FAQ

Use the built-in prompt. On first launch, choose Set as default when asked. Later, open Settings → Launcher → Default launcher (or tap Set as default on the home notice if it appears). Android opens the system Home app screen — pick CheatCode Launcher.

You can also change it anytime in system Settings → Apps → Default apps → Home app.

Swipe a sequence of directions on the gesture box — up, down, left, right, or tap. When the sequence matches an assignment, the launcher runs that action (open an app, toggle a setting, and more). Sequences time out between inputs, so you build them one gesture at a time.

Use Settings → Launcher → Backup & restore to move your full launcher setup between phones or keep a safety copy.

Back up settings exports a .ccbackup file containing:

• Cheat codes (apps, shortcuts, quick actions, collections, Tasker, media, launcher actions, and theme codes)
• Saved themes and your active look (including gesture box and home wallpaper images when set)
• After-shortcut links and auto-switch rules
• Launcher preferences (drawer, gesture input, hints, and more)

After export, you can save the file anywhere or share it through another app.

Restore settings replaces your current setup with the backup. You will see a summary (code counts, theme count, and similar) before confirming.

After restore

• Codes for apps or shortcuts that are not installed yet are kept — they work once those apps are available.
• If the backup used media controls, notification-based gesture labels, or album-art backgrounds, you may need to grant notification access again (Settings → Cheat codes).
• If the backup enabled contact search in the drawer, grant contacts access again (Settings → App drawer).
• Backups from an older app version restore normally. A backup from a newer app version may require updating CheatCode Launcher first.

Restore does not transfer Android system settings such as your default launcher choice — set CheatCode Launcher as home again if needed (how to set default launcher).

None are required for core launcher use: home screen, app drawer, cheat codes, themes, and collections all work without granting extra permissions.

Optional permissions unlock specific features:

Permission	Used for	Where to grant
Notification access	Media controls (play/pause, skip), now-playing and notification placeholders on gesture box labels, album-art gesture background	Prompted in Settings → Cheat codes or Look & feel
Contacts	Search contacts by name or phone in the app drawer	Settings → App drawer when “Include contacts” is on
Calendar	Next-event and alarm placeholders on gesture box labels	Prompted in Settings → Look & feel → Gesture box labels
Usage access	Screen-time placeholders; better After-shortcut detection when you return from apps not launched by this launcher	Settings → After shortcuts or Gesture box labels

Not needed

CheatCode Launcher does not need camera permission for the flashlight launcher action — it uses the torch API only.

Denying optional permissions does not break the launcher. You lose only the features that depend on them. After restoring a backup, you may need to grant notification or contacts access again if your backup used those features.

Open the app drawer, long-press an app row, and choose Assign code. Enter your sequence in the gesture box, then confirm. You can assign multiple codes to different targets — apps, shortcuts, and quick actions.

Yes. The drawer works like a conventional launcher — search, scroll, and tap to launch. Codes are optional speed paths for things you open often. Settings also offers a visible control to open the drawer if you prefer not to use gestures.

The Open URL quick action sends a standard Android “open link” intent. CheatCode Launcher does not maintain a fixed list of allowed sites — if Android can route the link to an app, it should work.

Web pages — example.com, https://docs.example.com/guide, and other http:// or https:// links. If you omit the scheme, https:// is added automatically.

App deep links — links that open directly in an installed app instead of a browser. Common examples:

• Spotify — spotify:track:…, spotify:album:…, spotify:playlist:… (copy a share link from Spotify and use the spotify: form, or paste an open.spotify.com URL if your device resolves it)
• YouTube — https://youtu.be/… or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=…
• Maps & navigation — geo:… or Google Maps URLs
• Other apps — any custom scheme the app registers (mailto:, tel:, ftp://, and similar)

What to expect

• The target app must be installed and must claim that link type on your device.
• Some https:// links open in a browser; others open in an app if the app handles that domain (for example, a Spotify share URL may jump into Spotify when it is installed).
• If nothing on the phone handles the link, Android shows a “no app found” style error — that is outside the launcher’s control.

Add the quick action from Settings → Cheat codes → Add quick action → Open URL, paste or type the link, assign a cheat code, and draw the sequence.

Quick actions are cheat-code targets that are not tied to one installed app. Add them from Settings → Cheat codes → Add quick action, enter the details, then assign a gesture sequence.

Built-in quick actions:

• Send SMS — open the compose screen for a phone number
• Dial — open the dialer for a number
• Compose email — open your email app (address optional)
• Open URL — open a web page or app deep link (what kinds of links work?)

When you create one, you can add an optional display name. If you set it, that exact name is what you see in settings, the drawer, and search — not a generated label like “Text +1…”.

