Google might have given us a peek at its latest Android iteration ‘Nougat‘ early, but it is still hiding something new up its sleeve. And according to AndroidPolice, this something new could be a brand-new redesigned launcher which is expected to debut alongside the 2016 Nexus line-up.
It is strongly believed that Google is currently working on the new launcher design and here’s a peek at the progress of the same. A first look at the homescreen and you will notice a couple noticeable change, right off the bat.
Firstly, the tech giant has finally nixxed the App drawer icon, but hold your horses — the app drawer still remains. If you look closely, you’ll notice that the static icons at the bottom are now placed under a white frosted overlay, and above it is a small arrow(^) pointing upwards. You can swipe up at the upwards arrow or anywhere in the frosted bottom bar, to access the app drawer. You also have the option to tap the arrow to instantly reveal the app drawer.
The app drawer doesn’t seem to have received a complete redesign, it is just a little flatter and the search bar at the top has been changed. The removal of the app drawer icon also gives you the freedom to place an additional app in the static bottom bar(Yay! Twitter it is!). And if you haven’t noticed — the folder icons have also been changed in Android N.
The next change that should capture your interest is the removal of the Google search bar. The search bar has been replaced with a pull-out Google(G) logo on the left and a calender widget on the right(cannot be moved or replaced). Tapping the G nub launches the search bar — as you would expect to see in the previous iteration. But it seems that the redesign around the search bar is still incomplete(because pulling the nub does actually nothing) and it may change substantially in the official launch. AndroidPolice also points out that we may see a more tighter integration with ‘Assistant‘, the voice controlled assistant launched at I/O this year.
It also believes that since this is just a demo, Google could introduce a heck lot of changes in the final iteration. The new launcher is also not running on the final version of Nougat at the moment — don’t know why. And it also believed that it may replace the current navigation bar with filled buttons, and Google Now on-tap could also receive a redesign in this new launcher.
We hope to see more fresh changes, including the redesigns mentioned above to be introduced in the brand-new launcher very soon. We’ll also get our first meeting with the Assistant, I’m already excited to test its wit and humor.
What do you think of this launcher redesign? Comment your thoughts down below!
1 comment