Newsletter 
LauncherPro is based on the stock Android 2.0 Launcher. All the base code comes from it, and all of LauncherPro’s features were added on top of it. Launcher pro points out that the problem is that the 2.0 stock Launcher wasn’t coded to have 7 homescreens, or a lot of the features that exist today in LauncherPro. That means that many features in LauncherPro are a bit hacky code-wise. The stock Launcher’s code isn’t very flexible either, so in order to implement some of the features that need to be implemented some major changes need to be made to the code.
LauncherPro has announced that Instead of keeping on adding stuff on top of the stock Launcher, they have decided to do something more radical. A few days ago, they started rewriting LauncherPro from scratch. That is, starting with a totally blank canvas, and building it with LauncherPro’s feature set in mind.
They have said that this move will provide:
- Improved speed
- Reduced memory usage, which means fewer force-closes and possibly allow us to have up to 9 homescreens
- Increased flexibility. I’m coding everything to make it as flexible as possible, which will allow LauncherPro to better adapt to new device form factors, such as tablets.
- Cleaner code that I’ll know inside and out. That means that adding new features can be implemented faster since I’ll know every single line of code in LauncherPro.
- Rewriting the app will give me the opportunity to fix the little bugs that haven’t been addressed yet, and to improve parts of the code that could use some improvement.
The current LauncherPro will continue to get updates while they work on the new code. Perhaps a bit less frequently. Rewriting the entire app from scratch is a huge undertaking, but it will definitely be worth it in the end.
Also you won’t have to pay again to get the Plus features if you have already done so. The new rewritten LauncherPro will simply replace the current one.
Also a side note that was also mentioned is that they are working on an update for the current LauncherPro, which will bring a new feature for Plus users, some bugfixes, and more that should be out in the next couple of days. I am personally glad of this change to combat some of the other launchers since I am a Plus user and look forward to this. I definitely recommend this launcher to anyone.
