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I really appreciate how Android made the “graphical shell” a user-replaceable component of the OS. Back in the day, I used Nova Launcher and an icon pack to co

I really appreciate how Android made the “graphical shell” a user-replaceable component of the OS. Back in the day, I used Nova Launcher and an icon pack to completely re-theme my home screen. I felt so cool. I encourage anyone curious to take a look at the following subreddit for some neat themes that users have created for themselves over the years using custom launchers: https://www.reddit.com/r/androidthemes/top/?t=all https://www.reddit.com/r/androidthemes/top/?t=all

whycome 3y ago
On iOS, the thing I miss most is Nova. Replacing icons with images of your choice. Changing the swipe transition. Icon organization. Removing text.
- satvikpendem 3y ago
  You can still replace icons with custom images on iOS, it is much more of a hassle however: https://www.theverge.com/22529978/apple-iphone-ios-apps-icon-change https://www.theverge.com/22529978/apple-iphone-ios-apps-icon...
- zmk5 3y ago
  Honestly it's the one thing I don't miss about Android. I always felt compelled to tinker with things a lot more than I should've.
  - sjwhevvvvvsj 3y ago
    Yeah, and equal time spent futzing with your launcher is better spent tinkering with a raspberry pi or similar. At least then you may develop a skill. Android customization is sort of like junk food - enjoyable in the moment, but not meaningfully improving your life.
    - Iulioh 3y ago
      I really disagree. I use my phone more than any other device and having it be "beautiful" is an important part of my user experience At this point any decoration in real life is useless because not productive
    - AbraKdabra 3y ago
      > Android customization is sort of like junk food - enjoyable in the moment, but not meaningfully improving your life. Hard disagree. I assume you have some technical background, that's why you consider it not meaningful. Go speak to someone that knows nothing about it, which is the majority of the people I assume, I'm pretty sure they learn a lot in the way.
    - garciansmith 3y ago
      I don't get it, how is it different from customizing any other OS, except that Android has many more options to do so than the very-limited iOS? You spend countless hours on your phone, why wouldn't you sit down for an hour to make it suit your needs better if the defaults bother you? I tweaked Nova Launcher on mine, spent an hour or two doing that, what, 8 years ago now? Definitely worth the time. I very much hate the default Android and iOS experiences. I guess the downside is that making my phone more usable means, well, I actually use it more (i.e., too much).
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - mrandish 3y ago
      That may be true for purely decorative skinning for some people (although personally I enjoy using interfaces more when they have excellent visual design, iconography, layout and consistency). However interface customization can go far beyond aesthetic visuals to adding functions, default behaviors and time-saving shortcuts, improving interface hierarchy and surfacing frequently used options. Another key area is speeding up navigation by hiding unused things and increasing legibility with better UI density and typography. I find these kinds of customizations do meaningfully improve usage efficiency and utility, making a real difference on devices I use constantly. For instance, taking control of my phone's three physical buttons with custom double-press and long-press actions that are contextual is so useful I can't imagine using a phone without it. I've also added a custom contextual action to double-tapping the back of my phone that I use constantly. This uses the phone's accelerometer and, surprisingly, works perfectly with no false positives. I use my phone a lot for reading e-books, controlling home automation, photography and other use cases where I'm switching between portrait and landscape modes frequently. Customizing automatic screen rotation to be per app, by time of day and even by location is another one of those seemingly little things that's just so nice in constant daily usage. Some people argue all these things should just be built-in to phones and "it's a bug" the designers didn't just set-up everything "correctly" in the first place. But the reality is people have different innate preferences about some kinds of usage modes and defaults. For example, I'm highly spatial vs my wife who's very sequential. She prefers contextually adaptive "smart" interfaces that change to list the most likely options first. She can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want that. However, my brain expects stuff to be in the same place it was last time and it throws me when things keep moving around. I think this is more than just a preference or learned behavior, it's an innate trait like handedness. While people can force themselves to adapt across this divide, it will always be uncomfortable and slower. Then there there is the current UX design obsession with "simplifying" interfaces by removing features, reducing density and increasing the remaining spacing and typography sizes to the point of, IMHO, insanity. This is another reason when it comes to devices I'll use constantly, I consciously choose those I can significantly customize and adapt (eg Android, Windows, Linux, Firefox, etc). Of course, I don't customize every use case. What matters is having the option to do so for those usages which make a meaningful difference to me.
jwells89 3y ago
Do you have any recommendations for launchers to check out? I don’t daily drive Android but keep a couple devices on that side of the fence around for dev purposes and have been underwhelmed with the options I’ve tried so far. I was expecting something more like the old Windows alternative shells (which could differ radically from Explorer) but third party Android launchers don’t seem all that different from what devices come with and overall kind of samey, either being app grids or lists.
- alisonatwork 3y ago
  I spent a long time after Windows Phone died trying to find an Android launcher that felt as clean and intuitive, and I failed. Microsoft did, however, release their own launcher which for me has proven to be the least sucking of the closed source options. I don't use any of the social features or other widgets, but I do clean everything off the home screen (including the dock) and just have a handful of large icons clustered along the sides where they are easy for me to reach. Combine with a nice icon pack and you can get a pretty minimal desktop. Swipe to get to the app drawer. It's still fundamentally a grid, though.
  - yaky 3y ago
    The closest launcher (that I know of) to Windows Phone UI is Square Home [0]. I used it for a long time, years ago, and is one of the few apps I actually paid for. 0: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ss.squarehome2 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ss.squareh...
    - alisonatwork 3y ago
      This is terrific. I just installed and within about 10 minutes had the home screen and drawer set up exactly how I like. The only thing I'm missing from Microsoft Launcher is the combo clock/date/weather widget.
    - floren 3y ago
      I loved Square but I eventually started getting a bizarre problem where it... wouldn't register my taps, until I swiped up from the bottom of the screen ("home" gesture) and then it would open whatever I'd been ineffectually hitting.

