Last week we informed you that one of the oldest and best androidof launchers – Nova Launcher – bought Branch company. Its new beta version is already out, bringing the search function associated with the new owner.
When Kevin Barry, the lead developer of Nova Launcher, announced that the launcher, along with the Sesame Search app, had been acquired by analytics company Branch, he mentioned that the upcoming beta version 8.0.2 would include a feature powered by its technology. This feature is "Branch search for shortcuts and contacts", which has a separate section in the settings menu. The release notes say that Branch uses an offline library named io.branch.search. At the same time, they explain that the library does not have access to the Internet and that the company's direct link library - io.branch.sdk.android – is independent.
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Barry promised in his announcement last week that most of Branch's new features would be voluntary, and so far he's keeping his word. The option to search using Branch technology is disabled by default.
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The search results achieved using the aforementioned feature appear to be more comprehensive than those previously brought to Nova by Sesame's integrated search. This is because Branch combines all contact options such as phone, WhatsApp and "SMS" for each contact, while Sesame shows separate results for WhatsApp. Interestingly, the Branch search doesn't have access to some apps — the ability to message people on the Slack platform shows up separately.
In addition to improved search, the latest beta fixes some minor issues, such as resizing widgets and text in the Edit dialog and app drawer. You can download the new beta version of the launcher <a href="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1932/8043/files/200721_ODSTOUPENI_BEZ_UDANI_DUVODU__EN.pdf?v=1595428404" data-gt-href-en="https://en.notsofunnyany.com/">here</a>.
