Earlier this year, when Marisa Mayer, the CEO of Yahoo, said that the company would adopt a “Mobile-First” mindset, many questions were raised. However, her declaration stands true as Yahoo heads towards leaving its mark in the field of mobile apps.
For an undisclosed amount, Yahoo had in January acquired Aviate Launcher. Now, the company has unleashed the Beta version of Aviate Launcher for Android. In simple words, the Aviate Launcher replaces your phone’s lock screen. It also involves additional features to the home screen and gives logically aware data. Based on what time of the day it is, Aviate will provide information. Provision of information also depends upon your geographical location.
Basically a Launcher app attempts to set your favorite, rather more frequently used, app in a systematic, presentable order which gives you a clear overview of the apps and easy accessibility of the same. Aviate is no different. While setting up the Aviate Launcher app on your Android mobile device you will be asked to choose your favorite apps and also the apps you use the most in your daily routine.
By selecting your favorites in a systematic, categorical order, you help Aviate understand which of the apps it shall place at the bottom of the home screen, and similarly, how it shall organize the rest of the screen, with the rest of the apps.
Android devices, in its raw form, come with many different home screens to organize your favorite apps and widgets as per your wishes. On the whole, without the launcher, Android home screens appear clean and tidy anyways. However, Aviate helps in eliminating excessive home screens, which may give your device an unorganized and shabby look. Similarly, the app also offers to organize your information in a neat menu-based format, which gives your phone a rather sophisticated appearance, when the screen is on.
While most mobile users don’t care much about the user interface, a large section of the smartphone owners wish to have a clean, unique interface. Yahoo’s Aviate Launcher solves that problem for the
Android phone users, as it provides a flat, however, colorful design for your mobile phones. The not-so-frequently-used apps are also easily accessible by just swiping across your phone’s screen. So the Aviate Launcher keeps your Android device neat, clean and easily accessible at any time.
The home screen of your Aviate Launcher will display a rising sun icon at the top left of the screen. Next to it will be the time stamp, which lets you know what hour of the day it is. And next to the time stamp, at the right side of the screen will be an icon for the app menu.
You can choose a photo from your library which you wish shall display on your home screen. This picture will occupy the most part of the screen under which your favorite and most frequently used apps will be displayed in rows.
On swiping your screen to the left, you will be presented with various apps neatly assembled in their respective categories. These apps are the same ones which you had chosen earlier during the setup procedure.
In case if you would like to use an app which is not listed in your favorites or frequently used, you can tap on the app grid icon, which will display all the apps present in your device in an alphabetical order.
This menu is more similar to the Windows Phone menu than the Android menu. However, the only difference between the Windows Phone menu and the Aviate menu is that, the former gives easy and faster access to the apps when compared to the latter. A swipe to the right side of the Aviate screen will display daily information, that Yahoo’s Aviate Launcher thinks might interest you.
To sum it up, I believe that Aviate is an extremely attractive and easy to use home screen replacement to your Android phones. We all love changes, and this change, is definitely worth the download. Easy access, new look, and staying up-to-date is what makes Yahoo’s Aviate so much more interesting.
The app is perfect for those who do not want to clutter their screens with apps yet prefer to have the same access to apps and widgets that they would get with multiple home screens. Yahoo’s investment is admirable, and like other Yahoo apps, Aviate is a clean, simple, colorful and fun app that can change your Android look for good.
Download Yahoo Aviate Launcher
Article by Vishal
Vishal Gaikar is a professional blogger from Pune, India. If you like this post, you can follow him on Twitter.
