14 DAY TRIAL // If you are one of the lucky ones who managed to grab the first smartphone to be delivered with Android 4.0 on board, the Galaxy Nexus, then you will be happy to know that there’s a new launcher available for download.
The folks over at XDA Developer have just released the Nova Launcher, which is a normal launcher replacement for the Ice Cream Sandwich stock launcher. This means that it can only run on phones with Android 4.0 and up.
There’s no need for root, but the custom launcher must be installed as a system application and the widgets-in-drawer feature will not work.
For the latter to work users will need to root their Galaxy Nexus devices. In return, it will let them have Widgets-in-drawer just like the stock launcher.
Simply manually move the APK to /System or use the NovaLauncherUpdate.zip. Updates are also possible, just like a normal application, but users will need to check the Nova Launcher thread or via application’s “Check for updates” option.
The developer is offering the Nova Launcher for free along with some interesting features, such as:
- Custom grid size (default 5x4 on the Galaxy Nexus);
- User setting for auto-rotate;
- Resize any widget;
- All/New/Downloaded categories in App Drawer;
- Widgets-in-drawer (requires install as a system app) or from system picker;
- Shortcut or resizable information in Widget Drawer;
- Edit App Shortcut icon and label (Supports ADW Icon Packs);
- Wallpaper scrolling options (Disabling scrolling improves performance of live wallpapers);
- Cube desktop effect;
- Various other smaller tweaks/optimizations.
As soon as the installation process finishes, users can access Nova Launcher’s Settings by going to App Drawer / Menu / Nova Settings.
XDA forum member kevin@TeslaCoil, the guy responsible for releasing this amazing custom launcher, confirmed that he had more features planned for a future pro version, which would probably be available for small amount.