Oh, nice to see KISS showcased here :) I actually started the project 13 years ago... Seems like a lifetime ago!
A big thank you to all the devs that contributed and still contribute over time :)
I would just like to personally thank you for you efforts. It's rare these days to see a simple solution to a problem executed effectively. I literally use your software everyday.
You mean one with a business model where the user isn't the product? I happily paid for a (fairly expensive) lifetime license of Niagara, hoping that I will never read an "after the acquisition, all developers were fired and all ad frameworks were added" article about it.
I bought the lifetime license, but I guess I bought it before they raised the prices. Unfortunately, I feel like it's too much of a niche product to be sustainable on the previous price they had.
$40 is a lot of money for most people, but probably not for a big portion of the user base here. (but today, I too would probably not pay that much)
I also been using it for 5+ years, it's been really great! And Neamar, the creator, is a really nice guy who goes the extra mile to make sure it works great, doesn't need any permission that are not absolutely required and stays up-to-date with the last changes of the Android API.
KISS looks nice and I'll give it a try. This reminds me a lot of Kvaesitso launcher also on F-Droid, although KISS looks a little more minimal. They seem to have a similar focus though. If KISS is a little too bare-bones, but you want something still fairly minimal, I found Kvaesitso to be a good balance.
The main purpose of these launchers for me is to avoid using my phone mindlessly. I won't just see an app and open it for no reason. I need to make a decision that I want to use an app on my phone.
I'm a bit confused on how this works, besides using the search each time I need to launch an app. Could I have more shortcuts in the home screen, or just what I pin as favourite apps?
And am I limited to only one space/desktop, normally if I swipe right, I get to the next desktop where I have other apps. So I can launch an app from the 3rd desktop with 2 swipes and a press. Now, swiping right I get the full list of apps where I'd need to search.
I couldn't find answers to this in the documentation
IMO the whole point of KISS is to _not_ have desktops and access all of your apps via search. If I want to open my Hacker News app, I open the search, press "h" and click the first app. All apps I use frequently naturally float to the top of my history list and can be accessed with 1, or at most 2 characters in search.
Where this really shines is chat apps -- all of your chats get their own "activities" which can be searched as well, so if I want to open Discord DMs for someone, I can search their username and one of the options is the Discord DM activity for them.
Yes, this is a couple more taps than having desktops but it's 100% dynamic (never have to manage layout) and almost eliminates the chance of getting distracted when opening my home screen.
To add on to this, KISS also sorts apps/activities based on how frequently you select them, so it "learns" what you use most commonly. For example, if I type "f", the first app that comes up is F-Droid, because that's the app that matches that I use most frequently.
There is a single row of apps that can be favorited on the bottom row of the screen for quick access. There is also a search bar that searches across apps, some direct app actions (like Firefox: New Tab), contacts, and some settings. The search bar might be able to pass the query to the default browser, but
There is not another "desktop" that can be swiped to right and left. Widgets can be added, if desired.
thankful for all the answers, I'll give it a try for a while to 'learn' me and see if I can lean into the workflow.
Optimistically speaking, the only drawback would then be I only get one screen/desktop for adding widgets – which, I guess, might be a reasonable trade-off.
Thank you for posting it. It's the launcher I didn't know I need! My usage pattern is literally: use first desktop for often used apps and search for everything else. Samsung launcher search is quite shitty and slow and takes considerable amount of gestures to reach.
Installed and toyed with KISS for 30min and yes. It's perfect for me!
I’ve never seen the KISS principle stated like this. I’ve see “Keep it simple stupid”, and people who try to make it less insulting with, “keep it stupid simple”.
However that “and” changes things a lot. “Keep it simple” and “keep it stupid”. Do we want to “keep it stupid”?
Semantics aside, I do like seeing minimal launchers. I’m not an Android user, but an happy to know projects like this exist.
"The second system effect" is another perspective on the motivation here.
This... "is the tendency of small, elegant, and successful systems to be succeeded by over-engineered, bloated systems, due to inflated expectations and overconfidence."
KISS is probably my favorite "app" on Android. I don't need to remember where an icon is located, just a few taps (sometimes even just one) of its name in the search bar and it'll show up immediately. It's amazingly fast and does just what I need it to.
