Nova Launcher 3.0 Beta 1 is out now, comes with a panoply of fresh new features

Ah, Android and its beauty! When it comes to customization, it's undoubtedly the king among the rivaling operating systems. And what's one of the ways to quickly change the interface of your Android-powered digital companion? Well, by changing its launcher, of course!

One of the most popular among these is Nova Launcher, which does not only offer stellar, blazing fast performance, but many customization options, as well. And it seems that Nova is about to get even better, as the developer behind it, TeslaCoil Software, announced that version 3.0 of the popular homescreen replacement app is currently being developed. As one would expect from such a milestone update, it will bring a plenitude of spic and span features to Nova Launcher, all of which just made their way to the beta version of the app for testing purposes.

Judging from the pretty impressive changelog of Nova Launcher 3.0 Beta 1, it's more than safe to say that the upcoming version of the well-known launcher will really treat customization freaks to even more options to tinker with. Check them out below:

• Subgrid positioning, snap widgets/icons to half cells. Greater control of placement/size without shrinking/cropping app icons
• Support Today Calendar’s dynamic icon, also supported by icon themes from Kovdev including Domo, Lumos and Tersus and PHLASH’s new KEX theme.
• Custom label colors (desktop, dock, drawer)
• Individual drawer tab colors (tap on the tab and select Edit)
• New tab style Colorblock
• Vertical drawer scrolls under transparent navbar
• Backup/Restore using Kitkat’s Document Provider (supports ext-sdcard, Drive, Box, etc)
• Full 4×1 widget support in dock
• Individually toggle widget padding (long-press on widget and select Padding)
• Nova Action for First Item In Folder (Use with swipe/tap action of folders)
• Honeycomb style persistent searchbar available on phones
• Slight visual refresh (settings screen, menu icon, color picker)
• Fix Samsung KitKat bluetooth settings shortcut
• Fix home button action on Verizon Motorola
• Restore “Force” wallpaper scrolling for HTC KitKat
• “Show Shadows” on HTC One M8 perfectly blends from semi-transparent system bars
• Tab configuration is a bit stricter. Now one and only one All Apps tab is required, and zero or one Widgets tab can be used. These tabs can be renamed and recolored.
• All Apps tab dropdown menu no longer includes filters for New/Downloaded
• The dropdown menu indicator has been removed from the tabs, though the menu still exists (with some modification)
• Persistent Search Bar is either enabled or disabled, the landscape only option has been removed
• Persistent Search Bar style is consistent between landscape and portrait
• Icons are now centered vertically in their cells, rather than being top aligned
• Phone landscape mode fills available space horizontally, rather than reserving space for the search bar/dock even if those elements were hidden.
• Honeycomb style search bar no longer includes the menu button (which was not authentic to honeycomb anyway)

If these float your boat, you can follow the source link and become a Nova Launcher beta tester. After you've done so, you can head on to Google Play and either update or install Nova Launcher. Be advised that the beta version of the app might not be as stable as the final one, so you might experience an issue here or there.


source: +Nova Launcher Beta (1), (2) via Phandroid