Before Launcher | Go Minimal

⎋ Before Labs

In-app purchases

About this app

⚡️Stay focused using the minimal launcher with style and functionality.
✶Open your phone 40% less.✶
✶Reduce distractions with our notification filter. 80% of all notifications don’t warrant interruption.✶
✶Focus on what matters.✶

❌ Zero ads, never a subscription
✶No ads, EVER✶
✶No subscriptions, EVER✶
✶Lifetime purchase for ALL of your devices✶

Before Launcher gets your time back, by giving your phone a minimal look. This minimalist launcher provides many useful features including:

Minimal homescreen
Quick launch of your most important apps. It’s configurable, too!

Customize the look, make your own clean style
Choose from our large list of photo, gradient and solid themes or create your own.

Fast access to your favorites and everything else
Fast access to all your apps in a scrollable, sortable & searchable list.

Favorite, folder and hide your apps
Group apps into folders. Pin apps to the top of your apps list. Hide unwanted and distracting bloatware (available in pro version)

Hide less important notifications
Our filtered notification drawer is unique. Less important notifications don't interrupt you with vibrations or noise. They won't clutter up your notification bar. But you still receive them and they are accessible with a quick swipe.

Notified but not distracted
Focus on what is essential. Important notifications still notify you, so you don’t miss anything.

Built to be private
We are not in the business of capturing or selling your data. We don't track any data that identifies you. We even allow you to turn off our anonymous analytics.

No required permissions = more privacy/security
Many other launchers want 10 or more device permissions. (the notification filter asks for one access but you can turn it off that feature).

Take control of your phone
Before Launcher sorts apps by their size, their installed date and the last time you used them. Uninstall the ones that take up too much space, or you never use.

Style your app icons
Add our own styles and also add 3rd party icon packs

Easy set up
Our guided process helps you get Before Launcher set up in no time.

Selected as one of Fast Company's best new apps of the year in 2019.

The minimalism movement inspired our work! This includes books like Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport, How to Break Up with Your Phone by Catherine Price and Indistractable by Nir Ayal. (2) Products like the Lightphone.

The Before Launcher app, with your consent, uses Android's Accessibility Service API to enable the double-tap gesture to quickly turn off your device’s screen. Your use of this feature is optional. The accessibility service in Before Launcher is disabled by default. Your consent is required to allow the accessibility service to be used by the Before Launcher and when consent is granted it is only used for the double-tap feature. You can revoke your consent at any time. The feature and the service do not collect or share any data.

NOTE: We would love to hear from you. Our roadmap includes future support for gestures, custom fonts, and more.

Ratings and reviews

Good to help my 90 year-old mum cope with a smart phone, with just one little feature missing. It needs to have the option to 'Search for Apps' on the home screen, then I could totally disable any left/right swiping ability, and she could just search for any Apps that I hadn't added for her in the home screen. EDIT: You can change a gesture to immediately access the App Search function, but I still think it would be better if there was the option to add the search icon to the home screen.

I really love this minimalist launcher. Keeps most of the things a launcher should have and disposes of those they shouldn't. Makes everything so much bigger and easier to see and use. Unfortunately I tried to get my visually impaired wife to use it but she found the lack of web shortcut icons was a deal-breaker. Personally I love everything *except* for the use of the US date/time format which is illogical and ugly. I'll not be buying pro until that gets changed.

Made my life better in an instant. I tried minimalist phones and other apps, but then this...well, this is exactly what it needs to be. Places your less used apps so you reach for them only intentionally. Your essential 6 or 7 get the front page, that's it. Same goes for notifications. The notifications filter is like a bouncer with a black belt. Now I only get notifications from people in my life (and my bank), not companies and services. You control it all, of course. More power to you. ✊

What's new

🚀 8.0.1
⚡ Customize vertical spacing for home screen items
🔧 Upgrade Android SDK and Billing APIs
🔧 Fix Android edge-to-edge layout issues
🐞 Fix black and white icon mode in notifications screen
🐞 Fix wallpapers applied prematurely
🐞 Fix status bar and navigation bar transparency
🐞 Bug fixes and performance improvements