If on the Internet the tag clouds that the icons, why do we still use that old design on our advanced mobile phones? That's the philosophy of Tags, an app for lovers of minimalist designs. With it, we can do away with icons or groups of icons that access our apps. Instead, they will appear as tags with your nameAnd, depending on how we use them, they will appear larger or change color.
Tagy is one of those paid apps for which deserves to pay. But, to give you an idea, it has a version Delivery to Italy takes one or two business days more limited. Its idea is as simple as it is great: instead of icons, tag clouds. We can create different widgets to group the apps we want, choosing by type, for example. In the settings, we can choose how many place, the label color and the text. Here, the app name replaces the icon.
But Tagy also shows the Contact, favorite pages from the Internet or the mobile settings in the form of tags. Since we can select the size to vary depending on usage in the configuration, the cloud is becoming increasingly intuitive as we use the different access points. Thus, some labels will become larger than those we use less. We can also assign colors depending on their use. For example, red for the most common applications or contacts.
With the free version, you can also install two widgets with settings and Google apps so you can see how it works. Tagy offers something different because you can access instantly to the content without having to scroll or browse folders. It also helps you learn about our usage habits, almost hiding the apps we use the least. Also, and this is not just a small detail, it allows save space since a tag cloud can contain five times more elements than a normal icon.
And if this were not enough, it offers many possibilities of colors, shapes and groupings of apps or contacts that will make the home screen of your mobile no longer be like that of the others, even combining with custom wallpapers. You can try it from Google Play.
What is a tag cloud and why does it improve the home screen?
An tag cloud (also called tag cloud or word cloud) is the visual representation of the most used terms in a text, highlighting them by size o color according to their frequency. They were created to summarize blog and website themes and today they are also successful in the class for their simplicity and because they help to identify keywords and explore concepts such as calligrams (poems that form drawings with letters), enhancing students' creativity.
Brought to mobile, this approach turns icons into legible words that grow or change color depending on use, which provides advantages of usability: immediate recognition, less visual load and hierarchy dynamic without opening folders. It's an ideal solution if you're looking for a home screen Minimalist, focused on what you really use.
Word Cloud Tools: Inspiration and Resources
If you want to generate backgrounds, styles and compositions To inspire your tag launcher, these tools will help you create clouds with different focuses (design, analysis, or teaching):
TagCrowd
Very good option simple that adjusts only the size by frequency and allows you to choose language to exclude stop words.
Wordle
Sleek generator with customization color, typography and layout. Requires additional technologies and offers Advanced Options for demanding users.
Word Cloud Generator (Jason Davies)
Marriage Proposal very visual with control of angles, proportion and sources. Detect better English, so it is advisable to clean up Spanish texts.
Tagul / WordArt
Match word clouds with art forms (symbols, letters, figures). It has a manager for include/exclude useful free terms and options.
Word Clouds
Very complete and friendly with the Spanish; guide with a assistant step by step and wide design and shape options.
Word It Out
Copy, generate, and that's it. Extremely easy, with small customizations and need for filter manually common terms.
Wordsift
Powerful engine that allows interaction: Clicking on a word shows where it appears in the text. Includes all words, even the least relevant ones.
VocabGrabber
More analysis than design: extract key vocabulary, sample definitions and themes. Ideal for text comments English.
Wordsalad (iOS and Android)
Mobile app for clouds with control of color, typography and layout. allow save y to export to share.
tagxedo
Create clouds in real time from text, web, Twitter or RSS. Extensive customization and the ability to generate miniatures to choose design.
ImageChef
Type compositions mosaic with color, font, and symbol size control. It does not require record and facilitates insertion into blogs.
Word Clouds for Kids
Educational approach: enter text, adjust colors y amount of words, and download the image.
Wordizer
Generates clouds without term limits and allows save to vector for lossless scaling; also supports print.
TypeDrawing
Converts text to typographic drawings regulating the size, shape and color of the letters.
Festisite
Ideas to create designs with words and images; useful for explaining calligrams and encourage creativity.
ToCloud
Generates clouds online and can extract sentences intelligently. Allows you to copy the HTML or take screenshots.
WordArt
Interactive tool with different designs, useful for visualizing polls and create your own questionnaires.
Word Generator (Android)
Up to 18 sources, 17 forms and shuffle. Save to device and share on networks.
Liar
Presentations interactive with word clouds, quizzes and participation from mobile, tablet or computer in real time.
Alternatives to customize icons: shortcuts and icon packs
If you prefer to keep icons but give them a unique touch, there are apps that, through system shortcuts, change the icon and name of any application. They usually integrate thousands of icons and styles, and allow you to choose images from the gallery or camera, as well as third-party packs.
Typical process to change an icon with these tools:
- Opens the icon changer app.
- Choose the application whose icon you want to customize.
- Select an image from the internal pack, another app or a icon pack external; you can also use your own photo.
- Edit it name of the shortcut if you wish.
- Return to the desktop to see the new access created.
On some systems, accesses may add a watermarkA common method to avoid it is to place the widget of the app itself on the desktop and generate the icon from there, which usually eliminates the branding in most launchers.
Additionally, many Android launchers allow customization. color, size and labels of icons and widgets, hide names and apply dyes global. Combined with Tagy, you can unify an aesthetic based on text or switch between tag clouds and traditional accesses according to your needs.
The combination of a desktop based on tag clouds with resources for creating word clouds and apps custom icons It gives you complete control over the visual hierarchy, order and speed of access to what you use most, as well as to organize your tasks and notes, maintaining a coherent and, above all, practical graphic identity.
