These are the Best Android Launchers: Nova, Lawnchair, Niagara, and more!

Android is one of the most customizable OS’s considering all the various limitations imposed on its mobile counterpart, iOS. You don’t need to root your Android device or flash a custom recovery and ROM to spice up your home screen. If you’re majorly concerned about the pre-installed custom UI’s homescreen layout from your device maker and wish to change its look, all you need is to download one of the best Android launchers.

Android launchers provide an easy way for you to change the look of your Android smartphones in a cinch – avoiding all the technical side of things. Need something near to stock Android? There’s a launcher for it. Something minimal? Very customizable? There’s an Android launcher for that. If you’ve just grabbed a new device and want to add more aesthetics to your device or are just bored with your current homescreen, you can pick one of these Android launchers. Even if you have one of the best Android phones out there, there’s always a chance to soup things up without much overhead.

For new smartphone owners, be sure to check out our comprehensive list of the best Android apps, which includes apps in various categories from social media, music, to dating, to podcasting apps.

Here is our list of the best Android launchers that you can install today to change your device’s homescreen layout in just seconds!

Nova Launcher

Nova has become synonymous with the best Android launchers for quite some time. It’s heavily customizable, letting you change different things from app icon style, icon size, app drawer, and much more. Add in support for icon and theme packs, and you open up a whole new world of customization possibilities. Nova is light and fast as well despite its wide array of customization options.

The premium version gives you even more ways to customize the launcher to your preferred look and feel. It’s also one of the most supported Android launchers, with new versions coming out fast, and there’s a vibrant customization community. Also, you can back up your customization settings for an easy restoration when you switch phones or reset your Android device.

Nova Launcher (Free, Google Play) →

Lawnchair 2

If you fancy minimal Android launchers, you should go for Lawnchair 2. The UI is clean and sleek much like Google’s Pixel launcher. Lawnchair 2 features icon pack support, which allows you to use other custom icon packs of your choosing.

It also supports adaptive icons, adjustable icon sizes, and, most importantly, is an easy Android launcher to customize. Lawnchair 2 is entirely free and is a go-to app if you’re looking for a Pixel launcher-like UI but with customization options for the homescreen.

Lawnchair 2 (Free, Google Play) →

Niagara Launcher

Niagara is a new launcher, but its novel approach has made it climb the ranks to become one of the best Android launchers. Niagara sports a modern minimal UI, sleek animations and is very clean. You choose your favorite apps that will reside on the homescreen and navigate to any other hidden app by tapping the vertical alphabet-style navigation menu. Notifications from your favorite apps are integrated into the launcher allowing you to reply without opening an app.

Niagara is customizable, but your options are limited given its minimalistic nature. It supports widgets, embedded notifications, gestures, and a couple of options to customize the look and feel of the launcher. Most extras like calendar and weather widgets, advanced customization options, pop-up widgets are locked away behind a paywall. To balance it out, Niagara is totally ad-free.

Niagara Launcher fresh & clean (Free⁺, Google Play) →

AIO Launcher

AIO Launcher does things differently than typical Android launchers. Most notably, instead of a standard homescreen, it features an information-packed layout in one screen. It includes several categories covering everything from your frequent apps, notifications, dialer, mailbox, a control panel, and other helpful information. All your apps are just a swipe away – you can swipe forward or back.

You tap the button to launch an app. Atop the list is a system information section. A search button resides on the bottom left, with which you can search other apps, contacts, and even information on the internet. Holding the search button opens settings, and swiping it will open the quick launch menu. The premium version unlocks Android widget support, themes and UI tuner, icon packs, custom font size, to name a few.

AIO Launcher (Free⁺, Google Play) →

Microsoft Launcher

This launcher is majorly focused on productivity which makes it a commoner in the list of best Android launchers. Swipe left, and you find a smart card composed of several sections, including tasks, sticky notes, a calendar, frequently used apps, screen time usage, and recent activities.

The smart card can be a handy way to keep up with your latest tasks if you’re into the Microsoft ecosystem. You can also modify to add or remove widgets. Customization is also available on the launcher, with options to customize your homescreen, gestures, app drawer, icon shape, visibility of the status bar, to name a few.

Microsoft Launcher (Free, Google Play) →

Smart Launcher

Smart Launcher sports a sorted app folder that categorizes all your apps into six major categories, communication, internet, games, media, utilities, and settings. This categorization, plus the available search button atop every section, makes it easy to search for apps.

