It runs Android, so what?
The tech press has been making a huge deal out of the fact that the R1, Rabbit's first AI-powered device, runs Android and I don't understand at all. It’s basically a smartphone; why would they use anything else to run a device like this? It’s still cheaper (though lacking in features) than most Android devices.
Admittedly, I’m bummed about the reception for the R1 so far. I love its design, the hardware (yes, even the orange) and the software. I think the price tag is steep, but not entirely out of line. In many ways, it reminds me of Pebble’s smartwatches, which I was an early adopter of.
I hope Rabbit turns it into something compelling.
On the Pixel's apparent lack of premium features
Russell Holly for Android Central:
This is a fantastic phone, but there’s clearly room for improvement and it’s important to remember that as we place this phone on its pedestal. And yeah, I miss the Note 7. I can’t have a Note 7 though, and the S7 edge isn’t nearly as comfortable to hold and use. So it’s a Pixel for me for now, in hopes that Google figures out how to really push for premium next time.
I’ve never been able to wrap my head around the “make it or break it” attitude some people have for expandable storage and wireless charging. For starters, I’ve yet to have an experience with expandable storage on an Android phone that wasn’t clunky and frustrating. Storage is usually mishandled from app to app, causing errors and weird file management issues, at which point I usually remove my memory card and just use the phone without it.
As for Wireless charging, it’s always been a bit of a half-baked idea in my opinion. I’ve owned a couple phones that had the capability to charge wirelessly and never once thought it was something that really worked well and added much value. Between the technology failing outright or the phone needing to be adjusted constantly to have the charging kick in, I don't think it's fully baked yet.
In my experience, these features don’t yet deliver a consistently premium experience, so why expect them in a premium phone?
Early thoughts on Android's Pixel Launcher
David Ruddock for Android Police:
First off, this new launcher does away with the app drawer icon. The drawer itself remains, but it now hides under a “frosted glass” section along the static set of icons on the bottom of the homescreen, which have been increased in capacity to five as a result. To access the app drawer, you have two options. First, you can slide up anywhere in the “frosted” zone, including on the small arrow above the zone. Alternatively, you can just tap the arrow itself, which will instantly reveal the drawer. To close the drawer, you can swipe down from anywhere (except the notification and nav bars) or hit the back button. The new drawer has a large restyled search bar up top, but otherwise isn’t especially different from the current Now launcher’s.
Moving to the homescreen, we see that the standard Google Search widget has been removed. In its place is a calendar widget (this cannot be moved or removed), opposite of which you see what looks like a “G” pull-tab. Tapping the G launches search on the version of the launcher our sources showed us (this launcher is not running on final Nougat), but pulling it does nothing.
I’ve tried using the leaked Nexus/Pixel Launcher APK on my Nexus 6 a few times over the past couple days and my experience has been mixed. While I really like what they’re doing with the app drawer, the new way to perform a Google search is clunky and less clear than the existing Google Now Launcher.
While I think there’s some work that can be done to make the top of the screen more useful, this doesn’t help matters much in my opinion. Also, aesthetically, both the top button/tab and new look for app folders just don’t look very good. I’m hoping, as they mention in the piece above, they add a little more stylistically to the button/tab before it’s released.
Without question, the coolest part of the launcher is the new wallpaper app that leaked alongside it which features a ton of beautiful new (and constantly updated) background images. The app also includes the option to have your wallpaper automatically change after a period of time. It’s really nice and just replaces the standard wallpaper function of the device and doesn’t require the launcher to work.
I’m assuming this will all make more sense and work much better when (or if) the launcher arrives on Google’s rumoured Pixel devices in October. Until then, I can’t see using this thing on my phone in its current state.
RIP Nexus, hello Pixel
David Ruddock for Android Police:
Speaking to two independent sources, we now strongly believe that Google’s formerly-maybe-Nexus-phones, Marlin and Sailfish, will be marketed as the Pixel and the Pixel XL. We do not have pricing information. At this time, it is unknown to us when Google decided to shift its in-house smartphone brand from Nexus to Pixel or why (though speculation will likely run wild).
The Pixel will be the 5″ Sailfish device, while Pixel XL will be the 5.5″ Marlin. As to our confidence in this information: given that our two sources are independent, and the fact that one in particular has been exceptionally reliable in the past, we feel comfortable saying you can take this to the bank. Coupled with Android Central’s breaking story on Tuesday that the phones would not be branded as Nexuses – what else could they even be branded as?
This seems like a purely business decision, with Google likely wanting to take the Pixel name mainstream to compete with the likes of Samsung, and others. Although this loses a bit of water when you notice that it’s (apparently) HTC building the hardware here and not Google themselves. I’ll be sad to see Nexus put to rest, but it’s never felt like much more than Google’s testing ground for Android rather than a proper mobile experience for the everyday consumer, although it had every right to be.
