Straight out of the box, there’s isn’t a whole lot you can do with an Android Wear smartwatch. But that’s okay, that’s what the developer community is for. Not too longer after the first Android Wear devices became available, developer Nicolas Pomepuy released Wear Mini Launcher, filling in a gaping hole of functionality not found in the Android Wear OS with a launcher to quickly access your smartwatch’s apps and settings (normally buried in the settings menu).
For version 3.0 — released today in the Google Play Store — the developer is adding a handful of all new features that continue to make Wear Mini Launcher one of the single most indispensable apps for the platform. Here’s the new changelog:
Wear Mini Launcher 3.0
- Material design for the phone’s app
- Double tap an app for sticky mode
- Long tap an app to manage it
- New tool: disconnection notification
- New Quick Setting to lock screen on
To get everything up and running, you’ll first need to install the app on your smartphone and make sure it’s also connected to your Android Wear device. After that, you should be good although the developer mentions that you may have to reboot your watch to get the connection going again, but after that you’re golden.
The best part is although there are in-app purchases, it’s only a donation system. The app is completely free, with all features unlocked whether you donate or not (we’d recommend throwing the dev a few bucks out of courtesy for his hard work). You can download Wear Mini Launcher via the Play Store link down below.
I may have to give Wear Mini Launcher another go. I’ve been using Swipify because I preferred it to MWL, but it seems there have been some interesting updates here over the last couple of months.
this is cool launcher for my android wear.
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