Since Google Now launched on Android last year, it seems that our day-to-day lives have been getting much easier. However, our homescreen has stayed much the same. Google Now has a widget but, that can only display a handful of cards and it’s hardly all that intuitive. Aviate however, is a new homescreen for Android that hopes to change all this and bring more of Google Now to Android homescreens everywhere. Co-founders, Paul Montoy-Wilson and William Choi used to work at Google, so they’re no strangers to getting things like recommendations and location-awareness right. Right now, the app is in private beta, and downloading it from the Play Store will only give you the ability to sign-up to the beta.
Essentially, what Aviate aims to do is create a homescreen that’s relevant to you, and only you. It will categorize your apps for you and then learn what apps you use the most. Not just that though, Aviate is both time-aware and location-aware so the new launcher will deliver information or apps to your homescreen that are relevant to you based on where you are and what time it is. So, when it’s late at night for instance, it’ll give you the opportunity to apply Do Not Disturb and change your alarms. If you’re currently using public transport, and you have an appointment the other side of time, Aviate will present relevant information to you.
Take a look at the introductory video below to see it in action.
Right now, they’re working on getting app-suggestions and categorizations correct. Also, it’s thought that the app would only enjoy a limited audience as a lot of die-hard widget fans could see this as taking control away from them, rather than a helping hand. Where Aviate is set to excel however, is in the hands of those new to Android and those constantly on the go. You can download the app from the Play Store below but, this will only allow you to sign-up to see if you’re picked for the private beta. Which at this stage, we imagine is massively oversubscribed.