A magically minimalist Android makeover

When people ask me about the difference between Android devices and an iPhone these days, my answer is almost shockingly simple: It’s all about choice.

With an iPhone, you’re committing to using your phone in the way some sweater-vested executives within Apple think you should use it. It’s the Apple ecosystem and the Apple way, through and through. If you like that and that aligns with your own personal phone-using preferences, hey, bravo! It’s a match.

With an Android device, you can use your phone in basically any way you want to use it. You aren’t locked into any one particular ecosystem of software, accessories, or philosophies — and if there’s any part of the standard experience that doesn’t jibe with your style of gettin’ stuff done, you can change it and make it work exactly how you like.

Now, of course, we can quibble all day over the many minute differences between the two platforms — but ultimately, that mindset mostly sums it all up: If you like the precise way Apple thinks you should use your phone and you don’t mind sticking to that specific prescription, an iPhone will work brilliantly for you. If you crave anything more or different with your mobile device experience (and you don’t mind venturing outside of the carefully constructed Apple bubble and its assorted bits of artificial fencing and pedantic perceptions), Android is the path you need.

And there’s no better illustration of the choice-making power Android provides than what we see in the land o’ launchers — the full-fledged replacements for standard home screen and app drawer environments that dictate so much about how you interact with your device.

Android launchers offer an endless array of opportunities for choice and customization. You can create virtually any manner of environment you want and take complete control over your Android-using experience. The power is in your hands, in other words — not solely in the hands of random managers who sold you the gizmo.

And while we’ve long had a splendid slate of commendable Android launchers to choose from, every now and then, a new contender shows up that really opens your eyes.

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Android minimalism, to the max

My friend and fellow Android appreciator, allow me to introduce you to a sleek little launcher called Flow — or Flow Minimalist Launcher, if you want to use its full (and notably less minimalist) name.

Flow, as we’ll call it, is designed to do something most modern mobile devices absolutely don’t want to accomplish by default — and that’s actively help you use your phone less. Or, to reframe that slightly: It’ll help you use your phone more deliberately and efficiently and with less mindless swiping and scrolling.

The Flow philosophy is actually quite simple:

On your main home screen panel, you see shortcuts to the five apps you open most often — along with built-in buttons for your Phone and Messages apps and an unfussy time-and-date widget that shows your next calendar appointment.

The Flow home screen is simple and free from unneeded distractions.JR Raphael, Foundry

When you swipe up on your screen, you see a complete list of every app installed on your device — with built-in buttons for narrowing the list down based on dynamically created app categories like “Most used” and “Productivity.”

Even Flow’s app drawer is optimized for efficiency.JR Raphael, Foundry

And when you swipe over to the right of the main home screen, you see a single “Feeds” panel that holds some sleek built-in widgets for your agenda, tasks, and screen use and can be expanded to include any standard Android widgets as well.

Flow’s “Feeds” panel is a clever way to work with widgets on your Android home screen.JR Raphael, Foundry

There’s also a noteworthy “Focus Mode” button on the main Flow panel that fires up a Pomodoro-style timer and encourages you to stay away from all apps other than your top five until its minutes elapse.

Flow’s Focus Mode discourages you from poking around within your non-essential apps.JR Raphael, Foundry

And — well, that’s essentially it. Flow is by design minimal and limited in what it shows you — with the idea that you’ll mostly just see what you actually need for your day-to-day doings and avoid getting lost in endless on-screen screwery. It’s distraction-free and clutter-free, and it’s also mostly effort-free to set up and start using, since everything is built right in and carefully constructed to work that way.

That being said, you can customize a fair amount of things about Flow’s appearance, if you’re ever so inspired. The launcher’s settings include commands for changing the shape and style of your various app icons, for instance, along with other such surface-level adjustments.

Despite its focus on simplicity, Flow offers up a fair amount of options.JR Raphael, Foundry

But by and large, the appeal of Flow is its simplicity and the lack of contemplation that goes into its configuration. You just decide which five apps are most important to you, think about which widgets you need to see alongside ’em, and then go about your business with a cleanly organized workspace and a fraction of the usual distractions.

It’s a refreshingly different approach to device interaction and an interesting change of pace to try out and potentially stick with — even for short periods, as an alternative to your standard setup, when you really want to focus and frame your device as a work-centric productivity tool.

Flow is free for its core functions, too, without any annoying ads or over-the-top limitations. If you find yourself diggin’ it and want to support its development while unlocking some extras, you can opt for a 99-cent-a-month or $30 lifetime Premium upgrade that provides a smattering of special features and advanced options — but you definitely don’t need that to enjoy the experience.

That’s the power of Android for ya — the power not only to add in all sorts of advantageous step-savers but also to remove elements and make your setup simpler.

The choice, as usual, is entirely in your hands. And now, with Flow, you’ve got one more enticing option to consider.

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