Best Launcher For Android
Sade Simmons
The best Android launchers are the best way to utilize one of Android's best core features: Customization. The stock launcher might be fine for some people, but they're usually rather limited in what they let you do. Fortunately there are a bunch of alternatives put there letting you tinker with the best Android phones as much (or as little) as you like.
Launchers offer a surprising amount too. Whether you're looking to give your phone a makeover, or add features you didn't even know where possible. There are launchers that offer a clean, minimalist look, while others off an explosion of color. No matter what you choose, it means giving your device a fresh look and feel, and without the expense of swapping phones.
There are plenty of launchers to choose from. It's just a question of finding the right one for you. We've tested a bunch of launchers to see which ones are worth having, and these are the best Android launchers we've found on the Google Play store.
You can't talk about the best Android launchers without a mention of Nova Launcher. Fast, sleek and highly customizable, Nova Launcher balances extensive appearance and utility customizations with a minimal performance impact, letting you set your home screen just right without slowing down performance.
Niagara is a lean Android launcher designed to place your apps and notifications front and center, while keeping other distractions to a minimum. Notifications are displayed right on your home screen, with spam and persistent notifications automatically filtered out. The app drawer automatically surfaces your favorite apps, while also providing handy alphabetical shortcuts.
That said, Niagara's extreme minimalism means that you shouldn't be expecting any unusual visual frills and options you might expect from most third-party launchers. it is updated frequently and it shows great promise.
Smart Launcher has long been a favorite for the best Android launcher, with its simple "flower" favorites grid and sorted app folder. The latest version, Smart Launcher 5, adds a ton of features and refinements.
Smart Launcher's flower grid is still available, but it's joined by a number of other well thought-out layouts designed to keep your favorite apps within easy reach of one hand, while smart search and an intelligently sorted and customizable app drawer makes it easy to find whatever you need, whether on your phone or out in the web. Adaptive icons and colors, fully resizable widgets, and more customizations round out the package, making for a great update to a classic launcher.
While AIO Launcher is free, in-app purchases unlock other features such as widget support, app icons, and Android notifications in the home screen stream. It's not the friendliest interface out there among the best Android launchers, it's still an interesting choice if information density isn't a turn-off for you.
Action Launcher Pixel Edition was among the first of the big third party launchers to give itself a Pixel-style makeover, combining its extreme customizability with new interface features and styles introduced with the Pixel Launcher.
Another excellent launcher stemming from the efforts to bring features of the Pixel Launcher to the Android masses is Customized Pixel Launcher (CPL), a free app building off the Rootless Launcher project.
On the surface, CPL hews closely to the look of the stock Pixel launcher, with rounded edges, notification dots and badges, while also throwing in support for theming, icon packs, adaptive icons, gesture controls and font customization.
The launcher offers a customizable screen layout, transition effects, icon pack support, and notification badges. It doesn't offer as many deep customizations as rival launchers, but it does look nice and is designed to be on the streamlined end of things. And recent additions include dark mode support and the ability to lock your phone by tapping the screen.
We went hands-on with every launcher on this list, which is how we drew the above conclusions on ranking. A launcher is a very personal thing, but we value the ones that give you a lot of functionality, even if the feature set itself is minimal.
In the end, we encourage you to try out different launchers to see which one you like best. You might find the more feature-packed options to be overwhelming, in which case you may want to look at one of the lighter ones.
The way we arrange, organize, and interact with our apps on Android is called the launcher. Launchers usually consist of a series of home screens, where we can arrange app shortcuts and widgets while the rest of our apps sit in an app drawer. From the best Android phones to the most basic budget smartphone, every phone comes with a launcher.
Some built-in launchers are great, but when they drop the ball, there are endless third-party launchers that not only pick it up again but knock it clear out of the park. Some even allow you to apply your own custom icon packs, giving you complete control. Everyone has their perfect launcher, but if you haven't found your favorite yet, then here are the best Android launchers that we at Android Central have used and loved for years.
