Action Launcher gains support for Oreo Adaptive Icons

Action Launcher has just cemented its position as one of the best and most versatile Android launchers even further. In its latest beta (v28, which is now live), Action Launcher adds native support for one of the cool features that debuted in Android Oreo – Adaptive Icons.

Android has traditionally lacked any rigorous rules about the size and shape of app icons, and this doesn't really change in Oreo, but the latest version of the OS introduced a bunch of "masks", or styles, that grants users the freedom to transform all the icons on their devices into one of four different shapes—square, rounded square, squircle, or teardrop—which does give Android an all-around more uniform look. Further, Adaptive Icons actually represent a new standard for making icons on Android, which should make it much easier for developers to design icons that can look good and adapt to various different shapes.

Action Launcher users running beta versions of the launcher can now take advantage of this functionality by choosing one of five (yes, five, not four) different shapes of icons for a more uniform look. The shapes are circle, square, rounded square, teardrop and squircle, and can be easily adjusted from the "Adaptive Icons" tab in Action Launcher settings. Unfortunately for users running older Android versions, the new Adaptive Icon feature is available only on devices running Android 8.0 Oreo. However, this feature could be backported in some shape or form to older iterations further down the line. Or at least we're hoping it would be.

But there's yet another change in the latest Action Launcher beta that will surely please users who like in-depth Android customization, and it has to do with "Quickedit", Action Launcher's stand-out icon editing system which offers users suggestions for icon replacements based on the icon packs they have installed on their devices.