[APP][5.0+] GCA Launcher
- Thread starter Nx Biotic
- Start date
GCA Launchers new notification system has been reworked in V2.1
The new system is smoother, no more lag, prioritized notifications, real time badging and more. The Notification sheet will show prioritized app notifications while the app sheets will show any notification regarding an app. Badges will appear and dismiss based on what is viewed and dismissed from your statusbar or the launcher. Badges will behave differently based on the OS your using. Best results are after android 6. Dynamic badge support is improving as i keep tinkering with it but how the launcher manages notifications is evolving every day
The new system is smoother, no more lag, prioritized notifications, real time badging and more. The Notification sheet will show prioritized app notifications while the app sheets will show any notification regarding an app. Badges will appear and dismiss based on what is viewed and dismissed from your statusbar or the launcher. Badges will behave differently based on the OS your using. Best results are after android 6. Dynamic badge support is improving as i keep tinkering with it but how the launcher manages notifications is evolving every day
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Il be rewriting the OP when i begin the GCA Launcher 2 insider builds (which will be soon) to talk about the many changes going into place, what to expect during testing and the future of development.
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Alrighty, now ive got a break from the weekend, i can go into some more details of this "Insider Preview"
This preview is designed for my users to be able to test and communicate back with me during the development of our next major update. The insider preview can be downloaded from my blog "details in OP" and than installed by the user. The package has a private ota system so you don't need to worry about returning for updates. The actual release will be launched on Google Play when the majority of our current issues have been resolved.
During lockdown, i had put together a list of goals and accomplishments for GCA Launcher and where i wanted to be for the rest of the year. This lead to premium features, in app products, in depth customization, support for android 11 and now android 12, back porting back to Android 5 as much as possible and introduce some next generation launcher expectations we would see fit nicely into GCA Launcher.
GCA Launcher is still the Single Screen Launcher we've known from launch but what it can do now is a window of great possibilities and opening more doors to its future.
What's New in the Insider Preview
-A revised launcher settings inspired by my pixel launcher mod, Sapphyx. The minibar on the left can be pulled out to expand the navbar category settings. Suggestions will now appear in the navbar header. A private ota updater system implemented in the general settings.
-A new color scheme theme engine inspired by V1 will now theme the settings interface, menus and sheets that don't rely on a color extraction.
-New bubble preferences that point the user to tips or important settings.
-A brand new interface for icon personalization with real time preview (icon scaling, text shadow, gca shape override, label editing and more)
-New notification badge options allowing users to use Expandable Dots, Badge Counts, Underlining and New Dynamic Badges similar to nova launcher.
-Revised adaptive splash screens that will be improved later in development.
-People Lock that allows users to lock apps in the launcher.
-New and improved notification system that creates badges in real time. This also led to the brand new Notification Launcher sheet that allows users to see your snoozed and active notifications from your statusbar. Clicking them will take you to that action. App sheets will now show respective notifications similar to pixel launcher popups.
-App Icons now render in better quality. I am working on an improved database for oreo+ users.
-App icons now can be edited in a new window that also allows users to choose icons from installed icon packs
-Apps now have a popup bubble for immediate actions. Clicking the hamburger icon will expand the App Sheet which shows all the shortcuts, system actions and notifications available.
-The homescreen interface was upgraded to a new swipe able interface. The Shelf can be expanded to show the app drawer. Pulling down the app drawer will show a gesture based actionbar. Pull down and swipe to an action.
-Companion shell development has started but not finished (we will continue development once the launcher is stable)
-Shelf app favorites can be edited by selecting the favorite action from the popup menu.
-Respective launcher home button and back button presses implemented.
-Stausbar and Navbar styles update based on wallpaper used by device.
And more to come.
Our focus right now is fixing what is currently implemented and than focus on the new. Improve on what we currently have as well
This preview is designed for my users to be able to test and communicate back with me during the development of our next major update. The insider preview can be downloaded from my blog "details in OP" and than installed by the user. The package has a private ota system so you don't need to worry about returning for updates. The actual release will be launched on Google Play when the majority of our current issues have been resolved.
