The screen you see when you press the start button and also the one that shows the application drawer basically constitute the «Launcher» application of a cell phone. As they are the two most used or frequent on the phone, it is important that this launcher is fast and light , especially if we are talking about a low-end mobile, with low resources and low or little RAM / processor. Some time ago I talked about the best launchers that exist for Android at a general level, and this time I will focus on the most prominent ones at the speed level..
To begin with, it is likely that the launcher that was already pre-installed on your device works fine and you may not need anything more than to follow some tips in case your cell phone is slow . However, there are times when this app is not well optimized by the manufacturer. This is a difficult thing to know, unless you try an alternative or third-party launcher " lighter " or simply works more fluid than the original.
Nova Launcher
Due to its popularity, this was the first launcher I installed on my low spec Samsung Galaxy S3 mini, which had barely 1GB of RAM and a NovaThor U8420 dual core CPU with only 1 GHz. There I realized that the Touchwiz launcher by default of this phone was very "heavy" compared to how fluid the Nova Launcher was..
Despite all the features that Nova launcher has, it was surprising how it performed better than Samsung's default, which was sorely lacking in options. To optimize its performance even more, I recommend making these changes , which include turning off animations . It is for that reason that I still recommend this app. Current cell phones are already much more powerful, even the low-end ones, and the default launcher usually works well. You probably won't notice a bigger difference in fluency if you switch to another, but they are still not very functional compared to Nova and other launchers, which are rich in features and is another reason why you will want to have them.
This app comes in a free version and a paid version. They both run just as smoothly and are just as optimized. The only difference is that the version with "Prime" cost has more functions enabled, such as hiding applications , gestures and inputs, customizing icons, unread badges, among others..
Little Launcher
You really shouldn't need to look beyond Nova Launcher if you are looking for something light and light, since it is barely 20 MB in size, but if I would have to give an alternative, I would probably say Poco Launcher. It has a similar app weight and it works well on any Android device (not just Xiaomi or Poco). And although it is "light" in every sense, it is also relatively rich in functions, where you can install icon packs, have a night mode, customize its design, categorize apps and like Nova and one of my favorites: being able to turn off the screen tapping on her twice.
conclusion
The launcher is perhaps the most important application on the phone because it is the one that is used the most. If you want a phone that goes faster or that is not slow , this is the application that you should consider changing. It could be the cause of the delay of the cell phone to enter the applications (they take time to open after clicking on its icon) and a light and light launcher could help to improve this situation somewhat. As a final and important note, whether you use these or other launchers, you don't want to set a 16MB size wallpaper like I did. Apparently, this is also a factor that influences the speed of the launcher. Use wallpapers that are not too heavy. Consider a wallpaper of up to 1 MB as a limit. There are good wallpaper apps if you like to change this look. And of course, don't use animated or video wallpapers either .
6 LIGHTWEIGHT applications for low-end or modest cell phones
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