I am really very impressed with Nova Launcher 3.3.
You will experience lollipop ui on your Alpha.
For more info. Visit below link.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1389071
TouchwizHome.apk
Can one or has a TouchwizHome.apk for the 5x5 icons in a column.
Can provide my normal TouchwizHome.apk Deodexed.
resource friendly launcher
i'm on 4.4.4 g850f galaxy alpha and i use for about 3 months apus launcher
i have tried all possible launchers but returned to this one because is the most fluent and the less resource consummer
with this i have only around 600 mb ram used, with touchwiz 800-1200 mb used, nova launcher 800-1000 mb used, holo launcher around 800 mb, etc.
battery lasts 2 days with 5h screen on, wifi on but only in this 5h of navigation, some calls and 1h of fatal fight(game) of course
pluses about apus launcher:
- nice icons (real life theme)
- no app drawer, all are on screenwindows, like on ios - maby this is the cause of resource friendly
- rapid access to all apps
- apps are sorted in folders by default but you can rearrange them as you wish
NOTE - i promote this launcher because simply i like how it works on my SG Alpha, on my other phone (LG G2) i use the stock launcher wich is great
link here to my screenshots - http://postimg.org/gallery/n6l63qmu/
thank you
I've been using Apus for a while but I started to get annoyed about the popups. Does it have to remind me every night at 10 PM to go to sleep?
I found no way to remove that feature.
Then I found out about Hola Launcher (not Holo)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hola.launcher
It is very similar to Apus, has no popups, very clean and light interface, small memory footprint.
Also has some pluggable features, like the icon badge plugin, if that's your thing.
here are a couple of screenshots of my phone
For me, the best launcher is the Smart Launcher Pro 3.
Gesendet via Tapatalk
So Hola is better than Apus?
Damn I didn't know Nova also uses that much RAM.....
Nova Prime launcher is without any doubt the best launcher not only for Alpha but for all the android smartphones. It is the most stable launcher ( 0 crashes in 4 years use with 4 smartphones ) , the most clear launcher ( Apex is also clear) with zero bloatware and has serious customization. The majority of others launchers targets on users who want special scrolling effects, ready themes, widgets and auto customization. Nova and Apex are like two solid metallic spheres and the other launchers are like plastic spheres with birds, flowers, cars, butterflies and blah blah blah on them.
The worst problem with custom launchers on 5.0.2 firmware is this problem:
1) Open few apps
2) Go to recent apps
3) Press clear all
Result - launcher will be restarted (full redraw, back to default screen) there is no such problem with default launcher or with 4.4.4 firmware with any launcher.
I have written to samsung support about it, but they just tell me that they don't test 3rd party launchers at all and this is a problem of 3rd party devs, but actually it is in samsung firmware definitely.
Next Launcher 3D is the best launcher ever for Android
Related
Hi all again. i have edited the thread because there are a lot af homescreen replacement apps out there. I have concluded in the 3 best and mostly known ones + 1 Brand new (from what i know). So just vote for the one one that you like but keep in mind that the most valueable criteria is, which one of all uses the less resources from our beloved Mini so it can be snappier.
Happy Voting!!!
LP is probably the best launcher for 2.1
You can try adw launcher as well..
I am hooked on GDE and the 3d cube rotation home
i was using ADW launcher on 1.6, but now when 2.1 is on u use LP and i think LP is better, more stable and faster
actually I use adw, but I have also the very lightweight launcher zeam -installed.
the appdock and the swipe gestures makes adw the best for me. zeam also supports swipe gestures, but there I miss the additional appdock.
launcher pro is the best IMHO
i used helix when 1.6, now i have 2.1 and i have to ask wich launcher is better?
Launcher Pro (Plus) is definitely the fastest for me.
I'm on Launcher Pro Plus atm but i consider to move on Sweeter Home.
Customization on Sweeter Home was always a step above the other launchers, although setting him up, could turn out to be rather complicated.
I just installed zeam. For such a lightweight if seems rather laggy though when moving from screen to screen. For the record stay away from DxTop launcher. It is a mess.
