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Best Android Launchers in 2024, Android launchers are one of the most useful apps for customization. It can entirely change the look of your home screen and how it behaves. It can even change things like icons and and offer a variety of other personalization features for your device. Most legacy Android launchers have the same stock Android theme, which may seem a bit too cluttered. But now, many newer launchers are going for a minimal aesthetic. Here are the best Android launchers available right now.

We’d also like to give an honorable mention to Flauncher (Google Play). It officially launched in 2022 and is easily one of the best Android TV launchers on Google Play.


AIO Launcher

Price: Free /In-app purchases ($0.99 – $9.99 per item)

AIO Launcher does it differently than many Android launcher apps. It does away with the standard home screen in favor of an information-packed list of stuff. It shows things like your latest SMS and missed calls, your media player, your system info (RAM, battery, storage, etc.), and even stuff like news, Bitcoin price, , and more. The list is actually quite extensive.

The premium version also includes integration for and your regular widgets from other apps. Not everything has to look like stock Android, and AIO Launcher certainly shows that it can be done effectively. Luckily, most of the features are free, and the free version doesn’t seem to have ads.

http://andauth.co/gKjXPn


Launcher iOS 17

Price: Free

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If you like the look and feel of the iOS UI, this app’s for you. This launcher gives your Android phone a look similar to iOS 17. This includes a lock screen, a control center, many animations, different wallpapers, and widgets. It has a ton of customization options. There are some features, like lock screens, , a control center, and assistive touch, that you need to download separately. It does require some time to configure everything perfectly, but once everything is set up, Launcher iOS 17 makes your Android look a lot like iOS. There are a few bugs, but it works great for a free app.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.luutinhit.launcherios&gl=us


Best Android Launchers in 2024

Price: Free /In-app purchases ($1.99 – $5.99 per item)

Before Launcher is one of the few minimal-style launchers on the list. This one claims to help reduce interactions with your phone by up to 40%. There is also a notification filter that reduces notifications by about 80%. Some other features include a clean, easy UI and the ability to pin important apps or hide unimportant apps. It’s a bit light on customizations, but that’s pretty typical for minimal launchers. You do get support for icon packs, though.

You get the vast majority of features in the free version, which also doesn’t contain advertisements. The developers also state that the app can’t capture any data and requires no permissions to run. That’s fairly standard for Android launchers on this list, but we thought you’d still like to know.

https://andauth.co/KYHSK5


Price: Free /In-app purchases ($1.99 – $5.99 per item)

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If you like the Windows UI, then you’re going to love this app. Square Home brings the old Metro UI of Windows Phone to your Android device. It has a user-friendly interface that is both simple and visually appealing. With features like vertical scrolling within a page and smooth horizontal transitions between pages, it faithfully replicates the metro-style UI. It’s a bit different from the default Android experience. It utilizes tiles to display your notifications, calls, SMS, e-mails, and more. Square Home also boasts a smart app drawer that intuitively organizes your apps, which it sorts by usage.

Additionally, it offers quick access to your contacts and tons of other customization options, making it a great launcher choice. The developers address user-submitted complaints and work on them to update the app frequently. You need to pay for some premium features like animated tiles, a media controller, infinite scrolling, 3D effects for horizontal scrolling, and others. There are monthly subscription plans of $1.99 and a lifetime subscription priced at $5.99 too.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ss.squarehome2&gl=us


Olauncher

Price: Free

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Olauncher is a great choice for minimalist lovers. This launcher offers a clean, clutter-free experience with its extensive customization options. It’s also open source. The most basic features allow you to do everything, from resizing text to renaming apps and even controlling the visibility of the status bar. It has gestures, wallpapers, dark and light theme support, dual app support, work profile compatibility, automatic app launch, and more. The best part is that it’s completely free and has no ads.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.olauncher&gl=us


Lawnchair 2

Price: Free

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Lawnchair Launcher is an excellent Android launcher for fans of minimalism. It’s an open-source project that mimics much of the look and feel of the Pixel Launcher. The app features adaptive icons, a fun icon pack, an “At a Glance” feature that uses notification dots for quick access, and a drawer category function to neatly organize your apps. You can also choose between a light and dark mode for your system. It integrates with Google Feed and Homefeeder to provide a comprehensive Android launcher experience. It’s also completely free. This app used to be one of the most popular launchers, but now it has many bad reviews because the developers have stopped updating the app.

http://andauth.co/iCaojv


Price: Free /In-app purchases ($1.99 – $5.99 per item)

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Total Launcher is an older launcher app. It offers a lot of customization options and is suited for both those who prefer a clutter-free experience and those who want tons of widgets. It has a simple UI, so it’s really easy to use and setup. It features various themes, wallpapers, icon packs, and much more.

Total Launcher is free to use, but you’ll need to pay for premium features like folder search and hidden apps. There are monthly subscriptions of $1.99 and a lifetime subscription of $5.99. It’s a worthwhile investment considering the rich customization and functionality it brings to your Android experience.

https://andauth.co/dOgy1y


Microsoft Launcher

Price: Free

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Microsoft Launcher is one of the most popular launcher apps available on Android. The app features custom icon packs, daily Bing wallpapers, and a dark theme for low-light use. It simplifies phone transitions with Backup and Restore, enabling local or cloud backups. Intuitive gestures, like swiping and tapping, streamline navigation. Plus, it ensures accessibility with screen lock and recent apps view gestures. It also has integration with many Microsoft services, including their calendar, email, to-do list app, and direct integration with Microsoft PCs.

http://andauth.co/rTRNtX


Price: Free/ In-app Purchases ($0.99 – $29.99 per item)

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Niagara Launcher offers a user-friendly, ergonomic experience for Android users. It has an adaptive list layout that shows you essential information like messages and calendar events, and it even has support for media players. It has unique wave alphabet navigation with embedded notifications. The app is ad-free, lightweight, and embraces Material You Theming for customization. The developers are still frequently updating the app.

https://andauth.co/2V0ciL


Nova Launcher

Price: Free

nova launcher is one of the best android launcher apps 831w467h

It doesn’t get better than Nova Launcher. Nova Launcher has been around for quite some time, but it is still one of the best Android launcher app options available. It has a laundry list of customization features that include gesture support, the ability to customize the look and feel of the app, icon pack support, themes, and much, much more. The app also gets updated at a breakneck pace, which means bugs generally get squished quickly and new features are added consistently. It also comes with the ability to backup and restore your home screen layouts for when you eventually switch to a new phone. It’s the one we’d recommend you try first.

http://andauth.co/RtzXmc


Wide Launcher

Price: Free /In-app purchases ($2.99 – $49.99 per item)

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Wide Launcher is a newer app that offers a unique Android experience with a home screen that’s three times wider than standard launchers. It allows you to place items anywhere and provides a wide range of palettes and mini-apps for enhanced smartphone use. You can personalize your home screen with a variety of selected wallpapers, stickers, app icon styles, and picture frames. The launcher features intelligent organization and smart widgets called applets. There’s a fun feature that allows you to have virtual pets running on your screen called Hellopets. It’s also ad-free.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shouter.widelauncher&gl=us


Rootless Launcher

Price: Free

rootless launcher is one of the best new android apps 869w488h

Rootless Launcher is a decent, stock Android-style launcher from 2018. It’s actually a fairly basic experience. You get a stock Android look and feel with some additional customization elements to complete the look. Some of the features include icon pack support, adaptive icon pack support, an icon shape selector, themes based on your wallpaper, and the ability to change the location of the search bar. You can also get Google Feed working on this launcher, but like most, it requires an extra plug-in download and installation. The website with the instructions for that is in the Google Play description.

http://andauth.co/HHDUTB


Smart Launcher 6

Price: Free /In-app purchases ($0.99 – $26.99 per item)

Smart Launcher is another famous and quite old launcher app for Android. It has features like automatic app sorting and an ambient theme that dynamically adapts to your wallpaper. There’s an option to hide the navigation bar, and you can even protect sensitive apps with a PIN. Its UI is designed for one-handed use, and essential elements are conveniently placed at the bottom of the screen.

The launcher provides responsive built-in widgets and extensive customization options, allowing you to personalize themes and fonts. It also has a smart search bar, which simplifies tasks like finding contacts or searching the . The problem with this launcher is that it feels like some of the features are forced; there’s no option to disable them.

http://andauth.co/wDhePH


Price: Free /In-app purchases ($3.99 per item)

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Lynx Launcher is a new launcher app that offers a clean and distraction-free Android experience. The app supports theming, allowing you to change icons and even the entire theme, with the option to toggle dark mode based on your preferences. It has tons of customization features that allow you to tweak everything from the dock’s position to text size and notification dots. It also lets you hide non-removable apps. There are gestures that give you quick access to apps, contacts, and settings. A favorites screen shows your most-used apps and contacts for easy access.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.n277.lynxlauncher&gl=us

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Best Android Root Apps in 2024, Rooting your Android device allows you to get complete control of your phone. It unlocks your device entirely so that you can perform more advanced and complicated tasks (for instance, removal), not meant for general users. Moreover, the best Android root apps help you make the most of your phone.

The best apps to root an Android phone help you do all the heavy lifting, save battery, get new applications, and improve your phone’s performance. However, the opposite may happen if you use a wrong and unreliable rooting app.

Therefore, you must be extremely careful when picking a root app. However, since you have arrived at this article, it will be a cakewalk for you to choose the proper application.

Through this article, we share a rooted apps list. The applications in this list are selected after thorough research and analysis of the available options in the market. Let us walk you through it without ado.

9 Best Android Root Apps for Your Phone in 2024

Following are some of the best root apps for Android.

1. AdAway

adaway

Let us first introduce you to AdAway. It is a perfect choice for users who want to block ads on their devices. With this free and open-source application, you can block all ad-serving hostnames using the hosts’ file. It keeps you updated with the ad-serving networks and redirects these networks to your phone, i.e, the local host. Hence, these requests do not lead to any ads.

Download Now

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2. Magisk Manager

magisk manager

Next, we have Magisk Manager on our list of the best Android root apps. The most advantageous feature of this app is that, unlike the traditional methods, it does not require you to make system partition changes. Moreover, it helps you hide root permissions from applications like Android Pay, Pokemon Go, etc.

Furthermore, it allows you to get OTA updates to your operating system. However, sadly, this app is unavailable on Play and you need to download it as apk from the official website.

Download Now

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3. Quick Reboot

quick reboot

Let us take a look at Quick Reboot. This application allows you to reboot your device with a single tap on the button to do so. Moreover, there are several reboot options like recovery mode, fastboot, and safe mode. It comes in handy when you want all your reboot settings in one location and do not wish to use ADB or hardware key combinations to reboot your device.

Download Now

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4. OneClickRoot

oneclickroot

The next name on our list of the best Android root applications is OneClick Root. It helps improve your device’s battery life and speed. Moreover, you can use this application to download apps that are unavailable in your country and perform byte by byte mobile data backup.

Furthermore, OneClickRoot supports free wireless tethering, installation of apps incompatible with your device, and access to hidden files.

