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Default launchers from Google, Samsung, and Motorola have admittedly gotten more feature-rich and pleasing to the eye in recent years. However, they still implement some restrictions to prevent users from straying too far from their signature aesthetics.

For example, you can’t remove the Google Search bar from the Pixel UI home screen. Similarly, you can’t replace the Google News app on the left of the homepage. The same goes for the default launchers of Samsung and Motorola. You’re only allowed to turn off Google’s News app completely and lose that virtual real estate.

If you want to customize the look and feel of your Android phone, there’s no better way than installing a third-party launcher. It changes the design of your home screen and app drawer, while providing additional customization options and features to make the user interface truly yours.

Searching for the perfect launcher can be overwhelming, as developers are great at selling the promise of greater functionality over stock Android launchers. To make your decision easier, I’ve listed seven of the most popular launchers on the Google Play Store and ranked them from my personal worst to best based on their design, smoothness, features, customization, and developer updates.

If you’ve looked into third-party launchers before, chances are you’ve installed Nova Launcher at some point. It was the gold standard for ages. It offered slick animations and consistent feature updates from its developer, all while looking cleaner than other popular apps.

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