FOSS Minimalist Android Launcher With Folder-Based App Drawer (Minimalist Phone Without the Detox Lectures)

android app weekend hack •• multiple requests

Users escaping smartphone overload want the specific UX of Minimalist Phone — text-only home screen, app drawer organized into named folders, no icon grid — but without the gamified 'detox challenges,' nag screens, and subscription. Niagara and Olauncher (the most-recommended FOSS minimalist launchers) don't have the named-folder app drawer that's the actual reason people stick with Minimalist Phone.

builder note

Fork Olauncher, add named app-drawer folders, ship on F-Droid. Hard rule: zero usage tracking, zero 'streak' UI, zero 'time blocker' modes. The audience defected from those features... don't reintroduce them. The whole moat is restraint.

landscape (4 existing solutions)

The minimalist-launcher market splits into 'Niagara aesthetic without folders' and 'Minimalist Phone folders with detox guilt baked in.' Nobody has shipped the actually-minimalist combo — folders + zero behavioral nagging — as FOSS.

Minimalist Phone Has the folder-based app drawer the OP wants, but bundles forced 'detox' features, blocks, reminders, and a subscription. Punishes the user it's trying to help.

Niagara Launcher Closest viable swap, but the alphabetical-edge-scroll app list lacks proper named folders... OP had to cram all apps into 'pop-up folders' as a workaround.

Olauncher (FOSS) Great minimalist starter, but no app-drawer folders at all — flat list only.

Minimo Launcher (FOSS) New entrant, the dev plugged it in the same thread — folders are basic and the dev is solo, so longevity is unclear.

sources (1)

reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/androidapps/comments/1t1pq96/im_loo... "as an actual minimalist it's gotten pretty annoying, too many detox challenge and blocks and reminders" 2026-05-02

launcherminimalismfossandroiddigital-wellbeing