best custom launcher

[Harper77]

Currently using Galaxy S2x with Jelly Bean with stock launcher.

What is the better of the custom launchers out there?

 

[chanchan05]

Common accepted as best launchers for Jellybean is Nova Prime and Apex Pro. Smart Launcher and Action Launcher are good but are heavier on resources due to certain unique features those two have. All of these are paid though. There are free versions of Apex and Nova but features are limited.

Free option to have similar features would be Go Launcher, but in my experience with their latest build, its still slower than the other examples I've mentioned.

 

[MLSS]

I use adw ex as my launcher, and I use Magic Locker as my lock screen replacement.

 

[chanchan05]

I use adw ex as my launcher, and I use Magic Locker as my lock screen replacement.

I tried Magic Locker once, and came back running to Widgetlocker less than an hour later. Maybe you should try it?

 

[WuBoy]

I use Go Launcher and it runs quickly and smoothly to me. It probably has more customization options than any of the other launchers mentioned and there are Go plug-ins for everything from SMS messaging to weather widgets. Basically, you can have a Go overlay as complete as Touchwiz or Sense, but with more personalization options than either.

 

[chanchan05]

I use Go Launcher and it runs quickly and smoothly to me. It probably has more customization options than any of the other launchers mentioned and there are Go plug-ins for everything from SMS messaging to weather widgets. Basically, you can have a Go overlay as complete as Touchwiz or Sense, but with more personalization options than either.

You won't notice how slow Go is until you compare it with others on the exact same setup. Which is why if it works fine for you now, don't try others. I miss Go Calendar Widget, but the launcher itself isn't enough for me anymore after having had a taste of Nova Prime.

 

[MLSS]

I tried Magic Locker once, and came back running to Widgetlocker less than an hour later. Maybe you should try it?

I did use Widgetlocker for a while and I did like it, but for some unknown reason I keep coming back to Magic Locker lol

 

[funkylogik]

You won't notice how slow Go is until you compare it with others on the exact same setup. Which is why if it works fine for you now, don't try others. I miss Go Calendar Widget, but the launcher itself isn't enough for me anymore after having had a taste of Nova Prime.

Same. I used Go for years until i got a fast phone and thought "this should be faster". Nova redraws instantly when you return to homescreen and app drawer opens instantly and scrolls faster/smoother. Go is good for the free features but you use your launcher a lot and i think Nova Prime is a good fair price

 

[dknight1996]

The best launcher in my opinion is Next launcher 3D. Its just very awesome.

 

[funkylogik]

Next is really sexy but again it was a bit bloated and "spongey" for me

 

[MLSS]

Go was the first launcher I used. It was okay until I discovered some of Tue other launchers lol

 

[Petrah]

I use to love Go apps, but over the last few years I have watched it severely deteriorate. It use to be a lean and clean launcher, but now it's bulky and uses more resources than it should. Also be aware that a ton of the themes for all of it's apps are infested with nasty adware. Use this one with extreme caution.

The only two I would highly recommend is either the paid version of Nova, or the paid version of Apex. Both are quite similar, so you would only need to test both free versions and read about what the paid versions have to offer.

 

[Jacksmyname]

Nova Prime here. I've tried most of them, but found Nova the one I kept going back to. Apex is a close second.
GO has some really cool screen transitions, but it seems better suited for a phone rather than a tablet (portrait vs. landscape).

 

[hulkmarvel]

Actually i love 91launcher,my life would be worse without it.But 360launcher is improving continously,now they added the possibility of adding i-phone or windows style.I love it too.

For a real-windows home style launcher 8 is also continously improving,now they added landscape mode.

Finally,from the more "classical" mentioned above i prefer next launcher (obtained the complete version for free).Nova launcher i think the free version isn't anything special,i suppose the premium version is much better but i never bought it because the three mentioned above satisfy me completely.

 

[funkylogik]

Yeah youre right about the free version of Nova. I couldnt use it. And even the payed version only has the same features as Go. The thing is that even with these features, its still so optimized and pure. Go does have more transition effects though and even though i have Nova animations set to "fast", id like more homescreen transitions :beer:

 

[womb raider]

You won't notice how slow Go is until you compare it with others on the exact same setup. Which is why if it works fine for you now, don't try others. I miss Go Calendar Widget, but the launcher itself isn't enough for me anymore after having had a taste of Nova Prime.

I tried the free version of Nova but found it annoying that you couldn't create folders within the app drawer. Can you do that in the paid version?

 

[chanchan05]

I tried the free version of Nova but found it annoying that you couldn't create folders within the app drawer. Can you do that in the paid version?

Yes, its in Nova Settings>App Drawer>Folders and Tabs

What's so special about Nova Prime is that not only does it have almost all features one can need (except more transitions), is the speed and how it renders the homescreen. I can't even copy my current Nova setup on Go Launcher because the widgets get weirdly stretched or the icons get cropped or get squished to unrecognizability if I decrease their size to fit the launcher's grid properly.

Check out MyColorScreen, lots of beautiful screen, and I have never seen one of them use Go because of this limitation. Go has lots of features and lots of themes, but its not very conducive for making your own personalized look.

 

[MikeEthio]

SPB Shell 3D is the best one but it costs around $15 rather than that it's awesome for me.

 

[jefboyardee]

Someone’s gotta say it... LauncherPro is the most ancient, least exciting, but most efficient replacement for a stock launcher, just doing what the stock version should have done in the first place.

 

[Petrah]

Someone’s gotta say it... LauncherPro is the most ancient, least exciting, but most efficient replacement for a stock launcher, just doing what the stock version should have done in the first place.

It may be a nice launcher, but when the developer falls off the face of the earth and refuses to answer emails for 2 years, that's enough not to use it. Then when he comes back, he adds all of the same features that all of the other launchers have. People should use caution when giving that guy any of their cash.

 

[Yesevil]

I've tried quite a few launchers (adw, apex, go, next, tsf shell) but I always come back to Nova Prime. Fast, smooth and does exactly what I want.

 

[funkylogik]

Not to mention, the Nova dev is an Android Forums guy. Thats good enuf for me :beer:

 

[jefboyardee]

Then when he comes back, he adds all of the same features that all of the other launchers have.

Odd, I was never notified of that, and I think I

 

[nickdalzell]

I use TSF Shell (a very pricey 3D launcher) and it's currently my favorite and can do so much but with half the memory footprint of Go Launcher. it's my daily driver on my Galaxy Precedent and refuses to lag so far (although i did a lot of root hacking to make it that way lol). for my lockscreen i use Widgetlocker with various HD Widgets for some toggles and the date/time and use Go Weather EX Moonlight theme widget to show weather info (doesn't require the launcher and blends in with HD Widgets--on lock screens the HD Widget weather clock won't update automatically).

I'm going to get Nova Prime on my Galaxy Tab 2 though, after i finish this ROM flashing stuff. if anything to restore the iOS badge alerts i miss from my iPad. now if i could get badges without requiring icons on the status bar. so tired of hitting 'clear all' every few hours. from my experiences with Prime on my Kindle Fire running 4.1, the icons must display on the status bar (well, they will anyway if your app has the notifications turned on, required by MissedIt!) which defeats the purpose of badge counters. i simply can't stand having so many dotting my notification area. prefer it the way iOS does it, with a clean status bar and the notications as part of the app icon itself.

i wonder if the status bar apk can be removed without crashing the device. that would work too, and for things like battery level and whatnot, i got widgets for that

 

[jefboyardee]

Just tried Holo and it behaved rather like LP... is that where it went? Although Holo did appear to use less memory, the curmudgeon in me went back where I was.