Action Launcher gets a huge update with new icon, more free features, animated clock icon, and more

Android Police

By Ryan Whitwam

Published Jun 23, 2017

Action Launcher 3 is getting a significant makeover, starting with the name. No more will it be known as Action Launcher 3—now it's just Action Launcher. You'll notice a lot of changes this time, some large and some small. Even free users will get a nice surprise when they grab the new update. And if you're still salty about paying for the Action Launcher 3 upgrade, you have recourse now.

Here's the changelog for Action Launcher's June 2017 update.

NEW: Action Launcher 3 has been renamed to Action Launcher, and has a shiny new icon to prove it!
NEW: Use an animating, Android O-style clock icon for the Google Clock app (requires Lollipop or later). This animating clock is also available as a standalone widget.
NEW: By default, all new installs of Action Launcher will use Pixel Launcher style All Apps, folders and everything in between.
NEW: Many Pixel Launcher features that previously required Plus are now free for all users. Furthermore, the app is now far less aggressive in prompting users to upgrade to Plus.
NEW: Full integration of Pixel Launcher's UI styling for displaying App Shortcuts (previously known as Quickcuts). App Shortcuts display when long pressing an icon from either the desktop or All Apps list.
NEW: App Shortcuts can be used in combination with Shutters and Covers.
NEW: App Shortcuts can be dragged and placed as shortcuts on a home screen.
NEW: Revamped appearance of the icon indicators for Covers, Shutters and App Shortcuts.
NEW: Smartsize icon resizing is no longer a beta feature, and is enabled by default for all Plus users.
NEW: Add animated caret indicator when opening/close Pixel style All Apps.
NEW: Custom system fonts are correctly applied to labels on the desktop.
NEW: The horizontal screen margin can be adjusted (via Desktop settings, phones only).
IMPROVEMENT: Lots of polish to ensure the app's look and feel mimics that of Pixel Launcher. Notable areas of focus include the padding of All Apps drawer and folder appearance.
IMPROVEMENT: Optimizations to memory, battery usage and scrolling performance.
IMPROVEMENT: Order the date and month displays on the date widget is correctly localized.
IMPROVEMENT: The screen edge shadow no longer displays at the bottom of the screen when using a tinted dock.
IMPROVEMENT: On first boot, the home screen animates smoothly on screen rather than having shortcuts snap on.
IMPROVEMENT: Update translations.
BUG FIX: Remove stutter first time All Apps drawer is opened.
BUG FIX: Open folders display a shadow.
BUG FIX: Fix aliasing on the icons of the first 3-4 shortcuts in a folder.
BUG FIX: Improved support for tall devices like the S8 and G6.
BUG FIX: Notification panel shortcut works on Galaxy S8.
BUG FIX: Fix issue where removing the last shortcut from a Home screen page would sometimes also fail to also remove the now empty Home screen.
BUG FIX: Fix issue where items could appear on the Quickbar multiple times.
BUG FIX: Improve detection of App Shortcuts on pre-Android 7.1 devices.
FIX: Misc. stability fixes.

Developer Chris Lacy reports he spotted an interesting tweak to the Pixel Launcher on Android O, and he's ported it to Action Launcher. The Google Clock icon is actually animated—it's got a second hand and everything. The app icon and logo have been revamped as well. So, that's fun. As for more useful features, all the Pixel Launcher styling options are now included in the free version of Action Launcher. That's also the default style when you install Action launcher now. Some of the upgrade nags have been removed as well.

The app shortcuts (previously known as Quickcuts in Action Launcher) are now in proper Google Pixel styling, and they work alongside Covers and Shutters. The icon indicators for these features are different in this version, too.

The new version of Action Launcher is live in the Play Store. If you bought Action Launcher 2 and upgraded to the paid version of AL3, Chris Lacy is doing you a solid. Anyone who is still irked about paying for the upgrade can contact him using the Gmail account that purchased both versions, and you'll get a refund for your Action Launcher 2 purchase. In related news, the listing for Action Launcher 2 will be removed from the Play Store soon.