So you have a shiny new Android phone. It has a lot of screens, widgets, and icons already there for you. It may look nice and slick, but there’s so much more you can do with it to make it look really slick and personalize it to fit you. Customization may be my favorite thing about Android. So where do you start?
Get a new home launcher. There are a lot of them out there, but the top two I recommend are Nova Launcherand Apex Launcher. They both have free versions which are great. So what do these launchers do? They are basically going to re-theme your home screens. My suggestion, before you download one from the Play Store, is to clear all the icons and widgets from your screens. That way your phone isn’t trying to load them all up underneath the new home screens. It will help make sure you aren’t losing functionality.
Once you grab a new launcher and it installs, just hit the “Home” button and you should get a prompt asking you which launcher you want to use. Pick the one you want and you’ll see a big change. Some already give you some widgets and icons. Again, I like to start fresh. Then just head into the options for your launcher and start checking out all the stuff you can do. There are a ton of options. I put some of them in the slide show at the bottom.
Depending on what you want, you can come up with thousands of combinations. And then – there’s icon packs and themes! There are just hundreds of combinations out there. And with Apex/Nova you can use images you’ve created or have in your gallery as icons for applications. You could really get lost in how many options you have. But it’s so much fun! Combine it with a great looking wallpaper and you can really make your phone YOURS.
I put my set up at the end of the slide show — What’s your home screen look like? Share it with me! Tweet me at @Doctor_Droid