Sent from my E10i using XDA App
What about battery life ? Helix ( and I think zeam also) used to offer improved battery life on 1.6. Now that 2.1 is out is the same ? Has default launcher been improved ? About Adw I read that lowers the battery life.
I like the LP. I like to have my apps sorted in categories (audio, video, photo, office, internet, sistem, games, etc) and I make folders to sort them but my only complain is that I can not chose folder icons.
I use ADW..
1) its free
2) its packed with features (more than launcher pro, gestures etc)
3) really customisable
4) I find it really fast
5) my battery lasts about 2 days (with light use)
6) heaps of cool themes available (free and paid)
I tried out Launcher Pro version and various other free launchers.. they were o.k, but missed all the great features I found in adw.
anyway, just my 2c if you want to pay for it then Launcher Pro (full) is great, if you want a great free launcher I don't think you will find better than adw.
I like Launcher Pro Plus
launcher pro, because of the live wallpapers, ADW does not support it
dr krucifix said:
launcher pro, because of the live wallpapers, ADW does not support it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
adw supports life wallpapers
I use ZEAM for 2.1 from the market. It looks great and save the battery.
I'm using Adw launcher.
Sent from my X10i using XDA App
launcher pro - saves battery better than stock home or adw
zeam !!
i just installed adw and it seems quite good and responsive! thumbs up for adw
GO Launcher EX v2.20 (Complete Collection)
Requirements: All Android versions.
Overview: GO Launcher EX is the extra version of GO Launcher , one of the most popular launcher app in android market. All themes and notifications are included.
What's in this version (v2.20):
!!!Fix the force-close issue, freeze and reload problems
GO Launcher EX is the extra version of GO Launcher, one of the most popular launcher app in android market, provides beautiful themes, fast flip speed and useful functions.
Collection includes:
+ GO Launcher EX v2.20
16 Official Themes (Updated):
+ All Official GO Launcher Themes: Backyard, Wood, Sketch, Ink, Festival, Cartoon, Classic, Valentine, Love
+ All secondary ZT Art Themes: Cracked!, Gre, Angrybirds, BluX, UR (Symbian), BluX AS, Pray for Japan, Metal, Colors
Plug-ins:
+ Dock bar notification plug-in.
Features:
-Fancy home screen transition (MENU-preferences-display settings-screen transition)
-Themes supported (search “go launcher ex theme” to download)
-Smooth scrolling experience (set the flip speed in display settings)
-Icon popup menu (long press icon on the screen)
-Folder and task manager in app drawer (long press icon to enter edit mode)
-Gesture supported (both screen and dock icon)
-Scrollable & resizable widgets supported (free)
Tips:
-If you have lag issue on home screen, try to change the value of flip speed in display settings. (Menu-Preferences-Display settings-Flip speed)
- Long press icons in app drawer to edit location, uninstall apps and create folders.
- Pinch fingers together to enter preview screen and edit home screen pages.
What's in this version (2.20):
1. Support to replace the fonts (preferences- advanced settings)
2. New batch adding function of “Add to screen” list
3. Improve performance of Windmill transition of app drawer
4. Repair lag problems of drawer folders
5. Optimization of dock bar
Download link attached
GO launcher is super SLOW. Slows phone down.
I have lag when opening app drawer, I have lags ON app drawer, I have lags on HC's, change fling speed is helping only a little bit.
Uses too much RAM.
For example: I have beetween 60-90MB free when using ADW Ex, even after extended use.
When using go, I have beetwen 40-60MB of RAM free. After extended amount of free RAM is around 50MB. Task killers don't help.
This is launcher is very future rich, but it's so laggy.
I've been running GO EX for about a month now on my Incredible without any performance issues. I personally think it's the best out there. I previously used ADW EX and love it as well, but always find myself going back to GO EX.
it's true it's too slow, but apart from that I think has no problem and is better than the ADW.. Whith the Honeycomb theme looks great
go launcher?>
i wonder whether it is come from my country ,china . try it later.
