Pixel C Gets Pixel Launcher, Navigation Bar & More With Latest Android 7.1.2 Beta

Despite being an year old, the Pixel C is still Google's flagship tablet. Google had forked out a smartphone branch of it's Pixel brand when it had introduced the pair of Google Pixel & Pixel XL last year. The duo of Pixel and Pixel XL had a bunch of features which were exclusive only to the Pixel devices. These included the Pixel launcher, Pixel navigation bar, seamless updates and Google Assistant (which is now available for various Marshmallow and Nougat powered devices). However the Pixel C was deprived of all the Pixel exclusive features until today.

Google had started rolling out the second beta build of Android 7.1.2 a few hours back. We had seen that the beta update adds the much awaited feature of fingerprint gestures to the Nexus 6P. With this iteration of the beta update, Google has also focused on the Pixel C owners out there.

Nougat 7.1.2's second beta brings the Pixel launcher to the Pixel C. There are a couple of differences between the Google Now launcher (which was the stock launcher in Pixel C previously) and the new Pixel launcher. The first difference that you may notice is the absence of an app drawer icon in the Pixel launcher. If you intend to access the app drawer, you will now have to swipe up from the desktop screen on the Pixel launcher. There are some UI tweaks as well. These include the presence of a tinted dock, the half-pill Google pullout on the left and the fixed clock widget on the right. The APK file of the Pixel launcher in the Pixel C beta can be found here.

The navigation bar in the Google Pixel & Pixel XL has been made available for the Pixel C users. The new navigation bar consists of the filled buttons as depicted above. Since Google had confirmed that Assistant won't be made available to tablet owners, the bullseye based animation which popped up on long pressing the home key is not there for the Pixel C owners.

Apart from the addition of all the Pixel exclusive features, Pixel C has been treated to a revamped layout of the recent apps section. The screenshot above showcases the new layout. The new design of the recent apps is similar to the one you might have come across in the recent editions of Microsoft Windows. We previously had a stacked layout of the recent apps. The new layout introduced in the Pixel C is similar to Lollipop based SenseUI. The image below shows the recent apps section in SenseUI along with the stacked based recents on the right.

This beta update thus introduces a lot of new features to the tablet user interface of Android. Since these features appear both useful and pleasing to the eyes, we should see these features pave their way into the final release of Nougat 7.1.2, which will be made available in the coming months.

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Krittin Kalra

Krittin Kalra is a 20 year old Android freak. Striving for passions, chasing down his dreams and living a life without regrets is his sole mantra. A bit moody, he also does custom ROM reviews for AndroGuider. Currently pursuing his B.Tech, he aspires to follow his heart.