Are you using a launcher on your Pixel?

[scottfish]

I have refrained from adding a launcher to my Pixel XL for five months now.

In the past, there was always something missing with stock launchers, so Nova or Action Launcher were necessities.

I haven't "missed" any functionality with using Pixel Launcher sp far, but I am starting to get the itch to customize more.

Will I be giving up any functionality w/ an aftermarket launcher? I want to say I won't, but looking for confirmation.

 

[Preach2k]

No I am using Nova Launcher Prime.

 

[Rocketsaucev2]

Long time Nova user here. A couple of reasons I use it over stock are the ability to move apps to a different section of the drawer or hide altogether. There was a number of icon packs that were free a few months ago and it's really cluttered to have 10+ icon packs in the drawer. Also​, usingthe icon packs in the first place is a plus.

Also incredibly useful for me are the gestures to open any number apps or Google search with keyboard open. It's nice to not have the widget there all the time but still easily search without reaching all the way up to the top of the phone

There are other things I love about Nova but those are just a couple

 

[LineKill]

You won't be giving up any functionality. In fact, you will be gaining quite a bit of additional functionalityツ

 

[scottfish]

Exactly what I wanted to hear. I will now rathole myself into a customization trance for a while.

 

[tt_danielfurieri]

Can you guys show me where I can find this launcher and tutorial to change my rom?

 

[sangs]

Will I be giving up any functionality w/ an aftermarket launcher? I want to say I won't, but looking for confirmation.

No, but you will be putting an unnecessary resource and battery drain on top of your smooth flowing Pixel. Why mess with a good thing?

 

[muzzy996]

No, but you will be putting an unnecessary resource and battery drain on top of your smooth flowing Pixel. Why mess with a good thing?

To get a better thing?

Necessity is subjective. For some like myself the benefits outweigh the concerns - and I'll just add that I strongly disagree with Nova being so resource intensive as to significantly affect smoothness and battery life on the Pixel. I mean sure, every added application that takes resources is going to have a measurable hit on CPU and battery but for what one can get out of a third party launcher the benefits easily outweigh the concerns to those who have an appreciation for the added features.

 

[Ronald Brown]

I am always switching between Nova and the Pixel launcher. it depends on what I feel like any given day. Most of the time on the Pixel I have used the default launcher.

 

[libra89]

Nope, I lasted 1 day with the Pixel Launcher. The Pixel Launcher is nice but it annoys me that the dock isn't transparent and the G pill has to remain there.

 

[tattedup]

Nova for me too. Initially I really liked the idea of going straight google, everything from the hardware to the software. It's a shame Nova is so much better - from the way it looks to the app drawer and the icon customization / placement options. Every other one I've tried apart from Evie totally sucks. How some of the iOS ones are rated so highly amazes me. I certainly haven't noticed any deterioration in performance since switching either so I wouldn't let that put you off.

 

[Rocketsaucev2]

No, but you will be putting an unnecessary resource and battery drain on top of your smooth flowing Pixel. Why mess with a good thing?

It uses an average of 100 mb of memory when I look at ram usage on my phone. That's 1/40 of the total
Also, the battery stats are showing 1% out of 16 hours on charge

 

[muzzy996]

It uses an average of 100 mb of memory when I look at ram usage on my phone. That's 1/40 of the total
Also, the battery stats are showing 1% out of 16 hours on charge

When the phone is predominantly idle battery usage is even lower than that. Defintely depends on usage . . The number and nature of widgets on homescreens probably come into play as well.

I just had a light day at work, phone has been unplugged for 10 hours . . I see the screen has been on for about an hour total since unplugged . . Nova's battery usage is at 0% with under a minute of CPU time used and just 2 mAh of battery usage.

 

[masseurca]

I have to have more columns and rows, so I use Nova

 

[gone down south]

The only thing a launcher can't do is swipe right for Google Now feed.... But you can map that to a gesture and get the same results work s slightly different swipe.

 

[fragologist]

I use Nova prime. No loss of functionality and my battery life is still great...got PXL end of December. I say go for it.