Extra Game

The great thing about Android (as opposed to, say, iOS) is the level of control and customization you have across the OS. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot to be said for a clean, consistent, and beautiful interface like Apple provides, but it’s also nice to mix things up from time to time. And the most radical way you can customize your experience on Android, of course, is by installing a new Launcher.

The Launcher on Android is generally referred to as the start or home screen where you interact with your apps and widgets. While the stock and custom launchers (like Samsung’s) pre-installed on Android devices will suffice for most users we’ve compiled a list of the top ten coolest third-party launchers in case you want to mix it up a bit.

Buzz is one of the simpler launchers on this list, but it’s also one of the most visually customizable. Matter of fact, the biggest feature of Buzz is that it not only allows you to change the look of your launcher, it also comes with over 500,000 downloadable themes and widgets that allows you to radically alter the look of everything on your device. 

If you want to make everything look art deco on your Android, Buzz is how you do it. Want to make your icons look like books on a bookshelf? Buzz is the way to go. It’s also got some simplified gesture navigations that are an added plus.

The concept behind EverythingMe is that a launcher should learn about you and rearrange itself to meet your current needs.

The creators say the algorithms in EverythingMe combine, “machine learning, statistical modeling, and domain knowledge expertise to identify specific life scenarios”, which in turn allows the launcher to know what you’re doing, where you are and the most likely apps you’ll need at any given moment. EverythingMe then presents suggest apps and folders full of apps to you throughout the day. It’s also got a great minimalist design.

GO Launcher EX made this list simply for the way it looks. I think it’s probably one of the most beautiful Android launchers I’ve ever seen--thanks to the new UI and UX in version 5. Matter of fact, I think a lot of users feel that way. GO Launcher EX has been downloaded over 200 million times. GO includes over 10,000 themes, 25 slick animated transitions, and 15 free widgets. It’s also got some great gestures that allow you to launch individual apps. 

Next Launcher 3D Shell is the only paid launcher on this list, but it made it because it’s a launcher with guts, I tell you, guts! That’s because this launcher allows you to operate in 3D space. It has beautiful interactive 3D graphics and transitions.

Next looks like the launcher that was created by Hollywood graphic designers solely to look cool for a five second spot in a movie. But while the launcher gets major props for its “wow” factor be aware, using it will likely chew through your battery life; there’s a lot of GPU intensive stuff going on inside it. 

Getting back down to earth, Nova Launcher is a more practical launcher that will appeal to those Android users who don’t like to stray too far from the default launchers installed on their devices. That’s not to say Nova isn’t highly customizable; it just looks like a “typical” launcher more than some of the previous ones in this list do.

Some excellent features of Nova include a scrollable dock, infinite scroll of home screen pages (they loop back on one another), and (thanks Nova) the ability to backup and restore all the customizations you’ve made to the launcher should you need to restore your phone. 

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