If you remember the guy who gave us the Pixel Launcher that was usable for most devices without needing root, well we remember him too – being a boon to all of us who wanted to use the Pixel Launcher on other devices. Now he’s back with an update to the original app, now getting Oreo features from the Android 8.0 AOSP build that was released when the new Android version was announced.
Developer “AmirZ” first came to the spotlight when he released a Pixel Launcher app that was actually usable for devices that didn’t have root access. This means that you didn’t have to be rooted to enjoy using the launcher that was exclusively for Pixel phones. Now the developer has worked tirelessly “non-stop for the past few days” to dip into the feature base of the new Pixel Launcher with Android Oreo.
And it is here. After a few trial runs, version 2.1 of the Rootless Pixel Launcher is out, and it brings with it some Oreo features, as well as some features that the developer thought would be nice to have:
Pixel Launcher (Oreo) features added to Launcher3:
– QSB with transparent rectangle, Google Pill and Date/Weather
– Different colors of notification dots
– Filter Google Wallpapers and Voice Search from the apps list
– Use Google Wallpapers to select a wallpaper when available
– Device profiles, margins, icon counts
– Disabled partner customization like Motorola’s 4 columns
– Google Now feed on the left of the normal workspace
– Google Calendar app icon with the date
Developer additions on top of the basic Pixel Launcher features:
– On popular request for the Nougat version: Pull down for notifications
– Oreo theme backported to older OS versions with Pixel Blue accent colour
– Notification dots backported to Marshmallow
– Automatically prompts for notification access so you won’t have to dig through settings menus
– Fix Android 8 checks so Nexus devices can use all new features
– Show icon shapes on Android 8 without developer settings enabled
– Pressing the date widget opens the default calendar app
– Keyboard properly closes when returning to the home screen from any app
– Symmetrical hotseat
– Filter Google Now Launcher from the apps list
– Pinch to overview
– Samsung Secure Folder compatibility
– Backport of circle icons
So download the APK installer now at the developer’s GitHub repository, and try the launcher for yourself. Then tell us what you think of it.
SOURCE: Reddit
