It is a known fact that we are attached to our smartphones too much nowadays. Well, some of the smartphone users have been trying to ‘detox’ from their phones also. However, it is hard to do so when the phone is buzzing with notifications from all the places consistently. You can try to uninstall the social media apps, but it will not be long before you re-install them.
Well, we have found a way that might not give the feel of ‘detox,’ but it helps to restrict you from reaching out to your phone very often. With a minimalist launcher on your Android phone, you would be free from annoying notifications &, of course, accessing the junk apps. Moreover, the minimalist launcher could tremendously boost your productivity too. There are many minimalist launchers available for Android phones now, and the one we’d be talking about today is ‘Before Launcher,’ which launched recently.
We have personally tested this minimalist launcher, and it works as promised. I have noticed a lot of differences before installing this launcher and now. No wonder why ‘Before Launcher’ is dubbed as a minimalist launcher for Android phones. Let’s dive deep into my review to know more about its offerings & learn how it can keep us distract-free.
Before Launcher Review – The Minimalist Distract Free Launcher for Android:
With the Before Launcher, you’ll get the look of Windows Phone from the past. Remember the old Nokia Z launcher? It gives the same feel. Once installed, It shows a home screen that has only eight apps. That too listed in text form without showing its icons. You do not get wallpaper on the home screen as well. All you get is the ability to set a background color ranging from White, Black, Purple, Orange, and more. What we observed is that Black background is the best for your eyes as well as battery life. It has drastically improved battery life on the smartphones we have tested.
If you swipe to the right on this launcher, you get the list of apps installed on your smartphones. Usually, you get grids for apps inside any launcher, but Before Launcher shows you a vertical list of all the apps along with their icons. On the top, you can see the apps which have been frequently used. It helps you in getting to the apps you love quickly.
Now, you would question how does this launcher reduce your screen usage time. Well, there is a feature inside this launcher called Filtered Notifications. What it does is filter notifications for you based on priority. So you only get notifications in your notification panel, which are set on priority. Apart from that, all the other notifications go to the notification section.
Well, you can also see the Before Launcher in action from the video below –
It shows all the things that we have already discussed above. It must be said that Before Launcher is a blessing-in-disguise for someone who checks his phone for notifications every minute or so. Also, you need not worry about the Notification Filter as you can set the apps which are excluded from the Notification Filter.
So, you should give Before Launcher a try on your Android phone, and we are sure that you would not regret it. Also, comment below with your observations and problems, if any, on the Before Launcher. If there are any major bugs, we will try to reach out to the Before Launcher team and get it fixed on a priority basis.
