The latest Android 8.0 Oreo themed launcher has taken Android ecosystem by storm. Google Pixel 2 was released few weeks ago. To be honest, Android Oreo has one of the best user interfaces in any phone out there. It is clean, fast and very user-friendly. Lawnchair Launcher is an open-source project to bring the delicious flavors of Android Oreo to older versions as well. In fact, Lawnchair Launcher can be installed on any Android device with version 5.0 (Lollipop) or higher. It contains all the features that Oreo has and even more!
The installation size of Lawnchair is pretty compact at just 3.5MB! This is definitely one of the lightest launchers
out there. When it is loaded for first time, it starts up instantly. At first screen, there are only two options. Either use the apps from app drawer (slide from bottom to top) or use Google Search using icon at top left. Apart from that, there is a basic apps dock at bottom of homescreen. Since it is an open source project, therefore, it will remain free forever. There are no in-app purchases and no ads so far.
To open the settings in Lawnchair Launcher, tap and hold on home screen.It will show three icons at bottom. Tap on Settings icon. Here you will see the following screen. It contains several options for customization. Just as expected, it contains almost every customization option we can think of. Starting from icon packs and up to Google Now integration, almost everything is possible. Users can change the grid sizes, column numbers, text size, background opacity, dock styles, behaviors like shadows, springy App drawer and more.
Some of the features in Lawnchair Launcher are available for Android Nougat only. This is because of the available APIs and OS support. Otherwise, most of the options work on all Android smartphones out there. Lawnchair Launcher offers some features that are only available in rooted devices. These include icon resizing, customization of icon styles, opacity percentage, column numbers.
Another cool feature is the integration of “Notification Dots”. This features shows a pop up of notifications on apps icons’ shortcuts on homecreen. For example, WhatsApp icon will show latest messages in the pop ups of shortcut added on homescreen. Notification dots are not enabled by default. To enable it on Lawnchair Launcher, head over to settings > Desktop and scroll to bottom. Tap on Notification Badges and Previews. Now it will ask you to give it access to notifications. Enable it to get notification dots and previews on Lawnchair Launcher on Android.
This guide will take you through all the steps to install Lawnchair Launcher on all Android phones. At the moment, it is not compatible with tablets. It can be installed on any device with at least Android 5.0 Lollipop as its operating system. There are no other requirements. Moreover, since its installation size is so small, almost any phone is capable of holding it!
How to install Lawnchair Launcher on Android
- Download the Lawnchair Launcher APK and place it anywhere in your phone. – Download Link
- Using any file manager, head over the folder where APK was placed in step 1.
- Tap on its icon.
- It may ask you to enable “Installation of Unknown Sources”. Follow the on-screen steps and enable it.
- If phone does not guide you, then head over to Settings > Security and enable Unknown Sources.
- Then head back to folder with APK in it and tap on it.
- This time, a new window will show. Click on Install at bottom right.
- The installation will take few seconds.
- Tap on Open and it will take you directly to Lawnchair’s home.
- To make it the default launcher, simple press Home button and select Lawnchair as default launcher.
If you have any queries, then feel free to leave them in the comment box below. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