Personally I have had no problems using this launcher, combined with the go contacts and dialer, along with some widgets it is very feature rich. Now my phone is rooted and I have freezed a lot of bloatware (blockbuster wtf?). Considering this is a blur replacement, just how much blur services can be frozen if I were to run all the necessary GO apps?
Using a Motorola Droid 2 Global, Rooted.
I think Ex version isn't so laggy. using auto memory manager with go launcher ex in agressive mode, i'm getting around 85mb of free ram.
I tried some early versions of go launcher and it was VERY laggy! But 2 months now i use it and it is very fast! Also it is updated every week. Not like launcher pro that has to be updated 2 months now!!!! The same with ADW. I think GO is the best launcher out there
The way my phone is set up I manually clean the ram but even after a while of leaving the phone on i might barely just slide under 100mb(assuming i am opening up browsers and uploading stuff). Now when i clean up the ram i always end up in the 230 to 270mb free area right after cleanup.
Gemini App manager and Gemini widget. Plus a lot of frozen(blocked) unused apps along with auto-runs tweaked to my preferences.
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using XDA Premium App
For me, the best out there is Launcher Pro + ... I've NEVER had lag issues and it run's super smooth, and with all that widgets and new theme updates it's great. Yes, it looks a bit stock, but for performance is the best thing.
Go Launcher... The Best
Go Launcher is the most complete and customizable launcher I know.
Today I installed and uninstalled GDE... .
I tried adw-launcher or launcher Pro, but nothing, everyone is missing something with the other.
Go Launcher has it all ...
and it is free (the others are not).
I have in my X8 Go Launcher and runs great. is not slow.
Thread Closed, warez inside.
Two very good ICS launchers & both have their respective fans !!
Apex Vs Nova ..... It's a very interesting topic of debate ... I would really appreciate some facts from the actual users as to why they prefer a particular launcher for their ICS device !! I would also like to include their "Pro" version functionalities in this healthy debate !! :good:
Sorry , just noticed a similar thread which was created some time back , All i need to know is after so many updates which launcher is worth buying as per their present day performance ??
Apex Pro OR Nova Prime ??
I know this is not one of your choices, but I have been using Trebuchet launcher (the launcher that comes standard with cm9) and it is awesome. Very smooth, snappy, and has tones of options. Reminds me of ADW, but in ICS form. I know that probably does not help you at all, but it's just another option to consider if you want
The first launcher that lets you change the grid in the drawer to fit more icons will be my favorite launcher.
Apex ;D because it gets most of the features first then nova gets after
Sent from my SGH-T989 with Cyanogenmod 9 Nightly Power.
In playing with the G4 over the past few weeks, I've discovered some interesting things about launcher performance, so I thought I would share.
After using Google Now Launcher for several days, I began to notice that it was sometimes dropping frames and stuttering a bit much for my liking when swiping between screens. I switched back to the stock LG Home launcher and amazingly, scrolling was almost perfectly smooth with hardly any dropped frames.
Curious as to why this was, I began testing various launchers... Nova, Action Launcher, Apex Launcher, L Launcher, an AOSP launcher3 build from KitKat, etc. Finally, I noticed a pattern. Launchers based on the KitKat AOSP launcher source all ran very smoothly, while launchers based on the Lollipop AOSP launcher source all dropped frames too often when scrolling around the home screens and app drawers.
So from this, we can deduce two things:
1) The stock LG Home launcher is based on KitKat or earlier AOSP launcher source code. No surprise there.... just look at the page indicator dots, the app drawer background, and the three dot menu style in the app drawer. They all have KitKat styling.
2) LG optimized the G4 to run KitKat based launchers more smoothly since that's what their own launcher is.
So what can we do about it? Well, use an old version of your favorite launcher, of course. Action Launcher 2 is still available in the Play Store and has its own listing. I went with an old version of Nova (Classic v3.3 from http://novalauncher.com) and find it performs more smoothly than the newly released Nova v4. And not to fear, Nova v3.3 can still be configured to look and act like a Lollipop based launcher by changing a few settings. See my screenshots of Nova v3.3 below to see for yourself.
