Gestures are where a launcher either gets out of your way or does not. Meridian's rule is simple: any trigger can run any action.
The sixteen triggers
Swipes up, down, left and right. Two-finger swipes. Pinch in and out. Double-tap. Rotation. Edge swipes. Dock swipes. Each is assignable independently, and on the home screen or the dock as appropriate.
The actions
- Open an app, a folder or the app drawer
- Switch to a Space, or step to the next one
- Open search
- Toggle the flashlight
- Ask the assistant a question you saved earlier
- System actions: recent apps, lock screen, notification shade, quick settings
The gesture pad: draw your own
Teach Meridian a shape — a letter, a scribble, anything your finger can trace — and assign an action to it. Draw the shape on the pad and the action runs. It is the escape hatch for people who have already spent all sixteen triggers, and it scales: a C for the calendar, an M for mail, a squiggle for the thing you would otherwise dig through the drawer for.
About the accessibility service
Four of the actions above — recent apps, lock screen, notification shade and quick settings — are things Android offers no other API for. They need an accessibility service, and Meridian is deliberately plain about it:
- It is off by default and only ever asked for when you assign one of those four actions
- It declares no event types and cannot read screen content
- A disclosure dialog explains exactly what it is for, in the app, before anything redirects you to system settings
- Never use those four actions and it stays off permanently
If a launcher asks for accessibility access without telling you which feature needs it, that is worth a second look. Meridian's answer is: these four gestures, nothing else.