1. midnightdoom's Avatar
    I was wondering if anybody could explain how the whole launcher aspect of Android works. I never really looked at them before because I was getting used to the stock android and seeing where BlackBerry was gonna take it.. But was looking at Arrow and few others and some look pretty neat.

    But I am wondering how they work with BlackBerry, mainly Priv as that's what I got. What will it screw up, pro and cons..

    Will I loose Hub, productivity hub and all other BlackBerry apps or get to keep using them?
    04-11-17 07:55 AM
  2. anon(3641385)'s Avatar
    I've only ever used the. BlackBerry launcher, but from what I've read if you use other launchers you'll lose any pkb shortcut keys you've set up.

    The pkb shortcut keys only work with BlackBerry launcher.
    04-11-17 09:08 AM
  3. 1122334455667788's Avatar
    I was wondering if anybody could explain how the whole launcher aspect of Android works. I never really looked at them before because I was getting used to the stock android and seeing where BlackBerry was gonna take it.. But was looking at Arrow and few others and some look pretty neat.

    But I am wondering how they work with BlackBerry, mainly Priv as that's what I got. What will it screw up, pro and cons..

    Will I loose Hub, productivity hub and all other BlackBerry apps or get to keep using them?
    A launcher is basically just an App that specializes in displaying links (icons) to other apps.
    Changing the launcher should only change the experience of the launcher/icon page itself. Since the hub and other BlackBerry apps are completely separate from the launcher, changing the launcher will have no effect on them.

    There are a number of benefits to a good third party launcher. For example, I use one that allows for a lot of customization. I'm fine with smaller icons than the default, so it let's me fit more icons on a page. Swiping up on an icon can be configured to open a different app than simply tapping.

    The one disadvantage I see specifically to using an alternative Launcher on the PRIV, is that as was already mentioned, the keyboard shortcuts are a feature of the BlackBerry Launcher (they don't work when in any other app). I haven't heard of a good alternative Launcher that supports keyboard shortcuts, although there is no reason they couldn't.
    xandros9 and anon(3641385) like this.
    04-11-17 10:54 PM
  4. midnightdoom's Avatar
    A launcher is basically just an App that specializes in displaying links (icons) to other apps.
    Changing the launcher should only change the experience of the launcher/icon page itself. Since the hub and other BlackBerry apps are completely separate from the launcher, changing the launcher will have no effect on them.

    There are a number of benefits to a good third party launcher. For example, I use one that allows for a lot of customization. I'm fine with smaller icons than the default, so it let's me fit more icons on a page. Swiping up on an icon can be configured to open a different app than simply tapping.

    The one disadvantage I see specifically to using an alternative Launcher on the PRIV, is that as was already mentioned, the keyboard shortcuts are a feature of the BlackBerry Launcher (they don't work when in any other app). I haven't heard of a good alternative Launcher that supports keyboard shortcuts, although there is no reason they couldn't.
    Thanks for the info.. When you say physical keyboard short cuts do you mean just long pressing a key, or swipe gestures too?

    How do you go about changing the launcher if I want to alternate between my moods for example. Do I have to uninstall each time or is it just a toggle
    04-11-17 11:32 PM
  5. xandros9's Avatar
    Thanks for the info.. When you say physical keyboard short cuts do you mean just long pressing a key, or swipe gestures too?

    How do you go about changing the launcher if I want to alternate between my moods for example. Do I have to uninstall each time or is it just a toggle
    They mean the shortcuts where you can push a key and instantly get an app, contact, etc.

    Swipe scrolling will work regardless.

    Also, you can change the launcher in the Settings app, under Home. Action Launcher 3 was my preferred launcher before BlackBerry Launcher.
    1122334455667788 likes this.
    04-11-17 11:52 PM
  6. anon(3641385)'s Avatar
    You'll lose long and short press pkb shortcuts.
    04-11-17 11:54 PM
  7. zyad's Avatar
    I haven't found a single 3rd party launcher that displays the unread sparks on the Hub account shortcut icons properly.
    No even Nova with Tesla Unread does it properly.
    Receiving one email message in one account brings up unread sparks on each account icon, as well as the Hub Icon.
    Cappy.
    04-18-17 06:22 PM
  8. Kebero's Avatar
    I haven't found a single 3rd party launcher that displays the unread sparks on the Hub account shortcut icons properly.
    No even Nova with Tesla Unread does it properly.
    The sparks are a feature of the BlackBerry Launcher.
    04-18-17 06:39 PM
  9. zyad's Avatar
    The sparks are a feature of the BlackBerry Launcher.
    I know that.
    That's why I was looking for something with an alternate method of showing unread badges like Tesla Unread.
    Unfortunately, even with badges, and the ability to display the account shortcuts from the Hub in different Launchers, Tesla can't distinguish between accounts from the Hub.
    04-18-17 06:46 PM

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