Where to find each setting, how to turn on each feature, and what the app does with your data. The paths shown match Sola's actual labels in English.
The essentials before you dive in.
Sola replaces your Android phone's home screen. Your apps, your data and your accounts don't move: only the layer that displays your icons changes. You can go back to your original home screen at any time.
The focus is on three things: fast animations, a clear organization, and the fact that nothing ever leaves your device.
Android 10 at minimum. The app works fully from that version on. Two visual effects need more recent versions:
On an older phone, those two settings appear greyed out and everything else works normally.
Fourteen days of trial with the full app, no card required. After that, a one-time purchase unlocks Sola for good. In France the price is €5.99, and it adapts by country.
There's no subscription, no ads, and major updates are included.
The setup wizard offers to do it on first launch. You can also do it at any time from Android's settings, under default apps, by choosing the home app.
In the same place in Android's settings, select your previous launcher again. Nothing is lost: your old home screen gets its layout back.
Long-press an empty area of the home screen, then Global settings in the panel that opens.
The app drawer's menu also has a Settings entry, but it opens the drawer's own settings directly, not the root menu.
Sola organizes the space into several pages, each with a clear role.
Settings › Left page › Dashboard blocks, then "Today's weather" and "Forecast".
Weather needs location permission to show your city. Without it, Sola falls back to a default city.
Settings › Left page › Dashboard blocks › Indicators (steps, screen time…)
The two form a single block, they turn on together.
It shows up under the home screen clock, not on the left page. The setting is in Settings › Home screen › Show clock widget › Calendar › Show upcoming events.
Settings › Right page, then "App Library page" for automatic sorting, or "WebView page" for the mini browser.
Yes, on both side pages. For the left one, Settings › Left page › Enable WebView. That way, a site you visit often stays one swipe away from your home screen.
Wallpapers, icons, glass effects and colors.
Settings › Home screen › Wallpaper › Change wallpaper. Choose from the built-in gallery or from your own images.
Automatic rotation is available on the same screen, with an interval you can set from fifteen minutes to seven days.
Settings › Home screen › Wallpaper › Dynamic wallpaper. Several collections are provided, from forests to outer space.
You can also import your own video, from a file or by pasting a link to an mp4 file.
Settings › Appearance › Liquid Glass. A master switch, then a list of the surfaces involved: folders, widgets and the dock on the home screen, folders and the search bar in the drawer, menus and panels everywhere.
The effect is off by default and requires Android 13. It genuinely lets your wallpaper show through the glass, bent like behind a thick pane.
The glass effect, in Settings › Appearance › Glass effect (glassmorphism), blurs what's behind a surface. Liquid Glass goes further: it bends the image instead of blurring it, and the image keeps scrolling as you move the surface.
The two can coexist.
Settings › Appearance › Dynamic colors (Material You). The interface's accents then pick up the colors of your wallpaper. Android 12 minimum.
Settings › Appearance › Icon pack. Sola detects packs already installed on your phone, and also offers built-in packs with no extra install needed.
On monochrome packs, you can adjust the icon color and a neon effect.
This doesn't go through settings. Long-press the icon, on the home screen or in the drawer, then "Change icon". You can pick from suggestions, browse packs, or import your own image.
Settings › Appearance › Icon shape. About twenty shapes are offered, from circle to shield.
Settings › Home screen › Grid columns, from three to nine columns. Beyond five, the options are reserved for tablets. The number of rows adjusts automatically to screen size.
No. Sola's interface is always in dark theme. It's a design choice: the wallpaper stays the only bright element, and the interface fades behind it.
Folders, widgets, the dock and the drawer.
Drag one icon onto another and release. The folder is created right away. To name it, open it and edit its title directly.
Folders exist both on the home screen and in the drawer.
Long-press the folder, then "Remove from home screen". The folder stays available in your drawer, it only disappears from the home screen.
Long-press an empty area of the home screen, then choose from the widget list. All Android widgets are supported.
Long-press the widget, then "Positioning". A panel appears with three modes: resize, move, and adjust overlap. Grid snapping can be turned off for free placement.
Long-press the app in the drawer, then "Add to home screen".
Long-press the app in the drawer, then "Hide app". To find it again later, open the drawer menu and choose "Show hidden apps".
Settings › App drawer › View mode, with four layouts: classic list, tabs, sections, or a category grid.
Alphabetical sorting is in the drawer menu, in classic list or tabs mode.
Settings › App drawer › Manage. You can rename, hide, reorder or delete categories, create new ones, and send an entire category to the home screen.
To move a single app from one category to another, long-press it and choose to change its category.
Settings › Dock for the number of icons, labels and the background: transparent, semi-transparent, opaque or frosted.
Dock apps are chosen by drag and drop, by bringing an icon into the bottom bar.
Long-press the icon, then "Rename". The original name can be restored at any time.
What triggers with a touch, and what you can change.
These three gestures can't be changed.
Settings › Gestures & navigation. Four gestures are configurable: pinch, spread, and two-finger swipe up or down.
Each can open an app, a shortcut, the flashlight, the voice assistant, search, the camera, the calculator, or Sola's settings.
Quick access to your favorite apps from the edge of the screen. It's turned on in Settings › Gestures & navigation › Edge panel, with a choice of side and the list of favorites.
Settings › Gestures & navigation › Immersive mode.
The drawer's search bar looks through your apps, but also your contacts, your phone's settings, and the shortcuts offered by other apps.
What Sola asks for, why, and what it does with it.
No. No ads, no trackers, no analytics tool, no remote server. Everything stays on your device. The details are in the privacy policy.
The only network traffic is to fetch the weather and to download the wallpapers you request.
All of them are optional. Denying a permission simply turns off the matching feature, nothing else.
Settings › Backup › Export backup. A zip file holds your home screen, dock, folders, widgets, categories, custom icons, settings and wallpaper.
Install Sola, then Settings › Backup › Import backup and pick the zip file. If something can't be restored, a summary tells you exactly what.
No. The purchase is tied to your Google account. Use "Restore purchase" in settings.
The situations that come up most often.
It requires Android 13. On an earlier version, the effect isn't available and the rest of the app works normally.
They require Android 12.
This was a bug fixed in version 1.0.16. Update the app from the Play Store.
Allow approximate location. Without it, Sola falls back to a default city. You can also pick a city manually in the weather settings.
Some widgets paint their backdrop inside an image rather than as a background. Android can't see behind it in that case, and the effect is only visible at the edges.
What's new in each version is detailed in the blog. You can also write to the support address listed on the Play Store page.
Fourteen days of trial, no card required, no ads and no trackers.
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