Gadgetory

i'm michael fisher with pocket now and this is your first look at z launcher a new Android launcher from Nokia we tried Z launcher on an lg g3 this morning shortly after nokia took the wraps off it installation was a cinch with the direct download from Nokia's special website Z launcher comm there's a limited number of beta downloads available so go snap one up if you're an Android user and you're seeing this video early enough loading it up and installing it just like any other launcher so the main advantage of the Z launcher is that it's supposed to learn what you use most often on your phone over time so this video is obviously not going to cover that because we just installed it but let's take you through the interface true to Nokia's roots this is minimalism at its most elegant there's nothing extraneous on the homescreen just some core apps down at the bottom and a clock and calendar up top since it's just a launcher things like the notification tray and the Google now gesture aren't affected and tapping any of these elements takes you to the stock apps on the phone so your experience will vary from phone to phone there's no manual control over what apps appear in the middle again the phone learns what you want over time and presents it so in theory if you always tell your friends what you're eating at lunchtime the launcher would put Facebook or Twitter on the top of this list at noon but everyone needs to manually launch an app sometime and for that nokia gives you an alphabetized list similar to the one on Windows Phone or you can be fun and trace the first few letters of the app or contact you're looking for anything over four letters will trigger a Google search but about half the time the phone just ignores it and dumps you back to the homescreen it's an early beta after all we'll have more thoughts on the Z launcher in the days ahead for now we're just happy to see the other new Nokia still bringing interesting moves to the smartphone game if you're an Android user looking for more launchers to try out check out our other Android customization videos be sure to subscribe also and follow us on social media if you like this video until next time this has been michael fisher with PocketNow thanks for watching and we'll see you real soon