Patch:AdvancedConfigurations

Summary

What is the Advanced Configuration for App Launcher patch?

The Advanced Configuration for App Launcher (ACAL) patch combines many of the best/popular App Launcher patches into one super, highly configurable patch.

The Advanced Configuration for App Launcher patch adds the following changes/functionality to the App Launcher.

• tidies the app menu
• adds configurable named pages
• adds configurable page tabs
• adds configurable page reset
• adds configurable default page
• adds configurable page indicators
• adds configurable icons size
• adds configurable icon grid size
• adds configurable viewing of icon titles
• adds configurable viewing of quick launch
• adds renaming of applications
• adds hiding / showing of applications
• adds secondary moving of applications
• adds page moving/renaming/adding/deleting
• adds jumping to a wanted page

Installation

Overview

The Advanced Configuration for App Launcher patch is found in the WebOS-Internals Patch Feed. The Advanced Configuration for App Launcher patch has been updated for webOS 1.4.5. Older versions of the patch might exist for older webOS versions (e.g. 1.4.1.1, 1.4.2, etc...), however, they most likely will no longer be maintained and do not contain the latest enhancements/fixes.

Warning!

It is highly recommended that you remove ALL Launcher patches, show/hide app patches, grid patches (e.g. 4x4, 5x5, etc...) and themes before installing/updating this patch. If you do not, the install/update of this patch will FAIL!

There are some compatible patches (Glass Effect Launcher & Black Font in Launcher) and themes (Glass Effect Suite Theme). There may be others as well. After you have successfully installed the Advanced Configuration for App Launcher patch, you can attempt to install your other patches and themes. If the patch/theme you are trying to install has a similar functionality or modifies the same files as this patch, it will FAIL to install.

Use Preware to remove all of the items mentioned above.

1. From the App Menu, tap Preferences.
2. Scroll to the "List Scene" section and change the INSTALLED IS AVAILABLE to Yes.
3. Scroll to the "Main Scene" section and change the AVAILABLE TYPES to Yes.
4. Preform a back-swipe gesture.
5. From the App Menu, tap Update Feeds
6. Do these steps if you have items under each section to remove
   1. Tap Available Patches > AppLauncher
      1. Any patch with a green dot/arrow over the icon means it is installed. Uninstall it by tapping the patch and then tapping Remove.
   2. Tap Available Themes > Themes
      1. Any theme with a green dot/arrow over the icon means it is installed. Uninstall it by tapping the theme and then tapping Remove.
7. For good measure, from the App Menu on the main scene of Preware, tap Luna Manager and then the Restart Luna button.

Method

The following method can be used to install the Advanced Configuration for App Launcher patch.

Preware

Advanced Configuration for App Launcher

1. Open Preware
2. Tap Available Packages
3. Tap Patch > App Launcher > Advanced Configuration for App Launcher
4. Tap the Install button
5. Tap the Ok button to restart Luna

Or

1. At the main Preware screen, start a search for the patch by name, then press enter.
2. Tap the corresponding patch from the list
3. Tap the Install button
4. Tap the Ok button to restart Luna

Usage

Preferences

The Preferences for are accessed by tapping/swiping down the upper-left corner of the screen/top bar (when the App Launcher is in focus) and selecting Preferences. After configuring the preferences the way you like, use the back-swipe gesture to go back to the Launcher.

Page Settings

Page Header: [No Page Header | Use Page Name | Use Page Tabs]
This setting determines the view/style of the page header in the App Launcher.

Put New Apps: [On First Page | On Last Page | On Active Page | On Default Page]
This setting determines where a new app will be placed in the App Launcher.

Reset Position: [On | Off]
This setting determines whether or not the App Launcher position is reset to the top of the page automatically.

Page Wrapping: [On | Off]
This setting determines whether or not the App Launcher pages wrap when flipping from the last to first or first to last page. (Note: The animation effect that is normally present is removed when page wrapping is enabled. This is due to a limitation of the scroller widget which the Launcher uses.)

Page Animation: [On | Off]
This setting determines whether or not the animation effect is enabled for jumping between pages and when selecting a page from the tabs header. This setting (Page Animation) does not affect swiping between pages. (Note: This setting can only be controlled when the Page Wrapping option is off.)

