Android Launchers

This tip is a syndicated copy of part of KemoNine’s blog post about tuning Android.

This page outlines a number of different launchers that can make working with an Android device less frustrating. It’s a simple list and it’s assumed you can sort which launcher you prefer based trying the options that look most compelling (or all of them).

• olauncher / pro launcher by digital minimalism
  • for focused devices (boox book devices / fiio music devices / etc)
  • simple, straightforward and gets out of your way
  • has some basic amenities but is very clearly ‘a textual list of apps’ above all else
• niagara launcher
  • great text launcher
  • if you’re into text lists, this is a good one to review
  • can do widgets and more on ‘main page’
  • very good ’list style’
  • youll want pro to get at all the fancier tunables
  • if you’re into olauncher or text launchers, this is worth looking at closer
• smart launcher
  • highly tunable
  • mash up of Nova and microsoft launchers
  • probably a better starting point than Nova these days
  • no way to have separate layouts for phone and tablet modes
• square home
  • think windows phone launcher and windows 8 start menu tile/dash board setups
  • literally: this is a proper hot take on the windows 8 and windows phone launcher stuff
• aio launcher
  • minimal launcher with lots of ‘bells and whistles’
  • feels like a big text dashboard
• nova launcher
  • great, been around forever custom launcher on the whole
  • no way to have separate layouts for phone and tablet modes – this is a deal breaker
  • seeing implications the devs have no interest in foldable phone support / dual screen support
  • may be on life support post-purchase from the original dev/team
  • smart launcher is probably the better choice as of the writing of this blog post