• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

The Big List of Home Launchers - June 8, 2013

I tried (note 2) and like very much:

1) Solo launcher, it does not lag any more, really excellent (especially for personalizing folders and mail notifications, it has a specific notifier for k9mail), much gestures,effects and many more.Also into it's themes you can find many phone or common system interfaces (ios 5 and 7, samsung s4 and note 2, best sony xperia,best lg and htc including one x, nokia lumia, windows, blackberry and more, also you can mix themes and icons).

2) Atom launcher, similar (more colorful themes,not so much folder options like solo but very good indeed, it also supports much go launcher themes).

Both of them already mentioned, nothing new.Very frequently updated.
 
Upvote 0
Good work! From my experience and with reference to this list of launchers, i can say that Next is best for effects, Nova + Apex are best for usability and customization, Launcher 8 is unique in it's aspects, Go launcher used to be good but it's all bloated now.

I would like to give some suggestions which I discovered from above. This might make a good addition:

  1. Inspire Launcher (KitKat Style)
  2. Jet Launcher
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scur
Upvote 0
This list is a year without an update. I plan on going through the links for removed apps and finding the new ones I've missed over the next month or two as I find time. When I was on top of it, it was the largest and most complete list of home launchers I could find, and I would like to get on top of it again. I realize most everyone uses the same dozen or so launchers, but I still like the list to keep track of unique ones. I'm pretty restless when it comes to my home screen, and I rarely have less than a half dozen installed. Buzz Launcher is especially handy for quick changes of customized looks.
A bit of time and this thread should be back to snuff.
 
Upvote 0
I don't like nova launcher nor do i like apex or go or this one or that one lol I actually like SSLauncher but recently discovered Vire. I have 2 accounts on my tablet one is my main account and the other is more a test account. I use it to test different apps. I have had Nova and Apex but didn't care for either of them. I stopped using Go launcher way back with the HTC EVO LTE I had. To me at that time it was getting to bloated. I like SSLauncher the best but Vire Which I have only had for a few hours seems to be a good alternative. While the verdict is still out for me on Vire I am liking some of it very much. The one thing I don't like is one of the things I don't like about nova which is it gives me 5 screens which I do no need. With SSLauncher I have 3 screens, Home Screen, Hot Apps screen, All apps screen. I like to only use 3 screens or less. I only use a hand full of apps regularly while others I use from time to time.
 
Upvote 0
I'm currently on Nova (free) on my LG Optimus F3 and like it a lot.

Previously I used Holo Launcher, for a long time, I used it on my 2.3 phones and continued to use it on my newer phones. Recently, although I'm practical, I felt things were a bit "stale" so I tried Go Launcher. I didn't like it, the icons seemed too "cartoonish" and I couldn't find a way to specify how many icons should be on the screen (I like 5 rows and 4 columns on my 4" screen, and 6 icons on the bottom portion.) Plus, yes, it was SLOW (and yet I like their Next Browser).

So I tried Zeam for its simplicity and speed, and was liking its simplicity and how I was able to specify 5 rows and 4 columns for the homescreen, but found it kept reverting to the "stock" home screen and needing restarting, and sometimes when backing out of apps like Maps there was a lot of lag for the homescreen to "populate."

I tried Nova out and like it much better. It's fast, as Zeam was supposed to be, and as I used to do with Holo Launcher HD, I was able to create an icon for recent apps under launcher "actions," and I have a notifications expand icon on the bottom right courtesy of an app someone made for me (check the earlier thread http://androidforums.com/android-applications/865165-widget-app-expanding-notifications-area.html). Also, as with Holo, I was able to remove the search bar (I always open Opera Mini to do a search).

The only thing is I've looked everywhere and I can't find the "themes" section of Nova, or how to change icons (for example, I'd like the apps button on the bottom to be 4 squares instead of 4 dots).
 
Upvote 0
You don't have to have 5 screens with Nova. I'm currently using 4, but it will happily let me use fewer.

I never could find an option to allow me to use less I went to the screen page and tried to remove but they kept being added back. It was the free version so I don't know if that made a difference. Or if I just didn't find the right setting.
 
Upvote 0
Nova Settings > Desktop > Home screens > Drag unused screens to the trash (top of screen).

yep thats what I did and every time it still gave me 5 screens but I still don't care for the launcher just not my cup of tea. I am just stuck on SSL as its been my launcher for many years now and does exactly what I want it to. But since that is the right way then I wonder why It kept giving me 5 screens no matter what I did. hmmmm well guess if I ever install it again I'll figure it out then :)
 
Upvote 0
The only thing is I've looked everywhere and I can't find the "themes" section of Nova, or how to change icons (for example, I'd like the apps button on the bottom to be 4 squares instead of 4 dots).
I've been using the paid version of Nova for a while, so don't recall what the limitations with the free one are. But I know of 2 ways of changing icons:

* globally: Nova settings > Look and Feel > Icon Theme

Use this to apply a downloaded icon pack.

* individually: long press an icon, select "edit" from the pop-up. Touch the actual icon in the edit dialog and you can choose a specific icon either from one of your installed icon packs or using a gallery app or file explorer (select "gallery apps" and then pick the one you prefer).

So if you have an apps button icon with 4 squares, use this method to select it (I use the Nexus "X" as my app drawer icon).
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones