Best launcher - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Questions and Answers

I really don't like the default app drawer, so I am looking for a 3rd party replacement. So far I have used Nova Launcher Prime on the previous phone, which one do you recommend?

Nova is by far the best launcher I have used 2nd would be Apex.

Nova here too. I keep trying other but always come back to Nova.

Nova prime. It's so customisable that there is no other need for other launchers!

Used Nova and Apex over many years but for some reason I much prefer Apex, it has that little edge with a few things that Nova is missing.

I've tried them all, keep coming back to Nova.

z-launcher

I use both Nova and Action Launcher 3. At the moment I am Action Launcher.

i use next 3d launcher

Hands down Nova Prime.

I'm using Nova Prime, and I love it. So customizable and feature-packed. But it's the only 3rd party launcher I've ever used, so I can't really compare it to anything else. However, I can't imagine anything being any better.

Apex

If the Nova people above have time I would thoroughly recommend giving Apex a try. It really does add some great little visuals, drawer features and functionality. The only thing I miss from Nova is the alphabetical slider in the app drawer. May take a bit of fiddling with settings but you really can do so much more with Apex compared to Nova. Just hope they bring out an update to Apex as it is a little overdue although works without issue...

Nova prime
Sent from my Galaxy S7 using Tapatalk

The best launcher on the Galaxy S7 Edge is exactly the same as the best launcher on the last three phones I have owned. Namely Nova Launcher Prime. I go one further by setting up a Nova activity when the home button is pressed on the Nova home screen which opens up HTC Blinkfeed, and then back to Nova with another press within Blinkfeed. The perfect combination.

Nova Prime all the way ?
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

I've used just about every launcher out there, Nova, Apex, Action, Go and a bunch I can't recall. My fave for its customizability, speed, and light memory footprint is Lightning Launcher. You can write scripts to change its behavior and attach them to individual actions and gestures. You can make it do things with Tasker and, my real favorite, is that you can create multiple home screens, each with multiple pages. I have my daily home screen, a Car screen (that's triggered by Tasker when my car BT connects), a Night home screen and one for Workouts (triggered like the Car screen when my BT earbuds connect). There's a paid version (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.pierrox.lightning_launcher_extreme) and a free/trial (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.pierrox.lightning_launcher). One of the best app purchases I've made.

Action Launcher 3 :good:

Nova !

Nova launcher prime on all my android devices. I have also used Apex in the past but it hasn't been updated in a while since June last year & they lost me when they added the Feeling Lucky ads to the paid version.

Related

3rd party launcher

Has anyone tried a 3rd party launcher for this beast? Which ones run great on this baby? I have only been running the stock launcher, but I'd like to hear from others that have tried other ones.
I've been using nova since day one. Works great.
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Plus 1 for nova prime!
Nova Prime here also.
It's always the same, every post about which laucher someone could use instead of the stock launcher everyone shouts NOVA or APEX. Guys, it's great, that you use these launchers, but there are so many more launchers out there that are much better for tablets.
My personal favorites:
- Action Launcher - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.actionlauncher.playstore
- Smart Launcher - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ginlemon.flowerfree - use the LUMOS Theme with it! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kov.theme.lumos
Nova Prime here too. I use it on all my devices. Works great. It does seem to crash while renaming a app while its inside a folder in the drawer. But that's only happened twice and I doubt anyone frequently re-names apps. I LOVE the L app open/close animation on the tablet, looks amazing.
Rotkaeqpchen said:
It's always the same, every post about which laucher someone could use instead of the stock launcher everyone shouts NOVA or APEX. Guys, it's great, that you use these launchers, but there are so many more launchers out there that are much better for tablets.
My personal favorites:
- Action Launcher - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.actionlauncher.playstore
- Smart Launcher - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ginlemon.flowerfree - use the LUMOS Theme with it! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kov.theme.lumos
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Lumos is great! I use it with... Nova!
Not seeing any particular reason those launchers are so much better than Nova for tablets though?
In any case, I already brought Action Launcher, so I might give that a whirl as it feels a bit stale having the same launcher on phone and tablet...
Nova all the way. Excellent tablet launcher.
Rotkaeqpchen said:
It's always the same, every post about which laucher someone could use instead of the stock launcher everyone shouts NOVA or APEX. Guys, it's great, that you use these launchers, but there are so many more launchers out there that are much better for tablets.
My personal favorites:
- Action Launcher - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.actionlauncher.playstore
- Smart Launcher - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ginlemon.flowerfree - use the LUMOS Theme with it! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kov.theme.lumos
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to use smart launcher but I really don't see how its better for tablets. LUMOS icons are sick though. I'm using Belle right now which I think is also pretty nice looking.
Belle: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.daeva112.iconpack.belleui&hl=en
Currently using the Google Experience launcher with some xposed tweaks
Nova is usually my goto, but on tablets I don't usually use the launcher much, so I am went with the Google launcher.
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Launcher/Interface discussion.

