henridellal / emerald

Simple and customizable launcher for Android

Emerald Launcher

Emerald is a simple home screen for Android phones. It aims good performance while providing basic customization support.

Downloads

F-Droid

Google Play

Features

• Icon pack support;
• App and web search;
• App categories;
• History of last launched apps;
• Resizeable layout.

To do

• Oreo+ shortcuts and package service;
• Some bug fixes and improvements.

How to use

• Swipe left or right to switch categories;
• Tap on category name to see the list of categories.

How to compile

There are multiple options:

• Gradle;
• In Termux:

Some packages should be installed

$ pkg install aapt apksigner dx

If your Android version is 7.0 or higher

$ pkg install ecj

Otherwise

$ pkg install ecj4.6

Then navigate to the emerald project folder and run the script (it is recommended to edit paths in it first)

$ chmod u+x termux-build.sh
$ ./termux-build.sh

Questions and answers

I've disabled the main bar and can't access settings now. How do I open them?

There are some methods to open settings without the main bar:

• Use Launcher Settings shortcut (pre-Oreo only).
• Press Recents/Menu button on the navigation bar(provided by system). Some devices may have different ways (For example, holding Back button on Galaxy phones).
• Use ActivityLauncher. Choose All activities > Emerald Launcher > .Options

Is it possible to use Emerald as an app drawer?

Yes.

Will Emerald Launcher support widgets?

The launcher is most likely not to introduce widgets in future updates.

Does it support physical keyboards?

Partially. It isn't possible to do some actions (e.g. launch apps from menu), though some are available with keyboard shortcuts:

• Alt + number to launch n-th app/shortcut from dock.
• Alt + Up to open the categories list.
• Alt + Left/Right to switch categories.

emerald's Issues

Swipe to navigate between categories

Realy not important, but should be great...

Simply 8-bit icon pack doesn't work with "Transform icons" option

The launcher replaces missing icons with androids. Probably, it's an IconPackManager issue.

Change icon pack reloading

For now, when the icon pack and drawable transforming preferences are being changed at almost the same time, the icon pack loads twice with missing icons. So, it has to be scheduled on restart.

Localized names for default categories

Add options to set background colors using color codes such #f00 for red.

Dock bar or favourite apps

I don't know which features it should have. I'd say the most needed are:

• Background color preference;
• Support unlimited number of apps in dock and make it scrollable if they don't fit the width;
• Hide dock when searching.

The other option is to show the favourite apps after pressing the menu button(both on-screen and device), that is similar to KISS Launcher circle behaviour.

Fast scroll box runs out of screen on scroll

It happens on scrolling down the list of apps somewhere near the end of list. When you scroll to the end of it, scroll box shows again.

Duplicate Categories after Reboot

When I reboot my phone, all phone, all categories are shown twice both in settings and the selector. They are not actually duplicated (entries are identical, deleting a category deletes the duplicate as well) , they just seem to be added to the list twice. Restarting the launcher solves the issue.

Text field for preferences backup naming

F-Droid permission

By writing this issue, I agree to have this app added to F-Droid listing.

Camera icon is wrong.

I'd like to use the launcher on my Meizu mx3 running Flyme 3, but I've found that a camera app uses the same icon as a gallery app for some reason. In other launchers I don't see such a behaviour. Seems like the camera app is built in the gallery app, if I tap About from the app menu it's Gallery app being opened. Other launchers are able to distinguish them though.

Backup Categories

When backing up the preferences, the categories and app mappings are not stored. It would be nice they could be stored with the preferences or in a separate file.

some icons can't be loaded

Some applications do not have a proper icon, like on this screenshot:

On my device, the following apps have icon missing: AnySoftKeyboard, Contacts, Firefox Klar, PDF Viewer, Settings. All other apps are drawn correctly. Anything specific about these apps?

P.S. Thank you for your work! I've already replaced "Hayai" launcher with Emerald, which seems to be an improvement.:)

Change stackOnBottom attribute programmatically

It improves one-hand experience by changing the starting position of grid to the bottom. For now, the GridView is used to show apps list/grid. It has stackOnBottom attribute, which can be changed only through xml. So, the idea is to write a child class of GridView that will implement it.

Disabling an app doesn't lead to removing from menu

Protect apps unstallations

Hello.

Possibility to add a password to protect apps removing. There's already apps to protect apps access. For example if i protect app store and parameters access against uninstaller access, then it doesn't make sence if i'm able to do it without restriction from the launcher.

Thanks ;)

Unlimited number of apps in dock(not scrollable)

Self-descriptive, refer to issue #3.

Option to disable cyclic switching between Home and All categories.

Right now the home button switches between the Home category and All apps. In my case, it's always goes first to All and only after second push of home button to Home. It would be nice, if there was an option, which disable this cyclic switching between two categories and let home button just go to Home category.

Similar as #28, perhaps this could be merged into single option...

