When Android was fresh and new, it was desperate for someone to take home screens seriously. That person was Federico Carnales, and his app was LauncherPro. It quickly became the darling child of the Android world, but it disappeared just as fast.
Android’s early years had a small-town feel. The best apps quickly became household names, and LauncherPro was very much one of those apps. Everyone who was interested in Android knew about it. YouTubers reviewed it, blogs covered updates, and Carnales was interviewed—it was a big deal. Then, the app was abandoned, and he was never heard from again. This is the story.
When Android needed all the help it could get
Home screens were barebones and ugly
From the beginning, one of Android’s most important aspects has been the ability to replace certain “system” components with third-party apps. However, it took a while for developers to play around with the home screen. Most people used the launcher that came pre-installed, and they weren’t great.
It’s hard to overstate just how basic stock home screen launchers were in the late 2000s. Want to choose the apps in the dock? Good luck with that. HTC locked it to the phone, app drawer, and a personalization button. Motorola chose the phone, app drawer, and contacts. Stock Android was limited to the phone, app drawer, and browser.
That’s not all. The stock launcher for the first few versions of Android only had three home screen pages—it was quickly upped to five. HTC Sense UI was praised for allowing a whopping seven(!) screens. The home screen and app drawer grid sizes were unchangeable. Gestures weren’t even a thought. Themes? Ha!
Needless to say, Android enthusiasts were hungry for something better. LauncherPro arrived at the perfect time to fill that hole.
LauncherPro did what stock launchers wouldn’t
The first taste of Android’s full customization power
LauncherPro arrived in the Android Market in May 2010 with “Beta” in its name. However, less than two weeks later, it had already dropped the tag. That’s also about how long it took to become a fan favorite.
The first version of LauncherPro had a short, but impressive list of features:
- Up to 7 home screens
- Ability to choose which screen is the default
- HTC-style home screen previews
- App drawer (2D and 3D!) with a fly-in effect
- Dock with shortcuts for phone, contacts, messaging, and browser
Over the next few months, Federico added a bunch of highly-requested features. The dock shortcuts could be changed, home screen grid size adjusted, app icons and dock background customized—it even got notification counts on icons. In less than two months, it crossed 250K downloads.
One thing I didn’t mention in the section above is speed. Stock OEM launchers were often annoyingly sluggish, and that was LauncherPro’s first big win. In the words of Kellen at Droid Life: “This thing, as the kiddies say, “flies!”
I can personally attest to just how fast LauncherPro felt compared to the stock Sense UI launcher on my HTC Droid Eris. The cool 3D app drawer opened quickly and scrolled without a hitch. Zooming in and out to show the home screen pages was fluid and smooth. It was truly a breathe of fresh air at a time when most Android phones had sub 1Ghz processors.
In July 2010, Federico hoped to capitalize on LauncherPro’s success with a paid “Plus” version. For a one-time payment of $2.99, you got a bookmarks widget, a friends widget, a calendar widget, and a messaging widget.
By the end of 2010, LauncherPro was so popular in the Android community that blogs were writing about updates before they even arrived. But trouble was on the horizon.
Quiz
How well do you know classic Android apps?
Trivia Challenge
From the early days of the Play Store to iconic must-haves — how well do you remember Android’s greatest apps?
HistorySocialProductivityGamesAndroid
What was the name of Android’s original app marketplace before it became the Google Play Store?
Correct! The Android Market launched in 2008 alongside the first Android device, the HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1). It was rebranded as the Google Play Store in March 2012, merging apps, music, books, and movies into one unified storefront.
Not quite. The original marketplace was called Android Market, which debuted in 2008. Google rebranded it as the Google Play Store in 2012 to unify all of its digital content under one roof.
Which classic Android app was famous for letting users ‘check in’ to physical locations and earn badges?
Correct! Foursquare was a location-based social network that let users check in to restaurants, bars, and landmarks to earn points, badges, and the coveted ‘Mayor’ status. It was enormously popular around 2010–2013 before splitting into Foursquare and Swarm.
Not quite. That was Foursquare, the location-based app where checking in to places earned you badges and the ‘Mayor’ title. It was a cultural phenomenon in the early smartphone era before eventually splitting into two separate apps.
Which mobile game, released in 2009, had players launching birds from a slingshot to destroy pig structures and became one of Android’s first massive hits?
Correct! Angry Birds by Rovio became a global phenomenon after its 2009 launch, eventually spawning movies, merchandise, and dozens of sequels. It was one of the apps that demonstrated the enormous commercial potential of mobile gaming.
Not quite. The answer is Angry Birds, developed by Rovio and released in 2009. It became one of the best-selling mobile games of all time and proved that smartphones could be a dominant gaming platform.
