Nova Launcher is a home screen replacement app for Android devices. It lets you customize your home screen, app icons, and more so that it looks and acts how you want. The app has plenty of features (most of the best ones are part of the prime version) that not only make your home screen look cool but make it easier to use. Here are six reasons why you should use Nova Launcher if you have an Android phone:
Swipe Actions
Swipe actions make app icons do double duty and help you to de-clutter you home screen. There are several ways to use swipe actions and you can mess around with what works best for you.
- You can place several apps within one app icon and then make them all accessible with a swipe. For example, add all your music apps to a music icon. When you tap on the icon the first app you placed will load. If you swipe up from the icon you will see all other apps if you want one of them.
- Set a certain task within an app icon. You can set an icon to do a certain task when swiped. This is useful for apps that have several similar apps. For example, you can set Google Calendar to open up reminders when swiped. You could place the contacts within the phone dialer. Tap to open the dialer and swipe up to open contacts.
Multiple Tabs in the App Drawer
Android phones have one app drawer with all your apps in one place. With Nova Launcher you can place tabs within the App Drawer to help you organize them for easier access. Separate your apps by theme. You could place all your music apps in one tab, email apps in another, and games in yet a third tab. The tabs can be labeled with a name or with an emoji that tells you what is within the drawer. Now instead of scrolling through all your apps to find what you want, you can jump to the correct tab and find it faster.
Set Shortcuts for Quick Access
Nova launcher lets you set shortcuts for quick access to features on your phone. The app comes with default shortcuts, but you can change them to almost anything you want. The shortcuts are different swipes on the screen with your fingers. They include:
- Pinch up
- Pinch down
- Double tap
- Swipe up
- Swipe down
- Swipe up with two fingers
- Swipe down with two fingers
- Rotate counterclockwise
- Rotate clockwise
Each of these can be set to a certain app or feature on your phone. Set your favorite game, photo gallery, or most used apps to these shortcuts. If you forget what you set for shortcuts just go back to settings and the shortcut menu. It will list the name of the function or app below the shortcut. Before long, you will have it memorized and using this feature without thought.
Add an App to the Home Button
This is just a little feature within Nova Launcher but it’s a nice one to use. Usually the home button has only one function and that is to close out of the app you are using and take you back to home. That’s it. Nova Launcher lets you give that home button another job by placing an app within it. If you tap the home button twice the app will open. If you have an app open and tap the home button once, it will take you to the home screen. Tap it a second time consecutively and it will open the app. When at home, double tap quickly on home button to open the app. Use this feature for your most used app for the quickest and almost instant access to it.
Change App Icons or Make Them Invisible
Google Play Store has 100s of app icon packs that you can download and import into Nova Launcher to give your phone a unique look that fits your personality. Take this one step further and create your own apps for Nova Launcher. You can upload images that you want to use as icons and use them in place of pre-made icon apps. You can even make an app invisible by placing nothing as an icon.
While this makes your phone more fun to look at it, you can also use this feature to make apps more easily accessible. Your eyes recognize apps by the color first before any image. You can make things easier by turning all your music apps blue, your email apps green, and your game apps yellow. Then place them together based on color to make it easier to scroll through to find the one you want.
Hide Apps
There are many apps out there that will hide apps from prying eyes. Nova Launcher has this feature built right in so you won’t need one of those extra apps. Hiding apps is useful for a couple reasons:
- Hide apps you don’t want someone to see. These apps disappear from the home screen and app drawer. The only way for you to open them is to do a search for the specific app you want. If nobody knows you have it then they won’t know to search for it so is safe from prying eyes.
- Get rid of bloatware that you can’t uninstall. Many phones come with apps that you don’t use and can’t get rid of. You can hide them and then they will be out of sight and out of mind. You can set these apps to default state before any updates and turn off updates for them so they don’t take up space unintentionally. Once that is done, go ahead and hide them away with Nova Launcher.
These six tips and tricks for Nova Launcher will help you turn your home screen on your Android phone into one you love. It will fit your needs and personality. It will be easier to access the apps and functions you use the most. And, finally, your home screen will look so cool.
