Buns and Bounce Home Screen ships a launcher and a small runner game in one package, and the game is the reason most people install it. After a few weeks of daily use the shine wears off, ads show up in the flow, the icon-style options feel shallow next to a real customization launcher, and the app drawer stops surprising you. If the launcher stopped earning the space it takes on your home screen, these seven Buns and Bounce Home Screen alternatives cover proper customization, calm minimalism, and open-source picks that hold up over time.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nova Launcher | Power users who want every knob | Yes, full | Prime unlock, one-time | Deepest customization on Android |
| Niagara Launcher | Calm, one-thumb use | Yes, ads-free | Optional Pro subscription | Alphabetical scroll, no home-screen grid |
| Smart Launcher 6 | Automatic app sorting | Yes, with ads | Pro subscription | Auto-categorized app drawer |
| Lawnchair | Pixel look, open-source | Yes, no ads | Free forever | Recompiled Pixel launcher with theming |
| KISS Launcher | Search-first minimalism | Yes, no ads | Free forever | Type-to-launch home with no icons by default |
| Microsoft Launcher | Windows and Office users | Yes, ads-free | Free forever | Continue on PC, To Do and Outlook feed |
| POCO Launcher 2.0 | Playful icons and themes | Yes, ads-free | Free forever | MIUI-style themes without Xiaomi hardware |
Why people leave Buns and Bounce Home Screen
Ads inside a home screen
The launcher is free with ads baked in. Ads inside apps are one thing, ads inside the surface you look at forty times a day get old fast. Users on Reddit consistently mention that a launcher is not the place they want to see promoted content.
The game is the whole hook
The bunny runner is a fun install, but there is no reason to keep the launcher once the runs get repetitive. If the game were a separate download it would be a five-star weekend app. Bolted to a launcher, it makes people wonder why they gave a game control of their home screen.
Shallow customization
Buns and Bounce offers icon size, hidden labels, wallpapers, and a pop-up menu. That covers the basics, but it stops well before what Nova, Smart Launcher, and even Lawnchair let you do. Custom icon packs, per-app icon tweaks, gesture depth, and grid math are either missing or thin.
No Google Feed or discover panel
Swiping left on many launchers pulls up Google Discover, Microsoft feed, or a widget page. Buns and Bounce does not integrate that surface, so readers who use their launcher for a morning glance at news or weather have to change apps to get there.
The alternatives
Nova Launcher, best for power users who want every knob
Nova Launcher is the deepest customization launcher on Android and has been for over a decade. You can rebuild almost anything on the home screen: grid density, icon size, folder animations, gestures for every corner and swipe, per-app icons, custom icon packs, and dock behavior. The free tier is enough to replace a stock launcher permanently, and Nova Prime unlocks the gesture and swipe library that power users lean on.
Where it falls short: the sheer number of options is intimidating on day one. The default look is close to stock Pixel, so if you want the launcher to feel different out of the box you will spend an evening in the settings.
Pricing:
- Free: full launcher, no ads
- Paid: Nova Prime one-time unlock for gestures and hidden apps
- vs Buns and Bounce: more depth in every category except the runner game
Migrating from Buns and Bounce: Nova imports your home screen layout from most other launchers on first run. Wallpapers and icon-style tweaks do not carry over, so plan on setting those again.
Download: Google Play · Aptoide
Bottom line: pick Nova if you want to build a home screen you keep for the next five years. Skip it if you find deep settings menus tiring.
Niagara Launcher, best for calm one-thumb use
Niagara Launcher throws out the icon grid entirely. The home screen is your wallpaper, and every app lives in an alphabetical scroll on the right edge, reachable with a thumb. It is the opposite of Buns and Bounce in temperament: nothing to look at, nothing to bounce, just your apps a swipe away. Notification pills and folder ideas keep the surface useful without turning it into a dashboard.
Where it falls short: widget support is intentionally minimal, and the aesthetic is fixed. If you love wallpapers with characters on them, the empty home will feel wrong at first.
