I was a Nova Launcher user for many many years, but then Microsoft Launcher came with basically the same features as Nove and a few new killer features, so I moved to it.

But today I woke my phone up and everything was gone. My screens, widgets, folders… And even if I wanted to set everything up again, I can’t because Microsoft Launcher won’t start.

So… yeah, fun times. Won’t be using Microsoft Launcher ever again, even if they fix it.

What are you guys using? And what killer features does you launcher of preference have that make you use it?

  • AvailableFill74
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    1 year ago

    Pixel launcher. It’s sufficient, but lawnchair works too if you require more customization.

    • Cosmic FrogOP
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      1 year ago

      The one thing that made me not use the Pixel launcher is that you can only add screens to the right. Even if you disable that stream of clickbait trash they want you to have on the left of your homescreen.

      • kevincox
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        1 year ago

        What’s the difference between adding a screen to the left and right? Last I recall the Pixel launcher remembers the last used screen so there is nothing really special about the leftmost one.

        • Cosmic FrogOP
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          1 year ago

          The thing is that I use a bunch of screens, so I want to have some stuff at the left, some at the right.

        • Cosmic FrogOP
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          1 year ago

          The thing is that I use a bunch of screens, so I want to have some stuff at the left, some at the right.

          • kevincox
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            1 year ago

            But how is having 0 1 2 with 1 being your main screen different than -1 0 1 with 0 being your main screen?

            • Cosmic FrogOP
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              1 year ago

              I get what you say, but the main screen is the main screen. When I tap the home button, it goes to the main screen. On the Pixel Launcher it would take me to the leftmost screen.

              I guess I’m just used to using my phone like that, I’ve had mostly the same set-up for about a decade. I could get used to something else, but I use a ton of widgets all the time, so I like being able to move fast from the main screen to a certain set of widgets. That’s what I liked about the Microsoft Launcher, it had a scrollable screen where you could have any number of widgets on a single screen. I wish other launchers had that too.

              • kevincox
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                1 year ago

                When I tap the home button, it goes to the main screen

                Ah, that’s the difference. This isn’t the case for me. When I hit the home button it goes to the last-used screen. There doesn’t seem to be the concept of “main screen” other than a boot up.

              • kevincox
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                1 year ago

                When I tap the home button, it goes to the main screen

                Ah, that’s the difference. This isn’t the case for me. When I hit the home button it goes to the last-used screen. There doesn’t seem to be the concept of “main screen” other than a boot up.

  • sajran
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    1 year ago

    Niagara Launcher literally changed the way I use my phone. I can’t recommend it enough.

  • Idefinitelydonotknow@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I use Niagara launcher. It is fantastic if you want to get to anything with just one hand, but it is unusable if you do use a lot of widgets. Have been using this for almost a year now, this is the way to go!

    • Cosmic FrogOP
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      1 year ago

      I finally ended up going back to Nova too. There’s only one feature I’m missing from Microsoft Launcher, the feature that made me move from Nova to it in the first place, the scrollable wall of widgets. But I guess I’ll have to live without it.

      • ladnopivo
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        1 year ago

        Maybe you can simulate something like that , but horizontally, using multiple screens in Nova. I’m not kind of a “widget guy”, but I’m curious. Can you tell me which widgets you were using? I would like to try.

        • Cosmic FrogOP
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          1 year ago

          I love widgets! Ugly as they are, I love to have a bunch of info at a glance, and most act like shortcuts too. I’m still rebuilding since everything got deleted, but from memory, I got widgets for gmail, whatsapp, todoist, keep, a few music and podcast players, tv time (a tv show episode tracker), toggl, feedly, and something google made called action blocks that let you make button widgets that run predefined actions with google assistant. And I’m sure I’m forgetting at least a handful.

  • tom42@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    If you are open for something very goid but a little different take a look at the fabulous Niagara Launcher.

  • Go-On-A-Steam-Train
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    1 year ago

    I quite like oLauncher, it took a lot of letting go because it is incredibly minimalist - the trade off is speed! :) Very fast, and I’m convinced it means I use my phone more mindfully.

  • sajran
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    1 year ago

    Niagara Launcher literally changed the way I use my phone. I can’t recommend it enough.