This free launcher copies Pixel’s greatest function and provides every thing Google will not

I used to be poking round GitHub for Android apps once I got here throughout Default Launcher, and the screenshots made me cease scrolling. It had the sparse house display, clear app drawer, and restrained styling that may make Android look like a Pixel, besides the undertaking web page stored mentioning issues Pixel doesn’t offer you a lot management over, together with icon shapes, folder covers, widget stacks, and native search.

That was sufficient to get it onto my telephone. Pixel Launcher has at all times appealed to me as a result of it stays out of the best way, though a few of its most recognizable items are tied intently to Google, particularly the search expertise sitting on the backside of the house display. Default Launcher takes that very same clear Launcher3 basis in a special path.

It begins easy, however provides you much more management

Stock Android with {the handcuffs} eliminated

Default Launcher isn’t out there by the Play Store, although putting in it doesn’t require constructing something your self. That does put it on the opposite aspect of Android’s increasingly tighter sideloading restrictions, because you’re putting in the app immediately from GitHub somewhat than Google Play. The GitHub releases page offers an everyday DefaultLauncher-release.apk, so you possibly can obtain the APK, set up it, and select Default Launcher when Android asks which Home app you wish to use.

I did hit one snag on my Samsung telephone. Play Protect blocked the APK throughout set up and warned that it may request entry to delicate knowledge, so I quickly paused app scanning to get previous the warning and turned it again on afterward. That sounds ominous, however Default Launcher has options that may optionally search contacts, calendar entries, and information, all of which require entry to private knowledge. The launcher itself is designed to remain offline, and you may go away these search sources disabled when you don’t wish to grant the permissions.

After that, transferring in was painless. Swiping up opens the app drawer, long-pressing the house display brings up widgets and launcher settings, and apps sit on a traditional grid that doesn’t require a tutorial earlier than yow will discover something. Default Launcher is predicated on Launcher3 from Android 16 and makes use of Material 3 all through, so it slots right into a present Android setup with out wanting like a relic from the KitKat period.

Spend a minute within the settings, although, and it turns into clear how a lot additional Default Launcher permits you to push that basis.

The customization goes far past what Pixel provides you

Google would by no means give me this many buttons

The home-screen grid is an effective instance. Rather than handing you a brief menu of predetermined layouts, Default Launcher permits you to select the column rely and works out the rows round it so sq. widgets keep sq.. Separate high and backside padding controls additionally allow you to nudge every thing into place when the grid technically matches however nonetheless appears to be like awkwardly perched on the display.

Icons get nearly the identical stage of management. You can apply an icon pack, change their form and dimension, select how unsupported icons are dealt with, and alter the background used behind formed icons. The form picker consists of circles, squares, arches, and a few cookie-style designs if the usual Android geometry has began boring you.

I particularly like that you simply don’t must make each app obey the identical guidelines. My Samsung telephone can already do some of this through Samsung’s Good Lock, however Default Launcher places particular person icon controls immediately into the launcher. Long-press an icon and the Customize menu permits you to override its look individually, with separate settings for the house display and app drawer. If one historic banking app continues to be dragging round an icon that appears prefer it survived Android Jelly Bean, you possibly can repair that one offender with out redesigning every thing else.

Folders get comparable consideration. You can change their look or use cowl icons so a folder exhibits a clear emoji-style image somewhat than a tiny collage of no matter is inside. Expanded folders may expose a number of apps immediately on the house display, which provides you quicker entry with out scattering icons throughout one other web page.

Widget stacks are one other addition I ended up appreciating. Niagara Launcher is another custom launcher that makes good use of the idea, and Default Launcher takes an analogous method by letting a number of widgets occupy the identical patch of the house display. I can preserve data useful with out giving each widget its personal slab of actual property.

You may spend ages tuning each nook of Default Launcher, however you don’t must. I left loads of settings alone and solely modified the issues that bothered me. That retains the launcher approachable despite the fact that its settings menu goes a lot deeper than Pixel Launcher ever permits you to wander.

Search works with out making Google the owner

This search field has a number of occasion tips

Search is the place Default Launcher makes its largest break from Pixel Launcher.

Apps and shortcuts are searchable instantly, whereas contacts, calendar entries, and information can be part of the outcomes after you grant the permissions they want. The launcher tells you when a supply wants permission as an alternative of leaving you questioning why half your telephone appears invisible.

The search field additionally handles a number of jobs I normally attain for an additional app to do. Type 24*67 and the calculator returns 1608, together with hexadecimal and octal equivalents. Enter 32 inches to cm and also you get 81.28 cm proper there. There’s additionally a timezone software for checking instances elsewhere with out detouring by a browser.

Results could be narrowed utilizing classes corresponding to Apps, Shortcuts, and Tools, which helps as soon as a broad question begins pulling data from a number of locations. Web and AI search buttons sit alongside these native outcomes once you wish to take the question farther.

Those exterior searches aren’t hardwired to Google. You can select which app handles net searches and assign AI searches individually, or let Default Launcher detect an acceptable app routinely. If you’d somewhat use one of many many private search engines instead of Google, you possibly can configure your chosen browser accordingly and let Default Launcher hand the question off to it. The launcher itself stays offline and retains its personal knowledge in your system, whereas on-line queries are dealt with by whichever exterior app you chose.

That setup makes search much more helpful to me than merely changing Google’s emblem with anyone else’s. Default Launcher can nonetheless search my telephone, run calculations, convert items, and floor shortcuts with out turning the launcher itself into one other community service.

I’ll have unintentionally discovered my default

Default Launcher nonetheless comes with a number of compromises. You must sideload it, and relying in your telephone, Play Protect could introduce an additional hurdle earlier than you ever attain the house display. It additionally isn’t making an attempt to clone each Pixel-exclusive flourish Google ships by itself telephones.

What it does protect is the clear Launcher3 basis that makes Pixel Launcher nice to make use of within the first place, then it provides you much more say over how that house display works. I can preserve the simple Android structure I already like, alter the bits that bug me, and use native search with out organizing the entire expertise round Google.