A side panel that works great (even with gesture navigation) - eviltoast
Panels - sidebar (edge screen) - Apps on Google Play
play.google.com
A customizable sidebar with apps, shortcuts, contacts, widgets and gestures

I’ve tried a lot of panels/sidebars/taskbars for Android but this one really stands out. It works so well you might think it’s a native android feature (i wish it was added to Android by default).

Apps, contacts and even widgets can be added.