Microsoft Launcher for Android

[Sushubh]

Android App Testing – Google Play

Microsoft Launcher (Preview) – Android Apps on Google Play

With Microsoft Launcher (formerly known as Arrow Launcher), you can personalise your Android device to match your style with wallpapers, theme colours, icon packs and more. With a Microsoft account or work/school account, you can access your calendar, documents, and recent activities in your personalised feed. You can even open photos, docs and webpages on your Windows PC* to be productive across all your devices.

KEY FEATURES
· People at your fingertips. Have your most important people at your fingertips. Pin contacts to your Home screen and place them anywhere on the Home screen, dock or in folders.

· Choose your look. Personalise the look and feel of your device by customizing your wallpaper, theme and accent colours, icon packs, gestures and more.

· Personalized feed. See your most important information at a glance like news, calendar events, docs, contacts and more in your personalized feed. You can even set your feed as your default Home.

· Continue on PC. Snap a pic on your phone and see it instantly on your Windows PC* or continue editing an Office 365 document on your PC by linking your phone with your Windows PC.

· Search the web and your phone in one place. Search the web or your files, apps, docs, messages and web results using Microsoft Launcher's universal search bar.

· Gesture customisation. With deep customisation for gestures, you can double tap to lock your phone, swipe up for app drawer and more.

 

[Sushubh]

tried it. actually seems to be pretty nice. however does not seem to support chrome shortcuts, in-app shortcuts on homescreen.

 

[Sushubh]

What's new for v4.6

- Now Cortana, your personal digital assistant comes in the Microsoft Launcher: use Cortana to make a call, schedule meetings, change wallpaper, Continue on PC or read the latest headlines!
- Share Launcher via NFC & QR code;
- Support for Arabic/RTL languages
- Intune integration supports remote data-wiping;
- Choose what contacts to display on your People card
- Place widgets into the dock
- Pin searched app/contact to home screen

 

[Sushubh]

Microsoft gives parents peace of mind with new family features across devices - Windows Experience BlogWindows Experience Blog

With Microsoft Launcher installed on your family’s Android devices and a Microsoft family group of accounts set up, parents can:

Stay up to date on kids’ whereabouts. At home and on the go, you can use Microsoft Launcher to get an update on your kids’ location and rest easier knowing they are safely where they should be. You can see your child’s (or children’s) last known location and time.
Be aware of which apps your kids are using. Check in on your kids’ app activity on their Android device, including which apps are accessed and time spent on each app. With Xbox One or a Windows 10 PC set up in your family portal, you can also view their activities on those devices through Microsoft Launcher.

 

[SVK]

^^^ Privacy wale object nahi kar rahe hai?

 

[Sushubh]

Parents having control over kids online activity is different than a corporation or government keeping an eye on your online activities. Plus it seems to be transparent as kids would be using specific apps to let the monitoring happen which are not hidden and running in background.

Plus Microsoft is offering GDPR on all accounts globally and not just to EU regions.

Google Chrome OS I believe offer similar features. Same with macos.

 

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[Sushubh]

Microsoft Launcher v5.0 beta adds Timeline support for syncing between mobile and PC

Here’s another major update for 5.0:
• Feed- Updated Feed navigation for your Glance, News and Timeline tabs. You can now access your Feed settings from the top of your Feed
• News- Updated News experience powered by Microsoft News
• Timeline on mobile- Activities from your PC and phone now can be seen on your Android phone
• Cortana- Use Cortana to send emails with multi-turn emailing. Cortana is now supported in the DE-DE market
• Family- Parents can now view their kids’ real-time location