Why would I need an app to do that though, when it's at least one click less to just open the app drawer and start typing into its search input? Seems like it's the same results but without the app and extra click to open it. And the app drawer search remembers my results (I don't know if this app does) which reduces the number of letters I need to type for future searches.
In that regard, I'd say Olancher is more kiss (kisser, kissiest?) with a text-only interface. I like it as much as my featureless openbox desktop.
Used Atom for a decade or longer or so, keeping a copy of the apk safe because it was abandoned, but with the new phone I had to find something to replace it.
When I was using Android a few years ago I was using a launcher where every app was a text only "word cloud" and the text got bigger with the frequency of app launches. I don't remember the name...is has also got a good search feature, you can exclude apps, change the colour of the text etc.
I've been using it for a decade at this point now. Used to stay on top of all the additions and changes, but at this point it seems crystalized out. One of my favourite open source projects on android.
I highly recommend ulauncher, I can't find a web page for it but it's available from the accrescent app store for android. Rather than launching with a click, you map a selection gestures to your apps. Without a wall of brightly coloured icons on my home screen I've found myself behaving far more intentionally with my phone time. As a bonus, gestures are a far quicker means of telling the device what you want.
I used it for some time as a secondary launcher and loved it
At a certain point though (more than a year ago) it stopped loading the list of apps instantly, I imagine because it stopped caching it; I never managed to take some time to figure out what caused it, but it's become much less useful for me, since.
Thanks for sharing, going to give this a spin as the default Android Launcher can be laggy at times. Now if only we can get an open-source keyboard that has the same clean usability as Gboard [I've tried all the alts without success].
tangential, but as a longtime iphone user, i think just about the only thing that could get me interested in android again is a revival of slidescreen (http://slidescreenhome.com). i really prefer a services-based home screen to an apps-based home screen.
I had a really shit ass redmi phone once which was cheap.
The launcher was so slow and ass and had me wait for >10 minutes at times or be completely black which ate my god damn mind
Tried kiss launcher and it was beautiful and mostly worked like a charm on what it controlled
That being said, to manage wallpapers from kiss iirc atleast on redmi required me to do some crazy shenanigans which probably weren't worth it but none of them being kiss's fault.
I used to use nova launcher prior to kiss too and used to love nova launcher. Shame it went this path as I was seeing some kickstarter or change petition iirc to open source nova launcher which could've been so good.
On my other device I also use foss launcher which is a fork of simple-tools after it got accquired and all the issues which followed it (added ad tracking etc.)
Kisslauncher is so minimal like 300kb or something I forgot but extremely small iirc, it was wild to me to imagine an application this small. Might be smallest app I saw ever.
I have been using this launcher for longer than I can remember, perhaps 10 years now. I don't really remember using anything else (hazy memories of the KitKat AOSP launcher).
The only thing that annoys me a little bit is if I typo an app name (or Google search query) it brings up a random distant fuzzy matched contact. I wish there was a way to set a threshold for the fuzzy matching thing for certain kinds of items. Probably trivial to implement but I haven't gotten around to it.
Oh, nice to see KISS showcased here :) I actually started the project 13 years ago... Seems like a lifetime ago! A big thank you to all the devs that contributed and still contribute over time :)
I would just like to personally thank you for you efforts. It's rare these days to see a simple solution to a problem executed effectively. I literally use your software everyday.
I REALLY like Niagara launcher. I have an old OnePlus and it works really well, is aesthetically pleasing and has just the right amount of features.
[1] https://niagaralauncher.com/
Wow, I hadn't seen a launcher with an annual subscription before. $14/year.
https://help.niagaralauncher.app/article/104-price-of-niagar...
You mean one with a business model where the user isn't the product? I happily paid for a (fairly expensive) lifetime license of Niagara, hoping that I will never read an "after the acquisition, all developers were fired and all ad frameworks were added" article about it.
Nova was a launcher with a business model, too.
FOSS launchers are more resistant. I recommend KISS.
I feel like what updates on phones should require manual user approval when the owning entity changes.
I bought the lifetime license, but I guess I bought it before they raised the prices. Unfortunately, I feel like it's too much of a niche product to be sustainable on the previous price they had.
$40 is a lot of money for most people, but probably not for a big portion of the user base here. (but today, I too would probably not pay that much)
A lifetime subscription is 3x the yearly subscription. Significant, but used to be normal prices for buying an application license.
