{"slug": "kiss-launcher", "name": "KISS Launcher", "category": "productivity", "category_name": "Productivity", "description": "Minimalist, search-based home screen launcher for Android.", "recommenders": 6, "commenters": 9, "warners": 0, "score": 5.6, "rising": -1.96, "first": "2026-01-19", "latest": "2026-02-08", "why": "Long-time users like it as a simple launcher that does only what they need and gets out of the way, with some using it for years or about a decade.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 6, "neutral": 1, "compare": 2, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": ["Simplicity", "Long-term use"], "caveat": "Slower app loading", "short_quote": "I am very satisfied with KISS launcher[1]. I have been using it for a while now. It's simple and gets out of the way.", "icon": true, "domain": "kisslauncher.com", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://kisslauncher.com/", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["KISS Launcher", "KISS launcher"], "verdict": [{"text": "Long-time users like it as a simple launcher that does only what they need and gets out of the way", "cites": [{"id": 747016944, "item_id": 46688559, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46688559", "by": "ckardaris", "date": "2026-01-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I am very satisfied with KISS launcher[1]. I have been using it for a while now. It's simple and gets out of the way.", "excerpt": "I am very satisfied with KISS launcher[1]. I have been using it for a while now. It's simple and gets out of the way. [1] https://kisslauncher.com/", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nova Launcher Added Facebook and Google Ads Tracking"}, {"id": 747177696, "item_id": 46698606, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46698606", "by": "yellowapple", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This has been my go-to for years.  Absolutely love it.", "excerpt": "This has been my go-to for years. Absolutely love it. Does exactly what I need from a launcher, nothing more, nothing less.", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}, {"id": 747113680, "item_id": 46694605, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46694605", "by": "kykat", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Been using it for years, also installed it for my mom, and she really prefers it", "excerpt": "It's great. Been using it for years, also installed it for my mom, and she really prefers it because \"things no longer move around by themselves\". You learn that usually you are really only using a handful of apps, you barely use the search box at all after two days.", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}, {"id": 747001904, "item_id": 46687619, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46687619", "by": "yummybrainz", "date": "2026-01-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "KISS launcher is excellent. I've been using it for years now and would never go back to any other style of launcher.", "excerpt": "KISS launcher is excellent. I've been using it for years now and would never go back to any other style of launcher. The only improvement I could imagine is supporting multiple screens of widgets (i.e. swiping left/right or scrolling up/down). For folks interested in checking it out: Website: https://kisslauncher.com/ Source: https://github.com/Neamar/KISS Store: https://f-droid.org/packages/fr.neamar.kiss/", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nova Launcher Added Facebook and Google Ads Tracking"}]}, {"text": ", with some using it for years or about a decade.", "cites": [{"id": 747079024, "item_id": 46692439, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46692439", "by": "skulk", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have been using this launcher for longer than I can remember, perhaps 10 years now.", "excerpt": "I have been using this launcher for longer than I can remember, perhaps 10 years now. I don't really remember using anything else (hazy memories of the KitKat AOSP launcher). The only thing that annoys me a little bit is if I typo an app name (or Google search query) it brings up a random distant fuzzy matched contact. I wish there was a way to set a threshold for the fuzzy matching thing for certain kinds of items. ", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}, {"id": 747001904, "item_id": 46687619, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46687619", "by": "yummybrainz", "date": "2026-01-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "KISS launcher is excellent. I've been using it for years now and would never go back to any other style of launcher.", "excerpt": "KISS launcher is excellent. I've been using it for years now and would never go back to any other style of launcher. The only improvement I could imagine is supporting multiple screens of widgets (i.e. swiping left/right or scrolling up/down). For folks interested in checking it out: Website: https://kisslauncher.com/ Source: https://github.com/Neamar/KISS Store: https://f-droid.org/packages/fr.neamar.kiss/", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nova Launcher Added Facebook and Google Ads Tracking"}, {"id": 747113680, "item_id": 46694605, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46694605", "by": "kykat", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Been using it for years, also installed it for my mom, and she really prefers it", "excerpt": "It's great. Been using it for years, also installed it for my mom, and she really prefers it because \"things no longer move around by themselves\". You learn that usually you are really only using a handful of apps, you barely use the search box at all after two days.", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}]}, {"text": " No single complaint dominates, but one user says the app list stopped loading instantly", "cites": [{"id": 747137456, "item_id": 46696091, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46696091", "by": "g-b-r", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used