Download Now

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5.

rescue root

The discussion about the best Android root apps cannot be complete without Rescue Root. It is among the top applications to backup your device and protect it hassle-freely. With this app, you can perform customized roots for specific devices and restore your phone to an earlier rooted state.

Additionally, round-the-clock support, availability for all Android devices, and unlimited restoration of data make Rescue Root one of the best rooting apps.

Download Now

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6. KingoRoot

kingoroot

Here comes the best application for all those wanting to customize their device without any hassle. It offers a one-click device root. Additionally, it boasts compatibility with a wide range of devices and a beginner-friendly interface.

Furthermore, speeding up the device performance, easy Android streamlining, and Android root using PC are its other noteworthy features.

Download Now

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7. Root Essentials

root essentials

Let us now talk about the Root Essentials. Available for phone, tablet, and Android wear. This app lets you manage all applications on your device without any cumbersome effort, check the battery status, and check the phone for rooting access.

Moreover, it allows you to edit LCD density, view device information, change the phone’s emoji, select from over 700 fonts, and change your phone’s system language.

Download Now

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8. ROM Toolbox Pro

rom toolbox pro

Are you looking for a multi-purpose booting app? Then, ROM Toolbox Pro is a perfect choice for you. With ROM Toolbox Pro, you can easily manage your files or folders along with changing your device settings completely.
The app lets you utilize the custom fonts from an external SD Card. Additionally, using this Android Root App you can effortlessly move, delete, and rename files. Along with the ownership of files, you can also modify the permissions of any desired file. Overall, ROM Toolbox Pro is the must-have app for every root user out there.

Download Now

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9. LiveBoot

liveboot

Let us introduce you to LiveBoot. It is among the best root apps for Android because of its device health checking to determine whether or not you should root it. Moreover, it boasts many interesting features like access to the System Message Registry, commands to debug Android applications, and an option to view apps running in the background during boot.

Download Now

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Summing Up

This article acquainted you with the best Android root apps to help you use your device to the maximum potential. You can choose any app from the above list depending on your requirements.

If there is any application you would like to add to the above list, if you have any other suggestions/questions about this post, please drop them in the comment box. We will be delighted to address your queries.

Root Android: Everything you need to know!

One of the best things about Android is its customization and flexibility. Android lets you use it the way you want to, whether that means changing the launcher, or setting up a host of unique automatic functions with Tasker. But for some, that isn’t enough. You can gain near-total control of the OS if you root Android.

This isn’t as common as it once was, but there are still benefits to rooting Android, such as removing bloatware, full system backups, overclocking, specialized settings, and more. If you like the sounds of that, but find yourself feeling a little anxious about “hacking” your much-loved (and probably expensive) device, then read on to learn everything you need to know about rooting Android. It’s actually easier than you might think.

Editor’s note: Rooting Android devices requires a high level of tinkering and modifying your phone’s . This can be risky, and there is a chance you’ll damage your handset. This is terrible news, considering rooting Android may void your warranty. Always do your research and be confident about the steps you’re taking, as no one but you will be responsible should anything happen to your device.

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What is rooting?

While it might sound scary, rooting refers to obtaining access to commands, system files, and folder locations that are usually locked off. Rooting Android can be thought of as promoting yourself from a system user to an administrator, with the additional freedom and risks that come from more control over the deeper workings of your device. With great power comes great responsibility and all that!

More specifically, adding root to Android means becoming a superuser, which is a function you may be familiar with. In many ways, you could view this more as restoring a function that should have been there, to begin with!

Users can install and run applications on rooted Android phones and tablets that require special privileges, bypass carrier-installed software, and even remove bloatware applications (as opposed to simply disabling them). Root access is even needed if you want to install trivial things like certain custom fonts, and rooting Android can also unlock new features in certain apps and launchers.

If you’re comfortable with coding, you can even go as far as creating your own custom ROMs.

Handy rooting terminology:

 Bootloader: Lowest level software on your phone that starts up recoveries and then the main operating system.
 Recovery: Low-level software that can create and restore full system backups. It is accessed before the main OS.
 ADB (Android Debug Bridge): A command-line tool that is part of the Android SDK, which supports communication between a computer and an Android device.

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To root or not to root?

phone with supersu root access stock 3 945w

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

The next question is whether you should root Android or leave it as it is. That, of course, is a matter of personal preference, but there are some compelling arguments both for and against it.

On the plus side, it gives you more access to several cool apps and customization options. It also lets you upgrade older phones to newer Android versions long after your manufacturer and carrier have stopped supporting it. As mentioned, rooting Android will let you change things that you otherwise Wouldn’t be able to, and it will also allow you to use a host of cool apps.

Android root apps and options

Here are just a few things you can do with a rooted Android device:

 Overclock or underclock the CPU.
 Increase battery life.
 It greatly enhances the power of Tasker.
 Remove preinstalled bloatware apps.
 Make real backups.
 Install custom ROMs.
 Further customize your phone’s looks.
 Install apps that do more than basic ones.
 You can even do things like installing  for desktop.

For some people, rooting Android is also something of a statement. You paid for this device, so why shouldn’t you use it exactly as you wish? Especially if it means removing cynical and unhelpful bloatware. There’s also a certain status that comes from it, and a great sense of accomplishment when you achieve root access for the first time.

If you’re a developer hoping to create your own root apps, you need to start somewhere!

Will you damage your device?

google pixel 8 back in hand red background 531h

Robert Triggs / Android Authority

Pixel 8

That said, there are also some potential downsides to rooting.

Even once you know how to root Android, some risks are involved. If you get this wrong, there is a chance of bricking your device (it’s happened to me). It’s easier and safer on some devices than others, but if you’re not overly confident with your tech wizardry, you may prefer to leave your phone be.

Furthermore, rooting can cause some issues with official OTA handset updates — but it is usually fine to install new software manually once you’re rooted. Updating will often cause root permissions to be lost, in which case the procedure will need to be performed again. Occasionally, an update will block old root methods, and sometimes rooted devices will fail to install updates. If your device stops booting after an attempted root exploit, you can usually restore it to factory specifications relatively easily.

Warranties and legalities — is rooting legal?

This leads us nicely onto warranties, which is another grey area in the world of rooting. While carriers don’t like you tampering with their hardware and software, some manufacturers have become kinder to rooters and even those who install third-party software. However, few have a clear stance on what software tweaks will void your warranty, and you certainly can’t count on having your rooted handset fixed if something goes wrong. Devices with locked bootloaders, the very low-level software that starts up your phone, are explicitly designed to prevent rooting, so don’t expect sympathy from these companies.

 In the US, rooting is perfectly legal.

Thanks to clues like Knox on Samsung, manufacturers and sellers can often identify rooted devices, even after you unroot them. Note that there are ways to hide evidence of having rooted your device, but these won’t always . There’s a kind of arms race between hackers and manufacturers, and your chances of unrooting and covering your tracks will often come down to who is winning at the time! This is why many people only root older phones already out of warranty.

This might also make you wonder whether rooting your device is even legal. This is tough to answer as it depends on your country’s laws. Many countries allow for bypassing digital rights management and locks, providing that this is not used for other illegal purposes, such as circumventing copyrights. Rooting has been legal in the USA since 2013.

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Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

It’s also worth noting that some apps and features will stop working once you root. For example, banking apps will often stop working due to the perceived risk. Even Snapchat and Pokemon Go take issue with root! There are also often countermeasures to these limitations — though your mileage may vary. You can probably tell by now that rooting typically means creating more work for yourself, but it can be enjoyable work!

Rooting your phone can open up your device to more dangerous pieces of malware.Adam Sinicki

The final major point to be aware of is security. With greater control comes a greater level of risk, and rooting your phone can open up your device to more dangerous pieces of malware. This is where governor applications come in, which monitor and control which processes get root permissions. You may be familiar with SuperSU or other similar apps. These are very straightforward to use and simply display a pop-up whenever an app or process wants root access, which you can either deny or allow and save your preference if you trust the app.

Of course, if you aren’t automatically receiving the usual updates, it also falls on you to ensure you get all the latest security patches. In theory, you could improve your privacy with the proper root apps. But it’s on you. It should also be noted that SuperSU developer Chainfire hung up his root apps, so most rooters have now switched over to Magisk.

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So, should you root Android?

android stock photo

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

With all that in mind, should you root your Android device?

Ultimately, that comes down to what you intend to use your device for. Do you even need to root Android? If you have a specific use-case scenario in mind and understand the risks and limitations, then there’s nothing to stop you from learning how to root Android and giving yourself that extra freedom.

On the other hand, the argument for rooting isn’t as compelling as it once was. These days, one can do many things that were once limited to root users (customizing the UI, recording your screen, and so on). Not to mention that even budget phones are fast these days, so overclocking is no longer an important reason to root Android.

These days, one can do a lot of things that were once limited to root users.Adam Sinicki

Seeing as root might also mean you lose functionality, it’s no longer a straight win across the board. It has its benefits, but it’s not as helpful as it once was.

For me, the obvious answer is to only root older devices. Keep your daily driver clean while it’s still getting new updates and patches, but root secondary gadgets that you want to tinker with. That way, you get to have your cake and eat it, too.

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How to root Android devices

phone with supersu root access stock 1

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

If you decide to proceed, you’ll probably wonder how to root Android. Let’s lead you in the right direction!

The bad news is there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution when you root Android phones and tablets. Different brands and even software versions can make the rooting process vary. Even within handset variants, you may find that some techniques work and others don’t.

The good news is that rooting is much easier than it once was in many cases. In fact, the easiest method is usually to use a simple root app. These apps let you root Android with a single tap, with some popular examples being KingRootKingoRoot, and OneClickRoot. Download your app of choice or access the website for more instructions. The service will check compatibility first, then root your device for you.

This is a minimum-fuss method that will work in many cases. However, it’s worth noting that some come with annoying push and ads. I’d advise checking reviews before settling on which one to use. Some would even say that if you can’t figure out how to root your device without one of these apps, perhaps you shouldn’t be doing it at all (because if you encounter problems during the process, you won’t know what to do).

The good news is that in many cases, rooting is much easier than it once was.

If a one-click solution doesn’t appeal to you, things get a little more complex, and you’ll need to look for specific instructions for your device. This might mean using PC software and connecting your phone via USB. It might also mean using a custom recovery, or downloading additional software like Odin for Samsung devices. The best part about these options is that you learn a lot along the way.

I recommend either Googling “how to root [YOUR DEVICE NAME HERE]” or heading over to XDA Developers, which is a great place to start. Many of the best root apps available today were developed by members of this community. Just be sure to use the search function first before asking noob questions! And don’t forget to thank and support the devs that make rooting possible.

Before rooting your device, it’s always good to back up your phone first. Then settle in, read a lot, triple-check the instructions, and dive in. Crossing your fingers and holding your breath would be a good idea because you just took the red pill! The world of Android rooting is exciting, empowering, frustrating, and engaging — you’ll learn tons about how Android works, what your phone can do, and how awesome Android can be when you get in the driver’s seat.

