Chameleon gets a REAL update, yet it’s still in beta

Unlike other kickstarters, who may never really get off the chopping block, Chameleon, the team behind Chameleon alternative home launcher for android, seems to actually be doing work! They just released a new update for all their beta testers, that brings Chameleon up to version 0.8.0, and with it, among other things, we get the one thing we were waiting for….

In this new build they bring new WIDGETS! The team added Facebook, time, and a switches widget to the lineup up of compatible widgets for the launcher. I was wondering how long it would be until I got to use that clock widget that I kept seeing in videos and ads, to bad it only shows time and doesn’t do alarms. They’ve also increased performance for the launcher, here’s a full changelog from the team:

Here are some of the things we’ve fixed/improved:

1. Added Facebook, Time and Switches widgets.
2. Reduced application pause and resume time.
3. Additional crash/freeze fixes.
4. Launcher and App Tray improvements.
5. Widget backgrounds now extend to the bottom of the screen.
6. Overhauled Widget SDK OAuth APIs and added more Widget APIs.
7. Several minor tweaks, fixes and improvements to general usability.

Here are some of the things we are still working on:

1. GMail widget sometimes not working as expected.
2. There aren’t enough widgets (we just added 3, and more are on their way).
3. Widgets appearing blank (widget is still there, but no content is displayed).
4. Widgets being drawn twice in the same area (text doubling).
5. Chameleon can take a long time to start (this has been improved, and will get better with subsequent updates).
6. Chameleon restarts when connecting/disconnecting from dock.
7. Chameleon not working with ROM “X” (our current focus is on maximizing compatibility with official Android versions and tablets).

Hmm that “still working on” list looks suspiciously close to the list they released with the last update. Hopefully the boys know that we don’t just want new features, but also for the bugs to be squashed as well. No one likes a buggy app, get Raid on Chameleon!

Anyways, yes this app is still in beta, and last we heard, it is supposed to be out to the public next month, yet we all know how ETAs go in this community. So be on the lookout for all of you who haven’t backed it. For our beta testers out there, how are you liking the update? You can update the app HERE.