[Feedback thread] Layout rewrite

[MM2-0]

Starting with tomorrow's nightly, Kvaesitso will feature a major rewrite of the underlying layout, which will close a number of longstanding issues, such as:

• More customizable gestures, the gestures for widgets and search are now freely configurable
• Swipe gestures should now feel more natural
• The 'hidden' search bar style now actually removes the search bar from home screen, and doesn't just make it transparent
• Support for predictive back animations

Because this rewrite will affect the user experience significantly, and because it probably introduces a ton of new bugs, your feedback would be greatly appreciated. Please feel free to comment your thoughts and any bugs you've encountered in this thread.

Thank you

[MM2-0]

TODO

Improvements

• There is no longer a way to edit the clock widget from home screen (is this even important?)
• I'm not really satisfied with the 'widgets on home screen' setting (which supersedes the 'fill height' option of the clock widget)
• Rework the search bar style preference

Bugs

• the keyboard always activates, regardless of settings
• filters are gone
• wallpaper blur can't be disabled

[Jak2k]

I'm not really satisfied with the 'widgets on home screen' setting (which supersedes the 'fill height' option of the clock widget)

Exactly this is a deal breaker for me. I usually have a clean homescreen and then scroll down just a bit (a few rows of favorites).

[aryaprakashraj]

I'm trying the nightly version for the first time.

1. The thing(idk what was it correctly) that was shown while I use the swipe down gesture feels off and slows down the activity and usability I feel. And I think it is only shown for the system actions other than the launcher shortcuts. Try to minimise or option to disable that. It really feels slowing down my flow while using.
2. There is an option in the normal where, if we disable the "Automatically Show" the keyboard while entering the app drawer, it's like normally opening the app drawer. But in the nightly version, it's not working and there's no option as "App drawer" or something in the gestures, and only the "Open Search"(idk it's there for the long time in the nightly version). I know it's an Search powered launcher, but we can disable opening the keyboard in the normal one.

I think this is all I got for now.

[strongville]

Just a couple of nitpicks I've noticed at the moment:

1. The haptic feedback for the apps list is not triggered if the swipe down gesture is not done "all the way", even though the list shows properly every time.
2. Sometimes, probably the first time the app list is shown, the app list loads showing at the top the all apps list, making you have to scroll down a bit to click some of the favorites at the top of that.

About the libraries used, I think the new library for blur (Haze) it's still not on About page, just FYI. Using Haze means that the blur effect could be moved to the card background instead of the wallpaper? (I mean, just in theory)

[MM2-0]

Using Haze means that the blur effect could be moved to the card background instead of the wallpaper? (I mean, just in theory)

I don't think so. The wallpaper runs in a different window in a different process than the launcher, so they are rendered independently from each other. Haze uses render effects to blur content while the launcher is rendering itself, but it can only blur contents from the same window. Window blurs work differently, because they are a compositing effect, not a render effect. Window blurs are applied when the launcher window is composited over the wallpaper window, but at that time, both windows are already rendered, and the information about the layout hierarchy is no longer available.

[strongville]

The wallpaper runs in a different window in a different process than the launcher

Right, completely forgot that the wallpaper drawable is no longer accessible for apps on Android for "privacy reasons".

(But all my notifications, on AOSP at least, are needed to media control, and the special permission for media currently listening is A SYSTEM PERMISSION, because of, guess what, PRIVACY REASONS. Excuse me the rant, lol)

[MM2-0]

Right, completely forgot that the wallpaper drawable is no longer accessible for apps on Android for "privacy reasons".

Wouldn't work with live wallpapers anyway.

[bloknayrb]

Trying to swipe over to the app list after swiping down to widgets doesn't work.

[strongville]

Adding a couple more details here:

• Sometimes, when unlocking phone or pressing home to reactivate the launcher, the screen lags for a little bit, not rendering anything, for two or three seconds, before showing the main screen, with the clock.
• Currently the only way to Edit widgets is NOT hiding the button to do that, because as of the layout changes, the search bar is shown but the menu item is not (I remember I helped previously to make this setting). Not quite sure if the intended behaviour is to show the menu item or to hide the search box. If it's the latter probably that setting should be deleted.

[gaabster]

Great update, thank you.

One issue tho, when opening search, sometimes it opens on app drawer,

screenshot 1

and not on favourites.

screenshot 2

[shtrophic]

screen-20250613-194738.mp4

Something that happens when you open up a large item, scroll downwards such that the search bar disappears, and then collapse the item: the search bar stays hidden.

[MM2-0]

I think this is fixed now, but let's see

[leekleak]

Yupp, I can't reproduce this anymore either 🥳🥳