it for some time as a secondary launcher and loved it", "excerpt": "I used it for some time as a secondary launcher and loved it At a certain point though (more than a year ago) it stopped loading the list of apps instantly, I imagine because it stopped caching it; I never managed to take some time to figure out what caused it, but it's become much less useful for me, since.", "context": "", "use_case": "secondary Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}]}, {"text": " and another dislikes typos pulling up loosely matched contacts.", "cites": [{"id": 747079024, "item_id": 46692439, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46692439", "by": "skulk", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have been using this launcher for longer than I can remember, perhaps 10 years now.", "excerpt": "I have been using this launcher for longer than I can remember, perhaps 10 years now. I don't really remember using anything else (hazy memories of the KitKat AOSP launcher). The only thing that annoys me a little bit is if I typo an app name (or Google search query) it brings up a random distant fuzzy matched contact. I wish there was a way to set a threshold for the fuzzy matching thing for certain kinds of items. ", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Simplicity", "summary": "Commenters value that it is minimal, does only what they need, and gets out of the way.", "quotes": [{"id": 747177696, "item_id": 46698606, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46698606", "by": "yellowapple", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This has been my go-to for years.  Absolutely love it.", "excerpt": "This has been my go-to for years. Absolutely love it. Does exactly what I need from a launcher, nothing more, nothing less.", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}, {"id": 747016944, "item_id": 46688559, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46688559", "by": "ckardaris", "date": "2026-01-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I am very satisfied with KISS launcher[1]. I have been using it for a while now. It's simple and gets out of the way.", "excerpt": "I am very satisfied with KISS launcher[1]. I have been using it for a while now. It's simple and gets out of the way. [1] https://kisslauncher.com/", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nova Launcher Added Facebook and Google Ads Tracking"}, {"id": 747109585, "item_id": 46694349, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46694349", "by": "JaggedJax", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "compare", "quote": "KISS looks nice and I'll give it a try.", "excerpt": "KISS looks nice and I'll give it a try. This reminds me a lot of Kvaesitso launcher also on F-Droid, although KISS looks a little more minimal. They seem to have a similar focus though. If KISS is a little too bare-bones, but you want something still fairly minimal, I found Kvaesitso to be a good balance. The main purpose of these launchers for me is to avoid using my phone mindlessly. I won't just see an app and ope", "context": "", "use_case": "minimal Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}]}, {"label": "Long-term use", "summary": "Several users have relied on it for years, one for about a decade.", "quotes": [{"id": 747079024, "item_id": 46692439, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46692439", "by": "skulk", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have been using this launcher for longer than I can remember, perhaps 10 years now.", "excerpt": "I have been using this launcher for longer than I can remember, perhaps 10 years now. I don't really remember using anything else (hazy memories of the KitKat AOSP launcher). The only thing that annoys me a little bit is if I typo an app name (or Google search query) it brings up a random distant fuzzy matched contact. I wish there was a way to set a threshold for the fuzzy matching thing for certain kinds of items. ", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}, {"id": 747001904, "item_id": 46687619, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46687619", "by": "yummybrainz", "date": "2026-01-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "KISS launcher is excellent. I've been using it for years now and would never go back to any other style of launcher.", "excerpt": "KISS launcher is excellent. I've been using it for years now and would never go back to any other style of launcher. The only improvement I could imagine is supporting multiple screens of widgets (i.e. swiping left/right or scrolling up/down). For folks interested in checking it out: Website: https://kisslauncher.com/ Source: https://github.com/Neamar/KISS Store: https://f-droid.org/packages/fr.neamar.kiss/", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nova Launcher Added Facebook and Google Ads Tracking"}, {"id": 747113680, "item_id": 46694605, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46694605", "by": "kykat", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Been using it for years, also installed it for my mom, and she really prefers it", "excerpt": "It's great. Been using it for years, also installed it for my mom, and she really prefers it because \"things no longer move around by themselves\". You learn that usually you are really only using a handful of apps, you barely use the search box at all after two days.", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}]}, {"label": "Easy for family", "summary": "One user installed it for their mother, who prefers it because things no longer move around.", "quotes": [{"id": 747113680, "item_id": 46694605, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46694605", "by": "kykat", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Been using it for years, also installed it for my mom, and she really prefers it", "excerpt": "It's great. Been using it for years, also installed it for my mom, and she really