When comparing APUS Launcher vs ADW.Launcher, the Slant community recommends ADW.Launcher for most people. In the question“What are the best launchers for Android?” ADW.Launcher is ranked 10th while APUS Launcher is ranked 27th. The most important reason people chose ADW.Launcher is:
New themes compatible with ADW Launcher can be downloaded directly from Google Play. The launcher conveniently provides a link from the Themes page in the ADW Settings menu. More impressively, the Themes page provides previews of each theme you've installed on your device, as well as info about whether the theme supports icons, folders, the dock and the wallpaper. However, the best feature, by far, proved to be the ability to mix and match functionalities from a variety of themes to create an entirely custom look. And most of the themes are free.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Smart folders for app categorization
APUS Launcher launcher puts all apps on the homescreen and tries automatically categorizing them. If it fails, they can be manually reorganized.
Pro Lightweight and fast
Due to APUS launcher being just 1MB, it is very fast.
Pro Curated app search and recommendations
The launcher suggest apps other people are using.
Pro Quick-access to battery saving mode
A battery saving mode, called Boost, can be accessed from the notifications menu.
Pro Great theme support
New themes compatible with ADW Launcher can be downloaded directly from Google Play. The launcher conveniently provides a link from the Themes page in the ADW Settings menu. More impressively, the Themes page provides previews of each theme you've installed on your device, as well as info about whether the theme supports icons, folders, the dock and the wallpaper. However, the best feature, by far, proved to be the ability to mix and match functionalities from a variety of themes to create an entirely custom look. And most of the themes are free.
Pro Infinite scrolling
Infinite scrolling lets you loop through home screens without requiring you to change direction.
Pro Tablet support
ADW.Launcher, despite being old and abandoned does work well on a tablet with the icons and everything else scaling correctly.
Pro Customizable app drawer
The margins, rows and columns of the app drawer also can be modified to fit your preferences. In addition, ADW Launcher supports a variety of visual styles for the app drawer, such as Horizontal Paginated, Vertical New and the standard Ice Cream Sandwich Paginated style.
Pro Customizable desktop
Adjust the size of the margins or the number of columns and rows on the desktop to a maximum grid size of 10 rows and columns.
Pro Stock Android experience
Made to look like stock Android with additional features.
Pro Group app drawers
ADW Launcher allows you to create your own groups in the app drawer.
Cons
Con Sketchy advertising
Ads for Apus Launcher are very, very ugly and misleading
Con Sacrifices commonly expected customization options
The launcher allows changing the wallpaper and offers a choice of having it be blurred out or not. And that's about all customization that is offered by APUS launcher.
Con Has non-removable clock widget on the default screen
Con Last updated July 27, 2013
ADW.Launcher has not been updated since 2013, basically meaning it is abandoned.