Quick Links

  • Launcher
  • KWGT Widget Packs
  • Google Widgets
  • Conversations Widget
  • New Google Search Bar
  • Google Conditions Widgets
  • Wallpaper
  • Icon Pack
  • Pixel-Exclusive Features
  • Screen Calling
  • Quick Tap
  • At present Playing
  • Google Camera
  • Rules

Android 12 is a fantastic update, but only recent Pixels have been able to fully take reward of Google's new beautiful pattern language, known as Material You. Practically every other Android telephone maker has chosen to stick with their pattern principles and but sprinkle in a few of the new Android 12 pattern features. Luckily Android is really customizable, and yous tin turn that dull old interface you're tired of into a Material You themed treat.

Launcher

When you're not using a Pixel, switching to a third-party launcher is the only manner to become your device looking as close to i every bit possible.

Your telephone's navigation bar isn't going to work equally well after switching launchers since devices running Android 10+ aren't fully compatible with 3rd-party launchers. The only work-around to getting those smooth animations with the navigation gesture is to obtain root, install a Magisk module called "QuickSwitch," and apply a third-political party launcher that supports information technology like Lawnchair 12.

Lawnchair 12's Alpha Version is a fantastic way of replicating the Pixel launcher, or you tin can too use the notorious Nova Launcher. Both are very like in terms of features and functionality. Each of them take a swipe-upwardly app drawer with vertical scrolling, the Google search bar, search functionality within the widget panel (though Lawnchair 12's version replicates the Pixel's better), and the Google Discover console on the left-most screen, though y'all'll need to download their add-on apps; Nova's is Nova Google Companion and Lawnchair'south is Lawnfeed 3.

Lawnchair 12 is the better option for replicating the Pixel Launcher since information technology includes more Android 12-specific features, like:

  • Adaptive themed icons that follow the color pallette of your wallpaper. Plus, with their newly released addition called "Lawnicons", you tin can theme all of your apps now, not simply Google'southward. But brand sure to have the latest Lawnchair version installed, Alpha five.
  • An At-a-Glance widget which you can also disable.
  • A universal search bar within the app drawer (if you have a rooted Pixel device running Android 12).
  • Dynamic wallpaper-based theming.

To fully take advantage of these features feel free to watch the video below where I testify what settings to enable to replicate the Pixel launcher.

At present that your launcher is installed, we can turn to the widgets, icon packs, and wallpapers that let you get really creative. If you search "Android 12 widgets" or "Android 12 wallpapers" on the Play Store, you'll find enough of options, near of which are pretty terrible. Luckily, I've already washed the muddy work and gathered some of the best personalization apps to replicate those Material You goodies.

Starting with the widgets, near of the Google apps that you lot can download from the Play Store like Gmail, Clock, Google Drive, Google Keep, Maps, Photos, etc. already come with the updated Material You widgets. A lot of them are very mesmerizing and beautiful to look at.

The widgets for the clock, for case, have iv dissimilar design options. I personally dear the 1 titled "Scallop," which looks like a flower and rotates the date effectually, acting like the seconds-paw. The photos app has an attractive clover-like framing to let you see highlights of your family unit and friends. And the Gmail app has a fantastic updated widget listing a bulk of your emails from your inbox. In that location's a lot more where that came from.

But there are still a few missing like the Weather widgets, conversations, and the new Google Search bar that includes the Google Lens icon.

The conversations widget on an Android phone

To obtain these actress missing widgets, you'll need to download a few extra apps. For the conversation's widget, you tin can download "Notification Widget" and it'll replicate those dynamically themed notification Pills. All it requires is your notification access to brandish notifications on the widgets, and the storage permissions to get the wallpaper colors. Then within the Notification Widget, y'all select the app from which you'd like the widget to display incoming notifications. You can fifty-fifty change the widget's shape and colors.

To obtain the new Google Search bar, Nova Launcher and Lawnchair 12 already come with it, but unfortunately, they're not wallpaper-based themed. Still, you can install "Search Widget (Material You)" to obtain it. It just places the new search bar within your widget panel, and information technology works similar a charm. Within the app, you tin can even change the Google Assistant and Google Lens icon to a dissimilar action like Music Search, the Play Store, Settings app, or the Clock App for your alarms.

Lastly, for the weather condition widgets the only option to turn to is past using a KWGT widget pack. For those unfamiliar, KWGT widgets are apps on the Play Store that are filled with custom widgets created by community-driven developers. Information technology expands a whole new world for customization. You just need to make sure to besides have KWGT Kustom Widget Maker & KWGT Kustom Widget Pro Key installed, which costs effectually $6

A KWGT widget pack chosen "Android 12 widgets for KWGT Pro" has the about authentic weather widgets that are shaped like giant pills (both angled and horizontal). Information technology fifty-fifty opens up the weather forecast within the Google app. If yous want that, a good alternative is Uzuri for KWGT Pro. It provides a weather condition pill that has dynamic wallpaper theming and adds the actress pick of showing yous different information when you lot tap on it like the time, engagement, and battery percent. The only downside is that its blueprint isn't an exact replication of the original Google conditions pill like the higher up choice.

For the Google weather widgets that wait like a card, Snowfall Cone for KWGT Pro is the merely proficient option out at that place. It looks very similar with merely a few small-scale details that don't add up like some of the font and weather icons, merely information technology'south still really well done. Plus, it does automatically follow the colors of your chosen background.

