[XPERIA X8 General] Fortun:
A question we all have at some point is which are the lightest launchers, specially regarding RAM consumption.

tomb20 has taken most of the guess work here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1691169.

Here's the list with some removed items that are no longer on the market:

· Quick Home = 20MB

· Simple Home (Lite) = 20MB *

· Metro UI Lite = 21MB

· My Home Lite = 22MB

· Lightning Launcher = 22MB *

· Zeam Launcher = 23MB *

· Holo Launcher = 23MB *

· Xperia S Launcher = 23MB

· ssLauncher = 23MB *

· ADW.Launcher = 24MB *

· TwLauncher = 24MB (SGSII themed version)

· LightLaunch = 24MB

· Balancer Launcher = 24MB

· Fast Home = 25MB

· Crazy Home Lite = 26MB

· Rocket Launcher = 26MB

· Nemus Launcher = 26MB *

· Regina 3D Launcher = 27MB

· FTL Launcher = 29MB *

· EZ Launcher = 30MB

· Espier Launcher = 31MB

· MIUI Launcher = 32MB

· 91 Panda Home = 32MB

· Go Launcher EX = 33MB

· QQLauncher = 33MB

· Launcher 7 = 33MB *

· Launcher Pro = 34MB *

· 360 Launcher = 34MB *

· Home++ = 35MB

· Claystone Launcher = 40MB

· MXHome Launcher = 50MB

· SPB Shell 3D = 63MB

*Tested launchers.

**The ones removed are DX Home and iLauncher Lite. The original thread also have clickable links. Go say thanks.

Now for our phone, for whatever reason, launchers report a lower RAM consumption. Don't freak out tho it's only by 1-2MB and the general hierarchy remains true.

Over the last few weeks, I've tried:

· Zeam Launcher

· Launcher Pro

· 360 Launcher

· Launcher 7

· Holo Launcher

· Nemus

· FTL Launcher

· ADW Launcher

· MiHome

And only recently, meaning a few days:

· ssLauncher

· Lightning Launcher

· Simple Home by Digital Guesswork.

The name of the game is scrolling smoothness, size of the app, RAM consumption and redraws.

Starting with scrolling smoothness, you could seriously choose between any of the ones I just mentioned and you would have a smooth experience. Some might give you better responsiveness based on your personal configuration but there shouldn't be a huge difference. Even the big 360 Launcher and MiHome perform well.

Size of the app shouldn't be of big concern. In theory a smaller app should get called quickly but you won't notice any major difference. For whatever, it's worth Lightning Launcher beats everyone with 53k.

RAM consuption has already been discused at the beginning of this post, take your pick. However there's one fluke worth mentioning. Lightning Launcher is reported to be using 18 MB in my phone.

Now we're left with draws and redraws. In practical terms, meaning how fast the launcher takes to load your apps so you can get to them. Now this is where it gets tricky. The launcher has three places to call apps from:

· System partition

· Data partition/sd-ext partition

· Sd-card (.android_secure)

If you're using a sd-ext partition, the data and sd-ext partition can be considered the same. If you're not, why aren't you? But, anyway, the difference is that apps will get called a tad faster if you don't have the sd-ext partition, by virtue of them being directly on the internal memory.

So, apps that are stored in the sd-card will get called slower. And some apps just like being there. Pushing some of this apps back to internal memory will cause problems.

This is where launchers start differing hugely. Some of them will make you wait till all of the apps are ready to be called. For example: ssLauncher and, to some extent, Zeam Launcher. Zeam Launcher will actually make available apps in system and sd-ext partitions rather quickly, then black screen, then all of them.

Some will make apps available as they're being read. For example: Simple Home.

Some will show all apps at once, but with some icons missing until they're fully ready, meaning apps that are in the sd-card will have no icon/a generic icon. For example: 360 Launcher.

Now if you have a fast sd-card the launcher will call the apps faster than with a slow one. This also depends on how many apps you've got installed. If you have a few, you might not notice anything.

For this category, a special reproducible test was made. How fast is the launcher fully ready at boot? How fast is it ready after disconnecting the USB after mounting it on the computer? And, how fast is it ready after killing it?

We have a clear winner: Lightning Launcher. It will make your apps ready to be used almost instantly. If you're already on a system with lots of apps, the first time might take a few seconds, but afterwards it will be f-a-s-t.

Then will come the other launchers with a special mention to Simple Home, coming just ahead of the bunch, but nowhere near Lightning Launcher.

Now let's share a few words about customization. You're on your own here. You might like pre-made packages, flexibility... or, you might not be interested at all in customization of the launcher beyond some widgets.

However, for ultimate customization you might want to go with ssLauncher. It allows you to do somethings that would otherwise require Desktop VisualizeR.

Now let's zoom in my pick: Lightning Launcher. Customization-wise, it does offer some interesting possibilities:

Albeit, only one screen, this one screen is scrollable and zoomable. With the right amount of patience you could do some rather interesting screens. It can also make using some setups that depend heavily on backgrounds, such as some of the ones seen at MyColorScreen.com, easily configurable*.

It does however have some quirks. You basically need three apps: the launcher itself, the app controlling its configuration and the app controlling the widgets. They work together seamlessly and won't see three icons in your app drawer by the way. This offers, for example, some extra RAM when you're not using the setup. Or that in the event of redraws, you get to your apps as soon as possible, with the widgets getting called later.

*I might take a shot at recreating one screen just for fun and to call it quits with the phone.