On Google Play you can download almost everything to make most Android devices look and feel just like a Nexus. From Chrome Browser, the Google Keyboard, Play Music/Movies/Books to Google Drive and Keep, plus many more apps that bring the latest Android functionality to the majority of phones.
Except there is one glaring omission, and that’s the launcher – or user interface. If the latest rumour is to be believed, then that’s about to change with the imminent release of Google Experience, Google’s own launcher.
This will tie together all of the apps that Google has been unbundling from the Android operating system over the last year, allowing for faster updates as the individual apps are easier to improve upon separately, rather than waiting for an update to the operating system every few months.
It also means that anyone can build their own stock Android device based on the latest release, no matter what brand of phone or tablet that they have. The Google Experience user interface, initially featuring Android 4.4 KitKat, is one of the last pieces that’s needed to achieve this goal.
What do you think of this rumour? Google Experience Android 4.4 for everyone? Let us know in the comments!
If Google are busy “unbundling” all the applications from the O/S, does this mean that Google are finally about to remove the updates from the hands of the handset manufacturers and/or the telco’s ? If so, does this mean the end of the unreasonable update timelines ?
Not yet. There are still core system apps that can only be done through system updates. And also optimisation needs to be done for the software hits the phone. I don’t think Google have to the time to optimise for every phone. There’s still heaps of other reasons to… Like frameworks and OEM settings. If you buy a HTC Phone. You will still need HTC to do the updates. And then carriers have to test it. Anyone who sells a phone through one is subject to the testing phase. Its great Google are opening this up. But we will never… Read more »
this rumour would make sense, with the recent rumours saying that kit kat is aimed to reach all android users!
I just wish that you could change the default grid sizing on the stock launcher. I’ve been running a denser grid with Nova and is fine on my old Galaxy Nexus.
This is a good idea but tbh stock launcher sucks…. Apex, nova, action launcher are all better options.. Thing is though, how do new users find out about these (without visiting here and reading the post from last year sometime)?
Interesting to hear – as someone who’s only owned Nexus devices I can’t stand non-stock launchers – they always break something standard in a way that gives me the irates. They all seem to want to bring back old Android 2.x (mis)features or put silly animations with no design quality to them.
Now if someone made a launcher that had a big button which said “make this *exactly* like stock”, so I could start with stock and then make a few tweaks here and there, I’d pay big bucks for that,…
This will be good. People will still complain that they don’t have the latest system update though…
Or for now you can use apex launcher