This sounds kind of similar to what Cover was doing (they got acquired by Twitter). Hopefully Nokia has more resources to turn this into something that actually works.
I've been using it since pre-beta. Fantastic launcher and a joy to use, so intuitive. Delighted to see Nokia's R&D still going strong and innovating. Most of the greatest mobile telecommunication innovations came from those guys.
Looks like a really cool idea, especially since the recommendation engine can take into account more than simply time statistics (which their front page doesn't convey well). The best part of this is that it does all the recommendations on device (at least according to their privacy page).
If they add a travel/email card system, I'd switch over from the Google Now home/launcher.
Yeah, this team is from Nokia Corporation the part Microsoft did not buy (essentially business dev, R&D, some creative and remnants of the N9 (Meego) team that did not leave for Jolla among others). So totally separate from Microsoft.
Yeah that would be awesome. I had an N9 and loved it. Incredible device in terms of design and OS. It was an absolute shame and a disaster that it fell to the way side for Windows Phone.
Nokia had made a massive mistake by neglecting Symbian for half a decade, but I think going with Windows Phone was an even bigger mistake. Meego really could have been huge if they just stuck with it.
Yes, although I couldn't tell how are they called. The official Nokia site lists Networks, Here (maps) and Advanced Technologies (mostly patents) as 3 main divisions.
First thoughts:
- sending data to Nokia for 'service improvement' isn't surprising, though there's an option to opt-out which (apparently) makes the app no more privacy-invading than any other launcher
- it feels very limited, I can't seem to make a shortcut in the bottom row of the icons (even though there's a gap).
- 6 apps showing as recently used is not very much. I think I open my apps from 2-3 screens faster than I draw a letter, and I use way more than 6 apps regularly
- The UI is confusing. I have two clocks, a gap in the bottom row of the icons and an indicator that suggests I can swipe between screens. But I can only swipe the clocks area, which is small (I actually had to try it couple of times before I learned how to swipe them)
- It doesn't seem to recognize polish diacritic characters, like 'Ł'
Overall I don't think the launcher will be very useful, for me at least. It's innovative and certainly useful sometimes (when you want to call someone - just start writing his name), but less friendly than Nova or even Google stock launcher
(edit) I'm certainly going to give it a shot though
These products can only be made if people don't opt out, otherwise there'd be no profit. And who would opt in? The only reason you can opt out is that most people won't.
Thanks, I got it! Only the icon is draggable, and it's draggable always (not only after you scribble for it). Very non-intuitive, I always drag the entire entry, list row for example, not the icon alone.
That privacy policy is brutal, and it's just for their analytics and enabled unless you opt out in the settings. The application runs just fine without all of this data being sent to them. You're giving them your bookmarks, call history, contacts, favorites, gestures, app launch times, location, SMS metadata, notifications and internet searches.
If opt-out happens after install, I would expect that your phonebook and such have already been transmitted before you are able to opt-out. But maybe the opt-out option occurs before/during install?
It's important to note that just because an app requests access to something doesn't mean that something is being shared with the publisher. The app could request access to favorites and contacts to be able to import them as icons into the launch area, for example.
It's important to note that while you might have granted the app permission to access your bookmarks for that purpose, it doesn't prevent them from changing that behavior in the future and you'd be none the wiser since you've already granted them the keys to the kingdom.
I'd like to see the actual uses of the requested permissions added as legally binding commitments by the app developer.
Android does this thing now (which is cool as far as it goes) where it warns you about everything an app could hypothetically do with the access it needs. It's the equivalent of getting a warning every time you install a desktop app saying, "This app could: Delete all your files; Steal your email; Record you on your webcam without your knowledge ..."
What Google could do is add a little "details" link after each requested permission, with a text field from the publisher. Like, "This permission is used to: show icons of your favorites and contacts in the launch area."
The Play Store agreements could clarify that these are legally binding commitments the publisher is making directly to the user (meaning the user could sue if the publisher lied), and require the user to re-approve if the text changed.
That wouldn't stop random developers from just lying, but it would make it pretty likely that an app from Nokia or Yahoo or Disney or whatever was only doing what it said.
