Barnes & Noble home vs. alternate launchers - Nook Color General

Hello all, I am really wanting to change the default launcher on the nook color but my wife is being a hard sell. She doesn't want to lose the scrolling book cover feature that runs along the bottom of the home screen. Are there any apps or widgets out there that will allow this feature on an alternate launcher? I would love to do more with my home screen but she uses it more than I do so I need to accommodate her as well.

EsotericPunk said:
Hello all, I am really wanting to change the default launcher on the nook color but my wife is being a hard sell. She doesn't want to lose the scrolling book cover feature that runs along the bottom of the home screen. Are there any apps or widgets out there that will allow this feature on an alternate launcher? I would love to do more with my home screen but she uses it more than I do so I need to accommodate her as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you could install zeam and just never check the checkbox for the what the default home screen should be. That way when you click N it'll give you a prompt to which homescreen you want to go to. I did that and I keep accidentally checking the box while navigating through. I wish there was a way to have a widget to link to the BnN homescreen so I could navigate there if and when I want to, which isn't too often. But it's kind of like a cyber book shelf and I don't care much for the library interface.

Just get the home switcher app from the market.
Sent from my LogicPD Zoom2 using XDA App

xwint3rxmut3x said:
you could install zeam and just never check the checkbox for the what the default home screen should be. That way when you click N it'll give you a prompt to which homescreen you want to go to. I did that and I keep accidentally checking the box while navigating through. I wish there was a way to have a widget to link to the BnN homescreen so I could navigate there if and when I want to, which isn't too often. But it's kind of like a cyber book shelf and I don't care much for the library interface.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could use home switcher or alternatively, go to uninstall the application and reset the default behavior.
Also, installing another Launcher will bring the choice back

Yea, I totally feel you guys. I was just trying to avoid having to switch home screens. Have my cake and eat it too sort of situation. Maybe I will play with some ideas tonight and repost if I discover any neat tricks... (of course that assumes I can pry it away from her...)

I would say install SoftKeys and set it as the home launcher. Then in the SoftKeys app set it so one hardware click B&N Launcher and two hardware clicks your custom luncher. So when she uses it the home button brings the nook home screen but if you want the custom launcher press it twice I do the opposite but I still access the old launcher every now and then

you need another nc.

likearaptor said:
I would say install SoftKeys and set it as the home launcher. Then in the SoftKeys app set it so one hardware click B&N Launcher and two hardware clicks your custom luncher. So when she uses it the home button brings the nook home screen but if you want the custom launcher press it twice I do the opposite but I still access the old launcher every now and then
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you set two launchers to the Home button with Softkeys? I only get launcher and softkeys as options.

B&N home popup
I installed Zeam, but still frequently get the B&N popup when I try to go back by left swiping the soft arrow at the bottom. How do I kill that?

Go to the settings for SoftKeys and you can set a short press of the button for one launcher and a long press for a different launcher.
My preferred lancher is ADW. I downloaded AnyCut from the market and used it to make a shortcut to "Home" on the desktop. That opens the Nook home screen if I want it. You can also download Home Switcher or Home Manager from the market to open a different launcher or change the default.

So I found out that using Desktop Visualizer on Launcher Pro Plus that I can create a widget to launch B&N Home. Problem solved. Now I have two new ones:
1) My keyboard keeps flipping out and doing repeated button presses
2) I can't add shortcuts to the Launcher Pro home screen (widgets = fine, shortcuts = no dice)
Anyone else having these issues? I know that, regarding the keyboard, I just installed a screen protector right before it started having problems, but I can't imagine how that could cause them. I may just wait it out and if it persists, try a factory reset...
Edit: I also forgot that problem #3 is that I can't remove or change shortcuts in the dock for Launcher Pro. Kind of lame to have my dock icons as phone, contacts, and messaging...

robeggen said:
Go to the settings for SoftKeys and you can set a short press of the button for one launcher and a long press for a different launcher.
My preferred lancher is ADW. I downloaded AnyCut from the market and used it to make a shortcut to "Home" on the desktop. That opens the Nook home screen if I want it. You can also download Home Switcher or Home Manager from the market to open a different launcher or change the default.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have yet to find anywhere to long press the physical home button, only the soft button. I'd like to be able to launch an alternative launcher (or the softkeys themselves) with a long press rather than double press.

howardmoon said:
I installed Zeam, but still frequently get the B&N popup when I try to go back by left swiping the soft arrow at the bottom. How do I kill that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried 4 different launchers and no matter how I set their respective Home Button options, I still get the B&N popup from the soft button. How can it override the launcher settings?

howardmoon said:
I've tried 4 different launchers and no matter how I set their respective Home Button options, I still get the B&N popup from the soft button. How can it override the launcher settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean the Carrot/Arrow button? You're always going to get that, it's part of the framework. Most likely that won't go away until a custom ROM is available.

