One of the cool things we can do with our Android devices straight out of the box is download a custom launcher and then apply icon packs that will drastically change the way an application’s icon appears. Take the above screenshot for example – I have Nova Launcher installed and have Kovdev’s Tersus icon pack applied. It gives each icon a uniformed square and minimal look. It’s clean, pretty, and super easy to do. 

There’s a few steps to this process. First, you will need a 3rd party launcher such as Nova or Apex. As a note, most icon packs only support either Nova, Apex, Go Launcher, ADW, LauncherPro, and a few others. When downloading an icon pack from Google Play, you can check its compatibility in the description. Download a third party launcher of your choice and let’s get started on applying an icon pack.

Downloading and applying icon packs:

During this post, we’ll be using Nova Launcher which is our favorite. You can download it here on Google Play.

1.  Find the icon pack you want to install on Google Play.

You can see a long list of them here, but we always recommend Kovdev’s work. It’s clean and there are plenty of options to choose from.

2.  Download and install the pack you have chosen.
3.  From the homescreen, locate the Settings menu of the launcher you are using.

Since we’re using Nova, this may be slightly different from the launcher you’re using. The Settings menu is located in the top right of the app drawer while it is open. Check pictures above for clarity.

4.  Hit “Look and Feel.”
5.  Under “Icon Theme,” choose the icon pack you have downloaded.

It will then automatically apply all of the existing icons and matching apps together. And that’s it. It’s a simple and easy way to customize your device to the way you want.

Applying a single icon from a pack:

But Tim, what if I don’t want a full pack? I just want a single icon applied, how do I do that? Fantastic question and here is how to do it!

1.  Decide which icon you want to customize.
2.  Move it to a homescreen.
3.  Longpress on said icon.

Again, we are using Nova, so the instructions may differ given which launcher you are using.

4.  Hit “Edit.”
5.  Then press on the application’s icon.
6.  You will see a menu. Hit “Icon Pack.”

From here, you will see each icon that resides in the pack. You can choose whichever icon you want to use for that app on a homescreen. It will not change the app’s icon in the app drawer, but only on a homescreen where you applied it.

7.  Once selected, hit “OK.”

If you have any questions, let us know down below.

*The rest of the Android Beginners’ Guide is a one-stop shop for all of those new to Android.

How to: Apply Icon Packs With a 3rd Party Launcher [Beginners' Guide] is a post from: Droid Life

If your homescreen or more specifically, your app drawer is feeling a bit stale, then AppDrawer is looking to spruce things up for you. It can work with multiple launcher applications such as ADW Launcher, LauncherPro, Apex Launcher and Nova Launcher being some of the bigger names. The replacement app drawer lets you choose what layout you want, whether it be a list like is found in Windows Phone 7 or the scrolling app page found in Android before Ice Cream Sandwich’s release.

You can choose the background color and even the font that you want underneath your applications and the list just goes on. If you’re looking for that little extra tweak to make your phone just how you want it, check out this app drawer replacement.

Play Link

AppDrawer Gives You More Customization, Incase You Didn’t Have Enough Already is a post from: Droid Life

Back in the Gingerbread (and even Froyo) days, there was this original battle between top launchers that we followed ever so closely. For a lengthy period of time, you were either a LauncherPro guy or an ADW EX guy. Both were amazing launchers, but you couldn’t deny that each had their die-hard base of users. After a while, we saw new players enter the market such as GO Launcher and a few others, but for the most part, those two dominated the field. Now with Ice Cream Sandwich, we are seeing a similar battle play out in front of our eyes. You are either a Nova Launcher user or an Apex Launcher user. For fans of Apex, today is a great day as the “Pro” version has been released to the market Google Play Store.

Almost 2 weeks ago, the newest beta of Apex was released and included many of the features that would become exclusive to the pro version. So if your beta expired (and it should have), your best chance to keep current is going to be through this new release. At $3.99, it’s not cheap, but it’s also not expensive. Devs who do this high quality of work need to be rewarded. 

The pro version features:

• Multiple configurable drawer tabs
• Unread count notifications
• Dock swipe gestures
• Two finger gestures
• More transition effects
• Batch add option for folders
• Option to merge folder contents
• Widgets in dock (1×1 only)
• Overlapping widgets
• More features on the way!

Play Link ($3.99)

Cheers to everyone who sent this!

