I stepped away from Action Launcher 3 last week to give Evie a spin (after reading an interview with its developer by +JR Raphael: http://www.computerworld.com/article/3186755/), and I'm honestly rather surprised by how much I'm enjoying it. I figured it would be like most other non-AL3 launchers I've tried, a pleasant diversion for a day or two, but I'm now six days in and quite hooked.
Evie is optimized for speed, and one of its headline features is the (truly) lightning-fast universal search. Just swipe down and start typing/swiping what you're after, and you're instantly presented with apps, games, contacts, local restaurants and businesses, songs, movies, Google search suggestions, and more. Any of these results can also be dragged onto your home screen for quick access later. This makes the launcher a great launching point (heh) for anything you want to do on your phone.
A quick swipe up deploys the app drawer, featuring an alphabetical index running down the right side so you can quickly scroll to exactly the app you're looking for. There's also a handy toggle up top to swap between list and grid layouts.
The emphasis here is on getting things done quickly, but Evie doesn't skimp on options and features either. The home screen offers choices for grid layouts and icon sizes as well as icon pack support, complete with dynamic previews of how each change will affect your setup. It also supports notification badges if you're into that sort of thing. There's also support for additional gestures, allowing you to swipe up with two fingers to jump straight into Google Now (a great substitute since non-system launchers can't tie into Now directly), double-tap to turn off the screen, or use the Home button as a search hotkey, with more custom gestures promised to come soon. And once you get things set up the way you want them, Evie lets you back up and restore directly to/from your Google account - nice!
Evie operates differently from most third-party launchers, so it does take a little bit of getting used to - but the result is so worth it. It's completely free, so give it a try if you haven't yet.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=is.shortcut
Evie is optimized for speed, and one of its headline features is the (truly) lightning-fast universal search. Just swipe down and start typing/swiping what you're after, and you're instantly presented with apps, games, contacts, local restaurants and businesses, songs, movies, Google search suggestions, and more. Any of these results can also be dragged onto your home screen for quick access later. This makes the launcher a great launching point (heh) for anything you want to do on your phone.
A quick swipe up deploys the app drawer, featuring an alphabetical index running down the right side so you can quickly scroll to exactly the app you're looking for. There's also a handy toggle up top to swap between list and grid layouts.
The emphasis here is on getting things done quickly, but Evie doesn't skimp on options and features either. The home screen offers choices for grid layouts and icon sizes as well as icon pack support, complete with dynamic previews of how each change will affect your setup. It also supports notification badges if you're into that sort of thing. There's also support for additional gestures, allowing you to swipe up with two fingers to jump straight into Google Now (a great substitute since non-system launchers can't tie into Now directly), double-tap to turn off the screen, or use the Home button as a search hotkey, with more custom gestures promised to come soon. And once you get things set up the way you want them, Evie lets you back up and restore directly to/from your Google account - nice!
Evie operates differently from most third-party launchers, so it does take a little bit of getting used to - but the result is so worth it. It's completely free, so give it a try if you haven't yet.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=is.shortcut