It also has a so-called smart search bar at the bottom of the homescreen that offers a one-stop-shop to search your contacts, apps, the web, and even Google Play apps. Smart Launcher provides several customization options from font styles, themes, icon appearance, colors, and more.

The premium version includes the ability to customize app categories, an ultra-immersive mode, multiple home page widgets, custom icon sorting, and pop-up widgets.

Smart Launcher 5 (Free⁺, Google Play) →

Poco Launcher

Poco Launcher from Xiaomi includes a slightly customizable homescreen. The launcher thrives for its effortless yet familiar UI. It consists of an app drawer that’s just a swipe away, and you can easily find apps by swiping through the different categories. Poco Launcher allows you to customize the background, app transparency, icon size, app drawer, and manage app categories.

It does support icon packs, so you can use custom icons if you prefer those over Xiaomi’s icon style. Poco Launcher is free to download and is ad-free.

POCO Launcher 2.0 - Customize, Fresh & Clean (Free, Google Play) →

BIG Launcher

BIG Launcher is a simple to use android launcher for seniors. Icons are large and have distinctive colors that ensure it’s easier to differentiate between a handful of apps featured on the grid-style homescreen. It also prioritizes essential apps for seniors, including the dialer app, messages, gallery, camera, and an SOS button. There’s a button that takes you to the app drawer as well.

The heavily contrasty homescreen is also ideal for users with eyesight issues. BIG Launcher offers a handful of customization options, including text size, full-screen display, navigation bar, safe borders size, and others. It keeps it simple, so it doesn’t get overwhelming for the elderly. A one-time fee unlocks additional ways to customize the launcher.

BIG Launcher (Free⁺, Google Play) →

Launcher iOS 14

If you want your Android to mimic iOS 14’s UI, this launcher will help you. Launcher iOS 14 features an iOS 14-esque design from the lock screen to the control center, animations, wallpapers, and widgets. You can hide apps and customize several aspects of the layout, similar to what is available on OS 14 to some extent.

Launcher iOS 14 (Free, Google Play) →

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Customizing your Android homescreen is a no-brainer with the best Android launchers. Want a minimalist launcher? Try Niagara, something that mimics iOS 14? Go for Launcher for iOS 14. BIG launcher is excellent for the elderly, and Lawnchair 2 gives you a Pixel launcher-like experience. Microsoft Launcher is your go-to for productivity and Nova is for those looking for a heavily customizable Android launcher. Niagara is for those seeking a whole new experience. While you’re freshening things up, do check out the best wallpaper apps for Android too.

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Your Fitbit may soon tell you if you snore too loudly

The Fitbit app, the companion app that shows data collected from your Fitbit tracker or smartwatch, will soon gain two new features to provide new insights into your sleeping habits.

In the latest version of the Fitbit app for Android, 9to5Google found evidence for some new sleep-related features that Fitbit is working on. The first is the Snore & Noise Detect feature, which will use the on-device microphone of your Fitbit device to analyze snores and noise levels during sleep. Once you have fallen asleep, Fitbit will turn on the microphone on your device and start listening for snores and other noises. Rather than continuously recording through the night, Fitbit will collect recording samples every few seconds.

 

How does Snore & Noise Detect work?

During sleep, the microphone on your Fitbit device can monitor noise, including snores from you or someone next to you. Throughout the night, we look for:

• Sound intensity: We analyze noise level (how loud or quiet it is) to determine the baseline noise level.
• Snoring events: We look for snore-specific noises. When our algorithm detects an event that’s louder than the baseline noise level, it performs a calculation to decide if it’s snoring or something else. If the noise level in your room is louder than the snoring, this feature may not be able to pick up the snoring.

The Fitbit app will then show how much time you spent snoring during your sleep. None to mild indicates you snored for less than 10% of your total sleep, while “Frequent” means you were snoring more than 40% of the time you were asleep.

Fitbit will also be able to analyze the overall noise level in your bedroom, including snoring and other ambient noise. Since the feature will likely draw significant power, Fitbit recommends charging your tracker or smartwatch to at least 40% before going to bed. The “Snore & Noise Detect” feature hasn’t started rolling out widely yet.

