How to Change the Launcher on an Android Phone

Sick of the same old look on your phone, but not interested in rooting? Luckily there is an easy, and free, way to change the appearance of your phone. It’s also easy to go back to the phone’s original launcher if you change your mind.

I. What You Need

1. In the Google Play Store search for launcher.

2. You will be presented with a list of various launcher apps, and what these basically do is change the “desktop” of the phone and nothing more, they don’t in any way change the function of the phone.

3. Some of the most popular launcher apps are Go Launcher EX, ADW Launcher and Launcher Pro. They all pretty much do the same thing, it really comes down to a matter of preference. For beginners who are looking for a lot of customization Go Launcher EX is probably the best bet. Those looking for function over appearance will want to stick with ADW or Launcher Pro, although those two certainly give a lot of customization as well. There are free variations for all these apps so it couldn’t hurt just to test out each one and see what works best for you.

4. Once you have chosen the launcher you like install it from the Google Play Store and press open when it is done installing. When you press the home key you will be prompted to choose the downloaded launcher or the phone launcher; make sure to check the box to default to the new launcher when the home key is pressed.

5. The three popular launcher apps from step 3 come with different themes and widgets that you can download from the Google Play Store so there is no limit to the customization on your phone. Your original phone desktop will remain intact, this is basically an extra program running on top of it, but you will not see your original setup with one of these new launchers activated. You will have to play around with placing your widgets and shortcuts again, however, if you uninstall the launcher your phone will go back to the way it was before you installed anything.

II. Removing the Launcher

1. Uninstalling the launcher app is just like uninstalling any other app. The fastest way is to go to settings -> manage apps and uninstall it from there.

2. Any apps, themes or widgets you downloaded along with the launcher app will remain on your phone until you uninstall them separately. The only thing that does not work without the launcher app is the themes.