Once you’ve rooted your phone, it’s time to start enjoying the best root apps for Android.

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FAQs

Rooting a device refers to obtaining superuser access to your Android system. It allows you to delve deeper into commands, system files, restricted folders, and more. This will enable you to customize things from a system level.

 

Rooting makes it possible to achieve much more complex customizations than you’re used to. You can control your CPU and RAM, customize your UI, remove apps you otherwise wouldn’t be able to uninstall, use apps that provide root features, and more.

 

Manufacturers don’t like when you tinker with their devices’ software. This can create issues, and these wouldn’t be their fault. Most manufacturers will likely avoid respecting a warranty claim if you’ve rooted a device, especially if this was the cause of whatever issue you started the claim for. That said, some argue it’s illegal to void the warranty due to rooting, in some jurisdictions. You might be able to argue this in court, but no one really wants to take a company to court for a warranty issue. At the very least, rooting your phone may cause a headache, even if you did nothing wrong.

 

Technically speaking, a rooted Android phone has access to system files. Regular phones lack this. This makes it possible for hackers and malware to attack you at deeper levels. Additionally, root users like grabbing apps to maximize their experience, which opens the doors to more dangers. While rooting your device can be perfectly secure, it’s also very easy to turn it into a vulnerable device. You’re no longer sticking with Google and your manufacturer’s protective arms. Not to mention, rooting can affect timely updates, which often come with security improvements.

 

Of course you can. The real question is whether you should. If you are to sell a rooted phone, make sure you tell the new owner about this. He can then decide if he wants to take the risk. Additionally, it’s possible to unroot a phone and take it back to its factory settings. This might be a better alternative, unless the buyer strictly wants a rooted phone.

 

Rooting is only worth it right now if you have a specific need for it, or if you really want to play around with your Android phone. That said, we advise most users to stick with stock software now. This is because most of the benefits we used to get from root access no longer apply. Phones used to be slow, and now even budget devices are pretty fast, so there is no dire need to overclock. Battery life is also improving, so there is no huge need to underclock. Launchers are better than ever, so custom ROMs are no longer as enticing as before. Bloatware apps can also be turned off, which at least keeps them out of view.

 

No. You will have to flash the stock software to remove root. In fact, this used to be seen as a feature. Some applications are able to stick around, even if you perform a factory reset. This is great for security apps.

Rooting, in and of itself, should not erase any of your data. That said, you might have to give your phone a clean install if anything goes wrong, or if the root process for your phone happens to require a factory reset.

 

There are multiple ways to check if a device is rooted, but if you can’t figure this out, chances are you don’t want to deal with complex methods. The easiest way to check if your phone is rooted is through an app. Root Checker is one of the most popular ones.

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The best iPhone keyboard apps in 2024, The iPhone’s default keyboard may not meet everyone’s needs. Its limited features may leave some users wanting more variety and flexibility, especially on larger devices like the iPhone 15 Pro Max or smaller models like the iPhone SE (2022).

We have conducted research and compiled a comprehensive list of the best third-party keyboards for iPhone, that can significantly enhance your texting experience. These keyboards offer a wide range of features and customization options, such as adjustable key size, swipe typing, themes, and easier access to emojis. Most of these keyboards are available for free, while some offer premium subscription options. Either way, you’ll easily be able to find a keyboard that suits your needs and preferences.

Microsoft SwiftKey AI Keyboard

app store screenshots for microsoft swiftkey ai keyboard

Microsoft’s SwiftKey AI keyboard is a highly rated third-party keyboard that is favored by many people. The keyboard is powered by the company’s Copilot AI and is designed to learn your writing style. This allows it to recognize informal language, nicknames, and even your favorite emojis, which sets it apart from its competitors. The keyboard also offers various personalization options, including different themes, which enhance its appearance and appeal to the user.

DOWNLOAD SWIFTKEY

The best iPhone keyboard apps in 2024

Also Read : Best Linux desktop of 2024

Typewise Custom Keyboard

typewise custom keyboard for ios with three different ad layouts

Typewise has a unique take on key shapes. The app keeps the QWERTY design but the traditional rectangle-shaped keys for hexagonal ones — which Typewise says creates more surface area so you can type more accurately. While there is a slight learning curve, Typewise includes a built-in game to practice typing. With swipe gestures, dark mode support, and autocorrect modification, this is a great alternative for those tired of the conventional iOS keyboard. Newer versions include automatic language detection, which switches the app between selected languages, an undo button, and text replacement for often-used phrases.

DOWNLOAD TYPEWISE

Grammarly

grammarly app for ios three screenshots

The Grammarly iOS keyboard app offers sophisticated grammar review that goes beyond the usual spell check to provide advice on punctuation, spelling context, and misused words. It also helps you build your vocabulary and offers synonyms, which makes it an ideal app for students or business people. Grammarly also has emoji, a smart autocorrect feature, and allows you to build your own dictionary. You also get features that include swipe typing, home screen widgets, and focus filters that mute vibrations and sound effects.

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Facemoji AI Emoji Keyboard

facemoji keyboard app

The Facemoji Emoji Keyboard is a free tool that allows you to add a touch of personality to text messages and media posts. With a wide range of emojis, fonts, and stickers available, you can easily create unique and engaging content for platforms like WhatsApp, TikTok, , Messenger, , Snapchat, and SMS. Whether you want to express your emotions through colorful emojis or add some flair to your text with stylish fonts, the Facemoji Emoji Keyboard has something for everyone.

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Phraseboard Keyboard

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Phraseboard aims to take the pain out of the tedious job of typing the same responses and phrases repeatedly by allowing you to save them so you can select one of your prewritten answers to reply rapidly. You can create your own customized phrases and sort them by category. You can even quickly access the Phraseboard widget to create new phrases no matter what you’re doing with your iPhone. All your phrases sync with iCloud. The basic app costs $2, and subscriptions are available for some premium language and functionality features.

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Gboard – the Keyboard

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Gboard is a keyboard from Google and includes everything you’d ever want within a single app. Whether you’re sending GIFs or emojis, searching Google for information, sending directions, or anything else, Gboard has you covered. With Gboard, you can search and send anything from Google, including information on nearby restaurants, videos, images, weather forecasts, news, sports scores — you name it. The app also offers Glide Typing, which allows you to type messages faster and more accurately.

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Fleksy- GIF, Web & Yelp Search

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Fleksy offers users a fun and interactive way to type in their own style. You can customize your Fleksy keyboard with powerful extensions and more than 50 colorful themes. Some of the themes cost $1, but many are free. More than 800 emoji come with the app, and it also has its own built-in GIF search engine. The keyboard supports several languages: English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish, Hebrew, and Dutch. It learns your typing habits as you go, enabling it to give you accurate predictions, which helps reduce typos.

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Fonts

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Are you tired of sending your friends and family the same old boring messages? Spice things up with the Fonts keyboard app! You can customize your messages with a wide selection of fonts to fit your unique personality and style. Whether you’re feeling flirty, professional, or just plain silly, there’s a font for every mood. The Fonts keyboard works through , Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, Clubhouse, TikTok, Telegram, Roblox, WhatsApp, Twitch, , and more.

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Color Keyboard – Themes, Fonts

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The king of keyboard customization is Color Keyboard. Sure, it gives you emoji and autocorrection and even allows you to tap and hold the space bar to move the cursor, but what really sets this keyboard apart is the option to change anything you want about the keyboard’s look. You can change the background using solid colors, gradients, textures, and even your own pictures.

You can also customize the buttons by changing the colors and borders, adding shadows, customizing the fonts, and changing the sounds. If your aim is customization, Color Keyboard takes things to the next level, but you have to subscribe to access everything, starting at $3 per week and rising for longer intervals and premium features.

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Bitmoji

bitmoji your personal emoji illustrationsBitstrips

Bitmoji, a popular keyboard app, is ideal if you want to send an emoji that resembles you rather than using standard emoji or text. Bitmoji allows you to customize and send a personalized emoji, all from your keyboard. Use Bitmoji with any of your favorite chat apps, like iMessage or Snapchat. It’s never been easier to adapt a dynamic avatar with an ever-changing collection of stickers and moods. You’ll need your Facebook login information to sign into Bitmoji and initiate the avatar creation process.

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GIF Keyboard

gif keyboard for finding perfect gifsTenor

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a GIF can truly help get your point across. Get access to the massive library of animated and musical GIFs for free. From there, you can search for specific GIFs or use keywords to find animations that suit your mood. The GIF keyboard app is compatible with WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, Messenger, iMessage, and just about any other messaging app or social media site.

To send a GIF, press your finger on your chosen GIF and hold it down to browse options. Once you’ve found one, share its link, the GIF itself, or a video, or save the media to your photo library. You can also customize the tool to match your specifications and save your favorite GIFs using the keyboard.

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All Symbol Keyboard Fonts Aa

all symbol keyboard typing appMelonSoup

For the visual , the All Symbol Keyboard is an exciting alternative to humdrum alphanumerics with all the custom fonts, symbols, fancy letters, special characters, and emoticons you could ever want — compatible with any app on your iPhone. It works with Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat, and many others. Whether you’re looking for high-impact symbols to enhance your keyboard, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter posts, or even your username, launch the app and start typing. Premium versions provide unlimited access to features like the All Symbol Keyboard (every single symbol) and Facemoji library, but there’s tons of free stuff to get you started.

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The best emoji keyboards for Android and iOS

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Gone are the days when words were enough to fully express our thoughts and feelings. Emoji, a recently accepted form of pictographic communication that now serves as a kind of Esperanto for the internet age, plays a major role in interpersonal and international communications. Most major keyboards for both Android and iOS feature built-in support for emoji, but they are hardly front and center. If you’re looking for a keyboard to truly satisfy your emoji obsession, you may need a dedicated emoji keyboard to carry out the task of conveying your emotions visually via a text environment.

When you download a keyboard app in iOS, you must add it to your list of keyboards. To do this, go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards > Add New Keyboards. Then, scroll to the Third-Party Keyboards section and choose the keyboard app. Then, tap on the keyboard app and toggle on Allow Full Access. For Android 10, you can install your new keyboard directly via the Google Play Store to your , if it is compatible with the app, and then launch and follow any directions it has.

Here are a few of our favorite third-party keyboard apps for iOS and Android.

Gboard

gboardImage used with permission by copyright holder

Gboard is a highly functional keyboard from Google that concentrates on handy features like emoji search, GIFs, stickers, and glide typing. Best of all, it has the Google search app integrated into the keyboard — no more switching apps. Just search for anything from the weather to your neighborhood bodega and send, all from this nifty keyboard.

Emoji>

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Emoji> offers a ton of emoji characters you can use via the keyboard, and they’re split into different categories, making it easy to find the emoji you’re looking for. The keyboard also provides animated stickers and the ability to set up specific emoji as favorites, so you can access them at a moment’s notice without having to search for the ones you want. Updates include compatibility with iOS 14 and all of its attendant emoji, including smiling face with tear, disguised face, ninja, pinched fingers, heart and lungs, black cat, polar bear, seal, dodo sandal, bubble tea, and toothbrush. New emoji widgets are also on hand.

