The Lawnchair 14 launcher is currently in beta, and it works really well so far on my Fairphone 4.
It’s based on the AOSP Launcher and mimics the Pixel Launcher. It’s very customizable and would be familiar to people switching from Android.
BlissLauncher3 is a great evolution from BlissLauncher, and works well, but is too iOS-like for me, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.
I wish /e/OS would offer both alternatives built-in, with good integrations and settings out-of-the box.
A choice could be offered between Bliss et Lawnchair when setting /e/OS up.
And I wish the /e/OS Team could team up with the Lawnchair team to develop it further.
Where’s the problem? Use the launcher you want, you like and you are familiar with and forget that there’s still another one preinstalled.
BTW: If you like Lawnchair you would probably also like Neo Launcher (which is somehow a rewrite) and Pear Launcher (which is an original himself with some functional additions).
The Lawnchair developpement has been on-again and off-again this past years, as a lot of small FOSS projects do.
Partnering with e/OS, wich is gaining traction, could be a great fit to sustain the project, and offer some visibility. And it would offer a better integration. I’ve had conflicting issues between Bliss and Lawnchair on my Galaxy Tab S6 Lite under /e/OS 2.1
I think that Lawnchair as its merits, for users who doesn’t want a iOS-like experience.
And it would streamline the experience for these users.
I’ve tried NeoLauncher, but I’have had to:
Install F-Droid
Install the IzzyDroid repo
Install NeoLauncher
that’s not trivial for commun users.
NeoLauncher hasn’t been updated in two years, and crashes regularly, by loosing every icon and folder i’ve put on the main page.
Pear Launcher is a Freemium, yuk!, and doesn’t seems to be FOSS.
The goal, really, is good choice, well integrated, out-of-the-box.
Will most probably not happen. /e/OS development resources are stretched as they are right now for everybody to see, with their own Bliss launcher already included.
And why would they do this for the Launcher and not for [enter another preinstalled App of your choice here]? Unfair for sure (just wait for the discussions which App would have needed this more then).
Furthermore it’s problematic to do official support for something you don’t have full control over. As for forking it … see development resources.
If there are bugs in installing and setting as default a different launcher, then they need to be fixed of course, the rest should be up to the user.
I hear that ressources are streched thin, thus the idea of collaboration.
I don’t agree with the idea that the launcher is an app like any other.
It’s not.
It’s the gateway to our phone, it’s how we nagivate the apps, to interact with widgets etc…
A good phone experience comes from a good launcher.
Bliss is ok, but still lacks some features, and have some questionnable ergonomics choices.
For example,
Phones are bigger than ever, and with 6+ inches screen, it’s not ergonomic to have to go all the way to the top bar to slide down the notifications drawer + quick toggles.
Lawnchair lets you acces it from a top-down gesture from anywere on the screen.
You access search with a down to top gesture.
Bliss should at least let you choose.
As for widgets on the home screen I don’t really have a strong opinion about it, even if I prefer to have the choice.
Most users don’t know that they can change the Launcher. We have to do the work for them.
I downloadid it from Lawnchairp.app/
Then I inswtalled it by opening the .apk
If it’s the first time you install .apk from a web download, I might need to allow the “installation of unkwon apps”
Then you launch it to discover it, and if it suits your needs, you set it up as your default Launcher in your parameters / Applications / Default Apps
I’m all for “educate and empower” (I’m a teacher), but that’s not exactly my only point here.
My point is to collaborate on Lawnchair to make it better, more stable, better integrated and most importantly, maintained in the long run.
I’m not for abandoning Bliss. I’m not opposing them. It has to go on, and be better.
I just want to suggest that, if there are UX/UI developpers out there, motivated by the /e/OS project, and more inclined to the Lawnchair’s ergonomics, to try and find a way to make it greater for /e/OS.
And officially supported.
Just like some Linux distribution have several officials Desktop Environnement, such as GNOME, KDE, Cinnamon, Mate, and so on…
