Does Android still need third-party launchers?
Does Android still need third-party launchers?
First-party Android launchers are finally in a good spot. Do we still need third parties?
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If you want to do something crazy, like not have a search bar on your home screen, then yes.
What does this mean? I don't have a search bar on my home screen, and I'm not using a third-party launcher.
Depends what phone you have - Pixels have a search bar on the home screen by default (not sure if they can be turned off on later models, maybe?)
I haven't used anything other than Nova on my Pixel 7 Pro since I almost immediately realized I couldn't find a way to turn it off in Pixel Launcher. The whole ad campaign that they ran around personalization was a complete joke, feels like an iClone and I hate it.
Agreed - although, just to check you know about Nova being bought out a few months ago by a firm known for data harvesting? If you did and/or are fine with it no worries. If you didn't, it's worth looking into (and sorry to be the bearer of bad news).
I used Nova for years, but have switched to Total - less slick and user friendly to set up, but very customisable, even more than Nova.
Sadly yes, I've been exploring a few alternatives in case it starts looking like a data mining nightmare but nothing so far, maybe I'll give total a shot
That's a pixel problem, not an Android problem.
That's my point.
You may be using the default launcher that came with your phone, but if you don't have the search bar, then it's still a 3rd party launcher. Google's launcher forces an immovable search bar on to your home screen.
-Edit-
It's possible this has changed in the years I've been using an alternate launcher. It's been several years since I switched and never really checked back to see if it was still true.
This made me realize that I have a search bar on my home screen that I literally never use and I do use a third party launcher that it could be turned off. Very funny indeed