[kwlug-disc] OT: Android launcher app ?

[Chris Irwin]

On Tue, Feb 17, 2026 at 09:30:41PM -0500, Khalid Baheyeldin wrote:
>
>The Android launcher (i.e. home app) that I have been using for many years
>has gone to the dark side.
>It was Nova Launcher.

I ended up switching to Niagara Launcher.

>I want a basic multi page launcher, i.e. you swipe left or right for more
>icons, and make each page for a category, e.g. utilities, weather,
>astronomy, and so on.

It is not multi-page, instead relying on a few favourite apps pinned in 
a list on your homescreen, and an alphabetical rolodex feature for 
quickly launching apps.

I ended up not liking it initially (because it's different). But after 
giving it another shot trying to embrace the differences, I quickly 
adapted. Now that I don't have various apps sitting on my homescreen 
prompting me to check them, I find I'm using several of them a whole lot 
less, which is generally good. I was probably using my phone a bit too 
much before.

For example, I'd see the unread badge on my feed reader and be prompted 
to check it. Now I'll only check it when I have time and think about it 
first.

Also allowed me to uninstall a bunch of apps that I don't use as often 
as I thought I would (without them being on my homescreen, that is).

>Ideally it would be open source, so it would be on F-droid, and contains no
>anti-features.

It's amazing how hard this is becoming.

Niagara isn't FOSS, but neither was Nova, which is why I brought it up.

-- 
Chris Irwin

email:   chris at chrisirwin.ca
   web: https://chrisirwin.ca