Action Launcher has just received its first beta for version 28 – which will likely become stable in the next month or so. And there are quite a few changes coming in this beta. Including Adaptive Icons support, like what Google has added in Android Oreo. The developer of Action Launcher, Chris Lacy stated in his blog post that there are 5 different Adaptive Icon styles that users are able to choose from. These include circle, square, rounded square, teardrop and squircle. Adaptive Icons has also made its way into Quickedit, so that users can quickly see which shape they want to use for that particular icon – this means that you don’t need to stick with the same shaped icon as the rest of your app drawer.
Those are really the two big changes in this beta, and while they may seem small on the surface, and something that you may not even use, it is actually a big change behind the scenes and allows the user to have a bit more customization power. Some of the other enhancements include using a light navigation bar, and general improved compatibility when running on a device that has Android Oreo. Action Launcher also uses an Adaptive Icon itself. So that it’ll fit right in with the other icons on your device. Lacy also mentioned in his blog post that he is working on supporting Android Oreo’s widget pinning, and it should hopefully be in the beta channel soon. He didn’t give a specific time (like the next beta or one after that), and that’s how developers usually do it as these things can change.
This version of Action Launcher is a beta, so you will need to opt into the beta to start using it, just as you’d expect. It’s not part of the stable channel just yet, and that is because it is beta and there could be quite a few bugs or other issues with the launcher, so it’s not fit for everyone to be using on their smartphone at this time – but it will be rather soon. You can download Action Launcher from the Google Play Store.