1y ago

Android users who don't use the stock launcher - what launcher do you use, and what do you like about it?

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!

346 comments

I use the Niagara Launcher, it serves favorite apps up in a vertical list, and other apps in an alphabetical list. It's very quick and easy to navigate and quite customizable with some widget support. It works with music apps, has a dark mode, makes changing icon packs easy. You can swipe up to search, or add a search button. I just love how minimal, clean and functional it is.
Here is my home screen. Note there is no left or right screen to swipe to .

Here is the app list, under N.

Some settings

And the app store link:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bitpit.launcher
- I second Niagara. It's just a great way to keep a simple home screen, but has plenty of power features if you want to dig deeper
  
  I third it. The fact that you can customize something as fundamental as your home screen is what makes android superior to ios, at least for me. Niagara makes my interaction with the home screen so much more efficient.
- Oh boy. I love Niagara. I've used it one every phone for quite a few years now.
  Two of my favorite features are the ability to tuck widgets into folders. I use the system ui communications widget in my messaging folder to take me straight to my most used chats.
  When you connect to bluetooth, it automatically pulls up a now playing widget (it's hidden when bluetooth is disconnected) and pulls up links to my music/podcast apps. It's so dynamic and highly customizable.
- Subscription 🤢
  
  You can read about their pricing structure (both sub and one time purchase) and decisions regarding that here : https://help.niagaralauncher.app/article/104-price-of-niagara-pro
  I locked in the lifetime price years ago, I have been with them through the beta. I know the lifetime price is higher now but I think they still offer it. I think it's worth the price, subscription or lifetime.
- Checkin it out, how can i find Web Apps i installed via my Browser?
  
  when you install a web app, it should show up in the favorite apps list. if you want to be able to search it, tap and hold it, then tap "Show in app list".

Just in case people aren't aware Nova was acquired by Branch. Putting it out there so people can decide whether that matters or not.
https://www.androidpolice.com/nova-launcher-acquired-by-branch/
- I use Nova. After seeing this, I have disabled internet access for the app (I use LineageOS, where this is an option). Is that enough to avoid any potential downsides, or is there anything else I should be aware of?
  
  Been a while since I used Nova myself, but when I last checked the branch integration was only present on the beta version of the app.
  The normal version hadn't been updated since December 2021, so I think that version is fine with it being from before the branch acquistion.
  
  I also did it but via Adguard. I think there's no option to block internet access for an app in Samsung One UI. Only found option to disable background use of internet for apps

Nova, Nova Nova.
The level of customization is well thought out, and the gesture controls were out of this world when it came out. I've been using Nova for about 5 or 6 years if I'm not mistaken. Don't care to go back to anything else.
- Same.
  I know the controversy about the company that acquired them, and I did try alternatives to see what would stick. Nothing really worked for me, so I just turned Nova back on, with updates disabled since the day the news broke about the change in management.
- Same here, I've tried plenty of them and landed on Nova Launcher. Even put it on my dad's phone because I couldn't get things to be simple for him with the default launcher.
- Do you use the Android buttons?
  
  I do keep those at the bottom. Mainly to back out and close out apps.but with Nova, you can customize the look of them.
- Outside of what is likely a privacy nightmare at this point within Nova, they haven't added a feature in like 8 years, just seems silly for me to keep using it, wish I liked another launcher more >_>

Pixel 6 pro. I use Nova launcher. It works great and is very customizable, especially with icon placement. I recommend it.
- Sadly Nova was purchased by a Chinese company with a history of invasive data harvesting last year.
  
  I had premium up until a year ago, but I can't recommend it anymore after their purchase.
  Choose open source, people.
  
  Aw heck.
  
  I tried a whole bunch of launchers after they were bought, but none were nearly as good as Nova in my opinion. Either buggy or lacking features I have grown accustomed to. I ended up just installing TrackerControl and turning off Nova's internet access entirely. It doesn't require any networking for any of my needs, so just disabling its internet entirely was fine.
- +1 for nova. Bought premium of it years ago(I think its like $5 but goes on sale for $1). It has tons of customization and works well
- Same. Had Nova for many years and many phones now (with the help of Nova's backup and restore).
- Plus for Nova, I've had it for years. I don't use it to it's fullest but it makes it so much cleaner and I can organize how I like
- Another +1 to Nova from me on my Pixel 6.
  It has enough features to solve whatever problems you have with default. Its easy to setup and customize. Its responsive and never had any issues with it. Easy to recommend.
- I'm still using it but since they were sold last year I have been thinking of switching.
- Yup, another Nova user on Pixel 6 here
- Fellow Nova user here. Love it.
- Very happy with Nova here.
- Exact same setup for me... Been using Nova for years since the Nexus series.
- Exact same setup for me... I've been using Nova for years since the Nexus series.

