Frequently asked questions

Another name for an Android launcher is "Home App" and if you use an Android smartphone you are already using a launcher... it’s the Home screen and the app drawer. Most people are just using the standard launcher supplied by the phone manufacturer.

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There are plenty of other launchers. But, we are different. Our core mission is to preserve our customer's attention & focus. Our product transforms your smartphone, making it less distracting and less addictive, without crippling it, or making the phone less usable. Our launcher has a notification filter, which keeps notifications from your less important apps from distracting you. Users of the Before Phone Launcher tell us their screen time is now more focused and overall interruptions are dramatically reduced.

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Before Launcher Pro is an in App Purchase that offers additional productivity and customization features like the ability to group apps into Folders, Pin apps to the top of your apps list, hide bloatware and much more. It is a one time purchase that costs less than many monthly subscriptions. Watch this video to learn more about Pro.

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Yes -- if your phone is Android version 7 or later.
Just download and install from the Play Store.

If you don’t know the version of your Android phone go to your smartphone’s “Settings” app and use the search there using these terms: Android version or About Phone

If your phone has an Android version less than 7 you can try manually updating. We found this wikihow link helpful

‍This doesn't work on an iPhone. Apple iOS doesn't support these kinds of products, so it is unlikely we will offer a similar iOS product.

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Yes. There are a few things:

-Changing the notification tone

-Google Work Apps

We are looking to support these features in future releases. Sign up for our beta program if you are interested in better informing our upcoming feature releases.

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Are you still seeing your old Home screen? Try the fix in this short video.

Would you like to customize the app list on your Home screen? Learn how to add, remove and reorder with this video.

If all notifications are still bothering you, then try one or both of following:
1) Go to your device system settings and make sure the Before Launcher has access to your notifications (under Settings just search for "Notification Access" or "Special App Access");
2) Go to the Before Launcher notification screen (swipe right from the Home screen) and make sure the mode is set to "Filtered Notifications - On".

Do you want to adjust the amount and type of notifications you're seeing? Watch this to learn about filter settings.

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Here are a few things to try right away that are simple and non-invasive.

1. On your device please make sure you are using the same Google Account that you bought Pro with (if you are not using the same Google Account please switch over to that one and see if the problem Pro access is corrected)
2. Try a device restart - it's simple, fast, and does clear the problem in many cases
3. Go into Android Settings -> Apps & Notifications and find the "Google Play services" app. Tap to open up that app's settings and do a "Force stop", clear the cache and then do a device restart
4. Go into Android Settings -> Apps & Notifications and find the "Before Launcher" app. Tap to open it up and do a "Force stop"

When you are successful you should be able to see all of the menu Settings and not see the banner and not be taken to the sales screen.

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If all else fails, you may repeat step 4, clear the cache, and then do a device restart - but please note that this will result in your configurations erased! If you prefer, we can always refund your purchase and you can buy Pro again.

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For further questions, please contact us at feedback@beforelabs.com

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It may be that the image you are using has a width and/or height which needs to be increased to have it work properly in Before Launcher. Generally images that have been taken with a smartphone camera will work as long as they have not been cropped.

What is known to not work are images that have been cropped to match the exact resolution of the device screen -- generally the width needs to be about twice that wide.

Again, an image produced by a device camera should work but possibly not one which has been edited to be smaller. If you need more help to adjust the size of the photo/image you want to use just send us an email with more details.

When you create a folder from the Home screen (or the Apps screen), it is not automatically added to the Home screen. You only need to bring up the action menu on the Home screen, select "Choose Homescreen Apps" and in the selector check the folder you created.

Normally, Before Launcher uses very little of device battery but you might have an app that is generating a lot of notifications which is hammering the Before Launcher notification filter. You can check for this by temporarily turning off the filter for a day or two and if the battery drain slows down then you should identify which app is generating all of those notifications and adjust that app's settings to minimize notifications.

Absolutely. Many of the features in the Before Launcher have started with a user suggestion...just send us an email.

