Ready to try out some of the features from the Google Pixel's home screen launcher (without sideloading a leaked APK that doesn't quite work right)? Action Launcher has just been updated with a new "Quickcuts" feature, which recreates the launcher shortcuts feature from the unannounced Android 7.1 Nougat release. Spotted in certain Google apps by enterprising hackers, these shortcuts let you perform a gesture on an icon to access shortcuts to different areas of that app — similar to 3D Touch on the iPhone.
Simply swipe on an icon and release over the shortcut you want to jump straight to that section of the app.
And now it's possible to get this feature without waiting for the Pixel phones to land — or for your handset to get an Android 7.1 OTA. Developer Chris Lacy tells us that functionality is limited to a few Google apps right now, but that Quickcuts for other popular apps are hard-coded in.
Currently this is limited to [a] selection of Google's apps including Play Music, Play Movies and Photos, but more will come as 7.1 is announced. I've also hardcoded Quickcut definitions for a few key apps like Twitter (New Tweet/DMs) and YouTube (Watch Later/Subscriptions).
This latest feature addition gives Action Launcher 3 all the features of the leaked Pixel Launcher, days ahead of the debut of Google's new phones. And you can bet that if anything new crops up next Tuesday, the developer will be quick to react.
The update should now be rolling out through the Play Store, so hit your updates tab to see if it's ready.
