Quick Launch: Android Lock Screen App With Widgets & iPhone-Style Notifications
Adding to the ever-expanding list of Android lockscreen replacement apps is Quick Launch, which seems like a simple ring-style lockscreen with a search bar at first glance, but in reality, it is much more customizable than most of the alternatives that we’ve tried so far. For instance, it lets you place widgets of your favorite apps right on the lockscreen itself, and displays iOS-style lockscreen notifications for missed calls and unread text messages. The slider at the bottom lets you toggle between sound profiles with a mere swipe. Last but not the least, sliding the unlock ring to specific areas on the lockscreen, you can unlock directly to the camera app, or view and interact with recent contacts and apps.
Quick Launch has its own online theme library, where themes sport varying layouts and background images. You can, of course, select a custom lockscreen background from local storage as well. Quick Launch is based entirely on the concept of the radial Slide unlock that comes with most stock and custom Android ROMs. The difference, however, lies in the slight visual tweaks, and more importantly, the variety of direct unlocking modes that the app supports.
For example, dragging the unlock ring to the padlock icon unlocks the device normally, but hover over said icon longer, and shortcuts to five recently used apps will be revealed. You can then unlock to one of these apps by dragging and letting go of the ring over them.
Similarly, dragging the ring to the phone icon unlocks directly to the dialer app, whereas hovering over the icon displays five contacts whom you recently called. Dragging the ring to one of these contacts, you can directly place calls to their respective phone numbers.
Whenever there’s a missed call or an new text message, the lockscreen widget (if any) gets replaced with an iOS-style notification. Swiping the call or text icon on the notification towards the right lets you quickly call back or reply to the contact respectively.
From the app’s main interface, you may download & apply a new theme, select the widget that you wish to place on the lockscreen, choose a custom background, and toggle the lockscreen itself on or off.
A few noteworthy things that go against the otherwise-promising app are lack of support for altering ring items, occasional lag upon unlocking, inability to display notifications for mails & other apps, and no support for system power toggles. In all, however, there are more positives to Quick Launch than negatives.
The best thing about it is that it’s free and ad-less. You can download Quick Launch from the Google Play Store via the link provided below.
Download Quick Launch For Android
Update: The app has been updated in the Play Store with a greater touch of social media, music playback controls, brand new notification center, and better wallpaper and search support.