Ah, thanks. Crap

One other option is to use the original B&N Home with Smart Taskbar and Button Savior. You won't have widgets on your screen at all times, ST makes a pretty decent launcher for other apps.

Related

[Q] Home button and zeam

When I first installed zeam, I got a choice when I pressed the physical Home button (SoftKeys or Zeam or ? I think it was "home"). I played around with some settings and now when I press the physical Home key I go to the B&N home screen and when I double click I go to the book I was reading. I have lost my choice to go to zeam. I recall reading something about Home-application manager-something but can't find this setting. Can someone help me? Thank you.
I downloaded Home Switcher from the Market. It lets me change my default launcher.
Thanks, Ravynmagi - that's an idea. I also thought I might try to reinstall zeam and hopefully get that choice back again. I'm sure there is a simple setting somewhere.

[Q] "Last book read" button: can i get the function back?

I admit. I bought this thing for the android tablet functions but it is, at heart, an ereader and I do occassionally read on it. The last book read button is always showing but the function is lost unless I launch the original nook home. Any way I can get the function back or make a home screen shortcut for it?
I will second this! I use my rooted nook to read a lot and would love to be able to use the last book read function!
Sent from my nook color using the XDA app.
This isn't a fix but for easy use I just created a shortcut to the B&N launcher using anycut. I just have it as my secondary home where the books and stuff I actually purchased are.
It only functions if you have B&N's launcher active.
After each reboot start, open the B&N home and open the book, then switch to your launcher of choice. The "open book" button will work after that on any launcher... (at least "launcher pro" by my experience and other launchers by "hearsay").
Jim
daveknights said:
This isn't a fix but for easy use I just created a shortcut to the B&N launcher using anycut. I just have it as my secondary home where the books and stuff I actually purchased are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you do this with Anycut? I tried to do it with the shortcut menu and the anycut app. Cannot create any shortcut. This is using zeam.
Yeah, you just have to open the B&N home once and if the Nook isn't restarted it'll work.
The easiest way without making a shortcut is to use softkeys and long press the home button and set a long press on the virtual home to take you to the B&N home. After you've opened go back to your launcher of choice and you're all set.
daveknights said:
This isn't a fix but for easy use I just created a shortcut to the B&N launcher using anycut. I just have it as my secondary home where the books and stuff I actually purchased are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heh, why would you do this? Just hit the big arrow button on the status bar, instant shortcut to all of the B&N stuff.
If you are not using the stock launcher, then just sideload the books onto your desktop of your replacement launcher. There are instructions on how to simply put books right on your desktop, for one touch book launching. They appear very similarly to the ones on the stock B&N desktop.
Definitely a decent workaround but I would prefer either the function returned or the icon removed. Right now, it's like your body's appendix. Just kinda... there.