Microsoft Swiftkey

swiftkeyImage used with permission by copyright holder

Swiftkey is not an emoji keyboard per se, but it is the next best thing — an excellent keyboard that comes pre-loaded with hundreds of emoji for you to use. Swiftkey is already a great favorite because of its valuable predictive typing, which can also be applied to emoji. When you type a word or phrase, for example, the app suggests emoji that you can quickly use. The most recent versions include renaming the app to Microsoft Swiftkey, a new Messaging Center on the keyboard toolbar, haptic feedback, one-handed mode, 400 new languages, and new language layouts.

ai.type Keyboard Plus

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As its name implies, ai.type was developed around artificial intelligence, aiming to assist people in typing quickly and accurately. It also allows you to personalize the keyboard to fit your individual needs, enabling you to adjust the keyboard’s layout, theme, and color scheme. This means you can set an emoji front and center and select from an extensive inventory of more than 1,000 characters.

Similar to many other keyboard applications, the keyboard can also propose emojis depending on what you type. The most current versions are compatible with the new Emoji .1 for 2020 and 517 new emoji. Around 23 new gender-neutral emoji icons have been added. Some of these include a gender-neutral firefighter, astronaut, a person in a wheelchair, and a judge. You’ll also have access to fun emoji objects like an otter, ringed planet, beverage box, and pinching hand.

Fleksy

fleksyImage used with permission by copyright holder

If you want to add a bit more fun and animation to your typing, Fleksy could be the keyboard that you’ve been looking for. Fleksy is compatible with a wide variety of extensions, letting you quickly add new features as necessary. Maybe the most remarkable thing about Fleksy is how simple it is to get to your emoji. You can browse through dozens of emoji in each section and change categories with a quick tap at the bottom of the keyboard.

Just like many keyboards, you can also establish a variety of attractive themes. Updated versions include features like Next Word Prediction, prepared in 28 languages, and Emoji Prediction so you can inspect the suggested emoji in regards to your conversation’s context.

Go Keyboard

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go keyboard

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Go Keyboard is a personalizable keyboard that permits you to put emoji, emoticons, stickers, and GIFs in noticeable areas. The app converts text into emoji and emoticons, and you can pick from over 1,000 emoji and stickers, plus over 10, 000 different themes. It supports over 60 other languages, too. If that’s not enough to impress you, you can also type with gestures and various fonts, as well as individualize your keyboard with your own personal photo theme. The Fancy Font feature gives you the opportunity to select your preferred keyboard font.

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The best Linux desktops provide a simple way to find your perfect Linux desktop environment. The thought of a desktop environment as a separate entity from the operating system sounds foreign to most mainstream users coming from Windows or Mac OS.

But that’s just another example of the dexterity of Linux. For all intents and purposes, a desktop environment is just another piece of software, albeit an expansive and complicated one. At the end of the day you can install it just as you would any other piece of software. 

Moreover, many desktop developers ensure you can easily drape their creations over your existing installation. Besides the mainstream ones like Gnome, KDE, Cinnamon, Mate, Xfce, LXDE that come pre-installed with one of the mainstream distros, here are some of the interesting ones that you might not have heard about.

We’ve analyzed these Linux desktops on various points, like how resource-intensive they are, their hardware requirements, customizability, and the out-of-box experience. We also considered the design and visual appeal — whether it was beautiful with interesting animations or sleek and minimalistic. 

Best for customization

budgie desktop website screenshot

(Image credit: Github)

Developed and used by the distro, the Budgie desktop is written from scratch using components from the Gnome stack. 

The highlight of the desktop is its unified notification and customization center called Raven, which also gives you quick access to the calendar, media player controls, system settings and power options. All the elements on the desktop, such as the applications menu, are implemented as applets. 

Budgie is easy to customize and extend and offers enough options to help you mold it as you want. For example, by default Budgie doesn’t show icons on the desktop and has only one workspace, but both of these behaviors can be overridden easily from the Budgie Desktop Settings app.

The developers have refined some of the essential elements of the desktop, which includes the Budgie Menu, which now sorts category names alphabetically, and the Icon Tasklist applet that has several new features and behavior refinements. 

Several distros, including Ubuntu and Manjaro have spins based on Budgie and Fedora users can fetch it from the COPR repo.

Best for usability

deepin de website screenshot

(Image credit: Deepin)

2. Deepin DE

Best Linux desktop that’s aesthetically pleasing

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Configurability

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Responsive

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Host of native apps

Reasons to avoid

Not highly customizable

The Deepin desktop is part of the Deepin distro. It’s based on HTML5 and WebKit and uses a mix of QML and Go for its various components. 

Besides the desktop itself, notable homebrewed Deepin components include the launcher, dock and control center. All of Deepin’s tweakable parameters are accessible via a hidden panel that folds into the desktop itself. 

The Deepin desktop tries to replicate the usability and aesthetics of Mac OS X, and has a clean and clutter-free interface with nothing except the dock at the bottom of the screen. The desktop now also supports touch-screen gestures. The desktop has configurable hot corners that by default allow you to access the applications menu and the control panel using which you can manage all aspects of the desktop.

The desktop isn’t officially supported by many distros, but several have community-supported spins and you can fetch the desktop via third-party repositories for your installation.

Best Linux desktop of 2024

Also Read : 12 Best Linux Distros You Should Use

Best lightweight

enlightenment website screenshot

(Image credit: Enlightenment)

3. Enlightenment

Best Linux desktop that’s lightweight and beautiful

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Reasons to buy

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Animated actions

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Lightweight

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Tweakability

Reasons to avoid

Doesn’t ship with many apps

Enlightenment is a rather unusual desktop environment. It is in fact more of a window manager as it lacks taskbars, panels and even menus. Yet, unlike many lightweight environments, the Enlightenment desktop is full of eye-candy that you’d expect from a full-blown environment, at a fraction of the resources. 

There are subtle animations tucked in almost every element of the desktop, from the menus to the various desktop widgets. The desktop has a first boot wizard that enables you to select various aspects of the desktop that define its behavior and appearance. For example, you get an option to select the size in the windows, which is a really useful feature and even more so if you’re running Enlightenment on a high DPI display. 

The desktop also offers plenty of modules and configuration options to keep you busy without overwhelming new users. However, you’ll have to put some time to set it up as per your liking. Configuring the desktop requires patience and willingness to try the different options and learn what each does. You can find Enlightenment in the official repositories of all major distros.

Best for old PCs

lxqt website screenshot

(Image credit: )

The LXQt desktop environment is a combination of the GTK-based lightweight desktop LXDE and Razor-Qt, which was an equally lightweight, but far less mature, desktop that used the Qt toolkit. Thanks to this combination, LXQt manages to pull off the look and feel of a modern desktop without being a drain on resources.

The desktop will feel at home on a modern machine, but is still light enough to push an out-of-commission back into active duty. It adheres to the old but familiar desktop metaphor, with a status bar laden with icons at the bottom of the screen. The applications menu features the traditional categorized list of apps as well as a search box to help launch apps. 

LXQt offers a decent number of tweakable options that help customize the most commonly used aspects of the desktop. The desktop uses modules, which are essentially desktop-independent tools for desktop specific operations, and its panel also supports plug-ins. You can find LXQt in the repositories of virtually all distros.

Best for macOS users

pantheon website screenshot

(Image credit: Pantheon)

5. Pantheon

Best Linux desktop for migrating macOS users

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Animated actions

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Minimalist

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Keyboard shortcuts

Reasons to avoid

Lacking customizability

The Pantheon desktop from is another minimalist but stylish desktop that has created a name for itself as an elegant and user-friendly desktop environment. 

The desktop uses its own Mutter-based window manager called Gala and takes cues from the Mac OS X desktop for a pleasant user experience. The desktop nicely integrates the various elements, such as the Plank dock, the top panel (called Wingpanel) and the Slingshot application launcher. 

Nearly all actions on the desktop are subtly animated, but the desktop manages to strike a balance between form and function. You can use the Pantheon Tweaks tool to customize the desktop. Once it’s installed, you can use the tool to change the appearance of the desktop, set fonts, control the animations and more.

Many of the default apps that ship with Pantheon, such as the Calendar app, the Code text editor are written from scratch, to blend in with the rest of the desktop. Keyboard warriors can also access virtually all aspects of the desktop without using the mouse.

Pantheon isn’t officially supported on any other distro, but can be installed atop Arch, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE and Fedora.

Best Linux distro for Windows users of 2024

The best Linux distros for Windows users can make it simple and easy to switch from Windows to Linux systems.

It can be an inundating experience, especially for people coming from proprietary operating systems like Windows. Linux distributions, thanks to their open source nature, offer a lot more access than their closed source cousins, which makes the transition particularly difficult for many users. 

This is where these specialized distros, designed for Windows users, come into the picture. Their objective is to allow users to experience the goodness of Linux while minimizing the learning curve that’s associated when switching to a different operating system. They all take various steps to ensure that the transition is as effortless as possible.

We’ve tested numerous Linux distros to find the best ones for Windows users. We looked at how user-friendly they were, the hardware requirements, the ease of installation, and the overall out-of-box experience. We also considered the distro’s learning curve and the desktop environment, among other aspects.

Best Debian distro

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1. Deepin Linux

Best Debian distro for Windows users

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Home-brewed desktop

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Helpful first-boot wizard

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Touch-friendly interface

Reasons to avoid

Slow installer

Deepin Linux is a Debian-based distro that’s known for its aesthetically pleasing custom desktop environment called DDE. Together with several home-brewed apps, the distro is designed to ease new users into the Linux desktop.

Deepin comes in both a stable and experimental version. The “stable” version (currently 20.8) is based on the stable version of Debian at the time of release (in this case Debian 10 “Buster”).

The experimental version (current V23) is designed for “non-production environments”. In other words it’s better for personal use rather than anything critical. The latest experimental build is visually very rich with a “flow design” and added widgets so closely resembles Windows

Deepin uses a first-boot configurator app to help you tweak the look and feel of your installation by changing icons, enabling window effects and more. These are classified into two broad categories and you can use either depending on the number of available resources on your computer. 

On lower-end machines, you can run the installation in Efficient mode to make the best use of the limited resources, while on newer ones you can use the Fashion mode to turn up the bling. The amount of customizations in DDE are quite diverse and extend from the main desktop area to the notification management.  

There’s a Deepin custom app for conducting the majority of common desktop tasks, such as watching films, listening to , viewing images, taking backups, recording screencasts, and about a dozen more.

The other custom Deepin app that deserves a special mention is the App Store. It makes it fairly easy to discover and install news apps, which will be appreciated by new users not familiar to the Linux app ecosystem. Also, listed besides the usual categories of apps is the Uninstall section that can help you get rid of any installed apps using a more familiar parlance.

