Why you should start using NOVA Launcher on your Android device

The main reason why I really love using Android device is because there are so many possibilities that are waiting to be unlocked on Android platform.

One of those possibilities is the ability to use 3rd party launchers to replace the stock launcher that comes pre-installed with my smartphone. And this totally enhances the experience of using my device and in fact, improves its performance and battery life as well.

Talking about Android launchers, there are actually many great 3rd party launchers that you can download for free on Google Play Store right now.

But I personally choose NOVA Launcher because I really love how fast it performs and it actually has been pretty great with the battery life and performance of my phone. Besides that, I also love how I can totally control everything that’s shown on the homescreen.

So this is why I totally recommend you to start using NOVA Launcher because it’s simply AWESOME! In fact, I believe you will find this launcher much better than the stock launcher that comes pre-installed on your device right now.

Anyway, below I’m about to show you how exactly to use NOVA Launcher on your Android device as well as the features found on this launcher. So, enjoy!


First of all, open your Google Play Store to start searching for this launcher.


Now find an app called “NOVA Launcher” and then download it to your device. But before pressing the download button, be sure that your device has sufficient amount of storage space.

This app actually only weighs in around 16MB if you download it from Google Play Store. But I strongly recommend you to use Wifi connection when downloading this app in order to save your mobile internet data.


After the installation process is complete, now open the app.

Right when you open this launcher, the homescreen of your device will change to a new looking UI where all the app icons are smaller than on the default stock Android UI. Yes, that’s the UI of NOVA Launcher.


Eventhough the homescreen has now changed to the UI from Nova Launcher, if you press the capacitive home button on your device, it actually will bring you back to the default stock Android UI.

Meanwhile, Nova Launcher is still running in the background which you can open again from the “Recent Apps” screen.

Now in order to make Nova Launcher as the default UI on your device, you need to set it up manually through the Nova Launcher app. To do this, now switch back to Nova Launcher > press the menu option and select “Nova Settings”.

After that, scroll down to the bottom > choose “Select Default Home” > and then select “Use Nova Launcher as Home” to use Nova Launcher as the default homescreen.

Finally, select the option “ALWAYS” to make sure that everytime you press the capacitive home button on your device, it will bring you to the homescreen of Nova Launcher, not the stock UI of your device.

However, if you want switch to the normal default UI of your device, you can change it back through this same setting page.


Okay, the next question is, how exactly to modify the look of Nova Launcher? Well, it’s actually not that hard to do that. You just need to open the menu option on homescreen > Select “Nova Settings” > select “Look and Feel” > and then from there you can do anything with the UI of this Nova Launcher.

* Screen Orientation * : if you want the UI of Nova Launcher to behave according to how you move your device, you can select the option 'Auto-Rotate'. By doing this, everytime you move your device in landscape mode, the homescreen along with all the apps will also move and be adjusted in landscape mode.

But you can also select “Default” to set the homescreen always in portrait mode. So eventhough you use this device in landscape mode, the homescreen will stay in portrait mode and not change into landscape mode.

* Scroll Speed * : This feature controls the speed of how the homescreen scroll everytime you swap the homescreen to right or left.

* Animation Speed * : This feature allows you to set the speed of animation on the homescreen, like when you open app drawer or when you open the folder on the homescreen.

* App Animation * : This feature allows you to control the animation everytime you open the app.


After you finish placing all the app shortcuts on the homescreen, it’s really important to create the backup of this layout.

So later in the future, if you accidentally delete Nova Launcher app from your device, you can import back the saved layout of Nova Launcher that you have saved earlier. All the app shortcuts, widgets and folders will be placed back to the homescreen exactly according to your layout.

To do this, you just need to open the menu option on homescreen > Nova Settings > select “Backup & Import Settings” > select “Backup” > switch ”Document Storage” to ”External Storage” > Press “OK”.


If you want to change the functionality of capacitive home button of your device, you just need to open the menu option > select “Nova Settings” > “Gestures & Inputs” > “Home button” > and then choose the other actions in the list.

So if you’re on the homescreen, when you press the capacitive home button, it will act according to the action that you chose earlier in the setting.

I strongly suggest you to pick “Show Previews” in the list. This will make it easier for you to open the overview screen which allows you to change the wallpaper, add widget and open the Setting of Nova Launcher. But it’s up to you.


Well, there you go guys, my tips for you if you want to start using Nova Launcher as the default launcher of your device. Anyway, what about you guys? Do you also use Nova Launcher on your smartphone or tablet right now? Or do you use other launchers?

Well, if you have other great launchers that you would like to recommend to me here, don’t hesitate to share them all here on the comment section below. I’ll be more than happier to hear what them.

Have any question? Leave your comment here!