3 Third-Party Pixel Launchers That Are As Good As the Real Thing

Anil Ganti
Google Pixel mid range coming soon

The Pixel launcher, like the name indicates, is available on the Pixel range of devices. However, the APK is freely available and can be installed on a variety of devices. The only problem with it is that the Google feed panel on the leftmost screen does not work if the launcher has been installed on an unsupported device. Here are three variants of the Pixel launcher that address the issue and make your home screen more Pixel-like.

Rootless Pixel 2 Launcher by paphonb

image courtesy XDA developers

The standout feature of the Rootless Pixel Launcher by XDA user papahonb is the redesigned Google search bar that is expected to launch with the Pixel 3. It looks like the search bar on the Pixel 2, for the most part, and the only difference between the two is a break between the edge of the bar and the mic icon. The launcher can be downloaded via this link and should work with any device running Android Nougat 7.0 or above. You can also post any bugs you encounter in the same thread.

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Rootless Pixel Launcher 3.4 by AmirZ

Pixel Launcher

XDA user AmirZ was one of the first people to port the complete Pixel launcher to other devices and has been tirelessly working on getting new features to the launcher. The latest version 3.4  of the Rootless Pixel Launcher 3.4 has a big list of bug fixes. Notably, the version update brings big tablet screen support with bigger icons and a search bar. It can even be run on relatively large tablets such as the using the Pixel C. Additionally, Android for Work is now supported which enables app hiding, enabling or disabling icon packs, and app search.

Do note that recent versions of the Google app have been breaking random features such as the Google feed. The developer recommends the users to get the 7.22 stable release. Some newly released Huawei phones seem to crash on launch when the user hasn’t given storage permissions to the launcher. If this happens, users are advised to grant permissions manually by heading into settings. You can find out more about it in this Reddit thread.

Android Go-optimized Pixel Launcher

Finally, if you're looking for a less resource-heavy launcher, the Android Go-optimized Pixel launcher is the one for you. It has been developed by the same developer we mentioned above and has a desktop gridlocked at 4×4, disables widget support, and notification dots. Apart from that, all of the other features are present including the Google Feed panel, At A Glance widget, changing the icon shape, and home screen rotation. There’s also the ability to change the icon pack which isn’t present in the stock version of the launcher. The launcher also uses 33 percent less RAM than the Pixel launcher and is ideal for low-end devices that don't don't have a lot of RAM to work. You can download it from this link.

News Source: XDA developers

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