Microsoft has shown a lot of love to Android lately, releasing apps like Hyperlapse, Journeys & Notes, Bing Torque, and Next Lock Screen over the past year. Now the folks in Redmond are trying their hand at another new Android app.
Arrow Launcher is a new Microsoft app for Android that’s currently in private beta. As its name suggests, Arrow Launcher is meant to replace your phone’s stock launcher. The main feature of the app is its three main navigation pages: People for your contacts; Apps, which is the home page that includes recently installed apps and frequently used apps; and a Notes & Reminders page that lets you write down reminders for yourself.
Arrow Launcher also includes several other features that you’d expect from a launcher replacement, like a dock for your four favorite apps and an app drawer with a vertically scrolling list that you can also search through. One other feature of Arrow Launcher is that you can select the Bing daily wallpaper to be used as your device’s default wallpaper.
As for the things that Arrow Launcher lacks, it doesn’t include support for custom icon packs, and you can’t remove any of the three main People, Apps, and Notes & Reminders pages.
Since Arrow Launcher is currently in private beta, you can’t simply download it from Google Play and check it out. If you want to try Arrow Launcher for yourself, you’ll have to either request an invitation from the Google+ Community or sideload the leaked APK.
So far Arrow Launcher looks like a nice enough launcher that aims to make it easy to access things that are important to you, like your contacts, recently used apps, and reminders. Without features like custom icon pack support, Microsoft might have a hard time convincing hardcore Android users to use Arrow Launcher, but the app could get some attention just because it’s made by Microsoft. It’s also worth mentioning again that Arrow Launcher is currently in beta, so we could see changes made to the app before its official launch.
What do you think of Arrow Launcher so far?