When comparing Apex Launcher Pro vs Yahoo Aviate Launcher, the Slant community recommends Yahoo Aviate Launcher for most people. In the question“What are the best launchers for Android?” Yahoo Aviate Launcher is ranked 3rd while Apex Launcher Pro is ranked 4th. The most important reason people chose Yahoo Aviate Launcher is:
Calendar, social, etc, and only shows the five most important apps to you at the time, keeping clutter out of the way.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Highly customizable app drawer
Apex Launcher lets the user customize the app drawer, including its style (Horizontal Paginated, Vertical Paginated, Vertical Continuous or Vertical List), the method of sorting and the background transparency.
Pro Customize grid size
Apex Launcher allows the user to change the grid size of their home screens (up to a maximum size of 10 rows and columns) and adjust the margins on the left, right, top and bottom. Icons can be made larger by as much as 150% or reduced to as little as 50% of their original size.
Pro Stock Android experience
Made to look like stock Android with additional features.
Pro Has a theme shop
A marketplace where the user can download extra themes is provided. Some of the themes must be purchased via Google Play, but many are free. Paid version allows the use of themes from other launchers.
Pro Sort drawer by most used
There is an option in the Apex Launcher drawer to sort apps by the most used, making for a convenient way for users to get back to their most often used apps.
Pro Can hide apps
Apex Launcher also allows users to hide unused or unwanted apps from the drawer.
Pro Gestures are free
The free version of Apex comes with swipe gesture support.
Pro Unread count (paid version)
Unread count notifications create badges for home screen, dock and drawer icons that let the user know how many unread messages they have.
Pro Infinite scrolling
Infinite scrolling allows you to cycle among your home screens without ever changing directions.
Pro Tablet support
Apex, which requires Android 4.0 or later, boasts a dedicated tablet UI mode. Turning this on enables the persistent search bar at the top of the display, and somewhat inexplicably disables the dock at the bottom of the screen.
Pro Groups apps by their functionality
Calendar, social, etc, and only shows the five most important apps to you at the time, keeping clutter out of the way.
Pro Time and location-aware launcher
For each period of the day Aviate provides different apps and information by learning from the users behavior (similar to Google Now). This can come in handy as the apps one would use in the office will most likely be different from the ones they use at home.
Pro Minimalist design
Clean and simple visuals allow for easy navigation and understanding of how to interact with the launcher.
Pro Free
The Yahoo Aviate Launcher is completely free to download and use with zero in app purchases to be found.
Pro Fluid interface
Swiping to the right opens your spaces (home, work, listening, etc), swiping to the left opens up your apps, and swiping down opens useful contextual information. Luckily all of this swiping works very smoothly.
Pro Notification badges (unread count) for select apps
Aviate supports notification badges for:
- Unread emails via the Gmail app
- Missed calls via your favorite Phone app
- Unread text messages from your default SMS app
- Apps with notification badges on the default Samsung launcher
This allows the user to easily see what apps have what amount of notifications.
Pro Support for icon packs
Aviate Launcher has built in support for icon packs. this way users can theme their launcher icons to their liking.
Pro Shortcuts
Allows one-tap access to create shortcuts to contacts, documents, websites, and even email folders.
Cons
Con Can be overwhelming at first
Apex Launcher offers lots of customization in terms of user interface and functionality that can be overwhelming at first.
Con Slow to implement new features
Development of Apex Launcher can some times be slow, lagging behind in features when compared to more frequently updated launchers.
Con Version 4 changed everything
The look, the options, animations and sizes.
Con Limited customization
Aviate limits customization because it aims for a simple design. Although a little more customization would be useful.
Con Limited shortcuts
Unable to shortcut to call/message individual contact or direct access a web page.