A few days ago it was revealed that Sony would be stopping feature development for its Xperia Home launcher that comes bundled with its Android devices. Several days on from that bit of news, a spokesperson for the company has confirmed that the firm shut down active development on the launcher because it wants to build a new one.
Speaking on Google+, Erika Prymus from the Xperia Home team said:
“The reason for discontinuing new feature development in the current Xperia Home Application is that we are developing a new Home Application.”
While we don’t know what the new launcher will look like yet, 9to5Google point out that Xperia Home has seen relatively few changes in terms of the experience over the years while Android has evolved around it. With all the new features coming in Android P such as the swiping gestures to scroll through apps Sony may feel that it’s time to start from scratch.
Regarding the old launcher’s situation, Prymus previously said that the launcher has now entered the maintenance phase and that it will be kept there for as long as necessary. As for the Xperia Home beta community, it will be closed in a few weeks.
Let us know, are you a fan on the Xperia Home launcher and are you looking forward to seeing what Sony creates next?
Source: 9to5Google