One of the main strengths of Android has always been customization. Unlike an iPhone, you can tinker and tweak until you realize the home screen of your dreams. The easiest and simplest way to overhaul the beauty of your phone's interface is to install the launcher.
With a launcher, you can change the color scheme, icon, background, and lots of other details to define your ideal home screen, app drawer and widget combo. But what is the best launcher for Android right now? Read on to take our top and try out nine options.
If you're into Android customization, then you should also look into the best free live wallpapers for Android, the best Android widgets, and perhaps root your Android phone.
The best
Nova launcher
The Nova Launcher offers an excellent array of different features, allowing you to get an elegant look without compromising on performance. You can change animations, colors, layouts, icons, and more. Spring for $ 5 for the Prime version and you can customize gestures, unlock additional scroll effects, and more, but the exact version is enough to create and feel the exact look for most people Should be that they are longing. There is also a way to get Google feeds to show on the Google screen launcher on the left, like on Google Now Launcher.
the rest
Action Launcher: Pixel Edition
The Action Launcher mimics some of the best Google Pixel Launcher features like the Google tablet and the round icon. The interesting thing is that the app drawer turns out to provide a long directory versus the familiar egg carton-style layout from the left. It also provides an easy rollout panel to add widgets from which you can control the music, check the weather, check email and so on and close the home screen. For $ 7, the "Plus" upgrade unlocks adaptive zoom, desktop shortcuts, and a few other features.
Apex launcher
Apex Launcher is for control freaks who like tweaks and customization. After installation, you immediately set the app drawer to scroll horizontally or vertically, with tablet, cube out, and home screen transitions such as card stack, and so on. It has loads of settings to tweak and includes a theme browser to replace your Android phone with the iOS 10 look - all with 29 themes. The $ 9 "Pro" upgrade removes ads and unlocks additional features.
EV Launcher
The purpose of this launcher is speed and simplicity. Unlike other launchers, you will find only four basic apps on the home screen after installation - Phone, Message, Camera and Chrome. Widgets such as weather and news are hidden on the left, while you have to long press on the screen to access the settings of the launcher. You'll get a lot of customization options without paying the premium "pro" price, such as installing an icon pack, adjusting the dock, and hiding apps. If you need a simple and easy interface, then this is the launcher for you.
Lawnchair 2
Here is another launcher that is for simplicity. While there is no built-in browser to download the theme, the launcher settings provide appropriate control over how to customize the overall look. You can change the size of the icon, hide apps, blur the page background, create app categories in the drawer, and so on. It also supports customizable gestures, for swipe up, double-tapping, and more swiping. Overall, this launcher does not add a huge portfolio of premium features, but is a great option if the phone's stock launcher is not ideal.
Microsoft launcher
Given Android's love affair with Windows 10, installing this launcher may provide a more integrated experience. During installation, you can choose to import the home screen layout or any other launcher or select the apps you want to show. Compared to the others on the list, it's a bit more clooney at first, but you can cram your most used apps into an expandable dock to make the desktop less cluttered. In Windows 10, swipe to the left screen to see sticky notes you've made, recent word documents, latest news, your activity timeline, and more.
Niagara Launcher
It's unique in that your home screen is essentially an app drawer - there are no other home screen pages you can swipe. A maximum of eight applications are displayed in a list, while all others are accessible by an alphabetic strip displayed on the right edge. If your favorite app has a notification like a new email, you will see it just below the app listing on the home screen. Niagara Launcher provides basic customization features such as installing an icon pack, toggling dark themes, and hiding apps. Premium features such as seam integration, setting a separate font, a quick lock gesture, and more are the locks behind the $ 11 Niagara paywall.
Poco Launcher 2
Here is a launcher developed by the phone manufacturer Xiaomi. The scene presents a nice, clean style with thin fonts and widely spread icons to eliminate clutter. By default, this launcher divides all installed applications into customizable categories in the drawer, such as communications, entertainment, photography, equipment, and four others. Like other launchers on this list, you can install icon packs from Google Play, customize home screen layouts, hide apps, make page changes, and change notification badges. Everything here is provided completely free and without any annoying advertisements - there is no premium version.
Rootless pixel launcher
Here is another launcher aimed at simplicity. The customization is somewhat limited, allowing users to resize icons, select an installed icon pack, and switch between five themes. It supports notification dots and At a Glance, although you will have to sideload a separate Pixel Bridge APK file from the developer to run the Google News feed panel on the left. Otherwise, it has a nice, clean presentation that doesn't cost you.
Smart launcher 5
As the name itself suggests, this is a very "smart" launcher design-wise. This is one of the best app trays on our list, offering a better tab-based classified design than Poco Launcher 2. A dedicated widget page resides on the right side of the home screen, while a left appears from the Microsoft News Feed - swipe down from the top. To load the search page. It includes app shortcuts that bring pop-up groupings such as browsers and music apps with similar apps. Premium features such as editing categories, folders in the app drawer, app page notifications, and a string of others are locked behind the $ 17 "premium" paywall. You can also choose a monthly or annual subscription.
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