I install a personal list of favorite Android apps whenever I use a new Pixel, and one of the first apps to go is the default launcher. The Pixel Launcher is an app I’ve tried to love over the years, tweaking it as much as I could to best suit my needs. It wasn’t enough, though.
While I take issue with Pixel Launcher’s rigid design, my colleague Rita El Khoury doesn’t mind it. As she writes in a recent opinion piece: “It’s the smoothest and most reliable launcher I’ve used on my Pixel phones, and each time I came back to it, it felt like I was home.”
It appears that many Pixel smartphone users share this perspective.
We asked readers in a recent poll why they use the Pixel Launcher. The results are now in, and they make for some interesting reading.
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Why do you use the Pixel Launcher on your Pixel phone? Over 1,400 votes were tallied, and just under half of the respondents use Pixel Launcher because it has all the features they need. That’s a surprising outcome for me, but I can understand the reasoning behind it.
Pixel Launcher offers two unique features: At A Glance and the search bar. Both occupy a significant portion of the home screen, yet they provide plenty of data and easy access to essential apps and information. Without these two elements, Pixel Launcher would lose its essence.
Almost one in every two readers prefer Pixel Launcher over its myriad alternatives.
I would love for Google to give users more control over these elements. I’m a fan of At A Glance and even enhance it with Smartspacer, but I rarely use the search bar unless by accident. Interestingly, in a separate poll we conducted this past weekend, asking users if they use the search bar, 40% of respondents share my sentiment — they feel that the search bar is a waste of space on the Pixel Launcher home screen.
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