Customizing Your Android Home Screens

ADW Launcher on Droid Eris

So it seems a few of my friends are picking up Android phones (either from the mass of advertising or my own suggestions), but it seems not many people have a clue how to customize their home screens or even know that they have the options to do so.  If you are a little squimish about "Bricking" your phone (to make a change that causes the phone unusable and in need of repair), then I think I have some suggestions (or at least I could tell you what I did (and I will try to define as many terms as possible for the newbies).

The picture shows a screenshot from my HTC Droid Eris (Verizon).  You will notice that this looks extremely different from the classic HTC screen shots we've all seen.  The screen looks similar to the stock HTC Sense UI (User Interface), but, in fact, it does not even have the Sense UI installed.  It has the ADW Launcher (Free) app installed with the Beautiful Widgets (~$2.03) clock/weather app on the home screen.  More on that later.

I went advanced on this one and rooted (giving the owner SuperUser access to the phone's operating system), then went to town.  I would NOT recommend rooting your phone if you don't have the time to do the research involved.  It's like Jail Breaking your iPhone or iPod Touch, and there's always a chance that a minor OS update could throw everything out of whack.  If you are interested in rooting your Eris or any other phone, feel free to contact me for more info or post questions in the comments section.

The ADW Launcher allows very dynamic customization.  It allows you to add up to five Action Buttons (AB) to the bottom of your screen for quick access to your most used apps.  In the screenshot I have Runkeeper Pro (Free) on the Left AB, the stock web browser on the Right AB and in the middle is the icon for the App Drawer launcher.  ADW Launcher also allows you to add custom themes to your screen.  In a previous post I added a screenshot of the Sticker Album ADW Theme (Free).  In the screenshot you will see the ADW Ubuntu Theme (free) by Ryan Olson.  He had a $.99 donation version with extra wallpapers and icons, but I think it has since been removed.

The icon for the app drawer is the Ubuntu Linux logo, and goes with the Ubuntu theme for the phone.  You'll also notice that the icons for Gmail, Google Talk, Music, Messaging, Market, and Maps are different than the stock icons.  These are inherant to the Ubuntu Theme.

Beautiful Widgets simulates the HTC Sense UI clock/weather widget very well, but also allows you to add custom themes for both the clock itself AND the weather.  Go crazy looking for the best color combinations for your desktop (as you can see from the weather, it was a cloudy day).

Good luck!  Comments are welcome