Apex Launcher Pro Finally Hits the Google Play Store is a post from: Droid Life

As we draw closer to the end of year, we wanted to reflect on some of the apps that seemed to have taken 2011 by storm.  It was only a year ago that the Android Market hit the 200,000 apps milestone, and now we are talking 10 billion app downloads and beyond. Whether it was a new messaging client, revamped social networking tool, or even a game that consumed our days to the fullest, this was a great year for applications on Android.  2011 also marked the release of the Amazon Appstore, which changed the way developers could market their apps to potential buyers and also showed that Amazon knew people loved free things.

So below, we have a list of the apps that we feel were the most popular, talked about and influential here at Droid Life throughout the year.  We have tried to keep it to apps that were released this year, but might have one or two that were released in late 2010, or that were just too damn good and received a big enough overhaul to leave out.  There are games, utilities, social media outlets, home replacements, and everything in between.

These aren’t in any particular order of importance, so feel free to sift through and weigh in with your opinions via the comments. Did we miss any? Agree or disagree with our top choices?  

Top Twenty Five Apps Of 2011:

Cut the Rope - An iOS game with possibly the cutest little green character called Om Nom, that finally made its way to Android in 2011. In a mobile gaming world dominated by that damn birds game, this was the breath of fresh air we had been waiting for.

Google Reader - Before Google Reader, we were forced into testing out every 3rd party feed reader app that Frank and Joe hacked together in their basement. The options were pretty limited. After receiving its official release and a number of UI enhancements, this is easily the best reader on the market.

Google+ - Google+ is supposed to battle it out with Facebook for the top social network on the planet. The jury is still out on whether or not they will even come close, but their app is sure lovely. It has had a number of major changes since launch and continues to improve monthly. Group video chat from anywhere with your 9 best friends? Hard to beat that.

Swiftkey X - Back in May, SwiftKey added an “X” to its name and became the #1 third-party Android keyboard. We have done many polls as to which keyboard our reader’s favored and it is clearly SwiftKey X.

WidgetLocker - OK, so this wasn’t released in 2011 or at the end of 2010, but we are making an exception this time around. WidgetLocker and its update that included Ice Cream Sandwich and Honeycomb locks was beyond “epic.” Our phone’s lockscreen managed to turn into the coolest feature on our phone, over night.

GO Launcher EX - One of the newer home replacements on the Market that has collected itself a somewhat cult-like following.  With tons of different themes and add-ons, you can’t go wrong with GO Launcher EX.  For that matter, anything by the GO team is usually Grade A material, including their SMS add-on, lock screen replacement and set of widgets.

ADW EX - Believe it or not, the EX version of ADW was released at the tail end of 2010 and this list wouldn’t be complete without it.  Screen transitions, themes galore, and a stock addition to every CyanogenMod ROM downloaded?  Easily the most used home replacement available.

Netflix - When first dropped, Netflix had some real problems.  It would work for only an extremely limited amount of devices and a hacked version had to be released every other week to undo the locks that the Netflix team put on it.  Now that the app is working for almost all devices, our streaming addictions have been fulfilled.

Hulu Plus - Just like Netflix, Hulu Plus was met with a less than friendly initial review by many.  Only a few devices were allowed access to it from the beginning, and hacked versions could be found in almost any forum for your non-supported phone.  Hulu lightened up on OS requirements and has made the app available for everyone, making it one of the most popular apps in the Android Market.

Minecraft - Now when you say something has a cult following, that does not come close to comparing to the type of following that Minecraft has.  Some people just don’t seem to understand why over 4.2 million people have purchased and continue to play this game on their computers.  After being released for Android, the rest was history. Endless fun and building adventures.  Notch rocks.

Words with Friends - Zynga’s huge smash hit for iOS finally came to Android.  One of the best Scrabble-like games you will find on the Market.

CircleLauncher - Once CircleLauncher hit the Market, Kellex could not stop talking about how awesome it was. As one of the more useful widgets you will find on Android, we can’t recommend it enough.

Pulse – We run polls on favorite apps from time to time and Pulse Reader is always on someone’s top list. It is a great application for viewing all types of news in an image-friendly way. A number of updates throughout the year continued to add to the polish and overall experience of one of the most popular news readers we have encountered.

SHADOWGUN - Possibly the most anticipated mobile game of the entire year came from Madfinger Games. Touting console quality graphics and intense gameplay, SHADOWGUN was everywhere. It delivered for the most part, and should be a great benchmark for future game developers to match their work up against.

Google Music - Google lifted the beta tag from Google Music and launched its very own Android Music store. Being one of the newest apps available on this year’s list, people are still getting the hang of its power, but there is no doubt that Google Music will be here for a long time to come.

