HomeWinBuzzer NewsMicrosoft Releases Arrow Launcher 3.0 with Major UI Changes and Feature Additions

Microsoft Releases Arrow Launcher 3.0 with Major UI Changes and Feature Additions

Arrow Launcher 3.0 adds a new utilities page, the ability to choose between horizontal and vertical scrolling, and performance improvements. However, the removal of certain options has divided some users.

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Though has been getting numerous fixes and improvements along the way, its been a while since rolled out a major update. Thankfully, the company is marking version 3.0  with what it calls the “biggest release yet”.

Arrow Launcher 3.0 Changes

Arrow Launcher users will notice an immediate visual change, with the addition of a brand new “utilities” page. Users can pin their favorite information to this page in a card-like format, a choice between recent media, frequent apps, people, reminders, and documents. This also acts a central hub of sorts, letting you create individual pages from each category.

The other main change is the ability to choose between vertical and horizontal scrolling on for widget pages. The effect of this feature isn't immediately obvious, but lets users chose between a long, scrollable page of widgets on the homepage, and several dedicated widget pages accessed by swiping left.

This feature is especially useful if you have widgets with their own scroll bar. In previous builds, the launcher could get stuck scrolling downwards if you had, for example, a scrolling news widget.

Arrow Launcher 3.0 also comes with various performance improvements and other minor changes. Here's the full changelog:

  • Arrow is 10% faster
  • Uses 15% less battery
  • Uses 20% less memory
  • Brand-new utility page. Pin utility “cards” as individual pages, or customize to your heart's content.
  • Small changes to “Backup & Restore” feature.
  • Bug fixes.

Though we aren't quite sure about the claim of biggest update so far, there's no denying that Microsoft has made some great changes with 3.0. The further performance improvements are particularly impressive and should help those struggling for battery life.

Despite this, some users aren't happy with the changes. The update resets some layouts and removes the ability to add a completely blank screen and remove page headers. If those features are a must, you'll want to hold off until Microsoft takes that feedback into consideration. The official response is this:

“Thanks for your feedback. We encourage you to try this new version for a few days. The re-design allows for the most functionality in the most compact space possible. In case you prefer the previous full page layout for cards, you can ‘pin to a new page' and restore the old layout. Please email us your thoughts: [email protected]

If you're happy with those changes, Arrow Launcher 3.0 is available now on Google Play.

Ryan Maskell
Ryan Maskellhttps://ryanmaskell.co.uk
Ryan has had a passion for gaming and technology since early childhood. Fusing the skills from his Creative Writing and Publishing degree with profound technical knowledge, he enjoys covering news about Microsoft. As an avid writer, he is also working on his debut novel.

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