In this era of full-fledged custom launchers, something different has emerged, a sort of mini-launcher that displays app and contacts “ribbons”, widgets and an RSS ticker when activated by a swipe from the edge of your screen. This unique UI (user interface) enhancement, which goes by the name Ivy, doesn’t require root access yet it can change your experience in a way reminiscent of custom ROMs.
One of app’s developers, Steve Spear, is a former member of the team that developed the popular custom ROM AOKP. One of AOKP’s most popular innovations was a “ribbon” you could swipe out from the edge of your screen with shortcuts to apps of your choice. Though the popular ROM is not currently in active development the “ribbons” live on in Ivy. To acquaint you with Ivy’s myriad of features, I have included the following screenshot tour. The screenshots are divided into the following categories:
Settings screenshots to familiarize you with its main features
Ribbons screenshots to show you how to customize the Apps Ribbon and the People Ribbon
RSS screenshots to help you customize the RSS ticker
Widgets screenshots to explain how to customize the widgets you want to include in Ivy
Ivy Panel screenshots to show how the main panel looks when you swipe it out from the edge
Ivy Settings
Main settings
Main settings bottom of the list
Settings slide-out drawer
App settings
I prefer Night Mode
Handle settings
Ribbon settings lets you change ribbon color, text color, icon size and text size
Ivy Ribbons: Apps and People
Apps ribbon settings/Items tab is where you can choose which apps you want to include in your ribbon
Apps ribbon settings/Settings tab is where you can choose a third-party icon pack
After tapping “Icon pack” in Apps ribbon settings/Settings tab, you can choose from this list of all the icon packs you have installed in your phone
People ribbon settings is where you can choose which people you want to have contact card shortcuts for on your People ribbon
Ivy’s RSS Ticker
RSS Feed settings/Items tab is where you can choose which RSS feeds you want displayed in the bottom ticker
RSS Feed settings/Settings tab is where you can choose options such as scrolling speed, refresh frequency and text color among other things
When you tap the floating add button in the RSS Feed settings/Items tab you can choose from preselected feeds in four main categories or a “Custom Feed” for specific feeds you wish to add (you’ll need to enter its URL)
Each category contains a list of preselected feeds to choose from
To add a specific RSS feed not included in the curated list, choose “Custom Feed”
After tapping “Custom Feed” you’ll be prompted to enter the feed’s URL (for example, http://feeds.feedburner.com/yourtechexplained)
You can remove a feed from the list by swiping to the right
Tap on the tiny caret near the bottom center to switch feeds or manually refresh them
Here is what the RSS feed switcher looks like after tapping on the tiny caret symbol
Ivy Widgets
In the Widgets settings/Items tab the floating action button lets you add a widget, delete it or move it to the right or left
In the Widgets settings/Settings tab you can choose background appearance, animation duration and whether to force the widget to allow you to override its minimum height
When you choose “add widget” from the floating action button, you see a pretty standard widget picker
When Widgets are enabled, the Ivy panel shows the Widget button between the Ivy settings and the app drawer buttons at the bottom left
In Widget view, the floating button array lets you dock the widget to the top of the screen or the bottom (left button), resize the widget to your liking (drag the center button up or down) or close the widget (right button, which takes you to your previous screen rather than the Ivy panel)
Here’s what your widget looks like when docked to the top of the screen
Ivy Panels
Ivy panel with app apps ribbon on the right, Ivy settings button, app drawer button and RSS ticker on the bottom
Ivy panel with people ribbon on the right
Ivy’s app drawer also uses the icon pack you selected for the app ribbon
Jeff has been an avid Android user since late 2010 (starting with the Samsung Captivate and later the Fascinate). He has been covering Android-related news since early 2012, with a focus on the rooted/development community. He also has been publishing icon packs for Phunktastic Designs since late 2015.