HBO GO – The ability to take your East Bound and Down anywhere you go is important to some.  Including us. Thanks HBO, for allowing us to be addicted to your shows wherever we may be!

Thumb Keyboard – If you own an Android tablet and are not using Thumb Keyboard, then you are most definitely doing it wrong.  Without a doubt our favorite 3rd-party tablet keyboard.

Plants vs. Zombies - The iOS classic came to Android as an exclusive to the Amazon Appstore for free.  After the initial release period, popularity still grew and it has become just as popular on this platform as it was on Apple’s.  Destroy those pesky zombies!

Jet Car Stunts – After release, Kellex had a serious addiction to this game.  The object is for you to drive jet powered cars down tracks and through rings to beat the clock.  It has made our list for the simple reason that it is highly addictive and hours of fun. Hard to imagine that it has been out for a year already.

Amazon MP3 – Thanks to the addition of Cloud Storage, Amazon MP3 quickly became the talk of the town again in 2011. For purchasing a single music album, users were given 20GB of online cloud storage for free. It was one of the original apps that came on Android devices, but thanks to the additional features it received this year, it is basically a completely new application.

Screenshot ER – Simply the best screen capture app available. Many of our old favorites were pulled long ago, but this app would have replaced them anyway. Even with native screenshots through ICS, you may still want to try this one out – if you are rooted that is.

Clock Widgets (D-Clock, clockr, BobClockD3) – Too many great clock widgets to name just one so we had to include three of them.  These were the 3 favorites we had from this year.

Spotify - Spotify allows its users to choose an unlimited number of their favorite tracks, make playlists out of them, listen to them offline and even enjoy them on mobile devices.  You can skip around, choose specific tracks, and never have to listen to the random no-name band that sort of sounds like the actual band you like.

Google Currents – Google’s brand new app called Currents is our wild card this year.  It was just released, but we have a feeling this could be a hugely popular app.  The layout of the app is beautiful and it offers a nice minimal and readable feed/subscription reader look, similar to Flipboard or Pulse. Oh, and you can subscribe to our edition here.

ScreenCast – It is hard to believe that ScreenCast is the first app to allow you to create truly clean recordings from on your device, but it is. And boy is it good. Rooted users only on this one.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Honorable Mentions (oldies but goodies):

LauncherPro – We might not have seen as many updates (or that unicorn rewrite) as we wanted this year, but there is no doubt that our readers still love them some LauncherPro. Cheers Federico!

Skype – This year Skype became what we thought it would be at first release.  Video chatting and messaging were added, making this an actual worthwhile application.

Google Maps – An app that is always getting better and better as time goes by. In 2011, Google Maps went 3D. First, we saw 3D cities popping up, but within the last couple of weeks Google started to unveil their inner navigation skills by giving us 3D layouts of malls and airports.

ROM Manager – Another app that rooted users should never be without.  A portal to world of custom ROMs and themes.  Definitely older than 2011, but we couldn’t leave it off the list.

Evernote – Kellex was always one to question the uses of this app, but I see him recommend it to folks on the regular. A couple of major UI overhauls, including one for tablets, Evernote continues to be one of the best ways to keep your life organized.

________________________________________________________

We would love to hear your thoughts. What were your top apps of the year?

Droid Life’s Top 25 Android Apps Of 2011 is a post from: Droid Life

Click here to view the embedded video.

Oh that Android Team, such a creative bunch. The Nyan Android is not the only Easter egg tucked away in Ice Cream Sandwich. No sir, a space-inspired “Rocket Launcher” was also included, but can only be found by looking through the available activities on the phone. What I mean by that, is you have to use a 3rd party app like Any Cut or LauncherPro that can turn activities into shortcuts. Once you do, the video above can be achieved.

Tap once to slow the rocket ship, tap an icon to launch it.

Via:  reddit

Secret “Rocket Launcher” Discovered in Ice Cream Sandwich is a post from: Droid Life

I feel like it has been ages since we last asked everyone what their current launcher of choice was. Is everyone still using one of the old standards like ADW and LauncherPro or have you gravitated towards some of the more frequently updated replacements like GO Launcher? Is there a chance that some of you have adopted the current crop of stock launchers that Moto, Sammie and HTC are tossing out? I feel like there is some sort of new home replacement that is dying to be found that we just haven’t heard of yet. If you answer “Other”, please let us know in the comments which launcher you are using.