Page Indicators: [On | Off]
This setting determines whether or not the page indicators (arrows or little hash marks) are shown in the App Launcher.

Icon Settings
Tweaking of the Grid and Icon settings will yield different results. Play around with the settings to find your optimal App Launcher page layout.

Grid Size: [Small | Medium | Large]
This setting determines the number of app icons per row in the App Launcher.

• Small - Yields 3 app per row
• Medium - Yields 4 apps per row
• Large - Yields 5 apps per row

Grid Spacing (Slider, 0px - 25px):
This setting determines the spacing between the grid rows.

Icon Size: [Small | Medium | Large]
This setting determines the number or rows on an App Launcher page.

Icon Titles: [On | Off]
This setting determines whether or not the app titles are shown in the App Launcher.

Quick Launcher

Launcher Bar: [Always Visible | Always Hidden | Hide In Launcher | Show In Launcher]
This setting determines the how the Quick Launch bar is displayed.

Unhide On Reorder: [On | Off]
This setting determines if the Quick Launch bar will be shown when reordering/moving apps (helpful if you have the Quick Launcher hidden and wish to move apps to and from the Quick Launcher). This setting is only shown if you have the Launch Bar setting set to either "Always Hidden" or "Hide In Launcher".

View App Information

Viewing App Information can be accomplished by:

1. Gesture + Tap an app icon.

Setting/Un-setting Default App Launcher Page

Setting the default App Launcher page can be accomplished by:

1. Navigate to the launcher page you want to set as the default page. (Note: The default page is the App Launcher page that will display by default when the App Launcher is opened.)
2. Tap/swipe down the upper-left corner of the screen/top bar (when the App Launcher is in focus) and select Set As Default Page.

Un-setting the default App Launcher page can be accomplished by:

1. Tap/swipe down the upper-left corner of the screen/top bar (when the App Launcher is in focus) and select Unset Default Page.

Hiding/Showing Apps

Hiding apps can be accomplished by either of the following methods:

1. Gesture + Tap an app in the App Launcher and tap the Hide button.
2. Tap/swipe down the upper-left corner of the screen/top bar (when the App Launcher is in focus) and select List All Applications.
   • Tap the app in the list, then tap the Hide button.

Showing/Unhiding apps can be accomplished by:
(Note: Apps that are hidden appear "grayed-out" in the list)

1. Tap/swipe down the upper-left corner of the screen/top bar (when the App Launcher is in focus) and select List All Applications.
   • Tap the app in the list, then tap the Show button.

Moving/Rename/Deleting Apps

Moving Apps can be accomplished by either of the following methods:

1. Tap + Hold an app icon. Once the "halo" appears around the app icon, slide the app around the current App Launcher page or move to the side edges of the screen to move it to another page.
2. Gesture + Tap an app. Tap the Move button. Select the page you wish to move the app to.

Renaming Apps can be accomplished by:

1. Gesture + Tap an app.
2. Tap the Rename button.
3. Enter a new name for the app and press enter key on your keyboard.

Deleting Apps can be accomplished by:
(Note: You can only delete non Palm Apps this way)

1. Gesture + Tap an app.
2. Tap the Delete button.

Adding/Removing/Moving App Launcher Pages

Use one of the following methods to enter into an "edit" mode so that you can then add/remove/move/rename launcher pages:

• Tap/swipe down the upper-left corner of the screen/top bar (when the App Launcher is in focus) and select Enter Edit Mode.
• Gesture + Tap a blank area on a Launcher page.
• If using Tabs for your page header, Gesture + Tap the Menu button.
• If your using Page Names for your page header, Gesture + Tap the page header

Then...

Adding a Launcher page can be accomplished by the following method:

1. Tap the + button.

(Note: The new page is added to the end of the Launcher Page list.)

Removing a Launcher page can be accomplished by the following method:

1. From the Launcher Page list, tap the page you want to remove.
2. Tap the delete (trash can) button.

Moving a Launcher page can be accomplished by the following method:

1. From the Launcher Page list, tap the page you want to move.
2. Tap the arrows to move the page up or down in the list.

Renaming a Launcher page can be accomplished by the following method:

1. From the Launcher Page list, tap the page you want to rename.
2. Tap the Rename button.
3. After renaming the page, tap the Done button.

