There are a lot of very good launchers designed to replace the stock Android launcher, and the fact that many of them have millions of downloads speaks to the underwhelming nature of the stock version ...

One of the reasons to choose an Android phone over an iPhone is the flexibility you get in terms of customization — and there’s really no better example of that than third-party Android launchers. If ...

Android launchers let you replace your default home screen. Six top launchers offer unique features, styles, and pricing. A new launcher can make your phone feel fresh and faster. One of the main ...

Pie Launcher combines an option wheel with quick gestures to launch apps in one smooth motion. By default, it displays a completely icon-free screen, but the circular pie menu pops up when you touch ...

I gave my Pixel a desktop makeover without replacing the phone or changing how I use Android.

David Nield is a technology journalist from Manchester in the U.K. who has been writing about gadgets and apps for more than 20 years. He has a bachelor's degree in English Literature from Durham ...

I cover Android with a focus on productivity, automation, and Google’s ecosystem, including Gemini and everyday apps. With a background in engineering and software development, I tend to go beyond ...

Google is preparing to tweak the Pixel Launcher’s animations and feature set in Android 15. The Pixel Launcher app powers the home screen and recents screen on Pixel phones. There’s a new ...

Like Linux, Android is all about customization and users are capable of making far more changes than Apple's platform. But there's one customization I no longer bother with for a couple of reasons.

Although the steps toward flexibility weren’t exactly graceful, the platform came into its own within a few releases. As Android evolved, so too did its flexibility — as perfectly illustrated by the ...