Are you new to Android? Or maybe you haven’t tried tinkering with the capabilities of your Android device yet. One of the best features on Android is the ability to customize it just about any way you want. iPhones lack this ability: you can’t change the way you interact with your iPhone and you can’t change the way the icons look. That might be a good thing for people who don’t like to customize their phones, but for others, that lack of customization leads to a boring smartphone existence. If you want to customize your phone, here are some of the most basic but important things you can do to get it the way you want.
Install a Launcher
If you want to add gestures, like two finger swipe from the bottom to open Gmail, or double tap to unlock, you need a Launcher. A Launcher is one of the coolest apps you can get and it opens up hundreds of doors to customizing your Android to the exact way you want. Maybe you don’t want all of the bloatware that comes on your LG smartphone and you want to simplify things – there are launchers for you too. Here are our favorites:
Nova
Nova is easily one of the most popular launchers in the Google Play Store due to its ability to offer the deepest level of customization without rooting your phone. Simply install it, pay for the premium upgrade and browse through the Settings to get your phone to behave the way you want. You can change the density of app icons on your screen, change colors of folders and unread messages, change out icons and put any widget in your dock. It’s one purchase you won’t regret making.
Google Now Launcher
Want a clean interface? It doesn’t get any better than the trusty official Google Now Launcher. It’s one of the fastest launchers and integrates Google’s ideal concept of how Android should perform on your smartphone. If you don’t like bloaty interfaces like those from LG and Samsung, give the Google Now Launcher a try.
xOS Launcher
Maybe you’ve always wanted an iPhone and could never afford it. Or maybe you miss iOS and want the look and feel without the price. If that’s you the xOS Launcher is perfect to cure your desire to hop to iOS. xOS brings a simple and lightweight user experience to your Android while offering the look and feel of an iPhone. It’s also free to use.
Install an Icon pack
Icon packs can change the way your app icons look on your homepage and in your app drawer. In order to install them, you will need a custom launcher like Nova (above) or apex running on your phone before you try to get them to work.
Pixel Icon Pack 2
Want a stock Pixel 2 look on your Android? Give the Pixel Icon Pack 2 a try and it will make your phone look like a brand new stock Google device.
Delta
It doesn’t get much more custom than the highly rated Delta Icon Pack. Included with the pack are 1400 hand designed icons that look clean and unique.
Whicons
Whicons, as you can see in the image above, is a white icon pack. This icon pack is a great way to make your phone icons look super clean.
Install a wallpaper app for a fresh look everyday
Lastly, you can customize your wallpaper or background to give your Android a great look.
Wallpapers
Make the most of your display with beautiful wallpapers and advanced features. Choose one of your own photos, an image from the Google Earth collection, a scenic landscape from Google+, and more. Change it as often as you like, so your phone always represents your style.
Walli
Walli is a high quality, selective collection of unique and cool wallpapers exclusively made by artists, for your device. Walli is also a selective community of artists from around the world, each one with their unique style, selected carefully one by one by the Walli team. Discover new talents, browse their artwork and find your next favorite wallpaper for mobile or tablet!