This Android launcher turned my cellphone into the Windows 8 foldable Microsoft by no means made

Pick up any Android system or iPhone, and the house screens all basically look the identical: a grid of static icons and a few widgets. Most gadgets normally work like this, however it wasn’t at all times like that. Microsoft experimented with dynamic Live Tiles that mixed icons and widgets into one, which hit their peak during the Windows 8 era — and you’ll nonetheless take pleasure in a few of that magic in your cellphone at the moment.

I’ve been enjoying with METROV Launcher, a comparatively current addition to the Google Play Store that faithfully turns your cellphone right into a Windows Phone 8 nostalgia machine. Even higher, METROV boasts full foldable assist, and unfolding my Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 emulates the expertise of a Windows 8 desktop. Like many others, I’ve been surprised by just how great METROV is overall, sufficient that I’m genuinely contemplating sticking with it long-term (even when it does have some unavoidable flaws).

Bringing Metro and past to your foldable

Windows Live Tiles, dropped at Android your method

METROV is hardly the primary try and breathe a bit of Windows Phone into Android, however I love this launcher’s strategy for one main motive: with a foldable smartphone, you get a Windows Phone when closed, and a Windows PC pill when opened. That’s as a result of METROV has a “desktop mode” that modifications the inside display screen to a conventional Windows 8 Start Screen-like structure, fairly than merely rescaling your cowl display screen structure to suit an even bigger show.

Being a launcher, you sadly will not get the complete multitasking expertise of a Windows 8 PC when utilizing the inside display screen (you will nonetheless be restricted to no matter multitasking options your foldable helps), however it’s a pretty residence display screen expertise not like any default Android pores and skin. It appears and feels superb, faithfully recapturing Microsoft’s basic Metro design language — even right down to the transitions and animations. METROV takes full benefit of the temporary time period Microsoft was correctly investing in each cell and desktop experiences, and the tip end result seems like a glimpse at what that imaginative and prescient may’ve appeared like had Microsoft succeeded. It’s a match made in heaven for my Galaxy Z Fold.

Metro is the secret, however do not imagine you are overly restricted by what Microsoft did over a decade in the past. METROV features a ton of customization choices and even non-compulsory themes that take from Windows Phone 7 or 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 10 Mobile, and past, to make sure that no two setups will ever look the identical. Established launchers like Square Home do present extra fashionable options, like extra tile sizes, stackable tiles and widgets, residence display screen classes, and extra, however METROV strikes an ideal stability between being devoted to the previous and bringing one thing new.

Once you’re taking the time to customise your inside and outer display screen layouts along with your apps and widgets, the sky is the restrict for a way every part comes collectively. I am unable to overstate how a lot enjoyable I had when first starting to discover METROV. This launcher actually does carry that Metro magic to Android, Live Tiles and all, in a method different launchers I’ve tried do not fairly handle. That stated, there are nonetheless loads of flaws and compromises that may’t be averted, even with all these options.

Customization and options to masks the failings

Android and Windows 8 are simply too totally different, however METROV spans the hole properly

The thought behind Live Tiles was to mix the familiarity and accessibility of icons with the dynamic information provided by widgets, which was superior in principle however restricted by the platform and app assist, in addition to considerably much less interactability in comparison with widgets. With Android launchers like METROV, these weaknesses are much more noticeable, as Android merely is not designed with this interface in thoughts.

With restricted entry as a launcher, METROV does its greatest to make the Metro expertise really feel pure. There’s a built-in Windows Phone Action Center that may successfully change your notification middle, widgets may be positioned on your private home display screen as tiles, you may add a information feed, and there is a suite of built-in apps (Gallery, Calculator, Agenda, Forecast, Music Player, and some others) that comply with the Metro design language, function Live Tiles, and seamlessly combine into the launcher and your cellphone. METROV may even cleverly use notifications to present different apps pseudo-Live Tiles; for instance, the Google Messages tile can flip to indicate current messages and a immediate to answer them, which is extra helpful than a easy notification counter.

You additionally get loads of settings to fine-tune your expertise with METROV, together with in-depth per-app customization for Live Tile labels, icons, colours, backgrounds, and animations. Home display screen scaling and padding, numerous methods to show your background, extra controls and widgets for the Action Center, and extra — METROV offers you a whole lot of management, and the eye to element helps the launcher shine. Regular updates proceed so as to add new options and repair present issues, too, and you’ll submit suggestions your self by way of METROV’s GitHub page.

You might have a whole lot of suggestions, too, as a result of METROV definitely is not excellent (and it is not totally the launcher’s fault). I already talked about Square Home’s strengths, and so they mirror METROV’s weaknesses, like not letting you freely place tiles anyplace on the grid or making it simply as irritating to maneuver or resize tiles and create folders as the unique Windows telephones and PCs. There are deeper points, although, like many widgets not working correctly or in any respect, which hurts extra when your Live Tiles are already much less vigorous.

Some widgets I attempted didn’t show correctly in any respect, like Samsung’s Clock widget. Other widgets, like TIDAL, work fully high quality with the fitting tile dimension however by no means replace their data, so that you’re caught with the identical cowl artwork and static management icons. Widgets that allow you to swipe or scroll might not work correctly both, as a result of they are not designed with a Metro interface in thoughts. I already talked about the (frankly superior) built-in Metro apps that attempt to make up for no less than fundamental apps, however the apps themselves lack the options, integration, and familiarity of the cellphone, clock, calendar, climate, and different apps that most individuals use.

METROV can also’t keep away from the truth that it is a launcher. The solo developer has carried out spectacular work with the aforementioned default apps and non-compulsory Action Center, however leaving METROV to modify apps, multitask, alter system settings, and extra may be jarring. I can completely see METROV making strides to enhance the fluidity of customization and the reliability of widgets, however every part beneath the launcher will at all times be Android, not Windows 8, and METROV cannot change that.

Some awkwardness apart, I actually love how METROV reworked my Fold

Some would possibly argue that Windows phones were never ahead of their time, and I’d disagree on just a few fronts. The time when Windows telephones (or Windows 8 normally) did something notably particular, although, has lengthy since handed. Android and iOS have developed by leaps and bounds, and the one factor maintaining Windows telephones within the reminiscence of a choose few is the Metro interface at its core. METROV is now my absolute favourite launcher for experiencing the appeal of Windows telephones that so many fashionable gadgets lack, regardless of how succesful they’ve turn out to be.

It’s adequate that, regardless of the elemental flaws, I’ll be sticking with METROV Launcher on my Galaxy Z Fold 7 for no less than some time. This launcher, made by a solo developer and fully free and ad-free (with an non-compulsory one-time paywall to entry all current and future options), makes me dream of an alternate actuality the place Microsoft really succeeded in making Windows the third main participant within the smartphone international stage, and its foldables mix the traces between your cellphone and laptop like nothing else.

OS

Android

Price

Free, $4.99 one-time premium buy

Released

April 30, 2025

Developer(s)

tuzkituan

If you are seeking to relive the times of Windows 8 telephones or PCs, METROV Launcher fills your Android cellphone with Metro nostalgia, providing you with a fluid and customizable interface with Live Tiles, built-in apps, and extra.