Atom Launcher – slick homescreen Launcher app with plenty of functionality to personalize your Android
by Paul Wilks
Sep 5, 2012 8:09 AM –
Install
Atom Launcher is a homescreen replacement app for your Android. Now, we’ve seen lots of launcher in the past, from excellent ones like ADW Launcher Ex, GO Launcher Ex and Apex Launcher, to expensive eye-candy like SPB Shell 3D and TSF Shell Pro. While we all have a much-loved favourite, now perhaps Atom Launcher should be vying for your attention. Available for devices running Android 4.0 and above, I personally think it would be how GO Launcher Ex would be if the GO Dev Team started again from scratch…
Price: Free
Tested on: HTC One X
Content Rating: Everyone
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Slick UI!
- All the functionality you expect from a top launcher!
- Ability to copy homescreen settings between launchers!
- Plenty of themes!
- Interchangeable icons!
- Ability to add filters, transparency and effects to your homescreen theme!
- Atom Launcher widgets!
Cons
- Not quite enough icons available for popular applications.
Features:
Atom Launcher is a new launcher app for Ice Cream Sandwich devices and above. I personally tend to find myself a genuine favourite launcher and stick with it. Hand on heart, I’ve pretty much tried them all, even buying the expensive ones like TSF Shell Pro and SPB Shell 3D. I think overall, up until now, Apex Launcher has been my personal favourite, certainly with ICS ROMs and above. However, Atom Launcher is now really turning my head.
Firstly, it does the basic things. You can manage screens, change grid settings, page looping, auto rotation and adjust things like transition effects. There are up to five pages of scrollable dock, widgets and plenty of themes. It’s also incredibly smooth- certainly as slick and usable as any launcher I’ve tried. You can do things like edit icons and it supports both icon packs and the ability to interchange icons between themes- not dislike MIUI. It supports homescreen gestures, shortcut generation, wallpapers and folders. I think launchers, certainly if they’re going to interest new users need to do most, if not all, of these fundamental things.
However, Atom Launcher has more up its sleeve. It supports full theming and even comes with its own store which gives you access to many themes to try out. The themes themselves are usually very integrated and features wallpapers, icons and more. It’s also worth searching the Google Play Store for compatible themes as many 3rd party developers are making their themes compatible for Atom Launcher too (including GO Launcher EX themes, of which there are seemingly thousands). Atom Launcher also comes with its own homescreen widget which lies at the top of the screen (although it can be turned off). Currently you can choose between search bar and clock feature which also includes battery and date.
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The app drawer is very cool too. Also themed, you can further change the way the apps are displayed; normal side-scrolling grid view (with themed icons first, normal A-Z view and a vertical scrolling A-Z with letter-headed groupings for easy navigation. There’s even a search function for being able to directly select apps. It’s really smooth, incredibly light feeling and feels massively intuitive and user-friendly.
Transferring from one homescreen launcher to another is always a big deal as far as I’m concerned- you have to get used to the new launcher and set out your homescreen all over again. Atom Launcher makes this easier though by allowing you to import your settings from your other launcher.
I think the only thing that disappoints with Atom Launcher (and I feel this is clutching at straws a little) is the icon theming. While many apps have specially themed icons, and you can use your own icons if you want to, the set is relatively limited, leaving many app icons unthemed. If you tend to use a number of third party apps you might find some themed icons for them missing. I don’t think this detracts too much, but I would have liked to have seen a few more. I think it could also be argued that older, more developed launchers, such as ADW Launcher EX, offer even more customisation and tweaking, letting you get really deep into the app.
Atom Launcher, I feel takes elements from the likes of Apex Launcher, GO Launcher EX and even MIUI. It blends these things together to create a fresh and customisable experience that is hugely attractive. If you want to try something a little bit different, yet very smooth, configurable, user-friendly and often innovative, definitely give Atom Launcher a try.
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Atom Launcher – Default launcher with search bar
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Atom Launcher – Downloadable themes
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Atom Launcher – Wildlight theme
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Atom Launcher – Watermelon theme
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Atom Launcher – Royalpurple theme
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Atom Launcher – BlueCube theme
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Atom Launcher – Skull theme with clock widget
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Atom Launcher – Inmybag theme
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Atom Launcher – Lock screen themes
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Atom Launcher – Wildlight app draw
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Atom Launcher – Transition effects
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Atom Launcher – Menu
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Atom Launcher – Interchangeable icon sets
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Atom Launcher – Homescreen edit
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Atom Launcher – Edit icon
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Atom Launcher – Guide
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Atom Launcher – Grid setting tutorial
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Atom Launcher – Customised Wildlight theme
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Atom Launcher – Copy homescreen
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Atom Launcher – Bulldoze transition effect
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Atom Launcher – Widgets
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Atom Launcher – Atom Store in the Google Play Store
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Atom Launcher – Settings
Usefulness:
Atom Launcher packs in plenty of functionality and customisations into what feels like a very ‘light’ launcher. It’s very stable, extremely user-friendly and comes with all the standard features you’d demand from a good launcher.
With all the themes available, it goes a long way to really customising your Android experience. There’s something about Atom Launcher that feels like GO Launcher EX, so I think it could grow and have a number of different add-ons and features developed for it, definitely one to watch.
Ease of Use:
Despite the innovation and the genuine feeling of using something very new, Atom Launcher remains very simple to use. There are plenty of navigational elements that make moving around the launcher straightforward. Sure, it takes a little exploring but I think most users will get their heads around it very quickly.
Frequently Used:
As a launcher, it will be used whenever you open up the device.
Interface:
It’s all about the interface at the end of the day, launchers are how you primarily interact with your device. Atom Launcher is hugely customisable, looks beautiful and- importantly- is extremely smooth and easy to use. The real killer to a launcher, I find anyway, is lag. Atom Launcher is fantastically silky and I saw zero stuttering or lag despite lots of use.
Tags:
ADW Launcher EX,
Android App,
Android Apps,
AndroidTapp.com App Review,
Apex Launcher,
Atom Launcher,
Custom Android Home Screen,
Customize Home Screen,
go launcher ex,
homescree,
Launcher,
SPB Shell 3D,
TSF Shell Pro
Categorised in: Personalization
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