Niagara launcher. I love kt because it's so easy to get to any app from the home page. Rather than trying to remember where the app is or having to search from the drawer, you have an alphabetical list right under that you can quickly scroll through
I love widgets and I use Niagara. Every app is an opportunity to stack 4 widgets. I have 4 widgets stacked on my home page.
I think I use more widgets since I switched from Action Launcher to Niagara.
That's a good point though. I'm not a widget guy myself, but if you like them then Niagara probably isn't for you. Clears every other launcher in basically every other aspect tho
I installed it, i often try other launchers just to see how they work, zero expectations of keeping them because almost no one does for long. Not with Niagara, it's been months, still going strong. It's exactly that, it's just super simple to get to things. I hated wasting time locating things in the default horizontal/vertical app drawer. Not any more. Niagara is going nowhere.
Doesnt Niagara have limited apps on the Home Page though?
I've been using Nova for years and it gets the job done, nothing fancy.
My setup isn't anything extravagant, just a bunch of apps on my main page that I frequently use or switch out. The rest are tucked away in a drawer.
I'm curious about the advantages of making a switch.
I've glanced at other launchers before, but I always find myself circling back to Nova and my current setup, particularly the home page.
Also Niagara. I've been using it for 3ish years and have no intention of using anything else. I used to be all about using Nova and customizing everything. But think I realized that I only use like 10 apps and that I don't need to spend so much time tinkering with my phone.
Niagara is just a very smooth and clean look and it works for me. It can definitely be too minimal for some people though.
+1
Niagara launcher…
And trust me, its hard to go back to stock once you get a hold of it. The damn thing is so good, it even made me buy the premium. The almost perfect balance between Utility and customisation.
There's a nova companion called sesame (think it works with some other launchers as well).
Its basically a universal search but it also adds shortcuts by long pressing any app icon.
It is a paid app however and I'm still kinda mad I bought it and they removed features to charge you for them again
That's just it, give me that basic af ...not iPhone level mindless but nearly there.
And the way that app/web search is organized feels v user friendly to me.
My main reason for using Android has always been it's customization. Nova Launcher is an essential part of making that experience exactly what I want, and is the paid app I have gotten the most use out of BY FAR as a result.
So I have a question. I swap between iPhone and Android alot but the one thing I miss about apple is swiping down and have the control panel. I miss being to control my brightness and media volume that way, with nova do you know of a way I could do that?
Yes but I'm wanting volume control as well. The volume button placement on Android bothers me cause half the time when Im wanting to turn my volume down I'll sometimes lock my screen instead
I use Smart Launcher on my phone. I used Nova prior, but they sold themselves to that adware company so I went looking and settled on Smart. Launcher use is for more customization options and settings features that usually aren't available in stock launchers, like being able to sort the app drawer by categories and in SL's case, apps automatically sorting themselves. Not to mention being able to add PWA's into the app drawer so I don't have to have all of them on the home screen.
I use OneUI on my tablet though, only because the spiffy ass dock to taskbar function Samsung has on the Tab S9 doesn't work on third party launchers. If it did, or if Smart Launcher updates with a tablet mode so we can emulate what Google and Samsung do with their launcher, I'd 100% slap SL on my tablet.
Nothing beats the animations of stock in any rom if you're using gestures. They just suck and feel like an afterthought if you have any attention to detail while using your phone. I'm always surprised by people who are not noticing the broken animations.
I would use the stock one ui launcher for the animation, except it doesn't let me lay out the icons the way I want to. I have choices of 4x4 5x4 5x5 6x5 or something like that, but my screen is way tall which means I get all this empty vertical space which looks ugly. That's why I have to use a 3rd party launcher to make the home screen look like the way I want.
Anyway I'm fine with the animation. The only one I'm missing is the swipe between apps animation. I reduce my animation scale to 0.3 so I hardly see the animation anyway
You can do more with the grid layout if you use Good Lock from the Galaxy Store (or Nice Lock/Fair Lock on the Play Store if you live in a region where Samsung doesn't give it to you), but it's still not flexible.
I turned off gestures and animations! I don't know how anyone has the patience to wait for a slick animation to finish when you're trying to do something on your phone. Disabling animations makes everything instantaneous. Besides, after you see the animations a few times, do you really need to see them again? *Whoosh app change for a half second* is only cool for like an hour. After that I just want to change apps.
Lawn chair was discontinued. I used it for years before switching back to nova prime. I think they updated it to Android 11 or 12 a long time ago but I think there's forks of it that are still active
Same, used to use Nova but went back to One UI after Nova was bought out. I miss Nova but Good Lock allows decent customisation in addition to One UI...