prefers it because \"things no longer move around by themselves\". You learn that usually you are really only using a handful of apps, you barely use the search box at all after two days.", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}]}, {"label": "Older devices", "summary": "One commenter suggests it may run better on older devices than Niagara.", "quotes": [{"id": 747083153, "item_id": 46692697, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46692697", "by": "phito", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "compare", "quote": "this one maybe runs better on older devices", "excerpt": "Nice. I've been using Niagara for years and years, it's looks similar in terms of UX, but this one maybe runs better on older devices.", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Slower app loading", "summary": "One user says the app list stopped loading instantly, which made it less useful for them.", "quotes": [{"id": 747137456, "item_id": 46696091, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46696091", "by": "g-b-r", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used it for some time as a secondary launcher and loved it", "excerpt": "I used it for some time as a secondary launcher and loved it At a certain point though (more than a year ago) it stopped loading the list of apps instantly, I imagine because it stopped caching it; I never managed to take some time to figure out what caused it, but it's become much less useful for me, since.", "context": "", "use_case": "secondary Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}]}, {"label": "Fuzzy matching", "summary": "Typos can bring up loosely matched contacts, and the matching threshold cannot be adjusted.", "quotes": [{"id": 747079024, "item_id": 46692439, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46692439", "by": "skulk", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have been using this launcher for longer than I can remember, perhaps 10 years now.", "excerpt": "I have been using this launcher for longer than I can remember, perhaps 10 years now. I don't really remember using anything else (hazy memories of the KitKat AOSP launcher). The only thing that annoys me a little bit is if I typo an app name (or Google search query) it brings up a random distant fuzzy matched contact. I wish there was a way to set a threshold for the fuzzy matching thing for certain kinds of items. ", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}]}, {"label": "Single widget screen", "summary": "One user would like support for multiple screens of widgets.", "quotes": [{"id": 747001904, "item_id": 46687619, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46687619", "by": "yummybrainz", "date": "2026-01-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "KISS launcher is excellent. I've been using it for years now and would never go back to any other style of launcher.", "excerpt": "KISS launcher is excellent. I've been using it for years now and would never go back to any other style of launcher. The only improvement I could imagine is supporting multiple screens of widgets (i.e. swiping left/right or scrolling up/down). For folks interested in checking it out: Website: https://kisslauncher.com/ Source: https://github.com/Neamar/KISS Store: https://f-droid.org/packages/fr.neamar.kiss/", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nova Launcher Added Facebook and Google Ads Tracking"}]}, {"label": "Very bare-bones", "summary": "Some may find it too minimal; one commenter suggests Kvaesitso as a fuller but still minimal option.", "quotes": [{"id": 747109585, "item_id": 46694349, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46694349", "by": "JaggedJax", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "compare", "quote": "KISS looks nice and I'll give it a try.", "excerpt": "KISS looks nice and I'll give it a try. This reminds me a lot of Kvaesitso launcher also on F-Droid, although KISS looks a little more minimal. They seem to have a similar focus though. If KISS is a little too bare-bones, but you want something still fairly minimal, I found Kvaesitso to be a good balance. The main purpose of these launchers for me is to avoid using my phone mindlessly. I won't just see an app and ope", "context": "", "use_case": "minimal Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}]}, {"label": "Not Z Launcher", "summary": "A former Z Launcher user found it was not an equivalent replacement.", "quotes": [{"id": 750941809, "item_id": 46933863, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46933863", "by": "HexDecOctBin", "date": "2026-02-08", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I do remember trying to replace it with KISS Launcher[2], but it just wasn't the same.", "excerpt": "Back when I was on Android, there used to be a launcher by Nokia called Z Launcher. The idea was simple: the home screen could only show the six apps. However, you could draw a letter on the home screen with your finger, and it would be recognised and used as a beginning of the search query for app names. Of course, you would only get six search results, but you could always draw the next character to get better resu", "context": "former Android user", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "Z Launcher", "story": "uLauncher"}]}], "who": [{"by": "HexDecOctBin", "context": "former Android user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46933863", "date": "2026-02-08"}], "tags": ["for Android users", "open source", "for minimalists", "for less technical users"], "use_cases": ["android launcher", "secondary android launcher", "minimal android launcher"], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46690092", "title": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android", "mentions": 6}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46686655", "title": "Nova Launcher Added Facebook and Google Ads Tracking", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46869713", "title": "uLauncher", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 