ara is my pick for the best launcher on Android

Key Takeaways

Niagara Launcher is my pick for the best third-party home screen launcher available on the Google Play Store.
Niagara offers flexible monetization and a solid free tier, catering to various preferences.
The fluidity and simplicity of Niagara’s UI sets it apart, making it a delightful alternative to traditional home screens.

The Android ecosystem is teeming with options when it comes to third-party home screen launchers. Some are better than others, but Niagara Launcher in particular is my go-to choice, no matter which Android phone I happen to have in my pocket.

Here’s what makes Niagara such a joyful experience in my eyes, and why I think every Android user should consider giving it a test run on their own personal device.

6 ways to revamp your old Android phone and make it feel like new

If your old Android phone feels a little worn in, try these 6 tips to get it feeling and working like new.

Niagara is accessible to all

Flexible monetization and a rock-solid free tier are both perks

Niagara Launcher in landscape orientation

The first thing I love about Niagara Launcher is the pragmatic approach the developers take with regard to monetization.

To start off, Niagara is free to download from the Google Play Store, with broad compatibility across phone models from all the major Android brands. The latest release of the launcher works with devices going as far back as Android 5.0. The download itself is surprisingly small, coming in at only about 11MB in size.

This free tier of Niagara is ad-free, and that’s a decision the developers behind the launcher are firm on: “What about placing some funny and colorful ads in between apps? Also, you wouldn’t mind watching a short video before changing your app icons, right? No, just kidding, that won’t happen. Most of us, especially me, can’t stand advertisements. Ads just don’t fit into a clean launcher,” says the Niagara team.

Niagara Launcher

A unique and delightful reimagining of the Android home screen.

There’s an optional ‘Pro’ price tier available, which costs either a lump sum of $29.99, or a recurring subscription of $9.99 per year. For the cost, you get tons of extra goodies — a bespoke icon pack, integrated calendar and weather widgets, custom fonts, and more.

I particularly appreciate the flexibility provided by Niagara when it comes to its monetization strategy. Subscription-based software has its place, certainly. But the ability to unlock the full suite of features with a single purchase, and have them for life, is a net-positive in my eyes.

How to reset sound settings in Android

Get your audio settings back to where they need to be — here’s how.

Niagara Launcher attempts to shake up how you launch your apps

Niagara doesn’t shackle itself to the typical grid-of-icons setup we’re oh-so familiar with

What makes Niagara Launcher stand out for me is its unique take on the Android home screen. The typical grid-based hoard of icons gives way to a streamlined list of pinned apps, which can be adjusted and mixed in alongside widgets.

There’s a strong emphasis on using the scroll bar — which can be invoked from either the left or the right side of the display — to quickly browse through all your apps in an alphabetical list. This sort of thing is commonplace in most app drawers, but the setup here incentivizes more frequent interaction in this way.

Widgets can also be pinned alongside your vertical list of favorite apps, and it somehow all feels cohesive and purposefully built. I love the weather and calendar widgets that are exclusive to Niagara Pro, as I find them to blend in well with the overarching aesthetic.

5 upgrades that’d make Android 15 the perfect mobile OS for me

Android is a mature operating system, but there’s plenty more I’d love to see added to the platform.

What makes Niagara such a pleasure to use?

It’s all about the fluidity of the user interface

Niagara Launcher

Once acclimated to Niagara, I found myself interacting with my home screen for no other reason than the intrinsic joy of swiping around the interface — yes, it’s really that pleasant to use. Animations are fluid, haptic feedback is tastefully incorporated into the mix, and everything is perfectly responsive under my fingertips.

The real beauty in the setup is that it’s creative and distinct from grid-based home screens, but still simple and immediately understandable from a conceptual perspective. There are tons of advanced settings under the hood, but the launcher smartly obfuscates the clutter and provides a streamlined experience through and through.

Fortnite is back on iOS and Android… but there’s a catch

You can finally play Fortnite on iOS and Android again…if you live in the EU.

A word on Google’s support for Android launchers

Niagara would be an even better experience if Google would make right with developers

When Google made the transition over to gesture-based navigation in Android 10, it wasn’t without its issues. Namely, third-party launchers began to struggle with a peculiar lack of smoothness that made them feel unpolished when compared to default home screen offerings.

It appears that third-party launchers suffer, in that they can’t fully tap into the smooth gesture system implemented by non-rooted Android devices. The state of gesture control response varies based on phone model, software version, and launcher being used, so results vary here.

In my case, running Niagara Launcher version 1.12. on an Android 14-based Pixel 5, navigation is pretty smooth. It doesn’t feel quite perfect, but this appears to be an issue plaguing Android and not Niagara specifically.

With the launch of Android 15 now just around the corner, it’s unfortunate to see that Google has yet to fully resolve the issue. Thankfully, it’s easy enough to switch back to the three-button navigation system if the imperfect gesture fluidity becomes bothersome.

An Apple Watch on wrist showing Activity Goals and progress

How to pair an Apple Watch with an Android phone

Want to live a life without being OS loyal? Here’s how you can mix your Android and Apple ecosystems.

It’s worth giving Niagara Launcher a shot

It took me no longer than a few minutes to fall in love with Niagara’s interface

Niagara Launcher

There’s something particularly elegant about the Niagara experience, which is hard to convey in writing. It’s one of those experiences that really warrants in-person usage to appreciate in its entirety.

Though I’m a fan of a number of competing home screen launchers, I can’t see myself switching off Niagara anytime soon. The zippy interface, beautiful design, and well-thought-out navigation paradigm make it a contender for my favorite app available on the entire Google Play Store.

If you’ve never tried Niagara Launcher before, give it a spin for a couple of days. There’s a solid chance that the software will ‘click’ for you in the same way it did for me. If nothing else, it’s a fun and novel way to break free from the boring and static grid of app icons that collectively adorn our home screens.