During lockdown, i had put together a list of goals and accomplishments for GCA Launcher and where i wanted to be for the rest of the year. This lead to premium features, in app products, in depth customization, support for android 11 and now android 12, back porting back to Android 5 as much as possible and introduce some next generation launcher expectations we would see fit nicely into GCA Launcher.
GCA Launcher is still the Single Screen Launcher we've known from launch but what it can do now is a window of great possibilities and opening more doors to its future.
What's New in the Insider Preview
-A revised launcher settings inspired by my pixel launcher mod, Sapphyx. The minibar on the left can be pulled out to expand the navbar category settings. Suggestions will now appear in the navbar header. A private ota updater system implemented in the general settings.
-A new color scheme theme engine inspired by V1 will now theme the settings interface, menus and sheets that don't rely on a color extraction.
-New bubble preferences that point the user to tips or important settings.
-A brand new interface for icon personalization with real time preview (icon scaling, text shadow, gca shape override, label editing and more)
-New notification badge options allowing users to use Expandable Dots, Badge Counts, Underlining and New Dynamic Badges similar to nova launcher.
-Revised adaptive splash screens that will be improved later in development.
-People Lock that allows users to lock apps in the launcher.
-New and improved notification system that creates badges in real time. This also led to the brand new Notification Launcher sheet that allows users to see your snoozed and active notifications from your statusbar. Clicking them will take you to that action. App sheets will now show respective notifications similar to pixel launcher popups.
-App Icons now render in better quality. I am working on an improved database for oreo+ users.
-App icons now can be edited in a new window that also allows users to choose icons from installed icon packs
-Apps now have a popup bubble for immediate actions. Clicking the hamburger icon will expand the App Sheet which shows all the shortcuts, system actions and notifications available.
-The homescreen interface was upgraded to a new swipe able interface. The Shelf can be expanded to show the app drawer. Pulling down the app drawer will show a gesture based actionbar. Pull down and swipe to an action.
-Companion shell development has started but not finished (we will continue development once the launcher is stable)
-Shelf app favorites can be edited by selecting the favorite action from the popup menu.
-Respective launcher home button and back button presses implemented.
-Stausbar and Navbar styles update based on wallpaper used by device.
And more to come.
Our focus right now is fixing what is currently implemented and than focus on the new. Improve on what we currently have as well
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Had some hardware issues this week. My laptop took a fall from my child so i had to order a new laptop (wasn't apart of my budget) and will have to reset up my build environment. Data is recovered so nothing was lost.
A few things will be changing in the next build for the insiders preview making things more streamlined. There are some major ui errors with android 12 in the launcher settings and im aware. Not a big priority at the moment but the time will come.
Thank you for those communicating in the telegram channel. Gives me a good idea of how large the user base is
A few things will be changing in the next build for the insiders preview making things more streamlined. There are some major ui errors with android 12 in the launcher settings and im aware. Not a big priority at the moment but the time will come.
Thank you for those communicating in the telegram channel. Gives me a good idea of how large the user base is
Next insider update will be focused on a few GUI problems users have discovered.
-while using a fully transparent color, the expanded shelf or app drawer would become an unreadable black style, this will be fixed by falling back to a default transparent white. This effects the swipe actionbar
-the arrow on the popup menu has been corrected to center on the focused app.
-fixes to dynamic badges
-WIP the new expandable minibar in the launcher settings will be revamped with a material 2 deaign interface. It was just executed poorly and will be revised.
This update should drop by the end of the week.
-while using a fully transparent color, the expanded shelf or app drawer would become an unreadable black style, this will be fixed by falling back to a default transparent white. This effects the swipe actionbar
-the arrow on the popup menu has been corrected to center on the focused app.
-fixes to dynamic badges
-WIP the new expandable minibar in the launcher settings will be revamped with a material 2 deaign interface. It was just executed poorly and will be revised.
This update should drop by the end of the week.
