LAUNCHER 8 PRO vs Z Launcher Beta

Like Windows Phone 8, the design of Launcher 8 consists of brightly colored tiles on either a black or white background. The result is a simple and appealing design. Although simply changing the tile color is not as personal as wallpaper in conventional launchers. Fortunately though any color is possible on Launcher 8 not just the preselected colors on Windows Phone 8.

Windows Phone 8 was never designed to work with Android widgets but that doesn't mean you can't use them with Launcher 8. The developers of Launcher 8 have finally found the right solution to using widgets on the tile interface with new separate pages. In the previous version of the launcher, Launcher 7, the widgets would be squeezed into tiles and the result was rarely good. The new separate widget pages accessible with a swipe to the right are a big improvement.

Launcher 8 uses the same transition effects when opening apps and returning to the home screen as the Windows Phone 8. Not only is this appealing but apps seem to load quicker. The transition to open an app takes a few hundred milliseconds which gives apps extra time to load. The result is an interface that seems quicker than it actually is.

This feature may seem counterproductive at first but it provides a minimalistic appearance that stays true to the original Windows Phone 8. The notification bar will still appear everywhere else on your Android but Launcher 8 will be just tiles.

Launcher 8 supports basic unread counts like phone calls and text messages in the free version.

Users use their finger or a stylus to write the first letter of an app they are looking for in order to find it and launch it. It allows for a fast way to find and launch apps.

By gesture writing the name of a contact or website on the home screen the launcher will show results for the user to click on to go to the corresponding contact or webpage.

The launcher learns what the users most used apps are and adapts what it shows on the home-screen to that usage.

Z Launcher is a very minimal launcher where the home screen is 4 shortcuts at the bottom, 6 of the most used apps and phone numbers on the home screen and a clock at top.

A clean and minimal designed widget that contains info from multiple apps, letting the user scroll between them intuitively.

Having apps like Hangouts or the Phone Dialer in the docked apps will allow for unread counts on the icons.