When you first create folders they only show up in the Apps screen (and only in the Apps default sort). After creating a folder you can add them on the Home screen but you'll need to do that separately.

Yes -- email and let us know what language you'd like. We use volunteers to help us with this so if you are also interested in helping...let us know that, too!

It may be that the battery saving function is shutting this off. Try going into Android settings, find battery saving/optimization and exclude the Before Launcher. Also -- look at the website dontkillmyapp.com and review the recommendations for your specific device.

Yes: go into Before Launcher Settings -> Notification Filter and set the toggle for Minimal Alerts to "Off".

Two things to check first:

1. Make sure device notification access setting looks like this; and
2. Make sure the Before Launcher is the designated default Home app (you set this in Before Launcher Settings page)

Configuring the filter can be confusing but here's a short video that should help with explaining filtered and unfiltered notifications and other concepts: https://youtu.be/9egNkysFNrc.

Starting with Android 13 you have to enable restricted access for the Before Launcher. Here are Google's steps:

• On your Android device, open the Settings app.
• Tap Apps then find and tap the Before Launcher app.
• Tap More dots (three stacked dots in upper left, the "more vert") and then Allow restricted settings; now follow the on-screen instructions.

After the above you should now be able to use the toggle to grant notification access to the Before Launcher.

Here's a video we found... https://youtu.be/IP6kA275htg?feature=shared

Go to the Apps panel and use search to find your phone app, by name, and when you see it appear in the search results long press on that result -- that will bring up the action menu and now you can select "Unhide".

Step 1: Refresh your Pro entitlement inside Before Launcher
More often than not, this happens because Google Play checks purchase history under the wrong Google account (especially when multiple accounts are on the device). Before doing anything else, confirm the Google account that purchased Pro is selected in the Google Play Store.

• Open the Google Play Store app
• Tap your profile icon (top right)
• Make sure the selected account is the one that originally purchased Before Launcher Pro
• Navigate to Before Launcher settings
• Select “Re-open the Before Launcher”
• Wait for the launcher to restart
• Verify you have Pro status by long pressing any item and confirming that Pro options are visible, or going to settings and checking that the Pro banner is gone.

Step 2: Refresh Google Play services

1. Open Android Settings
2. Go to Apps (or Apps & notifications)
3. Find Google Play services
4. Tap Force stop
5. Tap Storage & cache
6. Tap Clear cache
7. Restart your device

Step 3: Refresh Before Launcher
If Pro still doesn’t restore, repeat the same steps above for Before Launcher:

1. Open Android Settings
2. Go to Apps (or Apps & notifications)
3. Find Before Launcher
4. Tap Force stop
5. Tap Storage & cache
6. Tap Clear cache
7. Restart your device

Step 4: Check battery optimization
Battery optimization can interfere with Google Play purchase checks, especially when battery is low. See our FAQ about excluding Before Launcher from battery optimization.

Step 5: Force Google Play to use the Google account that purchased Before Launcher Pro
If you have multiple Google accounts on your device, Google Play can sometimes fail to find your Pro purchase history if it’s checking the wrong account. This workaround forces Google Play to re-associate Before Launcher with the correct account.

Follow the guide here: https://www.reddit.com/r/googleplay/comments/18b5t58/solution_how_to_fix_the_wrong_google_account/

1. Open a web browser and enable Desktop site.
2. In the browser (desktop mode), search for Google Play Store. Press and hold the Play Store search result and open it in a new tab (so it stays in the browser instead of redirecting into the Play Store app).
3. In the Play Store web tab, make sure you are signed into the Google account that originally purchased Before Launcher Pro.
4. Search for Before Launcher and select it.
5. If you see an Install button, tap Install and make sure it targets this device. This usually does not reinstall anything - it refreshes the internal Play association used for purchase checks.
6. If you do not see Install (or it shows something like Install on more devices and you cannot proceed), follow the options in the Reddit guide. In many cases this means doing the same flow from a desktop browser, or repeating the steps again after switching to the correct Google account in the Play Store web page.

