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Android users who don't use the stock launcher - what launcher do you use, and what do you like about it? (nom.mom)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by mom@nom.mom to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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Maybe something for the Pixel phones? I've been using ADW for a long time now, and was wondering what some frequently used launchers are. (I used Cyanogen for a long time, too.)

There are lists all over the internet, but I'm interested in what the Lemmy crowd likes. Thanks!

Edit: Thanks guys - a few of these were on my radar, some I hadn’t heard of or seen in the Play/f-droid lists. Having the reasons why you like each of them helps me figure out what I want from a launcher (for instance, the purchase of Nova by a company known for its data collection is a big turn-off even though it seems loved) - since you guys laid out some pros and cons of a bunch of launchers, it gives me a better picture!

Edit 2: You guys, this is a great resource for figuring out which launchers look like something worth trying (for me), and which ones are in the stores but not what I'm looking for. Without just trying them all, that is... And considering that I hadn't even heard of all of them...

This has been a huge help for me, and I hope some others out there got something out of the post! I should be replying to everyone, but I'm not ... Sorry. But I did read everything and have already started compiling a list in my head, and started tagging and categorizing. And those who included screen shots and links and lists and opinions and FOSS alternatives/forks - they helped! This whole thing helped!

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[–] Zebov@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I seem to be like most and while I've tried tons, I've always stuck with Nova (at least since I switched from Apex).

My main sticking point and the reason it'll be a long time before I switch? I NEED to be able to assign up/down swipes on icons. Tap opens app/folder, up swipe opens another app/folder, down swipe opens another app/folder.

At this point my homescreen has 6 icons and within 2 touches I can get to any of my 500 apps with nearly zero scrolling. If anyone knows another launcher that can do that, I'm all ears.

[–] Thanks4Nothing@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That is an absurd number of apps...

[–] Zebov@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

I looked just to make sure, and it's actually 652. But only 445 are user apps.

I wish I could say a lot are junk, but there are a solid 100+ that I consider invaluable. I probably have 10+ backup apps alone (Google photos, Amazon photos, synctoy, Swift backup, folder sync, etc). Tasker and its app tree/plugins are probably close to 10. It adds up quick.

Then I have 7 or 8 for lemmy (waiting for one to separate from the pack), same number of news apps, and so on and so forth. My main issue is that if I have to do something more than a couple times (or need to remember to do it), I automate it. Tasker does a lot, but I have to use ifttt to do web things so I don't smoke my battery. Open with allows me to use different apps as defaults. Basically, I have 3-4 apps for every task since a single one can never handle what I want completely. I have a VPN app, but another to remote into my server. I could use just the last app, but it doesn't automatically switch to fastest VPN, so I have to use a 2nd. I have 4 file managers because Google likes to kill access to root areas, so they all go in and out of functionally.

Long story short, multiply the number of apps you have times 6 for how many of each type I tend to have, and that'll be more accurate. But either way, yes, it's stupid. And I HATE wiping my phone because it usually takes about 2 days just to restore everything (even using rooted Swift backup).