Android 11 likely to bring handy new Pixel Launcher features
Google's Pixel Launcher will soon get a new batch of features in a matter of months. A member of XDA-Developers recently dug into the latest build of the Launcher on Android 11 Developer Preview and found that several new capabilities, including auto-naming of folders, are in the works. Here is all you need to know about them.
New actions in recent apps overview page
The feature brings three actions at the bottom of the recent apps screen: Select, Screenshot, and Share. Of these, the first one appears to be a tool to select/copy all text/images in an app currently in focus, while the other two look like separate options - one for simply saving a screenshot of the app and the other for capturing and sharing it directly.
Option to hide individual app suggestions
Currently, you can hide the entire row of app suggestions from the app drawer of Pixel Launcher. The feature is handy, but soon the launcher will also get an option to hide individual apps from this section. You can basically long-press a suggested app and then hit the "don't suggest app" button to stop seeing it.
Finally, it's the auto-naming of folders
Along with new actions, Google is also working to introduce auto-naming abilities for folders created on the Pixel Launcher. The feature, as the name suggests, will automatically assign a name when you combine two or more apps of the same category to form a folder. For instance, if you combine Facebook with Telegram, it will name the folder 'Social'.
No word on official availability with Android 11
Though Google is known for updating Pixel Launcher with major Android or Pixel phone releases, there is no way to say when or if the new options will roll out publicly. The discovery from XDA clearly shows that Google is testing these features for Android 11 but the final decision on making them available is yet to be taken.
