6 Best Free Launchers for Android

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The Android operating system is one of the leading or should I say the best operating system available in today’s era. An Android based Smartphone or Tablet is full of various amazing features and provides us number of useful and exciting applications to download. The developers out there try their best to make new and extra ordinary applications to make our Android experience better and better. There are many well-known popular applications of Android which are becoming a part of our day-to-day life like Flipboard, Whatsapp, Instagram, Viber etc, and also not forgetting the games like Temple Run, Hill Climb, Subway Surfers, Cut the Rope etc. giving us a nice time of entertainment.

But today we’re talking about the Launchers for Android devices, the best free launchers available on Google Play Store (Android Market). There are some people like me who don’t really like the user interface installed by the manufacturers on their android devices. Like I have a Samsung mobile, but i’m not really a big fan of TouchWiz. Rooting can be helpful to solve this problem, but I don’t really want to risk my device and spoil its warranty. So now there’s only one option left which is a “Launcher”.

Launcher-tile

There are many different launchers available on Android Market and every one of them provide a whole new different look and style to your device. So I just explored the Google Play Store to find the “6 Best Free Launchers for Android”.

1. Nova Launcher:

Nova Launcher is really a great home screen replacement launcher for you android device which is highly customizable and great in performance. Its various features makes it the most popular launcher on Android Market.

Nova Launcher

Features:

  • Color Themes and Icon Themes
  • Scrollable Dock
  • Customizable App Drawer
  • Transparency and Scroll Style
  • Scroll Effects
  • Infinite Scrolling
  • Customizable Folder Icons
  • Widget in Dock and Widget Overlapping
  • Bulk Add and Activities Shortcut
  • Import Layout

Average Rating on Google Play Store:

4.7 out of 5 with 60,290 “5 Star” ratings.

Download:

2. Smart Launcher:

Smart Launcher has a beautiful design and really user-friendly interface which allows launching your favorite applications in few keys. The Automatic Sorting and Cataloging feature is one of the reasons behind the popularity of Smart Launcher.

Smart Launcher

Features:

  • Categorized Drawer
  • Quick Start Main Screen’
  • Support Live Wallpapers
  • Support every device
  • Widget Support
  • Use without Special Configurations
  • Hide Apps
  • Quick Search
  • Various Global Themes
  • Easy Access to Apps info
  • Works Fine on Landscape Mode too
  • Hide Status Bar
  • Change icons in Drawer
  • Icon Themes

Average Rating on Google Play Store:

4.6 out of 5 with 20,656 “5 Star” ratings.

Download:

3. Apex Launcher:

Apex launcher is a smooth and really fast launcher which allows you change your device’s looks completely. It helps you to create a different customizable home screen experience.

Apex Launcher

Features:

  • Customizable Home Screen
  • Scrollable Dock
  • Infinite and Elastic Scrolling
  • Cool Transition Effects
  • Hide Elements
  • Multiple Drawer Styles
  • Different Folder preview Styles and Backgrounds
  • Customizable Icons and Labels
  • Drawer App Sorting
  • Hide Apps
  • Lock your Desktop
  • Gestures
  • Various Themes
  • Backup and Restore

Average Rating on Google Play Store:

4.5 out of 5 with 36,222 “5 Start” Ratings.

Download:

4. Launcher 8:

Launcher 8 is best to experience the Windows 8 UI on an Android device. It is a beautiful, fast and easily customizable launcher and gives a real feeling of having a Windows device.

Windows 8 Android

Features:

  • Full Windows 8 UI
  • Add different size Tiles
  • Variety of Tile Colors
  • Save and Restore Theme
  • Edit Start Screen Layout
  • Customizable Background Style
  • Add Android Widgets in Tiles
  • Set the wp8 style Lock Screen and Status Bar
  • More than One Hundred Theme Colors
  • Hide Apps
  • Add Special Features

Average Rating on Google Play Store:

4.5 out of 5 with 27,309 “5 Star” Ratings.

Download:

5. Holo Launcher:

Holo Launcher is a very fast and highly customizable launcher which allows you to experience the feel and looks Android Ice Cream Sandwich on your old Gingerbread or Froyo Android device.

Holo Launcher

Features:

  • Full Ice Cream Sandwich Style
  • Customizable Desktop Pages
  • Customizable Drawer
  • Scrollable Dock
  • Infinite Scrolling
  • Gestures
  • Customizable Shortcut and Folder Icons
  • Customizable Icon Label Color
  • Apply Icon Packs
  • Pinch to access Desktop Previews
  • Backup and Restore
  • Hide Apps and Labels
  • Customizable Home Action
  • Keep in Memory

Average Rating on Google Play Store:

4.6 out of 5 with 18,648 “5 Star” Ratings.