Pricing:
- Free: full launcher, no ads
- Paid: Niagara Pro subscription for advanced folders, icon packs, and pop-up widgets
- vs Buns and Bounce: cleaner and paid where Buns and Bounce is playful and ad-supported
Migrating from Buns and Bounce: no layout import needed, since Niagara has no grid. Setup is a two-minute wallpaper choice plus dragging your favorite apps to the top of the list.
Download: Google Play · Aptoide
Bottom line: pick Niagara if a busy home screen stresses you out. Skip it if you rely on widgets you can see at a glance.
Smart Launcher 6, best for automatic app sorting
Smart Launcher 6 categorizes your apps for you. Install a new game and it lands in the games bucket, no dragging needed. The app drawer is a set of tabs, the home screen supports themes and gesture wallpapers, and the whole thing runs light on older phones. Icon packs work out of the box.
Where it falls short: the yearly Pro subscription is the friction. The free tier is capped enough that you will bump into paywalls if you use themes or gesture controls seriously. Auto-sort also sometimes miscategorizes niche apps.
Pricing:
- Free: launcher and basic app sorting, with ads and a paywall on themes and gestures
- Paid: Smart Launcher Pro yearly subscription for themes, widgets, and gestures
- vs Buns and Bounce: much stronger organization and theming, at a subscription cost
Migrating from Buns and Bounce: wallpapers and app placement can be redone in the first setup wizard, which walks you through picking a theme and confirming the categories.
Download: Google Play · Aptoide
Bottom line: pick Smart Launcher 6 if manually sorting apps drains you. Skip it if a subscription for a launcher feels wrong.
Lawnchair, best for the Pixel look without a Pixel
Lawnchair is the Pixel launcher rebuilt as an open-source project, with the customization Google left out. You get the clean Pixel grid, the Discover feed on the left, and the ability to swap icon packs, resize icons, and adjust the dock in ways stock Android does not allow. It is free forever, has no ads, and gets updated on GitHub.
Where it falls short: stable builds trail the beta, and the beta occasionally has rough edges. Some Pixel-only tweaks (like the At-a-Glance widget) need a companion app to work fully.
Pricing:
- Free: full launcher, no ads, open-source
- Paid: none
- vs Buns and Bounce: no game, no ads, and a much cleaner default look
Migrating from Buns and Bounce: import your home screen from the setup screen. Icon pack choice is a separate download from the Play Store; drop it in the Lawnchair icon-pack menu.
Download: Google Play · Aptoide · F-Droid
Bottom line: pick Lawnchair if you want the Pixel feel plus the ability to tweak. Skip it if you cannot tolerate a beta bug once in a while.
KISS Launcher, best for search-first minimalism
KISS Launcher puts a search bar and a history strip on your home screen and hides everything else. Type two letters and your app launches. Contacts, settings shortcuts, and web searches share the same box. It is under 300 KB, has no ads, and lives on F-Droid and GitHub as open-source.
Where it falls short: there are no widgets on the home screen at all in the default setup, and adding them takes effort. If your workflow is icon-tapping, this launcher will feel bare.
Pricing:
- Free: full launcher, no ads, open-source
- Paid: none
- vs Buns and Bounce: near-zero visuals and near-zero footprint
Migrating from Buns and Bounce: there is nothing to import. First launch is one screen. Everything you need shows up as you start typing.
Download: Google Play · Aptoide · F-Droid
Bottom line: pick KISS if you already type more than you tap. Skip it if you want your home screen to feel like a place.
Microsoft Launcher, best for Windows and Office users
Microsoft Launcher is the polished successor to Arrow Launcher, tuned for people who live in the Microsoft stack. It lets you continue documents on PC, syncs your To Do list, and pulls Outlook, Teams, and OneDrive shortcuts into a single feed on the left. The home screen supports full customization: icon packs, grid tuning, gestures, and folders.
Where it falls short: it makes little sense outside the Microsoft ecosystem. Some of the feed features want you signed into a Microsoft account, and the launcher will occasionally suggest Bing where you did not ask.
