Once a relatively obscure part of the Android ecosystem, launchers received a profile boost recently with the launch of Facebook Home. Now Everything.me is bringing its own alternative homescreen layer for your phone to the UK and Spain.
Launched recently in the US and claiming 350,000 users in its first month, Everything.me essentially turns your homescreen into an app-based search engine that you interact with using either the keyboard or your voice.
For example, if you want to know about Daft Punk, enter their name and you get a Daft Punk-themed homescreen, complete with relevant wallpaper and apps that can either tell you more about them or let you listen to their music or watch their videos. It also works for queries like “What restaurants are nearby?”
The 💜 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
Cleverly, Everything.me doesn’t just display apps installed on your phone. If there is relevant information on the Web, you’ll get websites linked to as app-style shortcuts, too. The reason it’s not available worldwide is that the launcher needs to be localized with country-specific Web results.
Everything.me takes an interesting approach to search, although it’s not for everyone. For queries related to nearby products and services, Google Now is a far slicker experience, but the way your homescreen ‘becomes’ a search engine certainly works well for queries about specific people, places and the like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=LfEcHi3tmKY
It’s not all about search, either. The launcher does a good job of automatically sorting your installed apps into folders like ‘Social’, ‘Games’ and ‘Local’, although you can customize these too.
Previously named DoAT and listed on CrunchBase as ‘The Everything Project’, the New York-based company has raised a total of $35 million in venture funding. There’s no monetization in place yet but with plenty of money in the bank, the company tells us it’s in no rush.
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.