metro-os alpha-6
Since: alpha-5
Tag: alpha-6 (8eaed62)
The shell gains WP8.1 toast banners and a volume HUD as standalone overlay apps, Music lands as an Xbox Music–style player, and Start tiles pick up charging/download progress plus live people mosaics.
Highlights
- Notifications (toasts) — New Tier 0 overlay: high-importance notifications raise a Metro toast banner instead of Android heads-up.
- Volume HUD — New Tier 0 overlay: hardware rockers show the charcoal WP8.1 volume strip (ringer / media / in-call).
- Music — New Tier 1 Xbox Music–style player: local MediaStore library plus YouTube Music connect/playback.
- Start tile progress — Pinned tiles show charging and download progress overlays, including custom RemoteViews (e.g. charging monitors).
- Settings applications — Root
system|applicationspivot with per-app detail, background/notification toggles, and uninstall.
Notifications
- New complete shell app: toast overlay only (tray / Action Center stay in statusbar)
- Accent banner with app logo + one line; tile-flip enter/exit; swipe right to dismiss; tap to open
- Setup from Settings → notifications (master toggle, timeout ListPicker, test toast)
- Suppresses AOSP heads-up while the overlay is running
Volume
- New complete shell app: collapsed charcoal strip + expanded dual sliders
- Accessibility key filter consumes Volume Up/Down so the stock HUD does not appear
- Setup from Settings → volume (master toggle)
Music
- New complete app: panorama hub, collection pivots, now playing, local + YouTube Music
- Background playback via Media3
Launcher / Start
- Progress-bar notifications overlay a rectangular bar on pinned tiles (charging remaining, downloads)
- Custom RemoteViews parsed when extras are empty (e.g. Bolt.Earth-style charging UIs)
- People photo-grid tiles rotate contact mosaics with live flip
- App list: letter-marker animations in search, haptic on long-press context menu
Settings / Keyboard / Photos
- Applications list of launchable user + system apps; in-Settings detail (open / uninstall)
- Keyboard key spacing unified (equal row/column gaps)
- Photos: shared loading/empty collection state
Downloads
Debug APKs for all complete apps in this release:
| App | Artifact |
|---|---|
| Launcher | launcher-debug.apk |
| Status bar | statusbar-debug.apk |
| Notifications | notifications-debug.apk |
| Navigation bar | navbar-debug.apk |
| Volume | volume-debug.apk |
| Photos | photos-debug.apk |
| Calendar | calendar-debug.apk |
| Messaging | messaging-debug.apk |
| People | people-debug.apk |
| Phone (Dialer) | dialer-debug.apk |
| Settings | settings-debug.apk |
| Calculator | calculator-debug.apk |
| Files | files-debug.apk |
| Keyboard | keyboard-debug.apk |
| Music | music-debug.apk |
Install shell first (launcher, statusbar, notifications, navbar, volume), then consumer apps. Enable Notifications (overlay + accessibility + notification access) and Volume (overlay + accessibility) after install.
For testers
- Install shell + apps (include new Notifications, Volume, Music).
- Notifications: grant overlay, accessibility, and notification access; Settings → notifications → turn on Show notifications; post a high-importance notification or use show test toast — Metro banner, not Android heads-up.
- Volume: grant overlay + accessibility; Settings → volume → turn on Show volume controls; press rockers — charcoal HUD, not the stock Android panel.
- Start: pin an app that shows charging/download progress; confirm the tile bar (and remaining-time peek) rather than an unread
1badge. - Settings → applications → open an app’s detail; toggle notifications/background; uninstall a user app.
- Music: scan local files; play from hub; optionally connect YouTube Music.
Stats
Commits since alpha-5 |
8 |
| Complete apps built | 15 |
Compare: alpha-5...alpha-6