The telegram channel now offers what i would consider a pre beta build. These builds are to prep for a Google play release and to test some final implementations, especially the add on store.
I've been focusing on GCA's built in theme manager that listens to wallpaper color changes. As your homescreen becomes darker or brighter, your navbar and Statusbar styles change. This is also in coordination with the launchers color schemes that allow the user to theme the settings activity and menus.
Changes under the hood preping for icon pack changes and widget changes and prepping for android 11/12
Because of the Google Playstore update and security changes, im pushing to have this update available soon. Some things will be delayed but itl come in due time.
I've been focusing on GCA's built in theme manager that listens to wallpaper color changes. As your homescreen becomes darker or brighter, your navbar and Statusbar styles change. This is also in coordination with the launchers color schemes that allow the user to theme the settings activity and menus.
Changes under the hood preping for icon pack changes and widget changes and prepping for android 11/12
Because of the Google Playstore update and security changes, im pushing to have this update available soon. Some things will be delayed but itl come in due time.
Update on development
Everything is on time but a few things will be delayed due to development or available resources on launch.
GCA Launcher 2 is expected to launch on Google play hopefully in May but the Companion feature and global language (translation) will be delayed till later in the year. We are experiencing some issues currently with Android 11 and 12 regarding the statusbar properly theming itself against the wallpaper colors and menus transitioning in and out but everything else is on point.
Ive started working on a revised introduction activity which will help you get all setup or just allow you to skip everything and jump in the launcher solo. Ive been pushing the icon database alittle further than what i wanted for launch to include custom images for icons. Not there yet but i have a feeling itl be a success story soon.
The new add on store is almost functional, i have to get all the products in the system and tie them to the database which will be a chore. A few users have had problems testing it and it will have a huge disadvantage to users who don't have google services installed so i will have to look at a fallback in the future. I want the launcher to be enjoyable for all and not be locked to certain situations.
Android Go should certainly still be supported, just may not meet memory standards.
Again, a test build of the latest release is available on the telegram channel. Im looking forward to a release soon.
Everything is on time but a few things will be delayed due to development or available resources on launch.
GCA Launcher 2 is expected to launch on Google play hopefully in May but the Companion feature and global language (translation) will be delayed till later in the year. We are experiencing some issues currently with Android 11 and 12 regarding the statusbar properly theming itself against the wallpaper colors and menus transitioning in and out but everything else is on point.
Ive started working on a revised introduction activity which will help you get all setup or just allow you to skip everything and jump in the launcher solo. Ive been pushing the icon database alittle further than what i wanted for launch to include custom images for icons. Not there yet but i have a feeling itl be a success story soon.
The new add on store is almost functional, i have to get all the products in the system and tie them to the database which will be a chore. A few users have had problems testing it and it will have a huge disadvantage to users who don't have google services installed so i will have to look at a fallback in the future. I want the launcher to be enjoyable for all and not be locked to certain situations.
Android Go should certainly still be supported, just may not meet memory standards.
Again, a test build of the latest release is available on the telegram channel. Im looking forward to a release soon.
Successfully imbedded gallery icon support in GCA's new icon database. This will allow users to use images from their gallery to create icons using tools from GCA.
This will be available to test in this weekends insider preview.
This will be available to test in this weekends insider preview.
A preview of how pro features will be handled in GCA Launcher 2. In this day and age, one premium key is not enough to fund a project that may last several years. Pro features will be sold separately or bundled for certain circumstances. Its a scary transition but i believe its the future of launcher development. Either subscriptions or separated add ons are needed to fuel a several year project.
Everything is on track to publish GCA 2 this month. Im currently testing with the telegram group an Insider build that test add on support.
A few things delaying release right now is android 11/12 bugs, notification reflection data for badges and sheets and some icon issues im trying to sort out (specifically for miui or any firmware that themes an icon mask to anything other than circle) that interfere with GCAs updated icon database.
I will be updating the OP with links and videos once were ready to rock.