Hope all of you who are driven crazy by the slightest stutters find this information helpful. Let me know about your experiences.
Thanks for this. Will give it a try.
I was surviving with the stock launcher but went crazy after installing the tempered glass protector. After removing the glass all of my swipes or scrolls were being registered as taps.
Sent from my LG-H815
I too have been trying out the top 10 most know launchers in the playstore and have seen that issue as well compared to the stock launcher. What makes me go back to the stock launcher is two things. Health widget for step counter, and the smart notice widget.
wadamean said:
I too have been trying out the top 10 most know launchers in the playstore and have seen that issue as well compared to the stock launcher. What makes me go back to the stock launcher is two things. Health widget for step counter, and the smart notice widget.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know me too. How nice will be to add those into nova.
I'll be honest, I am running the latest Nova launcher and I haven't noticed any dropped frames or hiccups whatsoever. Everything seems buttery smooth.
Ken4G said:
I'll be honest, I am running the latest Nova launcher and I haven't noticed any dropped frames or hiccups whatsoever. Everything seems buttery smooth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
apex is the smoothest launcher at the moment. nova ( i have the paid version ) is not that smooth like action launcher 3,
i'm only running apex for now
The app drawer and everything runs better , try and see yourself , you'll be impressed.
Great discovery. Nova and Google Now was always my go-to launcher but I have noticed frame drops. Very minimal, but I guess some of us are cursed to notice these things.
I always end up reverting to the stock launcher after awhile. I'll try the suggestion above and give Apex a run for a few days.
Also, anyone find it weird that some widgets like the default clock widget can't be used with other launchers?
Sent from my LG-H818
JustinDulay said:
Also, anyone find it weird that some widgets like the default clock widget can't be used with other launchers?
Sent from my LG-H818
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not weird at all, LG based widgets are baked into the LG launcher. Same thing happens with Samsung based widgets, can only use them on the TW launcher.
I'm using stock LG's launcher and it works very nice for me. I disabled Smart Bulletin option from settings and the launcher flies. With this feature enabled the launcher was getting laggy after a few hours of use ,now it's just perfect.
The only thing that drives me crazy about the Stock launcher is the lack of backgrounds for the icons. I like all my icons to feel somewhat uniform. I know the LG Launcher supports themes (basically icon packs)... but the Verizon model has this ripped out. I know it is accessible through some song and dance but the icon packs were pretty bare, only like 20 icons to cover the basics. Some custom packs have more but still barely cover the grand scheme of play store apps.
Overall good find though. I actually really like Action launcher 2 and run it on my tablets but I am unsure about on a smaller device I intend to use with 1 hand. I know you can setup swipes to pull open the drawer. At least we have options. I wonder if this happens on other devices, or just LG?
Very interesting to see that Lollipop based launchers stagger. Although KitKat was the best Android experience I ever had. Lollipop is fun but on the LG (or other skinned devices) the change is miniscule. KitKat ran like a beast on the G2 but started having problems when it upgraded to Lollipop.
I use KISS Launcher. No framerate loss there.
Nova launcher used to be (arguably) the best free Android launcher - until now - so what's better?
Unfortunately, the day after Branch Analytics acquired Nova launcher, it grew in size by 150% (8MB to 12MB) without anyone noticing that "something" huge (but as yet unknown) is going on inside of the previously venerable Nova launcher.
So now, I, like anyone else who is logical, is in the market for a new "best Android launcher" app APK.
But which Android app launcher replaces the venerable Nova free APK?
Mostly what I loved about Nova was that the homescreen could be organized by any grid - or no grid (see screenshot example below).
What best launcher do you recommend to replace Nova [now that Nova was sold out and as such, it has (apparently) gone over to the dark side]?
I take you're on a Samsung device?
One UI shreds Nova on my N10+; faster and uses less battery even has some features Nova lacks. It's missing a trick or two that Nova can do. One UI is rock solid stable on my device, no issues.
