Skip to main content

ASAP Launcher


If you are a reader of this site, and an Android enthusiast, your home screen launcher is probably run by one of three applications. The default Google Launcher is an excellent but simple choice that sees continued usage since it has the Google Now panel to the left of the home screen, something other launchers cannot currently easily accomplish. Otherwise, if customization is your forte then Action Launcher 3 or Nova Launcher are your go to launcher replacements. There are also a number of other players, but few that reach the level of notoriety that Action or Nova have reached.
These two have extensive customization options as well as their own individual features that have been perfected over the years. To say the features and innovation have peaked recently between these two isn’t a stretch though, and that’s not a terrible thing. These launchers are stable, fast, and pretty much everything you could want and need in a launcher. But we are tinkerers and always looking for the next thing, someone thinking just outside the box to deliver a different yet familiar experience interface… enter ASAP Launcher.

On the surface ASAP Launcher is fairly basic. It has a singular home screen with what appears to be funky looking widget up top and a row of icons below. Simple, right? Not so fast. Swipe to the left and right and you are presented with 4 information panes, 2 on each side and configurable, called “Cards” for Contacts, Weather, Calendar and To-Do. This application requires a number of permissions that you can allow or deny off these cards, and it needs those permissions to do some cool things. For instance, the calendar permission allows it to pull your Google Calendar information with an agenda style scroll card, Location allows a beautiful weather card to do its magic and so-on. The application also has a stunning materially designed interface that pulls all of the colors, animations, and look you would want. Colors can be customized, home screens rearranged or removed, and icon packs applied.
ASAP6It also has a host of other tricks beyond the “Cards” as well. Like Action Launcher, ASAP utilizes an app drawer that is a slide out from the left edge. The app drawer is searchable and also includes hotspots by letter for quick scanning. I doubt you will be using it often as it also has an “Intelligent” app drawer that has the 5 apps from your bottom dock and 10 other recently used applications accessible by simply swiping up. Further, a right edge swipe has your quick settings for easy access and is customizable, especially for phones with larger displays where pulling from the top could be difficult. Best of all though, is that this launcher is fast, smooth, and just beautiful and it even has tablet support.
ASAP Launcher is very new, and therefore does have some work to do. Personally, I would love to see the ability to customize the primary widget more and for the notification pane beneath it to support full notification mirroring  so I can work off my notifications right from the home screen. If that isn’t an option I would like the ability to use that space for icons or folders, and on the topic of folders I would love to see the ability to use folders and set custom icons for the folders for my dock. Likewise, the ability to set custom applications for the application launcher on each card would be beneficial as well. These are features some of the other launchers have and I think would greatly improve the experience. But these are growing pains, features I totally expect to see implemented in one form or another.
ASAP Launcher is an outstanding application that I highly recommend checking out. The Android Launcher space has been kind of stale recently, and while the big 3 are amazing applications it is refreshing to see someone thinking outside the box and really nailing the implementation. It does need more options for customization, but it is coming out of the gate with a fantastic start. There is a Pro version available for $1.42 that opens up a few more customization features, and honestly for less than a cup of coffee I recommend it. They also have a Google+ community that seems pretty active, check it out for feature requests and bug reports.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Airtel To Offer Free 3GB Mobile Data Per Month to Bring Customers to Its 4G Network

  03 January 2017 HIGHLIGHTS Offer is valid to both existing and new Airtel subscribers Both prepaid and postpaid users can avail the benefits Customers will get 3GB of free data over and above their pack Airtel on Tuesday unveiled an offer under which users can avail of free mobile data worth up to Rs. 9,000 for 12 months. The offer is meant to attract users to the  Airtel 4G  network, and is targeted at 4G handset users currently on other networks, as well as Airtel customers upgrading to a new 4G handset. India's biggest telecom operator, Airtel said that the free data offer will be available across India starting Wednesday, and will be valid till February 28. Under the free data offer, customers will get 3GB of free data every month till December 31, 2017, as long as they are using select Airtel 4G prepaid and postpaid plans. Airtel is providing the free mobile data over and above the subscribed plan's benefits. Free ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hello Moto: A Look Back at Six Classic Moto Phones

  12 December 2016 HIGHLIGHTS Motorola was the first company to ship a cellphone Its biggest hit was the Moto RAZR V3 Today, Motorola is a part of Chinese electronics giant Lenovo Recently, we relived the past with Nokia’s most memorable phones of all time. Although there may be a lot of fanboys and fangirls of the Finnish brand, many have equally strong feelings for the daddy of all mobile phone brands - Motorola. Its name will forever be etched in history as the  first company  to sell a mobile phone - the DyanTAC 8000X - in 1983. Since then, Motorola has been an easily identifiable brand to almost everybody in the world. Its designs were often strikingly unique and at the same time, Motorola phones often gave out a vibe that these devices mean business. Today, we’ve handpicked some of the most memorable Motorola phones we’ve come across. Here are our picks for the six most memorable Motorola phones of all time. 1) Motorola ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nokia 6.1 Gets a Price Cut in India Ahead of Next Week's Nokia 6.1 Plus Launch

  Dated: 18 August 2018   HMD Global is selling the Nokia 6.1 at a reduced price in India via its official site Highlights Nokia 6.1 seen to get up to a Rs. 1,500 price cut 3GB RAM variant is priced at Rs. 15,499 & the 4GB model costs Rs. 17,499 Nokia 6.1 Plus has been spotted online ahead of its launch Nokia 6.1 Plus is expected to be unveiled in India on August 21 and ahead of the launch, Nokia licensee HMD Global has dropped the price in India of the Nokia 6.1 or Nokia 6 (2018). Launched in India in April, the Nokia 6.1 was globally unveiled at MWC 2018 in February, but had first been launched in China in January. Later in May, HMD Global had launched another variant of the smartphone. Now, both the variants have received up to a Rs. 1,500 price cut in India. Meanwhile, Nokia 6.1 Plus, the global variant of Nokia X6 that was launched in China in May, has now surfaced online with that name. ...
Post a Comment
Read more