For those interested in replacement home screen apps on their Android phone, one that has been popular recently is the Rootless Pixel Launcher. The popularity stems from the fact that it emulates much of what Google makes available in Android 9.0 Pie, but can be installed on an Android 8.x Oreo powered device. Until very recently, the launcher had to be installed from sources outside of the Google Play Store. Unfortunately, after a short period of availability through the Play Store, it has been pulled for a rules violation.
The problem for the Rootless Pixel Launcher was the attempt to implement Google Feed integration. This was accomplished by downloading a companion app called the Rootless Pixel Bridge. That secondary app was not available in the Play Store and Google forbids apps from causing users to “download or install applications from unknown sources outside of Google Play…”
The Rootless Pixel Launcher developer, Amir Zaidi, says he has filed an appeal with Google based on a new version of the launcher that removes the popup message to download the Rootless Pixel Bridge. If that is unsuccessful, Zaidi is also working on a completely new version of the launcher. The downside to that will be for users who have spent time setting up Rootless Pixel Launcher as they will lose all of their settings and customizations.
If you are interested in trying out the Rootless Pixel Launcher and do not mind going to sources outside of the Play Store, both the launcher and the companion bridge app are available from APK Mirror.
Download It Now: Rootless Pixel Launcher (via APK Mirror); Rootless Pixel Bridge v2 (via APK Mirror)
source: AndroidPolice
