Customization has always been a stronghold for Android over rival iOS. It can change default apps, apply the look and feel of the interface, apply new gestures, and even change app icons. App launchers like Nova, Action, Microsoft, and Lawnchair have played an important role in building a clean and productive user interface on top of the typical OEM’s skinned Android shots.
You might have learned from our Android launcher posts that every launcher comes with its most important selling point to attract new users. Nova empathizes with its customization options, Microsoft doubles down on productivity, and the likes of Lawnchair, Evie, and Action act as excellent Pixel launcher alternatives with more functionality for a non-Pixel user.
Choosing the perfect one based on its customization options and features can be a tiring experience for you. Fortunately, we compared the likes of Action to Nova and Microsoft Launcher.
In this article, we will compare the Action launcher with the Lawn Chair launcher. The comparison will be based on the settings and customization options both provide to the end user. Let’s jump.
desktop
Both apps offer enough options to make you feel at home. Starting with Lawnchair, you can change the icon grid, lock the desktop, hide the labels, change the text/icon size, text color, customize the shortcut bubble, and more.
The extensive widget functionality is my favourite. It allows you to stretch a regular widget to the edge of the screen. And that makes everything uniform for me.
The action launcher is mostly on the same page as Lawnchair, except for two great features, Quickpage and Quickdrawer.
Swipe left on the home screen and you can access all the included apps on the go. Quickpage is a widget panel located on the right side of the home screen. You can swipe right and browse the widget information.
Other functions include grip customization, scrolling effect, text labels and icon scale.
App Drawer
Lawnchair offers endless options. In terms of style, you can change the app drawer opacity, background color, icon size, number of columns, and more.
If that’s not enough, you can change the text color, create app categories in a drawer, view the search bar, app suggestions, and more customizations.
The action initiator gets the basics right. You can hide apps, create folders in app drawer, change grid icon scale, and more. It can also apply its own chosen color as an app drawer background.
Slot Settings
The action launcher allows you to completely turn off the dock on the home screen.
Once enabled, you can mess around with the width of documents, apply multiple pages, change the color, and revert the tint effect to previous Android versions.
Once again, Lawnchair brings Action to the fore with more options. You can customize the background, corner radius, placement size and even remove the search bar.
Gestures
Gestures is one of the reasons I chose a third-party launcher in the first place. Some gestures I’m used to are often missing from an Android skin.
Both Lawnchair and Action offer basic moves right out of the box. With Action, you can choose from and assign various actions to different gestures such as double-tapping the Desktop, pinching/zooming, swiping up.
The action also lets you choose a time interval between double or triple tapping.
Lawn chair is limited here. But it gets the job done with double-tapping, swiping up/down, tapping the home button, and other gestures.
Google Feed
Both Lawnchair and Action have implemented a workaround to enable the Google feed on the home screen.
In Lawnchair go to Settings > Add-ons > activate the Google app and install Lawnfeed. Google app will be activated after that.
Action launcher calls it Google discovery feed and you need to install Action launcher plugin to access Google feed from home screen.
Specifications
The action launcher has an edge here. One of these features is Shutters. A hidden widget acts as a cover app icon. Swipe up in an app and access widget information. It gives you the power of Android widgets while keeping the home screen blank.
Covers allow you to create invisible folders on the home screen. The first app in the folder acts as a cover and main icon. Tap on it to open the app and swipe up on the app to open the folder apps.
With Android 10, Google blocked third-party launchers with gesture navigation. After a backlash, Google released a workaround. I’m happy to report that the action launcher has implemented this and the app now works flawlessly with Android gestures.
Lawnchair Sesame added shortcuts. It allows you to search, access and perform deep shortcuts to third-party apps in the notification panel.
Backup and Price
Lawnchair creates a local backup file and you can access it from the file manager.
The app is completely free to use, however, which is surprising considering the sheer number of functions you get.
Action launcher gives you two options for backup. Either use device storage or choose Google Drive to store the backup file.
The app is free for basic features but costs $5 (Action Launcher Plus) to unlock functions like Shutters and covers. It is a one-time payment.
Customizations or Gestures
As you can see from the comparison above, both apps offer several reasons to prefer one over the other. Action launcher offers more features and gesture options right out of the box. Lawnchair is free and the customization options here are endless.
Next: Evie is also a strong contender for the default launcher. Read the comparison with Lawnchair below to pick the perfect one.
Support our work ❤️
If you enjoyed this article, consider leaving a tip to help us keep publishing great content.
