Dextera Wiki

Features

Everything Dextera can do — home, pages, wallpapers, styles, search, security, and how to use each area.

Dextera is a custom home screen for Android: one-handed navigation, unified search, pages for apps and more, and deep customization — without getting in your way. It’s on Google Play and updated often with shipping polish.

On Google Play — the core experience is ready for everyday use; we keep shipping polish and new tools like backup.

Feature map

Area What it is
Home & App List Clock, weather, apps, letter rail, search bar
Contacts Call or message people from a home page
Recents Apps you used recently
Music Now playing on a dedicated page
Notifications Full notification center on a page
Scratch Board Notes, pins, clipboard, attachments
Quick Settings Fast toggles on a home page
Backup Save, share, and restore a Dextera zip
Page overview Reorder pages, wallpapers, widgets
Wallpapers Catalog, photos, day/night packs, blur/dim, per-page
Styles One-tap looks (wallpaper + theme + fonts + icons)
Icon packs & clock DuoTone, Wireframe, Frosted Glass, and more
Settings Appearance, Home, Gestures, Search, Pages, more
Search Apps, files, calculator, web, OTP chip
Security Uninstall protection, app lock / hide
Wellbeing Zen / declutter, adaptive dimming

Home & App List

Dextera home with app list

What you see

How to

  1. Flick the search bar left/right to change page.
  2. Hold and drag the search bar to scrub all pages.
  3. Drag the letter rail to jump the list.
  4. Long-press an app for pin, hide, folder, lock (Pro), uninstall.

Weather forecast

Weather forecast

Tap the weather on home for a forecast card (needs location when enabled). Adjust units under Settings → Home.

Contacts

Contacts page

A full Contacts page on home — not only search results.

How to

  1. Enable the Contacts page under Settings → Pages if it is hidden.
  2. Grant Contacts access when asked.
  3. Tap the phone or message button, or long-press a row to pin.

Recents

Recents page

Recently used apps on their own page — quick return without opening the system recents UI.

How to

  1. Scrub or flick to the Recents page (enable it under Settings → Pages if missing).
  2. Tap an app to open it.
  3. Swipe to dismiss; long-press for the app menu.

Music

Music page

When audio is playing (or a media session is active):

How to

  1. Start music or a podcast in any app.
  2. Flick to the Music page (it can hide when nothing is playing).
  3. Use the card controls; open ⋯ for session options when available.

Notifications

Notification center page

A full Notification Center as a home page (not only the system shade).

How to

  1. Grant notification access for Dextera (prompt or system Settings).
  2. Open the Notifications page.
  3. Long-press an app icon on a card (or use the pin control) to pin.
  4. In overview → Settings on that page → Lock pinned notifications if you want pins locked.

Scratch Board

Scratch Board

A place for notes, pinned notifications (with photos when available), clipboard, and attachments.

How to

  1. Open the Scratch Board page (or pin items from notifications).
  2. Type in Write a note… and send.
  3. Use the image / attach / clipboard controls on the page.
  4. Share files into Scratch Board when Android’s share sheet offers Dextera.

Quick Settings

Quick Settings page

A dedicated Quick Settings page for fast toggles without diving into the system shade: Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth, flashlight, airplane, DND, brightness, and shortcuts into system settings.

How to

  1. Enable Quick Settings under Settings → Pages (Pro may apply to add).
  2. Flick or scrub to the page.
  3. Tap tiles to toggle; hold a tile for the system details screen.
  4. Brightness needs the Modify system settings grant the first time.

Page overview

Page overview

Mission control for your pages — including foldable-friendly spreads when your device supports a wider canvas.

How to open

What you can do

Control Action
Long-press drag a card Reorder pages
+ Widget (n/3) on built-in pages Add stacked overlay widgets (up to 3 per page)
+ Add widgets on custom pages Free-form widget canvas
Settings on a card That page’s settings (Back returns to overview)
Sync wallpaper across pages One wallpaper everywhere, or per-page wallpapers
Wallpaper / Settings at bottom Appearance or full settings

Wallpapers

Open from overview → Wallpaper, or Settings → Appearance → Custom.

Effects & icons

Wallpaper effects

Dynamic & your photos

Dynamic wallpapers and local photos

Built-in catalog

Wallpaper catalog

Categories such as Nature, Abstract, Minimal, Space, Dark, Urban, and more (drawn and photo sets). Heart items to mark favorites.

How to set a wallpaper

  1. Overview → Wallpaper, or Appearance → Custom.
  2. Pick system/black/Bing, a catalog image, a photo, or a dynamic pack.
  3. Adjust dim/blur and Apply to as needed.
  4. For a different look per page: turn Sync wallpaper off in overview, center that page, then set wallpaper.

