Software
Microsoft is updating its Android Launcher with dark mode, custom icons, and daily wallpapers.
Microsoft has updated its Android Launcher app to version 6, giving the device a significant visual upgrade and performance improvement to its current features.
Version 6 of Launcher has a new device icon, dark mode, regular wallpaper features (provided by Bing), customizable icons, and now works in landscape orientation, too. There is also a customized news feed that updates throughout the day, and a general increase in efficiency, including faster loading and reduced battery drain, thanks to a new code base.
The app is available for download from the Google Play Store, and you can read more about changes to the Microsoft blog post about the launch here.
The Launcher app has always been an interesting experiment for Microsoft, giving it a foothold on the world's largest mobile platform and a place to explore how Windows integrates with Android. But this latest update looks like it's preparing the ground for Microsoft's most ambitious Android launch yet: the dual-screen Surface Duo.
Microsoft introduced the Surface Pair last year, and says it will launch an Android-based app by the end of 2020. The new Launcher app looks like a test run for some of the aesthetics of the system, and the addition of a landscape mode makes sense for the dual-screen duo.
