Can recommend Lawnchair. Have been using it for a couple of years now.
this post was submitted on 25 Oct 2024
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Is there something I would be missing when moving from Nova?
As someone who used Nova for ... shit, feels like a decade, I was also concerned about this when switching (I heard Nova was sold to an ad company and was super sketchy) but after using Niagara Launcher for the past month, I realized Nova was more complex than I ever needed. I haven't tried Lawnchair yet, but don't be afraid of switching unless there's a hyper-specific feature you can't live without. Give another launcher a shot for a week and see if you're really missing Nova still!
Swiping on icons or folders to open another app!
When Nova dies this will be the feature I will miss the most
I use Total Launcher, and it has this (and in fact you can swipe in 4 directions ⬆️⬇️⬅️➡️ rather than just the 2 that Nova offers).
Means that from my home screen I could, in theory, access 48 different apps/actions/shortcuts, as well as opening the 12 folders they represent. I use about 40 of them, but it's good to have space for more if I want it.
I thought nova wasn't being maintained anymore.
The version now called "Lawnchair Legacy" was very old and unmaintained. They've been working on this new version in the meantime.
They were talking about Nova, not Lawnchair. Nova hasn't officially been abandoned, but they were purchased by a big data broker a few years ago, and just a few months ago Branch (Nova's owner) laid off almost all of the Nova Launcher development team.
Nova is not dead, but the writing is on the wall.
I was on nova too. I tried a couple of launchers and settled on lawnchair. I like that it doesn't try and force a new way to interact with your icons and screens.
It hasn't the amount of flexibility of Nova, but I really didn't need all that, I just want a nice stable launcher I can set up and forget.
Too bad the development speed makes a snail look fast
This is absolutely great! Thank you so much for sharing. It's my launcher now
I've never really liked any other launchers I've tried, but this one does look nice.
For those who have used it, how does it improve on the standard Pixel launcher?
- You can remove the search bar (which was the only thing bugging me about the "original")
- changing icon and font sizes, shapes, font families, ...
- actions for screen double tapping ("lock screen" is what i use)
- is open source
Can I create shortcuts to files and use a custom picture as an icon on the home screen?
Unfortunately Lawnchair hasn't been well on Android 15 for me. Hopefully there's an update coming soon
There will be full A15 compatibility just in time for A17
I thought lawnchair was dead for many years. Didn't realize someone doing development in it
If you're switching from a github alpha (debug) version, this version will install side-by-side with your current version, so there should be no risk of data loss. However, it's always good to backup your settings, layout, icons, and wallpaper anyway, and this will also let you restore these things in the Play Store version.
To create a backup of you current Lawnchair settings:
- Open the "Home settings" by long-pressing anywhere in the blank space between icons on your home screen and choosing "Home settings".
- Use the three-dot menu in the upper right to choose Create Backup. Save the file somewhere handy.
- Later, restore that backup in the new version of Lawnchair.
It's weird having both versions installed. When I open my app drawer and search for Lawnchair, I only get one result, and now that I've restored my backup, I can't even tell which version is being launched when I tap that icon. Thankfully the alpha version is named "Lawnchair (Debug)" in the Apps list, and I can now uninstall the debug version.
I tried it the other night on my Pixel (Android 15) and had no issues. I've been trying out different launchers in an attempt to find one which isn't asking for a monthly or yearly sub and has horizontal app drawer as an option! Both of which are getting to be more rare these days. I couldn't see where to make the drawer scrollable on Lawnchair, so I skipped it for now.
I only wish lawnchair had continuous, looping scrolling