One of the great benefit of the Android system is the ability to customize many aspects of your phone or tablet. This goes from simple things like app icons and widgets to big things like a new home launcher. If you are new to Android then you may not know exactly what a home launcher does for your device. The home launcher is a huge part of the how your daily Android experience looks and feels. Therefore changing to a new home launcher gives you the opportunity to completely change your device and make it feel brand new.
When you boot up your device the screen you’re looking at is determined by your home launcher. Everything from adding apps and widgets to your home screen to your app drawer is all the work of the home launcher. If you have a device from HTC, Samsung or any other manufacturer then your home launcher is custom. If you don’t like the default look and feel then you can easily install a new home launcher from the Google Play Store without needing root and change the whole look of your phone. My favorite home launcher has to be Apex Launcher which is only for Android 4.0 devices. It’s very fast, fully customizable and has the look of stock Android.
As previously mentioned Apex Launcher is only for Android 4.0 devices but that’s no problem since most Android tablet these days are using Ice Cream Sandwich. I think one of biggest benefit of Apex is that it’s fast. This is very important and a must for a launcher because there is nothing more annoying and frustrating as lags when scrolling through home screens or the app drawer. If a launcher is slow then it’s a deal breaker for me and an uninstall immediately. Apex offers many custom options to fine tune your Android homescreen exactly the way you want. Some of the features include:
- 9 homescreens
- infinite and elastic scrolling
- many fancy transition effects
- folders in different styles
- Drawer apps sorting (title, install date, mostly used)
- hide apps from drawer
- homescreen gestures
- resize widgets
These are only some of the options in the free app with many more available. Another great feature is the ability to backup both your Apex setting and your homescreen options. This is a must if you usually change ROMs or switching to a new phone or tablet. The free version gets you pretty far and you might not need anymore. But if you are a control freak and want to get even more control than there is a paid version with more options. You will get additional drawer tabs, transition effects, merge folders, two finger gestures, and more. Another benefit of the paid aspect is the ability to use themes from other home launchers like ADW, LauncherPro, and Go Launcher. This might be important if you’re coming from another launcher and want to use the same theme.
Overall Apex is a great home launcher with plenty of options in the free version and probably enough for a beginner. There is even more control in the paid app for Android experts and home launcher junkies. The beauty of a home launcher is that you can easily uninstall it like any other app if you don’t like it so you have nothing to lose. Give Apex Launcher a try and customize your home screen experience.
Download Apex Launcher
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