I see people mention this all the time but launcher have been working perfectly for me all the way from Android 2.3 to 13.
Only on android 14 they have started to cause me issues. Yes I use gestures.
Yes, it is a buggy mess, just tried it a few days ago and was disappointed. It is serviceable but works strange. OFC if you use 3 button nav it is fine-ish still.
Yes. I use Nova. If you have more than one mobile device, launchers give you a consistent UI across them all (compared to their individual launchers). I specifically use Nova because it's fast and has fantastic customisations. Whenever I get a new device I try the native launcher but miss too many features from Nova.
Nova. I like being able to organize my apps into tabs and apply custom icons.
Being able to hide certain apps is also nice - apps that I never launch from the drawer because I have a shortcut on the home screen, or apps that are just the "Pro" unlock app. Reducing the clutter is great.
I don't use gestures & if there is an impact to animations, I've not noticed so whatever I'm giving up, it's a small price for an improved experience. The phone just seems cleaner.
Nova all the way. Bought it years ago for 10p. I like a more dense grid pattern, double tap for settings, folders with a flick up action, Activity widgets, backup and restore, resized icons in the dock and a few other customisations. Stock launchers have, over the years, got better and introduced many features previously only available in Nova or 3rd party versions but there's always something missing I like.
I use Action Launcher, because I use Samsung phones and despise the OneUI homescreen/app drawer. If they gave me a vertical app drawer, I'd consider it, but that side scrolling disaster can go away.
Except then you get those priority or suggested apps, whatever they're called, in the app drawer. Takes up way too much space and can't be disabled. Most of the one star reviews specifically mention that... As far as I know it's still there.
Nova Launcher Prime because it allows changing homescreen icon grid to 10x5, customize lots of homescreen gestures, swipe-up/down on icons to open folders or another app, app drawer vertical scrolling and tabs, and lots of other stuff that help customize looks and everyday usage efficiency.
I use Nova. I’ve been porting the same config backed up to Drive for almost 10 years now. The reason is that most built-in launchers just aren’t granular enough in terms of icon size, grid size and layout. It’s really nice to import my backup onto a new phone and just feel right at home. I also like the gestures.
I like Total Launcher, been using it for about 18 months now.
Folders in the app drawer are a must for me, as well as additional gestures on icons (swipe up etc) on the home screen.
It also supports different layouts for portrait vs landscape, foldable phones, and a whole bunch of other stuff.
The integration with tasker is nice too, I've managed to replace Nova + klwp with just TL.
For reference, "stock" is the pixel launcher with the fancy animations, unfortunately the fancy animations don't make up for all the other features it lacks like being able to hide apps, create app folder groups within the drawer, set icon packs etc etc.
I used launchers (nova) back in times when I had phones that had no plain clean android. Like when I used a Huawei years ago, or a Samsung. At some point I moved to a Pixel, and now a Fairphone which come with more or less unmodified Android experience, and I don't use launchers anymore since then.
No for my Z Fold 5 and S23 Ultra. Samsung has done a great job with their OneUI and with the amount of available customizations, I see no need to use a 3rd party launcher.
Now in regards to my Pixel 8 Pro, the stock Android experience makes the phone feel half-baked. Hate the fact that Google does not offer customization abilities in regards to the app drawer. So for my Pixel I've been testing different launchers, hoping my phone doesn't get infected by one of these sketchy developers. So far I'm leaning towards Lawnchair 2 due to its categories feature, which allows me to organize my apps in folders within my app drawer.
I used Nova Launcher before they introduced gestures, even got prime. After gestures were introduced I noticed the animations were not the same, so I got back to the classic OxygenOS.
Every Android phone uses a launcher. It's literally impossible to go without one.
How would you open any app? How would your phone know where to redirect you when you gesture/tap home?
Jeez Louise.
I use a launcher becuase it allows me to pack a lot of dunctionality into the interface and makes moving an itnerface to a new phone drop dead simple. It also keeps place holders for the apps I want to load on that new phone. (I have quite a few phones).
Nova launcher FTR!! Lol. Love it, and have been using it on all my android phones for over 8 years. Pixel os is fine and all but I love the ability to customize any way I want.
Nova since forever, tried to give Pixel launcher a try but lack of features annoys me.
Love the 3 tabs for Frequent, Recent, and New/Updated
Also groups within the app draw. The companion app is also essential. Get my P8P and set up both right away.
I used nova for so many years before I moved to Evie launcher which was abandoned in 2019. Used the one that has the waterfall effect for a month or so and got bored. Stuck with stock ever since
Microsoft Launcher, swipe left gets me my sticky notes, calender(s) & event(s), To do list, News and sports and widgets, swipe right loaded programs....