Niagara. Beautiful and efficient. Truly a step above other launchers.
- +1 for Niagara.
  Used Nova for years. But after the sale, I quickly said goodbye to it. Niagara is so strong that I don't even miss Nova.
- I use Niagara now and absolutely love it, although it took some getting used to. It's very much minimalistic compared to Nova (I used Nova for many years before Niagara, but switched when they were bought).
- Niagara users unite! I was on Nova for years until the 'troubles'. Niagara is a solid replacement, if very different.
- The simplicity is lovely.
  
  But it is not only simplicity it is beauty and usability.
- Is there a FOSS alternative to Niagara?
  
  Kiss launcher is kinda like it
  
  Unfortunately not. I looked thoroughly for one.
- I agree with this completely.

I migrated from windows phone to android and loved the windowsphone interface.
I use squarehome. It is infinitely customizable and with a little work the cleanest ui imaginable.
- I'm actually also using square home. No complaints.
- I rather like that. Might have to try it.
- Yessssiiirr, I miss my windows phone and have been using Squarehome since I got a Galaxy
- I downloaded squarehome cause of your comment and I like it a lot. Are you using and icon pack? How did you get your icons so clean?
  
  Its the whicons pack. The rest is just optimizing squarehome through trial and error. Change borders here, resize tile there, etc. Theres a ton of customization. Once its set the way you like it, you will carry it through the next phone and the next phone.

If it's not on F-Droid, it's probably out to get you.

Nova Launcher. It's AOSP-like but upgraded and that works best for me.

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.
- 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
- 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.
- 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).

LawnChair, it's open source, customizable and has drawer folders
- I've been using Nova Launcher for years now, but I explored other options a few months ago because of the ownership change. Lawnchair was the best one I found, but I didn't switch to it because it looked like it was missing features I needed. Folders was an important one.
  Which version / source are you using for the app? I got a bit lost trying to find a recent version. The last release on the GitHub is from 2018, and the last prerelease is from a year ago. There's also an issue for the folders which I was following, and it actually just went stale: https://github.com/LawnchairLauncher/lawnchair/issues/2471
  I also see Lawnchair2, but that looked like a fork or something
  
  Lawnchair 2 is the next update to Lawnchair, but it is in alpha release stage. Here is what you want
  
  To be honest, I can't remember where I got the apk and since its only a launcher without internet access I didn't really care about updates.
  The first search result (https://github.com/LawnchairLauncher/lawnchair) seems to be very active with the last change 9 hours ago.

I refuse to use Pixel Launcher until I can remove the Google search bar
I’d also like to be able to change my icons. I use Nova atm
- For me it's the stupid left home screen that you can't use.
- I was going to post this exact comment. My Pixel default launcher had a huge amount of wasted space at the top. I also use Nova.
- Check out Lawnchair2
  https://lawnchair.app
- I could probably even settle for just being able to take the logo out of it. Last thing I want in my personal data device is to have a corporate logo of an ad company staring me in the face all the time.
  
  I just personally love Sesame instead, don't care about the logo really

Nova Launcher. I tried other launchers recently but they either have some unacceptable jank or are currently awaiting a major update. Nova Launcher remains the most stable with great customization.

I use Kvæsitso. I like that it's more search focused and has a clean homescreen with just the clock and a search bar. You can scroll up to see widgets arranged vertically or scroll up to show the app drawer. It also looks nice because it supports the new Android design (Material v3) and dynamic colors. It also supports dynamically colored app icons like lawnicons and has an option to color all other icons as well.
- +1
  Also it is pretty simmilar to KISS and also Open Source
- Took me a few tries to find it because I searched for your spelling lol: https://kvaesitso.mm20.de/
  
  The link to the github repository: https://github.com/MM2-0/Kvaesitso Kvaesitso has been my launcher for the last 6 months and I've been very happy with it. Quite a lot of customization options, but with really well thought-out limitations and restrictions. It is available via F-droid.
- Just tried it out and have to say, looks slick!
- Kvaesitso is really good, but I keep coming back to Kiss. Even if you put your most used apps on the bottom of the apps drawer (instead of the default, on top), they're not as easily accessible compared to Kiss.
  On Kiss, the history/most used apps are easily accessible with one hand, without needing to move it.

