Top 3 Small Sized Launcher for Android in 2015 – Apus, CM & Hola
Are you in search of small-sized Android launchers that offer low memory consumption and low size? Here you can find the list of 3 best small & light android launchers. These launchers not only offers small size and are lightweight, but they also bring in many new features and functions.
Why you should use small launchers?
Because these launchers are just under 2 MB so you can save a lot of space in disk space. They work fluently even on single-core processor phones. They use a smaller amount of RAM, which means better multitasking. Also, they perform well on small screens too. So using a small size launcher is recommended for people using budget smartphones and Samsung users (TouchWiz launcher sucks, one of the main reasons your phone is lagging).
The three of the small android launchers in the list are :
- Apus launcher
- CM launcher
- Hola launcher
All the three launchers have got something in common, I’ll list that first :
- The size of all the three is around 1-2 MB.
- All the three launchers are like MIUI launcher, that is they don’t have an app drawer. All the apps are laid out in the home screen and widgets are also placed here.
- All the apps will be automatically arranged into folders according to their respective genres.
- All these launchers come with native “Boost” functionality, which makes you
- All three are having minimal settings and lack some options that are found in other well-known launchers like Apex, Nova, Go, etc.
- To compensate for the missing of the app drawer, all three launchers have ‘All apps’ menu, which lists all the apps in a drop-down list. You can place it in the dock if you want.
Apus Launcher
This was the first launcher that started the “small launcher” trend in Android. It was the first Android launcher to emphasise on the size and lightness of the launcher. This made Apus one of the most popular Android launchers in a minimal amount of time.
Its size is just 2 MB (was around 1 MB previously), and promises a great Android experience. I downloaded this launcher when it was just launched, and this one made me switch from Nova launcher.
Features
Animations
As I said, these launchers come with a minimal amount of settings and features. Apus is really thin on that side, the first thing you’ll note about Apus settings will be that there are no settings for transition animations. You cannot change the transition animation of the home screen, you’ll have to adjust with the simple slide animation with Apus.
Wallpaper
Apus comes with a robust gallery of wallpapers online. To get into the wallpaper gallery, double click on an empty space and select the icon that appears on the top right portion on the screen. You can also select the wallpapers that are saved on the device, to go to that option, select the top-right icon. One neat feature of the Apus launcher is that it can show the wallpaper blurred also.
Apus Radar
This is how the creators of Apus launcher makes money! Apus Radar shows you what apps people in your area are using. I highly doubt it, as it is a sponsored list and the developers of Apus earns a little commission for showing this. Anyways, it’s a neat feature.
Notification Toggles
Apus has persistent notification toggles option, which includes toggles for Wifi, data, torch, and all apps. Selecting all apps takes you directly to all apps menu.
Search
Tapping the Search bar brings up the Apus search, where you’ll see some bubbles with trending topics. The usual Google search bar is here replaced by Apus’s custom search.
Screenshots
CM launcher
Features
CM wallpaper
Similar to Apus wallpaper, CM launcher has its own version of the online wallpaper gallery. It is pretty similar in terms of looks too. It can also be used to set the local wallpapers saved in the device, similar to what Apus can do. But the option of blurred wallpapers is missing in CM launcher.
Popular Local Apps
This is similar to the Apus radar, CM monetizes the launcher by showing similar apps to what you have in your folders. To access these, just swipe up when you’re in the folders.
Notification toggles
It also comes with notification toggles, and it looks exactly similar to Apus’s notification toggles. It also has similar toggles page as that of what Apus offers.
Animations
Here also you get the basic transition animations and you have only the simple slide animations.
Screenshots
Hola Launcher
Features
Animations
Hola Customization
Did anyone miss themes and icon packs on small launchers? (Apus, ahem!). Hola supports themes also, it comes in form of Hola themes that are made specially for Hola. It would be better if it supported ordinary icon packs used bu Nova, Apex and others launchers. But, something is better than nothing right? Some of the themes are good, but not matching my taste (you might like the themes, they are like Go launcher themes). It also has an online wallpaper gallery, and a fonts gallery. From fonts gallery, you can select the fonts to be used in the launcher.
Gestures
T9 App search
This is actually awesome, you can search the all the apps in your phone using old school T9 dial pad. It’s like searching for contacts in your dialer app. It’s a great addition and can come handy at times. I have previously used an app for this functionality. To access app dialer, just double click on an empty space on home screen.
Swift Start
If you have used Lazy Swipe, you’re going to love Hola. Hola comes with a similar pop-up from edges which has got toggles and favorite apps. It’s a nice addition, you can access this from the lower edges of the screen when in home screen.
