How to Create Custom App Shortcuts on Android

Probably the best thing about using an Android device is that you can customize it to your heart’s desires. Android gives you the ability to transform your device into something you can truly call your own, letting you change everything from its look to its functionality. When it comes to customizing my own personal device, I spend most of my time and energy adding functionality rather than looks. I’m always on the lookout for features that can make my device more functional and easier to use. My goal is to be able to access all my apps and functions using as few touches as possible. So, with Android 7.1 update, you can understand how excited I was when Android added long press to show app shortcuts functionality. However, my happiness was short-lived, as most of the shortcuts are pretty basic with little or no use. Not anymore, because in today’s article you How to create custom shortcuts for long press action in apps on your Android device:

note: I used OnePlus 3 running on Android 7.1. However, any device running Android 4.1 or higher can access this feature.

Requirements

Before we start customizing our Android device, we will need to install two apps so that we can customize the app shortcuts. One is a famous launcher app and the other is a pretty cool app even though it’s not that popular, and it’s basically the heart of the process required to enable and use the aforementioned feature.

• Nova Launcher (Beta 5.4)

Each new version of Android brings tons of new great features, but only a very small percentage of all active Android devices receive the update in a timely manner. This is why Nova launcher is so popular because it integrates these features and brings them to devices running on older firmware. We will also need Nova Launcher’s help for today’s tutorial. However, the stable version of Nova Launcher available in the Play Store will not work. Since this feature is new, Currently, you can only use it by installing the latest beta version (v5.4)..

You can install the beta version of Nova launcher. or by signing up for “Become a Tester” by visiting Play Store of Nova Launcher Beta page and login with your Google account, or by downloading and installing the APK file provided by Nova official website.

• Sesame Shortcuts

This is the app to help you create custom app shortcuts by integrating with Nova Launcher. Go to the Play Store link given below to download and install the app. The app has a free trial period, after which you can either purchase the app or enjoy its functionality with subtle reminders prompting you to purchase the app.

To organise: (14-day trial periodFree with reminders, $2.99)

Creating Custom App Shortcuts Using Sesame Shortcuts

Sesame Shortcuts adds many custom shortcuts to all popular apps. It not only brings preconfigured shortcuts but also Allows you to create your own custom shortcuts by supporting deep linking in some apps. You can create shortcuts for more than 20 apps right now Including Spotify, Netflix, Google, Tasker etc. However, even if it doesn’t allow you to create custom shortcuts, its own pre-built shortcuts are much better than those provided natively on Android. So, let’s create some custom shortcuts, shall we?

note: You will need to set Nova Launcher as your default launcher as custom app shortcuts created by Sesame Shortcuts only appear on Nova Launcher home screen.

1. Setting Sesame Shortcuts

To use Sesame Shortcuts app, you need to allow it in Accessibility settings. When launched, the app will send you directly to the required settings page, but if you somehow missed it, just Go to Settings->Security->Accessibility->Sesame Shortcuts and grant access.

When you’re done with this, start the application. You will see a two-pane page in the application’s window. Ignore the first (SHORTCUTS) for now and Tap on PREFERENCES. Here Enable Sesame Shortcut to display in Nova Launcher by touching the marked icon in the picture.

2. Creating Custom App Shortcuts

Now that you have completed the setup process in the app, Tap where it says “SHORTCUTS”. Here you can scroll down to see all your apps. Below each app’s name, you’ll find the number of shortcuts that come pre-built with the app. Tap the app icon to reveal shortcuts. Here you can choose to disable shortcuts which you don’t want to see. You can even choose to completely disable app shortcuts for any app you want by turning off the switch next to the app’s name.

Applications that allow you to create custom shortcuts, they have a “+Add new” tag next to their name. For example, you can see the tag next to Spotify in the image below. Tap the name of the app to create a custom shortcut and adding the shortcut typing in the “Add new” field. Shortcuts will depend on the app you created them.

For example, on Spotify you can: create a shortcut for your favorite artists or playlists you created. When you type the name of an artist or playlist in the Add new field, Sesame will search for them in your Spotify account and give you options on the screen. Tap the suggestion you want to create a shortcut for.. I created a new shortcut for one of my favorite groups in the picture below; Imagine Dragons.

Now, long press the Spotify icon on your home screen and you will see the custom shortcut which would have been for Imagine Dragons in my case. To compare the shortcut options, I’ve included screenshots taken before and after enabling custom shortcuts for Spotify.

Using the methods described above, you can create shortcuts for any application that allows this. Even if you can’t create custom shortcuts, the shortcuts that come pre-built with the Sesame Shortcuts app are much better than those that come natively with Android.

Besides giving you the ability to create application shortcuts, Sesame also brings outstanding search features. While inside the app drawer, you can search for anything from contacts to call lists to your emails. you can even search for shortcuts you have created for any application. Check out the images below to see the search function in action.

SEE ALSO: How to Add Google Assistant Page to Nova Launcher Home Screen

Create Custom App Shortcuts to Get Jobs Finished Quickly

I have a lot of fun using it as I create my own custom app shortcuts on my Android device. It helped me find and use things/apps on my device much faster. It has quickly become one of my favorite customizations I have made on my device. I hope you like this feature and create your own custom application shortcuts. If you liked this article, let us know in the comment section below. Share with us your favorite app shortcuts you created after reading this article.