Pricing:
- Free: full launcher, no ads
- Paid: none
- vs Buns and Bounce: real productivity integration where Buns and Bounce is a runner game
Migrating from Buns and Bounce: Microsoft Launcher offers a layout import on first run. Sign into a Microsoft account to unlock the feed; skip that step if you only want the launcher.
Download: Google Play · Aptoide
Bottom line: pick Microsoft Launcher if your phone is a satellite to a Windows PC. Skip it if you do not have a Microsoft account and never will.
POCO Launcher 2.0, best for playful icons without a game
POCO Launcher 2.0 is Xiaomi’s community-friendly take on MIUI’s home screen, and it runs on almost any Android phone. The look is closer to what draws people to Buns and Bounce in the first place: colorful icons, a smooth app drawer, and category tabs at the top. There is no runner game, but the visual playfulness is the closest match on this list.
Where it falls short: development is slower than the mainstream launchers and updates lag. It targets Xiaomi hardware first, so a few icons and gestures behave better on Redmi and POCO phones than on other brands.
Pricing:
- Free: full launcher, no ads
- Paid: none
- vs Buns and Bounce: same visual energy, no game, no ads
Migrating from Buns and Bounce: app drawer categories are automatic. Home screen layout has to be rebuilt manually, which takes a few minutes for a normal setup.
Download: Google Play · Aptoide
Bottom line: pick POCO Launcher if you want a splash of color without the ads. Skip it if you own a non-Xiaomi phone and hate the odd rough edge.
How to choose
Pick Nova Launcher if you want the deepest customization on Android and are willing to spend an evening in settings.
Pick Niagara Launcher if the reason you tried Buns and Bounce was novelty, and what you actually want is a calmer phone.
Pick Smart Launcher 6 if organizing your apps by hand is a chore you would gladly pay to skip.
Pick Lawnchair if the Pixel look is your baseline and you want it open-source and free forever.
Pick KISS Launcher if you already reach for search before you look for an icon.
Pick Microsoft Launcher if your work day starts and ends on a Windows PC.
Pick POCO Launcher 2.0 if you liked the colorful look of Buns and Bounce and just want to lose the ads.
Stay on Buns and Bounce Home Screen if the runner game is the reason you keep looking at your home screen. Nothing else on this list has a bundled runner, so if that is the whole point, the launcher earns its place.
FAQ
What is the best free Buns and Bounce Home Screen alternative?
Nova Launcher, Lawnchair, KISS Launcher, and Microsoft Launcher are all free forever with no ads. Nova has the most flexibility, Lawnchair has the cleanest look, KISS has the smallest footprint, and Microsoft Launcher has the best cross-device features.
Is there an ad-free launcher that looks as playful as Buns and Bounce?
POCO Launcher 2.0 comes closest. It is free and ad-free, and it borrows MIUI’s colorful icon and theme style. There is no bundled game, but the visual mood is similar.
Which of these launchers is the lightest on my phone?
KISS Launcher is the smallest on disk and in memory. Niagara Launcher and Lawnchair are also light, and Nova is efficient for how much it can do. Buns and Bounce is heavier than most because it includes a game inside the launcher package.
Can I move my home screen layout from Buns and Bounce to Nova Launcher?
Nova offers a layout import step on first launch that reads the home screen from many launchers. Wallpapers and per-app icon tweaks may need to be redone, but folder placement and dock apps usually carry over.
What is a good open-source alternative to Buns and Bounce Home Screen?
Lawnchair and KISS Launcher are both open-source, on GitHub and F-Droid, with no ads and no accounts. Lawnchair is the closer visual match to a mainstream launcher; KISS is the closer match if you want something almost invisible.
Can I keep the runner game and still switch launchers?
Not directly. The runner game is bundled inside the Buns and Bounce Home Screen app, so uninstalling the launcher removes the game too. If the game is the piece you love, keep Buns and Bounce installed and set a different launcher as your default; you can still open the Buns app to play.
