HMD Could Revive Lumia with an Android Launcher Inspired by Live Tiles

HMD might be ready to revive one of the most iconic elements of the Windows Phone era. After reintroducing the design of some historic Nokia smartphones with models like Skyline and Hyper, the company is reportedly considering another step into the realm of nostalgia, this time focusing on the software experience that characterized Lumia devices.

According to a rumor spread by the X account smashx_60, which is believed to be close to the company's activities, HMD is developing an Android launcher inspired by the famous Live Tiles, the dynamic tiles introduced by Microsoft with Windows Phone. The interface would offer a home screen based on colored squares capable of displaying real-time updated information, proposing a different approach compared to the traditional icon grids adopted by most Android smartphones.

Live Tiles allowed users to quickly view content such as notifications, messages, calendar appointments, and weather forecasts without having to open individual applications. This solution represented a middle ground between classic icons and modern widgets, offering a particularly immediate user experience.

Is HMD's goal to bring back the "Lumia"? The aim would be to adapt that concept to the current Android ecosystem, allowing users to continue using the vast catalog of applications available on Google's platform without sacrificing a distinctive graphic identity. This strategy would align with the company's desire to enhance the historical legacy of the Nokia brand.

Rumors also suggest that HMD is considering acquiring the Lumia brand and some related patents, currently owned by Microsoft. If this operation were to materialize, the company could relaunch smartphones under the Lumia name while still maintaining Android as the operating system. Among the possibilities, there is also discussions about potentially reviving the Asha brand, the historical name used by Nokia for a line of budget phones.

However, it remains to be seen whether such an operation would be well-received by the public. Although the smartphone market today presents increasingly similar interfaces, Live Tiles did not achieve the hoped-for success either on Windows Phone or subsequently on Windows 8. Moreover, an interface that is profoundly different from traditional solutions might require users to change their habits.