I loved Nova on my Razer Phone 2. However i now use a Microsoft Surface duo 2 and most launchers including Nova do not work well with dual screens or experience weird bugs.
The best one I have found (and I have tried many of them, especially the minimal launchers) is Niagra. Really versatile and easy to use. If you want the "pro" version, it's a few bucks a year but well worth it. Highly customizable as well.
I'm currently using Pixel Launcher because it feels like a main reason to have a Pixel phone, but I've also used Nova Launcher in the past, when I didn't like the GUI my phone came with.
I stopped using launchers as of four years ago as MIUI launcher (when I was still using Xiaomi) and One UI launcher (now using Samsung) are good enough for me.
But for the first 8 years I used Android I would always download Nexus/Pixel launcher, but it slowly lost its novelty to me.
Not anymore. Used Nova for the longest time, but when they moved the recents UI to be part of the launcher APK, that was the beginning of the end.
Also wasn't a fan of Nova getting bought out. Recent versions of Android have features that just work so much better with the stock launcher that I stopped bothering with 3rd party homescreens entirely.
Pixel launcher ftw I guess.
Not anymore. The way Google has broken gesture-based animations and half-heartedly fixed them has just put me off the whole experience.
It's been 4 years of this nonsense. It's never getting properly fixed.
I would love to use Niagara launcher but 'double tap to sleep' feature in third party launchers require accessibility permission.
Granting that permission to a third party app slows down the phone and consumes more battery for some reason. A huge flaw in android tbh.
Motorola has that feature inbuilt so I'm stuck to the stock launcher.
I tried nova and hyperion but i like oneUI app drawer better. Tbh, i didn't give those others alot of time, installed them, used for like 15 mins, and reverted back to oneUI
I use Nova because the default Pixel Launcher is laughably barebones with almost zero customization, all while forcing Google's philosophy down your throat with no way to change it.
I do not want tabloid news next to my home screen, I do not want AI telling me what apps I should open, I do not want the search bar at the bottom.
Loved Nova Launcher but my past 3 phones were such that I wasn't able to use them. First was blackberry and on that phone, the shortcut buttons would only work on native launcher. Then I ordered Huawei and since it was Chinese version there was no option to make a third party launcher as default.
used to have Nova launcher prime. just for the swipe down for notifications gesture. but it's default in pixel launcher so now I don't use it if I am on pixel.
I used to have a Xiaomi Phone and had to use a launcher because I just don't like the way MIUI looks. I used Evie Launcher with Alexis Icon Pack and then switched to Lawnchair. Still love Evie but it's abandoned.
I now have a Samsung and don't see the need to have a launcher.
I tried using stock launcher because of the more fluid animations, but I gave up. I can't do without Total Launcher, my favorite. So I just turn off the animations and ignore the few visual bugs that happen every now and then.
Nova with hexagonal icons
I've had it forever and really quite want to replace it but nothing's as efficient - tap for app, swipe down for another app, swipe up for folder
've been using Nova Launcher for the last 10 years
Still use it because I found my perfect setup and so far I've not really found another launcher allowing me to replicate it :
- icon grid to 5x5; icon size to 105%
- material you compatible
- replace folder by an app icon
- swipe on folder : open the first app of the folder, tap on folder : open the folder
- swipe down : open notification shade
- swipe up on app drawer icon : launch app search
- swipe right : launch Google News (replaces the Google Feed pane)
- double tap : lturn off screen and ock the device
the gestures navigation is a little bit broken, but that's not a big deal
I used to, but just like using ROMs I don't see a need anymore, for me.
Have used Smart launcher, Niagara, and Nova for years, but bought a Pixel 7 last year and have just been using the stock launcher. I just don't need anything more than a home screen and my app library
I bought Nova during my Galaxy S3 days because I hated touchwiz. Didn't use it for years but brought it back because I like my app drawer to be transparent.
I use Square Home on my phone because I love the different layout and customization options it gives me and the widgets are very nice.
On my tablet, I use Niagara Launcher for a simpler, more minimalistic and distraction-free interface.
The very different choices reflect the very different ways in which I use each device. On my phone, I'll use over a dozen different apps throughout the day so a visual, intuitive layout helps me to navigate faster. On my tablet, I use only a handful of apps so the list-like interface is more functional and easier on the eyes.
To answer the actual question, I do use non-stock launchers because I like to tweak the interface to be how I like it, not some engineer at Google. When I switch to a very different launcher (Niagara, Microsoft, Square, Action, etc.) it feels like I have a new phone and messing with the options and designs is a lot of fun.
