Nova Launcher is one of the most popular 3rd-party launchers in the world. Android, as we all know, is the most customizable OS in the world, and Nova Launcher can be branded as its perfect accomplice.

From the way your device looks to little gestures that make all the difference, the aftermarket launcher offers a bunch of features that can truly enhance your smartphone experience.

If you want to spice up your Home screen and add a dash of excitement to your day-to-day digital life, getting Nova Launcher may very well be the best course of action.

Nova Launcher developers generously give users the option of trying out the launcher before shelling out their hard-earned dollars. The base version is available for free on Google Play, but it doesn’t include any of the cool gestures we mentioned above.

The paid variant, Nova Launcher Prime, costs $4.99 and comes with all the bells and whistles you could possibly want. At under $5, Nova Launcher is an excellent investment, but if you’re too short on cash, there is another launcher you could try.

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Nova Launcher’s worthy alternative

Apex Launcher may not be as popular as Nova, but it, too, has a large enough fanbase of its own. You can download the app for free from Google Play and get some of the gestures found in Nova Launcher Prime.

Nova Launcher Prime gives us 11 gestures to play with – Swipe up, Swipe down, Double tap, Double tap + swipe up, Double tap + swipe down, Two finger swipe up, Two finger swipe down, Pinch in, Pinch out, Two-finger rotation (clockwise), Two finger rotation (counter-clockwise).

Apex Launcher, on the other hand, gives us 9 gestures —  Pinch in, Pinch out, Swipe up, Swipe down, Double tap, Two finger swipe up, Two finger swipe down, Double tap swipe up (locked), Double tap swipe down (locked) — out of which two gestures are reserved for the premium version.

All of these gestures work in a specific way. Upon tapping on the gesture (Pinch in for example) you’ll get to pick from one of the three options — Actions, Apps, and Shortcuts.

Actions contains most of the system tasks, while Apps and Shortcuts contain app shortcuts and app-specific shortcuts, respectively.

Impressed with Apex Launcher’s features? You can get the pro, ad-free version for $8.99.

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Go Launcher Z

Despite not being as powerful as Apex or Nova Launcher, Go Launcher Z has a few tricks up its sleeve. Apart from offering loads of visual tweaks, it also offers notification indicators, which come at a premium in other launchers. It’ll ask for your permission to read notifications, and upon enabling, you’ll be able to see which apps need your attention.

You can get the Go Launcher Z app from here.

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