I know someone, a sophisticated designer type who was given Nokia Lumia Windows phone to test and try out, and loves it. His take on the Windows 8 metro interface? That it is brilliantly designed, that the interface is excellent, user friendly, and easy to get to grips with.
I trust this guy not just because he generally knows his stuff, but because this praise is coming from someone who is a total Apple fanboy. Which is why I got excited when I saw ‘Launcher8’ for Android, a FREE Android launcher that emulates the metro interface and experience and brings it to your Android.
I’ll be honest in that I’ve only seen the new Windows Phone interface a couple of times (Nokia Lumia in both), as well as the Windows Phone preview in the browser put out by Microsoft. But generally speaking have heard nothing but praise.
Which is why I was curious to try Launcher 8, and after playing with it for a little bit I must say I do like it. Here’s some general info:
- Widgets can be added to the launcher as per usual. The three rows in the screenshot above right contain widget.
- The launcher adds a nice lockscreen with the same theme
- The interface consists of two columns, the screenshots above show the interface tiles and can extend downward indefinitely. The right column contains a list of apps.
- To edit the launcher, long press on any element and the objects will start floating in space, and let you move them around or resize them (see screenshot bottom right).
- Any square tile that has multiple items within it (such as a folder) will display rotating images, which is not an unpleasant effect. Clicking on a folder will display a single-column list of contents (see screenshot bottom left).
The verdict:
Unlike the iPhone, Android lets you customize the very look and feel of the the OS interface, so why not experiment with it?
Launcher 8 is an excellent adaptation of the Windows Phone 8 Metro interface. But it is not just as an experiment, but an excellent launcher in it’s own right that can provide an excellent user experience. Try it out and let us know what you think in the comments.
[Tha nks go to reader ‘Brockman’ for recommending this app].
Click here to get Launcher 8 for Android (Google Play).
