Latest Nova Launcher 5.5 Beta supports Android 8.0 Oreo features [APK Download]

Around last week, Google announced about the upcoming Android O at its annual I/O Conference. And users are now eagerly awaiting for Android O. In the meantime, Nova Launcher has released a beta version, which has features resembling Android O. And it has already crossed 10 million downloads at GooglePlay! Sounds Cool? Okay. So, let us know more about Nova Launcher 5.5 Beta. Not all Android 8.0 O features have been incorporated into this particular update, but the Beta testing APK can bring you most of the features.

Nova Launcher 5.5 Beta

Nova Launcher 5.4.1 Sep 6, 2017

Adaptive icons for all. Nova Launcher 5.5-beta brings Adaptive Icons from Android Oreo back down to Android 5.0+.

See these settings in Nova Settings > Look and Feel > Adaptive Icon Shape.

Nova Launcher 5.4.1 Sep 6, 2017 Stable release

• -New App Search animation
• -Sesame Shortcut integration for long-press shortcuts and app search
• -Ability to hide navbar on Samsung S8 (Nova Settings > Look and Feel)
• -Update round searchbar style
• -Improvements for Android Oreo
• -Bug fixes and optimizationsNew Nova Settings in beta:Nova Settings > Look and Feel > Search > App Search Background Color
  Nova Settings > Desktop > Searchbar Style > Search as overlay
  Nova Settings > Integrations for both Sesame and Google Now

It is a highly customizable launcher with an efficient performance which is released as the beta version update from the version 5.1.

 Features

• Dots! Android O styled notification badges
• Round search bar style
• Improved performance
• Minor fixes for Android O

Android 8.0 Oreo styled notification badges

A simple example to demonstrate this,
when we get any notification on Twitter, we will see a small dot over the Twitter App icon.

As we can see the blue dot means it is a new notification…
And instead of opening the App itself, we will long press the App icon
and we will see

So from the options, we can select whatever we want to do, without opening the App in entirety.

How to Enable the Nova Launcher’s Android 8.0 Oreo styled Features?

It’s pretty simple to enable, just  follow these steps

Step-1) Go to Nova Settings. Make sure Select Default Home is set to “Nova Launcher”
Then in Nova Settings >Tap on Notification Badges

Step-2) Now notification Badges Panel will open. Click on Choose A Style drop-down menu.
you can also set the size and position of the notification badge.

Step-3) Choose A Style panel appears. Select Dots as Seen in Android O.

There you go.. Dots notification badge is set!

 Round Styled Search Bar

nova launcher provides customizable rounded Google search bar which you can customize according to your need. Here is one type of search bar style, long bar.

You can customize it in as many styles you want to. But since it is a Beta Version, any change you make might not effectively take place immediately.

You can also customize Search bar style by going to Nova Settings> Search Bar Style

Modify the Bar style, Bar color and logo style as you wish.

You can simply download the official Nova Launcher via Google play store. There are lots of other features which you can enable but you have to buy Nova Launcher Prime. It will cost around $2.32 (Rs 150/-INR).

How To Download Nova Launcher 5.5 Beta APK?

You can download the latest Nova Launcher APK directly from the below link. The link comes officially from the Nova developers. So it is safe to use. The APK is free to use.

Follow the link mentioned below to directly download the stable APK of latest Nova Launcher 5.2.

• Download Nova launcher 5.5 APK
• Download Latest Nova Launcher 5.4+ Beta APK

Google Play Opt-in to betas link 

Alternatively, if you already have Nova Launcher installed, You can simply update to the 5.2 Beta Version by signing up for it’s Beta Testing program from here.

Therefore, although some features can be enabled through buying Nova Launcher Prime but still it’s an investment worth it. And most noteworthy of all is Android O styled features in Nova Launcher 5.2 Beta which is hard to miss. Until the original version of Android O comes out, it’s  really worth trying out such Apps that provide glimpses of the amazing features of Android O.