The 9th app of Christmas Jack Wallen gave to you, the Nova Launcher Prime home screen.

In the spirit of the holidays, we thought we’d create a smartphone series based on a popular Christmas song. The 12 Days of Christmas starts on Christmas Day, but our 12 Apps of Christmas begins today, and we’ll continue to post one app per day, leading all the way up to the holiday. However you celebrate this season, and whatever device you own (or platform that it runs on), we hope that you find some gems over the next 12 days — as these are the apps that the TechRepublic’s editorial staff and bloggers actually use and feel passionate enough to write about. Here’s what Jack Wallen had to say about one of his favorite apps called Nova Launcher Prime.

Whenever I get a new Android device, one of the first things
I do is install the Nova Launcher Prime for $4.00 (USD) — and it’s worth every penny. Why? First
and foremost, it’s one of the cleanest Android launchers you’ll find. If you’re
a big fan of a minimalist home screen (that still offers plenty of features),
you’ll love Nova. The feature list includes:

  • Custom grids
  • Infinite scroll
  • Gestures
  • Drawer groups
  • Scrollable dock
  • Folder icons
  • Hide apps (Figure A)
  • Scroll effects
  • Backup/Restore
  • Icon/dock swipes
  • Unique Nova Actions
  • Unread counts

And much more.

Figure A

 

 

You can hide apps with Nova Launcher Prime. 

Personally, I like a very clean home screen – no icons, no
widgets. Nova makes this possible, and it’s still efficient — thanks to the
Gestures feature (Figure B).

Figure B

 

 

Gestures and Buttons.

I can set up gestures to open most-used apps (as well as
other Android features). For example, I’ve set up the following gestures:

  • Single finger swipe up: Open app drawer
  • Single finger swipe down: Open notifications
  • Double finger swipe up: Open phone
  • Double finger swipe down: Open messaging
  • Double finger CCW rotate: Open Google Search
  • Double finger CW rotate: Call wife

One of the main reasons why I insist on Nova
Launcher Prime is because it makes my home screen highly efficient. Yes,
you can also add the usual icons, widgets, and such — but for someone who loves
a tidy screen, Nova can’t be beat.

Don’t let your Android phone miss out on some seriously
efficient customization. Give yourself the gift of Nova Launcher Prime this holidays season. Do you use Nova on your Android device, or do you prefer a different launcher? Share your opinion in the discussion thread below.

TechRepublic’s 12 Apps of Christmas