This fourth iteration brings improvements and fixes to the features introduced at the beginning of this beta cycle.

It also contains an experimental Zooper widget scaling when loading templates, thanks to Lutz Linke . This scaling should help in loading themes accross any screen, by adjusting the widget size to fit the target screen. This hack is experimental: tested successfully with 4 devices, but it need some more testing to be declared reliable.

Changelog:

– experimental Zooper widget scaling when loading templates

– add LL.pickColor, LL.pickNumericValue and LL.pickImage functions

– add LL.startActivityForResult, useful to access other apps services, such as file picking, or sharing

– Container.getItemByLabel will also return items for which name is not set and label matches

– new set/getTag methods with support for an identifier

– fix the title of the item name dialog

Just a small update to fix some blocking issue:

– workaround for launcher stuck in extremely large grid drawing

– add LL.getScriptById

– add a dedicated Item name property: it replaces the item label, except for shortcuts. Existing methods Container.getItemByLabel, Item.getLabel and Item.setLabel still work but are deprecated. Existing scripts should not be broken. Use getItemByName, Item.getName and Item.setName instead.

This last modification is a bit sensitive. I tried to make enough tests to be confident that it won’t break anything, but my tester skills are quite low 😉

Edit: followed by 10.5b2 to fix Tasker support

I am a bit frightened by what this update will trigger, but here we go…

Once again, this version is geared toward scripting, but I think that with the final v10.5, this area will reach a stable status and will evolve a lot less in the future, giving me more time for other stuff. What I wanted to achieve is now almost ready. In this version three new features will work in conjunction to bring scripting to, I hope, a whole new level.

What are those new features then ?

First, scripts can be loaded from APKs. This mean it will be a LOT more easier to share scripts, at least from the user side. Install some APK, hit “Load a script”, select your entry and you’re done. A bit like a templates. These scripts will be able to configure your setup, create items, set event handlers, load images from a package and so on, as seen on the Sketch video shared in a previous post.

Secondly, scripts will benefit from a better Tasker integration, meaning that it will become possible (or easier) to push various data into the home screen, or trigger some specific actions.

And at last, but not last (and this is where I am a bit frightened), using the Android framework is finally possible. That’s certainly not a basic feature but most advanced users (let’s say developer.s..) will certainly leverage this tool to do… almost everything else! For instance accessing accelerometers, files, playing audio, or whatever. (provided that permissions are granted)

Taken together, these features allow the launcher to be extended with plugins, and create fully functional, possibly animated and interactive widgets.

All this stuff will inevitably raise issues, questions and ideas, but my feeling is that this is something to be tried. I released two sample APKs on the Play Store whose goal is to proof the concept (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.pierrox.lightning_launcher.llscript.sketch and https://play.google.com/store)/apps/details?id=net.pierrox.lightning_launcher.llscript.clock).

More info here

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

http://www.pierrox.net/android/applications/lightning_launcher/wiki/doku.php?id=how_to_use_the_android_framework_through_script

Now let’s see how it goes!

This is a minor maintenance update : it fixes icon layer loading issue seen in some setups.

Finally out of beta. Almost no change since the last beta version (added ComponentName, fixed one bug), but it’s time to release this update for everyone 😉