The Google Experience Launcher has a few nice goodies up its sleeve like the “Ok, Google” functionality and a transparent app drawer which shows the wallpaper in all its glory. While the latter might seem like a minor feature, it can make a lot of difference in day to day usage and give your app drawer a fresh look everytime you set a new wallpaper.
The stock launcher from various Android OEMs also lacks this option which can make things boring. Thankfully, this seemingly trivial feature can be easily gained by using any of the popular third party launchers from the Play Store. These launchers look similar to the stock Android launcher but pack in a lot of customization and features like gestures, icon pack support and more. Read the steps below to find out how you can apply a wallpaper to the app drawer.
Step 1: Head over to the Play Store to download Nova Launcher. It is the most popular third-party launcher on the Play Store and comes with a lot of goodies and features. You can also try out Apex, which has a similar feature set.
Step 2: Once the installation is done, tap the Home button and set Nova Launcher as your default home screen. You can then either import your previous shortcuts and widgets or start from scratch.
Step 3: You need to access Nova settings now. Depending on the option you selected in the previous step, the shortcut should be present on your primary home screen. If not, open the app drawer and tap the 3-dot menu overflow button on the top right and select Nova Settings.
Step 4: Head over to the Drawer option where you will find Background transparency. Drag the slider to the right to make the background transparent so that your home screen wallpaper is visible on the app drawer background. You can also change the number of rows and columns in the app drawer using the Drawer app grid option.
Do keep in mind that if you are using a non-Nexus Android device — like a Samsung, HTC, Sony, or LG — Nova launcher will look very different to you and should provide you with a fresh new UI experience. However, it is much more powerful than the default launcher your device shipped with. Make sure to use it for a few days and play around with the various options in its Settings.