I use Niagara Launcher, because it's minimal and quite comfy.
EDIT: The latest update (that I just applied) has put a lot of the features I use (custom font, battery percentage) behind a paywall. I will be looking for alternatives.
- +1, Niagara is really good, it's clean and fast.
- Another +1 for Nigara. Been using it for 1.5 years now. Never going back to regular home screens again.
- I mean if you really like it why don't just give the devs some support?
  
  10€ per year or 30€ for a one time payment seems a bit steep for a launcher, especially when it is more on the slim side feature wise

Nova launcher. It is the only one I manage to configure so the app drawer is opened via macrodroid (almost) only.

I'm loving my paid version of Nova. there's a great free version if you wanna try it out too and there's a crazy amount of customization. I'm on a Pixel 5a right now and with the Pix Material You Light/Dark icons it's quite nice. I do think the default Pixel Launcher is more polished, but Nova just has so many options that I've gotten used to enjoying.
- Nova was bought by an Ad company a while ago and is now out for your data btw.
  
  Maybe blocking Nova from the internet can be a solution?
  
  Do you have a source about the data collection?
  
  It's sad that they were bought by an ad company and it's something I didn't know about. However, my data has been everywhere for years. I generally accept privacy policies knowing full well companies sell my data. It's something I think people should definitely be aware of, but when it comes to me personally I'm generally okay being a product to ad companies especially since I'd rather see ads that are interesting to me than random crap. It really is just my personal opinion though and I genuinely think people should be educated about their online privacy.
- agree also bought nova, what i like is configuration import/export im on my third phone with the same homescreen layout and settings and I only had to recreate widgets

Another +1 for KISS, it's such an amazing launcher. I'm actually surprised to see it mentionned so much in this thread.
I have my 5 most used app on top of the search bar and my most used apps (that get automatically sorted by usage) readily accessible. The search feature + tags is so powerful, there's no need to scroll through the apps anymore when looking for something.
- As someone thinking of switching to KISS, what is the "tag" feature?
  
  You can add multiple tag to apps (all my games are tagged "game", all my Lemmy apps are tagged "lemmy"). You can then search by tags, just like regular searches.
- This launcher is what I loved about the search bar on windows 7. I would just type in the app I wanted and it would open...
- Only issue I have with KISS is I can't for some reason clear whatever it is that is setting an icon for my PWA for voyager. It shows the updated icon in recents, pixel launcher doesn't have it updated though either which makes it harder to tell if it's the launcher or fennec (Firefox) at fault.
  Edit looks like it was kiss. Regenerating icons doesn't work. Clearing data does. I exported settings, cleared data, added pwa, icon changed, imported settings. Only downside is I lost my history.

Nova.
Works well and really clean.

Niagara for my phone, just a simple short list of most used apps, the time and climate as front. I like the minimalism on the small screen.
For my tablet, I use Action Launcher. It have some nice features like a easily accessable (by gesture) alphabetically ordered list of apps.
- What I really like about Niagra is that the whole app drawer is on your finger tips. One just intuitively starts holding a certain point on screen which will roughly open the alphabet with which the app you are looking for starts.
- Niagara is awesome. It's the best launcher by far if you want something to access your apps as quickly as possible, while still looking good and providing a couple of relevant info like the weather or media playing.
- I forgot Action Launcher even existed. I used to use it years ago. Just downloaded it again and it's certainly changed over the years.

I use KISS. it's super minimalistic, allows fro hiding all the unremovable crap all phones come with today, and is basically a search bar with 5 icons on top. I have my Proton Calendar as the sole widget and that's it. Single screen, no fuss.
- Seconding KISS. I love the minimalism.

Nova. Clean customizable UI that stays out of the way while looking good.

Nova. I keep trying new launchers but I don't like the text-only minimalist or the others that look more like Samsung's default. I've been a user for a long time and I still love it.