That's a stupid amount of data. I kind of wish I didn't care about all that, but taking a copy of my contacts and location it just rubs me the wrong way. It's not worth it.
- It crashes when I enable/disable the 'service improvement'
- I agree it definitely lacks shortcuts. Maybe once it has learnt enough it gets better? Still insufficient to get started, event with a letter I can not get what I want.
- The shortcuts at the bottom are too small IMHO
- Seems like web history integration is limited to Chrome: I use Firefox Beta and not a single of my often-viewed pages was listed.
I tried it out during the beta. I didn't like it. You have to draw the first letter of the app that you want. It's really awkward.
I'm using Aviate from Yahoo right now, which has categories for apps. You have "favorites" on the home screen, then a screen with categories, then another screen with every app organized under the first letter. There's also a location-aware popout, but I don't find that one very useful.
It's... Interesting. It forces you to think about the names of apps which I find offputting. I look for the colours and shapes of the icons - or remember the location on my homescreen.
For example, I couldn't really remember the name of my PodCast app. I scribbled P... then O... then D... Until finally my brain clicked and I remembered it was "AntennaPod".
This will, I'm sure, be incredibly useful for people who don't like to organise their phones and who also are great at remembering names.
Without having used it, they should add a feature to be able to assign a custom letter to it so that if you draw "P" it'll still show up. Long press -> add additional letter or something
I'm surprised it doesn't have fuzzy search. With Alfred (http://alfredapp.com) for example, I can type "run" or "cr" and "CodeRunner" will show up. Fuzzy searching is essential for any launcher.
Not possible to install in my country: wonder whether it was a legal issue or something else that prevented them from allowing an international audience.
I'm not a massive fan of OS interfaces where stuff moves around without my control. Muscle memory remembers where the icon for Chrome is and if it moves then I have to look for it.
Also the list looks like it should scroll, because it has so few items on it, but dragging upwards draws an 'l'.
I only use a few apps - email, phone, browser, settings and twitter client. Camera is reached through the lock screen. Other infrequently used apps are available through a separate icon, same as on this launcher. So for my uses this should be a winner.
I'll give it a few days to learn my habits and see if it works for me.
So a week later, gave it a try, the main screen has too small a list for it to be able to keep even my modest number of apps on. Always found myself searching for something which would have easily fit on the screen. Also having the redundant clock taking up a 1/3 of the screen was annoying. I've gone back to Trebuchet.
I lived with this for a month. It took very little getting used to and was pretty pleasant to use. Writing letters for launching works great.
However, what I missed most was discoverability. I don't use all my apps all the time, so less frequently used ones dropped out of sight. And if you can't remember the actualy name of it, you'll likely just lose it unless go hunting.
If you like to have a controlled subset of apps that are always near the surface, then great.
This looks to be somewhere between Dolphin gestures and the old Palm Graffiti writing.
As an input method it could be great as I used to be able to scribble in Graffiti faster than I can type today on a touch keyboard.
As a search method for an app, I imagine it would be a little clumsy. Most of the performance from the input is gained after the first few letters have been drawn, once your hands are comfortably holding the device and accurately making the shapes in the input area.
It doesn't look or behave anything like Aviate, except that it provides a way to launch apps, hence why it's called a Launcher.
With Aviate, you swipe to expose a list of grouped apps, then swipe again to expose a list of all the apps alphabetically. This looks like you draw a letter to filter to some apps that start with that letter. And that there's a way to have six apps pinned (somehow) to the main page.
What burning issue does this solve? I thought there was research showing most people use only a few core apps, so I don't see that many people will have a need for this. I certainly don't.
Look, if you're gonna down vote at least give reasons. I fail to see how "what is the problem this is solving" (the basic question every entrepreneur asks) is not a legitimate question about this, especially given the fanfare it has in the tech. press.
96 comments
[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 206 ms ] threadIf they add a travel/email card system, I'd switch over from the Google Now home/launcher.
Some of those are less feasible if you have to keep it on-device, but perhaps Google Now offers an API?
They simply have a carousel in which they embed <video> elements, here's a direct link to one of the files: https://www.zlauncher.com/video/Afternoon_H1.mp4
Nokia had made a massive mistake by neglecting Symbian for half a decade, but I think going with Windows Phone was an even bigger mistake. Meego really could have been huge if they just stuck with it.