Download:

6. Go Launcher:

Go Launcher is another fast and smooth home screen replacement launcher for your android device. It’s the one of the popular and oldest launcher of Android Market.

GO Launcher

Features:

  • More than 10,000 Personalized Themes
  • Super Smooth Flipping
  • Over 25 Transition Effects
  • Over 15 free Widgets
  • Gestures
  • 3D Core

Average Rating on Google Play Store:

4.5 out of 5 with 1,021,788 “5 Star” Ratings.

Download:

These were 6 best free launchers for you to bring a whole new change on your Android device. There are also some more nice launchers on Google Play Store like , , , , etc.

So what you guys think about these launchers? Do share your experience and precious views in comments below.

Is Facebook Home Going To Be Your Smartphone’s Sweet Home?

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The first generation of Voice over IP (VoIP) is represented by ‘Legacy Telephone Networks’, the second by ‘Skype’, and third by ‘Google Talk’. The future of business VoIP solutions is changing rapidly, with the introduction and inclusion of new and fascinating VoIP business models. When we talk about evolution, it not only means the field of network and software applications, but also innovation of smart and portable hardware solutions.

Most of the ‘Netizens’ know Facebook as an emerging social media network, where someone finds friends, chat, exchanges posts, pics, and comments. The buzz is around that the ‘Facebook phones’ are all set to mark their presence in the market. Apparently businesses as well as consumers are in the long wait to hear what better VoIP features is Facebook phone bringing in for them. Let us put this buzz in a pause for some now and look into the new ‘Facebook Home’, the latest software release that claims to redefine the users’ experience to the ultimate level.

Facebook Home

Facebook home brings together the family of apps that places all your friends and contacts at the center of your phone. Certainly something new; that no other phone, mobile OS, or app has yet come up with. You just need to turn ‘Facebook Home’ on; the entire world of friends, their posts and comments, notifications come alive. You can keep on chatting on Facebook Home, even using another app.

Let’s see what all the new Home has for its users.

The Technology

Facebook Home is a compact offering of four components; the various Apps, an integration platform (Facebook), the OS (Android), and your Smart phone. The concept seems working in a way that you get a bunch of services under one banner – Facebook; as if, it is a single window entry to a multiple access points.

Cover Feed

You do not need to log in to Facebook, turn the phone on or press the home button and any new post, status update, photo, or link shared gets automatically flashed in the screen.

Notification Alert

You get notifications about calls, updates, events, and apps on the home screen with respective profile pictures and app icons. They remain on the home until you do not allow them to go.

Smart App Launcher

With this new home you get automatically rights to a lot of apps, like ‘Instagram’. Now there is no need to download and install your essential apps separately. You can also decide what goes where; a kind of intelligent folder management.

Free Download for Android Users

You can download Facebook Home for free on certain devices, including HTC One X+, HTC One X, Samsung Galaxy S III, and Samsung Galaxy Note II with Android OS. Downloading and using the Home is as simple as 1, 2, 3…

The Home brings in some of the recent innovative and promising features to a single platform. The important aspect of its success or failure depends upon its usability and user-friendliness, along with its interdependence. Let’s see, whether Facebook Home is turning out to be a ‘Sweet Home’ for its users.

Author Bio: Mohit is a seasoned online marketing professional with more than 7 years of experience. He also writes on various topic of his interest including technology, computing, Internet marketing, SEO, telecom, ecommerce, and many more.

Change Your Wallpaper To Secure WiFi Network

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Are you concerned about the safety of your wifi network? You think someone outside of your house may gain access to your wifi network and thus may hack in to your computer? Your fear is not invalid considering the increasing news of wireless network hacking. So what can you do to secure wifi network? A layman’s answer would be to keep the wifi signals in your home only to avoid the leakage of signal into the neighbourhood. And the layman is quite right in his thinking.

French researchers have developed this revolutionary wallpaper (for actual walls, not the digital one for your desktop) that prevents wi-fi signals from going outside the room/home and thus keeps the signals in the confines of the room and prevents from any outside intrusion. More details can be found on the French website L’Informaticien.

Special Wallpapers to keep home wifi secure

Innovative thinking. Makes me wonder if it prevents me from opening my windows and doors :P Do you think it will help in a secure wifi network?