Whether you love or loathe Google’s mobile operating platform, one of the great positives of Android is that, since it’s open-source, literally everything can be customized and tweaked to the nth degree.
While the likes of iOS offer little hope to those looking to make a few vanity house changes (unless, of course, you’re jailbroken), Android has quite a few options for you to get your creative game going. Launchers are the most commonly-utilized manner in which Android users personalize the way the screen looks once that Home button is engaged.
Another overt advantage of using these launchers is that, contrary to what might seem, literally anyone can use them, since there’s absolutely no modding or tech-specific steps involved; simply download, install and away you go.
Last week, we brought forth TSF Shell – one of the best launchers we have seen here at Redmond Pie, but it was rather significantly handicapped by it’s dumbfounding $17 price tag. So for those of you not looking to spend such an extortionate amount on a launcher, we present Apex – a recently-updated launcher for those running Android 4.0 or higher.
As you can see from the screenshot above, it looks to have been ever-so slightly influenced by Metro and a bit of HTC Sense, with sharp, clean corners aplenty. Whilst it may not boast the "wow" factor of TSF, it does boast quite an impressive inventory of tools:
- Custom number of homescreens and homescreen grid size
- Pinch the screen to access screen previews (like Exposé or HTC Sense).
- Infinite & elastic scrolling (homescreen and drawer)
- Transition effects (homescreen and drawer)
- Customizable scrolling indicator (homescreen and drawer)
- Homescreen gestures (pinch, swipe up/down)
- Enable/Disable auto-rotation
- Enable/Disable wallpaper scrolling
- Show/Hide persistent search bar
- Show/Hide notification bar
- Show/Hide icon labels (homescreen and drawer)
- Lock/Unlock desktop
- All/Downloaded/Widgets tabs in drawer
- Drawer apps sorting (title, install date, mostly used)
- Add widgets from drawer (must install as system app) or system picker
- Resize any widget
- Backup/Restore settings and data
As well as the expansive feature set, improved homescreen management and additional transition effects for the homescreen and drawer are also in the pipeline.
Download Apex Launcher For Android 4.0+
You may also like to check out:
- Nova Launcher For Android Is The Best ICS Home Launcher: Custom Grid, Infinite Scroll, Scrollable Dock, Gestures & More
- 3 Best Methods For Turning Your Android Smartphone Into An iPhone
- Fully Customize Every Aspect Of Your Custom/Stock ROM With Omega Files Kitchen For Galaxy S II [Root Only]
Be sure to check out our Android Apps gallery to explore more apps for your Android device.
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