Google‘s hotword is really starting to pop up everywhere. Nova Launcher’s major 3.0 release just added it to its list of new features. In it latest beta, Action Launcher is following suit, but it is, of course, doing a lot more than that.
In the next version of Action Launcher, users will be able to launch Google Search in voice mode by simply uttering the magical “OK, Google” phrase from anywhere on the homescreen. Compared to Nova Launcher’s implementation, the requirement is quite steep, working only on devices running Android 4.4 or higher. It also defaults to being disabled and have to be manually turned on.
Another notable feature in this latest beta version is double tap to sleep. This feature actually debuted on the LG G2 back when Knock Code was still Knock Knock and was also limited to using a double tap to wake up the screen. In this version, tapping twice on an empty portion of the homescreen will put the device to sleep. Users have pointed out that, while a cool new feature, this could conflict with live wallpapers like Muzei that did their own thing with the double tap gesture. Developer Chris Lacy replied that he might make Action Launcher turn that feature off by default. The full list of changes can be seen from the screenshot below.
Action Launcher might be free, but this beta version will require users to go through some hoops. Like many beta test versions, interested users and testers will need to join the Google+ community and opt into the beta test, at which point their copy of Action Launcher will be upgraded from 2.0 to 2.1 beta.
SOURCE: +Chris Lacy
