Aussie developer Chris Lacy, has this morning released another update to his hugely popular launcher alternative – Action Launcher. Just as he re-invented the idea of folders with the ‘Covers’ feature in Action Launcher; this time he’s taking on the idea of widgets, launching a unique and quite brilliant take on Widgets called Shutters.
As you can see from this video, if you think about your screen setup and folders you can increase your usable screen real estate multiple times over by using the shutters function. It really only takes a few minutes to get used to swiping to open the widget versus tapping to open the app and when you add this to the existing ‘Covers’ function from previous versions of Action Launcher it leaves little wonder why we here at Ausdroid love Action Launcher.
We reached out to Chris who offered a couple of comments on the new version of Action Launcher and the new shutters function
Shutters do a great job of hiding widgets until you actually need them, yet still allowing you to access them very quickly. You don’t have to scroll to different home screen pages. So long as the app shortcut is on screen, you’re just one swipe away from the widget.
[app]com.chrislacy.actionlauncher.pro[/app]
What launcher do you use, let us know in the comments below
Fantastic launcher – fits Holo better than Stock and I haven’t been able to go back. Don’t think I find shutters very useful (because I might as well tap an app icon instead of swiping it) but a fantastic effort from Chris!
I have been using this as my daily driver for ages now, it only keeps getting better, and especially more stable. I tried going back to stock launcher but I missed the real estate savings. Now I can delete some widgets as well. Too good
Wasn’t really thrilled with the previous version(s), seems to lack too many features I find way too useful.
I’m not trying to compete on features/customizations. Instead, I’m trying to add useful features that make using your device faster and easier.
“The best launcher for Android just got even better!”
Isn’t this really a subjective statement?
This is a really cool feature. Go, Chris! Action Launcher is definitely the most unique launcher out there. I just wish you could press-and-hold applications in the draw to place them on the home screen. One day!
This feature will come eventually 🙂
Awesome! Thanks, Chris. Good to see you make your way over here too 🙂
I tried this out the other week on my S3 and it utterly killed performance.
Action Launcher or the Shutters update?
before the shutters update. Performance was so bad uninstalled and got a refund.
Although I really like the idea of shutters I might rebuy and try it out again.
What device are you running? If you’re on a low end ICS device, I would suggest turning off quicksearch. It’s handy, but naturally it consumes resources.
PointZeroOne, take it from the developer.
Low end ICS device? Serious? Clearly stated he has a GS3 that’s not low end. I also regret purchasing this. Far too unstable. Can’t use a launcher that randomly loses my dock icons. Gnex stock 4.2.2. I didn’t ask for a refund as I like the concept, but these stability issues are horrible
Dude dial back the aggro…. Have never had an issue with his launcher and im running it on quite a few different phones atm. At least Chris is on here and trying to explain and help out, more than a lot of developers are doing anyway