Android M has been flooding the interwebs for a few days now. The latest version of Android was debuted at Google I/O 2015 and it came with a few new features, some liked, some disliked. One of the new features is an updated launcher, with new widgets, wallpaper, and a vertical scrolling app drawer. Until today, some ‘M’ was only available to those with Nexus devices, but an XDA user has changed that.
The developer who goes by the name FaserF, has extracted the launcher and some other things straight from the Android M developer preview. He claims that it runs much smoother than the Android Lollipop launcher on both his Galaxy S3 and Galaxy S6, so it may be worth a try. The way to install it is pretty extensive, so be patient. The list of what it includes can be found below.
Features
- Android M Launcher/Velvet
- Android M Camera
- Android M Clock
- Android M Play Services (can bring bugs)
- Android M wallpaper
- Android M boot animation
- Androdi M ringtones
All of these are not recommended for your daily driver, but rather as a way to test drive Android M before its official release this August. It comes as an all-in-one flashable. It does come with some bugs such as HDR+ force closing the camera, “OK, Google” doesn’t work, and Android M Clock will force close on some devices.
Here’s how to install straight from the XDA forum:
…new Google Now Launcher from M:
– Download my Google Now App (Velvet) below
– Download Google Now Launcher from Play Store
…new Google Camera with lib files:
Download Google-Camera.apk and Google-Camera-lib-files.zip. Install the app and then put the lib files to the DeskClock folder in /system/app
Just download the App now from the Play Store!
… Google Play Services
This will only work on Android 5.0 and above, also it won’t work on 64bit systems and it is recommended only to install if you have a 480 dpi device!
Just install the apk on your device.
…new Android For Work App
Download Android-For-Work.zip, put the whole AndroiForWork folder in: /system/app and give the correct permissions
…new Android M Bootanimation:
Way 1: Download: Bootanimation-flashable.zip and flash it
Way 2 [you need CyanogenMod Theme Engine!]: download boot animation app from here
Way 3:
- Copy the bootanimation.zip file on your SD card/ internal storage on your phone
- use a the root explorer, CM File Browser or any other file browser with root access to perform this action
- copy the .zip file into the system/media folder
- give the correct permissons
… Android M Ringtones (note nearly all are the same as in Lollipop!)
Way 1: Download: Bootanimation-flashable.zip and flash it
Way 2: Download my Ringtone.zip and copy the files to system/media/audio to the correct folder
Here is a video tutorial on how to do so as well:
