You can live a perfectly delightful mobile existence using an Android phone without tweaking a single setting. But where's the fun in that? Especially when a handful of downloads and a few minutes of tinkering can turn, say, your Galaxy S8 from a TouchWiz minefield into a digital zen garden.
This has always been true. And if you're an Android power user, if you've installed a custom ROM (or even know what that means), this guide is not for you. But there are[1] two billion active monthly Android devices in the world now. Lots of those devices are smartphones. One of them might be yours. And if there's anything about that Pixel or Moto or Galaxy or LG that bothers you even a little—the keyboard, the gestures, the app icons—know that you can make it better. Here's how.
Ready For Launch
Let's start big with the piece of software called the launcher, which dictates not just how your smartphone looks, but how you interact with it. Your phone came with a launcher, although you likely just think of it as "the way my phone works."
A lot of the time, your out-of-the-box experience works just fine, especially if it hews close to the stock Android you'll find in a Pixel or Nexus phone. But sometimes manufacturers marry terrific hardware with clunky software, or include embellishments that feel more like bloat. Sometimes you want more tinkering choices; sometimes you want fewer. Sometimes you just want to try something new. For all of those times, you can simply install a launcher.
An extreme example might help contextualize this a little better. One Launcher[2] transforms your Android phone into something that very much resembles iOS. A gimmick? Sure! But...