Redesigned Action Launcher 3 brings Material Design and Quickthemes as a new launcher

The first version of Chris Lacy’s Action Launcher became widely popular in the Android community in very short order. It took the classic app drawer from the bottom of our home screens and moved it to an alphabetized drawer on the side of the screen for quick access. This marked the beginning of thinking outside the box when it comes to home screen replacements, and Action Launcher 3 is no exception. Released as a new app by Mr. Lacy, Action Launcher 3 is a complete redesign of Action Launcher, and there are a ton of new features and enhancements along with the update.

There are so many features to talk about, let’s just jump right in.

• Quicktheme – This feature takes Material Design’s wallpaper extraction technique and uses it as a theme from your wallpaper image. It applies the main color from your wallpaper to key elements of your home screen, like the Google Search widget, Quick Drawer and folder backgrounds. This feature also integrates with Muzei 2.0, so as your wallpaper changes from day-to-day, so does the theme on your device.
• Updated covers/shutters – The covers and shutters act the same way as they have in previous versions of the app, but now you have the ability to customize their colors this time around.
• Infinite folders – Now you can add as many apps to a single folder as you’d like!
• Customizable stock Android app drawer – You can now keep the traditional app drawer down at the bottom, if you wish, complete with color customization.

These are the main changes brought to you with Action Launcher 3. There are some more improvements to some older features, but there are just too many to even touch on. The new launcher is a paid app, and can be downloaded in the Play Store for $4.99. Even if you paid for the Pro version of Action Launcher 2, you still need to pay up. If you’re happy with Action Launcher 2 and want to keep your app, you can. Action Launcher 3 isn’t an upgrade, it’s a new app, so AL2 is staying in the Play Store. If you need more convincing that this is worth the money, take a look at Chris Lacy’s recent Google+ post, explaining his reasoning behind the upgrade.

With all that said, we think you’ll enjoy this new version of Action Launcher. Check the announcement video below for more details on the new release.