Google just released its previously Nexus 5-exclusive "Google Now Launcher" for all stock Android devices. That includes the always-listening-at-least-when-you-are-on-the-homescreen Google Now functionality. You can go grab it on the Play Store.
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Though there’s no official word from Google yet, it looks like the Chrome launcher has come out of developer preview mode and into full release, at least for Windows. On our own PCs, the installation placed the launcher app on the start page, taskbar and desktop for Windows 8 and in Windows 7’s menu bar. From there, you can quickly access Chrome, the Chrome store, Gmail and any other apps that work with Google’s ubiquitous browser / OS. We’re not sure when it’ll hit OS X or Linux (Chrome OS users have had it for awhile), but if your Windows workflow revolves around Mountain View’s myriad products, you can enable it at the source.
[Thanks, Adam]
Filed under: Internet, Software, Google
Source: Chrome Webstore
Facebook Home and the First phone to ship with it on board were revealed just over a month ago, and in the time since, the Home team has been hard at work improving the platform. Today at Facebook HQ we got to check in with Cory Ondrejka, Director of Mobile Engineering and Adam Mosseri, Director of Product to see how Home has been doing since its debut, and to hear what’s in store for Home moving forward.
Thus far, Home’s been installed on almost a million phones, which has given Facebook some clear insight about the ways it needs to be improved. Most complaints thus far have centered on Home’s failings as an app launcher — when you install Home on any phone, it rearranges your apps because there’s no folder support and no app dock. Well, Mosseri and Ondrejka feel your pain and assured us that those two features will be rolling out in the coming months, and they plan to continue to iterate to make Home a robust launcher. Facebook also has plans to roll out a new buddy list feature that’ll show up as an overlay on top of Cover Feed with a simple swipe. This lets users start conversations directly from Cover Feed instead of having to open up the messenger app to start chatting. That’s not all Facebook has in store, however, so join us after the break for more.
While Facebook Home may not be for everyone, it gained some serious traction since its introduction. Today at Facebook HQ, Cory Ondrejka, Director of Mobile Engineering let loose that, in the month since Facebook Home was first released, it’s been downloaded over almost 1 million times. And, the addition of the launcher to those phones is turning out as Facebook had hoped, as the company has seen it drive 25 percent greater engagement (time spent using Home and numbers of comments and likes) with the social network once Home is installed. Naturally, most of those million are early adopters, but Director of Product Adam Mosseri stated that they are seeing the user base shift to “more normal users” with each passing week.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile
Apex can honestly claim to be one of the more popular launchers on Android, with over a million installs and 44,000 ratings over at Google Play. The stock-like skin has just been updated to version 2.0, with the biggest addition being support for Apex Notifier. This feature enables better control over iOS-style notifications on individual app icons, but you’ll have to fork over $3.99 for Apex Launcher Pro to make it work. In the proper spirit of Android, however, you’ll also get to pick which apps get notifications and which don’t, from a list that includes Phone, SMS Messages, Gmail and many others. If you’re getting bored with the stock launcher or just want to hide the cartoonish visage of TouchWiz, hit up the source link to download Apex for yourself.
Update: We amended the post to clarify that version 2.0 brings better control over icon-based notifications, which the Pro version of Apex actually already supported.
Via: Android Police
Source: Apex Launcher (Google Play)
Emblaze’s long-canceled First Else may never come back in its original form, but to our surprise, its futuristic Splay interface has finally been ported to Android! Released as a free beta by the same company, this fan-shaped launcher offers a similar single-hand experience that the ALP device once promised to deliver.
The UI’s main menu has four categories: Phone (call log, contacts and profiles), Diary (email, calendar and messaging), Media (music, video, photos, camera and file manager) and Apps (with seven customizable shortcuts). Upon laying your right thumb onto any of these, a sub-menu expands and you can go one level deeper by dragging your thumb to the left of your desired sub-category, and then let go to toggle the item. Similarly, dragging to the right takes you back to the previous menu, or you can drag to a blank area and let go to jump back to the main menu. All of this is accompanied by slick graphics like before, thanks to the good work by Israeli design house Sugapusher back in the day.
