Android vs iOS is a debate that will never come to an end. There are certain features and functionalities that always put Android users ahead of iOS users. The way we use and customize Android is far better then an iPhone powered up with iOS. One feature, that the Android users have always been using and boasting-off to embarrass the iPhone users is the use of launchers. Android geeks can always use different after market launchers to customize the UI of their phone which is impossible on an iPhone so far.
A launcher is basically responsible for how the home, lock screen, icons in the notification bar and the app drawer look inside your Android device. Manufacturers use their own UI atop of the core Android OS, these UIs have exclusive launchers. For instance, Samsung’s TouchWiz UI has a TouchWiz Home launcher, Sony’s UI has Xperia Home launcher, HTC has its own launcher in the Sense UI, Google has the stock Android Google Home launcher and the same variation continues for all other Android smartphone manufacturers out there.
The purpose of Android launchers is quite understandable. If you’re wishing to get rid of the stock UI of your Android phone, then using a third party launcher is the best choice for you. Or in case you’re wanting to put some custom stuff according to your liking on the home-screen of your Android phone, change the way how icons and elements appear, the only choice you may have to do so is the use of a launcher. Attempting to find out the best launcher can get confused since there is a huge number of launchers available in the Play Store. To save you a few minutes, we’ve done the research work and picked up top 5 evergreen free Android launchers. Let’s have a look on em’ one by one.
A glimpse of the list..
- Google Now Launcher
- Nova Launcher
- Microsoft Arrow Launcher
- Apex Launcher
- Nokia Z Launcher
Google Now Launcher
Android’s stock look has always remained the number one choice for Android geeks. The reason turns out to be its responsiveness, efficiency and almost no-complexity. Google Now is a simple to use, easy to understand and master launcher. Google Now Launcher also integreates Google Now cards to bring you the right information quickly by simply swiping towards right. Google Now also allows you to control the entire device using voice-commands. You can set the applications in the app drawer in horizontal or vertical manner. Google Now launcher makes it easy to sort applications.
It’s an official launcher by Google, you can grab it for free from the Play Store.
Nova Launcher
Nova is a feature-rich and also the highly customizable launcher available for Android till date. Nova Launcher boasts tons of features to enable you to get the best out of your Android phone. Nova’s latest version is based on the Material Design UI, which is the latest Android UI. Nova’s powerful features allow you to customize icons, layouts, animations and every single element appearing on the screen in just a few taps.
Nova Launcher offers various icon themes, you can also apply the colors on your UI according to your liking. Just like Google Now Launcher, Nova also allows to enable app drawer in both vertical and horizontal scrolling manners. The Widgets on Nova Launcher are amazing as well. Nova Launcher can also backup your custom settings in case you wish to delete it and install it once again on your Android phone. The dock is scrollable as well, you can put as many icons as you want in the dock of your phone. In case you don’t want to loose the layout of your existing launcher after installing Nova Launcher, you may not worry as Nova will pull that out for you.
Nova Launcher is available as a free application. In case the free version doesn’t fulfill your needs, you may go want to go after Nova Launcher Prime.
Arrow Launcher by Microsoft
Microsoft has been doing pretty great with its Android application lately. Last year, Microsoft launched its own Launcher for Android platform and named it as the Arrow Launcher. Arrow keeps a track of the applications and the people that you interact with the most. It automatically customises itself depending upon your usage-patterns. Arrow Launcher promises to consume the least amount of battery and provide the best performance. Since it’s an application by Microsoft, thus it is powered up with Bing’s Daily Wallpaper, Microsoft Office and Wunderlist.
Arrow also brings a customizable dock and supports third party icon packs. Microsoft Arrow is also a free application and you can easily grab it from the Play Store.
Apex Launcher
After Nova Launcher, Apex launcher maybe the best choice to go with (if you’re looking for a highly customizable launcher). The features of Apex Launcher are almost similar to Nova Launcher. Apex enables the users to hide elements from the home-screen of their Android handheld. There are multiple drawer style available in Apex. Apex also allows you to hide applications from the app drawer which means you don’t need to use any third party application to hide applications now. Apex Launcher also supports gestures like pinch, swipe up/down and double tap. The advanced theme engine makes it extremely easy to customize icons, skins, tweak the UI. The multiple layouts available in this launcher can make you scratch your head for a while when you try to decide which one you should apply.
Apex also has a free version, you can get it from the Play Store.
Nokia Z Launcher
Nokia might not be a player of the smartphone industry, but it’s definitely doing good with the bunch of applications that it has the Google Play Store. The Nokia Z Launcher shares some of the features with the Microsoft Arrow Launcher. Z Launcher keeps a track of which applications you use the most, which people you contact frequently and what places do you visit the most. Learning your activities, Z Launcher puts the frequently accessed stuff atop of the screen for you. Z Launcher also makes it quite easy to access applications by just drawing the first letter of an app’s name on the home-screen. Upon drawing the letter, Z Launcher drops down a beautiful list of applications starting with that particular letter.
Nokia Z Launcher is absolute beauty. It’s a free application and you can grab it from the Play Store without spending any bucks.
That’s all. Let us known which Launcher is your favorite one.