Related coded actions in the same settings screen, but separate from quick actions:

• Launcher actions — built-in shortcuts such as opening the app drawer or toggling the flashlight
• Media controls — play/pause, next, and previous track (requires notification access for whatever is currently playing)
• Tasker tasks — run a Tasker task by name when Tasker is installed

Quick actions count toward your cheat-code limit. The app shows your current entitlements in Settings.

A collection groups related apps and actions under one cheat code. Draw the sequence, then pick what to launch from a short on-screen list.

Good uses: a “Work” bundle (mail, calendar, docs), a “Media” bundle (music apps and playback shortcuts), or any set you open often but do not want as separate codes.

What you can add to a collection

• Apps
• App shortcuts
• Quick actions (SMS, dial, email, URL — see What are quick actions?)
• Tasker tasks

Create and edit collections in Settings → Cheat codes → Collections. Each collection gets its own code assignment. You can adjust how long the picker stays visible under the collection display duration setting on the same screen.

Free vs Lifetime

The free tier includes 2 collections. Lifetime unlocks unlimited collections (along with higher cheat-code and after-shortcut limits — see What’s included in the free version?).

Collections are included in backup and restore.

The gesture box gives quick haptic and visual feedback when a sequence fails. Your inputs fade on a timeout, so you can start fresh. Double-check assignments in the drawer — coded apps show their sequences on the right side of each row.

After shortcuts are quick-launch chips that appear on the home screen after you leave a linked app. They answer: “I just closed this — what do I usually open next?”

Example: link Camera to Photos and Messages. Close Camera, return home, and those shortcuts appear for a few seconds so you can jump straight there without drawing a cheat code.

Set up

1. Open Settings → After shortcuts and turn the feature on.
2. Long-press an app in the drawer and choose the after-shortcuts option for the fastest path, or tap Add linked app in settings.
3. For each linked app, add up to three destination slots — other apps, coded actions, quick actions, collections, or Tasker tasks.

You can adjust how long shortcuts stay visible and whether they appear above or below the gesture box on the same settings screen.

Limits

The free tier includes 3 linked apps. Lifetime unlocks unlimited links (free version details).

Usage access (optional)

After shortcuts work without it for apps you launched from CheatCode Launcher. Usage access helps the launcher detect when you return from apps opened elsewhere (for example, from a notification). Grant it from Settings → After shortcuts if shortcuts sometimes miss the app you just left.

Troubleshooting

After shortcuts follow the app Android reports you left — not always the name in Recents. See Camera and similar handoff issues if shortcuts do not appear when you expect them.

After shortcuts are included in backup and restore.

Yes. Assign a cheat code to any Tasker task and draw the sequence to run it from the home screen.

Requirements

1. Tasker installed on the device
2. Allow external access enabled in Tasker (CheatCode shows a banner in Settings → Cheat codes → Tasker with a link to Tasker’s settings if access is blocked)
3. At least one task defined in Tasker

Add a coded task

Open Settings → Cheat codes → Add Tasker task, pick the task, then assign a gesture sequence. Tasker tasks also appear in collections and After shortcuts.

Drawer search

Turn on Include quick actions in Settings → App drawer to find coded Tasker tasks (and other quick actions) while searching, with their cheat codes shown.

If something breaks

• Renaming or deleting a task in Tasker can make an assignment stale — re-pick the task or assign a new code.
• Tasker tasks count toward your cheat-code limit (free vs Lifetime).

Tasker assignments are included in backup and restore.

The app drawer is a full launcher list — search, scroll, and tap as usual. Several settings extend search beyond app names.

Open Settings → App drawer → Search:

Prioritize frequently used (on by default) — apps and actions you launch often rank higher among similar text matches, so habitual picks rise without hiding better text matches.

Include quick actions — shows coded quick actions and Tasker tasks in results, with their cheat codes on the row.

Include app shortcuts — shows shortcuts published by installed apps (long-press a shortcut row to assign or edit its code).

Include contacts — matches contact names and phone numbers while you type (requires contacts permission).

Press search to launch

While typing, the top match is highlighted and the search field shows Press search to launch {name}. Press the keyboard’s search/enter key to launch that result without tapping the row — handy one-handed.

Coded-only browse

With an empty search field, turn on the Coded only chip to browse only items that have cheat codes assigned, grouped by Apps, Shortcuts, and Quick actions when multiple types appear.

For using the drawer without memorizing codes at all, see Can I use the drawer without memorizing codes?.

Gesture previews (related)

Under Settings → Gesture input, Show match while entering names the target when your in-progress sequence already matches a code. Show branch previews (requires match preview) lists up to four codes that share the same starting gestures — useful when codes overlap.

Go to Settings → Look & feel to adjust gesture box colors, background opacity, fonts, and layout position. Saved themes are named presets you can recall later. Manual tweaks change your current look without updating a saved theme until you tap Update.

