An alternative launcher provides tons more customization options for your home screens, app drawer, icons, fonts, folders and widgets, as well as near complete control over how your phone performs when switching screens, launching apps and so on. Here are favorite Android launchers to tweak your smartphone or tablet.
1. ACTION LAUNCHER:
Action Launcher is a relative newcomer that has captured quite a lot of attention in a very short time. The launcher already has in excess of one hundred thousand installs on the Play Store, with a very impressive review rating of 4.5 stars
There's also some nifty folder actions for icons, like Shutters – customizable widget banks – and Covers, which let you group similar apps inside folders, but still open the Cover icon app with a single tap.
2. NOVA LAUNCHER:
Nova Launcher holds a spot on basically everyone's smartphone. With over five million Play Store installs, the fans can't be wrong, with Nova scoring an impressive 4.7 star user rating.
Nova is quite similar to Apex and offers much the same functionality
3. NEXT LAUNCHER 3D:
It's hard to put into words just how radically different this launcher is compared to anything else on this list.
All the best features aren't free, as with most launchers, but what the Premium version lacks in free-ness it makes up for in wow-ness.
4. ADW LAUNCHER:
Over five million installs with a 4.4 star rating in the Play Store. Covering Android versions from 1.6 right up to 4.1, ADW launcher covers everything you could want from a free launcher: customizations, themes, widgets, skins, icon packs and gesture settings.
5. BUZZ LAUNCHER:
Buzz has left a mark on over a million Play Store user's minds, earning it a rating of 4.4 stars for good reason. What sets Buzz apart is that it allows you to install custom home screens and themes shared by other Buzz users.
Buzz is unbeatable if you want a radical new look on your Android without investing any effort in creating it yourself.
6. APEX LAUNCHER:
Apex Launcher is one of the most popular custom launchers available right now, with over a million installs in the Play Store and an average rating of 4.5 stars.
Like most launchers on our list it offers near-endless customization options, complete home screen and app drawer control, gesture settings, and tons of icons, themes, launch animations and transition effects.
7. GO LAUNCHER EX:
GO Launcher EX has over one hundred million installs and a 4.5 star rating, making it the unparalelled Android launcher extraordinaire. GO is basically as polished a free launcher as you can find, but there's a lot of cross promotion that can get a little annoying
8. YANDEX LAUNCHER:
Yandex Launcher goes a step beyond the usual launcher and switches up your dialer and contacts as well.
Yet another million happy customers have voted it in at 4.4 stars and some of the AndroidPIT team swear by it. It’s clean and neat with a little pizzazz thrown in for good measure.
9. SPB SHELL 3D:
SPB Shell 3D will completely reinvent your phones user interface. The app was just released not long ago and it has already been purchased by over 100,000 Android 2.1+ users.
SPB Shell 3D packs dynamic folders, custom widgets and panels, sweet animations and a full 3D experience. Once you download this app, no additional skins or plugins are needed.
10. TSF SHELL:
TSF Shell 3D is unlike any launcher I’ve ever used. It kind of rewrites the rule of how launchers can operate. They change things from free floating app shortcuts to gliding through your homescreens instead of scrolling through them.
The dock bar also accommodates more than the typical set of four or five shortcuts and is also fully customisable. Just like other launchers in Google Play, users can play with a number of homescreen panels which can be populated by icon shortcuts and widgets. However, these panels can be viewed in 3D.
11. SMART LAUNCHER:
Yandex Launcher goes a step beyond the usual launcher and switches up your dialer and contacts as well. Yet another million happy customers have voted it in at 4.4 stars and some of the AndroidPIT team swear by it.
It’s clean and neat with a little pizzazz thrown in for good measure.
12. AVIATE LAUNCHER:
Aviate Launcher categorises your apps depending on the time of the day, displaying the apps that it assumes you will need at that specific moment. For example, when you wake up, you’ll be greeted by the weather and schedule apps. On the road to work, it will show you Maps to get you traffic and direction info. I think you get the gist. The launcher heavily alters the look of your home screen by basically auto-adapting it to your lifestyle.
REVIEWS | COMMENTS