Launcher 10

Review by eFreeware

Most Android launchers ask you to rearrange the same grid of icons in slightly different ways. Launcher 10 takes a different route: it rebuilds your home screen around tiles, styled after Windows Mobile devices, so the phone in your hand starts to resemble a Windows start screen. That single idea is the whole pitch, and it has clearly found an audience, with more than a million installs since the app first appeared in April 2016.

If you have ever missed the tile-based home screens of Windows phones, or you simply want a start screen that looks unlike everyone else's, this is the launcher to look at first. It is a free download, and it has been kept current, most recently in July 2025.

Tiles instead of an icon grid

The core of the app is the start screen. You pin apps as tiles, and each tile can be resized, recolored and restyled, so the layout is yours to shape rather than a fixed grid you merely reorder. Widgets can live on the same screen, and folders let you group related tiles together instead of scattering them across pages.

A second screen holds your All Apps list, reached by swiping across. From there you can search the apps installed on the phone, see a section for recently added ones, and hide anything you would rather not look at. It is a sensible split: the things you chose to pin stay up front, and everything else sits one gesture away.

The look is the selling point, and it is a deliberate one. Tiles carry the color, transparency and icon treatment you assign them, which means the home screen can read as a coherent Windows-style board rather than a collection of unrelated app icons. What appeals to me here is that the styling is not a skin bolted onto a standard layout; the layout itself is the theme.

How far the customization goes

This is where the app's high level of customization shows. Every tile on the start screen can be edited, and you choose its custom icon, background, size and more. The developer has also added the ability to set a personal picture as a tile's icon or background, which leaves plenty of room for personal layouts.

Beyond individual tiles, the app covers the broader settings you would expect from a launcher. It supports icon packs, so third-party icon sets can be applied rather than only the built-in look. You can change the wallpaper, choose whether it scrolls, switch between light and dark mode, set a default tile color, and adjust tile transparency. Icons can also come from your system or an icon pack, and known apps may still show up white.

Landscape mode is included as well, which matters for anyone who uses a tablet or simply prefers a wider arrangement. Taken together, these settings mean the app is less about picking from a handful of presets and more about adjusting the home screen piece by piece until it matches what you had in mind.

Live tiles sit behind a purchase

The feature that most defines the Windows look is the live tile, and it is part of the premium set. With it, tiles can show notification content, along with contacts, calendar entries, a clock and gallery images, rather than acting as static shortcuts. Tile badges are in the same group: they display counts such as missed calls and unread messages on the tile itself.

That means the app is free to download but not entirely free to use in its fullest form, since those two features require an in-app purchase. The app also contains ads. For anyone drawn to the idea of a home screen that surfaces information at a glance, the live tiles are the part worth paying attention to; without them, the tiles behave more like unusually flexible icons.

I would treat this as the main decision point before installing. The free experience gives you the tile layout, the folders, the All Apps screen and the customization options, while the premium purchase adds the dynamic, information-carrying tiles that make the style feel alive.

Requirements and rough edges

The app needs Android 6 or later, and the most recent update brought compatibility with Android 16. Updates have continued steadily, with the latest release also covering bug fixes and improvements. If you are running an older device below Android 6, this launcher will not be an option.

The rating tells a more mixed story than the install count. At a 3.8 average across nearly 14,000 ratings and 856 written reviews, the app is clearly liked by many but not universally, which is typical for a launcher that replaces the most-used screen on your phone. A home screen replacement is a personal thing, and one that changes the layout so fundamentally is bound to divide people.

The other consideration is that this is a reskin of the way your phone works, not a subtle tweak. Tiles, folders and a separate All Apps screen are a different way of getting to your apps, and the app is built around that idea from top to bottom. If the Windows-style start screen is what you want, the trade-offs are part of the appeal; if you want your existing layout with a fresh coat of paint, this goes considerably further than that.

Who the tile layout suits

The people most likely to enjoy this are those who like arranging a home screen by hand and want the result to look distinctive. If you enjoy choosing icon packs, tuning transparency, setting a tile color and deciding which apps deserve a place on the start screen, there is a lot here to work with. The folder support and per-tile editing reward that kind of attention.

It also suits anyone who wants glanceable information on the home screen and is willing to pay for it through the in-app purchase. Calendar entries, a clock, gallery images and notification content on tiles are a different proposition from a row of static icons, and that is the experience the premium features are built around.

On the other hand, if you want a launcher you install and forget, one that leaves your existing habits untouched, the tile model asks more of you than that. The app is built for a specific look and a specific way of organizing apps, and it delivers that look thoroughly rather than offering a neutral middle ground.

A distinctive start screen worth the setup

Launcher 10 does one thing with conviction: it turns an Android home screen into a tile-based, Windows-styled start screen, and then gives you an unusual amount of control over how that looks. Icon pack support, per-tile icon and background editing, folders, wallpaper and transparency settings, and a separate searchable All Apps screen cover the practical side, while live tiles and badges add the dynamic layer for those who buy the premium features.

None of that undermines the concept, but it does mean going in with clear expectations.

If you want a home screen that looks like nothing else on Android and you are happy to spend time shaping it, this is an easy recommendation. If you would rather keep your current layout and just adjust its colors, the app's whole approach is more of a commitment than you are looking for.

What's new in version 2.8.19

v2.8.18 - Android 16 compatibility - Bug fixes and improvements - Android 6+ is minimum requirement v2.8 - Android 15 compatibility - New option to use a custom image as a tile icon - New option to use a custom image as a tile background - Option to add a widget from app/tile context menu - A new preference to go back to main start screen when returning home (default on) - Bug fixes and improvements