Xiaomi POCO Launcher hits Play Store, asks for plenty of permissions

Update, August 30, 2018 (01:58AM ET): The early access version of the POCO Launcher has made its way to the Google Play Store (h/t: XDA-Developers), allowing users to get a taste of the Pocophone F1 experience.

We were unfortunately unable to download the launcher though, as the Play Store listing reveals that all spots have been filled. So your only options are to wait it out or side-load it via the link at the bottom of this page. 

Read: Pocophone F1 vs OnePlus 6 specs — Is Xiaomi’s phone the new OnePlus One?

In any case, redditors on r/Android have expressed concern at the sheer number of permissions required for the POCO Launcher. The Play Store listing reveals far more required permissions than the likes of Nova Launcher. While Nova Launcher requires permissions related to the likes of location, telephone and storage, Xiaomi’s requirements extend to the calendar, contacts, microphone, text messages, and more.

Permissions are often required for legitimate reasons (such as smart assistant features) but it’s easy to see why people would be concerned when we’ve got such an extensive list of requirements. The Play Store listing also shows that the POCO Launcher contains ads, which marks another departure from the likes of Nova Launcher, Microsoft Launcher, the Google Now Launcher, and Lawnchair Launcher.

In any case, you can check out the Play Store listing below for all the details.

Original article, August 23, 2018 (5:31PM ET): The Xiaomi POCOphone F1 doesn’t cost that much at only about $300, but you still might not be buying one. Maybe you don’t need a new phone or maybe you are just really turned off by that huge notch and chin.

Luckily, you don’t have to buy the device to get your hands on the Xiaomi POCOphone F1 wallpapers. We have all seven of them below for you to download either individually or all together in a big ZIP file.

The Xiaomi POCOphone F1 wallpapers are very colorful and all have a resolution of 2,246 x 1,080. My favorite color is red so I quite like that red-orange brick one; I think I might download it and try it out on my OnePlus 5.

Check out all the Xiaomi POCOphone F1 wallpapers below, and scroll down a bit to download all the images in one ZIP file.

If you want to download all the Xiaomi POCOphone F1 wallpapers at once, click the button below:

As an extra bonus, we also have a link to the Xiaomi POCOphone F1 launcher, via XDA Developers. You can install this launcher on any Xiaomi device that’s running MIUI 9 or 10, any version.

The Xiaomi POCOphone F1 launcher is neat because it has an app drawer, which MIUI hasn’t had for a very long time. It also lets you organize apps in the drawer by type and even supports third-party icon packs.

The launcher will get a full release on the Google Play Store soon, but for now, just click the button below to give it a shot.