I keep losing my Android icons (can I lock them on the desktop)?

[Daniel Webster]

I keep losing my Android icons, I don't know why.
One day they are there, the next, entire folders are gone.

Once I set up my desktop, can I lock the icons in place?
How?

[Bob Martin]

in 10250 20140813 072224 Daniel Webster <dan...@webster.com> wrote:
>I keep losing my Android icons, I don't know why.
>One day they are there, the next, entire folders are gone.

If an app update changes the icon then the old one will disappear.

>Once I set up my desktop, can I lock the icons in place?
>How?

Install a launcher which supports locking. Nova is one.

[Daniel Webster]

On Wed, 13 Aug 2014 07:36:06 +0000, Bob Martin wrote:

> Install a launcher which supports locking. Nova is one.

I'm using the default Samsung Galaxy SIII launcher,
whatever that is, on Android 4.3, T-Mobile.

I just lost my top-right-most folder on the desktop.

What happened was I held my finger down on the folder
for a split second too long, and then when I lifted
my finger, it slid ever so slightly (about 1 millimeter)
upward, which means it went right into the trash.

Is there a way to *undelete* a just-trashed folder?

What I'm doing now is removing all icons from the *top*
line of the desktop, so that this won't happen again.

How do I figure out if the default launcher can lock
the desktop icons?

[Joe Beanfish]

On Thu, 14 Aug 2014 23:36:36 +0000, Daniel Webster wrote:

> On Wed, 13 Aug 2014 07:36:06 +0000, Bob Martin wrote:
>
>> Install a launcher which supports locking. Nova is one.
>
> I'm using the default Samsung Galaxy SIII launcher, whatever that is, on
> Android 4.3, T-Mobile.
>

...

>
> How do I figure out if the default launcher can lock the desktop icons?

Press the menu button and see if there's a lock option there. If not
go into settings and look for it there.

I replaced the samsung launcher pretty soon after getting the s3. I'm
using Holo Launcher HD and am pretty happy with it (i.e., I don't feel
compelled to look for an alternative).

[XS11E]

Daniel Webster <dan...@webster.com> wrote:

> How do I figure out if the default launcher can lock
> the desktop icons?

Nova launcher has that option, sorry, don't know about the one your're
using...


--
XS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project:
http://twovoyagers.com/improve-usenet.org/

[Daniel Webster]

On Fri, 15 Aug 2014 11:33:19 -0700, XS11E wrote:

> Nova launcher has that option, sorry, don't know about the one your're
> using...

Whatever launcher I'm using doesn't have it.

Is a launcher (such as Nova) easy to install?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.launcher&hl=en

[Andy Burns]

Daniel Webster wrote:

> Is a launcher (such as Nova) easy to install?

Launchers are as easy to install as every other app, you will get a
prompt for which one to use when you hit the home button, at that point
you can choose to make a one-off response, or a semi-permanent response,
similar to associating an app with a file type, or other action.

[Bob Martin]

Yes, just like installing an app, but you will have to rebuild your home screens.
If you switch back to your original launcher your original home screens are
still there.
One of the advantages of Nova is that you can backup & restore your home
screens configuration.

[Daniel Webster]

On Sat, 16 Aug 2014 08:26:01 +0000, Bob Martin wrote:

> Yes, just like installing an app, but you will
> have to rebuild your home screens.

I downloaded the "Nova Launcher" free from the Play Store
onto my Samsung Galaxy SIII.

It came up with a big red button saying:
"Import from another Launcher"
and a big blue companion button saying:
"Restore previous Nova Backup".

Since it was a new installation of Nova, I hit the big
red button, which brought up a black screen with only
the words "Import Launcher" and "TouchWiz home" on it.

Hesitantly, I pressed "TouchWiz", as there wasn't much
of a choice here, and it came up with an "Import Detail"
window saying "Import desktop items from TouchWiz home",
and "Found 180 items across 2 desktop pages, 22 folders,
and 1 dock pages.
Note: Widgets cannot be automatically imported. Instead
Nova Launcher will create a placeholder you may tap to
reselect and create the widget. [Start]"

So, I hit Start (there wasn't anything else to do), which
came up with a blank desktop, with 5 "screens", the first
two of which were the only two on my original desktop.

