iPhone 5 Launcher for Android Released
This may have been done partially as a joke, but an iPhone 5 launcher for Android devices has been released.  I say joke because Android users are notorious for making fun of the rival mobile device  from Apple.
Samsung in particular have made it their business model to poke fun at, not only Apple, but more specifically their fans. Â The Galaxy Nexus and S3 maker has even gone viral with their TV ads, such as the latest one which ran all day last Sunday during NFL games.
The folks over at XDA Developers, who do some absolutely amazing things when it comes to creating apps and ROM's and rooting Android devices, announced the new iPhone 5 launcher earlier today. Â As the name implies, this app will skin your Android device and leave the screen appearing as if it were actually running the new iOS 6 mobile operating system.
User panmoto shared news of the free app on the XDA Forums and it's available right from the Google Play Store, where it goes by the name "Fake iPhone 5 Launcher".  Ironically, the launcher may actually be more capable than the real iPhone 5.  The developer lists the following features on the app download page:
- Most realistic iPhone skin on the market.
- Fully functional home screen replacement.
- Beautiful icon effects - all installed apps are styled.
- Comes with 16 default apps on the first page.
- Custom wallpapers supported!
- Swipe-to-Search available - just swipe left at the main screen.
I'm not actually sure how many people would truly want this on their Android device, especially thos running the Jelly Bean 4.1 version of the operating system. Â However, it already has more than 100,000 installs and a four star rating, so perhaps I am in the minority. Â It requires you to be running Android 2.1 or higher, but that shoudn't leave any device out at this point.
Update: The app has been removed from Google Play. There is an abundance of iPhone launchers available though. Just check out X Launcher Free for example and download this one instead. It provides a similar experience.
Hey Alan, thanks for sharing. I’m glad you got the sense of humour in this app ;) Just wanted to let people know – I’m actually the developer of this app (not the poster at XDA Developers). I’m happy to hear any feedback or ideas for improvement – feel free to drop me a line at the email listed on the Google Play page.
Cheers,
David
why would you ever want to do this?
@ilev:
I don’t know, depends on the launcer, or the launcher created by the manufacturer.
I have 6 x 4.
And the good capability of Android is to install a different launcher :)
iPhone 5 has 5 rows of icons (+the fixed icon row). How come those
monster 6″ Android phones
display only 4 rows ?
@ilev:
My S3 is not vurnerable. And yes, this is a problem, for some devices of some manufacturers.
That makes Android even more capable ;)
While I’m not personally a fan of the child’s plastic toy-like aesthetic of iOS icons, I think it’s great that Android users have yet another option in a long list of available launchers.
You better remind all Android users of a recently discoverd exploit on Android devices
that can remotely wipe all data among other nasties .
Yesterday we reported about a flaw in Samsung’s
Touchwiz UI that allowed for data wiping, among
other nasties. The good news is that the flaw has
already been patched. The bad news is that self-
described general geek Dylan Reeve says it’s not
just limited to Samsung devices.
Reeve explains how the remote Unstructured
Supplementary Service Data (USSD) vulnerability
affects many phones, and he has personally verified
it on an HTC One X (running HTC Sense 4.0 on
Android 4.0.3) and a Motorola Defy (running
Cyanogen Mod 7 on Android 2.3.5). Reports suggest
the Sony Xperia Active and the Sony Xperia Arc S
are also affected, our very own Nick Summers
confirms his HTC Desire running Android 2.2 is
vulnerable, and the list likely doesn’t stop
there…
http://thenextweb.com/google/2012/09/26/heres-check-android-device-vulnerable-remotely-wiped-hackers/
p.s
“The good news is that the flaw has
already been patched”…
This has been patched only for SG3 and only for those not locked by carriers
devices, which mean ~400+ million Android phones are at risk with 0 chance for a fix.
Android is more capable as iOS :)