Microsoft Launcher

Microsoft Corporation

About this app

Microsoft Launcher provides a new home screen experience that empowers you to be more productive on your Android device. Microsoft Launcher is highly customizable, allowing you to organize everything on your phone. Your personalized feed makes it easy to view your calendar, to do lists, and more. Sticky Notes on the go. When you set up Microsoft Launcher as your new home screen, you can either start fresh with your favorite apps or import your current home screen layout. Need to switch back to your previous home screen? You can do that, too!

This version of Microsoft Launcher has been rebuilt on a new codebase to make new features possible, including dark mode, and personalized news.

MICROSOFT LAUNCHER FEATURES
Customizable icons:
· Give your phone a consistent look and feel with custom icon packs and adaptive icons.

Beautiful wallpapers:
· Enjoy a fresh new image from Bing every day or choose your own photos.

Dark theme:
· Comfortably use your phone at night or in low light environments with Microsoft Launcher’s new dark theme. This feature is compatible with Android’s dark mode settings.

Backup and Restore:
· Easily move between your phones or try Home Screen setups through Microsoft Launcher’s Backup and Restore feature. Backups can be stored locally or saved to the cloud for easy transfers.

Gestures:
· Swipe, pinch, double tap, and more on the home screen to easily navigate on the Microsoft Launcher surface.
This app uses Accessibility Service Permission for optional gesture of screen lock and recent apps view.


TERM OF USE
By installing this app, you agree to the Terms of Use (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=246338) and Privacy Policy (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=248686).

Downloading Microsoft Launcher gives the option to replace the default launcher or to toggle between device launchers. Microsoft Launcher does not replicate the user’s PC home screen on the Android phone. Users must still purchase and/or download any new apps from Google Play. Requires Android 7.0+.

Ratings and reviews

This is a very good launcher. It is feature-rich on basically any Android device -- besides the surface duo 1 and 2. For whatever reason, the launcher is totally nerfed on those devices. No customizable gestures, no icon packs, no resizing the app grid no removing the dock. According to guys at Windows Central, doesn't seem to be much plans for ongoing development of this launcher though. Microsoft seems about done with Android. I would probably look elsewhere for a permanent solution.

Updated: Have been using it for years and love it. However, it seems that Backup/Restoring has stopped working lately. Anyone experience same? S23 ultra here. Original review: Just love everything about this app! Easy to use and very reliable! Whenever I get a new phone, I can always rely on this app to transfer my personalized launcher to the new device. Thank you, Microsoft!

I have down graded my rating because the news feed does not actually hide sources you don't want. It gives you that option but it doesn't actually work. It removes that connect for that session but does not retain that setting for future news feeds. I like the app try and right swipe feature, especially since I am a heavy Outlook user. A subtle feature I like is the ability to set the home button to open the pull down settings when on the home screen.

What's new

Known bugs were fixed and performance improvements were made.