Worked for me.
- it feels very limited, I can't seem to make a shortcut in the bottom row of the icons (even though there's a gap).
- 6 apps showing as recently used is not very much. I think I open my apps from 2-3 screens faster than I draw a letter, and I use way more than 6 apps regularly
- The UI is confusing. I have two clocks, a gap in the bottom row of the icons and an indicator that suggests I can swipe between screens. But I can only swipe the clocks area, which is small (I actually had to try it couple of times before I learned how to swipe them)
- It doesn't seem to recognize polish diacritic characters, like 'Ł'
Overall I don't think the launcher will be very useful, for me at least. It's innovative and certainly useful sometimes (when you want to call someone - just start writing his name), but less friendly than Nova or even Google stock launcher
(edit) I'm certainly going to give it a shot though
https://www.zlauncher.com/privsupp.html
> there's an option to opt-out which (apparently) makes the app no more privacy-invading than any other launcher
Android does this thing now (which is cool as far as it goes) where it warns you about everything an app could hypothetically do with the access it needs. It's the equivalent of getting a warning every time you install a desktop app saying, "This app could: Delete all your files; Steal your email; Record you on your webcam without your knowledge ..."
What Google could do is add a little "details" link after each requested permission, with a text field from the publisher. Like, "This permission is used to: show icons of your favorites and contacts in the launch area."
The Play Store agreements could clarify that these are legally binding commitments the publisher is making directly to the user (meaning the user could sue if the publisher lied), and require the user to re-approve if the text changed.
That wouldn't stop random developers from just lying, but it would make it pretty likely that an app from Nokia or Yahoo or Disney or whatever was only doing what it said.
- I agree it definitely lacks shortcuts. Maybe once it has learnt enough it gets better? Still insufficient to get started, event with a letter I can not get what I want.
- The shortcuts at the bottom are too small IMHO
- Seems like web history integration is limited to Chrome: I use Firefox Beta and not a single of my often-viewed pages was listed.
I'm using Aviate from Yahoo right now, which has categories for apps. You have "favorites" on the home screen, then a screen with categories, then another screen with every app organized under the first letter. There's also a location-aware popout, but I don't find that one very useful.
For example, I couldn't really remember the name of my PodCast app. I scribbled P... then O... then D... Until finally my brain clicked and I remembered it was "AntennaPod".
This will, I'm sure, be incredibly useful for people who don't like to organise their phones and who also are great at remembering names.
Also the list looks like it should scroll, because it has so few items on it, but dragging upwards draws an 'l'.
I only use a few apps - email, phone, browser, settings and twitter client. Camera is reached through the lock screen. Other infrequently used apps are available through a separate icon, same as on this launcher. So for my uses this should be a winner.
I'll give it a few days to learn my habits and see if it works for me.
However, what I missed most was discoverability. I don't use all my apps all the time, so less frequently used ones dropped out of sight. And if you can't remember the actualy name of it, you'll likely just lose it unless go hunting.
If you like to have a controlled subset of apps that are always near the surface, then great.
If you like stumbling serendipity, not so good.
As an input method it could be great as I used to be able to scribble in Graffiti faster than I can type today on a touch keyboard.
As a search method for an app, I imagine it would be a little clumsy. Most of the performance from the input is gained after the first few letters have been drawn, once your hands are comfortably holding the device and accurately making the shapes in the input area.
https://www.zlauncher.com/es/?redirect=true
but then I get a 403 error (forbidden).
Probably because I live in Argentina and/or my preferred language in the browser is ES-AR,ES, EN
This is getting old!
With Aviate, you swipe to expose a list of grouped apps, then swipe again to expose a list of all the apps alphabetically. This looks like you draw a letter to filter to some apps that start with that letter. And that there's a way to have six apps pinned (somehow) to the main page.
(I'm in South Africa)
You can find it on the PLAY store here http://bit.ly/1okJIfc and you have the souce code here https://github.com/RoamTouch/app-rktlauncher-android
2015 is the year of the smartwatch technology and we are going to be there.