What's the new Buzz….. Launcher?

Today's Daily 120 (seconds) is on a launcher that I just recently tried out and wanted to share with you all.  Let's talk about Homepack Buzz and the Buzz Launcher.

Most android launchers are about making your own home screen as useful, or pretty, as you want to make it.  Then you can take snapshots, or show your friends.  I belong to a couple of groups online that share shots (and I USED to think I was pretty good at it, then I saw the stuff other people made).  Well Buzz Launcher is a launcher that takes advantage of this sharing idea, and frankly seems more interested in that aspect than the actual building.

Pros:  Without buzz launcher, if I had the desire to share with you what my home screen looks like, I'd need to tell you what launcher I used, send you the background image, send you the icon pack and widgets, and just tell you how to build it.  With Buzz Launcher I can just send you a link to my home pack and when you click it, the screens are added to your home screens, icons, themes, backgrounds, widgets already set up.  If a widget or icon isn't installed on your phone an arrow appears and tapping it takes you to the Play Store so you can download (or buy) it.  This opens up a world of, literally, thousands of home screens that you can just click on, download, and have instantly.

Cons:  As a user, as opposed to a designer, I do see a number of flaws so far.  First, I can view available home packs either from  my computer or phone, but I can only log into the site or download packs from the phone.  This means that if I see a pack I like while using my computer, I need to somehow get the URL of that home pack to my phone, usually by emailing myself, Evernote, etc.  Second, once you download a theme and customize it a little for your own use, you can't save it as it is without making a "public" home pack for everyone else to see and download.  I just want to save where I am so I can try a new theme then come back, or who knows what.  Because of that their website is littered with themes that are described as "Backup, do not download" and the like.

These are just the quick thoughts of a user, but I want to mention that I believe it was only released in March of this year, so it's still a young product and has a LOT of promise.  Once I get more into designing I'll come back and talk about the launcher from a pack maker's point of view.

Final thoughts?  If you like changing your home screen an having a library of examples to start with, then get this launcher.  It's not as robust as some launchers like Go Launcher, or as easy to customize and save as Lightning Launcher, but the ability to share so easily is building a community that, if they get the kinks out, could quickly shoot them above both those other launchers in fan base and use.