SL6 Is Here to Be the Best.
Today we start the rollout of SL6 on the Google Play Store. Here is why this is the most important and ambitious SL update ever.
Smart Launcher 6 finally allows moving items anywhere on the screen. However, SL6 takes a very different approach compared to the one adopted by Android since its beginning, more than 10 years ago, and still adopted by any other launcher today.
The Fluid Grid System
We wanted a solution that could help people obtain great results easily, a system both powerful and flexible. After years of experimentation, we created the Fluid Grid System.
Here is a comparison between a setup you can create in SL6 and the same setup recreated on a common Android launcher. They may look similar at a first look, but if you look closely you will see that the SL6 setup feels much cleaner and balanced.
Let’s look at how the items are aligned in the picture below.
Common Android launchers divide the available space into a few large cells, then lay down items inside these without considering the different dimensions of the items or the spaces between them.
SL6 instead, uses a more modern concept of grid, where every column sets the size of the item inside it and empty spaces are precalculated. The result is a space where everything is perfectly aligned and looks uniform, without requiring any effort from you.
Lastly, the new grid system is also incredibly “Fluid”. The new grid can adapt to any screen size, including tablets and foldables, and it doesn’t force you to think in “blocks” because it allows grid-less widgets too!
Any widget now has a “Fine positioning” option that allows you to freely edit its position and dimensions, without any constraint.
Icon group widget, organize your app with style
Icon layouts (aka flower, arch, grid, honeycomb) are still here and they have been improved and expanded. Their new name is “Icon groups” and they can be added to your home page just like any other widget. This means you can move and resize them as you wish, and you can also have more than an icon group at the same time to create setups impossible with any other launcher.
Ambient Theme 2
After the release of Material You, we looked at our appreciated Ambient Theme to understand what we could learn from the new Google theme system.
We found our Ambient Theme was working better for translucent surfaces but we also liked the vivid colors produced by the Material You engine.
The result of our studies is a new version of our Ambient Theme that produces brighter and more intense colors from your wallpaper. We redesigned almost every part of the launcher to reduce clutter and let the new colors shine.
If you liked the SL5 Ambient theme, you will find SL6 astonishing!
An ergonomic UI
The app page has been redesigned to bring your icons closer to the bottom of the screen, where your thumb is. No matter how many apps you have, you will always be able to reach any of them using your device with a single hand. The folders now use an immersive design but they still open near the tap point, allowing you to reach all the contents without stretching your hand.
And there is much more
We just talked about the most impacting features of Smart Launcher 6, but this update brings many other news and improvements. Here is a summary of other relevant features you will notice in the update.
Home page icon labels
You can finally enable labels for the icons in your home page
Preferences → Home page → Grid Properties → Icon labels
Kid mode
Lock the launcher changes and request a PIN to unlock them. Perfect if you are afraid your children may mess up your launcher.
Preferences → Security and privacy → Protect home screen changes
Blurred search bar
Enabling Blur for your theme will apply to the blur effect to the background of your search bar too.
Preferences → Global Appearance → Edit Theme → Blur effect
Movable and resizable search bar
The search bar is now movable and can transform into an icon or into a vertical bar when resized. If the Ambient theme is selected, the search bar will change its color depending on its position on the screen.
Refreshed Weather clock widget
The weather widget has been tweaked to make its text more readable and to better adapt to large screens.
Easy access to widget configuration
The long-press menu now includes a shortcut to easily reconfigure the Icon groups, the Weather clock, the Smart search bar and any reconfigurable Android 12 widget. The same menu also includes a shortcut to launch the app that created the widget.
Automatic grid reconfiguration
When you change your grid size, items on the screen are automatically arranged in the new space.
Preferences → Global Appearance → Grid properties
New widget options
You can now adjust the widget corner radius and also modify the widget fonts!
Preferences → Global Appearance → Widget
Rotate on place
If enabled, when the device is rotated, the home screen items will independently rotate while staying in their original positions.
Preferences → App Page → Rotate on place
New category “Smart devices”
We updated the list of our categories adding a new entry for all your apps that handle connected devices, like your home appliance, wearable, headset, etc…
App page → Menu → Add category
New backup functionalities
You can choose a folder for your backups and change it when you want. Access to your backup is protected by your PIN, if set.
Preferences → Backup → Menu button.
Extra home pages
Widget pages can now display icons too, their new name is “extra home pages” and they offer all the features your home page does.
This is just the begin
Smart Launcher 6 sets a new course for our launcher. Our plans include several important features that will be announced in the next months and, as always, we will improve SL6 thanks to your feedback.
For the moment, we just hope you enjoy this new update.
Happy New Year
from the Smart Launcher Team.
Question and answers
Q: When will I receive SL6?
A: The rollout will be gradual, but you should receive SL6 between January 2 and January 4.
Q: I’m already an SL5 Pro user. Will I have to make an extra purchase to enable all the SL6 features?
A: No, your license is perfectly valid for SL6 too! If, after receiving the update, your license is not recognized try to reinstall Smart Launcher 6 from the Google Play Store.
Q: What are the requirements for the update?
A: Your device must run Android 8 or higher, must have the Google Play Store installed and you need a genuine version of SL5 installed. Devices running Android 6 or 7 may receive the update in the future but they are not supported at the moment.
Q: After the update, my icons are smaller/bigger and my setup looks different.
A: Although we did our best to migrate the old SL5 configurations to SL6, you might notice some differences after the update. In the worst scenario, you will have to readapt your configuration to the new launcher. We are very sorry about the inconvenience, but it’s just impossible to evolve a product while keeping everything exactly the same.
Q: What if I miss Smart Launcher 5?
A: We will make SL5 downloadable from our official website in the next few days.
