14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has started the work on another update for its Android launcher, and today a brand-new beta received the go-ahead to be released to production devices.
Microsoft Launcher 5.10 beta is thus available for download right now, bringing only a couple of improvements on Android devices. The lack of new features and more breaking changes isn’t necessarily surprising, as the latest few releases of Microsoft Launcher have followed the same approach, so it’s safe to assume more significant improvements would be part of the next major update.
Meanwhile, the latest beta of Microsoft Launcher for Android introduces dark mode enhancements, as the app can now follow the system settings in Android.
Polishing the dark theme experience
In other words, if you enable the dark mode in Android, Microsoft Launcher should use the same visual style as well. Sticking with the standard Android skin means Microsoft Launcher itself uses the default visual style. This option is available on Android 9 and newer, so your device doesn’t have to be running Android 10 to get it.
This is clearly a good thing as Android is only now rolling out to devices across the world, so it’ll take a while until all supported devices would receive the update.
Additionally, this new beta version also further polishes the dark mode in Microsoft Launcher with darker colors. This means the dark mode is now darker, and this can only be a good thing from a usability perspective moving forward.
“The dark theme is darker now to improve readability and make content easier on your eyes in the low-light condition,” Microsoft explains in the release notes of the latest Microsoft Launcher beta for Android.
At this point, there’s no word as to when the stable version is supposed to come out, but it typically takes just a few weeks for this to happen, depending on the number of new features and the changes that are included.