One of the best aspects of the Android operating system is its customizability, and perhaps nothing reflects that better than the support for third-party launchers. There are a lot of great Android launchers to choose from, but out of the extensive list, Niagara Launcher is one of the most popular and beloved. The latest Niagara Launcher beta update makes things even better for users running Android 15, as it adds support for two of the operating system’s biggest features: app archiving and Private Space.

Niagara Launcher, for those unaware, offers a fresh and clean home screen experience on Android. The design is intentionally minimal, allowing you to focus on the apps that matter most. However, it doesn’t shy away from offering some advanced features, such as the Niagara widget, the launcher’s take on the Pixel’s powerful At a Glance experience, and Anycons, its clever approach to theming icons.

While some of Niagara Launcher’s best features are only available if you unlock the Pro version, many features are available to all users, including the latest additions in the v1.12.7 beta update.

Niagara Launcher Beta 1.12.7 Changelog

Niagara Launcher v1.12.7 beta is rolling out today, bringing full support for the app archiving and Private Space features in Android 15. There are a few caveats to the launcher’s Private Space support that I’ll explain in detail below, but first, here’s the changelog for the update:

• Support for new features introduced in Android 15
  • Private Space: Find apps from your Private Space in a new section and unlock or lock the Private Space right from Niagara Launcher
  • App Archiving: Archived apps are grayed out and have a nice “cloud” badge to indicate they need to be restored before they can be used again.
• Bugfixes
• Updated translations

Support for app archiving in Niagara Launcher

Niagara Launcher now fully supports Android 15’s built-in app archiving feature. This means that it will recognize when apps have been archived and replace their icons with the archived version of the icon. The archived version of an icon is simply a grayed-out version of the app’s original icon with a “cloud” badge over it. Tapping on an archived app’s icon will open a dialog asking if you want to restore the app from the app store it was installed from.

Compared to the Pixel Launcher on Google’s Pixel phones, Niagara Launcher handles archived apps exactly the same, albeit with a few minor visual differences. For example, the archived version of an app’s icon is slightly different in Niagara Launcher than it is in Pixel Launcher.

Additionally, Niagara Launcher doesn’t display the progress of restoring an app, while the Pixel Launcher does with a circular progress bar on the icon itself. Neither launcher lets you archive apps from the home screen or app drawer, though Niagara does give you the ability to hide archived apps, unlike the Pixel Launcher.

Private Space Support in Niagara Launcher

Even more impressive is Niagara Launcher’s support for Private Space, a feature that lets you hide apps on Google Pixel phones and other devices that support the feature on Android 15.

Private Space creates an entirely new profile tied to the primary user, much like a work profile. In this profile, any apps or files you download are stored in their own private data path, so your most sensitive data isn’t exposed when you run an app outside of Private Space. Your Private Space can also be set up with a different lock screen and Google account than the primary profile, further separating the two.

While the Android operating system handles the creation, management, and deletion of Private Space, Android launchers like Niagara Launcher are responsible for actually letting the user interact with Private Space. To properly support Private Space in Android 15, launchers must have a separate container for apps installed in Private Space, must be able to lock and unlock the container on demand, must hide apps in Private Space when it is locked, and must be able to hide Private Space entirely when the user enables that setting.

Niagara Launcher supports almost all of the Private Space requirements, minus two, which it currently can’t possibly handle. Without going into too much detail, there are a couple of Private Space APIs that third-party launcher apps can’t currently access in Android 15. The first is an API that allows apps to launch the Private Space settings screen. The second is an API that allows apps to detect when the user has the “hide private space” setting enabled.

As a result, third-party launchers like Niagara Launcher are unable to detect when the user has opted to hide the Private Space, meaning they don’t know when to hide the entire container like the Pixel Launcher does. As if that wasn’t enough, these limitations also mean that third-party launchers make it easy to see when a Private Space exists on the device, defeating the purpose of the “hide private space” setting. The developers have raised these Private Space API issues, as well as issues relating to the predictive back gesture and app overview, on the Google Issue Tracker and are looking for users to upvote them to get Google’s attention.

These issues aside, I think Private Space support is a great addition to Niagara Launcher. The developers have clearly put a lot of thought and care into integrating it in a way that fits the minimalist design. If you’re a fan of Niagara Launcher and have a Pixel phone running Android 15, I highly recommend checking out the latest beta.