Helm

Helm turns your home screen into a heads-up display.

One colour of light, and everything drawn in it: the readouts, the frames around your apps, the glow on the ground. Pick the colour: Reactor, Ember, Phosphor, Violet, Crimson or Arctic. Every pane is real glass that blurs what sits behind it, framed with the ticks of a cockpit display.

APP LOCK
Lock any app behind your phone's own fingerprint, face or PIN. No separate password to invent or forget, and a locked app never opens without it.

READOUTS
Storage and memory as gauges under the clock, always current, drawn in the same light.

CONTACTS FROM THE DRAWER
Switch it on and the drawer's search finds people as well as apps. Tap a name for the card, or CALL to open the dialler with their number.

EVERYTHING A LAUNCHER SHOULD DO
A dock, pages, folders, hide apps, drag to arrange, search that ranks as you type, swipe down to search, double-tap to lock the screen, an agenda from your calendar, a media pane for what is playing, one hosted widget of your choice, and a clock and battery dial drawn in the same light. Flat monochrome marks by default; your apps' own icons in one tap.

IT STAYS YOURS
No ads. No account. Your apps, contacts, layout and settings never leave your phone. Fourteen days free, then one payment. Never a subscription. The launcher keeps working while you decide.

WHAT IT ASKS FOR
Helm needs no special permission to be your home screen. Contacts, calendar, notification access and the screen-lock gesture each ask only when you switch that feature on. All are optional.

Requires Android 12 or newer: the live blur is the product and there is no honest way to fake it below that.