Replacement Launchers For Android Wear: Swipify Launcher And Wear Mini Launcher

With the increasing popularity of Android Wear, it’s hardly surprising that the market now offers lots of add-ons, apps and the like to customize your Android Wear experience and make you feel a bit more “at home” with this new piece of gadgetry.

True, we are still in the exploratory stage of wearable gadgets, and there are a number of questions that are left unanswered. But as we set off to explore this exciting world, why not do it in style?

A few blogs back we covered various launchers available on the market for your Android smartphone. But as young as Android Wear still is, it is not lagging behind and there are already two launchers available for your smart wearable.

How the launcher will work on you particular device will surely depend on the model you are using, but you may always give it a try and see

As we have mentioned earlier, so far there are only two launchers available for Android Wear, but giving the novelty of the devices, it’s already something.

So let’s take a look at the two launchers for Android Wear up close and see what they have to offer.

Swipify

If you are a multitasker in life (and on your Android Wear), Swipify might win you over with all its multitasking capabilities. With Swipify, you will be able to open several applications simultaneously and navigate around them by simply swiping away the screen.

When you are working with a smaller device, like Android watch, having quick access to your key settings is really convenient – as you will not have to fiddle with a small screen for every small issue. Swipify comes with “quick settings” feature, allowing you to easily change brightness, volume and view your battery level.

One of the reasons for installing a third-party launcher is surely stylistic and, apart from additional functionality, you may be simply looking for a new look. Swipify has you covered even here, as the launcher comes in three distinct formats:

• Floating Launcher, that can be opened with a single tap on a floating icon on your screen
• Swipe Launcher, that will give your Android Wear a classic phone-style look
• Radial Launcher – perfect for round watch faces, like Moto 360.

To sum up, Swipify is a great choice for multitasking, quickly accessing your settings and changing your watch’s look – all in one.

Wear Mini Launcher

Another option for your Android Wear is Wear Mini Launcher, which was actually the first ever third-party launcher released for Android Wear. Wear Mini aims to solve all the small inconveniences that come with operating a small screen and, according to a number of its loyal fans, does this job quite well.

Upon installing the launcher, all your Android Wear activity will be starting from the top left corner, from where, with a single swipe, you will be able to display the list of all available applications. This option is meant to help users easily navigate a smaller screen when voice commands are for some reason not available or the situation dictates otherwise.

Later add-ons of Mini Wear Launcher also offer access to quick settings – giving you control of the brightness, Wi-Fi, ring mode and more.

As Wear Mini Launcher set out to solve the problems that users were facing with their wearable devices, it takes a minimalistic approach to design, which is actually quite reasonable for a small screen, and efficiency stands at the top of the priority list.

If you feel like trying out one of the two options, make sure you first head over to Settings > Security > Unknown Sources and enable the use of third-party applications. Later one, once you have installed the launcher of your choice, you will see a pop-up asking you to choose which launcher you would like to use.