A big advantage – or disadvantage depends on your point of view – of Android devices is the ability for users to tailor their user interface and experience with third-party launchers. Microsoft also has one foot in the game with their Arrow Launcher for Android, and it has recently been updated with a few much-needed features.
Specifically, the new update adds reverse apps page ordering, Wunderlist syncing, and new privacy features. As phone screen gets bigger, users may find it increasingly difficult to reach for that app on the opposite corner of the screen. Given that the trend will not be stopping any time soon, software need to adapt to this change, and reverse apps page ordering is Arrow Launcher’s solution. Not quite elegant like iPhone or Windows Phone’s method of pushing the whole screen or app space downwards temporarily, choosing the option in Arrow Launcher will instead order your most used apps from the lower right corner of the screen instead of from the upper left.
One of the standout features of Arrow Launcher is a home screen page dedicated to reminders, similar to Microsoft’s other to-do app, Wunderlist. In a move that can only be described as making too much sense, Microsoft has now allowed syncing of Wunderlist with the launcher’s reminder page, which should works similarly to how you imagine it. Arrow Launcher’s Recent lists, where your recently-used files and apps are displayed for easy access, also gets a much-needed privacy feature in the ability to hide items on the list.
Arrow Launcher is a creation from Microsoft’s mad-scientist division, Microsoft Garage, that focus entirely on simplicity of use, accessibility, and discoverability, with the ability to learn from users’ behavior to continue tailoring itself to specific use case; a pretty familiar theme for Microsoft’s products in recent years. It was already one of the better launchers on the market, and these new improvements should makes it an even more stand-out choice in the saturated sea of Android apps.
You can get Microsoft’s Arrow Launcher from the Google Play Store via the link below:
