Sony stops development of current Android skin for Xperia smartphonessmart

Sony has stopped developing new features for the Xperia Home launcher it makes for its own smartphones. This indicates that devices will receive a new Android skin in the future, but nothing is known about this for the time being.

Sony will not add new features to the Xperia Home skin, but it will continue to maintain the software for as long as the company deems necessary, the announcement says. “We have made a business decision that our current launcher, Xperia Home, will enter the maintenance phase.”

Xperia Home has been on smartphones from the Japanese manufacturer since the first Xperia Z came out in 2013. Before that, it already had its own Android skin containing apps such as Timescape. Sony developed the software to give Android devices their own face and to integrate Sony features, such as apps for Walkman and PlayStation. Sony previously discontinued its own Weather app and Shazam competitor TrackID.

The launcher will continue to function on current Xperia devices for the time being. Which launcher will be on current smartphones and on future models after OS upgrades is unknown. Sony generally releases new smartphones in the fall, which will have to show which software they contain.