The topic I tested an Android launcher that learns your habits and stops making you search for… is currently the subject of lively discussion — readers and analysts are keeping a close eye on developments.
This is taking place in a dynamic environment: companies’ decisions and competitors’ reactions can quickly change the picture.
Google’s attempt at the stock flavor of Android found on Pixel phones has a unique charm since it is utterly devoid of bloat, perhaps except for the recently added AI bits.
I’ve been disappointed to see Google focus solely on incorporating AI features into its apps, while neglecting other aspects of established user favorites like the Pixel Launcher. As such, the last noteworthy intelligent feature I remember would be AI-generated icons that further customization, but they also offer little in the way of operational efficiency benefits.
In essence, every Android launcher app currently offers a different approach to customization besides the fundamental features like opening apps and adding widgets. Some of them, like Niagara Launcher, have their own theme or purpose, like reducing your screen time, in line with Google’s own Digital Wellbeing initiative. I’ve spent the past two weeks beta-testing a new launcher that disrupts the Android launcher status quo with a prediction engine and dynamic Spaces that automatically switch to surface the app you’ll need next, and it’s surprisingly effective. I also interviewed its creator to better understand the ideation process behind creating this app.
I’ve been testing Yasan Launcher, named after its sole developer and Android engineer, Yasan Ghaffarian. He’s better known as Yasan Glass on GitHub, and has been one of the core maintainers of the open-source Lawnchair project on Android — one of my mainstays recommendations since Nova Launcher died — and has plenty of experience developing apps from scratch and keeping them alive.
In fact, Yasan Launcher isn’t a new app either. If you look it up on the Play Store, it’s been available as an Early Access app for years. I’ve been testing a Research Preview build of a major update to this app (version 26.06), which is now rolling out as a stable update through the Play Store. Yasan tells me the app was previously known as MNML Launcher, which explains the surviving package name. He clarified that Yasan Launcher hasn’t received many updates since 2023 because’s been busy with other commitments.
“With the tools that we have now, it’s easier to maintain multiple hobby projects, even when you’re not vibe-coding entire apps.”
Well, that sabbatical is over, and Yasan’s latest update to the app, catchily named “Spacetime Continuum,” packs a spin on functional customization, with the simple concepts of spaces, dashboards, and a prediction engine that guesses what you’ll need next. This is unlike anything I’ve seen on Pixel Launcher, and before you rush to the comments section to tell me how Nothing Launcher, Samsung’s One UI, and others surface app suggestions in the drawer, this is way different.
He said, “The original idea for MNML was to try out the prediction algorithm, and after the initial version, I tried to make it a proper launcher. In the latest version, I’ve built the whole UI around switchable Spaces, your changing behavior, and space-specific icon packs or dashboards. It pushes users to use Spaces more.” And that’s accurate.
Yasan Launcher is a context-aware app launcher for Android named after its creator and maintainer, Yasan Glass.
From the get-go, the app’s refined onboarding process makes wonderful use of haptics to show you how Spaces work, serving as the launcher’s backbone. By default, you have nine: Home, Morning, Night, Commute, Focus, Active, Work, School, and Away. You can rely on automatic contextual switching, or set up geofences and/or schedules for Space activation. The onboarding flow further explains how you can configure app visibility per-space, with the added support for pinning them permanently or just when the Space is active, in the two-row, 10-app homepage dock.
By default, Yasan Launcher uses a prediction engine to “predict” which app you might use next and populates the dock and Spaces accordingly. Visibility for each app is Automatic by default, and the app learns quickly what you might need, eventually improving in accuracy. “Ideally, the user shouldn’t even have to reach for the Search function,” Yasan quipped. He likens the prediction system to reinforcement learning, more than machine learning or straight-up AI-powered prediction.
“The main goal of my launcher is to be one step ahead of the user.”
On the homepage, I found the swipe-down gesture to open the app drawer search disruptive to muscle memory of expanding Quick Settings, but the swipe-up action is reserved for what Yasan calls the Dashboard, in each space. Since you can only add the launcher-exclusive Yasan widgets to the homepage, there’s room for app widgets in the dashboard, and you must set them per-space as well, along with any desired app folders. They’re handy for tracking stocks or your meeting calendar during work hours, for instance.
Interestingly, if you’re pinning, say, the Phone app, Messages, and Camera permanently, Yasan tells me they’ll remain visible in the dock, but the prediction engine still defines their position in the grid. Predictions also show one app at the top of the app search list, which I found handy. Yasan tells me he’s still on the fence about locking pinned app positions on the dock grid.
While this setup and usage flow may seem cumbersome, investing about 15 minutes in setting up this launcher works wonders for everyday efficiency. The launcher builds memory of your usage patterns, all stored on-device with encryption, and eventually predicts better. I also loved how you can set per-Space icon packs, so it’s easy to tell which Space is active at a glance. “I personally find hiding specific apps for certain spaces very helpful, like doomscrolling traps in the Night Space,” Yasan suggests.
In one line, I could call Yasan Launcher the love child of Tasker and IFTTT. It relies heavily on silent background automation, with a negligible performance penalty and focus on user security. Yasan says, “I am thinking of adding other triggers to switch between Spaces too, like connecting to specific Wi-Fi networks, or opening a predefined app.” That only confirms my suspicions. “I want to work on some more helpful context-based features once this major update rolls out to users.” He added.
The app is stable in daily use, and I love the steps taken to deter old habits like reaching for the app drawer and relying on generic widgets that are perpetually visible. However, Yasan retained plenty of customization features in the launcher, such as color palettes from the Gruvbox, Solarized, and Catppuccin themes popularized by code editing tools. In the coming months, Yasan tells me he plans to add “polish, optimization, and more utility to the Spaces.”
In the longer term, Yasan hopes to integrate Yasan Launcher with other apps he’s developing, positioning it as a core project among his personal endeavors. He remained cryptic but also mentioned a potential SDK-like interface layer that would allow the launcher’s prediction engine to interact with other apps and enhance user convenience.
He’s also thinking about gamifying the launcher with a penalty system for using certain apps not in the selected Space because you wanted to avoid them, for example. “I’m committed to bringing this project to its final form,” he reassured me, dismissing my concerns about another potential unforeseen break in development like 2023. “I may be willing to open Yasan Launcher to contributors (like Yasan is for Lawnchair), but I also have many, many plans for the prediction engine,” Yasan trailed off.
I’ve found Yasan Launcher a delightfully unique experience unseen on any other mainstream Android app, and there’s plenty more to come in the way of refinement and personalization features. This system could spell the end of alphabetized app lists and drawers, and I’m all for it.