Octopi Launcher - Apps on Google Play
play.google.com
The launcher that tries to be different

Hi folks,

After numerous feedback and hundreds of changes, I’m happy to share that my project, Octopi Launcher, is ready for open testing.

Below are some key features, with more to come:

  • Foldables support - have totally different layouts on each screen
  • (Auto scrolling) widget stacks
  • Float/ pin a widget on top of home screens
  • Display drawer icons as tiles
  • App drawer folders and favorite apps
  • Assign a nickname to an app (e.g. searching “ff” can instantly launch Firefox)
  • Launch different apps using swipes on an icon
  • Icon pack and shortcut support
  • Resize individual home screen icons
  • Index bar and reachability mode for drawer
  • Option to hide status and navigation bars
  • Notification badges
  • Private space support
  • Lock home screen layout
  • Haptic effects

Shane has also done a video review on a slightly older version, which gives an idea what this launcher can do.

Have a great day!

  • Ye be warned 🏴‍☠️@lemm.eeEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago

    Hi,

    love your launcher @ock88@lemmy.world

    Was a long-time Nova launcher user and made me switch with ease. Even though it does not implement all Nova convenience features it’s already so good at this stage that it made the switch worth it. Most stand-out feature for me are stacked widgets that help preserve so much screen space. Using it on two GrapheneOS devices right now. Already sent some support your way.

    A few suggestions / observations:

    • It’s understandable if you decide to not open-source it, but would be great to have a central issue tracker for bug reporting / feature requests. Would make your support work easier I guess? Could also involve the community to sort and clean up reports.
    • One main observation (bug?) that is affecting my experience regularly: Other launchers allow you to open a folder and re-arrange apps by simply dragging and dropping right then and there. Not sure why the launcher insists on going through the dedicated “Arrange items” option to sort apps within a folder.

    Feature wishlist:

    • Would be great if the launcher would read the show / hide private space flag and show / hide private space accordingly in the app drawer.
    • Add newly installed apps to the home screen automatically.
    • Might be a very obscure niche thing that does not affect many users: I’m using the PixBit icon set and Nova somehow renders icons that are not available within the icon set with a pixellated custom outline which results in a very cohesive icon experience… even when icons are not available natively. Not sure how they do that, but that’s really impressive.
    • Per-folder setting of “swipe up/down” or “open folder” behavior instead of one global setting

    Happy if maybe something gets picked up in the future, but already committed to the launcher as-is anyway. Thank you for your work in any case!