When comparing LAUNCHER 8 PRO vs ADW.Launcher, the Slant community recommends ADW.Launcher for most people. In the question“What are the best launchers for Android?” ADW.Launcher is ranked 10th while LAUNCHER 8 PRO is ranked 12th. The most important reason people chose ADW.Launcher is:
New themes compatible with ADW Launcher can be downloaded directly from Google Play. The launcher conveniently provides a link from the Themes page in the ADW Settings menu. More impressively, the Themes page provides previews of each theme you've installed on your device, as well as info about whether the theme supports icons, folders, the dock and the wallpaper. However, the best feature, by far, proved to be the ability to mix and match functionalities from a variety of themes to create an entirely custom look. And most of the themes are free.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Windows Live Tile-like vibrant interface
Like Windows Phone 8, the design of Launcher 8 consists of brightly colored tiles on either a black or white background. The result is a simple and appealing design. Although simply changing the tile color is not as personal as wallpaper in conventional launchers. Fortunately though any color is possible on Launcher 8 not just the preselected colors on Windows Phone 8.
Pro Separate widget pages
Windows Phone 8 was never designed to work with Android widgets but that doesn't mean you can't use them with Launcher 8. The developers of Launcher 8 have finally found the right solution to using widgets on the tile interface with new separate pages. In the previous version of the launcher, Launcher 7, the widgets would be squeezed into tiles and the result was rarely good. The new separate widget pages accessible with a swipe to the right are a big improvement.
Pro Transition effects
Launcher 8 uses the same transition effects when opening apps and returning to the home screen as the Windows Phone 8. Not only is this appealing but apps seem to load quicker. The transition to open an app takes a few hundred milliseconds which gives apps extra time to load. The result is an interface that seems quicker than it actually is.
Pro Notification bar can be hidden
This feature may seem counterproductive at first but it provides a minimalistic appearance that stays true to the original Windows Phone 8. The notification bar will still appear everywhere else on your Android but Launcher 8 will be just tiles.
Pro Unread counts
Launcher 8 supports basic unread counts like phone calls and text messages in the free version.
Pro Great theme support
New themes compatible with ADW Launcher can be downloaded directly from Google Play. The launcher conveniently provides a link from the Themes page in the ADW Settings menu. More impressively, the Themes page provides previews of each theme you've installed on your device, as well as info about whether the theme supports icons, folders, the dock and the wallpaper. However, the best feature, by far, proved to be the ability to mix and match functionalities from a variety of themes to create an entirely custom look. And most of the themes are free.
Pro Infinite scrolling
Infinite scrolling lets you loop through home screens without requiring you to change direction.
Pro Tablet support
ADW.Launcher, despite being old and abandoned does work well on a tablet with the icons and everything else scaling correctly.
Pro Customizable app drawer
The margins, rows and columns of the app drawer also can be modified to fit your preferences. In addition, ADW Launcher supports a variety of visual styles for the app drawer, such as Horizontal Paginated, Vertical New and the standard Ice Cream Sandwich Paginated style.
Pro Customizable desktop
Adjust the size of the margins or the number of columns and rows on the desktop to a maximum grid size of 10 rows and columns.
Pro Stock Android experience
Made to look like stock Android with additional features.
Pro Group app drawers
ADW Launcher allows you to create your own groups in the app drawer.
Cons
Con Difficult to set up
As expected this launcher is much harder to set up than the real Windows Phone 8 launcher. Apps must be assigned to their their corresponding tiles, live tiles are difficult to set up, and setting tiles up to display contextual information is difficult. Fortunately though the developer has been consistently improving these issues.
Con Last updated July 27, 2013
ADW.Launcher has not been updated since 2013, basically meaning it is abandoned.