Tuesday Poll: Favorite Android Launcher Today Is? is a post from: Droid Life

Want a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich a little ahead of tomorrow night’s announcement? An XDA member took the time to piece together a whole bunch of ICS work that developers have released and then we threw together a quick step-by-step guide on how to make your phone look like it’s running it. As you can see from the screenshot I just dropped above, my device now looks like it is running some sort of ICS port. And this literally took me 5 minutes to do.  

Instructions:

1.  Grab the ICS wallpaper pack from this post and install it. Choose a wallpaper.
2.  Install GO Launcher, ADW or LauncherPro.
3.  Download this set of icons. Unzip them onto your phone.
4.  Download this dock bar and save to your phone.
5.  In your launcher of choice, long press on the each of the home shortcuts to change the icon.
6.  You should have all of the icons downloaded from the set in step 3.
7.  In the preferences for your launcher, change the dock background to the one from step 4.
8.  Download and install Desktop Visualizer.
9.  Add a Desktop Visualizer 4×1 widget to your desktop.
10.  Press on that item and choose the “google bar” icon from the step 3 set.
11.  For the action, choose “Launch App” and then find Google Search.

Now, there are other icons for camera, market, etc. in there, but I just walked you through the quick 5-minute setup that I ran through. Feel free to download the ICS clock that is in the market as well to give you the full look.

And don’t forget to install the ICS music player, 3.2.0 market and Google+ app to fully round out your device.

Via:  XDA, 2

Cheers Battling!

Tip: Make Your Phone Look Like It’s Running Ice Cream Sandwich is a post from: Droid Life

It’s almost time for the kids to go out and get pounds upon pounds of candy for just dressing up in a silly/cute costume and walking from door to door. No apples please, grandma! Koveleski  and Tha Phlash looks to be in the spirit already and has just released two themes that go perfectly for the month of October. Tha Jack-o and Tha Pumpkin work great with ADW EX and even LauncherPro Plus, so we’ve decided to spread the Halloween cheer through a little giveaway.

Update: We got our 5 winners! Congrats you guys, and thanks to everyone for entering!

Instructions to enter:

There will be 5 winners. Just comment down below which one of the two themes you would like to win (Tha Jack-o or the Tha Pumpkin) and what your favorite type of candy is. Make sure to leave your comment with a valid email so we can email you and let you know that you won. Good luck!

If you want to go ahead and support Mr. Koveleski, then check out the themes in the Market. He has done some great work in the past and is really gifted. Anyone have special plans for this years Halloween? I myself plan on dressing up my dog as Chuck Norris. We’ll see how that goes.

Cheers Dave and Tha Phlash!

Contest: Time To Get Into The Halloween Spirit, Win A Pro Theme From Koveleski is a post from: Droid Life

We are always searching the Market for the newest themes for ADW, LPP, T-Mobile Theme Chooser, and all the other great applications we love to skin. Well I guess some guys by the names of Bentotbox, Billygalbreath, and Koveleski got tired of searching too and decided to make an app that is dedicated to putting them all in one place. The N3xGen Theme Manager brings the best of all the themes one can install from the Market into an easy to use app. Hooray. You can sort by developer, color, and a bunch of other categories. Definitely a must have for theme lovers. 

Market Link (free)

I’ve already found about 5 themes I never knew existed that kick butt – one called Tha Offset by Mr. Koveleski, which gives you an instant yet satisfying headache if stared at for too long. There’s tons of awesome themes in there so go ahead and give it a whirl.

Market Link ($2.99)

These are the types of apps that we need more of. Cheers to the awesome developers that brought it to life.

Android Hackers Rejoice – N3xGen Theme Manager Is Everything You Need All In One App is a post from: Droid Life

It has been a few months since we last asked to see the masterpieces that you have created on your Android phone’s home screen.  Being a Thursday in between device releases, we thought this was the perfect time to see what you have cooked up.  The ADW icon packs, GO Launcher themes, and ROM skin options seem to be growing by the day, so please “Wow!” us.  We are always on the hunt for home screen inspiration – no better place to get it than from all of you.

Instructions:  When you drop your comment, feel free to give us some detail on what you went through to get to your current setup.  Launcher, icon pack, theme, apps, widgets, etc.  And to post up a picture, all you need to do is upload to somewhere like PhotoBucket or Flickr and then paste the image URL.  Our comment system will then turn it into an image preview for all to see.

My setup (left screenie):  GO Launcher EX, Clee 2 theme, Clockr Evolution, Whiteout wallpaper pack, hidden CircleLauncher.

Tato setup (right screenie):  LauncherPro Plus, LightGrid live wallpaper, Clockr, RaidZero Purple NRG theme.

