Action Launcher beta now works with Android Oreo's Adaptive Icons

By Daniel Bader
last updated

Action Launcher v28, which is currently on its second beta as I write this, now officially supports Android Oreo's Adaptive Icons feature, which has eluded third-party launchers until now.

Adaptive Icons are a new feature in Android 8.0 that allow app developers to create home screen icons of various shapes to suit manufacturer preferences and, in the case of themers, icon packs. From developer Chris Lacy's blog:

Pick from 5 Adaptive Icon styles: circle, square, rounded square, teardrop and squircle.This update also sees big enhancements to Quickedit, Action Launcher's powerful icon editing system which offers suggestions for icon replacements based on icon packs on your device. Adaptive Icon support is now integrated into Quickedit, so you can quickly pick the icon shape that best suits your mood.

Prior to installing, you'll need to opt into the Action Launcher beta, which can be found at this link (opens in new tab). Once you've opted into the beta program, the update will download as normal from the Play Store.

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Daniel Bader
Daniel Bader

Daniel Bader was a former Android Central Editor-in-Chief and Executive Editor for iMore and Windows Central. 

7 Comments
  • Is this Launcher ever not in beta? I've used it in the past and it is always buggy and has problems in some form.
  • You don't have to join the beta. The stable version, v27, is super stable.
  • There are several tracks of the app. It goes to alpha, then to beta, then to stable. If you just download the app, you're on the stable and will see this update in a few weeks/months.
  • No matter what, I keep coming back to Nova. For familiarity and for the notification badges. I've tried virtually every launcher out there multiple times and nothing touches Nova.
  • A Nova user always find their way to any launcher thread to say that they like Nova. It never fails.
  • Ikr? It's so annoying...just like sammy fanboys infesting every threads talking about how gs8 is the best phone of the century
  • This is my favorite launcher, had it since version 1 . It has so many features . I've tried many others but I got used to so many of the built in features in AL3 I didn't realize that I used so much that when I tried Nova, or Apex and other launchers it just felt antiquated or incomplete. Those who say it's buggy, sometimes it is when new updates get implemented but they are fixed within a day extremely active development. I recommend this above the rest can't live with out the quickdrawer