The second feature that Fitbit is working on is “Your sleep animal.” The feature is still very much a work in progress at this stage, but it contains various profiles such Restless Sleeper, Segmented Sleeper, Shallow Sleeper, Short, Sleeper, Slow to Fall Asleep Sleeper, Solid Slpeeer, The Bear, The Dolphin, The Giraffe, The Hummingbird, The Kangaroo, and The Tortoise.

Fitbit (Free⁺, Google Play) →

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Looking for Google Photos alternatives? You probably shouldn’t

In November last year, Google announced that it would no longer offer unlimited free storage for “high quality” photos on Google Photos starting June 1, 2021. Since the deadline is tomorrow, a lot of you may be on the lookout for a Google Photos alternative. But is there any service out there that offers a similar (or better) cloud storage plan for your precious memories, or should you just pay for Google Photos? That’s exactly what we’re going to find out.

Google Photos is much more than just a cloud storage service for your photos and videos. It packs a ton of useful features that let you easily search through your images, automatically create memories, edit photos and videos, and so much more. That makes finding a good Google Photos alternative almost impossible. But if you don’t care for these features and want a service that lets you backup your media online, there are a few options.

Google Photos alternatives for cloud storage

1. Amazon Photos

Amazon Photos is the best Google Photos alternative for you if you’re an existing Amazon Prime member. It offers unlimited full-resolution photo storage for Prime members and 5GB storage for videos, while non-Prime users get a total of 5GB of free storage. Along with that, Amazon Photos lets you share your unlimited storage with up to five family members, offers a powerful search feature to help you quickly look up photos, and it also packs some editing features. Since Amazon Photos comes bundled with an Amazon Prime membership, it offers incredible value as a lot of people pick up Prime for the shopping benefits anyway. But if you don’t have a Prime membership, it’ll cost you $20/year for 100GB of storage. Given that a Google One subscription for 100GB of storage also costs $20 annually, it makes little sense to move away from Google Photos if you’re not already a Prime member.

For those who really can’t do without unlimited storage, though, getting an Amazon Prime membership isn’t a bad deal. It costs $119 (plus taxes) annually and comes with a boatload of other services like shipping benefits, Amazon Drive, Amazon Music, Prime Gaming, Prime Video, Prime Reading, etc. In comparison, $100/year on Google One will get you 2TB of storage that you can share with up to six family members, 24/7 priority customer support, a 10% cashback in the Google Store, and a VPN for your Android phone.

Amazon Photos

Amazon Photos is the best Google Photos alternative for existing Prime members. It offers unlimited full resolution photo storage and 5GB of video storage.

Features:

Pros: Cons:

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2. Microsoft OneDrive

Just like Amazon Prime is a decent Google Photos alternative for existing Prime members, Microsoft’s OneDrive is a good cloud storage solution for your photos and videos if you’re an existing Microsoft 365 subscriber. Much like Google Photos, OneDrive is available across most platforms, and it can automatically sync photos from your phone to the cloud. While it isn’t as feature-rich as Google Photos, it does offer a gallery view to help you easily search for photos, and it can automatically tag pictures based on their content.

As far as OneDrive’s storage limit is concerned, it offers 1TB of storage to existing Microsoft 365 members. If you don’t have a membership, though, OneDrive’s pricing is at par with Google Photos. Although free accounts get only 5GB of storage, you can purchase an additional 100GB for just $2/month or $24/year. However, that will not get you any of the perks included in the Microsoft 365 plan. For the Microsoft 365 Personal plan, you’ll need to shell out $69.99 annually for 1TB of storage, access to Microsoft’s Office apps, Skype, advanced security features, and other productivity tools. If you already use these Microsoft services, this plan offers better value than Google’s $100/year 2TB plan. Otherwise, you’d be better off paying for a Google One subscription.

Microsoft OneDrive

If you are an existing Microsoft 365 subscriber, then OneDrive is the best Google Photos alternative for you. While it is not as feature-rich as Google Photos, it gives you access to a host of other Microsoft services.

Features:

Pros: Cons:

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3. Apple Photos

Apple Photos is undoubtedly the best Google Photos alternative for iOS and macOS users. The service offers 5GB of free storage for all users, and its paid plans are priced at par with Google’s offerings. You can get 50GB of iCloud storage for 0.99$ a month, 200GB for $2.99 a month, and 2TB for $9.99 a month. Much like Google Photos and Amazon Photos, it syncs all your media across Apple devices in an instant and keeps them secure.

