The launcher

If you’re looking to turn your Android phone into an Android-Microsoft hybrid, then the core of that experience is the Microsoft Launcher. When Arrow first launched, it impressed reviewers, and since then it has only grown better. It’s clean, well-organized, and offers a few tricks that other launchers don’t have.

There are a few things to get used to, especially as a Pixel user. For example, swiping up from the home screen won’t reveal the app tray — it’ll reveal a few favorite apps that you can place, as well as quick settings like Wi-Fi, airplane mode, Bluetooth, and so on. To get to the app tray, you’ll tap the small app tray button that’s still present on many Android launchers, and was even a staple of stock Android until recently. Once you pull up the tray, you’ll notice a very clean, alphabetically organized experience. At the top, you’ll find a list of recent apps, and a menu where you can choose to hide those recent apps or organize apps horizontally. You can even hide apps that you want to keep private.