From a saved theme’s menu you can Assign code so a gesture applies that theme instantly. Open Settings → Cheat codes to edit theme codes you’ve already assigned, or assign launcher actions that jump straight to Saved themes or Auto-switch themes.

Auto-switch themes (Lifetime) applies a saved theme when conditions match — for example while charging, on certain weekdays or times, when an app has a notification, or on narrow vs wide screens (useful on foldables: a minimal cover theme and a spacious unfolded theme). Rules run top to bottom; the first match wins. If you change the look manually, auto-switch pauses until you resume it. Find it under Settings → Look & feel → Auto-switch themes. It works best with multiple saved themes.

Yes. In Settings → Look & feel → Gesture box background, import a PNG, JPG, WebP, or GIF (size and format limits apply). Animation pauses when the gesture box is hidden or the launcher is in the background to save battery.

This only affects the gesture box fill — not the full home screen. For a full-home layer that themes can switch, see What is Home wallpaper?.

Home wallpaper (Settings → Look & feel → Home wallpaper) is a launcher-drawn layer behind the gesture box. You can leave System wallpaper (your Android wallpaper shows through), pick a Solid color, or use a still Image. Themes can include it and crossfade when a theme applies or auto-switches — without changing Android’s system wallpaper.

That is separate from Gesture box background, which only fills the gesture box chrome itself (see Can I use a custom background image in the gesture box?).

Why not only use the system wallpaper? Mutating Android’s wallpaper is slow and cannot crossfade with your saved Look & feel themes. A launcher layer keeps home Look updates instant and theme-aware.

Gesture box labels add live text inside or around the gesture box on the home screen — time, calendar info, now playing, notifications, and more. They are separate from cheat-code glyphs; codes still work normally underneath.

Configure them in Settings → Look & feel → Gesture box labels. Add one or more label lines and insert placeholders that resolve at runtime:

Time & date — current time, date, or time in another timezone

Calendar & alarms — next calendar event (title, time, relative “in 2 hours”), next alarm

Device — battery level, today’s screen time

Now playing — song title, artist, album, or player app from active media

Notifications — title, text, or count from a specific app you choose (for example, unread count from a messaging app)

Permissions

Some placeholders need optional access — the settings screen prompts you when required:

• Notification access — now playing and per-app notification placeholders; also used by media controls and album-art gesture backgrounds
• Usage access — screen time
• Calendar — next-event and alarm placeholders (Android calendar permission)

If access is missing, that placeholder shows empty or a fallback — it does not block gestures or codes.

Labels are saved with your look and included in themes and backups.

The free tier includes core launcher functionality and two saved theme slots. Premium (Lifetime) unlocks unlimited saved themes, auto-switch themes (apply saved themes when charging, on a schedule, and more), and theme share/import — plus higher limits on cheat codes, collections, and next-app links. Exact limits may change between releases — the app always shows your current entitlements in Settings.

Install CheatCode Launcher from the same Google Play account you used to purchase, then open Settings. Play Store restores eligible purchases automatically when you’re signed in. If something is missing, use Restore purchases in Settings or contact support with your order email.

Give Android a day to rebuild launcher caches. If issues persist, restart the device, confirm CheatCode Launcher is set as default home, and check that battery optimization isn’t aggressively restricting the app. Report persistent slowness to support with your device model and Android version.

Gesture input announces direction labels for screen readers. Core actions also have non-gesture paths: open the drawer from Settings, use visible settings controls, and assign codes through the standard assignment sheet. If something isn’t reachable, tell us — accessibility is a baseline requirement.

After shortcuts follow the app Android reports you left — not the label in Recents. On many phones, tapping a photo in Camera opens Google Photos (or another gallery), even when the card still says Camera.

For how After shortcuts work and how to set them up, see What are After shortcuts?.

Leave Camera from the capture screen for Camera-linked shortcuts, or also link Photos/Gallery if you often open the viewer first. The same idea applies when other apps hand off to a second app mid-flow.

After shortcuts are other apps and actions—you can’t add the linked app itself as a slot (reopening what you just closed isn’t a next step).

App shortcuts are published by each app — CheatCode Launcher only lists what Android exposes. Some apps offer dynamic shortcuts that come and go: recent conversations, recent documents, and similar targets that aren’t meant to be permanent.

Google Messages is a common example. Shortcuts for recent chats may appear when those threads are active, then vanish later. A code assigned to one of those shortcuts stops working when the app removes it.

For a long-lived cheat code, prefer a stable target — open the app itself, or a fixed action the app always publishes. If a dynamic shortcut disappears, pick something permanent and re-assign the code.

Use our Support page for email and Discord. Include your Android version and device model when reporting issues.