Given this news and the rumoured cancellation of Google’s modular Ara phones, it seems like the company is really focusing on a solid plan for their hardware line. So much so that they’ll apparently be skipping the usual half-baked “there are new phones in the Google Store, go buy them” style announcement and going with a formal, much more Apple-like unveiling. This makes a ton of sense if they actually want regular people to know that they exist and, you know, buy them.
Twitter's Android app gets Material Design inspired update
Twitter has announced its native app has been overhauled with a “revamped look and feel” in order to move its aesthetic in line with Android’s Material Design guidelines.
The earlier version of the Android Twitter app, in my opinion, suffered from a number of issues revolving around general usability, buttons were placed in awkward locations, buried in other sections, were tough to reach with one hand, etc. With this new update, thanks in large part to the Google design spec, it seems many of those issues have been alleviated.
The new design looks great, it’s much simpler to use, and will give users a much more consistent experience alongside the other apps on their devices.
Google releases Android N Developer Preview
Google I/O is happening on May 18-20, but forget Google I/O—the developer preview of the next version of Android is launching,right now.,Google has posted the Android N Developer Preview for the Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6, Pixel C Nexus 9, and the Nexus Player.
Having used the developer preview for the past couple days, I’ve got a couple thoughts so far:
- While in Lollipop, Android seemed to play it safe and tackle more of the aesthetic issues (by introducing the new Material Design language) rather than adding more features, N is very much the opposite. It’s an Android nerd release with lots of shortcuts, UI tuner options, and under the hood tweaks and refinements.
- The new notification shade will get better once more apps are updated to support the new functionality (you can do inline replies to messages, emails, etc) but for now they feel a little cluttered and wordy. Also, having them run end-to-end without a left and right margin takes some getting used to. I liked how much they allowed each notification some breathing room in Lollipop and Marshmallow.
- Split-screen works surprisingly well already with very little support from apps. There are a couple hang-ups but overall it seems like it’ll be a solid feature.
- Speaking of stability, the entire dev preview is actually much more stable than I was initially led to believe. The animations, overall, are quick and smooth. I’ve noticed a slight delay when using the keyboard that seems to persist across a number of apps so it’s not without its issues but most of the ones I’ve experienced have been minor. Still, I wouldn’t recommend people use it on a device they rely on every day.
- With new enhanced settings for larger displays, it looks like Android will finally be taking advantage of those extra pixels on bigger devices such as the 6P or Note.
The final build of Android N doesn’t have a release date yet but i’d expect to see it drop sometime this summer.
Google officially announces Android M
Molly McHugh and David Pierce for WIRED:
We’ve gotten our first official look at Android M, and it offers scores of subtle improvements that promise to make using Android 6.0 a whole lot better. It’s evolutionary, not revolutionary which is exactly what Android 6.0 needs to be.
I’m really excited for an update that doesn’t add as many features to the surface but rather cleans things up under the hood of the OS.
Android 5.0 brought some pretty serious changes aesthetically to just about everything and with those changes came some pretty serious bugs and design inconsistencies. With this latest release, Google is making a second pass over the system to reduce friction for the user rather than adding new features with a variety of new technical issues to attend to.
Not really mentioned here but Google Now On Tap seems like a pretty killer feature, giving users the ability to contextually find information based on what they’re currently reading or seeing with a press of a button. We’ve been seeing a similar idea of this taking shape in the latest builds of Chrome for Android and it’s definitely a great, simple, useful update.
WWDC kicks off today and the rumours have them pegged to announce a similar initiative with iOS 9. Will they follow Google’s lead and smooth out some of the rougher edges of iOS 8? Only time will tell.
Tizen vs. Android UI
With the release of Tizen, Samsung now has two smartphone interface designs under its belt. The company’s other creation is TouchWiz, the skin that ships with all of its Android phones. But for the most part, Samsung has to color inside of Google’s lines there.
Great look at the UI differences between the stock Android experience, Samsung’s TouchWiz skin (which is essentially just layered on top of Android) and the Tizen OS which currently runs their Z1 phone.
It would be interesting to see Google using something like this to steer more people to a stock experience as, unfortunately, most people assume that TouchWiz is the standard Android experience.
iOS 8 adoption: 72%, Android Lollipop: 1.6%
Though adoption of iOS 8 has been slower than iOS 7 adoption rates, Apple is still way ahead of Android. The latest version of Android (5.0, aka Lollipop), released in November, is currently only installed on 1.6 percent of Android devices.
I’m curious how much of the fracture in Android updates is caused by the fact that most people simply don’t care if they’re running the newest version or not. At 1.6%, it seems almost impossible that it’s caused by anything else. There are plenty of devices that have been updated to 5.0 with more coming each day.