[Q] Open Book Icon [in Status Bar] stopped working

I've been a googlin, but found nothing on this yet!
Last night I finally got around to rooting. Everythings running smoothly except for one minor thing, which is that the open book icon on the status bar [that normally opens the book you're currently reading] is no longer working.
It was working after I'd initially rooted, i.e. before installing any apps or doing anything. But then after a bunch of otherwise successful tinkering (install/config of ADW, uninstalling soft keys, modding the volume buttons, etc) I noticed it's not working any more.
Has anyone else seen this happen?
I tried one thing to fix it thus far: I reverted to the .bak copies of the keylayout files and rebooted; this successfully returned the volume buttons to their original function [no longer menu and back], yet the open book icon still doesn't do anything. (The icon glows while pressed, but no action follows)
The book icon to return to your previously read book only works when you're using the nook home screen as your default home screen. You can use soft keys to configure one press for nook home and two presses for ADW, and then it should work.
peiziyu said:
The book icon to return to your previously read book only works when you're using the nook home screen as your default home screen. You can use soft keys to configure one press for nook home and two presses for ADW, and then it should work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure I saw it functioning properly when I first installed ADW. (I remember being quite surprised and pleased!)
Now that I think of it, another thing that happened around the time it stopped working is that I chose a default launcher (ADW). Until I was satisfied that ADW would play nicely (i.e. that the open-book icon and other nooky things still worked), I'd just had the 'n' button popup the dialog to select between 'home' and 'ADWLauncher'.
Is it possible that booting with non-nook launcher as default prevents that button from being init'd properly? I mean there's three cases right?
1) Nook as default
2) No default (pressing 'n' prompts for which home to use).
3) Non-nook as default (e.g. ADW, LauncherPro, etc) as default​
I wonder if the open book button is initialized properly (during boot) in only the first case, or if it might work in the second case as well?
Open Book icon stops working when you set another launcher as your default.
-CC
clockcycle said:
Open Book icon stops working when you set another launcher as your default.
-CC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ah!
ok... so then if I want one press of the 'n' button to bring me to ADW, e.g., with functioning open-book icon I should the solution is this:
1) Uninstall ADW Launcher (revert default to native nook launcher)
2) Reinstall ADW Launcher (or whatever home replacement is desired)
3) Configure Soft Keys such that a single press of the 'n' button opens ADW, and a double press of 'n' button opens Nook Home.
I'll try it out when I get home from work!
Just use Home Switcher:
http://www.appbrain.com/app/home-switcher/ymst.android.homeswitcher
ThrowingKs said:
Just use Home Switcher:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
... to set nook-home as default, and then softkeys to map 'n' to ADW?
Actually, I don't think you need to have the Nook launcher set as default; but you need to open the book from w/in the Nook launcher "shell" (use Home switcher to open the Nook launcher, but don't set it as the default). After that the book you opened in the nook launcher will open w/ the reading button.
Note: I am using Zeam as my launcher; YMMV w/ ADW ...
To be clear, since this is the wife's NC, my goal here is to avoid having to jump through any hoops to get it to work 'like it's supposed to'. The goal is that she turns it on, it goes to an alternate home [ADW, LP, etc], and all the native nook stuff still works.... This is her first Android experience, so it's gotta be boss for her to buy in (i.e. if she has to use Home Switcher or open the book the first time and then use homeswitcher again to switch to ADW 'every time'... well she's just not going to do that... she'll roll her eyes and give me the old 'It was fine before' )
jasoraso said:
...you need to open the book from w/in the Nook launcher "shell"...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right. So my thinking is that this initialization of the CurrentOpenBookState (or whatever it's really called), referenced by the open-book icon, must be happening during boot-up when a non-nook launcher isn't made default. i.e. If you boot an unrooted nook, you can just hit that button out of boot-up and it works.
So, I guess one viable work-around would be to allow it to boot into the nook launcher [thereby initializing the book-icon], and then reassign [via SoftKeys?] the 'n' button to open the real launcher [ADW, e.g.]. It's less than ideal, but it's not a bad compromise - you'd see the nook homescreen once, but from then on out, you'd always go to the ADW home.
Any thoughts on how to improve that work-around? I haven't used Autostart at all, but I was hoping there might be a clever way to script the boot/startup sequence such the nook-home would load/initialize, and then an alternate launcher would load and become the default handler.
I'd like it
I add the books to my Zeam homescreen:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=9986743&postcount=35
HeroHTC said:
I add the books to my Zeam homescreen:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=9986743&postcount=35
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ah... nifty! Think my wife will probably stick to the shelves in the BN Library app though.
Has anyone had any success with Autostart on NC?
It's working fine on my Nook with ADW EX set as the default home app.
Try this:
1) In NookColor Tools clear the defaults for ADW (or your home app)
2) Click your Nook home button and choose the NC home (Do Not set any as default yet)
3) Open any book or magazine so that the Open Book Icon appears in your tray
4) Click the Nook Home button, this time select ADW (or your home app) as the default
5) Click the Open Book Icon in the tray and it should open your last book
6) When you need to read a different book or mag, use the "Library" shortcut in your drawer to select the book. The Open book icon should recognize the change as long as you are opening the books from the library.
At least this is how it has been working for me.
Hope this helps.
j.a said:
It's working fine on my Nook with ADW EX set as the default home app.
Try this:
1) In NookColor Tools clear the defaults for ADW (or your home app)
2) Click your Nook home button and choose the NC home (Do Not set any as default yet)
3) Open any book or magazine so that the Open Book Icon appears in your tray
4) Click the Nook Home button, this time select ADW (or your home app) as the default
5) Click the Open Book Icon in the tray and it should open your last book
6) When you need to read a different book or mag, use the "Library" shortcut in your drawer to select the book. The Open book icon should recognize the change as long as you are opening the books from the library.
At least this is how it has been working for me.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sweet thanks! I'll try this!
So does the button work "permanently" after that sequence? Can you reboot, unlock, press the book icon and have it go to your current book?
j.a said:
It's working fine on my Nook with ADW EX set as the default home app.
Try this:
1) In NookColor Tools clear the defaults for ADW (or your home app)
2) Click your Nook home button and choose the NC home (Do Not set any as default yet)
3) Open any book or magazine so that the Open Book Icon appears in your tray
4) Click the Nook Home button, this time select ADW (or your home app) as the default
5) Click the Open Book Icon in the tray and it should open your last book
6) When you need to read a different book or mag, use the "Library" shortcut in your drawer to select the book. The Open book icon should recognize the change as long as you are opening the books from the library.
At least this is how it has been working for me.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried this and it worked great for me. Thanks!
WhiskeySlx said:
Sweet thanks! I'll try this!
So does the button work "permanently" after that sequence? Can you reboot, unlock, press the book icon and have it go to your current book?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, so I tried this and it doesn't retain settings after a reboot... which means the original problem remains.
hmmmmm....
so is it possible to have it boot to nook-home but then have the 'n' button always invoke an alternate launcher? I just put soft-keys back on there, but I don't see how to set it up to do that. Hmmmm....
Same here, after reboot it loses it's setting.
Played around with it a bit further, same happens here. I haven't had any reason to reboot after nootering so never noticed
Is there a way to disable the icon to get more notification space?
j.a said:
Played around with it a bit further, same happens here. I haven't had any reason to reboot after nootering so never noticed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, same.
Question is what is the variable/state that's getting init'd by the nook home? And how can we get it to set otherwise....
rswain64 said:
Same here, after reboot it loses it's setting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It took me 2 weeks to find out how to avoid that. It's quite complicated though.

