Windows Phone 7 Launcher
Mirta Dozar
One of the biggest reasons why users love Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile is the front end UI - the multi-size live tiles (most of which still work). And I was struck by the example below, put up on Twitter by Mike Latham, one of my followers there. There's plenty to see and comment on, plus I'll put in the relevant links below. Could making Android's app launcher look and feel like Windows 10 Mobile be a valid way forward? I give it a try anyway...
Still there's enough here for me to try Launcher10 for myself. It's installed in the usual way through the Play Store and then - in my case - can be made the phone's default launcher (when you use the home button or gesture) in Settings/Apps:
There's also the Microsoft Launcher for Android, which I reviewed here. It surfaces many Microsoft apps and services more easily, though in an Android-ish way. Well worth a look, though like Launcher10 here, it's more of an 'add-on' and thus you can never rely on its resource usage on the phone.
The dream of a Windows-powered smartphone is effectively over, leaving many of us to make the difficult decision to jump to either iOS or Android. I'm of the opinion that Android is by far the better option in this case, owing to the customizability of the OS for things like replacing the default smart assistant with Cortana, the default browser with Edge, and so on. But if you yearn for a more "Windows 10-like" experience, there are options out there.
You can customize Android with home launchers, allowing you to tailor the functionality of the home screen to your desire. Some of them add special features and other improvements over Android's default home screen, bringing customizable app drawers, widgets, and other functionality. Redmond produces a very robust launcher, dubbed the Microsoft Launcher. However, I'm not a fan. It's just not as sexy as Windows 10 Mobile was. It's all business and no style, which is fine if that's what you're looking for, but I simply wanted something more.
Launcher 10 brings the Windows 10 Mobile home screen experience to Android as faithfully as possible given the restrictions imposed by the OS. Of course, you're not going to get rich picture Live tiles for the vast majority of apps, but Launcher 10's developers cleverly emulated the feel of Windows 10 Mobile where possible.
You can pin apps as tiles on Launcher 10, and with a modest in-app purchase, you can unlock the ability to display notification text and counts directly on the tiles, which very closely mimics the functionality found in many Windows 10 Mobile apps, such as Twitter and Outlook.
Additionally, some of the system apps, like Photos and Contacts, come with custom tile experiences that pull information from those apps to create a more Windows-like experience. The Photos tile, for example, will cycle through recent images, and the Contacts tile shows off that familiar scrolling display picture collage.
As for customization, the home screen works exactly as you'd expect coming in from Windows Phone.You can long press to change the position and size of a tile or unpin it completely. Swipe right to access the app list, and then long press to pin apps to the home screen. You can even drag tiles on top of each other to create folders, just like on Windows 10 Mobile and Windows 10 PCs.
You can customize the number of tile-columns available far beyond what was available on Windows 10 Mobile, although depending on your screen resolution, you might want to stick with the default three columns, or Windows 10 Mobile's "more tiles" four columns.
You have the option of displaying notification content as Live tiles, which is useful for certain apps. If you dive into Android's settings, you can block Launcher 10 from handling notifications for specific apps, too, giving you a degree of control over which apps show text and which don't.
Launcher 10 also comes with tiles for a pinned system Calendar, showing events. Sadly, my BlackBerry KEYone seems to have replaced the default Calendar app on Android, preventing me from testing this feature. However, the Contacts tile and Gallery Live tiles work well, showing off your contacts and recent images with rich animations that closely resemble Windows 10 Mobile.
There are a few additional aspects of customization that weren't available on Windows 10 Mobile, such as altering the padding space between tiles, the size of text labels, adding additional start screens, and altering which apps use your accent color or simply use a color based on the app's branding.
While Launcher 10 has great tile functionality, gorgeous and fluid animations, and some great features, it's sorely lacking in customizability in other areas. For example, there is no option to change the way the Gallery tile handles pictures, as seen on Windows 10 Mobile.
It also seems odd that the app doesn't have the option of using third-party calendars for tiles either, considering it could just be set up to poll the app for information using Android's permissions system.