I have been reading a lot of negative comments on the launcher in some of the reviews I have read and thought a discussion of features and quirks might be a good topic.
Personally I have been a TouchWiz fan for a while but lately I have been using Nova. I really like the Asus' customization abilities. If you are in the app drawer, you can click on the 3 vertical dots in the upper right of the screen. There you can change all sorts of characteristics of the drawer like grid size and folder icon options.
Anyone figure out how to change the icon grid for the home screen?
Personally, I use and recommend ActionLauncher 3. Best Lollipop launcher available, IMO! The QuickTheme feature is brilliant and the side drawer is faster than navigating through drawer pages.
Pretty sure the asus launcher doesn't allow changing the grid size.
Just got mine yesterday, but been using Google Launcher. Coming from a Nexus 5, and a Nexus 4 before that, it's what I'm used to. That being said, I'll probably switch to nova launcher, because there are a number of Asus apps you can't get rid of. So I'll use nova launcher to just hide the from the app drawer, and it will be like they don't exist!
nathan118 said:
Pretty sure the asus launcher doesn't allow changing the grid size.
Just got mine yesterday, but been using Google Launcher. Coming from a Nexus 5, and a Nexus 4 before that, it's what I'm used to. That being said, I'll probably switch to nova launcher, because there are a number of Asus apps you can't get rid of. So I'll use nova launcher to just hide the from the app drawer, and it will be like they don't exist!
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I have been using Nova Launcher on all of my phones for along time.. Decided to try out Action Launcher 3 that rlaw recommended and after trying it out a bit, it just became my new launcher (paid the $5 for the plus version).
I really like the screen swipe to bring up the quick app list (instead of digging thru the app drawer) and the Shutter function in the paid version is really neat take on folders. It also has the ability to hide apps like nova launcher has..
I recommend checking it out, it has the best features in the plus paid version but IMO it's worth it to support apps that make my experience better :good:
I was using nova launcher prime up until I got this phone, and the only thing making me want to switch back is that I could have 6 apps in the dock on nova. On a screen this size, you'd think they'd let you do that.

