Z Launcher is a brand new Android launcher from Nokia. There are ton of third-party launchers already but Nokia hopes Z Launcher’s gesture controls and contextual awareness will separate it from the rest.
The most compelling feature of Z Launcher is the way it learns which apps you use during different times of the day. Competitor launchers like Aviate (owned by Yahoo!) and Cover lockscreen (owned by Twitter) offer the same feature. Suggested apps may be hit or miss in the beginning as Z Launcher has to monitor your behavior over time.
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Z Launcher also offers gesture controls, making it easy to search for things on your phone. Write a letter from anywhere on the launcher and it will return a list of results starting with that letter. Its search results show apps, contacts, and web results.
The launcher is currently in pre-beta and is not ready for prime time. The app isn’t available in Google Play yet, so you’ll have to download it from the Z Launcher site. If you want to test the launcher, you’ll have to sign up with your Google account.
You’ll also have to have a Nexus 5 or Samsung Galaxy S3/4/5 to run Z Launcher. Nokia will undoubtedly release it on more devices as development continues.
It seems strange for Nokia, now owned by Microsoft, to be creating a launcher for Android. But Microsoft only purchased Nokia’s phone business, not its technologies group, which developed Z Launcher. However, Microsoft doesn’t seem Android-adverse, releasing a series of Android phones earlier this year.
Source: Z Launcher
Via: The Verge
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