If it still doesn’t restore after Steps 1-5, contact support and include your User ID (Before Launcher Settings -> About -> double tap App Version).

Our policy is "if you don't like it we really want you to have your money back". Just email us and we'll get a refund underway. You are welcome to keep using the free version.

Yes -- navigate to Settings -> Styles & Themes -> Backgrounds & Themes, tap on the thumbnail showing your current theme set-up and then tap "Customize" - you should see a toggle "Hide status bar" which you can tap to switch between unhidden/hidden

We generally support most devices using Google's infrastructure which helps protect us against fraud. However, if your device does not pass integrity checks, then the Play Store does not allow you to download the Before Launcher. For example, this applies to devices that are rooted or running a custom operating system like GrapheneOS.

We recommend using the Aurora Store and MicroG to install the Before Launcher and get pro access if you can't (or don't want to) use the Google Play Store and / or Google Services Framework.

We do NOT condone downloads from ANY other third party APK download websites because:

1. We cannnot guarantee performance.
2. We cannot guarantee your safety.

Bad actors (re: hackers) can and WILL inject malicious code into APKs! Don't trust them!

Other Android apps may be the problem and you can stop them from doing this. Try clearing the cache and storage of the following apps:

1. "Wallpaper & style"
2. "Pixel Launcher"
3. "Pixel Live Wallpaper"

Note, to see/change some of those apps in Settings you will probably need to expose them as system apps: Settings - Apps & notifications - (see all), then tap 3 dots top in the upper right corner and select "Show system".

If that doesn't help there may be another launcher or wallpaper app on your device that is doing this -- find those apps and, if you can, uninstall them. Another option is to clear the cache of any of those type of apps.

Some Xiaomi devices running HyperOS exhibit this problem but you can solve it by following these steps:

1. Go to: Settings > Apps
2. Tap the 3-dot menu (top right) → Select Other Settings → Tap Default Apps
3. Select Reset to Defaults
4. Press the Home button – You should now see a dialog to choose your default launcher
5. Select Before Launcher and tap Always

After performing the above steps, your default launcher will be Before Launcher and should stick! 🚀

This is a problem that is affecting nearly all third-party launchers… it seems an Android update has caused this and while Google is aware, we only have these workarounds as suggestions:

• Get the latest Android 15 on your device. This is now released for Pixel and other devices where most of these launcher problems have been occurring.
• Try disabling animation scale in the developer settings. This is a slightly more involved solution and a bit outside of most user’s experience… but it has seemed to help some users. Here’s a link that gives an intro to this approach… This change may give a somewhat different feel for certain apps, but if you want, you can always go back in and change the setting to what it used to be.

Settings > System > Developer Options > Animator duration scale > Turn to 'Animation off'

• Grant accessibility to Before Launcher: Android Settings → Accessibility, find/tap Before Launcher and make sure the toggle is on.

If Before Launcher has helped you take back your time and focus, thank you - that’s exactly why we started Before Labs. We build mindful mobile products for the "new real life," and many of our features are free. We work hard to keep the core experience generous, calm, and respectful of your attention.

Here are a few meaningful ways to support development:

• Spread the word: Tell a friend, family member, or coworker who’s tired of the endless scroll and wants a more intentional phone experience.
• Leave a Play Store review: If you believe Before Launcher is a 5-star app, leaving a review helps a lot and helps the right people find us.
• Go Pro: Purchasing the Pro upgrade directly supports ongoing improvements while we keep many features free.
• Leave a one-time tip: Many people have asked for a way to donate, so we added an optional one-time tip. This helps with costs as we continue building privacy-first tools.
  • Important: tipping does not unlock any functionality in the app.
  • Not a charitable donation. Contributions are not tax-deductible.
• Send feedback: Feature ideas and thoughtful feedback help us prioritize what matters most. If something feels confusing, missing, or could be calmer and simpler, we want to hear it.

No matter how you support, we’re grateful. We’re committed to privacy and to building a calmer phone - without relying on intrusive tracking.