Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission.Learn more.
Android users can now grab Oreo’s version of the Pixel launcher
June 17, 2025
A couple of months ago you might remember that Reddit user AmirZ released a rootless solution to install a full-featured version of the Pixel Launcher. Earlier solutions left users with agimped versionthat wouldn’t allow access to the Google Now panel or the G Search widget. AmirZ discovered that Google intentionally designed the Pixel launcher to restrict these features so they could remain exclusive to Pixel phones. Luckily, with a few tweaks, AmirZ was able to get around those restrictions.
The port was developed and then subsequently released on Github in June. Development continued for about a month but ceased when AmirZ announced they would be back to do another version once Android Oreo dropped. Now, mere days after the release of Oreo, AmirZ is back withPixel Launcher 2.0.
The previous version stuck to a “don’t fix what’s not broken” philosophy where stability was the first priority. Now with the knowledge gained from the previous release, AmirZ has added some extra features.
Here are the features of Pixel Launcher 2.0.
And here are the developer’s additions to the launcher:
To use this version of the Pixel Launcher, you’ll need to verify you don’t already have the Play Store version installed. To get the weather widget to work, the developer had to name the package the same as the Pixel Launcher from Google. If you try to install this on top of the Play Store version, you’ll get a corrupt package error and the install will cancel. Also, since Google won’t let you uninstall the Pixel launcher from your Pixel phone, this launcher is for non-Pixel phones only.
Due to the naming issue, the developer can’t release Pixel Launcher 2.0 on the Play Store so you’ll have to head over to theirGitHuband grab it from there. Since the application isn’t coming from the Play Store, you’ll need to head into your security settings and check “Unknown Sources” before you can install it. If you’re looking for more information, the developer has posted an FAQ and answered some questions inthis Reddit post.
Thank you for being part of our community. Read ourComment Policybefore posting.