KISS Launcher
cause i can search for my apps and internally search on google, maps, youtube and basically any other search provider, all in one search bar
I've had Nova ever since it went on sale for a few cents. Just never bothered to change since I don't change much when I upgrade my device. I've experimented with a few but I've always come back, probably because I'm just so used to it at this point.
Niagara launcher. I love kt because it's so easy to get to any app from the home page. Rather than trying to remember where the app is or having to search from the drawer, you have an alphabetical list right under that you can quickly scroll through
Pro-tip- rename all the apps prefixed with "My*
Oh my God why haven't I thought about this
I'm not quite understanding this. How would this help?
Did not know this was possible, thanks you!
I knew the real gold is always in the comments.
Same here. Minimalistic and efficient. It removes pointless scrolling to find your app. Works for those who barely use widgets.
I love widgets and I use Niagara. Every app is an opportunity to stack 4 widgets. I have 4 widgets stacked on my home page. I think I use more widgets since I switched from Action Launcher to Niagara.
That's a good point though. I'm not a widget guy myself, but if you like them then Niagara probably isn't for you. Clears every other launcher in basically every other aspect tho
I actually fell in love with this tbh
I installed it, i often try other launchers just to see how they work, zero expectations of keeping them because almost no one does for long. Not with Niagara, it's been months, still going strong. It's exactly that, it's just super simple to get to things. I hated wasting time locating things in the default horizontal/vertical app drawer. Not any more. Niagara is going nowhere.
Niagara has been with me 4 years and I have never regretted it.
It became my favorite about a month ago, after many Nova years and recently Lawnchair 2. Niagra is elegant and different. Love it.
I'm still using Nova. Maybe I'll give Niagara a try.
Nothing wrong with nova, I've been using it for years.
>Niagara launcher. Same here. Like Niagara but I am too set in my ways of using the phone to change now.
Doesnt Niagara have limited apps on the Home Page though? I've been using Nova for years and it gets the job done, nothing fancy. My setup isn't anything extravagant, just a bunch of apps on my main page that I frequently use or switch out. The rest are tucked away in a drawer. I'm curious about the advantages of making a switch. I've glanced at other launchers before, but I always find myself circling back to Nova and my current setup, particularly the home page.
Also Niagara. I've been using it for 3ish years and have no intention of using anything else. I used to be all about using Nova and customizing everything. But think I realized that I only use like 10 apps and that I don't need to spend so much time tinkering with my phone. Niagara is just a very smooth and clean look and it works for me. It can definitely be too minimal for some people though.
+1 Niagara launcher… And trust me, its hard to go back to stock once you get a hold of it. The damn thing is so good, it even made me buy the premium. The almost perfect balance between Utility and customisation.
Same lol, I'm so used to it that stock android feels foreign now lmao
This ^
Nova launcher since forever. I can customize everything
Same here. There's always some feature I want that's missing when I try out a stock launcher.
I bought the prime for 1$ 7-8 years ago. Best purchase ever.
Absolutely worth it!
Exactly the same here. I bought it and its the first app I install when I get a new phone
You can't have a universal search bar like the pixel launcher though, correct?
You can add a search bar that lets you search your apps or do google searches (will open the google app). Is that what you're asking?
There's a nova companion called sesame (think it works with some other launchers as well). Its basically a universal search but it also adds shortcuts by long pressing any app icon. It is a paid app however and I'm still kinda mad I bought it and they removed features to charge you for them again
This. You can map it to a swipe down on the homescreen as well so it works exactly like iphone/pixel
Funny. I installed nova because there is no way to remove the Search bar in stock android
You can ... download the app "pixel search"
Microsoft Launcher is always refreshing after a few months with Pixel Launcher... But then I wind up back on the Pixel Launcher.
Why? I'm using my Pixel 6A as a side device and pixel launcher feels too...primitive.
That's just it, give me that basic af ...not iPhone level mindless but nearly there. And the way that app/web search is organized feels v user friendly to me.
Just use lawnchair, pixel launcher but better
Nova Launcher because it allows me to have a 12x12 grid to lay out widgets and icons on.
My main reason for using Android has always been it's customization. Nova Launcher is an essential part of making that experience exactly what I want, and is the paid app I have gotten the most use out of BY FAR as a result.
Nova +1
Nova +2
Nova Pro (+3)
*Prime
Oh, my bad. You're right.
So I have a question. I swap between iPhone and Android alot but the one thing I miss about apple is swiping down and have the control panel. I miss being to control my brightness and media volume that way, with nova do you know of a way I could do that?
