Last Updated on September 16, 2017 by Mathew Diekhake
It’s not often you are greeted with descriptions as confusing as “Start! With start” but in this case it is worth looking past because when you do you will find a hidden gem of an app that not nearly enough people know about. It’s with that in mind that I felt it worth writing about this one developed by Celltick and it also comes with a new version namely v3.0 that brings in a multitude of new features and fixes.
Android KitKat did a good job at customizing the lock screen from past builds by adding the camera icon. Something tells us that if it were up to the Mountain View developers to create the perfect lock screen it would look different and a lot more congested than what they stock version is. You see, when it comes to being a successful company it is more about what people want and not what you want. But what if you are a minority that wants something different? Luckily in this instance there is an app for that and it is this one right here called Start. Appropriately named because it means the start after you turn on the Android device, this app lets people customize they way they see the lock screen by adding much more widgets if they want so the smartphone doesn’t need unlocking to do tasks. For most people, that’s a security and privacy concern but there are plenty of people out there innocent enough to not need to hide anything and for all of those people this becomes a much more economic and preferable way to keep the OS.
When you click-through to the Google Play Store link I have given below it will show you some pictures that give you a pretty good idea of how this works. The first image shows a navigation bar on the left side of the screen and only one message app widget placed in the middle. It is a minimalist approach that enables messages to be seen without unlocking. If you look at the second screenshot suddenly there are five icons: camera, phone, messages, clock and a picture of a padlock. It is another great example of how you can do more and a good choice of possible widgets you might like a quick menu to having. The third image has a similar amount, but also ads Facebook and the icons are a different design. The last image shows the menu that can be aces such as AOL, Facebook and the plugin configuration. As you can see there are lots of options but never does it become cluttered and unattractive.
Now that it has been updated to version 3.0 there are a range of new design ideas included. For starters (no pun intended), there is a new UI (user interface) that gives a more aesthetically pleasing look to the overall app. The design all has a larger display area and the ring has been updated with a new look also. A new tutorial when beginning makes it easier to use and understand for those who have yet to experience what it is all about and how it works. It will hopefully result in more people using the application because it deserves more than the current million installs.
The new version namely 3.0.1 is made to work on Android devices that are running 2.2 Froyo and comes in at only 7.6 Mb in size. That means downloading this one OTA using the mobile data plan should not cause for concern. This update was issued on the 28th of May and the app is suitable for anybody with a low maturity level and up.
Users operating from the Nexus 5 were experiencing a bug and that has been fixed in this edition. Furthermore, everybody will feel better performance as that is also a feature on the checklist. The setting’s menu has also seen an overhaul.
As you will be able to see from the comments on the page, it still is not perfect by a long shot. Several comments are recommending a few changes ranging from icons to functionality still not being where it should be. On that note, we could be seeing another update soon. Things of this nature are nothing new in software though and if we were to wait around for perfect apps without bugs we would be waiting until the turn of the century. Download this one with confidence of it doing the job nicely.
Download it from the Google Play store link here.