A few hours ago, LlabTooFeR tweeted out some screenshots of the launcher formerly known as the Nexus Launcher. On the surface, the Pixel Launcher looks nearly identical to the Nexus Launcher, save for an icon change and a version number change; however, we have a post in the works on some new integration between the Google Calendar icon in the app drawer and Pixel Launcher.

The Pixel Launcher solidifies our beliefs that Google's smartphones will be called the Pixel and Pixel XL this year. In addition, its version number of 7.1-3231428 indicates again that it's very likely the aforementioned Pixel devices will ship with 7.1 Nougat.

After LlabTooFeR's attempt to share the files on his own site failed due to immense amounts of traffic, he began hosting them on MEGA. If you'd like to give the Pixel Launcher a shot, here's a download link:

• Pixel Launcher (MEGA)

The zip above contains both the Pixel Launcher and the Wallpaper picker APKs. Unzip them, then install through a file manager.

Note: If you want the Google Now launcher pane to work, you'll have to install the launcher APK to /system (mount the /system partition r/w and copy, or wait for a flashable zip). If you've already previously done this to the Nexus Launcher, then all you need to do now is install the Pixel Launcher APK as an update - no need to mess with /system again.

Here are the mirrors of the individual APKs:

• Pixel Launcher-7.1-3231428.apk
• Wallpapers-wallpaper_20160809_RC01.apk

Source: LlabTooFeR