# Lawnchair Launcher

27 Hacker News commenters recommended Lawnchair Launcher and 7 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free, open source Android launcher that people switch to from Nova and find enough. Main caveat: fewer options, glitches, and missing features like app drawer tabs.

## Why people recommend it

- Free, open source, no spyware (4 comments): "Does everything I needed from Nova and it's open source." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46697466)) "should be safer from enshittification because it's FOSS" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46690810)) "And Lawnchair is fully OSS and actively developed." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46698988))
- Switched from Nova with few losses (4 comments): "Lawnchair has fewer options, ie. is simpler, but I haven't, in practice, noticed any memorable differences." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46687726)) "Seems to do everything I wanted from Nova anyway." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46691845)) "I switched to lawnchair and didn't look back" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46688304))
- Good enough for daily use (3 comments): "happily using for many years at this point" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46699201)) "Lawnchair has been good enough for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46687953)) "not as fancy but it works" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46687095))
- Enough customization options (4 comments): "I have lawnchair now (from Nova), I use it to remove the search bar, add more buttons to the dock" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46713120)) "it works well enough and has enough features to satisfy my customization cravings" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46697074)) "wanted to customize my icons which I don't think the stock launcher allows" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46698207))

## What people warn about

- Glitches with app switching (2 comments): "horribly glitchy on my Pixel 6, and also break the app drawer / switching feature." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46697921)) "Niagra had the launcher / app switching issue, so did Lawnchair" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46698007))
- Widgets and animations misbehave (2 comments): "It's not the same experience I got from Nova (for example, the Clock widget don't work), but the adaptation is not unbearable." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46704442)) "Annoying animations, widgets don't work properly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46688548))
- Lacks tabs and home pages (3 comments): "all of the Nova features that I used were there (unlike Lawnchair)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46688336)) "Lawnchair is good. I just really want app drawer tabs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46687309)) "It doesn't support adding pages to the home,sadly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46687172))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Nova Launcher](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nova-launcher.md): 45 recommend
- [Kiss Launcher](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kiss-launcher.md): 29 recommend
- [Niagara Launcher](https://hackerapproved.com/p/niagara-launcher.md): 23 recommend
- [Octopi Launcher](https://hackerapproved.com/p/octopi-launcher.md): 15 recommend
- [Kvaesitso](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kvaesitso.md): 11 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Lawnchair Launcher", https://hackerapproved.com/p/lawnchair-launcher/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).