The Sundarban
Faisal Rasool has been a feature author at How-to Geek since early 2024. He brings 5 years of professional trip in simplifying skills for his readers on subjects treasure cellular gadgets, PCs, and on-line privacy. He tries to assist other folks accumulate the most out of their gadgets and software with the least effort.
In his teenage years, he spent hours every day tinkering with Android phones and Linux builds. Faisal started his career at WhatMobile in 2019 (largely out of his obsession with Android) where he revealed over 2,000 information tales. At this time, he contributes to the information part over at AndroidHeadlines.
He also authored extra than 100 feature articles for SlashGear, conserving Android, iOS, Web, Chromebooks, on-line privacy/security, and PC verbalize.
Faisal is also pursuing a Bachelor’s in English literature to accumulate his writing chops. He enjoys watercolors, classic video games, animated motion footage, and conversations with strangers.
There was a time when the primary factor you probably did after getting a unusual Android phone was to throw a unusual launcher on it. Nova Launcher, Go Launcher, Apex Launcher, Action Launcher, ADW Launcher, and C Launcher are evoked. Today, then again, outside enthusiast circles, other folks don’t appear to care about the launcher on their Android phone.
The Era of TouchWiz Is Prolonged Long past
Let’s start with the basics. A launcher is an essential app that a smartphone wants to launch different apps. So the launcher app is the greatest way you can interface with gadget and user apps (no longer counting ADB and terminal shenanigans).
Credit: Lucas Gouveia/How-To Geek
The reason all iPhone house monitors and app drawers gape exactly the same is because you can’t replace the default iOS launcher. On the different hand, Android launchers can be wildly different. That’s because on Android, you can swap out the gadget launcher for a third-party one. That’s exactly what most other folks did within the early days of the operating gadget.
Before OneUI (the latest gadget launcher that Samsung phones and tablets exhaust), we had TouchWiz. I’ve ragged every single version of the TouchWiz UI, starting with Android Froyo (version 2.2).
Credit: Photomans/Shutterstock
As far as I can keep in mind, I never had a real bid with this UI, apart from on Samsung’s charge range phones (especially their now-discontinued Galaxy J sequence) where it lagged beyond perception. Samsung supposedly shipped those charge range phones with a trimmed version of TouchWiz, but even a lighter version was too buggy and too laggy. The phone would basically turn out to be unusable every few months and wanted a hard reset.
Credit: Samsung Newsroom
Indisputably, I wasn’t the greatest one. TouchWiz had a infamous reputation for constantly stuttering and freezing, even on Samsung’s flagship phones. Some even called it “lagwiz.” Samsung wasn’t the greatest one laid low with this challenge though. OnePlus’ OxygenOS, Motorola’s Moto Launcher, and Sony’s Xperia launcher stuck nearer to inventory Android, so their launchers have been extra performant and much less buggy. But fairly considerable every different manufacturer’s default skin had this challenge.
That’s one reason other folks went for third-party launchers; switching to a custom launcher instantly speeded up their phones. OneUI and different OEM launchers are now suitable as performant as any third-party launcher, so other folks don’t hassle.
The 2d reason, which is detached the broad draw for third-party launchers, was the customization alternate solutions. Even on contemporary OEM launchers, you can’t exhaust custom icon packs, handsome-tune grid sizes, layouts, labels, gestures, custom widgets, or create cohesive subject matters.
Then again, that level of customization is a niche for enthusiasts and most other folks don’t hassle with hyper-customization. The default launchers have those other folks lined with sufficient customization features that they don’t feel the have to status up a third-party launcher.
Native Navigation Gestures Break Launchers
Starting with Android Pie (version 9), Google introduced a unusual way of navigating the Android UI—gestures. Before then, you simplest had a three-button navigation gadget that ragged to be physical and then became virtual.
Credit: Android
Most of us loved the extra feature, but for builders who labored on Android launchers, the navigation tablet of Android 9 was a nightmare. Android native gestures messed with gesture enhance for third-party launchers, which made them lag or freeze. The house camouflage would scamper blank for a couple of seconds everytime you swiped as a lot as head house. The back gestures interfered with the custom gestures setup in these third-party launchers.
To repair these points, you either had to swap to standard three-button navigation or scamper back to the OEM’s default launcher. Third-party launchers work handsome for the most part in latest versions of Android, but the unusual navigation features did break third-party launcher enhance for fairly some time.
Nova Launcher Is Dead
Take a gape at the personalization category on the Google Play Retailer. You acquired’t discover a single launcher featured right here. Of their heyday, launchers crowded this category. They all had their bear gimmicks and millions of downloads per app. You can detached discover launchers on the Play Retailer when you search for them, but the level is they’re no longer as popular anymore, and Google doesn’t push them anywhere.
Nova Launcher was the most popular of the bunch, and I’ve ragged it on every single phone and tablet I ever owned. Three years ago, a data analytics company acquired Nova Launcher, laid off the developer team, and eventually the founder left too. Now Nova Launcher is left in limbo and acquired’t be receiving any updates.
Credit: Bertel King / How-To Geek
Even when you search for third-party launchers on the Play Retailer, you’ll largely discover minimalist launchers. They’re meant to strip down the UI to suitable black and white textual verbalize, making the phone much less distracting. Instead of customization, they’re largely geared towards productivity.
Clear, there are launchers obtainable that are suitable as feature-rich as Nova,