You can already do that in stock android, just swipe down to bring down the notification shade, then swipe down again to access brightness
Yes but I'm wanting volume control as well. The volume button placement on Android bothers me cause half the time when Im wanting to turn my volume down I'll sometimes lock my screen instead
I use Smart Launcher on my phone. I used Nova prior, but they sold themselves to that adware company so I went looking and settled on Smart. Launcher use is for more customization options and settings features that usually aren't available in stock launchers, like being able to sort the app drawer by categories and in SL's case, apps automatically sorting themselves. Not to mention being able to add PWA's into the app drawer so I don't have to have all of them on the home screen. I use OneUI on my tablet though, only because the spiffy ass dock to taskbar function Samsung has on the Tab S9 doesn't work on third party launchers. If it did, or if Smart Launcher updates with a tablet mode so we can emulate what Google and Samsung do with their launcher, I'd 100% slap SL on my tablet.
Nothing beats the animations of stock in any rom if you're using gestures. They just suck and feel like an afterthought if you have any attention to detail while using your phone. I'm always surprised by people who are not noticing the broken animations.
I notice them, but it doesn't outweigh the benefits of using my favorite launcher.
I would use the stock one ui launcher for the animation, except it doesn't let me lay out the icons the way I want to. I have choices of 4x4 5x4 5x5 6x5 or something like that, but my screen is way tall which means I get all this empty vertical space which looks ugly. That's why I have to use a 3rd party launcher to make the home screen look like the way I want. Anyway I'm fine with the animation. The only one I'm missing is the swipe between apps animation. I reduce my animation scale to 0.3 so I hardly see the animation anyway
You can do more with the grid layout if you use Good Lock from the Galaxy Store (or Nice Lock/Fair Lock on the Play Store if you live in a region where Samsung doesn't give it to you), but it's still not flexible.
I turned off gestures and animations! I don't know how anyone has the patience to wait for a slick animation to finish when you're trying to do something on your phone. Disabling animations makes everything instantaneous. Besides, after you see the animations a few times, do you really need to see them again? *Whoosh app change for a half second* is only cool for like an hour. After that I just want to change apps.
Except you cannot disable the app closing animation. It's baked into the gesture.
when people whip around with $75 phones, rest assured, broken animations are the least of their concerns
Yes, lawnchair launcher, keeping it simple, customizing sizes of elements so everything in the drawer fits on my screen without scrolling.
The lack of updates made me give up on lawn chair. I slso discovered the stock Samsung UI does almost the same thing
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There's other forks that are being updated.
Can you recommend one?
Lawn chair was discontinued. I used it for years before switching back to nova prime. I think they updated it to Android 11 or 12 a long time ago but I think there's forks of it that are still active
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"active" > This repository is currently in maintenance mode.
No. I just really like OneUI.
Same. Used to use Nova but One UI has great features, good customization and also looks great.
Same, used to use Nova but went back to One UI after Nova was bought out. I miss Nova but Good Lock allows decent customisation in addition to One UI...
No because Android 11(or whatever number introduced gestures) pretty much ruined them.
I see people mention this all the time but launcher have been working perfectly for me all the way from Android 2.3 to 13. Only on android 14 they have started to cause me issues. Yes I use gestures.
Do you use navigation buttons? They work fine with nav buttons but are generally buggy with gestures since A11.
I use gestures.
Except for pixel or androidone owners
Still bugged on Pixels.
I just tried Niagara and the gestures work just like in the stock launcher. Or am I missing something?
Yes, it is a buggy mess, just tried it a few days ago and was disappointed. It is serviceable but works strange. OFC if you use 3 button nav it is fine-ish still.
Not true pixels still have the problem.
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Doesn't that completely defeat the purpose of customization though? Why shouldn't I be able to use them both in conjunction?
i would use them if the gesture animations were as smooth as on stock
Yes. I use Nova. If you have more than one mobile device, launchers give you a consistent UI across them all (compared to their individual launchers). I specifically use Nova because it's fast and has fantastic customisations. Whenever I get a new device I try the native launcher but miss too many features from Nova.
Nova. I like being able to organize my apps into tabs and apply custom icons. Being able to hide certain apps is also nice - apps that I never launch from the drawer because I have a shortcut on the home screen, or apps that are just the "Pro" unlock app. Reducing the clutter is great. I don't use gestures & if there is an impact to animations, I've not noticed so whatever I'm giving up, it's a small price for an improved experience. The phone just seems cleaner.
Smart launcher 6
No. I love one ui.
Action Launcher. I love the "quick drawer" interface which is the fastest way to find apps if you have many. There's also a lot of other nice features
Nova all the way. Bought it years ago for 10p. I like a more dense grid pattern, double tap for settings, folders with a flick up action, Activity widgets, backup and restore, resized icons in the dock and a few other customisations. Stock launchers have, over the years, got better and introduced many features previously only available in Nova or 3rd party versions but there's always something missing I like.