Best Ubuntu distro

2. elementary OS

Best Ubuntu distro for Windows users

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Aesthetic desktop

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Picture-in-picture mode

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Custom apps

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Support for Flatpaks

Reasons to avoid

Doesn’t support 32-bit architecture

Elementary OS is based on Ubuntu. There are new releases every 1-2 years each of which are named after a different god. For instance, the most recent version (7.0) is codenamed “Horus”. 

This isn’t all that’s divine about this OS. It has made a name for itself for crafting a very usable and aesthetically pleasing desktop distro. Everything from its pre-installed apps to its home brewed desktop is designed to give a comforting experience to users new to Linux.

Its custom-built Pantheon desktop, is a pleasing aesthetic take on the classical desktop metaphor. One of its distinguishing features is the picture-in-picture mode that enables you to select an area of a window or the desktop, and then pops it out. This pop-out is movable, resizable, always-on-top, and can move across workspaces

The distro comes with a carefully pruned collection of pre-installed apps that’s been assembled to make the desktop experience more consistent and appealing to new Linux users. In fact, many of its most-used pre-installed apps have functional names like Mail, Music, Photos and Videos, which makes them easier to discover.

The distro also has an onboarding app to help new users set up their installation.  elementary OS also uses its own App Center. The latest version emphasizes app screenshots, as well as providing more information about the developer and how actively packages are maintained. Installation is via Flatpaks so it’s very easy to toggle automatic app updates too. It takes a similar approach to system settings with its custom app that exposes the bare essentials instead of throwing an endless stream of toggles and switches.

Best unique distro

Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu. It’s specifically designed to work “out of the box”. The two main flavors use the MATE (pictured) and Cinammon desktop environments. The layout is familiar for Windows users with a taskbar and configurable menus on the bottom.

This distro emphasizes compatibility with restricted/proprietary formats. Out of the box it can edit Microsoft Office documents via the LibreOffice suite. With one click of your mouse you can also “Install Multimedia Codecs” to play all kinds of audio/video files. 

You can also use the Software Manager to install more programs. Linux Mint has its own repositories but can also access Ubuntu’s. There are around 30,000 packages available overall, so it’s likely you can find a good equivalent to Windows apps.

The latest version of Linux Mint 21.1 (Codename “Vera) is based on Ubuntu 22.04. This is a LTS (Long Term Support) release so updates will be available until April 2027.

Best for older machines

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4. Zorin OS

Best Linux distro for Windows users with older machines

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Look changer app

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Several free editions

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Useful documentation

Reasons to avoid

Official tech support isn’t great

At first glance, Zorin OS comes off as just another Ubuntu-based distro. However, what makes it unique is the home-brewed Zorin Appearance app that tweaks the desktop environment to make it resemble Windows in both form and function. 

Pitched as a distro for first-time Linux users, Zorin is designed to appeal to users coming from popular proprietary operating systems, namely Windows and macOS. 

The GUI is Windows-like with a menu that opens from the bottom left of the desktop and a task bar. You can use the launch menu to install “Windows App Support” to run your favorite Windows apps through the ‘Wine’ compatibility player of ‘PlayonLinux’. The preinstalled LibreOffice suite can also open Microsoft Office documents.

Zorin is available in four different versions: the Core, Lite, and Education editions are free, while the Pro version costs $39. The Core edition is the standard edition that includes all the apps you’d find in a normal desktop Linux distribution, while the Lite edition is designed for older machines. The paid Pro version comes with support and a few extra features, such as the option of using interfaces that mimic macOS, classic Windows and Windows 11. It’s also chock-full of all kinds of apps like advanced video and photo editors. 

The distro is complimented by a useful selection of documentation that’s again written for users migrating from proprietary desktops and aren’t used to the Linux way of doing things. All things considered, we’d advise you to use the Lite edition to take Zorin for a spin. This uses the Xfce desktop, so the layout is more familiar to Windows users. You can then switch to the Ultimate edition to experience the full potential of the distro.  

Best for ease-of-use

5. Ubuntu

Best Linux distros for Windows users that’s easy to use

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Very accessible for novices

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and stability of LTS version

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Lubuntu spin is great for underpowered PCs

Reasons to avoid

Some flavors heavy on resources 

Ubuntu is one of the most popular flavors of Linux and is strongly recommended for Linux newbies, as it’s extremely accessible. That’s why we’ve already featured two variations of Ubuntu in this guide, but it’s worth considering the main Ubuntu release itself.

New versions of Ubuntu are released every six months, and every other year the developer Canonical releases an LTS (long term support) version of Ubuntu. These guarantee five years of security and general maintenance updates, so you can carry on using your machine without the hassle of running a full upgrade every few months. Standard releases are supported for one year only. 

The current LTS version of Ubuntu uses the Gnome desktop environment, which may be less unfamiliar to Windows and macOS users.

The good news is that Ubuntu is available in a variety of flavors. The “Lubuntu” OS uses the LXQt desktop environment. This will feel comfortable for Windows users, as you can access the menu and minimize windows just as before. Both the desktop and apps that come bundled with Lubuntu are designed to be lightweight, making it perfect for older machines.

As of version 23.04, Ubuntu now officially supports the ‘Cinnamon’ desktop (pictured). This has a similar look and feel to Windows but uses much richer graphics. Naturally, you’ll need a more recent PC to make use of all its features.

Ubuntu has also become increasingly integral with computing services, making it not just a good distro for easing beginners into Linux, but also one for those looking to develop their long-term business IT skills.

Linux distros for Windows users FAQs

How to choose the best Linux distros for Windows users for you?

With the best Linux distro for Windows users, you’ll enjoy a smooth transition from Windows to Linux. But you’ll have to look at many factors before selecting the right distro for yourself.

For starters, check whether your hardware can run the distro, mainly because not all distros run on 32-bit architecture. You’ll want a lightweight distro that’ll run without lagging if you’re on older hardware. It always helps if the distro has plenty of documentation available and an active forum where you can seek help. Also, check out the distro’s desktop environment to see if it’s to your liking, in terms of visuals, functions, and customizability.

The best Linux distros for Windows users: How we test

We analyzed various aspects of different distros to find the best Linux distros for Windows users. We looked at how resource-intensive the distros were, what kind of hardware they’d run on smoothly, the documentation available, and the out-of-box experience. We considered the installation time and the additional apps that came with the distro. 

We evaluated the desktop environment based on the visuals, functionality, and customizability. We also checked out the online forums to see if there was an active community that could help with doubts.

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The History of , from Version 1.0 to 17.0, A complete view of the operating system that launched the smartphone revolution

iOS is the name of the operating system that runs the iPhone and iPod touch. It’s the core software that comes loaded on all devices to allow them to run and support other apps. iOS is to the iPhone what Windows is to PCs or macOS is to Macs.

Below you’ll find a history of each version of iOS when it was released, and what it added to the platform. Click the name of the iOS version, or the More link at the end of each blurb, for more in-depth information about that version.

See our article What is iOS? for a lot more on this innovative mobile operating system and how it works.

iOS 17

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Apple announced iOS 17 at the June 2023 WWDC, with a public rollout to take place in Fall 2023.

One of the most notable updates to iOS 17 is the change from, “Hey Siri!” to, “Siri,” as well as the ability to give Siri back-to-back commands,

iOS 17 includes upgrades to Phone, , and Messages, which also features an all-new Stickers experience. AirDrop has been upgraded to include NameDrop to allow for easy contact sharing. Journal is an entirely new app that provides an intuitive journalling experience based on your photos, locations, contacts, music, podcasts, and more.

In addition, iOS 17 offers a fullscreen experience called StandBy, which is similar to Nightstand Mode on Apple Watch. While you’re charging the phone, you can put it into landscape mode to display the time and other information on a minimalist, easy-to-read display.

iOS 16

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iOS 16 was announced at 2022’s WWDC in June. It rolled out to consumers in Fall 2022.

Updates include new Messages features, SharePlay availability in FaceTime and Messages, and upgrades for Apple Wallet including Apple Pay Later and Apple Order Tracking.

iOS 16 also featured an Apple Maps redesign and new features, such as cycling, lookaround, and multi-stop routing. The iOS upgrade also offers improvements to Spatial Audio that allow for the personalization of audio on AirPods.

The History of iOS, from Version 1.0 to 17.0

Read More : The best Apple HomeKit devices 2023

iOS 15

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Apple Inc.

Support ended: n./a
Current version: 15.5, released May 16, 2022
Initial version: 15.0, released Sept. 24, 2021

Much like iOS 14, iOS 15 is more of a collection of improvements to the iPhone platform than it is a themed release. Generally speaking, iOS 15 moves forward a number of important things Apple has been working on for a number of releases: Increases security and privacy, blocks more ad tracking, improves Siri and the camera app, and much more.

Some of the biggest steps forward are influenced by the recent remote-work trend. Features in that area include improvements to FaceTime audio, support for FaceTime conferencing on the web and Android, improvements to the Messages app, and more.

Key New Features​:

 FaceTime received numerous improvements aimed at improving the experience of using the app and expanding the audience for it, including:
1.SharePlay allows people on a FaceTime video call to watch video or listen to audio together, and share screens
2.Spatial Audio brings Apple’s more-natural, 3D audio experience to improve the naturalness of FaceTime sound
3.Enhanced Mic Modes allow you to isolate your voice from background noise to improve audio quality
4.Portrait Mode brings this terrific still-photos feature to video to blur your background
5.Cross-Platform support allows you to invite anyone to a FaceTime call with a link and for them to join from a web browser or Android devices.
 Focus adds a set of smart notification and communication s settings based on what you’re doing at that moment.
 The Photos app gains major improvements such as:
1.Live Text lets the app detect text inside your photos and convert it to text that can be copied and pasted, or phone numbers that can be tapped to call
2.Visual search lets you search within the Photos app for text embedded your photos.
 In keeping with Apple’s ongoing commitment to user privacy, iOS 15 adds:
1.App Privacy Report lets you know what permissions each of your apps has, how often it accesses your data, and what third-party domains the app has contacted.
2.Mail Privacy Protection blocks tracking pixels, hides your IP address from marketers, and blocks the connection of your data from email with other data sources.
3.On-device Siri means that Siri recordings are no longer sent to or stored in the cloud. Siri works completely on your iPhone, and now works offline.
 Support for the iCloud+ service that adds new Homekit and VPN-style features.
 Notifications scheduling and summary.
 Improved driving directions in Maps.
 A redesigned experience and features for managing tabs and groups of tabs in Safari.
 Better ways to find content shared with you and to share medical data from the Health app with your family.

Dropped Support For:

 iPhone 6 series. All iPhone models from the 6S series and up are supported.
 6th Gen. iPod touch. Only the 7th Gen. iPod touch is supported.

iOS 14

image4

Apple

Support ended: n/a
Current version: 14.6, released May 24, 2021
Initial version: 14.0, released Sept. 17, 2020

There’s no single major change or theme to the changes introduced with iOS 14. Instead, iOS 14 is a collection of numerous small and medium-sized changes to the user interface, features, and overall ease of use that add up to making the experience of using an iPhone even better.

