No. I received an update to a standard install on ZenUI. The autotomatic install was of a beta version the was dated 7/21.
I have never been a beta tester for Asus. I don't sideload. Any Asus software on my tablet came in a factory image or from the PlayStore.
I noticed the change in the launcher behavior after I returned from an offline vacation through 7/21. I thought it was an update that did it, because I hadn't installed anything in over a month, hadn't used my tablet online for several weeks, and reconnected to wifi on 7/22.
When I checked the version in my tablet under apps, the version number ended in ...beta.
I immediately went to the Play Store to check the most recent version number under "More". It matched what I had on my tablet, with a release date of 7/21/2016.
I immediately changed the setting in the Play Store to not apply updates automatically, and the app to notify me. (When I hadn't been alerted to a ZenUI Launcher app update before your reply, I went to the Play Store today and say that the "latest" release had a date of 7/4 - more than 2 weeks older than the previous released version).
To recover I had to "remove" the ZenUI Launcher app from my Asus me176cx tablet, which restored the app to the version included in the last factory system update (Android 5), then restore from a backup performed in April.
If the Asus Backup hadn't worked as well as it did, my posted review would have been been more negative.
As an up through the ranks network systems engineer with over 25 years of IT experience, I'm well aware that developers aren't perfect, all software has bugs. What I expect is that beta software is never released to the general public without clearly identifying it as such.
What made this multiply bad was pretending that it didn't happen -trying to hide the screwup after it had been detected and reported, by throwing doubt on my status. NOT EVEN MICROSOFT AT ITS WORST EVER DID THAT.
This, combined with my wife's and sister's me180a's being orphaned on Kitkat, makes me doubt Asus commitment to supporting its own products, bith software and hardware. I have now stopped recommending your products and seriously doubt that I will ever buy another one.
A seriously disappointed customer.
Paul Schmied
Arlington Heights, Illinois