A much-needed Android skin overhaul

Vivo has been teasing its OriginOS Android skin for a while now, promising a major revamp of its polarizing Funtouch software. Now, the company has finally revealed the new skin at its developer conference in China, giving us a look at how it stands out.

For starters, the OriginOS homescreen makes extensive use of rectangular and square widgets, with Vivo dubbing it a Klotski grid. This is in reference to Klotski puzzles which feature rectangular and square puzzle pieces.

These widgets can also deliver so-called “Nano Alerts,” displaying constantly updated info in them akin to Windows Live Tiles. Examples shown by Vivo include flight information, weather, and courier updates.

The company is also leaning on the real world for wallpapers and backgrounds in Origin OS. For example, you can opt for a sky background that showcases various weather effects, such as clouds and wind. Vivo claims that the clouds are sampled from various regions and that the wind will dynamically affect them.

Another example of Vivo turning to the real world for inspiration are wallpapers that mimic the time of day, being brightest at midday and going darkest at night. Finally, the firm is also touting live wallpapers featuring a timelapse of flowers blooming, with users able to adjust the animation speed as well.

It also looks like users can still toggle between OriginOS and the polarizing FunTouch skin. Hopefully there isn’t a significant performance or storage penalty if this is indeed the case.

We don’t know much else about Origin OS, such as a rollout schedule, global availability, or supported devices. We’ve contacted the company for more information, but the firm’s developer conference continues tomorrow. So we’re expecting to hear more details very soon.

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