Welcome to Blur, our launcher replacement!
** Please note that this project is 100% free, the in-app purchases are solely for donate functionality. There are no ads either **
Blur is a custom launcher designed by Klinker Apps Inc. to bring you the most innovative experience on Android. With Blur, any developer can go in and create a "Page" for their app that can be displayed right on your homescreen, just a swipe away. Think about it like the Google Now Launcher, but instead of being limited to just Google Now on the side, you can use any app with a supported "Page"!
Out of the box, we have created pages for both of our newest apps, EvolveSMS and Talon for Twitter. We also have a Google Now style "Info Page" that other developers can plug into and create custom cards for.
To get the EvolveSMS page, just download the app: http://goo.gl/i4mzvB
To get the Talon for Twitter page, follow these steps:
1.) Download Talon for Twitter from the Play Store: http://goo.gl/Jfcpzw
2.) Download and install the Talon Launcher Page: http://goo.gl/rXRkhG
The reason you need to download the seperate launcher page app is because of system limitations preventing us from reading the correct data from the normal Talon app (since it is paid).
As I said, other devs can also create their own "pages" or "info cards" for Blur! Just search the Play Store for "Blur Launcher" and they should start to appear once developers start to make them!
To apply pages to your launcher:
1.) Long click an empty space on the homescreen, then press settings.
2.) Go to the page picker, and just hit the add button on an open page (swipe left and right to get to other pages)
3.) Next time you return to your homescreen, it will restart itself and the pages will be there!
To apply info cards to the "Info Page":
1.) Add the info page to your launcher with the above steps
2.) Go back to settings and click the card picker button
3.) Pressing the "Add Card" button on that screen will then bring up a list of all the available cards
The page and card settings are just the beginning though. Diving into the rest of the settings, you will find things like:
- Custom icon pack support
- Simple gesture support
- Dock toggle and options
- Icon scales
- Scroll effects
- Font options
- "Android L" style option
- Search bar toggle
- Grid size selection
- And many more!
A few other features that are included:
- "Ok Google" hotword detection (4.4+)
- Unread counts (Experimental)
- Ability to edit icon names and select icons individually
- Move, delete, and create "All Apps" buttons
- Hide apps
- Lock the homescreen
- Adjust orientation
- Resize any widgets
- And much more!
** Using the unread counts (Requires Android 4.3+): **
They are currently housed under the "Experimental Settings" section of the app because they are very new. You can get to this section from the 3-Dot overflow menu in settings. There you will find information about how it works and steps to getting them going.
Here are some steps to get it enabled:
1.) Install "Blur - Unread": http://goo.gl/Gi0x18
2.) Go to "Experiment Settings" and enable the "Unread Badges" setting.
3.) Click on the notification listener option and enable the "Blur - Unread" listener.
4.) Return to your homescreen, it will restart and counts will begin to appear as they come in.
Hope you enjoy our project, I know we have had a lot of fun making it!
Here are some helpful links for the project as well. Remember to check out the Settings -> Help -> Frequent Questions section first! Many of your issues will be solved or explained fairly quickly there, without worrying about waiting for us to respond!
Google+ Beta Community: http://goo.gl/bTrWIL
Twitter Support: https://twitter.com/lukeklinker (@lukeklinker)
Website: http://klinkerapps.com
Email: support@klinkerapps.com
YouTube Video: http://youtu.be/HD66-8a3J1w
** For Developers **
Extension API and example projects: https://github.com/klinker-apps/blur-launcher-apis
