I found an Android launcher that combines the best of Niagara and Nova Launcher

About 15 years ago, when I first switched from a Nokia to an Android phone, it wasn’t a mere choice; it was also a financial decision. I couldn’t afford to buy an iPhone, and its price, padded with hefty import fees, made it a dream I refused to approach. Over the years, I became more fascinated with Android’s customization. A decade and a half later, I consciously stick to Android phones.

While my attempts at heavily modding my phones or fiddling with custom ROMs have decreased significantly, there are two things I still actively do: change wallpapers routinely and switch to a new launcher every few weeks or months, actively hopping between multiple awesome launchers on Android.

Naturally, I was bummed to learn about Nova Launcher’s demise, though I wouldn’t call it sudden — or even unexpected, for the matter. I, like many of my colleagues, had switched from Nova a long time ago. While I initially perched on Lawnchair, the one launcher I use mostly now — except when I’m using a foldable — is Niagara. The likely reason for that is its vertically scrolling homescreen, which, I feel, conforms with my overripe proclivity to doomscroll. More recently, however, I have been using a relatively newer alternative, Mur Launcher, to cherish the best of both worlds.

Beyond that, Niagara freely organizes my most important widgets into a horizontally scrollable stack, and organizes information I would otherwise seek from the At a Glance widget with sleeker text. Yes, it limits the placement of widgets to the top of the screen, but it has prompted me to be more mindful and use fewer, necessary ones.

I realize this is the opposite of the maximalist approach that Nova took. And, sometimes, I itch for some of those features.

When I first started using Nova Launcher more than a decade ago, what attracted me was the flexibility to place icons or widgets anywhere, not being restricted by grid orientation or size. I could also play around with the shapes, not just the size, of the widgets or twiddle endlessly with factors such as padding and the curvatures of corners.

Truth be told, using and tweaking Nova Launcher’s layout was a constant brook of tiny dopamine hits, especially for a time when default launchers felt extremely limiting. When I settled on a particular arrangement, I didn’t have to redo it repeatedly after switching to a new custom ROM, which I would do extensively, even towards the end of the previous decade.

Nova was also among the first to allow custom icon shapes. While some of the features required Nova Prime, I didn’t think twice to pay the reasonable $5 for lifetime access. And finally, one of the features I found incredibly empowering — and efficient — was Sesame Search integration, which not only allowed searching for apps but also provided deep links to app actions, so I didn’t have to walk through those steps manually. It felt like a superpower.

However, as Android matured over time, and more alternatives caught on to Nova, these features became far less enticing due to their everyday existence. Yes, Nova remained one of the easiest options to recommend for its legacy, but Niagara immediately swayed me for the reasons I mentioned above. And I continued to be devoted until I stumbled upon Mur Launcher.

In the process of embracing Niagara, I also adopted a minimalist approach, prioritizing ease of use. As a reviewer whose job requires constant tinkering with numerous Android skins and discovering quirks, I found that gratifying. But, over time, that has also led to a sense of passivity and dullness.

I installed Mur Launcher purely out of curiosity — on a whim to challenge myself with setting up a new launcher screen. Firing it up felt like being a kid inside a toy shop, and I couldn’t resist dwelling.

That is because Mur feels new and fresh, though it thankfully doesn’t feel raw or unfinished. And despite its structure that would likely remind you of the Windows Phone interface, Mur feels modern. I can place icons into separate sections, separating them for utility, and bringing the same sense of organization as Niagara. I can also drag one icon over another to create a folder; multiple folders can coexist inside a collection, creating a vibrant jamboree of app icons and widgets.

What truly fascinates me is that I can continue to add collections to the home screen endlessly, creating a vertically scrolling homescreen — identical to Niagara, or Windows Phone UI, for that matter. When I scroll up again at the end of the homescreen, it opens the traditional app drawer, with apps sorted by name.

However, I can also shift some icons or widgets to new pages, either left or right of my homescreen, creating a new vertically scrolling page. I can spare that for apps that I use less frequently, or deploy this to separate apps for work and personal use.

Having become accustomed to Niagara’s vertically scrolling interface, it’s actually invaluable without being nearly as limiting. Scrolling rightward one more time reveals an iOS-style app library that immediately sorts installed apps into categories. Yes, that’s a second app drawer.

And what’s more exciting is that I can disable or reposition all of these pages, giving me the same flexibility as Nova. However, that’s not all; there are additional features that make it even more compelling.

Mur replaces the traditional zero screen with a Sesame-like search. It’s placed on the left side of the homescreen, though the position can be changed according to preference. It matters to me because, beyond looking up apps by name, I can use it for a deeper search. For instance, I can search my colleague’s name, and it will show me a direct shortcut to our Slack chat.

I can also just search content from video apps, or search Google (it also allows switching to DuckDuckGo or Bing). I can even jump to direct actions within apps, such as responding to a recent notification from a work management app, expanding possibilities beyond imagination.

In addition to its search, Mur allows me to resize icons to the size of widgets — there’s practically no limitation. For apps with ongoing activities, such as music players, it can transform app icons into live tiles with controls for playback. If I don’t want a big icon for a music app, I can simply long-press the icon, and it will expand the player UI with an interactive overlay.

And finally, while I can use any icon pack, Mur also lets me match my icons to the wallpaper. In fact, it does a better job at it than Google. I can force icon theming with four different levels of intensity, giving me the flexibility to add just a hint of color or drape all icons in a single shade. While Google is still testing forced theming with Android 16, Mur enables the option to apply them to any Android version (7 or later).

I’m obliged to inform you that while the basic features can be used for free, features such as live activities or iOS-style app categories require a subscription. It’s only marginal, around $0.25 a month. However, if you enjoy it and wish to support the developer, you can also get a lifetime subscription for $25.

That said, I would recommend starting with the free features first to evaluate whether you can get used to the launcher. I say this with experience since, while I love it, my wife despises it and would prefer something simpler. Since Mur is only a few months old, there are occasional bugs, such as the interface freezing up and not responding for a few seconds.

As for me, I was immediately smitten and switched to monthly payments, because I might change my mind over the next 100 months before recovering the lifetime cost, hopping on to another launcher that gets the best of Nova and Niagara Launchers.