Microsoft Launcher on Surface Duo really sucks

Surface Duo 2 Widgets Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central

It'south been well over a year since the first Surface Duo striking the market place, yet its congenital-in launcher experience nevertheless pales in comparison to the version of Microsoft Launcher y'all can get on other smartphones. Heck, it pales in comparison to Pixel and Samsung launchers as well regarding fit and finish. For some reason, Microsoft has opted to exit the Microsoft Launcher on Surface Duo incredibly barebones, much to the disappointment of users.

This hasn't improved with Surface Duo 2, though Microsoft did update the UI with a small-scale design refresh, and that simply recently rolled out to the Surface Duo i. We still have no new features, no enhanced customization tweaks, and the launcher itself is only bad at integrating itself with the Surface Duo as its native default launcher feel. As someone with a keen eye for UX design, the Microsoft Launcher is doing a terrible task on Surface Duo in a lot of areas.

For case, on near smartphones these days, the launcher and the gesture system go hand-in-manus. They complement each other. If you swipe up to go home when in an app, that app usually zooms out and back into the icon in which you tapped to open it. That'southward not so on Surface Duo. The launcher acts like it's an entirely separate entity, with naught ties to the rest of the OS.

Surface Duo 2 Microsoft Launcher Store Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Key

Additionally, for some inexplicable reason, the Microsoft Launcher on Surface Duo appears to unload itself when it's not on display. This makes it so the launcher "pops" back on screen when yous swipe up to get home, creating a super disjointed feel. On Pixel or Samsung, the launcher is ever running, and the integration with gestures makes going between app and home screen feel fluid and thought out. This is the kind of thing that's missing with Launcher on Surface Duo.

Admittedly, this result is a picayune difficult to spot if you lot're not looking for it, but information technology is at that place, and it's more noticable if y'all're using calorie-free theme for some reason. When low-cal manner is enabled, the display will sometimes flash black when endmost an app to go home when in single-screen mode. This happens considering the Launcher has unloaded, and quickly needs to reload equally you're swiping up. It's been a existent pet peeve for me, and I really hope Microsoft fixes information technology soon.

Then there's the feature drought. On Surface Duo, Microsoft Launcher is a barebones launcher experience. Information technology supports folders, an app drawer, and the Microsoft Launcher activity feed, and that's about it. This is a real shame, as the Microsoft Launcher on other smartphones is and so much more in-depth, with hundreds of customization options to choose from such as custom icons, grid sizes, gestures, theming controls, and much, much more.

Why is the Microsoft Launcher on Surface Duo devices nonetheless missing out on these customization options, well over a year into its being on the market? Information technology's almost as if Microsoft is purposefully limiting the Microsoft Launcher experience on this grade gene. If that's true, please terminate. Information technology's adept to have rich customization options in your launcher experience.

Surface Duo Hero 2022 Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central

Regardless of the feature drought, the problems with Microsoft Launcher not feeling integrated with the remainder of the Surface Duo OS is a serious sticking point for me. The launcher unloads and reloads itself whenever y'all go into and out of an app, and it makes no try to tie itself to gestures to create a more fluid experience. It's just a poor UX all around, and I wish Microsoft would ready it.

Amend still, I wish the Surface Duo team would dump Microsoft Launcher and go its own route. Surface should create a special Surface Duo launcher that'southward designed for the dual-screen grade factor from the basis up. Integrate it deep with the gesture arrangement and the rest of the Os, and allow it to feel like a component of the Os rather than a third-party launcher that isn't really integrated at all.

I will say I like the new Microsoft Launcher UI. It's clean and consistent with the rest of Microsoft's current blueprint language. I as well like the fluid dock that moves icons depending on what screen you're using, and the blur effects look corking too. I just wish everything else I mentioned to a higher place would be addressed, then information technology would be great.

I love my Surface Duo two, and I simply want the Bone to be perfect. I desire the UX to feel polished and fluid, and I want the overall user experience to feel seamless as if it were all built by the same team. The disjointed feel between the Microsoft Launcher and the rest of the Bone on Surface Duo is becoming extremely tiresome.