Voila!

Of course, my very first task is to figure out how to
*delete* the additional 3 screens, because I have two
screens for a very good reason (the first screen is
my default home screen, while the second screen is
for programs that I am testing).

[Daniel Webster]

On Sat, 16 Aug 2014 05:18:01 +0100, Andy Burns wrote:

> Launchers are as easy to install as every other app, you will get a
> prompt for which one to use when you hit the home button, at that point
> you can choose to make a one-off response, or a semi-permanent response,
> similar to associating an app with a file type, or other action.

I installed the suggested Nova Launcher free.

Upon reboot, it asked, just as you had stated:
"Complete action using:
- Nova Launcher
- TouchWiz Home
[Always] [Just Once]

Unfortunately, the Nova Launcher suffers from the same flaw
(maybe even worse) as the TouchWiz Home launcher did, in that
it's all too easy to accidentally delete an item which is in the
top line of the desktop screen (because the X is only a mm away
from your finger!).

If there was an "undo delete", that would be fine; but I can't
find it. The solution might be to *lock* the desktop icons in
place, which I think, from a previous post, is doable.

So, I'll first look to see where I can find these three options:
1. Lock the icons in place
2. Delete the 3 extra blank screens
3. Find if there is an "undo delete" capability

[Daniel Webster]

On Sat, 16 Aug 2014 15:32:12 +0000, Daniel Webster wrote:

> So, I'll first look to see where I can find these three options:
> 1. Lock the icons in place
> 2. Delete the 3 extra blank screens
> 3. Find if there is an "undo delete" capability

I found how to (#2) delete the blank screens:
Nova Settings > Desktop > Home Screens
Then you hold down the blank screen icon, and
then throw it into the "X" trash.

[Daniel Webster]

On Wed, 13 Aug 2014 07:36:06 +0000, Bob Martin wrote:

> Install a launcher which supports locking. Nova is one.

I have the latest version of Nova Launcher installed over
my Default T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy SIII Touch Wiz launcher.

It's nice, for example, it allows me to have 7 icons in
the dock space, and I can move around the "apps" one, which,
before, was locked in the right corner.

But I still can't find out how to LOCK the desktop icons
in place. Googling, I find others did it, but they didn't
say how!

This guy says he did it, but he didn't even say how:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/google-nexus-4/298161-lock-app-icons-widgets-display-page.html

Same with this guy:
http://androidforums.com/android-applications/687018-newbie-question-about-launchers-locking-icons.html

You'd think a person would just say WHERE they found the
lock-icons menu, since it's clearly not obvious to them
in the first place (or they wouldn't have asked).

[Daniel Webster]

On Sat, 16 Aug 2014 15:19:10 +0000, Daniel Webster wrote:

> I downloaded the "Nova Launcher" free from the Play Store
> onto my Samsung Galaxy SIII.

The only bad thing, so far, with Nova Launcher, is that it
doesn't sort all your apps in order of download. It only
sorts them in alphabetical order.

In TouchWiz Home, you could get all your apps in either
order. But that's not a big deal to not have but you'd
have expected something so simple to be on the Nova Launcher.

[Daniel Webster]

On Sat, 16 Aug 2014 17:23:55 +0000, Daniel Webster wrote:

> But I still can't find out how to LOCK the desktop icons
> in place. Googling, I find others did it, but they didn't
> say how!

I'm not the only one who can't find how to lock the
desktop icons in place in Nova Launcher.

This says the only way to do it is to *disable* Nova!
http://forums.androidcentral.com/t-samsung-galaxy-s4/331076-setting-lock-screen-wallpaper-nova-launcher.html

This also says it can't be done:
http://androidforums.com/android-applications/648492-how-do-i-lock-icons-desktop-in-android.html

Are you *sure* Nova Launcher can lock icons in place
on the desktop?

[Daniel Webster]

On Sat, 16 Aug 2014 17:52:18 +0000, Daniel Webster wrote:

> Are you *sure* Nova Launcher can lock icons in place
> on the desktop?

