Turkcell
Turkcell T40 — Refined by Teknision
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problem
In 2013, Turkcell, Turkey's largest mobile operator, wanted to launch a smartphone that was more than another stock Android device. They needed an interface that carried their brand identity, felt intuitive to local users, and stood out in a crowded global market.
solution
Teknision partnered with Turkcell to design the UI for the T-40 smartphone, building a branded Android experience from the ground up. We redesigned navigation, created custom visuals, and tightly integrated Turkcell's services so the phone felt distinctly Turkish yet universally approachable. The T-40 went on to become one of Turkcell's most successful branded smartphones, proving that thoughtful design could turn an off-the-shelf handset into a differentiated product.
The Foundation — Chameleon Launcher
The T-40 project grew directly out of our earlier work on Chameleon Launcher, one of the first adaptive Android interfaces. Chameleon allowed home screens to shift automatically based on time, place, or activity — mornings could highlight news and calendar, evenings could surface entertainment, work hours could focus on productivity.
This innovation positioned us as early leaders in adaptive Android UX and was the reason Turkcell sought us out.
Industry Influence
Years later, Apple introduced strikingly similar ideas into iOS:
- Focus Modes (iOS 15) — switching Home Screens, apps, and notifications by context, just like Chameleon's time and location-based layouts.
- Smart Stack Widgets (iOS 15–16) — dynamically rotating widgets depending on time, location, and activity.
- Customizable Home Screens (iOS 18) — breaking the rigid app grid so layouts could adapt to the user's preferences.
What began with Chameleon and the T-40 showed up years later in the world's most widely used operating system — a validation of how far ahead this work was.
Impact
- Turkcell T-40 — one of Turkcell's most successful branded smartphones.
- Chameleon Launcher — pioneered adaptive, context-driven Android UX.
- Industry Validation — years later, Apple mainstreamed these same innovations in iOS.
year
2013
timeframe
6 months
Accolades
Launched nationwide with over a million units sold.
category
UI/UX
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