App Of The Day: ADWLauncher EX

Launchers are a wonderful thing! In a nutshell, they’re homescreen replacements, but really, they can magically tranform an entire phone—especially if your phone has been saddled with crappy manufacturer skin. ADWLauncher EX is the latest and greatest launcher available.

What is it?

ADWLauncher EX, Android, $3.53. Think of ADWLauncher EX as a home screen replacement. The screen you see when you use your phone? So boring (and tasteless)! That’ll be replaced with something faster, cleaner and definitely more Android-y (as Google intended it). Plus, ADWLauncher EX gives you customisation options galore – from icons, to fonts, to texts, to widgets and more. If you don’t dig what Samsung or Motorola or HTC did to your Android homescreen, ADWLauncher EX will solve your problems.

Who’s it good for?

People who like prettier, more consistent and straightforward home screens. And especially people who are stuck using TouchWiz, MotoBlur and to an extent, Sense.

Why’s it better than alternatives?

It’s got eight different desktop animations and five different app drawer styles. You might call that overkill but I love the snazzy and sometimes out of this world options. What’s best is the option to customise literally whatever the heck you want. Application icons can be renamed, or resized, or even swapped out entirely. Docks can have one, three or five apps. Total home screens can be any number you choose. There’s a slick ‘hidden’ dockbar for even more quick access apps and an HTC Scenes-like feature that gives you one button transformation of the entire phone (like Work mode or Weekend mode). It’s the kind of app that when you start using, you’ll wonder how you ever used your phone without it.

How could it be even better?

Better widgets, more dock style options and more versatile gesture support for quick actions would make this the perfect launcher.

ADWLauncher EX, $3.53 | Android Market

For more apps, check out our weekly app roundups for iPhone, iPad and Android.


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