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After months of speculations and rumors surrounding the name of Android’s latest iteration, Google announced a few days back that its latest offering will henceforth be officially known as Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The third installment of the Android Marshmallow developer preview was released alongside the official Christening, and thanks to the unfailing resourcefulness and ingenuity of the Android development community, the latest version of Android has already received the full teardown treatment, and the Google Now launcher from Marshmallow is now available for download for whoever is willing to try it out on their device.
The launcher itself will come bereft of certain functionality which is currently only available on Android 6.0. So there will be no vertical app sorting layout in the app-drawer unless you’re running the full ROM on your Nexus device, nor will Google Now on Tap be available. While the version (listed as 1.2.large) does not come with any new features for non-Nexus users, it will introduce them to the look and feel of pure, unadulterated Marshmallow, which is expected to debut later in the year with LG and Huawei’s Nexus devices. It is compatible with 4.1 Jelly Bean and newer versions of Android and comes with a size of just 14.5 MB. The launcher also comes with a set of nine beautiful new wallpapers which are available as default with the latest version of Android.
Coming to the launcher, it might or might not install directly on your device depending on your settings. There are a number of ways of sideloading apps on your Android device, but the easiest one by far would be to change the security settings to allow installation of apps from so-called ‘Unknown Sources”. Just changing that security setting will allow any Android device to accept apk files from any source, allowing the launcher to seamlessly install on your device just like any other app from the Play Store. To enable this function, just head over to Settings > Security > Unknown Sources, and then make sure to click on “OK” if required, to have sideloading enabled on your device. Those interested in giving the launcher a try can hit the link below to download the APK.