Ah. Finally found it here:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/ambassador-guides-tips-how-tos/299378-guide-nova-launcher.html

Question: I have children that play games on my device,
is there any way to " lock " the desktop or
" home screens " from being changed by accident?
Answer: Yes. Go to Nova Settings/Desktop/Advanced/Lock Desktop.
Check the box and no changes can be made to the desktop.

Woo hoo! Quest resolved!
Thanks for all the patience and advice!

[Daniel Webster]

On Sat, 16 Aug 2014 17:56:01 +0000, Daniel Webster wrote:

> Answer: Yes. Go to Nova Settings/Desktop/Advanced/Lock Desktop.
> Check the box and no changes can be made to the desktop.

Wow. This Nova Launcher is a nice surprise.

As a test, I tried to "accidentally" change the desktop icons
around, and, it wouldn't let me ... but ... it popped up with
a nice GUI that said, in essence, if you *really* want to
change the desktop, then just long press this here button!

Voila!

So, the Nova Launcher has only one bad thing (it can't sort
all your installed apps by installation date like TouchWiz Home
did); but the Nova Launcher capability to lock desktop icons in
place has three nice usability features:

1. You *can* lock the desktop icons in place! (Woo hoo!
2. It's a simple long press to unlock them temporarily.
3. Yet Nova automatically goes back to locking the icons.

Perfect solution!
Thanks everyone!

[XS11E]

Daniel Webster <dan...@webster.com> wrote:

> So, I'll first look to see where I can find these three options:
> 1. Lock the icons in place
> 2. Delete the 3 extra blank screens
> 3. Find if there is an "undo delete" capability

1. under settings/desktop/advanced is the Lock Desktop option, it will
be unchecked by default.

[Daniel Webster]

On Sat, 16 Aug 2014 11:09:10 -0700, XS11E wrote:

> 1. under settings/desktop/advanced is the Lock Desktop option, it will
> be unchecked by default.

I finally found it, as I had not initially looked under
Advanced.

It's done really nicely!

Once you lock, any attempt to move an icon around will *ask*
if you really want to move that icon. If you long press on
the lock, it lets you; but, get this ... it automatically
locks back up when you're done.

That's quite a nice GUI.
I like this Nova Launcher. I can do without the 3D screen
effect as I go from one screen to another, but, the only
thing *missing* (so far) is the ability to sort all apps
by installation date.

Other than that, it's better than the default TouchWiz Home
that came with my Galaxy. I especially like the ability to have
more rows and columns on any one desktop, and to have up to something
like seven icons in the dock.

Woo hoo!

[davis...@gmail.com]

7/26/16 "AppLock" works, but not correctly as the following should be standard for any icon locking app:
1.) Unlock should include a.) PIN, b.) PWD, c.) Swipe, d.) Finger scan*,
2.) Selective lock by a.) icon, b.) page, c.) all,
3.) Separate locking for Folders by category/name,
4.) Separate lock on the icon properties vs ability to move or delete,
5.) Setting of properties/ownership just like Linux, so "root" can not touch icons I own/create.
There may be others but an icon needs full protection especially from background "root" actions.

Cheers!

OMR

* Newest supported versions of Droid.

[Walter Briscoe]

In message <337d5c44-ed00-4ac1...@googlegroups.com> of
Wed, 27 Jul 2016 16:27:12 in comp.mobile.android, davis...@gmail.com
writes

I find "AppLock" ambiguous.
In "Play Store", I search for "AppLock" - case-sensitive suspicion.
I am offered:
DU Antivirus - App Lock Free 4.4
AppLock from DoMobile Lab 4.3
CM Security Applock AntiVirus from Cheetah Mobile (AppLock & AntiVirus)
4.7
AppLock from Fotoable,Inc 4.3
etc.

Can "Play Store" search matching be made less free?
Which product does Daniel Webster refer to?
--
Walter Briscoe

[teds...@gmail.com]

Walter,

He is referring to Nova Launcher.
I may even have a 2nd look at it myself.
Ted