A few things delaying release right now is android 11/12 bugs, notification reflection data for badges and sheets and some icon issues im trying to sort out (specifically for miui or any firmware that themes an icon mask to anything other than circle) that interfere with GCAs updated icon database.
I will be updating the OP with links and videos once were ready to rock.
A preview of GCA Launcher's newly revamped adaptive splash screens. Inspired by Android 12 and Action Launcher.
These splash screens can be customized to your liking. Gradient or solid background color (system theme or icon color), Animated title or no title,custom icon, stock icon or adaptive icon foreground icon(more successful past android oreo) (uses some backported code from lawnchair to achieve this on older systems, adaptive icon packs supported) and an animated entry (will be customizeable later down the road)
GCA Launcher 2 Insider Preview is live on Google Play via beta signup. I will continue insider previews until im satisfied with the experience and everyone else is. Il update the OP when i get some time with general info and how tos.
OP has been updated with links of how to sign up for GCA Launcher 2 Insider Preview, enjoy! Il keep tabs on the fourms but il mostly be active in the telegram groups.
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18I first introduced GCA Launcher 3 years ago as an inspirational project based on Chromium OS and over the years of development and continuous feedback from the userbase, GCA Launcher has evolved into a one of kind launcher experience that is now considered competitive against its own kind. GCA is not a traditional android grid homescreen launcher app but a single screen homescreen experience. We sacrifice the cluttered homescreen experience for a focused workspace where users can place apps that are apart of their daily routines while retaining the ability to access to important features like shortcuts, notifications, actions and personalization. The app drawer has been designed for a one handed experience while retaining the organization and filtering experience users need to search for apps that are important to them. Below, Il talk about sections of the launcher in more detail.
THE HOMESCREEN
The homescreen was designed for users who want the Pixel experience on their devices but also provide them with a simple tier experience that has no clutter, that is easy to understand, have full control and have access to some inhouse features that are unique to GCA. The Homescreen was designed for both the big screen and mobile scene. Users can pin as many apps to their Shelf as they want. You can do so by going into your app drawer, long pressing on an app to access its popup menu and select pin to shelf. This then creates a hotseat for that specific app sets a unique ID to that speicif hotseat so its protected against other possible replicas the user may create. This in turn opens a door in the future that will allow me to add Actions, Groups, and other possible actions I can allow users to add to the shelf. Users can choose between using GCA Launchers built in Quick Search Bar to bond to their shelf or choose a specific searchbar widget to bond to the shelf or hide it all together. To access the app drawer, users simply swipe up from the shelf to access the app list. Users are also able to use either GCA Launchers built in Widget that simply works as a search bar and displays the Google App and Chrome app shortcuts or use a specific widget of their choice. The homescreen also has a set of customizeable gestures the user can bond actions and shortcuts to.
LAUNCHER SHEETS
While developing GCA Launcher, I wanted something that spoke material design (Besides the Material You theming features baked in) that was unique to the launcher. The idea came about while browsing the Material Component website by google and Material Sheets caught my eye.
By default, GCA uses the Navigation Menu to display the launcher menu on the homescreen but I decided to take this a step further and tap into its full ability to display content. There are 2 types of sheets that function in GCA Launcher. App Sheets and Launcher Sheets. Launcher Sheets display content that can interact with the user while App Sheets display information regarding the target its referring to. For EX: After accessing the popup menu, selecting the hamburger menu in the quick action list in the popup will open te App Sheet of the selected application, this will display System Actions and Setting Information. Launchers Sheets display information like the Launcher Menu, Quick Search, Notifications and more to come. Launcher Sheets can be bonded to gestures to quickly access them and they dont interfere with your homescreen. Its very similar to the quick space in Action Launcher.
BADGES
GCA Launcher brings 4 different app badges to the table. Dots, Badge Counts, Underline and Dynamic.
Dots have been redesigned to behave abit differently than pixel launcher. As notification counts increase, the border of the Dot will get darker.
Underlines are just, well underlines...
Badge Counts will show the current count of active notifications for an app.