whycome 3y ago

On iOS, the thing I miss most is Nova. Replacing icons with images of your choice. Changing the swipe transition. Icon organization. Removing text.

satvikpendem 3y ago
You can still replace icons with custom images on iOS, it is much more of a hassle however: https://www.theverge.com/22529978/apple-iphone-ios-apps-icon-change https://www.theverge.com/22529978/apple-iphone-ios-apps-icon...
zmk5 3y ago
Honestly it's the one thing I don't miss about Android. I always felt compelled to tinker with things a lot more than I should've.
- sjwhevvvvvsj 3y ago
  Yeah, and equal time spent futzing with your launcher is better spent tinkering with a raspberry pi or similar. At least then you may develop a skill. Android customization is sort of like junk food - enjoyable in the moment, but not meaningfully improving your life.
  - Iulioh 3y ago
    I really disagree. I use my phone more than any other device and having it be "beautiful" is an important part of my user experience At this point any decoration in real life is useless because not productive
  - AbraKdabra 3y ago
    > Android customization is sort of like junk food - enjoyable in the moment, but not meaningfully improving your life. Hard disagree. I assume you have some technical background, that's why you consider it not meaningful. Go speak to someone that knows nothing about it, which is the majority of the people I assume, I'm pretty sure they learn a lot in the way.
  - garciansmith 3y ago
    I don't get it, how is it different from customizing any other OS, except that Android has many more options to do so than the very-limited iOS? You spend countless hours on your phone, why wouldn't you sit down for an hour to make it suit your needs better if the defaults bother you? I tweaked Nova Launcher on mine, spent an hour or two doing that, what, 8 years ago now? Definitely worth the time. I very much hate the default Android and iOS experiences. I guess the downside is that making my phone more usable means, well, I actually use it more (i.e., too much).
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - mrandish 3y ago
    That may be true for purely decorative skinning for some people (although personally I enjoy using interfaces more when they have excellent visual design, iconography, layout and consistency). However interface customization can go far beyond aesthetic visuals to adding functions, default behaviors and time-saving shortcuts, improving interface hierarchy and surfacing frequently used options. Another key area is speeding up navigation by hiding unused things and increasing legibility with better UI density and typography. I find these kinds of customizations do meaningfully improve usage efficiency and utility, making a real difference on devices I use constantly. For instance, taking control of my phone's three physical buttons with custom double-press and long-press actions that are contextual is so useful I can't imagine using a phone without it. I've also added a custom contextual action to double-tapping the back of my phone that I use constantly. This uses the phone's accelerometer and, surprisingly, works perfectly with no false positives. I use my phone a lot for reading e-books, controlling home automation, photography and other use cases where I'm switching between portrait and landscape modes frequently. Customizing automatic screen rotation to be per app, by time of day and even by location is another one of those seemingly little things that's just so nice in constant daily usage. Some people argue all these things should just be built-in to phones and "it's a bug" the designers didn't just set-up everything "correctly" in the first place. But the reality is people have different innate preferences about some kinds of usage modes and defaults. For example, I'm highly spatial vs my wife who's very sequential. She prefers contextually adaptive "smart" interfaces that change to list the most likely options first. She can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want that. However, my brain expects stuff to be in the same place it was last time and it throws me when things keep moving around. I think this is more than just a preference or learned behavior, it's an innate trait like handedness. While people can force themselves to adapt across this divide, it will always be uncomfortable and slower. Then there there is the current UX design obsession with "simplifying" interfaces by removing features, reducing density and increasing the remaining spacing and typography sizes to the point of, IMHO, insanity. This is another reason when it comes to devices I'll use constantly, I consciously choose those I can significantly customize and adapt (eg Android, Windows, Linux, Firefox, etc). Of course, I don't customize every use case. What matters is having the option to do so for those usages which make a meaningful difference to me.

jwells89 3y ago

Do you have any recommendations for launchers to check out? I don’t daily drive Android but keep a couple devices on that side of the fence around for dev purposes and have been underwhelmed with the options I’ve tried so far. I was expecting something more like the old Windows alternative shells (which could differ radically from Explorer) but third party Android launchers don’t seem all that different from what devices come with and overall kind of samey, either being app grids or lists.

alisonatwork 3y ago
I spent a long time after Windows Phone died trying to find an Android launcher that felt as clean and intuitive, and I failed. Microsoft did, however, release their own launcher which for me has proven to be the least sucking of the closed source options. I don't use any of the social features or other widgets, but I do clean everything off the home screen (including the dock) and just have a handful of large icons clustered along the sides where they are easy for me to reach. Combine with a nice icon pack and you can get a pretty minimal desktop. Swipe to get to the app drawer. It's still fundamentally a grid, though.
- yaky 3y ago
  The closest launcher (that I know of) to Windows Phone UI is Square Home [0]. I used it for a long time, years ago, and is one of the few apps I actually paid for. 0: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ss.squarehome2 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ss.squareh...
  - alisonatwork 3y ago
    This is terrific. I just installed and within about 10 minutes had the home screen and drawer set up exactly how I like. The only thing I'm missing from Microsoft Launcher is the combo clock/date/weather widget.
  - floren 3y ago
    I loved Square but I eventually started getting a bizarre problem where it... wouldn't register my taps, until I swiped up from the bottom of the screen ("home" gesture) and then it would open whatever I'd been ineffectually hitting.