A wide feature set allows Nova to achieve all these wonderful themes and let users build exactly the home screen they want, with small but infinitely useful features like subgrid positioning and a robust backup system. For users just getting used to third-party launchers, the "import from other launchers" feature is the most consistent and reliable on Nova than just about every other launcher I've tried in previous years.
If you want to ease yourself from the basic launcher to a custom experience, Nova can help you get comfortable with launcher layouts and themes. It's relatively easier for new users to jump in while still being as flexible as ever for those of us who are ridiculously picky when it comes to theming our home screens.
The feature set here has been steadily growing over the last year, and Niagara really hit its stride around the summer of 2021 when the Galaxy Z Fold 3 arrived and brought foldables mainstream. Niagara Launcher was very quick to adapt its minimal launcher into a big-screen-friendly launcher and in fact, if you're looking for an all-business launcher for your Z Fold 3 or Z Fold 4, Niagara has both one-column and two-column setups you can use to get to your next app and get back to work lickety-split.
If you just want to find your apps quickly and get on with your day, Niagara Launcher is a pretty great answer. It reminds me a bit of the old Z Launcher from several years ago, if you remember Nokia's experimental launcher, but I think this one is going to be around for a good while.
While you may not be able to spread out all your apps and widgets on five different screens, this vertically scrolling launcher is lightning quick and works well on phones that more bloated launchers start to lag on.
Microsoft Launcher's experience centers around a clean home screen and a smart page to the left fed by your Microsoft account, your daily phone use, and any Android widgets you wish to add. Even if you're not immersed in the Microsoft ecosystem, having a scrolling page of widgets beats having to space them out over 3-4 pages. While this launcher's settings are somewhat clunky, it has all the launcher options you'd want and then some.
While Microsoft Launcher is definitely not as simplistic as Smart Launcher 6 or Niagara Launcher, it is still a fairly lightweight launcher that's well-worth considering, especially if you have any sort of reliance on Microsoft's ecosystem for work, school, or personal use. And while the Microsoft Launcher is designed for the Microsoft Surface Duo, not the Z Fold series, it is yet another good option for foldable phone owners.
My first launcher love was Nova, but Smart Launcher 6 won over my heart and I haven't found anything else that works quite as well for my theme-loving setup. The categorical app drawer is better than one big A-Z sort once you have your categories set the way you want them, and the double-tap app shortcuts don't interfere with gesture navigation or swiping between the app drawer and home screen screens the way they do on Nova, Action, and just about every other launcher in existence.
If you want a launcher that's more like the launcher that came with your phone, Nova Launcher is the best bet because it imports from other launchers more consistently than any other launcher I've tried, allowing you to start with the setup you already had and then ease yourself into more advanced features like shortcut gestures and customizing the look of your folders, icons, and search bars. Nova Launcher is what our very own Nick Sutrich uses on all of his phones, including on his Samsung foldables, because you just can't beat Nova's flexibility.
Whichever of these launchers you opt for, the beauty of testing a launcher is that these all have a free tier that allows you to get a really good feel for the launcher and how it performs before you unlock extra features with Pro upgrades. If you have a launcher you absolutely adore, you should absolutely buy the pro key or contribute to the developers so that they can keep updating that launcher and keep it alive. Developers need to eat, too!
Namerah enjoys geeking out over accessories, gadgets, and all sorts of smart tech. She spends her time guzzling coffee, writing, casual gaming, and cuddling with her furry best friends. Find her on Twitter @NamerahS.
One of the best things about Android is that it's an open OS that affords users control over a host of features, such as the ability to change the app launcher, the very app you'll interact with the majority of the time using your phone. Not only does this mean users are free to pick and choose which launcher suits their needs best, but this openness also allows for all kinds of theming, from the best icon packs to the best wallpapers. So if you're looking to customize your favorite Android phone with a new launcher that brings a fresh set of features and theming abilities, today's roundup of the best Android launchers has you covered.
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