Download

It could be a good example to show how to use the 'pinning objects' feature.

[Instructions]

1. install the theme.
2. menu > theme > apply theme package > select the theme.
3. press 'yes' when asking to download a icon pack.
4. move to a cover page (Home) and load the first template for cover page and pinboard respectively.
5. create the weather and clock widgets by clicking 'Widget here'.
6. adjust the column number in menu > preferences > application drawer, if you need.
7. adjust the page margins in menu > theme > others, if you need.

* This theme is fully functional on 'ssLauncher the Original'.

* Screenshots

New Features in the Latest ssLauncher

v1.11.5
- fixed a bug in color picker

v1.11.4
- enhanced color picker
- fixed some bugs and optimized

v1.11.3
- added new option 'Pinboard visibility' in menu > theme: set the visibility of pinned objects for each page type
- fixed some bugs

v1.11.2
- can set the overall icon size to 300% for tablets
- fixed some bugs

v1.11.1

- resolved the language option issue in menu > preferences
- fixed some bugs and optimized

v1.11.0
- pinning objects (shortcuts and widgets)

- added a new option, 'disable trashcan' in menu > preferences
- can set the page margins separately for portrait and landscape mode (menu > theme > others)
- added a new animation, 'accordion'
- added some sorting options for app drawer, app group and app parcel
- fixed some bugs and optimized

[Screenshots] Developer's Current Home

Now I'm using SquareHome, which was released a couple of weeks ago, to make it more stable. 'Transparent-light theme' is applied and the 'people' group was composed with 'contact' shortcuts. The contact tile displays the photo in Google contacts when set 'auto image' as a form. While the tile for normal app shows the title image in Google Play (See the screenshots).
Currently, I'm using Xperia Arc, since the old nexus-one died.

The followings show the '3D effect' when scrolling horizontally.

The folder will appear from right side when clicked. See below.

Cool~!