14 DAY TRIAL // Yahoo is said to have poured at least $80 million into Aviate development, an Android launcher that offers quick access to the company's main services. The more reason for developers to keep it competitive with regular new updates.
Unfortunately, with the latest update, Aviate Launcher drops support for devices powered by Android 4.0.4 or older. This means that a huge chunk of smartphones running older versions of Android won't be able to make use of Yahoo launcher.
At first glance this might sound like a bad marketing decision, but considering that most of the features included in Aviate Launcher are only available for English users in the United States.
The same goes of the latest update, which is only available in the US for devices powered by Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and up.
Anyway, for those who have access to all Aviate Launcher's features, developers announced that they have reimagined Spaces in the application to bring users the Smart Stream.
Yahoo claims that with the latest update, Aviate Launcher puts the most relevant information in front and center so users can access it right away.
Smart Stream brings the most relevant content in the front and center
The Smart Stream adjusts the content based on where the users is located and what he's doing, thus allowing it to offer the information they want. According to Yahoo, the Smart Stream feature becomes more smarter and more personalized as you use it.
“Imagine you’re walking downtown in San Francisco on a Saturday around noon. We’ll surface nearby restaurants so that you can find a yummy place to eat. When the Giants game starts at 1pm, we’ll bring you live sports scores.
If you plug in your headphones, we’ll pull your music apps up to the top of your Smart Stream. If there’s ever a specific card you’re looking for, you can always access it with the Focus menu, located in the search bar on your homescreen,” says Yahoo in a blog post.
Yahoo also confirmed that in the last couple of months they have been testing new features in an attempt to further enhance user experience and anticipate their needs, which is why you should expect more updates in the not so distant future.
You can now download Aviate Launcher for Android for free via Google Play Store. The application should be fully compatible with all devices powered by Android 4.0 and up.