Noteworthy Features

No overview would be complete without taking note of the design worthy features of Total Launcher. While this is mostly a highlight listing, more information is available in the other sections for this manual.

Be creative. Total Launcher has such a capacity for customization whether it is a minimalist, business oriented, or futuristic styles. These and so much more are in the following pages of this manual.

• android phones
• foldable phones
• android watches
• android tablets
• Chromebooks
• Windows PCs

Total Launcher allows users to manage and customize screen and pages extensively, including layout, background, and scrolling behavior.

• Screen ration - All devices do not have the same screen ratios so Total Launcher offers more than 10 options for selecting the correct the correct one.

• Pages can be added, removed, and arranged/sorted horizontally in the menu screen.
• Page positions can be exchanged using the swap button located between pages.
• One page can be designated as a home page, which is shown first when the launcher is started newly or the home key is pressed. The first page is home in the default settings.
• The home page is indicated by a green icon in the menu screen, and the designation can be changed by toggling the home button on the page (green for current, yellow for others).
• Pages are removed by pressing the remove button on the page.
• The menu screen can be opened via a pinch-in gesture on any page, long-pressing the empty area of a page, or pressing the menu button if the device has one.
• All page editing requires turning on the edit mode via the locker button on the bottom of the menu screen.

• Pages are arranged horizontally and can be turned over by swiping left or right.
• Each page can be made vertically scrollable in the individual options.
• Total Launcher supports different designs for each screen orientation (portrait and landscape). Users must create their own setup for both portrait and landscape modes but no more hassle when the device re-orients itself.

• Total Launcher supports different backgrounds (wallpaper) for each page and each screen orientation, independently of the “system wallpaper”.
• Automation of wallpaper changes
• Backgrounds are set by pressing the image button and tapping one of the previews for portrait or landscape orientation.
• Page Background Options (“Fit type”) dictate how the image is shown:
  • Keep aspect ratio of image: The image is cut (not stretched) to fit the full screen.
  • Stretch to screen: The image is stretched to fit the full screen.
  • Stretch to content: The image stretches to fit the content when the page is vertically scrollable. If the content height is larger than the screen height, the image gets stretched to that content height and scrolls vertically.
• Settings also include options for the system UI, such as hiding the status bar or navigation bar, and setting their colors to transparent.

The biggest advantage of Total Launcher is customization whether it be the page, the window (an animation-capable, frequently hidden container) and all the details of an object, regardless of its type. Options are accessed by pressing the option button (gear icon) on the top menu bar while the object is selected.

• Object Types: Objects include Layouts (Grid, Circle), Widgets (e.g., app drawer, sliding drawers, contact groups, analog clock, application widget and more), and Graphics (Text, Image, Mixed).
• Copy, Cut, Paste, and Reuse:
  • Objects can be selected, copied, or cut.
  • They can be pasted onto a page, window, or sliding drawer by pressing the add button and selecting “paste”. Multiple elements can be selected for copy/paste using individual taps or drawing a selection area.
• Customized objects can be saved using the save button, registering them as a user object available from the “Mine” tab for repeated use.

• Guidelines help align objects easily by snapping while moving or resizing.
  • Object positions are generally saved with Y distance from the top of the screen.
  • When the page option “Fit content to the screen height” is enabled, the positioning system can be changed using the “Y-position” button to work from the bottom of the screen for each object. This is helpful for keeping a stable position when migrating layouts to devices with different screen aspect ratios.
• Z-Order (Stacking): When a new object is added, it is put on the most front layer. The order can be changed using the “to-front” and “to-back” buttons.
• Pinning: Objects can be pinned onto all pages or only select pages. This is simple but useful for creating consistent elements like a dock bar.
• Rotation and Transformation: Objects can be positioned with a 3-dimensional view.
  • The Rotate button and sliders move the object on the x and y axes (values range from –180 to +180 for 360° positioning).
  • The Transform button can be used to “skew” or offer an angular view, but it must be activated if Rotate has been activated.

• Actions: Graphic objects allow assigning up to five different actions for tapping and four-directions swiping gestures (up, down, left, right).
• Action Types: Actions include opening applications, windows, folders, or executing various Launcher Actions (e.g., Toggle edit mode, Open menu, To the home page, Screen lock, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth).
• Sequences: Actions can include Sequences, which are user-defined series of actions (like macros) performed in a specific order. Sequences can include built-in TL actions, opening apps/windows/folders, and specifying waiting times.
• Launch Animation and Sound: For each assigned action, a launch animation (e.g., Flying, Sliding, Fade in, Popup, Random, Fast) and sound effect can be set.
• Visibility Control: Graphic objects have options related to visibility and touch ability when edit mode is off:
  • Invisible when edit mode is off: Hides the graphic when not editing, useful for creating gestures invoked only from a specific screen location.
  • Untouchable: Disables all actions when edit mode is off, making the graphic visible but not touchable.

