One of the more interesting alternative launchers out there (that is to say, one that isn't just a grid of apps and widgets plus a drawer) is Action Launcher. This premium custom launcher has been gaining fans since its launch, thanks to a unique gesture-based app drawer and a focus on speed and usability. With version 1.7, developer Chris Lacy has added some of the features this younger launcher lacks, most notably icon theme support - the various theme packs for GO, Nova, and Apex launchers should work with Action Launcher Pro now. A stock Jelly Bean icon pack is included.
Since their inception, tablets have been seen as a computing form factor conducive to a particular kind of artistic expression: drawing and painting. Of course, accurate sketching can be a little difficult with clumsy fingers, and conductive stylus pens have proven a middling solution, at best. Fortunately, with the advent dual-digitizers capable of supporting pressure-sensitive styli - like those found in Samsung's Galaxy Note 10.1 - tablets have become a much more practical art tool. Hardware is nothing without the software to take advantage of it, though. Enter ArtFlow, a new drawing app for Android that comes with, in addition to a number of effects, support for advanced styli baked in.
Android users have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to web browsers. Chrome, Dolphin, Opera, and Firefox all have their pros and cons, not to mention their fans. It's been a while since we had a promising newcomer hit the mobile browser space, but the Go Launcher Dev Team (makers of the customization-friendly GO Launcher and Next Launcher 3D, among many others) are giving it a shot. Next Browser is a free download, available now for devices running Android 2.2 and higher.
Next Browser takes bits and pieces from all the major Android browsers and mishmashes them together.
Following the release of beta features to Chrome stable yesterday, the beta channel of Chrome for Android was promoted to version 28 today.
The update brings a number of desired additions and improvements, all of which I will break down for you below. Here's the relatively incomplete list the Chrome team posted on its blog:
The Chrome team is excited to announce the promotion of Chrome 28 to the Beta channel. Chrome for Android 28.0.1500.21 contains a number of new improvements including:
Google Translate: When you come across a page written in a language that isn't in the same language as your phone or tablet, look for the translation bar
Fullscreen on tablets: Simply scroll the page to dismiss the toolbar
Support for fullscreen API
New graph showing your estimated bandwidth savings when you use the experimental data compression feature
Mobile friendly error pages
Google Translate
Here's what Chrome's new mobile-friendly Translate bar looks like if you visit a site with a language different from your device's (for example, newsru.com):
I find built-in translation support to be one of Chrome's most useful features, so I applaud Google for finally bringing it to Android.
A new update to the Opera mobile beta web browser is out, and this one is somewhat of a doozy. The new goodies are coming to the beta version, so make sure your kittens are some place safe before you fire it up.
The update brings in a new full screen mode, the ability to put the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen, fraud protection, and battery life improvements. An exit button has been added that can be activated by long-pressing the back button. All of this is coated with the usual assortment of bug fixes and minor improvements.
There are just two rules in Total Recoil: shoot everything that moves - and shoot everything that doesn't. This top-down shooter is all about blowing stuff up and making money. Get your fingers back on those virtual joysticks, soldiers, because there's shooting to be done.
Total Recoil looks to be a soothingly mindless action game that doesn't purport to be about anything more than shooting as many things with as many bullets from as many guns as possible. Your soldier will wield upgradable assault rifles, chain guns, cannons, missile launchers, flamethrowers, and whatever else it takes to mow down unrelenting enemy combatants.
The UK citizens have sounded off on the BBC iPlayer's Play Store reviews, loudly and often: it's sitting at a depressing 2.9 stars, with more 1-star reviews than any others. The Beeb has been slowly improving the streaming video app, and today it gets a long-overdue update to version 1.7, finally including support for 10-inch tablets. I honestly have no idea why that was such a hurdle for an international media company, but hey, there it is. The app is still free for UK citizens who've paid their television licence, and forbidden to everyone else.
The user interface on phones and smaller tablets has been adjusted slightly.
Last month we let you know about Tetris Blitz, a surprisingly good update to the original falling block puzzle game that sadly hadn't landed on our fair shores just yet. Today Electronic Arts has expanded the game rollout, and it should be available wherever the Play Store is. Tetris Blitz is a free download for devices running 2.1 and up. You can play the whole game for free, but the standard currency-based in-app purchase model is present.
Blitz ain't your daddy's Tetris. The game is limited to two-minute sessions, and Instead of the blocks falling at a sedate pace, they hang out at the top of the play field, waiting for you to choose where to place them.
Ready for some top-notch game titles for a buck each? Great, because we've shortened the deal list to just two extremely worthy titles today: AVP: Evolution and Fieldrunners 2. Both have been knocked down to a mere dollar for Memorial Day weekend, and both are excellent games.
AVP: Evolution
For the uninitiated who may not be familiar with AVP: Evolution, it's the next stage in the murderous battle for supremacy between the two other-worldly titans of our time: Alien and Predator. The basic gist is that the Super Predators have taken the Aliens captive to harness them as weapons against the Jungle Predator clan.
Welcome to the latest entry in our Bonus Round series, wherein we tell you all about the new Android games of the day that we couldn't get to during our regular news rounds. Consider this a quick update for the dedicated gamers who can't wait for our bi-weekly roundups, and don't want to wade through a whole day's worth of news just to get their pixelated fix. Today we've got n adorable brawler, a licensed adventure book (what?), a new arcade racing game, and old arcade racing game, and Square's latest casual title. Without further ado: 
![1[5]](http://cdn.androidpolice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nexusae0_15_thumb4.png "1[5]")
![2[5]](http://cdn.androidpolice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nexusae0_25_thumb3.png "2[5]")
![3[5]](http://cdn.androidpolice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/nexusae0_35_thumb1.png "3[5]")