If you’re looking for a novel Android launcher with a bit of a twist then read on. Nemus Launcher can provide a compartmentalized look and feel similar to Windows desktop organization app ‘Fences’.
It is probably one of the best launchers to keep your many apps organized, if that is something that you’re after.
The concept is this: folders are visually displayed with one or two frequently used icons/apps immediately accessible from the launcher page, while the others are inside the folder and displayed as small icons.
Clicking on a small icon will open the folder in a popup Window that gives instant access. It’s a clever system that works quite well.
What this means is that you get your cake and eat it. Which is to say you can (a) organize your apps into categories that make sense, but at the same time (b) keep those apps that you would like to be able to access quickly always visible and within reach, rather than hidden away in a folder. Its simple, yet brilliant.
Nemus also provides many features that you would expect in a replacement launcher, such as the following:
- The ability to customize the desktop grid: (i.e. the ‘resolution’ as measured by the number of columns and rows, in order to make more or less information visible).
- It is FAST: smooth scrolling, fast, responsive. You will like it.
- The ability to resize any widget at will: whether or not it is actually resizable in the default Android launcher (although its own folders have restrictions on how you can resize them, see below)
- A scrollable bottom dock: that can house more than the main five icons.
- Can back up and restore settings: in case you restore your Android to factory settings, or want to move your launcher settings from one device to another.
Note on folders: Nemus limits visible folders to a maximum of two rows or two columns (see screenshot to the right for an illustration). This means that folders will have to be relatively small, and you cannot have a folder that takes up most of the screen space. Although this contingency seemed a little strange at first, it means that you have to use folders in a way that made sense after a while, preventing me from throwing everything and the kitchen sink into a folder.
The verdict:
Nemus Launcher is fast and provides a very nice user experience. It is highly customizable and has most of the things you would expect from a replacement launcher. But the way it works with folders is very innovative and, for those users who have way too many apps installed, provides an excellent organizational tool to bring sanity back to your device.
Two things I wish it had: the ability to uninstall an app right from the launcher itself, and the ability to move more than one app at a time from the ‘apps’ page onto the launcher. But these do not prevent Nemus from being my new favorite launcher. Try it out and tell us what your think in the comments section below.
Get Nemus Launcher here (Android).
