One of the most impressive ways to customize your smartphone is to install a launcher. Launchers provide tons of options, themes and icons for your handset, as well as offering near complete control over how your phone performs when switching screens, launching apps and more. Here are the best Android launchers for your smartphone or tablet.
Best for Windows fans: Action Launcher 3
This theme has fully embraced Android Lollipop, and works brilliantly with devices that have received the coveted update. One of its best features is a bar, similar to the Windows Start Menu, that pops up on the left side of your screen, and lets you launch your favorite apps without having them cluttering up your home screen. You can completely customize your All Apps list, as well as tweak the layout, icons and colors to your heart's content.
Best for Firefox addicts: Firefox OS
Functioning as a developer preview of its operating system, you can now get Firefox OS on your Android device without even needing to flash it. The OS operates as a launcher. It adds large, simple icons, access to Firefox's Marketplace and some privacy features.
It might be that the icons are so large because it's designed for a device with a lower resolution screen than what we tested it on, and its a bit laggy at times, which is natural for a developer preview. But it's worth a spin if you're interested in seeing what Mozilla is cooking up.
Best for an intuitive device: C Launcher
C Launcher is a gorgeous and economic launcher that'll let you reach every distant corner of your phone in seconds. It tracks your phone use (all on-device) to provide contextual suggestions depending on which apps you use in certain locations. C Launcher also includes an in-built system cleaner, and thousands of themes to customize it, or you can create your own using C Launcher's simple step-by-step guide.
Best for simplicity: Solo Launcher
Solo Launcher doesn’t use many of its own icons, but it does have some sweet animations, and it's lighter on bundled apps and widgets than most launchers we encounter. It has some neat gesture functions, such as making a simple upward swipe on the home screen to perform a search, but it doesn't significantly change the way your device works. It's a simple, subtle alteration that could even go unnoticed, and this is its greatest strength.
Best for the bold: Buzz Launcher
Buzz Launcher offers some of the inventive themes we've seen on Android. Its community has come up with a whole range of professional-looking ideas to suit all tastes. Buzz is unbeatable if you want a bold new look on your Android without the effort of creating it yourself, but you will need to download the additional Buzz Widget app to get the most from it.
Best for the beginner: dodol Launcher
With over 10 million installs and support for thousands of free themes, dodol Launcher keeps it simple and does themes just right. It isn’t a complete reworking of the Android system, but it is a lightweight, effective launcher, and it won't destroy your battery life with crazy effects and animations. It's another less-is-more kind of launcher, and could be a great place to start if you're new to Android customization.
Best for running circles round your phone: Smart Launcher
Smart Launcher really turns things inside out. Instead of neat rows and boxes, Smart Launcher gives you rings of the most commonly used apps and vertical cascades of categorized apps. It's linked with the app manager, so if you delete an icon, the app is deleted too. It's simple and unique and has a 4.6-star rating based on more than five million installs.
Best for 3D: Next Launcher
Next Launcher is quite possibly the coolest 3D launcher available. It's hard to put into words just how radically different this launcher is compared with anything else on this list. All the best features aren't free, as with most launchers, but the wow-factor of the Premium version is worth the cost. If you want a hi-tech, attention grabbing launcher on your phone, try the free version out and see if you can resist upgrading.
Best for subtle sophistication: APUS Launcher
APUS is currently one of the most popular launchers on Android, largely thanks to its gorgeous Pinko theme. This launcher combines themes, custom icons, and some APUS own-brand features to make it one of the most comprehensive launchers to date. It's free, so you should definitely check this one out; APUS' animations are top-notch.
Best for economy: Hola Launcher
Hola Launcher has made a name for itself, largely thanks to how economical it is. The initial download comes in at just over 1 MB, and with that comes a reorganized interface, new app icons and some gorgeous themes. But it's not just its file size that is slim, Hola is also hard to beat on its use of processing power – it requires less RAM than even some of the quickest Android Launchers.
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