Evie launched version 2.0 of its launcher earlier this week – I’ve been using it for a couple days now, and thought you all might be interested in giving it a try, yourselves. What follows are my thoughts, and my thoughts alone:
The first thing that comes to mind when using Evie is iOS – and by that, I mean it’s clean, snappy and uses a similar aesthetic to Apple’s OS.
There are a couple basic features in Evie that set it apart from the stock Android launcher: universal search (with automatically populating Google search results and content cards, detailed later), icon pack support, notification count badges, swipe to search, and customizable column/row configurations. A pretty standard set of options, to be sure, but the universal search function deserves a bit of focus.
When you tap the search bar (or swipe down on the screen), Evie seamlessly enters search mode, complete with a tasteful blurring effect on your wallpaper. Typing into this field instantly generates results from Google, as well as pulling media, restaurant and contacts from your phone and internet. This content generates ‘cards’ similar to Google Now, that contains relevant information about the item searched. For example, searching Rogue One brings up the following card…
…With Tomatometer, Fandango, IMDB and reviews cooked right in. Searching Ariana Grande (puke) brings up Listen Now (with the ability to favorite your preferred method of listening), Watch Now, Social Media, and Learn More. Searching for a restaurant offers Directions, Get a Ride (using Uber or Lyft), and Reviews. It should also be noted that searching a term also looks in the Google Play Store, saving you the hassle of having to go into the app to search. It’s not perfect, but it is really cool.
Evie is both lightweight and buttery smooth (like that hasn’t been said before, right?), with a clean, simple interface and menu system. While its customization is nowhere near the likes of Nova or Apex, it does offer more than the standard Google offering. When it comes down to it, Evie straddles a the line between customization and usability, and strikes a nice balance of both.
With aesthetic and features of both Android and iOS, and customization features to set it apart from both, Evie 2.0 is definitely worth a look. Check it out.