After a 3rd party launcher boot looped me twice, back to back over 2 years ago I stopped sampling them One UI won.
blackhawk said:
I take you're on a Samsung device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. But I've been using Nova free launchers since the dawn of time on Motorola, LG, and other phones - simply because Nova did what nobody else could do - which was allow me to place any icon on any grid or no grid at all.
But now that Nova went over to the dark side - it's time for a new "best launcher" that works for more than just one brand of phones.
blackhawk said:
One UI shreds Nova on my N10+; faster and uses less battery even has some features Nova lacks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With batteries being five amps and more nowadays, I don't have any problem going days without a charge, but it's interesting you say that you found that one launcher uses more battery than another.
I've never tested how much battery power two different launchers use. But I've done a lot of battery power testing over the years.
The fact is that you can only use one launcher at a time - so it would be hard to test two of them side by side given only one can work at any given time frame on any one phone.
Sure you can test two launchers with two exact same phones side by side, but did you really run a test that detailed to conclude what you did?
Given that practical problem set, how could I tell if one launcher used more battery than another?
blackhawk said:
It's missing a trick or two that Nova can do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Besides putting icons on any grid (or no grid at all), what I next like best about Nova is I set up EVERY phone in the house, for years, with the same well-managed set of apps and icons.
Motorola
LG
Nexus
Samsung
They ALL have the same homescreen.
For years and years and years.
Note that what you do on a computer never changes so the organization of the homescreen never changes.
Does the Samsung OneUI launcher save a backup file to be used on any brand of phone?
Nova launcher easily saves a backup file which is imported into the new phone. It's TRIVIAL to re-install all the apps in the EXACT same place from the old phone to the new phone, even when you move from an LG phone to a Samsung phone.
There's no way any Samsung launcher could possibly do that, right?
blackhawk said:
One UI is rock solid stable on my device, no issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My only experience with One UI is that I originally saw it when I got a handful of Samsung Galaxy A32-5G phones from T-Mobile for free.
I didn't like it at all but maybe it does the two most important things that Nova free does?
1. Put any icon on any grid (or no grid at all), and,
2. Save a backup file of the homescreen to load onto any other device
Note that this backup file includes all installed apps in the location that they are installed in - which - for me - is important since EVERY app icon is placed in an EXACT location for a reason.
There's a third thing I love about Nova free launcher but I don't know if it's part of the launcher or part of Android 12, which is:
3. Place a widget INSIDE any folder on the homescreen
Is THAT last feature of being able to resize a widget and then place it INSIDE a folder on the homescreen part of Android 12 or Nova launcher? (If it's part of Nova, then can One UI do that too?)
blackhawk said:
After a 3rd party launcher boot looped me twice, back to back over 2 years ago I stopped sampling them. One UI won.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have nothing against One UI because my only experience with it was that it was the first launcher I saw when I received my free Samsung phones from T-Mobile and the last Samsung I had was about ten years or so ago (the S3) but what I asked on the Samsung groups what apps from Samsung were worth getting just about a month ago.
Is there any app in the Samsung Galaxy Store worth the login requirements?Note the screenshots show you can resize widgets and then place those resized widgets INSIDE folders on the homescreen.
That homepage is way too busy and not AMOLED friendly at all.
In 24 hours this is what One UI used...
One UI supports folders which are a lot better than burning up pixels. Over time this will happen. I rotate my icons, folders and widgets to spread out the wear. The icon packs are red for a reason, red pixels have the longest lifespan, blue the shortest. No wear if a pixel isn't light and it's easier on your eyes.
I'm not too concerned with backup. I want a clean load if I have to factory reset to avoid doing another one. The current load on this phone is over 2yo and running strong. I keep a screenshot to help with setup. SmartSwitch will preserve some homepage settings but it can also cause issues.
Apex Launcher Classic, get the PRO and Apex Notifier.
You can use ancient Launcher and Icon packs, I've kept many old Apex Themes from 2013 and on, and they all still work with the latest Apex Classic.
Offers the same features as Nova.
Its clean.
I understand you are looking for a FREE launcher, but with the launcher being so integral to your device experience, maybe thats the one app you should be prepared to pay for.