Show Off Your Home Screens Day! is a post from: Droid Life

Over the last couple of weeks, our buddy MrPicolas convinced us to give GO Launcher EX a shot at becoming our next home replacement app.  Since then, we have actually enjoyed the heck out of it and have yet to switch back to ADW or LauncherPro.  While it may lack some of our favorite icon packs from ADW, there are a variety of incredibly polished themes to choose from, along with enough customizations to make even the most accomplished home screen addicts drool.

In today’s update, those customizations became even more robust with the addition of 8 new app drawer transitions.  If you are not familiar with GO Launcher EX or what a fancy transition looks like in your app drawer, we have attached a quick screencast for you below.  

Click here to view the embedded video.

Market Link

If you are wondering what my setup is, I’m using the Oreo Slice Wallpaper pack and the Clee 2 GO Launcher theme.

Cheers Picolas!

GO Launcher EX Receives Update, 8 New App Drawer Transitions Included is a post from: Droid Life

Click here to view the embedded video.

Samsung’s mobile lab in San Diego pumped out a new home replacement this week called Pure Breeze (hold the laughter) and we are for the most part confused by it.  We can’t tell if it’s another iPhone kang by the company that seems to kang at will or if it could be worth at least a few minutes of your time as an app that attempts to go outside the box.

When you load it up for the first time, you will notice that it becomes a page of apps similar to what you get on an iOS device.  But then you realize that it does have a home screen, only that home screen is a single infinitely scrolling vertical page that can be filled with favorite apps, widgets, etc.  From there, you have an app drawer that also has a dock for you to use to create shortcuts to folders of apps.  So no, it’s not a dock like you would see on LP or ADW, but is really just a folder shortcut for better organization.

Yeah it is odd.  There are free and paid versions – I suggest you at least give the free one a quick spin to see if this is something that moistens your palate.  

Market Link:  FREE | Paid

Via:  TechCrunch

Samsung Enters the Home Replacement Arena, We Try to Understand Why is a post from: Droid Life

Mr. AnderWebs has released an update to his extremely popular ADW EX home replacement app today, and the crowds of fans are happy. The changelog is somewhat minor, but it still leaves other home replacements in the dust as they play catch up. If you have been using ADW on your Honeycomb tablet, then this update is definitely right up your alley. 

Market Link

What’s New:

1. Fix incompatibility with Android 3.2
2. In Android 3.x, the top Actionbar displays a customizable shirtcut to the left.
3. New dockbar design thanks to @josuas79
4. The dockbar can now be set as “primary”
5. Both docks are now always horizontally placed at the bottom on big screen devices (10″ tablets)
6. Drag and drop items inside dockbar folders.
7. New “Quick Folder Popup” implementation for user folders and groups launcher actions.
8. A bunch of other small tweaks and fixes.

Note: Anders has just tweeted that the “Hide Labels” feature has been broken with this update though, and he will issue a fix tomorrow.

Everyone still using either ADW EX, or LauncherPro? We have definitely seen a huge increase of people using GO Launcher as well these past couple of months. Let’s all be grateful that we have the option to choose.

Cheers Dave Kover!

ADW EX Receives Update, Android 3.2 Support and Other Minor Tweaks is a post from: Droid Life

Our buddy Fede, whom you all know from LauncherPro, has made his new music played called Ubermusic official.  You can find it in the market as one of the best music players we’ve used, at least UI-wise that is.  It doesn’t have the ability to sync with your Google Music account, but there’s no telling if Google will ever open up access to things like that to 3rd party app makers.  If you are storing music on your phone though, this is one heck of an option (but definitely not the cheapest).  With its buttery smooth UX and minimalist UI, automatic album art, variety of widget sizes, and scrobbling – we’re loving it.  No longer free now that it is out of beta.  

Market Link ($3.49)

Cheers Anish and Scott!

Ubermusic Finally Lands on Android Market, Get Your Pretty Groove On is a post from: Droid Life

The official Twitter app in the Market has been updated, and it brings along some much needed features. Multiple account support, push notifications, and much better widget options. Looks like they’re finally catching up to all the other 3rd party Twitter apps.

With the widgets, you can now have it show either mentions or tweets, but I still feel they should both come in one widget (like LauncherPro’s), but this is better than nothing. Is anyone rocking the official Twitter, or does everyone use a different client? If you want to learn more about the update, head over to Twitter’s blog.

Market Link

Cheers kaufkin, picolas!

Official Twitter Updates – Allows For Multiple Account Support, And Push Notifications is a post from: Droid Life