Maybe the most notable changes are around customization, thanks to the addition of Homescreen Widgets, the ability to choose default apps in some cases, and improved privacy controls.

How to Change the Color of Apps on iOS 14 

Key New Features​:

 Homescreen Widgets for customized home screens and shortcuts.
 Smart Stacks that deliver different Homescreen Widgets at different times of the day based on your habits.
 Set third-party apps as default for email and web browser apps.
 App Library, a new way of organizing apps and keeping your home scree neat
 App Clips
 Picture in picture mode
 Improved privacy features to block tracking online.
 Built-in language translation for 11 languages.
 Spatial audio for AirPods delivers surround sound, along with other AirPods improvements.
 Design changes allow phone calls and FaceTime calls to take up less space on the screen and allow you to do other things at the same time.
 Numerous improvements for group texts in iMessage, including threaded replies and mentions.

Dropped Support For:

 None. iOS 14 supports the same set of devices as iOS 13

iOS 13

image5.

Apple Inc.

Support ended: n/a
Current version: 13.7, release Sept. 1, 2020.
Initial version: 13.0, released Sept. 19, 2019

Perhaps the biggest change introduced with iOS 13 is that the OS no longer runs on the iPad. That’s due to the release of iPadOS (which begins with version 13). That’s a new OS dedicated to the making the iPad a more useful productivity device and a potential laptop replacement. It’s based on iOS 13 and has many of the same features, but also adds iPad-specific items.

Beyond that, iOS 13 shores up some core features, including launching apps faster, unlocking devices with Face ID faster, and overhauling pre-installed apps like Reminders, Notes, Safari, and Mail. Maybe the most obvious new feature is the , but the changes range much wider than that and further bolster the already-strong OS.

Key New Features​:

 System-wide Dark Mode
 Sign In With Apple user account system
 New privacy and security options
 New Portrait Lighting options
 Look Around, a Street View-style feature for Apple Maps
 New, improved Siri voice
 Overhauled stock apps like Reminders and Notes

Dropped Support For:

 iPad (due to the release of iPadOS)
 6th Gen. iPod touch
 iPhone 6 series
 iPhone 5S

iOS

image6.

Apple Inc.

Support ended: n/a
Current version: 12.4.8. It was released July 15, 2020
Initial version: It was released on September 17, 2018

The new features and improvements added in iOS 12 aren’t as extensive or revolutionary as in some previous updates to the OS. Instead, iOS 12 focused more on making refinements to commonly used features and on adding wrinkles that improve how people use their devices.

Some of the key features of iOS 12 included improvements to Siri like , enhanced Augmented Reality with ARKit 2, and giving users and parents ways to monitor and control their device use with Screen Time.

Key New Features​:

 Grouped Notifications
 Screen Time
 ARKit 2
 Siri improvements, including Siri Shortcuts and multi-step actions
 Memoji, a personalized kind of Animoji

Dropped Support For:

 N/A

iOS 11

image7.

Apple Inc.

Support ended: n/a
Current version: 11.4.1. It was released on July 9, 2018
Initial version: It was released on September 19, 2017

iOS was originally developed to run on the iPhone. Since then, it’s been expanded to support the iPod touch and iPad (and versions of it even power the Apple Watch and ). In iOS 11, the emphasis shifted from the iPhone to the iPad.

Sure, iOS 11 contains lots of improvements for the iPhone, but its major focus is turning the iPad Pro series models into legitimate laptop replacements for some users.

This is done through a series of changes designed to make iOS running on iPad a lot more like a desktop operating system. These changes include all new drag and drop support, split screen apps and multiple workspaces, a file browser app, and support for notation and handwriting with the Apple Pencil.

Key New Features​:

Dropped Support For:

 ​iPhone 5C
 iPhone 5
 iPad 4
 iPad 3

iOS 10

image8.

 Apple Inc.

Support ended: 2019
Current version: 10.3.4. It was released on July 22, 2019
Initial version: It was released on Sept. 13, 2016

The ecosystem Apple built around iOS has long been referred to as a “walled garden” because it’s a very pleasant place to be on the inside, but it’s hard to gain access. This was reflected in the many ways Apple locked down the interface of iOS and the options it gave to apps.

Cracks began to show in the walled garden in iOS 10, and Apple put them there.

The major themes of iOS 10 were interoperability and customization. Apps could now communicate directly with each other on a device, allowing one app to use some features from another without opening the second app. Siri became available to third-party apps in new ways. There were even apps built into iMessage now.​

Beyond that, users now had new ways to customize their experiences, from (finally!) being able to delete built-in apps to new animations and effects to punctuate their text messages.

Key New Features​:

Dropped Support For:

 ​iPhone 4S
 5th gen. iPod touch
 iPad 2
 1st gen. iPad mini

iOS 9

image9.

Apple, Inc.

Support ended: 2018
Final version: 9.3.9. It was released on July 22, 2019
Initial version: It was released on Sept. 16, 2015

After a few years of major changes to both the interface and technical foundation of iOS, many observers began to charge that iOS was no longer the stable, dependable, solid performer it had once been. They suggested that Apple should focus on shoring up the foundation of the OS before adding new features.

That’s just what the company did with iOS 9. While it did add some new features, this release was generally aimed at solidifying the foundation of the OS for the future.

Major improvements were delivered in speed and responsiveness, stability, and performance on older devices. iOS 9 proved to be an important refocusing that laid the groundwork for the bigger improvements delivered in iOS 10 and 11.

Key New Features​:

 Night Shift
 Low Power Mode
 Public beta program

Dropped Support For:

 N/A

iOS 8

image10.

Apple, Inc.

Support ended: 2016
Final version: 8.4.1. It was released on Aug. 13, 2015
Initial version: It was released on Sept. 17, 2014

More consistent and stable operation returned to iOS in version 8.0. With the radical changes of the last two versions now in the past, Apple once again focused on delivering major new features.

Among these features was its secure, contactless payment system Apple Pay and, with the iOS 8.4 update, the subscription service. 

There were continued improvements to the iCloud platform, too, with the addition of the Dropbox-like iClould Drive, iCloud Photo Library, and iCloud Music Library.

Key New Features​:

Dropped Support For:

 iPhone 4

 

iOS 7

image11.

Corbis News / Getty Images

Support ended: 2016
Final version: 7.1.2. It was released on June 30, 2014.
Initial version: It was released on Sept. 18, 2013

Like iOS 6, iOS 7 was met with substantial resistance upon its release. Unlike iOS 6, though, the cause of unhappiness among iOS 7 users wasn’t that things didn’t work. Rather, it was because things had changed.

After the firing of Scott Forstall, iOS development was overseen by Jony Ive, Apple’s head of design, who had previously only worked on hardware. In this version of iOS, Ive ushered in a major overhaul of the user interface, designed to make it more modern.

While the design was indeed more modern, its small, thin were hard to read for some users and frequent animations caused motion sickness for others. The design of the current iOS is derived from the changes made in iOS 7. After Apple made improvements, and users became accustomed to the changes, complaints subsided.

Key New Features​:

Dropped Support For:

 iPhone 3GS
 ​iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, 3rd gen. iPad, and iPad 2 couldn’t use all features of iOS 7 

iOS 6

image12.

marco_1186 / Flickr

Support ended: 2015
Final version: 6.1.6. It was released on Feb. 21, 2014
Initial version: It was released on Sept. 19, 2012

Controversy was one of the dominant themes of iOS 6. While this version introduced the world to Siri — which, despite being later surpassed by competitors, was a truly revolutionary technology — problems with it also led to major changes.

The driver of these problems was Apple’s increasing competition with Google, whose Android smartphone platform was posing a threat to the iPhone. Google had supplied the Maps and  apps pre-installed with the iPhone since 1.0. In iOS 6, that changed.

Apple introduced its own Maps app, which was badly received due to bugs, bad directions, and problems with certain features. As part of the company’s efforts to solve the problems, Apple CEO Tim Cook asked the head of iOS development, Scott Forstall, to make a public apology. When he refused, Cook fired him. Forstall had been involved with the iPhone since before the first model, so this was a profound change.

Key New Features​:

 Apple Maps
 Do Not Disturb
 Passbook (now Wallet)

Dropped Support For:

 ​None, but iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPad 2 couldn’t use all features of iOS 6

iOS 5

image13.

Francis Dean / Getty Images

Support ended:  2014
Final version: 5.1.1. It was released on May 7, 2012
Initial version: It was released on Oct. 12, 2011

Apple responded to the growing trend of wirelessness, and cloud computing, in iOS 5, by introducing essential new features and platforms. Among those was iCloud, the ability to activate an iPhone wirelessly (previously it had required a connection to a computer), and syncing with iTunes via Wi-Fi.

More features that are now central to the iOS experience debuted here, including iMessage and Notification Center.

With iOS 5, Apple dropped support for the iPhone 3G, 1st gen. iPad, and 2nd and 3rd gen. iPod touch.

Key New Features​:

 iCloud
 iMessage
 Notification Center
 Wireless syncing and activation

Dropped Support For:

 iPhone 3G
 1st gen. iPad
 2nd gen. iPod touch
 3rd gen. iPod touch

iOS 4

image14.

Ramin Talaie / Getty Images

Support ended: 2013
Final version: 4.3.5. It was released on July 25, 2011
Initial version: It was released on June 22, 2010

Many aspects of the modern iOS began to take shape in iOS 4. Features that are now widely used debuted in various updates to this version, including FaceTime, multitasking, iBooks, organizing apps into folders, Personal Hotspot, AirPlay, and AirPrint.

Another important change introduced with iOS 4 was the name “iOS” itself. As noted earlier, the iOS name was unveiled for this version, replacing the previously used “iPhone OS” name.

This was also the first version of iOS to drop support for any iOS devices. It was not compatible with the original iPhone or the 1st generation iPod touch. Some older models that were technically compatible were not able to use all features of this version.​

Key New Features​:

Dropped Support For:

 Original iPhone
 1st Gen. iPod touch

iOS 3

image15.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images News

Support ended: 2012
Final version: 3.2.2. It was released on Aug. 11, 2010
Initial version: It was released on June 17, 2009

The release of this version of iOS accompanied the debut of the iPhone 3GS. It added features including copy and paste, Spotlight search, MMS support in the Messages app, and the ability to record videos using the Camera app.

Also notable about this version of iOS is that it was the first to support the iPad. The 1st generation iPad was released in 2010, and version 3.2 of the software came with it.

Key New Features​:

 Copy and paste​
 Spotlight​ search​
 Recording videos

iOS 2

image16.

Jason Kempin / Getty Images

Support ended: 2011​​
Final version: 2.2.1. It was released on January 27, 2009
Initial version: It was released on July 11, 2008

One year after the iPhone became a bigger hit than almost anyone projected, Apple released iOS 2.0 (then called iPhone OS 2.0) to coincide with the release of the iPhone 3G.

The most profound change introduced in this version was the App Store and its support for real third-party apps (rather than web apps). Around 500 apps were available in the App Store at launch. Hundreds of other crucial improvements were also added.