Wallpaper

For the wallpapers, you could just do a quick Google search to discover all the Google backgrounds, but information technology'll take a while to find them all in great resolution, plus it'south not entirely safe to just offset downloading stuff from random websites you may have never visited before. Luckily, a few months back we created a story featuring over 400 of those same Google Wallpaper backgrounds to download in batches for free. This includes wallpapers from the Pixel 6 and six Pro, Community Lens, Arts & Civilization, Curated Culture, and a lot more than.

wallpapers

Another great options that aren't exact replications, but nonetheless follow that Cloth You theming include Squad Pixel Wallpapers, Wallfever, and Pix Wallpapers. Team Pixel Wallpapers bring a whole new light to Google Pixel-inspired backgrounds. A lot of the walls are abstract and colorful with groovy shapes and flat elements. They bring a ton of excitement and fun to your homescreen and work well with whatever Google widgets that y'all use. Plus, with every Google Feature Drop, the programmer creates some new walls that are inspired past that update. It's honestly the perfect app for Pixel Fans out there.

Wallfever is versatile and has dozens of backgrounds to choose from. Each wallpaper is organic and mesmerizing to expect at. They don't attach too closely to that Googl-y feel, but they yet accept elements of that Textile You mode. Created by the same developer of Team Pixel wallpapers, new backgrounds are added almost every week.

Pix Wallpapers is a gratis alternative that takes Pixel-inspired wallpapers and transforms them to look more eye-communicable. It's fifty-fifty got some holiday-themed options that withal follow the Cloth Y'all language. The only downside is that it doesn't get updated too often, but since it's costless it's not a bad choice.

Doodle Live Wallpaper

Finally, if you want some of those Pixel live wallpapers, I would plough to Doodle: Live Wallpapers. It has the entire Doodle Collection from the Pixel iv, and some of which are inspired by the Pixel vi. Each ane includes elements that move whenever you unlock the screen, open up an app, or just switch to the next folio. Plus, they all go black whenever you enable the system nighttime theme. Within Doodle, you can customize the walls even further such every bit increasing the zoom intensity of all the shapes, irresolute the shape size, enabling a tilt effect where the walls follow the motility of your hand, and a lot more than. The best function is that it's completely costless with no ads or in-app purchases.

Icon Pack

When it comes to the icons, Google has only really themed most of THEIR icons on the homescreen. Each ane is flat, circled, and follows the Monet and system light/dark theme (though this is changing with Android thirteen). As I said before, Lawnchair 12 Blastoff five lets yous obtain these same themed icons on older devices. And when you lot install the Lawnicons Add-On you can theme many more third-party apps, all of which support Monet theming, and turn dark whenever you flip the system switch.

Only if y'all'd rather stick with Nova Launcher, you can instead use a third-party icon pack from the Play Store chosen Dynamic Material You lot icon pack. With back up for over 11,000 icons, this icon pack will not just theme the majority of your apps within your app drawer, it'll even accept them lucifer the color of your background with back up for a low-cal and dark mode. It works like a charm, though you need to brand sure to re-enable the icon pack whenever you swap backgrounds so that the colors change along with it. The just catch is that the Monet theming only works on devices running Android 12.

Pixel-Exclusive Features

Pixels also come packed with a number of exclusive features that no other competing phones accept. From Call Screen to the Now Playing feature, they're among the reasons people buy Pixels in the first place. Reproducing them on other phones isn't easy, but there are some apps that get you lot close.

Screen Calling

To recreate the Pixel's phone call screening characteristic, y'all can apply "KONTXT Voice" from the Play Store, which offers like functionality. Anytime you receive a telephone call and reject it, Kontxt volition ask the caller "why they're calling," and y'all tin read the transcript to see what the person is proverb and decide if yous'd like to have or decline the phone call. Information technology'due south uniform with most mobile carriers out there, and setting it up is very like shooting fish in a barrel. You lot tin can fifty-fifty change the greeting to anything you'd like within the app's settings.

Quick Tap

Pixel phones have a double-tap gesture called "Quick Tap" to let you lot launch certain tasks or applications by just double-tapping on the back of the phone. To get this feature on other Androids, you can download "Tap Tap" a useful tool that expands on Google's ain functionality. It, allows for triple taps, restrictions so that the gesture doesn't run when you're doing certain tasks, and more.

Now Playing

To replicate Now Playing, Shazam has a similar role chosen "Auto Shazam". Whatsoever time Shazam hears music, it'll place the vocal and notify you when it finds a match. Tapping on the notification volition bring up the identified song, and I've constitute that information technology's just every bit accurate at finding song names —it even works when the screen is off.

Google Camera

Google makes a camera app simply for Pixels that contains the secret sauce for its phones' unmatched results. Merely over the years, developers have adapted the app for other devices, known as GCam, making it available for a select number of devices. This XDA article provides a huge list of devices that support GCam which unfortunately doesn't include flagships like the Us variants of the Galaxy Due south series. Some GCam apps piece of work better than others since these are all created by the community, and each version is different, and then examination as many every bit you lot tin can before committing.

Rules

Finally, Pixels have a uncomplicated automation tool called "Rules" tucked into its settings app. It offers useful additions like custom ringer and Wi-Fi settings based on location. Let'due south say I'd like my phone to automatically silence while I'm at the movies or have it switch to vibrate whenever I connect to my home Wi-Fi network, that'south possible. To recreate that workflow, you lot tin utilise an app like MacroDroid, which makes it simple to create automatic tasks.

That's how you can give your Android device the Pixel Experience without rooting your phone. There are enough of other personalization apps that will claim to replicate the Pixel Feel, simply the apps discussed are some of the best choices out in that location. Even so, with apps getting released left and correct these days it's not unlikely that a new customization app may come up to low-cal claiming to be fifty-fifty meliorate than some options discussed higher up. So if you know of any other apps that will Pixelfy any Android delight permit us know in the comments.