Google officially released Android Oreo a week ago, and it’s known that non-Google smartphones generally get the update to the latest Android version weeks or months later. The Nexus and Pixel lineups get priority for the latest updates. While some Android phones are still under-process to receive the update, the new OS iteration has already started rolling out for the Pixel and Nexus devices.
With the latest Android update, there have been a few enhancements to the Pixel Launcher. Thanks to the folks at XDA Developers a modified Pixel Launcher updated with Android Oreo features is now available for non-Pixel users as well.
Back in June, AmirZ and DeleteScape created a modified Pixel Launcher APK that allowed the Google Now pane, and other Pixel-exclusive features to work on any Android device, without needing to root the device or use a mod.
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The modified Pixel Launcher APK has now hit version 2.1, and it brings a ton of improvements such as colored notifications dots, ability to swipe down for notification panel from anywhere on the screen, and the ability to change system icon shapes without having to turn on developer options. There are improvements such as the appearance of current data on Google Calendar app icon, pinch to overview, and pressing the date widget opens the default calendar app, among others.
Besides these, there are a lot of additional work added into this release, which include:
Pull down for notifications
Oreo theme backported to older OS versions with Pixel Blue accent colour
Notification dots backported to Marshmallow
Automatically prompts for notification access so you won’t have to dig through settings menus
Fix Android 8 checks so Nexus devices can use all new features
Show icon shapes on Android 8 without developer settings enabled
Pressing the date widget opens the default calendar app
Keyboard properly closes when returning to the home screen from any app
Symmetrical hotseat
Filter Google Now Launcher from the apps list
Pinch to overview
Samsung Secure Folder compatibility
Backport of circle icons
Similar to the previous version of the modified Pixel Launcher released in June, this one too has been built using the Android Open Source Project’s Launcher3, modified by the developer. In order to get this port on your device, ensure you don’t have the laucher already installed. If you try to install this package over the Pixel Launcher, you’ll get a corrupt package error. This is because this port uses the same package name as the original Pixel Launcher and that was done in order to get the weather widget to work properly.
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