When you discuss customization on Android device, the main thing that comes to mind are launchers. While there’s no lack of excessive launchers on the Play Store, Nova Launcher (Free, Prime $4.99) is a favorite and reasonably so. The launcher brings a lots of customization options while ensuring it does not slow down your device. If you are somebody who does uses Nova Launcher, you should be very well aware of all the cool features like the ability to change icon packs, transition effects, app drawer style, dock style etc.

1.Check out the Labs Menu

Nova Launcher features a set of features and debugging options in the hidden “Labs” menu. To access the Labs menu, first you will have to enable it by press holding the volume down button for a few seconds in the Nova Settings page. Once done, you will find a “Labs” option in the Nova Settings page. You can then check out several experimental options like big grid size options, upside down screen, Gmail unread count etc..

While the Labs menu has been available in Nova Settings, the features in the menu change from time to time. So, don’t be amazed if an choice is removed from the Labs menu because Nova keeps adding new options or moving them to the main Nova Settings page.

You can disable the Labs menu by press holding the volume button in the Nova Settings page.

2.Get Weather Info in Google Search Bar

Nova Launcher gives chance you to make the Google search bar persistent and change its style but If you can get the weather information on the Google search bar, first you will have to head to Nova Settings->Labs Menu and enable the option that says “Allow weather in search bar “. Then, go to Nova Settings->Desktop->Search bar style and scroll down to the end, where you will find an option “Weather “. You can just enable it and choose the temperature unit you want.

Once done, you will see the temperature right on the Google search bar.

3.Swipe Actions on App Icons (Prime version)

Nova Launcher enable swipe actions for app icons. You can select the app icons to launch an app, shortcut or even an activity, on a swipe. This can come in really convenient when it comes to similar apps. For example, set the Contacts app to launch the Phone app when swiped.

To enable swipe actions on any app icon, press hold on an app icon in the home screen and tap on “Edit“. If you are using Android 7.1, you may have to tap “Icon options” and then, “Edit” because you are first presented with the app shortcuts. Then, the app shortcut window should open up. Here, tap on “Swipe action“.

Then, the actions page, where you will have to choose the swipe action. You can choose from different activities, apps and app shortcuts. Just tap on any action and tap on “Done “.

Once done, whenever you tap on the icon, the app will open up but when you swipe, the action you chose will be triggered.

4.Change Specific App Icons

Everybody’s aware of the fact that you can easily change the icon packs through Nova Launcher but not many people know that you can change icons of specific apps.

You can do by press holding an app and tapping on the “Edit” button. Here, you can just tap on the icon of the app and then, select from various built-in icons, icons from the different icon packs you’ve installed or select your very own custom image from the Gallery. Once you have selected the icon you need, just tap done. This approach you can select to customize each app icon the way you need, in addition you can even use this to create a transparent or invisible app icon.

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5.Create Hidden Folders (Prime version)

Through this feature, you can make a folder of shortcuts show up as a single app and when you tap on the app icon, the first app in the folder opens up or you can select a custom shortcut and when you swipe on the app, the folder opens up.

To do this, press hold on a folder in the home screen and tap on “Edit “. In the Edit Folder box, just enable “Swipe to open folder”. You can select to leave the tap action as “First item in the folder” or choose from various actions. This should come in accessible when you don’t need people to see the folder and the apps in it.

6.Hide Apps (Prime version)

Since we are discussing about privacy features, let’s move on to hiding apps. Like many launchers out there, Nova Launcher as well lets you hide apps, which is an essential feature, if you don’t need people prying on your private apps or if you just need to hide bloatware. To hide apps, you can go to Nova Settings->App & widget drawers, scroll down and tap on “Hide apps“. Then, you can just select the apps you want to hide and that’s it, the apps will be hidden from the home screen and the app drawer.

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7.Create Tabs in App Drawer (Prime version)

If you are somebody who installs a lot of apps on your Android device, just recommend you to create tabs in the app drawer for a cleaner look. For example, you can create tabs for different categories of apps like Social, Games, Work etc.

First, you’ll have to enable the “Tab bar” in Nova Settings->App & widget drawers. Once done, you can also change the tab style, menu action icons and isolate tabs. Then, scroll down below and tap on “Drawer groups“. Here, you can add different tabs by tapping the plus icon on the top right. You can also change the order in which they are available in the app drawer.

You can just tap on a tab group to select the apps you want in that tab.

8.Prevent Changes to the Home Screen

Nova Launcher includes an option that prevents anyone from making any changes to the home screen.

To enable it, you can go to Nova Settings->Desktop and scroll down to the end and tap on “Advanced“. Then, enable the “Lock desktop” option. This option locks up the home screen and you cannot move any icons or even change the wallpaper. In fact, when you long press on the home screen, the launcher shows you that it’s locked along with an option to unlock it.

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9.Double Tap to Lock Screen (Prime version)

Many Android devices include the cool double tap on screen to unlock feature but if you need to even lock a device by double tapping on the home screen, you can do through the Nova Launcher. You can do just go to the Settings->Gestures & inputs and in the Gestures section, tap on “Double tap“. From the various actions, choose “Screen lock“.

Once done, double tap on the home screen, which will prompt you to choose a screen lock method. If you choose “Device Admin”, the device will be locked but if you have a fingerprint-featuring device, the fingerprint unlock will not work. However, you can choose “Timeout”, which blacks out the display for 5 seconds while the screen timeouts and the device is locked.

10.Make Folders Transparent

If you are somebody who likes a minimal style for your Android home screen, the white or colorful background that pops up when you open a folder doesn’t look good to you. then, you can make the folder background transparent with Nova Launcher. Just go to Nova Settings->Folders and tap on “Background“. Then, just slide the Transparency bar to 100% and choice any color circle you like. You will then see that when you open up a folder on the home screen, the background is transparent.

Bonus: Get the Pixel Style with Nova Launcher

Note:

If you’ve an extensive Nova Launcher set up, you should ensure to create a backup of your Nova Settings.

You can do in Nova Settings->Backup & import settings. This will ensure that even if you move to a new device, you can just install Nova Launcher and import your backup to quickly get your customized home screen on the new device.