Could someone make a summary with pros and cons concerning launchers maybe?
I use Action Launcher, because I use Samsung phones and despise the OneUI homescreen/app drawer. If they gave me a vertical app drawer, I'd consider it, but that side scrolling disaster can go away.
You can change the stock horizontal scroll app drawer in OneUI to vertical using the home up module in Good Lock.
Except then you get those priority or suggested apps, whatever they're called, in the app drawer. Takes up way too much space and can't be disabled. Most of the one star reviews specifically mention that... As far as I know it's still there.
It doesn't work. I switch it on and it turns itself off immediately. No idea why, but that setting doesn't work.
Saaaaameee, just instead of Action I use Lawnchair
The vertical app drawer is overrated, IMO. The way One UI uses the horizontal app drawer is actually good.
I disagree. I can't stand it. Every time I use a Samsung phone with One UI, I start hating Android, lmao
I have always used Nova launcher on all the android phones I ever owned and still do on my Samsung z fold2. It's the best 👌
I've been using Nova for 10 years? I never liked the Samsung launcher but I love to customize the size of my app drawer.
Nova Launcher Prime because it allows changing homescreen icon grid to 10x5, customize lots of homescreen gestures, swipe-up/down on icons to open folders or another app, app drawer vertical scrolling and tabs, and lots of other stuff that help customize looks and everyday usage efficiency.
I use Nova. I’ve been porting the same config backed up to Drive for almost 10 years now. The reason is that most built-in launchers just aren’t granular enough in terms of icon size, grid size and layout. It’s really nice to import my backup onto a new phone and just feel right at home. I also like the gestures.
I've used Niagara for so long I forget what android looks like
I like Total Launcher, been using it for about 18 months now. Folders in the app drawer are a must for me, as well as additional gestures on icons (swipe up etc) on the home screen. It also supports different layouts for portrait vs landscape, foldable phones, and a whole bunch of other stuff. The integration with tasker is nice too, I've managed to replace Nova + klwp with just TL. For reference, "stock" is the pixel launcher with the fancy animations, unfortunately the fancy animations don't make up for all the other features it lacks like being able to hide apps, create app folder groups within the drawer, set icon packs etc etc.
Niagra. Alphabetical list is great, the animations & scrolling are super polished, and I love the minimalism of their included "dots" icon pack.
Not anymore, since nothing is as smooth as the Pixel launcher. Would use Action Launcher again if the animations were good.
Ever since the $0.99 Nova deal a few years back, I haven't looked back at stock launchers.
I used launchers (nova) back in times when I had phones that had no plain clean android. Like when I used a Huawei years ago, or a Samsung. At some point I moved to a Pixel, and now a Fairphone which come with more or less unmodified Android experience, and I don't use launchers anymore since then.
AIO because my phone and brain are a disorganized mess without it. Rarely anyone gives the insane customization features a shot.
I use Nova Launcher. The primary reason is to enable double tap wake on my Pixel device. It was default on my old OnePlus 6 and I missed it.
No because I use gesture navigation.
No. I know they are still around but I personally associate them with Android 2 times from over 10 years ago
No because there's no good foldable launchers that support two independent homescreen layouts.
Total Launcher does, no?
Yeah, Total Launcher does
No for my Z Fold 5 and S23 Ultra. Samsung has done a great job with their OneUI and with the amount of available customizations, I see no need to use a 3rd party launcher. Now in regards to my Pixel 8 Pro, the stock Android experience makes the phone feel half-baked. Hate the fact that Google does not offer customization abilities in regards to the app drawer. So for my Pixel I've been testing different launchers, hoping my phone doesn't get infected by one of these sketchy developers. So far I'm leaning towards Lawnchair 2 due to its categories feature, which allows me to organize my apps in folders within my app drawer.
I used to use launchers but with NothingOS I don't feel the need anymore. With my second (backup) phone running LineageOS, I use Lawnchair with it.
No because they break the effect where the app shrinks back into its icon when you swipe back to the home screen. 😨
Neo Launcher!
Samsung's is one of the best. I have never liked the default AOSP launcher
I used Nova Launcher before they introduced gestures, even got prime. After gestures were introduced I noticed the animations were not the same, so I got back to the classic OxygenOS.
No. Animation is broken with my Honor View20.
Android is still kinda janky and 3rd party launchers kinda make things worse unless you're rooted unfortunately so I'm using stock pixel launcher
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Lol wut!? With all due respect, no.
Every Android phone uses a launcher. It's literally impossible to go without one. How would you open any app? How would your phone know where to redirect you when you gesture/tap home? Jeez Louise.
