Last week Google finally announced Android 4.4 KitKat and with it the brand new Nexus 5 smartphone running a revamped home launcher and a whole new experience for Android users. We know many of you are eagerly awaiting the arrival of KitKat for your Nexus devices, but for those who don’t want to wait, we have “experience” right now.
For non-Nexus running devices, the wait for Android 4.4 KitKat will be quite long as manufacturers update their skins for the new OS, and as a result, most people can wait 3 months or more before getting them. IT. However, these cunning people XDA Developers pulled KitKat Launcher and now available to everyone. Below is a quick how-to for those who want to try it today instead when an update arrives.
Taken from LG Nexus 5, Google’s Home Launcher brings the whole look, feel and Google Assistant experience to your device with ease. You’ll need to have Android 4.1 or higher, download a few key apps that are easy to sideload and install on your device, and you’ll be up and running in no time.
Instructions
To get Android 4.4 KitKat Launcher up and running, you need to download and install the following three files. We recommend doing this directly from your Android device, so you can easily tap every download from the “Downloads” app on your phone and load each file directly over existing files. You will add the Launcher (Google Home), replace Google Assistant and update to the latest Google Play Services. All three are required for the launcher to work properly.
download
Now, before clicking and installing each of these new apps after downloading, you need to have your phone install apps from unknown sources. Basically, this means that you will allow apps to be sideloaded instead of directly installed from the Google Play Store. It’s simple and safe. Go to settings, then you will need to find the “Security” option depending on the device. Select security and go to “Unknown Sources” and check that box. This will ensure the installation of apps from unknown sources.
Check the box, then proceed to install Google Play Services, Google Assistant from above, and then KitKat Launcher, which is also shown as Google Home.
After enabling unknown sources and installing all three files from the download links above, you are ready and ready to go. From here you will enjoy the latest Google Home Launcher. A swipe left and Google Assistant opens, and adding new home screen pages is as simple as dragging an app to another page. Now add all your favorite weather and sports widgets and you’re ready.
Some started having Google Voice (Now) problems and crashing. Users are redirected to Google Assistant and change the default language to something other than English, then switch back to English to fix the weird issue.
For those of you who don’t want to risk downloading unknown files and causing problems with their devices (don’t blame us), we expect Google to eventually update these apps and make them available on the Play Store, but there’s no word on that at the moment. . If you go home and choose the default launcher instead of the new one, you can always revert it to default from settings > Apps > and find the launcher.
Enjoy!