I have been using what I think is the most powerful and customizable launcher. Not only does it do the few things you mentioned:
Put any icon on any grid (or no grid at all), and,
Save a backup file of the homescreen to load onto any other device
Note that this backup file includes all installed apps in the location that they are installed in - which - for me - is important since EVERY app icon is placed in an EXACT location for a reason.
Place a widget INSIDE any folder on the homescreen (yes thats launcher specific)
So it does ALL what you listed (i know its a quick list), but also (among many MANY other things..)
Folders inside folders, inside folders.... and widgets n deep in the folder structure
Any widget can be Resized, Scaled (Different to resize which I think is more on the widget to resize itself), Rotated, transparency, Skewed (think parallelogram), positioned to a decimal pixel position
All visible (or even hidden transparent hot-spots) have complete control of the event (eg start ab app, start a script etc) or I *thinik* even multiple actions (I dont use that feature)
All items covered by 3 above also have short AND long press events (Tap, Long Tap, Swipe Left, Swipe Right, Swipe up, Swipe down) I personally have transparent hot-spots (on top of other widgets that respond to their default tap), that I swipe uy[p on to turn on AUID and down to turn off AOD. I also have a long press on my navigation, which turns on GPS, Bluetooth (to connect and call handsfree), starts my music player, starts playing the music and finally starts the Navigation app ready to navigate.
Lots of visual effects such as shadow of the text
Control of the Font, Size, position/offset
"Reflections" on the icons, as if they are hovering above a crystal clear pool/puddle of water
You can have/add code to make your own things. There is an example out there how to add a analogue clock simply with code. Well beyond any of my needs.
and on and on and on...
My personal experience is, if you can imagine it, then there is a way to do it. I have been using it since gingerbread, and as I upgrade device and/or ROMs, I use the backup / restore to get the launcher config started. NB: The private widget data/config doesn't come across in the launcher backup, but a "fallback" image/placeholder is show, reminding you of how you previously had it set up. So although there is a steep learning curve, and with ALL the different options/function can take some time to set up how you want, a lot will transfer onto your next device or ROM. But since its a paid app, you can only run it on one device at a time.
Now, the thing to REALLY take note of, the default set-up on first install is utter TOTAL rubbish ,and so are the preview/demo images on the PlayStore. It really is a case of "if you can imagine it, you can do it"
Oh, and the launcher is called "Lightening Launcher Extreme"
The following are some screen shots I qui8ckly snapped, but the actual config is of course very personal. And because its so customizable, I can do things others will hate I just quickly flashed through the screens I personally use the most in set-up, but didn't scroll through anything or ensured I got everything that is beyond the screen and there are many more options/features I dont use; or even know about.
Part of the problems Nova is having maybe the same that ones Samsung is having dealing with scoped storage and other changes starting with Android 10. I have 2 N10+'s, one still running on Pie, the newer one on 10. The look and behave almost identically except the Android 10 has a 100 or more small Samsung system apks.
I prefer Pie because it's easier to troubleshoot and provides better functionality for trusted apps. I don't even want to see what 11, and especially 12/beta 13 look like. Maybe it's not so much Nova but rather Android that has turned to the dark Apple side...
imonxda said:
Apex Launcher Classic...
Offers the same features as Nova.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that suggestion of the Apex Launcher to replace the functionality of the Nova free launcher, specifically:
a. Place homescreen folders on any grid, or no grid at allb. Export homescreen and import into ANY brand of phonec. Resize widgets and place widgets INSIDE folders
Assuming the free version of the Apex Launcher is this one...
Apex Launcher by Android DOES teamFree, contains ads, contains in-app purchases, requires GSF,rated 4.2 out of 354K reviews with 10M+ Downloads
That sucks in terms of requiring GSF (Nova free doesn't spy on us with GSF, and no app should ever need to use GSF calls) and requiring ads (again, Nova free doesn't have any ads and no launcher should, IMHO); but unfortunately, the description on the Google Play Store doesn't say whether Apex Launcher can do the three most important things that I feel ANY "best" launcher should do (see above).