I use KISS launcher
its named on a philosophy
keep it short and simple
it is a small launcher under 1MB launcher while others are about 20-50 MB so it keeps the code simple
another thing it has is that it is focused around using keyboard to search for apps and using history to launch activities, if you call someone or open and application, you get that activity first at the bottom (one hand reachability) and then other activities with chronological order going above (away from your thumbs) you can change the mode from this to frequently used apps, recently frequently and others
- I'm a fan of "keep it stupid simple" or, as I tell myself at work on the daily, "keep it simple, stupid"!

Niagara
A couple people here mentioned Kvaesitso so U had a quick look at that, it seems really neat and customizable too.
- It just looks and feels soo good!

Niagara. With Whicons and a black background. All monochrome black and white. To keep me from distractions 😅

I can no longer even imagine my phone without Niagara.
IMO the developer managed to capture exactly how a phone should work while mostly staying out of the way.

I've been using Nova forever. Any new phone doesn't feel right until I install it. I like the customization options and the scroll for all apps.
- I especially like hiding the apps the system won't let me delete. Now that bootloaders are pretty much impossible, the next best thing is to hide and disable those stupid apps. My last phone came with Facebook Twitter Yahoo! NFL and Draft Kings as permanent space sucking native apps, so I hid them all and revoked all permissions
- I've had the same exported Nova settings through the last ten years since Samsung Galaxy Note 3 across five phones, as well as a tablet

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.

KISS launcher, it's simple and quick. It is a search based launcher. It is also open source and on fdroid
- I switched from Nova/Pixel Launcher to KISS and it made my phone experience so much better.

I use Niagara with a live wallpaper called Wallow. It just creates a beautiful and simplified experience for me that has all the features I need and gets out of my way when I don't.
- Niagara ftw
- I use the same. It's simple and beautiful.
- Wallow is beautiful, we need a wallow theme community somewhere here
- Wallow looks interesting, how is it on battery use though?
  
  It uses hardly any in my experience! My Weather Channel widget uses more just from refreshing in the background.

Niagara
- I'm on iPhone currently, but this is my launcher of choice on Android. It's so clean!

I use nova launcher. Idk if it's the best one tbh because I've never needed to try another. It's allowed me to easily replicate my favourite menu I had back on my HTC onem8 for the past several years and move it to new phones whenever I need to without any issues, so I guess I like the high customizability in that sense, and how easy it is to set up and use. You mentioned that the company that acquired it it's a turnoff for you so I guess it's not a very helpful suggestion, but the app itself has very few permissions on my phone and I don't think that any permissions are actually necessary, though don't quote me on that. But it just has files and media allowed and hasn't ever asked me for more. As far as I'm aware the same team and original creator are still the ones working on Nova, and they've said they won't let the launcher start tracking people without permission. They've said users will be able to opt out of any new features, and any data collection involved will be optional. So unless things change drastically in the future I have no reason to stop using the launcher. I know when people hear it was acquired by an analytics company they automatically turn away, but imo analytics are only an issue if they're forced. If I'm allowed to opt out then I'm fine with it. But some people aren't willing to tolerate even that, so I guess it depends on where you stand regarding that.

I'm a pixel user. I switched to Niagara. I didn't like it at first, but now I love it. It's just very different from what you think a launcher should be. It's not my forever launcher but I enjoy it for now. It's been a year or so
(I used to love Cyanogen. RIP)

Lawn Chair
- Hi, fellow Lawnchair user, I'd like to add to get the version from their website, not the Play Store.
  
  This is the way
  
  Use aurora store to bypass playstore. Apk mirror also hosts a mirror.
- Lawnchair for the win, it's just ridiculously good. I used to use AIO launcher, but I like lawnchair's widget support more
  
  Yes it's great
- I'm on Pixel already is there any point to me getting Lawnchair? I can't tell from the website exactly what makes it worth getting.
  
  There are a lot more customization options in Lawnchair compared to Pixel Launcher so that's one.
  
  Well it respects your privacy, its FOSS, its very lightweight and fast.

I use KISS nowadays, simple, if I need to open an app, I search it; no need to look for it on the home screen. More than enough for what I do on my phone.
That said, I need to give a shout-out to TUI Launcher. I love the amount of customization it gives you plus the terminal-esque functionality. I'd have probably stuck with it if only it had the search menu that KISS has since I want to see my icons again.

