Just got a new work phone: Galaxy S22. Wanted a pixel but it was out of stock in our internal allocation. Already tired of samsung’s UI and interested in something new.

So what do you like? Bonus points if it works with android enterprise’s profile mode dual app drawers.

  • rimmytea@lemmy.worldEnglish
    7·
    2 years ago

    I use Niagara Launcher mostly for the minimalist look. But also because Nova was bought by an analytics company a bit ago.

    • vegskret@kbin.social
      4·
      2 years ago

      Second this. Niagara Launcher allows me so much easier access to apps. Cleaner home page and all apps in an easy to navigate alphabetical list. Super easy

    • fixmycode
      1·
      1 year ago

      Niagara is so fundamental to me that I simply can’t imagine my phone without it. My partner really likes the whole one UI themed experience, and everytime she gives me her phone I’m lost for 5 minutes trying to find anything.

      It’s a different paradigm and not for everyone (eg. people that rely a lot on widgets) but it really puts you in sync with your stuff. totally worth the buy.

    • _Hadek@lemmy.world
      1·
      2 years ago

      yep Totally, I used to swap launchers frequently but since I tried and then bought Niagara… I just can’t use anything else, now a stock phone makes no sense to me anymore.

      • zipsglacier@lemmy.world
        1·
        2 years ago

        I’m trying niagara now, and it seems like I can’t put the Lemmy web app into a popup folder, because I can only choose items for a folder from the list of installed apps. That’s a little annoying, but maybe I’ll get used to it. And maybe there will be a good Lemmy app soon.

    • Marxine@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      Long time user of lawnchair (4+ years), never felt like changing it to anything else, it works amazingly well.

    • countstex@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      Been using Lawn Chair for the past year or so. Looks good, does what I want and stays out of my way the rest of the time. Top marks for me.

    • jjnjjlr@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      1 year ago

      I’m going to piggy back on this comment for all the people who don’t want to do the research on Nova and their recent acquisition by Branch. You can opt in or out of usage statistics and all permissions in the app. The new mods on their discord have a FAQ that expresses this also. I have no way to prove otherwise but if all we have is their word then you should take all apps usages disclosures with a grain of salt.

      Edit: funny enough I just installed and read the first few paragraphs of Niagra’s privacy policy which says it collects and shares user analytics. To each their own I guess.

      • OmarDontScare@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        1 year ago

        Protip: If you are somewhat skeptical of the Branch integration, you can disable network permission in Android for the Nova Launcher. It doesn’t need to connect to anything to work fine generally speaking. Without network permisson, the launcher can’t send anything to the internet.

      • KilgoreTheTrout@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        Yeah I just turned off automatic updates on Nova the minute I found out about branch. I’m just going to stick with the pre-branch version of the app until it doesn’t function anymore or I find a suitable replacement.

        But you’re right, a lot of the alternatives aren’t all that much better in terms of their privacy policy. Being owned by a shady data company… It’s absolutely discouraging. Obviously something like Microsoft launcher probably isn’t that much better in terms of privacy of course.

        • KilgoreTheTrout@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          Happened like a year ago or something. If you go look at the ratings on the Play store by recent a lot of people were upset. I still use Nova but I haven’t updated it to the new branch version of the APK. I’m sure eventually I’ll have to find a new launcher

  • win98@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    2 years ago

    I’ve been using nova launcher prime since forever. Make a backup on my old phone when getting a new one, and import it on the new phone.

      • Someology@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        2 years ago

        :( I used Nova Prime for many years, and I don’t like this one bit. I hope that the devs got a good payout, and best wishes to them, but it makes me uncomfortable. Luckily, while it’s definitely no Nova, Samsung’s launcher has finally on the most recent version gotten to a point of usability. Everything is more awkward to do, and you have to install extra Samsung apps (Good Lock with applets) for a lot of the customization, but most of my favorite features from Nova are finally there. So, for the first time in many years, I’m running the Samsung default OneUI 5.1.

          • Someology@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            Yes, I do think they are, but by choosing a Samsung smartphone, I’ve already decided to be OK with that on some level. I turn off features that connect to outside companies for the most part, and I’ve chosen to believe that Samsung does what it claims with the settings that users have available to them on the phone. It doesn’t mean that I’m just fine with handing everything over to any other random company. Some claims are made that Branch powers the Finder (search) function on Samsung phones, but this Finder Customization Service is a feature you can disable on a Samsung Galaxy phone. You can also turn off search suggestions for Finder. You can disable Google and Samsung’s browsers and Internet searches as well. I am the sort of user who checks permissions of apps before downloading them (and disables everything I don’t use), and I don’t want my launcher (which I paid for) on a device I paid a not small sum of money for, to send every single tap back to a marketing firm directly.

            • jjnjjlr@lemmy.worldEnglish
              01·
              1 year ago

              Ok, but with even a little bit of research and looking around in Nova launcher itself, you would’ve found that you can opt out of usage analytics and all permissions. Branch even says this themselves on their discord.

    • snapz@kbin.social
      11·
      2 years ago

      You’re on a fediverse app, you should know that Nova was the center of some controversy when they sold to a company that is likely harvesting and selling user data. Many have left Nova.

  • pakhrom@vlemmy.netEnglish
    4·
    2 years ago

    I used Niagara Launcher, but it’s not free, so I moved to Lawnchair 12.1. I also really like Kvaesitso launcher

    • Reliant1087@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      2 years ago

      I was a huge fan until their acquisition by the shady company. I keep the pre-acquistion version on older phones.

    • eli@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      +1 for Nova.

      Been using it since my Pixel 1 XL, on a Pixel 6 Pro now.

      I am going to switch back to the default Pixel Launcher for a week to see if anything has changed(and just for fun), but I think I’m going to be on Nova after lol.

      • WIPocket@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        I am on GrapheneOS, based on Android 13, on a 64-bit only CPU. It is available. You might need to download it from F-Droid, I have no clue about whether the Play Store version is downloadable, as it isnt too actively maintained.

        • themoonisacheese@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          that went much better, unfortunately it seems it’s not for me. despite my phone having a slide-out keyboard, it is not tenable for me to open either it or the softkeyboard just to open an app. thanks for the suggestion anyway!

  • wilberfan@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    1 year ago

    NOVA. Every single time I’ve tried an alternate launcher, I always return to NOVA within 24 hours.