Customize Android: 6 Open-Source Apps, From Launcher to System UI (2026)

Six open-source apps to customize Android, from launchers and a desktop-style taskbar to system-wide icon packs and Quick Settings styling. What each needs.

By 2113 · Updated Sep 30, 2026

How far you can customise Android depends on how far you are willing to go. A launcher changes the home screen and needs nothing. Changing icons in Settings or restyling Quick Settings needs root. The six apps below are sorted by that ladder. All six are open source and none contains tracker code. KISS and Taskbar are also on Google Play; the other four aren’t, in these versions.

Quick picks

  • Just want a better home screen: Lawnchair, and stop there.
  • Would rather type than scroll: KISS Launcher.
  • Use a tablet, a keyboard and mouse, or a monitor: Taskbar.
  • Want icons to match everywhere: Lawnchair plus Global Icon Pack, which needs root.
  • Want the whole system to look different on a Pixel or AOSP ROM: Iconify.

The ladder

App Changes Needs Android Size
Lawnchair 15 Beta Home screen, app drawer, launcher icons Nothing 8.0+ 17.3 MB
KISS Launcher Home screen: one search box instead of icons Nothing 5.0+ 2.2 MB
Taskbar Start menu, recent-apps bar, floating windows, desktop mode Display over other apps; ADB or Shizuku for a few settings 5.0+ 2.8 MB
Edge Seek Volume and brightness gestures Two permissions you switch on 7.0+ 9.9 MB
Global Icon Pack Icon pack everywhere: Settings, Recents, share sheet Root + LSPosed 8.1+ 2.2 MB
Iconify Quick Settings, notifications, volume panel, system icons Root; LSPosed optional; Pixel/AOSP ROM 12+ 33.8 MB

No root needed

Lawnchair 15 Beta: a Pixel-style launcher built on Launcher3 with the controls Pixel Launcher lacks, such as grid size, icon size, labels and icon packs. The stable version is on Google Play. The beta here is the Android 15-based code that isn’t. Its 57 permissions look alarming until you see that 25 of them are system-level ones inherited from Launcher3, which a normal install never receives.

KISS Launcher: the opposite approach. There is no grid of icons, just a search box: type a few letters and open the app, contact or setting you want, with the ones you use most rising to the top. It is a 2.2 MB download and doesn’t request internet access at all.

Taskbar: normally sits on top of your launcher rather than replacing it, adding a PC-style start menu and a bar of recent apps. On Android 7.0 and later it can open apps in floating windows, and on Android 10 and later it can run a desktop on an external display. It needs permission to display over other apps, and a few desktop settings need a one-time grant over ADB or through Shizuku.

Edge Seek: not a visual change, but it changes how the phone feels. You slide along a screen edge to set volume or brightness, and a dimmer goes below the minimum brightness. It needs display over other apps and modify system settings, nothing more.

With root and LSPosed

Global Icon Pack fixes what every launcher leaves undone: your icon pack stops at the home screen. This Xposed module carries it into Settings, Recents and other system screens. Pair it with Lawnchair for icons that match everywhere.

Iconify goes deepest. It restyles Quick Settings tiles and layout, the brightness bar, notifications, the media player and the volume panel, with a preview before anything is applied. It targets Pixel and AOSP-based ROMs on Android 12 and later. Keep a recovery or your stock boot image handy before you use it. The FOSS build we host, version 7.3.0, is for Android 12 to 16 without a QPR update; for Android 16 QPR1 and newer, the project offers version 8.0.0 as a separate app.

Not rooted yet? See KernelSU vs APatch vs Magisk, then the LSPosed modules list for what else root opens up.

Download the 6 apps

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