Kiss launcher for me

mlauncher- a minimal text based open source fork of Olauncher
- Wow I like this. Not the background but the implementation in general. No hate on the background, just not my style.
  
  well you can use solid black it looks cool on that use to have it.
- This is what I use too! I was going to link to mlauncher in response to this comment.
  Great minimal app, does everything I need. I like the simple swipe gestures a lot.

KISS. At first I didn't like the lack of multiple home screens, in a way these are replaced by swipe gestures in KISS, but after getting used to them they're much quicker to trigger actions than pressing buttons. It turns out I don't miss multiple home screens that much either.
I tried using Lawnchair, but I missed the "search-first" property of KISS that makes opening apps really quick.

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.

any foss launchers?
- Sure, lawnchair and KISS are two popular options. Both are in f-droid.
  
  whats KISS
- Neolauncher!

Since Nova has been bought I've replaced it with Neo Launcher. I like it 'cause it gives the option to resize widgets, customize the size of the home screen grid and add swipe up actions to home folders.
- Thank you! Lawnchair wasn't doing it for me, bit Neo is near perfect. Time to contribute to change a couple of things.

An old version of Nova from before the big data collection switch. Use it because it has a scrollable dock. I have all apps inside folders in the dock, the folders are sorted by category. I can scroll between app categories & get to any app within 2 or 3 touches.
I really want a launcher which has a scrollable dock with a user defined news feed such as NeoFeed.
Smart Launcher has user defined categories which negates the scrollable dock requirement, but the news feed is Microsoft which is as bad as Google in my eyes.
If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to know them

Smart Launcher
Light weight and still feature rich. It automatically sorts apps into categories. It makes it so much easier to find the apps to launch.
I cannot stand the near endless long list of unsorted apps you get with most launchers.
- Been Smart Launcher pro user since Smart Launcher 3. It's not as highly customizable as other launchers mentioned here, but I can't live without auto categorizing app feature. Why are there no other launcher app with this feature?
  
  I don't understand either. Are people really just accepting that the app drawer is one huge scrollable list?

Lawnchair https://github.com/LawnchairLauncher/lawnchair
- I was going to comment this. Tried many, but been using lawnchair for so long with 0 issues I forgot what it was called. It is lightweight and does what I like. Not heavily customizable, but it doesn't need to be
- Same, totally forgot I'm not using the default until just now

Nova us the best for me, always been. I also used Lawnchair for a long time and it's almost as great if you're fussy about Nova's new owner and stuff

Nova was the best till the ownership changed hands.
Lawnchair & MS launcher been pretty good.
- Has your Nova changed or do you just not like a big company came and bought it?
  
  'do you just not like a big company came and bought it'
  People who don't know/care abt data harvesting dropping ignorant statements... Yep, reddit isn't the only one hosting such folks 😁

I used Nova Launcher on my S20 Ultra, and on my S7 before that, massive improvement over Samsung's default. Haven't installed it on my p7pro cause I really like Google's launcher, and I don't believe I had it on my p2xl either.

Kvaesitso, it's simple, beautiful but has a lot of functionality, customizable and open-source :)

Nova and Niagara seen to be the overwhelming favorites, but I like Smart Launcher. My brain doesn't cooperate with lists of apps in alphabetical or whatever, I lose apps or forget the name. Smart is great because it categorizes the apps into six default categories automagically, and you can edit/add/delete the categories or which category each app gets sorted into. So my Internet apps are on one space, games, media, etc. Makes the list of apps much easier to deal with. Not that it's perfect. Sometimes apps go weird places, but that's easy to fix. There's a bunch of other stuff, but that's my primary reason for using it.

Nova launcher. I like the custom icons, specifically the Line Free package. I also wanted the wrap around scrolling for home screens which wasn't a feature on the first phone I put nova on. No idea if it is on my current phone because I went straight to Nova.
https://ibb.co/RcD7w2Q
- I stopped using Nova after them being bought by a company dealing with telemetry. I don't want to lose control of the data my launcher has access to.
  
  Same, a really great launcher ruined by corpo. I'm only choosing FOSS after that.
  
  Damn, thanks for the heads up, had no idea about Nova :(
- I love Nova, been using it for 5+ years.

Used to use Niagara launcher, but moved to kvaesitso since it's FOSS. Both are very very good.

346 comments