1. Launchers and how to use them

All phones come with a launcher, an interface to interact with apps and customize their home screens. For example, Samsung phones come with TouchWiz, HTC phones come with Sense home, LG calls theirs the Home launcher, and Nexus phones use the Google Now Launcher, as do Motorola phones.

If you're ready to jump into third-party launchers, here are three launchers that we recommend.

Nova Launcher:

One of the most popular launchers out there - highly customizable and still easy for most beginners. Nova also has a free version before you invest in Nova Prime.

Action Launcher 3:

Action Launcher 3 is a fan favorite — and an editor favorite, too. The quickdrawer replaces the app drawer with an app list on the left side of the screen, and features like Shutters and Covers help conserve space using folders and widgets in new ways.

Yahoo Aviate:

If you want to let your launcher do the organizational work for you, perhaps try Aviate, the launcher that Yahoo acquired in 2014. Aviate adapts to your schedule and locations to arrange the apps and widgets it thinks you need right now

2. It all begins with a wallpaper

No matter what launcher you use, you need a wallpaper for the background. You may want to consider replacing yours with stunning pictures from one of these sources.

Muzei:

If you're looking for beautiful wallpapers that will rotate out on a regular basis, Muzei and its many, many extensions are here for you. A live wallpaper, Muzei will pull pictures from gallery sources to set a new one as your wallpaper every few hours.

AC Wallpaper Gallery:

Another resource for your wallpaper needs is the Android Central Wallpaper gallery. Hundreds of cool wallpapers, all from different users

Zedge:

The Walmart of wallpapers, ringtones and other theme elements. Zedge hosts thousands of wallpapers for you to download and apply, from dozens of categories.

3. Widgets, widgets everywhere

Widgets are miniature apps that run on your home screen. There are several types: from toggle widgets to control your Hue Lights, to forecast widgets for your local weather, through to playback widgets to control your music.

Most of your apps probably came with some kind of widget, there are third party widgets to download.

They allow us to access and interact with data from our apps without having to open each one. For example:

♦ I can go to the next track in Play Music without having to open them app again.

♦ I can mute my phone and turn off my mobile data without going into Settings.

♦ I can turn on my Hue lights without ever leaving my home screen.

Widgets also serve as shortcuts into apps, or better yet into specific functions of an app. Here are just three:

♦ The Google Keep widget lets me access my most recent notes or start a new one without keeping the icon in my dock.

♦ The Netflix widget can take me to the next episode of my current shows.

♦ My weather widget can take me to current conditions of one of my forecasts.

4. Finally, we have shortcuts

These are lumped into Widgets with many launchers including Nova. The icon for your app drawer is a shortcut.

Other popular shortcuts are contact shortcuts, to call your spouse or text your kids, and setting shortcuts, such as Tethering, Location, and Power.

In addition, shortcuts can take you into certain playlists, albums, or activities within an app.

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