Nexus 4 will not get the same kit kat!

[Google4Lifee]

According to The Android police... the launcher that the nexus 5 has... is exclusive to the nexus 5.
Even the nexus 7 2013 will be left out.

I will be really really annoyed if this turns out to be true.

What do you guys think.


Oh and yeah, you can just install the APK. however you will have lots of error messages. And also thats not the point. iOS7 looks the same on the iphone 5 as it does on the 5s. Kit kat should look the same on the Nexus 4 as it would on the Nexus 5

Report: The 'Google Experience' Launcher From The Nexus 5 Won't Come To Other Devices Any Time Soon


oh and the official android kitkat guide says:
NEXUS 5 TIPS: The Home screens on Nexus 5 work differently from Home screens on the other Nexus Devices


So were are not getting the same kitkat we thought we were.... GREAT.
(Being sarcastic when i say great)

 

[Fairclough]

Launcher works perfectly on my nexus 4. Not one 1 error message for the past week.

- Android Central App. Remember courage is contagious.

 

[ysbg]

Wow, what's the point in getting a Nexus device then. Very disappointing news.

 

[1210saad]

That would suck so badly. There already taking too long to release the update. One of the reasons why I bought nexus 4 was because of the updates.

Posted via Android Central App on Nexus 4

 

[cloak.n.dagger]

While it upsets me, I get it. As Google makes a play at selling HW, they have to have some kind of push to entice people to buy the new HW. While I don't necessarily agree with that approach, from what I can tell the visible screen behind the buttons is not extra screen real estate, it just allows the wallpaper to be seen. When in an app or anything other that the desktop, it turns back into a black bar like what we have today. Not really a big deal if you ask me, but it's still annoying that it would differ from device to device.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[boss.king]

As long as we get the transparent notification bar and button area I'm happy. That's genuinely my only gripe with the current launcher. I barely use Google Now as it is.

To be honest, they're really shooting themselves in the foot, as the new launcher would probably be a big driver in GN adopters.

 

[5L Mustang]

I just hope it is still more efficient than 4.3 at using power and therefore making my battery last longer!!

sent from Nexus 4 Posted via Android Central App

 

[Captainbob767]

I use the Nova Launcher anyway, so couldn't care less. http://novalauncher.com/

 

[Fairclough]

Ehh from the AOSP 4.4 its not great, than again mine has a few issues which I am sure the official one will have refined out.

- Android Central App. Remember courage is contagious.

 

[Citizen Coyote]

The Verge has an article interviewing some of Google's Android bigwigs, and this is what it has to say about this:

Google tells us that the new Launcher on the Nexus 5 is exclusive to the phone ? though the company may change its mind and offer it for the Nexus 4 and perhaps even put it on the Play store someday. For now, Google wants to see how users take to the Launcher on Nexus 5 before it offers it on other devices.

Duarte calls the new Google Now-infused launcher "the single most exciting thing for Nexus 5," and he's right that it's the most prominent new software feature in KitKat. It listens for you to say "okay Google" and owns your screen from top to bottom ? including that extra 12.9 percent of screen real estate afforded by the new translucency option.

So no, we won't be getting the new launcher with the built-in Google Now. That's ok by me, I prefer the old swipe-up gesture rather than having it live on the left like iOS. However, this statement suggests that the transparency effect is also exclusive to the Nexus 5 and won't be a part of any other version of 4.4, at least to begin with. If that's true, that's crap, and Google is taking a step back in combating fragmentation (as well as annoying us Nexus enthusiasts on older hardware).

Edit: added link

 

[sanchitgrover]

When did google start doing these dirty market tricks ?

 

[dtg755]

Just read that same article on the Verge. Very disappointed that there are now Android features exclusive to the new Nexus phone. Kind of defeats the purpose of buying a Nexus phone.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[stylez619]

That would suck so badly. There already taking too long to release the update. One of the reasons why I bought nexus 4 was because of the updates.

Posted via Android Central App on Nexus 4

It's been 5 whole days since it launched.

Impatient much?

 

[oberkc]

Just read that same article on the Verge. Very disappointed that there are now Android features exclusive to the new Nexus phone. Kind of defeats the purpose of buying a Nexus phone.

Are not some of those features because of additional hardware, sensors, and capability? Would you prefer that android capability remain stagnant?

 

[karanbhansali01]

It's absolutely fine. Not everybody likes the new Google Experience Launcher and prefer third party apps like Nova and Apex because they over a lot more flexibility.

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[itic]

Right , but while you wojt be able to activate it from the homescreen using "okay google" you can still swipe from the home screen like you did before to get to it. SOme have said that the apk can be installed once we get the 4.4 OTA and youll have it but i wont believe it till i see it.

 

[Citizen Coyote]

Are not some of those features because of additional hardware, sensors, and capability? Would you prefer that android capability remain stagnant?

None of these Nexus 5 exclusives are hardware dependent as far as I know. Unlike the Moto X, the Nexus 5 does not have any kind of low-power companion chip that powers the "always listening" feature the X has. In fact, the new voice features on the Nexus 5 specifically only work if you're in the launcher or already in Google Now. All of these things should work just fine on the Nexus 4 and other handsets, which is why many of us are confused/angry/disappointed that Google has walled them off (for now at least). It goes against everything we thought we knew about the Nexus program.

As for when we'll get 4.4, I suspect it will show up (with whatever features excluded) in the coming weeks, probably by the end of the month.

 

[CoolBeit]

I'm kind of calling BS on this report until I see it. Google is a service company, not a hardware company. These features benefit Google as much as anyone, so why leave it out? It makes no sense without a technical reason. And I understand that they may be trying to make a play at being more of a hardware company, but they're still making a boatload by selling the data they collect when we use their services. So I just don't buy it.

 

[Citizen Coyote]

I'm kind of calling BS on this report until I see it. Google is a service company, not a hardware company. These features benefit Google as much as anyone, so why leave it out? It makes no sense without a technical reason. And I understand that they may be trying to make a play at being more of a hardware company, but they're still making a boatload by selling the data they collect when we use their services. So I just don't buy it.

I put little stock in rumors, but in this case the official* exclusivity of the new launcher to the Nexus 5 comes straight from Google themselves. They themselves have also said it may come to other phones in the future, but there is no time frame on that.


*Official, according to Google. Some have reported success in getting the new launcher on other handsets via an extracted APK file.

 

[Justin967]

None of these Nexus 5 exclusives are hardware dependent as far as I know. Unlike the Moto X, the Nexus 5 does not have any kind of low-power companion chip that powers the "always listening" feature the X has. In fact, the new voice features on the Nexus 5 specifically only work if you're in the launcher or already in Google Now. All of these things should work just fine on the Nexus 4 and other handsets, which is why many of us are confused/angry/disappointed that Google has walled them off (for now at least). It goes against everything we thought we knew about the Nexus program.

As for when we'll get 4.4, I suspect it will show up (with whatever features excluded) in the coming weeks, probably by the end of the month.

Correct me if I am wrong but doesn't the snapdragon 800 have some sort of low power listening chip, like in Motorola's x8 system? This would explain why this is exclusive to the nexus 5 because in the launcher the phone is always listening for the "OK Google" hotword.

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