I turned my Android right into a Home windows Telephone, and I do not assume I am going to return

I’ve examined a variety of smartphones through the years, together with fashions from Asus, Google, Samsung, and Apple. Nonetheless, one kind of telephone I by no means had the chance to check, which I deeply remorse to at the present time, is a Windows Phone.

The final Home windows Telephone to be launched earlier than Microsoft gave up on them was the Windows Lumia 650 in 2016, which was powered by Home windows 10 Cell, an working system developed by Microsoft for its smartphones. One of many standout options of Microsoft’s cellular OS was its distinctive tile design for its house display. Was it the fanciest design on this planet? No, nevertheless it was simplistic and crowd pleasing, and I discovered it notably fascinating as somebody who has primarily used a Windows PC all their life.

With Microsoft ending support for Windows 10 quickly, it acquired me abruptly eager about the Home windows Telephone once more, and its distinctive sq. house display. Then the thought occurred to me, there should be a third-party Android launcher out there that resembles the Home windows Telephone in some capability, proper?

The reply is sure, and the one I have been having fun with utilizing probably the most known as Square Home. Over the previous few days, I have been experimenting with it to remodel my Galaxy S25+ right into a Home windows Telephone-like expertise. Whereas I like the appear and feel of One UI 7, one thing is charming in regards to the simplistic tile design that Sq. Dwelling affords, which is a pleasant throwback to the Home windows Telephone period. Here is find out how to arrange Sq. Dwelling in your Android machine, and why you won’t need to swap again to your default launcher after utilizing it.

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Sq. Dwelling provides you the Home windows Telephone expertise

You may customise all of the tiles to your liking and add widgets

To get began with Sq. Dwelling, you may obtain it free of charge from the Google Play Retailer. After putting in, you will see two apps: Sq. Dwelling and Dwelling choices. While you faucet Sq. Dwelling, it instantly opens the launcher, permitting you to begin customizing your tiled house display, much like a Home windows Telephone (as seen within the picture above).

So as to add totally different apps, faucet the plus button on the backside of the display. From there, you may add apps, shortcuts, launcher actions, dividers, tile teams and extra. To rearrange or resize the app tiles already on your property display, merely faucet and maintain them, identical to you’ll on the default Android house app.

I selected to maintain my calendar and the time on the prime of the display, and I positioned the apps I take advantage of most frequently all through the day — comparable to Gmail, Google Messages, Spotify, and Chrome — close to the highest as nicely. What I like about Sq. House is which you could customise the colour of the tiles to match your model and make every app tile stand out. Widgets are additionally supported, so you may add an indicator in your battery, a photograph collage, or some other Android widget if you want. Sq. Dwelling additionally encompasses a distinctive app drawer, situated below Functions, which organizes all apps into tiles. A search bar is included for simply discovering any app in your machine.

Sq. Dwelling additionally affords one other distinctive function, much like what the Home windows Telephone had, known as Stay Tiles. These are a kind of tile that robotically shows notifications from its corresponding app. As an example, I’ve X (previously Twitter) on mine, and with Stay Tiles enabled, it robotically shows notifications from the app, comparable to direct messages I’ve acquired. It additionally works for a lot of different apps, just like the Telephone app, the place you may view any missed calls by means of the Stay Tile.

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How you can set Sq. Dwelling as your default Dwelling app

It is an ad-free expertise, however you should purchase premium options

While you obtain Sq. Dwelling, you additionally get one other app known as Dwelling Choices in your machine. Opening this reveals further customization choices for Sq. Dwelling, together with adjusting tile sizes and kinds, organising gestures, deciding on your wallpaper, and extra. On the prime of the Dwelling Choices display, you will see an possibility known as Set default house, which robotically directs you to the Settings menu in your machine to set Sq. Dwelling as your default Dwelling app. Alternatively, you may change your default launcher at any time in your Android machine by going to Settings > Apps > Select default apps > Dwelling app.

Though Sq. Dwelling is not a 1:1 remake of the Home windows Telephone, it’s a devoted adaptation, and its tile design genuinely evokes its nostalgia. Not like another third-party Android launchers, Sq. Dwelling is totally ad-free, so you will not be seeing intrusive adverts on a regular basis in case you set it as your default launcher.

That mentioned, it affords an choice to pay yearly for $2 or a one-time lifetime price of $6 to unlock further premium options (marked with inexperienced icons within the settings). These embrace the power to arrange extra gestures, totally different tile animations, change the font, and rather more. While you first arrange Sq. Dwelling, you do get a 14-day free trial to check out the premium options, so you may not less than attempt them and see in case you like them or not with out having to pay.

Though I’ve by no means personally used a Home windows Telephone, Sq. Dwelling permits me to expertise what it might need been like to make use of one. Its tiled design offers a refreshing different to the everyday house screens on Android and iOS. After utilizing it for the previous few days, I plan to maintain it as my default launcher for the foreseeable future. When you’re a Home windows Telephone fan, you would possibly really feel the identical after testing it out. It is simple, and I’ve had no bother accessing all my apps and going about my day by day routines with Sq. Dwelling. It might be nice to see Microsoft launch an official Home windows Android launcher sometime, however that is most likely a protracted shot.

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