It is also great with foldables be out supports having 2 different layouts.
I also been using it for 5+ years, it's been really great! And Neamar, the creator, is a really nice guy who goes the extra mile to make sure it works great, doesn't need any permission that are not absolutely required and stays up-to-date with the last changes of the Android API.
KISS looks nice and I'll give it a try. This reminds me a lot of Kvaesitso launcher also on F-Droid, although KISS looks a little more minimal. They seem to have a similar focus though. If KISS is a little too bare-bones, but you want something still fairly minimal, I found Kvaesitso to be a good balance.
The main purpose of these launchers for me is to avoid using my phone mindlessly. I won't just see an app and open it for no reason. I need to make a decision that I want to use an app on my phone.
I'm a bit confused on how this works, besides using the search each time I need to launch an app. Could I have more shortcuts in the home screen, or just what I pin as favourite apps?
And am I limited to only one space/desktop, normally if I swipe right, I get to the next desktop where I have other apps. So I can launch an app from the 3rd desktop with 2 swipes and a press. Now, swiping right I get the full list of apps where I'd need to search.
I couldn't find answers to this in the documentation
IMO the whole point of KISS is to _not_ have desktops and access all of your apps via search. If I want to open my Hacker News app, I open the search, press "h" and click the first app. All apps I use frequently naturally float to the top of my history list and can be accessed with 1, or at most 2 characters in search.
Where this really shines is chat apps -- all of your chats get their own "activities" which can be searched as well, so if I want to open Discord DMs for someone, I can search their username and one of the options is the Discord DM activity for them.
Yes, this is a couple more taps than having desktops but it's 100% dynamic (never have to manage layout) and almost eliminates the chance of getting distracted when opening my home screen.
To add on to this, KISS also sorts apps/activities based on how frequently you select them, so it "learns" what you use most commonly. For example, if I type "f", the first app that comes up is F-Droid, because that's the app that matches that I use most frequently.
There is a single row of apps that can be favorited on the bottom row of the screen for quick access. There is also a search bar that searches across apps, some direct app actions (like Firefox: New Tab), contacts, and some settings. The search bar might be able to pass the query to the default browser, but
There is not another "desktop" that can be swiped to right and left. Widgets can be added, if desired.
thankful for all the answers, I'll give it a try for a while to 'learn' me and see if I can lean into the workflow.
Optimistically speaking, the only drawback would then be I only get one screen/desktop for adding widgets – which, I guess, might be a reasonable trade-off.
Thank you for posting it. It's the launcher I didn't know I need! My usage pattern is literally: use first desktop for often used apps and search for everything else. Samsung launcher search is quite shitty and slow and takes considerable amount of gestures to reach.
Installed and toyed with KISS for 30min and yes. It's perfect for me!
> Keep it Simple and Stupid
I’ve never seen the KISS principle stated like this. I’ve see “Keep it simple stupid”, and people who try to make it less insulting with, “keep it stupid simple”.
However that “and” changes things a lot. “Keep it simple” and “keep it stupid”. Do we want to “keep it stupid”?
Semantics aside, I do like seeing minimal launchers. I’m not an Android user, but an happy to know projects like this exist.
In this regard, I think stupid is meant to stand in contrast to complex, implying something is straightforward and foolproof.
"The second system effect" is another perspective on the motivation here.
This... "is the tendency of small, elegant, and successful systems to be succeeded by over-engineered, bloated systems, due to inflated expectations and overconfidence."
The wiki is not very extensive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-system_effect
I alway say, keep it stupid, simpleton.
german wikipedia got you covered with more alternatives https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS-Prinzip#Varianten although "smart" ist listed there which kinda misses the point ..
KISS is probably my favorite "app" on Android. I don't need to remember where an icon is located, just a few taps (sometimes even just one) of its name in the search bar and it'll show up immediately. It's amazingly fast and does just what I need it to.
Why would I need an app to do that though, when it's at least one click less to just open the app drawer and start typing into its search input? Seems like it's the same results but without the app and extra click to open it. And the app drawer search remembers my results (I don't know if this app does) which reduces the number of letters I need to type for future searches.
On Android, you can download replacement launchers in the form of an App. That app replaces your default launcher.