On the downside, Apple Photos doesn’t offer a client for Windows or Android devices. So, if you don’t have a good iPhone or Mac, you’re straight out of luck. As far as features are concerned, Apple Photos offers pretty much all the features you’d find on Google Photos. It offers an AI-powered search feature, powerful editing tools, a feature called Memories that automatically creates galleries based on your activities, and more.

Apple Photos

Apple Photos is the most viable Google Photos alternative for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users. It's priced competitively, offers a ton of useful features, and syncs your photos across all devices.

Features:

Pros: Cons:

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4. Dropbox

Dropbox is another useful cloud storage solution that you can use as a Google Photos alternative to backup your media. While it isn’t specifically meant for photo storage, it offers a few useful features that will help you keep your backups organized. The service offers automatic backups for photos, videos, and screenshots, a document scanner, a dedicated section in the mobile app to browse through media, and comprehensive access controls for any media you share with others. On top of that, a paid plan will get you access to Dropbox Transfers to share large files, Dropbox Passwords to securely store your passwords, and a Vault feature to store sensitive files.

Sadly, Dropbox’s free plan only offers 2GB of storage. So it isn’t a good deal if you’re not willing to pay for storage space. Even if you are willing to pay, Dropbox’s plans are a bit more expensive than Google’s. Its 2TB Individual Plus plan is priced at $120, which gives you single-user access to all of the services mentioned above. If you want to share your cloud storage with family members, you’ll have to shell out slightly over $200 for 2TB of storage. The Family plan will let you add up to 6 users and give you access to all of the features mentioned above. In comparison, Google One’s 2TB plan is $20 cheaper, and it lets you share your storage space with five others from the get-go.

Dropbox

Dropbox is another great cloud storage alternative to Google Photos. While it isn't specifically meant for photos, it offers a host of useful features that can help you keep your collection organized.

Features:

Pros: Cons:

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5. Flickr

If none of the services mentioned above fit the bill, you can also use Flickr as a Google Photos alternative. The image and video hosting platform will let you store up to 1000 images and videos at no cost, but its free tier is supported by ads. While you can get rid of the ads and get unlimited storage space by subscribing to Flickr PRO, it’ll set you back $6.99/month or $59.99/year. For that amount, you’ll get unlimited full-resolution storage for your photos and videos, advanced stats to see which of your photos are trending, ad-free browsing and sharing, a desktop uploader for automatic backups, and more.

The service automatically arranges all photos you upload in a social feed, making it easy for you to find your images on the platform. However, it lacks all the AI-based features you get with Google Photos. Another downside of using Flickr as a cloud storage solution is that it isn’t designed to help you store your entire image library. It’s meant to be a social media platform for photographers. Therefore, I wouldn’t recommend uploading private images or videos to the platform, even though it gives you an option to hide them from other users.

Flickr

Image and video hosting platform Flickr can also be used as a Google Photos alternative and it's quite affordable. But it lacks all the AI-based features you'd find on Google Photos and it isn't suitable for private photos or videos.

Features:

Pros: Cons:

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Should you just pay for Google Photos?

As you might have realized while reading about the services mentioned above, there’s no such thing as a perfect Google Photos alternative. While some of these services come close to offering what you get with Google Photos, all of them lack one or more crucial features. On top of that, you won’t save much if you choose to switch to a different service unless you have an existing Amazon Prime, Microsoft 365, or Dropbox subscription. So it would make little sense for you to download all of your photos and videos from Google Photos and then upload them to the new service. That exercise, in itself, might cost you more than a Google One subscription if you don’t have an unlimited internet plan.

Google One

Google One is the subscription service from Google that offers benefits such as Google Photos access and storage, increased storage across other Google services, expert support, and more.

Features:

Pros: Cons:

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If you rely on other Google services like Gmail or Google Drive, purchasing a Google One plan is more beneficial. That’s because any additional storage you purchase will be used for these services as well. If you’re still not convinced and you really don’t want to give Google any more of your hard-earned money, you can go with Amazon Photos or Apple Photos, depending on the devices you have. For those who have an Apple device, Apple Photos is an absolute no-brainer. But for those who don’t, an Amazon Prime membership will offer the most value for your money.