Dynamic Badges are something new. I wanted to create something similar to Nova Launcher but ofcourse from my own perspective. As notifications increase for an app, it monitors the notifications in the background and watches the notification icons used. The icon is than rendered as a badge and placed on the app.
ICON EDITING
I have not cut any corners when it comes to Icon Editing. From applying 2 different icon packs for your app drawer and your shelf, to editing labels and choosing specific icons from installed icons packs to crafting your own icon from an image in your gallery, their are all sorts of possibilities for Icon Management. GCA Launchers uses its own Adaptive Icon Rendering library to manipulate icons to any size, shape, dim and even creating material you themed icons on your Shelf.
LAUNCHER SETTTINGS
The launcher settings was the most interesting part about this project. I wanted a complete redesign. A complete do over. Something new and fresh. The Launcher settings was designed for both new users and existing users in mind. The Interface uses a Rail Navigation for the core categories most users are focused on while pressing on the navigation button will expand the Navigation Menu that allows the user to access even more settings for the launcher.
PRO FEATURES
GCA LAUNCHER IS NO LONGER AN ALL FREE LAUNCHER (As it used to be when it first launched). With the pandemic and everything else going on in my life, I had to make the choice to make GCA Launcher a profitable project. Unlike other premium launchers where the user buys a premium key and everything unlocks, GCA Launcher DOES NOT USE THIS APPROACH. Users can now buy individual pro features based on their needs and wants. I am working on ways to reward users with discounts and/or if you have purchased pledges in the past. Pledges are just donations and don't reward you with anything however I am working on getting pledged users discounts to reep benifits from. I am also working on discount days and special events to earn pro features. This is an entirely new direction for launchers, so yeah im a tad nervous about it but being the first launcher dev to approach this but im excited at the same time. Once you purchase a pro feature, it should unlock automatically from the launcher settings or just implement itself under the hood. If it doesnt seem to stick properly, reboot the launcher or make sure the pro feature has been purchased.
PRO FEATURES FOR NONE GOOGLE USERS
Some android devices around the world do not run off of google or just is not available and I understand this and am working very hard in the background to figure out a solution that will not be abused. I will have something for you in the future.
ANDROID GO VERSION
Coming soon!
Core Features
- Launcher supports work profile apps and dual apps
- Supports to indicate paused apps
- Supports Action Dash system shortcut
- Supoorts Sesame Searchbar in the Shelf
- Launcher takes into consideration Full Screen Gestures and the Navigation Bar when needed to
- Groups allow users to create organized folders of apps available in the Groups Sheet
- Multi-tab search in the app drawer
- While enabling Recent Apps and Groups in the app drawer, this will disable the section seeker view
- Launcher Sheets are a new approach to menus and options for the launcher and apps.
- The Shelf offers specific actions for apps that differ from the Drawer apps. One option in specific is the favorite action.
- The Shelf and App Drawer apps will feature different system shortcuts and features in the app sheet. Long clicking on an app will make a popup menu appear, click the hamburger menu for a sheet menu
- Apps can be edited in 2 options. The physical editing and the personal options. Personal options are in the launcher settings and allow options like icon sizes, label editing and shape shifting. Physical options can be found in the popup menu by clicking edit. This allows adaptive override, icon pack editing, scale and label editing.
- The Shelf features a revised searchbar that can be toggled to the Top, Bottom or Removed completely. The searchbar features a shortcut to open the launcher menu, a global search feature, an assistant shortcut and has an option to store and track the usage of App Shortcuts to feature a recent actions holder.
- Hide and Edit apps right from the popup menu
- The App Drawer is built on a fastscroll functionality.
- Recent Apps now uses Usage Stats Data. This gives Recent Apps a 100% reliable stat and not clutter up the app drawer when its not in use. The list will update on a regular basis.
- The Shelf and App Drawer themes are based on a sheet style. They overlap each other creating some interesting twist to style.
- App Shortcuts and Notifications for the current app appear in the popup menu
- Active Notifications appear in app sheets showing users a preview of current notifications. Clicking on the notification will take you to that action. The notification sheet will display all your active notifications and snoozed notifications.
