Horizon Launcher Versions: Keeping More Than One Build on the Shelf

Most launchers hide their version management; this one makes it a page. The Versions page in the build from Horizon Launcher official site lets you install, remove, prepare and switch builds like books on a shelf. This guide shows how to run a two build setup and why you would want one.

What the Versions page actually does

Each build the launcher manages is installed, prepared and updated independently. Installing a build does not disturb the others, and removing one frees its space without touching your worlds, which live in the vanilla save format outside any single build.

The launcher also keeps itself current the same way, with self updates, so the shelf you learn today is the shelf that greets you after every update. Version management being boring is the feature: surprises here would be bugs.

The two build setup we recommend

Keep the current build as your daily driver and one earlier build as your archive shelf. The current build gets new worlds and daily play; the archive build keeps the exact environment a long running world was built in, ready whenever nostalgia or a mod combination calls.

Switching is a launcher visit, not a reinstall. Pick the build, let any pending preparation finish, press Play. the update guide explains how updates behave inside this setup, including why you should always update in place.

Updating in place, never uninstalling

When a build offers an update, accept it in place. The launcher prepares what changed and your settings, worlds and content mods carry across, because none of them live inside the replaced files.

Uninstalling first is the one habit that causes real losses in every launcher ecosystem, this one included. If storage forces a removal, remove an old build from the Versions page rather than the app from Android settings. the fixes guide covers the rare cases where a build itself misbehaves after an update.

Storage honesty for multi build shelves

Every installed build carries its prepared resources, so a shelf of builds costs real gigabytes. That is the honest price of instant switching, and the Versions page makes the trade visible instead of hiding it in a cache you cannot manage.

Prune with intent: daily build, one archive build, and anything else only while a specific world needs it. A small, understood shelf beats a hoard you are afraid to tidy.

When you are ready to set it up yourself, the file is waiting on the Horizon Launcher download page, with the same short countdown and the build choices explained before the button appears.

Tested on our own Android phones with the current build, like every guide on this site. If a step behaves differently on your device, tell us through the contact page and the guide gets corrected, not defended.