Android 6.0 Marshmallow tip: Launch any app or URL from Quick Settings [Video]

Last week a cool new app was launched which lets any user running Android 6.0 Marshmallow launch apps from their quick settings drop-down menu. I decided to take a look and shoot a quick video showing how to use it, and how — despite it taking a little time to set up — it can save a lot of time in your daily workflow. Check it out below…

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9xjuKaUpSs]

Assuming you already have your developer options switched on in Settings, you need to add the System UI tuner options before launching the app (which you can download for free here).  Activating the System UI tuner allows you to add custom tiles to the drop-down quick settings menu, which is essential to the app’s reason for existence. Once you’ve done that, launch the app and go through the process detailed in the video. It essentially involves naming the custom tiles, then selecting an icon and choosing what you want it to do.

For my own personal use, I chose to have three custom tiles. One launches Wunderlist, one of my most-used productivity apps. A second launches the 9to5Google homepage in my browser and a third opens the calculator. Of course, you can select the apps and web pages you need to visit most often, and quickly. Those are just the examples I chose. If it’s a popular app, the icon should be available too.

What I love about this entire process is there’s no real deep technical knowledge required to get it working. All the hard work has been done for you by the developer. You just need to activate the right option within your settings menu, install an app, follow the instructions and add the tiles you want. It’s pretty simple. If you have a lot of apps in folders, and don’t want handy tools like the calculator, clock or calendar taking up precious home screen space, sticking launch tiles in the drop-down menu could potentially be a huge time saver.