Smart launcher 5 received a major redesign that truly makes it more modern. The design of the launcher has moved to the bottom the items you usually interact with the most, while it reserves the upper area for information and visual contents.
The new design is based on a unified visual language we created and named Acrylic Design System. It provides a set of styles, components, and guidelines in order to give the user a coherent and consistent experience and interface.
New Features in Smart Launcher 5
Ambient theme
Objects in the real world are never black or white, they reflect colors and adapt to lights. We applied this idea to the Smart Launcher UI and we got a new, more material look and the ability to automatically match the wallpaper in use.
Adaptive icons
The adaptive icon is a new icon format introduced with Android Oreo 8.0.
Smart Launcher 5 has been designed to exploit the advantages of the new format and is the first launcher to introduce Adaptive icon backward compatibility for every device running Android 4.0 or higher! If you’re already running Oreo and you miss the classic not-adaptive icons we have a good news, you can have your old icons back!
Search bar and Search page
We have moved the search bar at the bottom and we have given it a new look fully integrated into the design of the launcher. The search page has been rethought as a starting point for any interaction with the device. The new layout shows more contents and allows to perform some actions like adding a new contact and performing calculations!
New drawer layouts
The new category bar has been moved to the bottom to be closer to your thumb. However, you can choose between 3 different layouts. You can have the category bar on the side, on the bottom or you can disable it for a more “classic” look.
New clock widget
The new built-in clock shows info about the alarm, next event, and weather.
Freeform widget mode
You can now resize and move widgets in the home page without grid snapping for a complete control over your home screen.
Redesigned UI for preferences
Preferences have been restyled and reorganized to be more readable and easy to understand.
New wallpaper picker with backup
The wallpaper picker has been redesigned to show more contents from different picture sources. We included an option to backup your previous wallpaper before trying a new one.
Automatically sort icons by color
Sorting apps by color help both to find icons more easily and to make your app grid look fabulous!
Backup with preview
A short text is often not enough to recognize a specific backup. New backups, created with Smart Launcher 5, include a preview that makes it easier to find the backup you want to restore.
Integrated notification plugin
The notification plugin has been integrated into the launcher and is now more stable and reliable.
Share your home screen
Take a picture of your home screen and share it attaching some info about your set up. We expect to expand this functionality with advanced editing tools in the future.
Read More about Upgrading Your Android Experience With These Best Launchers