The only downside of this release is that some of the features need serious refining. For instance, the Music Player sub-menu fails to filter out ringtones, and the Video Player sub-menu only managed to load the latest few clips taken with the phone’s camera. We’d also like to see integration with other apps, obviously, but this simple beta will do for now. Check out our hands-on video after the break, and head over to Google Play to grab the free Splay launcher.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile
Via: AddictiveTips
Source: Google Play
Anyone who’s heavily invested in the Mac ecosystem knows Automator, a built-in tool that can string together multiple computing actions without having to know a lick of code. Some of us may want a little more power, or just a different variety of power — which is where the recently launched Alfred 2.0 comes in. Those who buy the £15 ($23) Powerpack can take advantage of Workflows, which relies on an Automator-like concept of linking simple actions to run complicated tasks. They can be more ornate than you’d expect, however: for a start, you can run multiple app-specific tasks in parallel, such as telling Chrome to search YouTube, IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes the moment you type in a movie keyword. It’s equally possible to feed results back to Alfred, launch scripts and trigger notifications (whether Mountain Lion’s or Growl’s), among other feats. Should you demand control that sits just outside of Apple’s boundaries, Alfred is waiting at the source link; anyone who just wants its core launcher functionality can grab the app for free.
Via: The Verge
Source: Alfred
Chromebooks have had the luxury of an app launcher for quite a while, but now Windows users can get in on the action too, provided they download the latest version of Chrome from the browser’s dev channel. In order for the launcher to appear in the taskbar, however, those running the fresh release will need to install a Chrome packaged app — an application written in HTML, CSS and JavaScript that opens outside the browser and works offline by default. Packaged programs aren’t searchable on the Chrome Web Store just yet, but folks can code their own or head to the Chromium Blog for a pair of software suggestions. Linux and Mac OS X are penciled in to receive the launcher soon via the dev channel, but there’s no word on when it might find its way into a mainstream release of Chrome. Ready to take the feature for a spin? Hit the source link to let Mountain View point you in the right direction.
Filed under: Google
Source: Chromium Blog
It’s not every day that we cover launchers of any kind, but when we heard the Kickstarter-funded Chameleon had been updated to version 1.1, we thought those of you who have supported the project since its early days would be happy to hear the news. And while the refresh itself doesn’t bring many changes, it does include the long-awaited support for stock Android widgets — not to mention a few welcomed improvements to the current Twitter, Google Calendar and YouTube homescreen-living apparatuses. Naturally, these will go hand to hand with those tweaks announced less than a month ago in version 1.0 of the tablet launcher. There’s a video courtesy of Chameleon situated down below — in case you’re interested in seeing what all the fuss is about before you download the Android commodities.
Continue reading Chameleon Android launcher hits version 1.1, adds support for native widgets
Filed under: Tablets, Software
Chameleon Android launcher hits version 1.1, adds support for native widgets originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 16:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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After a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign (twice) and a month or so beta period, the highly anticipated Chameleon launcher is finally available for Android tablets. In case you were at your summer home and out of reach, check out our Insert Coin post concerning this home screen replacement that promises a dynamic environment, capable of responding to its user’s location, connection or time of day. Its claim to fame are some slick HTML5-powered widgets, and the developer API site has also been updated to help third party sources become a part of the action. Even at 1.0 there are still some rough edges and the team’s blog post mentions problems with the Gmail, Google+ and calendar widgets as known issues. Pre-orderers and Kickstarter backers can keep the beta app they’ve been using as it will continue to be updated and tied to their Google Play profiles, while those who were or are still on the fence should check out a video preview embedded after the break. If you opt to buy, it’s in the store ready to roll on tablets running 3.2 and above for $10.26.
Continue reading Chameleon Launcher for Tablets v1.0 available on Google Play for $10 (video)
Filed under: Tablets, Software
Chameleon Launcher for Tablets v1.0 available on Google Play for $10 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 18:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Chameleon Launcher blog, Chameleon Dev, Google Play | Email this | Comments
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