Can anyone recommend a FOSS Android launcher . . .

hedge@beehaw.org to Free and Open Source Software@beehaw.org – 30 points –

. . . that allows the user to hide apps in the drawer?

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I use KISS but it is little bit learning curve.

Second for kiss ... You have to get used to it and understand the concept. I really really like it now.

KISS is nice, but since I can barely type on a smartphone this probably won't work for me, but thank you both for taking the time to respond!

Also shout out for the TinyBit launcher fork for someone who wants custom icons and a few extras with the same concept

I also use TinyBit! It's very nice, although one might want to do some tweaking beforehand

I just downloaded KISS because I got bored of using Lawnchair for so long now and I do like how fast it is. Everything in my favorites at the touch of a finger is nice. Thank you for recommending this.

It has lot of customisation - I use simple UI (it hides history and you can add widgets) and swiping shortcuts.

I also used it for a while but I find that I use a set of apps all the time and simply tapping a known position on screen is just so much faster.

"Normal" launchers have searchable app drawers too, so that works for the rest.

Lawnchair is pretty good.

Thanks; however I wasn't able to find a way to hide drawer apps with it, like with nova launcher. Also looks like it hasn't been updated in a while

Open launcher settings - drawer - hidden app shortcuts - check those you don't want to see. I'm using 2.0-2589 on android 13 and it works great.

Yeah it's one of the few apps where I recommend not getting the stable version and get the continuous builds from the GitHub repo, they don't update their fdroid package that often imo.

Neo Launcher is great! Switched over from Nova Launcher because they had all the customization features I wanted, without the being tied to google play store. Also recommend the Neo Feed RSS reader, which integrates right on the home screen.

For some reason, Neo crashes every time I boot it! Both from F-Droid and Aurora. It looks really good too. What do you like about Neo? :)

It has an RSS feed add-on that replaces the google swipe left fine home feed.

Ooooh! I've been using Feeder but I might take a look.

Mainly the ability to hide apps in the drawer.

Lawnchair Alpha version is beautiful and modern. I've tried many launchers before but have stuck with Lawnchair since I found it a year ago. Get the the official github alpha version - the version in the Play store or F-Droid is not the same.

I took a look at their twitter screenshots and it seems like it's similar to the stock android launcher if i'm not mistaken?

Yes I think so. I had not used android before switching to Grapehene so I'm never sure what is stock Android and what isn't.

I use Olaucher and it works great for me. You just long-press any app in the drawer and you get the "Hide" option.

It's of course FOSS, I use the F-Droid version.

It's entirely text though which I like, but maybe that doesn't fit your needs - no icons and no widgets.

I love Olauncher, I tried it out on a whim and never left

Thanks, I hadn't heard of that one

It's not GUI (no icons, no widgets) but I have for many years preferred

Search Based Launcher (Minimalistic home-screen) https://f-droid.org/packages/com.vackosar.searchbasedlauncher/

It uses the text names of apps for launching them, and allows both hiding and renaming apps. Renaming is helpful for dealing with e.g. "Voice" being both Google Voice and Voice Audiobook Player.

I have been using Neo launcher and I love it, but I hear it is not great on non pixel phones.

@Sivilian@lemmy.zip, do you know how to add the repo for this to F-Droid? https://github.com/NeoApplications/Neo-Launcher

I do not know I also use their fdroid store, neo store. so I didn't have to add it.

What's a launcher?

Controls your home screen and app drawer. Nova was the popular one until they sold out.

What's the problem with Nova. I've been using it for years, and nothing seems to have changed.

ok. what's wrong with the built-in AOSP "launcher"? Is there some important feature for home screens that I'm missing-out on?

It boils down to preferences imho.

I like text-based stuff in general, so having a launcher that displays my favorites app as text and launches any app as soon as I type the beginning of its name is a real plus for me.

Open-source and de-gafamisation also matter to me, so I want to make sure knowing my launcher doesn't track me - I usually choose one that's available onF-Droid for this reason.

OLauncher has these features and has a smaller footprint than default launchers, sl I swapped.

But afaik there's nothing "wrong" with the AOSP launcher.

Customizable grid size on both the home screen and app drawer are the two biggest for me. Also being able to hide apps from the drawer while keeping them installed. Home screen gestures are a big one that I don't personally use anymore.

Discreet Launcher is my favourite. Works great on phone or tablet.

One thing to note is it doesn't support widgets.