Wednesday, 8 April 2015
I honestly think that Android launchers are made to be a bigger deal than they should be. Sometimes I wish it was like iOS’s Springboard. Just one, awesome, well thought-out way of getting around. But of course, that’s not possible in Android.
Android is messy. There’s always too much going on. And where there’s a mess, there’s an app developer who thinks he’s got the right solution. Even Google has an alternative launcher on the Play Store called the Google Now Launcher. That’s how bad it’s gotten. And I’m not even talking about the amazingly feature-rich, yet far too complicated launchers like Nova and Apex. On the other side of the spectrum are things like Z Launcher (which I loved) and Aviate, putting a strong foot in the automation camp.
After I got the Lollipop update, I was looking for something simpler. Something that gave me powerful features without having to stress about it. And EverythingMe hits that sweet spot for me.
Let me tell you why.
1. Smart Folders
After you install it, EverythingMe basically scans all the apps and creates smart folders for the usual categories like Social, Photography, News, and more.
I think sorting, arranging, remembering, and looking for apps is one of the biggest problems in Android. Because there are too many ways to do it. You’ve got home screen shortcuts, folders, and then the whole app drawer.
2. The Easy to Use Find Menu
There’s a Find menu at the top where you can search for apps, contacts, and more. I know you can do the same with the Google search bar but I think EverythingMe’s implementation looks and works far better.
3. App Suggestions
To me, the guy who’s always looking to try new apps, this feature is really great. It tells me about new and similar apps I should try out.
4. The Contextual Part
There’s a 4×1 grid in the bottom of the page dedicated to contextual information and apps. This is supposed to show you apps related to the time and place you’re in. This didn’t work well for me. But I’m not looking for something like this anyway.
5. Quick Contacts Panel
Swiping to the left from the home screen will get you the quick contacts panel. This will show you the recent call history and you can go to the Phone app from here. For someone who’s always on the phone, this can be quite helpful. However, you can also remove this from the settings.
6. Icon Pack Support
Yes, just like every other proper launcher out there, EverythingMe supports icon packs.
7. Wallpapers
The app has a huge gallery of built-in wallpapers for you to choose and apply. You can bring up the menu by long pressing on the empty part of the screen.
8. It Just Looks and Feels Good.
EverythingMe is fast and fluid to use. The animations on Lollipop are butter smooth. And the launcher on the whole is very pleasing on the eyes. It just looks good, better than Nova and even Now Launcher.
Notes
- You can change the icon view for the folder from grid to a triple.
- Widgets are supported.
- The app will remember your last position in the App Drawer so long as you’re still in the Launcher. If you go to another app and come back, you’ll be back to the first screen. They should add an option to always remember the last App Drawer screen you were on (Nova Prime does this).
- The app doesn’t support Google’s voice search. But you can add the Google Search widget. Or just enable the OK Google voice detection feature OS wide.
- The wallpapers came from Chrooma Live Wallpaper app.
Why Should You Go with EverythingMe?
EverythingMe is not the most fully-featured launcher out there and it’s not pretending to be. It does a few things and gets them right and genuinely makes your life easier. I’m sold on it just thanks to the smart folders and the app suggestions.
What’s your current Android launcher? Share with us in the comments below.
