How to Change the Home Screen Launcher on an Android Device (Video)
As part of my new series on getting the most out of customizing your Android device, I figure a big one is changing the Android Launcher (aka the home screen). The easiest way to think of this is that, essentially, the home screen is its own app. Unlike your normal apps that are called by tapping on their icon, the home screen all, called a “launcher”, is called every time you hit the home button. It even stores itself in memory in some cases, ready for when you need it again (which is a lot).
And as with most apps running on Android (we’ll get more into that later in the series), the launcher can be replaced, nay, supplanted, with a better, faster launcher and there are no shortage of alternatives. Simply typing “launcher” into the Play Store will return a ton of results, each with their own customization options, benefits, and themes. Oh, and don’t think these are being used by a minority of people. Some of these launchers have over 100 million downloads, and most have over 1 million.
Ready to give one a try? Here’s how.
I. Download a New Launcher
1. Open the Play Store.
2. Search for “launcher”.
3. Choose one of the launchers you’d like to try and install it.
II. Test Out the New Launcher
1. Tap the home button.
2. When prompted, tap the new launcher’s name from the list and hit Just Once.
3. Try it out and every time you hit the home button tap Just Once.
III. Replace the Default Home Screen with the New Launcher
1. Tap the home button.
2. When prompted, tap the new launcher’s name from the list and hit Always.
3. Now, every time you hit home, it’ll open the new launcher instead of the old one (you can uninstall the new launcher the same way you do any other app and then you’re original launcher will become the default again).
Before reading this, did you even know about custom launchers? After trying this, what’s your favorite launcher so far?
Head to our Android How To’s section and pick your device for more how to’s for that device.