- Users can manage a blacklist of notification badges
- GCA Launcher does support Material Widgets in Android 12
- Widgets can be resized by long clicking on them and a resize module will appear.
- Material You theming powered by MonetCompat
- Launcher settings features smart suggestions that appear on certain variables when available
Join the beta program to receive the newest build of GCA Launcher and to test new features before they officially release.
Links:
GCA Telegram Channel
GCA Telegram News Channel
Sign Up For Beta Program Web Android
GCA Launcher on Google Play6I plan to launch GCA Launcher V2 on Google play in may so right now im focusing on cleaning up and optimization. Any features i had planned and didn't get to will be put off till a later date and improve on what we currently have.
Once GCA V2 has been published on the playstore, Pledges should initialize for outer country users and ratings will play a big role in development. Im also watching bug reports as everyone submits them. Google play dev console will help me locate the bugs that are hiding but id like to get the majority of them knocked down before publishing.
Next on my list is to tune up the launcher settings abit in the pre beta. I feel their are a few options that would play a bigger game if they had more options available and/or had a real time preview of what your tinkering with.
Translation will begin shortly after publishing on Google play. Just need to see where the application is being used the most and prioritize the languages needed. A community translation project will start later.
Thank you xda developers and surrounding community members for a successful beta launch. More to come!5Small update today for Pre-Beta
-Sytem UI theming fixes (Oreo+ specific fixes)
-Click Events better handled by launcher (Detects if user is wanting to launch an app or send data to app sheet)
-Added option to trigger light or dark mode
-Added better support for light n dark mode in app sheets
-Minor launcher performance fixes in background
-Prepping support for groups sheet5Just to catch everyone up on development, here's what is going down in the background.
Initially, i had setup a plan to release a 3 part update in June and than a stable release in August. With Google pushing android 11 out the door, things changed. For those who haven't had a chance to try android 11 yet, its a whole new system for the next generation. It focuses on security, new guidelines and personalization. With that said, alot of launchers will be broken before being adapted to android 11. I wanted GCA to be an exception. Apps are no longer to communicate with another without certain permissions, app data is handled differently based on the system user and trying to make a homescreen experience that blends in with the new personalization coming.
With that lingering in the background, i had no choice but to stop what i was doing and upgrade the database for GCA to be compatible with Android 11. This meant for a few big things to happen. Work profile or dual app support is coming. GCA Launcher will be able to distinguish which user is using the app and handle data going forward. Icons will be handled with a new rendering system which will present to the user new options of customization and higher quality. A search function will be adapted in the app drawer like the pre alpha because of the new database. The app drawers now have a dynamic customization system that allows instant changes based on the primary or secondary tab. Sheets will be updated to improve on what they currently do. Badges will do more than what they currently offer. The launcher theme engine will be updated and personalization will be revamped to offer more. Not to mention some security options il be adding.
With all these changes means a bigger package and sacrifices to be made. Will the launcher be android go friendly anymore? Will we be able to keep feature x for feature z? Etc...
Alot of people are requesting features from nova launcher or action launcher. Im trying my best not to be a copy cat. Its hard to look at something and try to figure it out from a different angle. How can we adapt customization over icons by doing it our way? How can we adapt in dynamic notification badges with our system? How can we implement a newsfeed without it lagging the system. Lots of questions, answers tp figure out.
Pledges are important as they fund the project. The next update will feature monthly goals and were the community stands at it. I will personal update this information when needed so community members can see where the project stands as an investment. Pledges fund the project. Its what makes the launcher free. Without pledges, il have to go back to premium features which i don't want todo.
As far everything else goes, everyone has been on point for feedback, request and reports. Especially the telegram crew.
Cheers everyone, regards Nx4I plan to publish GCA Launcher V2 on the beta channel of Google Play and xda labs by tomorrow. I will update the OP with further details once publish. There are a handful of things we need to focus on first before moving forward with new features i have planned.
Thank you all to those who participated