It would be nice if the app had the option to customize tiles more directly, too, or perhaps provide a framework for developers to bring Live tile functionality directly to the launcher, although that probably wouldn't be practical.
You're never going to get a full Windows 10 Mobile Live tile experience on Android, due to the OS limitations, but Launcher 10 is a damn fine attempt to recreate that magic Windows Phone fans yearn for.
Launcher 10 is frequently updated. It offers a free trial, and a couple of cheap in-app purchases for Live tile functionality and the ability to remove ads are in the settings menu. It's a polished product that works well even on more modest Android devices, and although it has clear limitations that might frustrate Windows Phone veterans, it's as close as we can get on Google's platform.
Jez Corden is a Managing Editor at Windows Central, focusing primarily on all things Xbox and gaming. Jez is known for breaking exclusive news and analysis as relates to the Microsoft ecosystem while being powered by tea. Follow on Twitter @JezCorden and listen to his XB2 Podcast, all about, you guessed it, Xbox!"}), " -0-10/js/authorBio.js"); } else console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); Jez CordenSocial Links NavigationCo-Managing EditorJez Corden is a Managing Editor at Windows Central, focusing primarily on all things Xbox and gaming. Jez is known for breaking exclusive news and analysis as relates to the Microsoft ecosystem while being powered by tea. Follow on Twitter @JezCorden and listen to his XB2 Podcast, all about, you guessed it, Xbox!
So I have to finally give up on my trusted Lumia 650. And that means I have been comparing Launcher 10 against Square Home 3, as I am really keen on which Launcher recovers the best Live Tile Experience. I paid for both full version (Live Tiles on Launcher 10) as both developers deserve some credit, where Microsoft have lest us down. I have both launchers running two different Android Phones for side by side comparison.
So its still a bit mixed as to which I will eventually choose. I have Square Home on my Main Phone but I would probably adopt Launcher 10, if I could get Calendar and Weather Live Tiles to work properly.
I'd throw this out there too, if you find a white icon pack (I think I use Flight Lite Minimalist) it actually does more than you think for giving any android launcher the clean feel of the monochromatic windows phone UI. I personally use the Microsoft Launcher with this icon pack and bing background.
If you can pull yourself away from the tile-type launchers (WM10's tiles never lived up to the promises anyway), there are a whole stack of excellent Android launchers out there. Nova Launcher is one of the best, but no tiles for you there!
In reply to ghostrider:I love the Live Tiles ' At a Glance' animated Home screen. That is why I have stayed on WM10 up to this point and I asked he questions above. I am aware there are lots of different Apps Launchers for Android.
In reply to prettyconfusd:Thanks for these helpful insights. I had to fiddle with the Calendar Tile Edits, to ONLY have "Show Calendar Live Tile" option selected. None of the Default or numerus other interesting notifications. So its a bit cluttered view. I note you seem to be using a widget rather than a Live tile. Yep OK, so using the Microsoft MSN Weather Widget rather than pin the App as a Live Tile does work, albeit does take up a lot of room for decent informative display. The Gallery Tile is a bit haphazard in limited choice of photos it shows up.
Sadly, the best Android launcher I found after leaving WinPh, Nokia's Z launcher is no longer available. It broke away from the (terrible) grid of icons, it seems everyone else uses, to present the apps on front screen based on use data, an easy to use full alpha app list and other action items (apps, contacts, search results) an ink like finger letter spell away.I tried to like Microsoft's launcher, but it has the same ponderous folder/icon grid limitation that others do. A smart device should not require the user to arrange apps and icons like some ancient PC!
I want to ask that is there way for creating Themes or Launcher for windows phone.Because when i search over the internet it leads me to the launcher and pickers (Browser launcher, Contact Picker) etc. i have created several themes for windows 7+ which are working fine and now i want to create same for the windows phone. All i need is to change the default icons,sounds,background images .If windows phone does not have such facilities then you can also tell me if this can be done pragmatically.
I haven't tried to create new folders but after a phone restart the problem is still there. It appears that it jumbles around which apps have the issue and which ones don't. I had trouble opening Facebook last night from a folder but it seems today that it opens up just fine, however there are still applications that show this behavior still.
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