ARK-launcher Files

ARK-launcher is now fully FOSS: no Google libraries, no self-updating, and nothing leaves the device except the weather lookup.

Heads-up if you are updating from 0.7.11

• This is the last release the in-app updater installs for you. From now on, get updates from this Releases page (Settings ▸ Updates ▸ Check for updates opens it), from Obtainium with this repository as the source, or from the app store you use.
• Google Drive auto-backup is gone. Local file backup and restore work as before. Backups you made to Drive stay in your Drive's app-data folder — remove them via Drive ▸ Settings ▸ Manage apps if you no longer need them.

New

• Double-tap to lock: double-tap empty home-screen space to lock the screen (Settings ▸ Gestures). Uses a minimal accessibility service that reads nothing; you enable it in the system accessibility settings.

Changed

• The in-app updater is removed, together with the "install packages" and notification permissions it needed.
• Google Drive backup is removed (its Google sign-in library was the last non-free dependency), together with the background-work permissions.
• The app now opts out of Android's system backup: its data never leaves the device unless you export a backup file yourself.
• Weather and place-name requests send a neutral ARK-launcher/<version> User-Agent instead of the Android default that named the device model.
• The privacy policy is rewritten for this release: PRIVACY.md (github.com) · PRIVACY.fi.md (github.com).

Fixed

• Notifications widget: an app with several launcher entries (a dialer with separate Phone and Messages icons, say) now shows its main icon instead of whichever entry sorted last, and a notification that asks for its own small icon (Android 17's preferSmallIcon) is drawn with that icon — a missed or blocked call shows a handset, not a message bubble.

Permissions dropped since 0.7.11: REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES, POST_NOTIFICATIONS, WAKE_LOCK, RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED, FOREGROUND_SERVICE.