Hidden Apps – Hola Box
You can also hide apps in Hola launcher, just swipe up to see the hidden apps. It is a great addition, I have to admit the devs of Hola are great.
Screenshots
Final Words – Which is the Best?
For me, the best of the three is Hola launcher. Because it has many more features than the other two combined! Even though it is just 1.5 MB, it has many more features than some other big launchers. Also, there hasn’t been a single instance where the launcher restarted (that is when you press the home button and you see launcher is loading, Apus & CM had some instances where the launcher restarted).
Hola was the reason I wrote this post. Because Hola needed much more exposure and it should be used by many more people. So if you want a great small sized launcher, with a lot of features just download Hola launcher!
Download Links
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What’s your view on this? What is your favorite launcher you have been using? Did you like Hola, will you download it? Or will you continue using your current launcher? Please let me know, comment below!
Hola is 15MB installed, with some games, “booster” and other crap added – pure bloatware to me. Hardly a “small” launcher.
Currently I am using c m launcher b4 that I was using nova so nova feel more stable and fast where as cm is bit laggy but I like the integrated screen lock feature. So I want a launcher which is fast+stable +having screen lock feature and less ram consuming. Please suggest me
Use Hola launcher.
I have a question… a lot of launcher claim to make your phone run smoother, but… maybe you can help me with this, my phone is a low end phone it’s the Xperia E4 it has a quad core, 1 GB ram and 8 GB internal storage, but I don’t know if I should install any launcher, because I actually don’t know how they work, so here’s the question.
a) If you install a launcher it’s an entirely different process than your stock launcher?, I mean if you install, to say something, the Hola Launcher, your phone will ditch (for the time being) your stock launcher, and only run the new launcher?, of that’s the case you’ll be using less RAM and less power of the processor because of the simplicity?.
OR
b) Is it a parallel process?, I mean if you install a launcher it will run alongside with your regular stock launcher in the background?, or in other words, the phone will be running both launchers at the same time?, if this is the case it doesn’t matter how small and simple the launcher is, if you install it your phone will be using more RAM and more processor power in order to run both, the stock launcher AND the extra launcher.
So… which one is it?
Thanks.
The new launcher runs as a new process, replacing the default launcher of your phone. And only the custom launcher you’re using will be running and the default launcher will not be in cache for the time being. 🙂
You can go ahead and try for yourself, by checking the cached applications option in application menu in settings.
can we hide apps in apus launcher?
Of course you can.
Hola launcher umí skupiny. “Must have” pro mne. Milionkrát rychlejší než rolovat plochy. A exaktní. 🙂
Nice write-up, been using Hola for a few months and I love it. I quite like the circular and chromatic themes. And to the others saying you can’t hide apps, you can. If you long press an icon an uninstall and a hide option appears at the top of the screen.
Overall it’s lightweight, extremely fast, and beautiful. As a bonus the ads are very minimal and only appear once the first time you open one the themes app, and the first time you use hola boost after turning your phone on.
I do agree with that! Hola is the best light weight launcher among the three. 🙂
ZeRO launcher is best hola,
yes, as you told, i can hide my apps in hola. But the problem is, if i restart my phone then all the hidden apps comes back to homescreen.. If you have any solution please send me your reply. Thank you.
i cant unhide the apps can u help?
After rooting my android phone the Hola Launcher is my Default Launcher , this is awesome launcher. Its take only 17 MB Ram.
Yeah! I’m also using Hola in one of my older phones! 🙂
I just launched Hola, very impressive, the bubble no. notifications appear in all social apps (Whattsapp/LINE/Gmail etc).
My only issues is the weather + location widget is not auto update in Hola. I tried switching on the mobile network button for location change but it is still, i need to update manual whenever i move,,,,
Try Holo Launcher.
Tiny size, smaller than Hola
But the functions and features are less in Holo. It’s a basic launcher, and very very light too.
Cant hide apps in Hola launcher. No such option. You press and hold on some icons and it shows a hide option. But most APPS that are auto added to the home screen when installed cannot be removed or hidden. I now have hundreds of icons filling up and destroying my screen because i cannot hide them.
Well, Hola launcher works differently than other ordinary launchers. In Hola launcher, every app is added to the home screen itself, there is no particular app drawer for Hola launcher (Even though there is all apps option, which lists all apps icons, saw the screenshots I’ve provided in this post?). All the icons are arranged automatically on home screen in folders, in your case that might have not happened automatically, you might have to arrange them in folders by yourselves. Or I would suggest you to uninstall and reinstall the Hola launcher, and it will auto arrange all the apps in folders so that your home screen will be clutter free.