Customizing Your Android Home Screen

1. Introduction to Android Home Screen Customization

When you first start using Android, the Home screen only has a few things on it: the time, the next appointment on your calendar, and maybe an indicator for the current weather. From that screen, you can open any program or file you choose. As time goes on and you install more apps, the Home screen can become pretty cluttered. This makes it hard to find what you're looking for and can slow down your device.

Just like in the world of Windows PCs, your home screen is almost entirely customizable on Android devices. Besides adding the usual shortcuts and changing the wallpaper, you can throw in a clock widget, shrink a couple of app shortcuts (or even leave them off your home screen entirely), and put things just where you want them. If your smartphone or tablet is running Nougat 7.1.2, it's worth a look as this has seen Google bring a few widgets and shortcuts—and we hope other new features coming over the next little while—to phones and tablets. And if it isn't, it's worth following the steps below because more and more older devices will be seeing updates rolling out over the next little while and you'll be ready when they arrive.

2. Choosing the Right Launcher

Before you choose a launcher, you need to know what you're looking to get out of your setup. Every launcher is slightly different and they are built to appeal to a variety of niches. If you consider yourself a power user, you might be interested in a launcher that employs various Android features such as application shortcuts, pinned Google Now cards, or the swipe-up app drawer shortcut. Those of you who just want a decent-looking home screen might be on the lookout for a launcher with a selection of compatible icon packs, or those who love to multitask on their phone could benefit from the portrait orientation app drawer.

The first step you'll need to do to begin customizing your Android home screen involves picking a brand new launcher. The launcher is actually the app you use to launch other apps or interact with the home screen, and typically changes up your Android software experience more than anything else. It's for this reason most of the customization you perform will be directly related to the launcher. Choosing a good launcher can be tricky because there are so many launchers. Some of them are easy to pick up and use day one and others involve a steeper learning curve. Some are free to use, others have pro versions, and some are cheap but not free without extra features to unlock. Join us beyond the break to learn what launchers you should consider for rebuilding your Android home screen!

3. Customizing Widgets and Icons

Start customizing the widgets by initially tapping and holding on a blank space on one of your screens. The setup we've been using for this second demonstration has additional examples of the power of widgets, so we'll call to a few examples previously discussed. On screen two, hold down and let go when Nova Actions pops up to place a 2 by 2 power toggles widget. Take a look at how the power toggles app changes widgets in your home screen launcher - I was a little surprised the first time I noticed it worked. There's additional data in the Neo Ticker widget on screen two that updates when the app is open.

Now that we have a stable and clean home screen complete with a usable - not cluttered - dock, it's time to customize some of the elements on the home screen, specifically the widgets and the app icons. For the widgets, you'll need a third-party home screen launcher; while we are not customizing the wallpaper and dock in this example of a Nova Launcher setup, you'll also need a third-party launcher if you want to customize the app icons or apply an icon pack. A complete list of recommended home screen launchers can be found in the prerequisites section of the home screen introduction. Leo Laporte and Megan Morrone also do a great job at covering launchers in episode 44 of iOS Today.

4. Setting Up Custom Wallpapers and Themes

The best method to customize your wallpaper has not changed much. All you have to do is find a good wallpaper that you like. You could get good wallpapers from Walli, Backdrops, or any other wallpaper application for Android. Some custom themes also come with wallpapers included. I always use the wallpapers created by Archie Gamboa on Vignette and it completes my home screen setup. Then go to your home screen or your wallpaper picker and set the image as your wallpaper. Simple, right? Yes. But it comes with a few caveats that might ruin the experience. If the image was uploaded by the artist as a wallpaper, they most likely used it formatted for a desktop or a 16:9 tab. You might be able to just align the wallpaper to center, but in doing so, you are cutting off some of the wallpaper.

Wallpapers and themes are one of the major contributors to personalizing your home screen. A high-quality wallpaper also takes the focal point in a good theme and can also completely set up a custom home screen for you. A good wallpaper is something that you can look at no matter the mood and still derive some pleasure from looking at it. With Android, this is even easier because you can use animated wallpapers, multi-layer wallpapers, and screener.js screens as your wallpaper to give it life. There are several ways to set up a custom wallpaper. Android 7.0 and up come with an inbuilt live wallpaper picker. Some of these wallpapers are beautifully designed to make your home screen pop.

5. Advanced Tips and Tricks for Personalizing Your Home Screen

2. Adjust your dock. Just because this area of your phone is used to resize and figure out what’s on the screen doesn’t mean it can’t look good, too. The dock has its own settings to choose from. You can choose to have it activated the entire time or set to fade in one full page of apps takes up the space, but it will still be waiting when you swipe over to it. Keep in mind that options may be limited to what the dock contains and what you've got showing in your app drawer, but keep it as organized or as clean as you’d like to keep your home screen a striking focal point.

1. Trick out your navigation bar and status bar. As you already learned when you downloaded the launcher yourself, the built-in Android features drive so much of what's under the hood of your smartphone. The home screen's not entirely off-limits, either. Going back to your home screen settings, you can personalize your status bar and the navigation bar at the bottom of the phone, as you've already done with Live Wallpaper. Open up the settings gear, select each one, and personally tailor the way you want them to look. Change the navigation layout or customize the color.