I turned my $1,000 phone into a 1995 desktop computer with this quirky Android launcher

Most of the Android launchers I've ever heard about or tested are designed for function. Microsoft Launcher is great for productivity, and Senior Home is fantastic for decluttering your mobile.

Our round-up of the best Android launchers is a carousel of ways to give your mobile a functional redesign.

I've never been much of a fan of function, order, or systems. My phone's home menu is a mess of apps. My Windows desktop is a constellation of random files, photos, and apps that has no order beyond my knowing where everything lives. And my living space has much the same level of chaos.

For that reason, I've bounced off every Android launcher I've ever tested. How dare they try to organize me?

However, in a fit of nostalgia for the pre-smart-tech days, a retro halcyon time before I was even around, I decided to see if I could turn my Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra into a Windows 95 brick that'd retain its functionality, but look a little bit cooler doing so.

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By  Anu Joy

Why Windows 95?

'Retro cool' was 30 years ago

I wasn't born when Windows 95 came out, and I've never even used it. My earliest memory of Microsoft's operating system is using the family Windows XP computer, with its Luna style and Bliss wallpaper etched into my mind.

So to me, Windows 95 represents an idealized 'before' time, before my tech year zero.

But I'm not alone. Windows 95 is still a beloved nostalgic treasure, for its boxy design and gray-blue colors.

The r/windows95 subreddit still has tens of thousands of weekly visitors, for example, with people still using the OS or adding its style to their modern PCs.

Finding a suitable theme

Through trial and error

After I decided that my Galaxy S26 Ultra was going to get a Windows 95 makeover, my next question was "How?"

My first port of call was to use an icon designer app to see if I could pull my interface into shape. However, after a long and largely unsuccessful attempt to make app icons that looked vaguely Windows 95-esque, I discovered that my chosen app didn't support Samsung's interface.

So for my next attempt, I went straight to the source. I jumped into the Play Store and searched for Windows 95. And that's how I found Launcher95, which is how I finally made the upgrade.

Using Launcher95

Without having used Launchers 1 through 94

Launcher95 is available in two options: there's a free mode and a paid one. I expect power users or people who know they'll stick with the launcher will want to pay, but for this article, I only used the free tier.

Opening the launcher, you're greeted with a home page ripped straight from a Windows 95 computer, except in vertical (I only discovered later that there's a horizontal mode).

My home page wallpaper had been retained, but the apps had been cleared away, replaced with a little Start button in the lower-left corner.

Pressing this is the ticket into your phone. The Programs option shows you all your apps, in alphabetical order, while Contacts is where your entire Rolodex of phone numbers lives, and Themes is where you can pick between several different styles (with a Theme store for more, and an XP mode you've already seen pictured, amongst others).

There are loads of scope for customization.

By pressing and holding an app, you can mark it as a favorite so that it appears in another folder on the start menu.

Or, you can add it to your desktop, though doing this quickly turned my Windows 95 experience into something a little too similar to my Android one.

To begin with, the Windows 95 aesthetic was a fun novelty, but I kept finding little extra tools that were actually handy.

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For example, if you press and hold the main desktop, then press Website, you can quickly and easily make a link to a web page. As someone who loves having home screen icons that'll take me to specific websites or files in my phone's folder, I really like this.

You can also create folders or widgets, with the latter pulling Android widgets straight into the Windows 95 experience. It didn't always work, and sometimes created an odd fusion of looks, but it was fun to play about with.

Is Launcher95 the right vibe for your phone?

I can see Launcher95 being a nightmare for some people. Having every single one of your apps or contracts presented in a long list can be frustrating for people who have lots of either, necessitating lots of scrolling to find anything.

And I'll admit, I too readily modernized Launcher95, bringing in widgets and scattering app icons all over the place, before I realized I was using it wrong.

So I rolled back my changes, left minimal apps, and learned to appreciate the pixelly, simple interface as a retro digital detox tool. Used like this, it could be a great Android feature for fighting phone addiction.