Yahoo's Aviate launcher for Android is out from an invite-only beta release, now made available to all users.
Yahoo aims to simplify the home screen of users with the Aviate, by replacing the traditional, clutter-prone home screens with clean and organized slates.
Yahoo acquired Aviate, a company that specializes in the development of adaptive home screens for Android devices, back in January. Aviate was then one of the most popular options among the apps in the Google Play store for customizing the home screen.
With the release of the rebranded Yahoo Aviate in the Google Play store, the app greets users with the basics that made it a prime acquisition target for Yahoo, along with a few new designs and features that Yahoo introduced.
Yahoo Aviate includes user habit learning and contextual information to provide users with a dynamically changing home screen experience displays the user's favorite things to do on their phone.
The Spaces and Collections concept of the old Aviate is still present, but just moved to new places. The main home screen is where the user can place favorite photos, some icons for quick launch and some widgets.
The Spaces, which is a list of widgets and gadgets, can be found on the left of the main screen. The number of Aviate widgets being offered has been trimmed down, but the Apps list received an aesthetic change with an inverse color scheme.
The Collections, which automatically groups your apps into categories, can be found on the right of the main screen, but users are still not able to create their own groups.
A new feature for the Yahoo Aviate is the Favorites section, which can be accessed by a swipe on the main screen from the bottom. The section contains circles which represent the user's favorite contacts, along with the contacts that were recently called or sent a message to.
Other new features for the app include swipe access for the alarm clock, weather widget, news reader and calendar.
The launch of the Yahoo Aviate comes at the heels of the release of similar custom launchers for the Android by Nokia and Samsung. Nokia's Z launcher is able to learn the apps and contacts the phone's user accesses throughout each day and puts them at the top of the home screen's list. Samsung's Terrain launcher provides users with an informative sidebar filled with cards, similar to what is used by the Google Now launcher.
The Yahoo Aviate custom launcher is free to install for any Android 2.3 device or later.