• Enter/Exit Animation: Objects can have customizable Enter Animation and Exit Animation, including the animation effect, start offset, and duration (in milliseconds).
• Transition Animation: Objects can be programmatically associated using a Transition ID. Both the original object and the destination object (often housed in a window) must have identical Transition IDs to perform the transition. The animation duration is customizable, allowing up to 800ms.

Layouts are objects consisting of a group of objects anchored to a specific location. They are containers that can include windows, folders, sequences, launcher actions, and shortcuts—not just apps.

• General: Grid layouts customize column and row numbers (1 to 16). Circle layouts customize the total number of items. Launch animation is customizable.
• Icon Customization: Includes adaptive icons, icon size (in pixels), icon padding (% of icon size), icon opacity (0% transparent to 100% full), icon saturation (0% grayscale to 100% full), and icon color filter (a color drawn over the icon).
• Label Customization: Includes showing/hiding the label, Typeface (font/style), Label lines (1 to 3), Font size, Scale X (width), Text color (normal and pressed).
• Shadow (Labels): Customizable Shadow color, radius, and offsets (X and Y).
• Background: Customizable layout Background, Margins, Item background (normal, pressed, focused), and Item spacing (distance between items in pixels).

Graphics include text, image, and mixed types

• Content: Text content can be “Plain text” (unchanging) or dynamically changing.
• Appearance: Options include Capitalize all letters, Typeface (font/style), Font size (in pixel), Scale X (width), Text color (normal and pressed), and Alignment.
• Shadow: Shadow color, Shadow radius (thickness in pixel, 0 = no shadow), and offsets (X and Y).
• Container: Background and Margins.

• Image Source: Can be a color, icon (from an icon pack), shape, image, or dynamic image.
• Image State: Includes an optional Image (pressed).
• Appearance: Opacity (0% transparent to 100% full), Saturation (0% grayscale to 100% full), and Color filter (a color drawn over the image).
• Aspect Ratio: Option to Keep aspect ratio of image.
• Container: Background and Margins.
• Shapes: Shapes (Rectangle, Round Rectangle, Oval, Arc) can be customized.
  • Round Rectangle allows setting the radius for rounded corners.
  • Arc creates a circle segment (e.g., 90 produces a quarter arc, 360 a complete circle).
  • Fill: Includes Color 1 and Color 2, where altering Color 2 enables gradient shading with 15 available effects.
  • Border: Customizable Border width and Border color.

• Mixed graphics are groups of graphic objects (Text or Image components).
• Container: Background and Margins of the group can be set.
• Components: Components within a Mixed object can be individually customized by tapping on them, without needing to ungroup the whole object.

• Application Widget (3rd Party): This wraps a 3rd party widget. Customization includes Background and Margins. Key options are Rounded corner radius (which may require negative margins to achieve perfect rounding) and Opacity. Total Launcher does not save the settings of 3rd party widgets, only the placeholder.
• Contacts Widget:
• General: Options include sorting (Family name first), visibility of contacts with no number, enabling long-click call, Grid/List type (Columns/Rows configurable if Grid), and scrolling options (System scroll animation, Snap scroll, Hide scrollbar).
• Icon/Label: Customizable Icon size/padding. Label customization includes visibility, Typeface, Font size, Scale X, Text color, and Shadow options. A Default photo can be set for contacts lacking one.
• Background: Customizable Widget Background and Margins, as well as Item background (normal, pressed, focused) and Item spacing.
• Menu Bar: The bottom menu bar background is customizable, along with the icon color/image/text typeface for specific menu items (Add, Star on/off, Dial, Sort, Group, Search, Clear).
• Analog Clock: Customizable Time zone. The hour, minute, and second hands can be set using a color or image, or hidden if a transparent color is used.
• Media Controller: Customizable Target application, Control box size (height in pixel), Text size/color for title/artist, Icon color for control buttons/playing animation, and Skin (a foreground image over the album art/text).
• Circle Indicator: Target status can be set to Battery, RAM usage, storage, or SD card. Customizable content Color, Background, and Margins.
• Drawer Handle: Customizable Target sliding drawer, Image (icon), Color filter, Background, and Margins.
• Compass: Customizable Compass skin image, Color filter, Background, and Margins.