What I don't get is Arrow doesn't look like MS Phone's launcher. I wonder why.
Also Groove is available for Android already.
Making a good Modern UI launcher could help steer people towards Windows Phone and every other software that uses that UI...
I'd love to be able to install something and receive a completely different experience. Right now it is always just a piece meal of a potential experience.
PS - I installed Arrow. So far I like it. I'll give it a spin for a week (or until it annoys me).
I'd love to see a notification tray that's customizable with widgets, search bar & voice control, custom toggles, context dependent adjustments (per-app or per-location quick settings and widgets, etc), IR remote control quick access, intelligent sharing menu (share screenshot / current open file / location / whatever), etc...
So far nobody has really gone for the whole scriptable sandbox approach. Mostly just layout customization over anything else.
It's necessarily not customizable for some security reasons (unlock code, etc.)
Also, the OEMs constantly customize it, so theres that.
The mobile phone market (outside of Appleland) is overwhelmingly dominated by distribution. People go and get a smartphone, recommended by the sales employee. Which phone does the employee recommend? The one which his boss tells him to. Which one is that? The one HQ tells him to. Which one is that? The one with the best rebates. I will leave you to think about which one that might be. Android doesn't make money. Not for google, not for OEMs. Microsoft can turn OEMs from breakeven to profitable with a magic wand. Guess what? They already did that in the 90s! On top of that, it's a very good OS so it will get adoption by itself, especially in the corporate and mid-tier markets. And don't even try to say that developers will not get on board. They will. Remember the office365 in the beginning. "Can't win on the web, no integration, developers choose google apps". Yeah. Right. Windows is the most important platform in the world. Gradually developers will get on board.
Windows 10 has seen over 110 million activations according to Microsoft yet no figures regarding uptake on Windows Store apps. We still see apps leaving the Windows Phone platform (Mint app last week for example). We don't see any devs praising Universal Apps. Are those 110 million users buying lots of apps?
Microsoft are shouting loudly about the number of Windows 10 users but are saying nothing about how those numbers are affecting their Windows Store apps.
Also Android does make money for Google, not sure why you think it doesn't.
Ah, English. I headdesk in your general direction.
Wtf, Microsoft, what a wasted opportunity...
(Seriously, I wonder if it is in fact some sort of a trap. It's not the 1990s any more, but I still don't really trust Microsoft.)