"All" and "Unclassified" categories are confused

I have classified a number of apps into various user-created categories and set the Unclassified category as home. With previous versions of Emerald as well as 0.5.2.4, sometimes when pressing the home button from inside an app, the All category will be shown with the Unclassified label. I will not be able to see only Unclassified apps until I switch to another category besides Unclassified or All then back. This persists through the setting Home Button Behavior > Don't Switch.
(Samsung T399 w/ CyanogenMod 12-20150319, Android 5.0.2)

Theme selection can't reset to original look

The Theme selection with a new install has no radial button selected. Selecting one will change the theme but there is no way to get back to the "Original" theme without reseting the apps data.

Update apps list with JobIntentService subclass or any alternative

App label editor

It will be able to edit app icons and names.
App icons should be taken from:

• icon packs;
• file system;
• another app icon.
  Please share your opinions and suggestions. Thanks.

unclassified apps unlisted after first launch

Launching an app from the 'unclassified' category gives them the 'history' category and removes them from the 'unclassified' category.

App is not updated on F-Droid

It is currently two versions behind :(

Home button behaviour option

Related to #28, #32.

It should be a preference that consists of following options:

• Switch Home and All apps categories;
• Switch Home and History categories;
• Open Home category.

If home was clicked on another app, then it should always open Home category first.

Crash when pressing Home button from another app

In the latest app version 0.5.2.4 I am experiencing the issue explained in the title. I do not experience this when pressing the home button from the recent apps screen.
The launcher starts up after I get the crash message, but it's a nuisance, so I am currently using the earlier version which works fine.

My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S3 I9300.
It is rooted, and is using the custom rom found here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/development/cyanogenmod-12-1-t3345690

I hope this information aids the fixing of this issue. Thanks.

Icon hiding issue.

On version 0.5.2.4 app icons could not be hidden from home screen.

Launcher crash on Storage permission question

When selecting either "Backup Preferences" or "Restore Preferences" for the first time, launcher crashes and a permission request is displayed, followed by a crash notification on top.

Can be recreated by denying Storage permission and selecting either Backup or Restore Preferences.

'add category' button vanishes

After adding a certain number of categories, the 'add category' button shrinks, then disappeares. The whole screen has to be filled up by category entries for this to happen.

Handle runtime permissions for Android 6.0+

For now, the application may crash and throw SecurityException if there are no permissions granted. It is reported to happen in Apps.launch method.

Cannot add apps to categories from last update

From long press menu, I tried to move all my app away from unfinished to appropriate categories.

From the last update, it just stop working. :(

Advan i5E. FDroid

Option for home button to switch between Home and History

Right now the home button switches between the Home category and All apps. It would be nice if there was an option to make it switch between home and history instead.

Reduce view initialization time

The launcher window is being opened slow, so sometimes it is being replaced with some other launcher(if there is any). I suppose some data must be saved before the onDestroy call to make loading times shorter.

Custom sorting for categories

It was requested before, so this issue is to write down the ideas on implementation.
It should be an activity or preference dialog with a list of apps these belong to category. The behaviour is simple:

• choose an app to be moved;
• declare a new place in category;
• if an app is moved at the top, then all apps from [newPosition, prevPosition-1] are being moved by 1 index to the bottom(and vice versa).
  No drag-n-drop and animations planned, so we have to find the way to make it as intuitive as possible without these features.

Preferences "wizard"

This is needed to apply correct settings on the first launch. Some phones have RAM shortage, so the app may crash due to this. Can be merged in a single activity with #1.

Improve web search preference

Provide the abilities to add and remove search providers and to switch them.

Custom position for launcher bar(top or bottom)

Self-descriptive, required for issue #3.

Enable fast scroll / scroll bar

Be able to drag your finger along the right side of the screen to quickly scroll through the list.

category meny on Samsung J5, white on white

https://boltimg.com/images/sN7IM.png

Menu option for changing wallpaper

Right now there's no easy way to change the wallpaper. Having an item in the system menu for doing this would good,

Navigation bar gap doesn't appear properly on some devices

This screenshot was taken on some Meizu. Just writing this for myself to not forget.

Make scroll bar/fast scroll optional via settings

Maybe I'm just clumsy, but when I try to access apps on the right column I tend to miss the app and fast scroll somewhere else.

Resize window when the keyboard is opened/closed

Self-descriptive, required for issues #3 and #8.

Performance issues with fast scroll

Dragging the scroll box anywhere causes lags and the amount of time required to make a frame increases drastically (almost twice).

Provide gesture for notifications

Tutorial activity

The launcher has some specific features like switching categories by swipe on the spinner. That's why it needs an explanation on how to use it. The question is how to make the explanation understandable, nice-looking and lightweight.

Shortcuts

Move all color preferences into one

Create a preference that will replace dock, app and bar background color preferences and add the ability to change status/navigation bar colors and to preview the changes.

Icons in dock don't update after the icon pack change

Self-descriptive.

Can't make wallpapers to work in pre-Holo themes