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Nova Launcher’s latest beta adds support for Android Oreo’s adaptive icons

One of the lesser-known features in Android Oreo is the ability to customize the shape of icons on your launcher. This feature is something we’ve seen in some launchers and icon packs, but Oreo’s implementation uses officially supported APIs to do this a bit more reliably. Now, fan-favorite Nova Launcher is adding support.


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Sesame Shortcuts brings Nougat’s app shortcuts to older devices [Video]

Android 7.1 Nougat’s long-press contextual app shortcuts have become surprisingly popular, but users on older devices don’t get to enjoy the convenient feature — at least, not without third-party launchers.

Developers behind launchers like Nova and have worked to bring app shortcuts to older versions of Android, but most apps still get linked to a generic list of shortcuts for home screen management. With the help of Sesame Shortcuts, that’s all about to change.


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Nova Launcher’s Google Now integration now works on Lollipop devices

Just last week the talented developers behind Nova Launcher finally solved one of the biggest pain points of almost every third-party launcher by including native Google Now integration. The feature is clean and works great, but it does involve a bit of a workaround to activate. Now, the availability of that feature is expanding to older versions of the OS.


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Which third-party launcher do you want to have native access to Google Now? [Poll]

Custom launchers are one of the best ways that users can take full advantage of Android’s open ecosystem. Without having to modify their smartphones, users can simply install a third-party launcher and change up the look of their device. Today, Nova Launcher received an update which makes it even better with native Google Now built-in. What other launchers should have this functionality?


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Hands-on with native Google Now integration in Nova Launcher [Video]

Google Now Launcher has long been one of the only ways to access your Google Now feed directly from the home screen, thanks to a rule restricting apps on the Play Store from using the service’s API. It’s kept third-party launchers from tapping into the service (and consequently led to slow and clunky solutions like swiping gestures to launch the Google app), but not all developers can be stopped so easily.


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Nova Launcher now has true Google Now integration, here’s how to enable it

Google Now is a powerful tool, but it only really proves its worth when it can be easily accessed. Now that Google Assistant has taken the place of Now on a long-press of the home button, having Now integrated into the launcher is your best bet. Google’s official launchers used to be the only ways to do that, but starting today one of the biggest third-party launchers is changing that…


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Nova Launcher adds Android O’s notification dots in latest beta update

Back at I/O 2017, Google released an updated version of the Android O Developer Preview. With it came some small graphical changes including the addition of notification dots that appear on top of an app. Now, Nova Launcher has brought these dots to its 3rd-party launcher, making this feature available to all versions of Android…


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These are the four best alternatives to the Google Now Launcher

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One of Android’s greatest strengths is the ability to customize the experience in essentially any way you would like. One of the easiest, though, is with a custom launcher. A favorite for many over the past few years has been Google’s own Google Now Launcher, however, the company has recently revealed that the launcher won’t be around too much longer, leaving many fans with no immediate alternative.


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How to add a Google Now gesture to Nova Launcher

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With the death of the Google Now Launcher just weeks away, many are looking for alternate options. Thankfully, there are several great ones available. However, there’s not a single launcher on Google Play that can truly replicate the Google Now Launcher’s best feature – a left swipe for Google Now. So, here’s how to add a Google Now gesture to Nova Launcher.


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Nova Launcher is now 5 years old with a major update to version 5.0 to celebrate

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Third-party launchers are a unique perk of the Android platform, making it easy for users to have complete control over their homescreen without much work. There are several popular options, but one of the best, and likely the most popular, has been Nova Launcher. Today, Nova is 5 years old, and there’s a big update available to celebrate.


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Android Basics: How to install and switch between third-party launchers

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One of the most-used customization features in Android is the ability to change your device’s launcher. This allows you to customize the look and feel of your home screen, app icons, as well as functionality of the app drawer and folders on your device. This comes especially in handy when you don’t like your device’s customized skin — like TouchWiz on Samsung devices or EMUI on Huawei devices…


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