Using Glovebox with the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is a perfect match
The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is one of the best smart phones ever made and features two curved edges that set it apart from anything else on the market. Unfortunately, Samsung hasn’t fully utilized these curves to their full extent. Only a few small features for time, contacts, and notifications are present.
Just because Samsung hasn’t fully embraced the edges doesn’t mean you can’t use them to their true potential. There are a few pretty cool apps out there that maximize the edges’ effectiveness. One that I have been using is called Glovebox.
Glovebox is available to anyone with an Android device but the app is especially useful if you have the Galaxy S6 Edge. It allows you to swipe over from the edge of your device and launch any app, folder, or quick action. All you have to do is add whatever apps you want and start sliding from the edge to launch them.
I have been using it ever since I purchased the Galaxy S III years ago and it’s one of favorite apps today. Now, using the with the Galaxy S6 Edge, Glovebox is even better. The edges make it seem so natural to slide out from. Unlike Samsung’s People Edge feature, you are not limited to sliding out from one side or the other. You can set it to slide out from the left, right, top, or bottom to suit your needs.
Recently, many manufacturers and secondary launchers are including a higher level of customization. The great part about Glovebox is you can customize the way it looks to match your favorite theme. You can even use any icons you download from the Play Store to match it even better.
There are so many features to Glovebox, but it is quite easy to setup and start using today.
How it actually works
Basically you swipe out and slide your thumb around towards what app you want to launch. Once you stop on the app you want to launch take your thumb off and the app will launch. This will work from any screen including the camera app.
How to add apps
The first thing to do, once you have downloaded and installed Glovebox, is add your most used apps.
Make sure you are on the hand icon at the top left. Here you can add or remove whatever apps you want. The free version offers a maximum of 8 apps while the pro version offers many more as well as a few other features. Select the plus button at the top right and a list of all the apps on your phone will appear. Just choose the check box next to the ones you want and they will be added to the list.
Once you have selected the apps you want, press the back button to head back to the screen before. It looks like the picture above. The far right icon on the apps if held allows you to drag the apps around to re-order them. Say you want your most important apps at the top, just slide them there and it’s done. Making changes is easy and quick.
If you would like to add folders, widgets, actions, or shortcuts, you can do so by following the same steps above only after you select the plus button swipe over when the applications screen pops up. More on folders later on.
How to remove apps
Removing apps is easy but was a little tricky to figure out on my own. All you have to do is literally swipe them away just like you would a notification in the notification drawer. There was no obvious way to figure this out until you actually do it and realize it is the most obvious way.
Customize names and icons
Changing the app name is done by selecting the app and manually renaming it. To change the icon, select it and choose a new icon from an icon pack or reset it to the default icon.
As you can see from the picture, I am using the Iron Man theme on my Galaxy S6 Edge. It has dark circular icons as the default and Glovebox automatically changes the icons to match my theme.
Choose which side you want
With Glovebox, you can slide from the left, right, top, or bottom. Perfect for people that are lefty, righty, or even ambidextrous. Go to the gear icon at the top and select “Trigger.” From here you select “enable sides”, and select which side or sides you want the bar to appear on. You can select just one or multiple. I will be sticking to just the right side for this guide.
Change the sensitivity
The sensitivity is a lot more important than you may think. If it’s too strong you may accidentally swipe it out when you don’t want to and if it’s too weak it won’t swipe out when you do want it. Also, many apps have slide out menus themselves and Glovebox may interfere with it. Finding the correct balance for you will take some trial and error.
Still in the “Trigger” section select “Trigger area editor”. From here you can adjust the start, end, and sensitivity level. The blue bar shows exactly where the bar is and how it will look based on your changes. Depending on which side you have Glovebox set to will determine which trigger you need to change. For example, if it’s the right side, the first screen will be changed, but if it’s the left side swipe over and change the left side. The same applies to the top or bottom triggers.
Of course there are haptic feedback and pause in landscape too, but those are pretty self-explanatory on what they do and remain optional.
Change the actions with Sidebar
Do you want to show notifications, override the status bar, or something else? One area I do want to talk about is the Full swipe action. When you swipe your thumb and Glovebox slides out you, can slide it around to select which app you’d like. However, if you slide it all the way to the opposite side of the screen, a new action can take place. You can have nothing happen, return to the home screen, cancel, launch recent apps, or set it as a back button if you are rooted. I have mine set to return to the home screen.
Under that we have the Quick swipe action. When you swipe Glovebox out really fast, what happens? Do you just want the bar to close or keep the bar in an open position? If it’s selected to open you can slide really fast and have the bar stay open allowing you to look at the apps in the bar. This is helpful when you just want to glance at how many notifications you have or forgot the placement of an app. Now you don’t have to hold your thumb on the screen to see the bar.
Under the “App Info” section it says “show app info popup”. I suggest you have this checked as it will pop out the name of the app in the side bar making it a lot easier to tell what app you are currently selecting and about to open. The picture above shows the name pop out.
Changing the icons/bar look in Personalization
The personalization menu is where you can change the look of the bar, the icons, the transitions, as well as much more. It works by using Themes. You can select just the icon, just the sidebar, or both. Select the picture to see a pop up of what the bar will look like if applied. If you scroll over, it will show you what the icons will look like. They have some very unique looks from Ubuntu to grass themes.
Sidebar density is basically how close everything is together. This is all a matter of preference based on how well you can see and if you want more space when using Glovebox.
Fade effect is pretty cool, too. When you swipe the bar out the screen will go dimmer allowing you to focus more on the apps in the bar. If you have it unchecked the bar will slide out, but the app you are in won’t change.
Folders
You have two different ways to add folders. One is the same as adding apps only after you hit the “plus” button swipe over one to “Folder”. From there, hit the gear icon and the plus button to name the folder. Check off the ones you want added to that folder and hit the back button.
The second way is be under the gear menu at the top and select “Folder”. After that it’s the same way to add apps to the folders. If you would like to delete or rename a folder press the little red trash icon in the bottom right corner of the folder.
That is just to add apps to a folder; however, adding a folder to the Glovebox bar is another step. Be under the hand icon at the top, hit the plus, and swipe over to “Folder” and you should see all the folders you have created for you to add.
Blacklist
Certain apps can pause Glovebox and this section gives you some control over that. You can have your phone vibrate when it’s being paused, show messages when it’s paused, or add apps to the blacklist to not pause Glovebox.
Conclusion
I have been using Glovebox for years now and it truly is a must have. The app is there, ready to be called upon even when not seen. The little swipe actions always impress people as they have no idea how you did that and wish their phones could do it too. As I mentioned from the start: it’s already a great app on any phone, but basically mandatory if you own the Galaxy S6 Edge. Samsung should of actually partnered with Glovebox and had the app pre-installed. Unlike most of the other pre-installed apps, this one would remain enabled.
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