14 DAY TRIAL // Popular homescreen replacement application for Android devices, LauncherPro has just been updated to 0.8.4 and is now available as a free download from Softpedia.
Furthermore, the paid version of the application, LauncherPro Plus can be purchased from Android Market for $2.99.
Unfortunately, the new terms and conditions of the Android Market do not allow developers to sell their apps outside the Android Market, thus the LauncherPro Plus will no longer be up for orders through PayPal from the developer's website.
LauncherPro 0.8.4 brings several Gingerbread fixes and improvements such as the 3D app drawer. Also, other tweaks have been included that provide better graphics performance.
Additionally, the update adds new homescreen transition effects like “Flip” and “Rotate 2”. For those who are familiar with the application, the old “Flip” effect is now named “Flip 2”.
New features have been included with the paid version too. Log in for the Facebook widget is now handled through the official Facebook app if/when this is available. This feature was introduced for users with low DPI devices who usually have trouble with the log in process.
The developer also fixed issues with the Twitter API backend that some people experienced when they tried to change their status.
A new Gmail widget is now available for LauncherPro Plus. Users with multiple Gmail accounts will be able to add a widget for each of them.
Even though the new widget is not as full-featured as the official application, it appears to be enough for most users. The widget features the developer's own internal viewer and not the standard Gmail viewer, as third-party apps are not allowed to open the 'conversation' part of the Gmail app directly.
As a side note, the developer is expected to release a completely rewritten LauncherPro application in the near future, which will be available for download from Android Market.