The 4 best launchers for Android (Home screen, apps drawer)

The launcher is the application of home screen on Android, (the desktop or «home») as well as the applications menu. Android devices obviously already come with an app of this type by default. However, although in many cases it may be enough, there are things that are not customizable in them, such as hiding applications or removing the Google bar, organizing the apps menu, accessing hidden menus, automatically changing the wallpaper, customizing icons and screen layout, etc.

You will find all these and many other interesting options in the following alternatives to the factory launcher of your cell phone. They are one of the apps that have the best reputation in general and also in terms of customization, speed and operation, so that they will not slow down your cell phone or “freeze it”. Whichever you choose should suit your mobile just fine.

This launcher has always been one of the fastest and most fluid, despite the large number of options it offers. Yes, even for modest or less powerful cell phones.

In addition to basic things like hiding applications and opening them with gestures, desktop customization, app drawer, icons (large and well polished), folders, animations, etc., backup and import from another launcher, it offers integration with Google Discover, auto dark mode and unread indicators. In addition, you will be able to access the hidden menus of the cell phone, such as the engineer mode, through the «Activities» widget.

Some of these are only available in the paid Prime version, but if you just want a fast launcher, the options of the free version will be more than enough.

This launcher is as customizable as the previous one, but it does some things better, such as hiding applications so that they do not appear when searching for them or as “recent” (something that does happen in Nova). In addition, through its “Continue on PC” option, you can easily open photos and files on PC.

Another interesting option is that you can automatically change the wallpaper, with daily images from Bing or your own, something that persists even if you change launcher. And curiously, the Bing logo or watermark on the wallpaper disappears when using another launcher.

Here you have all the basic options, including app management, changing the icon layout, dark mode, and gestures. You also have a “dock” with shortcuts to WiFi, Bluetooth, a flashlight that you can customize. This launcher is also fast, but to speed it up even more, activate the high performance mode in its “Advanced settings”.

Its downside is that it doesn’t integrate with Google Discover, but with Microsoft’s news service (MSN, apparently), which you can disable if you don’t like it.

This Android Launcher, with a very well-kept design, has as many or more functionalities than the previous ones. Among the most interesting are the Shutters, which allow you to display widgets from the direct access of the applications. Covers can serve as shortcuts or to access hidden folders by sliding on the cover. Lastly, you can use the wallpaper colors to apply a theme to the launcher, automatically.

Action launcher is free, but some skins are only available in the paid version. Also, its learning curve is longer. You will need a little more time to adapt and exploit all that it offers.

Although the previous launchers should work well on any cell phone, including low-end ones, if not, try Xiaomi’s Poco Launcher, with only 13 MB in size. You can install icon packs, there is a dark background, design customization, app categories and my favorite: turn off the screen by double-tapping on it.

Others

There are a huge number of launchers for Android in the Play Store, each with specific peculiarities, but on a general level, I particularly think that these are the best. If I had to mention any more, it would be the newly renovated ADW Launcher and also the Android Launcher «Apex» (up to version 3.3, then v4 is a mess). Both are contemporaries of Nova Launcher, but their advantage is that they allow you to hide applications in their free versions, something that the latter does not offer.

Note: If for some reason you cannot download any launcher from the indicated links, you can download the APK from anyone on the website apkmirror.com.

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