Styles

Styles tab

Styles apply a full look at once: wallpaper + colors + font + icon style, with a short reveal animation.

Action What it does
Save current as style Store your current look for later
Match my wardrobe Seed a style from a camera / photo shot
Built-in (Calm, Cyberpunk Noir, …) Curated one-tap presets

How to

  1. Open the wallpaper picker → Styles tab.
  2. Tap a built-in style, or save your own.
  3. Wait for the apply / reveal to finish (don’t spam Back mid-transition).

Icon packs & clock styles

Icon packs

Built-in icon packs include looks such as:

Pick a pack from wallpaper / Appearance icon options, then optionally enable themed icons.

Clock styles

Clock styles under Settings → Home include Dextera, Minimal, Bold, Analog, and more (some Pro). Pair with weather overlay and optional network-speed next to the clock.

Settings overview

Launcher Settings

Category Covers
Appearance Wallpaper, theme, icons, fonts, live preview, frosted glass
Home Clock styles, weather, status bar, Tasks quote, overlays
App List Sidebar, folders, organization
Touch & Gestures Left-handed rail, Home, double-tap, hold-back
Search Engine, history, sources, file folders, OTP, calculator
Pages Panels, order, transitions, traditional swipe
Digital Wellbeing Zen / declutter, adaptive dimming
Security & Privacy Uninstall protection, app lock / hide
Extensions Optional add-ons (for example Walkie-Talkie)
Backup & Restore Export / import (when shown)
About Version, Pro, Save / Share / Import backup, legal, wiki
Help Default home app / switch launcher

The search-bar gear opens page overview. Full Settings are from overview → Settings, or from in-app Settings entry points.

More detail: Settings.

Appearance (detail)

Appearance settings with live preview

Fonts and icon size

Home settings

Tasks quote on home

Clock and weather settings

Touch & Gestures

Touch and Gestures

Setting Meaning
Left-handed mode Letter rail on the left edge
Home screen gestures Double-tap, swipe shortcuts
Long-hold back Jump to a page instead of system back
Double-tap header Action (e.g. toggle left-handed)
Hold back gesture Target page (e.g. Notifications)
Home button & gesture Default, First page, jump to page, …

Full gesture list: Gestures.

From the home bar

Unified search

Tap Search… for apps, contacts, settings, files (in folders you add), calculator math, and web suggestions. Filter chips: All · Contacts · Apps · Web · Settings.

Search results

Search settings

Search settings

Search on home

Pages (layout & panels)

Page navigation style

Home panels list

Built-in panels you can enable/reorder:

  1. App List (always home)
  2. Recents
  3. Contacts
  4. Music
  5. Notifications
  6. Scratch Board
  7. Quick Settings

Plus custom widget pages (extra pages may need Pro). Long-press a row and drag to reorder.

Widgets

Kind Behavior
Custom page Free-form grid; drag/resize; Dextera widget picker with previews
Built-in page Up to 3 stacked overlay widgets (e.g. on App List) via overview + Widget

Foldable devices can use wider spreads in overview / pages when the hardware allows.

Digital Wellbeing

Digital Wellbeing

Security

Security and Privacy

Feature What it does
Uninstallation protection Device admin so Dextera can’t be removed casually — turn admin off before uninstalling
App locking (Pro) Long-press app → Lock; open from Dextera asks for biometrics. Does not use Accessibility or intercept apps only from system Recents
Hide apps Keep selected apps off the visible list until you choose to show them again

Also: optional OTP from notifications (Search settings) without reading SMS — no SMS permission.

Backup & restore

Save your Dextera layout as a zip, then restore it on this phone or another install.

Settings — About includes backup

Settings → About:

Action What it does
Save backup System Save As picker — Downloads, Drive, SD card
Share backup Share sheet (Files, email, Drive, …)
Import backup Pick a zip, preview it, then restore and restart

Play, Dev, and sideload builds write different file names so you can tell them apart:

What is in the zip

Pages, folders, wallpapers and style presets, app shortcuts, Scratch Board, search history and ranking, pinned and hidden apps, notification settings, and coach-mark “already seen” flags.

What is not

First-run restore

After Quick setup, Dextera offers Restore from backup or Start without a backup. A successful restore marks setup done and restarts into the restored home — without replaying the first-run tour.

Dextera Pro

One-time unlock on Google Play (Settings → About). Pro gates extras such as app lock, hide apps, Bing Daily, extra widget pages, and deeper search. Restore purchases if you reinstall. A backup does not copy Pro — Play does.

More help