February 8, 2026
Launcher Wars: Swipe to Start
uLauncher
Minimalist Android home screen has fans swiping—and sparring
TLDR: µLauncher is a minimalist Android home screen that replaces icons with swipes, taps, and even volume buttons. Comments erupted into “launcher wars” as Niagara, Olauncher, and Lawndesk loyalists debated gestures vs grids and joked there are too many choices on F-Droid.
Meet µLauncher: a distraction-free Android home screen that shows just the date, time, and your wallpaper. Everything else? You gesture it into existence—swipes, double-taps, even drawing shapes like V or Λ to open apps, toggle the flashlight, or lock your screen. It’s free, minimal, and the dev even says you can get it on Google Play (but doesn’t recommend it), which instantly fueled jokes like “swipe left on Play Store.” The community dove in headfirst, and the hottest take came fast: “There are about 50 Android launchers on F‑Droid. Feels like picking a Linux distro.” Choice overload, anyone?
From there, the launcher wars broke out. A Niagara loyalist demanded the differences, staking the claim for slick lists and single‑hand use. Minimalists hyped Olauncher as “amazing,” while a Lawndesk veteran flexed eight years of grid life, proudly defending a no‑drawer, folders‑everywhere setup. Meanwhile, a happy user simply declared, “Really love this launcher,” as gesture fans cheered drawing arrows to speed through their day. The clash is simple: gesture‑everything zen versus classic icon grids—with a side of privacy points like work profiles and “private space” for hidden apps. Verdict? This tiny launcher has big vibes, and an even bigger comment section.
Key Points
- •µLauncher is a minimal Android launcher focused on gesture- and button-based app launching.
- •It displays only date, time, and wallpaper; swiping up or pressing back opens a searchable app list.
- •Gestures can be bound to actions like launching apps, toggling private space lock, torch, volume, and audio track control.
- •The launcher supports Android work profiles (e.g., compatible with apps like Shelter) and uses Hack as the default font.
- •Contributions are encouraged; a CI pipeline provides unsigned debug builds, with build instructions in build.md and optional distribution via Obtainium.