Launchers - Droid Life

Monday Question: Are You Still Using a Custom Launcher?

Tim September 8, 2025 74

With news this week being that Nova Launcher should no longer be a usable option moving forward, we're curious who among us is still utilizing a custom launcher on their Android device. Personally, I haven't used a custom launcher for years, as the stock...

Still Using a 3rd Party Launcher on Your Android Phone?

Kellen March 10, 2023 107

Finishing up my review of the Galaxy S23+ a week ago and switching to the smaller, extremely lovely Galaxy S23 meant it was time to put more of a personal touch on the Samsung experience. Since I can't stand the Samsung launcher and its obnoxious horizontal...

Nova Launcher 7 Beta Hits Google Play With the Goods

Tim July 21, 2021 16

Earlier in the year, the developer behind Nova Launcher released version 7 of the beloved launcher app in beta form, but it wasn't made available via Google Play. It was only usable via sideloading the app. This week, the Nova Launcher 7 beta has hit Google...

Custom Launchers Get Fancy Android 12 API for Searching Through Device Contents

Tim April 5, 2021 6

We're learning more about a new Android 12 feature this week, one designed specifically to help third-party custom launcher developers enable users to find the data they need in an instant. It's a set of APIs that go under an umbrella called AppSearch, and for...

Action Launcher Update Brings Android 10 Gesture Nav Compatibility

Tim December 23, 2019

Action Launcher is grabbing a public update this week (was in beta last week), one that brings compatibility for Android 10's gesture navigation. Hooray! Do note, users will need to be running the latest December security patch to see the feature, but for...

Nova Launcher Adds 3 Different Color Choices for Night Mode

Tim June 17, 2019

Rolling out in stable form over the weekend, Nova Launcher now offers 3 different darkly-colored choices for its Night Mode. To me, the options appear to be Dark, Darker, and Darkest. If you're not aware of how Nova's Night Mode works, users can enable it to...

Action Launcher v37 Lets You Access System Features With a Single Long Press

Tim June 18, 2018 5

Action Launcher users will be greeted to a big update this week, labeled as Version 37. While the changelog is quite massive (linked below), there are a few things we'd like to highlight. The big one is Desktop Shortcuts. With it, users can set various actions...

Action Launcher V35 Released, Offers Android P Styling and Folders in the App Drawer

Tim May 2, 2018 5

A new update is available for Action Launcher, labeled as version 35. There are quite a few changes inside, so let's check it out. According to the changelog, Action Launcher has added the Android P style for the dock's background, but in addition, users can...