How to change your homescreen launcher on the Samsung Galaxy S8

Ben Schoon | Apr 18 2017 - 11:20 am PT

Samsung’s new launcher on the Galaxy S8 is new and pretty, but it’s still not for everyone. It lacks Android features, like app shortcuts, and has an app drawer that not everyone will fall in love with. Thankfully, this is still Android, so you can opt for something different. Here’s how to change your homescreen launcher on the Galaxy S8.

As with other devices running Android Nougat, the ability to change your launcher on the Galaxy S8 is buried deep within Android’s settings menu. When you download a new launcher, Android will automatically ask you to set a default, but if you need to swap after the fact, you’ll need to dig into the settings to do so.

To access this setting, simply perform the following steps:

Open the Settings application
Scroll down and tap Apps
Tap the Options button in the top right corner
Tap Default Apps
Select Home Screen
Select the installed launcher you want to use by default

Some launchers don’t play very nicely with the S8…

While features such as Bixby will still work with or without the S8’s stock launcher, some launchers just don’t play very nicely with the phone.

Nova Launcher and Evie Launcher both work well with the S8 once set as default, but Action Launcher 3 barely works, and it’s unclear why. You can download some recommended launchers for the Galaxy S8 at the links below.