The 5 best Android themes to make your smartphone look incredible
There are so many ways to make your Android look and feel awesome, but one of the easiest is by downloading an Android theme. Below, we've put together a list of what we believe to be the best Android themes for a number of different launchers, all of which are free to install and use.
Ocean Dream for ZenUI Launcher
ZenUI is a strong launcher for theming because it doesn’t require any extras and it's not loaded with much bloatware. Though its themes aren’t the most comprehensive – its icon packs generally cover only the most basic apps (and often not even all those that come pre-installed) – they are nonetheless consistent.
Ocean Dream's icons are all cleverly designed to tie in with the theme. The icon for the messaging app for example, looks like a message in a bottle. The icon for the browser app, on the other hand, is a radar.
It's beautiful stuff, I just wish its icon packs were more extensive. Be sure to take a look at the Autumn theme too.
Like the look of Ocean Dream? Get it on the Play Store.
Glasklart for Apex launcher
Glasklart has many unique icons, even for slightly less common apps such as Anututu and Greenify, and the overall design is fantastic. Even those which aren't built from the ground up don’t look out of place here.
The apps in the app drawer are like ghosts, drawn in a single shade of white. Their names are hard to see against the gray background, but pull them out of the app drawer and onto the homescreen and they look great. The app icons are subtly, but expertly shaded, which gives them a soft and chic appearance. With its white and silvery icons against a palette of purple, Glasklart is highly recommended.
White for CM Launcher
White for CM Launcher is gorgeous. There is real confidence shown in the minimalist background wallpaper; a simple winter scene of a tree and a person walking away from it. But it's the postcard-like app icons – the namecard style address book icon in particular – that steal the show.
You can also get a lot of themes for CM launcher, ranging from the garish to the restrained. In my opinion, it’s White's two-tone winter scene below that is most beautiful, though.
Pinko for APUS Launcher
Pinko has been an Android favorite for a long time thanks to minimalist icons with high attention to detail. Pinko turns all your apps into circles which have all been colored and designed with care. The dialer app looks like the mouthpiece of an old-fashioned telephone, and the messaging and all apps icons are just groups of circles.
It doesn’t make the interface look a whole lot different, and it doesn’t use any fancy animations either. It just creates an almost retro style, which looks neater and more sophisticated than many other competing themes.
Windows Mobile 95 KLWP theme
Many nerds of a certain age have fond memories of Windows 95 - the OS that adorned our first home computers in all its majesty. Now you can relive the glory days on your smartphone with this fantastic theme from redditor ThemeThief, complete with old-school icons and visuals for all your smartphone's modern functions, and even the dreaded blue screen of death for crashes.
To use this theme, you'll need KLWP, a live wallpaper maker at allows you to edit and run custom Android themes. Then you can grab the Windows Mobile 95 theme here.
${app-org.kustom.wallpaper}Make your own theme
Although there are many great themes out there, if you want something truly unique and yours, the best way to get it is to create it. We should also mention that one of the most popular launchers - Nova, for example, doesn't have have theme support, while other launchers that do can have annoying ads or unwanted "extra features". So a self-made theme is never a bad idea.
How would you go about creating it? The easiest way is to find a wallpaper and icons with a matching aesthetic. Nowadays, that's quite easy since most icon packs come bundled with themed wallpapers. However, you can experiment with apps like Muzei, which offer live wallpapers or Tapet, which generates wallpapers. A personal favorite of mine is taking screenshots from the Monument Valley game and using them as my background, combined with minimalist pastel colored icons.
- Customization heaven: the best icon packs for Android
- The best customization apps: make your phone your own
If you are still not happy with what you made, you can also check the Android themes subreddit, in which users post a screenshot of their home screen and, of course, share what launchers, wallpapers and icon packs they are using.
${app-com.sharpregion.tapet}What do you think is the best Android theme? Let us know in the comments below.
Nice Post
yeah
Total Launcher is an interesting changeup from the norm.
Niagara reaching too far for a launcher with its integrations IMHO
I still really miss Google Now as a launcher. No frills but slick and efficient.
Agree, I to used Google Now and was saddened when it was discontinued. That's what made me switch to using Nova and Microsoft launcher.
Niagara is a new launcher that I think is actually in Beta but it works well and is very light.
Usually they do not use other launchers than the default one with which the phone comes. I have no patience to look for and set all options. They're interesting for me less. At one point I installed Apus Launcher and then I did not even know how to get into the usual applications. I gave up. I recently discovered Microsoft Launcher and I like it because it keeps the original theme very well, with very few modifications.
A friend of mine has completely changed his phone, customized it completely, so only he knows how to use it, and sometimes even he has to remember where he has hidden the icons. It's true that it looks extraordinarily beautiful, but what if usefulness is reduced. I prefer functional simplicity.
Obviously, depending on the preferences, the settings that can be made at the interface are incredible, and it is proof of Android's flexibility to change the look.
You should try Niagara. It's in Beta but it works great from what I see
-
Admin
Sep 6, 2019 Link to commentMicrosoft launcher is absolutely the best
I switch between Microsoft launcher and Nova. There are features I like from each of them.
Have any of you seen David Pitoko's themes for NOVA?
Nothing makes my phone look more awesome than my daughter's picture.
Cool!
Interesting article. I tried Buzz theme, My color screen, Zooper and many others. After some time you get bored & want something simple. There is no harm in trying something new but currently I am with Google Now & enjoying Nexus look with Nexus style wallpapers. :-)
Have been using Atom for a few weeks now, and it has extended the battery life of my phone by at least 20%. It's a very light launcher and I suspect that the dark colours also play there part. Not going back to TW soon.
Nice!
Can you please share the link thanks
Has anyone tried Vire launcher with different theme included in it?
Don't judge me Michael esx,ge to the point ,don't grass from main point we wanna discuss what is about the thing which are expected us to to judge ,not being like a teacher correcting others grammar errors ,you are out of your mind seeing what is in surface ,,,lol,,,,,
Yup,,,,I can not believe these sortta nice app all together ,next to each other side by side,,,,,there is no need to search Google play and wate your time,,,as I see all in here is a very good collection of all kinds of application with various task doing well,,,,I really got shocked find myself in such a strange place,,,,,,I don't know how I guided in here,,,by the way a appreciate it a lot,,,cause not only now at the moment time I'm a lucky faced good app user put also will be a so handicraft person on technology,,,,,,,,!lol,,,,you can leave it or believe it,,,,,but I'm dead sure about what I say,,,,
Whoever wrote this article should download a proofreading app. I'm not saying an average American 6th grader could write it better, but they definitely would be able to pick up on the grammatical errors which abound in this article. I'm not trying to be mean, but I see this kind of writing so often now that I had to say something. I believe the writer has a right to know that they're messing up.