So I am trying to find this or the equivalent of it. It’s been really handy for me as a game developer and just want quick access to applying a texture and viewing it in the viewport.
Thank you. I’d really appreciate the help 
Shame that there’s all those steps now.
I didn’t have to do that in 2.7.
But in 2.7, there was no lookdev mode, no EEVEE.
That is counterpart to ease of use for more complex PBR materials with several textures.
2.8 is a beta. The drag and drop of an image from a file browser to object in 3D View should be restored at a moment. When it will be done, the workflow will be faster than in 2.7x.
I’ll stick to 2.7 for a while longer then.
2.8 is sleek, nice and awesome, no doubt.
I just really need that easy functionality because everything I make I export into a game engine so I don’t actually want to sit with Blender’s render/material functionality, great as it is. 
Make a basic material node tree like that and save it as fake user, and then save your start up file. Then all you need to do is attach the material to the new object and navigate to the image texture you are checking - using that default UV Map name, it should work pretty easily.
Since we no longer have Blender Render, the Cycles nodes style is what we use with Cycles and Eevee.
Thanks, Craig. It’s not exactly a good workaround solution for me, sadly.
The problem then becomes speed and accessibility.
Whereas before in 2.7
2.8
Now, this is fine if you work is to be rendered in Blender, but I work in a game engine and want to spend as little time as possible within Blender’s material system. Not to mention I now have to deal with another panel entirely, the node system.
I can do a video recording of my problem if that would help
" Whereas before in 2.7
This workflow has always been inconsistent for me, and I learned early on to embrace using Cycles nodes because that is where the control is. VERY easy to perform color changes and bake out to new images from inside the node tree, reload and continue painting.
Can you tell what engine you are using? I had thought from all the positive feedback that Eevee was akin to Unity or Unreal, and that node setups were now common.
Possible better workaround for now if you already have a texture and just want to see it
A little faster and you don’t have to set up the chain yourself or save it and recall it. Also the Shading and Texture paint layouts already have the view working to preview your texture.
Thanks for reaching out again.
I work in Unity, but do most my texturing in software outside of Blender (3d coat). It’s why I just want an easy “pop on” method. Because I some times adjust models, do a small bit of edit painting and animate in it.
I get that you like the nodes and many do and how they’re great, but it’s not part of my workflow.
I hope something as easy as the old one can be implemented again as some kind of setting to be enabled or such. Less clicks the better, I feel, in streamlined design. Fair enough if I am the odd one out. Just means I’ll stick to the old
Once things normalize, it might be possible to just do with a script that is tied to a button for you that does the stuff in the background - I am sure more people with similar workflow will need it. I already automate a lot of my steps in 2.79 and prior, so just waiting to get a handle on how the addons have changed in 2.8 to do some adjustments of my own.
Here’s hoping. Thank you so much though, friends, for at least giving me a temporary solution. I’m a low poly artist mainly, so I understand my needs are not top priority.
I’ll hold off for now. And look at 2.8 & onwards with great interest.
Also you might try making a small feature request over on rightclickselect.com as to gather what support you can from like minded artists, and maybe a dev with some insight could explain why or why not, or maybe even explain the how to we don’t see.
I faced this issue today and don’t know if you still need it, but in fact this feature is still in 2.8 (Alpha and RC versions)
The workaround is just to enable “Texture” in the Viewport Shading panel. The default is “Material”.
Also you can work in “Look dev” shading option (it uses EEVEE as default even if you plan to render with Cycles)
Hope someone will find this helpful. Got me some clicks and an old blender file to discover it was available with 2.8
Happy blending from Mexico!
I have been using Blender 2.78 for a while now and I finally decided to upgrade to 2.8. I use XPS models, and when viewing them, the solids look fine, but when I want to see it with a texture, parts of it go transparent and funky. I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong or not but I have no idea what’s wrong and how to view these models with a texture.
Hello Littlenorwegian,
Me? I’m a “Tall Thin Finn”.
I’m with you. Blender Render in 2.79 is fantastic for what I do, and I’m stickin’ to it!
Cal Niemi
Figured it out. Importing XPS models using the add on enables Backface Culling with the models i was getting. They also had custom normals that messed with the backface culling
