Review: ADW Ex Launcher
Having a rooted phone, I’m constantly looking for a fast home replacement that suits my needs. That being said, I’ve grown very close to ADW Launcher. It’s fast, highly customizable, and easy to use. The developer, known on the web as Anderwebs, has released a faster, even more customizable version of ADW called ADW Ex. If you haven’t heard of it, crawl out from under that rock and search for it in the Android Market. It’s hands-down the best home replacement I’ve ever used, and I’ve used quite a few. Let’s take a look at some of the features of ADW Ex, shall we?
ADW Ex is pretty similar to ADW Launcher, so if you’re familiar with that, there’s not much here that’s new. For starters, you’re given a 4×4 grid for apps, widgets, shortcuts, etc, the same as the stock Android launcher.
The dock on the bottom is a bit different from stock Android. You get the standard desktop dots for jumping from screen to screen. These can be disabled for more dock room, giving you up to 5 spaces for apps or shortcuts. If you drag up on the app drawer icon, you’re given a hidden dock that stores items. This dock is scrollable, meaning you can drag it to the right or left to reveal more space. Standard ADW stuff here.
What really sets ADW Ex apart from the rest is the settings. The transition animations between screens are amazing, to say the least. There are 8 different effects to choose from, and they’re all awesome. They vary from rotating screens to zooming screens and several other effects. Words can’t do these animations justice. It really looks great in person.
You can also change the icons of apps or shortcuts. There’s an option to give the icons a “fancy background”, which is basically a colored square around the icon. You can see what that looks like in the picture above.
Now, to the app drawer. There are several styles you can pick from, including a vertical 4D drawer and a horizontal, Galaxy S style drawer The vertical 4D drawer looks like a 4D cube, obviously. It’s a very cool effect, especially if you have a quality Android phone (i.e. Nexus One, G2).
Recapping, ADW Ex is fast. It’s a very sexy, easy to use, customizable home replacement. I’ve never seen or used another launcher quite like it, and that’s saying something. If you haven’t already installed it, I HIGHLY recommend doing so. It’s only $3.50, which really isn’t that much. And if for nothing else, buy it to support your Android developers. They’re the ones that truly make this platform what it is. Check out some screenshots below. So, are you getting ADW Ex? Already gotten it? Tell us what you think about it in the comments below We look forward to your feedback!
