Maybe something for the Pixel phones? I’ve been using ADW for a long time now, and was wondering what some frequently used launchers are. (I used Cyanogen for a long time, too.)
There are lists all over the internet, but I’m interested in what the Lemmy crowd likes. Thanks!
Edit: Thanks guys - a few of these were on my radar, some I hadn’t heard of or seen in the Play/f-droid lists. Having the reasons why you like each of them helps me figure out what I want from a launcher (for instance, the purchase of Nova by a company known for its data collection is a big turn-off even though it seems loved) - since you guys laid out some pros and cons of a bunch of launchers, it gives me a better picture!
Edit 2: You guys, this is a great resource for figuring out which launchers look like something worth trying (for me), and which ones are in the stores but not what I’m looking for. Without just trying them all, that is… And considering that I hadn’t even heard of all of them…
This has been a huge help for me, and I hope some others out there got something out of the post! I should be replying to everyone, but I’m not … Sorry. But I did read everything and have already started compiling a list in my head, and started tagging and categorizing. And those who included screen shots and links and lists and opinions and FOSS alternatives/forks - they helped! This whole thing helped!
Lawnchair launcher, its simpler than pocp launcher, and I can change icon pack of individual app.
I’ve never used anything but Nova for years and years now.
I did too… It’s a shame that after being bought by Branch it has become a glorified Spyware :(
I only heard of this recently… should I switch off Nova? What do I even switch to?
I switched from Nova a while ago. I’m trying out Smart Launcher right now and generally am pleased, but I ran Lawnchair for a few years and loved it.
Can you elaborate on this a bit? I am another one of those who has just been porting nova configs from phone to phone for like… a decade.
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Before this phone (Pixel 6) I used either Nova or Action for a long long time.
I have used many over the years. Lots of great ones, but it came down to taste for me. A few faves were Niagara, Nova, Lawnchair and the stock Pixel launcher. But for the last few months, I have gone back to Square Home. I was a huge Windows Phone enthusiast, so I just really wanted to go back to that vibe. It took a decent amount of time to get it set up and exactly how I wanted. Worth a try if you want something different.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ss.squarehome2
Do any of these can change the swipe down notification menu and controls ?
I don’t believe they do… But that’s not a setting I have looked for. I like the stock pixel notification and quick settings pull down menus.
Thanks Too bad, I’m stuck on android 9 forever and the white notification panel and white setting app really grates me when the rest of my phone is dark mode. I was really hoping to change just those settings.
Kiss launcher for me
Wow is AIO Russian? I even bought the premium but barely used it.
Nova, but the devs sold out and are VERY aggressive towards the community if they question the motives of the new owner, so if I wasnt so ingrained in it, I probably wouldnt recommend it.
Oh man, I had no idea about that.
I’ve been using Nova for something close to a decade now I think. I just toss it on my new devices and move on, it’s done what I wanted for ages (mostly for the adjustable grid, but I’m sure there’s some features it has that I’ve stuck with that I just feel are default at this point, stock launcher just feels weird).
I still use NOVA but it is the version before they merged in the buyout stuff. One day it might break but it’s the best option for me right now.
One feature I haven’t found on any other launcher is the ability to use both folders and tabs in my app drawer. In Nova I have my app drawer in 3 tabs. Apps (ones I use daily), games, and everything else. On top of that I like to use a few folders in the main app page to collect things like all my home automation apps, food apps, work apps, etc.
Lawnchair came closest a couple years ago but could only do tabs or folders but not both.
It was that aggressiveness that persuaded me to finally dump Nova - I saw people (including myself) asking perfectly reasonable questions a d the responses were not at all encouraging.
I tried a few other launchers, and eventually settled on Total. It’s a bit fiddly, and takes a while to set up but it’s VERY customizable. I really like it.
Really? That sucks. I’ve been using nova for like 10 years
Discreet Launcher user here. I wanted something that would remove everything from the main screen and Discreet Launcher was it. I looks nice with Arcticons too.
KISS Launcher, it’s dead simple and just what I need.
It clears all the clutter from my screen, I can search for any app I want without trying to remember where I put it on my homepage, and it has a history for quick access that’s really handy.
Neo launcher, it is foss and can use Neo Feed (which is also foss) it is stable, has cool features and a backup function. Also it is under active development.
Olauncher, Foss and actually minimal
Another vote for KISS (https://kisslauncher.com/) and Kvaesitso (https://github.com/MM2-0/Kvaesitso/).
Both FOSS, both search based. Depending on your taste you might find KISS perfectly simple and Kvaesitso a bit bloated; or KISS too basic and Kvaesitso more feature packed and complete.
I’d recommend trying both and deciding for yourself.
Action Launcher. I like “covers” which are groups that launch the first item on tap but can be swiped up to open the group normally. I like the quick launch side tray thing, and the alpha list… I guess also I got sick of changing launchers and it does nothing I hate so I can just standardise on it.
I seem to be like most and while I’ve tried tons, I’ve always stuck with Nova (at least since I switched from Apex).
My main sticking point and the reason it’ll be a long time before I switch? I NEED to be able to assign up/down swipes on icons. Tap opens app/folder, up swipe opens another app/folder, down swipe opens another app/folder.
At this point my homescreen has 6 icons and within 2 touches I can get to any of my 500 apps with nearly zero scrolling. If anyone knows another launcher that can do that, I’m all ears.
That is an absurd number of apps…
I looked just to make sure, and it’s actually 652. But only 445 are user apps.
I wish I could say a lot are junk, but there are a solid 100+ that I consider invaluable. I probably have 10+ backup apps alone (Google photos, Amazon photos, synctoy, Swift backup, folder sync, etc). Tasker and its app tree/plugins are probably close to 10. It adds up quick.
Then I have 7 or 8 for lemmy (waiting for one to separate from the pack), same number of news apps, and so on and so forth. My main issue is that if I have to do something more than a couple times (or need to remember to do it), I automate it. Tasker does a lot, but I have to use ifttt to do web things so I don’t smoke my battery. Open with allows me to use different apps as defaults. Basically, I have 3-4 apps for every task since a single one can never handle what I want completely. I have a VPN app, but another to remote into my server. I could use just the last app, but it doesn’t automatically switch to fastest VPN, so I have to use a 2nd. I have 4 file managers because Google likes to kill access to root areas, so they all go in and out of functionally.
Long story short, multiply the number of apps you have times 6 for how many of each type I tend to have, and that’ll be more accurate. But either way, yes, it’s stupid. And I HATE wiping my phone because it usually takes about 2 days just to restore everything (even using rooted Swift backup).
