I’m a devout Pixel user. I love stock Android, and I’m always running the latest Android beta, making Pixel basically my only choice. But there are times when I get jealous looking at all the extra tools that Samsung provides on its Galaxy phones, Edge Panel being the big one. With Edge Panel, you can swipe in from the edge of your phone and a hidden drawer reveals itself, filled with apps, system actions, and shortcuts. Given how barebones Pixel Launcher is, I’ve always wanted something like this. Then I found the Panels app by Fossor Coding (not to be confused with the ill-fated wallpaper app by MKBHD).
In some ways, Panels is even better than Edge Panels on Samsung. It lets you use custom icon packs, there’s a quick search shortcut, and you can even open floating widgets. Plus, because it’s customizable, you can move the trigger point to the bottom edge of your phone instead of the side (incredibly handy for large phones), and you can add multiple columns (up to a ridiculous seven column layout). And while you can pay for Panels, all of that basic functionality is included for free.
How to customize the Panels app for Android
First, install the app and give it permission to display over other apps; this makes sure that the Panels launcher can work when you’re using any app.
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
Next, tap on the View button and customize the panel. The free version limits you to 3 columns and 9 rows, which seems like plenty to me. You can upgrade to the full version to remove this limit (which is quite cheap, at just $1.50). From the Trigger section, you can customize the trigger area. If you have a larger phone, I highly recommend bringing down the trigger area towards the bottom of the screen.
Now, let’s customize the Panels launcher itself. Swipe in from your trigger area and hold for a second to bring up the sidebar panel. By default, you’ll see some apps here already. Tap and hold on an empty area to start adding more apps.
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
You can choose to add any of the following items:
-
Applications: Choose any installed app. Add your most frequently used apps here.
-
Shortcuts: Launch actions from inside any supported apps. For example, you can create a shortcut for adding a new task in TickTick, or messaging someone on WhatsApp.
-
App pair: Create shortcuts for launching two apps side-by-side, made even more useful after Android 16’s latest 90:10 split screen update.
-
Accessibility: Add shortcuts for system-level options like Home, Back, Notifications, Screenshot, and more.
-
System preferences: Quick access to frequently used settings like media volume, cellular data, airplane mode, Wi-Fi, and a lot more.
-
Website: You can add any website as a quick shortcut here.
-
Floating widget: This is a hidden gem. You can add widgets that open in a floating window above everything else. You can trigger widgets for news, weather, or sports updates. They can hover over everything else for a few seconds, before you dismiss them out of the way.
-
Folder: If you have too many quick app options, organize them in folders instead.
-
Contact: Add any contact here as an icon. Press and hold to quickly call, message, or email them.
-
Quick Search: Another useful hack. The Quick Search panel brings up a fast search for all installed apps.
Go over each option and choose what you’d like to add to your sidebar launcher. Me, I’m a simple man, so my focus is mostly on my most frequently used apps, shortcuts for common actions, and quick access to some system level functionality.
What do you think so far?
One swipe gesture: Lastly, here’s a pro tip. While you can open apps in Panels by swiping, lifting your thumb, and selecting, you can also do it without taking your thumb off the screen.
Once you swipe in from the edge and the Panels sidebar opens up, don’t let go. You can keep moving your thumb to highlight any app or shortcut (the icon that’s in focus will get bigger). Then simply let go over your selection to launch it.
Overall, Panels is a pretty robust app. Once you have your personalized setup, you can launch apps, shortcuts, or widgets, with just a swipe, no matter which app you’re using.
