Before smartphones settled into today’s Android-versus-iOS duopoly, there was a third platform that inspired a devoted fanbase: Windows Phone. It stood out for being bold and different, anchored by the Metro UI, which is a clean, tile-based interface that made every other smartphone home screen look cluttered by comparison. Live Tiles flipped and breathed with real-time information, and typography was king.

When Microsoft officially discontinued Windows Phone in 2017, it left behind a design void that neither Android nor iOS has really addressed since. Most people eventually moved on to other platforms because they had to. Some of us, though, never fully got over it. I definitely fall into that second category, and lately I’ve been scratching that nostalgia itch by hunting down apps that recreate pieces of the old Windows Phone experience.

METROV Launcher

The ghost of Lumia, resurrected

METROV may already be the most convincing Windows Phone launcher available on Android. It draws heavily from the Windows Phone 7 and 8 eras, and that obsession with authenticity shows in nearly every corner of the experience. The tile flip animations echo the feel of classic Lumia devices, while the Metro-inspired settings menu looks as though it was lifted directly from a Nokia Lumia 920. As someone who has used vanilla Android for a decade, I regret not installing this launcher sooner.

The Live Tiles are easily my main attraction. Weather tiles update with current conditions, the calendar tile surfaces upcoming appointments, clocks tick in real time, photos cycle dynamically, and contact tiles constantly flip and refresh across the home screen. If you swipe right, you’ll land in a functional Action Center with quick toggles for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other system controls. The settings menu also includes a good amount of customization, including Modern and Classic app styles, blur effects, font options, individual icon tweaks, and a stripped-down app list mode that removes alphabetical grouping for a cleaner look.

Some of the most compelling features, including dynamic tiles and Action Center, are reserved for the premium version. You can subscribe monthly or unlock everything permanently with a lifetime purchase. Considering how central those features are to recreating the old Windows Phone atmosphere, I do think you’ll probably find the upgrade difficult to resist.

OS

Android

Price model

Free with optional in-app purchases.

Metrov Launcher brings the colorful tile-based design of Windows Phone to Android with a clean interface and smooth navigation.

Launcher 10

Windows 10 Mobile, but make it survive

Launcher 10 takes a different approach to Metro by recreating Metro’s Windows 10 Mobile aesthetic, which was arguably Microsoft’s most polished interpretation of the tile-based interface. I currently have mine configured with a tight three-column tile layout on a deep red background, and it captures that old Lumia-era atmosphere well.

The level of customization here runs surprisingly deep. You can assign tile colors individually for each app, and support for third-party icon packs opens the door to some delightfully eccentric combinations. If you wanted to make a single app tile bright red for no reason other than instinct, you could. You could also drop a skeuomorphic icon into one tile while keeping the rest of the interface clean and consistent. The launcher also supports standard Android widgets directly within the tile grid, creating an interesting hybrid of the old Windows Phone aesthetic and Android’s native flexibility.

As with METROV, the premium version unlocks active Live Tiles and notification badge support through a one-time in-app purchase. The free version does include banner ads, though they remain confined to the settings menu rather than invading the home screen. There’s also a fairly generous 14-day premium trial, which gives you enough time to live with the dynamic tile experience before deciding whether the roughly $7 lifetime unlock feels worthwhile.

OS

Android

Price model

Freemium with optional in-app purchases.

Launcher 10 recreates the look and feel of Windows Phone on Android with live tiles, smooth animations, and a highly customizable Start screen. It captures the charm of the old Lumia experience while still supporting modern Android features.

Square Home

Tiles for the people, by the people

My love for Square Home stems from the way it approaches the Windows Phone nostalgia concept from a slightly different angle. Instead of faithfully recreating a specific version of Windows Phone or Windows 10 Mobile, it treats the Metro tile aesthetic as a foundation and builds outward from there. Which, to me, feels closer to an alternate timeline where the Windows Phone design language evolved alongside modern Android rather than disappearing entirely. Multiple home screens, for example, are fully supported, which makes the platform more flexible than the original ever was.

It’s also one of the most polished launchers in this entire niche. Live Tiles are available without a premium paywall, and the media tile is particularly clever because it hooks directly into Android’s notification system, allowing you to interact with playback controls in real time. Transparency effects work beautifully across the tile grid, and the old 3D cube and flip animations are still there if you’re chasing that unmistakable Lumia-era nostalgia. Tile resizing behaves almost exactly the way it did on Windows Phone. If you long-press a tile, you can stretch or shrink it, though Square Home goes a bit further by adding extra sizing options and aspect ratios that the original platform never offered.

Beyond the nostalgia factor, Square Home also packs in some modern Android features. The app drawer is customizable, Material You theming can pull colors directly from your wallpaper, and the launcher scales properly across foldables and tablets instead of awkwardly stretching the interface. It even supports Android 15 Private Space integration via hidden-profile permissions, while the developers continue to push compatibility fixes for newer Android versions and heavily customized skins like Samsung’s One UI 7.

You can go home again — it’s on the Play Store

These three apps prove they do not need Microsoft’s backing to survive. Pick one, dig into the customization, and see how quickly stock Android starts to look a little too plain by comparison.

OS

Android

Price model

Free with in-app purchases.

Square Home is an Android launcher that gives your home screen the look and feel of Metro UI from Windows Phone.