Lastly, if you don’t want to depend on a third-party service for your media backup, you can look into a Network Attached Storage (NAS) solution. Taking this route will involve a significant upfront cost and require some technical know-how, but it’ll turn out to be much cheaper in the long run.

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Is the Samsung Galaxy A52 waterproof?

Samsung launched the Samsung Galaxy A52 series in a separate Galaxy Unpacked event in March, together with the Galaxy A72. Samsung’s Galaxy A series smartphones are the company’s central budget lineups that help stave off competition from fierce Chinese smartphone companies. While the Galaxy A series continues to target the budget and mid-range segments of the smartphone market, Samsung slowly trickles down some of its premium features to sweeten its cheaper offerings.

The Samsung Galaxy A52 4G and A52 5G both came to the scene with exciting features delivering improvements on several fronts, including the display, camera, and more, as detailed in our Galaxy A52 review. But reviews can be lengthy, and you may just want to know if the Galaxy A52 4G or A52 5G is waterproof or not.

Is Samsung’s Galaxy A52 Waterproof?

Yes, Samsung Galaxy A52 has an official IP67-rating for dust and water resistance. Its predecessor, the Galaxy A51, did not have enough protection to bag an official IP rating and thus was not waterproof according to the company’s standards.  But what do IP ratings even mean?

IP Ratings Explained

IP stands for ‘Ingress Protection’. IP refers to the degree of protection a case or enclosure offers to prevent the entry of foreign materials. Simply, when your smartphone has an official IP rating, it means that it provides some degree of protection against entry of external materials like dust and water. The degree of protection is usually denoted by terms like IP66, IP67, IP68, and so forth. These ratings indicate if your smartphone is waterproof. But it doesn’t mean a device is totally waterproof; it’s only to a certain degree specified in lab tests. The higher the number, the better the protection. As such, IP68 is better than IP67.

To get an idea of what the numbers mean, you’ll have to know what each stands for. The first digit after IP denotes resistance against foreign particles like dust, while the second denotes water resistance. For instance, the IP67 rating on the Galaxy A52 spec sheet guarantees your device will be safe if immersed in water up to one meter deep and for up to 30 minutes. It sure doesn’t offer as robust protection as IP68, so you shouldn’t be careless with your device either.

IP rating and Water resistance vs. Waterproof

IP rating, as mentioned above, only offers water resistance capability to a certain extent. However, waterproof, on the other hand, literally means that your device is impervious to water. So, no, the Galaxy A52 isn’t fully waterproof. However, it guarantees water resistance up to one meter deep, and for up to 30 minutes, so you can happily dip the Galaxy A52 into the pool as long as you don’t overdo it.

Samsung Galaxy A524G

Sports a 6.5-inch 1080p AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. It runs on the 8nm Snapdragon 720G paired with up to 8GB of memory and 128GB of internal storage. The A52 is powered by a 4500mAh battery with 25W fast charging support. You get a Quad camera setup and a 32MP selfie camera.

See at Amazon

Is the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G waterproof?

Like its 4G variant, Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is water-resistant thanks to its official IP67-rating. You can also have peace of mind if you go swimming with your Galaxy A52 5G as long as you keep in mind the limitations. Besides that, avoid saltwater or ionized water to be safe.

Samsung Galaxy A52 5G

Features an identical display to the 4G variant but runs the Snapdragon 750 5G for 5G support. It's also water-resistant, sports an identical display, camera setup, and battery to the 4G model.

View on Amazon

Samsung’s Galaxy A52 4G and A52 5G have an official IP67-rating for both dust and water resistance. If you were planning to go swimming in a pool with either, you could do so without having to worry. With the Galaxy A52 waterproof discussion done and dusted, don’t forget to grab some of the best Galaxy A52 cases to offer protection against drops.

If you’re specifically shopping for waterproof smartphones from Samsung, you’ll be glad to know that the Korean OEM has other alternatives under its portfolio. An excellent place to start is Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S series, including the latest Galaxy S21 series. The Galaxy S21 5G, S21+ 5G, and S21 Ultra 5G, some of 2021’s best Android phones, have an official IP68 rating.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note series also has IP68 rated models starting with 2020’s Note 20 5G and Note 20 Ultra 5G. The previous Note 10, Note 10+, Note 10+ 5G, and Note 8 also have an official IP68 rating against dust and water, including the S Pen.

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