Docs on μLauncher

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Gestures and Actions #

µLauncher’s central mechanism for accessing important functionality quickly is to bind actions (e.g. launching an app) to gestures (e.g. swiping up). These bindings can be configured in µLauncher Settings > ACTIONS.

Available Gestures #

Swipes #

Basic swipes: Swipe up, down, left, or right
Double swipes: Swipe up, down, left, or right with two fingers
Edge swipes:
- Swipe up or down on the left or right edge
- Swipe left or right on the top or bottom edge
The size of the edges is configurable in settings. For a swipe to be detected as an edge swipe, the finger must not leave the respective edge region while swiping.

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Building from Source #

Using the command line #

Install JDK 17 and the Android SDK. Make sure that JAVA_HOME and ANDROID_HOME are set correctly.

git clone https://github.com/jrpie/Launcher
cd Launcher

./gradlew assembleDefaultRelease

This will create an apk file at app/build/outputs/apk/default/release/app-default-release-unsigned.apk.

Note that you need to sign it:

apksigner sign --ks "$YOUR_KEYSTORE" \
    --ks-key-alias "$YOUR_ALIAS" \
    --ks-pass="pass:$YOUR_PASSWORD" \
    --key-pass="pass:$YOUR_PASSWORD" \
    --alignment-preserved \
    --v1-signing-enabled=true \
    --v2-signing-enabled=true \
    --v3-signing-enabled=true \
    --v4-signing-enabled=true \
    app-default-release-unsigned.apk

See this guide for further instructions.

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Notable changes compared to Finn’s Launcher #

µLauncher is a fork of finnmglas’s app Launcher. Here is an incomplete list of changes:

Additional gestures:
- Back
- V,Λ,<,>
- Edge gestures: There is a setting to allow distinguishing swiping at the edges of the screen from swiping in the center.
Compatible with work profile, so apps like Shelter can be used.

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Contributing #

There are several ways to contribute to this app:

You can add or improve translations.
If you found a bug or have an idea for a new feature you can join the chat or open an issue.

Please note that I work on this project in my free time. Thus I might not respond immediately and not all ideas will be implemented.
You can implement a new feature yourself:

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Welcome to the μLauncher Documentation #

What is μLauncher? #

µLauncher is an minimal and distraction-free Android home screen that lets you launch apps using swipe gestures and button presses.

This project is a fork of finnmglas’s app Launcher. An incomplete list of changes can be found here.

Where can I get μLauncher? #

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Work Profile #

µLauncher is compatible with work profile, so apps like Shelter can be used. Apps from the work profile are shown in the usual app list.

Private Space #

µLauncher is compatible with private space.

The private space can be (un)locked by a dedicated action.

It is configurable whether apps from private space are

shown in the usual app list (in this case, (un)locking is accessible through a lock icon on the top right of the app drawer) or
only shown in a separate list.

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Launcher Settings #

Tweaks and customizations can be made from within the Launcher Settings page.

These settings let you change wallpapers, change colors and fonts, enable monochrome app icons, change the app drawer layout, and much more.

In the following documentation, ‘app drawer’ will be used to refer to the ‘All Apps’, ‘Favorite Apps’ and ‘Private Space’ views.

Appearance #

Choose a wallpaper #

This triggers Android’s mechanism to change the wallpaper using a photos app, file explorer, or native wallpaper setting app. µLauncher uses the system-wide wallpaper, i.e. this change also affects other launchers.