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rockitdog

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 25, 2013
2,721
1,238
I'm looking to change up my S4 and make it a bit more customized without flashing a custom rom to it. What are the best launchers out there? I just downloaded apex launcher and am curious as to what the diffrrence between the free and paid version is.
 

Saturn1217

macrumors 65816
Apr 28, 2008
1,273
848
Back when I was choosing between custom launchers (after Launcher Pro was abandoned) I chose Nova launcher over Apex.

The developer is just really good about coming out with updates and I feel like at this point all the features work well, unlike some launchers were more specialized features are not as stable.

That said I haven't tried anything but Nova in ~1 year so things may have changed by now. But if you are looking at custom launchers that give you a stock like experience with a couple additional features I would definitely check it out.
 

mclld

macrumors 68030
Nov 6, 2012
2,636
2,048
I use Nova and the developer will respond to emails, that is very cool. Not sure about the others but Nova is good
 
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Assault

macrumors 6502a
Mar 19, 2013
513
0
in the taint
Nova is probably the most widely used launcher out there. It is a preferred one with many developers who add it into their ROM's.
 

nyc999

macrumors regular
Sep 6, 2011
121
13
another vote for Nova. Very smooth and replaces the ugly touchwiz interface nicely.
 

sarcosis

macrumors 6502a
Apr 25, 2006
591
8
These United States
Nova and Apex is what I use. I paid versions add more transitions and some extra features. It's in the description of the play store for each of the launchers.
 

onthecouchagain

macrumors 604
Mar 29, 2011
7,382
2
This touchwiz is afraid of me.

I have seen its true face. The homescreens are extended gutters and the gutters are full of bloat, and when the drains finally scab over, all the apps will drown.

The accumulated filth will foam up about their waists and all the launchers will look up and shout, "Save us!"

... And I'll look down and whisper... Nova.


Watchmen45.jpg
 

chagla

macrumors 6502a
Mar 21, 2008
797
1,727
smartlauncher.
launcher 8.

very fast and something different from usual row of icons. not that it's bad or anything. give these two a try. as others have mentioned already, NOva and Apex are also excellent choices.
 

rocknblogger

macrumors 68020
Apr 2, 2011
2,346
481
New Jersey
I just discovered Next 3D launcher. Very cool and very smooth. There's a lite version that you can try for 84 hours (yeah weird number) before buying it. Normally I don't like gimmicky stuff but this one is very cool.
 

streetfoldsfive

macrumors 6502
Jul 28, 2012
319
0
This touchwiz is afraid of me.

I have seen its true face. The homescreens are extended gutters and the gutters are full of bloat, and when the drains finally scab over, all the apps will drown.

The accumulated filth will foam up about their waists and all the launchers will look up and shout, "Save us!"

... And I'll look down and whisper... Nova.


Image

This may be one of the greatest posts I have seen on these forums.
 

viskon

macrumors 6502
Oct 20, 2012
464
10
Holo Launcher is also an excellent option. Think of it as Nova launcher without the bells and whistles.
 

MRU

macrumors Penryn
Aug 23, 2005
25,368
8,948
a better place
Can someone explain to a silly old iPhone user what a Launcher is?

Thanks...

The general user interface.

The home screen, layout, animations etc..

A launcher can transform these elements entirely. Different launchers have different feature sets and layouts / abilities.

Basically using a launcher could make your Samsung device with its variation of android called Touchwiz, turn into a user interface that looks and operates like iOS does in many ways.
 

Sounds Good

macrumors 68000
Jul 8, 2007
1,692
57
The general user interface.

The home screen, layout, animations etc..

A launcher can transform these elements entirely. Different launchers have different feature sets and layouts / abilities.

Basically using a launcher could make your Samsung device with its variation of android called Touchwiz, turn into a user interface that looks and operates like iOS does in many ways.
Ahhh, I see. Thank you!
 
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