In this case, KISS is the app drawer, because it is the default UI of your phone once installed and configured. It's a really good app drawer at that!
This isn't a traditional app, its a launcher
It's great. Been using it for years, also installed it for my mom, and she really prefers it because "things no longer move around by themselves".
You learn that usually you are really only using a handful of apps, you barely use the search box at all after two days.
The dev has an active hn account: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=neamar
What is Kiss Launcher doing with all of my data it can search?
https://kisslauncher.com/privacy
Refreshing. Sold!In that regard, I'd say Olancher is more kiss (kisser, kissiest?) with a text-only interface. I like it as much as my featureless openbox desktop. Used Atom for a decade or longer or so, keeping a copy of the apk safe because it was abandoned, but with the new phone I had to find something to replace it.
When I was using Android a few years ago I was using a launcher where every app was a text only "word cloud" and the text got bigger with the frequency of app launches. I don't remember the name...is has also got a good search feature, you can exclude apps, change the colour of the text etc.
that's ap15 launcher. It's a good one!
Probably Niagara.
I've been using it for a decade at this point now. Used to stay on top of all the additions and changes, but at this point it seems crystalized out. One of my favourite open source projects on android.
Related:
Nova Launcher added Facebook and Google Ads tracking
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46686655
I highly recommend ulauncher, I can't find a web page for it but it's available from the accrescent app store for android. Rather than launching with a click, you map a selection gestures to your apps. Without a wall of brightly coloured icons on my home screen I've found myself behaving far more intentionally with my phone time. As a bonus, gestures are a far quicker means of telling the device what you want.
https://github.com/jrpie/Launcher
Is this the same ulauncher as on Linux or is it just the same name?
It is unrelated (the app is called µLauncher, perhaps choosing that name was not the smartest idea...)
I used it for some time as a secondary launcher and loved it
At a certain point though (more than a year ago) it stopped loading the list of apps instantly, I imagine because it stopped caching it; I never managed to take some time to figure out what caused it, but it's become much less useful for me, since.
Thanks for sharing, going to give this a spin as the default Android Launcher can be laggy at times. Now if only we can get an open-source keyboard that has the same clean usability as Gboard [I've tried all the alts without success].
I installed it today for the first time because of this thread. It is the perfect combination of minimal and power-user friendly. I'm impressed.
This has been my go-to for years. Absolutely love it. Does exactly what I need from a launcher, nothing more, nothing less.
Nice. I've been using Niagara for years and years, it's looks similar in terms of UX, but this one maybe runs better on older devices.
tangential, but as a longtime iphone user, i think just about the only thing that could get me interested in android again is a revival of slidescreen (http://slidescreenhome.com). i really prefer a services-based home screen to an apps-based home screen.
Thought I'd leave this here due to the Nova Launcher thread on the front page.
Second only to fdroid this is my first install on all new Android devices.
I had a really shit ass redmi phone once which was cheap.
The launcher was so slow and ass and had me wait for >10 minutes at times or be completely black which ate my god damn mind
Tried kiss launcher and it was beautiful and mostly worked like a charm on what it controlled
That being said, to manage wallpapers from kiss iirc atleast on redmi required me to do some crazy shenanigans which probably weren't worth it but none of them being kiss's fault.
I used to use nova launcher prior to kiss too and used to love nova launcher. Shame it went this path as I was seeing some kickstarter or change petition iirc to open source nova launcher which could've been so good.
On my other device I also use foss launcher which is a fork of simple-tools after it got accquired and all the issues which followed it (added ad tracking etc.)
Kisslauncher is so minimal like 300kb or something I forgot but extremely small iirc, it was wild to me to imagine an application this small. Might be smallest app I saw ever.
I miss Android Holo design, IMHO it was peak for simplicity and usability on Android.
I have been using this launcher for longer than I can remember, perhaps 10 years now. I don't really remember using anything else (hazy memories of the KitKat AOSP launcher).
The only thing that annoys me a little bit is if I typo an app name (or Google search query) it brings up a random distant fuzzy matched contact. I wish there was a way to set a threshold for the fuzzy matching thing for certain kinds of items. Probably trivial to implement but I haven't gotten around to it.
using it since 2022, it's the best.
Previous 'discussion' in 2015: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9754890