6, "compare": 2}, "2026-02": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 750941809, "item_id": 46933863, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46933863", "by": "HexDecOctBin", "date": "2026-02-08", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I do remember trying to replace it with KISS Launcher[2], but it just wasn't the same.", "excerpt": "Back when I was on Android, there used to be a launcher by Nokia called Z Launcher. The idea was simple: the home screen could only show the six apps. However, you could draw a letter on the home screen with your finger, and it would be recognised and used as a beginning of the search query for app names. Of course, you would only get six search results, but you could always draw the next character to get better resu", "context": "former Android user", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "Z Launcher", "story": "uLauncher"}, {"id": 747177696, "item_id": 46698606, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46698606", "by": "yellowapple", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This has been my go-to for years.  Absolutely love it.", "excerpt": "This has been my go-to for years. Absolutely love it. Does exactly what I need from a launcher, nothing more, nothing less.", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}, {"id": 747137456, "item_id": 46696091, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46696091", "by": "g-b-r", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used it for some time as a secondary launcher and loved it", "excerpt": "I used it for some time as a secondary launcher and loved it At a certain point though (more than a year ago) it stopped loading the list of apps instantly, I imagine because it stopped caching it; I never managed to take some time to figure out what caused it, but it's become much less useful for me, since.", "context": "", "use_case": "secondary Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}, {"id": 747113680, "item_id": 46694605, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46694605", "by": "kykat", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Been using it for years, also installed it for my mom, and she really prefers it", "excerpt": "It's great. Been using it for years, also installed it for my mom, and she really prefers it because \"things no longer move around by themselves\". You learn that usually you are really only using a handful of apps, you barely use the search box at all after two days.", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}, {"id": 747109585, "item_id": 46694349, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46694349", "by": "JaggedJax", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "compare", "quote": "KISS looks nice and I'll give it a try.", "excerpt": "KISS looks nice and I'll give it a try. This reminds me a lot of Kvaesitso launcher also on F-Droid, although KISS looks a little more minimal. They seem to have a similar focus though. If KISS is a little too bare-bones, but you want something still fairly minimal, I found Kvaesitso to be a good balance. The main purpose of these launchers for me is to avoid using my phone mindlessly. I won't just see an app and ope", "context": "", "use_case": "minimal Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}, {"id": 747083153, "item_id": 46692697, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46692697", "by": "phito", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "compare", "quote": "this one maybe runs better on older devices", "excerpt": "Nice. I've been using Niagara for years and years, it's looks similar in terms of UX, but this one maybe runs better on older devices.", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}, {"id": 747079024, "item_id": 46692439, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46692439", "by": "skulk", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have been using this launcher for longer than I can remember, perhaps 10 years now.", "excerpt": "I have been using this launcher for longer than I can remember, perhaps 10 years now. I don't really remember using anything else (hazy memories of the KitKat AOSP launcher). The only thing that annoys me a little bit is if I typo an app name (or Google search query) it brings up a random distant fuzzy matched contact. I wish there was a way to set a threshold for the fuzzy matching thing for certain kinds of items. ", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiss Launcher \u2013 fast launcher for Android"}, {"id": 747016944, "item_id": 46688559, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46688559", "by": "ckardaris", "date": "2026-01-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I am very satisfied with KISS launcher[1]. I have been using it for a while now. It's simple and gets out of the way.", "excerpt": "I am very satisfied with KISS launcher[1]. I have been using it for a while now. It's simple and gets out of the way. [1] https://kisslauncher.com/", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nova Launcher Added Facebook and Google Ads Tracking"}, {"id": 747001904, "item_id": 46687619, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46687619", "by": "yummybrainz", "date": "2026-01-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "KISS launcher is excellent. I've been using it for years now and would never go back to any other style of launcher.", "excerpt": "KISS launcher is excellent. I've been using it for years now and would never go back to any other style of launcher. The only improvement I could imagine is supporting multiple screens of widgets (i.e. swiping left/right or scrolling up/down). For folks interested in checking it out: Website: https://kisslauncher.com/ Source: https://github.com/Neamar/KISS Store: https://f-droid.org/packages/fr.neamar.kiss/", "context": "", "use_case": "Android launcher", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nova Launcher Added Facebook and Google Ads Tracking"}]}