Action Launcher 3, a popular third-party launcher app, has been adding new features from the rumored Pixel launcher quite frequently. Action Launcher 3 has already added most of the features of the Pixel Launcher – which, according to rumors, will come pre-loaded on upcoming Google Pixel phones. Just a few days ago, the app updated to version 3.10.0 and added some more new features based on the upcoming Android 7.1 release, though do keep in mind we’re talking about the beta app here.
The most noticeable feature that this new update has added, is called ‘Quickcuts’. Back in Android Nougat developer preview, Google had added a feature called ‘Launcher Shortcuts’, but it never made its way to the final release of Android Nougat. This new Action Launcher 3 update brings such launcher shortcuts back in the form of Quickcuts. This is a new way to interact with apps, tapping or swiping over the app shows set of actions you can choose from rather than simply launching the main app – to get a more clear idea about how this feature works, check out the video below this post. The launcher shortcuts are expected to make a return in upcoming Android Nougat maintenance update: Android 7.1, so that way, Action Launcher 3 has added that feature even before it exists. Though there are some limitations with this new Quickcuts feature, as of now, it only works with Android devices running version 5.1 or higher, on top of that, not all apps are compatible with this new feature because it requires some kind of support from the app itself to get Quickcuts feature to do its magic.
Apart from Quickcuts functionality, the update also brings in some other features as well. The update now includes an option to use Android 7.1 style round icons – as you might have already seen in Pixel phones renders, which can be activated from the settings. Action Launcher’s developer had already added most of the rumored features of the Pixel Launcher in its previous update, such as All Apps drawer, tinted dock background, caret indicator, Pixel Launcher style two folder options, pill-shaped Google app widge, new date & time widget and more. If you’re already using beta Action Launcher 3, you can now update your app to avail all these new goodies. The update is now live for everyone on the Google Play Store, hit the link below to install it now on your Android device.