The last best Android launcher on the list is Niagara Launcher. This feature-rich launcher offers a clean and minimal UI. Niagara Launcher only displays things that matter to you the most. The launcher also helps users to use their smartphone with one hand. Best Picks; Best Android Launchers for Customizing Your Phone. BlackBerry may be all but out of the hardware game, but it’s still making a big push into Android software.
It’s been a long day and you’ve got some time to kill, so you grab your Samsung Galaxy S7 and fire up your favorite game. You’re all set to crush the level that you’ve been stuck on for the last seven weeks—it’s so close you can taste it. Then your bff decides to send a text that interrupts your game, which throws you off your mark. You lose again.
Before you throw your phone across the room from just thinking about it, there is hope: Samsung’s Game Launcher is a killer way to dramatically improve your mobile gaming experience. Here’s what you need to know about it.
What Game Launcher Does
Game Launcher is basically Samsung’s push to improve mobile gaming on the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. It’s a set of tools that essentially allow you to customize how your phone will react when certain variables are met—like a touch of the back button or a call coming through, for example.
You can use Game Launcher to disable all alerts during a game, so your friend won’t ruin your game again. It can also lock out the “back” and “recents” buttons, so you won’t exit the game if you accidentally hit a button. You can even use it to quickly take a screenshot or record gameplay and lay down some audio on top of it. Sounds to me like it may be time to start a YouTube channel, you gaming machine.
But it also does more. You can even use it to save battery life by reducing the resolution and frame rate. This, of course, will make the game look and play slightly worse, so it may not be something everyone wants to use. But if you’re worried about running out of juice and just have to get your Farm Heros fix in, this may be the solution.
How to Set Up Game Launcher
This is actually the easy part. On your Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge, jump into the app drawer and scroll down until you find “Game Launcher.” Tap that.
When it opens, all of your installed games should show up. It’s not the best at detecting exactly what a game is, so there may be some off apps here—along those same lines, it may not show every game you have installed. Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be a way to add non-listed games just yet. Bummer.
At the bottom of the Launcher, there are two toggle-able options: “No alerts during game” and “Game Tools.” The former will do exactly what it says: disable all alerts when a game is running in the foreground.
The latter, however, isn’t quite as straightforward. Essentially, this is a a tiny icon that display along the side of the screen that allows you to tweak most Game Launcher settings when a game is running. This is where you’ll do things like lock the back and recents keys, grab a quick screenshot, or start a recording.
Right now, the biggest downside of Game Launcher and Game Tools is that they’re only available for the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. These are both useful tools that I’d personally like to see Samsung release in Google Play for all Android devices—but unfortunately I realize that’s just not going to happen. At the very least, maybe they’ll trickle them down to the S6 and Note 5. Hopefully.
READ NEXT
› Wi-Fi vs. ZigBee and Z-Wave: Which Is Better?
› What Does “FWIW” Mean, and How Do You Use It?
› How to Automatically Delete Your YouTube History
› What Is “Mixed Content,” and Why Is Chrome Blocking It?
› How to Manage Multiple Mailboxes in Outlook
On April Fool’s Day, Corsair joked about a game launcher launcher that would launch your PC game launchers. My colleague Mike Fahey and I halfway wished that it were real, and our conversation got me thinking about how many game launchers I have. Here are a whole lot of PC game launchers, ranked from best to worst, as well as a ranking of their desktop icons out of five.
Steam
Advertisement
I don’t know if Steam is actually the best or if I just have Stockholm syndrome, but look: all my games are here. I never forget what the screenshot key is when I’m on a different computer, and I can upload those screenshots to the cloud and have them whenever I need them.
The launcher does have its downsides. The pop-ups when you start it are annoying as hell, sometimes the downloads hang, and creating a group chat is needlessly confusing. But Steam has the nostalgia factor: it’s where I bought my first “real” PC game, and it’s probably where I’ll buy my last.
Icon: 2. It’s apparently a part of a steam engine, which would only be obvious if you’re a travelling salesman from the 1800s. I’ve spent ten years thinking it was a link from a bike chain.
Battlenet
Advertisement
Battlenet’s chat function is pretty OK. Sometimes I find my Facebook friends streaming Overwatch from the in-game stream function, which inspires me to open up Battlenet so I can play with them, only to end up watching Overwatch League instead. Intentionally or not, this launcher has encouraged me to spend a lot of time thinking about Overwatch without having to actually play it. That means I avoid making my teammates mad at me when I don’t heal them quickly enough. I guess it might not be a game launcher so much as an esports launcher, but it’s still number two on my list.
Icon: 3. No clue what it is, but I can always tell it apart from the other stuff in my taskbar.
Advertisement
Epic
Advertisement
The lack of a playtime counter is annoying, and I hate that I have to use an outside program for screenshots and then I can never remember where they’re saved. But, as far as launchers go, it’s fine. I like the highly visible progress bar when a game is updating, so I can keep an eye on my update from across the room. I mostly use it for Fortnite, but every so often, I remember I have other games in my library and am pleasantly surprised to see them there. It’s like a mini Christmas.
Icon: 3. Straightforward, but boring.
GOG
Advertisement
Every time I open GOG, I remember that I could be playing The Witcher 3. I appreciate a launcher that has my best interests in mind.
Icon: 3. See above.
Itchio
Advertisement
The only launcher that makes me feel like a good person, since it reminds me I’m supporting all those indie games. The desktop client allows me to revisit all the tiny games I bought and then immediately lost in my files.
Icon: 4. It looks like a controller, which might be weird for a computer icon, but there’s something whimsical about its design.
This opens whenever I open a Ubisoft game on Steam, which does give me some time after I hit “play” to grab a drink. Also, sometimes Uplay gives me points. I’ve never done anything with them, but who doesn’t like getting points?
Icon: 4. I like the color on this one and its design, even if I can’t tell whether it’s a flower or a whirlpool. Ubisoft calls it a “swirl,” so maybe it’s ice cream? Ice cream is nice.
Advertisement
Origin
Advertisement
I kind of like the way my game pages slide in from the side when I select them, but other than that, I hate this launcher’s guts. I can never figure out how to answer a voice or text message in a timely fashion, and it probably makes all my friends think I’m a jerk. I recently bought Titanfall 2 through its store, and there were so many messages about getting Origin Premier or whatever that I almost gave up before I bought the game. (The game was good, though, so Origin has that in its favor.)
Icon: 5. God help me, but it doesn’t look like anything else I have installed, and the bright color makes it easy to find.
Advertisement
Bethesda Launcher
Advertisement
My name is Grace Pamela and I’m the founder of Summerana– named after my two daughters: Summer and Liliana.I began my career as a passionate photographer, but soon found myself falling in love with mentoring fellow photographers and using my creative editing skills to develop helpful tools for photographers using Photoshop.I decided to start sharing my tools because so many photographers were asking for them. I hadn’t realized what they could become at that point.In 2012, I launched Summerana and started helping photographers all around the world grow their photography business using my editing tools. Free bokeh actions for photoshop.
This could have Skyrim on it, which is good if you need a special place just for Skyrim.
Icon: 1. Completely missable and a little bit ugly.
All those other random launchers, like Nexon or single-game launchers, that pop up whenever I turn on the office PC and I have no idea why.
Somebody wanted them, which I can at least respect.
Icon: 1. There are too many to evaluate, but they get a point for existing.
Windows Store
Advertisement
Best Game Launchers For Pc Games
Never again.
Best Game Launchers For Android
Icon: 0. If it’s on my desktop somewhere, I don’t want to know.