FossifyOrg
Ability to sort apps in app drawer
Checklist
- [x] I made sure that there are no existing issues - open or closed - to which I could contribute my information.
- [x] I made sure that there are no existing discussions - open or closed - to which I could contribute my information.
- [x] I have read the FAQs inside the app (Menu -> About -> FAQs) and my problem isn't listed.
- [x] I have taken the time to fill in all the required details. I understand that the request will be dismissed otherwise.
- [x] This issue contains only one feature request.
- [x] I have read and understood the contribution guidelines.
Feature description
Ability to sort items in the app drawer. Sorting options:
- Alphabetical
- Custom
Why do you want this feature?
- Customizability
- See this comment
Additional information
- App Launcher had a similar functionality.
- Samsung's launcher also has a custom sorting option.
Edited by @naveensingh for clarity
Simple App Launcher was displaying only a selected set of apps, so it made sense to have custom sorting (the only option, despite sorting by title). Fossify Launcher displays all apps, so custom sorting may not make sense here.
As these two apps are different, please elaborate in your request more how you see this sorting feature, less on parity with Simple App Launcher.
Simple App Launcher was displaying only a selected set of apps, so it made sense to have custom sorting (the only option, despite sorting by title). Fossify Launcher displays all apps, so custom sorting may not make sense here.
I fundamentally disagree with this. This will be a bit long, but first of all, the reason everyone is here is because the Simple Mobile Tools project is dead. Simple Mobile Tools apps are stuck in time, they do not get updates for security fixes, for UI, for features, for anything. People are here because they liked those apps, and plenty of people, myself included, want the features that were present. This is basic common sense. Furthermore, people are here because they do not want stagnation. People want apps that are going to be:
- visually consistent
- updated to fix bugs, security vulnerabilites, etc.
- hopefully continuing to adapt and add new, desirable features The last thing someone is going to want is to lose desired functionality.
This applies to the launcher as well. Simple Mobile Tools, for reasons unknown, split app launching between two separate apps. I don't necessarily blame Fossify for not wanting to maintain two launchers, and thus choosing only to maintain one repository for app launching functionality. This is fine. The problem is that I do not want to use the old Simple Mobile Tools "Simple App Launcher" due to lack of updates, as I'm sure anyone here can understand. I want apps that are going to be:
- visually consistent
- updated to fix bugs, security vulnerabilites, etc.
- hopefully continuing to adapt and add new, desirable features The last thing I am going to want is to lose desired functionality. Is this making sense?
I'm not going to continue using "App Launcher" much longer because it's an unmaintained legacy product that visually clashes with the maintained Fossify apps, and could even lose support in the future if Google pulls the plug on older API levels (which they have done in the past). I want to embrace the future of these apps, which is Fossify.
In issue 55 which I linked above, someone requested a feature that was present in "App Launcher" without mentioning that it's a feature from "App Launcher." It seems to be accepted that it's worth implementing/porting. I think app sorting is another case where it's worth implementing/porting.
I fundamentally disagree with the idea that "App Launcher" is different enough from "Launcher" that this feature should not be ported. The reason why I disagree with it? If they were fundamentally different enough from each other, then there was good reason to keep maintaining both apps, yet development of "App Launcher" has not been forked and continued. So you can't have it both ways here. Either they're different apps with different feature sets and both are now worth having, or they're not different enough and they should both be converged and thus this is a sensible feature to have.
I also disagree with the idea that there is a meaningful difference in app selection. In "App Launcher" you manually whitelist apps, whereas in "Launcher" you manually blacklist. Either way, both very much have the functionality of app curation. So while it's possible to be pedantic, this point is overwhelmingly moot.
Now to answer the second part of your question.
please elaborate in your request more how you see this sorting feature, less on parity with Simple App Launcher.
Ascending, descending, and custom. Why? Because I use it. At the end of the day, you can't eliminate parity from the reasoning after choosing to discontinue one of the apps. In Simple Mobile Tools "Launcher" I cannot sort the apps, however, I can use "App Launcher" to whitelist a few and then sort them by how much I use them. I can't do this with Fossify Launcher. I can blacklist things I don't want, so it's functionally similar to what I'm used to, but not being able to have the basic sorting options I've come to expect leaves Fossify in a position where it is not just converging future work from two apps to one app, but downgrading functionality in the process.
In a nutshell, I want to use sorting because I want to use sorting. That's basically what every feature request boils down to realistically. The same way issue 55 linked above wants text hiding because the requester wants text hiding (as do I). Also, because these two features are things we used to have.
Hopefully it could be easier to implement because code could possibly be used from "App Launcher."
Custom app sorting seems like an unusual feature for an app drawer in a launcher. I can't think of any other launchers (law chair, etc.) that offer this feature. I'm not saying don't implement it, but perhaps it should not be high priority.
... but perhaps it should not be high priority.
Not sure I agree with that sentiment. For myself I don't use it, but I have been setting up my mother's tablet for minimalist use and this feature being included in samsung's default launcher was very convenient for her use case.
I was surprised to discover just how rare this elementary convenience is in other launchers.