Which messaging app, launched in 2009, was one of the first to offer free cross-platform text and voice messaging over the internet on Android?
Correct! WhatsApp launched in 2009 and quickly became one of the most downloaded Android apps ever, offering free messaging as an alternative to costly SMS. Facebook acquired it in 2014 for approximately $19 billion, one of the largest tech acquisitions in history.
Not quite. WhatsApp, founded in 2009, was the app that pioneered free internet-based messaging on smartphones. Its massive global adoption made it one of the most successful Android apps ever, leading Facebook to acquire it for roughly $19 billion in 2014.
Which note-taking app, with its distinctive elephant logo, was a go-to productivity tool for Android users throughout the early 2010s?
Correct! Evernote and its iconic green elephant logo dominated the note-taking space for years, offering syncing across devices at a time when cloud sync was still a novelty. At its peak, it had over 225 million users before competition from Google Keep and Notion eroded its lead.
Not quite. The answer is Evernote, recognizable by its green elephant logo. It was the king of note-taking apps in the early Android era, offering multi-device cloud sync before that was a common feature, and it amassed hundreds of millions of users worldwide.
Which early Android flashlight app became notorious as one of the most downloaded yet most privacy-controversial apps on the platform?
Correct! Brightest Flashlight Free by GoldenShores Technologies was once the most downloaded flashlight app on Android, but the FTC took action against it in 2013 for secretly collecting and selling users’ location data without clear consent. It became a landmark case in mobile app privacy.
Not quite. Brightest Flashlight Free was the infamous flashlight app that the FTC investigated in 2013 for collecting and selling users’ location data without proper disclosure. It became one of the first high-profile examples of mobile app privacy violations.
Which music streaming app launched its Android version in 2009 and allowed users to stream personalized radio stations based on a single artist or song?
Correct! Pandora brought its Music Genome Project-powered radio to Android in 2009, letting users create stations seeded by an artist or track. It was a revolutionary concept at the time and helped pave the way for the on-demand streaming era that Spotify would later dominate.
Not quite. That was Pandora, which used its Music Genome Project algorithm to generate personalized radio stations on Android starting in 2009. It was a pioneering streaming service that introduced millions of users to internet-based music discovery on mobile.
In the classic Android game Temple Run, which creature chases the player throughout the game?
Correct! Temple Run featured a group of demon monkeys relentlessly chasing the player after they steal a cursed idol from a temple. Released in 2011, the game pioneered the endless runner genre on mobile and was downloaded over 170 million times within its first year.
Not quite. The answer is demon monkeys — terrifying creature enemies that chase you endlessly after you steal their idol in Temple Run. The game launched in 2011 and became one of the defining endless runner games of the early Android era, with hundreds of millions of downloads.
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The infamous LauncherPro rewrite that never happened
Some people are still waiting
Four months after the release of LauncherPro, Federico Carnales was interview by Tim at Droid Life. It’s a great insight into the early days of Android development, but there was one nugget that took on a life of it’s own: the LauncherPro rewrite.
The original version of Launcher Pro was based on Android’s stock launcher. In the interview, Federico said, “I’m slowly starting to work on rewriting the whole thing from scratch. Instead of starting with Android’s launcher.”
The rewrite never happened.
LauncherPro’s last update arrived in May 2011. It was a beta update with app drawer icon skinning, infinite home screen scrolling, and support for themes from a rival launcher. Later that month, Federico released a new music app, and some commenters were salty about it.
Glad to see Fede is spending his time working on a useless music app instead of the LauncherPro rewrite.
It didn’t take long for people to move on from LauncherPro. A survey on Droid Life from November 2011 shows it had already been surpassed by GO Launcher EX.
Federico Carnales essentially disappeared after 2011. He remained active on Twitter for many months after the last LauncherPro update, but hasn’t posted since July 29, 2012. The last time any of us had heard about him, or LauncherPro, was a cruel April Fool’s Day joke about the rewrite finally being finished.
Not an uncommon story
LauncherPro and Federico’s story is surprisingly common. Countless apps and games have skyrocketed in popularity, only to be forgotten as developers struggle to keep up with demand or refuse to fuel people’s obsessions. But there’s always something new to take it’s place. ADW Launcher, GO Launcher EX, and Nova Launcher would take over for LauncherPro. Now, we have the likes of Niagara Launcher, Lawnchair, Smart Launcher, and many more. All of these apps follow in LauncherPro’s footsteps and allow us to do more with our phones. I hope you’re doing well, Fede.
Special thanks to the guys at Droid Life for loving LauncherPro and chronicling its timeline in great detail!
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
