Recently I’ve been feeling that the way that I was using my android smart phone is very cluttered compared to how I use my laptop and desktop linux systems. While I was browsing Fdroid I found a possible solution to my problem in a minimalist launcher.
Current day android running on my pixel 6 is fine but I wanted something more utilitarian. I find that the multitude of apps within folders and widgets scattered across my home screen is not something that I find pleasant to interface with.
Compare this to my desktop and laptop linux setup and you have a night and day difference. While android is cluttered with visual representations of a million possible actions linux is a clean slate that you fill up with your actions. All I have to do is call my application launcher with a keyboard shortcut and type the first few letters of the application I want to launch.
This brings me to Unlauncher. Unlauncher is a fork of another opensource android launcher called Slim Launcher by sdudzog. Slim launcher is a traditional ‘dumb phone’ launcher minimizing the functionality of your smartphone by reducing the amount of apps you can use for the purpose of ‘digital well-being’. But the philosophy behind Unlaucher differs being that it does not restrict what apps you can use. You can swipe up and launch any app from the app draw while still being able to add some of your most used apps to the home screen.
By using Unlauncher on my smartphone I have made the workflow between my linux machines and my smartphone very similar. The minimalist UI has also decreased the amount of distraction my phone can cause. Now when I look at my phone I have to know what I want to do before hand. This not only makes using my phone faster but also much more productive.
I recommend anyone that is interested in trying a minimalist android launcher to do so.