Other important changes introduced in the 5 updates iPhone OS 2.0 included podcast support and public transit and walking directions in Maps (both in version 2.2).

Key New Features​:

 App Store​
 Improved Maps app​

iOS 1

image17.

Apple Inc.

Support ended: 2010
Final version: 1.1.5. It was released on July 15, 2008
Initial version: It was released on June 29, 2007

The one that started it all, which shipped pre-installed on the original iPhone.

This version of the operating system wasn’t called iOS at the time it launched. From versions 1-3, Apple referred to it as the iPhone OS. The name shifted to iOS with version 4.

It’s hard to convey to modern readers who have lived with the iPhone for years how profound a breakthrough this version of the operating system was. Support for features like the multitouch screen, Visual Voicemail, and iTunes integration were significant advances.

While this initial release was a major breakthrough at the time, it lacked many of the features that would come to be closely associated with the iPhone in the future, including support for real third-party apps. Pre-installed apps included Calendar, Photos, Camera, Notes, Safari, Mail, Phone, and iPod (which was later split into the Music and Videos apps).

Version 1.1, which was released in Sept. 2007 was the first version of the software compatible with the iPod touch.

Key New Features​:

 Visual Voicemail​
 Multitouch interface
 Safari browser
 Music app​​

FAQ

 How can I see the version update history of an iOS app?

Go to the App store, select an app, and tap Version History. There, you will see all updates for the app, plus the date of each update.

 How can I get notifications about new versions of iOS apps?

To receive notifications about new versions of iOS apps, you must turn off automatic updates on your iOS device. Go to Settings > App Store > turn off App Updates. When you turn off automatic updates, the App Store is forced to notify you that an update is available for your iOS app.

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Views: 12

The 9 best free photo editors in 2024, Tired of everything being a subscription? Need to edit a photo or make a social media graphic right now?

I get it—the cost and the impatience. Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard for a reason, but there are plenty of free Photoshop alternatives out there. As a certified Creative Person, I’ve used Photoshop for over 20 years in both my corporate marketing and freelance careers and for personal projects ranging from web graphics to sarcastic t-shirt designs.

From that experience, and based on hours and hours of sifting through and testing dozens of options, I can confirm these are the best free AI photo editing apps.

The 9 best free Photoshop alternatives

 Adobe Express for easy AI features
 Canva for maintaining brand consistency across remote teams
  E and X for an authentic Photoshop experience
 Photopea for using custom Photoshop brushes
 Sumopaint for the full Adobe apps experience on a budget
 LunaPic for powerful one-click editing tools
 PhotoRoom for product photos and eCommerce
 Krita for artists and illustrators
 Inkscape for graphic design

What makes the best free photo editor?

How we evaluate and test apps

All of our best apps roundups are written by humans who’ve spent much of their careers using, testing, and writing about . We spend dozens of hours researching and testing apps, using each app as it’s intended to be used and evaluating it against the criteria we set for the category. We’re never paid for placement in our articles from any app or for links to any site—we value the trust readers put in us to offer authentic evaluations of the categories and apps we review. For more details on our process, read the full rundown of how we select apps to feature on the blog.

Based on my experience, here’s what the best free photo editing software offers:

 AI tools and advanced features. All apps let you adjust brightness, contrast, and crop or add a filter. To be truly in Photoshop’s class, an app needs graphic design features and the latest AI advancements to speed up your workflow.
 Ease of use. The basic layout and design of Photoshop haven’t changed much in 30 years. Why? It’s intuitive, and it works. The best free photo editor will make it equally as easy.
 Non-destructive editing. An “undo” button is great, but the true gold standard is layers.
 The ability to add text and design elements. Beyond photo edits, today’s tools also need to include graphics, trending fonts, and templates to make creating social media content easier and faster.
 100% free. We’re trying to not pay for Photoshop here, right? There are several high-end, paid Photoshop alternatives out there, but this roundup will focus on free options, so you can edit like a pro on a student budget.

This year, I tested 40 apps before choosing the nine best to feature here. When evaluating each of them, I tested everything I usually use Photoshop for, including color-grading, toning, cropping, retouching, masking, blending modes, creating social media graphics, and adding text. I also tested the unique special effects or features of each app.

Find the best free Photoshop alternative for your needs below, based on over 35 hours of hands-on research.

The 9 best free photo editors in 2024

Read More : Best wireless earbuds for 2023

Best free Photoshop alternative for easy AI features

Adobe Express (Web, iOS, )

Adobe Express, our pick for the best free Photoshop alternative for easy AI features

Adobe Express pros:

 Easy-to-use AI tools to speed up content creation
 All-in-one editor for graphics, photos, videos, animation, documents, and more

Adobe Express cons:

 Other apps offer more useful video-specific editing features
 Access to AI tools is limited in free version

If you’re already an Adobe Creative Cloud subscriber, you have access to Photoshop, so why would you use Adobe Express? Because you can take the power of Photoshop anywhere with Express’s web or mobile apps.

Plus, Adobe recently updated Express with a ton of useful AI-powered features like AI to create images from text prompts, one-click text effects, and smart object removal and replacement. While testing, I found Express’s AI tools to be among the best and easiest to use—a difficult combo to achieve.

Especially useful for generative AI are the dropdown options, so you don’t have to phrase your prompt just right to get the result you want, like with Midjourney and other competitors. Even so, Express translates prompts quite well. For example, writing “isolate on white background” reliably gives you a clean cutline around an object, and bam, you’ve got a transparent PNG you can use anywhere you need it.

Express has a lot to offer for those familiar with Photoshop, too. It’s got the blending modes from Photoshop, with real layer-y layers, and lets you complete common tasks way easier, like removing an object or background in one click. You don’t have to painstakingly select anything—it just works.

Express has also expanded its video editing capabilities with animation options. Even I, a total animation noob, found it easy to select a layer and apply animation effects with just a few clicks in the side menu. Set it to loop, export it as a GIF, and you’ve got a great asset for social media posts or to use within longer video content.

Creating a GIF Adobe Express

It’s not surprising that the makers of the real Photoshop have created such a convincing Photoshop alternative. 

Express enables both power users and graphics newbies alike to create everything they need in one place, including editing GIFs, videos, and PDFs. And let’s address the elephant in the room: Express’s impressive lineup of free customizable templates makes it a notable Canva alternative. For those with premium access, you also get Adobe Stock photos, Adobe Fonts, and a built-in social media post scheduler.

Because Adobe Express uses Creative Cloud libraries and storage, you can use the Creative Cloud Zapier integration to connect Express to thousands of other apps. There are tons of possibilities, like sending automatic notifications via Slack or emails to your team when you export a new Adobe Express design.

Adobe Express pricing: Free; the Premium plan is $9.99/month (automatically included for existing Adobe Creative Cloud subscribers)

Best free photo editor for maintaining brand consistency across remote teams

Canva (Web, iOS, Android, Mac, )

Canva, our pick for the best free photo editor for maintaining brand consistency across remote teams

Canva pros:

 Most cohesive, useful, and easy-to-use AI photo editing tools in one place
 Best-in-class generative AI video and social media video tools for beginners

Canva cons:

 Most advanced features are for premium subscribers only
 File organization could be improved

Canva is targeted more to beginner or amateur designers, but it still does a good job of including the majority of photo edits a pro would make. Canva has always been a popular “all-rounder” photo and graphic editing app, but it’s really stepped up the game even more by launching the AI-powered Magic Studio in September 2023.

Magic Studio is, in my opinion, the best-in-class suite of AI photo editing tools available right now. It’s more advanced than Adobe Express’s (though Adobe is no slouch), and allows you to make professional-quality video, graphics, animation, presentations, documents, and more. Beyond editing, Magic Studio also includes generative AI features like text-to-image prompts and even text-to-video. Yep, write what you want to see and Canva gives you a completely AI-generated video—no camera required. When used correctly, this is a game-changer for social media content.

Magic Grab is a unique tool that works similarly to iPadOS 17’s new update, where you can tap and hold an element in a photo (person, object, etc.) and drag it out as its own transparent PNG to use in another app. This works inside Canva to cut out people or objects to use between Canva projects or easily isolate elements to export and use in other apps.

Canva has also added generative AI copywriting into the mix here with a ChatGPT-style content generator. I may side-eye it as a writer, but I can’t deny it’s a useful feature for creators and small businesses on a budget, and makes the subscription price of Canva highly competitive in cost vs. value.

Canva also includes a one-page website builder and templates to create simple landing pages, an extensive pre-made templates library offering what I think are the best-looking social media, document, and other templates, and illustrations and stock photos too. Whew.

In terms of actual editing, layers are easy to use: you can click and drag elements around independently, or behind or in front of each other. Still, Canva’s true strength is teamwork. Creating a team allows others to use assets you’ve uploaded to Canva, leave feedback, and edit designs collaboratively. The Premium plan contains the “Brand Kit” function, where you can store logos and have brand color swatches and custom fonts readily available.

But you can still achieve brand consistency on the free plan: Just keep your logo files and an image with your brand colors (including hex codes) in Uploads or a shared Google Drive/Dropbox/etc. folder imported to Canva. Your entire team will always be using the correct logo, colors, and fonts across all marketing materials, no matter where they are in the world. It’s a perfect solution for small businesses and entrepreneurs starting to build a marketing team or hiring external contributors to help with graphics.

Canva pricing: Free; the Premium plan is $14.99/month for one user or $29.99/month for up to 5 team members

Best free Photoshop alternative for an authentic Photoshop experience

Pixlr E and X (Windows, Web)

Pixlr, our pick for the best free Photoshop alternative for an authentic Photoshop experience

Pixlr pros:

 Text-to-image generative AI interface is great for beginners
 Most authentic Photoshop user experience

Pixlr cons:

 Features confusingly divided between two apps: Pixlr X and Pixlr E

Pixlr reproduces an authentic Photoshop layout and interface, all in a tidy, web-based app (or grab the Windows app for desktop). Or, rather, two apps: Pixlr X and Pixlr E, which is kind of confusing at first. I think they could easily combine them into one app, but it seems like Pixlr E is meant to be the “more complex photo editor” and Pixlr X the “beginner-friendly” option.

Pixlr E looks like Photoshop. You’ve got all the familiar tools along the left side and menu options up top. The Layers panel will also look familiar to Photoshop users. Layers work exceptionally well in Pixlr, including all the same blending modes and opacity settings as PS—even Soft Light.

Pixlr X is where things get a little spicier with their latest generative AI update: you can now create artwork with text-to-image prompts. It’s great for those new to AI prompting, as you can use the easy button menu on the right to refine the style, size, and more of your generated image. On the free plan, you get five images per day.

Pixlr X also contains simpler editing workflows for things like object removal or animation. This edit of my dog (who fell asleep with his tongue hanging out) took me less than 30 seconds in Pixlr X with the heal brush and clone stamp tools—and zero technical knowledge.

