This update fixes important issues related to the new floating desktop feature. It also brings a few improvements and new options 🙂

Full ChangeLog: http://www.pierrox.net/cmsms/applications/lightning-launcher/change-log.html

Edit: V12.6b2 with various bug fixes

Two new versions today. The first one is for minor bug fixes and improvements, while the second one brings support for floating desktop.

A floating desktop is a desktop that can be displayed over any other app. Create and configure a new desktop, select it from the general settings screen / floating desktop section, and you should be able to show it by swiping from a screen edge.

The floating desktop has currently some limitations, in particular it cannot display popup menus, but for the most part it behaves as a normal desktop (widgets, panels, folders, script, bindings, and so on). Also it doesn’t support “startActivityForResult”, meaning that scripts cannot make use of this function nor pick images.

In spite of these limitations floating desktops are pretty fun to use…

Big Fat Warning: this beta contains large changes under the hood. If you fear bugs, please do not update right now, as it may contain important bugs.

Full ChangeLog: http://www.pierrox.net/cmsms/applications/lightning-launcher/change-log.html

Edit: V12.5.1 with minor adjustments

At last, this new version with bindings is available for everyone!

And I would like to say a bit thanks to beta testers who had to cope with several big bugs during this beta testing

More documentation regarding bindings and variables here: http://www.pierrox.net/android/applications/lightning_launcher/wiki/doku.php?id=bindings

Full ChangeLog: http://www.pierrox.net/cmsms/applications/lightning-launcher/change-log.html

Slow progress but some bug fixes anyway in what I hope is the last beta before the release.

I also activated the Play Store license check (only when Play services are installed). To be honest I don’t expect this license check to be fully transparent, so if it causes any troubles it will go away before the release. As said earlier I don’t really think it will change something anyway. (https://plus.google.com/u/0/111515542011384905214/posts/Wvixsvn9KjF)

If all goes well I’ll push this version to the stable channel before the next week, and I’ll start again with a new beta right after: new things to come…

Edit: V12.5b8 to fix a scripting bug

Edit: V12.5b9 more bug fixes

The main improvement is that box attributes can now be modified through bindings. Documentation on this can be found here: http://www.pierrox.net/android/applications/lightning_launcher/wiki/doku.php?id=bindings_box

And also some major bug fixed in this version…

Full ChangeLog: http://www.pierrox.net/cmsms/applications/lightning-launcher/change-log.html

Just an update to fix bugs. At least two reported bugs will need to wait for the next update to be fixed though (issue with lost scripts, issue with objects in panels).

A set of improvements and bug fixes. This version primarily aims at stabilizing the bindings feature, add a few features around it, and also fix some older bugs that I couldn’t fix before.

Full ChangeLog: http://www.pierrox.net/cmsms/applications/lightning-launcher/change-log.html

Edit: 12.5b3, 12.5b4 to fix bugs

Surprise! I have been silent about this new beta and its content, now it’s time to release this new beta. It has been mostly implemented since a while but… things are not always linear.

It’s all about what I am calling “bindings”. In short this is a way to set and animate items properties using variables.

Please watch the video for a brief introduction. There is also a wiki page about bindings and variables here: http://www.pierrox.net/android/applications/lightning_launcher/wiki/doku.php?id=bindings

Bindings can be seen as an easier to use interface for settings properties, much simpler than scripting. Under the hood bindings use scripting features, and as a consequence, variables can read and written through scripts too. And variables can be set from Tasker and other third party apps too.

This first implementation is deliberately reduced. I especially plan to extend the collection of “builtin” variables with notifications and system data. Progress will be slow though.

Have fun!

You may have noticed that I wasn’t here these days.

The reason is a bug in my bike driving software which lead to a crash, ending with something like BrokenLegException, lol!

Well, more seriously, I spent a few days at the hospital but I am now back to home and I am fine.

Still I need to take some rest, don’t expect to hear from me too much, I am sorry for that.

I just wanted to let you know that things are still going on, I had some pretty good stuff in the pipe that was near ready for a beta, so maybe an update will come in a not too far future 😉

Thanks for your understanding.