Bear in mind there are a billion app launchers, where there's a good REASON Nova free was almost universally hailed as the best out there.
If Branch Analytics didn't take over TeslaCoil software, I wouldn't even be LOOKING for a better app launcher... (sigh)... but no free app launcher with ads and lack of privacy can possibly be on the list of the "best" there is.
That's just impossible (IMHO of course).
No app can be the "best" if it has ads and if it sucks out your privacy.
BTW, I know full well what I'm asking is NOT an easy question to answer... otherwise I'd have found the answer already, but I do appreciate the suggestions.
In order to be "better" than Nova free, it can't be worse.
GalaxyA325G said:
Thanks for that suggestion of the Apex Launcher to replace the functionality of the Nova free launcher, specifically:
a. Place homescreen folders on any grid, or no grid at allb. Export homescreen and import into ANY brand of phonec. Resize widgets and place widgets INSIDE folders
Assuming the free version of the Apex Launcher is this one...
Apex Launcher by Android DOES teamFree, contains ads, contains in-app purchases, requires GSF,rated 4.2 out of 354K reviews with 10M+ Downloads
That sucks in terms of requiring GSF (Nova free doesn't spy on us with GSF, and no app should ever need to use GSF calls) and requiring ads (again, Nova free doesn't have any ads and no launcher should, IMHO); but unfortunately, the description on the Google Play Store doesn't say whether Apex Launcher can do the three most important things that I feel ANY "best" launcher should do (see above).
Bear in mind there are a billion app launchers, where there's a good REASON Nova free was almost universally hailed as the best out there.
If Branch Analytics didn't take over TeslaCoil software, I wouldn't even be LOOKING for a better app launcher... (sigh)... but no free app launcher with ads and lack of privacy can possibly be on the list of the "best" there is.
That's just impossible (IMHO of course).
No app can be the "best" if it has ads and if it sucks out your privacy.
BTW, I know full well what I'm asking is NOT an easy question to answer... otherwise I'd have found the answer already, but I do appreciate the suggestions.
In order to be "better" than Nova free, it can't be worse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, absolutely correct, Apex Launcher DOES NOT have all the features your looking for, but AndroidDOES has brought back the Classic launcher (I'm assuming because of popular demand) it is called Apex Launcher Classic - this is FAR superior to the new-ish Apex Launcher. BTW, some of the best features of Apex Classic are unavailable without the paid Pro but most features work with free version.
As for privacy concerns, you can use something like My Android Tools Pro, it will tell you exactly what an app like Apex is doing behind the scenes and it gives you control over all hidden activities. https://www.myandroidtools.com/ it has been kicked out of Google play store, I don't know the reason, but I've been using this app for years, I have never seen any evidence of malware in it, and it has revealed the spying, reporting activities, and ad activities of all other apps I use and I can actually STOP these activities, I trust it.
It takes a bit of getting-used-to, but it works great once you do (get used to it). Some advice, check the About in settings for automatic detection of newly installed or updated apps feature, and check the Apps tab at the bottom, then select any app and then tap "see all component info", this is really helpful and easily overlooked feature.
@DiamondJohn That's a cool Launcher I've never heard of, I will certainly check it out
GalaxyA325G said:
Nova launcher used to be (arguably) the best free Android launcher - until now - so what's better?
Unfortunately, the day after Branch Analytics acquired Nova launcher, it grew in size by 150% (8MB to 12MB) without anyone noticing that "something" huge (but as yet unknown) is going on inside of the previously venerable Nova launcher.
So now, I, like anyone else who is logical, is in the market for a new "best Android launcher" app APK.
But which Android app launcher replaces the venerable Nova free APK?
Mostly what I loved about Nova was that the homescreen could be organized by any grid - or no grid (see screenshot example below).
What best launcher do you recommend to replace Nova [now that Nova was sold out and as such, it has (apparently) gone over to the dark side]?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Love Niagara launcher
Pear Launcher - Apps on Google Play
Download Pear launcher — a launcher designed for performance and customization.
play.google.com
Just started using this app and it's pretty good so far