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Launchers for your home screen can make life easier. They replace your home screen with an entirely new one, which you can personalize to your needs and style. You can make your environment more immediately productive or make it more of an artistic experience that is still functional. Launchers let you access your favorite apps with just a few taps, organize your phone’s content, and even get rid of certain features like the app drawer.
What Is a Launcher?
An application launcher determines how shortcuts to apps are displayed and accessed. Launchers usually focus on improving aesthetics and functionality to organize and list apps. In most cases, they boot with the system to become available as soon as the system is launched. Some launchers integrate drawers into their designs to hide app icons, while others improve accessibility by increasing the size or contrast of the icons.
What Kinds of Launchers Are There?
Launchers are most commonly associated with phones, particularly Android phones. Because the Android operating system is open-source, almost everything about the OS can be redesigned or changed. iPhones do have launchers available, but system restrictions limit their functionality on iOS. Launchers for PCs are also available that can redesign the look of Microsoft Windows, such as OneLaunch Chromium. Like iPhones, application launchers for macOS are less common due to similar restrictions.
What Benefits Can a Launcher Provide?
Many app launchers excel at improving accessibility and efficiency by reorganizing how apps are presented to users. In addition, widgets that provide additional functions are often available, such as clocks or news and weather widgets. Many widgets update regularly with new information, to keep you constantly connected to the outside world. Other launchers feel like complete virtual environments as if you turned your system screen into a three-dimensional room that can be explored every time you use your device.
Why You Should Consider a Launcher?
If you wish to access apps faster or make them easier to see, you might consider a launcher a necessity for your system. An application launcher can be designed to address the needs of a particular population, such as seniors with vision problems. Launchers also come in a wide variety of styles, so you can highly personalize the experience of your operating system. Launching new shortcuts, actions, and screens will make your phone look, feel, and behave completely differently, and you can customize that entire experience.
If you first test a launcher that slows down your system or creates too many steps to access apps, you may not have found the right app for your needs. The speed and latency of your system may have a lot to do with the ability of the app to run, especially while other apps are running. If you are not sure if you would enjoy using an app launcher, many are free, so you can test them out and see if they are right for you.
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