launcher 7 has over 1,000,000 downloads and 5 star reviews

[bear_lx]

curious as to why so many android users have downloaded launcher 7 in hopes of making their android look like a WP, not too mention they gave the app consistant 5 star reviews. uber music is new and already has 10,000 plus downloads and it is a 4.99 paid app only, with 5 stars ( emulates zune player )

why not just get a windows phone?

 

[canesfan625]

because you cant spend all day flashing custom roms so your phone will look cool for all the people that don't see it besides you.

 

[mparker]

curious as to why so many android users have downloaded launcher 7 in hopes of making their android look like a WP, not too mention they gave the app consistant 5 star reviews. uber music is new and already has 10,000 plus downloads and it is a 4.99 paid app only, with 5 stars ( emulates zune player )

why not just get a windows phone?

Curiosity.

I've used it on my Nexus 1 and my Galaxy Nexus and it's ok but doesn't give you the feel of Windows Phone. It is impressive how much work he's put into it though to get it to fake live tiles. The People tile does the animated slideshow thing, you can put widgets into tiles, you can set up special messaging and email tiles that check your accounts periodically to get the unread numbers to show in the tile, but when clicked take you to the native android apps. And the look is very good, it looks like Windows Phone (or can be set up to look just like WP, it's got a variety of non-WP options like wallpapers and folders and custom colors).

I'm not sure why, but it just feels clunky to use, it really makes you appreciate the amount of buffing and polishing that Microsoft put into the WP7 UI to get that silky feel. But if you've never used a real Windows Phone then it probably feels and runs great, you get a reasonable facsimile of the WP launcher with the app library of Android. But to me it just feels "off", so on my Android phones I tend to use the stock launcher or something equivalent (Nova on my Galaxy Nexus) instead of Launcher7, even though Launcher7 is installed and configured roughly like my Samsung Focus.

 

[bear_lx]

this is my point exactly. it will look like a windows phone but doesnt feel like a windows phone. so why settle? why do so many people download this and love it, yet wont buy a windows phone? the real thing!

 

[mparker]

this is my point exactly. it will look like a windows phone but doesnt feel like a windows phone. so why settle? why do so many people download this and love it, yet wont buy a windows phone? the real thing!

What I said. Curiosity, it's pretty impressive if you've never used the real thing, and you get to keep your phone and all your apps. That it doesn't compare to the real thing doesn't matter at the moment, because very few people have run the real thing. What does matter is that if you want to run GMail or Instagram or Angry Birds Space but like the WP UI? Then Launcher7's your huckleberry because a real Windows Phone won't cut it.

This needs to change, but that means apps (not raw numbers, but the right 1000 or so apps), and it means platform maturity, which gets back to Topolsky's comment in his Lumia 900 review about it being time to stop making excuses for WP7.

 

[cp2_4eva]

I downloaded it and scrapped it after 5 minutes. Doesn't compare to the actual WP 7 OS. Cheap imitation that's all. Tomorrow they should have my lumia in. Then I can have the real.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk

 

[bear_lx]

I downloaded it and scrapped it after 5 minutes. Doesn't compare to the actual WP 7 OS. Cheap imitation that's all. Tomorrow they should have my lumia in. Then I can have the real.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk

i know , it doesnt compare, at all. if only we could get that through so many fandroids heads! they would see that the real thing is soooo much better! it is interesting to know, that there have been nearly as many downloads as angry birds, and people love it

 

[freestaterocker]

What I said. Curiosity, it's pretty impressive if you've never used the real thing, and you get to keep your phone and all your apps. That it doesn't compare to the real thing doesn't matter at the moment, because very few people have run the real thing. What does matter is that if you want to run GMail or Instagram or Angry Birds Space but like the WP UI? Then Launcher7's your huckleberry because a real Windows Phone won't cut it.

This needs to change, but that means apps (not raw numbers, but the right 1000 or so apps), and it means platform maturity, which gets back to Topolsky's comment in his Lumia 900 review about it being time to stop making excuses for WP7.

Angry Birds Space and Instagram are both coming, and my primary email account is a Gmail account, and it works perfectly. What's the real issue?

 

[bear_lx]

+1 to that

 

[mparker]

Angry Birds Space and Instagram are both coming, and my primary email account is a Gmail account, and it works perfectly. What's the real issue?

Instagram isn't here now. Angry Birds Space isn't here now. Words with Friends isn't here now. Gmail (the client application, not the service) isn't here now, and many Gmail features aren't surfaced in WP7's email client. There are thousands of important/popular apps that are available on Android now that aren't here now. That they may be "someday" is besides the point - they aren't here *now*, whereas Launcher7 for Android is there *now*. And if you're on Verizon or Sprint which have sold a metric cr*pton of Android handsets, and can't easily break your contract or don't want to leave for AT&T in order to get a decent WP7 handset, then WP7 isn't really an option.

My point is that there are a *lot* of reasons an Android user might want to run a launcher that gives them a faint taste of WP7 without actually wanting to jump to WP7. This boggling at their unenlightened ignorance is not particularly productive. What is productive is Microsoft figuring out what is causing Launcher7 users to stick with Android and *fixing* it.

 

[cp2_4eva]

They need to just do like some of us did and give it a fair try. I remember when I saw the windows phone at the microsoft store it caught my attention. My wife on the other hand was like bleh! So i played with it for a while and it peeked my interest. The store rep did a decent job of showing me some interesting things. After that I think I was back at the same store once every couple of week to play with it again and again. That was a couple months ago. Now my wife REALLY wants the windows phone because of the things she has been shown. she is a simple person when it comes to technology, but I'm not. So she usually takes my word for it. Always gets the same phone I get. Android owners in some aspects are wannabe geeks/computer techies. Some are actually that....computer geeks. This is not a bad thing. I say if you are one that like to tinker and tweak things to you liking then android is for you.

