I ditched Pixel UI for this popular launcher and won’t go back

I’m very familiar with different launchers, as I’ve been using Nova Launcher for a while on my old OnePlus phones. But when I upgraded to a Pixel, I liked the default Pixel Launcher so much that switching back to Nova didn’t even cross my mind.

However, I eventually got tired of it and wanted to try something new. I wanted to move away from the classic grid layout found on most Android phones with their large, colorful icons. I wanted something cleaner. Something simpler. Something designed to encourage intentional phone use instead of endless scrolling. I found it and love it so much that I decided to ditch the default Pixel launcher altogether.

Niagara Launcher is exactly what I need

I decided to move on to Niagara launcherwhich is well known in the Android community, but I never bothered to try it. At first I just got used to Nova Launcher, then enjoyed my time with the Pixel UI before getting bored of it recently. I thought the two options mentioned were the best the Android world had to offer, but I was wrong.

What I like about Niagara Launcher is that it combines simplicity, functionality and great design. The home screen is organized as a list of apps (no more than eight) with a customizable area at the top to display the time, date, weather, or other useful information. You can choose from several different icon packs to personalize the look of the Home screen, and Pro users can even enable a custom button to open an app or activate a specific setting.

Not only is it beautiful and minimalist, especially in the monochrome version I set up (see image above), but it’s also very functional. I have eight of my favorite apps on the home screen for quick access, while a simple press of the custom button opens Google search. When I swipe up, I can search for an app or person in my contacts list, or I can view the app drawer by swiping down on the right side of my screen. It’s so natural and intuitive that I can use it with one hand. Everything I need is on one beautifully designed home screen.

The list layout is very useful because I don’t need to extend my fingers across the screen to tap an app like in a regular grid layout. There’s also an alphabet on the right side of the screen on the home page to make finding specific apps easier and faster with a swipe, but I’ve hidden it for a cleaner view – it still appears when I press it, though. I even hid the status bar since I can see the time, date, and battery percentage right above my apps list on the home screen. It’s as minimal as possible without losing functionality, and I love it.

Niagara Launcher isn’t packed with features like Nova Launcher, but most of its features are very thoughtful and useful. For example, I use YouTube to watch videos, Spotify to listen to podcasts, and YouTube Music to listen to my favorite artists. In most cases, I use all three apps with headphones. And when I connect them to my phone, all three appear in the list of apps on my home screen and stay there until I turn off the connection.

I also like the notification system. Notifications for each app on my home screen appear just below each, ensuring I don’t miss anything important. And I can even set up a summary that will show me all my notifications in batches every six hours, just so my phone doesn’t beep every five minutes like usual.

Niagara Launcher has other useful features, including turning off the screen with a double tap and hiding apps in the main app drawer. They work very well, although they are standard on many Android skins.

The biggest benefit I see in Niagara Launcher is that it helped me reduce my screen time. A new pitcher was a fresh start and a great opportunity to form new, more productive habits. Having fewer apps in the foreground with less visual appeal due to the monochrome color palette, as well as receiving notifications less frequently, has helped me avoid my bad habit of opening my favorite apps just because I bores me. The slightly less functional app drawer with its long list of apps also required a bit more effort to find what I was looking for, and that extra step is another reason that helps me reduce my screen time . This works for me, although your mileage may vary.

While I love Niagara Launcher and can see myself using it for a long time, it’s not perfect. It’s a bit more expensive than something like Nova Launcher, which is more feature-rich. Nova Launcher can be yours for a one-time fee of $5, while Niagara costs $10 per year or a one-time fee of $30. That’s still not a lot of money for something you use every day, but it’s more than you’d pay for alternatives. However, prices will increase next month, with an annual subscription priced at $14, while a lifetime pass will cost you $43.

There is also a free version, but I don’t see myself using it because a lot of the features I like are part of the Pro plan, including launching music apps when connecting my headphones.

I also don’t like that every time I swipe up to open search, a list of my most frequent apps appears right below the search bar. I prefer a cleaner look, so I tried turning this off, but realized it wasn’t possible. The development team is apparently working on creating a toggle to disable this feature, but it’s unclear when it might be available.

For now, these are the only issues I have with Niagara Launcher, but I’m sure I’ll find a few more after using it longer. Based on my experience, I would suggest it to anyone looking for a simple and minimal launcher.

However, if you don’t like a minimal home screen and prefer lots of features and customizations, Niagara Launcher is not for you. In this case, I recommend sticking to your phone’s default launcher or switching to something like Nova Launcher. There are countless other options available, which you can check out in our article dedicated to the best Android alternatives.

Would you consider using a minimalist launcher like Niagara? Let me know in the comments.