Features

Lightning is packed with tons of features. The following list may not be exhaustive, in doubt, please ask. And if you miss a feature, don’t be afraid to request for it!

 

Style and appearance

  • extremely configurable item style: text properties (font, size, color, style, position, etc.), icon settings (size, colorization, filters, …), events (tap, swipes, touch and more) and so on. Almost everything can be customized.
  • customizable backgrounds and icons: use  images and nine patches for your background, may it be for items, folders, panels or the desktop. Lightning can also pick icons from icon packs, the Android graphics or even other installed apps.
  • icon packs: apply a single ADW icon pack at once on all your apps, or pick individual icons from the pack
  • system bars: in addition to status bar visibility settings, select color or transparency for status, navigation and action bar, select overlapping modes.
  • wallpapers: in addition to the system wallpaper, Lighting can display different wallpaper per desktop, with transparency (nice effect with a live wallpaper behind!)

Items

  • apps, widgets,shortcuts,folders: these well known objects are customizable at will
  • text or icon only: to display just a word or an image.
  • dynamic texts and badges: to display SMS, GMail, missed phone calls, battery level, date&hour,…
  • side bars and panels: create custom areas for a variety of purposes, such as dock, split screen, hidden panels.
  • bookmarks: to navigate from one place in your desktop to another
  • page indicators: to display the page location on the desktop, with configurable styles such as dots, line, mini map, textual.
  • stop points: to design custom scrolling scheme
  • unlocker: to design your own home screen.
  • custom android view: create your own widget using Android views and JavaScript.

Layout, space organization

  • unlimited surface: the desktop is like a giant canvas where you can put apps and widgets wherever you like, right, left, up and bottom. No limit.
  • flexible geometry: any item, including widgets, can be either attached to the grid, or freely scaled, rotated, moved with pixel accuracy. Lighting gives you all the tools to control objects placement with the best accuracy. Lightning can snap items when moving or resizing them, coordinates can be incremented step by step, or directly entered with the keyboard.
  • powerful folders: they can be customized with the same set of options as the home screen (grid size, background, scrolling, items style, etc.). Folders can contain any object, including widgets and even folders.
  • panels: group apps in a single box, this is a bit like having a folder directly displayed in your home screen and scrolling with it. This can be used to create scrolling docks, split the screen or set hide-able areas.
  • multi desktops: easily switch between different setups (work, personal, child, car, …). Use as many desktops as you need.

Scrolling

  • configurable scrolling: choose whether you prefer vertical or horizontal scrolling, paginated or continuous. Select overscroll mode among bounce, decelerate. Lightning allows zooming in or out the desktop and can even disable scroll limits.
  • stop points:  create your own custom scrolling zones by choosing exactly where scrolling stops, and in which direction.
  • object pinning: prevent an item to move when scrolling. This is useful to create custom dock and special effects. Pinning can be done in either both direction, or only vertical or horizontal.
  • desktop bookmarks: these special shortcuts allows navigation between desktops, folders and panels. They can be used to simply jump from one place to another, or to scroll a panel to switch between several tabs for instance.
  • infinite scrolling: the desktop can be scrolled in a seamless way so that navigating to the last page and beyond will make you come back to the first page without interruption. Infinite scroll can be configured to work in the horizontal direction, or vertical, or both.

Behavior

  • language: Lightning can speak your language by installing one of the numerous free language pack
  • lock screen: Lightning can display one of your desktop as the Android lock screen. Create your own lock screen using all the launcher flexibility, including widgets, folders, gestures, etc.
  • events and gestures: configure them globally, or for the desktop, or even per item. For instance Lightning makes it possible to set a swipe gesture on an app and configure the men button to start an app or show the status bar or run a script. Events include tap, long tap, swipe, two fingers swipe and raw touch event for custom gesture.
  • floating desktop: use one of your desktops as a screen that can be displayed anywhere, anytime. Just swipe from an edge of your screen and your desktop will be displayed above any other app, always ready to launch app or display widgets, just when you need it.
  • builtin app killer: long tap on some app (or widget) select kill, et voilà.
  • OK Google: on device supporting it, speak to your phone to start actions
  • scripting: probably the most powerful feature ever. Lightning can be customized beyond any limit using JavaScript. No other launcher can do that. Create your own script or import existing ones from the script repository.

And also…

  • light and fast: Lightning doesn’t waste CPU nor memory; the app strives to remain light and fast for everyone, from Android 2.2 up to newest version.
  • powerful editing tools: with undo and redo (don’t fear to make a mistake or remove a folder…), item style copy and paste, object duplication (clone a whole folder with one click), snapping control, lock edition, …
  • backup, export your setup: save your setup safely in a backup, or export it as a template to share it with other Lighting Launcher Users.
  • alive user communities: share your screen, ask for help, request a feature or report a bug !