Yesterday, Nokia officially launched its first Android tablet, which is the first device with Nokia LOGO launched after being acquired by Microsoft. Nokia also directly released the initiator used by the tablet on the Internet for download. Let's take a look at Nokia's interpretation of Android.

This launcher is called Z Launcher, and even has its own official website: zlauncher.com， The launcher is currently available for download on Google Play. For users who do not have Google Play built into their mobile phones, they can directly access zlauncher.com with their mobile phones, log in with their Google+account, and download APK files after logging in.

We have installed Z Launcher on Dell Venue 8 and Nexus 5. For Venue 8 without Google service, Z Launcher does not play all its functions, and Nokia has a very limited number of optimized models, including Samsung S3/S4/S5, MOTO X/G, HTC ONE and Sony Z1. Therefore, on Venue 8, Z Launcher does not run perfectly, and often fails to search for applications and crashes. Therefore, the experience of this article is mainly on Nexus 5.

On Nokia's page, the main operation method of this launcher is to let users input the first letter by hand, then automatically search all the contents in the phone/tablet, find out the corresponding content, and then open it with one button. Moreover, this launcher will learn from users' usage habits and constantly improve its own search results.

For a phone like Nexus 5 with a 5-inch large screen, this launcher is very suitable for single hand operation, because under normal grip, the thumb can easily reach the top search results.

But for tablet computers, the experience of Z Launcher is not so friendly. It can not make full use of the screen area of the tablet, and most people do not seek to operate an 8-9 inch tablet computer with one hand.

The main interface is very simple. The four fixed applications at the bottom cannot be edited (if the tablet has no SMS function, the location of ICON will be left blank). The default is phone, SMS, browser and camera. The middle is the application drawer button. The top can slide to check the time, calendar items and weather. Clicking the clock will open the clock app, and the calendar will open the calendar app, Click Weather to refresh, but this weather option is not free to edit the region to be displayed. It can only be located through GPS, and the temperature unit is only displayed in Fahrenheit instead of Celsius. How dare you behave at Nokia.

This Launcher also has an application drawer, but the tabular display is really bad for finding applications, and it is also a way to encourage users to directly use handwriting input to search for applications.

In terms of search, you can simply use your hand to slide handwriting on the screen, but the top sliding area cannot be used as the starting point of the handwriting track.

Each page can only display 6 search results. If there is no APP you need in these six results, please continue to enter by hand for a long time until (hey...) appears. If the input is wrong, swipe left to delete the last entered letter.

For handwriting recognition, Z Launcher does a good job, but most people need to adapt to the habit of writing the number 1. The input method of 1 must be from top to bottom, and sliding down directly will be recognized as inputting the lowercase English letter L. In addition, when inputting the uppercase N When there is more than one English letter, such as R or Q, the hand speed must be fast enough. If the space between two strokes is too long, the Z Launcher will recognize the two strokes separately, which is a headache for newcomers.

You can also choose to hide the search results.

Please refer to the GIF below for specific operations. If it doesn't move, please click the larger picture.

In general, the biggest advantage of Nokia Z Launcher is to provide a single hand operation method for more and more mobile phones. However, considering that Nokia's launcher was originally prepared for its own tablet computer, it is a bit confusing. It is naturally a good thing to search applications quickly, but it is too simple to add widgets, It will greatly reduce the usability of the tablet that could have been used as a productivity tool. After all, the tablet is not a mobile phone. If we go in the opposite direction and simplify the functions of the tablet in the current environment where the desktop functions of the tablet are becoming more and more abundant, it is really questionable.

Fortunately, Android can change the launcher freely