Pixel Launcher Testing New Features in Android 11

Feb. 25, 2020

When Google released theAndroid 11 Developer Previewlast week, we didn’t notice any major changes in its default launcher, the Pixel Launcher. Now, however, one of the lead developers of popular third-partyAndroid launcherLawnchair has managed to enable a handful of features Google is working to integrate into its Pixel Launcher.

According to a report from XDA Developers, the new features that we could be seeing in Pixel launcher includebottom actions in recent apps, the option toremove app suggestions in the app drawer, andname prediction for new folders.

In the recent apps screen, we see three new actions namely “select”, “screenshot”, and “share”. The select action is intended to make it easier to copy the content seen in the recent apps overview cards. The report notes that the select action was not functional yet.Credits: paphonb / Lawnchair (via XDA)

As the name suggests, the screenshot action captures a screenshot of the previously used app and the Share button takes a screenshot and opens the share sheet so that you can easily share it with your peers.

Google’s suggested apps section is often considered to be a useful feature for jumping right into your favorite apps. However, as it is with most machine learning features, sometimes the feature could suggest unwanted apps. Well, Google is finally working on a “Don’t suggest app” action to hide apps in the suggested apps section. The option appears when the user long-presses on any of the suggested apps.Credits: paphonb / Lawnchair (via XDA)

The software giant is also working on a feature that automatically names a new folder based on the type of apps present. This way, you no longer have to take the efforts to name new folders.

Subin writes about consumer tech, software, and security. He secretly misses the headphone jack while pretending he’s better off with the wireless freedom.