In the field of applications for Android launchers one of the Favorites is Nova Launcher, both for its simplicity and high degree of personalization. The beta version is frequently updated with several new features, including some of the main features of Pixel Launcher.
The exclusive application launcher for Google Pixel teams will no longer be so desirable in devices with Android 5.1 Lollipop and 6.0 Marshmallow, as the most recent beta of Nova Launcher takes shortcuts of applications, style 3D Touch from the iPhone to the main screen of the device (via Android Police).
Currently not all applications support the new API of Android 7.1 Nougat which allows you to take advantage of the specific activities of an app to function as a shortcut. However, some of the most important applications of Google already support this feature.
It is worth mentioning that Nova Launcher replicates the appearance of Pixel Launcher almost. The user can change the widget of search by the of aspect floating that share place with the date and, after the update more recent, with the temperature current.
It will be a matter of time to bring these features to the stable version of the Launcher, perhaps with more customization options than the current ones. Unfortunately, they are not free, although a version beta, so it is necessary to purchase the license of Nova Prime Launcher to test them.
Nova Launcher [Play Store]