Troubleshooting (FAQ)

Common Questions

Q: I am having trouble installing/updating this patch.

A: The Advanced Configuration for App Launcher patch conflicts with almost all other patches that provide similar functionality. Remove them and try to install/update the patch again. If you are still having trouble, see the Steps To Resolve IPKG Errors When Installing Or Upgrading below.

Steps To Resolve IPKG Errors When Installing Or Upgrading

Try these steps to resolve any problem you may be having installing or updating the Advanced Configuration for App Launcher patch. Progress through the steps until your problem is resolved.

Step 1:

1. Uninstall ALL other Launcher, Grid (4x4, 5x5, etc...) and show/hide app patches.
2. Restart Luna.
3. Try to install/update again.

Step 2:

1. Run the Emergency Patch Recovery (EPR).
2. Search for EPR in Preware.
3. Install/Run EPR. (More details on EPR can be found here.) (Note: EPR removes all patches from your device.)
4. After EPR is complete, restart Luna.
5. Start by installing this patch (Advanced Configuration for App Launcher) first, then the rest of your patches (use the Saved Package List from Preware for quicker restoration of your other patches).

Step 3:

1. Run the WebOS Repair Utility. (More details can be found here.)
2. Replace the conflicting/problem file (usually listed in the IPKG error message at the end of the line "...saving rejects to file /path to file/filename, where filename is the file you want to replace).

Step 4:

1. Run the webOS Doctor to restore your phone. (More details can be found here.)

Common IPKG Errors When Installing Or Updating

Q: I am getting the following error when I try to update the patch:

Unable to run command: IPKG_OFFLINE_ROOT=/media/cryptofs/apps /bin/sh /media/cryptofs/apps/usr/lib/ipkg/info/org.webosinternals.patches.app-launcher-advanced-configuration-for-app-launcher.prerm 2>&1 Unreversed patch detected! Ignore -R? [n] Apply anyway? [n] 2 out of 2 hunks ignored -- saving rejects to file usr/lib/luna/system/luna-systemui/app/controllers/bar-assistant.js.rej

A: See the Steps To Resolve IPKG Errors When Installing Or Upgrading section.

Q: I am getting the following error when I try to update the patch:

-1: Unable to run command: IPKG_OFFLINE_ROOT=/media/cryptofs/apps/bin/sh /media/cryptofs/apps/usr/lib/ipkginfo/org.webosinternals.app-launcher-advanced configuration-for-app-launcher.postinst>2&1 1 of 1 hunk failed -- saving rejects to file usr/palm/applications/com.palm.app.devmodeswitcher/appinfo.json.rej

A: You have the "unhide dev mode icon" patch installed. Uninstall it since the Advanced Configuration for App Launcher patch duplicates that patch's functionality.
(Reminder: Try to uninstall ALL other Launcher, Grid (4x4, 5x5, etc...) and show/hide app patches. Restart Luna. Then try to install/update this patch.)

Resources

Donation to Developer

• Please see the official PreCentral Forum thread opening post for the donation link.

Official Forum

• Official PreCentral Forum Thread

Status

Current Release

1.4.5-69 - (Released Sept. 21th, 2010)

Changelog

1.4.5-?? - (Released Sept. ??th, 2010)

• Fixed bug with tabs showing on top of universal search in some situations.
• Added backswipe logic, swipe once to get to previous page after page jump.

1.4.5-69 - (Released Sept. 21th, 2010)

• Reset page position is now done also on app launcher activation.
• Fixed bug with active tab not updating on some situations when using tabs.
• Added ability to disable page animation without wrapping when jumping to page.

1.4.5-67 - (Released Sept. 18th, 2010)

• Unhiding QL on reorder is now done so that it works also when reorder starts from bottom row.

1.4.5-65 - (Released Sept. 16th, 2010)

• Preference scene is now closed also when closing launcher.
• Added configuration option for unhiding QL when reordering apps.
• Added confirmation dialogs for deleting apps.

1.4.5-64 - (Released Sept. 15th, 2010)

• Fixed bug with page selection failing for the first time after enabling page header.
• Added showing of Quick Launch when reordering icons (if it is hidden).