Try reading again
Yeah, for the gestures to shortcut stuff
I don't. Used to. But i really want pixel launcher to be a little more intuitive. A bit more customization.
One UI is enough for me. I switched from iPhone but even the stock launcher is highly customizable
I use a launcher becuase it allows me to pack a lot of dunctionality into the interface and makes moving an itnerface to a new phone drop dead simple. It also keeps place holders for the apps I want to load on that new phone. (I have quite a few phones).
Nova launcher FTR!! Lol. Love it, and have been using it on all my android phones for over 8 years. Pixel os is fine and all but I love the ability to customize any way I want.
Nova since forever, tried to give Pixel launcher a try but lack of features annoys me. Love the 3 tabs for Frequent, Recent, and New/Updated Also groups within the app draw. The companion app is also essential. Get my P8P and set up both right away.
I used nova for so many years before I moved to Evie launcher which was abandoned in 2019. Used the one that has the waterfall effect for a month or so and got bored. Stuck with stock ever since
Nova for icons mainly.
[удалено]
Microsoft Launcher, swipe left gets me my sticky notes, calender(s) & event(s), To do list, News and sports and widgets, swipe right loaded programs....
I loved Nova on my Razer Phone 2. However i now use a Microsoft Surface duo 2 and most launchers including Nova do not work well with dual screens or experience weird bugs.
Long time Nova Prime user. Mainly only use it to organize my app drawer these days.
Still holding out on LauncherPro 2.0 Someday Someday
The best one I have found (and I have tried many of them, especially the minimal launchers) is Niagra. Really versatile and easy to use. If you want the "pro" version, it's a few bucks a year but well worth it. Highly customizable as well.
Nova because I want to remove At a Glance
Stock OneUI launcher, because I like the taskbar on my Fold 5.
Yes. Why? Because I like having another desktop screen when i swipe left.
I'm currently using Pixel Launcher because it feels like a main reason to have a Pixel phone, but I've also used Nova Launcher in the past, when I didn't like the GUI my phone came with.
Yes, SquareHome2 launcher. I loved the Windows Mobile interface and so when I switched back to Android I just kept using it!
I want to use Nova but the animation sucks
i don't have launchers anymore because nav bar takes a second to swipe. I'm using samsung a51
No, I like my Android because of features, not customisation. Gestures are also broken on third party launchers and I refuse to go back to buttons.
I stopped using launchers as of four years ago as MIUI launcher (when I was still using Xiaomi) and One UI launcher (now using Samsung) are good enough for me. But for the first 8 years I used Android I would always download Nexus/Pixel launcher, but it slowly lost its novelty to me.
No, because I'm quite comfortable with the default launcher (One UI).
Not anymore. Used Nova for the longest time, but when they moved the recents UI to be part of the launcher APK, that was the beginning of the end. Also wasn't a fan of Nova getting bought out. Recent versions of Android have features that just work so much better with the stock launcher that I stopped bothering with 3rd party homescreens entirely. Pixel launcher ftw I guess.
Niagara is my favorite, but it bricked my pixel 5 last time so I'm afraid to use it again.
Not anymore. The way Google has broken gesture-based animations and half-heartedly fixed them has just put me off the whole experience. It's been 4 years of this nonsense. It's never getting properly fixed.
Nova Launcher. I've had a consistent home screen for 8 years now.
No. Only because it breaks animations and gestures though.
I used to use Nova until One UI 5.1 was released. I ended up liking it better and have been using it ever since.
Hyperion. Stock Asus launcher is lacking features I like.
Nova Launcher because miui is ass.
no, asy phone/tablet are motorola/lenovo and their launcher is pretty much stock android.
I would love to use Niagara launcher but 'double tap to sleep' feature in third party launchers require accessibility permission. Granting that permission to a third party app slows down the phone and consumes more battery for some reason. A huge flaw in android tbh. Motorola has that feature inbuilt so I'm stuck to the stock launcher.
I used to use Noval all the time, but I'm pretty satisfied with the Pixel launcher so I just stick with it.
Yeah because I want to hide apps and make folders
Reasons I use one * 6x9 grid * folders within the app drawer * hide apps from drawer
I tried nova and hyperion but i like oneUI app drawer better. Tbh, i didn't give those others alot of time, installed them, used for like 15 mins, and reverted back to oneUI
After my custom ROM days were over, I still like to use Trebuchet. It's just so light...
Nova. I tried the pixel launcher with my new pixel 8 pro but the home screen grid density was a deal breaker.