Apex Launcer is really a must have for every M7 owner

In desperate attempts for making this somehwat slow and laggy phone faster and bring it to life I have spent much time trying out different browser.
Most of the more popular launchers today are kind of customizable.
my main focus has been on opening app animations, and how fast apps are opening and if the animations are both FAST and Smooth with no stutter, this is where most launchers fail but where apex succeed, it seem to work very well with the weak gpu of M7. WIth Apex it has become a totally new phone my faster user experience and to switch between apps is a lot faster and the animations finally look good as they should, the animaions I use are Lollipop style animations.
I do not care much of lollipop anymore to be honest I have all what I need now a fast phone thanks to apex laucnher and also heads up notifications thanks to a google play app.. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=codes.simen.l50notifications&hl=en (I recommend using it with black color and kind of a lot of transparency) add c notice https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ccs.notice&hl=en for even better switching between apps and superior multi tasking
When you install the Apex Laucnher what you need to is to go the mange apps in settings then press the default app settings at the bottom to the left then after that set apex laucnher as default, this will mean that when you press the home button on your M7 you will not come back to Huawei laucher but you will come back to apex home screen.
Yes what can I say...I am really surprised that the launcher had so much impact. the biggest problem with the Mate 7 has been opening apps slow, and the animations apex laucnher fix this, and I have tried many laucnhers and Apex is the only one that also have fast animations when opening and switching between app. When it comes to animations in home screen and drawer most lancuhers are fast.. it is when you switch between apps and go back to home screen for instance the the differences are biggest.
Launchers I have tried before coming to this conclusion
APUS Launcher, Nova Launcher, 360 Launcher , go Launcher , action Launcher 3, CM Launcher , Buzz Launcher , Dodol Launcher, Hola Launcher ,
What settings did you use ?
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Well, I bought Apex launcher for my previous phone and it worked great. But with this huawei device, i'm afraid that 'll loose the good features of the chinese manufacturer... All the ios like features like the search panel or the use without the app drawer wich is, for me, completly useless
Hi
I am using Nova Launcher and I wonder what are the benefits of Apex launcher over Nova?
Thanks.
I'm using Nova and it has been perfect.
apopet26 said:
What settings did you use ?
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Click to collapse
I use no speciel setting besides keeping apex in memory.
.Other parts are more of the appearance. the animations I use I think is default (which is lollipop animation which means apps open from bottom and up)
Otherwise I prefer to use more folders in the home screen since the folders open very fast and does not take much space either when folders are expanded..I prefer that then using the drawer all the time.. I use black background with kind of high transpercy in folders and drawer.
The speed increase you get with default settings.. but there is a lot more settings that affect the appearance.. which is more about taste.
phrozenflame said:
I'm using Nova and it has been perfect.
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Click to collapse
Yeah but compare aphex with nova especially after a few hours of heavy use, you see the nova animations will start to lag after a while, while in aphex they are always consistent. .. one reason might be aphex is not as function packed.. which means it is heavier on the Mate 7.
I use the 2 GB version.
Kalemucu said:
Hi
I am using Nova Launcher and I wonder what are the benefits of Apex launcher over Nova?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The benifit is faster and more consistent animations, to my eyes is without question faster and more consistent over time.. Nova animations are not as smooth and does not work as fast and consistent on the M7 GPU that is my opinion.. It took me one week of trying all different launchers to realize the difference... my main eye was on how fast and smooth and consistent animations are..
My first thought when install aphex was that it more or less looked like a clone to Nova, but the main advantage seem to be better performance in Apex most likely cause it is more lightweight compared to nova.
Apex has the most well optimized Lollipop animations I have seen.. the animations are such important part of the phone..it have a really impact on the user experience since all you do all day with your phone is mostly switching app constantly..so it is important the it looks good and smooth and lagfree.. Apex is the only launcher that worked good for the Mate 7 2GB model.
Thank you.
I will try Apex when i have some time
Been on Apex for few days, generally liked it but there are better launchers in my opinion. CM launcher is to recommend, definitely brings speed back to Mate 7, it's got some useful tools as well(like antivirus, app protector etc, speed booster). However, if you're really looking for light launcher that is quick on mate 7 Xperia launcher is the choice. My phone is flying now(even on super laggy b312), i've been using Xperia z2 before and i loved it's launcher. It's minimalistic yet super functional, it's very light and clean looking, got great app drawer. There's few versions to download on xda forum( won't find it in play store), however older version seems to work better on Mate7 and has more launcher options and tweaks. Only with this launcher i can see 1 GB free RAM again on lollipop.
muzammil84 said:
Been on Apex for few days, generally liked it but there are better launchers in my opinion. CM launcher is to recommend, definitely brings speed back to Mate 7, it's got some useful tools as well(like antivirus, app protector etc, speed booster). However, if you're really looking for light launcher that is quick on mate 7 Xperia launcher is the choice. My phone is flying now(even on super laggy b312), i've been using Xperia z2 before and i loved it's launcher. It's minimalistic yet super functional, it's very light and clean looking, got great app drawer. There's few versions to download on xda forum( won't find it in play store), however older version seems to work better on Mate7 and has more launcher options and tweaks. Only with this launcher i can see 1 GB free RAM again on lollipop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
link?
I personally prefer Action Launcher, as the 'covers' and 'shutters' are truly useful features that I couldn't do without after spending some time with them. Haven't really used Apex Launcher since the Galaxy S II, as I ran Nova. However, I wanted to try something new when I switched to the Ascend Mate 7, and haven't regretted the decision since. If you're not a fan of a vertically scrolling list of apps, it won't be your cup of tea. The aforementioned covers and shutters definitely merit a glance on the Play Store, though. 11/10 would recommend.
I managed to download xperia z3 launcher. As I've owned previously z ultra this is perfect launcher for me. Simple, elegant and mostly it works better than apex, nova or s launcher. Thanx for the tip.
Where. Can I download Xperia launcher?
Also why does not asus launcher turn up on Google play? When I search?
Asus launcher have very good reviews and their asus phones have very weak intel cpu and low memory despite that all reviewers are vet impressed with the speed and flow of the phone .... I hope asus launcher works with Mate 7
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...her&pcampaignid=APPU_1_koXYVayAD8WSsAGT0p74DQ
Is one of you know how to keep the "search module" of the Huawei launcher on Apex ? You Know when you solide down and it appears with icons of récent apps ! I really love this feature and i don't want to loose it !
I hope some one can link to the xperia launcher in question, however I am still questionable, the biggest is the difference in opening/switching app animations, if they are not fast and fluid then it means it is not a good optimized launcher, how fast it is in the home screen and drawers are not as important since almost every launcher is fast in this area...