B&N Launcher shortcut

Hello, I have tried searching with no luck. I currently have Zeam installed and would like to somehow make a shortcut to the stock B&N launcher, so I can switch between the two quick. I know there is home switcher, but I don't want to have to access a separate program to switch home screens. I want to get to it from the zeam home screen. Thanks in advance.
I don't think you can do that unless you use home switcher.
Sent from my LogicPD Zoom2 using XDA App
If you have SoftKeys installed, you can set different homes for the hardware N button and the SoftKeys home button. I have mine set so that the SoftKeys home button takes me to the B&N stock home, and the hardware N button takes me to Zeam.
jmen1213 said:
Hello, I have tried searching with no luck. I currently have Zeam installed and would like to somehow make a shortcut to the stock B&N launcher, so I can switch between the two quick. I know there is home switcher, but I don't want to have to access a separate program to switch home screens. I want to get to it from the zeam home screen. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also use softkeys. Currently I'm set up so that a single press of the N button brings up softkeys. A short press on the softkeys home key takes me to Zeam and a long press takes me to the B&N launcher. Also, a quick double tap of the N button will take me straight to Zeam.
Like one of the other posters said, I don't think that there's an elegant way to place a shortcut on the Zeam home screen. A more "hackish" solution would be to remove the default action for your N button press. That way when you press the N button, it will prompt you to choose either B&N or Zeam.

How to Reset HomeScreen to Default?

Please help me, my son accidentally changed the default homescreen to a rotating 3D homescreen how can I set it back to the default home screen?
Please show me the steps on how to do this. Thanks guys.
any help anyone?
Simplest way it's download another launcher in then it will give toy then choice to choose from that or stock when you press home
You can also uninstall from the market just select menu so you know the name sounds like sb shell launcher
Sent from my LT26i using XDA
edcbabe
I think what you are looking at is the wallpaper?
It was change to Live wallpapers..by your son accidentally
you can press on the homescreen and a popup menu will appear, from there
choose wallpapers then choose wallpaper gallery and change your wallpaper
thats it..
by the way I hope you could specify a little more so that we can help..
hope this help in anyway..
Assuming you're talking about an alternative launcher, and you want to go back to the original Samsung one, you would do it as follows. Tap Settings on the home screen, Applications, and Manage applications. Now mine is ADW Launcher, so I'd tap that, but if yours is a different one, tap that. If you don't know which one it is, just look through the list for a likely candidate. If it isn't on the Thir-party tab, you could try All. Anyway, once you've found the launcher, tap it, and on the next screen tap Clear defaults. Close all screens. Now back on the home screen, tap the Home button. It should open a window where you can select Use by default for this action. Tap that, and then Samsung Home. From now on the original Samsung launcher will be used.
Thanks guys for the tips...it's working now

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