Nokia X and XL were unsuccessful devices, largely because the lack of the Google services and the look and feel of the UI. Nokia made it look a lot like a Windows Phone, the Nokia X launcher has icons arranged in tiles (much like WP) and it didn’t went so well. Anyway, Nokia has come up with a Android launcher now which doesn’t look or feel like Windows Phone UI.

The Z Launcher isn’t developed by Nokia’s phone division which Microsoft bought, but by Nokia Technologies, the portion of Nokia which wasn’t the part of the deal. So it has come originally from Nokia only.

Z launcher is a very simple app and follows a minimalistic design. It doesn’t have advanced settings or features. The homescreen displays just 6 apps, contacts, or web links that Zlauncher predicts for you. These predictions are custom tailored based on your daily usage, time of the day and various other factors. The app drawer is simple too with only alphabetical list of the installed apps.

The new feature that Z launcher brings to the table is gesture search. You can draw an alphabet on the screen, and the Z launcher will list the apps, contact links, etc with that letter. Draw another letter, and the selection is narrowed even more. And if you have made a mistake, swipe left to delete that and restart search. Z launcher does not support widgets yet. It’s still in alpha stage, so we can assume that widget support may come in future releases.

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Nokia Z launcher is not available on Play Store yet. It is on trial testing, which unfortunately has reached its full capacity, as the website says. However, if you wish to test drive it, grab the Nokia Z Launcher APK file from the link below and install it like you’d install any other APK file, for help check out our guide on → How to Install APK files on Android.

Download Nokia Z Launcher APK → download link.

NOTE: The Z launcher currently only supports non-rooted devices, so if your device is rooted the launcher won’t work on your device.