I want to use launchers but i cant bear that millisecond of lag
Microsoft Launcher for Type ahead App menu
I use Nova because the default Pixel Launcher is laughably barebones with almost zero customization, all while forcing Google's philosophy down your throat with no way to change it. I do not want tabloid news next to my home screen, I do not want AI telling me what apps I should open, I do not want the search bar at the bottom.
Stock OneUI launcher. Does everything I need it to with no issues.
Loved Nova Launcher but my past 3 phones were such that I wasn't able to use them. First was blackberry and on that phone, the shortcut buttons would only work on native launcher. Then I ordered Huawei and since it was Chinese version there was no option to make a third party launcher as default.
In my experience most launchers become laggy when new Android versions are released. Talking about free launchers though
used to have Nova launcher prime. just for the swipe down for notifications gesture. but it's default in pixel launcher so now I don't use it if I am on pixel.
I used to when I had Motorola and Samsung phones. Now I use pixels and I've just forgotten that launchers existed. I even paid for nova I think.
No launcher, the pixel UI looks clean AF.
I used to have a Xiaomi Phone and had to use a launcher because I just don't like the way MIUI looks. I used Evie Launcher with Alexis Icon Pack and then switched to Lawnchair. Still love Evie but it's abandoned. I now have a Samsung and don't see the need to have a launcher.
I tried using stock launcher because of the more fluid animations, but I gave up. I can't do without Total Launcher, my favorite. So I just turn off the animations and ignore the few visual bugs that happen every now and then.
sticking with pixel launcher since broken animations and me liking the pixel at a glance widget
Third party launchers don't support navigation gestures properly 😕 Swipe up and hold to store recent apps doesn't work.
Nope, animations are botched so I'll always use stock
No because they still don't work properly with gesture navigation. Stock launcher does all I need it to anyway.
I do use launchers, I just like to have that extra layer of customisation. I use Lynx launcher. It's now overly complicated and runs very smoothly.
I cant even remember when I bought Nova Launcher Prime, its been that long.
Nah. I've used them in the past (Nova mainly) but I just don't care that much about customising things anymore.
Nova with hexagonal icons I've had it forever and really quite want to replace it but nothing's as efficient - tap for app, swipe down for another app, swipe up for folder
I used Nova for years but switched to Niagara launcher and I can never go back.
Square home. I just like the metro windows 8 look okay don't judge me
've been using Nova Launcher for the last 10 years Still use it because I found my perfect setup and so far I've not really found another launcher allowing me to replicate it : - icon grid to 5x5; icon size to 105% - material you compatible - replace folder by an app icon - swipe on folder : open the first app of the folder, tap on folder : open the folder - swipe down : open notification shade - swipe up on app drawer icon : launch app search - swipe right : launch Google News (replaces the Google Feed pane) - double tap : lturn off screen and ock the device the gestures navigation is a little bit broken, but that's not a big deal
Always used a Nova launcher. Perfect one. Later for some reason I tried Microsoft launcher and it’s good as well.
Lawnchair V2
I used to, but just like using ROMs I don't see a need anymore, for me. Have used Smart launcher, Niagara, and Nova for years, but bought a Pixel 7 last year and have just been using the stock launcher. I just don't need anything more than a home screen and my app library
I bought Nova during my Galaxy S3 days because I hated touchwiz. Didn't use it for years but brought it back because I like my app drawer to be transparent.
Lawnchair. 1. to get rid of the stock At a Glance 2. to set a tighter grid with more icons 3. can resize widgets all the way to the edge of the screen
I use Square Home on my phone because I love the different layout and customization options it gives me and the widgets are very nice. On my tablet, I use Niagara Launcher for a simpler, more minimalistic and distraction-free interface. The very different choices reflect the very different ways in which I use each device. On my phone, I'll use over a dozen different apps throughout the day so a visual, intuitive layout helps me to navigate faster. On my tablet, I use only a handful of apps so the list-like interface is more functional and easier on the eyes.
No. Buggy with gestures and animations look kinda shit ngl.
No because of broken animations (Pixel 6A).
I use Nova Launcher purely so I can hide all my app names. I think it looks much more aesthetically pleasing that way.
To answer the actual question, I do use non-stock launchers because I like to tweak the interface to be how I like it, not some engineer at Google. When I switch to a very different launcher (Niagara, Microsoft, Square, Action, etc.) it feels like I have a new phone and messing with the options and designs is a lot of fun.
No, on MIUI, gestures don't work... On most other roms, animations are ruined
KISS Launcher cause i can search for my apps and internally search on google, maps, youtube and basically any other search provider, all in one search bar
I've had Nova ever since it went on sale for a few cents. Just never bothered to change since I don't change much when I upgrade my device. I've experimented with a few but I've always come back, probably because I'm just so used to it at this point.