A meme generated in Pixlr X

It’s easy to switch between Pixlr X and E as they both save projects in a combined library, so you can pop a photo into Pixlr X for a quick retouch, then switch back to Pixlr E for more advanced editing again. (Be advised: It saves into your temporary cache folder only, so cleaning your browser cache will delete them. For anything you want to keep, download it as their PXZ format, and save to your hard drive.)

Pixlr E and X pricing: Both are free to use; the premium plan, which includes both apps, is $7.99/month for 1 person, or $12.99/month for teams of 5 or more

Best free Photoshop alternative for using custom brushes

Photopea (Web)

Photopea, our pick for the best free Photoshop alternatives for using custom brushes

Photopea pros:

 100% free
 Familiar Photoshop user experience and tools

Photopea cons:

 Doesn’t have some of the AI features of other apps, like auto object removal

“Wait, how did these ads get into my Photoshop?” is what you’ll find yourself saying, only to realize you’re in a web browser.

Photopea has a dang accurate Photoshop-inspired layout, with the functions to back it up: it can open PSD files, edit RAW files, and export anything you make to PSD. And something completely unique compared to all the other apps on this list: you can import ABR files to use custom brushes.

My personal favorite? You can right-click for additional option menus. Right-clicking in a web app—what is this sorcery? Plus, check out that Layer Style window: it’s nearly identical to Photoshop.

The attention to detail in Photopea is impressive. It doesn’t feel like a web app at all, and that’s the point. While you won’t find one-click filters or AI-powered features here, Photopea is the most functional Photoshop alternative on the web today. Upgrading to a premium account gets you more online file storage and ad removal, but honestly, you don’t need to. It’s refreshing to find an app that includes all its editing features in the free plan.

Photopea pricing: Free; the premium plan is $8/month

Best Photoshop alternative for the full Adobe apps experience on a budget

Sumopaint (Web, Mac, Windows)

Sumopaint, our pick for the best Photoshop alternative for the full Adobe apps experience on a budget

Sumopaint pros:

 Free, although the entire Sumo app suite is only $4/month
 Text-to-image AI prompting

Sumopaint cons:

 No masking capabilities for photo editing

If you’re looking for an affordable alternative to the Adobe suite, check out the Sumo family of apps. Sumopaint is their free Photoshop alternative, which does a great job of having all the photo editing tools you need and a simple interface.

It’s actually a great Illustrator alternative, too. You can use a mouse to click and draw, and it works on mobile devices. I tested it with my and Apple Pencil, and drawing felt as easy and responsive as working in Procreate. While you may not want to digitally paint the next Van Gogh in your browser, Sumopaint is perfect for creating quick digital illustrations or drawing on top of your photos, like for YouTube thumbnails.

Sumo has added a bunch of AI tools to all its apps, which in Sumopaint includes image quality upscaling and a surprisingly good AI text-to-image generator. You get three for free with more included in the premium plan. Overall, the prompt process is a little clunkier than Adobe Express’s or Canva’s, but it yields really good results, especially when using the “negative prompts” field to write in what you don’t want the image to have. The slider for “prompt strength” is a bit mysterious without any help text to guide you, so you have to play around with each option to fine-tune your image.

AI features in Sumopaint

Sumopaint contains everything you need to edit a photo, including adjustment sliders for exposure, color, and everything else, plus the ability to add graphic elements on separate layers and combine all that with AI-generated images.

Sumopaint is free to use, although the $4/month premium subscription to all Sumo apps is an unbeatable value for everything you need to edit your creative work, including videos, music, podcasts, and even 3D modeling.

Sumopaint pricing: Free; the entire Sumo suite of apps is $4/month

Best free photo editing app for powerful, one-click editing tools

LunaPic (Web)

Lunapic, our pick for the best free photo editing app for powerful and one-click editing tools

LunaPic pros:

 The easiest way to accomplish advanced edits for beginners, like object removal, background blur, and more
 100% free and web-based

LunaPic cons:

 Doesn’t save your work if you accidentally close your browser

If you can look past LunaPic’s 1990s interface, you’ll find all the tools you need here and a ton of extras, including one-click background blur, animation effects, resolution upscaling, and easy object removal.

Be sure to read the text above your image as you edit. I found it easy to overlook it, but it actually links to a lot of important features, like the cropping and background removal tools, and it’s where you’ll click “undo” when needed.

A really unique feature is the Animation menu. These are well-done effects that are perfect to turn a photo into a GIF or short video (AVI, MP4, or MPG format) to use in TikToks or Reels. Best of all, they’re all automatic. Just one click, and LunaPic animates it. So easy.

Animation in Lunapic

Since we know the algorithms favor videos over photos right now, these effects can really boost your social marketing efforts. Personal favorites include “Snowfall” and “In Focus.” Another favorite feature: focus adjustment. You can sharpen slightly out-of-focus photos without getting that over-sharpened look with “Adjust Focus” and give any photo an portrait-mode makeover with “Auto Blur Background.” LunaPic does a great job of isolating your subject, but I suggest keeping the background blur under about 50% to keep the effect looking as natural as possible.

Subject masking and object removal work surprisingly well. Go to Edit > Smart Object Removal, loosely brush over the thing you want to remove, and click Remove at the top. This took me only a few seconds for results that would take me ages (and a lot more clicks) in Photoshop with the clone stamp tool.

Subject masking and object removal in Lunapic

At first, LunaPic’s UI made me cringe, but the longer I spent using it, the more it grew on me. It’s the perfect mix of advanced tools and one-click simplicity.

LunaPic pricing: Free

Best free photo editing app for product photos and eCommerce

PhotoRoom (iOS, Android, Web)

PhotoRoom, our pick for the best free photo editing app for product photos and eCommerce

PhotoRoom pros:

 Batch mode saves a ton of time creating product photos
 High quality background removal and swaps to create professional-looking product scenes

PhotoRoom cons:

 Free version doesn’t include many background swap options

If you sell products online, you need PhotoRoom. While you can edit exposure, color, and more with PhotoRoom, its most powerful features are aimed at eCommerce sellers, including automatic background removal, background swaps, a full range of t-shirt and other mockups, and platform-specific size templates for Etsy, Poshmark, eBay, and other popular marketplaces.

Oddly, simple things like being able to resize an image, are premium features, although you could simply export your finished photo and resize or crop it for free in another app, or natively with your phone’s Photos app.

PhotoRoom has tons of social media-ready templates for retailers to promote Black Friday sales, new collections, or upcoming launches. My favorite feature is the instant background swap. When you upload a product photo, PhotoRoom automatically scans it and accurately removes your existing background in less than a second—and you can swap in any of their flatlay or scene backgrounds. The end result doesn’t automatically scream “fake background” and is high enough quality to use as product photos on your website and across social media.

But the key feature that makes PhotoRoom a must-have for sellers is Batch Mode. Yep, upload a bunch of product photos at once, and PhotoRoom will isolate them, swap out the background, and export them ready to use. Mega time savings.

For even more time savings, connect PhotoRoom with Zapier to automatically remove the background of every photo you put into a specific folder or record.

Remove backgrounds and update new images in Google Drive with PhotoRoom

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Google Drive, Filter by Zapier, PhotoRoom

Google Drive + Filter by Zapier + PhotoRoom

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Remove backgrounds with PhotoRoom from new Airtable records and update them

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Airtable, PhotoRoom

Airtable + PhotoRoom

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These automations work with any provider that integrates with Zapier, including Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, and more.

PhotoRoom pricing: Free for up to 250 exports; $14.99/month for unlimited exports and additional features.

Best free photo editing app for artists and illustrators

Krita (Windows, Mac, Linux)

Krita, our pick for the best free photo editing app for artists and illustrators

Krita pros:

 Advanced brush library for artists
 100% free and open source

Krita cons:

 Clunkier process for photo editing adjustments than other photo-specific apps

The interface of Krita is similar to Photoshop, although I found the brush selection and customization panel much easier to use. This really struck me when I went back to using Photoshop after testing Krita for a bit. By default, brushes are nested right underneath the layers panel (though you can customize windows any way you like), and you can choose from many predefined brush styles, from sketching pencils to watercolor brushes and more.

In both Krita and Photoshop, you can customize each brush and add your own custom brushes or import downloaded ones, but this out-of-the-box brush panel is so well thought out, I can’t imagine needing to change them. Of course, many digital painters and illustrators would most likely want to customize these more than me.

When combined with a connected desktop drawing tablet, Krita is a powerful drawing app that can handle professional workflows. It also does a great job with photo editing, though adjusting things like exposure and colors isn’t as straightforward as photo-specific apps like Lightroom. However, Krita’s built-in noise reduction effect is better at cleaning up high ISO or background noise than some paid app options (I recommend keeping it under 25% for the most natural look).

Krita also has many advanced capabilities, like enabling you to code your own automated tasks in Python and animation features, and it can open and save PSD format files, so you can work in Photoshop at work and Krita at home.

Overall, Krita’s feature set makes it better for artists than photographers, but it can still take care of any graphics or photo editing task. The best part? It’s completely free and open source.

Krita pricing: Free

Best free photo editing app for graphic design

Inkscape (Windows, Mac, Linux)

InkScape, our pick for the best free photo editing app for graphic design

Inkscape pros:

 Advanced path, stroke, drawing, and typography tools
 Automated pattern creation
 100% free and open source

Inkscape cons:

 A bit intimidating to learn for newbies and non-designers

At first glance, Inkscape is quite different from Photoshop. It definitely has a stronger focus on graphics vs. photos, containing lots of tools for geometric pattern design, shape creation, and alignment.

While I’m not a pro designer, I did find Inkscape’ tool easier to use than Photoshop’s version. At first, I thought I must be sooo good at selecting all the points around my dog above to isolate him from the background. The lines seemed to follow his curves perfectly, and once I completed the path, Inkscape automatically selected him with perfect separation from the background. Turns out Inkscape is smart enough to see the little details I missed when creating the path around him, like little furs sticking out and the shape of his ears, to create a proper subject mask even from my quick and sloppy pen path. It made me feel like a pro.

With my subject mask created, Inkscape allows for finely detailed edits like exposure and color control on just my dog while leaving the background untouched, or the reverse—both pro photo editing features I deem necessary in any editing app.

Graphic designers will find even more to love about Inkscape, with advanced path, stroke, vector illustration, calligraphy, and typography tools to achieve any art or design project you can think of—absolutely free.

Inkscape pricing: Free

Which free Photoshop alternative should you use?

The right free Photoshop alternative for you depends on what you need most. Do you need generative AI to create graphics and photorealistic scenes out of thin air? Do you need pro-level noise control and coloring tools for your photography? Do you need done-for-you templates you can easily customize for social media or your website?

Since these are all free, you can try out the ones that seem like they might be a good fit for you until you find the shoe that fits.

There are so many more free Photoshop alternatives out there that didn’t make this list. A few I tested and recommend for specific types of users include:

 Hotpot for free AI image generation
 Capture One Express for Fujifilm photographers looking for the best Fuji RAW format editor
 Lensa for free AI-powered portrait art for social media

Or, if you’re willing to pay for your photo editing software, take a look at this list of the best AI photo editors.

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