Tutorials

Two secret menus of Nova Launcher that every customization lover should know

Nova Launcher is one of the best Android launchers and also one of the oldest. It is one of the most complete and versatile, with a large number of options, some more visible than others. Hide not one, but two secret menus or, at least, not accessible at first sight.

We tell you how to access These Little Known Nova Launcher Menus, as well as what awaits you in each of them. If you are a fan of Nova Launcher, you may already know these shortcuts, but if not, you will surely like to have even more things to tinker with in this launcher.

The quick access menu

Let’s start with the simplest secret menu, a pop-up menu with four shortcuts, similar to the launcher shortcuts of other apps, such as WhatsApp. Nova Launcher cannot have these shortcuts when you click on its icon, but this does not mean that it does not have a menu with several shortcuts.

The bad news is that you will need to use the navigation bar instead of gesture navigation, since the way to activate this menu is by pressing and holding the square button (Recent) on the mobile. In old mobiles it is possible that the button that you must press is to go back.

secret menu

The menu that opens displays four items: System Settings, Nova Settings, Widgets and Wallpapers. Three of them were already accessible in another way, with a long touch anywhere on the desktop that doesn’t have an icon, but adds the useful access to system settings.

The advantage is that the menu is much more compact and tidy than its namesake when you do a long tap on the desktop. It is a little-known shortcut with which you can open system settings quickly from Nova Launcher, without having to put an icon on your mobile.

Labs secret menu

Even more hidden and interesting is the secret menu of Labs. This menu is disabled by default, and the way to make it appear is something different from what we are used to. You will need to open the Nova Launcher settings and hold down the volume down button for a few seconds. After a while, a message will warn that the menu has been activated. Labs.

Labs

To activate the Labs menu you must press and hold the volume down button on your mobile

Labs is a bit of a catch-all in that there are both debugging and error-fixing options as well as experimental functions or advanced. The options can change or disappear at any time, but today they are divided into several categories: various options, permissions, debugging and time.

Some of the options you can activate This is if you want Nova to ask you if you want to update the app, if you want other launchers to appear in the app drawer, or if Nova should try to generate its icons by ignoring the customization layer themes. These options may be useful for troubleshooting, at your own risk.

labslabs

The Permissions section It is used to grant location, phone, storage, accessibility, administration and notification permissions to Nova Launcher, although it does not seem to work correctly. Debugging for its part focuses today on controlling the generation of custom icons from Nova Launcher, with interesting options such as exporting icons or the images of widgets, folders and shortcuts. Not suitable for all audiences, but they are appreciated for power users.

Lastly, there is the section on Time (Weather), with which you can force Nova to take certain weather information (for example, that it’s sunny, even though it’s snowing), and apply it to the Google Toolbar widget. It’s a useful option for finding bugs or checking that everything is working correctly, but whatever you choose there will be overwritten the next time Nova checks the weather data.

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