How I turned my Android cellphone right into a mini Wii

I’m always on the lookout for enjoyable and quirky third-party Android launchers, and one particularly lately caught my eye: Revo Launcher. As with other launchers, Revo is a full dwelling display screen alternative, with the flexibility to pin and launch apps, dig by a number of customization settings, and extra.

The twist? Revo Launcher forgoes the tried-and-true grid of dwelling display screen icons in favor of one thing way more joyful. Inside seconds of putting in and launching the app, it presents a full-blown Wii Menu interface on display screen, full with channels, sound results, and different goodies impressed by Nintendo’s 2006-era Wii video game console.

To be clear, Revo is not emulating the Wii Menu, and it is not an emulation front-end within the model of RetroArch. Fairly, it is a devoted Android launcher constructed utilizing authentic code, designed to evoke the appear and feel of the Wii. At first, my expectations weren’t notably excessive, however after utilizing it on my Pixel 9 Pro, I am impressed by its craftsmanship.

By way of and thru, Revo Launcher is a trustworthy adaptation of the unique Wii Menu, with the identical total styling, design touches, and even navigational inertia. The app UI is optimized for telephones in portrait orientation, adapting parts to raised work with the tall, vertical shows discovered on our fashionable Android handsets. Apparently, there isn’t any panorama assist — a little bit of a missed alternative to essentially hone in on the widescreen Wii expertise of yore.

By default, Revo presents ten empty app slots (every stylized as an impartial channel) on every of its 4 horizontally paginated dwelling display screen pages. Tapping on every channel opens an oh-so-familiar splash display screen, with choices to Begin or to return to the Revo Menu.

There are a selection of configurable choices inside the launcher’s fundamental settings web page, together with the flexibility to regulate grid dimension, the variety of pages, the transition velocity, and numerous gestures. Extra themes and animations may be loaded into the app, with a primary darkish mode and a cool Matrix theme preloaded by default.

Cue the nostalgia

The Nintendo Wii was first launched again in 2006, and it shortly turned a cultural phenomenon. Anecdotally, nearly everybody I do know seems to be again on the dwelling console with fondness, reminiscing about Wii Sports activities and Mario Kart Wii. The system stays memorable attributable to its heavy emphasis on movement controls, in addition to its distinctive TV-remote-shaped recreation controller.

The Wii went on to sell over one hundred million units throughout its lifetime, and it stays one of many best-selling online game consoles of all time. Past quirky management schemes and family-friendly recreation titles, the Wii is notable for being the primary Nintendo dwelling console to make use of a devoted menu for system navigation (its predecessor, the GameCube, had an OS that was solely current when no software program was loaded into the unit).

So far as recreation console working programs go, the Wii Menu stays considered one of my favorites. It cleverly presents utility icons as ‘channels,’ roughly approximating the paradigm of conventional cable TV stations. The interface itself is clear and minimalistic, whereas providing a ton of allure and whimsy. Nice sound results are current all through, animations are fluid and cohesive, and skeuomorphism is executed with out evoking a way of cheesiness.

In my expertise, Revo Launcher has confirmed to be a wonderful blast-from-the-past, melding collectively my love for retro gaming and my fascination with novel Android dwelling display screen launchers. It is definitely not feature-packed or refined to the identical diploma as, say, main OEM launchers, but it surely’s surprisingly well-executed and responsive for an indie venture.

Going ahead, I can definitely see myself utilizing Revo as a devoted floor for shortly accessing all my Android emulation apps. After experiencing Revo for a number of days, all I can take into consideration is how a lot I might like to see an equal launcher made within the model of the Xbox 360’s iconic blades UI, or maybe even the 3DS’s underappreciated menu system.

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There are tons of superior Android launchers out on the Play Retailer, however I discover Niagara to be far and away the very best of all of them.