Daniel Peña’s creative mastery: pushing Smart Launcher to its limit

Daniel Peña, known in our community as Zerfos, has become a standout creator in Smart Launcher customization. What sets him apart isn’t just his remarkable creativity but his ability to push the boundaries of what Smart Launcher can do. He’s consistently used its tools in ways that surprised even us as developers, showing just how far customization can go.

Zerfos’ work has also left a lasting mark on our community. His unique setups have sparked a wave of creativity, inspiring others to experiment and share their own designs.

We’re excited to highlight his journey, share his insights, and celebrate his contributions to the Smart Launcher community. Let’s dive into the world of Zerfos!

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself! How did you first get into creating custom home screen setups, and what inspired you to start sharing them with the community?

Daniel Peña: Hi, My name is Daniel Peña (aka Zerfos) and it all started with my first touchscreen phone, the Alcatel OneTouch. At the time I was so impressed of how customizable my new device was, but still, I felt that the stock launcher wasn't enough to make my homescreen unique, so that's when I started to explore the custom launcher territory that, altho still new at the time, it offered me a lot of ways to customize my phone.

I'm not too much of a social media guy so I never had published my creations until recent years with the introduction of Android 12 and their new ways of customization. So I decided to give it a try publishing my first home screen on Reddit, with the new Material You Theme style in mind, and I saw that people were liking my setups and how my home screens looked, oftentimes getting compliments and questions about how to recreate it.

That is what made me keep going and start creating more setups, and sometimes little tutorials, to help my friends in the community to also unleash their creativity through my work.

Q: What do you enjoy most about using Smart Launcher for your setups? What’s your favourite feature?

Daniel Peña: What I enjoy most about using Smart Launcher is the freedom I get when creating my setups. Moving, resizing and positioning elements in my home screen is so intuitive and easy, and there is no other launcher that allows me to do this with such precision.

My favorite feature has to be the Global Themes and Widget Themes, especially the blur theme. The Glassmorphism style has been one of my favorites styles since it was introduced on the Windows Vista days. 

‍

Q: What’s the most challenging part of creating a setup, and how do you typically overcome those challenges?

Daniel Peña: I think the hardest part is to make home screens feel unique. Oftentimes I find myself not conforming with the norm styles and I always try new ways to redesign my home screens. That's when Smart Launcher came into play, the way I can interact with widgets, moving objects freely and overcoming the boundaries of my home screen grid is such an experience. No other launcher can give this much freedom and this makes my mind go “Creative Mode” always thinking on my next move while creating my setups.

‍

Q. In your setup you often push the boundaries of what Smart Launcher can do. What are some of your favorite tools or features that help you achieve such creative results?

Daniel Peña: My favorite tool is definitely the “Fine Positioning” tool. This feature is like a “Swiss Army Knife” of tools. The options of moving, resizing and elevating elements on top of others is just a game changer. Another of my favorite tools is the utilization of the Smart Launcher Blur Theme through the use of a Smart Note Widget to create a whole new form of widget customizations by allowing me to use it as a base layer for widgets that support transparency. Without this I can never think of recreating this same setups in other launchers. I think that's what makes Smart Launcher so unique. 

‍

Q. Your setups inspire many in the community. How does it feel to see your work admired, replicated, or adapted by others?

Daniel Peña: I feel so accomplished seeing my setups admired and being enjoyed by everyone in the community. This is what keeps me going on creating more setups that everyone can enjoy. Sometimes my setups might seem a little complicated but I'm always there to give a helping hand to anyone that wants to recreate it.

‍

Q. If you could suggest one new feature or improvement for Smart Launcher, what would it be, and why?

Daniel Peña: I think Smart Launcher is perfect as it is at the moment, but I also know that nothing stays still in the world of tech and app development forever. Everything keeps improving and evolving to be the best it can be. So in the future, from the top of my mind, I would like to see an integration of Icon Groups Widget on the Widget Stack, and the ability to use gestures on Extra Home Pages. I think these two features can greatly improve the way we can interact with Icon Groups and extra home screens.

Q: Do you have a favorite setup that you’ve created? Can you share what makes it particularly special or memorable to you?

Daniel Peña: I think right now my favorite setup is “Smart Circuit”. What makes it particularly special is the way it was created by using only smart launcher assets, especially the use of the Smart Note Widget as a “circuit” connector between icon groups, widgets and shortcuts.

‍

Q: What are your go-to tools, such as icon packs, widgets, or apps, that you frequently use to complement your Smart Launcher setups?

Daniel Peña: I'm always experimenting with different sets of icons, widgets and apps for my setups. For icons some of my favorites are Moxy Icon Pack by Max Patchs and I often find myself using the Pashapuma Designs collection, OneYou Themed Icon Pack and Pix Material You Light/Dark Icon Pack and I also love creating and remixing icons packs on the Icon Pack Studio app.

For widgets I like to use KWGT App with some of my favorite packs, Koda KWGT, Glass 13 KWGT, Koncept and Evoque for KWGT just to name a few, and last, my favorite wallpapers app, Backdrops Wallpapers.

‍

Q: How do you strike the perfect balance between aesthetics and functionality when designing your home screens?

Daniel Peña: I always try to make sure every element in my home screen is perfectly aligned and spaced out. I always make sure the space between my icons columns and rows follow the same formula as my grid padding space. This makes sure all my elements are spread out evenly with icons and widgets. Also, as I mentioned before, the fine positioning tool is a must in the process of creation.

‍

Q: Where do you draw inspiration from for your designs? And finally, what advice would you give to other creators in the Smart Launcher community who want to follow in your footsteps?

Daniel Peña: Most of the time I try to come out with my own ideas but I also like to see what other people in the customization communities have come up with, to see if somehow I can implement some of those ideas to my home screens as well. There is so much talent out there, so my advice would be to look for sources of inspiration and learn from all those talented creators out there so you can develop your own style. Get familiar with what the launcher offers to you, explore every setting and feature combinations to make your home screens unique, and most importantly enjoy yourself in the process.

‍

‍

‍

We hope you enjoyed learning about Daniel Peña’ creative journey and his unique approach to designing setups with Smart Launcher.

If his work inspired you, you may want to take a look at our official Reddit community, where Zerfos often shares his setups and connects with other Smart Launcher users.

Do you want to be featured on our blog? Share your setups on social media and tag us. We’d love to see your creativity in action!

Keep following the Smart Launcher Blog for more stories, tips, and inspiration!

‍