Launch apps from anywhere with Bar Launcher [App of the Day]

Need quick access to certain apps from anywhere on your phone? You may want to take a look at Bar Launcher. 

Task switching is already pretty good on Android devices, but only for recently used apps. Bar Launcher is a simple app that puts a row of your favorite applications in your notification shade. The quick access to these applications can cut down on precious time.

If you need to get to an app that you haven’t used recently, you need to click your home button, navigate to the app drawer, and search through the pages of apps to find the right one. When Bar Launcher is enabled, it adds a persistent row of apps to the top of your notification shade. This basically eliminates the time you would usually have to take to find the right app.

We like this app because it’s simple, easy to use, functional, and doesn’t try to do more than it should. When you launch the app, you can instantly begin adding apps to your list. Up to 6 apps can be shown in a row at a time, and anything more than that can be accessed by clicking the overflow arrow. You can add as many or as few apps as you’d like to the rows. You can even customize your rows, leaving one for utilities, media, sharing, or pretty much anything else you choose.

There is, however, one drawback to the application. There needs to be a persistent notification in the status bar in order for the app to keep running. You have the option to hide the notification icon, but it still leaves a blank space in the status bar where the icon should be.

That certainly isn’t a deal breaker with us, and we understand why it’s there. Other than that one little gripe, we wouldn’t change a thing. It’s functional and simple, and that’s why we love it. Oh, and it’s free!

Download it from the Google Play Store link below.

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