Launchers have always been among the best ways to make your Android feel really yours — whether it’s Nova, Apex, or some cool launchers that turn your phone into a Lumia or an iPhone. I mean, customization is basically Android’s middle name, and iPhones are slowly catching up. But out of nowhere, Yahoo just dropped its launcher for Android.
It’s called Yahoo Launcher (h/t Artem Russakovskii), though it’s not exactly rolling out everywhere just yet on the Play Store. At least not where I’m writing from. You can still grab it from APKMirror, if it’s unavailable in your region. But hold up: before you go ahead and install it, here’s why you might want to pause for a sec…
Yahoo Launcher is now available for Galaxy phones, but skip it for now
Yahoo’s no rookie when it comes to Android launchers. Back in 2014, it acquired the super-popular Aviate Launcher (RIP!) for around $80 million, though it pulled the plug on it in 2018. So Yahoo Launcher is seemingly making a comeback on Android.
Before writing this, I spoke to Jeff, our editor, who’s not sold on the Yahoo Launcher just yet. He gave it a go on a few different phones, and let’s just say, he’s not ready to recommend it. At least not until Yahoo does a little more work to refine it.
Yahoo Launcher is buggy and slow at the moment
As expected, I ran into pretty much the same issues when I installed Yahoo Launcher on my secondary phone, and honestly, it is not worth replacing with your default launcher in its current state. It’s possible this is not the final version (and I really hope it’s not!).
It’s still in the early ages, so I’d recommend avoiding installing Yahoo Launcher on your Galaxy or any Android phone. Unless, of course, you’re pulling a prank on someone. Or you want to spend your time yelling at your phone, wondering why nothing’s working right. Hopefully, Yahoo will improve the launcher and add some cool features. So, come on, Yahoo, let’s make it happen.