Launcher... why yes but which one are you using?

what launcher you are using and why
I have used many launchers and it seems though some are smaller size wise most use up to the 123mb that TW uses (this includes unread plugins and such) even Trebuchet from CM is using from 99-122mb.
Just wondering if there is a gem hiding that I havent used
Favorites
Zeam- too old has issues now
Nova- memory hog
Apex- out of date
Lightning- uses alot of memory
KEEP IT CLEAN AND POLITE. ALL COMMENTS AND OPINIONS ARE WELCOME :good:
Mods if it gets out of hand or if it feels irrelevant feel free to remove post or clean post at will. Thank you in advance for all your hard work
Touchwiz! ?
Stuck on GoLauncher... I know it's heavy , but so used to it.. Will move to something simpler soon
Nova prime is still the best, it's been regularly updated and has the best customizations. Every launcher is a memory hog, so you might as well choose the best lol
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Been using Nova launcher for years now and have never regretted my decision, even after using alternatives like golauncher, apex, trebuchet, etc I would still find myself reinstalling nova. Another reason for my love for it is the constant updates and implementation of new animations each time a new Android version comes out, it is versatile and as surprised as I am to hear people point out is a memory hog this is one issue I have never experienced.
true would be nice though to have a truly light weight launcher.
Using Mihome launcher
Nova launcher, prime. Worth the donation, and the devs maintain it. I bought ADW a long time ago, but it's growing cobwebs.
Anybody use the sense 7 launcher and apps?
Nova
Nova, because of the ability to have a scrollable dock. I have 5 pages (25 icons) there, so I almost never need to use the app drawer.
I love the tsf 3d launcher and use it with the lines icon pack. Comes with its own weather widget which I love
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Smart launcher works best for me
I know that I'm inviting hate by saying it, but I'm using the Google Now Launcher on my Galaxy Note 4 N910T. Used Nova religiously my my GS3 and Note 2, then got a Nexus 5 on launch day and got hooked on Google Now. Haven't really tried anything since, though I might revisit the launcher scene if I'm looking to change things up.
I'm still on stock ROM, but using Nova Launcher. I think I misread the poll and voted stock. Sorry.
Nova or Apus launcher
no hate for the Google now laucher, if you use it as its meant it is pretty sweet and has good functionality. I myself tried out Windows launcher wasn't super impressed that's why I use android lol

Favorite launcher?

What launcher do you guys prefer these days? I've been sticking with Nova for ages myself but it's always interesting to see what others are using. There might be something worth switching to.
Nova Prime since 3 Years <3
Nova Prime here since for ever.
Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk
Nova Prime!!!!
Nova prime. Has anyone said that yet?
I am on pixel launcher
Nova Prime, used to it since many years ago
action launcher
for me is the best
Nova Prime since I've bought G6. Previously it was always stock Sony Launcher.
Nova Prime, but I sometimes use Lawnchair.
Since you are talking about launchers, a little bit of offtopic. I am using nova launcher and when leaving the configuration with the home button, the app remembers the position in the nova menu, it is very annoying and it did not happen before. Any ideas?? Thanks
Smart launcher 5. It's actually unique. Nova prime is nice but it's like all the others, dock on bottom, apps and widgets above.

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