Quick Launch v1.0.0

Quick Launch v1.0.0

The first stable release, and the same build that goes to Google Play.

• Long-press menu. Hold a result for App info or Add to Home screen. Dragging to split screen now only starts after you actually slide, so a long-press no longer throws you into split view.
• Results scroll. When the list doesn't fit (small cover screens, lots of pins), it scrolls instead of getting cut off.
• Trailing space means "whole word". chrome matches Chrome and stops matching longer names that merely start with it. The end of an app's name counts as a word end.
• Keyboard shortcut disclosure. Before you enable Ctrl+Space, Quick Launch now explains exactly what the accessibility service can and can't see. It only ever listens for that one key combination.
• Work profile apps are included and badged.

Updating from v0.1.x installs over the top. Same signing key, and your pins and launch history are kept.

Verify the APK

The APK is signed with the key below. android-certificate.txt holds the full certificate digests.

Signer #1 certificate DN: CN=Ahmed Hussein, OU=Quick Launch, O=ahmedgeek, C=US
Signer #1 certificate SHA-256 digest: 6406ea2adc0bb3f446e4562458a7f10ee103cb0c388834fb923b5aa2ea1948c6

Check it yourself with apksigner verify --print-certs QuickLaunch-v1.0.0.apk, or compare the SHA-256 in AppVerifier / Obtainium.

9bfd5404963d69ee363f70493561c0ea4021deb6adb218d7448d515defb1ad99  QuickLaunch-v1.0.0.apk
83c99c81b1b813356dd5c56d34423b525111fe886bb5de70f095e7b4889835dd  android-certificate.txt

Full Changelog: v0.1.4...v1.0.0

Quick Launch v0.1.4

Quick Launch v0.1.4

Pin your essentials.

• Pinned section. Pin an app and it sits in a Pinned section at the top of the list, in the order you pinned, every time you open Quick Launch. The apps you use most still fill the rows below it. The section only appears once something is pinned.
• How to pin. The highlighted row shows a pin at its right edge: tap it, or press Ctrl+D. On touch, type until the app is the top row, then tap the pin. Tap or press again to unpin.
• Direct launch. Ctrl+1 to Ctrl+9 open that row immediately. With pins keeping the top rows in place, your favourites become one chord each.
• Search stays honest. While typing, a pin is only a small tie-breaker. A better text match, or an app you launch far more often, still wins.
• Footer hints (physical keyboards) now read Enter · Ctrl+D · Esc. The arrow hints are gone to make room.
• Fixed: moving the highlight during a list update could leave two rows highlighted.

Pins are stored on the device in a tiny file next to your launch history and are removed automatically when an app is uninstalled. Nothing leaves the device.

Full notes for the initial feature set are on the v0.1.0 release.

Quick Launch v0.1.3

Quick Launch v0.1.3

Open links from the clipboard.

• Copied a link? When the clipboard holds a URL, it appears as the first row the moment Quick Launch opens. Press Enter or tap it to open. Start typing and the row steps aside for app results.
• You can see where it will open. The row shows the icon of the app that will handle the link: your default browser for most URLs, or the app that owns that domain (YouTube for a YouTube link, for example). If Android would ask you to choose, the row shows a plain link glyph instead.
• Careful about your clipboard. It is read only while the card is open and focused, once per copied item. Clips Android marks sensitive (passwords) are never read. On Android 12 and newer you will see the system's own "pasted from your clipboard" notice the first time after each copy.
• Plain text, filenames like notes.md, and version numbers are not mistaken for links. Bare domains such as example.com or youtu.be/abc are.

Full notes for the initial feature set are on the v0.1.0 release.

Quick Launch v0.1.2

Quick Launch v0.1.2

A prettier panel, and it follows your system theme.

• Light mode. The panel now has light and dark palettes and picks the one matching your system setting every time it opens.
• Depth. A hairline border, a soft inner highlight along the top edge and a deeper shadow make the card float over the dimmed app instead of sitting flat on it. Header, results and footer are separated by full-width dividers.
• Set up section. The Ctrl+Space and most-used-apps prompts are now proper rows with an icon, a title and a one-line explanation, under a Set up heading. Tap a row to open the setting; tap its × to hide it for good. Rows disappear on their own once the feature is on.
• Keycap footer. Keyboard hints are drawn as small key chips (↵ Open, ↑↓ Navigate, Esc Close) and only appear when a physical keyboard is attached. Without one the footer stays out of the way.
• Instant mode offer. When the overlay permission is missing, the footer explains it in a sentence with a Turn on button.

Full notes for the initial feature set are on the v0.1.0 release.

Quick Launch v0.1.1

Quick Launch v0.1.1

• The ⌨ Enable Ctrl+Space shortcut row now always appears in the card until the shortcut is enabled
  or the row is tapped once. It was previously hidden behind the usage-access row and required a
  keyboard to be attached at that moment.
• Tapping it shows the extra step sideloaded apps need on Android 13+: if the accessibility switch says
  Restricted setting, open Quick Launch's App info → ⋮ → Allow restricted settings, then enable it.

Full notes for the initial feature set are on the v0.1.0 release.

Quick Launch v0.1.0

Quick Launch v0.1.0

A keyboard-first app launcher for Android. Type a few letters, press Enter, the app opens.

Highlights

• Search results on every keystroke; exact, prefix, word-start and initials matching (mbs → Meta Business Suite).
• Instant mode: with Display over other apps granted, the card appears on the next frame with no animation.
• Ctrl+Space from any app on a physical keyboard (enable Quick Launch keyboard shortcut in Accessibility).
• Most used apps listed before you type (optional Usage access), blended with your own launch history.
• Long-press and drag a result to open it in split screen.
• Centered palette on tablets, foldables and DeX; full width on phones. Work profile apps included.
• No internet permission, no analytics, no ads. ~90 KB.

Install
Download QuickLaunch-v0.1.0.apk, open it on your phone, allow installing from your browser when asked.
Then open Quick Launch once and tap the ⚡ row to enable instant mode. Trigger it from Good Lock
One Hand Operation+ (Open app → Quick Launch), the side key, or Ctrl+Space.

Known limits

• Opening it over a playing video app sends that app into picture-in-picture (Android behaviour for
  any launcher-style trigger; the Ctrl+Space path avoids it).
• Requires Android 8.0+. Instant mode blur needs Android 12+.