MIUI Launcher vs POCO Launcher

On Android, unlike iOS, if you don't like the factory-installed home screen, you can easily change it for another one. That means it's the same for MIUI. All Xiaomi phones with MIUI have MIUI Launcher, except for one model, the Pocofone F1. This has POCO Launcher, which is a slightly modified, extended MIUI Launcher. This launcher was made available by Xiaomi in the Play Store after the phone was released, so it can be downloaded freely, even on a non Xiaomi phone. The question is, overall, which is better, the MIUI Launcher or the POCO Launcher?

The Application List and its functions

For a very long time, MIUI Launcher had a mandatory place for all app icons on the home screen, like iOS, so if you were looking for a less frequently used app, it could take a long time, but the stable version will soon be available in the application list, available now in the latest alpha. But the two are slightly different.

The MIUI Launcher has a darkened background, while the POCO Launcher has an optional level of transparency. While the former just lists apps, the latter allows you to search by name, by category, even create your own categories and, most brilliantly, choose the setting by colour, a simple but great feature. In the MIUI Launcher, search is only possible when using Google's widget or logging into the Google app itself.

The customisation

In the MIUI Launcher, the home screen layout in the latest, still alpha version allows you to choose whether the icons should be displayed in 4 or 5 columns, while in the stable version this is not yet possible. In the POCO launcher, on the other hand, the 3-column option is available, an icon size selector is available and you can freely use any icon pack you want, even if you downloaded it from the Play Store.

A "3D touch"

Long-pressing on some icons gives you instant access to certain functions within the sub-application, without having to search for them within the application. One example is the pop-up section on YouTube. This is available in the latest alpha version of MIUI Launcher and also in POCO Launcher if it is set as the default home screen. In POCO Launcher, you'll also see a widget option, which you can click to display the widgets you can unload for the app at the bottom, and from there you can immediately drop them onto your home screen. The option to unload widgets is of course also possible in the MIUI Launcher, but the only way to do it there is to select it from the widget list.

Opinion

The POCO Launcher is basically an improved MIUI Launcher, but now they've started to add various POCO Launcher features to the MIUI Launcher. Wouldn't it have been simpler to not develop another launcher, but to enhance the existing one and upload it to the Play Store? I don't always understand Xiaomi's decisions...