Manually Define a Launcher App

[JoshuaFern]

I have an Amazon Fire tablet which has a user-hostile limitation preventing alternative launchers from being used. In my use case, a helpful feature could be added that changes the behavior of the home button to launching a specific user defined application rather than the system-wide one. This would allow an advanced user to replace the default navigation bar with smartdock and always reach the intended launcher on these devices.

[axel358]

This is a very specific use case thou, have u explored ways to replace the stock launcher?

[JoshuaFern]

Hi, thanks for your consideration. I have explored many ways of replacing the stock launcher:

• It was once possible to simply disable the launcher app using ADB commands and install another, but now on newer devices Amazon has made it impossible to disable certain apps without root, which is not yet available.
• There is a "launcher hijacker" utility to circumvent Amazon's launcher lock-in. It doesn't work anymore and Amazon took extra measures to blacklist the APK from even being installed.
• I have tried other navbars, such as this one, which almost does what I want but not quite, and it's not open source.

These devices are both cheap and capable, but the trade off is being a little more under the thumb of Amazon's control. Any solution that gives freedom back to the user is greatly appreciated.