OS Launcher 18 - Phone 16 Max

Review by eFreeware

OS Launcher 18 - Phone 16 Max is a free Android launcher from NTStudio that reshapes the look of your home screen to resemble an iDevice. It sits in the Personalization category and, on the store, carries a 4.6 average from 72,936 ratings across more than 5 million installs. The developer's pitch is straightforward: a simpler, more polished appearance for an Android phone, while the underlying system keeps working as Android.

The reason to consider it is the range of customization it offers. You keep the apps you already have and the way Android handles them; what changes is the surface — icons, wallpapers, folders, widgets and the way your app collection is presented. For anyone who likes the look of an iPhone home screen but has no intention of switching phones, that is the appeal.

It is worth setting expectations early. This is a visual layer, not a new operating system, and it is supported by ads and in-app purchases.

The App Library and the grouped app drawer

The feature the developer leads with is the Apps Library, which sorts your installed apps into categories rather than leaving them in one long alphabetical drawer. If your app list has grown into something you scroll past rather than read, automatic grouping is a real improvement — you look for the category first and the icon second. It is the part of the launcher that changes how you use the phone day to day, not just how it looks.

Folders work the way you would expect from the interface this launcher imitates: you drag one app onto another and a folder appears. That gives you a second layer of organization on top of the library, useful for the handful of apps you open constantly and want within reach rather than buried in a category.

Two smaller tools round out the app-management side. You can rename an app and swap its icon, which is handy when a default icon does not match the rest of your home screen, and you can hide apps from the home screen entirely. Hiding is the more consequential of the two: it keeps an app out of sight without uninstalling it, which is the sort of thing people do with banking apps, work tools or anything they would rather not have visible when someone else picks up the phone.

Today View, weather and widgets

Today View gathers the information you would otherwise open three apps to check: weather, favorite contacts and calendar events. It is the screen you glance at in the morning, and the developer's aim is clearly to make that glance sufficient. The weather panel goes beyond a single number, with temperature, wind and humidity included, so you can decide whether the day needs a jacket or an umbrella without opening a separate forecast.

Widgets extend the same idea to the home screen itself. The developer describes a range of widgets you can place wherever you like, which is where a launcher like this earns its keep — a home screen built around the information you actually check, rather than a grid of icons you tap through.

The unread notification dot is the one feature here with a setup step attached. Unread dots require enabling App Notified per app and granting the permission it asks for. That is a normal arrangement for notification badges on Android, but it does mean the dot will not appear until you have gone through those steps for each app you want it on.

Lock App and what it does for privacy

Lock App is the launcher's answer to someone picking up your unlocked phone. The developer describes it as a way to stop anyone opening the apps you have locked without your permission. It is a sensible addition for a device that gets handed around — passed to a friend to look at a photo, left on a table at a cafe, or shared with family at home.

It is worth being precise about what this is. A launcher-level lock guards the app icon inside this home screen; it is not the same as encrypting data or replacing the phone's own security. Used alongside your device lock, it adds a layer for the specific case of a phone that is already unlocked and in someone else's hands.

Combined with the hide option, it gives you two ways to manage apps you would rather not have on display: out of sight, or visible but closed to anyone but you. Which one you pick depends on whether the goal is tidiness or privacy.

The Liquid Glass look and newer Android versions

The most recent update brings a Liquid Glass effect, supported from Android 13 onward, applied across the library, the hotseat, the Today View and the search bar. That is a visual treatment rather than a functional one, but it is the kind of detail that decides whether a launcher feels like a coherent theme or a collection of borrowed parts.

If you are running Android 13 or later, this is the version of the launcher the developer intends you to see. On older releases the effect is not part of the experience, though the rest of the feature set — library, folders, widgets, Today View — is described without a version caveat.

The update history also mentions a fix for an urgent issue reported by Google, which is a reminder that a launcher sits close to the system and has to keep pace with it. NTStudio has been updating the app through to August 2026, so the project is being maintained rather than left to sit.

Ads, purchases and what the launcher asks of you

OS Launcher 18 is free to download, carries ads, and offers in-app purchases. If you are someone who resents advertising on a home screen you look at dozens of times a day, that is the factor to weigh before installing.

The other requirement is the notification permission for the unread dot, which you grant per app when you want badges. Beyond that, the launcher is a matter of taste: how much you like the iDevice look and how much you value the App Library over your current arrangement.

The practical question is simply whether a restyled home screen is worth the space and the ads to you.

How it fits into a normal day

The clearest use case is a phone whose home screen has become a chore. If you have dozens of apps and no system to them, the Apps Library does the sorting for you, and folders let you pin the handful you use constantly. That is a ten-minute setup that pays off every time you pick up the phone.

Today View suits the start of the day: weather with wind and humidity, the contacts you call most, and what is on your calendar, all in one place. Adding a widget or two for the same information on the home screen means you can skip opening the view at all on busy mornings.

Lock App and hide are for the phone that gets shared. Lock the apps you would not want opened by someone else, hide the ones you would rather not explain, and the home screen becomes both tidier and more private without changing anything about how Android itself works underneath.

A launcher for Android owners who like the iDevice look

OS Launcher 18 does one thing and does it in detail: it makes an Android phone look and feel like an iDevice without asking you to leave Android behind. The App Library, folders, icon editing and hiding cover the home-screen side; Today View, weather and widgets cover the information side; Lock App covers the privacy side. The Liquid Glass treatment, from Android 13 up, ties it together visually.

The costs are ads and in-app purchases, plus the notification permission if you want unread dots. Those are reasonable for a free launcher, but they are real, and anyone who wants an ad-free home screen should factor them in before installing.

If you are happy with your current launcher and its look, there is little here that would pull you away.

What's new in version 8.5

OS Launcher supports Liquid Glass effect from android 13 - Fixed urgent issue reported from google - Implement Liquid Glass to all : library, hotseat , today view, search bar