Google Play can now be used on Ubuntu120.04 with a brand new lens created by Rotating Canvas, the Indie Game Developers for Unity Interface. The goal of this lens is to have a direct App search lens from the Dash itself.
As an Android search lens, it allows for direct search of Google Play and can be searched with a terms directly or from the Home lens directly.
The Google Play store is scoured directly and knowing that the store does not offer an API, the lens is indeed remarkable. It needs to be further tuned but performs well. In the initial trials – only top 3 results were listed; with a ‘see more’ tile following. Other points that needed better direction are the options where the filter was not categorizing results into Movies or Books or Apps.
The actual search result, when the option ‘view more results’ is clicked will then open the Google Play Store right within the default browser. It is then convenient to queue-up for application, movie, and book for the tablets or the Phones.
Google Play Lens will as a final version is developed to install apps directly from the lens itself.
Developers, have included a default search directed at one of their games ’Choozak’, when you search for a term the game disappears and reappears when you are not searching.
Google Play Lens is currently available for Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin.
With the launch of Unity Interface launch, Ubuntu saw the dramatic move to touch-based interface over the traditional Gnome 2.
The new desktop environment has also lead to the development of Ubuntu for smartphones and devices faster and now allows many who users who would have otherwise stayed away to integrate the Open source on their smart devices.
Loaded with fast and new design and style concepts Unity has with innovative Dash allowed sophistication into open source computing display/graphics features. Additionally the concept of Lenses has definitely brought in new scope for the mundane search tasks. Powerful and easy to integrate, Unity Lenses now run into several numbers, with a lens for every kind of search: Photo Lens, Web History Lens, New Lens, for music there is the much hyped UbutuSpotify Scope; and other scope that made a lot of noise when launched, Ubuntu Books Lens and others such as the Ubuntu YouTube Lens and Scope; all these are fast defining how Ubuntu will be used in the future.
To install Ubuntu Google Play for Unity
Open terminal and enter the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:abhshk-btra/rotatingcanvas sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y install googleplaylens