I used to be that guy, but then after a while I got tired of tweaking more than I needed to. I liked tweaking the looks and functionality, but it proved to be just unstable at times. Sometimes embarrassing too. Android are fun phones too. But the Android OS seems to over utilized. How do you have dual cores and still suffer occasional stuttering and stuff? The explanations can go on for days. That's not to say WP7 or iOS is perfect either, but having used both iOS and Android for a long time, android is not for the average user who just wants it to work all the time. iOS is for the average user that just wants it to work all the time. I had iphones from 2007 to 2011. Rarely had issues. Even the reception issues when the 4 released. They simply just worked, but the looks were too plain. WP7 has a plain look too, but a different flow of info. Me going to WP7 is a bit of a leap of faith and a bit of me liking what i was working with. I never down a technology until I try it. When my new phone comes in tomorrow or next week then I'll be all in for as long as it amuses me. lol.

....breathe.

 

[tjwheels]

curious as to why so many android users have downloaded launcher 7 in hopes of making their android look like a WP, not too mention they gave the app consistant 5 star reviews. uber music is new and already has 10,000 plus downloads and it is a 4.99 paid app only, with 5 stars ( emulates zune player )

why not just get a windows phone?

I love the WP7 OS and currently have the Focus, I also have a Lumia 900 coming tomorrow(hopefuly). With that being said I have a Galaxy S2 running Launcher 7 Donate only because there are two apps that WP7 does not offer. DISH Network adapter being the main one. There are some features on the Launcher 7 that I wish WP7 had, primarily the custom color tiles and live backgrounds you can use. I will ditch the Galaxy as soon as the apps I need hit WP7.

 

[InfectedPhreak]

I've been using it on my DInc since I found out about it. Still currently using it, and loving it. :]

 

[bear_lx]

it is good to see people like the UI, which is why one would use this launcher. inevitabilly, folks will eventually realize the real thing is better, and migrate this way! MS needs this momentum

 

[mdameron]

this is my point exactly. it will look like a windows phone but doesnt feel like a windows phone. so why settle? why do so many people download this and love it, yet wont buy a windows phone? the real thing!

Contracts.

 

[bear_lx]

good point, but surely that doesnt account for all 1,000,000 downloads

 

[dannejanne]

Launcher7 is what got me interested in WP to begin with. Was pretty hardcore Android user and I tested a lot of launchers. In the end I found Launcher7 and I stayed with it for some time as I really liked it.

Eventually I just tried a WP phone and got hooked right away by the fluid OS.

Launcher7 is one of the most fluid launchers on Android and in some sense it's even more powerful on Android than on WP. But on WP it just feels better.

Wouldn't it had been for Launcher7 I might still had been on Android. Now I'm never going back to Android. In the end of my Android time I had a WP caller, messaging app and launcher. It wasn't enough.

 

[mparker]

good point, but surely that doesnt account for all 1,000,000 downloads

Why not? There are an awful lot of Android handsets out there. Even if only a small percentage were curious enough about WP7 to install Launcher7 that could easily account for it.

BTW, the OP is in error. There are both free and paid versions of Launcher7. The free version has between 1m and 5m installs, the paid version has between 50k and 100k installs. Even if all the paid customers switched to WP7 they'd hardly make a blip in the WP7 install base.
(edit: my apologies to OP. His title referred to the free version but the text of his post referred to the paid version.)

Free version:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=info.tikuwarez.launcher3&feature=more_from_developer

Paid version:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=info.tikusoft.launcher7&feature=more_from_developer

Launcher7 is one of the most fluid launchers on Android and in some sense it's even more powerful on Android than on WP. But on WP it just feels better.

That is true. Launcher7 fixes a lot of the "problems" the Android guys tend to complain about with WP7. It's got folders, wallpapers, you can control the size of the tiles, pick any color you want both for the default color and for individual tiles. But it's not nearly as fluid as WP7, and it's interesting how much of an effect that has on usability.

 

[bear_lx]

Why not? There are an awful lot of Android handsets out there. Even if only a small percentage were curious enough about WP7 to install Launcher7 that could easily account for it.

BTW, the OP is in error. There are both free and paid versions of Launcher7. The free version has between 1m and 5m installs, the paid version has between 50k and 100k installs. Even if all the paid customers switched to WP7 they'd hardly make a blip in the WP7 install base.

Free version:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=info.tikuwarez.launcher3&feature=more_from_developer

Paid version:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=info.tikusoft.launcher7&feature=more_from_developer




That is true. Launcher7 fixes a lot of the "problems" the Android guys tend to complain about with WP7. It's got folders, wallpapers, you can control the size of the tiles, pick any color you want both for the default color and for individual tiles. But it's not nearly as fluid as WP7, and it's interesting how much of an effect that has on usability.

OP wasnt in error at all, i wasnt referring to the paid version. the free version is completely functional, only it has ads. nobody pays for apps on android anyway. so the fact that over 50k actually paid for it only emphasizes my OG point. i used it , and used the free version.

 

[dannejanne]

Yeah there are only ads in the settings menu. I think most people can put up with that. Smartphone owners are not very prone to pay for apps if they cost more than $1. Most smartphone owners must be cheap bastards =)