An iteration over the previous beta, with many minor fixes, improvements or refinements.

This time the app drawer has received quite a few changes, especially a new “batch add” mode. Let’s see how it goes.

And there’s a new default setup. For those adventurous enough to backup and clear their app’s data, I would be glad to hear your opinion 🙂

The next version will be either the release, or another beta if bug fixes need it, but I don’t plan to add any new feature in this round. I would like to freeze the current version for the release. Only one thing is missing in this update before the release: the icon.

Enjoy!

Edit: V10.7b5 published with fixes only.

It was longer than expected but I hope this version is worth the wait. Still, there will be at least one other beta before the release, so please be patient 😉

So what’s new here?

There’s a new “Add item” dialog. I mean: really new. While it may looks like a small screen, I believe this is instead a big feature that will really make things smoother for everybody.

What else? Oh yes, I remember, there is a new item type “Page Indicator”. Several styles are available, they are fairly basic but customizable anyway.

And that’s all? No, wait, there’s also an improved script editor. I am experimenting some UI changes to deliver more screen estate to code. Please let me know how it works for you.

Also included in this beta are a few minor improvements and bug fixes. Please check the ChangeLog for completeness.

But as always, be careful: this is a beta, and my propensity to leave big bugs even in release builds make this new version dangerous to test. The more new stuff in the app, the more bugs will remain… 

Full ChangeLog:

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

A third beta to bring bug fixes to the previous one. It also introduces a new option to switch between dark and light themes. This option apply to all screens except the desktop, app drawer and lock screen: settings screens, script editor, backup/restore screen, image&file pickers, etc.).

The light theme is the default for new install, but for existing setups, the dark one is kept as the default.

Regarding the menu key configuration, depending on your setup, it may be reset to “Toggle status bar & Lightning menu”. This will only appear once.

Theme modifications are tricky due to the wide variety of devices and android versions. In spite of my efforts to make as many tests as possible, I don’t exclude weird things, you’re warned!

A bug fix update:

– fix a crash when displaying the lightning menu (was linked with scripts)

– fix an issue with GlobalConfig not defined

– revert the default action for the menu key to the old value (the new user menu is still available through a shortcut)

This is an early preview of the “visual refresh” that has been announced earlier. It’s far from being complete and a huge improvement, and I mostly hope that the UI will be a bit more consistent, but I would be glad to get your opinion on this preview, even.

So what’s inside exactly? Changes mostly deals with the “chrome” (menus, configuration screens, dialog boxes, etc.). In a nutshell the app adopts a light theme. More precisely it uses the Holo theme on Android versions from 3.0 to 4.4, and the Material theme on Android 5+ (with fancy ripples that you often don’t see because your finger is over the button). Sorry 2.3 users, you won’t see a big difference because the app mostly stays with the old dark theme.

The default setup has not been revised yet, except for the default item style, which is nevertheless a very visible update. A profound rework of the default setup is scheduled for the next update. (By the way I will once again request the help of the community in the next days or weeks with various polls…)

One thing is special on Android 5: the app is customizing the color palette with red (the same red as the bolt). This color is most notably seen in the status and action bar. That’s great to give some sort of “branding”, which is suggested on the “Best practice for user interface” page, but on the other hand I fear the amalgamation with other well known apps such as G+ or Gmail. Given the reduced amount of distinguishable colors and the ever growing number of apps, I don’t know how this can be avoided though… I am nevertheless interested in knowing what you think about that.

Also worth of interest is the introduction of a new “User menu” which consists in a special folder populated with various shortcuts (edit layout, add item, select wallpaper, etc.). Since this is a folder, it can be customized at wish. By default it is plugged on the menu key on devices having one and replaces the old default (Lightning menu) and can be reached with a new action “User menu”.

There are also a few new script functions (changelog) but all other pending bug fixes and new features are stacked in a parallel branch. Please be patient until the merge 😉

A set of minor bug fixes. Please check the change log for the exact list.

This is a minor update before the next one, more on this later.

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

At last, not a beta anymore, some issues were hard to fix. To recap, it contains the following bug fixes when compared to 10.6:

– bug fix for incorrect desktop size after a screen rotation event

– fix menu key behavior with edit mode and target container

– stop point fixes.

Some issues are still pending, but I will address them in the next update.

Today I am publishing an incremental bug fix update in the beta channel. It deals with these weird desktop sizes, either bigger than the screen, or not taking correctly system bars position into account. Hopefully this will be all good now, but need to be tested in the wild as this is device dependent.

Also in this update a bug fix regarding the menu key behavior with the target container. Not a big bug, but an annoying one for devices with a menu key, I am sorry about that!

Just a minor update to fix stop points. I have good hopes that this version will work well but since this is a sensitive feature I prefer to publish it in the beta channel first, then I will move it to production channel if all goes well.