Featured Android App Review: Buzz Launcher [Personalization]

I'm not big on launchers. It's not that I don't think they are cool, but I usually just don't have time to screw around with them. Well I just came across a new launcher that is not only a game changer, but one that I am happy to say that I am using full time. Have you ever seen pictures of other user's home screens and wished you could duplicate it? I see them all the time, but I always sigh because I just don't have the time to set things up. Well Buzz launcher is changing all of this with a very unique take on launchers. It's one thing to download a launcher, but imagine being able to completely change the look of your home screen on the fly. In no time you will have some of the coolest looking home screens with minimal effort thanks to its huge database from other users. Buzz Launcher allows you to download other user's cool looking home screens so you don't have to spend a ton of time setting things up. Before you go thinking that there will probably only be a handful of choices, does over 10,000 sound like enough to you? At the same time, if you do have time and create something cool and unique, you can share it to the world as well.

Just like most launcher replacements, Buzz Launcher has a lot of settings and customizations, but it isn't as daunting since most of the configurations are set up already. Each home screen has its own Homepack that you will download from the Homepack Buzz Service. Although you don't need to, you will want to set up an account so you can share your creations. I used Google+. Once you account is set, you can head to the Homepack Buzz store to check out all the different home screens. Unfortunately, you can't search by keyword, but that is coming soon. Thankfully they do offer 17 categories which include music/video, sports, photography, brand, education, and so on. They also offer staff picks, what's hot, and what's new to quickly find some cool stuff. Once you see a home screen you like, select it to find out more about it. This will give you a chance to see what apps are needed in order to make the home screen fully functional. Don't worry if you don't use them all because you can still make your own adjustments. If you like what you see, click download to apply it as a new home screen or append it to your current screen as in add more pages to your setup.

Once it's set as your home screen, it will prompt you to download apps or widgets that you don't already have installed on your device. You can also customize it to your needs as well. For example, if the home screen points to Instagram from one of the icons or pictures, but you don't use Instagram, you change it to something else like Dropbox. You can also use any image you want for icons. As to widgets, Buzz Launcher is compatible with the Buzz Custom Widget add on (separate download), Minimalistic Text, Zooper Widget Pro,  and Battery Widget Z. You don't have to worry about downloading these right away because if a certain home screen requires any of them, you will be prompted to download.

Changing apps or icons is just one aspect of the modifications you can make. You can change grid sizes for both home screens and the app drawer, manager folders, change wallpapers for each screen, add widgets, or just about anything you can think of. The best part of it is that you can save any of your configurations so that you can easily revert back with minimal effort. If you want to share your creation, you can do so as well. Since it's unlikely that a home screen is going to suit your needs 100%, you will probably find that there will always be something you need to change. This is exactly what happens for a lot of users in the community so expect to see multiple versions in the Homepack Buzz Store. As of right now, they aren't grouped together so it can be a little annoying and inefficient when trying to find new home screens. This is something the developer is working on and will change soon. As of right now, the app is considered Beta, so expect a lot of improvements. At the same time, just because it's Beta, don't expect a lot of bugs because trust me when I tell you that this app is ready for primetime.

This is one of those apps that is hard to describe in text so I put together a hands on video showing you many of the features. Buzz Launcher is absolutely Free and one of the coolest apps I have come across in a while. If you like to change the look of your phone often, you need to check out Buzz Launcher today. I guarantee you that your friends and family will look at your phone and say, “Wow, you're home screen looks cool, how do you do that?” Check out my video below as well as their trailer video and download links. Definitely let me know what you think.

Key Features

• MULTI-WALLPAPER SCREEN
you can select different wallpaper images from your gallery for each screen

• MY ICONS
an icon editing tool is provided so you can edit and resize icons on your own. Transparent icons are also supported (Theme icon pack is to be supported)

• MULTI-GRID
you can designate different grids for each screen (up to 12×12)

• MANAGE FOLDERS
you can make folders in app drawers/Home screen, modify folder image, and resize folders

• MANAGE APPS
features for viewing most frequently used apps, recently installed apps, and hiding apps

• MANAGE APP DRAWERS
screen concept is applied to app drawers so you can manage apps by screens

• GESTURE SUPPORT
Glide up, Glide down, Double tap and more.

**Available from Android 4.0.3+ (ICS or Above)** and **Now Available on the Nexus 7**

Play Store Download Link